Adult baby Kerry squirmed in her oversized high chair, the pink straps holding her in place tightly. Im a little princess bib tied around her neck, laid flat on her chest, but the scowl on her face said otherwise.
“I said NO” she whispered, her voice thin but trembling with intensity. “You promised,” Kerry said, her voice finally cracking. “You said I have a choice.” With this, I paused and looked at Kerry right in her eyes, my stare drilling into her. Then gently but firmly, I said, “You do have a choice Kerry. You can choose to trust me, or you can keep fighting everything that’s meant to help you.” The adult baby nursery when silent all of a sudden, eerily so.
I dug the spoon into the bowl of green cabbage and broccoli mush I had prepared for Kerrys lunch. Kerry’s jaw tightened as the baby spoon edged closer to her lips. Her eyes widened with the look of disgust on her face. Kerry turned her head sharply to the side. “Im not a baby, Im a big girl!” The expression of defiance etched all over her face.
With that, I grabbed hold of her jaw and directed her face back to me. “Big girls don’t throw tantrums over eating vegetables.” I said in loud, strong, stern voice. “If you don’t eat your greens, you will have no dessert!”
There was a tense silence as Kerry stared down at the spoon. The green mush quivered. “Fine,” she muttered, finally opening her mouth just enough for me to push the spoon in. Kerry shuddered dramatically and she tried to swallowed hard. Kerry slumped back in her high chair with a groan, the spoonful of green mush still lingering on her tongue like a betrayal.
I brushed a stray curl away from Kerry’s forehead. “You need to eat all your lunch and then we can talk about pudding.” Kerry”s brow furrowed, the mention of pudding was just too tempting. After all, it has to be much nicer than the slop Aunty Amy had just made her eat.
Little did Kerry know that I had been scheming up a plan. “So, she thinks she is a big girl.” I knew it wouldn’t be long before Kerry would be protesting that she does not need to be put into adult baby nappies. I was going to prove her wrong.
I went into the kitchen to prepare her pudding. A large bowl of liquidised prunes. The sweet smell gently tickled my nose. I reached for the bottle of Lactulose syrup. I threw the measuring spoon away, who needs one of those? I giggled to myself as I thought of the future consequences for my little angel still restrained in her high chair.
I watched smugly as I poured the thick, sticky, clear fluid all over her prunes. I didn’t want another scene, so I stirred it vigorously, mixing the two contents into a sweet dark mess.
I returned to the adult baby nursery, to my surprise, Kerry was waiting patiently. Her eyes lit up with glee. It must have been the sweet aroma coming from her pudding bowl. Kerry almost squealed with delight as the warm sugary mess slid down her throat. Kerry quickly devoured the whole bowl. “See, it doesn’t have to be all bad, does it?” I asked, trying to hold back my laugh.
Now we wait, I knew it would’t be long before my little angel Kerry’s tummy would start to grumble, followed by an uncontrollable explosion in her nappy.
