Conscience of the King

by Jennifer Loraine

Contact the author at jennifer@phuze.com

Other Stories by Jennifer Loraine

 

Chapter One

 

All lovely things will fade and die;

And youth, that's now so bravely spending,

Will beg a penny by and by.

--Conrad Aiken

 

Jennifer was livid, Ted had been out all night again carousing. The tears had dried hours ago and the pain had slowly turned into anger. If he had been employed, he would have fired long ago, but he didn't need to work, he had been born rich. His great-grandfather, Johann Bjorn, had made a fortune trading railroad stocks and had a son. He fathered a conceited, self-centered, compulsive womanizer, who had in his turn, inherited the family wealth and sired Theodore, who was even more spoiled as a child than his father had been. His mother had died early in Ted's life, she had died of a broken heart, a by-product of his father's pastime. The coroner had ruled death by alcohol and drug overdose.

Three generations of genetic reinforcement and a lifetime of leisure had produced Ted. He made nothing, thought nothing, contributed nothing to anyone, unless distributing the money from the "Trust Fund Everlasting," as Ted called it, counted, which Jennifer doubted. His donations to liquor stores, bars, restaurants and call girls could hardly be called charitable by anyone except the most sorted character.

Ten years ago he had been different, she had married a handsome twenty-five year old lawyer who had graduated from law school at the top of his class. She sighed in anger and frustration. Five years ago he had received his inheritance, after his father died in an auto accident. He had instantly become the lord of his demesne, accountable to no one; a king enthroned by the sovereign power of invested capital. There was enough money to last a score lifetimes in soft, pampered idleness. The principal was safely tucked away in a trust fund conceived by batteries of lawyers and consisting of cribs of legal documents which protected the principal against government, taxes, lawsuits, natural disasters, economic depressions and the foolishness of those who it nurtured. His inheritance had proved disastrous for him.

Slowly, he lost his drive and ambition and then his faith in himself. He had even lost faith in her love for him because he knew he didn't deserve it. Now there was nothing left but a spoiled, self-indulgent drunken child, protected against all harm by the thick swaddling of money and booze.

She would have left him, she thought, but she still loved him and she couldn't bear the idea of Ted marrying anyone else, no matter how he behaved.

She remembered her wedding night and how she reacted when Ted told her new name was Norse in origin. Jennifer told him her first name was Welsh and a form of Guenevere, which meant "white or good spirit". She had suggested teasingly that he was really a Viking who wanted to steal her away from her true love, King Arthur. Then he informed her that Bjorn meant "bear" and that his name had been common among Viking chieftains. She had sat quietly for a moment and considered her new role as Mrs. Bear, when the thought hit her that if she was Mrs. Bear, then naturally he must be Mr. Bear... Mr. Ted Bear. He was her Teddy Bear! She had broken up in uncontrollable giggles when the idea hit her and it was several minutes before she regained enough composure to explain the joke to Ted. His "bedroom" name had been teddy bear ever since.

Not that there was much of that happening in their bedroom these days, she thought glumly. He seemed to have lost interest in her these last years. It wasn't caused by a lack of libido on his part. She knew he was sleeping with other women and it infuriated her. She had carefully concealed from him what she had discovered about his "extracurricular activities" and how she had exposed him.

What Ted didn't know, was that she was psychic and a very powerful and accomplished witch. Nothing that he did was hidden from her despite his halfhearted albeit well-meaning attempts to keep his little "flings", as he thought of them, secret.

She had tried everything to arouse his interest and failed miserably.

"There are just too many good-looking, big-breasted women who are attracted by the smell of horny fools with lots of loose money," she thought. Jennifer looked down at her own full breasts, "Ted liked my breasts when we married, he was very attracted to big breasts then and he's still preoccupied with big knockers. Infantile idiot! He just can't resist the opportunity for a quick romp with some big-boobed, empty-headed, valley girl."

Jennifer sighed again when she thought of the two years it took to perfect her youth spell. She had maintained an age of twenty-seven ever since. Not that she couldn't make herself younger, she thought. She could make her body, or for that matter anyone, any age she wished, while retaining all their adult mental faculties and memories. She could, however, become young enough to lose control of her body as had happened one horrible weekend when she was developing the spell. One day as a clumsy pre-teenager had convinced her that she preferred to be a mature, but young and firm twenty-seven year old. "Thank the Goddess that Ted was out of town that weekend," she muttered to herself, wincing at the memory.

She was thoroughly disgusted with Ted's behavior. She had discussed it with her friends and members of her coven, but no one had come up with any scheme to change him.

Last week, at her wits end, she had gone to a marriage councilor, who had discussed the "Peter Pan" syndrome and suggested that time and maturity would cure Ted. He described Ted as the "Eternal Child", who suddenly has had a world of toys given him, and naturally plays with them until he becomes bored. "It's just a matter of time and age," he said.

"Age!", she thought, "After five years of uninterrupted play, he doesn't need age, he needs a spanking! He needs to want to grow up! He needs his toys taken away until he is mature enough to deserve them. He needs someone to stand over him and tell him what to do, to take care of him until he can do it for himself. He's just an overgrown child", she thought. "Just a big baby" and she started giggling, suddenly struck with a mental image of him sitting on the floor in diapers and crying.

"Maybe", she thought "just maybe, I've been looking at this from the wrong direction. I shouldn't be trying to mature him, he has to do that himself and I know exactly how to make him want to grow up!" She got up and said to herself, "I think it's time to do some shopping for Ted!"

She went to the kitchen, picked up her purse and keys and went into the garage, intending to take his Suburban instead of her Audi. "He'll come home and curl up with in bed with his bottle, he won't need it," she reassured herself. "And Baby, am I going to need a lot of room on this shopping trip!", she chuckled to herself as she drove away.

Ted walked (or rather staggered) in at about noon, poured himself a drink then took it and himself to bed. He got into bed, not noticing the Jennifer had taken his Suburban, and fell into an ethanol anesthetized slumber that normally lasted ten hours.

Ted woke up with a dry mouth and a slight twinge of nausea. Staring bleary eyed at the clock-radio he decided that it was about an hour and twenty minutes to midnight. He picked up the drink he had left beside the bed and downed half in one draught and lay back down on the pillow to recover and wake up, still holding the drink in his hand. His knees ached from a fall down some stairs at a bar last night. After a few minutes the door open and Jennifer entered carrying a bed serving tray. She placed the tray beside him on the bed, smiled sweetly, kissed him on the forehead, then sat herself down on the chair beside the bed. "I think you'll feel better if you drink some of my herbed tomato juice instead of that," gently taking the drink from his hand and placing it on the bedside table. "I made some breakfast for you, bacon, eggs, toast and plum jam and if you finish the juice right now, I have brandy posset for dessert with lots of brandy," she cooed, picking up the tray and settling it over his legs. Ted groaned at the prospect of drinking the "herbed" tomato juice, her hangover cures always worked, but they made him feel like he had swallowed a fire hose and turned the valve on full, with water gushing from every pore. He looked at the sweetly determined expression on her face and decided that drinking the ghastly concoction took less courage than arguing with her in his condition, so he lifted the glass and drained it in a single breathless gulp. "This was the worst cure yet," he thought, "She must have changed the recipe."

Jennifer nodded and smiled at him and shook out his napkin for him. "Eat, get some more sleep and you'll feel better tomorrow." He began eating the eggs with the taste of the "cure" in his mouth, praying that the food would cover its bitter tang but having little hope for that particular blessing. When he finished she handed him a very large brandy snifter with his favorite hangover remedy, a brandy posset; two raw eggs, half-and-half, salt, sugar, and vanilla mixed with a large amount of Mr. Boston Five Star Brandy. He began to get very sleepy about two thirds of the way through the posset. Ted looked at Jennifer around the rim of the snifter and realized she was smiling at him. She never smiled at him when he drank. He wanted to ask her what she was so happy about, but his eyelids were drooping and he was having a hard time keeping them open. As he drifted of to sleep, she took the snifter from his hands and he heard her chuckle and say, "Sleep tight, baby."

 

Chapter Two

 

Babies are such a nice way to start people.

--Don Herold

 

The next morning when he woke up he had a decidedly odd feeling. He lay on his side with his eyes closed trying to determine just exactly what felt strange. The pillow smelled like baby powder and the mattress felt wrong, it was too hard. When he shifted his back the sheet slid slightly, as if the mattress cover was plastic. His arms and legs didn't feel right and his head felt too heavy. He lifted his right leg and bent the knee to test the joint but there was no pain. As he put his leg down he heard/felt a thin, crackling, plastic sound around his upper thigh and buttocks. He put his hand down to the area and felt plastic over some padding. He felt around his stomach and buttocks and they were covered too. His pajamas were gone and he was wearing....? Ted's eyes jerked open and he was fully awake. He felt again, he was wearing... DIAPERS ?!!

He looked away from the pillow and saw a line of vertical brown wooden bars rising up from the edge of the bed. He looked up over the pillow and saw that the line of wooden bars ended with a large oak headboard which had a pastel painting of diapered teddy bears. He looked at the foot of the bed and saw a similar painting on the footboard. There was something trying to grab his attention from the corner of his eye. The blanket. It had teddy bears on it too!

With a growing horror he realized where he was... in a nursery! He threw off the blanket and grabbed the bars to stand up. As he stood up the diaper pulled at his hips heavily. He put one hand tentatively down to the front of his diaper and squeezed the lowest part. It squished slowly in his fingers like a saturated sponge. He squeezed again, inadvertently pushing against the part of diaper covering his lower abdomen. The soggy diaper had cooled slightly in the few minutes away from contact with him and it felt cold against his skin. Ted screwed up his face in an expression of momentary puzzlement; the crotch of his diaper felt chilly and....damp? ........WET??! Alarmed, he looked down and clutched the front of his diaper with both hands. Immediately, he fell backwards onto the blanket. He landed on his bottom in a sodden heap.

He sat there facing the crib side with his bare feet in front of him, knees flexed and out to the sides, the soles of his feet almost touching. He wanted to cry! He needed to cry! This was a bad dream, a nightmare, it couldn't possibly be real! He sat motionless in the crib. He was trapped, the sides of the crib were too tall to climb over and escape. Tears of frustration welled up in his eyes unbidden and began to roll down his face.

The curtains were gaily colored and had the same teddy bear motif as the blanket and crib. Even the walls had cut-out posters of teddy bears. He saw a matching oak dresser against the wall with a changing table on top with baby powder, lotion, disposable towelettes, and a stack of clean diapers. A dirty diaper hamper stood alongside the dresser. The room smelled of clean sheets and baby powder. His eyes moved down to look at the floor and he saw a baby walker with table next to the closet. In the corner there was a large rocking chair.

He shifted his feet to get more comfortable and he looked down at his feet. HIS FEET??!! Those weren't his feet, these feet were round and soft and chubby like a.....like the feet of a..... With a start he realized he had been looking over his hand at his feet. That was because his hand was at his mouth. Well, not at his mouth precisely, because one of his fingers was in his mouth; his thumb. His thumb was in his mouth and he was sucking it !!!

This could not be happening to him! He wanted to scream in rage at his helplessness. He couldn't be a baby, wearing a very wet diaper, sitting in a crib and sucking his thumb!

He felt a vague apprehension that he had missed something important. He turned his head and saw only the open curtains with the morning sun beaming through and he realized what he had subconsciously feared. It was morning and whoever took care of the baby..... took care of him... would be in the nursery any minute to change him.

The fear of discovery and the threat of extreme humiliation rolled over him like a thick blanket blotting out any rational thought. He closed his eyes and darkness immediately enveloped him, shutting out the shameful world he had found himself inhabiting. He rocked back and forth at the waist, savoring the pleasant sensations the constant motion gave him. The comforting blackness was only marred by the thin wails of a crying baby. The sound seemed far away at first; a barely perceptible intrusion in the background. He struggled to focus his disordered mind on the sound of the baby. As he concentrated the wail became nearer and clearer to him. They sounded like they were in the same room with him. He wanted to open his eyes and look around for the baby, but the thought of seeing himself in an infant's nursery filled him with a nameless dread. He kept his eyes closed and tried to locate the source of the sound by concentration alone. The screams became louder until they filled his head. Then the realization of what was happening hit him. He was crying! He was wailing and bawling at the top of his lungs. Screaming out against a world he no longer understood and could not change! He opened his eyes and squalled as tears ran down his face. He had lost control of his emotions and they were running away with him, regressing him to a time when his emotions controlled him utterly.

He was wet, cold, humiliated, and terrified. He was scared someone he didn't know would hear him and come to see what was the matter. He was even more afraid someone he did know would come through the door. He was alone and helpless and panicky! Knowing this only made it worse and frightened him even more. He tried to stop crying, to grab a breath, but he couldn't, and now he could hear foot steps in the hall. They were coming closer, time slowed down to a crawl, the door opened and standing there was....was... Jennifer ?!!

She had an apron on, and she was smiling, coming toward him with her arms outstretched, and cooing, "There, there, baby, its alright, Mommy's here, everything is alright."

She picked him up and held him to her chest, with one hand supporting his bottom and the other on his back. He lay against her sobbing, while she comforted him with her hand patting him on the back saying "Mommy's here, baby, mommy's here."

He felt his bottom held securely against her, completely cradled by her hand and fingers. She sat down in the rocking chair with him in her arms rocking slowly, gently until his sobs died away.

When he had quieted down, she turned him so that he was sitting on her lap, his back leaning against her left arm, legs across her lap, facing up at her looking down at him with a smile of motherly concern and love.

She patted the front of his diaper and said, "Did baby pee in his diaper?

Does baby need his diaper changed ?"

He started to cry again but she held his head to her shoulder with her right hand and said "It's okay baby, mommy will take care of everything. Mommy will change you. Don't worry, baby boy. Mommy's right here."

She rocked again until he was quiet, the got up carrying him to the changing table on dresser, and laid him on his back. He got wide-eyed as she undid the tape on the diaper, first the far side and then on the side nearest her, smiling down at him and prattling baby talk to him non-stop, while pulling the diaper up away from his stomach and down between his legs in front, revealing him completely to her thoughtful gaze. He lay naked and exposed to her and he blushed in deep embarrassment. He was shamed and humiliated by his wet diaper.

Then, with her left hand she picked up both of his feet and lifted him easily until his bottom was free of the table, and with her right hand she removed the soggy diaper and tossed it into the dirty diaper pail. She took a moist towelette and washed his front, then turned him over on his stomach and washed his bottom. Then she rubbed his bottom all over with baby lotion, turning him over on his back so she could finish his front. " Does baby like that when I do this? Does baby like his wee-wee rubbed with baby lotion?"

He wriggled vigorously and was dismayed that he could not tell whether he squirmed in pleasure or mortification. She sprinkled his pubic area generously with baby powder and lifted his feet again with her left hand while putting a clean diaper beneath him. She laid him down, and grasped the far front side of the diaper with her right hand, simultaneously smoothing the rear piece over it with the left hand and taping it down. She did the same to the other side and picked him up and carried him back to the crib and placed him in it saying, "It's too early for you to be up, baby." and she laid him down on his back, pulled the blanket up around him and tucked him in.

She reached into her apron and pulled out a full baby bottle, removed the cap and pushed the nipple into his mouth. He almost started crying again, but to his horror, his mouth betrayed him and he started nursing and sucking the nipple voraciously, the warm formula filling his mouth and rolling down his throat. He could taste it not only on top and sides of his tongue, but on the sides of his mouth. He was very hungry and thirsty and the formula fulfilled both needs. Sucking felt sooo..good. It was a deep, gratifying, stimulating, almost sexual pleasure that pervaded him with a feeling of lassitude and security. He distantly heard her say, "That's a go-od Baby! Drink your formula all down."

He was embarrassed, humiliated and helpless, but he kept nursing the formula, his lips tingled with every movement of the nipple. He could not control himself. The sweet aroma and taste of the warm formula permeated his mouth. He had become chilled after sitting up bare and uncovered while wearing a cold, wet diaper. Now, as his stomach distended with milk, his abdomen warmed. He drank nearly all of the formula and began to feel sated.

He felt warm all over and he was getting very, very, sleepy. Jennifer stood at the side of the crib and watched him affectionately as his eyes closed and the bottle began to slip from his hands. Taking the bottle from him tenderly, she pulled the nipple from his lips. She reached into her apron pocket and retrieved a pacifier and placed its nipple in his mouth as he fell into a deep sleep. With both hands, she carefully lifted him slightly from the crib and turned him on his side, gently and quietly tucking in the blanket around his small slumbering body. Smiling broadly now, she put the cover back on the bottle and returned it to her apron pocket. "Sweet dreams, baby.", she said as she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. "Sweet dreams."

Ted woke slowly from a bad dream, the worst he had ever had. It seemed so real, everything was so detailed; the sounds, the textures, colors, even the taste and touch had seemed real. No wonder the dream made him want to hide his head under the blanket until it went away and waking consciousness fully returned. Rather than give in to a childish fear, he kept his eyes closed and tried to remember the dream. What was the point of the dream? Was Jennifer trying to "change" him?

Ted opened his eyes fully expecting to see his bedroom, instead he was back in the dream, a diapered baby in a crib. He began to moan, a low pitiful sound, drawn from him unwillingly as despair filled his mind and compassed his being. The moan grew into a wail and filled him with sound, shutting out reality. It went on for an eternity, feeding on itself, drawing him deeper into a wordless void, without form or substance, a nomina without light or hope, consisting of only loss and emptiness. He drifted in the void aimlessly, until he felt the faint pull of something warm and kind. He moved closer to it and it reached out and found him, surrounding him with love. The something comforted him wordlessly and his wounded psyche clung to it, as it tenderly enveloped and protected him. Gradually, he began to return to reality, as his exhausted mind turned from a terror it had no energy to contemplate.

He became aware of motion, a rocking, like a ship at anchor. A slow, gentle, inviting movement was luring him home to safety. He heard his own sobs grow quiet and then cease. He felt soft, warm fabric against his face and a gentle hand stroking his head. He opened his eyes and saw Jennifer's concerned face looking down at him with love and compassion shining in her eyes. He saw her lips move and realized she was speaking, murmuring to him, but the sounds had no meanings other than emotions to him. He looked at her, his rescuer, his wife, and smiled shyly at her, fearful she would grow angry and leave him.

Jennifer continued to hold and comfort him and he began to comprehend her words. "Momma's here baby, its okay. Everything is fine. Momma will take care of you. Don't worry, baby. Mamma will protect you. Momma loves her baby. Momma won't let anything happen to her baby. Its okay, baby. Hush baby, momma's here."

Ted laid his head against her breast, while she rocked the rocking chair, her hands holding him to her breast. Ted was at peace with reality and himself now. He knew she would protect him and take care of him. After a few more minutes she said, "It's time for baby's breakfast."

Jennifer got up from the chair, placed him on her right hip with one of his legs in front of her and one behind her. She put her hand on his bottom and held him tightly against her side. Ted bounced as he rode her hip. Jennifer opened the door and Ted looked out at the hall when they emerged. He was surprised to discover the nursery was the guest bedroom next to the master bedroom. They went into the kitchen where Jennifer put him into a high chair whose table was decorated with teddy bears. He drew circles around the bears with his fingers as she stepped behind the high chair to fasten his feeding bib.

She went to the pantry and returned with a blue rubber-coated feeding spoon and a jar of baby food. Jennifer pulled a chair close to the high chair and opened the jar, spooned some out and began to feed him. "You'll like this, it's oatmeal and applesauce. Mmmmm. Now open wide." The oatmeal was perfectly smooth in texture and the applesauce gave it a very pleasant sweet-fruity flavor. He swallowed a big spoonful only to find another had taken its place before he was ready. She spooned it in faster than he could swallow it (he was having trouble exercising conscious control over swallowing), but she kept spooning it in. She scraped the sides of his mouth and chin with the spoon when the layer of oatmeal got too thick and fed him the scrapings too, until the jar was empty and his face was reasonably free of oatmeal.

She got up, went to the pantry again and brought back a jar of Gerber fruit juice and a small plastic baby bottle. She filled the bottle, screwed the nipple on tight, and gave him the bottle. He put the nipple into his mouth and started sucking, watching her intently. The aroma of sweet apple cider filled his mouth and nose as he sucked on the nipple.

She smiled at him and said, "I guess I should tell you what's happened to you. I guess you would say, " She chuckled and continued, "that is, if you could talk,... which you can't !..., that I happened to you, you see, I'm a witch."

His eyes grew wide as she continued, "I'm a card-carrying, third degree, Esbat attending, High Priestess of a coven. I cast a spell on you and regressed your body to your personality's age!"

Ted's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she said, "I finally got tired of your infantile behavior. This is my house and I don't need your help to run it. I have your full power of attorney to do it with too! Remember last year when you went on a bender for three weeks and the water, gas and electric companies turned off the services because you didn't pay them? I couldn't pay them because the bank accounts were in your name. Do you remember granting me a full power of attorney so that I could keep the house running? Of course that was only after you took a cab to the liquor store on a Saturday and an off-duty police officer arrested you for public intoxication after you made some remarks to her about how nice her tits looked and how you would like to bed her. You had to write a check for me bail you out. I didn't have an account so I had to wait until Monday to cash the check at your bank and you had to spend the weekend in the drunk tank. You gave me a full power-of-attorney that same day before you curled up with your liquor bottle on the sofa and returned to la-la land. I take care this house alone and from now on I'll take care of you too! You've shown that you're completely irresponsible! I don't have time to keep up this house and go traipsing around town cleaning up your messes and trying to keep you out of trouble. You don't need a wife, you need a mommy! When I married you, I agreed to stay with you for better or worse. As far as I'm concerned the worst is over! I'd rather take care of a baby in diapers than a wayward husband. If you can't behave like an adult and have to be looked after like an infant then it's up to me to take responsibility for you. If I can't be your wife, then I'll be your Mommy!

If you want to act like a child, then fine, act like a child, you can act as childish and infantile as you want, but from now on you'll do it on my terms.

If you want to sleep curled up around a bottle, that's fine with me, but it will be a baby bottle, not a liquor bottle. Now you can ogle every womans' breasts if you want and no one will be embarrassed. If you want to act cute and flirt with my friends go ahead, I don't mind. Only they won't be sitting on your lap with you fondling them. Now, you'll be sitting on their lap and they'll be playing with you !

You'll wear clean clothes every day because I'll dress you. I won't have to wash underwear you've worn for a month, because I'll change your diapers everytime you wet or dirty them. I won't be cleaning the bathroom because you've gotten drunk and missed the toilet and peed on yourself and the floor. You'll pee in your diaper and not on my clean floor !

From now on you'll take a bath every day, because I'll bathe you, baby!

I'll choose when you'll get up and when you'll go to sleep. I'll decide where you'll go, what you'll wear and what you'll drink and eat. You'll eat what I put in front of you because I'll spoon-feed you your meals myself.

You'll go shopping with me every time whether you want to or not. You'll wear seat belts in the car, because from now on you'll ride strapped into a baby seat in the back seat. We won't cut short a shopping trip because you're hungry or thirsty or tired or you need to go home to go to the bathroom. You'll be strapped into a stroller with a diaper bag full of baby food, formula and clean diapers behind you on the stroller. If you want to take a nap while we're shopping, you'll nap in the stroller. If you need to pee or poop, you'll do it in your diaper while sitting in the stroller.

You can't embarrass me in front of my friends. Babies don't embarrass anyone, they're only endearing. You won't even have to worry about being caught by my friends running around the house with nothing on but your old, dirty, sagging, B.V.D.'s anymore. A baby wearing droopy diapers doesn't offend anyone, its just charming.

You won't stink up my house with your cigarettes and cigars. If you want to suck on something, you can suck on your thumb or your pacifier. You won't get underfoot while I'm working in the kitchen, making the bed, or cleaning the house. You'll sit in your playpen quietly and play with your toys.

You won't interrupt my soaps with your comments about the acting or the script. Because you can't talk, baby!! But the best part is that your womanizing days are over!! The only other women you'll be spending time alone with will be your babysitters!

In short, baby, you'll behave yourself. If you don't, I'll put you in a playpen for a timeout. If you still act up, I'll put you in your crib for the night. And if you're very naughty....." She paused for a breath of air,... "I'll put you over my knee, pull down your diaper and spank your bare bottom !!!"

The bottle was out of his mouth and his eyes were wide and his mouth was open in an expression of utter astonishment at her tirade. "Do You Understand Me?", she demanded.

He closed his mouth and nodded meekly.

"Until you learn how to behave, you're going to be a baby! My baby! I'm going to be the Momma in this house and you'll play by my rules! You're the baby and I'm your Mommy! Is that understood?"

He nodded again.

"Good!", she said, "Now finish your juice, baby. We're going for a trip this morning."

She went to the kitchen sink and moistened a wash cloth. Jennifer returned and said, "Be still, baby!", then scrubbed his lips and face. She removed his bib, and took it in the kitchen. She left him sitting alone with the bottle to finish his juice. When she finished washing dishes, she came over, lifted him out of the high chair and carried him into the family room.

Sitting in the middle of the floor was a brand new playpen. She put him and his bottle into the playpen and turned on the TV She looked at the newspaper program schedule for a moment, turned on the TV and said, "Good! I found the perfect show for you to watch, baby. Barney! He's exactly the right age level for you! Now be good while mommy goes and changes her clothes."

She left him alone with the TV and went to the bedroom. She closed the door to the bedroom and chuckled. Her plan was working. She hoped it would, not just because she loved Ted and wanted to help him, but also because of the personal risk to her.

She believed fervently in the Three-Fold Law; what you do to others shall be returned three fold. She was running an enormous risk, both spiritually and karmically.

She wished though, that she hadn't projected the feeling of despair so strongly, it almost drove him over the edge. She frowned, she hadn't planned on Ted being so sensitive telepathically, he had never been that psychically receptive before. Perhaps it was because he was in an infant body? She had only meant to get him to accept her as his new mother figure, not terrify him. Oh well, what's done is done. She'd try to be extra sweet and gentle with him in the future. At least she'd been able to read him the riot act convincingly. She had rehearsed that "spontaneous" outburst all day.

He had to accept his role as a baby in order to grow up. She'd give him the opportunity to have a very short but normal babyhood. Maybe then he would develop trust in others and faith in himself. If he had faith in himself then he would seek independence and responsibility again. She was the foil, the foe he would seek to overcome, and in the attempt, he would learn and grow spiritually without needing to understand that he was the source of his problems. She thought it would take a month, perhaps as long as six weeks, before she could let him be five or ten years old again. Then she could explain everything to him, but not now. Now she had to become his mommy; to nurture him, to love him, to care for him and if necessary, to discipline him. He had to learn that there were limits on his behavior!

Jennifer came back into the family room, picked him up out of the playpen and said, "It's time to get you dressed."

She carried him into the nursery and laid him on his back in the crib. She went to the dresser and opened a drawer and took out a white T-shirt. "Look, baby!" she said. "Mommy bought you a nice new T-shirt and it's exactly your size!"

She held it out for him to see. It had line drawings of a pacifier, a baby bottle and a large breast. Beneath each picture was a single word caption;

Good , Better , and Best. Jennifer lowered the crib side, grasped his chest under both arms and pulled him up to a sitting position. She put her hand though the shirt sleeve and held his hand in her own while pulling down the shirt over his arm. Then she worked his head through the neck hole and put his arm through the other sleeve.

"Isn't that better ?", she said.

Ted was mortified.

"Oops," she said, "I forgot to check your diaper."

She pushed him down on his back and reached with the four fingers of her hand held flat and together and slid them into the front of his diaper. "Well," she said, "you're a little wet, but you'll be okay until we get to Lisa's house. I'll change you then."

"Oh no," he thought, "she's taking me to Lisa's to show her what she's done to me. I'll never be able to look Lisa in the face again."

She went to the closet, opened the door and took a blue plastic bag from the top shelf. She brought it over to the dresser, opened the top drawer and began putting things inside the bag. When she was finished, she closed the drawer and took a stack of diapers and put them in the bag. She put the strap over her shoulder and went to the crib, picked him up and put him on her hip, holding his bottom with her right hand.

She carried him into the kitchen and put the diaper bag on the counter.

Still holding him she went to the pantry and took out some baby food. He glanced inside the pantry as she made her selection. "No,.. no,.... please no !", he thought desperately as he saw the stock of food in the pantry. There were enough baby food jars on the shelf to feed him for a month. She brought the jar back to the counter and placed it beside the diaper bag. She turned to the refrigerator and took out a capped baby bottle which she put in the bag. Then she opened a kitchen drawer took out a feeding spoon and put it and the jar into the bag. She grasped the bag's strap, put it on her shoulder, reached over the counter and picked up her purse and keys.

She carried him out to the garage, went to the rear passenger side of "his" Suburban, and opened the door.

"My Suburban !", he raged mentally, as he saw the baby seat fastened to the rear seat.

She put her purse and keys on top of the Suburban and put the diaper bag on the floor behind the front seat. She put him into the seat, pulling the restraining straps over his shoulders and secured the clip of the safety harness into matching lock of the strap that she drew up between his legs and over his crotch. Then she adjusted the straps until he was held firmly in the seat.

"Oh dear," she said. "I almost forgot your blankee!"

Leaving his door open, Jennifer put her purse into the front seat and took the keys with her into the house. She emerged a few minutes latter, carrying the blanket from the crib and locked the garage door behind her. She came back around to the rear door and put the blanket in his hands and said, "Here baby, take your blankee."

She closed the door, went to the other side of the Suburban and got in the front. She put the keys in the ignition, started the engine, opened the garage door by remote control, and backed out of the driveway.

 

Chapter Three

 

As long as you know that most men are like children you know everything.

--Coco Chanel

 

The drive to Lisa's was mercifully short, but Ted held on to the padded safety bar with a death grip. Not that Jennifer was speeding, in fact, she was driving much slower than normal. Ted decided that this must be another manifestation of her new found maternal instinct. He dreaded this visit with Lisa. He had been trying for the past three years to get into her pants with no luck. If she saw him like this, he would never have another chance at her, she would laugh in his face. All the "special" favors, the compliments, all his preparation would be wasted. That's if she believed Jennifer,.. a very big if. The worst part would be when Jennifer told her who her baby really was..... Lisa's big blue eyes would open wide, she'd stare at him, ask Jennifer if was really true and frown and say how sorry she was and ask what had happened. Lisa was a photo-journalist, she would get the story out of Jennifer. Then she'd wait until they had left and call the police.

Lisa was simply not going to believe that Jennifer was a witch and had turned a grown man, her husband, into a baby. It wasn't reasonable. She'd call the police, who would investigate, find him and assume that Jennifer had lost her mind and kidnapped someone's baby. He'd become a ward of the court when the couldn't find his "mother" and Jennifer would spend the rest of her life in an institution for the criminally insane. He would lose whatever chance he had to be returned to normal. On the other hand, if she did believe Jennifer, then no matter what he did in the future, she would remember him as a baby. His dashing masculine image, built up so meticulously in Lisa's eyes, would be hopelessly overpowered by the mental picture of a drooling, crawling infant.

He was utterly miserable. He wallowed in self-pity and trembled at the thought of the impending ordeal. Lisa's house was in the hill country not far from Jennifer's and Ted's house. She greeted them at the door and invited them in saying, "Oh hi, Jennifer, come in."

Lisa looked closely at Ted's T-shirt, chuckled at the message on the front and said, "What a cute baby shirt! Who's your little friend, Jennifer? I don't think I've met him before."

Jennifer laughed merrily and said, "Oh, but you have. He's been over here lots of times. You don't recognize him?"

Lisa tilted her head sideways and regarded Ted thoughtfully. After a moment she said, "I have the impression I've seen him, but the only baby that's ever been over here is Vivian's little girl. Who is he?" Jennifer had her hands full with one hand holding Ted on her hip and the other holding both her purse and the diaper bag, said tiredly, "It's a long story, why don't we go into the living room were I can put all this stuff down and we can sit on the couch?"

They went into the living room and sat down. Jennifer sat Ted on her lap, facing Lisa, and held him. Ted groaned inwardly as Jennifer told Lisa who he was. He blushed when she reacted to the news by saying, "Do you mean that's him? That's really Ted?"

Jennifer assured her it was and to Ted's astonishment Lisa burst out laughing. "So you finally did it. It's about time someone put him in his place. Well, you're more powerful than the rest of us in the coven. You've got that regression spell down pat. I doubt that any of us could have done it."

Lisa looked down at him a smiled, "I think you've picked the proper age for him too, it suits his personality."

Ted was stunned, he was surrounded by witches! It was inconceivable that he never suspected that Lisa or Jennifer (His WIFE for God's Sake, he thought in exasperation!) were witches! Lisa's attitude, however, was annoying considering all he'd done for her. Lisa said, "I can't tell you how many times I wanted to do something to him. He was always over here pawing me, bringing me "special" gifts like negligees, and offering me oily complements. Bah! If you weren't my friend, I'd have punched him in the nose."

Jennifer said, she understood her feelings and was sorry he had treated her that way. "But now things are going to be different, I'm going to take care of him," she promised her friend.

Lisa said, "Honey, we know it's not your fault. You've done the best you can. Now, what are you going to call him?"

"Call him?" Jennifer said in a confused tone. "His name's Ted. I'll call him Ted."

Lisa shook her head no. "You can't do that, Ted is an adult's name or at least a boy's name. You'll have to call him by a baby name. People will ask questions otherwise."

Jennifer looked thoughtful, then said, "You're right, I'll have to invent a baby name for him." She sat silently for a moment and she began to grin. "I think I have the perfect name for him; I'll call him Teddy. He'll be my little baby boy Teddy," she laughed.

She looked down at him as he sat in her lap and said, "Your name is Teddy, baby boy. Is Teddy going to be mommy's good baby? Mommy's going to put you down on the carpet so you can play while Lisa and I talk. Here!", she said. She took a small teddy bear out of the diaper bag and put it in his hand, saying, "Here's a teddy for you to play with."

Jennifer stood him up on the carpet next to the couch. He balanced precariously for a moment, the toy gripped tightly in one hand, then fell backward and landed on his bottom. He looked up and saw Jennifer and Lisa laughing at him. He glared at them with wounded dignity. Other than his pride, he was unhurt, the diaper and carpet had cushioned the shock. He rocked forward and used both hands and his legs to try and stand up, only to fall backwards again as he attempted to straighten up. Jennifer and Lisa burst out in peals of laughter at the display of his infantile uncoordination.

His face burned with embarrassment and he decided he would rather sit on the other side of the room, as far away from them as possible. Unfortunately, the only way for him to get there was to crawl, but given the present circumstances, he didn't think he could embarrass himself any more than he just had. He moved slowly, getting up on his hands and knees to creep quietly away. He didn't wish to draw any more attention to himself with another failed attempt to stand. When he was midway there, he was struck by an odd sensation and stopped.

He felt something, a yearning tension, in his lower abdomen; it was inside, immediately behind and above his testicles, in a place Occultists call the Muladhara or "Root" Chakra. The pressure was growing and becoming an unpleasant ache when it was replaced by a different feeling. He felt a muscular ripple deep inside himself and the pressure vanished completely. It gradually became a faint sensation of pleasure, growing in intensity, becoming a quivering throb that rolled through his pelvis and sent tingling thrills coursing up and down his spine. It radiated from the perineum, beneath and behind his pubic region to his belly button and he felt a hot rushing sensation filling his groin. A warm languid feeling of relaxation and release enveloped him and he floated momentarily in the bliss that remained as it subsided. The experience dazed him and he smiled vacantly as he crouched, spellbound, on his hands and knees. His lucidity returned as he started to recover and he wondered what had happened to him.

He resumed his creeping, slowly moving away from the couch. As he moved, he began to realize that something was wrong. His pubic area still felt warm. His diaper sagged lower now, almost two thirds of the way to his knees. It felt heavier than it had a few minutes ago. He paused again as the stink of a dirty diaper assaulted his nostrils.

He froze in panic. He knew that the diaper's reek would reach Jennifer and Lisa in moments. He was sickened and repelled by what he had just done. A moments physical pleasure was about to become an afternoon of anguish and misery. They would laugh and giggle at his childishness. Jennifer would change his diaper in front of Lisa, cooing and babbling baby talk to him while she cleaned his dirty bottom. Lisa would sit there on the couch, smiling and laughing while he lay helpless and naked to her ridicule. The rest of the afternoon would be spent teasing and tormenting him with jibes about his immaturity. This body, his body, had betrayed him again. Jennifer was talking animatedly with Lisa when the stench reached them. The conversation stopped and both of their heads turned toward him, their eyes confirming what their noses told them. A big grin spread across Lisa's face as she said, "I think Teddy just pooped in his dydee."

Teddy was disconsolate. He could not face them. He waited, motionless, for Jennifer to get there with the diaper bag. He heard Jennifer sigh and get up from the couch. He felt the floor shudder slightly as she dropped the bag by his feet and sat down on the carpet next to him. She grasped him firmly at the sides, picked him up, turned him around, and laid him on his back. Jennifer smiled down at him maternally, put a pacifier in his mouth, and proceeded to pull up his T-shirt and change him.

Lisa watched him flail his legs in distress as she said, "Ted has begged me over and over to do a portrait of him. I think this would be the perfect time to spend an afternoon in the studio and shoot a complete portfolio of Teddy. That is, if you have the time."

Jennifer looked at his face and her smile turned into a wide grin and she said, "That's a wonderful idea, I'd love to have an album of baby pictures, I have all afternoon."

Lisa continued, "A colleague of mine who specializes in juvenile portraits got married last week and went on her honeymoon. I let her store all of her equipment, props and costumes in my photography studio until she returns. She won't mind if I use some of her props and costumes to do some baby portraits for a friend. We'll have everything we need for a full session." Jennifer finished changing Teddy and picked him up, placed him against her shoulder, went to the couch and sat down. "Let's get started right now!", Jennifer said.

They went into the studio and sat on a chair while Lisa adjusted the lights and unpacked the props and costumes. Presently, she came back and said, "Okay, I'm ready. We'll begin over there.", she indicated a platform with a small white bearskin rug. "Take off his diaper and lay him down on his tummy."

Jennifer did so and stood to one side. Lisa picked up her camera and began shooting. "Smile baby,...Biiiig Smile....Come on baby....Biiiiig Smile!" She stopped and frowned. "This isn't going to work if he doesn't cooperate.

Jennifer, see if you can do anything with him."

Jennifer sat down on the platform next to Teddy, laid her hand on his bare bottom and said, "Teddy, I want you to do what Lisa says. Do you underst and?"

Teddy lay fixedly with a grim expression on his face. She picked him up and sat him up facing her. He crossed his arms and balked. Looking determined she said, "If you don't start cooperating right now, I'm going to spank you!"

Teddy held out against her threat resolutely. He had decided that they could take all the degrading and embarrassing photos they wanted, but he was not going to help. He frowned up at her obstinately.

"That's it.", she said and picked him up and put him on her lap, tummy down, and held him there with her left hand. "You'll do what I tell you to do baby!", she said and proceeded to spank his bottom. He felt helpless and humiliated. The pain increased with every swat and he began to suffer intensely. His anguish was unbearable and he began to cry. After what seemed like an eternity she stopped, sat him up on her lap and said, "Are you going to be a good baby? Or do I spank you some more?" He nodded, tears of submission rolling down his face and she put him back down on the rug. She went to her purse, took out a tissue and wiped his nose and face. "Now Smile, baby!", she commanded.

Lisa shot a dozen pictures with him lying naked on the rug. She put down her camera, went to the wardrobe and came back with something pink and lacy in her arm. "Diaper him, then dress him in this," she said. "I think I've got an idea for an adorable picture."

Jennifer diapered him, then lifted his feet and put them through the holes of something. As she pulled it down his legs he saw it was a pair of plastic panties, Pink plastic baby-panties with lace. She was dressing him in Rumba baby panties! He was mortified. Lisa handed Jennifer a matching pink babydoll dress and sunbonnet. "Put these on him and put him down on the carpet; I'll get some shots of him creeping," Lisa said. Jennifer sat him on the carpet and Lisa took pictures from various angles.

"This is horrible!", he thought and frowned.

"Smile baby! Smile or momma will spank!", Jennifer said.

He pasted a sick smile on his face and Lisa said, "Perfect, it looks like he's just about to take a dump in his dydee."

She snapped a few shots of him and looked over her camera with a particularly nasty smile on her face. "Crawl, baby. Crawl so Aunt Lisa can take pictures of you at your best. Give us an endearing pose, we want to see your sweet inner child. Your mommy will have a album of you acting cute and adorable. Jennifer will have these pictures to remember when you were her precious little baby. From now on I'm going think of you as the sweet, precious, little baby in these photos. I'm never going to let you forget these pictures either, Teddy baby, ever!"

He crept around the floor while they laughed and taunted him. It was far, far, worse that he had imagined. They photographed him playing with rattles, sucking on bottles and pacifiers, chewing stuffed animal toys, and lying on his back and sucking and playing with his toes. Lisa shot dozens of rolls of film.

"Wait here for a minute, Jennifer. I'll be right back. I saw something he'd look adorable in.", Lisa said, putting down the camera. She returned a minute later with a bulky yellow garment over one arm and said, "Put him in this and I'll get some baby pictures to treasure forever."

Jennifer sat him up and slipped the garment over his head and buttoned it down the back. Ted looked down to see what she was dressing him in and was horrified to see she was putting him in a baby doll dress. It was an infant's yellow satin party dress and had a crinoline petticoat attached beneath. The skirt was extremely short and stood out stiffly at the waist exposing his diapers if he were to do anything but sit quietly. Jennifer finished the dress off by tying a large bow in front at waist height. Jennifer set him down on the floor on his hands and knees. The stiff petticoat forced the skirt up in back as he crept along, exposing his padded bottom to the women's view. Lisa laughed and moved behind him with the camera, saying, "That's it, Honey! That's the picture I've been looking for! Now freeze!"

There was the sound of the camera clicking and whirring as the camera took picture after picture of his degradation. "Jennifer, help me!", Lisa shouted, "I have an idea! Pick his bottom up so that his legs are holding his bottom in the air and he can bend over and look through his legs upside down while holding his shoulders off the ground with his hands. You'll have to arrange the skirt so his face won't be obscured when I take his picture. This will be an adorable shot!.... Are you ready?.....Okay then, let's go."

Jennifer arranged Teddy and then stepped back so Lisa could take the picture. Lisa took a few picture and said, "He's frowning! We need something to cover up his mouth. I know, put a pacifier in it. Then it won't matter whether he's frowning or not!"

Jennifer plopped a pacifier in his mouth and smiled at the effect it produced. He looked like a sweet little baby girl showing off her dydees to company. Teddy wobbled on his hands and legs a bit and managed to hold his position until Lisa finished. He felt himself dribble in the diaper uncontrollably as he stood there. The dress and lace seemed to have a profound effect on his personality; he felt much more exposed than he had when he had been spanked earlier. The quiet rustling of the petticoat made him feel tiny and helpless. Resistance was not only futile when he was dressed this way, it was unthinkable. He was only a plaything in the hands of the women to be dressed in whatever fancy struck them. He glanced at the lace framing his face and whimpered behind the pacifier as he peed into the diaper again. He knew he'd never be able to stand up to Jennifer again. Whether she changed him back to an adult in the future or not didn't matter anymore. He'd never be able to look her in the eye as her superior again. He'd always remember the creamy look of satisfaction on the women's faces as he docilely obeyed their commands. She had him buffaloed and he knew it. The best he'd ever be able to manage would be to leave her, to divorce her before his personality became completely submerged in hers. When Lisa finished, she said, "All right, you can getting on your hands and knees again baby and take a rest while I get some more props and film." Teddy dropped to the floor and curled up in a fetal ball as she left the room. He sucked on the pacifier unconsciously with his eyes closed and concentrated on the agreeable sensations that his mouth was producing. He had given up; his will had broken and all the fight had gone out of him. He would do anything they said from now on.

They took pictures him naked and wearing bibs, sunbonnets, and onesies. They tormented him by making him act every inch a baby until he no longer cared what he did or what they said about him.

At some point in the afternoon he peed in his diaper and he neither not iced the drooping diaper nor did he care when Lisa documented the entire diaper change. He had overloaded emotionally. He started crying and couldn't stop. Jennifer held him to her breast while he sobbed uncontrollably. She comforted him by saying, "There, there baby. It's all over now. No more pictures. Mommy will take baby home and give her baby Teddy a nice long warm bath. Then she'll feed you a nice dinner of strained fruits and vegetables. Teddy will feel all better after mommy feeds him and he gets his bottle and goes night-night."

Teddy felt strangely relieved by the thought and was only mildly insulted when she said, "Take your binky, honey," and stuck a pacifier in his mouth. He quieted immediately and sucked on his pacifier. Within minutes he fell into an exhausted sleep in her arms. She talked awhile with Lisa, packed up and drove home. He was completely worn out and slept until she woke him for his bath, later in the evening.

 

Chapter Four

 

Childhood sometimes does pay a second visit to man; youth never.

--Anna Jameson

 

Teddy sleepily roused in Jennifer's arms. She put him down on the changing table, removed his diaper and cleansed him with a towelette but did not re-diaper him. Instead she picked him up and carried him into the bathroom.

The bathroom was heated and the air felt comfortable on his bare skin. She laid him down on his back on a mesh-covered, reclining, baby-bath chair and strapped him into the chair. Then she turned around and picked up a tray of bathing accessories and set it on the edge of the tub. She knelt beside the tub, took a rinse cup and wet him down from his head to his toes. The water was pleasantly warm and soothing. She washed his face and then his hair. Ted wallowed in the luxury of having someone bathe him. He resolved drowsily that he was not going to get upset any more about being a baby temporarily, in fact he decided, he could learn to like parts of the experience. If she wants to change my dirty diapers, then let her. If she wants to feed me, bathe me, dress me, and in general act like my personal body slave, fine, I'll lay back and enjoy it. Sooner or later she'll get sick of it and change me back, and then I'll get my revenge. Until then I won't worry about anything, I'll let her do the worrying. She conditioned his hair, gave it a final rinse and soaped his chest and stomach. He wiggled in pleasure as a thrill of pure sensual delight ran up and down his spine. This, he liked. She washed, then rinsed each part separately, exploring every fold and crevice, working her way down his arms to his fingertips. She even cleaned and manicured his nails before she rinsed his hands. She washed his thighs, then legs and feet, and pedicured the nails on his toes as well.

He lay in a state of perfect bliss, his eyes closed, feeling serene and relaxed. He didn't even notice when she unstrapped him so she could wash his bottom. She lifted his legs carefully, holding them apart with the same hand. He felt the warm, soapy washcloth scrub his bottom and he shivered with delight. Then she began rubbing with the cloth between the cheeks of his bottom, working deeper until the slippery washcloth reached his anus. She gently massaged and cleaned him there, slowly and methodically. His entire pubic area throbbed with each movement of the cloth. She rinsed the cloth and cleaned above the scrotum, working down and around and behind the scrotum until she reached his bottom. His leg and abdominal muscles vibrated as she swabbed and he was unable to move. He had never been this horny! She tenderly grasped his penis in the washcloth and washed it with a slow up and down motion. "Does Teddy like it when I wash his wee-wee?", she said, teasing him.

The pressure grew within him, his urges gradually became an overpowering need, when suddenly, his psyche erupted in a shower of internal light and he was enraptured by an explosion of pleasure.

He sighed and lay back in the recliner, tingling all over, his energy and passion spent. Jennifer chuckled and finished bathing him. She picked him up, laid him on the bathroom rug and wrapped him in a large, soft, warm bath towel. She rubbed him vigorously, wiping every crevice dry with the towel, then she opened the drain on the tub and carried him into the nursery. She laid him down on his tummy on the changing table and lovingly applied baby lotion to his arms and legs. She rubbed his bottom with both hands and began to massage his body. He whimpered in animal pleasure as she kneaded all trace of muscle tension out of him. She turned him over and continued on the front finishing, as she had in the bath, with his penis.

When he opened his eyes again he saw her looking down at him, smiling with an expression of motherly love and devotion. He smiled back at her complacently. He sensed her emotions reach out to caress and cuddle his consciousness. He felt secure and loved and was more contented than he had ever been. She powdered, diapered, and swaddled him in his blanket, then picked him up and settled down in the rocking chair with him in her arms. Jennifer rocked and cuddled him tenderly for a long time. She probed him lightly and sensed his happiness and contentment. She smiled fondly at him and reveled in the changes she had made in him. He was no longer enraged and afraid of her. His fear of the world had completely abated. He didn't need a liquor bottle now, only a baby bottle. She would let him stay like this temporarily, before making him a little older. When he loses his desire for revenge, he'll be ready for the next change. He needed time to adjust.

He snuggled closer to her, seeking the security of her nearness. His cheek lay next to her breast and his mouth made small sucking motions. He smiled sweetly at her and hesitantly reached out with his hand to touch her breast. She pushed his hand away gently, then reached into her pocket, withdrew a pacifier and placed it in his mouth.

The next few days were happy ones for Jennifer and Teddy. Jennifer took pleasure in pampering and caring for her baby Teddy. Teddy grew accustomed to the daily routines and the forgotten pleasures of being mothered. He smiled often and enjoyed Jennifer's ministrations. Jennifer sensed, however, that he was not entirely happy with his new life. He never laughed. She knew he harbored a secret core of anger, a desire for revenge, for what she had done to him. When he starts laughing at the world around him, she thought, he will have forgiven her and be ready for the next stage of his rehabilitation.

Two weeks later Jennifer sat alone in their bedroom and wept. Teddy was happily asleep in his crib and she was spending another night alone consumed by her grief and worry for him. He had not changed significantly since the first day. Her plan had somehow gone awry. He had become complacent. He had no desire to change. Worse, he actually enjoyed being a baby! This wasn't what she had planned at all. She wanted him to accept her help, not the status quo! He had accepted her alright, as his Mommy! She had a sinking feeling that this was the result of a subconscious wish of hers to punish both him and herself for his behavior. She was angry with his womanizing and with her quiet acceptance of his betrayal. She was aware of her anger but she had truly believed that she was doing this to help him, to rehabilitate him. She had violated the Three-Fold Law and her actions had returned her anger, her evil, threefold! She had betrayed her beliefs, herself and him. She felt lost, unsure about how to mitigate the damage she had caused. The only scheme she had been able to think of was to do nothing, to hope for the best. Jennifer lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. "I'll think of something. Something minor will happen and I'll know exactly what to do. It's just a matter of waiting until our Karma works itself out. When I see it, I'll know it. This is only a temporary setback!", she told herself.

She took a tissue from the box on the bedside table and blew her nose.

"I've got to keep trying. Teddy needs me. Somebody has to be an adult in this house!", she told herself. The telephone on the bedside table rang and she answered it. It was her friend, Vivian.

She had met Vivian in college in an anthropology class. Jennifer was working on a research paper on the "Magical Practices of the Taquari Lake People" and had run into a brick wall. She had run out of sources for her paper and was stuck. She had mentioned it to Vivian while waiting for class to start and the next day Vivian brought copies of articles written by an anthropologist who was engaged in a study of that tribe. They became friends at that moment and had remained friends to this day. Vivian had an encyclopedic knowledge of magick which she shared with Jennifer. She wasn't a witch precisely, but she was very powerful. What she was, Jennifer wasn't sure, but Jennifer was certain she was different! Jennifer consulted with her whenever she had a knotty magickal problem to resolve. "Maybe she can help me with Teddy", she thought.

Vivian had never met Ted, so Jennifer started at the beginning. She told Vivian about Ted's behavior and the spell she had cast. She told her about how miserable she had been. She talked about her anger and her fear of what she had done. Vivian consoled her and told her everything was going to work out, she had a premonition it would be very soon. Vivian said that she "felt" it would be a good idea if they came out to her place and visited her. She had just harvested her herb garden and had some fresh herbs to give Jennifer. She wanted Jennifer to see her garden in bloom. Jennifer promised to come the next day. They talked long into the night and when they finished, she felt much better and went to sleep.

 

Chapter Five

 

When faith is lost, when honor dies, the man is dead.

--John Greenleaf Whittier

 

Vivan's house was on the shore of Lake Polk in the hill country. She owned a large tract of land that reached well into the surrounding hills. Jennifer rang the doorbell which was answered by a handsome, blond-haired woman with a babe in arms. "Come in. I see you brought Teddy with you. Let's sit in the family room. I'd like to show you the herb harvest."

Jennifer accompanied her to the family room carrying Teddy. They sat down on the sofa, which had a large basket filled with bundled herbs. "I just finished making this basket for you. There are bundles of vervain, yarrow, chamomile, sage, rue, heliotrope, and hyssop in the basket. If you need some more just call, I've got plenty."

Jennifer thanked her and asked her how the rest of her garden was doing. "This years' harvest was huge. The meadow I planted five years ago has come in beautifully. You'll have to see it while you're here." A teapot started whistling in the kitchen and she asked Jennifer, "Would you like some tea? I have some water heating in the kitchen." Jennifer said she would and Vivian got up to make the tea. "Would you watch Faye for me?", putting the baby down on the sofa.

She returned a few minutes later, handed Jennifer a cup of tea and reseated herself with her tea. "And how is Teddy doing?", she said. Jennifer told her that he seemed to be adjusting to the situation and asked if she could use her bathroom. "Certainly. You remember where it is. It's right down the hall, third door on the right. I'll watch Teddy for you."

Jennifer got up and left Teddy on the sofa with Vivian. She looked at him propped up on the arm of the sofa and smiled. "Jennifer tells me you've been a very naughty boy. I hope you've learned your lesson." He looked away from her, uneasy with the direction her talk was heading in. His diaper felt uncomfortable and he shifted slightly to find a better position. Then he realized that he had wet his diaper and it was starting to leak. He frowned and squirmed, hoping that Vivian wouldn't notice before Jennifer returned. She looked down at his diaper. It had started to drip and puddle under him. He realized that the dribble had drawn her attention and became very embarrassed. Her smile got broader and she shook her head in amusement as he blushed a deep crimson.

She got up and put Faye in the playpen next to the patio door. She took a diaper out of his bag and put it on the sofa. "Does Teddy need his diaper changed?", she said, grasping his ankles and pulling him to the middle of the sofa.

She undid his diaper and removed it, leaving him supine and exposed. She tickled him, trying to get him to laugh, but he only kicked and tried to keep her away. "Doesn't Teddy like to be tickled?"

He wiggled and fidgeted nervously, unable to answer. She sighed and re diapered him in the dry diaper. Jennifer walked in just as she finished changing him. "Doesn't he laugh?", she asked Jennifer. "Not since I regressed him. He doesn't make any happy noises at all." she said despondently.

Vivian smiled at Jennifer and said comfortingly, "He's going to start laughing soon, I'm sure. I can tell he's not really unhappy, just a little embarrassed and angry. He'll get over that."

"I hope so," Jennifer said, looking doubtful.

The doorbell rang and Vivian said, "That must be my brother Ancel, he was supposed to drop by this afternoon. I'll be back in a minute." She left and returned with a tall, handsome man who was obviously related to her. "Jennifer, this is my brother Ancel. Ancel, this is Jennifer, an old friend of mine."

Jennifer smiled and said hello to him.

Vivian told her, "Jennifer, Ancel came by to check on some herbs I'm growing for him in the meadow. Why don't you go with him and let him show you the way to the meadow? I'll stay here and babysit." Jennifer glancing at Ancel and said, "I haven't left Teddy since..... well, you know."

Vivian chuckled and said, "Nonsense, he'll be fine. It'll do both of you good to get away from each other for a little bit. You'll see. Now go with Ancel, the path runs along the shoreline right there." She pointed to the lake view which was framed by the patio door. Jennifer reluctantly agreed and they left to see the herb garden. Vivian put Teddy and his blanket in the playpen, picked up Faye and sat down. He sat quietly in the playpen and watched Jennifer and Ancel though the patio door as they made their way around the lake shore. Presently, they could not be seen and he turned his attention to the living room. Vivian sat on the sofa, knitting and watching tv while her baby, Faye, slept on the sofa beside her. He toyed with the blocks in the playpen with him for a moment, stacking and grouping them randomly. He was bored. The least she could do is let him out and let him crawl on the carpet! He picked up a block and peevishly threw it at the side of the pen. It bounced off the nylon netting and hit him in the head painfully. He squalled in rage and surprise. She got up, checked his injury, clucked her tongue and removed all the blocks from the pen. He looked up at her in pained disappointment. She smiled and put a pacifier in his mouth. He spit out the pacifier, opened his mouth, and cried in frustration, drumming his heels on the floor of the pen. "If you're going to act like a spoiled brat, I'm going to ignore you," she said.

He continued to cry as she reseated herself on the sofa. His screams woke Faye and Vivian shot him a look of pure venom. He closed his mouth with a snap and wept silently as she held and comforted her baby. "Don't cry baby. It's alright. Is Faye hungry? Does mommy's baby need to be fed?", she said, unbuttoning her blouse.

She lifted her breast out and guided it into Faye's hands and mouth. Teddy stared in frank admiration at her teats, totally mesmerized by the sight of her baby nursing there. He stopped weeping and gaped in rapt attention at her erect nipple. Unconsciously, his hand reached into his diaper and fondled his penis. Vivian sensed his yearnings and glanced away from Faye to check on him. She was startled when she saw what he was doing and returned his stare with a shocked look on her face which grew into a mischievous grin. "I'll take care of you in a minute, Teddy, just as soon as Faye is finished," she said.

Faye gradually slowed her feeding and fell asleep again. Vivian took her into the nursery, put her into her crib, then returned and put Teddy on her lap.

"Did Teddy enjoy watching Faye? Does Teddy like Aunt Vivian's teats?", she said, tickling and petting the front of his diaper. "Would Teddy like some tiddy?", she said, taking his hand and stroking her breast and nipple with his fingers.

He lay there excited, red-faced, and fully erect under his diaper. The smell of her breasts intoxicated him, made him want to grab them and suck. She laid his head next to her breast and held him closely. He was so near to her nipple that he could smell the rich aroma of milk coming from her tit. She smiled broadly at him and said, "Will Teddy be a good baby if he gets some tiddy? No more temper-tantrums?"

He watched as she lifted her teat free of her blouse and guided it to his mouth. He put his lips around the nipple and felt the nipple grow, become erect and fill his mouth. He swallowed involuntarily and a jet of milk filled his mouth, trickling over his tongue and down his throat. His hunger for her tit consumed him. He swallowed greedily and gorged himself on her milk. Whimpering softly, he began sucking noisily, lost in his return to infantile gratification. His rational mind reeled with the emotions that the sensations induced. He began to feel dull, unable to think. He felt his thoughts retreating from him, losing significance and substance. Long forgotten emotions surfaced in his awareness. Repressed memories were suddenly freed and assaulted him. Dissonance and conflicts overwhelmed him and forced him to retreat into the limbic brain. The retreat became a headlong rout as the memory/emotions seized the forebrain and cerebrum, isolating him deep in the limbic cortex. He abandoned his personality/memory/identity matrix and hid in the seat of awareness, the Sahasrara or "Crown" Chakra, waiting for the battle to subside. As the struggle became global, he huddled in terror. Deep within his R-brain, instinct stirred, commanding survival at any cost.

The center of his being unfolded, opening like a lotus blossom. It expanded, pervading his mind and severing the connection between reason and consciousness. It swept forth, resolving conflicts and dissonances ruthlessly. The neural network frayed and unraveled. Paths were diminished in number and size. Memory/association nodes were isolated, parsed and simplified, then reduced again. Nodes winked out and disappeared without trace. The web of reason, tattered and torn, blew away in the neural storm. Slowly, his awareness emerged and reoccupied the empty battlefield of his mind. The strife had ceased. The nodes of experience, of logic, of pain had vanished completely. His psyche, now free of comprehension and contradictions, was at peace with itself.

Untroubled by the broken thread of cognition, he lay placid in her arms and suckled. He floated in infantine bliss, unknowing, uncaring about what had happened. He had reached a pure zen state. He was without words. He had been reborn and the world had become new and shiny again. Teddy stopped nursing, his hunger satiated. Vivian put him in the playpen and went to the bathroom for a washcloth.

Teddy looked at the room with renewed interest. Everything seemed alive and unique. Old memory/associations were forgotten and he eagerly sought meaning in everything he saw. He sat joyously, reaching out with his hand to try and catch the sparkling dust motes that floated in the sunlight in front of him. He chuckled and grinned childishly. He watched the pretty colors dance on the tv and chortled with pleasure at their beauty. He crawled over to his blanket and sat back on his legs, his knees folded beneath him. Teddy grabbed a corner of the blanket in one hand, brought it up to the side of his face and smiled as he felt its' soft, fluffy texture against his cheek. He felt drowsy and laid the side of his face down on the floor of the playpen, still holding his blanket, his bottom in the air. He put his thumb in his mouth and fell asleep. He napped for a hour before waking up.

He looked around the room from where he lay, searching for Jennifer. Not seeing her, he yawned and sat up, comforting himself by sucking his thumb while his other hand settled in his diaper, petting and fondling his penis. He looked out the patio door, saw her by the lake, pointed and crowed in delight. He happily went back to watching the shifting colors and listening to the sounds on the tv.

They returned from their walk and Jennifer asked how Teddy had been.

Vivian said he had been testy for awhile but after she had fed him, he had calmed down and had been quiet ever since. Jennifer asked what she had given him and Vivian told her she had breast-fed him. Jennifer raised her eyebrows at this news and asked why she had done that. She replied that he had been very fussy and kept staring at her teats while she nursed her baby, Faye. There was more milk that Faye could drink and Teddy was obviously hungry, so why not? It hadn't hurt him and he had been a sweet baby ever since.

Jennifer looked at him, sitting in the playpen with a sunny smile and sucking his thumb. He giggled brightly and waved his arm at the tv. He certainly looked okay and he was giggling! She felt relieved, sat down on the sofa and talked to Vivian about her herb garden.

Teddy saw some birds on the patio and grew excited. He laughed and prattled, pointing to them. Jennifer gave him a surprised glance, "He hasn't tried to talk since I regressed him. I wonder what's gotten into him?", she thought.

Teddy babbled gaily. He blathered and jabbered silly baby sounds without communicating anything but his joy. She smiled indulgently at him, he was childishly enchanted by the noises he was making and obviously pleased with himself. She felt vaguely disquieted by the sudden change in his behavior. She would probe him later this evening, she decided, and noticed it was getting late.

She thanked Vivian for taking care of Teddy. Jennifer exchanged phone numbers with Ancel and she said her goodbyes, thanked Vivian for the herbs, picked up Teddy, the diaper bag, her purse, and herb basket and left for home.

The drive home from Vivian's house was a jubilant one for Jennifer. She and Ancel had gotten along famously together, their personalities meshed perfectly. Ancel was also a witch and that alone made it easy to talk to him. They had read and enjoyed the same books. They liked the same music. They were simpatico. She had flirted with Ancel a little and told him he must be quite a ladies man if he had the name Fonsie like the tv character. He became grave and informed her that his last name was Fonsee, a German name that had been originally spelled Von See and meant "from the lake". His first name meant "a god" in German and its' Norman form was Lancelot. So his name was really "a God of the Lake" or Lancelot duLac and he was much too chivalrous to behave like that tv character. She laughed and told him her name was a form of the name Guenevere and that she was a married woman. He nodded and the conversation turned to other subjects and they spent the afternoon enjoying each other's company.

She looked in the rear view mirror and checked on Teddy. He was sitting in his seat looking out of the window, smiling and chuckling happily, trying to capture a sunbeam. For the first time since the spell working, she could not detect any anger or resentment in him, only a buoyant, trusting acceptance of the world around him. "Good", she thought as she returned her mind to driving. "He's lost his desire for revenge. Maybe now he can start to grow up."

When they got home she put Teddy in his crib for a nap. Jennifer went to the bedroom to change clothes. She sat down on the bed and was removing her clothing when she was suddenly overcome with a feeling of tiredness, of total lethargy. She decided she would take a nap before dinner. She finished disrobing and got into bed. She fell immediately into a deep slumber, and began to dream.

She dreamt that she was standing nude on a high wooded hilltop. "I am the Queen of these Woods," she thought. "This is my land, a womanland of mystery and enchantment where my magick is as swift and sure as the hawk, as powerful and enduring as the she-bear. This is my place of power and none may challenge me here. I guard and ward this land and it protects me, for we are one."

Far away, on the eastern horizon, the crest of another hill shimmered with an aureate glow. She stood sentinel over the land and waited as the source of the golden radiance drew nigh. Presently, she was able to discern that the light was a mounted knight in golden Armour. The knight galloped directly to her hill and cantered up the slope. He closed the distance between them to a full score yards, stopped and reared his Destrier. The knight leveled his lance as if preparing to charge. After a moment he raised the lance in salute and reversed and grounded the point in the earth. He dropped the reins and dismounted, leaving the lance standing like a solitary pine, rooted in place. He strode toward her with six long paces, paused and drew sword. The knight pointed the sword toward her for an instant, then raised it in salute, reversed and grounded it too. He dropped his shield where he stood, then loosed his baldric and let fall his harness and dirk. Once more he strode until they were separated by but three paces. He took one pace more, then bowed deeply and knelt on the turf.

"Who are you horseman, who invades my domain?", she demanded.

"I am he who you seek," came the muffled reply from within the helm.

"I seek no cavalier," she countered, "Be off with you!"

"I may not, for my destiny lies here," said the knight. "If you remain you shall meet thy doom. Depart henceforth knight, that you may live!", she threatened.

"You are my doom!' said the knight and bowed his head and removed his helm, casting it aside.

She could not see his face, so deeply was his head bowed. "If I am your doom, then what are you to me?", she taunted.

"I am your true love," he said raising his head and looking into her eyes for the first time. She looked at his face and saw the knight was Ancel. She nodded in agreement, gave him her hand and said, "Arise, Ancel and prove thy love. Let us in yon grove abide and take our ease until the morrow."

He rose and they began to walk towards the grove when.....the dream changed....

She lay on a bed naked with Teddy lying on his side facing her with his eyes closed, apparently sleeping. Then his eyes opened and he looked at her and her breasts. His pupils dilated and his gaze bore directly into her breasts. His desire, his need, his yearning, his lust for her teats was palpable and overwhelming. He exuded a power, a psychic hunger for them. She lay frozen, entranced by his need and watched as he reached forth with his hands and touched them. Energy rippled from his fingertips as they met her nipples. Her breasts grew and changed shape. Her nipples enlarged and there was a feeling of fullness in her breasts. She watched as a single drop of white fluid leaked from one of her teats. She was taken by a desire to nurse him, to nurture him with the fullness of her being. She reached out to gather him close to her and.......

She woke up in a sweat. The bedclothes were damp with perspiration and she was very, very horny. She put her hand between her legs and it came back wet. She lay there and thought about the dream for a moment before opening her eyes. The very thought of Ancel made her intensely horny. "If I wasn't married to Ted," she thought. "I would.....No. No! I married Ted and I'm his wife. It can't happen! I won't let it happen!"

She decided to try to understand the rest of the dream. Was it telling her that her feelings toward Ted were only maternal or was she just reacting to her current (temporary) role as his mother?

She sighed and opened her eyes. Her psychic sense went to full alert, the room fairly reeked of magick. She had been the target of a spell! She probed the room psychically trying to discover a trace of the spell caster. With a start she realized it came from the nursery. He was a witch ...???! She probed the nursery from where she lay and could only feel the thoughts of a sleeping baby. A baby couldn't attack her. "A baby ??!", she thought. "Ted may have the body of a baby but he still has an adult mind! Where is he?" She probed for any life/intelligence in the house, there were only two; the baby and herself.

She sat up in the bed and reached for her robe. Something was very wrong and she intended to find out exactly what had happened! She put on her robe, got out of bed and nearly fell over. Her balance was all wrong! She looked down at herself to see what was the matter and saw her breasts appeared enlarged and distended. She sat back down on the bed and pushed up her right breast with her hand to examine it. Her teat was larger than it had been. The areola was wider and the nipple felt tender, not painful, just more sensitive. She gently pushed on the teat above the areola to test it and a thin stream of milk squirted out. Jennifer sat stunned, looking at her breast.

"Was the dream real? Did Ted do this? He wasn't a witch. Unless,.... unless some experience had inhibited his psychic faculties as he grew up and regressing him had freed his abilities. "But why this? Why not simply attack me and vent his anger?" She thought about the visit to Vivian's house this afternoon and what she had said. She had breast-fed Teddy and he had been no trouble after that. Teddy had been so happy and calm in the car on the way home. She hadn't sensed any anger, frustration or distress from him, even when she put him down for a nap!

She got up and ran to the nursery in a panic. She stood beside the crib and probed him lightly. Nothing, only a baby's dreams. She picked him up and went over to the rocking chair and sat down with him. She rocked in the chair and woke him gently, if she alarmed him and he was psychic, it would make a deep probe difficult. Jennifer held Teddy on her lap with his back cradled in her left arm and his legs across hers. His head lay against her breast as he gazed up at her in dulcet innocent wonder. His aura scintillated with dancing blues and greens of bright crystalline hue. She deep-probed his mind and found only a serene pellucid infant id, empty of ego and untouched by guilt or pain. She searched his memory for some remnant of Ted's identity, but she encountered only newly formed gestalt images; the sight/sound/smell/taste/touch perception-memories recorded as he experienced them. Here was a memory of warm sunbeams, mockingbirds, and a soft blanket. There was the drive home in the Suburban. Over here was a memory of her holding him, carrying him, and putting him down in his crib for a nap.

"He is gone now." she thought. "Ted has disappeared and left little baby Teddy in his place. My poor beloved Ted, my husband, my sweetheart, is just mommy's little baby now. Mommy's so sorry she did this to you." She cuddled him maternally and stroked his hair. A thin rivulet of drool rolled down his chin which she gently wiped away with a corner of the blanket. His lips made small, unconscious nursing movements as she fondled his cheek. She kissed him on the forehead as tears welled up in her eyes. She would retain her love for Ted while she treasured and nurtured her darling little baby boy. "My poor, poor babe," she said. She recalled reading something that she hadn't thought of in years; Arthur was the Welsh form of the Celtic name "Artos", which meant "bea r". She had been so wrong about him, she thought as she unbuttoned her blouse. "Teddy wasn't a Viking warrior intent on stealing her away from King Arthur. Teddy was King Arthur, the Arthur who had lost faith in himself and Guenevere, and thus lost both wife and kingdom.", she thought. She understood now, what had happened was kismet, the Arthurian cycle had repeated itself once more. Ancel was Lancelot duLac, her soul-mate. All of the mistakes and betrayals were merely part of the cosmic dance. She and Ancel would spend the rest of their lives together with Teddy by her side. She would call Ancel in a few minutes and begin her life journey with him, but she had someone to tend to first.

She lifted her breast out of her blouse and holding it from beneath, guided the nipple towards Teddy's questing mouth. "Aaah.....baby" she murmured, as his cheek touched her breast and his mouth sought and took in the tit. His lips snuggled the areola and nursed greedily. "Mommy will take care of you forever and ever, sweet baby.", she said, caressing him tenderly with her hand while he suckled. "My dear precious little baby, at least we'll all live happily ever after."

And they did.

 

Finis coronat infans

Contact the author at jennifer@phuze.com

Other Stories by Jennifer Loraine

 

Copyright 1998 by Jennifer Loraine. All rights reserved.

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