The Weekend Visit, Part 49

The drive was longer than I expected. It made sense, once I started thinking about it; our cousins lived in a more suburban area, so an actual hike would require going somewhere with more nature. As usual, I was the odd girl out. Kate and the twins were all the same age, while I was the ‘little sister’ who was tagging along.

When we finally arrived, Lilah helped me out of the carseat. I really wanted to insist that I could do it myself, but that would probably end up sounding a little bratty. So I just awkwardly sat there, then muttered, ‘Like, thank you,’ as I got out of the car. If I hadn’t said something, there was a good chance Kate would have prompted me to do so a second later.

As Luna opened the trunk to grab her backpack, as well as Lilah’s, Kate asked me if I needed to use the bathroom before we got started. We were very much within earshot of our cousins, making the patronizing way my sister was checking on me all the worse.

Relieving myself before a hike was probably the responsible thing to do. However, the nearby ‘restrooms’ looked barely better than a port-a-potty. Even under regular circumstances, I’d be hesitant to go into the small, old building; it would probably be out of both soap and toilet paper, not have stall doors, etc. Perhaps I was being too judgmental, though it didn’t change the fact that I would need Kate’s assistance getting the diapers off, and her going with me would once again demonstrate to our cousins that I needed supervision for something that the average tween was capable of dealing with herself.

“Like, no,” I said, unable to keep myself from looking slightly annoyed. This was all so unfair. I didn’t need Kate’s help, and I didn’t need diapers! Or so I thought.

Twenty minutes into the hike, during which I felt completely ridiculous wearing a sundress while the other three girls and the occasional group we passed were all so dressed down, my eyes widened as I felt a similar pressure below that I had been hit with during the obstacle course at the mall. Not again! My breakfast had been rather normal, as had the meal at the country club. Why were my bowels a total mess this weekend? Was wearing padded underwear and having a few accidents really all it took to un-potty train me? It seemed like every time I needed to go, it happened more suddenly and I had less control.

Embarrassing as it was, I committed to what I resolved to do earlier. “Umm, Kate?” I called up to my sister. Ugh, I was going to have to say it in front of everyone. That, or waste time pulling her aside when it was already going to take a minute for her to undo the pins. I really should have suffered through the bathroom by the parking lot. Squatting down behind a tree wasn’t going to be fun; hopefully one of our cousins had something to wipe with in their bags.

“Umm, Annie?” she turned around, teasing me about one of the very filler words she pushed me to use on a regular basis, “Don’t tell me you already need a break.”

Not exactly. My abdomen spoke for me, gurgling slightly before I said, “I need- Like, I need to go.”

Her reaction was pretty much what I expected. “Seriously? I told you to go before we got started, little sis. You didn’t listen. We’re not going to turn around just because you were an irresponsible brat. Girls? Is there a good spot coming up where Annie can piss in the woods?”

“It’s-” I hesitated, deeply blushing as I forced the words out of my mouth, “It’s more than that . . . ” And I was going to have to do it somewhere off the trail. I absolutely didn’t trust my ability to make it all the way back to the parking lot.

“Use your words, Annie,” Kate said, “You’re a big girl, aren’t you?”

There wasn’t a mature way to answer that question that was mostly rhetorical anyway, nor was there a proper way to say that I needed to do more than just pee. Especially not when I was supposed to be acting like this bubbly tween, rather than the college girl I was supposed to be. “Umm, I have to- I have to, like, go poop.” God, it was so mortifying to say out loud. But swearing was bad while I was Kate’s ‘little sister,’ and I wasn’t about to say ‘Number Two’ like a child.

Luna and Lilah couldn’t help but giggle, which caused my blush to darken. Meanwhile, Kate just looked annoyed. It was all so backwards, when she was the brattier girl between the two of us, and I was the one who made such faces in regards to her antics. “Why didn’t you go back at the house?” Kate asked, “You’ve had so many chances.”

I would have, if I had known! If I had been hit with the urge sooner, of course I would have used an actual bathroom rather than waiting until such an inconvenient time to bring it up. “Kate, please!” I exclaimed, “It’s an emergency.”

She turned to our cousins. “Is there somewhere Annie can go?”

“She can go anywhere,” Luna shrugged, “That’s the beauty of nature. Just find a bush or tree that’s far enough away from the trail, and make sure you have enough cover that no one will see you.”

“That’s what you get for not speaking up sooner,” Kate said, “Hop to it, sis. We’ll be waiting here.”

“But, I can’t . . . ” I trailed off, “I mean-” It was impossible to keep track of all the developments over the last few days. Regardless, I had already experienced what happened when trying to remove the diaper pins while desperately needing the toilet. And, as another uncomfortable cramp hit me, I knew that I couldn’t waste time dancing around the subject. “Can you, like, come help?” I asked Kate.

It honestly would have been better if our cousins seemed amused at my request. Instead, they glanced at each other, then towards Kate. As in, does a girl my age really need help going to the bathroom outside? Although they already knew about the diapers, which made me an outlier compared to other girls ‘my age.’

Kate shrugged. “Hmm, I guess you’re right. You can’t really get in and out of your diapers without assistance, can you?”

Once more, Luna and Lilah didn’t really react. Since they already knew about my underwear situation, the two of them apparently accepted it. Not that I wanted them to question me or Kate, but still.

“I-” Looking back and forth between Kate and our cousins, I tried to resist the pressure below my waist that was on par with the last couple times I was hit out of nowhere with such a need. “Umm, no,” I mumbled.

“Well?” Kate asked. She placed a hand on her hip in the familiar pose. “Ask politely, Annie.”

My abdomen growled again, and it took a more active effort to keep myself from bursting right then and there. I didn’t know how much time I had left, and every second my sister prolonged things only made me more nervous about whether I’d be able to make it to whatever isolated spot we’d end up using.