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The next morning, a Thursday, brought two surprises.

"Are you awake Dee-dee? Mommy and Daddy have to speak to you about something that came in the post. First though, we should check tha-- honey? What's wrong?"

Erica had opened the door to Darren's room quietly, a serious look on her face as she really did have something to say to her sleepy charge but hadn't wanted to go in guns blazing. She'd found him huddled in the opposite corner of his crib than usual. Erica had been ready to be quite sternly upset with Darren, but the moment she spotted the skunk, she knew that something was bothering him far more than anything she had prepared.

"Umm, umm... I, er..."

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"I... I didn't mean to," he whispered, not meeting her gaze.

Taking the side down and flipping the top up, the patient vixen finally discovered what had the skunk so upset. He had leaked, and quite badly. He was cold, his bed was soaked and he stank.

"Ohh! Honey, no, no! It's okay! This is... this is mommy and daddy's fault! We didn't change you yesterday night, did we?" Erica sighed, shaking her head, the inflection on her words softer and more caring. She frowned, really quite angry with herself. "I'm very sorry, but that's why you've been wearing diapers, because of your little problem. It was my job to keep you dry and changed properly. I'm so, so sorry! Come on honey, up you get... there we go. Let's get you out of those soaked things. You know your crib has a plastic cover to keep your mattress protected just in case something like this did happen, so it's only a little laundry, baby."

Darren sniffled, nodding, as he was eased out of bed. He stood, shivering, in his soaked and soggy onesie and diapers, watching as Erica stripped his bed. When she turned and saw him still there, she smiled a wry smile and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Dumping the wet bed clothes into a hasty pile, she started stripping the skunk, finally loudly ripping the tapes off the remains of his night-time padding as she left him standing naked, fur akimbo.

"I'll air out your duvet, it'll be fine by tonight, but you, mister, need to hop in the shower." Erica patted the now-naked skunk's butt as she ushered him out of the room and into the bathroom. She opened the window once he was done, puffing dismissively at the stale air, then collected the wet things for washing.

Not long after, a cleaner and dryer skunk returned to his bedroom expectantly. Erica had returned to diaper him and get him dressed in a clean onesie.

"Okay, there we go. Now, you'd better come downstairs... we've got something to talk about."

"Huh? Is, um, is my bo... my, um, breakfast ready?"

"It will be, but first we have to discuss your studies."

Erica had been leading the skunk downstairs, but at mentioning 'studies', he pulled back.

"I can explain..."

"I doubt it," huffed Alex, flicking his tail angrily. He'd appeared on the stairs to see why Erica had taken so long. "You can shout at me all you want for opening private mail, but when I see letters like this... well."

Emotions flittered across the skunk's face. He was angry -- furious, even, at the blatant invasion of privacy -- but when he caught sight of what the letter was, he was instead ashamed, scared and worried... he put his thumb in his mouth almost without realizing it. The letter was from his school, it was one he'd been dreading.

"Honey," said Erica, putting her paw on Alex's paw to steady the stallion, "you've not been going to lectures, have you? Or turning in assignments. And now you've missed some tests. Important ones."

"I... I... uh..."

"I checked, too. This has been going on far longer than your recent change in underwear, hasn't it?"

Again Darren felt anger and bile rise, but... they were right. "You... I... that was my mail," he finally finished with, muttering angrily under his breath, gaze fixed on the floor.

"Well, Daddy and Mommy aren't very happy with you, are we?" Darren missed the warning squeeze Erica had given Darren's hoof-like hand.

"N-no, we're not. You can't just ignore something that's bothering you, Dee-dee, hoping it'll go away. It won't, it never does, it--"

"Honey," hissed Erica, "be constructive."

"I am, I'm explaining--"

"No, you're lecturing, you--"

It was Darren's soft whimper, so soft he hadn't realized he'd made it, that made the pair stop arguing, glancing down to notice as with a soft hiss the skunk's diaper sagged, stained yellow.

"I'm sorry, hon, how about we talk about this a bit later, once we've seen what we can or can't do about things, okay?"

Alex rumbled annoyance, then took a deep breath and nodded at Erica. "You are right. What we are going to do is deal with it, so let's do that first. I've been thinking, and I think I may have something to turn this to our advantage."

Erica huffed, laughing. "You know what? I was going to say the same thing. Only what I'm going to suggest means you have to be a very brave boy, okay?" She turned to the skunk and took both his paws in hers, bringing them up to her chest.

Darren blinked, brow furrowed, as he gave the vixen a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think I know what all of this is about, and if you're prepared to do a little bit of show and tell about it, I think I can at least get you the chance to re-take those tests a bit later this year."

"Sh-show a-and tell?"

"Uh huh, but Daddy might have a better idea, so tell us, Alex, what's your idea?"

"Oooohhh no, I've got a few phone calls to make. You two do your thing, when you come back I may have more to tell you." The stallion waggled his finger, flicking his ears and tail happily, as he dismissed the pair.

***

Darren whimpered as he was led across town. He'd had a pair of sweatpants thrown on over his onesie, but it seemed painfully obvious to him how the ruffled edges peeked above his waistband, and how thick the diapers were between his crotch.

"What are doing? Where are we going?" His voice sounded petulant and whiny, even to himself.

"We're going to see the doctor, honey. You're going to tell them, and I'm going to help, about how you've been feeling super stressed, alright?"

"B-but--"

"You have felt stressed, honey, and... oh, here we are."

The reception of the health centre was filled with people and a lot of chairs. Darren followed Erica in, trying to keep his head down. The vixen for her part walked to the front desk without pausing.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Yes, I'm here because my flatmate--" Darren winced at how she didn't say boyfriend "--is not feeling very well."

"Not very well?" The lady behind the desk raised on eyebrow as she peered down her ratty nose at the vixen. "Can you be a bit more specific? Is there a reason he's not... he is with you?"

"Of course he's with me, he's just... look, I'd rather speak about this with a doctor."

"You would, hmm? Is there a reason he isn't speaking to a doctor?" the receptionist asked, frowning.

"Because you haven't got him one yet," snarked Erica.

"Humph! Well I never! I don't know who you think--"

Darren stopped listening at that point, as a rather insistent feeling was making itself known near the base of his tail. "Umm... m-mommy, I-I-I m-mean, uh, E-erica, I..."

"Hush a moment, dear, I've got to--"

"But mommy," hissed Darren, but it was too late. With an audible groan, he felt his knees go weak. "Uurrrgghh...." His tail flagged as he bent forwards slightly. There was a warm, wet sound and the base of his diaper visibly sagged as he filled it helplessly. Erica straightened slightly and sniffed.

"Hmm, I knew I'd forgotten something this morning." She turned back to the receptionist, narrowing her eyes. "Look, I have to change his diaper, so be a dear and find us somewhere to do that, would you? Otherwise I'll have to change his mushy pampers right here. And let me know when the doctor gets here, okay?"

"I, I... y-you can use room three-b."

"Thank you for understanding," said Erica pointedly as she dragged the waddling skunk towards the appointed waiting room. "Come on, honey, let's get your fudgie huggies changed."

It was much quieter inside the waiting room once the heavy door was closed. Erica patted the hard bed, with its thin sheet of paper for a covering.

"Up you get, baby."

"I'm s-sorry ma-, er, Erica" whispered Darren.

"It's okay, we hustled you out of the house so quick, I should have remembered you always go potty in the mornings. I... I did tell you I'd help you, Darren. I'm sorry about... about all of this."

"It's not your fault," the skunk replied quietly, looking down as he sat on his padded backside. He could feel the warm, soft mass spreading around his tail. He sighed as he sank into the mush, looking up as Erica put her paws under his chin to raise his muzzle.

"Hey, it's okay, we..." Erica was pushing him down onto his back and pulling his jogging pants down over his diapers, the mush in their seat fragrantly obvious, when the door to the examination room opened. Erica continued revealing Darren's dirty diapers, clucking her tongue to keep the squirming skunk still as she turned her head to the newcomer. "I'm sorry, we were told we could use--"

"No, no, relax. I'm Doctor Maynard. You must be Erica, I believe?" The doctor, an older mole, waddled across the room, holding out a paw first to Erica. She straightened up, grasped it and shook it. The doctor then turned to Darren. "And you are, uh...?"

"This is Di-di, he's... having a bit of a hard time right now."

"Mm, the incontinence isn't normal?"

"Before two weeks ago? Infrequently yes, but... no, not really. Excuse me, may I... I need to change his diapers you see, and--"

"Oh, of course, of course. Let me listen to little Di-di's vitals, I won't get in your way."

"Mama," whined Darren to Erica, wriggling, but the skunk just shushed him.

"The doctor just wants to check you over. He's seen everything before, I'm sure. Is it okay?"

Darren scowled, but nodded. The doctor pulled out a stethoscope, put the earbuds in and listened to the skunk's chest, entreating him to breathe in and out. Then the mole looked in Darren's ears, and made funny faces as he peered into Darren's eyes. Darren's mouth turned up a little as he grinned slightly.

"There we go," said the doctor softly, patting the skunk on his chest lightly. "I'll just let Miss Erica finish, then she and I will have a bit of a chat, alright?"

"Uh huh."

Whilst the doctor had been checking over Darren, Erica had pulled off his shoes and pants, and had torn open the skunk's diaper, lifting his butt in the air as she used the soggy front to wipe away most of the mess. Several pawfuls of wipes later and the skunk was a good deal cleaner. She then eased a clean, warm diaper under his tail and applied a liberal amount of powder to dry his cheeks.

"Excuse me, the tail-tapes need a little bit of adjustment, there we go... okay honey, you want to sit up? Your diapie good? Nice and snug? Great! Okay, doctor, what did you--"

"Hmm, hmm, come over this way a little. You lie down, Dee-dee, we won't be far away."

"O-okay," Darren replied. He gingerly swung his legs up, still bare, and lay back onto the bed as the mole took Erica to the other side of the room, there they conversed in low tones.

As Darren lay there his thumb migrated almost naturally to his muzzle. He started sucking on it as he watched Erica and the doctor talking. He turned his head when the door to the examination room opened once more and a female skunk walked in.

"Hello, I'm doctor Henders, you can call me Patrice. How are you feeling today? Darren, right? Or should I call you--" she studied a clipboard carefully for a moment, "--Di-di?"

"Umm, umm, only r-really mama, er, Erica calls m-me Di-di..." Darren's thumb only came out of his muzzle for a moment before going back in again. Miss Henders smiled.

"Darren it is then. I hear you've been having a bit of a hard time recently? It's okay, whatever you and I speak about is totally secret, that means I can't tell anyone about it if you don't want me to, not even Mummy or Daddy. Is that alright? If you don't want to talk, I can say a few words and you can just nod, how does that sound?"

Darren just nodded.

"Well, a little birdy told me one of their students was having a hard time. No, it wasn't mama, it was your school psychologist. He noticed you hadn't been showing up for lessons, that's all, and wanted me to come talk to you in private. When I got an alert that you were here, well, I thought I'd jump the gun a little and come see how you were. Do you... is that right so far?"

Darren nodded again, seeming to curl inside himself a little.

"Alright, well... would you want a private room? I can ask mama and doctor Maynard to leave us for a few minutes. Let me just go do that."

Darren watched silently, the only noises coming from his gentle but insistent thumb-sucking, as Erica and the mole left the room. The skunk doctor returned, smiling softly.

"There, that's better, isn't it? Alright, well, sometimes... I'll get right to it. Sometimes some people just have a hard time for a while, and when they do, things they should find easy peasy they can find very, very hard. So hard, that they just stop doing them, isn't that right? Is that, perhaps, what might have happened? And that's why you didn't go to school? Mmm, thank you for telling me, I appreciate honesty. No, it's okay, you're not in trouble."

The skunk doctor comforted the younger skunk who lay on the bed. He was trembling in between nodding and sucking his thumb.

"I d-didn't m-mean to n-not go, b-but I w-w-w--"

"Shh, it's alright. Listen, I think I can do something for you, but you've got to do something for me, okay?"

"Uh huh." Darren's voice was small.

"If I tell you that you need to rest for a while, can you do that for me? In return, I can speak with your school. I can't give you passes where you haven't earned them, but I can tell them to give you another chance, after you've had some time to recover, alright? Your body and your brain can't manage the stress you've been putting it through, and the only cure for it is to take some time off. I'll set up some visits with me to see how you're doing, if you'd like. If you'd like someone else, that's fine too. You don't need to do anything you don't want to, is that okay?"

Darren was still for a moment, then gave the tiniest of nods.

"That's good. How about this, I'll have a quick word with Miss Erica for you, and I'll see if she's able to keep an eye on you, would that be okay? If there's somewhere else you'd rather be, let me know, or if you'd rather not let Miss Erica know, then--"

"N-no, th-that's okay, you can t-tell ma-, er, Erica. Sh-she, umm, has b-been changing my d-diapers a-and..."

"She's a good friend, isn't she? It's good to have someone you can trust. Do you think she can keep an eye on you for a while?"

"Uh huh."

"Alright. Stay here, I'll go get them. I'll only tell Erica the bare minimum of what we've talked about, okay? That you're having some time off school, and to see if she's okay with keeping an eye on you to make sure you're getting your rest. Nothing else." Doctor Henders patted the skunk on his arm. "I promise this will all work out. You've got sick leave for the next few months, so when you're feeling better you can go back to school and try again."

Darren watched as the other skunk went to the door she'd ushered Erica and the mole through, then opened it and called them back in. The mole bowed slightly, shook paws and then left. Doctor Henders talked to Erica for a while, then returned to Darren's side.

"Okay, I've left my contact details with your mama, is that satisfactory? I'll deal with your school, you take yourself home and get some rest."

"Okay," whispered Darren, then started sniffling and sobbing.

"Good. You have a little cry if you want, it'll do you good to get some of that stress out. When you're ready, you can go home."

***

"You still here, Alex?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm here." The horse flicked his head, clearing his mane out of his eyes, his tail flagging in greeting. "I heard back from my buddies, same dudes who found our little stinkerpants his crib. I got us the deal we need. All it takes is... well, I can't do it because I don't have the time, but you can, my little flower. I'll help all I can though." Alex held his hand out, palm up.

"What are you talking about?" Erica tilted her head. For an answer, Alex gathered up the sheafs of paper from his printer and held them out to the vixen, who took a look through them. Eventually she looked up. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Uh huh. So, you in?"

"More importantly, we should ask if Di-di is in. Well?" The vixen turned to the skunk.

"What?"

"We need you to think very carefully, but it would be to everyone's benefit if you said yes. It just so happens that Alex's medical friend had a bet on with one of his professors, and was stupid enough to stake his degree on it. The only problem is they need a willing participant."

"I... I don't have to do anything dangerous, do I?"

Erica laughed. "Oh, no, no. All we need is for you to do exactly what you've been doing already, just... make it more official, more of a routine. And by the sound of it you kind of need that structure in your life as it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Alex's goofball friend needs somebody to wear diapers twenty four seven for a few months, and that means he also needs somebody to check on said diaper-wearing stinkerbutt. The best part of it? We get paid for it. Or, well, mommy will get paid for it because baby has expenses that mommy and daddy need a paw with, like babyfood, bottles, diapers and supplies, creams... not to mention I've got to keep a potty chart. Because good news, Daddy, our baby is going back to school in a few months after some sick leave."

"S-so, what do I have to--?"

"To do? Wear diapers, eat what and when we tell you, and get yourself well again. In return, mommy and daddy get some extra cash in their pockets to help them look after their baby, maybe get him some toys to keep him happy, hmm?"

Darren looked down. "O-okay. I... I can't... I need to... I need..."

Erica smiled softly, handing out the paper. "Here, you sign your name here, and daddy and mommy will do the rest for you, okay?"

"Okay mommy," the skunk answered, already looking happier. He picked up a pen and signed. "Now what?"

"Now you can go play, baby, is that okay? Tell mommy if you need a diaper change, otherwise I'll come check on you in a short while. Now, daddy and I have some business to attend to."

"Uh huh!" The skunk waddled away, looking like a weight had come off his shoulders.

"He's a good boy," said Erica.

"It's going to be interesting, being a new mommy and daddy, isn't it?"