✅ Over Protected

57. Sisters Explain Everything

This chapter is dedicated to NEP, with thanks for your support. Thank you!

"Remember that visit to the water park?" Sarah said, after a couple of minutes of silence. "Well, Mum wanted us to meet that Monique and some of her friends. And one of them, she was really mad with me for finding some quality time with Scott. I couldn't meet her eyes, so I was like... you know how it is when somebody keeps on talking, and you know they don't really understand the situation, but they won't listen? For a couple of days after, I had this logo burned into my brain. Like an hourglass and a screwdriver. A pin badge on the strap of her diaper bag, and my eyes came back to it every time I had to pretend I wasn't staring off into the distance."

"What's that?" I asked; the symbol meant nothing to me.

"It's actually a company logo," Madison said. "After all the research I tried to do ages ago, and poking into things again last year when you gave me new motivation, I ended up pretty good at finding odd symbols. "They're called 'Bureau of Kidult Services' or something. They make all kinds of baby furniture, like high chairs and changing tables, but they do them big enough for adults. They give away stickers and pin badges if you buy enough from them, like a loyalty scheme. So if you look online, you can find all these freaks who enjoy treating their adult kids like they're babies, using the logo as a way to recognise each other."

"Yeah. And I thought this syndrome thing might seem heaven-sent to those people," Sarah added. "But then Maddy remembered something."

"What you said last year," Madison said, nodding. "About that Mothers Hub site. That logo shows up there as well, on one of the subforums that doesn't have a description. You'd never find it unless you were looking for it. And I read everything they said again. I mean, you showed it to me last year. Do you remember? I said it was crazy, there's no way it could be true, so we started looking in other directions. But now there was so much extra evidence pointing in the same direction, I couldn't jnust ignore it. I think you were actually right, and I turned you away from the answers. They've actually found some drugs that have a side effect of causing bedwetting. They drug their kids, try to fake the effects of this syndrome, and then treat you like a baby until you give up fighting and play along. Your Mom is on the forum, I found her profile on that site. She's doing this on purpose, trying to turn you and Sarah into babies. So you'll never be able to rebel and grow up."

"Yeah," I said with a half shrug. "It's not so bad, I mean, it's nice not having to worry about chores, or schoolwork, unless I really want to. But if you–" And then I stopped abruptly, finally realising that what she said had been almost but not quite what I was expecting. "Wait, what? Sarah too? But she promised..."

"You've already talked to Mum about this?" Sarah asked. "Maybe we better put our heads together, then. The more we know, the more power we have to stop this. You can grow up again, and start getting interested in boys."

"No thanks," I said with a laugh. "I mean, I can–"

"Or girls. I mean, if that's what you prefer. But you should be able to choose, and think about–"

"No, I mean no thanks to..." I started. "Okay, I should tell you what I figured out, at least. Trust me, it's not as bad as you're thinking. But if she's been doing this stuff to you again, I really want to get to the bottom of it. So, I'll tell you from my point of view. Right?"

They nodded, and I shifted position again. Got a new drink and snacks, so we wouldn't have to interrupt the conversation.

"Okay," I said. "These drugs exist. There's a whole range, with different effects. Mummy thought that Sarah and Scott were sneaking out of school for sex. I mean, I can see how she guessed that from the evidence she had, but it was wrong. And she thought that making you a baby again would be the best way to stop that. I gave her a little more context, but by then she'd already realised how much she'd missed out on, not being able to look after us when we were babies. So she kind of put off stopping the treatment; saying she'd let you grow up again next week, or the week after. I didn't like that, it's so selfish when you were helping everybody. And after Madison didn't believe me, I started working by myself. Collecting evidence to prove what she'd been doing, a threat she couldn't ignore. That's something you could go to jail for. But I didn't want to tell Sarah, because I didn't want you to hate Mummy. I thought if she stopped, then there's no harm done. She was only trying to help you, but if you heard about that you'd be mad, and..."

"Okay," Sarah said, as I trailed off. "That makes sense, I guess. So it's not a new thing? It was the same last year when I had the pubococcygitis? I figured that much was real, and maybe it gave her the idea to do this to you? But I wasn't sure."

"No, she was doing this last year," I said. "I saw Mummy putting the drops in your hot chocolate, so I rushed to carry them into the other room and swapped the mugs. And when she tried to warn me without admitting what she was doing, I told her I knew everything and I could prove it. I told her if she wants me to keep quiet, she has to let you grow up... and let me be the baby."

"Why would you do that?" Madison asked. "I mean, you could have made her stop. If you had that much evidence, then it doesn't matter when she tries to deny it. And all these other people too. I thought maybe you came too close and she tried to mess you up so you couldn't say anything, but you actually offered?"

"I think I get it," Sarah said. "She said Mum missed out on being 'Mummy' when we were little. Like, she was working two or three jobs, and we were always with neighbours babysitting. Alice always looks for the solution that makes everybody else happy, so she wanted to give Mum some of what she wanted. Even when..."

"Not quite. I mean, I thought she deserved to have some of that when I saw how happy it makes her. But I was kind of... jealous, I guess? Of all the attention you were getting when she treated you like a little kid. Of not needing to do chores, and being the centre of attention. And sometimes when I watched TV, I just couldn't enjoy it the same. Like the kids cartoons aren't as fun anymore, because I always see the plot holes that real little kids wouldn't be able to understand. And it frustrated me, being too smart to enjoy them properly. I really was... curious, I guess. It can only be two years at most, because there's side effects beyond that. But I get a second shot at being a baby, and it's been so much fun."

They both looked down at their hands, and didn't say anything. I guess they didn't know what to think. But I knew there was more I should have been saying.

"Look, I'm sorry. I hated lying to you, but I knew you wouldn't be happy if you found out what she'd tried to do. You wouldn't give it time to understand where she was coming from. I didn't want to make everything awkward. I'm really sorry about that. And putting extra work on you too; I didn't realise you'd end up babysitting so much, or covering my chores. I promise, I'll ask Mummy to let me be bigger more days, so I can pull my weight. But please, can I have these last few months? It's a lot to ask for, but..."

"But you're my baby sister," she said. "Of course I want you to be happy. And if that's what you really want, I'll be your babysitter. But Mummy needs to know that I learned the truth. She can't start doing this to me again. What's she thinking?"

"Maybe she knows Alice can't be her baby much longer?" Madison hazarded. "She wants you to fill the void. Or... maybe she knows that her suspicions aren't wrong this time, and she thinks that's different. Would it really hurt you that much to wait until you finish high school?"

"No," I said. "Mummy promised that I'd be the baby, and that she'd never do that to you again. She needs to keep her promises, or how can I even trust her? We need to talk about this properly."

This time, Sarah could only not, but I could see she was a little uneasy. It was a big deal, talking about something like this. And it was hard for me to even consider challenging Mummy again. I knew that she was always right, and she would do the best thing for me. But I also knew that was what the books were teaching me to believe; like they taught naughty girls to do what their Mummy said. The books were twisting the way I thought while I was in a vulnerable state. And if Mummy thought that would make me overlook what she was doing to my sister after she'd promised not to... well, she was right, really. But when I forced myself to think about it, I knew that was something she had always taught me was wrong. Even if it was natural for me to think that Mummy always knew best, I could see the flaw in that logic as soon as I really made myself think.

I knew we had to talk to Mummy; but right now, I really wished there was some way to put off that conversation.