A Wish Unwanted (Patreon)

Ace is at his younger cousin's birthday, but everyone keeps thinking he’s just another one of the guests…

A Wish Unwanted

“Hi Ace! Glad you could come!”

Ace looked up at his aunt and smiled “Hey Claire, glad I could make it. Can’t believe Eddie’s eight already!”

The hare beamed “Oh I know, he’s growing up so fast! We’ve got the cake out and he’s been eying up the presents but there’s a couple more of us to wait on”

“Who?”

“Your grandpa and grandma, not far off now from the last message I have. You know how it is, the older you get the slower you drive…”

The two of them chuckled, Ace walking into the house and letting Claire close the door behind him

“How’s work, heard you had a new job?”

Claire sighed “Yeah, it’s ok. I’m just glad it gives me time with Eddie ya know. How’s college?”

Ace sighed back “Oh you know, same old same old. Studying, partying…”

Claire chuckled “Keeping out of trouble I hope. Wouldn’t want to go into that lounge with bad grades. Mary was always on your case…”

“They’re great, actually” Ace grinned “Best so far”

As they reached the lounge, Claire opened the door to reveal the party room she’d set up for her son. Streamers littered the floor and a pile of presents were waiting patiently for his cousin to open. He had his own guests as well, kids from his school that were sat around playing or being chastised by their parents. His own mother and father were sitting on a sofa to one side, cuddling up and observing from a distance.

“Hey!” Ace waved at them

“You’re here!” his mother shot up out of the seat “Oh I’ve missed you so much”. She was onto him like a shot, kissing his cheek and checking his hair “Oh you need to have this cut… and what are you wearing? Couldn’t you come here with something smarter…”

“Mom, I’m fine. I’m glad to see you too” Ace gave her a kiss back, making sure to re-adjust his button up plaid shirt that his mother was determined to tuck in  “You too Dad”

“Heh, we’ve missed you kiddo. The house isn’t the same.” he chuckled as Ace sat next to him “But renting out your room is making us a tidy sum…”

The three of them laughed. His mother was overbearing but he’d got used to that over the years.

“Ace! Did you bring my pressie!” Eddie’s voice came from the group of kids at the other side of the room.

“Eddie! It’s not all about the presents” Claire chided.

Ace laughed “It’s ok, I’ll put it on the pile” he placed it carefully with the others on a coffee table in the center of the room “Whatcha up to kiddo?”

“Playin Dino-Soldiers!” he grabbed one of the small plastic toys “This is Trexabot! He’s got lasers!”

Ace smiled “Hah, I know that! Used to play with them years ago…”

“Really?” an otter, one of Eddie’s friends, interrupted “Do you know who this is?” He held up a small Triceratops covered in cybernetic bits.

Smiling, Ace sat down with them. Most of them were his height, even though he was ten years older than them.

“That’s Tri-Terrortops of course!” he chuckled “The meanest villain of the lot!”

The other kids laughed “Yeah, but the Dino-Soldiers beat him every time!”

Ace was about to interrupt with the one time they hadn’t but instead felt an arm on his shoulder “You boys all playing nice I hope” the otter behind him said, looking down “Oh, I don’t recognise you. Are you in the same class as Eddie?”

Ace felt his cheeks instinctively puff out. Even outside of college he wasn’t free of being mistaken for being younger than he was “Oh no, I’m…”

“That’s my cousin Ace!” Eddie interrupted “He’s at college!”

“Is he now?” the otter spoke up, giving Ace another look “How’s that treating you champ?”

Champ? Ace resisted the urge to stand up and assert him too heavily and instead shrugged “Not bad”

Satisfied, she let go of his shoulder and went over to the kid who’d asked Ace about his toy knowledge, wiping his mouth and pulling up his shorts.

“Hey everyone!”

The voice of his grandparents greeted Ace’s ears as he looked over to the door. One of the small mercys about hares getting older was that now she was the same height as his grandad, crouched over a walking stick.

“Take care Gladys” Ace’s mother came over and helped her to the sofa “Was the trip ok?”

Ace got up and headed over to see her as the two continued the conversation “Hey Granny, everything ok?”

The older hare chuckled “Oh Ace! Gosh it’s been a while… still at school?”

He sighed “Started college this fall, got…”

“College? Oh goodness, they grow up so fast don’t they Mary?”

His mother chuckled “That they do…”

The chipmunk was about to respond again but was promptly interrupted by the sound of singing from the hallway. Claire had started a rendition of Happy Birthday, drawing all the kids out of their seated positions and towards the door, all of them desperate to see the cake.

“Come on, join in!” she shouted, carefulling bringing the iced monstrosity into the room as its candles started to melt the colorful wax “Can’t get your wish until the song’s over Eddie!”

The rest of the group started to sing-a-long, Ace included, as the cake was pulled over to the coffee table.

“Hip hip..”

“Hooray!”
“And one for luck…”
“Hip hip…”
“Hooray!”

Laughter erupted round the room as the final shout went out, Ace grinning as well as he headed towards the cake to get a better view.

“Kiddo, you’ll get some cake in a minute, give Eddie some room ok?”

He looked up to see another parent, a stoat, who had firmly put her hand in front of him to stop him advancing further.

“I was just…”

“It’s ok, he’s my boy” his mother came over and pulled him aside.

“Come on Eddie, time to make a wish!”

The hare got on his knees and looked at the cake with wide eyes. While he closed his eyes and whispered to himself, Ace looked at his mother and sighed

“God, I wish people would stop getting my age wrong”

As the candles extinguished, Ace felt a strange sense of vertigo. It was barely enough to make him wobble, but he had to shake his head a little to get rid of it.

“Urgh… I think I need a drink”

His mother looked at him, a little concerned “I can go get you a soda? Why don’t you chat to your grandma for a bit? She’s missed you”

Ace grumbled, feeling a little patronized, but there wasn’t any reason to object “Sure. We got some cola?”

“Course, I’ll be right back” she left the room, headed towards the kitchen, as Ace walked over to the armchair where the older hare was smiling wistfully at the party.

“Hey Granny” Ace tapped her on the shoulder “Feeling alright?”

The hare looked back at him, her smile growing “Sweetie, I’m not that old. Don’t you worry about me”

Ace chuckled “You always did have more energy than gramps”

“Keeping up with you was a nightmare” his grandfather responded, his chipmunk cheeks puffing out “Hope you’re less of a handful now”

His gran chuckled “Oh I remember the last time we saw you. 8th grade? Just starting to assert some independence…”

Ace felt his face curl up a little. Being reminded of his teenage years was more than a little embarrassing. Ripped jeans, band t-shirts, terrible long hair that got in the way of everything. In fact his hair was probably getting back to that now. He moved it to one side and…

Wait… it hadn’t been that long.

His eyes were then drawn down to his outfit. The shirt he’d arrived in no longer had the buttons he’d done up this morning, and a strange draft on his legs made him pull up his jeans. Small rips were present from top to bottom, stylishly added for a teenager to look like they’d been to one too many grunge concerts.

“What the hell?”

“Language!” his gran chided “There are young kids present Ace”

The chipmunk patted himself down, trying to confirm what he was seeing. He hadn’t worn clothes like this for years, he’d grown out of this phase once he realized he needed to buckle down and get grades for college.

“Mommy, why are Ace’s jeans all ripped?”

The voice of his cousin came out over the din. He’d evidently been distracted by his outburst and had looked over to him.

“Oh don’t worry about that, Ace just thinks he’s being a “rebel”” she put up her hands in mocking air quotes “I hope you won’t be like that in a few years”

The boy looked unconvinced but went back to his presents while Ace looked back to his parents in confusion.

“Don’t look at me kiddo, I said you should come in something smarter” his father winked “we tried to convince you before you left the house but…”

“What?” Ace interrupted “I came from college! I didn’t leave with YoU!” he slapped his hands to his face as his voice caught in his throat, as if it hadn’t fully broken. The kids around him started giggling, finding the whole spectacle very amusing. His mother got up and took him to one side, pulling him with far more strength than Ace expected.

“Now, listen. You’re here because it’s nice to do things for your Auntie and she wanted to see you. You’re not that much older than Eddie, try to be a good role model ok?”

Not that much older? He was a whole decade older. What was his father talking about!

“Dad, I’m eighteen stop treating me like…”

“Really?” he chuckled “I thought you’d grown out of playing pretend Ace”

“I’m not preTENDing” his voice once again betrayed any attempt to assert himself as he grasped at his throat.

“Ace, please. Just do this for me ok? My sister has always been at your birthdays, right? Remember your eighth? She brought you that dinosaur so you could play with Eddie”

Ace shook his head “She didn’t buy me…”

Another shocked look passed his face as his voice lost all its depth. Any semblance of it breaking had seemingly vanished. He could no longer feel any length to his hair, as if he’d just had it cut.

“What… what’s going on?”

His father looked genuinely concerned “Ace, are you ok?” he felt his head “Don’t seem to be warm…”

He looked down again at his outfit. Once again it had transformed, his teenage rebellion replaced by a green shirt and cargo shorts. The former was a little baggy on him as if he was expected to grow into it, the design on the front matching that of one of the other kids at the party. A large cybernetic triceratops adorned it, a roar coming from his mouth.

“That… that’s Tri-Terrortops” he mumbled to himself, his mind clutching onto some semblance of certainty. His mother still looked a little concerned, but smiled down at him.

“Why don’t you go back and play with some of Eddie’s friends. They like those dinosaurs too don’t they?”

Ace could see that Eddie had started to play with the presents he’d opened so far, putting together some of the more complex toys as his friends helped him out.

“O… ok” he said, still taken aback by events “I guess…”

His father ruffled his head fur “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, you’re not just starting school again, you know how to make friends right?”

He nodded and started to move back towards the group. Other parents smiled down at him as he got to the circle of friends, each of them eyeing him suspiciously.

“Eddie, your cousin’s back”

The hare looked up at Ace and cocked his head “When did you change clothes?” he giggled “You look so silly!”

“I’m wearing a dino-soldier t-shirt like you lot!” his voice had no presence but he could at least defend himself. All it got was a round of giggles from the group.

“That’s not a dino-soldier!” the otter from earlier responded “That’s a baby stegosaurus!”

“It’s no..” Ace’s face dropped again as he looked at his outfit. It had changed again, the once branded t-shirt that had been adorned with his favorite toy of his youth had transformed into a bright yellow kids shirt with a stegosaurus freshly poking its head out of an egg. His cargo shorts were gone, replaced by a pair of similarly bright blue pants whose elastic waistband had allowed his underwear to poke out over the top. Ace felt a blush come to his face as he realized they were no longer the boxers he’d put on this morning, but a pair of childish underoos, with little paw-prints around the waistband.

“What… what’s happening”

His cousin narrowed his eyes “I liked your big boy outfit better” he shook his head “I used to wear stuff like that in kindergarten. It’s dumb”

Ace felt indignation rising inside of him “I’m not in kindergarten! I’m at.. at…”

“Uh-oh, I think you’re a little too young to be playing with the boys kiddo” he heard his mothers voice from behind him, her hands pulling him out by the armpits as he was hoisted onto her waist “Here, your juice. Apple, just like you wanted”

Ace looked at what was presented to him and took it with his paw. A sippy cup, adorned with little bunny rabbits, was full of apple juice and ready for him to drink.

“Auntie Mary, why isn’t Ace big anymore?”

Shocked, Ace looked at his cousin with wide eyes, barely avoiding dropping the sippy cup.

“Big? Sweetie, Ace has always been this size”

His cousin crossed his arms “Nuh-uh, he wasn’t dressed like that!” he huffed “He keeps changing clothes!”

Ace’s mother frowned “I don’t know what game you’re playing Eddie but I haven’t needed to change Ace today. He’s been potty like a good boy every time”

“Mom!” Ace squealed “I don’t use a potty!”

“Oh not this again” she put Ace back down on the floor “Ace, I know you don’t like using it, but it’s not embarrassing. All the big kids use the potty, and you’re a big kid right?”

Ace tried to think about a response, his head unable to wrap itself around what was happening. Meanwhile his cousin had walked over, clearly just as curious at the events unfolding in front of him.

“Auntie Mary, is Ace still potty training?”

Ace’s mother nodded “That’s right Eddie, has been for a while now. Oh, just in case…”

To the chipmunks' shock, his mother pulled down the front of his shorts and revealed his underwear to the entire crowd. This was only deepened by what underwear she’d shown off.

Pull-ups. Bright blue with a little chipmunk on the front, himself proudly wearing a pair of the exact same design. The pawprints that had once adorned the waistband of his underoos had seemingly pulled themselves down to the front, now acting as fade when wet designs. He hadn’t worn something like this for nearly a decade and a half, yet here they were now snugly around his waist.

“Mooooom!” Ace tried to pull his pants back up, but to no avail, the hare was simply too strong.

“Good! Still dry!” she patted his head.

“Wait… but he’s…” his cousin started to mull things over “He was older than me…”

“Eddie, that’s not how age works silly” his mother giggled “Ace won’t ever be older than you, he’s barely out of diapers now!”

“But…” His cousin looked at Ace with the same furrowed brow as before, his eyes widened as he watched the chipmunk in awe. Ace looked down at himself again, realizing his cousin was seeing exactly the same as he was. His pants were gone, the t-shirt he was wearing had lost all its designs and was now just a cute baby blue. He could feel his legs being pushed apart by something substantially thicker than any prior underwear, and his eyes confirmed what he was now starting to expect.

The diaper that was now tightly taped to his waist was even cuter than the pull-ups he’d been in before. ABC blocks were all around it, the waistband returning to its paw print design. Only now two big green tapes blocked some of them from view.

“I need to talk to your Auntie, Eddie can you keep an eye on Ace for a sec”

The hare nodded, walking over to the confused chipmunk and looking at him up and down

“You’re becoming a baby!” Eddie said, his mouth agape “How are you doing that?!”

Ace could feel himself struggling to think. What had once been clear adult thoughts had started to fog into mixtures of emotions and needs he couldn’t find the words to express. He knew he liked his cousin, but he wasn’t a baby!

“Notta baby!”

“Yeah you are! You’re wearing a diaper!” Eddie clapped his hands “This is like magi…”

The hare's face went from delight to annoyance in almost a single beat “You took my wish!”

Ace shook his head, barely aware of what his cousin was accusing him of “Nuh-uh!”

“Yeah you did! You were just in pull-ups!” Eddie grinned “Well, if you wanted to be a baby so much, I bet you wanted a pacifier!”

Ace felt the rubber bulb appear in his mouth and his body immediately began to suckle on it. His eyelids drooped downwards as the relaxing effect almost completely removed his ability to concentrate.

“I knew it!” Eddie gleefully announced “Ace is a baby, Ace is a baby!”

The singsong voice of his cousin made Ace's legs go limp, falling onto his diaper while still suckling on the pacifier. He paid no heed to the warmth that had been added to it, the front of the diaper now visibly discolored. A small grin made its way across his muzzle as his thoughts swirled.

“Right kids, it’s cake time!” Eddie’s mother announced “Don’t worry Ace, I’ve got a little high-chair here from when we celebrated your first birthday.”

The chipmunk was lifted and placed into the wooden seat, the tray in front of him clicked into place. He hadn’t noticed his shirt had now vanished, leaving him dressed in nothing but the diaper round his hips and the pacifier in his mouth.

“He needs a bib mommy!” Eddie announced, giggling as he watched one magically appear around Ace’s neck.

“He does Eddie! He can’t use a knife and fork yet!

Ace giggled behind the pacifier, watching as a slice of cake was placed in front of him. He looked up at his mother, his eyes asking to start gobbling it down.

“Go on kiddo, tuck in!”

He immediately grabbed a handful of cake, shoving it into his mouth. The sugar high was nearly immediate, the sweetness of the icing on his tongue sending his brain into a rush that made his hands grab more and more of the sponge.

“Oh dear, I don’t think the bibs gonna be enough is it?” his mother giggled .

Eddie came over, a little grin on his face as he collected his cake “Mommy, why does Ace like being in stinky diapers?”

The chipmunks face went from chewing on cake to freezing in place. His eyes went wide as his tummy gurgled, his legs curling up and his hands slamming down on the tray as he pushed himself off the seat with all his strength. The new position made it easy for his body to release, a warm mess filling the back of his diaper. His eyelids started to droop again as he slowly let himself sit back down, spreading it around his bottom as he squirmed in place.

“Well… I guess he wanted to show off why…” Claire chuckled.

“Making room for more cake i bet” Mary responded “I’ll change him when he’s done eating, just in case he’s got a little more to go.”

Ace felt the front of his diaper warm again, soaking it to capacity. Everything adorning it was now distinctly faded, confirming to all watching how badly he needed them.

As Eddie returned to his seat he took a little plastic fork and slowly started eating his cake. Sure, he hadn’t got his wish, but Ace had given him the dino-soldier he’d wanted anyway.

He could have this one.