Lizzie - Chapter 2

The seat was a navy blue. It had a tall, curved back and two raised armrests along the sides. The one on the right even sported a cupholder. A set of straps laid in front, currently unbuckled. This wasn’t some booster seat. No, it was a full fledged car seat, just like the one Lizzie had used years ago as a child, except scaled up to be much larger.

“Let me shift that over to the side so you can get seated.” Grant moved, forward, working with the mess of straps.

“No chair,” Lucas’s voice rang out from behind Lizzie.

Jenny sat him down on the seat in front. “Lucas, we talked about this earlier, the chair helps keep you safe, remember?” Jenny ran a hand gently through his hair.

“No chair.” He repeated.

“Lucas, please…” Grant said in a warning tone.

“No chair!” Lucas screamed, flinging Jenny’s arm away and banging his fist on the seat. Lizzie ducked to the side, suddenly aware that the baby-like boy had much more than baby-like strength. Jenny reached out to hold him, trying desperately to calm him down. Grant moved to help as well, reaching for his arms. Lizzie sat paralyzed, unsure of how to help in the situation. The parents moved to pick him up, however as they did, Lucas suddenly jerked, twisting one of his hands free, landing a solid punch to his mother’s chest in the process.

“Lucas!” Jenny snapped, her voice booming through the garage.

For a moment, everyone froze in silence. Then, Lucas began crying. Jenny immediately reached out to comfort him, but it was too late. Lucas twisted out of her grasp and jumped out of the car, running back into the house.

Jenny collapsed onto the seat and burying her head into her hands. Grant sighed, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“He was just… I shouldn’t have… I just wanted…” Jenny broke out into tears.

Jennifer, who had only witnessed the tail end of the situation, came over to comfort her. She asked Lizzie what had happened, and Lizzie explained the ordeal with the car seat. Grant sighed again, explaining that Lucas had recently started getting hesitant about his seat as he felt he was getting too old to be in one.

“How about you go talk to him?” Jennifer whispered to Lizzie.

Lizzie opened her mouth to complain, hadn’t she done enough to help already? But she paused when she saw her aunt’s crestfallen face. For the first time, Lizzie noticed the wrinkles forming on her aunt’s face and the bags under her eyes. Even Grant’s hair was beginning to show streaks of gray. She felt a twinge of guilt, Lucas probably wouldn’t have been so sensitive about his chair if she wasn’t here. If only…

“Do you have an old car seat?” Lizzie almost couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. “One that could… fit me?”

It took Grant a moment to respond. “Actually, we only recently upgraded to this one, his old would would probably fit you,” he said thoughtfully.

Lizzie asked him to set it up before heading into the house. The car seat looked soft enough with all that padding. A few hours in it couldn’t be all that bad, right?

She searched around the house, eventually finding Lucas huddled in a corner in his room. He turned away as Lizzie entered the bedroom.

“No chair,” he said, turning his back toward her.

Lizzie took a deep breath, looking around the room for some help. A large stuffed crocodile laid at the head of the bed, she picked it up before walking over. She stopped, close enough to be friendly but far enough to not be intrusive, and knelt down. “What’s their name?” she asked, handing him the crocodile.

Lucas turned around, sniffling a bit. “He… Chompa,” Lucas finally said, taking the stuffie from her hands.

“Tell me about him.”

“Chompa my friend. We go on adventures. We fight dragons and zombies. He protect me.” Lucas demonstrated Chompa’s fierce attack. “Does Lissie have a Chompa?”

“I have a teddy bear named Terry, he helps protect me from nightmares,” Lizzie told him truthfully. “Do you want to bring Chompa with you on the car?”

“Mama say Chompa too big.”

“If you be a good boy and sit in your chair, I’ll convince her.”

“Me no like chair.”

“But the chair protects you, just like how Chompa protects you.”

Lucas thought for a moment. “But it lonely in the back.”

“How about this, Lissie will sit in a chair beside you, and Chompa will be with us too. This way, all three of us will be in the back and you won’t be lonely, okay?” Lizzie held out her hand, watching intently for his reaction.

The two sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. But, just as Lizzie was about to give up, Lucas grabbed onto her hand, allowing her to pick him up. Lizzie gave him a smile, letting out the breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding in.

The two returned to the car hand in hand just as Grant finished installing the second seat. All four adults gave her a questioning look as they approached the car, to which Lizzie replied with a nod. Jenny looked relieved as she helped Lucas onto the car. She gave him a big hug, apologizing in the process. She then gave Lizzie a hug as well, and Grant gave her a pat on the shoulder. The two thanked her profusely, to which Lizzie simply smiled.

Lizzie looked at her seat. This one was a cranberry red and a bit smaller, but looked otherwise identical to the other one. She moved the straps aside and felt around the cushion. The padding was thick throughout, so thick that Lizzie wasn’t sure if she could even fit into the seat.

“Did you want any help with that?” Grant asked.

“No worries, I can do it myself.”

She hopped on, and as she did, her diapered bottom sank back into the seat, the ample padding molding to wrap around her body. Lizzie noticed that the seat was angled backwards. The angle meant that her body was slightly tilted backwards, causing Lizzie’s legs to dangle a bit above the floor of the car. She was surprised by how far she had fallen into the seat, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, the cushioned seat felt softer than her bed.

She reached around for the straps, finding one on her right and one between her legs, but she couldn’t find the one on her left. Lizzie shifted around, but her leaned back state meant it was difficult to get up and look behind her.

“Here, let me help.” Grant, who had finished securing Lucas, easily reached around her and pulled out the missing strap. Lizzie shrugged, handed him the other straps. Grant clicked the buckles from the two side straps into the center buckle. He then asked Lizzie to sit back down as he adjusted the chest clip height before clipping them together.

“One last thing,” Grant said, before pulling on something from the front of the seat. Lizzie felt the straps tighten all around her, she let out a faint gasp as she felt herself sink further into the padding.

“Thanks again, Lizzie,” Grant whispered patting her on the head before heading back to his seat. Lizzie normally would’ve revolted at being patted on the head like a little girl, but she barely noticed it with her attention drawn to her seat.

She examined the seat. Sitting down, she realized just how much the sides curved out, forming a concave enclosure on her sides. The padding along the sides slanted outward slightly, allowing her arms to rest comfortably on the armrests. Even the armrests were softly padded.

The headrest curved out even further than the rest of the seat. This forced Lizzie to strain her neck in order to see Lucas on the side. He was now happily seated, Chompa resting in his arms. He noticed her and gave her a smile, having seemingly forgotten his earlier trauma. Lizzie smiled back and gave him a small wave before falling back to her seat.

Being buckled in was an interesting experience. Lizzie shifted a bit in her seat, the straps held her down firmly into the padding. Combined with the seat’s curved shape, it felt like she was being hugged. For fun, she decided to test her straps. From her tilted position, she couldn’t generate much force against the straps, but she tried anyway. The straps dug into her body, although they were wide enough that it wasn’t even a discomfort. The shoulder straps kept her firmly planted downward, while the ones around the thighs kept her from shifting forward. The most noticeable strap however, was the one between her legs. For the first time that day, she was glad to have the diaper, which prevented the strap from digging directly at her crotch. Lizzie tried twisting with all her might, but remained securely fastened in place.

“You alright back there?” Her mom’s question brought Lizzie back to reality.

“I’m… fine.” Lizzie blushed slightly, had her mom noticed her struggle?

“How’s the seat?” Jenny asked, getting onto her own seat and buckling her seatbelt.

“It’s tight, but comfortable enough.”

“That’s good, thanks again for being such a tremendous help today.” Jenny gave her a kind smile.

“It’s nothing.” Lizzie looked away, trying to act cool, but she could still feel her face continuing to grow warmer.

After both adults turned back around, Lizzie began exploring the perimeter of her seat. There were several pouches along the sides. She slid her phone into one of them, glad to have found a place as her pajamas had no pockets. She inserted in her earbuds and sat back, fidgeting a bit to find the most comfortable position.

Lizzie couldn’t remember if she normally felt this secure in a car seat. Of course, this certainly wasn’t normal. Lizzie could hardly remember the last time she sat in a booster seat, let alone a car seat. But overall, the thick pajamas, soft padding, and tight straps made Lizzie feel like she was being held in a warm embrace. It was actually a lot more comfortable than she had expected.

She yawned, the early morning was finally catching up to her. So, as the car rolled out of the driveway, she found herself leaning against the headrest, quickly drifting off to sleep in its soft padding.

***

“Good morning sleepyhead, how was your nap?” her mom teased as Lizzie stirred awake.

“Are you kids hungry? It’s almost 1 so we’re thinking of taking a short break for lunch.”

“Hungry!” Lucas said, and Lizzie nodded in agreement. She was indeed hungry, but more importantly, she was beginning to notice a growing pressure in her bladder.

After a short discussion, the families settled on McDonald’s. Lizzie squirmed in her seat. The McDonald’s was only half a mile away, but the car seemed to crawl at a snail’s pace. She was already fiddling with the buckles as Grant finished parking the car. However, before she could make much progress, Jenny got out of her seat and offered to help. With no time to argue, Lizzie let her aunt unclip her from the seat.

Lizzie leapt from her seat and moved toward the door. However, as she did, the thick padding between her legs reminded her of what she was wearing. While she had been fine wearing it in the car, Lizzie didn’t feel like showing the sleeper, and potentially diaper, off in public.

“Psst, can you grab me a jacket from my bag?” Lizzie whispered to Philip who was in the front. When he asked why, Lizzie simply gestured to what she was wearing.

“You sure you don’t want to show it off? You look so cute in it,” he said with a laugh. Lizzie just crossed her arms and gave him her coldest stare. “Alright, sit still, I’ll grab it.”

“Quickly please, I’m about to burst.”

“You could always just use your diaper,” Philip said as he handed her the jacket. Lizzie rolled her eyes, but eagerly accepted the coat.

Of course, her dad had managed to pick the least matching jacket for her current outfit. Lizzie still slipped it on. At least the red winter jacket ran long, covering part of her legs, and hopefully hiding her diaper.

With that, she hopped off the car, racing past the others into the restaurant. She was about to hop into the women’s room before she felt a hand tap on her shoulder.

Jenny leaned down and whispered into her ear, “I can help you with your sleeper and diaper.” She gestured toward the family restroom and held out a hand.

Lizzie was appalled. She was thirteen. Surely, with enough time and effort, she could unzip the pajamas, and even though she’d never taped a diaper, she was pretty sure she could figure it out herself. However, a screaming bladder did a lot to knock the normally prideful girl down a peg or two, and so Lizzie simply nodded. She didn’t take Jane’s hand, she at least had that much dignity left, but followed her aunt into the family restroom.

Inside, Jenny asked Lizzie to turn around. Jenny easily undid the snaps and pulled the zipper halfway down. Lizzie was relieved when her aunt stopped there and stepped outside, giving her some much needed privacy. Lizzie unzipped the sleeper the remaining way before ripping the tapes off and tossing the diaper onto the counter. A rush of relief came over her as she emptied her bladder into the toilet.

After wiping herself, Lizzie tried securing the diaper back on. She secured the tapes on as best she could before pulling the sleeper back on. Again, she could only get the zipper partway up her back.

There was a knock on the door, and Jenny stepped back in. Lizzie turned around with a sigh. There was a zipping sound, however, rather than pulling the zipper up, the zipper fell back to the bottom.

“Well that’s not going to work,” Jenny said as Lizzie felt a hand slip into her diaper.

“Hey!” Lizzie exclaimed, jumping away.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Jenny apologized, having also jumped back in shock. “Silly me, I’m just so used to dealing with Lucas.”

“It’s okay aunt Jenny, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Did you want me to help you tape it up properly though?”

“Do I need to? It’s not like I’m going to use it.”

“I think it would be more comfortable if put on correctly. I wouldn’t want you to get a rash.” Lizzie had to admit that the diaper did feel awkward hanging loosely around her waist.

She relented, letting her aunt slip the pajamas off her shoulders and adjust the tapes. When she was done, she zipped the sleeper back up. A snapping sound indicated she was done.

The two joined the others at the table. Philip handed her a burger and salad as she sat down.

“And because you were such a big help earlier, these are all yours.” He handed Lizzie a box of ten chicken nuggets and two packets of sweet ‘n sour sauce. Lizzie was ecstatic. She loved chicken nuggets, but her parents rarely let her have them because they were unhealthy— which Lizzie thought was dumb given that they were already at McDonald’s— and even when they did, she usually had to share with the entire family. Lizzie happily began wolfing down her nuggets.

“Make sure you finish your burger and salad too,” her mom warned.

“Okay mom,” Lizzie said with a mouthful of nuggets.

“Lissie eat like Chompa,” Lucas said, demonstrating the chomping with his crocodile. Lizzie blushed slightly as everyone at the table laughed.

The adults were still eating well after Lizzie had finished. She was growing a bit restless, realizing she had forgotten her phone on the car.

“Lissie, play?” Lucas tugged on her sleeve. Lizzie shrugged, and allowed Lucas to drag her from her seat. They eventually made their way to the PlayPlace. Before Lizzie could stop him, Lucas rushed into the play area and began scaling the platform.

“Lissie, catch me,” Lucas called out after reaching the top.

Lizzie looked around. There were only a couple other kids in the area, a boy and his sister. They looked around eight and ten years old. Their mom stood off to the side, and didn’t seem to be paying Lizzie any attention. To the other side, there was a mirror. Lizzie caught a look of her reflection. A little girl in polka-dot pajamas stared back. She rubbed against the thick diaper between her legs. The only thing out of place was the oversized jacket she’d flung on top.

“Heck why not,” Lizzie muttered to herself. She was dressed the part anyways. “I’m coming!” She called after Lucas.

The PlayPlace was surprisingly fun, and Lizzie found herself a bit out of breath chasing after Lucas. He was surprisingly nimble and quick, ducking and weaving throughout the playground. Lucas hopped into a purple slide and Lizzie raced after him.

“Got you!” Lizzie said, wrapping her arms around him as the two reached the end of the slide. It was only when she looked up did she notice all four parents staring at them. Her mom in particular smiled lovingly at them. Lizzie quickly let go of Lucas and got up.

“Ready to go, kids?” Philip asked with a slight smirk on his face. Lizzie said nothing, pulling her hood over her head before stumbling out of the restaurant. She remained quiet back on the car as she hopped back onto her seat. She didn’t even bother with the straps, allowing Jenny to buckle her in.

“Would you like a table to do some reading or coloring?” Jenny asked. After seeing Lizzie’s confused look, she reached over and pulled something from the trunk.

Lizzie strained in her seat to get a better look. In Jenny’s hand was a plastic table shaped like a wide U. Its colors matching that of Lucas’s seat. Jenny clipped it into place on top of his lap. She then pulled out some coloring books and crayons from her bag, placing those onto the table.

“Would you like a table too?” She repeated the question.

Lizzie nodded, it seemed like it could be convenient for her phone or books. Soon, her table, this one red, slid into place with a series of clicks, the ends of the U covering over her armrests. The table had some sort of rubbery material on top and the table was raised along the edges. Both designed to help keep things from falling off in a moving car. Lizzie noticed the table was padded along the edges. The padding on the interior rested right against her stomach.

Lizzie soon realized that this new addition further prevented her from leaning forward, removing what little slack she had previously with the straps. She tried to push the table back, but it had been secured firmly in place. Searching around the edges, her fingers found what seemed like a latch on either side. She was tempted to try them but retreated back as Jenny handed her a coloring book and pack of crayons.

“Thanks,” she said, placing the items to the side of the table, she wasn’t interested in coloring at the moment.

Soon the families were back on the road, and Lizzie sat back, pulling out her phone. Ivie had sent her a Snap, a picture of her on the bed with her textbooks, asking what was up. How did she look so beautiful even while lying lazily in bed?

Lizzie clicked to reply, only to have her screen be filled with her pajamaed self, securely buckled in her big red carseat. She fumbled to switch the camera, she’d rather die than let Ivie see her like this. Eventually, she settled on taking a picture of the back of her mom’s seat, captioning that she was stuck for a long ride.

She went back to aimlessly swiping on her phone. While TikTok provided her with endless entertainment, Lizzie soon realized her phone battery running low. She must have forgotten to fully charge it last night.

Lizzie put her phone away and looked around for other forms of entertainment. She looked to her left out the window, her view partially blocked by the headrest. The outside was filled with endless fields. The only exciting features in the landscape were some low hills and short trees in the distance. Occasionally, they drove by farmlands with herds of cows and sheep. The thick clouds did nothing to improve the bleak scenery.

She looked around the car. Philip seemed like he was napping, resting his head on a folded jacket against the window. The remaining parents were deep in conversation. Lizzie tried to follow along, but the talks on local legislation and politics left her without much to contribute. Even Lucas was busy coloring away.

Lizzie needed some other entertainment, but her chess set, her books, everything else had been packed in her suitcase, except…

“Mom, where is my Switch?”

“I had your dad pack it with your other stuff in the back,” she replied.

“But I told you I wanted to use it on the car.”

“I know, but there was no place on your seat to store it and I didn’t want it getting damaged.”

“Can we stop and get it? My phone is almost dead.”

“We can’t stop the car just to get your Switch, but we can get it the next time we stop.”

“When is that going to be?”

“There’s another town in an hour or so. We can take a short break there,” Grant said.

“An hour? What am I supposed to do until then?”

“Maybe you can nap, or do some coloring like Lucas here is doing,” Jennifer said with a smile.

Hearing his name, Lucas perked up. “Me color!” He showed off his drawing to the rest of the car. Jennifer and Jenny applauded his drawing before turning back, resuming their adult conversation.

Lizzie sat, flabbergasted. If they weren’t going to help her get her Switch, then she’d just have to get it herself. However, she’d first have to get herself out of the car seat. The table was first. Feeling around, she again found the latches on either side. Pulling on them, she was able to slide the table forward. She looked around, making sure the adults were still deep in conversation. The last thing she needed was her mom chewing her out. She continued, quietly sliding the table completely free, placing it, and the coloring books, to the side.

Next up was the harness. There were two points mechanisms, the buckle by her crotch and the clip by her chest. She went for the chest clip first. It had been a while since she’d sat in a car seat, and without being able to see it, it took her a while to find the buttons along the sides.

When she finally did, she pinched to unclip it. However, the release didn’t move. Confused, Lizzie pressed again, harder this time. Still, the clip remained securely fastened. Lizzie struggled, trying again with both hands, but still to no avail.

Was there some kind of secret lock? Feeling around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

She switched her focus to the buckle. If she could release that, she could just slide out from underneath. Her hands went to the buckle, pressing down on where the release button normally would be. However, there, she found a smooth piece of plastic instead. She looked down, a task made somewhat difficult by the chest clip and straps. The plastic covered the buckle, with only a thin slit in front. She could feel the button behind the slit with her nails, but couldn’t press down on it.

Lizzie grunted. Well, if she couldn’t release it, she’d just have to wiggle out of the harness. She would bring the chest clip down then slide the shoulder straps off, allowing her to slip out through the top.

She pulled down on the chest clip, but rather than slide down, she felt a strap tugging against the back of her neck. Tracing the strap, Lizzie realized the chest clip had a strap that ran around the back of her neck, stopping her from pulling it down. She felt around, but couldn’t find how to lengthen the strap.

Her final plan was to loosen all of the straps. They had been tightened with some sort of mechanism at the front, but seated as she was, Lizzie realized she couldn’t see nor reach anything in that area. Lizzie strained against the harness, pulling at the straps and attempting to slide her shoulders out. To her dismay, they were far too snug against her shoulders. She wiggled in her seat, digging into the padding, but even then she was unable to make enough room.

Lizzie sat back down with a huff, finally coming to the realization that she was genuinely stuck in her seat. She wasn’t getting out until one of the adults came to release her. The straps suddenly felt tighter against her body. She jerked against them with a grunt, despite knowing it was futile.

“Lissie?” Lucas had stopped his coloring, looking up at her with interest. “What is Lissie—”

“Shh, don’t worry about me,” Lizzie whispered, trying to get him to quiet down, but it was too late.

“What happened to the table?” Jenny asked, having turned around after noticing the commotion.

“I just wanted to get my Switch,” Lizzie said sheepishly.

“What have we told you about unbuckling and getting up while we’re driving?” her mom said with a frown. “What if we suddenly stopped?”

“Now now, don’t worry Jenn, she wasn’t going to get anywhere strapped in that seat,” Grant called out, “they design those with little Houdini’s in mind. Only adults can release those buckles, which I’m sure Lizzie back there has found out.” He finished with a chuckle. Lizzie felt herself blush.

“Either way it’s still very dangerous, the table could’ve flown forward and hit your aunt in the head.”

“It’s alright, it was a small mistake.” Jenny rested a hand on Jennifer’s shoulder. “Let’s not forget Lizzie did us a huge favor today volunteering to use the seat.” She turned back to Lizzie, “we’ll stop for gas soon, so let’s put the table back and just hang in there for a little while longer, okay?”

Lizzie nodded, her ears still burning red. She felt like a little toddler getting chastised. She squirmed in her seat. The diaper between her legs certainly didn’t help with that feeling.

The two moms kept an eye on her until the table slid back into place. Philip woke up soon after, and the parents eventually returned to their conversations, but Lizzie knew better than to try getting up again. She continued to shift in her seat, the straps keeping her glued as her legs dangled in the air.

It was still going to be a while before they stopped. Lizzie eyed the coloring book on the table. The two dinosaurs on the cover smiled back at her. She sighed, picking out a crayon and flipping open to a page.