✅🎊✂️ Hypnosis Won't Take Me There!! [alternative cut]

Chapter 528: Choosing the Road Ahead

Here's another chapter dedicated to Santoro, with thanks for signing up to my Patreon again. It turns out that even though I set it not to charge people this month, you get paid if you leave and then rejoin. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it's certainly worth an extra chapter for everyone!

Thank you!

"You'd better come in," Reg said with a step back. "Let's get Lily inside before excitement overtakes her. It's good to meet you guys, I've heard so much about you." Adi and Dean just nodded, neither of them quite clear on what the etiquette here should be.

"This is Dean," Belle turned to Reg, and pointed in case he might not know who she was talking about. "He's my babysitter sometimes! And Adelaide's too!"

Adi blushed for a second, glad that she'd had time to close the door in case any passers by might see her embarrassment. Reg hesitated for a moment, watching her, and she guessed that Belle must have told him something already. He knew her baby name at least, or what it had once been. She wondered how much more of her story had spread out beyond her group of friends, but she couldn't think of a polite way to ask.

She gave Lily a little pat on the head, not sure how else to respond, and whispered: "Good girl. It's a long time since I've seen you like this, isn't it?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just think this is the first time I've seen her like this when I'm feeling like an adult. She's taller than me, but somehow she looks so small and cute. Is this what I'm like? I mean..." This time it was Lily's turn to blush, and she automatically raised her hands to her face to hide the response.

"You were always adorable. And one of the easiest toddlers I ever had to babysit for. Oh, the bathroom's through there," Dean paused to indicate a doorway that looked like any of the others. Adi thanked him and dashed in, hoping that the adults wouldn't be talking about her too much. If this guy knew about her baby name, then he might be expecting her to come and play at some point. Perhaps Dean could explain that the hypnotic suggestions had gone away, and that she wasn't planning to be regressed again. It would be easier than trying to find the words.

She saw that there were a lot of childish things in the bathroom that she really wouldn't have expected. In front of the toilet was a tiny plastic step decorated with pictures of cartoon princesses that Adi didn't recognise. The kind of thing a small child might need while potty training. It even had a matching padded seat, all bright pink and with princess designs, placed on top of the regular one. Adi looked at it for a second before shrugging and ignoring it. The important thing now was to change her diaper before visiting Toni, so she could arrive at her possibly-still-girlfriend's house with some measure of her self-respect still intact. She had everything she needed in her bag, so it didn't take long before she was feeling like a grown-up and ready to face the world again.

They stayed at Belle's house for a little longer, talking just a little awkwardly while Lily played around their feet. Dean introduced himself to Vicky and Reg, who seemed to have heard a lot about him already. They presumably knew just as much about Adi, but that was something she decided she would rather not know about right now. Dean mentioned briefly that Adi had once listened to a hypnosis file and been regressed, but that she had recently changed her baby name in order to spend more time as an adult, and would only be sharing it with very carefully selected people. They didn't ask any more.

They also confirmed that Dean and Reg had both been contacted by Alex Chastaine, who presented himself as a kind of crusader against careless use of hypnosis. He was apparently well known in some of the local and national adult baby communities, and the older couple knew several friends, and friends of friends, who he had helped with similar issues. Hearing them talk, it was easy to understand why Dean had been so ready to trust him.

"So she said she's celebrating?" Adi asked when the well of topics seemed to run dry, looking up from where she had been helping Lily to play with a small set of dolls.

"I gotted a job!" Lily beamed, eyes wide with excitement. "I did a test and a talk and they really really liked me!" The words came out all in one breath, like a hose that someone had just stepped off of, and while Adi tried to offer her congratulations Lily kept on rambling in half-coherent sentences about what she believed working in an office might involve.

"She applied for an internship at my firm," Vicky explained, after a little while. "Obviously I couldn't be on the interview panel in that case, so I didn't see the list until last night. But it's not far from home in any case, and Reg was already planning to come to help with the drains, so I thought I could let her know without waiting for the notification letters to be sent out."

"That's great to hear," Dean offered a smile. He asked a few details about the position, and how likely it was to continue after summer, and he seemed to be satisfied with all the answers. Belle had a possible career in front of her now, as well as a corporate culture that would encourage her to make friends among the staff, so she wouldn't be lonely after breaking contact with her friends from the school cheer squad. It looked like she knew what she was doing with her life at last, and a part of Adi wished her own situation could be so simple.

By the time Belle started acting adult again, it was already time to be moving on. They dropped off the boxes that Dean had brought for her, although Adi didn't catch what was in them. And when that was all over, Dean checked his watch and realised that they were running later than they had expected.

"You've got more plans today?"

"Yeah. I'm going back home. One night, before university starts properly. Going to go through all the stuff I've got at home, and decide there's anything else I'll need for three months at university. Mostly sentimental stuff, I think."

"Oh, yeah. It must be weird being back in your own room after so long."

"It'll be weird seeing it with that crib and all the babyish decor," Adi answered with a shrug. She blushed a little as she imagined what her room looked like. "I mean, they redecorated everything while I was staying with Toni, and it was this big surprise for my birthday, and I've barely spent an adult night there to get used to it. It'll be almost as much a surprise as being in a nursery room when I got back from Kolechia."

"I'll bet. Oh, you should be little for the night, so you can say goodbye to all that stuff properly. Make sure your stuffies don't miss you. Could even have a sleepover if you want." Belle turned back to look pleadingly at Vicky again, as if asking parental permission. It seemed for a moment like there was still a trace of Lily left in her movements.

"I know we've barely met," Vicky offered, "but I've heard about your nursery, and I'd be very curious to see it. If you would need an extra babysitter. Lily hasn't really had another little girl to play with besides me, and I think some time with her friend would be good for both of you."

Adi looked down at her hands. She could imagine how fun it could be, a couple of young girls watching cartoons together while the adults' conversation went over their heads. It would be so much easier, to say goodbye to all of their adult concerns for a while. And she was sure that Mom would appreciate the chance to see her daughter cute and playful again, after the hours she'd spent recounting the stressful moments of the summer. It would be so easy, but that was exactly why Adi knew she couldn't consider it. It was a way of running away from her problems, and running away from who she really was. She didn't want to let go of herself and become a baby every time she had something to worry about. And as long as that seemed like a reasonable solution, she knew that it was still the last vestiges of the hypnotic suggestions putting the idea in her mind.

How could she say all that, without worrying Belle more or alienating these friends who were clearly just as interested in regression?

"Adi's said that she doesn't want to be little for a while," Dean said it for her. "She's still not sure if it's becoming a harmful addiction, so she's planning to take a break of several weeks. So she can clearly decide if she still wants to grow up for good."

"Awww," Belle giggled and pouted, and it was hard not to notice just how much she was smiling these days. "I'm sure you'll decide what's right for you. But... maybe it's a bit selfish to ask, but... while you're away at university, if you're not using the nursery, do you mind me using the room occasionally? Or even borrow some of the baby furniture?"

Adi couldn't help laughing then, and everyone joined in.

"Sure. Just one thing I have to ask. Can I use your bathroom again before we have to go?"