✅ Over Protected

61. Babies Wind Down

I still thought that I might say something; but when Scott patted me on the head and told me what a good girl I was, I thought it must surely be best to play along for now, and make sure I knew what was happening.

We played with dolls; fancy electronic ones that could talk to each other, and plain old-fashioned rag dolls. We watched cartoons. I showed Jinny some of my favourites, and I found that when I noticed the things that had stopped me enjoying Pocket Cats as a big girl, I could just laugh at how silly it was instead. I knew that the plots didn't make any sense, but somehow that didn't matter now. Maybe there was still some of one of the drugs in my system, making it easier to see the silver lining; but it felt real enough to me.

But eventually, I knew that it was time to give my full attention to the people around me. Sarah started fidgeting, and I saw Scott leaning over to whisper to her a couple of times. He always made sure to pay attention to me and the other babies, but it was clear that his main focus was on Sarah today. He really cared about her.

Eventually, as the clock ticked on, Sarah managed to find her voice. I noticed that some of my friends were a little less bouncy than usual. Lyra had actually fallen asleep already; although I was sure the wipes at her last change had something to do with that. Even when she was supposed to be growing up again, her Mummies had left strict instructions against letting her stay up too late.

"I uhh..." Sarah mumbled. "Do you need my help looking after the little ones? I think Lyra's in dreamland already, and Alanis isn't far behind."

"May as well help while you're here," Monique said with a smile that betrayed absolutely nothing.

"Yeah, I was thinking... I'm going to stay with Scott tonight, and it might be better if I go a bit earlier. Don't disturb his neighbours by opening the gates super late."

"Okay," Monique said, after a little thought. "Your Mummy said she'd be back around midnight, in any case. But can you help me to get all the babies into bed first? I don't know if I'm young and strong enough to carry Lyra to bed. If you young people could help, I'll offer you a hot chocolate to say thanks."

"Sure," Scott said, without hesitation. "Anything to help the little kids."

And that was how it ended up that Scott and Sarah were helping to tuck Lyra into bed, while Monique prepared their reward. I sat and smiled, and noticed that by the time my sister came back, Monique might be asking Scott to help carry Jinny up to her bed as well. That was a big benefit of having Scott here; two years of puberty blockers plus three months of testosterone supplements was starting to have a real effect on his physique. He could carry any of the babies, which would be a struggle for Mummy or Monique.

It took quite a few minutes before Sarah and Scott came downstairs; and they were both trying to hide their smiles when they appeared. I didn't want to think about why, but I couldn't miss Monique's frown as she handed them mugs of hot chocolate. She'd done pretty well at following Mum's recipe, and I was sure it would have tasted wonderful.

"Sarah?" I piped up, sure I shouldn't wait any longer. "I... uhh... think I need a change too. I'm not quite ready for bed yet, though."

"Okay," she smiled, and reluctantly set her drink down. "We'll be back in a couple of minutes, okay? And I think Alice deserves a hot chocolate too, if it's not too much trouble. She's been such a good girl."

"Yes, she has," Monique smiled, and then Sarah was leading me upstairs. My bed was doing double duty as a changing table today, while we had so many babies in the house. But I really couldn't object to that.

"Which wipes?" Sarah asked. When she looked down into my eyes, I was sure she could see that I was able to think like a grown-up. I didn't want to, but I could, and she knew that I had a better understanding of all the different diapers than she did.

"The Girlzz diapers," I said. "They're down beside my bed here. And octopussy wipes, if that's okay? But I don't think it matters much now."

"Oh? Giving up on your theory?"

I thought for a second, a little embarrassed. But I knew that I had to tell her the truth, even if I hated that it was happening. I told her what I'd seen, and then she went silent for a few seconds. She picked up her phone and sent a message before she actually replied.

"I guess you were right, then. Why are you always the one who sees through things and digs out the truth?" She shrugged, and helped me out of the wet diaper. "In any case, we'd better get you clean, right?" She thought for a second, and then agreed to use the star wipes. They would make me a little light-headed so I could enjoy myself more; and Sarah didn't think she would need any more help from me tonight. We talked a little bit about what we were going to do for the rest of the night, and then switched back to baby talk when my thoughts started to slow down a little. I could still have thought like a big girl if I wanted to, but right now I was glad that I didn't have to. My sister could take care of herself.

When we came down again, everybody was sitting together in the lounge. Alanis had asked to watch some old cartoon, and even Sarah and Scott could enjoy it with us. It was a weird one with different bits of the show aimed at different ages. It was about a group of teenage superheroes, but there was a secondary plot about their ghost dinosaur sidekicks, which even the babies could follow, and I could still just about see the edges of a more complex story between their parents, which could only be seen by reading between the lines.

There was something for everyone, although it wasn't long before Lyra was no longer cheering the appearance of the dinosaur ghosts, and seemed to be fast asleep on the couch.

"Oh, it looks like a little one has fallen asleep," Monique said, entirely unsurprised. "Adorable, isn't she? Can you two help me get her to bed again? I think Jinny and Alice will be joining her before long."

"Yeah..." Scott mumbled, and then paused to yawn loudly.

"Think you stayed up too late," Sarah said with a little laugh. "I'm starting to get sleepy too, maybe I should hit the hay. You okay with Alice and Jinniver, Monique? If we go to bed now? Mum'll be back soon if you need more help."

"That'll be fine," Monique said with a smile. "Thank you so much for helping. And I hope you both sleep well."