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“C’mon now.” Hunter’s mom said, helping him off of the changing table. “Let’s go meet your babysitter.”
“Mommy! Do you have to say babysitter?” Hunter whined as he adjusted his stance to accommodate his fresh diaper.
“What would you prefer?”
“I dunno. Sitter? Person who’s going to watch me?”
“You wear baby diapers, pumpkin.” His mom said soothingly, patting his bottom to accentuate her point. “You eat baby food. You play with baby toys. You are, for all intents and purposes, my baby boy. And my baby boy needs a babysitter.” She kissed his forehead lovingly and Hunter blushed. “Mommy loves her roly-poly ball of fluff!”
“I’m seventeen, mommy.” Hunter protested. His mom smiled and tousled his mane, leading him by the paw out of his bedroom, but not before slipping his trusty pacifier into his muzzle. The sign on the door said ‘Hunter’s Nursery’, but he steadfastly refused to call it that. The smell of baby powder followed them as Hunter waddled down the hallway, his mind racing as he tried to figure out who his babysitter might be. He hoped that it might be Vitani, the pretty lioness that he had quite a crush on, even if she only saw him as an overgrown baby in need of a change. But he would not need to meet her, per se, so the identity of this sitter seemed a mystery.
They went from the hall into the living room and Hunter looked around, mane flowing with each movement of his head. There was no one there except for Koda, who was watching television in the same pajamas he had worn during last night’s pajama parade.
Every night, after bath time, Hunter and Koda had a tradition (which their mom encouraged) of doing a pajama parade for their mom. Koda would lead the way, strutting in his superhero two piece pajamas, the only bulges in them from his bottom and other body parts. Then Hunter would waddle in in his footies, usually with Sesame Street characters on them, his entire midsection puffy from his thick Pampers or Huggies. He would suck on either his pacifier or his thumb and Koda usually made him carry a stuffed animal to add to his infantile appearance.
Hunter continued to search for the sitter. Maybe she was in the bathroom?



FALL 2013