Chapter 4:
Annie looked at the time, and told Arthur: “Oh, it’s almost 2pm, know what it means?” She watched as he smiled happily, knowing the answer.
“Yeah, Space Pawtrol is about to start! Come on Gus! Ya gotta watch it, it’s amazing!” He said, grabbing Gus wrist and basically dragging him to the living room.
“Wait.. uh.. What’s Space Pawtrol? Annie?” He asks while following Arthur to the living room. The little dark blue skunk seems too excited about it, that Annie might answer his question in a most understandable way.
“Oh, it’s his favorite tv show. It’s about a team of space puppies that go through planets to help and solve problems.” She explained it, as Arthur finally released his arm, as he sat down on the floor, right in front of the couch.
Gus looked at him and chuckled a bit, looking how excited he was for a tv show while he calmly climbed over the couch, sitting there properly.
“I’ll be back soon with some snacks, boys. Call me if you need to use the potty, especially you, Gussy.” She said before going back to the kitchen. Gus blushed at this last part, but knew it was because of his false alarm earlier.
Soon the show started on TV, with a happy song presenting the puppies. Of course, Arthur was singing along with it.
“To help through space, our friends need to say: help me please Space Pawtrol! “ He sung it together with the tv, shouting the last part,
A yellow puppy appeared at screen, presenting himself to the other little cubs.:
“My name is Jeremy, and today, we got a mission on planet Boooring.”
It then showed a little bear, a squirrel and a cat, everyone wearing a kind of space suit with an emblem of a paw print, but in the middle of a ring, like a planet.
“What’s the problem there, Jeremy?” Asked the bear.
“The reports say it’s a boring planet, where cubs can’t do anything fun at all.”
“Oh no!” exclaimed the squirrel.
“How will we help them?” Asked the bear.
All the puppies thought for a bit, until the cat one suddenly smiled and said “I have one idea!”.
Then the image cuts to the planet, it was all gray and every adult and kid had a boring or sad expression, and were doing a bunch of boring stuff. One of them was painting a gray wall with gray ink, using a tiny pencil, while the other was filling a cup with water drops.
A puppy was on the street counting how many bricks a wall had, when the puppies spaceship landed, and right from it the cubs started to run over jumping and giggling.
Jeremy was kicking a soccer ball, but this one was covered in some colorful paint, making a bright colored path wherever it rolls around. The squirrel came out holding a line, and made a kite fly around the skies, making it shine a bit with some glitter over it. Soon some kids from the planet started to watch them, and wanted to have fun.
As Gus kept watching it, he was interrupted by Annie offering him a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. He was so focused on the tv show that he couldn’t notice Annie coming back with the sandwich, and even Arthur that was already eating his own sandwich.
“Oh.. Thank you, Miss Annie.” He says as grabs the sandwich and starts to eat it, again looking back at the tv to don’t miss anything. It felt weird, he knew the show was childish, but why did that catch his attention so much?
Maybe it’s the characters, or how the animation, or the fact it wasn’t these real silly shows, it was actually fun. He kept watching it until it ended without any interruption.
“Hehehe, that was an awesome episode!” said Arthur getting up.
“Yeah, it was really nice.” Answered back Gus,letting a small yawn escape from his mouth.
Annie was around and caught the moment.
“Well, time for a nap, boys. But first, does somebody need to use the potty? Gussy?” She asked them, but focused on Gus, as he still hadn’t gone.
“I don’t need to, mommy.” Said Arthur yawned a bit.
“Uh, I think I do need to go…” He said, blushing a bit, as he actually needed to relieve his bladder.
Annie grabbed his paw, helping him get out of the couch, and walked with him back to the bathroom. She noticed Arthur stood in the living room, so once they reached the bathroom, she closed the door and started to help Gus with his pullups.
“So, what are you thinking about it so far?” She asked, pulling down Gus' pullups.
“Oh, the show is quite fun, I wasn't expecting all these solutions and…” He told her his thoughts about the show, while she calmly sat him down over the potty.
“No silly, I’m asking you about everything here. What do you think about being Arthur’s friend through potty training?” She chuckled while telling him exactly what she wanted to mean.
“Oh, well… It’s been good, so far… Way different from the hospital aisle. I think I can take it, if it means more time with delicious food and the most important, no needles!.” He told her, thinking about it. It was the first time he wasn’t being monitored over by doctors and people that actually didn’t care about him.
“I’m glad you’re having some fun, sweetie. But if I may ask, why did you not use the potty earlier? “ Annie asked him back.
“Ooh, well… It was a bit… embarrassing… Didn’t want him to see me using it right after him.”
“Well, I don’t see any problem there, silly. You’re helping him through potty training.” She told him.
“Yeah, but…I don’t know.” He said trying to think exactly on why he decided to hold it back then.”
“I understand hun. It’s all different out of that room…and it’s a huge change coming from a regressed savior to a little boy.” She told him, calmy placing her left paw over his shoulder, while her right one went under his chin, moving it up so he could look at her eyes.” I’ll never forget what you’re doing for me and Arthur hun. Thank you very much.”
Gus looked at her and could notice how serious and calm she was. He knew her before his regression, and while she took care of him, he noticed she wasn’t just following orders like other nurses, but she actually cared for him. He didn’t want to disappoint her, and so he blinked twice and finally relaxed his bladder, letting the tinkle sound and the relaxed expression tell Annie what he was doing.
“That’s it Gussy, you’re going in the potty!” She said, a bit louder so Arthur could hear it from the living room.
Annie waited for Gus to finish his business there, then helped him out of the potty, and with a few baby wipes, she cleaned him there.
“This brings back some memories from the first regression days.” She said, giving Gus a blush, as he remembered about it, before he accepted his fate as a regressed little boy.
He remembered giving her quite some hard time during his changes, but she always found a way to calm him down. He kept lost at his thoughts for a bit, and was brought back to reality with Annie grabbing his pullup and holding it for him.
“Step in, Gussy, one paw at time.” She said, waiting for Gus to step inside the pullup. He blushed some once he realized it, but got his right paw inside it, then the left one, and finally, Annie pulled it up over his waist. She then moved him back, so could adjust the tape over his tail.
“There ya go. Now let’s get a golden star on your potty chart, then get ready for your nap.” She told him, but first, what should we do after using the potty?”
“Wash the paws!” Gus told her, as he knew how to answer it this time, as he calmly climbed the stepstool that Annie prepared, so he could finally wash his paws at the sink.
Once he finished, Annie helped him climb down, and walked with him back to the hallway.
“Arthur, naptime. Come here.” She told him, watching the dark blue skunk get up from the living room’s floor and walk to them, as they went back into Arthur’s bedroom.
Annie smiled, heading to the wall with both skunk’s potty charts, and grabbed a golden star sticker at Gus' chart. “Congratulations for using the potty like a big kid, Gussy.” She told him again, praising him.
“Yay, you did it too.” Said Arthur happy for Gus.
Gus blushed a lot, realizing that everyone that went there wouldn’t just be aware that he actually used the potty, but all his attempts,success and failures.
Now boys, to the bed. You can share them for naptime.” She told them.
Arthur calmly sat on his bed, and smiled getting close to the wall, giving enough space for Gus.
Gus blushed a bit, but eventually sat on the bed, and moved his feet over it, laying there on Arthur’s side. He barely laid down and gave out another yawn, followed by Arthur.
“Here, sweetie.” She told Arthur while giving him a plushie, it was a little lion with a uniform from the same show they watched. He smiled and hugged it tightly. “Maybe after nap time we can go to the store and get a little friend for you too, Gussy. Would you like it?”,
“Yeah, hehehe. He can get Jeremy plushie.``said Arthur happily.
“Silly, Gussy is the one that has to choose it.” She told him, kissing both boys' foreheads and covering them with a warm blanket.
Annie smiled, watching Arthur slowly move and close his eyes, hugging the little plushie, while Gus tried to fight against his sleepiness a bit more just to lose the battle and fall asleep a few minutes after. Once both boys were sleeping, Annie left to the kitchen, so she could start to prepare her lasagna for dinner, exactly like she promised Gus. It was still around 3pm, but having the lasagna ready to set on the oven would grant her some relaxing time.
As she got the pasta and sauce layers, she couldn’t stop thinking about Gus trying his best to fit on the little friend’s role. It was so adorable seeing him drawing with Arthur, watching cartoons and even using the potty, blushing as a real little kid through his first time learning something new.
She never saw Gus acting like that back at the base. Before the regression, he was nice and friendly to her, and after the regression, he felt him trying his best to be the same person, but could notice how scared he was. Having to worry about doctors, needles, and having to relearn some basic things, even if Gus tried to stay calm and nice around her, it was clear that he was worried. Looking at him here, she could feel he’s actually getting better from these bad feelings. Maybe all this plan isn’t just going to help Arthur at all.
