Home for the Holidays - Part 1
Kim had been happy to move out when she turned eighteen. She would have been perfectly fine if she never had to go back to her parents house again. Not that she had a particularly bad relationship with her family. It was just that she was ready to be an adult, and something about living in the house she grew up in didn’t fit with her image of an adult. It was with great reluctance that Kim agreed to come home for the holidays, but she had finally given in to her parents’ begging, and that is why Kim found herself sitting in the driveway of her old house.
At least I didn’t get pulled over this time. Kim had a long history of irritating ‘traffic stops.’ About once a month, Kim would get pulled over by some overeager cop, who was convinced they had caught an underage driver. Even when Kim showed them her license, she made extra sure to carry it at all times, they would be convinced it was a fake. Kim would have to sit in her car for ages, while the cop double and triple checked the system. Although Kim couldn’t necessarily blame them for thinking she was underage, Kim still hated them for it. She was by far the shortest one in her family. Even her younger sister towered over Kim by almost a foot. Kim always wore shoes with a heel, and she still barely brushed the 4'9 mark. It wasn’t surprising she was a cop magnet, when Kim could barely see over the steering wheel and still reach the gas pedal at the same time. It was honestly a bit of a legal grey area, she could see well enough that she hadn’t had an accident yet, but driving was always a bit of risk for Kim, especially in these icy winter conditions.
Kim pulled herself out of the car with a sigh, there was no use hiding any longer, she would have to go inside at some point. With a forced smile, Kim managed to get through all the hugging and gushing that came with her arrival, but when everything was finally settling down, Kim noticed something.
“Whose luggage is that?” Kim gestured at the pair of suitcases sitting by the front door.
“Oh,” Her mother looked surprised. "Don’t you remember? Your father and I are going to the Caribbean, our flight leaves in the morning. I’m sure I told you.“ Kim was sure she hadn’t been told, but her mother would never admit that she was wrong.
“So is that the whole reason I’m here? Housesitting? Babysitting?” Kim gesticulated angrily at her younger sister, who could hardly be called a baby, towering over Kim. "What happened to spending Christmas together for once?“
"Oh honey.” Kim’s mother managed to sound comforting and condescending all at once. "We are happy to see you, and we’ll always be happy to see you here, but we can’t cancel our vacation just because you finally decided to come and visit us.“ Kim rolled her eyes, and she was tempted to get back in her car and drive off, but she decided against it. It was a long trip back home, and it was snowing again, she could always leave tomorrow.
It was already late, but Kim decided she might as well sit by the fireplace with her family, at least for a little while. She angrily sipped at her eggnog. It was SO like her parents to invite her over, while leaving out the bit about them flying to another country for two weeks. Tipping back the glass, Kim couldn’t help but wish the drink was something stronger, although it was probably for the best that it wasn’t. Kim and alcohol didn’t get along terribly well; it had something to do with how she wasn’t 100 pounds soaking wet. Kim yawned and stood up, she was exhausted, and looking forward to sleeping, even if she wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in her old childhood bedroom. Kim excused herself from the conversation she had been ignoring, and walked back through the dining room, and into the kitchen. Kim left her empty cup by the sink, but not before she had poured herself another half glass of eggnog.
Unfortunately for Kim, her parents followed her into the kitchen just in time to see her finish her second glass.
"Make sure you don’t drink too much before bed sweetie. You wouldn’t want to have an accident.”
“Oh please, Mom. Can you not treat me like I’m five years old? Casey might still wet the bed,” Kim pointed to the other room, where her sister made a strangled sound of outrage. “But I certainly don’t.”
“Of course, baby. I know you’re all grown up now, but no matter how big you get, you’ll always be my baby girl. And you know you can always come home, whenever you need to, alright? And that goes for both of you.” Kim’s mom looked over to Casey as she walked into the kitchen.
“I know, Mom.” Kim almost felt bad for her attitude, she even considered apologizing, until her mom opened her mouth again.
“And besides, I seem to recall having to monitor your fluids at night when you were a lot older than five.”
“Ha!” Casey shouted, triumphantly. "Maybe you should be the little sister, Kimmy. I bet I was even potty trained before you.“
"Ugh, whatever.” Kim rolled her eyes and stomped her way all the way up the stairs, ignoring her parents amused sounding ‘goodnights,’ before slamming her way into her old bedroom. Kim just wished her sister hadn’t inherited all of the family’s height. Casey couldn’t talk so big, if she wasn’t nearly twice Kim’s height.
Squinting against the onslaught of pink that was her childhood bedroom, Kim collapsed back on the bed. Her parents had left her bedroom entirely untouched after Kim had moved out, probably hoping she would come back and live at home, something Kim had long since disregarded as a possibility. Younger Kim, 'Kimmy,’ although she had finally outgrown that nickname in her parents’ eyes, was infatuated with all things pink and cute, and the bedroom was no different. The drapes, the old wallpaper, even the rug covering most of the open floor space was pink. If Kimmy had been given the option, even the carpet would have been pink.
Kim let her eyes close for just a moment while laying back on the bed. Groaning quietly to herself, Kim realized she had forgotten her suitcase downstairs, or was it still in the car? Kim couldn’t quite remember if she had brought it in with her or not. Either way, it didn’t matter. There was no way Kim was going back downstairs to face her parents another time, and there was even less chance of her going back out to her car in the snow. She would take care of it in the morning. For now, Kim made due with stripping off the blouse and jeans she had been wearing. Shivering in a pair of somewhat licentious panties, Kim removed what might be considered an unnecessary bra, and left the semi-folded pile of clothes on top of her dresser; the heater was working overtime to fight the evening winter chill, but there was only so much it could do. Kim rifled through the drawers of the dresser to find something to wear to bed. She had gone to sleep in just her underwear, or less, before, but it was cold enough in the house to make Kim think twice before doing it. As long as she was here, she might as well make herself comfortable.
Kim was somewhat dismayed, if not particularly surprised, to find that almost all of her clothes still fit her. Most of the clothes dated back to when Kim was a teenager, some even before that. Anything Kim left in this house when she moved out had surely been deemed too childish by Kim’s adult standards, and so, Kim found herself sleeping in a pair of Disney princess, pink pajamas. They were something Kim would never be caught dead wearing anywhere else, but at least they were warm, and they meant she wouldn’t have to sleep in just her panties. At least her panties were adult-like. Kim had seen her old underwear drawer during her search for clothes, and as much as she hated to prover her mother right, very few of the 'panties’ in Kim’s old dresser were thin enough for Kim to even consider wearing in an emergency. It seems the focus in Kimmy’s choice of underwear was more interested in absorption than style.
Kim was wrapped up nice and warmly in her blankets, and she slowly drifted off to sleep as the snow continued to fall. The closed door blocked out the soft murmur of conversation, and the popping of the fire coming from below. It wasn’t long before the house was dark and quiet. The old house moaned as someone moved unseen through the darkness.
The sun soon dyed the Eastern sky, and before the sun had truly risen, there was movement in the house once more. Kim’s parents were up, suitcases ready by the door, tickets and passports in tow, Kim scarcely stirred when her parents stopped by her room to bid farewell to their sleeping daughter. Under different circumstances she might have regretted not at least wishing her parents goodbye, but given the unusual and unexpected nature of her parents trip, Kim would not be overly concerned with such trivialities. She would soon find herself with more pressing concerns. The snow crunching beneath tires signaled her parent’s departure, but Kim slept on, oblivious to the world around her.
When Kim finally awoke, it was with groan and a stretch that she finally faced the midday sun. Disentangling herself from the bed sheets, Kim stood and stretched her hands all the way up. She wished she could at least almost touch the ceiling, but the full length mirror she was facing revealed the truth. Kim was significantly short of even the lowest ceilings. The mirror also revealed another truth that made Kim pause. Kim’s pants appeared to be discoloured, particularly around the crotch. Kim moved closer to the mirror with a frown. Even through the shocking pink of the pajama pants, what was undeniably a yellow tinted stain could be seen. She hadn’t noticed it when choosing what to wear the night before, but the morning light clearly distinguished what was certainly an emblem of sorts. A badge of shame that no doubt marred a great many of Kimmy’s old clothes.
Kim quickly stepped out of the increasingly embarrassing pants and turned to grab her outfit from yesterday. It didn’t feel great to wear the same thing two days in a row, but she could change as soon as she went down to get her suitcase, and anything was better than an old pair of pee stained pants. Speaking of pee stained, Kim paused as she was folding the pajama pants. If she didn’t know any better, Kim could have sworn the pants felt almost…damp. Shaking her head, Kim set the pants aside. She had been wrapped up beneath so many blankets last night, it would be more surprising if she hadn’t been at least a little bit sweaty by morning. Kim had plenty of experience lying to herself, every time she convinced herself that she was happy with her height, or that she wasn’t even that short, but this was different. There was no room for subjectivity when it came to the state of her panties. The fabric could either be wet or dry, and it was wet. There was the slight dampness caused by sweat and then there was one step short of sopping, the kind of wetness that could only be caused by one thing, something Kim was all too familiar with. No, no. That was something Kimmy was all too familiar with. Kim didn’t wet the bed, and if Kim said the wet spot that covered nearly the entire butt of her panties was sweat, then it was sweat. The spot was barely visible, and nearly dry, or at least not dripping. It was clearly sweat. Kim knew a thing or two about bed wetting, and this wasn’t bed wetting. The crotch of her pajamas were barely wet, and the spot left on the bed was nearly indistinguishable among the old, faded stains. Back when Kimmy wet the bed, there would be no room for doubt. Her clothes wouldn’t be damp, they were soaked. Torrential floods would sweep across the bed, only a thin plastic sheet protecting the mattress from utter ruin. A plastic sheet that was likely still there, if Kim had to guess. No, this was no bed wetting, and Kim decided not to concern herself with it any longer. All it meant was that Kim would have to go without panties for the short trip down stairs to retrieve her suitcase. Thinking back, Kim was fairly certain that she had brought her luggage inside last night; which was good, because Kim had no desire to go out into the cold snow anytime soon. Pulling off her panties, and ignoring their dampness sliding down her legs, Kim frowned as she looked around. Her clothes from yesterday were missing.
After searching throughout the small room, Kim was convinced, her clothes were nowhere to be seen. Kim was positive she left the heap of clothes on her dresser the night before, but there was no sign of them now. Smelling her mother’s involvement, Kim almost stormed out of her room to confront the woman, before she stopped, realizing two things. First, her mother was long gone, probably already on the plane, jetting towards the Caribbean, and second, Kim was completely naked from the waist down.
Kim couldn’t bring herself to pull her wet panties back on, even though it was only sweat! So Kim reluctantly pulled open her old underwear drawer, and set about finding the most adult looking pair of panties she could. It was like choosing the least ugly earthworm. Even if she tired only focusing on the positives, at the end of the day it was still a worm. Kim eventually settled for a pair that were, of course, pink, but at least they didn’t say 'Training Panties,’ like most of the others, and the thickness was just slightly above normal cotton.
Normally, Kim wouldn’t have been opposed to going downstairs in just her panties and t-shirt, especially when the house was mostly deserted, but these panties were a special kind of embarrassing. There was no way Kim was going to risk Casey seeing her sister in a pair of babyish panties. Kim dug through her dresser once again, until she finally found a pair of pants that were both not pink, and free of any childish cartoon characters. Satisfied that she dressed about as well as she was likely to be, before getting access to her suitcase, Kim made her way downstairs. She had to consciously stop herself from tiptoeing, while desperate not to be seen in her current state, Kim recognized that sneaking would just make her more conspicuous.
Kim sighed with relief when she found her suitcase sitting right were she left it, next to the front door. At least she wouldn’t have to go outside anytime soon. Kim grabbed the case with both hands and lugged it upstairs. The case was heavier than Kim remembered, she was breathing hard through her nose when she finally heaved the suitcase onto her bed. Unzipping the case, and flipping open the lid, Kim froze. She was so close to relief, so close to returning to normal, but still she froze. There were clothes in the suitcase to be sure, but they were no clothes that Kim recognized, certainly not clothes that she owned. With one deep and shaking breath, Kim reached out and grabbed the topmost piece of cloth. A sweatshirt; unfolding it Kim could wear it as a dress it was so large. Failing to suppress her rising panic, Kim hurriedly dumped the suitcase out onto the bed. They were all Kim’s father’s clothes. The suitcase looked just like Kim’s, but there was no mistaking the contents. Her parents must have had the same suitcase, Kim hadn’t even noticed, and apparently, neither had her parents. All of Kim’s adult clothes, her entire persona that she had crafted so carefully, were surely flying towards the Caribbean as Kim sat in shock. Her parents didn’t come back until after New Years. She had to get back home, at least there she have half a wardrobe, and she didn’t have to see anyone, especially her sister, if she didn’t want to. The trick now would be getting out of the house before…
“Oh, good morning sis.” Kim winced as Casey walked into her room, the girl sounded overly cheery in Kim’s opinion. "I guess you found out, kinda funny huh?“
"What?” Kim was still trying to process what exactly her sister had said.
“You know, the bags that got switched. I guess Dad grabbed your bag by mistake. He called me during the layover, wondering why his bag was packed with children’s clothes. Easy mistake to make I guess. He’s going to have to buy some clothes just to get him through the trip.”
“Yeah…” Kim was still stunned by the whole situation, not even gathering enough energy to get mad at her sister. "Well I’m going to head back to my place, I’ll come get my stuff when they get back.“
"What? You can’t leave, what about spending Christmas together?” Casey almost looked sincere. "We’ve got toothbrushes and whatever else you could need here, and it looks like your old clothes fit you well enough.“ She grinned looking down at Kim’s outfit.
“And besides, it’s been snowing all morning. Roads are closed. You’re not leaving on anything other than a snowmobile. It’s a miracle Mom and Dad’s flight wasn’t canceled.” Kim ran to the window in a panic, she knew it had been snowing, but she hadn’t realized quite how bad it was. What looked like at least half a foot of snow had fallen just since last night, and it showed no sign of stopping. She was trapped.
“It’s cute by the way. Your outfit, Kimmy.”