Vacation Dummy: Chapter 4
“OH MY GODDESS! That was so much fun!” asked Mark eagerly, having the inability to contain his excitement any longer. He bobbed up and down on his tippy toes with both of Rocky’s hands held in his, swinging them wildly back and forth, “Wanna go again?!”
Sadly, not all were as energetic as Mark. Looking like a ghost in comparison to how she was when arriving at the pool, Rocky had been up one too many staircases and down one too many slides for her liking. Normally, she was the one dragging Mark around, allowing them to move at her pace. However, thanks to the Little Space formula, Mark was as hyper as a toddler, leading to Rocky wearing out long before the sun was setting on the ocean horizon. “H-How about we stick to the ground for a little bit?” she asked, hoping Mark would calm down long enough to acknowledge how obviously exhausted she was.
“Sure!” responded Mark, allowing Rocky to let out a relieved sigh. Unfortunately, her sigh was a tad premature, “I’ve been wanting to do the wave pool anyway. Let’s head over!” Keeping a tight hold on Rocky’s hand like a child who doesn’t know their own strength, he yanked her forward causing her to stumble for several steps in an attempt to keep up.
If Rocky wasn’t pale before, she certainly was now. Already under the effects of motion sickness from the fast-moving slides, the idea of tackling a bunch of giant, artificial waves sounded like pure torture. There wasn’t anything she could say to stop him, though. After all, it was she who spiked his coffee in the first place. It would be awful of her to try to reign in his enthusiasm after elevating it in the first place. Grimacing in a pathetic attempt to mask her pain, she braced herself for yet another stomach-churning plummet.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
Suddenly, both Mark and Rocky stopped to look down at the pocket of Mark’s swim trunks. He opened his Velcro pocket and pulled out a zip-lock bag with his phone. It was his 6 PM alarm letting him know it was time to get ready for his presentation with Margarette. Pushing his bottom lip out into a pout, he briskly turned off his alarm, displeased by the loud, ear-piercing noise.
“Honey, that means it’s time to go back to the hotel room,” said Rocky, feeling her soul return to her body as she was mercifully let off the hook for another round of playtime. With Mark’s hand still wrapped around hers, she began her march back toward their room, only to be halted by Mark’s refusal to move, “Mark? S-Stop playing around. We’ve only got one hour until your big speech.”
Turning his head away from Rocky slightly, Mark’s pout became even more exaggerated. “I don’t wanna,” he said bluntly, stomping his left foot defiantly.
In the blink of an eye, Rocky’s anxiety rose back up for a brand-new reason. She had completely forgotten about Mark’s presentation when she was drugging him with his own serum. Acting like this while poolside was one thing. If he went on stage in front of the whole company like this, he’d be a laughing stock, not to mention he would likely be in trouble with Ned for his unsanctioned experiment. She needed to snap him out of Little Space and fast. For now, though, she just needed to get him back to the bedroom. “Tell you what, if you come back to the hotel room and let me get you into your suit, I’ll uh…I’ll buy you all the ice cream you want,” she said, praying the bribe of ice cream worked as well on Mark as it did on her.
Thankfully, there was nothing more alluring to a Little than the promise of a yummy treat. “Ooh! Can I have choccy chip cookie dough?” he asked, looking at Rocky like a Goddess in human form.
If it wasn’t for the time-sensitive situation, Rocky’s heart would’ve melted right then and there. No wonder Mark got off on being a Daddy. There was something so delightful about seeing the pure, genuine smile on the face of someone you love, especially over something as innocuous as ice cream. Her expression soured only momentarily as she realized there was no time to relish this adorable moment. “Of course, you can, Marky. Now, let’s get a move on,” she said, setting off once again now that Mark was far more agreeable.
Leading the way once again, Mark was now as determined to get back to the hotel room as he was when charging toward the wave pool. The happy couple traversed the resort’s pool, taking only a slight detour as they approached the hotel to avoid interacting with Tina. The last thing they needed was for her to discover the existence of Little Mark in any capacity.
It was only once she shuttered the heavy hotel room door behind her that Rocky allowed her heart rate to relax. Looking at her cell phone, she still had about 40 minutes to get Mark to the main conference room, meaning she had time for a five-minute breather. She sat down in the same chair Mark's butt had been glued to only a couple of hours earlier and leaned her head back, allowing her body to go limp.
“Hehehe!”
Craning her neck to the side, Rocky couldn’t help but smile as Mark broke out the baby bag that housed Rocky’s favorite toys only to start playing with them himself. She snickered through her nose constantly, reaffirming in her head the initial belief that led her to spike Mark’s coffee in the first place. He needed this. He needed to take a break from his own brain. And no matter what happened from here on out, that innocent smile was worth it.
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“Ugh! For Goddess's sake, would you hold still for two seconds?!” shouted Rocky, her temper flaring up as she struggled to fight Mark into his dress slacks. Gone was the joy she felt for Mark’s current state of mind, replaced by the anguish of a Big unable to corral their lively Little.
To Mark’s credit, he was doing pretty well for someone whose current mental age was in toddler range. But while he may not have been running off like an infant might, that didn’t stop him from wiggling up a storm. “Dis is taking fowever!” he said with an undeniable lisp.
Rocky cringed at the way Mark was leaning into Littlespeak. It would be bad enough if he acted like a Little on stage in front of the whole company. He didn’t need to sound like a Little too. Fixing his belt through the final loop in his pants, she exhaled hardily. “Okay, that just leaves your shirt, tie, and shoes,” she said, pulling out her phone to check that they weren’t running too late. To her relief, they still had ten minutes until Mark’s call time. Grabbing the two halves of his dress shirt, she began fastening the buttons, feeling a renewed sense of vigor.
hsssssssssssss
All of a sudden, Mark’s wiggling came to an abrupt halt. Not seeing this for the warning sign that it was, Rocky took advantage of the momentary reprieve to tackle as many buttons as possible. That was until she felt a strange warmth pooling around her bare feet. “Huh? What’s…MARK NO!!!” she shrieked as she gazed upon the mess Mark was making of his pants.
“I-I…um…” stuttered Mark, his face flushing as the front of his pants grew moist and dark. It hadn’t been since he was an elementary school kid that he could recall wetting himself helplessly like this. His heart rate instantly ticked up, causing an involuntary boner to tent the front of his pants. This, understandably enough, only added to his embarrassment. Uncertain of what to do and lost in a sea of childhood memories, he clung to Rocky with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
“Oh, shoot! Uhhhh…” said Rocky, realizing too late that she’d inadvertently made things worse by screaming at someone in Little Space. She quickly pulled Mark’s head into her chest and began petting his hair, “It’s okay, Mark. These things…happen. And you shouldn’t be ashamed when they do.”
Sniffling in an attempt to get his breathing under control, Mark looked up at Rocky with pure innocence behind his eyes as he asked, “Buh…I did something wrong…didn I?”
“No. No, of course not, Mark. You said so yourself. Babies don’t need to feel embarrassed about…” said Rocky, stopping mid-sentence in recognition that a key component was missing to complete one of her Daddy’s favorite phrases. Breaking away from Mark’s embrace, she dove into the nearby diaper bag and pulled out a fresh, unfolded nappy. She didn’t want to do this but it would be irresponsible not to after such a blatant accident, “…about using their diapers. Would you…lay down on the bed for me?”
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CRINKLE! CRINKLE! CRINKLE!
Perhaps more so than she was with her own padding, Rocky’s heart ached for every rustle that Mark’s diapered booty made. The added bulk around Mark’s pelvis had eaten up a large chunk of time between the diapering process itself and the amount of trouble she had fitting his spare pants around the thick nappy. With how strained his pants button was by the time she got it looped, his belt was left to act as little more than a fashion accessory.
Clasping Mark’s hand in hers with the iron grip of an overworked Mother, Rocky marched the two of them forward toward what was sure to be certain doom. After all, there was no way Mark could go on stage acting like a dopey toddler. Sneaking a look back at him, she had to stifle the love in her chest as she glanced at Mark’s innocent, dough-eye expression. He then proceeded to ruin the moment by sticking his pointer finger up his right nostril all the way to the second knuckle. “Get your finger out of your nose,” she said, pulling his hand away from his face and praying this wasn’t a habit he’d gotten better at hiding over the years.
Mark’s nose-picking was merely a microcosm of the problem. Anyone who even slightly knew him would only need one look to know something was wrong. At this point, as much as it risked getting Mark in trouble, she had no choice but to pull Ned aside and explain the situation. Maybe he could get someone to fill in or have the presentation postponed. Pushing through the double doors into the conference room’s backstage area, she readied herself for the scolding a century as she scanned the space for her boss. As fate would have it, someone else was there waiting to give them a stern talking to.
“Oh, thank Goddess! There you are! Nice of you two to finally show up. It’s not like we’re on stage in two minutes,” scoffed Margarette, who was less than pleased that she wasn’t allowed to warm up with Mark as planned. She was a professional, though. She just didn’t want Mark to drag her down in any way, “You’d better have your lines straight or this is the last time I’m doing one of these stupid events.”
Having no patience for Margrette’s whinging, Rocky tried to push past her co-worker, only for her arm to get pulled back by her aggravated colleague. “Do NOT brush me off. I’m talking to you,” she said, tugging Rocky backward so hard that she lost her grip on Mark.
Balling up both fists, Rocky had reached tempers maximum limit. It had been a long day both before and after spiking Mark’s coffee, and the last thing she needed right now. “Will you back off?! Look, Margrette, I’m sorry you’re pissed but we need to talk to Ned before…oh no,” said Rocky, fear filling her eyes as she spotted Ned placing a hand on Mark’s back and ushering him toward the stage, “Shit! Ned!” She attempted to rush past Margrette a second time, failing yet again as her stronger co-worker stepped in her path.
“Nope! Nuh-uh! Flirt on your own time. We’ve got a presentation to do,” said Margrette, snapping her fingers before waving over the lone security guard working backstage, “Stevie, please make sure Rocky finds her seat. I wouldn’t want her to miss the show.”
“But I-oof!” said Rocky, cut off by a large, heavy hand being placed on her shoulder. Before she could even begin to explain what was going on, she was led out into the audience, where Tina and Charles were waiting for her next to an empty chair with a piece of paper on it that read “Reserved for Shelby Rockwell.” It may as well have been a gravestone considering the kind of performance Mark was about to put on. Sitting down solemnly, she felt her swim diaper squish beneath her, only then noticing that she hadn’t been changed since before the effects of the Little Space serum had taken hold. To her dismay, it was more than likely that once the show was over, she wouldn’t be the only one who needed a change.
TO BE CONTINUED…