Clyde bent down, set his hands around Elle’s waist, and lifted her onto the table, with her bottom making a barely audible squish as it touched down on the soft plastic lining. “Here we go,” he ruefully mused to himself. He lifted Elle by the ankles, swept the back of her dress behind her, then set her down and flipped the front of the skirt upward. A thoroughly drenched diaper met his eye, its padding broken down into ugly clumps and yellowed by a torrential downpour of urine. No way she wet this just once. Ellie must have let the diaper get slushy in the hopes that her mother would return from work early to save the day. She couldn’t have waited any longer for fresh pants... it was a small miracle this pair hadn’t already started leaking.

Clyde’s train of thought was quickly derailed by a small, yet commanding voice. “No baby talk. Okay?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Clyde shot back, a wry grin creeping up the side of his muzzle. She was three whole years old... clearly she was mature enough for more intellectually stimulating conversation. While getting her diapers changed. He bent down and pulled a few clean diapers from the cubbyhole built into the changing table. “Okay, here are the house specials. We’ve got some bright pink Chuggies with hearts on the front for a playfully feminine touch, and some plain white Dampers with a tasteful blue waistband. Classic fashion for that toddler on the go.”

“Dampers,” Elle chirped back confidently. They weren’t much to look at, but they were a workhorse, keeping her bottom dry for longer than that other brand. Besides, she wasn’t eager to have any eyes down there anyway. “A fine choice, madam! Dampers it is!” Clyde smiled as he reached for the tapes on the front of Elle’s spent diaper. Loud crackling rips filled the room as the tapes were peeled away from the waistband. “And that comes with either the soup of the day or the...” As the soaked pants were folded open and pulled loose from Elle’s behind, Clyde was struck in the face with the sight of two plump, lightly furred lips tucked between the cub’s legs. 

”...salad.”

The sloth bear’s eyes bulged slightly as he drew his next breath through gritted teeth. Suddenly the smartass comments that helped cut the tension before the diaper came off weren’t there to save him when he needed them most. 

Elle looked up at her caretaker with wide blue eyes. It was a puzzled look, but beyond that, it was an honest look, belying the youth and innocence she tried so hard to keep hidden. “What’s wrong?”

Clyde nervously cleared his throat and struggled to meet the toddler’s gaze. “Nothing.” Everything. 

After some initial hesitation, he reached for a container of baby wipes, and tugged a few loose. He gripped them tightly in his paw and made a few quick, uncommitted swipes over the plump folds.

“That’s it?,” Elle indignantly squeaked. “You gotta do more than that! I’m gonna get a rash!”

“I’m not done yet!,” Clyde shot back, more defensively than he intended. He drew a deep breath and pulled out another handful of wipes, first working them around the edges of the vulva, then pulling two fingers down along the center, applying light pressure to the warm pink divide. “It’s just like cleaning Byron...” the bear reasoned. “Except, you know, different.”

After two impotent dabs at her crotch, Elle finally felt experienced hands at work... thorough, comforting, and to her delight, a little ticklish. A devious smile ran up the edges of her muzzle. Clyde wasn’t enjoying this much, but as long as she was here, she was going to get the full mileage out of this change. “Okay, now you really gotta get in there.”

“Bwa?!” Clyde sputtered, clutching the side of the changing table with his free hand. The only place Elle was really going to get him into was prison. “Get in where?!” Elle smiled, and coyly pointed a clawed finger between the folds of her chubby cooch.

“Look, I’m here to clean you, not go spellunking!,” Clyde growled, his panic quickly shifting into outrage. “We agreed this wasn’t going to be fun,” he thought, his brow furrowed with consternation. “Not fun for ME, and not fun for YOU.”

“Mommy does it!,” Elle exclaimed. That was a half-truth... Elle’s mother only took a trip to the basement floor when she was still messing her pants. Now that she could hold in her poop, such... thorough cleanings were no longer necessary. Of course, having changed only boys, Clyde couldn’t possibly know that. Elle smugly laid back on the changing table and opened her legs, confident that the sloth bear would give in to her demands just to speed things along. She knew what she was doing was naughty... but she also knew she wouldn’t get caught.

“FINE,” Clyde grumbled. “What do I... um?” He sank a finger into the plump flesh of the left fold and gently pulled it open, then dragged a wipe through the exposed flesh. Each sweep prompted a stifled giggle from the toddler, who looked on with her hands clapped around her mouth. “This thing looks a whole lot better from the outside,” Clyde mused, as he moved in for a closer inspection. “Hey, I remember hearing about this bulby thing! Maybe I should clean that-“

A tendril of thick, clear liquid lept out of the uncharted territory between Elle’s folds and hit Clyde between the eyes.

”-too.”

Elle howled with laughter... she tried her best to keep the giggles inside, but just couldn’t hold them in any longer. “Hee hee! You touched my nubby!”

“And you peed on me!,” Clyde fumed. He wiped the goo from the bridge of his snout and rubbed it between two fingers. “This isn’t pee. What IS this?! It’s like you shot... ectoplasm at me.” He gave his forefinger a curious sniff, then pulled out another wipe and cleaned the remainder of the slime off his hands and face.

“You’re not done! More! More!,” Elle squealed. Clyde sternly looked down at the cub and slowly shook his head. Elle looked up with pleading eyes. “More?” 

Clyde’s next words had all the forceful authority of a brick wall to the face. “No more.”

The next wipes over Elle’s behind and tail were a little firmer and a lot less gentle. Clearly, playtime was over. “Let’s just get this over with, okay?,” Clyde muttered, reaching over for a bottle of baby lotion. He squirted a generous handful of it into his hand and kneaded it into the cub’s plump folds like bread dough. They felt... soft. Warm. Disconcertingly pleasant. “That’s probably enough,” he curtly remarked. He unfolded a fresh diaper and wiped off his hand in its soft quilted lining. “Let’s get this on your butt and get you back on your feet,” Clyde offered, softening his tone.

“You’re not mad, are you?,” Elle asked, staring up at Clyde with her wide blue eyes.

The sloth bear shook his head, his fluffy cheek fur struggling to keep up. “I’m too tired to be mad,” Clyde said with quiet resignation. He was mad before, but now just felt relief that this ordeal was nearly over. He lifted Elle by the ankles and threaded her stubby tail through the hole in the back of the diaper. Clyde gently laid his charge back down on the table and folded the front of the diaper over, snugly taping it in place and safely sealing away the mysteries within. He lifted Elle from the table, set her down on the floor, and gently pulled down the hem of her dress. Mission accomplished. Now to slink off to a corner and collapse into a nice, comfy chair.

Clyde felt a squeeze of his leg. He looked down to find Elle hugging it.

“I’m sorry.” She looked up at him with tears welling in her eyes. “I wouldn’t have asked you to change me if I didn’t really, really need it.”

Clyde thought back to Elle’s soggy old diaper, which felt like a bowling ball wadded up in his hands. She wasn’t lying... that thing had hit critical mass.

“Yeah, I know.” He bent down and ruffled the little girl’s hair. He cracked a weak smile. “So, how’d I do?”

Elle blinked away her tears and smiled back. “Pretty good. For a boy. You forgot the powder.”

Clyde rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“And...” Elle continued.

“Yes?”

Elle tightened her grip on Clyde’s leg. “If Byron asks, this never happened.”