āTristan,ā said Samantha softly, ādo you need to go potty?ā
Tristan knew he had been squirming on her lap for the last five minutes. He hid his face on her shoulder and shook his head.
āAre you sure youāre not just saying that so that you can keep watching the movie?ā
āIf Mommy checked your pull-up right now, would it be a little bit wet? No? Itās okay, maybe Iām wrong. Mommies can be wrong sometimes.ā
But it was only a minute later that she looped one arm under his knees and stood up, lifting him off the couch.
āDonāt whine, sweetheart. You were barely watching the movie, anyway. We can come back to it.ā
In the bathroom, Samantha made Tristan stand by the toilet. She was leaning down to unbutton his pants when he spoke up.
āUmmā¦Mommy might have been right,ā he said quickly.
She gently eased his pants down. And then she gently eased down his wet pull-up and sat him on the toilet.
āI thought a pull-up would be okay since the movie was only an hour long,ā she told him, ābut you almost leaked on Mommyās lap.ā
āAre you all done?ā She held out a hand to help him off the toilet and he braced himself on her shoulder as he stepped out of his pants and pull-up.
She instructed him to wipe himself off while she went to the bedroom, and then to meet her back in the living room.
When she came back, he was sitting on the floor, still naked from the waist down.
āOkay, honey, lie down on your changing mat.ā She picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV back on, and he turned his head to the side so that he could watch it. āIs that okay? We can keep watching the movie while youāre getting changed.ā
Tristan nodded, his thumb in his mouth.
āOhh, thereās my cute boy. Youāre so cute.ā She leaned down to kiss his cheek and the back of his hand, making him smile and squirm.
āDoes that feel good?ā she asked as she taped up his diaper.
āMhm.ā
āOkay, letās do pajamas. Can you stand up and help me with that?ā
Once Tristan was all ready, there were only about ten minutes left in the movie, and they settled back on the couch.
āOkay, can you show me how you can brush your teeth?ā she asked as the credits were rolling, lifting him off the couch again.
He nodded, eager to impress Mommy even though they both knew that he knew perfectly well how to brush his teeth and had for a long time.
She watched him in the mirror while she was flossing.
āGood job, buddy!ā she said when he was finished, giving him a double high-five. āCan you go get your stuffy and get in bed while Mommy brushes her teeth and finished getting ready?ā
He hugged her from the side before leaving the room.
When she was done, she found him already under the covers, holding his stuffy against his chest. He had brought another stuffy to bed with him and set it on her pillow.
āDid you get me a stuffy, too?ā She picked it up as she got in bed with him. She held it in one hand as she put her arm around him and he rested his head on her shoulder.
āTomorrow,ā she started, āIām going to get up early and give Tristan kisses and then get ready for work. Iām going to go to work and come home right before dinner and Tristan is going to make dinner, okay? And then weāll do the dishes together and read or watch another movie. We could also go for a walk or something if you want. And then weāll brush our teeth again and get in bed.ā
āWhat is Tristan going to do tomorrow?ā she asked.
āIām going to get up and get ready. Iām going to go to work. Andā¦ā he wiggled againāāIām going to wear what Mommy tells me to.ā
āWhat Mommy thinks is appropriate.ā
āOkay, that sounds good to me. And youāre going to be honest with me tomorrow, right?ā
āEven if something embarrassing happens, right?ā
āYouāll tell Mommy if youāre wet, or messy, or if you leak again like lastāā
āOkay, I wonāt tease you.ā She paused. āAre you hard right now?ā
āAre you sure? Not even a little bit? Does Mommy need to check?ā She slipped her hand under his pajama pants and gave his diaper a squeeze. āI think Mommyās right again.ā
āAre you not done having accidents tonight? Do you need to go again?ā
She could feel his face getting hot against her own and he nodded.
āOkay, baby. You can grind on my thigh like last night if you need to. But Iām tired and I want to go to sleep, okay?ā
āMaybe we can fit in something we can do together tomorrow, okay?ā
He nodded. That sounded good.