Chapter Seven

Back in her cabin, Ella was trembling as she looked at the Little gear she’d purchased.

She had a pink two-piece bathing suit with frilly lace around the leg holes. She had a couple of baby doll dresses—one pink and white gingham, the other all pink with lots of ribbons and ruffles. She had panties to match the dresses. She had some shortalls and a couple of t-shirts, one reading LITTLE CUTIE and the other saying SPOIL ME. And then there were the diapers.

Big, bulky diapers.

“I can’t wear those in front of people,” she said, shaking her head as she stared unblinkingly at the package. “People will think I’m a freak.”

She’d seen plenty of other Littles in diapers when walking around the ship’s decks. She’d even seen some Littles being pushed in adult-sized strollers. She wouldn’t stand out one bit by wearing a diaper.

But that didn’t soothe her low self-esteem.

“Start small,” she said.

She nodded, her mind made up, and grabbed the shortalls.

That outfit was a good compromise.

She hurried and changed, ready to get back out and explore the vast vessel.

***

She was still nervous as she walked along one of the decks. It just felt so strange to be Little out in the open like that!

She stopped by a giant, swirling water slide and watched as happy, laughing Littles slid off it and into the landing pool. Maybe she should have worn her bathing suit, she thought, so she could take a turn on the slide, too.

But being exposed like that would only make her feel more self-conscious. Her body wasn’t built for showing off.

She walked on, but that self-doubt kept pace with her. It grew, too.

These Littles are prettier than me. Skinnier, too. Am I the oldest and fattest one here? Oh gosh. Maybe I should just ride out the rest of the cruise in my cabin. I’m sure they sell books somewhere. And I brought my Kindle. I can load up on naughty romances and just live vicariously through the characters. Maybe I can…”

The world started spinning as a wave of anxiety washed over her. She’d had panic attacks before—that’s part of what had led her to Dr. Kirk’s office—but she never got used to them. Each one seemed worse than the time before.

And this one was outright awful.

She tried to breathe deeply, but it was no use. She staggered a few steps and then went down. Thankfully, she fell right onto a soft chaise lounge near the pool.

She was out cold.