Shortly after finishing his 8 o’clock breakfast, Mr. Williams tugged on the straps securing him to the inside of the large black baby buggy as he contemplated a way to end his stay at Nanny’s Adult Baby Care. A stay that has been extended through his wife’s chicanery from an initially agreed upon three months to one now lasting nine. He peeked through the darkly tinted vinyl rain cover and wondered when his day-time Nanny would return for him.
Happily after fifteen minutes she finally appeared and announced, “Ready for our Annual Open House?”
“What Open House?” He responded.
“The one where prospective new clients get to walk around and ask questions.” Nanny replied.
“Will I be asked questions?” Mr. Williams queried.
“Probably.”
“Will I be permitted to answer?” Mr. Williams asked as a plan of escape suddenly hatched in his head.
“Why would we want to stop you?” Nanny replied while smiling to herself.
At 9 AM when the front door opened two F/m couples paid only a glancing look as they walked right by him and headed for the empty cribs, large wooden high chairs reserved for meals, the time out room, and the play-pen areas.
A third like-minded couple was drawn to him and his extra-large parked stroller.
The wife immediately spotted the cuffed ankles anchored to the inside of the stroller and teased her husband, “Perhaps you could ask to change places with the mannequin?”
“Who are you calling a mannequin?” Mr. Williams jokingly bantered back from under the tinted vinyl rain cover.
Startled the wife countered, “What no pacifier?”
“Not during the Open House so that I can answer your questions.” He replied.
“Honey, go ahead and ask him some,” His wife commanded.
“Is this for real?” The husband incredulously asked.
“As real as it gets,” Mr. Williams answered.
“How long have you been here?” The husband probed.
“Nine months.” Mr. Williams answered before disclosing that the original time frame was for three months.
“How did it go from three to nine months?” The husband asked.
“My wife’s trickery.” Mr. Williams tersely answered.
“Sounds like something I might do,” His wife teased.
“So you really want to go home?” The husband asked when his controlling wife headed for the ladies room.
“Yes, I do. All you have to do is loosen one of the wrist cuffs and I’ll do the rest after you leave. No one will ever know.” Mr. Williams pleaded.
“I hope not. My wife would not like my interfering.” The husband said nervously.
Fortunately or not depending on your view point the wife returned before the two co-conspirators could enact their nefarious plan.
Sensing an air of tomfoolery she asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” they replied simultaneously from both sides of the tinted rain cover confirming her suspicions.
“Pray tell?” She demanded.
“He wants to go home and I agreed to help.” Her husband offered as his excuse.
“Well Mr. Buttinski I think you should go and find Nanny and accept whatever punishment she deems appropriate.”
“Honey, maybe you’re over reacting just a little.” He countered.
“Am I? Wait right here.” His wife fumed as she left to find Nanny and explain the situation to her.
Mr. Williams advised from under the tinted cover, “I’d run for my life if I were you.”
“Well you aren’t. How bad could the punishment be?” The husband shot back as Nanny entered the room and grabbed his wrist and marched him away without further ado.
Mr. Williams had to wait only a short time to learn of the outcome as a stroller exactly like his stroller was pushed in and parked right next to his.
After Nanny set the parking brake Mr. Williams asked, “Where is his wife?”
“She left.” Nanny tersely answered causing the husband in the newly inhabited stroller to protest through the rubber pacifier strapped tightly into his mouth.
Nanny further adding, “I’ve a good mind to reinsert your pacifier were it not for the fact that another couple will be stopping by shortly to hear about your experiences at Nanny’s Adult Baby Care.”
The next couple arrived and the husband incredibly asked the very same first question as his predecessor, “Is this for real?”
“Tell him what happened,” Nanny prodded Mr. Williams.
Before Mr. Williams could finish his entire saga the second husband interrupted and summarized, “You mean to tell me that your wife has extended your stay against your will. You asked for help. Said help is now in the other stroller against his will?”
“That’s it in a nut shell,” Mr. Williams replied.
Mr. Williams sat in disbelief when the second husband asked, “Do they have another stroller available for me?”
“Honey, what are you doing?” His wife asked incredulously.
Whispering in her ear, “This is nothing more than a sales tactic. There is no way that grown men can be held against their will and I intend to prove it.”
“I have more important things to do than sit around and watch you prove another one of your idiotic suppositions.” His wife declared.
Furthermore she issued a strong ultimatum while heading for the exit, “If you’re not home by 5 o’clock you’ll find yourself facing a similar fate as Mr. Williams.”
It was like shooting fish in a barrel Nanny thought as she smiled to herself and ordered, “Please follow me and I’ll see if we can drum up an appropriate buggy for you.”
The final couple arrived. Mr. Williams told his story again but now had to add how a second stroller had come to be parked next to his.
As if he hadn’t heard a word of the narrative the naïve last husband begged, “Honey please let me try out a stroller. It’s a dream I’ve had for years.”
“What if I don’t let you out right away?” She attempted to scare him off.
As their conversation continued, Mr. Williams thought the third husband was a man after his own heart.
“That makes it that much more exciting,” He pleaded.
“I might leave you here forever,” His wife threatened as she upped the ante.
All those in the strollers trembled in disbelief as she asked, “Are there any strollers left for my husband?”
With three new clients under contract, the successful Open House ended with Mr. Williams' once more pacified, his story telling abilities no longer needed.
Who finally leaves and when will have to be left for another time.