Spike
When the final bell rang, the entire student body heaved a collective sigh of relief before they began to pour out of their classrooms and into the halls to gather their belongings from their lockers and head home. The first day back after summer vacation - inevitably an enormous adjustment after the freedom of the past three months - was as much of a challenge to get through as any other day of the year, except perhaps the last day before summer vacation. Everyone was glad to have made it through without incident, and just that little accomplishment made the rest of the school year seem less daunting.
Of course, not every student had been concerned about the prospect of another school year. Spike was a wolf who was just starting his sophomore year, and he couldn't be more invigorated by the challenges awaiting him in the coming year. He was very much a social animal, and he often found the lazy, aimless, solitary days of summer boring. Now that he was back at school, surrounded by other students, he was in his element. He may have looked intimidating in his leather jacket, ripped jeans, and studded collar, but he was in fact a very friendly lupine, at least for the most part.
Spike was wading through the crowd of students who were lingering in the halls and commiserating about how much the liked or disliked their new teachers (mostly disliked) or how ridiculous it was to have homework on the very first day back, but none of them struck him as particularly interesting. That was when he spotted a shy-looking husky that he recognized from one of his classes. He had noticed the somewhat anxious-looking boy during class earlier that day, but the husky had darted out of the room as soon as the bell rang, and the wolf hadn't had a chance to catch up to him. Now that he had another chance, his tracking instinct immediately kicked into high gear.
The husky was clearly in a hurry, and Spike had to navigate through the oblivious crowds of students blocking the halls. He nearly lost the boy around a corner, a few times, but before long, the husky made it out through the big front doors, where the crowds quickly dissipated. Now that there was no one in the way, it was easy for Spike to catch up. Once he was walking just slightly behind the husky, he clapped a paw on the pup's shoulder and grinned, "Hey there! You were in my trig class, weren't you?" The husky jumped at the suddenness of the wolf's greeting, and he let out a yelp that made Spike chuckle. "Sorry about that - I didn't mean to scare you. Geez, you look like you might've wet your pants!"
The husky blushed a soft pink through the silvery-white fur on his cheeks and shook his head, still sufficiently startled from the wolf's method of introduction that he was panting softly, his tail was tucked behind him, and his ears were flattened against his head. When he finally managed to answer, Spike figured that his soft, trembling voice was just because he'd been startled. "H-hi," he stammered, glancing back at the wolf, looking him over carefully, like he was unsure of how he was supposed to respond. Spike just stood there and smiled in a friendly sort of way that belied his outfit, not wanting to come on too strong, since the husky seemed a bit skittish.
Finally, the anxious huskyboy seemed to realize that the wolf had asked him a question, and he hadn't said anything in response. He straightened up suddenly, seeming more nervous than Spike would have expected him to be, even for an antsy freshman puppy. "Oh! Umm, y-yeah... Yeah, I think we were in - uhh - in trig together... second period, right?" The wolf nodded, and extended a paw, which the husky just stared at for a moment, perplexed, before he remembered that he was supposed to shake it. As he did, he smiled bashfully and continued, his voice remaining very quiet and tremulous, "Muh-my... my name's Justin... umm, what's yours?" When he pulled his paw back, he adjusted his backpack's straps on his shoulders and smiled shyly up at the wolf, who was probably a good four inches taller. He was fidgeting slightly - but noticeably - and he dipped a paw down to tug at the front of his t-shirt, which was tucked into his pants.
"You can call me Spike, Justin. It's real nice to meet you, kid." The wolf cocked his head to one side as he regarded the husky. Something about him made him seem even younger than a high school freshman. Maybe he had skipped a grade. "So did your family just move here, or something? I don't think I remember you from middle school." The wolf slipped his paws into his pockets and walked along the sidewalk in the direction that the husky had been going, and Justin was quick to start moving again as well. Spike gave the husky a sideways glance while they were walking, trying to figure out what he could from the boy's outfit, but it was pretty unremarkable. White velcro sneakers from Payless, a plain sky-blue t-shirt, and some comfortable-looking (but not too baggy) jeans. There was something odd about the way those jeans seemed to fit that the wolf couldn't quite put his finger on.
The husky adjusted his backpack again and then shook his head, looking even more bashful as he noticed the wolf inspecting him. "Well, ummm... N-no, it's just that, well, my m-mom's home-schooled me up until now. That's... So that's probably why you hadn't seen me in school before." Justin bit on his lower lip and glanced over his shoulder, trying to get a closer look at the wolf's outfit, since Spike was looking him over so carefully. But while the wolf was confident enough to consider each component of the husky's clothing without worrying about Justin's reaction, the husky only managed to get a good look at Spike's shoes before he blushed and turned his head so he could stare at the ground in front of him. They were black converse high-tops, by the way.
The wolf perked his ears and eyed the huskyboy with even greater interest after hearing such an unusual tidbit of information. He hadn't had the chance to meet many kids that had been in Justin's situation, and this fact suddenly made the husky into something of a novelty. Spike was curious about how that kind of a background would have affected him growing up. Maybe that was why he seemed so bashful. "Home-schooled, huh?" The wolf's mind was racing, even though his expression remained one of casual indifference, he was pondering all the ways that such a socially different upbringing could have had on a pup. He rolled his shoulders and raised his eyebrows, "So... I guess this was your first day of school, ever. Wow. So what'd you think?" He took a step closer as they walked along together, eager to hear the younger husky's thoughts on the subject. "I bet that it was pretty different from what you were used to, huh?"
The husky nodded his head quickly in response to that question, and he felt a slight smile spreading across his muzzle, tugging up at the corners just a bit. He was starting to relax, which was nice. He'd been incredibly nervous and jumpy since he'd first shown up at school that morning, and he'd been too intimidated by the crowds and the new surroundings to talk to anybody. Of course, most everyone else knew people from the middle schools that they'd gone to, but he didn't know anybody! Spike was the first person who had taken an interest in him, and the wolf seemed pretty nice. It was just a little bit better, but he was starting to feel like he might be okay with going to this new school. "Y-yeah... you're definitely right about that. Today was definitely... umm, different. But I think I'm gonna be okay. It didn't seem too bad. I was more scared this morning than I am now..."
Justin, who was sort of adorably guileless, was smiling in a sweet way that clearly indicated (though he didn't say so) that it was the wolf's friendliness that was helping him get over his nervousness. Spike grinned at this and tugged a paw out of his pocket in order to ruffle the pup's fur in between his ears. Justin let out a little yip and giggled softly at the attention, which was quite an improvement from the way he had jumped when Spike had clapped his shoulder earlier. "Hey, buddy! There's no reason to be scared! Trust me on this one. Yeah, some teachers think they're big stuff, and there are gonna be some students who'll try to give you a hard time, but you've just got to ignore 'em, just rise above it. Hey, I'll tell you what." The wolf winked at Justin before he continued, "I'll help you out, while you're getting used to things. If anybody gives you trouble, just let me know. I'll take care of you."
Spike had actually meant to say 'take care of them' but the wrong word had slipped out. Once he had said it, though, he decided to act as if it had been his intention all along. He rubbed the husky's head once more and then gave him a gentle shove on the shoulder. Justin's tail wagged softly, back and forth, while the pair walked along a little further, talking a bit more about how the husky's first day of school had gone, with Spike giving him useful bits of information about what he should be ready for in the weeks and months to come. They had gone several blocks when it suddenly occurred to the wolf to ask a fairly obvious question. "So... where are you headed, anyway? I figured you'd be going back to your house, but I guess I should make sure." He raised his head and glanced down one of the side streets, his nose twitching, before he turned back to the husky. "See, I live around here, too. That's why I was wondering..." A lop-sided grin spread acorss his muzzle. "I think it'd be pretty funny if we turned out to be neighbors."
The husky stopped and just stood there, staring at the wolf with a dumb look on his face. It took him a moment before he started answering the wolf's question. "Oh... umm, yeah... my house is right down that street, there..." he pointed in the direction that Spike had glanced a moment before. "But - umm - but I'm gonna go that way, f-first, because I'm gonna stop at my... at my mom's store, before I go home. It's just about a block away." This change in topic had an unexpected effect on the husky's mood. He had been visibly relaxing, just a moment before, but now he seemed just as nervous - if not more so! - than he had been when the pair had first started talking. He knitted his brow and he started to chew on his lower lip while he took a few shuffling steps backwards, pulling away from the wolf and waving shyly as he went. "Well - umm - it was r-really nice to chat with you, but I guess I'll... I guess I'll see you t-tomorrow?" Then he just turned and quickened his pace as he hustled along the street, towards a nice little cluster of shops beside a little park.
It would be an understatement to say that the wolf was surprised at how abruptly the husky had turned tail, since he considered himself a rather astute judge of character and he had not seen that coming at all. After a moment of standing there with his head cocked to the side, he rushed off to catch up with the husky. It hardly took any time at all, since Spike's longer strides let him catch up with Justin pretty easily. "Hey, wait up kid!" he called out. "Let's hang out a little while longer - I don't have anything else I've got to do right now, and I'd like to see where your mom works, anyhow. Here, let me guess," the wolf wiggled his nose and smiled, looking thoughtful while he considered the different shops that he knew of in the neighborhood. "Does she work at the bookstore? No, I guess not - I'm in there a lot and I don't remember seeing any husky... How about the coffee shop? No? Hmm - the drug store? Come on, there aren't even that many stores around here, buddy, just tell me!"
Justin had kept quiet during the wolf's guessing game. He hadn't tried to wave Spike off again, but he hadn't exactly seemed thrilled to have his new friend continue to follow him. He hung his head and hunched up his shoulders, gripping onto the straps on his backpack as he walked down the nice, cobblestone sidewalk of the shopping center. Finally, the husky let out a defeated sigh and gestured up with his muzzle. The pair had just stopped in front of a store called "Baby Heaven," the shop's name spelled out with pastel letter blocks. The wolf looked up at the sign for a moment and then burst out in a fit of laughter that he was unable to suppress, but he quickly got it under control when he saw the reddish blush showing through Justin's white cheekfur. "Oh, I get it! You were embarrassed, huh? Well, geez - come on, kid! This is no big deal. I mean, so what? It's just a job. And this is supposed to be a great store! My aunts and uncles go here all the time... what were you so worried about?"
Justin managed a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders, "Umm... n-nothing, I guess," despite the lingering look of concern on his face. He pushed the door open and padded in, a tinkling bell signaling his arrival. As soon as the pair stepped inside, their noses were hit with an unmistakable mix of all the familiar nursery smells - well, the pleasant ones, anyway. The air was thick with the scents of talcum powder, baby lotion, wipes, and everything else that makes up the weirdly universal aroma of a baby's room. Somehow, it always conjured up powerful emotional resonances, especially for species with such sophisticated olfactory mechanisms (that's senses of smell) as lupines and their canine cousins. Once he had gotten over the momentary shock of the way the place smelled, Spike had a chance to actually look the place over, and his family had been right about it being a great store. It was fully stocked with furniture, clothing, accessories, supplies, food, carseats, strollers, toys, stuffed animals... everything that anyone could want for their baby. Although it seemed to Spike, at least at first glance, that some of the products looked like they might be a bit... oversized?
"Justin!" called a sweet voice from the back of the surprisingly-large store. The wolf looked up to see a middle-aged, motherly husky lady behind a counter, which had a cash register and a display of pacifiers on it. Her curled tail was wagging as she stepped out from behind the counter and opened her paws, waiting expectantly for a hug. "Come here, sweetie! How was your first day of school? Did everything go okay? Were you a good boy all day?" The husky boy glanced bashfully at the wolf for a moment, but he couldn't keep himself from breaking out into a happy grin and scampering over into his mom's arms, where he got wrapped up in a tight embrace. Spike smirked ever-so-slightly, but he figured that sort of attitude was just about what he should expect from a kid who'd been home-schooled for so long: a real momma's boy. After giving her son a tight hug, Justin's mom glanced up and finally seemed to notice the wolf standing there. "Oh! And you brought a friend with you, too?" Spike could detect the note of surprise in her voice, though she tried not to make it obvious.
The husky looked back over his shoulder and smiled at the wolf. It hadn't occurred to him to be proud of the fact that he made a friend on his first day of school, but suddenly he felt a surge of satisfaction when he realized that was at least a little impressive. "Oh... Yeah! This is-" he was about to introduce the wolf when he was interrupted, as Spike took a step forward, straightening his posture in a subtle way that Justin didn't even notice at first. The wolf then extended his paw and said, "Richard, ma'am, my name's Richard. Your son must be very bright to be in trig as a freshman," in a voice that sounded much more formal than the one he'd been using on the walk back from school. Justin was more than a little surprised as he looked back at the wolf, who suddenly bore very little resemblance to the one that had accompanied him here.
The reaction the husky's mother was similar, but instead of being simply stunned, she raised her eyebrows and shook the wolf's offered paw, while her other hand moved to cover her chest. She glanced down at Justin with an approving nod before she turned back to Spike. "Oh my, aren't you quite the well-spoken little gentleman! It's a pleasure to meet you, Richard. I didn't think that young men like you still learned those sorts of manners."
"Well, thank you very much, ma'am," Spike always had a different way of acting around adults, and sometimes he knew when he was dealing with someone that he had to lay it on thick with. When he saw how impressed the huskylady had been with his manners, he knew he had made the right choice. "I've always been taught that it's important to respect one's elders." Justin was still so surprised to hear his new buddy talking to his mom like that, when he had seemed so casual and cool and kind of indifferent to authority before, but now he was as polite and well-spoken as he'd ever seen anybody else be - especially somebody in a leather jacket and ripped jeans. It was surprising enough that nobody could have been surprised that he still hadn't responded to his mom's question.
But Justin's mother was still waiting for an answer, and now that she had been introduced to Justin's new friend - who seemed like a fine young boy, and who she was thrilled to see hanging out with her son - she still wanted an answer to her question. So she placed her paw on the huskyboy's head and patted him gently while she repeated her question. "I said, were you a good boy at school today, Justin?" Spike quirked an eyebrow, detecting something unusual in the subtext for what seemed to be just a banal - if slightly juvenile - question about Justin behaving himself.
The husky's eyes had been fixed on the pleasant smile that had somehow crept onto the wolf's face, but when he heard the slightly harsher tone in his mom's voice, he quickly turned his head back to look up at her. "Oh! Y-yes, mommy," he winced a little bit as his response slipped out that way, but rather than draw even more attention to it by correcting himself, he figured he should just keep going. "I was g-good today, yeah... all day!" His eyes darted back and forth between his mom and his new friend, the husky shifting his weight from foot to foot as he started getting a little agitated, clearly not too excited about the direction that the conversation was taking. Spike - or Richard - just stood there with a curious look in his eyes, still smiling serenely, but not giving away how interested he was in the scene in front of him. He could tell there was something unusual going on.
And he wasn't going to have to wait long to see what that was, as it turned out. Justin's mother nodded at her son's response and said, matter-of-factly, "Well, let's just make sure, okay? I know you can be a fibber, from time to time..." The husky's eyes went wide as he watched his mother's paws drop down to the button on the front of his jeans, which he immediately tried to cover. His efforts proved fruitless as his hands were summarily brushed aside, eliciting a helpless whine from the trapped huskyboy. All he could do was cover his face with his paws and whimper as his mom undid the button, slid down the zipper, reached around and removed the snap over his tail, and then - in one smooth, practiced motion - tugged his shorts right down to his knees.
Now Spike had been watching this whole spectacle with wide eyes and a mounting curiosity, still not entirely sure of what was going on, but when he saw what Justin had been wearing under his pants, everything seemed to come together. The sight was unmistakable, especially in a store like this one: a puffy, white, plastic, disposable diaper, taped snugly above Justin's fluffy tail and on either side of his hips. In spite of his best efforts, the wolf's jaw dropped at the sight of the teenaged husky standing there in a very puffy diaper, looking like an overgrown toddler. He was forced to muster every ounce of his self-control, but he bit his tongue and kept himself from reacting at all. You might think he wanted to laugh, and maybe he did - but only a little. His strongest inclination was to coo about how adorable Justin was.
It was probably for the best that he didn't, though, since the husky looked like he was about to die of embarrassment, already. Justin's mother continued her doting without a second thought, seemingly oblivious to the presence of the wolf standing just a few feet away. She slipped a fingertip inside the legband of his diapers and clucked her tongue, "You're a little damp, but not too bad. Did you go see the nurse during the day and have her change you?" Justin groaned softly but nodded his head, the little patches of fur peeking out between his fingers colored a bright red. His mom just nodded, while her paw reached around behind him and gave a firm pat to his seat. "That's a good boy... were you a messy boy today?" She peered over the husky's shoulder and slipped a fingertip into his crinkly waistband, pulling it away from his back by an inch or so in order to peer into the seat of his diaper, checking him like an infant, as if he couldn't be trusted to assess his own condition.
The husky, now embarrassed beyond belief, let out a yelp and dropped both his paws from his reddened muzzle to frantically shoo his mother's paw away from his backside, causing the waistband of his diaper to snap back into place over the base of his tail. He quickly shook his head and whined, "Noooooo!" drawing out the word into multiple syllables with varying pitches, unwittingly sounding very toddlerish as he said it. He glanced back over his shoulder, expecting to see Spike either laughing his head off or on his way out or holding his cell phone and taking pictures, but the wolf was just standing there, his paws in his pockets, with that same pleasant smile on his face, like it didn't bother him one bit, like he wasn't witnessing anything out of the ordinary at all.
The huskymom looked over her son for a moment with a thoughtful expression on her face. She started nodding her head slowly as she reached a decision and began to talk again, "I know what it must be... you're probably all nervous and wound-up inside from your first day of school, so that's why you haven't gone poopy, yet." She dipped a hand down and rubbed her fingertips against his tummy, through his shirt. "Don't worry little puppy, Mommy knows just what to do." She looked up at Spike, acknowledging the wolf for the first time since she started checking on the condition of Justin's diapers. "Richard? There's a light blue bottle of pills on the shelf just behind you. Could you be a dear and get that for me?"
Spike perked his ears, having to pull his eyes away from the sight of the surprisingly cute diapered husky to look at Justin's mother. "Of course, ma'am. I'd be happy to," he said as he nodded and spun around to go retrieve the bottle of pills from the shelf. As he was fetching them, he heard the sound of a single tape being popped off the diaper's plastic shell, and he turned around to watch the motherly husky skillfully pull down the seat of her son's diaper until the waistband tucked underneath the curve of his bottom, leaving the front in place. Justin was standing there with his perky, fuzzy huskybutt showing off underneath that adorably-curled tail. He stood there, looking pitifully past his shoulder at the wolf, as his paw gradually inched its way up to his muzzle and his thumb was planted firmly in between his lips. The wolf was grinning as he handed the pills to the older husky, pausing to pinch Justin's cheek before he stepped back and leaned against a shelf, watching the pair with his arms folded over his chest.
"Thank you, dear," Justin's mother said as she nodded appreciatively to the wolf and took the bottle of pills from his paw. She unscrewed the child-proof cap with ease and tapped a single, sizeable white pill out onto her palm, before resealing the bottle and setting it down on the countertop beside her. She then held the pill between her thumb and index fingers and reached around behind the huskyboy, who was still standing there, having made only the tiniest hints of fussing at this whole experience, just a bit of moderate fidgeting and some quiet whimpering as he sucked on his thumb. Spike was surprised at how easily he was going through with such an embarrassing ordeal, but it was about to get even worse. Justin shut his eyes and let out a soft, drawn-out, whining, "Mommeeeee," as she moved her paw beneath the base of his fluffy tail, but he was quickly silenced by a gentle "Shush," and a firm tap to the tip of his muzzle by his mother's free paw.
He was quieted, but he was clearly still plenty embarrassed as his mom carefully pushed the suppository up under his tail, eliciting a high-pitched squeak from the huskyboy. She held her finger there for a moment to be sure that her little puppy got his medicine properly. When she was satisfied, she leaned down and licked Justin's cheek, cooing to him while reaching for a nearby baby wipe and cleaning off her finger, "What a good boy, standing still for mommy like that! Now, that should help settle your tummy and get you to use your diaper like a good little puppy." As she spoke she pulled his diaper back up and refastened the tape above his tail, sealing him back into his puppypants with a crinkly, reassuring pat. When that was taken care of, she pulled his jeans back up and rebuttoned the fly, "There we go. All better now, honey-pie. Now then, why don't you and your friend go back to our house and watch TV for a while? I'll be home after I close the store around six or so, and I'll make dinner."
It had all gone so fast, Justin hadn't even had a chance to try to explain things to his friend or ask his mom to hold off. Before he knew it, he was being shooed out of the store, with his ears folded down and a bright red color showing through the fur on his cheeks. He shuffled along bashfully, paws gripping the straps of his backpack, while Spike walked along with him, still smiling happily, even with a bit of a bounce in his step. As they left, he waved back to the momma husky, who called after him, "It was wonderful to meet you, Richard!"
They walked along without speaking for a short ways before Justin took a deep breath and started to try and sputter out an explanation, which come out all jumbled, as his eyes were suddenly shiny with tears. He couldn't imagine what his new friend was thinking about him. He was just waiting for the teasing to start. "I'm - I'm suh... sorry about - I didn't think she would... I didn't want you to - I w-was just embarrassed, 'cause - I didn't want anyone to know..." he sniffled as he glanced down at his pants, where the bulge in the material seemed much more obvious to the wolf now that he knew what it was.
Much to Justin's surprise, the wolf actually stopped and reached a strong paw out to grab onto the husky's arm, tugging the younger boy against his chest. He wrapped one arm around the husky's shoulders, while his other paw dipped and gently patted the husky's padded butt through the seat of his pants. He rested his chin on top of the husky's muzzle and gave him a firm, reassuring squeeze as he grunted out a soft "Shush," in the same sort of authoritative, supportive, caretaking tone that he used when looking after his cousins. He held the husky like that until he calmed down and stopped sniffling.
Once Justin had settled somewhat, the wolf let go and resumed walking, as if nothing had happened. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I think I understand what you mean." Despite his best efforts to maintain a sense of decorum during what was undoubtedly a very difficult conversation for Justin, he couldn't stop himself from grinning. "I can see how that must have been pretty embarrassing for you... but hey, it was pretty cute, too." The husky perked his ears at that, but Spike kept on talking as his paw clapped on Justin's shoulder, "And don't worry, little buddy! I won't tell anybody anything, I promise. What kind of guy would I be, to do that? So just relax, pup." The wolf's arm wrapped around Justin's neck and all of a sudden the husky was getting noogied. He yipped as he wriggled away, but he was smiling and he wasn't blushing as much, anymore.
"Th-thanks..." Justin said softly, taken aback at how accepting the wolf was acting. He resumed walking towards his house, "It's - well, the way my mom acts makes it a little worse, since she thinks I'm still her little baby puppy, m-most of the time." He straightened himself up and tried to show how much of a big boy he was, but just then he felt the first gurgling tummy cramp from the suppository his mom had given him, and he blushed at the feeling.
The wolf chuckled at the husky's claim, adding, "I've known a lot of people who said that their parents treated them like babies, but I think you've got every single one of 'em beat, buddy boy," as he reached a paw down and gave Justin's seat a little pat, making the plastic padding rustle under his pants, while the husky blushed and yipped in surprise.
"Yeah, you're probably right ... but the thing is that even though she treats me that way, it's something that I can't do anything about. I mean, Mommy's - err, my mom - she's tried potty-training me a bunch of times! First when I was two or three, and again when I was five... and eight, and then she even tried again just last year. But it doesn't work! I've been to see a bunch of doctors and everything. I just ... can't help it." The husky's face started falling again, and his ears and tail were drooping, since he was obviously getting embarrassed about his diapered condition. That was when Spike brought his paw down with a *swat* against the seat of Justin's pants. The husky opened his eyes wide after he hopped forward a step - it hadn't hurt, of course, with all that padding, but it was unexpected.
"So you can't help it! Whatever - it's not that big a deal, and it certainly doesn't help if you go around being a sad sack about it. So cheer up, you goober. Anyway, you're not going to have much luck making many more friends at school being all mopey all the time, no matter what you're wearing under your pants."
Justin just blinked a few times and nodded dumbly in response, staring in puzzled awe for a moment at the grinning wolf standing beside him. Then he pointed towards the house that they were now in front of. "Umm... Th-this is my house." And without another word, they were walking up to the front door.
Once they were inside, Justin started towards the living room as he said, "We just got a new couch a couple of months ago. It's pretty comfy, and good for watching TV and movies and stuff. I can - I can get us a couple sodas or something like that... maybe some chips? There's some good cartoon shows on right now, I know, but... I don't know what you like to watch." He dropped his backpack in a corner and nodded to Spike, suggesting that he could do the same.
The wolf was standing in the foyer and glancing around, slipping his own backpack off his shoulders and dropping it to the floor. He noticed that the husky boy seemed a bit overeager to get straight to watching TV. He saw that the doorway to what must have been a game room - or perhaps a play room or a den? - was partly open, and something about what was peeking through that door caught his attention. He smiled at Justin and said, "What, you wanna just plop down and veg out, right away? Why don't you take me on a tour, first?" Justin blanched at the suggestion and looked like he was going to try and come up with some sort of excuse, but the puppy's reluctance only made Spike even more curious. He just started right off in the direction of the partly-open door, chuckling as he said, "Come on, huskybutt! Let me have a look around."
Justin tried to dissuade Spike, but before he knew it the wolf was peeking into the play room, and the wolf probably should have been surprised at what he saw, but as it turned out, he saw just what he was expecting. The room was outfitted as one might expect from a room like this, if there was a one or two-year old in the house. Right in the middle of the floor was a playpen with mesh sides and a Sesame Street print on the plastic mat. There were a few stuffed animals and some sundry baby toys, scattered both in the playpen and on the floor of the room. There was also a rocking chair, a busybox, a rocking horse, and perhaps most surprisingly, an oversized baby bouncer suspended from the ceiling in one of the room's corners.
The wolf looked over the whole room for a few moments while Justin stood behind him, starting to blush all over again. A wry smile spread across Spike's face as he turned to look at the bashful husky, chuckling. "So, it's your mom that treats you this way, huh? She must be pretty pushy, to get you to use all this stuff... or else you don't mind it as much as you made me think on the way over. Hmm?" His tone of voice wasn't accusing, it was just observational. He waited expectantly for the husky's reply, and when Justin was too embarrassed to answer, the wolf brushed past him and started toward the stairs, "I think I'd like to see your room, pup."
The husky knew he couldn't do much to stop the wolf, so he just followed Spike up the stairs. The wolf stopped momentarily in the hallway, wondering which room was the husky's, but when a familiar scent starting making his nose twitch, he grinned all over again and headed to one of the closed doors, placing his paw on the knob. He turned back to Justin and said, "Talcum powder, baby wipes, and..." he glanced down at Justin's puffy middle and smirked. "Well, you know what the other scent is.. This one smells like a baby's room." He pushed the door open and sure enough, that was just what he found.
Justin's room might very well have belonged to a cub about fourteen months old, rather than fourteen years. There were two beds: one was a normal enough twin mattress with Winnie the Pooh sheets, but the other was a crib, sized to fit somebody just about Justin's height and weight. There was also a wooden changing table of similar proportions, complete with a plastic mat on top. Next to the table was a diaper pail, and on the shelves beneath the surface there was an absolutely stunning array of diapers both cloth and disposable, rubber pants, pins, wipes, lotions, powders, stuffers, and just about everything that Spike had ever seen or even thought of that could be used for diaper care. The wolf noticed another rocking chair in the corner near the closet and the chest of drawers, on which a baby monitor sat, turned off.
The husky was blushing furiously as he watched the wolf's wide eyes. As he stood there and fidgeted, his paw slowly rose up to his muzzle and he started sucking on his thumb again. He felt his stomach rumble, and with a loud yelp he realized that the medicine his mommy had given must be working. The noise he made caused Spike to turn around just in time to see him hunch forward, bending at the waist and knees, and lifting his tail behind him. That pretty much put a stop to any attempt to defend his big boy-ness. The wolf recognized this pose immediately, and padded over to Justin's side, cooing at him in a soft voice, "Awww, is somebody a widdle poopy puppy?" which elicited a little nod from the squatting husky, who was whimpering and grunting with effort, as the seat of his diaper bulged and sagged under his tail. Spike rubbed Justin's headfur with a paw as he continued, "It must have been tough for you to pretend to be a big boy, all day long... when you're really just a little baby, aren't you?" His free paw dipped down and hefted the growing bulge under Justin's tail as he added, "A stinky little baby, at that!"
Justin opened his mouth to try and protest, but he didn't even get the chance. He was cut short when Spike took the opportunity to pop a pacifier into the husky's muzzle. He had seen one sitting on the edge of the chest of drawers, so he quickly snagged it and hid it behind his back. This was enough to keep the husky quiet, as he began to nurse on the soother quietly. The wolf smiled and tapped a fingertip on the tip of the husky's muzzle, "Don't worry, pup. I don't mind babysitting a bit. Now, let's get those big boy clothes off you, huh? They hardly seem appropriate, now." The husky grunted into his pacifier, but he didn't put up any fuss as the wolf undid his shorts and tugged them down, helping the husky out of them, along with his shoes. As he was kneeling in front of Justin to unlace his sneakers, his ears perked at a soft trickling sound, and he looked up to see the dark yellow patch on Justin's diaperfront slowly getting bigger.
Spike chuckled, "Uh-oh, it looks like you're piddling again. Well, it's a good thing you weren't too wet before. I think those diapers should be able to hold you for now." He peered around the husky's waist and surveyed the damage in his seat, which was now quite obviously drooping heavily, if the smell in the air weren't enough of an indication of what had happened. "You're quite the saggybutt, Justin. The medicine your mom gave you must have really done the trick." He reached a paw around and gently palmed the droopy diaperseat, pushing it back against the husky's rear for just a moment. The husky whined into his soother and fidgeted, which Spike found to be irresistibly cute. He chuckled and then said, "Okay, paws up! We've got to get that shirt off."
Justin did as he was told, and in no time he was standing in nothing but a wet and messy diaper and a pair of socks, with a pacifier planted in his muzzle. Spike pinched both of the husky's cheeks and grinned, "Well, look at you! Aren't you just adorable? This is a much sweeter look for you, pup." Spike walked over to the bed and grabbed what looked like the most love-worn stuffed animal, which happened to be a soft panda plushie. He pressed the panda into Justin's arms and said, "Okay, you just wait here for a minute, okay? I'll be right back, don't you worry."
The husky nodded and snuggled at his stuffed animal while the wolf quickly went back downstairs. He walked through the kitchen and stopped for a moment when he saw a high chair pulled up to the table in the breakfast nook. He chuckled and shook his head, finally spying what he was looking for: a cordless phone. He plucked it from its charger and noticed a note stuck to the fridge with a magnet which said "Mommy's phone # at work" and Spike could hardly believe his luck. As he started dialing, another thought crept into his head. He had a pretty good record on his guesses thus far that day, and when he pulled open the door of the fridge, he had another one confirmed: there were several already-full baby bottles sitting there, filled with juice and waiting to be taken to a hungry baby. He grabbed one and headed back upstairs, listening to the phone ring as he held it to his ear.
"Hello, ma'am? ... Yes, this is Richard ... No, no, everything's fine. The medicine you gave Justin worked wonders, I think!" At this point, he came back into the husky's nursery, "I was wondering if you wanted me to take care of him ... Well, I have a couple of cousins who are still in diapers that I babysit for, from time to time, so I know my way around a changing table ... No, I guess I haven't ever changed a baby quite as big as him ... You're right, he definitely is a very messy puppy ... I figured I should at least offer to help, if you won't be home for two hours or so ... Aren't you worried that he'll get a rash? ... Oh, okay - that's good ... Oh really?" he laughed and moved his muzzle away from the phone just long enough to say, "She tells me you like staying in your diapers for a while after you've used them! ... Well, in that case, I'll leave him for you to take care of, ma'am ... You know, I bet he's tired after such a long day at school, so why don't I put him down for a nap? ... Oh no, I don't mind at all! ... I'm more than happy to help, however I can... well, you're welcome ... Okay, bye for now ... Bye-bye."
Spike grinned as he set the phone down and took Justin by the paw, leading him over towards the bed. "I take it you heard all that, pup... are you ready to lay down for a while? I bet you're pretty tired, aren't you?" At this, Justin just nodded his head. The husky didn't seem to have any trouble adjusting to seeing the wolf as his caretaker, instead of his classmate. He actually seemed a bit relieved, in fact, since he didn't have to worry about Spike finding out any of his secrets, anymore. "Good. Well, let me just do one thing, first..." He walked over to the changing table and picked out a pair of translucent blue plastic pants, eyeing them curiously for a moment before walking back to the husky and sliding them up his legs, snapping the elastic waist and legbands to make sure that they were nice and snug. "There we go," he said with satisfaction, "that should do the trick. No leaks during your nap!"
The wolf's concern over leaks made sense a moment later, after he had carefully closed the curtains, dipping the room into a blue-tinted afternoon twilight. He led the crinkling husky by the paw and then took a seat in the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery. He gently tugged Justin into his lap, an audible squelching noise coming up from the seat of the puppy's diaper while he whined and fidgeted. Spike just smirked and said, "Oh come on, you've been a mushypants babybutt for fourteen years now. You must be used to that feeling by now." He gave the husky a gentle squeeze and then positioned him so he was curled up comfortably in Spike's lap, head resting in the crook of the wolf's arm. The pacifier was replaced with the nipple of the baby bottle, and Spike started gently rocking back and forth while he fed his new friend a bottlefull of apple juice.
It didn't take long for Justin to slurp down the contents of the bottle, at which point Spike gently patted his back until he burped, then pushed the pacifier bulb back between his lips. He draw the husk's head down so his cheek was resting against the wolf's chest, his eyelids fluttering drowsily as the wolf softly whispered, "Get some good rest, little baby puppy. You had a very big day, today."