Freya or something supernatural shit

	There was clinking of wine glasses that night as the people talked, laughed and ate. There were five of them, four women and one man.

	"Well, if all goes well, you'll be a goddess, Mary!" the man said joyously, grabbing a cracker and cheese and taking a sip of wine.

	The woman he spoke to responded, she was blonde, and even as she sat one could tell that she was the most desirable woman in the room. Her hips were wide, her waist was tiny and her breasts were huge. She spoke cheerfully, her wavy blonde hair swaying with each gesticulation.

	"Well Robert, if all goes well, I don't think we need to worry about working ever again," She raised her glass above her head.

	"If all goes well, nobody will need to worry about working ever again!" A mousy-haired woman spoke up, she was small, with piercing green eyes and curly hair.

	The cryptic celebration continued until dinner was served and eaten, after which the five moved to the living room. The living room was filled with candles, and had a musky odor to it. Mary stood in the center of the circle. Robert put his wine glass down and moved to one side of Mary. The mousy-haired woman moved to the opposite side. A third woman, black haired and of medium stature grabbed a small stone statue from the mantlepiece and took her place facing Mary. The last woman, with fiery red hair stood facing Mary's back and began to hum.

	The five were oriented like a compass rose, with Mary in the center and the other four to her front back and either shoulder. The redheaded woman began to sing. What she sung did not sound like English, but something from a Tolkien book, with lots of guttural sounds and rolled r's. The woman dropped in volume and the two other women not in the center joined her.

	Robert then spoke up. "Oh goddess Freya, the fertile one! Our ancestors were your loyal followers since time before time, and we are the descendants of your people! We beseech thee, come down to the mortal world and guide humanity! We have offered up a host, a pure blooded one of your people! Become one with her so that you may enlighten mankind!"

	Robert finished his prayer in English and then joined in the chant with the women. Mary began to act strangely in the center of the circle.

	"Guys? I feel.... stronger! Like more of a woman, like a mother!"

	Robert was elated, "Fantastic, fantastic! Don't lose sight of those feelings!"

	Mary began to visibly get taller, until she was easily heads and shoulders above even Robert. The chanters looked on in awe.

	Suddenly a voice from nowhere filled their ears "No.".

	The suddenness caused the four to stop chanting. The feeling was broken as they watched.

	"No, what's going on? What's happening to me?" Mary began frantically looking around.

	What happened afterwords was grotesque. Mary began to shrink, screaming at first, but then switching to sobbing pitifully as she plunged well below her original height. Her cheeks began to get fatter, her teeth began to recede slightly, her hair lost its fullness and became more wispy. All the while her clothes continued to match her height, until she stopped at three feet tall and they stopped at overalls, a bow and a red t-shirt. Mary continued to wail.

	A window flew open and Robert thought he saw a huge, amazing looking woman jump through it, but he banished the thought and rushed over to Mary. The other three women followed.

	Mary was now regressed to a toddler, she bawled and bawled, blubbering about "not wanting to be a baby." All the while Freya's spirit was fleeing the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"I'm leaving for work!" I called, opening the door.

	"Don't care!" Katie responded, laying on the couch, watching TV, eating potato chips at 7AM. I just scowled and walked out the door.

	When I walked into work at the GAP I was assailed by my boss, Miranda, who told me to go work in the kids section. I was fine with that, at least I didn't have to man the cashier in the women's section with Todd and watch him undress all the women picking out bras and underwear with his mind, or run perfume with Jennifer and have her never stop speaking to me about her boyfriends even when I'm talking to a customer. The kid's section was fine, most of the time it was quiet, a couple moms carrying or dragging their bundles of joy about, dressing them either humiliatingly adult or humiliatingly childish. You might have a parent or two complain about selection or prices, but generally the customers were self sufficient and independent. The men's section was best on this though, the cashier working there says she hasn't said anything but "Hi, How are you?", "Your total is X" and "Thanks, have a nice day" to a customer in years. Pure minimum wage bliss.

	I was zoning out like service industry workers do when a woman walked up to me, as per tradition, she had brought her child along. This child looked around seven, and she seemed to have exceptionally strong feelings of disinterest in buying clothes. Something that I can relate to. Actually, I thought as the woman approached, an overbearing sense of "I don't want to be here" is probably one of the most intense emotions that minimum wage workers share with children.

	"Hi, can you help me?" the woman asked. I wanted desperately to say "no lady, I just wear the uniform" or start speaking in Cantonese, but I needed this job. I looked at her in affirmation.

	"Hi, I need some help with trying on these dresses, and I wondered if you could help me zip them up in the back."

	Ah fuck, I thought, I REALLY don't want to do this. The lady wasn't old, she was probably about eight years older than me, early thirties, rather youthful and pretty looking, but kind of short, especially compared to me, but I really just didn't want to do it.

	"Alright, right this way!" I said, faking enthusiasm. The child being carried along groaned for the both of us.

	We got into the changing room and she began to undress. The child whipped out her phone and sat in a corner. Lucky bitch.

~~~~~~~

	Freya had been hiding for a while, not that it was hard to hide from mortals, it was just so hard focusing her energy energy to keep a tethered form. She needed to find a body to inhabit, pronto.

	As she sailed over the multitude of strange buildings she became more and more worried that she wouldn't find a suitable host. She had passed over houses where mere children were bearing children, where sons and daughters had no respect for their mothers, and places where fertile bodies were being squandered with use of contraceptives. It all disgusted her. But finally, she found a suitable host. In the symbolic Babylon, Freya found one good spirit among the crowd of sinners. She was tall, strong, and she was participating in an intimate ritual that was paramount in a young woman's life, helping her learn to be an adult. For extra brownie points, her younger daughter watched on, seeing the intimate ceremony of initiation right before her very eyes.

	Freya would have to remain dormant for a long while, but it would be worth it, and she was sure that the person she chose was the correct one, a model mother for this sinful world.

-------------

	As I zipped up the woman's dress I felt the breath rush out of me. I was scared, exhilarated and elated at the same time. I shuddered.

	"Everything alright back there?" The woman asked. I was brought back to my senses suddenly, zipping the rest of the dress up. The daughter sat in the corner, groaning.

	"Yep!" I said, "you're all good!"

	The woman turned around in the mirror. I stopped and watched for a second, and then was confused. What was a smart-looking grey dress had transformed into something much more bright and... frilly. Was it just my imagination? I shrugged, "I'm not paid to have a good memory, or judge fashion choices.

	I was zoning out when the woman spoke up again.

	"Um, I don't really like this dress, can we try the next one?"

	"Huh? Oh! Yeah, sure," I turned to grab the next dress and almost fell over. I could've sworn this dress was a similar business-casual type thing that the other one "was". Now this dress had a black frilly skirt with a red-with-white-polka-dots on top, it gave a very "goth lolita strawberry" vibe to me.

	"Is there a problem?" the woman asked. I wanted to say "yeah! Your dress just went from 36 and rockin' the corporate ladder to six and in a rockin' chair with mommy getting ready for a nap!". Instead I quickly grabbed the dress and continued on.

	Luckily that was the last dress she picked out. Ironically, she decided to buy it. The prominent businesswoman walked out with the dress that made her look like she was trying to impress little Johnny at his eighth birthday party, not trying to get a promotion.

	The rest of the day was filled with experiences like these. I was getting stunned again and again at the purchases I had to ring up. Five plaid rompers for a 20-year-old sorority girl, a pair of overalls for a sixteen year old, two middle-aged women bought matching Mary-Jane shoes. Before lunch I was leaving faking a fever.

	I had the biggest headache when I got home. All the strange things happening today played against my mind, almost like everyone in the women's section was playing an elaborate prank on me.

	I walked through the door, Katie was laying on the couch, one of her inane shows blasted on the TV.

	"Home so early?" Katie said, the spoon in her empty bowl of cereal tinkling as she took it off her stomach and placed on the floor right next to the two empty glasses of soda and a half-eaten bag of chips.

	"You won't believe the day I had today, it was so weird!"

	I began my monologue, but soon I started to notice that Katie wasn't listening, instead she had her eyes focused on the TV.

	"Are you even listening to me?" I asked finally, she didn't even respond.

	I snapped, I was so mad. After all the stress of the day, I finally broke. I grabbed her wrist. She tried to struggle, but for some reason I completely overpowered her in the first pull. I set her over my knee and began to slap her behind.

	"What the fuck are you doing?" She yelled, but I didn't notice. I didn't even notice her squirming and struggling, I used my free arm to keep her across my legs.

	I kept her over my knee, spanking her until I realized fully what I was doing. The girl I was punishing was a year younger than me, not some troublesome five-year-old. I stopped slapping and Katie practically jumped out of my lap. She didn't say anything, she just ran out of the room. I heard a door slam in the back of the house, so she was probably skulking about in her bedroom.

	I sat in silence as I mulled over what just happened. I began to think about it. What had she done wrong again? Why did I spank her? Now that it was over, I didn't know. All I knew is that it felt strange.

	For the first time in a long time I decided to make lunch. As Katie heard the clatter of plates, she began to tentatively creep from her room, until finally sitting down for lunch as I placed the plate of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches down in front of her seat. I ate ham and cheese as I watched her.

	"I'm sorry for spanking you," I said.

	Her sandwiches were cut into four triangles each, and to my knowledge she was on her sixth as she looked up into my eyes. From my perspective, leaning forward, sitting up straight in my chair on the other side of the table, she looked very small.

	"It's okay," She said quietly, not breaking eye contact.

	"I don't know what came over me, it was just... I was tired of your disrespect," I didn't really know what came over me, I was sounding more and more disciplinarian.

	Katie just nodded. I took her plate as she finished and she went and sat down to watch TV. After a little while I sat next to her. As time wore on, we began to come closer together, not sharing a word. Finally before I got up to make dinner I was twirling her hair as she leaned on my breast.

	I made pasta for dinner. Even Katie was surprised I made two meals, let alone with nothing instant. She wolfed it down much like lunch and then was off. I cleaned the table.

	The next day I was off to work again. I struggled to put the shirt of my uniform on, and I initially panicked that I had gotten somehow fat. I laughed at my own irrationality, but suddenly after putting on the shirt again I realized that my shirt was actually straining against my breasts.

	Weird, I thought, I don't really feel any bigger.

	I just shrugged it off initially, but I still walked out of my room with my mind clouded. Katie had already left for work, so I fixed myself a quick breakfast and was off.

	Work was pretty slow, my section mostly had people going in and out and using other registers, which I was thankful for, I really didn't want a repeat of yesterday, especially so early. I probably couldn't afford to leave so early again without Miranda getting royally pissed at me.

	Eventually though, someone did approach me. He carried a packet of underwear in his hand and looked nervous as I stared down at him.

	"Um, hi, do you know where I can get these in a smaller size?"

	He meekly handed me a packet of men's tighty whities, extra small. I looked at the packet, then back at him, and then back at the packet. He stared down at the floor. I smiled.

	"I think these are just the right size, come on honey, let's try them on!" I said happily, walking around the counter and taking his hand. He began to stutter as I tugged him along, but he gave up after a while.

	We got to the changing room and I began to undo the packet. I used my body to block the way out, so the man just sat nervously on the changing room bench. Eventually I pulled out one of the pairs of underwear.

	"Alright, come on!" I said cheerily, motioning for him to take of his clothes. He looked scared as hell, but eventually as I stood over him he began to undo his pants. He was completely nude from the waist down, I giggled patronizingly and held out the pair of underwear for him to step into. He stepped in and pulled them up I circled him, adjusting here, smiling there.

	"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, how cute!" I said as I circled his behind, where the logo was planted square on his rear, "Why don't you get dressed again and meet me at the register, I'll ring these up for you!"

	I walked out of the changing rooms and sat back down at the register, eagerly waiting for him to walk up, but he never came. Eventually I came to the realization of what had happened. I felt sick to my stomach, and panicked slightly, worrying about the police. I looked down at the packet of underwear in my hand, "wait," I thought to myself, "what happened to the pack of white briefs that he brought to me?" I looked around, but all I could find in the tune of packets of underwear were the four pack kid's cartoon underwear that looked way too big for children.

	Feeling sick, worried and a little suspicious, I rang up the pack of underwear, paid for them and then left without telling a soul.

	It wasn't even lunch before I got home, so I treated myself to some fast food on my way home. As I sat eating and watching TV I slowly became comfortable with the idea that I was going to be fired from my job, and that I would have to find a new one. I looked over to the packet of underwear lying on the other side of the couch. "Good riddance to that," I thought to myself.

	In the afternoon Katie came home and she and I chatted for a while.

	"So you got fired?" She said, and I nodded.

	"Basically. They haven't fired me yet, but they will. I really was done with that place anyway."

	"Hmm," Katie sighed, stretching out on the free space left on the couch, "Why don't you apply to Sunnyside Daycare? They're accepting applicants and they're right next door to wear I work, plus, you're great with kids."

	I felt like that was some kind of dig at what happened yesterday, but Katie was being so uncharacteristically respectful and talkative that I decided to let it slide. "I think I might just do that."

	"Well, tomorrow's Friday, so why don't you drive over and fill out an application and then hang out at home all day. They'll probably call you for a phone interview or something over the weekend," Katie said.

	I nodded, said my goodbyes and left the house.

	Sunnyside daycare was rather deserted in the early afternoon, as most of the kids had already been dropped off much earlier in the morning, and the working mothers and fathers weren't due to pick up their children until much later, most likely. The more and more I thought about the babies in the daycare, the more I wanted to work there.

	I hurried inside from the sparse parking lot and was greeted by a secretary about my age, who smiled at me.

	"Picking up someone?" She said.

	I smiled, "Just an application, I heard you guys were hiring."

	She handed me a small piece of paper on a clipboard and I sat down in a chair in the lobby to fill it out. My nose filled with the smells of the daycare, baby powder, used diapers, and disinfectant. All the smells pervaded my mind. I thought of the crinkling diapers, bottle feeding, putting the babies down for a nap, and the idea of taking care of someone.

	"You alright?" The voice of the secretary took me out of the haze of the daycare, "Do you have a question about the form?"

	"No, I'm fine, thanks," I said, eventually. I began to fill out the form again.


	Minutes passed, and I couldn't help but get distracted by the secretary's behavior. I peered over the clipboard to see her gently sucking on her thumb.

	My eyes refocused onto the form. The first couple parts were all pretty general questions, but the section I had not yet finished was daycare-specific.

	"Have you ever had any children?" The form asked. I wrote no without really looking down, I was instead staring at the secretary, who had begun to squirm in her seat, all while sucking on her thumb. I couldn't help but notice how cutely she was dressed, with her little yellow dress with ruffles around the shoulders and waist. We made eye-contact again.

	"I'm sorry," I smiled, "I just couldn't help but looking at your pretty dress, is Belle your favorite princess?" The secretary blushed red, and nodded, smiling around her thumb, all the while squirming ever so much in her chair.

	"Do you need to go potty sweetie?" I asked, she nodded quickly. I stood up and walked over to her desk, extending my hand, "come on honey."

	She took my hand and we both walked into the lobby bathrooms together. She picked a stall and I went in with her.

	"Alright sweetie, show me how you can go potty!" I said excitedly. She hesitantly pulled down her pull-ups and sat down on the toilet. A small tinkling sound was heard.

	"Good girl!" I exclaimed, "now can you wipe for me?"

	She nodded shyly, and took a small square of toilet paper, wiped and then flushed.

	I held open the door to the bathroom as I watched her wash her hands, "now get back to work baby girl!" I said as she shuffled out of the bathroom.

	I sat back down in my chair and went back to my form and peered over the clipboard as I watched the secretary suck on her thumb and page through a cardboard book about counting. She still squirmed in her chair, but it was a simple display of her inability to sit still instead of the potty dance.

	After a while I turned in my finished form to her. She sucked contentedly on her pacifier and stared blankly at me as I placed the clipboard back onto her desk.

	Her desk was quite possible the cutest thing about her, even cuter than her dress. She sat in the center of a chair with her legs sticking out of two leg-holes in the chair, keeping her in, Her feet could barely touch the ground so she lightly pushed the wheeled chair and herself along the floor of the lobby to get around. The wheeled chair was then attached to the desk by a track that ran under the desk and kept her at her desk at all times, while still allowing her to move around to reach to either side. One side of her desk was completely dedicated to work, with a computer and several filing cabinets, while the other was dedicated to play, with several plastic toys, cardboard books and even a small stuffed bear.

	"See ya sweetie!" I said as I walked out. She didn't reply, but I could hear her sucking on her pacifier even while I walked out of the lobby to my car.

	When I was driving home I felt rather sick, like something wasn't right. Was I regretting applying for the daycare job? No matter, I thought to myself, I can always just decline it if I have second thoughts.

	Katie was lounging on the couch as always, I sighed deeply when I walked past her, but she didn't catch my subtle hint. I walked into my room and decided I needed something a little more casual as opposed to my old job's dress code minus the name tag. I checked my phone, six missed calls from my old boss. I set her number onto auto-decline and then opened up my closet.

	I decided on a crop-top along with some nice jeans and then went back to the living room.

	"Want some dinner?" I said, walking by the couch to the kitchen.

	Katie arched her back in order to see me over the back of the couch, "yes please," she managed to sigh before sinking back down into the cushions. I walked quickly back and took the remote from the table next to the couch and then walked into the kitchen.

	I was making macaroni and cheese for Katie, not looking at the TV until I turned around and was disgusted by what she was watching. Quickly I turned it off and selected something a bit more her age level on Netflix. Bright colors filled the screen as the sweet melody of the show's theme song began to play. I didn't hear any complaints from Katie, so I went back to making dinner.

	"Come on Katie, dinner!" I called, placing the big plate of macaroni and cheese on the table, along with a glass of wine for me and a glass of apple juice for her. I could hear her socks pitter-patter on the floor as she ran to the table.

	"Mmmmm, mac and cheese!" Katie said, "you know it's my favorite!" I just smiled.

	She took her fork in hand and began to shovel it into her mouth, not caring whether it spread cheese over her face or not. I turned to focus on my own meal, thinking about the daycare as I sipped the glass of wine and absentmindedly ate forkfulls of macaroni and cheese without really looking.

	"Katie, stop that, don't use your hands!" I yelled as I looked over and was shocked to find that Katie had abandoned the use of her fork and was now shoving big handfuls of mac and cheese into her mouth, coating her face in cheese sauce.

	Katie stopped and I stood up, just to get a good look at how much of a mess she made of her clothes. Her t-shirt had a large yellow stain, and her lap and pants had a small mound of noodles in the center of them.

	"Katie, look what you've done!" I exclaimed, she looked down and blushed. "...Sorry," she said, more confused than apologetic.

	"Come on, let's get these clothes off you," I said, grabbing at the bottom hem of her shirt. She held her arms up as I pulled it over her head. I then pulled her up into a standing position and unbuttoned her stained pants, pulling them down and swiping them off her legs.

	"Now, sit down and finish eating, and I'll go put these in the washing machine," Katie nodded and I left her sitting in her underwear as she gingerly took her fork and began eating again, slowly this time.

	I came back and she was lying on the couch again, watching the show I had put on for her still. Her dishes were in the kitchen, so I finished my meal, did the dishes and then sat down in the living room with her.

	I grabbed a blanket from the closet and threw it over her nearly naked body.

	"Thanks," she said sheepishly, not even taking her eyes off the screen. I grabbed my book from the table next to the couch and read, glancing at the TV and Katie intermittently.

	After a couple of chapters I began to wonder, was it Katie's bedtime? She was a little girl.... wait... no. I looked up from my book, seeing the TV blast Sesame Street, Katie watching diligently, still in her underwear under the blanket.

	I began to think again about Katie and her bedtime, but I couldn't really focus on it. The longer I stared at Katie the more I felt I should be doing something, something to help her. But with what? What did she need help with? I stared back down at my book, and then looked back up, convinced that there was something I could be doing that benefited Katie.

	Looking at her, I really couldn't tell, she didn't seem in need, and she was watching the TV, not looking at me expectantly for something. What did I need to do? I saw she had her pacifier in, she was under a blanket and she had already been fed.

	"Would you like something to drink Katie?" I finally asked, taking a shot in the dark. She looked over at me, sucking on her pacifier, and nodded. I got up to get her something.

	As soon as I walked into the kitchen my mind went blank again. What does she drink? What does she need to drink? I looked at the back of her head, thinking. Finally, I grabbed a bottle from a cupboard and filled it with milk.

	God, I feel so inadequate doing this, I thought to myself as I walked back to the living room carrying the bottle of milk. I felt so useless, like I wasn't doing enough for her.

	I handed her the bottle and she took it gratefully, barely taking her eyes off the screen. I extended my hand and she placed her pacifier in it, and I put it down on a table next to the couch. I looked down at my watch. It was almost eight, Katie's bedtime.

	My attention had completely left the book, so I just observed Katie. She sucked on the bottle, sitting under the blanket while Elmo and the Cookie Monster played out in front of her. Was I supposed to tell her what was happening?

	Finally my observation came to an end as I saw that it was Katie's bedtime. I stood up. "Time for bed!" I exclaimed. I could see her from even from behind the bottle. "Come on honey, let's go to bed," I said, extending my hand. Finally she stood up, shedding her blanket and revealing her Dora the Explorer pajamas. I hadn't realized how cute they were before, but they made Katie look adorable.

	With one hand trapped in mine and another holding the bottle up to her face, Katie toddled slowly behind me as I lead her to her room. I found  the package of diapers peeking out from under her bed as we walked into the room.

	"Alright sweetie, let's get your nighttime protection on," I said, gently pushing Katie on her back on the bed, slowly taking off her pajama bottoms to reveal the pull-up under them.

	Shit! I realized after seeing her wet pull-up what I should've been helping Katie with, going to the bathroom! God, I felt like a horrible person!

	"Sorry honey, your pull-up's wet because I didn't ask if you had to go potty enough," I said remorsefully. Katie barely noticed as she sucked on her bottle.

	I undid her pull up and began to put her in one of her diapers for bed. I smiled as I taped her up, seeing Elmo's smiling face adorning the front of the thick diaper. After tucking her in, I said my goodnights, turned out the light and retired to my own bedroom.

	Why the fuck do none of these fit me? I asked myself as I tried to squeeze into the third pajama top I had in my closet. Did I accidentally shrink my pajama tops somehow? Was it how I washed them? I settled for my loosest bra to get me through the night and then went to sleep.

	"So what are you gonna do today?" Katie asked between swallowing a mouthful of cereal and putting another mouthful of cereal in her mouth.

	"I don't know," I said, ruminating over the possibilities of what I could do, "I'm still waiting on that call from the daycare, but other than that my day is free."

	"Well," Katie said, swallowing her last spoonful of cereal with gusto, "I was thinking about going to lunch, but I'm not really sure."

	My phone rang, and I immediately got up and answered it, "hello?"

	"Hi!" A bell-like voice rang out from the phone into my ear, "I'm assuming you're our applicant to our position at the daycare, right?"

	"Of course!" I said, smiling and glancing over at Katie before beginning to pace back and forth in front of her. Katie smiled back at me and got up from the table to put away her bowl and things.

	"Great! This is Catherine, the owner of Sunnyside," The voice continued, "I've read your application and gotten a recommendation from our receptionist, so I'd like you to show up tomorrow for a kind of "interview" while working. You'll get paid for the day, of course, but this is more of an assessment of where you are best in our daycare staff."

	I grinned again, doing a little dance. Katie giggled giddily from her spot on the carpet of the living room, watching me writhe in celebration while remaining silent on the phone, all as she played with the toys in front of her.

	"Yeah, I'd love to do it! I'm assuming you want me at eight tomorrow, right?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen to hang up the phone.

	"We'll see you then, thank you so much!" Catherine responded. We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.

	"Well that's nice!" I said, walking into the living room. Katie looked up at me from her spot on the floor. Her blocks had fallen down, but she kept preserving, trying to stack them all into a tower that would inevitably fall.

	I crouched down next to her, her big eyes stared back at me. Even when I was crouching down and she was sitting on her bottom she had to look up at me.

	"Honey, would you like to go to the playground right now?"

	She smiled, and all thought of her blocks fell apart as she felled the tower in one sweep of her leg in her rush to get up. I laughed airily and extended my hand after she had gotten up and found her balance.

	"Come on sweetie, lets get you out of those jammies."

	"Okay!" She said, her voice carrying through the house.

	We got into her room and I began to pull down her pajama pants, revealing the goodnite underneath. I stood back as I revealed to myself that she did, in fact wet herself that night.

	"Katie, why didn't you tell me you were wet? Did you forget?"

	Katie looked down at her goodnite first in confusion, and then her confusion developed into sadness.

	"I didn't think I was wet, mommy," She said.

	"Mommy", that word jarred me. The huge reality of my situation hit me. "I am mommy" I thought to myself. Having a child wasn't something I remembered, or even thought about doing. I stepped back and looked at myself. I was too young to be a mother. I was what, twenty-two? That was no age for childbearing? What was I thinking?

	Just before my confusion hit its peak my mind and eyes refocused on the little girl in front of me. Her goodnite was wet, she had her pajama pants around her ankles and she was obviously very upset. Her short black hair looked kind of like mine, and she stared at me, expecting me to do something.

	"Alright honey," I began, "I guess I'll have to bring diapers to the park instead of pull-ups."

	I saw her open her mouth in protest, but suddenly she closed it, and instead looked completely neutral to my reaction. I was again taken aback by her behavior. "God, I would be completely crushed to be put back in diapers, what's up with this kid?", I thought. "Your kid", something in my conscious reminded me, in the same way some spectator reminds a speaker of the correct word to use when it's lost to them.

	I moved into the closet and spotted the pack of diapers. They looked babyish enough, but they hadn't been opened, so I looked around the closet again for an opened pack of diapers, but instead I spotted some black stiletto heels. "What?" I thought to myself again. In confusion I turned back to view Katie's room.

	The room was clearly not occupied by a young girl that wore black stiletto heels. There was a toy chest on the far wall, flanked by a crib in the corner and a large rocking chair next to it, and a bookshelf next to that. Katie sat in the middle of the room, her onesie unclasped showing her wet diaper underneath. I saw a changing table against a wall, and realized that my goal was to change Katie's diaper after breakfast and take her to the park so she could get some exercise

	I shrugged off the stilettos as just misplaced shoes of mine, and grabbed Katie off the ground and put her in the changing table. She giggled around her pacifier as I untaped her diaper, cleaned her up and placed a new one on her. I grabbed a little dress from her closet and slipped it over her onesie, making sure that she wouldn't get chilly in the weather.

	With the change out of the way, and with everyone suitably fed and after I dressed myself, Katie and I left the house for the park.

	The park was only a block away, so it was a pretty comfortable stroll with the stroller for Katie and I.

	There was nobody there when we entered the playground, as it was still fairly early and cool for babies to be out, but I unstrapped Katie from her stroller and let her toddle out to the park, all while I sat, read, and drank coffee from the mug I had brought.

	The park was simple enough, but pretty lavish for small children. There were plenty of baby swings, sandboxes, small slides and little activity stations for a young baby like Katie to enjoy. Of course, she really was only interested in the sandbox. I giggled over the top of my novel as I saw Katie mashing bits of sand together and watching the clump fall to the ground in between her legs, all the while her diaper strained against the confines of her onesie as she sat ever so unladylike in the sand.

	After about an hour of having one eye on Katie, calling gently every time she attempted to put sand in her mouth, the day began to heat up and the first family showed up to the park. It was a young boy, about four years old and a youngish, late-twenties mother. As they walked through the gate the boy sprinted in glee over towards the swings and the mother, noticing me, walked over sporting a little-to-wide suburban smile.

	"Good morning!" she said, book in hand, sitting down at the picnic table beside me, "did you just move in?"

	"No, I've been living here for about six months now," I said curtly, watching Katie intently just incase she took some dangerous interest in the four-year-old's rapid swinging.

	"Huh," the woman said, thinking of something to say, or ruminating over whether the shortness and bluntness of my response meant an intense desire to end the conversation, "I haven't seen you around, is that one yours?" she said, pointing over to Katie playing in the sand. I noticed that she had made a relatively tall mound of sand in between her legs, now blocking my view of her diaper and onesie. I smiled. "Yeah, she's mine."

	"Oh gosh, you look so young!" The woman instantly regretted the awkwardness of her satement.

	"Thanks," I said diplomatically, "I'm assuming he's yours? You don't look to bad yourself."

	The woman withheld her gratitude for my lack of offense taken.

	"Yeah, he's mine. A real troublemaker, that one."

	"Well, yours might be a troublemaker, but mine might be a stinky troublemaker right now, so if you'll excuse me."

	I got up from the picnic table and walked over to where Katie sat. Picking her up, I took a good look at her onesie before sticking my fingers inside. Finding her wet, I brought her over to the picnic table.

	"I hope you don't mind," I said apologetically as I placed Katie gingerly on the picnic table with a blanket under her. I grabbed a new diaper out of the stroller and changed her quickly, sending her on her way.

	The woman, Hanna, and I talked until late morning, about her son Ben, about where she worked, where she studied and our lives in general. During this time, several older kids began to enter the playground. Understanding that the big kids could possibly accidentally hurt Katie, I grabbed her from her spot in the sandbox. After another diaper change she was bouncing on my knee.

	"Actually," Hanna stopped, "I probably should go get Ben and tell him its time for a break too, these kids look like they play rough!"

	She got up from the picnic table, and, dodging games of tag and hopscotch managed to grab Ben. He fussed a bit in his mother's lap, but after a couple bounces he quieted down.

	We sat watching the boys for a couple minutes. Ben had abandoned his mother's lap and was now walking around the picnic table, frustrated he wasn't allowed to go play tag with the older kids. I sat with my book as Katie bounced gently on my knee, sucking on her pacifier.

	"Hanna?" I suddenly heard from behind me, both of us turned around to see Ben with dark spots on his pants.

	"Oh, Ben! Did you have an accident?" Hanna asked, not really waiting for an answer as she scooped him up and placed him on the table.

	She turned to me, "Do you think I can borrow one of Katie's diapers? It's pretty far from our house and I don't think he can make it." Ben began to sniffle slightly in embarrassment. Without a response I handed Hanna one of Katie's thick baby diapers.

	As Hanna began to change Ben I couldn't help but notice her complete amateur level of understanding of a diaper change. After a particularly wrong decision I spoke up.

	"Sorry to intrude Hanna dear, but do you know how to change a diaper?" Hanna turned red in the face.

	"...No," She said. We changed places and I finished the change easily.

	"I'm sorry Ms.Waters!" Hanna exclaimed, "Ben's never had an accident when I babysat him before. I wasn't prepared for this." I smiled, she thanked me and then she left the park.

	The big kids weren't leaving anytime soon, so I decided Katie and I got enough sun and turned for home.

	The rest of the day passed smoothly, other than the fact that Katie messed during dinner. It was the cutest thing ever. I was breastfeeding her on the couch, and suddenly she spat out my nipple and began to grunt, and soft "pffts" and crinkles were heard, and then after she was done she returned to her feeding.

	I put Katie to bed after changing her stinky diaper and then decided that it was time for some "me" time, so I turned on some Netflix.

	I woke up on the couch to the sound of the phone ringing in my room. Judging by the fact that light was streaming into the living room, I had probably fallen asleep sometime watching Netflix.

	"Hello?" I answered the phone. Almost immediately after doing so, Katie toddled into the doorway of my room, clutching her bunny loosely in her spare arm, the other arm wiping her sleepydust filled eyes. A gigantic wet spot covered the front of her footie pajama pants.

	"Mommy..." She said pitifully "I had an accident..."

	My knees got weak seeing her, and I could barely hold back a smile as I drank in the cuteness in front of me. I quickly beckoned her over and shushed her as she shoved her face between my thighs for comfort.

	"Hi! This is Sunnyside calling you back offering you a position at the daycare!" A chipper voice, the voice of the very nice secretary I met when I was filling out my application.

	"Great!" I said, trying and failing to match the enthusiasm in the woman's voice, now petting Katie's hair as she whimpered between my legs, "When can I start?"

	"Ideally, can you start tomorrow? We're running a little low on manpower here so It'd be nice if you can start your training right away!"

	I smiled, "Great, now, there is one problem though. I have a little one myself, can she come with me and be a part of the daycare too?"

	Katie had the inkling I was talking about her, because she began to shake her head. I smiled down at her silent and low-intensity temper tantrum.

	"Sure, that's no problem! We can enroll her in one of the classes as soon as she gets here!"

	I sighed in relief, "thanks, see you tomorrow!"

	After hanging up I immediately bent down and picked up Katie. Her eyes were still watering from her accident, so I wrapped her tightly in a hug and bounced her as I made my way to her room.

	I stripped her and her bed equally fast and threw all of it into the wash, she seemed to cheer up after getting out of her wet pants,