A Day at the Aquarium - Chapter 2

Evan hurried into his bedroom and quickly changed into his favorite blue shark shirt and a pair of loose gray shorts that fit comfortably over his diaper. By the time he had his shoes on, Natalie was standing in the doorway with the backpack over one shoulder. “Ready!” Evan announced. “Almost,” Natalie replied. Evan's smile disappeared. “Natalie…” “House rules, remember?” Before Evan could complain, Natalie gave the front of his shorts a quick squeeze. “Still dry. See? That wasn't so terrible.” Evan's cheeks turned pink. “I told you it was dry.” “And now we both know.” Natalie ruffled his hair and headed toward the door. “Come on, aquarium boy.” Evan immediately forgot his embarrassment and raced after her.

The drive took about half an hour, and Evan spent most of it asking Natalie what animals she thought they would see. Despite insisting that he wasn't tired, he eventually fell asleep against the car window and didn't wake until Natalie gently shook his shoulder in the parking lot. “We're here, sleepyhead.” Evan blinked several times before looking through the window and seeing the enormous aquarium building in front of them. “We're here!” he shouted, suddenly completely awake. Natalie laughed and grabbed the backpack from the back seat. “Yes, we're here. Now try not to explode from excitement before we make it through the entrance.”

Once inside, Evan didn't know where to look first. Huge tanks surrounded them, filled with tropical fish, stingrays and strange sea creatures he had only ever seen in pictures. He hurried from one exhibit to another while Natalie followed at a considerably calmer pace. “Look! Stingray!” Evan shouted, pointing toward the glass. “I see it.” “And that one! What's that?” “I have no idea.” “You're supposed to know!” “Since when did babysitting require a degree in marine biology?” Natalie asked, making Evan giggle. They continued through the tropical section until Evan spotted a long green animal hiding between two rocks. “Sea snake!” he exclaimed, pressing closer to the glass. “Moray eel,” Natalie corrected. “I knew that.” “Of course you did.” Evan leaned even closer as the eel slowly opened and closed its mouth. “Why does it keep doing that?” “It's breathing.” Evan stared suspiciously at Natalie before turning back toward the tank.

Without warning the moray shot forward from between the rocks and opened its mouth directly in front of the glass. “AH!” Evan screamed, jumping backward into Natalie. Natalie caught him by the shoulders, but before she could tease him she heard another sound beneath all the aquarium noise, a quiet but unmistakable hiss coming from Evan's shorts. Evan heard it too and immediately froze. The two stared at each other while the hiss continued for several long seconds as Evan's full bladder emptied into his diaper. Evan could feel the padding rapidly becoming warm and heavy between his legs, and by the time the sound finally stopped his face was bright red.

Natalie slowly looked down toward his shorts and then back at him. “Evan,” she whispered, already struggling not to laugh, “did that eel seriously scare the pee pee out of you?” “No!” Evan replied much too quickly. Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Baby, I heard it.” “It surprised me!” Evan protested. That was enough to make Natalie start laughing. “Oh my goodness, it actually scared the pee pee out of you!” “Natalie!” Evan whined, looking around nervously to make sure nobody else had heard her. “Stop saying that!” Natalie reached down and gave the front of his shorts a quick squeeze, her eyebrows rising when she felt how much the diaper had swollen. “Wow, you really had to go.” Evan covered his face with both hands. “Can we please just go see something else?” “Absolutely,” Natalie replied, still grinning. “But first I think somebody needs the first spare diaper from my backpack.” Evan groaned and began waddling after her as she searched for the nearest family restroom. “And Evan?” Natalie added. “What?” “Maybe we should save the sharks until after your change.” Evan glared at her. “I'm not scared of sharks.” Natalie laughed. “Good, because we only brought two spares.”

Natalie found a family restroom near the entrance to the shark exhibit and led Evan inside. The moment the door closed behind them, Evan looked at her seriously. “You're not allowed to talk about the eel anymore.” Natalie set the backpack on the counter. “What eel?” she asked innocently. “You know exactly what eel.” “Oh, you mean the one that—” “Natalie!” Evan interrupted before she could finish. Natalie laughed as she pulled out a fresh diaper, wipes and powder. “Okay, okay. I'll behave. Up you go.” Evan reluctantly climbed onto the changing table and lay down while Natalie started helping him out of his shorts. The moment she saw how swollen his diaper had become, she raised her eyebrows. “Wow.” Evan immediately covered his face. “Don't.” “I only said wow.” “Your wow sounded judgmental.” “My wow sounded impressed.” “That's worse!” Evan complained, making Natalie laugh again.

A few minutes later Evan was clean and lying on a fresh diaper while Natalie sprinkled some powder and unfolded the front between his legs. “This is spare number one,” she reminded him as she fastened it snugly around his waist. “So?” Evan asked. “So we have one left after this.” “That's plenty.” Natalie gave him a doubtful look. “We haven't even seen the sharks yet.” Evan sat up indignantly. “I told you I'm not scared of sharks!” “I know, I know.” Natalie helped him back into his shorts and gave the front of his fresh diaper a playful pat. “There. Completely dry again.” Evan hopped down from the changing table. “Can we go now?” “Yep.” “Sharks?” “Sharks.”

The shark tunnel was only a short walk away, and Evan's embarrassment disappeared almost instantly when he saw it. The walkway passed straight through an enormous tank, with blue water surrounding them on both sides and curving over their heads. Evan stopped dead at the entrance. “Whoa.” Natalie smiled. “Pretty cool, huh?” Before Evan could answer, a huge stingray glided directly overhead and Evan's mouth dropped open. “Natalie, look!” “I'm looking.” Then a gray shark appeared from behind a rock and swam slowly toward them. Evan immediately pressed both hands against the glass. “SHARK!” he shouted. “Indoor voice,” Natalie reminded him, although she was laughing. The shark passed directly over Evan's head, close enough that he could see its pale belly and rows of teeth. Instead of jumping this time, Evan stared up at it in complete amazement. “See?” he said proudly once it had passed. “Didn't pee.” Natalie burst out laughing. Evan realized what he had just said and immediately turned red. “I meant I wasn't scared!” “I didn't say anything!” Natalie replied. “You're laughing!” “Because you just gave me a diaper update without being asked.” Evan groaned. “Forget I said anything.”

They spent nearly twenty minutes in the tunnel before Natalie finally convinced Evan there was more aquarium to see. Their next stop was the touch pool, where a staff member showed Evan how to gently touch the backs of small rays as they swam past. Evan was nervous the first time one approached, quickly pulling his hand away before it reached him. “What's wrong?” Natalie teased. “Afraid this one might scare another diaper out of you?” Evan shot her a look. “You said you weren't talking about that anymore.” “I said I'd behave in the restroom. We're not in the restroom anymore.” “That's cheating.” “You should've negotiated better.” Evan rolled his eyes and tried again. This time he kept his hand still as a ray passed underneath it. His expression instantly changed. “It's slimy!” he exclaimed. “Is it?” Natalie asked. “Feel it!” “I'm holding the backpack.” “Put it down!” Natalie laughed and eventually joined him.

By the time they left the touch pool Evan was hungry, so Natalie bought them lunch at the aquarium café. Evan got chicken nuggets, fries and a large apple juice, which he drank surprisingly quickly after all the excitement. Natalie watched him finish nearly the entire cup before looking pointedly at his shorts. Evan noticed. “What?” he asked. “Nothing.” “You're doing the face again.” “What face?” “The diaper face.” Natalie nearly choked on her coffee laughing. “I have a diaper face now?” “Yes.” “And what does my diaper face look like?” Evan narrowed his eyes and gave her an exaggerated suspicious stare. Natalie laughed harder. “Okay, that's probably accurate.” Evan returned to his fries, satisfied that he had won that exchange.

After lunch they followed the signs toward the penguin exhibit. Evan became more excited with every sign they passed, and when they finally reached the huge chilled enclosure he hurried straight toward the railing. Dozens of penguins waddled across artificial rocks, dove into the water and shot past the viewing windows like little torpedoes. “Look at that one!” Evan exclaimed as a particularly round penguin waddled toward the edge of the pool. Natalie stood beside him and watched it for a moment before slowly looking at Evan. Evan noticed. “What?” Natalie looked back toward the waddling penguin, then at Evan again. “Nothing.” Evan's eyes narrowed. “Natalie.” She smiled. “I'm just noticing a certain similarity.” Evan looked at the penguin, then down at himself, and immediately understood. “I do not walk like that!” he protested. “I never said you did.” “You were thinking it!” Natalie burst out laughing as Evan crossed his arms. “Come on, little penguin.” “Stop calling me that!” Evan complained, following her farther into the exhibit. Unfortunately, the more annoyed he became, the faster he walked, and the fresh padding between his legs gave his hurried steps just enough of a waddle that Natalie had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing even harder.