✅1️⃣ | Hypnosis Doesn't Work Like That!

195: The Best Way to Prepare for My Exams

Adelaide didn't quite follow what Mom had told her, but she knew it didn't matter. Somewhere at the start, she thought there had been an instruction that she didn't need to think about about her baby behaviours, because they would just happen and feel so natural. And then there were a bunch of big words that she was too little to understand. It was like it had been at her party, when the grown-ups were telling her all about how to be a baby and the stream of words went past too quickly for her to focus on a single word. But this time she knew she didn't need to worry, because Mommy would tell her when it was time to be a big girl again.

Once she was feeling like a baby again, she found that she really didn't need to worry about anything. She could just do whatever came to mind, and she didn't even think about getting in trouble. It was a wonderful feeling, and she wished she could have enjoyed it so much the whole time.

After breakfast, she was back to playing with her toys again. She spread her dolls out on the floor, and gave most of them the same names as yesterday. Some of them were talking about the same things they'd done the day before, and some of them were going back to fights that they'd already solved. This time, Adelaide thought she could help them to make up, so everybody would be happy and safe like she was. So she asked one doll and then the other why they were so angry, and listened carefully to their answers. Sometimes she didn't get it, but they all told her why they were angry with somebody else, or why some other toy had something they wanted. And the more she talked to them, the more Adi thought that they were learning to be nice to each other. They wanted to fight, or use nasty magic on each other, but she could make them talk about everything instead.

By lunch time, peace had been declared and all the dolls were dancing on a giant imaginary chessboard. Mom called Adi into the kitchen, where a bright green plastic bowl was full of beans and sausage pieces in tomato sauce. She had a big pile of toast too, cut into fingers so she could dip them in the sauce and feed herself. Adi started out giggling at how childish that was, but as soon as she took the first bit, she felt so excited about eating by herself, and using the little pieces of bread to ferry sauce to her mouth. A lot of it ended up on her clothes and on the tablecloth, and she laughed when she saw what a mess she was making.

Somewhere in her mind, the voice of years of discipline said she was going to get in trouble for leaving the kitchen like this. But Mom was still here, and still smiling, and that inner voice was drowned out by one telling her that she was just a baby, and this is how babies eat. At some point a spoon appeared next to her hand, and Adelaide did a little better at getting tiny pieces of sausage into her mouth. By the time she'd finished, she was really proud that even if she spilled the sauce, she hadn't left any pieces of food lying on the table. Maybe that was because she'd tried to scoop them up again, sometimes flicking them right across the tabletop, but with some help from Mom she'd managed to eat everything. That was surely something to be proud of.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Mom asked again. Adi nodded, and noticed that there was still quite a lot of sweet, tomatoey goodness around her face. She tried to catch some of it with her tongue, but she couldn't get much, and both of them ended up laughing as Mom came closer to wipe her face down with a napkin.

"It's fun!" Adi declared, and somehow felt like it was a small triumph just managing to put two words together. She pulled Mom closer and hugged her tightly, and then laughed even more when she saw that a lot of the food on her shirt was now on Mom instead.

"Oh, Adelaide!" Mom looked down and shook her head, but she still wasn't angry. "I do hope you're not going to get Dean all sticky like this," she said, like it was a joke that Adi didn't quite get.

She thought about Dean, and how much she wanted to impress him. She still felt that, even if she was a little baby. She wanted to be clean when he arrived, not all covered in lunch, and she wondered if there would be time to get some clean clothes before the babysitter arrived. But before she could even think properly, there was a knock at the door.

Author's Note: Thank you all ☺ I think someone must have shared the link, because I see a few new readers looking at this story. A little something to brighten my day, and maybe one of those new readers will be impressed enough to check out my books or Patreon too. I can always hope.

And a little side note; I checked today and realised it's been 204 days since I started writing this story. So even with so many days missed due to anxiety, I'm still pretty close to a chapter per day. I think that's quite an achievement. Thank you again!