✅ Over Protected

47. Sisters Share Secrets

"So what happened here, then?" Sarah asked, as she started to change Penny's diaper. It must have been the most embarrassing situation in the world for my friend, as she tried to hide her face behind her hands. Not just the change, but the question as well. I thought for a moment that if she'd known that they were going to have this debate, she would have tried to change herself instead. She didn't want to talk about this in front of all of us, and especially not with Sarah.

The only response Penny could come up with was a little embarrassed squeak, not even a single word.

"Like, seriously," Sarah insisted. "I knew you're staying over to help look after Alice and Lyra, but... you're supposed to be the babysitter. I didn't expect I'd be changing your diapers as well. Hell, I thought you could take care of the babies so I'd have the evening to myself." Penny clearly couldn't answer. She was just too embarrassed. She tried to look away and pretend that Sarah wasn't standing over her like some kind of inquisitor, but when she turned her head in this direction she could just see Scott, clearly also embarrassed. And maybe getting changed like this in front of a boy was even more stressful for her. But whatever the reason, I was sure she couldn't answer. And the worst possible outcome in my mind was that she would assume Sarah knew some part of what was going on. I would have to speak for her.

"Penny's got a variant of the condition me and Lyra got," I said. I ran the monologue through in my head first, trying to come up with something that wouldn't make anybody present doubt the version of the story they had been told. Penny, Sarah, and Lyra had all heard different explanations for how this "condition" worked, all including different parts of the actual truth; and I couldn't contradict any of those, unless it would appear to the girl in question that I was lying for the benefit of one of the others.

"She's a baby too?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did she do something to cause that?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. It was the best answer, because Lyra and Penny both knew that it wasn't quite right. But as I said it, a better answer came to me. I hated that I had to keep all the lies straight, but this was so that everybody could be happy with the part that they knew. "I mean... she got the mutated form of the virus. And she went to see the doctor by herself because she was too embarrassed to tell her parents. She's got some experimental pills that should manage it, and keep her from ever spacing out like I do. But..."

"I forgot to take the pills," Penny whimpered. "I only realised when it was too late. I'm going to have my brain switch off, or I might... Stuff like this might happen. And it won't go back to normal until the morning."

"She doesn't want her parents to know," I said again. "But she knows Mummy is used to looking after babies with this kind of problem, so... she asked if she could come for a sleepover. So we can help her hide her mistake. Yeah?"

"So where's this pill?" Scott was the one to spot the flaw in my story. But I knew how to deal with that.

"Mummy's got it. So she can make sure Penny doesn't forget again in the morning, and she'll be back to normal before she gets home."

"Okay," Sarah said, taping Penny's diaper up. "One baby butt all clean. But I think your parents deserve to know about that stuff. They're supposed to protect you, and they can't do that if they don't know what's happening."

"Like Mummy knows all the things you do?" I asked, desperate to head off any unexpected problems for Penny. Because if her parents heard that story, they would want to see these imaginary tablets, or the doctor's report, or something like that. All my lies would start to unravel.

"Does she know you've got a boy coming to help you with babysitting?" Lyra mumbled, her speech starting to get a little hard to understand. She must have been sliding into a baby mindset, but still had enough awareness to put our friend's safety first.