Day 325 Saturday
After months of hints, Dale finally opened the door to his special room and gestured inside. He said, "I have set out a costume for you to wear."
"A costume," Denise said thinking she'd be dressed up like a French Maid in a few minutes.
"Yes, I want you to wear it," Dale said.
Denise went inside the room and looked around. She didn't see any kind of costume. There was a small square of cloth on the bed and something else. She picked up the other item and looked at it. It didn't look like a top or a bottom piece of a costume. She called out, "Where is it?"
"It is on the bed," Dale answered from the door.
"What? This white thing and this frilly thing?" Denise asked confused.
"That frilly thing is a bonnet," Dale said.
Denise examined it a little closer and realized that he was right. She put it on her head and tied it on. She looked in the mirror and thought, 'This is the stupidest looking hat I've ever seen.'
She went over and picked up the white cloth. There was something on the bed underneath it. She bent down and looked at it. It was a pair of giant safety pins. Confused, she asked, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"You're supposed to wear it," Dale answered watching her with amusement in his eyes.
She wrapped it around her waist and asked, "Like this?"
"Not quite," Dale said with a chuckle.
"What is it?" Denise asked.
"It is an adult sized diaper," Dale answered.
Denise burst out in laughter. She couldn't believe that he was asking her to dress up like a baby complete with diaper. She said, "This is fucking ridiculous."
Dale strode into the room and got in her face. In a harsh voice, he shouted, "Shut the fuck up right now."
Shocked by the anger on his face, Denise stepped back and said, "Sorry."
Dale said, "Lesson one in wearing a costume is that if someone has asked you to wear it then you never laugh at it. You take it and the request seriously. You make out like it is the best idea that you've ever heard."
"Okay."
"Now put on that diaper."
Denise stared at the piece of cloth. She looked up at Dale and said, "I don't know anything about cloth diapers. I grew up in the age of disposable diapers."
Dale smiled and said, "Lesson two in wearing a costume is that if you don't know how to put it on then ask for help."
"Okay," Denise said eyeing the diaper. She looked up at him and noticed that he was waiting for her to say something. She said, "Would you help me put on this diaper?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Dale said. He took the square of cloth from her and set it on the bed. He folded it and said, "Get on the bed."
Much to her surprise, Dale powdered her bottom and then put the diaper on her. He fondled her private parts in the process. She looked at the diaper wondering how any man could find it sexy. She sat up once he had finished. He handed her a giant bottle and a rattle. Smiling, he said, "That completes the costume. Go look in the mirror."
Denise got up from the bed and went over to the mirror. She looked at it and shook her head thinking, 'This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.'
Dale asked, "What do you think?"
Denise raised her eyebrows and said, "This is ridiculous."
Dale said, "Lesson three in wearing a costume is that no matter how it looks to you, you have to think of it as the sexiest thing you've ever worn."
"I'll try," Denise said looking in the mirror.
"You'll do it," Dale said sternly.
"Now what?" Denise asked.
Dale said, "Lesson number four is that every costume has a role that goes with it."
Frowning, Denise asked, "I'm supposed to act like a baby?"
"That's right," Dale answered with a smile.
"Okay," Denise said doubtfully. She wondered why any man would want a full grown woman to act like a baby.
Dale waited for her to start acting. She looked at him and realized that he was waiting for her to start acting like a baby. Her mind went blank. She gave a weak, "Waa."
"You can do a little better than that," Dale said.
"I have no clue how to act," Denise said feeling really stupid.
Dale said, "Lesson number five in wearing a costume is that you don't act, you live the role."
"Huh?"
"You become a baby, you don't act like a baby," Dale said. Seeing that she was still confused, he said, "Babies don't stand up and walk around. They sit on the floor and crawl. They shake their rattles and suck on their bottles."
"Oh," Denise said.
Dale said, "I'm going to leave for a half an hour. I want you to play like a baby and then get undressed. We'll do this over again."
Denise frowned and said, "I've got to know something."
"What?"
"Do you really get off on this costume?" Denise asked.
Dale laughed and said, "No, but no woman that I've ever met has considered that to be a sexy costume. It makes it easy to teach the first six lessons of wearing sex costumes."
"Thank God," Denise said. She frowned and asked, "What's the sixth lesson?"
"The sixth lesson is that you never judge the man by the costumes he finds erotic," Dale said stepping out of the room and closing the door.
Denise turned and looked in the mirror. She shook her head and said, "This is so bizarre."
Dale opened the door and shouted, "Remember lessons one and three. You always take the request seriously even if you think you are alone."
"Yes, Dale," Denise said turning red. She hadn't realized that he might have been able to overhear her comment. Then she realized that was the point.
He closed the door and she stood there for a minute. Feeling like a complete idiot she got down on the floor and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She shook the rattle lamely for a second and then shook her head. Feeling frustrated, she let loose a little cry. It felt good and was somewhat in character. She realized what she was doing and chuckled. There was nothing more like a baby than throwing a tantrum. She let loose and threw a big grand tantrum.
It took most of the half hour, but she finally was able to get into the role of a playing a baby. She undressed and put the costume back on the bed. She waited for Dale to return thinking about her first experience in costume play. She shook her head thinking that she had never imagined dressing up like a baby, not even as a Halloween costume.
Dale came into the room and looked at her. He said, "Well."
"Well what?" Denise asked confused. She stood there looking back at him.
"I said that we were going to begin over again when I returned," Dale said.
"I was waiting for you," Denise said.
"I've returned and you haven't begun," Dale said.
"Huh?"
"Babies don't stand up and pace around the room," Dale said gesturing at her.
"Oh," Denise said realizing that he had expected her to be on the floor or bed acting like a little baby the minute he had walked in the room.
Dale said, "Lesson number seven is that you start setting the environment as early as possible."
"Okay," Denise said thinking this whole bit about wearing a costume was a lot more complicated than she had thought. She had just assumed that it was putting on an outfit and posing or something.
"I'll come back in the room in five minutes," Dale said leaving the room. He shot her a smile before he left the room.
The smile worried Denise, but she made her way into bed and stayed there. She thought about what kinds of things she should be doing as a baby and then turned to her back and stuck her thumb in her mouth. When Dale returned, he put her into a diaper talking nonsense baby talk to her the entire time. In the process, he had managed to fondle her cunt and ass. She managed to control her laughter, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. She cooed and said nonsense words. She played with the rattle and sucked from the bottle. It ended with her sucking his 'Man Milk' from his cock.
After resting for a half of an hour and discussing the good and bad points of her performance, Dale said, "Why don't you get undressed and go in my bedroom for ten minutes? We'll start all over with you coming in the room."
Denise left the little room. She took a few minutes to freshen up in the bathroom. Her bottom was covered with baby powder so she took a quick shower. When it was about time to return to the room, she took a deep breath and tried to think of getting into the character of a baby. She opened the door and stepped into the room. She stopped dead in her tracks and burst out into laughter. Dale was on the bed wearing the stupid hat and diaper.
Dale shouted, "Shut up."
Denise stopped laughing and looked at Dale. She realized that she had just done something pretty stupid. She said, "Sorry."
"Lesson number eight is to never laugh at the costume worn by your partner."
Denise nodded her head and said, "You surprised me."
"That was what I intended to do," Dale said looking at her. He said, "When you are surprised is the most important time to remember all of the lessons."
"Yes, Dale," Denise said thinking that some surprises were just too extreme to avoid reacting.
"Let's try it again," Dale said.
Denise went out and closed the door. She took a minute to collect herself. As she started reaching for the door handle, it dawned on her that she wasn't going to be playing the baby this time. She was going to have to play the mommy. She entered the room and found Dale naked on the bed sucking on the bottle. He started crying.
She went over to him and said, "Aw, poor baby lost his little diaper."
She put the diaper on him and stepped back to examine her work. Dale sat up shaking his head. He said, "Lesson number nine is that costume play is all about sex."
"Huh?" Denise asked wondering what she had done wrong.
"You were doing things around my cock and yet you ignored it. Costume play is all about sex. You are playing a mommy, but you should be playing a sexy mommy. Sexy mommies make sure their little baby boys have an erection," Dale explained.
"Oh," Denise said wondering how stupid she could possibly be. She remembered how Dale had fondled her while putting on the diaper.
"Let's start all over again," Dale said looking at her.
"Yes, Dale," Denise said stepping out of the room.
This time she returned to the room much better prepared for what was going to happen. She went through the process of putting a diaper on him feeling like a complete idiot the entire time. She made sure to finger his asshole a little and rub his cock a bit. He was erect by the time she got the diaper on him.
He sat up and threw his bottle across the room. She looked at the bottle and then back at him. He started crying. It took her a second to realize that he wanted to suck on her tits. She cradled his head so that he could suck on her breasts. As he sucked, she told him what a good baby he was and how great it felt to have him sucking on her breasts.
The game played on for an hour with her ending up giving him a hand job while changing his diaper. When it was over, Dale said, "The tenth and most important lesson in role playing is that you can never break the trust that your partner has shown you in the fantasy you've just played out."
"Oh," Denise said.
"You partner has to trust you to never reveal what you've done to anyone. You can't talk about it with anyone else. It is private between you and him," Dale said.
"I didn't think about that," Denise said. She had been ready to run out and tell Larry all about that afternoon. The urge to share it was almost overwhelming.
"Remember it," Dale said. He was silent for a minute and then said, "You see, costume play is about letting loose the little demons that live inside us in a harmless manner. Deep seated fantasies are often ridiculous and quite superficial, but they are an integral part of who we are. You had a little fun playing baby, but took to playing mommy a whole lot more. The roles tell us something about ourselves. We can explore some of our hidden depths by playing these kinds of games."
"I didn't think of it like that," Denise said.
"Your partner will give you little hints about the kinds of costumes he may want you to wear. School teacher, school girl, secretary, nurse, French maid, cheerleader, and Jane of the jungle are all common costumes that men find sexy. He'll also want to wear costumes. He might want to dress up like a fighter pilot, school boy, medieval hero, or high school quarterback. When you find out one, you help him make it a reality.
"You don't judge him or the costume, but you return the trust he's showing you by letting him play out the little fantasy. You do your best to make it enjoyable. Most of the time, it works out well. Sometimes, it just doesn't work."
"I never thought about it like that," Denise said thoughtfully. She wondered what kind of costumes Larry might want her to wear. She wondered what kind of costumes she wanted him to wear.
Dale nodded his head knowing that there was a lot that she didn't realize that went into successful costume play. He said, "It doesn't always begin the moment the costume is presented to you. You might take part in selecting the costume and working out the scenario with him before the costume arrives. You might have to search out an appropriate setting. Maybe he wants to have sex outdoors. You don't do that in your bedroom. Maybe he wants to play a secretary fantasy. You can help by finding an office where you can play your little games."
"It sounds like a lot of work," Denise said.
"It can be, but the rewards are worth it. For just a little while, you can be a different woman for him and he can be a different man for you. Over the course of your life with him, you can be a thousand different women. It keeps the relationship exciting. It also develops a deeper and longer lasting trust," Dale said.
"Wow," Denise said.
Dale said, "You might have wondered why I waited so long to show you costume play."
Hints about costume play had been dropped for a couple of months and she had begun to wonder why they hadn't started before now. She said, "That's right. You mentioned it the first time three months ago."
"Well, I was waiting for Larry to be ready for it. Michelle has spent today introducing costume play to Larry. I wanted to make sure that you and he were introduced to it the same day," Dale said.
"She put him in diapers?" she asked wanting to burst out in laughter at the thought of her fiancée sitting around in diapers.
Dale said, "I give you permission to talk about it with Larry on your date tonight. I'm sure that the discussion will serve you well."
"Thanks," Denise said thinking that the subject of wearing diapers and acting like a baby had to be the most unlikely topic ever for a dating couple to discuss on a date. She laughed at the mental image of a couple seated at a nice romantic restaurant exchanging advice on how best to wear a diaper.
"What's so funny?" Dale asked.
"I was just imagining sitting at a restaurant discussing diapers while on a date. I think it would be very embarrassing," Denise said.
"That's right. Costume play is very private. You don't discuss it in public. You don't discuss it where others can overhear even by accident. You don't leave the costumes out where others can find them. Consider the costume play you engage in with your partner to be the most secret part of your relationship. Everyone who looks at a married couple assumes they are having sex. It is practically a given. No one looks at a married couple and imagines them wearing diapers or acting like Tarzan and Jane," Dale said.
"This whole thing of costume play is a lot more complicated than I thought," Denise said thoughtfully. She was going to have to think about it long and hard.
"I know. Sometimes I wonder how many marriages are ruined because one or both fail to understand all of the implications of their costume play. Partners who laugh at the other one are trampling on the trust being shown them. They might not even realize what they've done and will be confused by the sudden distance their lover is showing them.
"A partner who announces in the middle of a party that their lover likes them to dress up like a hooker can kill the relationship faster than having an affair. It isn't just humiliating, it is public humiliation," Dale said.
"Wow," Denise said.
Dale was quiet for a moment and said, "Our company hosts holiday parties for the employees in which husbands and wives attend. There's a lot of small talk that goes on at those parties as people try to find topics of conversations with others who are practically strangers. I've heard people say things at those parties that can kill relationships really quickly. I wasn't surprised when the marriages came to an end even though others were shocked.
"We used to serve alcohol, but I felt that it helped create the problem, you know - in vino veratas. We stopped serving alcohol, but it still happens on occasion. One woman told the secretary of one of our managers that she dressed up like her because her husband fantasized about fucking her. Needless to say, that went over like a lead balloon."
Denise laughed and said, "I can imagine. Did you get sued?"
"It was the wife of an employee and not the employee. I did transfer the secretary to my office the next day," Dale said with a sigh.
"I'll remember that solution," Denise said. In her new position, she knew that she'd end up dealing with issues like that at some point in time.
Dale was quiet for a minute and said, "In a way, I feel that this is one of the most important lessons that Michelle and I teach in the program. The first half of the program is about getting one to open up so that they can have relationships. The second half of the program is all about maintaining relationships. If you are unable to maintain a relationship, then you quickly revert to where you can't have a relationship. Success in one requires success in the other."
Denise nodded her head as she thought about what Dale was saying. She was within two pounds of the weight that Larry wanted her to achieve. She had learned how to give and receive pleasure through the sexual act. For the past few weeks, she had been wondering why she was still in the program. She said, "I can see that now."
"You're still growing as a person. Once you got through many of the issues that kept you from achieving your goals, you still had a lot to learn. Now you're learning how to help others. The first step was in getting you to understand what I was doing to break through the issues holding Victoria back. The next step was to get you to help me in helping her. Now, you're learning how to create and develop further intimacy," Dale said.
Denise looked around the room and considered the setting. The diaper was on the bed next to them. The baby bottle was halfway across the room on the floor. The rattle occasionally made a noise when one of them shifted position. She didn't think this was the proper setting for such a deep discussion. She asked, "Why are you telling me this now?"
"We just finished acting like babies. It is time for you to grow up and become a healthy adult. Part of that is to understand yourself and what is happening to you. Let's say that this is your first day of self-directed growth. Over the next few weeks, you'll be questioning what it is that you really want in your life. So far, your dreams were pretty simple and reflected the thinking of a child. Now you'll look at those same dreams as an adult. You'll come to look at your dream for a loving husband as not just a thing, but a lifetime of shared experiences with a trusted friend and lover. You'll see your dream for a house as actually wanting to build a home that can serve as a retreat from the rest of the world. You'll see your desire for children as wanting to create a community."
"Oh," Denise said stunned by his words. He had taken her dreams and turned them into something grander than she had considered possible.
"Your sex life with Larry is about to get very interesting. The two of you are going to experience multi-partner sex with Michelle and me. You're going to start exploring parts of yourself that you've never thought about with him as your partner. You love him and trust him, but you'll discover that there is more than that."
"More than that?"
Dale nodded his head and said, "With time, your souls will merge and you'll become one person. You'll explore life and love as one. You'll be able to send him off to do things with others knowing that he won't be experiencing it alone, but that you'll gain from the experience as well. Even when you are separated, his experiences will become your experiences and vice versa. That is what is possible for you and Larry."
"Wow."
Looking at the amazement on her face, Dale smiled. He asked, "Speaking of Larry, don't you have a date with him soon?"
"Yes," Denise said.
"Then you should probably go get ready for it," Dale said with a smile. He watched her leave and then stared at the closed door for a full minute. He sighed and asked, "When will I find my life partner?"
Four hours later, Denise and Larry were seated in his compact car watching some kids learning how to play baseball in the park. A handful of mothers and fathers were seated in bleachers watching the practice. It was obvious by the number of parents and kids that most of the parents were off doing other things. The fact that the young lovers were watching the action on the field was reflective of their date so far that evening. They hadn't talked much at all.
Knowing that it was time to break the silence about their day, Denise said, "Diapers."
"Diapers," Larry said shaking his head. He said, "I'm a research scientist and I spent most of the day in diapers."
"I know what you mean," Denise said. Shaking her head, she said, "I couldn't believe it when he told me that the cloth on the bed was a diaper."
"Michelle really got in my face when I burst out laughing," Larry said. She had looked terrifying there for a few seconds.
"Dale too," Denise said.
"I learned a lot," Larry said.
"Same here," Denise said.
He looked at her for a minute knowing that what he was about to say could damage their relationship. He said, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to share my costume fantasies with you yet."
Relieved, Denise said, "I'm glad you feel that way. I didn't realize just how threatening it could be. I've got to understand my feelings about it before I'm ready to share them."
"I'm glad you feel that way. I was worried that you'd start asking me about what costumes I wanted you to wear," Larry said. The relief on his face was obvious.
"Did Michelle talk about this being your first day as an adult?"
"Yes, she did," Larry said.
"It is kind of scary," Denise said looking over at him.
Larry looked over at her and said, "It is very scary. I'm looking forward to becoming one with you. I really liked the idea of that."
"Me too."