CHAPTER FOUR
If Ann Marie could have died, she would have done it right then. I..I...What...Why... Get in the house." she said and stood to the side ushering her three children into the house.
"Mom?" said Lisa, with a confused look on her face. The person she was talking to looked like her mother but she was way to young and as far as Lisa knew, her mother didn't wear diapers either.
"Who are you?" Lisa asked.
"Your mother" said Robert as he entered the room. He was putting a robe on and he handed one to Ann Marie who quickly put it on.
For the next hour, the children, Ann Marie, and Robert talked. Little Lois marveled at her mother's attire, while Bryan was upset that his mother was with another man. It seemed that the children couldn't get along with their dad's new wife and had decided to come back home.
At first the kids didn't believe their mother's impossible explanation as to what was happening to her. However, the physical evidence of her regression, coupled with her odiferous diapers soon changed their minds. Ann Marie had excused herself to change when she heard another argument breaking out over who would be in charge during her absence. With authority, she had informed her children that Robert would be in charge until she had once again returned to adulthood. She had initially decided to cancel her participation in the grad program but Robert had assured her that he would look after her children and after some convincing all agreed to go along with this plan, even a reluctant Bryan.
During the next several days, Ann Marie continued her regression towards infancy. The psych department had provided her with appropriate clothing during her transformation and after their initial shock, her kids seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Ann Marie found herself connecting with them as never before. They went with her to the psych department and met her fellow grad students. They were all amazed that this group of children had been adults less than a week before. Lisa adored little Jennifer who had regressed into an adorable baby girl of about 14 months. Lois, liked playing with Sue and Chris and when they had regressed to babies, she enjoyed helping to change and clean them.
Ann Marie filled her journal with her thoughts and feelings. As she regressed, she found she was losing some of her physical and mental abilities. Day by day she changed. At first, she wrote in her journal but by weeks end, she had regressed to a six year old girl and was printing in crayon. Her ability to concentrate on something for an extended time period faded with each passing day. She changed her own pants at first, but by weeks end, Lisa had taken over this role. It was decided that she would stay at home during the night and she would attend the daycare during the day. Ann Marie had taken to calling Robert Daddy at first and then DADA. He had been embarassed initially, but readily accepted this new role. Even the kids warmed up to him, particularly Bryan who had needed a male influence in his life, something his father had failed to provide.
Two months later, Ann Marie had completed the nursery portion of the program and was being taken to the grad facility to be returned to adulthood. The daycare study had yielded mixed results and would leave the psychology community debating for years over the real meaning of the findings. Just as she had not been hungry as she regressed, Ann Marie was almost always famished as she once again grew up.
It took nearly a month for her to grow back to her early twenties. When she was old enough, she informed Dr. Damron that she was not interested in returning to her previous age. At 24, she was once again the beautiful young women she had once been and armed with her new masters degree, she easily secured a new job with a substantial salary increase totally outside the educational community.
EPILOGUE:
One year after the study, Ann Marie found herself gearing up for the new school year. Ann now had full custody of her children as her ex had been killed in a boating accident on lake Erie. Robert had undergone a little regression of his own and now he and Ann Marie were happily married. Robert remained as the school district guidance counselor. He was a very handsome man of 26 and the two made a lovely couple.
Many of the grad students decided to stay children. Susan was one of them. At first she had been returned to her original age of 21, but she found that she was unhappy and returned to being a little girl. At 6 years old she was scheduled to attend first grade in the fall. Sue had always had a problem with potty training and she still wet and messed the bed at night. Sue was the newest addition to Ann and Robert's family.
Jennifer married her fiance but sadly she learned that she could not have children. Jennifer's devastation was unbearable and the young couple soon divorced. In the intervening year Chris had begun a career in law enforcement but she found being a meter maid unrewarding and not at all what she had anticipated a career in law enforcement to be. They had both stayed in touch with Ann Marie and after a year, they both contacted Dr. Damron. Chris was regressed to a 5 year old and she would attending kindergarten in the fall. As for Jennifer, she was now an 11 year old girl looking forward to the start of 6th grade. She would be taking the place of Lois and looked forward to once again being in junior high.
At 17, Lois was Lisa's twin and would be attending her senior year in highschool in her sister's place. Always mature for her age, it seemed only natural that Lois would take Lisa's place as a senior in highschool. After all, she had been doing the work for several years now anyway.
As for Lisa, she was going to preschool, where she could get the help she needed to overcome her problem with dyslexia. At 3 years old, she was once again the sweet little pixie that Ann Marie remembered her to be. She was being potty trained but more often than not she was in diapers 24/7. It seemed that she really enjoyed being in diapers. It had a been a bit difficult for her to adjust to being the youngest in the family but with the love of her siblings and new parents, she quickly adjusted.
As the new family settled down for dinner that late evening in August, Robert proposed a toast. "To us and all of our tomorrows."he said.
"And if they suck, we can always just do them over." quipped Bryan.
Everyone laughed, even little Lisa who didn't quite understand the joke.
The End