All Grown Up
Aleu runs past her father, sobbing and pouting, heading to the bow of the beached ship where Balto had been hiding out most of his life. Balto chases after her, trying to get a word in edgewise.
"You just don't understand! I don't want to be trapped at home all the time! I want to be more like Mom, out and about! All my brothers and sisters got to go on and live their own lives, accepted by everyone!"
"Aleu, stop that. Listen to me," Balto interrupts.
"No! Listen to me for once! I want to be accepted! I don't want to stay at home like you and be a nobody!"
"Aleu! There is nothing wrong with you leaving home, there's just something wrong with,"
"With everyone around me, I get that you think that, but you have to stop coddling me and keeping me trapped at home! Life isn't dangerous! Why was everyone else allowed to leave home, but not me?"
Balto lowers his ears and holds a paw out to Aleu, wrapping his strong arms around her, hugging her, petting her back fur, "Look... you're my baby girl. Should anything happen to you... Honey, you know we look like wolves to those people out there. They won't hesitate to either kill us or just plain attack us. It's best if you stay home."
Aleu escapes the hug and growls, "I don't want to stay home. You can't make me stay home forever! And... stop treating me like a baby!"
"Treating you like a baby? I'm treating you like a baby? Do you want me to actually treat you like a baby?"
"Dad, no... I just mean..." Aleu's ears lower.
"Nope. Not another word. You want to see treated like a baby? Then come on - let's treat you like one. If you're going to act like one, anyway, you might as well dress the part."
"W-what? I don't understand."
"Dad, do I really have to wear this?" Aleu asks, shy and embarrassed.
"Yep. I'm your Daddy, and good puppies listen to their daddies. No more going outside either. That diaper is where you do your business."
"I... I have to... what?" Aleu blushes.
"If you're going to act like one..." Balto smirks.
"B-but I... ugh." I might as well let the old man get this out of his system... maybe he'll realize it's not worth it.
Aleu steps out of the beached ship, wearing a poufy diaper, a pink bonnet, and matching pink mittens. She walks out into the clearing and Balto notices right away.
"Um... I don't think we went over walking yet."
"Dad, I can walk just fine..."
"Nope. You're a baby now, remember?"
Aleu's eyes widen, "You can't be serious."
Balto smirks and raises a paw, "Does Daddy have to spank you? You know that fighting what Daddy says is a no-no. You'd better be a good little pup, now."
Aleu scoffs and gets on her paws and knees, "There... happy now?" Aleu says, frustrated and feeling very humiliated, "Daddy this is so stupid, why do I have to do this? What if somebody sees?"
"Aleu, don't worry about them. Worry about having fun and playing for a while. I'll be watching out for you."
Aleu sat beneath a tree, still dressed in her baby clothing. Feeling warm, Aleu slips off the bonnet and mittens, laying them on the ground just beside her.
Balto notices from afar, "Aleu! No-no!"
"What now?" Aleu calls, rolling her eyes.
"Bonnets go on our heads, Sweetheart. We don't want you to catch a cold, do we? No we don't!" Balto's voice is patronizing, but also sweet as he baby-talks with Aleu. He fastens the bonnet back on Aleu's head, and slips the mittens back on her paws.
"Dad, stop - I took them off because I'm warm!"
"Daddy thinks his baby is too sensitive to be outside without mittens and a bonnet." Balto smirks.
"Dad..."
"You know what? I think it's actually about time for lunch. I've prepared you something nummy."
"N-nummy?"
Balto stands before Aleu and picks her up, carrying her inside, cradled in his arms. He sits Aleu in a strange chair - a normal dining room chair, but with a small tray attached to the front.
"Dad... you didn't... you don't expect me to..."
"I made you this new high chair! Now my widdle baby can be a big girl at the table with Daddy!"
"Dad, I can feed myself..."
"Oh, dat's so pwecious! Daddy's girl thinks she's big enough to use big-people things. So sweet!"
"Dad..."
"That's right," Balto smiles, "I'm Daddy, and you," he says, still smirking, poking Aleu's chest softly, "are Aleu. My baby girl is so smart! Yes she is. Now sit here while Daddy goes and gets your lunch."
"Daddy, I really don't want to do this anymore." Aleu sighs as her father walks away. She sits back in her newly constructed high chair and crosses her arms.
Well... it is nice to a point... but I could do without the baby clothes. What difference does it make anyway? It's not like I'll ever be allowed to leave home... and... it's nice that Daddy wants to spend some more time with me... but the mittens... ugh.
_ _ "Okay, here's some nice, warm oatmeal for my little princess!" Balto chimes, carrying a bowl of oatmeal to the high chair and setting the bowl on the tray. In the bowl is a small baby spoon, shaped like an airplane.
"It does smell kind of good..." Aleu said, feeling her tummy make a small rumble. She grabs onto the spoon and begins to take a bite when Balto pats her hand, making her drop the spoon.
"No! No-no. Daddy holds the spoon, Aleu eats the food from the cute airplane."
Aleu's ears drop and she sighs, deeming it worthless to fight against it. She opens her mouth for the food, and waits for her father to feed her.
"That's my good little girl. Okay, here comes!" Balto makes engine sounds as he waves the airplane spoon in the air, making it "soar" right into Aleu's mouth, feeding her the banana flavored oatmeal.
"Is dat nummy, Aleu? Does it taste nummy?"
"It's... nummy." Aleu said, embarrassed, but also trying to entertain her father.
"Good girl! You cleaned your whole bowl! Now are you ready for some juicey?" Balto smiled, clearing the tray of dishes, and taking them to the sink. He returns with a sippycup half full of apple juice, handing it to Aleu.
"This one you can hold like a big girl."
"Thanks, Dad... I think." Aleu takes the sippy cup and puts the tip of it in her mouth, sipping juice out of it. Before she knows it, the juice is gone, and she hiccups.
"Uh oh! Looks like someone needs to make burpies!" Balto says, playfully, lifting Aleu from her highchair.
"D-dad? Um... Dad what are you..." Aleu feels a soft, yet firm patting on her back.
"Daddy needs you to burp that up now. Come on, my little hiccup monster!"
"Dad... seriously, I don't need to..." Aleu is interrupted by a small, sudden burp. She blushes and starts to cry a little.
"Daddy, please stop this... I don't ..."
"Oh, my baby girl, why's you cryin?" says Balto, still speaking to Aleu like a baby, "let Daddy kiss you all better," Balto says, kissing Aleu's cheeks and kissing her tears away.
"You don't understand!" Aleu shouts. "Oh, wooks wike Aleu is cwabby and needs a nappy wappy!" Balto carries Aleu to her room and sits her on her bed, and she rolls over and sobs.
"Now you just lay there and calm down. Daddy will check on you in a little while." Balto says, closing the bedroom door and walking away.
Aleu lays in bed for what feels like hours, confused. She rips the bonnet, mittens, and diaper off her body and tosses them to the ground with a growl.
"I hate this! I don't get it... all I want is to go for walks and just be away from home sometimes! So I look like a wolf - lots of others around here do! Ugh!"
Aleu turns over onto her back, crossing her arms, playing her father's patronizing words over and over in her head: Treating her like a baby. Talking to her like she was stupid. Humiliating her. Giving her all the attention she'd ever really wanted... and giving in to her every need.
Is this really all that bad? Really, though?
Balto had never been treated like a pup when he was growing up. Tossing and turning, angrily trying to get some rest, to cool off her emotions, she tried to put herself in Balto's place. How would she feel if she had never felt the love of a father's nurture like Balto hadn't?
Mom babied me enough... but I guess when Dad does it... it's a bit safer. I mean... Oh, I don't know how I feel about all this. I like it, but it's also so embarrassing!
She looks over to the baby clothes on the floor, "I... I guess... it's just for a little while, right?" Aleu said to herself, still feeling unsure, but coming to understand. Inside, she appreciated the nurturing and babying, but outside... she would have to pretend not to like it to save herself from being found out. I can't let anyone know I actually like it... they'd make fun of me.
Aleu is woken up by a gentle rocking. She opens her eyes and sees she is being carried from her room. She panics a little and looks around, noticing her father is carrying her.
"Daddy? Put me down! What are you doing this time? I can walk, you know!"
"It's been a bit - I need to see if my little princess needs changing," Balto says, laying Aleu on the ground outside on a blanket near some bottles and boxes.
The bottles are all labeled "Powder Fresh Scent" and the boxes are labeled "Luvs: Extra Sensitive".
"Oh my God... you're actually doing it!" Aleu pouts, crossing her arms and looking away from Balto, "How can you do this to me out here? People will see!"
"Now, now my fussy baby, you'll have a fresh diaper on in no time," Balto says, taking off Aleu's diaper and looking it over, "Looks like you went potty just fine, Aleu. That's a good thing, yes it is!"
Balto uses a baby wipe around Aleu's backside and inner thighs, smirking as he looks at Aleu's face, "Here we go, nice and clean! Now we'll need to put on a little powder, make you smell nice and pretty."
Aleu blushed, "Th-this is stupid, Dad." Did I really actually use the diaper in my sleep? It... feels kind of nice not having to clean up after myself... down there... but I can't let Daddy know I like this... this is weird!
_ _ "When you act old enough, you'll get to wear whatever you want, but right now, you're just my little baby," Balto smirks, strapping on a new diaper.
Okay... so it's a baby he wants? Then a baby he'll get. He'll regret ever treating me this way - two can play at this game. "Daddy?" Aleu smirks, "I want... juicey."
Balto smiled, "Juicey time, is it? You play out here, and I'll go get you some juicey."
Balto walks away to get some juice, and Aleu smirks, eyeing a puddle nearby. It rained only a few days ago and the puddle is sure to be full of mud and dirt. Not hesitating, Aleu sprints for the puddle, jumping into it and rolling around. He thinks this baby thing is worth it... ha-ha!
Balto returns with the sippy cup of juice and immediately drops it when he gasps, seeing Aleu muddy from ear to tail.
"Aleu! You get over here this instant!" Balto barks, but Aleu just keeps rolling in the mud.
"Carry me! Daddy carry me!" Aleu smirks, sitting up in the mud puddle and holding her arms up to be picked up. "Aleu wants... uppies."
Balto shakes his head, growling and moving to pick her up. When he holds her over his shoulder, Aleu giggles as she is carried inside.
Balto scrubs Aleu's fur with hot water as she plays in the bubbled of the bathwater.
"Does Aleu want her rubber ducky?" Balto smiles, squeaking the rubber duck out of Aleu's reach. She grabs for it and giggles, pulling it into the bathwater with her splashing the water about and getting some onto the floor.
"You know, Aleu shouldn't play in the mud. It makes Daddy upset because everything gets dirty." Balto says calmly, scrubbing a clump of dirt out of Aleu's fur between her toes, "Also, who knows what kind of icky germs are crawling around in that mud. You'll get sick!"
"Well, maybe I need baby booties to protect my feet and cover my toes from all those germs, huh Daddy?" Aleu smiles, almost innocently.
"Huh... that's a good point. Tomorrow we'll get you some pretty pink booties to go with those mittens of yours."
On the changing blanket outside, Aleu crosses her arms again and pouts, "I don't want to be changed. I just wanna go for a walk."
"Daddy will take you for a walk when you're nice and dry. You just sit there and let Daddy take care of it," Balto says, lifting Aleu's back feet, moving her tail out of the way, "Oh, you made another messy, didn't you?"
Aleu nods, blushing and looking away from Balto. Balto wipes up her mess and wraps it all in the dirty diaper, setting it aside. He wipes any mess from her rear end and tailhole, poofs some powder onto her rear with a soft powder puff, and fastens a new, clean diaper on Aleu, patting her backside gently.
"All clean! Now, I'm going to throw this yucky mess away, then we can go for our little walkies."
Balto managed to put together a large buggy, big enough for Aleu to curl up inside.
"Here we go. A comfortable buggy for my little princess." Balto picks up Aleu and lays her in the buggy, strapping her in securely.
"Dad... I can walk!" Aleu protests. Though... it would be nice to just rest. It is rather comfortable, and nobody will see me with this big veil up on this thing. Maybe I can get used to this - at least I'm not stuck at home.
Balto pushes the buggy out into the public, walking along the sidewalk as people stop and stare.
"Balto has a baby?"
"I didn't know Jenna had another litter!"
"Is it a new litter? Is he pupsitting?"
Balto smiled, cooing down at the buggy once in a while, noticing Aleu was slowly falling asleep. He wheeled the buggy around a few blocks and decided it'd be nice to take his baby girl to the park to watch the ducks swim.
"Come on, wake up sleepy pup. Look, we can see the duckies!"
"Dad?" Aleu says, rubbing her eyes, yawning and sitting up in the buggy, "Oh... ducks!" Aleu said, pleased to see them.
"Come on out of there. We can feed them some sunflower seeds from that feed box," Balto says, pointing to a tiny trough set up near the edge of the lake, intended for feeding ducks and other water fowl.
"Pick me up." Aleu demanded, not feeling like getting out by herself.
Balto tilts his head and helps her out of the buggy and stands her on the ground.
"You have to carry me, Daddy!" Aleu insists, confusing Balto a little, but he pays no real mind.
Balto carries Aleu over to the ducks, who are quacking happily and splashing about with their little baby ducks. One of the baby ducks paddles away from the row.
"Daddy, that ducky gets to go wherever he wants."
"One day you will, too, when you're not a baby anymore. That ducky is still too little to be swimming away. The mommy duck will just drag him back."
As Balto explains, the duck does just that. The mother duck swam out to her duckling, and guided it back to the row, even helping the baby duck get some seeds.
Balto lays awake in his bed, a smile on his face as he sighs, "I suppose Aleu has learned her lesson by now. Not being able to get what she wants all the time is a part of life. There are reasons why I want her at home for now... I think she gets that now. I'd better see how she's doing."
Balto gets out of bed and heads straight to Aleu's room. The minute Balto opens her door, he hears her crying in her bed.
"A-aleu? What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Blankie! I can't find my blankie!" Aleu cries.
"Blankie? Aleu you don't need a..."
"Where is my blankie?!" Aleu shouts, actual tears streaming down once-fluffy cheeks.
"Whoa, uh, okay, okay, you calm down and I'll find it. Daddy will find your blankie," Balto says, calmly, holding Aleu in his arms and rocking from side to side, "Sshh... it's alright. We'll find your blankie. It's around here somewhere. It's alright, baby girl."
From the corner of his eye, Balto sees a red and pink piece of cloth poking out from under Aleu's pillow. He reaches over, and sure enough, it's Aleu's blankie.
"Blankie!" Aleu squeals, grabbing for the blankie and snuggling it tightly. She stops crying and smiles, snuggling into Balto's chest, clinging onto her blankie.
"You got pretty upset over that blanket," Balto chucked.
"It's my blankie. I need it." Aleu smiled, wiggling out of her father's arms and plopping onto the floor, crawling to her baby toys, dragging her blankie behind her.
"Aleu," Balto says, "I think you've learned your lesson... so I think you deserve to act your age again."
"No! I'm a baby. See?" Aleu points to her diaper and sits, grabbing a nearby dolly and making it dance.
"Very cute. Now, I need your help out by the front of the ship. Think you can help me out?"
"Carry me!" Aleu smiles, holding her arms up.
"Aleu... you can walk. Come on now," Balto says, getting up to leave. He stops when he hears Aleu start to cry.
"Daddy! Don't leave me alone!" Aleu sobs, holding her arms up, "Daddy! Pick me u-u-up!"
Balto carries Aleu out to the front end of the broken down, beached ship. He has many boards laying on the ground and a box of new nails to fix it up.
"Think you'll be able to help me, today? Get this thing looking nicer?" Balto smiled, looking at Aleu, who's crawled over to the boards and is sucking on a hammer's head. Balto smirks and approaches her.
"No, Aleu. This is for fixing things, not eating."
Aleu grabs for the hammer, "Mine!" and giggles.
"Aleu, stop that. That's yucky, no chewing on these kinds of things. You'll hurt your teeth!" Balto shakes his head and puts the hammer on the ground near his feet.
"Daddy, I want some juice!" Aleu chimes happily.
"You know where it is."
"Daddy!" Aleu pouts, "I want juicey!"
"But we just..."
"I want it in my sippy cup! The green one!"
"I... okay." Balto sighs, heading back inside to grab Aleu some juice, when he's stopped by Aleu's squealing.
"No! Take me with you!"
"Aleu, you're a big girl now. You can..."
"Carry me! Carry me!" Aleu wiggles around, making a crinkling sound with her diaper on the ground.
Balto gives in, picking up Aleu and bringing her inside with him to get her some juice.
"The green one!" Aleu claps, giggling.
"I'm getting whichever one I grab. You're too heavy to be held like this, you know. Before was to teach you a lesson, but it's gone too far. I'm putting you down."
"No!" Aleu scolds, clinging onto her father's fur, "No, no, no, no!" Aleu wrapped her arms and legs around her father's torso, clinging for dear life, "Carry me! You have to carry me! I won't get down!"
"Aleu! What's gotten into you?"
"I'm your baby! You have to carry me!" she cries.
"I just... oh look! Look! Juicey!" Balto says, distracting Aleu from her tantrum, "and in a green sippy cup."
"With the pink lid?" Aleu sniffles.
"With a... pink lid." Balto sighs.
Aleu giggles and snuggles into Balto's fur, "Hehe, yay! Pink and green juicey!"
As Balto carries Aleu throughout the house, she drinks from her sippy cup, wagging her tail through her poufy diaper, a smirk on her face.
I can really get used to this. "I love you, Daddy!"
"I love you too, baby girl. Very much."