Rob looked down at himself and his fresh diaper then pulled his index finger from his mouth. “It been a cwazy week. It started the day afta da accident wiff da DNAM…” Rob began to reminisce about the past week, his tiny high pitched child’s voiced seemed odd when coupled with the large vocabulary.
For Rob the nightmare started as he walked into the lab Friday morning when he experienced a wave of nausea. “Not today, not the flu when I’m going on vacation. Just my luck, at least it can’t get worse.” Rob said under his breath.
Today’s schedule was tight if he wanted to be out of the lab by early afternoon. Margaret, his wife should have the mini-van packed and their son Benjamin ready to go. He had to make sure everyone had their tasks to be done over the next week while he was gone. There were meetings and last minute paper work that needed to be done before leaving.
The DNAM tests had been going well however the next round of tests needed to be prepped. Rob was hoping to start the next round of experiments once he returned from vacation. He busied himself all morning and skipped lunch to be done as soon as possible. His final task was a meeting with his assistants and make sure the lab will run smoothly in his absence. With their responsibilities spelled out and plans for the next couple of weeks Rob felt confident the lab would be on schedule.
After a short meeting at 1pm Rob was out the door of the lab and on his way home. The bouts of nausea were brief but annoying, however he could live with it as long as they were out of town by 2pm. Michelle was a stickler for schedules and organization, which was fine as he was more than happy that someone else ran his home life.
He sat back and pondered what the next two weeks would be like, sitting on the deck having a beer and reading a book. No deadlines and no pressure. Suddenly Rob groaned as he realized his cell phone was back at the office. “No matter, I didn’t need it anyway, I’m on holidays!”
The small Honda pulled into the house at 1:30 pm, Rob was impressed that he was still on schedule. Jumping out of the car, Rob doubled over as a wave of nausea hit him. Once the sickness passed Rob felt like he had more energy, it seemed to be the only positive thing about the illness is that he could keep going and stay to his hectic schedule. His back which he injured skiing a few years ago didn’t hurt like it normally did and the tendonitis in his shoulder hurt less since getting sick.
Rob charged into the house where Michelle was cleaning up from lunch. “I honey I’m home from work!” Michelle looked over from the dishes in the sink and smiled at her hubby, “You actually made it home on time, why don’t you help me by getting Benny ready for the trip. Everything is packed and ready to go as soon as you are ready.” Jeff was happy to help and get the vacation under way as soon as possible.
Jeff turned into the living room where Benny was in the playpen; his 26 month old son was standing at the side holding on to the mesh jumping up and down while squealing at the arrival of Dad. As Rob came close to Benny he could tell that the toddler had processed his lunch. “How can you stand that smell?” Rob stated as his face twisted. He enjoyed being with his son but there was one indisputable fact about babies, they were messy. Toddlers threw up, drooled, smeared dinner everywhere and made the worst stenches. What was worse is that they didn’t seem to care. Diaper clad children seemed impervious to the rank odour.
Michelle had wanted to have a second child but Rob had made excuses why ‘now was not the time’, but for Rob it was that he didn’t want to deal with another baby while they had Benjamin. One baby was enough to deal with at a time. More than once Rob had been thankful for Michelle’s organizational ability and she did run a tight household.
Rob picked up Ben and carried his son upstairs to the nursery. Ben’s nursery was a baby’s dream room. Brightly coloured with pictures of clouds, bunnies and ducks surrounded the walls and all of the furniture. Rob had made the creation of Ben’s room a personal hobby of planning, imagining and painting. Rob had spent most of his time before Ben’s birth preparing the room. All the furniture was hand picked , Rob enjoyed building the room as he reflected on what a child would want in the room. There were even times where Rob kneeled down so he would get the perspective of his son from the crib or floor.
The building of the baby’s room did not lessen Rob’s distain for changing stinky dirty diapers. Ben was lowered on to the changing table and his pant’s legs unbuttoned for quick changes. Next the diaper was opened showing the area of devastation, Rob deftly used the dirty diaper to wipe up his son’s skin before throwing it in the garbage. Then using a baby wipe he cleaned up the last of the mess. Rob then applied a good dose of baby powder and a fresh diaper. Finally refastening the pants Rob was done the most hated of tasks. “I’ll never get used to that smell.”
Benjamin was then given a kiss on the cheek and taken back to the dining room, where Michelle was finishing up. “All right you two let’s get going!” With Michelle’s announcement Rob headed straight to the van, where everything was ready to go.
After locking up the house they were on their way, as the day progressed Rob had a few more bouts of nausea however he was sure he was feeling better. By dark they were at the cabin, a beautiful cedar log cabin beside a small lake. It was Rob’s job to haul all the gear from the van and into the cabin, the task wouldn’t be so bad except it included all of Benjamin’s furniture or it seemed like most of it. Along with Ben’s playpen, there was his change table, crib, high chair, toys and other items that were essential. It was Rob’s job to get Ben’s gear set-up and he didn’t have long before the baby would be off to bed.
After setting up a make shift changing pad on a small dresser, Rob got to building the crib. It didn’t take too long since he had already set it up a few times in the past. By the time Benjamin was ready for bed his nursery was set-up. Even with all the effort his father put into the new room, Ben whimpered when final put in his crib for the night. It was obvious that the little guy wanted to be in his old room.
Finally the two were alone. Michelle had put their food and clothes away but now she wanted a break. They sat on the deck over looking a beautiful lake with the moonlight reflecting off the water. It was their piece of heaven for the next week.
Michelle looked at her lover and gazed over him. “Honey, have you died your hair? It seems darker and fuller than usual.” Rob was surprised by the comment but thought nothing of it. “I don’t need to dye my hair, I’ve only got a couple grey hairs.” Michelle giggled at Rob’s response. He had started going grey when he was 35 but now at 42 Rob was looking more mature and respectable.
Finally she reached over and kissed her lover on the lips, Rob was immediately aroused and joined in. Michelle was surprised by his arousal and aggressive love making. Rob hadn’t been like this since they started dating years ago. Not that she was complaining but it did take her by surprise.
In the morning Rob got up first and decided to go for a jog. He hadn’t felt this good in years and decided it would be a good way to start off his vacation. He left Michelle sleeping and snuck into his son’s room where Benjamin was already awake. Quietly he gave his son a diaper change and a bottle of water. This immediately calmed Ben down and allowed him to put the baby back to sleep for another hour or two. With his son taken care of Rob was on his way for a run.
Rob enjoyed a morning jog. Recently he hadn’t been out as often, this was mainly due to Benjamin and the responsibility of having a baby. Rob wouldn’t change a thing but he did miss jogging regularly. The run was going surprisingly well, after 5 km Rob hadn’t begun to feel like slowing down; however a new wave of nausea hit him and almost caused him to fall down. Rob was dejected, he thought his mysterious illness had passed instead he was feeling the worst cause of nausea since it began.
After stopping for a few minutes Rob decided to turn back for the cabin. He started jogging back but after another 3 km Rob again was hit with another wave of nausea. Once it passed he again started jogging determined to finish his run. Before he arrived back at the cabin he had to stop once more, somehow the exercise seemed to double the amount of nausea.
As he walked in the door of the cabin, Rob was again feeling pretty good. The nausea had passed and everything was back to normal. Michelle was up and preparing breakfast, when she turned around and jumped back when seeing a much younger version of her husband.
“What the hell happened to you!” Michelle almost screamed at the sight of Rob. It was obviously it was her husband but there were some drastic changes. Rob looked dejected and started to explain his bouts of nausea but Michelle cut him off. “No go look in the mirror, your not the same!”
Rob not completely sure he understood his wife’s hysterics, he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He almost fell over when he saw his reflection. It was him but back when he was 18. The slender athletic frame and full dark head of hair was and instant reminder of his youth. Rob sat down on the toilet and began to think, trying to reason how this could be happening.
“It must have something to do with the DNAM but how? It was never designed for the output needed to do something like this, if it was even possible. Finally it dawn on him, they were running an overload test on the system when the accident knocking the equipment over. That explained part of the problem and why he would be regressing in age but certainly didn’t give him an immediate answer how to reverse the process.
Finally he walked out of the bathroom and over to Michelle where he sat down at the table. “It must have been an accident at work that caused me become younger.” Michelle stood there stunned still trying to understand what was happening. “Are you going to die or get sicker?” Michelle queried.
“No I’m not going to die or get sick, in fact I’m very healthy right now. I doubt I can get much younger than another year.” Rob went on to explain what had happened at the lab the other day and how the changes were happening. Once Michelle understood that it wasn’t permanent, that she would get her husband back within a few weeks, her actually started to get excited. “I guess it’s not really illegal then if I sleep with a minor tonight?” as she bent down to kiss her husband, then went back to finish breakfast while Rob had a shower.
He still couldn’t believe what was happening but there was nothing he could do. Even calling Tim or Jeff, his lab assistants were out of the question because he left his cell phone at home. Not that either of them could do anything for him right now. All Rob could do was wait for the regression to stop before trying a couple of ideas he had to reverse the process.
Rob busied himself for the day working on odd jobs around the cabin. He still suffered from the inevitable waves of nausea however they were never as intense, however he still seemed to get younger slowly.
By Monday Rob had not stopped getting younger as he had promised. Now he looked more the part of someone who was 12 years old. His voice had begun to crack getting higher and the hair on his chest had begun to recede. The well shaped muscles had all but disappeared on Saturday and Sunday he watched the last vestiges of adulthood disappear.
As the week progressed Rob was adjusting to his new temporary life. Michelle had all but taken over the family and was now telling Rob what to do and when to go to bed. Rob never complained as he realized his new place in the family and besides deep down he always wanted to be dominated by his wife. She was an ‘A’ type personality, someone who wanted to be in charge, whereas Rob was more willing to follow.
- to be continued.