Tess found herself blushing as she realised that this was her first kiss from the guy she really liked. All the time they'd been in some undefinable relationship that might or might not have been dating, but now this was their first kiss. And somehow that seemed even more of a milestone than inviting him round to act as her daddy while she played the role of a younger child for him. The wave of heat rushed up to her face and she would have been speechless for a second; frozen in place by emotions she didn't even know how to respond to. But then her embarrassment doubled as she realised that her whole body had frozen for that first, breathless instant. She had relaxed, or tensed, or something like that. As soon as Spike's lips touched her brow, innocent and paternal, the rush of warmth to her face had been matched by a feeling of warmth elsewhere, which she really wished she could have avoided.
Overwhelmed by emotions for a second, Tess had wet herself.
She rested one hand on her thigh for a second, in case she was mistaken about what she was feeling. But there was no doubt there; her jeans were soaked. A second passed before she recovered her composure enough to think about what she should be doing now. She clamped down and stopped the flow, but if she could feel it so easily she knew there was no doubt that Spike would be able to see. As soon as his face moved away from hers, she would be completely humiliated.
Her mind was racing, searching for any excuse she could give so that she wouldn't have to tell him about her bedwetting problem. Even if she was playing along with his desire to be daddy, which some people might think was strange, she couldn't face admitting that particular secret to him. And then her brain, casting around feverishly, grabbed at something she had said a few minutes before. That if it helped to relax her, she could make herself a little younger than she really wanted to. Turn it up to eleven as a joke, and they would both know that it was just a moment of silliness. Something never to be repeated. She'd thought he might have meant becoming six instead of eight, so that she could settle into her actual age for the afternoon more easily. But if she really decided to go too far, if she could pass it off as a joke, she might find that marginally less humiliating. They could laugh about how regressing to a baby would be a completely different game, she would change her clothes, and then they could start over.
"I'm one year old," she said, trying to make herself laugh as the words came out. "I'm getting younger, I'm going to feel whatever you say, and I'm one year old." She thought immediately that she should have said two; but she didn't know much about the development of children that young, or when a baby became a toddler. Still, she could be sure that he would take such a low number as proof that she hadn't intended it to have such an effect on her.
"Aww, such a little baby," Spike smiled, and kissed her again. She managed to keep control of her bladder this time, but she was already starting to feel a little giggly from the posthypnotic suggestions. If Spike told her how to act as a child, she knew that it would be easy to sink into the role. She was so vulnerable now; he could do whatever he wanted to her, just like Gabby had feared. But Tess found that only made her feel safer; because she could trust Spike to always put her needs first. He was Daddy now, and he would make sure that nothing bad happened to her until she could grow up again and do this properly.
"I uhh..." she mumbled. When he was looking her in the eyes like that, she knew that she wanted him to look after her. Was that what 'love' meant? She didn't know the words, but she knew what she felt. And she wanted Spike to be there for her forever. She just had to get changed, and then she could try being his little one like they had originally planned. But now, she was struggling to find the right words to let him know what had happened. Even with an excuse, it was a hard thing to say. "I was being a bit silly, I might be a bit younger than I meant to."
"Don't worry," Spike reassured her, with one hand gently holding her face to make sure she could see that he was still smiling. "We can be a bit silly, and then you can be a big girl later. And I might not be so good at being a daddy for such a little girl, but I'm sure I can learn. Most parents start with a smaller kid, don't they? Need to work up to managing a bigger little munchkin. So I'm sure I'll get the hang of it."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–"
"It's okay, munchkin. I want to see you happy, and I'll do whatever I can to make that happen. So, would you like to play in the garden some more, or should we go inside? It's still a little chilly, but I think you'll warm up soon enough if you want to–" Spike was stepping back a little and reaching for Tess's hands, as if she was a little kid who would need help standing up from the bench, when he finally seemed to notice the source of her embarrassment. But he rallied immediately, and didn't seem too worried. "Okay, maybe you need to change. But I'm sure that won't be a problem. Let's go inside. Do you think you can sort this out by yourself, or do you need Daddy to help?"
Tess blushed even brighter, and didn't say anything. She didn't make a move either, but walked to the back door when Spike led her by the hand. She didn't need somebody to carry her around now; but she was too embarrassed to think, or to make any kind of decisions. Or perhaps that was just the hypnosis starting to kick in at last; it was easy to imagine that a child of the age she was playing would trust Daddy completely, and trust him to do everything for her.
"Now, I think you're little enough to need diapers now, aren't you?" he asked. Tess just froze. The one thing she hadn't been able to tell him about, and he was bringing it up on his own, without any kind of prompting. How could she even answer that? She just tried to hide her face and rushed towards her room. It was only when she found herself stopping abruptly, feet squeaking on the tiles, that she realised Spike was still holding onto her hand.
"You normally take your shoes off inside, don't you baby? Do you need somebody to help you with that? Come on, I'm here to help. Just sit here and we'll have you sorted out in no time."
Tess was struggling to keep her composure now. She'd been trying so hard to do everything by herself, and it seemed like she couldn't remember even the most basic things. Some of it could be because of the hypnosis; she was sure of that. It always made it a little harder to think. And she thought about saying she was a grown-up again, which would probably help. But in this state, she knew that her mind was shutting down due to the waves of embarrassment, and after letting something like that happen in front of Spike, there was little chance she could focus enough to do everything herself anyway. She didn't have much experience of doing stupid things because she was overwhelmed by the hormones surging around her body, unless you counted the handful of times she had lost control of her bladder, but she guessed this was what it must feel like. She didn't know if she could do anything by herself now.
She sat down on a step that Spike pulled out from somewhere. It was the one that Ffrances would stand on if she needed to reach the higher cupboards; a sturdy plastic box that was clearly designed to take someone's weight. Sitting down here meant that Tess's wet jeans wouldn't be leaving pee stains on the chairs, and she realised that Spike was even better than she had realised at thinking on the spot. She didn't really need help to take her shoes off, she had just forgotten. But it was reassuring the way he took charge; he made her feel like he could make all of the problems go away. And that was such a wonderful feeling that she didn't feel like it was worth bringing this regression to a premature close. She could let Spike take care of her for a few minutes, and then take a little break.
He must have been nervous as well. He fumbled with the laces on her shoes, but managed to get one almost untied, despite Tess rhythmically kicking her legs; something she didn't even realise she was doing until Spike had to dodge to avoid a swinging foot that went a little higher than most.
"Think you can make it a little easier for me baby?" he said, a few seconds later. "I'm trying to understand this. So I could say that at your age, you know you can't do ordinary tasks like taking your shoes off by yourself. But you'll feel super proud of being anything I ask you to help with, like you're only just learning it. Does that sound fair?" He looked up, and waited for Tess's happy nod before he said the words: "Then you are that young. Now, can you lift this foot up for me while I get your laces untangled?"
Tess beamed with delight, and did as Daddy asked. She was so happy to help as he unfastened her shoes. He could even do it when she'd managed to get the loose ends of the laces tangled in somehow, so there was an actual knot for him to undo. She stopped her rocking, and stared at her foot. Maybe someday she could learn to do that too, if she watched close enough. And when he dropped her shoe on the mat behind him, she could tell that he wanted her to lift up the other foot, so she did that without even asking. She knew it was a simple thing; all her thoughts were still there. But it felt wonderful to have him in control like that, and she knew that she wouldn't want to stop him.
He took her socks off as well, maybe because one of them had a little pee on it or something and he didn't want her leaving footprints on the carpet. Daddy was so clever, he could do anything! So Tess took his hand again when she stood up, and wondered what they were going to do next.
"Now, I think if you're going to be having little accidents, you should be in diapers. At least until you've grown up a bit more. Have you got some, sweetie?"
"Yeah!" Tess answered, and grabbed Spike's hand again. She knew exactly where the diapers were, and in the moment she felt so proud of being able to answer her Daddy's question like a big girl. So she ran for the stairs, pausing just a little when he needed to catch up, and hurried him onwards towards her room.
This was going to be a wonderful day, she knew that already. And if she could manage a few things by herself, like putting on her own diapers, she was sure that Daddy would be so proud of her. But even if that was too hard, she knew that Daddy could do everything; there wasn't a single thing for her to worry about now.