It's hard being 3, sometimes.
Especially when you're Big.
Drago missed Tommy and Grace. Sure, they had been real little when he last saw them, still figuring out how to walk, but he still could play next to them.
But then he got Big. And then he had to stop playing with them in the Little Room. And even he saw them getting dropped off with Tylus and Tracy, when he sometimes got there early, they were scared of him.
Drago hated being Big. He didn't want to be Big.
He didn't hate being 'big', but he hated being Big. Being 'big' came with a lot of perks. He didn't have to sleep in a baby crib, and he could get up in the morning without Mommy or Daddy having to get him out. He was using a big boy sippy cup instead of his bottle, he didn't have to get lifted up into a high chair to eat, either.
But being Big had just been so… dumb. His body was sore from growing so much. And he was outgrowing all of his clothes and shoes so much. He even woke up in the middle of the night, soaking wet because his diapers had leaked from being too small for him. And then he was tired all day which made him cranky and upset…
And worst of all, he was too big for Mommy and Daddy's laps. He missed that.
He didn't wanna be Big like that.
At least Sever and Tylus were really nice to him. Tylus was really nice, cuz he was Grace's big bro. Ourano and Kikki were less nice but still pretty nice.
As Daddy dropped him off one day in his too-short shirt that left a bit of his tummy exposed and his too-tight shorts that pinched him now, Drago headed in to go to the assembly room for the morning headcount.
Drago wasn't really included in the lesson plans. He wasn't really good at sitting still and listening, and he wasn't quite ready for the lessons, anyway. So he was given a bit more leeway with regard to playing than his teammates. Whenever there was a paper to fill out, Drago was fine with playing with a toy close-ish while the rest handled it. But mostly, Drago just waited for actual play time so that Sever and Tylus would play with balls or stack blocks with him.
Today wasn't that different from most days, in that regard. But something a little different happened.
* * *
Drago squatted down in front of the block stack, slowly building it up high. He wanted to make a big tower today.
Sever had gone off to use the computers, and Kikki and Ourano had decided to go and play in the Gym. As Drago stood up to start putting some of the blocks on top of the existing ones, one of his hands slowly moved towards his shorts as he made a little wiggle.
His tail got a little excited and slapped something behind him. He turned around to see what it was-just the teacher's leg, who was much bigger than him, and she apologized for getting in his way, she wasn't hurt-
But when Drago turned back around, the tower had been knocked over by his own tail again.
That, naturally, set Drago off. He feel on his butt and started to cry. He worked so hard on that and now he had to start it all over from scratch again!
But words were hard. And so all he could do was shout and cry.
Tylus moved in, albeit carefully.
"Hey, Drago, it's okay to be upset… I'd be sad too…"
It took a few minutes of crying, but Drago calmed down after a bit. Something soothing made him jam his hands onto his shorts, pushing down a little. He kicked his legs on the floor. He didn't know why he was doing that, but it felt good for some reason.
But Tylus saw that and came to a different conclusion.
"…Hey, Drago?"
Drago looked up at Tylus, who looked nervous.
"Do you… want to go and sit on the toi-potty? With me?"
Drago did know a little bit about the potty. His parents had a book about sitting on it that they read to him sometimes, and once he walked in on his Daddy using it at home. And he knew the other big kids (Brittany aside) used it.
Drago was unsure. He did kind of like his diapers, but sometimes he got annoyed when he had to get changed during playtime…
But ultimately, curiosity won out.
"Okay." Drago stood up and Tylus took his hand and headed to the bathroom with him.
When they arrived, Tylus found an empty stall, one of the bigger ones, and closed the door.
"Can you pull down your pants?" Tylus said. Drago nodded. He wasn't a BABY-baby. They were still kinda tight even with the stretchy sides, though.
"I'll take off your diaper. I've done it a lot with Grace…" Tylus said as he pulled the tapes off and it fell to the ground, leaving Drago in just a shirt. "Okay, sit up there."
Drago sat down on the toilet. It was kinda cold, and a bit hard, but this was apparently what big kids did. Tylus apparently saw the apprehension in his face.
"Take a deep breath in, and out… in, and out…" Tylus said.
Drago did was he was told, and after a few seconds, the sound of liquid hitting liquid echoed.
"…did pee pee?" Drago looked into the bowl, and the water was a telltale yellow.
"You did it! You went potty." Tylus, looking shocked and amazed that this worked, held up a hand for a high-five, which Drago took.
Eventually, after the teacher helped Drago get his diaper taped back on and washed his hands, playtime was back on. Sever also gave Drago some praise when he heard about it, saying that Drago was on the right track to being more mature and grown-up (though apparently, he was out of diapers at 18 months, and hadn't wet the bed since his second birthday.)
It wasn't much. But it was a good moment for the both of them. Drago's parents were informed, and eventually he'd start going to daycare in training pants. And Tylus learned to trust his instincts just a hair more. (Even if his realization came from bad memories of getting hurt for wetting his pants at the same age as Drago.)
