Emory groans and rolls over in her bed. She'd been sleeping until now; Melody had put her to bed around nine, but she isn't sure what time it is now. She knows she should be asleep, but she can't seem to make herself tired.
The partly-finished Lego set from earlier that afternoon is begging to be finished, and it's a quiet toy, so maybe she'd even be able to finish it tonight, without waking up Melody. Then she'd be able to sleep for sure!
Emory sits up and sighs. With Melody's willingness to spank her revealed, she isn't sure that getting up to play with toys in the middle of the night is in her butt's best interest...
But it'll be so much fun...
Emory glances over at Rufus, the dim glow of her nightlight illuminating his familiar fuzzy outline.
"What do you think, Rufus?" she whispers around her pacifier.
Her furry companion is silent, as always, but his round eyes seem to be speaking to her. [Don't look at me, this was your idea.]
"Yeah, I know it was my idea, but you're supposed to back me up! Besides, it's not like you're gonna get spanked, so I dunno what you're even worried about. You don't even have to do anything besides be a lookout."
Emory pokes at the stuffie, and he falls over onto his side. [Leave me out of this. It's only going to lead to trouble for you, and my fur getting covered in gross stuff when you cry all over me.]
"Wow. Rude." Emory replies, picking up the stuffed bear and staring into his eyes.
[You're about as stealthy as an elephant on roller skates. With vertigo.]
"That's not true!" Emory whisper-yells. "I'm like, a ninja, or something. What even is vertigo anyway?"
[It makes you really dizzy and you might throw up.]
"But that'd be super loud--oh. Hey! I don't am-meciate that kind of talk...I'm not that loud..." Emory pouts.
[This is stupid, and I'm not getting involved in your shenanigans.]
"Well you can just stay here then, scaredy-bear. I'm gonna go and play." Emory slips out of bed as quietly as she can. Her diaper makes it impossible to be completely silent, but she manages to make it all the way to the living room without alerting Melody. It's only once she's there that she realizes she's forgotten to bring a light source, so she resorts to turning on a lamp. It's risky, but she can't very well build anything in the dark.
She manages to finish the tallest part of the lego set, which is difficult because she has to go slowly to avoid making noise, and because it's taller than she is and awkward to get to.
"Emmy, what are you doing?" Melody asks from somewhere behind her, She doesn't sound mad but it's hard to tell whether she's in trouble or not.
"Um...nothing?" Emory tries, even though she knows it's painfully obvious what she'd been up to.
"Oh really?" Melody sounds utterly unconvinced as she reaches down to pick Emory up. "Because it looks to me like you were playing with your toys, little one. It is very, very late, and you should be sleeping. It's not time to play with toys right now." She says gently, patting Emory's bottom.
"But I'm not tired..." Emory protests.
Melody sighs. "Sweetheart, you can't play right now. Let's go and see if we can find something to help you sleep." She carries Emory into the kitchen, taking some milk from the refrigerator. She sits Emory down on the counter and retrieves the zoo-themed bottle she'd wanted at the store, and some chocolate syrup from the cabinet.
"When I was a kid, a big glass of chocolate milk always put me right to sleep." Melody explains as she prepares Emory's bottle.
Emory nibbles on her thumb, wishing she hadn't forgotten her pacifier in her bed. She's never had a bottle before--or at least, not for a long time--and she's a little curious as to what it's like to drink from one. She'd thought that she wouldn't like her pacifier, but that turned out to actually be kind of nice...
"Alright," Melody says softly. "Come on." She lifts Emory up and carries her to her room. She sits down on Emory's bed, propping herself up against the headboard. She adjusts Emory so her head is resting in the crook of her elbow, leaving her other hand free to hold the bottle.
Emory fights off a yawn. It's actually really nice to be held like this, she realizes, but before she can figure out how to say that without embarrassing herself, Melody eases the bottle's nipple into her mouth. It feels pretty similar to her pacifier, but it's harder to drink out of than her cup. The chocolate milk is pretty good though, and Melody's gentle pats to her butt just might be making her sleepy.
"Shh." Melody whispers. "Close your eyes, sweetheart."
Emory makes a point of keeping them open, although that becomes exponentially more difficult as the bottle empties. She can feel Melody chuckling to herself.
"You're very stubborn, you know." Melody says gently, smiling down at her. "You won't have any energy to play with your Legos if you stay up all night..."
Emory loses the battle to keep her eyes open before she's able to finish the bottle, disappointed at the thought of not being able to play with her toys.
"Goodnight, Emmy. Sweet dreams." Melody says, from the edges of Emory's awareness as she gently gets her situated in bed once more.
Emory tries to respond, with a "Goodnight," of her own, but her mouth isn't cooperating, so it just comes out as gibberish. She drifts off just as Melody kisses her forehead.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's a little chilly for being so close to summer, but Melody's dressed her warmly enough that she isn't cold.
Emory is dressed in an oversized blue sweatshirt and jeans, although she'd discovered earlier that even though they look authentic and don't have snaps in the crotch, they also don't have buttons, just elastic around the waist. She suspects that that design choice is more for Melody's convenience than her own. Her shoes are just normal canvas sneakers, but they're comfortable enough.
"Are you excited for storytime?" Melody asks her.
Emory shrugs. "I guess." She rests her head on Melody's shoulder. She's perfectly capable of walking, and she feels sort of bad that Melody's carrying her and her diaper bag, but Melody hasn't complained about it, and it's nice to be held. "I'm a little nervous about meeting other Littles." She confesses. "And, I sort of feel bad that you're carrying me so much."
"You really don't weigh that much, Emmy, don't worry. You're not hurting me or anything like that. Besides, I enjoy it, and it keeps you from getting into mischief. Remember what I said about Caregivers putting on extra muscle during their Chrysalis time?"
Emory nods.
"So, it's no big deal. Why are you nervous about meeting other Littles? I'm sure they'll all be very nice."
"I don't know. It's just a lot. I don't mind being Little so much when I'm at home with you, but I don't know anyone here. And what if the older Littles think I'm dumb or something? What if I have a diaper leak and everyone sees? Oh, god, what if I poop while we're here?" Emory groans.
"Emmy, relax. If anything happens with your diaper, we have everything we need to get you cleaned up. I even brought a change of clothes just in case. Besides, you already went this morning after breakfast, so you should be fine for a while. And, I'll be with you the whole time. I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise." Melody soothes.
Emory puts her pacifier in her mouth, grateful for the comfort it brings, and the fact that Melody had insisted on making sure to clip it to her shirt before they left.
The library is quiet, as expected, but there's a small crowd of Caregivers and Littles off to the right of the entrance. The area they're in is covered by a big blue rug with some bookshelves and toys surrounding it. A big banner hangs over the space that reads Little's Story Corner. There's only a handful of people waiting for story time to begin, and only some of them are Littles. There are two boys and two girls, although one of the boys seems to be too little to do much besides crawl, and he seems nervous to join the rest of the Littles who are chattering animatedly with each other as they wait for storytime to begin.
"Are you here for storytime?" A pleasant voice calls out over the dull roar coming from the story corner.
Emory jumps, startled, and grips Melody's shirt tightly enough to blanch her knuckles.
"Shh," Melody whispers, patting her bottom in a soothing rhythm. "It's okay. I'm right here, I've got you. You're alright."
Emory feels her eyes welling up with tears, mostly because she's frustrated with herself for being such a ball of nerves, but also because she's genuinely anxious about going over to the Story Corner and meeting everyone. She presses her face into Melody's shoulder, hiding from the world in the face of this new challenge.
"Yes, we are." Melody says in a friendly voice.
"It's in the area to your right, the restrooms are just beyond that and they have Little-sized changing tables, just in case you need them."
"Thank you so much." Melody replies. Judging by the increase in noise, they've moved closer to the Story Corner.
Emory doesn't want this to be her introduction to a group of people she'll probably be seeing pretty often, but she can't help herself. She just clings to Melody and cries, unwilling to be put down.
"What's going on with all these tears, little one?" Melody wonders as she sits down with Emory in a nearby chair.
"They're gonna think I'm a dumb crybaby..." Emory mumbles.
"No, they won't. I bet they'll like you a lot! They just need to get to know you a bit first." Melody tells her.
"You think so?" Emory wonders, looking at Melody and sniffling.
"I know so. Now, let's get that face all cleaned up, and then maybe we can say 'hi' to a few people before Storytime starts." Melody says, fishing around in the diaper bag for a wet wipe.
Emory feels a bit better after having her face cleaned. She turns around in Melody's lap to see if storytime is ready to begin, and comes face-to-face with one of the littles.
She has red hair and green eyes, and judging by the way she's dressed, she's probably in the oldest group of Littles.
"Hi," She says gently, like she's afraid of scaring Emory. "I'm Isabelle, but you can call me Izzy for short. Are you new at storytime? I've never seen you here before."
Emory gives a small nod. "Hi," she responds around her pacifier. "I'm Emory. But, you can call me Emmy if you want."
"Oh wow, it's super nice to meet you Emmy. I'm this many," Izzy continues, holding up both of her hands. Her left hand has her thumb and forefinger in the shape of an 'L' and her right hand is holding up four fingers. "How old are you?"
Emory realizes that this girl is asking about her Little classification and not her actual age, so she copies the gesture, with two fingers held up instead of four.
"Aww, that's really sweet. I bet it's scary to be in a new place with so many people, huh?" Izzy asks, giving her a knowing look.
Emory nods again, hands sliding into the pocket on the front of her sweatshirt.
"That's okay." Izzy continues with a smile. "You look super-duper cute today, I love your hair bow!" She lowers her voice to just above a whisper. "You know, I cried when I came here for the first time too."
"Thanks." Emory says softly. "But, you're an L-4. I bet you're not scared of anything..."
Izzy shrugs. "Everyone gets scared sometimes. I get nervous when I meet new people, but I'm working on that. I saw you crying, and I came over to tell you that there's nothing here to be scared of. Mitchell and Kale," Izzy pauses to point out the two Little boys on the far side of the room, engrossed in a book about dragons.
Emory wonders idly why anyone would name their kid after an icky green vegetable before tuning back into what Izzy is telling her.
"Are L-4s. They can be kinda loud sometimes, but you'll get used to them. Kori," Izzy pauses again, this time pointing out a girl in white shortalls with black hair and blue eyes who is crouched in front of the section labeled Fairy Tales. "is an L-2, like you. I think you guys will get along pretty well. We have an L-1 who comes sometimes, Ruben, but he isn't here today. He has an illness that makes it hard for him to walk and stuff, but he's super smart and friendly."
"Oh." Emory says, still processing all this new information.
"I'm gonna go potty before we start, but you can sit next to me if you want. I'll be over there with Kori."
"Okay, I will. Thanks Izzy!" Emory says brightly, allowing herself to smile at the older Little.
"Awesome!" Izzy grins. "I'll be right back." she waves goodbye to Emory, and then heads off in the direction of the bathrooms.
"See? I told you they'd like you." Melody says. "Do you want to go and say 'hi' to Kori? I bet she'd be happy to have someone her age to talk to. I'll be right here in case you get scared, okay?"
Emory nods and turns back around to give Melody a hug before being placed on the floor. She takes a deep breath and goes over to where Kori is looking at books.
"Um, hi. I'm Emmy." Emory says softly. She's never introduced herself as 'Emmy' before, but it seems like the right thing to do.
"Hi," Kori responds in a very quiet voice. "I'm Kori. Are you new?"
"Yeah...I just got Classified yesterday. This is my first time here."
"Mr. Taffy is reading today. He's really good at voices. You'll like him." Kori tells her with a smile. "Is that your Mommy?" she asks, pointing at Melody.
"She's my Guardian." Emory says, and it feels strange to say it out loud. "I don't have an official Caregiver yet."
"Oh. Maybe she'll end up being your Mommy though. She seems super nice. My Daddy is over there with Izzy's Mommy." Kori points to a muscular man with dark skin and very little hair on his head, although he has a short beard. "I think they like each other." Kori says conspiratorially.
Emory giggles at Kori's expression. "Maybe..."
"Miss West is really nice, I just wish Daddy would stop making eyes at her. It's weird."
"I can understand that. Have you been a Little for long?" Emory wonders.
"Since I graduated high school. It's been a while, but I'm not sure exactly how long. Probably like five years by now, I think. How about you?"
Emory takes her pacifier out, letting it hang by its tether. "I just got my results yesterday. It's...different. I thought I'd be able to trick the system into giving me a different result, but it didn't work. I wasn't prepared for all of this. It's not all bad though. Being held and stuff is pretty nice."
"Yeah." Kori agrees. "The diapers were the worst part for me. It was hard to adjust at first, but I don't mind them anymore. They're comfy, and it's nice to not have to interrupt playtime to go potty like some of the bigger Littles do. You should go to the playground if you haven't gone yet--it's super fun."
"I guess...I'm not really used to that part yet. But, the playground does seem like it'd be fun. So, do you like, work or anything?"
Kori nods. "I write children's books and books for Littles. I did Andy the Anxious Ant and the WonderQuest series. And some other stuff too."
Emory's mouth drops open. "You wrote WonderQuest? That's so cool! I love those books! I've got them all on my phone to listen to."
Kori turns a bit pink. "Thanks."
Just then, Izzy returns from the restroom and kneels down in front of them.
"Hey guys! Are you playing nice with each other?" she wonders.
"We're just talking. Emmy's new to being a Little. Is it storytime?" Kori wonders.
"Yep! Mr. Taffy just got here, that's why I was coming to get you."
Kori grins. "Yes!"
"Do you want a piggyback ride to the story circle?" Izzy asks, and Kori nods emphatically, clambering onto the older girl's back. Izzy isn't much bigger than Kori, but she doesn't seem to be struggling when she stands up. She stretches out a hand toward Emory. "Come on, you too, little bean. Can't have you getting lost, that wouldn't be any fun."
Emory takes Izzy's hand and allows herself to be led over to the area where Kale and Mitchell are sitting.
"Hey, new girl," Kale says, reaching up to adjust his hat. Tufts of blonde hair poke out from under it, and his brown eyes are kind as he waves at Emory.
Emory returns the wave and smiles. Maybe this place won't be so bad after all.
Mitchell just waves. He has dark hair and dark eyes, and he seems to be lost in thought about something.
Emory waves back and smiles at him too, but he doesn't seem to notice.
Izzy puts an arm around her shoulders and pulls Emory closer to her and Kori--Kori is curled up in Izzy's lap and she looks like she's about to fall asleep.
"Are you tired, Kori?" Izzy asks.
Kori shakes her head and adjusts her position so she's leaning back against Izzy. "Nope, just getting comfy.
Izzy leans down and whispers something in Kori's ear, and Kori turns beet red.
"Izzy, stop it, Emmy's gonna hear you!"
"Kori, relax, I bet Emmy wears diapers just like you do," Izzy replies, looking over to Emory for confirmation.
Emory turns a little pink at being put on the spot like that, but she nods anyway. She wiggles, but she can't tell if she's wet or not. She settles against Izzy as an older man with kind blue eyes and a bushy white beard wheels himself to the front of the room in his wheelchair. His resemblance to Santa Claus is uncanny.
"Good afternoon, Little ones! I see we have a new face with us today, so for those of you who don't know, my name is Mr. Taffy. Today, we'll be reading Awesome Possum Goes to the Rainforest."
"He looks kinda like Santa." Emory points out quietly to Kori.
"Yeah, he does, doesn't he? I don't know how I never noticed that before." Kori agrees. "You don't think..."
"No way...well maybe." Emory raises her hand slowly. She realizes that her question is silly, but she needs to know the answer.
"Yes, little one?" Mr. Taffy points to Emory.
"Are you Santa Claus?" Emory wonders out loud.
Mr. Taffy gives a hearty chuckle before slowly looking at all the Littles seated in front of him. He gives a very deliberate wink, before smiling and putting a finger to his lips.
Emory looks over at Kori and grins as Mr. Taffy begins to read.
"I knew it!" she mouths.
Kori smiles back at her, reaching out to give her a gentle, quiet high-five before settling in to listen to the story.
Emory leans against Izzy and does the same. It only takes a moment for her to realize that they had been right about Mr. Taffy.
He is really good at voices.