Tess sat on the potty and squirmed. It felt a little weird, but she was sure that she was going to use it like a big girl. And she knew that she knew how to use it, she just couldn't remember right now. This was like a game, and all she needed to do was remember it. But she wasn't doing too well. She sat there, and tried to work out what she was doing. She was sure that she was going to use the new potty, but the more she tried the harder it was to remember how.
"You just need to make tinkles," Gabby advised, and Tess nodded. That was obvious, of course she knew that. She was a big girl. She just hadn't remembered it for a minute. So she sat there and tried to pee. She tried it leaning forward, and then leaning back. She tried thinking about peeing, and imagining how it felt. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing happened. Was she doing it wrong?
"I can't do it," she eventually conceded. "No fair. It doesn't work."
Gabby was more sympathetic than she'd ever been before, reassuring Tess and telling her that she might be able to do it next time. She said that maybe the little girl wasn't ready to pee yet, because it wasn't long since she'd wet her diaper. That was super embarrassing, and it wasn't the easiest thing to admit. But Gabby also thought that she might be having trouble because they'd made her too little. That sounded like a better idea, because then it wasn't her fault. So she asked more, and Gabby did her best to explain. She said that sometimes, it might take a while to learn how to do it herself. Some kids might not learn to do it all by themselves, and would get into a habit of doing it at the right time. Like when she heard the sounds the potty made when she pressed the buttons. It was easier to make a habit than learn how to do it yourself. And that sounded sensible. And useful too, Tess realised. If she could make herself have that habit, she would be able to just press the button and her pee would come out. It would be so much easier.
"Yeah, I'm that little!" she said with a smirk. And then she reached for the buttons, pressing at them with her fingers. She knew now that if she could find the right one she wouldn't need anymore help.
"Behold the royal throne!" A speaker chirped, and Tess found herself laughing. She'd seen Bibi Babi Miko a few times, and she knew some of the characters, but she couldn't remember the name of that one. She knew who it was, though, and she could visualise the cartoon in her head but she had never learned his name.
"Take your seat, Princess. The court is ready."
"All hail her highness."
"You got this, M'lady."
"Such a clever girl."
"You can do it, Princess!"
When Tess heard the voice of Montoya Anguine cheering her on, she knew she could do it. Those were the magic words; that was what she had just agreed to. She felt a little twitch in her tummy, and she knew that she would pee now. Maybe she wasn't old enough to do it all by herself yet, but she could learn to do it by magic when she heard the right words. And she knew she was doing it right now, but still nothing came out. That could only mean that there wasn't any pee in her, and she needed to wait and try again.
She relayed this information to Gabby, who seemed disappointed. Maybe she'd been just as excited to see the little girl use her potty as Tess had been. But she didn't get upset, she just told Tess that she was still a big girl almost, and she could do it after. Tess nodded and smiled, sure that she would be able to do it now she had the magic buttons on the potty to help her. She didn't complain while Gabby put her in a diaper again, because she was too busy thinking about what she would be able to do later. She was too excited to pay attention then.
They all went back to the lounge. Even though the big present was open now, they still had a pile of lots of little ones. There were sweeties that Tess couldn't help eating whenever the grown up's back was turned, and little dolls. There was a wooden crocodile, with a head that moved just a little so it could snap its jaws. Tess lifted it up towards Ffrances and made it talk. She tried to tell some jokes, but she couldn't remember any good ones. So she decided that crocodiles don't know good jokes. She could just say something that sounded like a joke instead.
"Knock knock!"
"Who's there?" Gabby answered, after Ffrances didn't seem to understand.
"George!" the little crocodile said.
"George who?"
"Snap snap!" Tess waved the crocodile's head as fast as she could, like it was eating. And that seemed so funny that she fell down laughing at her own joke. She didn't even get to see how much Ffrances liked it, but she knew that it was really funny. It wasn't what you expected, and that always made people laugh.
There was a yoyo in the toys as well, and Tess spent a lot of time trying to work out how she could use it. If she could so that all by herself then she would be a big girl, as well. She wasn't getting bored, and she just wanted to keep on trying. But when Ffrances stopped giggling at her antics and babbling in baby talk, Tess put the yoyo down for a minute and tried to work out what was different.
"Looks like your sister's too little to need a potty," Gabby said, and then Tess understood. Ffrances was just a bit quiet because she was making tinkles in her diaper. Tess didn't need to do that anymore, she really was a big girl. But it was a reminder that she should try using the potty again. It must have been a long time now, because they had opened more presents than she could count. And she really wanted to try using the potty again as soon as she was ready.
"I gotta pee!" she said, so excited to find that she knew she needed to go. "I can go the potty like a big girl, and show you–" But even as she spoke, Tess remembered what she had said before. That Ffrances couldn't hold it at all, and would have an accident as soon as she needed to go. That she would need a grown-up to change her diaper. And that they were both that little. She did her best to remind herself that she had a potty now, and that she was a big girl. But she was still little, and once she remembered she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold it. She did her best, trying to remember how to make those muscles stop. She tried to stop, but as soon as she tried that she was giving a little push and her diaper was all warm.
The armies of the blush rebellion marched across her face again, and Tess knew she wouldn't be able to use the potty if she tried now. She'd been so sure she could do it, and then she had suddenly wet herself without any control. She was a little baby just like her sister.
"I umm..." she mumbled, and then remembered that she wanted to be big and brave. Admitting it would probably be better, so then Gabby could help her. Gabby was a grown up, she could make anything better,
"I might need a diaper change too," Tess mumbled, quietly because she was nervous. She didn't want Gabby to know she had an accident, but she knew she wouldn't be dry until Gabby was ready to change her. So she had to be nice and let her cousin take care of her, at least until she managed to use the potty and be a big girl all by herself.
"Aww, sweetie," Gabby said. "Did you have an accident? And I didn't even say the magic words. You really like being a baby, don't you?" Tess nodded. She wanted to prove that she was big enough to care for herself, but she had to let Gabby do some of the stuff for now. Gabby changed Ffrances's diaper, and then Tess's. She teased Tess a lot, but she almost didn't talk to Ffrances, and Tess thought that didn't really seem fair. So for the next bit of playing time, she made sure to pay a lot of attention to her little sister, always telling Ffrances how cute she was, and how much they loved her.
Once they'd played with all of the toys some more, and Tess had tried to teach Ffrances how to use a yoyo even if she didn't understand it herself, Gabby suggested that they could watch cartoons for a little bit. There was a special Christmas one on, she said, all about reindeers and angels. And Tess found it was easy to get excited about that.
"You'll get so excited about that," Gabby said. "You'll be so interested when the show comes on, and it'll seem like the most entertaining thing ever. You'll be surprised by all the twists because you're so little, and it'll leave you in a giggly mood the rest of the day."
"You like me being a baby!" Tess giggled. "You want me to be littler." She was so glad that Gabby had said it, because it gave her an excuse to say what she really wanted.
"Of course I do. And you do too, don't you? You know you're going to like it, so you should let yourself be that little. You don't win anything by being bored and a little tiny bit grown up."
"Okay! But..." Tess took a deep breath. She knew it was a big thing to ask, and she hoped she wasn't doing something super silly. "I wanna use the potty like a big girl. Can you tell me not to have a acca... accident until I can go potty? Say the magic words please?"
"Just tell you not to pee? I think that only works for accidents in bed, baby. In the day you'll need to --."
"No, it does. I axed Ffrances to change it. So it works in the day now, if you tell me to not to have an accident, I can use the potty like a big girl. Please? I can do more stuff, if you want me to do more baby stuff like laugh at cartoons or forget colours. But please, pretty please, I really wanna go potty."
"If I tell you not to have an accident until you used the potty," Gabby said slowly, as if she was a little kid too and she had to munch the words in little bits to understand them. "You have to agree with what I said about being excited by the TV, and I can tell you to do a different little girl thing after? Is that what you're saying?"
"Okay," Tess mumbled, wondering what Gabby would ask her to do. But she knew she would say okay. Whatever it was, if she could go potty and prove she was a big girl then she knew it would be worth it.
Author's Note: It's half past midnight here, and I just finished today's chapter. Sorry for leaving it until the last minute; and I hope there aren't too many errors in here (I'm both falling asleep, and a little tipsy right now. Little girls shouldn't be allowed strong beer). If you see any mistakes, please leave me a comment!