Jennifer paced back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. After a few minutes of back and forth, she tried to sit down on the living room sofa, managed to stay still all of three minutes, and resumed her trek. She could feel Carol's eyes watching her wearily from the kitchen. She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner for the tenth time in the last hour.

Had enough time passed to let Matilda out? Would she be civilized now or would she still be ornery? She had to have peed by now; she must be wet and cold.

"Jen, come make yourself a cup of tea and sit down. All that pacing is making me nervous." Carol called from the kitchen. Jennifer apologized and reluctantly joined her at the table. "You can't take what she said personally." Miss Honey bit the inside of her cheek. "Kids can be brats, even the well behaved ones."

"But not Mat-"

"Yes, even Matilda." Carol said, cutting her off. "She's five, she's in pain, and she's not getting her way. It's like the unholy trinity. It has the power to turn children into demons."

Jennifer winced at the word "demon". Was this what all the other moms' felt when their kid threw a tantrum in the supermarket? She should have removed anything breakable before setting her loose in there. She hadn't expected Matilda would throw such a fit over a time out.

"I am so sorry." Jennifer said for the hundredth time that morning. "I'll replace anything that's broken." As soon as she had shut on the door, there had been a series of loud bangs, and ear splitting shrieks of anger. It had taken Jennifer so off guard all she had been able to do was stand rooted to the spot as she stared at the closed bedroom door in horror. It had only lasted a few minutes, but still. She would never have expected Matilda to act in such a horrendous way.

Carol waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"I'm serious. I just can't believe she'd act this way over being grounded." Jennifer admitted. "She's normally so level headed."

"I doubt it's about being grounded. Those weren't 'I'm mad' screams." Carol said. Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Those were coming from a much deeper place I suspect, and I believe it's been building inside her for a long time. These last few days were probably enough to push her over the edge."

"I don't know whether to ground her longer, forget the whole thing, or call in an exorcist." Jennifer said, letting her head fall into her hands. "She was never really grounded in the first place. I was going to drop the whole thing once I was confident she wasn't bleeding. I was just trying to kill two birds with one stone; dissuade her from using her powers against people and make sure everything was looking good and healthy without her knowing."

"You know you're an open book. I think she would have realized something was up if you kept staring into her used diapers like they contained the answers to the universe."

"I am not." Jennifer said, although she could feel her cheeks begin to warm. "I just didn't want her to be angry with herself if the medication caused her setbacks. It's no fun to hate your own body, I think I'd rather her be angry at me than herself."

"Bullshit." Carol said, bluntly. Jennifer looked up at her stunned. " That's not why you decided on this." Jennifer stumbled to come up with a response. "You want to know what I think? I think you want her to be angry at you. You're still punishing yourself." Jennifer opened her mouth to argue, but found her mouth had gone alarmingly dry.

"No," she finally managed to croak out. She could feel the sting of fresh tears and averted her eyes.

"Yes," Carol said. "Stop bottling it up, Jennifer, and come clean."

"There's nothing to come clean about."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" Jennifer insisted, despite feeling the moisture on her cheeks. She buried her head in the crook of her arm and flinched when she felt Carol grab her hand and begin stroking the top of it with her thumb. Jennifer could feel the goosebumps rising on her body again and shivered.

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear the two of you really were biologically mother and daughter. You both have the worst coping mechanisms I've ever seen."

Jennifer half chuckled and half sobbed before stiffening. She could hear Carol dragging her chair around to her side of the table. She felt her breath catch in her throat when a hand rested on her back and began to rub small circles. She felt frozen in place. This was much more touching than she was used to. Her limits were a handshake here, and a quick hug there, a longer one if the person in question was under the age of ten, but this was different. It was as if Carol had picked her up and thrown her far outside her comfort zone, yet she couldn't get herself to pull away or tell her to stop.

Oh god, was she actually enjoying this?

"It's okay, Jen, breathe." Carol whispered. The palm rubbing circles on her back had stopped and had been replaced by the tips of her fingernails running up and down her back. "You're safe here; I promise." Jennifer let out her held breath. "There you go. There you go. Take some more deep breaths." Now there were two hands running up and down her back. There was an unfamiliar tingling sensation spreading from the top of her head, down her torso and up her arms. "Now take this thing you've been hiding inside and let it out." Jennifer shook her head.

"I can't." Jennifer whispered.

"Yes you can; You have to. It's eating you alive; I can see it."

She tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, but it had refused to go down.

"I-I-I'm-"

"You can do it, go on." Carol whispered.

"I'm so…so…pathetic. A five year old felt like they had no other choice than to step up and save me." Then everything was a blur. She was sobbing, no, bawling into Carols' shoulder. How had they gotten to the couch? Why was Jennifers' arms wrapped around her as if this woman was the only thing keeping her on this earth? Was she really being rocked back and forth? Why was she telling her all these secrets she had long since buried?

"That's it. That's it. Let it all out. It's alright. It's alright."

"...and the worst part of all…I-I" Jennifer said. Now she was crying harder than she had ever cried.

"Say it." Carol whispered. "Get it out in the open; get it off your chest once and for all."

"I…I… had a…a…" Jennifer stammered. She couldn't get the word out. It was stuck. "I can't say it."

"An orgasm?" Carol offered. Jennifer nodded her head into Carols' neck. "Is that what you've been so ashamed of?" Jennifer nodded again and felt Carol pull away from her. "Sweetheart." Carol tucked a strand of hair behind Jennifer's ear. "It doesn't mean what you think it means."

"How could it not?" Jennifer cried. "How could it not mean that I liked it like she said?" She shut her eyes. She could feel Carol wave a hand through her hair and shuddered.

"Of course she would say that, Jen. She was manipulating you." Carol let out a deep sigh. "How old were you?"

"F-f-fourteen or f-fifteen."

"Oh, baby, no."

"It had been happening longer than that, but it was the first time I had ever… She said I had lost the right to say no since I obviously liked it, and that's when she started burning me with the cigars. When I refused to…"

"Oh, Jen." Carol whispered. "It doesn't mean you liked it."

"Why?" Jennifer croaked. "How?"

"Think of it like an involuntary response to stimulation. Say for instance, if you were ticklish, and I ran my fingers up the bottoms of your feet, you'd probably laugh. But would you think it was funny?"

"N-no." Jennifer admitted.

"Your body was most likely doing whatever it could to protect itself. That doesn't make you dirty, or damaged, or a monster. Whatever it was she said to you to justify her actions; It was a lie." Carol grabbed one of her hands again and squeezed. "You did nothing wrong. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It doesn't matter what you had to do or convince yourself of to survive. You're the victim. You. Did. Nothing. Wrong. Now say it."

"I-I-d-did…"

"Go on." Jennifer took a deep shaky breath.

"I d-did n-nothing wrong."

"Yes." Carol said before giving her a gentle warm smile. "How do you feel now?"

It was like the bomb in her chest that had been nearing closer to 0:00 everyday had finally been diffused. She let out a weak, and shaky laugh. "B-better."

"I don't expect you to magically be cured, but I hope this has helped clear some of the rubble so you can begin to lay a new foundation in your life, and maybe you can start to finally heal."

"Thank you." Jennifer whispered. Her eyes went wide in surprise as a pair of lips pressed against the top of her head. She had never been shown so much affection and kindness from an adult before. She briefly wondered what it would have been like to have grown up with a mother, but shook the thought away.

"Damn it, Matilda!" Carol said, suddenly sounding angry. Jennifer sat up in a panic. What had she done now? "I want to kill that woman, but she already beat me to it!" Jennifer let out a shaky laugh. "Now go make things right with her; I think she can handle the truth."

…

Jennifer poked her head in the spare bedroom and took in the room. It was a disaster. All of their things she had brought from home were scattered on the floor. She looked for damage in the walls, and in the decorations Carol had throughout the room, but apart from her and Matilda's things, everything was in their place. Jennifer let out a relieved breath of air. She scooted a pair of pants, the ones with large metal buttons on the front, with her foot. They noisily scraped across the floor. So that had been the source of the noise, she thought. And there, lying on top of the bed was the perpetrator, now fast asleep with a towel covering her like a blanket.

Was that the cause of the mess? Was she only looking for something to cover up with? Maybe it wasn't the pants, maybe it was dresser drawers opening and closing. But the screaming… She looked to the dresser then back to Matilda. Had she tried to force herself up to look in the drawers? Jennifer stood and tried to mentally put the pieces together.

Say Matilda peed in her diaper which made her cold. She tried to get under the covers, but couldn't. She screams in pain trying. She opens the dressers and closet looking for a blanket, but she can't see, so she has to take everything out of the drawers, which explains the mess… The closest thing she can find is a towel. She wraps herself up in it and goes to sleep. Maybe she hadn't thrown a tantrum after all… She couldn't completely give her the benefit of the doubt though. She had said some cruel things. Well, Jennifer would have to see what the defendant had to say for herself.

"I'm sorry," came a tiny quiet voice before Jennifer had even made it to the bed. Oh, so she was awake after all.

"Quite the mess you've made."

"It was hurting my eyes, and I was afraid of breaking Mrs. Rodgers' things." Then in a much softer voice full of emotion. "I wet the bed. I'm sorry." Jennifer bit her lip. So the medication was going to affect her like this.

"It's alright. It's not like I left you any other choice, did I? It's not your fault."

"But I need to go again." she whimpered. "Really bad." Jennifer could see her legs jiggling under the towel.

"It's okay, go on. There's a pad under you in case it leaks. You won't hurt anything."

"It's already wet." Matilda mumbled. Jennifer frowned and removed the towel. She was greeted with a blast of ammonia.

"Oh, sweetheart." Jennifer said. She was soaked, the pad under her was soaked, even the blanket was damp, but she wasn't 100% positive. So this was what she meant when she said she had wet the bed. She took in the squirming girl. She'd soak the bedding if she wet again and it wasn't theirs. "I'll go get the bed pan."

"Hurry." Matilda moaned. Jennifer darted out of the room. Matilda was desperate. She wasn't even begging to be taken to the toilet. Where was it? Where was it? Where was it? Why couldn't she find it?

"Everything okay?" Carol asked.

"She's soaked through everything in three hours, and she still has to go." Carol whistled. "I might need to wash the bedding, I'm sorry." She spotted the package of bed liners and grabbed one. This would have to do. She hurried back and spread the new liner out on the bed a little ways over. "You'll have to pee on this. Ready?" She grabbed Matilda under the arms before she could respond, sat her up and quickly moved her over. Jennifer was a little surprised Matilda wasn't scowling or protesting. She just sat there with a sort of dazed look on her face as her clenched body began to relax. "There's a good girl; I'll set you in a nice warm bath once you're all done."

Jennifer tried not to make it obvious as she peeked into the discarded diaper Matilda had peeled off in preparation for the bed pan. She breathed a sigh of relief. No blood.

"I wouldn't have been scared." Matilda said quietly.

"Did you hear us talking?" Jennifer asked. Matilda nodded. "I guess you've figured out what the extra medicine does."

"I think I may have an idea. Can I take a bath now?"

"All done?" Matilda nodded with a grimace. Now there was the disgust she had expected. Once she got her situated in the bath, Jennifer came back and lifted up the pads with a groan. She sighed. She shouldn't have bought the cheapest ones. She stripped the bed and carried everything to the washer before going back to the bedroom and prying open the window to air out the room. She'd have to go back to the pharmacy and pick up better supplies. She'd need something a lot thicker, and maybe some pads to go in it as well. Jennifer wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like she could just leave her in the bathtub to sleep at night. She had a funny thought of letting Matilda camp out in the backyard pantless, but she'd probably kill Carols' lawn, and just the thought of sitting in the grass bare bottomed made Jennifer squirm. They'd figure something out though. This time she'd make sure to get Matilda's opinion.