The first thing that he had noticed was that he had spontaneously been moved from the bathroom into his bedroom. Simply gone from one location and sitting in the next without any moving in between. While there were details all around him that were out of place and just outright strange, he first looked down.
When he did, he gasped at what he saw.
Rather than wearing the t-shirt and cargo shorts he had been wearing, he was now wearing a plain white t-shirt of soft cotton. That in and of itself wasn't the surprise; what was the surprise was was his "underwear" that he was wearing. Rather than having on briefs or boxers, he was wearing at a thick, puffy diaper that pushed his legs apart. The fuzzy outer layer had a number of smiling baby-blue clouds on it, and it seemed to be fastened by velcro straps. Jon touched the diaper, just to confirm it's reality, and a wide grin spread on his face.
"Bluhberbe," Jon said as he looked down at this amazing development, and then paused. Whatever he had said had come out completely garbled. He decided to try again, starting with 'testing, 1, 2, 3.' He took a deep breath and said, "Mellahflurbub."
That last "word" had ended in a spit bubble, one that Jon couldn't stop himself from making. Gulping, he was beginning to realize the full implications of his wish. Not only would men be treated as babies, they would also act like babies. It would explain why women treated them that way.
Ignoring his distress about not being able to talk, Jon was still feeling excited about the prospect of this new world. An infantile giggle escaped his lips, and he decided to get a better look around his room. Rather than being on his double-bed that he had had since he was in second grade, Jon felt a little thrill when he found himself in a crib that was clearly built for a person his size, complete with high guard-rails all the way around. What's more, the crib was stocked with a wide variety of stuffed animals, including ones that clearly been chewed on, and recently. Moving beyond his crib to look around the room, he was quick to realize that it wasn't truly his room he was in. Instead, it was much larger and spacious than his own, not mention far more childish, with colorful hangings and murals on the walls. It was also filled with more furniture than his had ever possessed. Against the wall opposite his own, Jon saw another crib that was smaller. If he had to guess, Jon would say that it was Mikey's. Against the adjoining wall was a twin-sized bed, but it had raisable rails that people in the old reality had reserved for older toddlers who would roll out of the bed. Aside from the changed bedding, there was also a changing table that was sturdily built and well-stocked with what seemed to be thick infant's diapers, thinner infant's diapers, and diapers built for toddlers. The strange thing, though, was that all of them were sized for people much larger than children any of those ages would ever be.
When he looked down, he saw that there was a yellow blanket draped over his leg. Tracing it back to where it lay higher on his body, he realized that he had it curled in one arm. While he had certainly wished to be treated like a baby, he wasn't about to be shackled to a piece of cloth that looked like it had been used to clean the house. With that, he rolled his eyes and threw the cloth over the side of the crib, the beaten-up thing landing on the carpet without a sound.
Though he had intended to try an experiment, an inexplicable sense of unease came over him, butterflies dancing in his stomach. He had to fight some urge threatening to take him over, and while he did, the feeling of unease grew steadily into something very much like panic. Tears were starting to spill out of his eyes, and he starting hiccuping with the effort to stop whatever it was that was about to happen. Finally, his control slipped altogether as the fear overpowered him, and the tears began pouring from his eyes. The noise that had been working up in his chest finally rolled out of him, and it came out a loud, cranky cry that was punctuated by deep, furious breaths. Jon tried, but nothing he did would slow down his tears or quiet his bawling, and he suddenly found himself desperately wanting to be held.
