What do you do when you look seven years old but you’re actually a college student in your late teens? For Kathleen’s entire life, she had fought against people treating her much younger than her actual age. Feeling obligated to grow up fast to show people she wasn’t the age of her size, Kathleen never let her inner child out. Tired of fighting against the world, she explores the adult submissive world. What she finds, however, is an enjoyment of regression. Had she made a mistake? Would life be better if she just let people treat her the way she looks at seven years old?

In the middle of the night, the same pattern as the rest of the week happened in room 313 Whitlatter. Katie started crying without warning for two to five minutes before settling down again.

When Katie rolled over Wednesday morning, she couldn't remember being tucked into bed. Ally was soon at her bedside, putting the bed rail under her mattress. The girl was helped out of her footies and had her diaper changed to a dry one. The little girl considered complaining about being put in a diaper instead of pull-ups but decided to stay quiet. She was then dressed in jeans and a princess sweatshirt for the day. Ally then sent her into the bathroom to brush her teeth while she herself got dressed.

The little girl with a pink bow on her braid went into the cluster to study a bit while the rest got ready for breakfast. She soon followed the cluster horde to Reynolds.

Later in the morning, Katie walked promptly to Tiffany’s room after her exam. Knocking on the door, she was let in by the older girl.

“Great, you got done early. Let’s lose your backpack and go to the theater to get you dressed.”

Katie glanced at the bed while Tiffany took her backpack off. There was an overflowing circular bag on the bed next to an equally overflowing backpack.

After handing Katie a bag she hadn’t seen yet, they set off for the Bullard Theater. Katie was led into one of the changing rooms, where Tiffany started to treat her like the young girl she usually appeared to be. Before Katie knew it, she was standing in just her diaper and binder.

She was told to put on a pair of opaque white tights before being told to step into a dance costume. It was a leotard-style costume, with a very full white tutu sticking straight out. On top of the tutu was a lavender taffeta overskirt with a lace detail halfway up. The sides of the top were the same lavender taffeta, with a lace detail heading to her shoulders. Her actual front and poofy sleeves looked like bridal satin, with a matching ribbon laced in front. It looked like it was holding the outfit together. She noticed that the back was some stretchy matching lavender fabric as it was placed on her. Once it was on her, looking down at the skirt, she saw that it looked like multiple layers. There was the tutu layer, and on top of that looked to be a white taffeta layer between two taffeta lavender layers.

After she was helped into a chair that she had to sit on the edge of because of the tutu, Tiffany put some black ballet shoes on her feet, carefully wrapping the ribbons around her ankles.

“I can’t dance, and besides that, what am I?” Katie pointed out to Tiffany.

“They don’t know that, and you are Little Miss Muffet or will be when I get done with your face and hair,” Tiffany replied.

Taking a curling wand she must have plugged in earlier, she started putting the little girl’s hair in ringlets, using plenty of hairspray to set it. With that done, she then turned to attack the little girl with makeup, putting mascara, blush, and lipstick on Katie.

Standing back and liking the results, she bobby-pinned a white satin mop cap in Katie’s hair. Seeing the results were done, Tiffany gently led the little girl over to a full-length mirror so she could see herself.

Katie looked in the mirror. A ballerina was staring back at her; her skirt stood almost horizontal, and the outfit looked like someone had spared no expense on it. She was glad the bottom appeared to be made full enough so the diaper didn't show. The person looking at her had a noticeable blush, and their lips looked a shade darker than hers normally were. The eyes really popped out at her, and the hair was a mass of ringlets, complete with the mop cap on it. The hair caused her to look almost like Shirley Temple. The person in the mirror didn’t look like her so much that she had to raise her arms to make sure it was her in the mirror.

“Katie, we have about fifteen minutes till my turn. My name will be called, and we will have to go on the stage. Some questions might be asked. Let me do all of the talking unless they demand your response. They will ask you to do simple movements so they can see the outfit from various angles. When you see the cue to leave the stage, I want you to run to the opposite side from where we came on the stage,” Tiffany told the little girl as they walked to the backstage area.

Nodding, Katie said, “OK, keep quiet, do the requested movements, and cue to leave?”

Smirking, Tiffany said, “I am not going to tell you what the cue is; just remember you are Little Miss Muffet.”

Finally, they got to the stage right area, and Katie sat on the edge of one of the seats that were set up back there, waiting for Tiffany’s cue to come on the stage. Some of the other students waiting back there smiled at the cutely dressed little girl. Katie was sure she had classes with one of the other students, and they were looking at her with a knowing smile.

“Tiffany Collins.” came from the stage.

With that cue, Tiffany directed her model towards the stage. Once on the stage, she had the little girl stand on an x. Three lady profs were looking at her, and the girl just blushed.

“Will the model please do a slow turn,” Katie was asked by one of the ladies.

Another one asked, “Tiffany, who is your model, age, and relationship?”

“Katie Telgenhof, nineteen going on seven, and she is a dorm mate, or you could say my adopted little sister,” which only got rewarded with a shocked face on one of the ladies.

“Katie, please stick one foot out in front of you and bend towards it with both hands,” A photographer instructed while taking lots of pictures. “Excellent, great ballet pose. Ok, let us do the first position.”

The clueless Miss Muffet just gave the photographer a blank stare.

“Ahh, you don’t know,” the lady came over to physically help Katie get in the proper ballet position. After taking a few photos, the photographer again came over and posed the little ballerina, “This is the third position.”

Meanwhile, Tiffany was getting quizzed on various details of the outfit, along with other topics. Of course, this was an oral final exam, so a variety of questions were expected.

“Thank you, Tiffany,” came from the table.

At this time, the little girl was just standing there in the first position, waiting for her next command. Suddenly, a giant black spider appeared directly in front of her eyes. She eeped and ran towards the left side of the stage. Once backstage, she was giggling while bending over.

“You scared me, sissy!” Katie exclaimed with a pout.

“Well, my ballerina, do you want to walk back to Whitlatter in the snow like that?” Tiff smirked, leading the little girl back to the changing room.

Katie shook her ringlets violently and said, “No, sis. I would freeze.”

“You can wear your coat, and your bottom is already insulated,” Tiff commented.

Katie just pouted because she was sure that was what would happen. She was directed into the changing room by her big sister. Tiffany took the ballet outfit off Katie so she was standing just in her tights. The little one’s red velvet Christmas dress with the white holly trimmed collar was dropped over her head. She was spun around so her buttons and sash could be done. The regressed one looked at herself and her sister in the mirror, shocked that she wasn't going home in the jeans she wore here.

“Why this dress?”

“You need it for your commitments this evening,” Tiff responded while removing the mop cap from the girl's ringlets.

Katie pouted, “Commitments?”

“You think you can get information out of me by giving me puppy dog eyes?” Tiff said with a giggle before helping her sister sit.

“You're just as bad as Daddie and Grandpa,” Katie complained. “Come to think of it, Granddaddie did use the word WE when he vetoed Wednesday. Said we were busy.”

The ballet shoes were swapped for black mary-janes. Then, a red velvet ribbon was placed in Katie’s ringlets. The little girl then watched her big sis pack up the rest of the changing room. She was then helped into her polka-dotted coat before being led back to the dorm with her hand firmly held.

Katie's bottom was squeezed back in the cluster for a quick diaper check. The girl was led to Tiffany’s room instead of her own. She must have passed the check because no change came. The little sis was invited to sit on Tiff’s lower bunk while the big sis went to the bathroom.

The next thing Katie knew, her face was being scrubbed to remove the makeup. After ten layers of skin were scrubbed off, Tiff looked closely and smiled. She then grabbed the little girl’s hand and led her out of the cluster again. They walked hand in hand to The Cafe in the Student Life Center.

Tiff told the lady taking orders, “I will have your cheeseburger combo with cheese sticks. A Coke to drink, please. The little one will have your grilled cheese combo with a fruit cup and an iced tea.”

Katie just blushed because, once again, her order was decided for her. Well, not exactly her whole order. She did request the grilled cheese. It was the fruit cup she had no choice in. Just like the brussel sprouts yesterday, but unlike the yucky vegetable, Katie actually liked fruit.

While they were waiting for the food, Tiff asked, “Did you have fun being my model?”

“Yes, sis. If you ignore the spider,” the little sis answered with her tongue stuck out. She then jumped when her chin got tapped as punishment.

Tiff smiled and said, “Good, it is the first of six.”

The conversation was interrupted by the food being delivered. Tiff took a second to cut Katie’s sandwich in half. She also handed her little sis one of her cheese sticks dipped in sauce.

“Six?!?!” Katie said with her mouth full of a bite of that cheese stick.

Tiff admonished her for talking with food in her mouth before saying, “There are five semesters left in my college education. I have to do a final project every semester. So, yes, the first of six.”

Katie just looked at her sister, shocked. She had thought she looked very lovely as little Miss Muffet. But according to Tiff, that was just the beginning. She just said, “Oh. I am guessing I won't find out what I will be until I am dressed in it. Just like you won't tell me why I need a Christmas dress today.”

“You are learning, little girl,” Tiff said while patting her sister on the head. “My only regret is I didn't do the previous two in your size. Making a child-size costume is easier than making an adult-size one. Plus, I want to do children's costume design for a living. I could do adults, but children is my interest.”

While eating, Katie was quietly listening to her sister rambling.

Tiff continued, rhetorically saying, “Plus, you would have made a cute Victorian girl. Let's see, yep, Victorian Lady was my fall 2005 outfit. Spring this year was the witch from Hansel and Gretel. But if I was doing it for you, I probably would have done Gretel.”

Katie was just blushing up a storm as she ate her apple slices. She had finished her grilled cheese minus the crust. The big sister pointed at the crusts before asking, “You not going to eat those?”

“Are you saying I have to eat my crusts?” the little girl said while picking up a crust.

“I think you should, but I won't force you,” the big sis said.

Katie ate her crusts with a slight pout on her face. After the food was done and the table cleaned up, the two girls went back to Whitlatter. Once there, Tiff helped her sister out of her coat and unlocked the little girl’s door. After a quick change, Katie was allowed to study or read for a few hours.

The little girl decided while she was waiting for her evening ‘commitments’ she would see what was in the present she got from Santa Claus yesterday. She unwrapped the present to find a small four-inch reindeer stuffed animal. She put it with her growing collection of stuffed animals before returning to her studies.

At about four, Ally checked her charge’s diaper. She quickly changed it before helping the confused Katie into her coat and led her down to the lobby. About five minutes later, Aunty Sara came up the walkway.

Katie stood there holding babysitter Ally’s hand as Aunty and Ally discussed when Katie was going to return, her last change, and other details that went over the little girl’s head. It was almost like they were being vague to keep her in the dark about what was happening.

The girl watched as her keys and access card were handed to Aunty before she took Katie’s hand and led her to the Minivan. The backdoor was opened, and she crawled into her booster next to her bestie.

“Hello, Bestie,” Katie said to Stacy, who was dressed in her ivory Christmas dress.

“Hello, Bestie, back,” Stacy returned the greeting. “That is a different hairstyle for you today.”

“Tiff attacked my hair,” the girl with ringlets answered.

“Everyone is being so mysterious today,” Katie stated as she fastened her seat belt, “What am I joining you for?”

“My Christmas concert,” Stacy said with a huge smile.

Katie shuddered with that info.

Seeing Katie’s reaction, Stacy reached over and grabbed Katie’s hand, “No one will kidnap you at my concert. Besides, I know Uncle Adam will be there too.”

“Daddie will be there?!?!” Katie exclaimed with joy. After a moment of thought, she added, “I bet Grandma and Grandpa will be there too. That must be what the ‘we’ comment was about.”

“Yes,” Aunty Sara confirmed. “But tonight, you are a Bullard, not an Olsen. I am claiming you today. You get to watch Stacy and Mike sing with their classes.“

“Ok, Mommie Sawa,” Katie said. “Wait, no, Megan?”

“Oh, Megan wants to go to school, but that would cause too many problems. It took both of your aunties to make the little girl understand it is in her best interest to stay hidden for a while and keep going to school as Mike.” Aunty raised an eyebrow and glared at Katie before continuing, “I can spank your bottom, little Miss Smarty Pants, and cut out the baby talk. You’re a big seven-year-old, not a baby. Say my name again, please.”

“Both of my aunties?!?! Aunty Sara?” the blushing girl responded.

“That’s much better. As for your aunties, your aunt Alexa and I, both of your aunties,” Aunty Sara said. “Don’t feel too bad for your cousin. Mike is the shortest in the class, so he will be in the front row with the rest of the girls. He will not look too dissimilar from the girls.”

That dissimilar comment just confused the regressed girl, so she turned to Stacy. The two girls in the backseat started to discuss various topics. About an hour later, they pulled into a local restaurant in Riverville, parking right next to Uncle Sam’s car.

Aunty held the two girls’ hands as she walked across the parking lot into the restaurant. She paused to hang up both girls' coats before directing them towards Katie’s Uncle, who was standing by the hostess.

The hostess grabbed two children's menus and two regular menus. Katie was made to slide into one bench of the booth before Aunty blocked her in. Uncle Sam did the same to Stacy in the other seat.

Katie concentrated on her activity sheet after telling Aunty she wanted the spaghetti and meatballs off the children’s menu. She jumped a bit when a napkin was shoved into her neckline. She looked across the table at her best, and she also had a napkin placed in her neckline.

The waitress arrived, and Aunty said, “The red girl will have your spaghetti and meatballs off your children's menu with an iced tea. The ivory girl will have your cheese pizza off your children's menu with lemonade. I will have your …”

Aunty asked, “How do you think Kathleen's exams are going, Katie.”

“She seems happy so far with her exams,” the regressed girl answered. “I was a model for Tiffany’s final project today. She dressed me up as Little Miss Muffet ballerina.”

Stacy looked at Katie, “That is where the ringlets came from?”

“Yep, Bestie.”

Uncle asked, “Did you enjoy it?”

“Dress up is always fun, Uncle,” Katie answered.

Aunty commented on how she wished she could see the pictures. Blushing, Katie told her that plenty of pictures had been taken.

The waitress returned with the four plates, “For the red cutie. For the ivory cutie. For you, Ma'am. And for you, Sir.”

After dinner, Uncle Sam took Katie’s hand and followed Aunty to the waiting room. He said, “Hug your best friend, Katie. She is going directly to the school. We got about thirty minutes until we have to be there.”

Katie obeyed her uncle before watching Aunty and Stacy leave. Uncle then helped her with her coat before leading her to his car. He opens the passenger door for her to crawl on top of a pink booster seat. He waited until she was seatbelted before he closed the door. A short drive later, he opened her door again and held her hand again.

Katie could see that they were at a Florist shop. They went in, and Uncle went directly to the counter. He said to the florist, “We have a flower order for Bullard.”

The florist left and returned after a few minutes with a small Christmas flower arrangement. After getting Uncle’s approval, she wrapped it in red and green tissue paper. The Bullard family soon returned to the car, and Uncle did the repeat with Katie. He made sure she was seat belted before shutting the door.

They parked at the school next to a familiar small gray SUV. Uncle, who had left the flowers in the car, released his niece before walking into the school with her hand held firmly. He hung up her coat before leading her over to the Olsen clan.

“Hello, Daddie,” Katie said as she went in for a hug.

“Hello, Buttercup. I like your hair. Did Ally do that?” Daddie asked.

The little girl smiled, “No, Tiffany did them while turning me into a model for her final project.”

“Oh, I thought she was modeling that herself.”

The little girl giggled, “No, silly Daddie, she wouldn’t fit it.”

Katie explained to Daddie that she was a Little Miss Muffet ballerina. Adam stated that he would love to see pictures.

“I’m sure you will,” Katie rolled her eyes and blushed. “With the number of pictures that were taken, I’m sure everyone will eventually get to see me in that outfit.”

The regressed girl then turned and hugged both Grandma and Grandpa before saying to Grandpa, “We! We! Yes, you are as bad as Daddie at giving cryptic information.”

“Information is only given when you need to know it, Buttercup,” Daddie said behind her.

Katie spun around and stuck her tongue out at her Daddie. She then jumped as Grandma gave her a quick spank on the bottom for being cheeky. Frowning, she turned to giving Uncle Brian and Aunty Alexa a hug. She finally hugged little three-year-old Tina, who was dressed in her light blue snowflake dress they had all worn on Thanksgiving.

Uncle Brian said, “Think it is time for us to find seats.”

Uncle Sam grabbed Katie’s hand, while Aunty Alexa grabbed Tina’s hand. Katie ended up sitting behind Tina and Uncle Sam. As Aunty Sara warned, she was being made to keep close to Uncle Sam instead of Daddie, who was sitting on the opposite side of the combined Olsen slash Bullard family. The little girl thought it felt weird not being taken care of by Daddie. It felt the same as when she sat in the front seat of the Escalade.

She looked at the small program and saw that, just like Laura’s concert, they were going through the grades before all the students sang together.

A lady came to the microphone sitting on the left side, “Welcome everyone to the Twin Oaks Elementary Winter Concert. It is my pleasure to introduce sixth grader Kathie Laursin, who will be our announcer today.”

Everyone in the audience clapped as the girl walked to the microphone and, after adjusting it for her height, said, “Thank you. It is my pleasure to introduce Mrs. Bullard’s Kindergarteners singing ‘All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.’”

Aunty Sara’s students filed on the stage. Katie smiled, seeing that all the students were wearing gift-wrapped boxes. The ones in front also had a large bow in their hair and a bow on their box. The ones in the back just had the bow on the present box.

Aunty wasn’t kidding about Mike. Standing on the far left, he looked just like the rest of the front row. He had the bow in his? or was this Megan peeking through? her? hair. The cousin was wearing a shiny gold box, with silver bows in his hair and on the present. The regressed girl had to agree with her Auntie’s statement that Mike was the shortest in the class. He had to be an inch shorter than the girl in the pink wrapping paper right next to him.

After they were done singing, the Kindergarteners left the stage in the opposite direction they came on before the first graders entered the stage while they were being introduced. After they sang ‘Jingle Bell Rock,’ they were soon replaced with Stacy’s class.

Kathie said, “It is my pleasure to introduce Mrs. Sandberg’s Second Graders singing ‘Suzy Snowflake.’”

Stacy and her classmates were wearing scarves. The girls were wearing earmuffs, while the boys were wearing woolen hats. The regressed girl scanned the students before finding Stacy with her white scarf and earmuffs in the middle of the front row. After they were done singing, they again exited to the left before being replaced with the Third Graders from the right.

The announcer declared, “It is now my pleasure to introduce all of Twin Oak students singing ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas.’”

Again, just like at Laura’s school, there were now about two hundred students on and in front of the stage. Mike was easy to find in his gold present costume. Stacy took a little more searching to find.

Kathie announced after they were done and had filed backstage again, “Thank you for coming to our concert. Please join us for treats in the cafeteria. Parents, can you claim your students from either the left or right stairs of the stage.”

Uncle Sam led Katie to the cafeteria. As she was eating a chocolate chip cookie and drinking eggnog, Stacy soon joined her. The two older girls soon gathered Tina and Mike sans bow. The little group enjoyed their treats but made sure to stay near either an Olsen or Bullard adult.

Uncle Sam came up to Stacy and handed her the flower arrangement, “I am so proud of you, Princess.”

“Thank you, Daddie,” Stacy smiled.

Mr. Bullard then asked his daughter if she wanted him to hold on to it until they got home. The girl agreed, giving the flower arrangement right back to him.

Katie heard some lady ask Aunty Alexa, “Doesn’t it bother you for your son to be treated just like one of the girls?”

“He didn’t seem to mind it. That was definitely a smile on his face. Besides, his aunt Sara Bullard would never do anything that either he didn’t like or we didn’t like,” Aunty Alexa told the lady.

The lady said, “Oh, Mrs. Bullard is family?”

“Yes. They are,” Aunty said before pointing at Mike. “My son and daughter are currently hanging out with their cousin, Stacy Bullard.”

The lady paused for a moment, seeing State Legislator Sam Bullard watching over four kids, “Which one is your daughter? The red, blue, or ivory dress?”

“The blue dress is mine. The red is my niece. The ivory is Sara Bullard’s daughter,” Aunty explained.

Looking again at Mr. Bullard, the lady decided to walk away and find other people to bother.

Katie determined she had a problem and didn’t want another reminder like the one she got at Thanksgiving. She walked up to the adults and waited until they acknowledged her before saying meekly and softly, “I need something.”

Grandma Olsen asked, “Did someone bring a bag?”

“There is one in my car,” Aunty said while tossing Grandma the keys.

Grandma left and soon returned with a diaper bag, which caused the regressed girl to blush right up. The older lady led her granddaughter to the bathroom and changed the little girl in the handicap stall before leading the girl out again to the kids. Katie wasn’t back long before Aunty Sara told her to hug her Daddie, cousins, aunt, uncles, and grandparents goodbye. It was time to leave. After hugs were administered, the two Bullard girls were led to Aunty's car.

Aunty made sure that both girls were seatbelted before they left the school and headed towards Mountain to drop her niece back off at her college. The two tired girls in the backseat were discussing various children's subjects. Actually, Stacy made the mistake of discussing animals with the animal-crazed regressed girl. By nine-fifteen, both girls were struggling to stay awake, but they kept talking. At about nine forty-five, they arrived at Whitlatter Hall. Walking to the third floor, Aunty held both drowsy girls’ hands. She knocked on the door of 313 before being invited in.

Sara handed Katie’s stuff to the roommate, “Here she is, barely awake.”

“Thank you for returning her safely. I am sure you want to get back to Riverville to get that one in bed. Have a nice, safe trip,” Ally said.

A barely awake voice said as she was trying to hug Stacy, “Thank you, Aunty. I enjoyed myself.”

Ally lost no time switching Katie’s dress for a footie, including a change. Once the regressed girl was ready for bed, she was tucked in, and the bedrail was raised.