Lisa's giggles could be heard for several seconds as she led Todd away from the kitchen, then they disappeared behind a hallway door. The others in the kitchen were silent for a long moment.

"Well," said Arvetis, smoothing the fur on the back of his paws, "I suppose that's that, then. They're fine again."

"No." Brutus shook his head. He sat down in the chair Todd had just vacated. "He's still not comfortable with it. Not really. He's tolerating, not accepting."

"And Lisa is making a conscious effort not to resent him," Geraden said. "Did you see her face when he walked in? She was doing a million calculations per second. As soon as that effort wanes, what's going to happen?"

"You two are just wet blankets," said Arvetis.

"No, it's true, dear." Geraden put his paw around Arvetis's. "She needs to learn that there are worse flaws in a man than vanity."

"And he needs to learn that vulnerability isn't a sin," said Brutus.

  Geraden nodded. He looked at Arvetis's eyes. "I'm going to tell the story tonight."

"Geraden..." Arvetis removed his paw from the Rabbit's and closed his eyes.

"You know I don't do it to hurt you."

"I know. But you know I don't like it. Especially when there are new people here."

"I'm sorry. There's wisdom there, though."

Arvetis leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face. "They're going to be after me with questions tomorrow, and I won't be able to tell them anything they want to hear."

"So tell them what they don't want to hear."

***


Todd closed the door to his room with a soft click, and turned to Lisa, who was facing the painting.

"Oh, I love it!" she said, cocking her head to inspect the proud Mouse boy with his creation. Todd saw that she had already unzipped the front of her sleeper, and it was hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's cute." He heard a nervous shake in his voice. She turned her face over her shoulder and gave him a mischievous grin.

"No making fun. You promised."

"I promised."

  She unzipped the sleeper all the way, then turned around to face him and shuffled it off her shoulders. It fell to a pile around her ankles. She stood in front of him for a moment, naked except for the diaper. Todd made a conscious effort to only look at her small breasts for a second, then moved his eyes to meet hers.

"Not bad," she said. "You found my face in record time."

"I've missed it."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Corny." She jumped on the bed and bounced for a moment, then rolled over and spread her legs. "Me first. I've been in mine longer."

"Fair enough." Todd padded over to the bedside and bent down, reaching under the edge of the comforter. His paw found a tub of baby wipes and a smooth plastic bag. He pulled them out and examined them. "It's in German or something."

"Dutch. They make the best diapers."

"Learn something new every day." Todd ripped open the top of the package and pulled out a thick, folded diaper. He placed it on the bed, and turned his attention to Lisa's diaper. It was literally sagging off her crotch; she was even wetter than he was. He felt a familiar lump rising in his throat. He really didn't like seeing her like this, and resisted the urge to deflate his discomfort by teasing her, as he had before. He reminded himself that he wasn't in any better position than she was. Lisa wrapped her paw around his wrist.

  "Not like last time. This is a do-over."

"I like do-overs," Todd said, nodding. "Besides, I don't have money for a hotel this time." She gave a disgruntled look at that. "Babe, you know I don't mean it. I make jokes. I'll stop." She looked satisfied at that. He took the edge of one tape into his paw, but Lisa drew up her legs.

"Wait. You have to take off your jammies too."

"Why?"

"It's only fair."

Todd shrugged, unzipped his sleeper, and slid out of it. He was embarrassed to see that she wasn't wetter than him after all.

"You're really cute, Todd."

"I guess 'cute' is a relative term," he said, making a face. "I feel like I'm swimming."

"Well then hurry up and get me changed, and I'll change you." Lisa laid back, spreading her legs again. Todd sat on the foot of the bed, untaped her diaper, and pulled the front down, letting it flop wetly between her thighs. His nostrils were instantly filled with her wet-pants scent, and his head went fuzzy with her oncoming heat. Unable to stop himself, he stared at her crotch.

  Her thigh and pubic fur was soaked, and clung to itself in short mats. Inhaling through his nostrils, he peered at his favorite place on her body - just above where her buttocks met, where her perfect cleft started. He missed her so badly.

"Todd." Lisa placed a paw on his shoulder; her voice was severe. Todd realized his nose was only inches from her wet groin. Blushing, he straightened himself up.

"I'm not - I didn't mean to."

"I told you. Not now." Her voice was shaking.

"I know. It was an accident."

"When we were married, it was love. Now... I don't know what it is yet. But it's not the same thing it used to be."

Todd only nodded, surprised at her candor, but unable to disagree. He opened the baby wipes, took one out, and warmed it in his paws. Lisa placed her thumb in her mouth and turned her head sideways. As he began to wipe her thigh, he saw a tear make a path through the fur on the side of her head. He put a paw on her belly.

"Hey, Lisa."

"I'm thowwy," she muffled around her thumb.

"No, babe. I shouldn't have made you do that. It's just, you're almost in heat, and you know I get stupid. That was nothing, ok?"

  Lisa closed her eyes and nodded, still sucking on her thumb.

"Come on, let's get you changed." He resumed wiping her with one paw, rubbing her belly with the other. He left none of her wet fur uncleaned, but didn't touch her any more than he had to, then rolled up her wet diaper like he'd seen Brutus do with his. He unfolded the new diaper and patted the side of her bottom. "Up."

Lisa lifted her bottom, her pink tail wriggling, and Todd slid the diaper under her. She sat down on the thick padding, then pointed at the nightstand with the paw that wasn't in her muzzle. Todd looked over and saw a small bottle of baby powder he hadn't noticed before. He took it, sprinkled some on her thighs and groin, and reached under her from the side, trying to get the rear tape over the base of her squirming tail.

Lisa pulled her thumb out of her muzzle with a pop. "Oh, here, I'll get it." She reached under her back with both paws, sticking her tongue out of the side of her muzzle, like she always did when she was concentrating. Todd pulled his paws back and let her work at it, smiling a little. This wasn't as bad as he was afraid it might be. She hadn't become snipey and shrewish during the change, like she had the few times he'd indulged her fetish before. He remembered that he hadn't mocked her for it this time, but didn't like where that train of thought was going, and ignored it.

  "There. If you do that part wrong, you get leaks." She pulled her paws back out from under her, and looked up at him, waiting. He took the front of the diaper, pulled it up snugly between her legs, and taped it in the same way he had on himself earlier, then pulled the frill out along her thighs. She wiggled a little, smiled, and wiped the sides of her eyes with a paw. "I think you're getting better at this."

Todd patted the front of the dry diaper and stood up. The weight of his diaper reminded him that they weren't done yet.

"Your turn!" Lisa said, and rolled off the side of the bed, standing up and patting the place where she had just been laying. Todd sighed and crawled onto the bed from the foot, then rolled over onto his back, laying with his legs out straight. Lisa walked over to the foot of the bed, crinkling and wriggling her tail. "It always feels like it fits better when someone else puts it on you," she said, and picked up the changing supplies.

Todd realized that he had to urinate again. "Umm... wait a minute, hon." He bit his lower lip, and tried to go. His earlier arousal made it difficult, but he managed to squirt out what he had into the front of the diaper, hoping that its wetness would disguise what he was doing.

  "All done?" Lisa asked, patting the squishy front of the diaper and shattering his hopes of secrecy, but he nodded. She undid the tapes and pulled the front of the diaper down, her eyes widening. Todd was very erect, fully out of his sheath.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that's from seeing me naked, and not from pissing yourself," she said, smirking.

"Hey, that's not fair, I didn't make fun of you."

She nodded. "All right, fair's fair." She took some wipes from the bin and started to clean him, not warming them first. Todd's fur stood on end at the coolness on his thighs and scrotum, but his erection gradually subsided, and that relieved him. She cleaned his all his wet fur, rolled up the diaper, and took a new one out of the package. He lifted his bottom off the bed, and she slid the diaper under him and expertly did the tail tape before he sat back down. Todd closed his eyes. This was more disarming than he had anticipated, and he was glad he'd been unconscious when Brutus did it to him.

  Lisa pulled the front up over his belly, taped it, sticking her tongue out again, and patted the diaper bottom. "All done." She was right; it did feel different put on by someone else. He slid off the side of the bed, standing up and adjusting the sides of the diaper.

"Thanks, hon," he said, and she hugged him. He felt her small breasts press against his upper belly, and put a paw on the back of her head, kissing her forehead.

"Now we gotta get you dressed," she said, breaking the embrace and walking over to the wardrobe. She opened it and dug through the outfits. "Oh, look how cute!"

"Uh... can't I just wear the pyjamas?"

"Are you kidding? It's a feast night. You'd be under-dressed." She pulled out the onesie. "Adorable, but not for tonight." She continued rummaging.

"Feast night?"

Lisa didn't seem to hear him, evaluating various outfits and rejecting them, until she pulled out the sailor suit. "Oh, Todd!"

"No."

"It's your size and everything! Extra-long shirt!" She draped the top over the wardrobe door.

"No."

  Lisa held open the navy blue diaper cover. "Step in."

"I think you're not hearing me."

"Step in or I swear I will hold you down and duct-tape it to your fur." Todd groaned and put one leg into the diaper cover, then the other. Lisa pulled it up, snapping the elastic at the legs and adjusting it to cover the frill of his diaper.

"I really don't think -"

"Hush. You'll be the beau of the ball. Arms out." Todd held his arms out, defeated, and Lisa tossed the white shirt over his back. She tried to get his arms through the sleeves, but Todd was too tall. He obligingly bent his knees, and she got him into it, doing the double row of blue buttons up the front.

"You're too damn big."

"That's what you said," Todd retorted instantly. He smirked, and Lisa rolled her eyes and gave his padded bottom a light swat. She adjusted the blue bow at his neck, stepped back, and looked him over.

"Perfect. Come on, let's go to my room and pick something out for me." She walked out the door, gesturing for him to follow. Todd looked down at himself, took in a deep breath, let it out, then walked out of the room, praying that the warren had become suddenly depopulated.