*Grace's P.O.V*
"What exactly is the issue here, child? You look like a toddler, I'm treating you like a toddler, and YOU are acting like a toddler... Why is a stranger we have never met and will never meet again, that mistook you for my baby and not my adult daughter, upsetting you? Do you really not understand how young you look when you act and dress this way?" Mommy asks, unclipping my paci from my romper for me and stowing it away. When I don't immediately respond, she gives me a look letting me know she is waiting for one...
"But I'm not a toddler! It's weird cause I'm not really a toddler and I feel weird for faking it like this. I feel like a weirdo and everyone's gonna laugh at me if they find out," I murmur as I avoid eye contact, not wanting to make eye contact while I speak.
"I mean I shouldn't like this. I shouldn't like you babying me or doing it in public especially," I say as I bite my lip, wanting to say more but not knowing how to express the rest of the words that are bouncing around in my brain.
"And what exactly are you faking? Are you fake acting or are you saying you are faking your enjoyment of it? Cause I never said you were actually a toddler. I said you are acting and being treated like one. I am fully aware of your real age, Grace." Mommy starts, pulling my lip out of my mouth.
"The simple truth of the matter is your real age is irrelevant to this conversation. What we are actually talking about is your mental age and your perceived age, neither of which matches your real age. The only way people could possibly guess your real age is if we started announcing it to everyone and I'm not sure why we would ever do something like that. The fact of the matter is I could lie you down right here and change your dirty diaper, and no one would even spare us a second glance. We would just be one of the many other mothers and babies doing that exact thing all around us..." Mommy says with a smirk after seeing my reaction to the threat of being changed out here. She doesn't make any move to actually do so though so I eventually relax and take her words in...
"I guess I'm not really faking it but...it's weird! And I'm weird for liking it! Aren't I?" I ask the question hesitantly, trying to decide how to explain my thoughts in a way that makes sense and doesn't sound jumbled together. My thoughts like to tangle together and not become untangled unless I take my time. Something that is very annoying when I'm trying to explain to a quick thinker like Mommy.
"So I'm not faking it but what if I start actually liking it and you suddenly decide you hate me and don't want me anymore for being weird?" I ask, confessing one of my secret fears that I always harbored. I always worried that she would one day leave me, like every other mother figure I had ever had. It had been a constant thought that plagued me when I was in college, one I had never told her but always thought about when she took too long to respond to my messages.
"I'm confused... Are you trying to say you don't like the way you are currently being treated? Because that I would find near impossible to believe! I think you are usually way too happy to claim anything else. As for you being weird, your father actually likes to eat calf fries! Calf fries!! I don't know if you can ever be weirder than that!" Mommy says, making even me grimace at the thought of actually eating and enjoying that. Daddy is definitely weird for that!
"But in all seriousness, Grace... do you remember what I told you when I had you on my lap to sign your adoption papers with daddy? Can you repeat it for me?" Mommy asks and I hesitantly nod before quietly responding...
"Yes... Mommy said that I needed to know... beforehand I signed the papers... no matter what I or you or daddy do... that I will always be Grace Dawn Santini... and only death could possibly change that. Signing meant mommy and daddy, and Za and El, were my forever family, no matter... no matter how weird?" I ask, scared to look at her in case she is disappointed in my answer for some reason. Instead of being disappointed though, she holds me tight to her and begins to rock us. She even gives me back my paci, which I take without complaint, as I was beginning to miss having it.
"That's right baby... no matter what you do, you will always be my daughter. You will never get rid of me, no matter how hard you try some days..." mommy teases with a light tickle!
I squeal, trying to squirm away as I look around for help. Daddy is absolutely useless since he's too busy looking at his phone and responding to a text. He is also super far away as he was apparently assigned line duty by mommy. I pout slightly, still trying to squirm away until mommy eventually stops.
"I don't try that hard, only on days you're bossy and trying to punish me very unfairly because I'm nothing but an angel," I say carefully, giggling when Mommy acts shocked like I've said the worst thing ever. My giggles get worse when she pretends to turn her head away, huffing like she's annoyed. When she doesn't turn her head towards me after a minute, I tug on her shirt kind of worried she is serious!
"Mommy, nooooo. I sorry! No mean it!" I apologize, wanting her attention again which she happily gives. I cuddle into her, sighing when she rocks me.
"Do you remember what you were wearing when you signed the adoption papers, baby?" Mommy asks suddenly, making me think really hard as I don't really remember. When I finally do, I blush and just nod my head into her.
"Do you remember who changed you into it?" Mommy asks and I just nod my head once again, as the entire day comes flooding back to me now.
Realizing mommy is waiting for who exactly in the silence that follows, I poke her in the boob a couple times by accident, before quickly removing my hand feeling like I'm radiating heat! I meant to just poke her, not touch that! This morning is still fresh in my mind after all and the last thing I want to do is make her think I want to do that again!
To make matters worse, she actually grabs my hand and kisses it before placing it on the low, very revealing collar of her dress, right between her...like I'm some baby desperately trying to get access to...
"Just don't pull down too hard now, baby..." mommy whispers as I reflexively grab a hold of her collar before I could stop myself. Embarrassed and frozen in place, mommy chuckles and kisses my forehead gently.
"Do you remember why I put you in that outfit, Grace?" Mommy asks, and I give a light, absent-minded nod of my head out of instinct as I'm still stuck on where my hand is. I mean, I'm almost making mommy flash everyone here and she isn't even fazed by it!
"What, Grace? What is it? What's wrong now?" Mommy eventually asks when I don't do or say anything else. Sighing, she tries to remove my hand from her collar but I cling to it like my life depended on it until she gives up. With another sigh, she stands and heads over to daddy, patting my bottom in the process.
Her pats make me wonder if maybe it wasn't so bad to be a baby, at least when I'm getting bottom pats. Those were great, and I never got them when I wasn't her baby so maybe I could be her baby...just for today.
Those thoughts quickly fade though as I watch mommy fix her lowered dress collar as she stops in front of daddy and I hear why she took us over here in the first place!