The Potty Draining Chart

Day 12

"Hey there, Nicky, it's time to wake up."

Nicole rubbed at her eyes. She hadn't set an alarm the night before–why bother? She didn't have anything to get up for. Yawning, she looked around the room. Everything looked the same, no obvious changes to the decor or anything–though by the smell, she had an obvious need for a change.

"Wha' time ith it?" she asked, sitting up. She barely registered the squish of her diapers anymore.

V had left the crib gate open and was already getting changing supplies out. "Around nine. I'd have let you sleep longer, but I didn't want you getting a rash."

Sliding off the side of the bed, Nicole said, "Aren't you–woah!"

Stumbling, she fell onto all fours, her balance wavering badly. Vanessa appeared by her side, supporting her with a hand. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, "Jus'...still wakin' up."

"Okay," Vanessa said, helping her to stand. "What were you saying?"

"Are you gonna be late for work?" Nicole asked, holding Vanessa's hand for stability so she could waddle to the changing table. She felt off, but tried to dismiss her weak balance and shaky legs as just nerves.

"I told my boss I'd be working from home for a while," Vanessa said. "Other than meetings and stuff I can't do out of the office."

"Oh." Getting a leg up, Nicole sat down, then looked at her friend with a wavering smile. "Thanks, V..."

"Now, let's deal with this bottom and get some breakfast in your belly, okay?" Vanessa asked.

Nic smiled and nodded. A fresh diaper would set a good tone for the rest of the day.

Once she was clean and taped into a fresh diaper, V got her dressed–all her remotely grown up clothes were long gone, so it was onesies or nothing. Nicole couldn't bring herself to even feel embarrassed about that change.

Then, it was breakfast time. Nothing fancy, just Froot Rings and a coffee in her favorite mug, one with a cartoon depiction of three peas in a pod and the text, "Don't Worry, Pea Happy!" printed on it.

Something had gone wrong with her food, though–it felt heavy. Whenever she got a spoonful of cereal and milk, it made her hand shake, fingers trembling so badly that she lost half the loops and most of the milk before the spoon made it to her lips.

Her coffee was a little better–if she gripped her mug with both hands, she could sip out of it well enough.

She made it work, leaving over her bowl so the dribbles only got onto her chest a little. The back of the cereal box had a maze, with a smiling, colorful Hornbill inviting her to solve it–she had to set aside food and trace the lines with her finger, but she found the right path with only two tries.

"You okay, Nic?" Vanessa asked, glancing up from washing dishes in the sink.

"Mhmm, why?" Nicole asked.

"You've got more cereal on your onesie than on your bowl," V said. "Pay a little more attention, sweetie?"

Nicole nodded. "Sure, okay."

Finding stuff to do ended up being a new challenge. With so much time off, Nicole wanted to engage in her hobbies, but reading was too hard to be any fun, and all her favorite video games had a bunch of text in them. Her renovated room had some solutions, though–a coloring and puzzle book on her shelf ended up providing a lot of fun, engaging challenges.

Vanessa left Nicole with a clean onesie, her coffee, and a box of crayons before getting back to work, and Nicole went to town. Color matching, trace-the-line puzzles, and even a word search–though she gave up on that one after a few tries.