Chapter 3
It was that dream again. 
Maximus, as a cub, is being pushed in a stroller by Sarabi. Nothing so far felt out of place. He was in that stupid sailor outfit again. Also in a soggy diaper. Sarabi still cooed over him. 
There was one difference he noticed.
In their shadow, specifically Sarabi’s shadow, that shadow unicorn from before was still there. Whenever they moved, it moved too. Although it didn’t seem to focus on Sarabi. 
Only him.
He was so enamored with it that he hadn’t noticed Sarabi unbuckling him from his stroller. She lifted him into her arms, dipping a paw into his padding.
“You can stand to be in it a bit longer,” Sarabi decided. Maximus hmphed. 
She wasn’t the one in a soggy diaper!
“Someone’s a fussy cubby.” Sarabi, instead of the swings like last time, brought him to the sandbox. Together, each with their own shovel and bucket, they built a sandcastle. It was pretty amateurish but, for a cub like Maximus, it might as well have been the Royal Palace.
Lingering around was still that shadow unicorn. Due to a lack of facial features, he couldn’t read its emotions. Though he felt it was mocking him and his pitiful castle.
Suddenly, he found himself crying. Like a good mother, Sarabi cradled him in her arms.
“Oh, it’s okay widdle Maxie. Mommy’s here,” the lioness repeated. Slowly, his cries soften by listening to her gentle heartbeat. When he stopped crying, Sarabi held her cub up high. “Now what was the matter, baby?”
Maximus smiled softly until he saw it again. Now it was behind Sarabi as though clinging to her shadow. He pointed directly at it and screamed out, “HORSIE! HORSIE!”
Of course, Sarabi didn’t see anything where he pointed at. For whatever reason, the shadow unicorn disappeared. Although, she did notice one thing.
“Maxie’s first word! Oh, Mommy is so proud!” Sarabi gushed, nuzzling her head against his face. More giggles and happy squeals escaped his maw. At least until he saw it again.
This time it was directly in front of him and Sarabi. He pointed to it, screaming, “Horsie! Horsie!” Yet, for whatever reason, Sarabi refused to acknowledge it. A hoof was nearly planted on his head had the liger not woken up at that exact moment.
Drenched in sweat, he sat on the side of the bed with his head in his paws.
What the hell does this even mean? He wondered. Reaching for his phone, he saw he only had an hour or so before his shift.
So for now, he pushed those thoughts aside. While eating cereal, his mind wandered back to his night with Sarabi. Besides the chastity cage fiasco, that night was fun. Thinking of the chastity cage brought his mind to a conversation he once had.
“Kitten, mind if I ask something?” Maximus asked. Kitten, better known as Azalea, was on the changing table of their nursery. While Maximus slid a diaper under her, she plucked out her pacifier.
“Fire away.”
“You don’t have to answer, but I’m curious. Why not Deborah? You have no problem letting me baby you,” Maximus asked. Azalea sighed. 
This question was something she thought over plenty of times.
“Deborah can be so… forceful and inconsiderate at times. Sometimes, I feel like she doesn’t care how I feel.”
The next time he saw Sarabi, he’d have a serious talk with her. If they were going to pursue this kind of relationship, then boundaries needed to be set. 
Discussions to be had at a later date, Maximus nodded.
xxx
Once more at work in the ABDL/Baby section, it was as boring as usual. New parents, both normal and ABDL-style, asking questions. Experience kinksters knowing exactly what they wanted. An occasional embarrassed young adult looking to try out the kink. Even a few rude customers he got the privilege to diaper up.
Just an average day.
He stood at the counter, bored as he was before Sarabi showed up yesterday. His ears perk up from his phone vibrating.
Sarabi sent him a text saying, “Sorry about last night cubby. Mommy never meant to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine. I had fun regardless,” Maximus texted back.
Another text immediately followed.
“How about sending Mommy a pic of your diaper? Mommy wants to be sure her cub isn’t wet or stinky.”
Maximus looked at his crotch. He wasn’t wearing a diaper.
“Uh… I’m not wearing a diaper. At work atm.”
“..........WHY ISN’T CUBBY IN A DIAPER?!?! Cubs like you can have accidents at any moment! Get into a diaper and show Mommy immediately!” She texted back. Naturally, he was taken aback by the aggressive text. His eyes fell to the diapers under the counter. They were for punishments, be it for him or someone else, or for customers to have examples of their product.
Dare he wear one for Sarabi’s approval?
Maximus shook his head.
“Sarabi, I’m working. Can we do this some other time?”
He blinked a few times when she texted back right away. 
“Cubby, do as Mommy says. You were a bad cub last night and Mommy forgave you. So be a good cubby and do what Mommy told you to do.”
The liger made a face. That wasn’t how he recalled last night.
“I was a bad cub? You took advantage of me last night!”
Like clockwork, her reply was almost immediate.
“I seem to recall a certain Cubby holding Mommy’s head down while she was dealing with Cubby’s stiffy.” 
“Something I never asked you to do!” Maximus retorted. His paws trembled and he shivered.
What was happening here?
“Cubby, just do as Mommy says. You’re making Mommy very upset right now. So be a good cub or else.”
Maximus narrowed his eyes at her text. He scowled, having reread the text for a second time.
“Sarabi, I said no. Right now, I’m working. Please just leave me alone.”
To his surprise, there was no immediate reply from Sarabi. Maximus relaxed, letting out a few breaths. Yet, his paws were still shaky and he felt a sudden sickness.
And it only got worse. 
She strutted into his workplace with a nasty scowl. The kind a parent would give their unruly child that embarrassed them in public. Just seeing her like this made Maximus small. She went behind the counter and pulled on Maximus’s ear.
“OW, OW, OW! Sarabi, stop it now!” Maximus whined, teary-eyed. 
“No, Mommy will not stop. Mommy’s widdle cub has been bad and needs to be punished.” She led him to the paddle section of the ABDL section. Sarabi reached for a metal paddle, the phrase ‘naughty’ branded into it.
The entire time, Maximus tried desperately to fight back or get away from her. Despite knowing he was stronger than her, he couldn’t fight back. Just like last night, he felt like a helpless cub. Powerless to stop what Sarabi was going to do.
“Lift your tail.” When he did as she ordered...
SWAT!
He screamed. Reflexively, he tried to cover his rear with paws and tail.
“Move them now!” Sarabi ordered. Weeping, Maximus did as she asked.
SWAT! 
And immediately screamed again. This happened eight more times before Sarabi felt he had enough. By then, Maximus was a sobering mess. Tears and snot dripped onto his uniform, the liger shivering. 
Not that Sarabi cared. Quite the contrary, she reveled in his misery. She grabbed his crotch, her paw wet with urine.
“If you did as Mommy told you and wore your diaper, you wouldn’t be wet, right?” She asked.
“Yes,” he answered softly. Sarabi swatted his rear again, this time with her paw.
“I didn’t hear you!”
SWAT!
“YES!”
“Will you be a good cub for Mommy?”
SWAT!
“I’ll be a good cub!” Maximus cried. Sarabi, satisfied, let go of his ear. Despite not being even lifted slightly above the ground, the liger fell to his rear. A few more sobs come out, him wincing from the pain.
Looking up, he cowered before the towering figure of Sarabi. Her absolute disdain for him at this moment made him feel smaller than he ever had prior. Now more than ever, he felt like a weak cub.
“Take off your pants. You’ve proven you’re too irresponsible for big boy undies. It’s strictly diapers for you from here on out.” Sarabi turned her back to him, going for one of the display diapers set aside.
In a hurry, Maximus took off his pants and underwear. Now in the middle of the ABDL section, whimpering as he waited for a fresh diaper. Part of him wanted to fight back, to resist Sarabi on any level. 
Even so, as she returned with a diaper, he simply kept his head down. He had been a bad cub after all and Sarabi was punishing his bad behavior. 
I deserve this, Maximus rationalized. When she returned, only had a diaper in her underarm. The diaper itself could easily be mistaken for a large pillow in thickness. 
But that was all she brought.
“Let that bruised tushy of yours be a lesson to always obey Mommy,” Sarabi growled. He still winced from his rear touching the diaper, despite the soft padding. Before tapping him up, she plucked something out of her pocket. “When you start behaving, I might take this off.”
In her paws was the chastity cage from last night. Maximus struggled to voice a complaint, to demand Sarabi not put that on him. But he deserved it and he knew it.
Fortunately, not everyone agreed with that.
Covering a red aura, the cage flew out of Sarabi’s paw into a black cat’s, who’s dressed in the same uniform as Maximus, paw. 
“Excuse me, I’m going to ask that you leave the store. If not…” the black cat's other paw became drenched in a red glow. She aimed it at Sarabi, glaring at her as the lioness did with Maximus. “I’m afraid it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
Sarabi laughed at the cat’s threat.
“Oh please, I was just disciplining my cub. Wasn’t I, cubby?” Sarabi side-eyed Maximus. Terrified, he nodded quickly.
“Denise, stand down.” Mother Dragon ordered, having just landed next to Denise. Denise gasped, surprised by the dragon’s order. A few tears rolled down Maximus’s face. Was his supervisor really about to allow this to happen?
“But she crossed a line behind just punishing him! That shit can’t be tolerated.”
“And it won’t be. As of now, Sarabi is banned from the store.” Deborah added, walking into view from the backroom. The Dalmatian got on her knees, hugging Maximus as tightly as possible. Sarabi, for the first time, looked shocked.
“For what? Disciplining a naughty cub?!” She shouted.
“If you call abusing my staff disciplining, then yes. Now leave or else,” Deborah said. Sarabi stood up, glaring at the three intruders. Turning to Deborah, she narrowed her eyes at the Dalmatian. 
“Or else what?” 
To answer her question, Denise’s body set itself ablaze in a red aura. Flames began brewing in Mother Dragon’s maw. Lastly, Deborah’s entire body produced a white aura.
“You won’t survive.”
For the second time today, Sarabi felt panicked. It wasn’t worth her life just to deal with her cub. Her panicked feeling lasted a second or two. She soon started giggling.
“Fine, I’ll leave. Cub.” Sarabi called. Maximus looked up, shivering at her voice. 
“Yes?” Maximus answered.
“Mommy will be seeing you real soon.” With that Sarabi left. Deborah, Denise, and Mother Dragon narrowed their eyes as she left. Once out of sight, they all looked back to Maximus. Except he was gone., having fled to the bathroom.
Saddened by these events, Deborah turned to the others.
“Back to work. I’ll take care of it.” The two nodded, watching Deborah follow him into the employee bathroom. What she saw left her heartbroken.
Maximus was on his side, curled into a ball while crying. There was also a growing pool of fresh vomit spewing from his mouth. Deborah, careful to avoid his vomit, sat next to him. She took him into her arms, rocking him as gently as possible.
An hour passed before either said anything.
“I’m sorry,” Maximus whimpered. Deborah shook her head.
“Don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“If I just did what she wanted...”
“Regardless, it doesn’t give her the right to treat you that way.”
 Objectively, Deborah was correct. Maximus knew that. But, as he looked at Deborah’s diapered crotch, he knew she didn’t understand.
“You just don’t get it.” He fought his way out of her grip. Deborah, though not a fan of her situation, had someone to care for her.
Maximus had no one.
Deborah wanted to say more. She wanted to reassure him that she did understand, probably more than he knew. Instead, she exhaled.
“Take the rest of the week off. If you want my advice, cut it off with Sarabi. You deserve better.” 
Maximus didn’t say anything. Not right away at least. He glanced back at Deborah with a faint smile.
“Thank you.” 
By the time Maximus left and made it to his motorcycle, Sarabi was waiting for him. She leaned on his bike, arms crossed while tapping the ground with a hind paw.
“Mommy’s widdle cub made a fool out of Mommy today.” Sarabi snarled. Maximus flinched when she raised her paw. To his surprise, she didn’t slap him, she just placed it on his shoulder. “But Mommy isn’t mad. Just do as Mommy says next time, cubby. If not then Mommy will have to punish you and your friends won’t be there to help you. Okay?”
The tears along with that awful sickness were coming back. Even so, he forced them down to nod. Something that made Sarabi hug him tightly.
“Good widdle cub.” Sarabi planted a kiss on his forehead then left him.
Again, Maximus noticed that her kiss felt like how one would kiss a pet.
Sniffling softly, he got on his bike and rode home.






























Chapter 4
        It was back. The shadow unicorn that’d been appearing in his dreams showed up once more. Except, Maximus wasn’t a cub anymore. He was a fully grown adult, staring at this strange creature.
Without warning, a stream of darkness shot from its horn at the liger. Maximus side-stepped it several times. Once a safe enough distance away, he let his battle cry.
“Felinic Evolution!”
Normally, this would cause a sudden change in Maximus’s appearance, turning him into a knight capable of fighting this creature evenly. Except, that didn’t happen. Maximus stared at his paws in confusion. 
“What the-” Maximus wondered. Midthought, it fired another shadow stream at him. This time, it was aimed directly at his feet. Maximus gasped, desperately trying to free himself.
Sadly, that effort amounted to nothing. The shadow unicorn moved towards, each step burying him deeper in darkness. Maximus continued to struggle, not giving it the satisfaction of seeing him give up.
Once close enough, Maximus swiped at its face. Bits of darkness were scraped off, unveiling who was beneath it.
“No way.”
Maximus’s face fell at the sight of her. Emotionlessly, Sarabi’s face is revealed beneath the shadow horse. Though once revealed, a twisted and demented grin grew on her face. 
“See ya soon, widdle cub.”
One final blast covered the remainder of his body.
And finally, Maximus woke up. Gasping for air, his eyes darted around the room. He instantly noticed the bars surrounding him and nearly panicked. After noticing a few familiar items, i.e. a plush of a dragon and sphinx, Maximus relaxed.
Somehow he made his way into his home nursery. Tossing over the blankets, he saw a thoroughly saturated diaper taped around his waist. Maximus raised an eyebrow at it.
“When did I-”
“He’s awake!” Maximus turned to the door, Denise and Deborah stood in the doorway.
“Denise? Jennifer? What are you two doing here?” Maximus wondered. Denise and Jennifer looked at each other, the poodle nodding. Denise left, Deborah approaching Maximus’s crib. She lowered the bars, sitting next to him.
“Mother Dragon suggested we close early and check up on you. When we got here, you were passed out on the couch, covered in your puke and piss. So we cleaned you up, put in this,” she playfully squeezed his soaked diaper, “thing, and let you sleep in your crib.” Deborah scooped him up, heading over to the changing table. 
Maximus gingerly tapped his paws together. 
“Thank you.”
“Anytime sweetie!”
Untapping his current diaper, she threw it into the pail. Deborah grimaced at the sight of Maximus’s butt. Usually, a well-spanked bottom should be red, not purple. Just the sight of it left Deborah enraged.
Poor Maximus, he doesn’t deserve this. Deborah thought. White light from her paw bombarded the liger’s tush softly, slowly undoing the damage from the earlier spanking. When finished, she carefully wiped his groin area. 
Maximus blushed the entire time she spent diapering him. Occasionally, she’d praise how good he’s being. When she finished, she gave him a few commentary diaper pats.
“All done,” Deborah said sweetly. Looking at her, he felt a ping of jealousy. The difference between her and Sarabi was night and day. So it flustered him to think Azalea was so against letting Deborah be her ABDL-mommy.
“Deborah, mind if I ask a question?”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Why Azalea? Why do you want to baby Azalea?” 
Deborah’s mood visibly deflated. There was more to the question than just her and Azalea’s relationship. Exhaling, she gave him her current answer.
“I could’ve forced Azalea into all of this if I really wanted to. I didn’t because I wanted it to be her choice. To come to me and ask me to be her caretaker. It has to be her choice or it's meaningless to me.” Deborah answered. She reached for a pacifier next to the diapers. It’s pushed into Maximus’s mouth, both smiling. “You need to call this off with Sarabi. But that can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, let us take care of you. Okay?”
Maximus nodded. Deborah carried him in her paws, heading for the living room. There Denise and Mother Dragon, now a petite version of herself, setting the table. A bust black poodle in a pink dress and diaper, grumbling while in a highchair.
“Why do I have to be a baby too?” Jennifer complained.
“You lost the die roll. Besides, you’ll have two more joining you,” Mother Dragon answered. Deborah, who just finished putting Maximus in his highchair, shuttered. Gulping, she and Mother Dragon return to the nursery.
 In the short time it took Denise to get the third highchair ready, the pair had returned. Deborah, with her head lowered, waddled in a thick diaper and inverted-Dalmatian printed onesie. 
Three bibs, all covered in a red glow, floated from the kitchen to the table, tying themselves around Deborah, Jennifer, and Maximus’s neck. Along with one sippy cup and two bottles full of juice. Maximus got the sippy cup, the canines got the bottles. The canines scrunched their faces up at Denise.
“How come we get a bottle?” they asked.
“Because this night is about him. So hush or you’ll be wearing those outfits at work tomorrow,” Mother Dragon threatened. In her talons were three kiddie plates of burgers and mac and cheese. Maximus was given a comically large fork, Deborah and Jennifer don’t receive silverware. 
“Just let me know when you want your mac n cheese so Denise or I can feed you,” Mother Dragon explained to the canines. The diapered trio looked at their plate, their burgers all bite-sized. Denise and Mother Dragon sat at the table, feasting on regular-sized burgers. 
Despite Deborah and Jennifer’s occasional whining, dinner was enjoyable. Maximus took a special delight in seeing his dog friends being spoon-fed.
“Such messy puppies. Maybe we should make all rude or rowdy canines be diapered instead,” Mother Dragon teased. Deborah and Jennifer gulped. Maximus and Denise smiled brightly.
Oh, how they’d love for the shoe to be on the other foot.
Unfortunately, Denise wasn’t spared from baby-time. After dinner, she joined her friends in a diaper and pink onesie. 
Currently, the diapered foursome was all huddled together under a large blanket in a playpen. Mother Dragon hovered over them, holding up two blu-rays.
“Alright kittens and puppies, we have two choices. Either Oliver & Company or The Aristocats,” Mother Dragon presented. 
“Oliver & Company,” Denise suggested.
“Aristocats,” Deborah and, to everyone’s surprise, Jennifer suggested. She shrugged at their confusion.
“Don’t assume I’m a fan of Georgette just because I’m a poodle,” she explained. All eyes then fell on Maximus. He sheepishly tapped his claw tips together.
“Aristocats,” Maximus answered.
“Aristocats wins!” Mother Dragon announced. Denise pouted, looking away from her friends. The others laughed, Jennifer reassuring her they could watch it at home. 
Midway through their movie, light snoring is heard. At some point, Maximus had fallen asleep with his thumb in his maw. The four females collectively awed at his cuteness. Collectively, they agree to stop the movie and put him to bed.
After a goodnight kiss from each of them, Deborah and Mother Dragon return home. Denise and Jennifer stay the night, both sleeping on the couch.