Chapter IV

“This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."

• Oscar Wilde

    Theo didn't know how long they sat there. Tenderheart sat next to him and brought him into an embrace while Grumpy gently rubbed his back, humming a sweet, yet melancholic melody as he did so.

    Theo felt spent, even more tired than when he had undressed from the cold, winter rain that had drenched him as he ran into his house what felt like so long ago. He no longer felt like fighting, and he still didn't know what he should think of the two individuals consoling him but he couldn't find it in him to mistrust them anymore. They had told him the things he had yearned to hear all of his life, and that fact alone had left him stripped of resistance.

    After a while, Theo opened his bloodshot eyes, and looked blankly at his coffee table, not focusing on anything in particular. 

    “I… I think I should go get… changed…" he said, his voice still unstable from his crying, he cleared his throat and nervously looked up at Tenderheart, who smiled reassuringly at him.

    Before he could react, Theo found himself being lifted by the man, who had surprising strength for his appearance, and carried him over to the stairs.  

    Theo cringed as Tenderheart put an arm underneath his bottom to better support him, and consequently further pressed his mess against him, causing him to feel incredibly helpless.  

    He put an arm on his chest, pushing him slightly,"Wait what are you doing? Stop!"

    Tenderheart grinned and winked up at Theo, a warm twinkle in his eye, "Can't have babies changing their own diapers now can we? Here, let's give you a hand."

    Theo blanched, but resisted no more as the two ascended the stairs, Grumpy tagging along cheerfully behind them. 

    “Gotta make sure our little stinker burr gets taken care of properly! He deserves a little pampering. After all, he managed not to call the cops on us!" Grumpy stuck his tongue out playfully at Theo, and a different twinge of guilt hit him.

    Although having only known them very briefly, the openness and genuine beneficence they had shown him was something that Theo had rarely received in his life, and he felt bad now that he realized he had wanted to have them forcefully removed from his home. He did not fully understand them, but he got that they seemed to have some care for his well being.

    Still, those chest things were a little freaky to him.

    They ascended the stairs and entered his room, Tenderheart gently depositing Theo in his bed.  

    He sat there, uncomfortable in his own mess, and spoke quietly, "I can clean myself up, you don't have to do this."

    Tenderheart seemed to soften, and he knelt in front of Theo putting a hand on his knee while Grumpy rummaged around in the closet behind him.

    “This isn't something we have to do, it's something we want to do, Theo. We want to treat you like you desire to be treated, and understand moreover that we accept you for who you are. There is no need to be embarrassed or ashamed, we love you Theo."

    Had Tenderheart not stated this last part, he might have resisted further. But hearing such words of kindness and acceptance left little fight in Theo's body. Still exhausted from his previous breakdown, he glibly allowed Tenderheart to gently push him onto his back, and unbutton the buttons on his onesie.

    Grumpy appeared beside Tenderheart, his arms full of supplies. Depositing baby wipes, powder, and rash cream to the right of Theo Tenderheart gracefully untaped Theo's diaper. He shivered a little bit as his diaper area and privates felt exposed to the cool air of his room.  

    His hands immediately drew to cover himself, but seeing Tenderheart's gentle expression he allowed him to move his hands away, and begin to expertly wipe up his mess.

    Still unable to process all this Theo raised his arms to cover his face, his lip quivering as Tenderheart worked swiftly to clean him up. Confused feelings of enjoyment competed with his embarrassment. Theo could not help but love the attention and care he was receiving, being gently forced into being treated like a baby was something that Theo had always fantasized about, but never thought it would become a reality.

    And now not only was this happening, but the actual Tenderheart from his favorite television series as a child was giving this nurturing attention. Theo still could not believe this was not a dream.

    Having cleaned him up to his satisfaction, Tenderheart deposited the dirtied wipes in Theo's used diaper and wrapped it up, taping it together into a neat package. Reaching for a clean diaper, Tenderheart gently prodded Theo's thigh. Almost instinctively, he raised his behind up slightly, and unwrapping the diaper Tenderheart slipped the padded underneath him.  

    Powdering and deftly rubbing the cream into the skin and sensitive bits, Tenderheart worked as if he'd changed Theo's diapers a thousand times before. Soon enough Theo found himself being snuggly taped up into a new Care Bears diaper, and Tenderheart padded the front of his diaper affectionately.  

    Theo looked down at him between his arms covering his face, and saw only patience and understanding in the almost honey colored eyes of Tenderheart.

    He spoke softly, "See, that wasn't so hard now was it? Just needed to give it a chance, that's all. Are you feeling better?"

    Grumpy stood next to Tenderheart and offered Theo a hand, which he accepted and allowed himself to be raised into a sitting position. He shifted around in his clean diapers and felt relieved, happy to be clean once again.

    “I feel a little better yes…" he mumbled, still feeling a little abashed at having had his diaper changed by two other people when only a few hours previously he had hesitated putting himself in one.

    Tenderheart ruffled Theo's hair, drawing a wry smile from Theodore as he looked up into Tenderheart's understanding eyes.

    “Of course you do, babies always feel better when they're changed into comfy, clean diapers." Tenderheart's tone was soft and low, as if he knew that what he was saying would have a powerful effect on Theo.

    A part of him felt uplifted, light, and excited at being referred to as a baby. His earlier feelings of embarrassment seemed to have less of an effect on him as he couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little at the brown haired man, Tenderheart really did seem to have him figured out to a degree.

    Although fleeting, Theo noticed his elated feelings as they passed, and wondered if he were able to ever relax enough to feel like that more often, perhaps even all the time.

    Grumpy spoke up, “I don't know about you two, but I'm feeling a little peckish. How about I whip something up in the kitchen, hmm?"  

    Tenderheart nodded, and rubbed his stomach comically. “I think this tummy's hankering after a little sustenance as well, what about you Theo. Shall we have something?"

    Theo hesitated for a second, stuttering, "Urhm… I don't really have much in the house at the moment, so I can't really offer you too much."

    “Who said you would be offering us anything?" Grumpy piped up, poking Theo in the shoulder affectionately and smiling at him cheekily. “I happen to be one of the best chefs in Care-A-Lot thank you very much and I shan't have my name tarnished by the likes of you two."

    Grumpy placed a gentle hand each on the small of their backs and steered them out of Theo's bedroom and down the stairs, where he instructed them to sit down on the couch while he “colonizes the kitchen."

    Tenderheart shook his head at Theo, smiling at Grumpy's histrionic behavior while the sound of pots and pans came clattering from the kitchen behind Theo.  

    “Best not look too closely as to what he's doing, he gets a little uppity when he suspects people attempting to judge the quality of his work." Tenderheart stated, as Theo craned his neck from his seat on the couch to try and see what Grumpy was up to.

    Theo turned around, grinning nervously but retained his attention on Tenderheart next to him. Bringing his feet up on the couch, Tenderheart laid against the armrest of the couch and gestured for Theo to do the same.

    Gingerly Theo followed suit, cringing a little at the obvious crinkling of his underpants. 

    Tenderheart chuckled a little, "Seems like I forgot to button up your onesie after we changed you! Here let me get it."

    He leaned forward, and Theo instinctively drew away bringing his legs up in front of his diaper.

    Tenderheart looked up at him, a hint of sadness in his facial expression as he said softly, “Theo it's okay, you can trust me. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

    Theo, who had tensed up at Tenderheart's forward movement, softened and a tinge of guilt hit him. The man before him really wasn't behaving too unreasonably, it was Theo that was overreacting. He slowly lowered his legs, and allowed the slightly relieved looking Tenderheart to snap his buttons up, the onesie now pleasantly supporting his diapered bottom.

    “There we go, much better. Now then, we should probably discuss what we'll be doing together in Care-A-Lot."

    Theo's attention perked up, as he was still very curious as to what and where this Care-A-Lot was. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask if Tenderheart was being serious about its existence, he was interrupted by Grumpy's entrance with a tray of food.

    “Messieurs, la nourriture est arrivée!" he exclaimed in a quite badly butchered French accent. The food he set down on the coffee contrasted his attempts at linguistics; Theo gawked at what was set before him.

    Two baskets full of chicken tenders, several plates overflowing with grilled cheese, a large bowl of macaroni and cheese, a pitcher filled with chocolate milk, and to top it all off a large bowl filled with bite sized pieces of fruits and berries.

    “How did you… Where did you… Last time I checked I didn't have any of this in the kitchen!" Theo exclaimed, his mouth immediately beginning to water as the creamy smell of macaroni and cheese hit his nostrils, accompanied by the savory scent of the chicken tenders. 

    “Don't talk, eat you." Grumpy chided, his smiling however betraying the mock sternness in his voice as grabbing a plate off of the tray he began to load it up with the child's bounty he had brought to them.

    Theo received a steaming plate filled with his favorites, a grilled cheese and two chicken tenders.  He felt incredulously delighted as Tenderheart poured him a glass of chocolate milk before pouring Grumpy and himself one.  

    The other two raised their glasses, looking to Theo who did the same.

    “To Grumpy and his excellent cooking, I'll definitely be putting my padding to good use after this meal." Tenderheart stated, grinning cheekily at Theo who, although blushing, couldn't help but smile back.

    “No worries Tenderheart, I designed them to be able to handle my exquisite cuisine, so don't hesitate to dig in!"

    The three clinked their glasses, and did just that, setting into their food accompanied by the gentle patter of rain on the windows of Theo's condo.

    Theo had had chicken tenders at pretty much every venue around where he lived, but none of them compared to the delicious texture and saltiness of those prepared by Grumpy. He wondered how he had managed to cook them despite the fact that Theo did not own a deep fryer.

    “Stop thinking about it and eat!" Grumpy commented while stuffing his face full of the mac and cheese, giving him a wink. Theo shrugged, deciding that it was a mystery for another time and took a hearty chomp into his chicken.

    Tenderheart took a napkin from the tray, and wiped the chocolate milk moustache from his lips delicately.  

    “Now then, back to business. We'd like you to join our team, Theo, and help us do what we did to you. That is, we'd like you to help us in our mission to express empathy and caring to those who are in need of it."

    “Yes, we'd love for you to join us!" Grumpy chimed in, wiping his own milky moustache on his sleeve, grinning at Theo.

    Theo hesitated, help others? Like they do? But, I'm not a Care Bear… I'm just…

    “But, how could I possibly be of any help to you guys? I'm not even a Care Bear and I don't have a…" he gestured to his chest, referencing the strange devices the two men before him had shown him previously. “Thing…" he finished lamely, placing his plate down a little dejectly onto the coffee table.

    “You being a Care Bear is the smallest problem we have to deal with Theo, don't worry about that. You don't have to be a Care Bear to be able to express love and acceptance to other people, you should know that better than anyone seeing how you watched our television show."  said Tenderheart, tilting his head at Theo.

    Grumpy nodded, and smiled, "Exactly, not to mention, I have a feeling you've already got a bit of a 'bear' in you already."

    Theo frowned, a bit of a bear inside me? What on earth does he mean by that? Theo was soon to find out however, as Tenderheart retrieved what looked like a slender smartphone from his pocket. Touching the surface briefly, he moved his arm forward to show Theo what had appeared on the screen.

    Theo gasped, and what peered right back at him gasped with him. Looking out at him with the same facial expression as he, a brown, fluffy bear peered back at him through the screen.