Little Teddy

Note: All characters in this story are over the age of 18.

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Part One: Introductions

Little Teddy

My entire life, going back as long as I can remember, I have always been exceptionally small for my age. When I was very young, one of my cousins affectionately nicknamed me "RUNT". It stuck. It was such a fitting nickname that I could hardly be angry with him over it. Not only did my cousin call me that, but also aunts, uncles, my friends at school and even some teachers.

Speaking of friends and school, having such a small stature never exactly made for a happy go lucky life at school. Being called Runt didn't really bother me, as it was so apt, but we all know how mean school kids can be. Anything even slightly different from everyone else provides fuel for the teasing fire.

I have no idea if being small was also what caused me to be so sick all the time, or if the two were mutually exclusive. Not that it really mattered much, because regardless, I was one sickly kid. Colds, ear infections, flu, pneumonia, asthma, you name it, I caught it. These chronic illnesses got to be so bad, causing me to miss so much school, that my parents were forced to hold me back both in the second and fourth grades.

Being held back for two years in grade school helped, at least a little, with being such a small size. I got to start over two years with kids who were younger than me while my original classmates marched forward toward adolescence and growth spurts. I guess it really just delayed the inevitable. The kids in the class that I ultimately wound up in were already as big as me by the end of the first year, even though I was 2 years older, and by the following year had already surpassed my small size.

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Tammy/Mom:

Theodore William Bentise, Theodore, Teddy, Teddy Bear, Corduroy Bear, Little Teddy, and LT are all names I have given to our first and only child at one point or other throughout his life. I never called him Runt as so many others did - I found that name completely demeaning. When I first heard Teddy referred to as Runt I tried to step in and put a stop to it. I soon realized that it had caught on so completely, and never seemed to bother Teddy, so I decided to just let it go, feeling that making a big deal out of it would only serve to worsen the effects.

It's probably fortunate that my husband Mark and I decided to only have one child, because a parent should never play favorites with their kids. They should always treat, love, and discipline all of their children equally. I fully recognize that it might have been difficult for me to portion out my love equally across multiple children, because Teddy was always my little man. It's difficult to explain, but he just seemed to need all of the love and attention that I could give him. The kids at school were constantly picking on him, teasing him, even bullying him. This caused me, and even my big gruff, ex-marine of a husband to be very protective of Teddy. He has always had a very special place in our hearts.

At the time the events of this story came to a head, Mark and I, having gotten married early on in our lives (I was 17, he was 20), had been married for 20 years. Teddy, though now a senior in high school, had just turned 19. Due to developmental issues that doctors were never able to adequately explain, Teddy did not begin adolescence until a few years after all the other kids. While all the other kids began to mature between the 13 - 15 year mark, Teddy didn't begin until he was 17. Finally, at 19, it seemed that he had actually completed puberty, though he was still a very small person - standing just over 4'8".

Being completely honest, I have always babied and protected Teddy from the time he was born. I stopped working to raise him when he was born, and never have gone back to work. When he started school, I began volunteering as a room mother. I have continued this, following him all the way through school, always being as close by as possible. Even when he got into high school, for every dance or school trip, I would volunteer to chaperone. This is how I happened to be with him during his final class field trip when the bite occurred and changed everything in our lives forever.

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Part Two: Class Trip

Teddy:

I was really looking forward to my final school field trip. The class government had polled our class, tabulated the votes, and determined that we would take a trip to St. Louis, MO to hit the Six Flags theme park and a nearby state park to do some spelunking in some of the amazing caves in the area.

My mom, Tammy Painter Bentise, had become such a fixture in all of my class activities that I couldn't really imagine her not being there. Many kids would resent a parent's presence at such school events, but not me. I have a very attractive and outgoing mother. She is most definitely more popular with my classmates than I could ever hope to be in my wildest dreams!

I'm really not exaggerating in the slightest bit. My mom is certainly prettier than any of the hottest cheerleaders in our school. She is, in my humble opinion, as pretty as any movie star I can think of. In fact, she looks an awful lot like the star who played that lady in the movie "We Bought a Zoo", I think her name was Scarlet Johansson. Mom is a bit on the tall side, or at least seems that way to me, at 5'8" tall. Though she's not as busty as the Johansson star, mom has a respectable 34C size (I've seen her bras in the laundry). She also has very long, tone, and tan legs that would be the envy of any model. With her shoulder length, blondish brown hair, outgoing personality, and quirky sense of humor, my classmates pretty much worship her. And honestly, who can blame them?

Again, one might think that mom's popularity with my classmates would cause some resentment on my part, and again, not so much. Throughout my years in school my mom has often served as a buffer between me and many of the kids who would otherwise have been much meaner to me if she were not present. I know this for a fact, because they very often ARE much meaner to me when she is not there. However, when Mrs. Bentise is around, even the cruelest kids seem to be on their best behavior.

This is exactly the reason why I didn't mind hanging out with my mom during events such as my senior class trip. Throughout the entire day, she was there by my side. We have been extremely close all of my life. She is often my protector and always my friend. Often it feels like she is my ONLY friend. Due to my small size, I always seemed to have trouble making friends. The kids were more interested in teasing and picking on me than really getting to know me. So my mom took it upon herself to take me under her wing. Right or wrong, she took it upon herself to insert herself between me and as much of the ugliness of the world as she could. I will never complain or fault her for this.

The entire day during my class trip was a fantastic time. Mom is also fearless when it comes to riding scary rides at theme parks, so we went on pretty much everything at Six Flags. We were scheduled to be there from the time it opened at 7:30am until 1:00pm. Then we all loaded back onto the bus and traveled to the nearby state park to explore an amazing cave. When we got there, our class was divided into several small groups and assigned to various tour guides to take us through the cave. It was a very large cave with various walkways that were sometimes huge, sometimes narrow, winding, climbing, and descending. The entire tour was estimated to take somewhere between an hour and a half to two hours once we actually entered the cave.

We were each given flashlights and some initial instructions at the beginning of the tour. Things like: stay with the group, watch out for each other, don't wander off, be mindful of bats, etc.

Ours was the final group of about a dozen kids to enter the cave, so we brought up the rear. In addition, since our group had another adult, mom, we were put at the very rear of all of the groups with mom and I bringing up the rear as we entered the cave. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes into the tour that the worst possible realization suddenly occurred to me.

"Mom, I've got some terrible news." I whispered to her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I seriously have to pee." I answered glumly.

"Well, you're going to have to hold it for a bit." She said.

"That's really not going to work. I drank a huge soda back at Six Flags, and I already feel like I could pee my pants!" I replied in desperation, realizing that the tour had really only begun, and we wouldn't be out again for at least another hour, and probably even longer.

"Well, we've fallen behind a bit, just slip back in that dark section over there and go." She suggested.

This seemed like a brilliant plan to me! I worked my way as far away from mom and the rest of the group as I thought was safe, then I walked back into what could only be described as a small dark alcove in the cave. I switched off my light, and it instantly turned pitch black. I couldn't see a thing, which seemed like a good thing under these circumstances. As quickly as I could, I unbuttoned my pants and unzipped, literally hopping up and down trying not to pee my pants now. I was highly relieved that nobody could see my small penis and sparse pubic hair, which was scarcely even visible.

All that could be heard in the pitch blackness was a strong stream of urine as it hit the cave wall. Almost laughing to myself, I thought that I might actually put a chip in the cave wall with the strength of this one! I felt an involuntary shiver run down my back as the waves of relief rolled over me as I emptied my bladder; there was a sudden whoosh of activity in the blackness that took me totally by surprise and completely terrified me. Before I could even think to turn my light back on, I felt a razor sharp prick right on my penis accompanied by a flutter of what simply had to be wings!

In complete reflex mode, not even thinking about what I was doing, I just reacted and struck out at whatever the source of my pain was. My hand struck something that felt both hairy and horrible, about the size of a large softball. I hit it with all my strength and sensed that it flew straight off in front of me striking the concrete wall with a solid thud.

At this point, I began screaming.

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Tammy/Mom:

I heard Teddy's screaming, and felt an immediate sense of doom wash over me. I found it difficult switching on my flashlight with my hands shaking so badly, but somehow managed. Next, I ran back, and found him standing against the wall of the cave with his pants wide open, over a puddle of urine. Over against the wall, lay the crumpled remains of what looked like some kind of bat. It was hairy, fairly large, extremely ugly, and exceptionally scary looking. It also appeared to be dead. I next glanced down at Teddy's exposed little penis, and thought I saw that it was bleeding.

Momentarily, I just froze from panic. I had no idea what to do.

Teddy got everything put away, and zipped and buttoned up his pants.

This was very fortunate, because within seconds, the tour guide came running up to us. Acting as if this sort of thing happened every day, the twenty-something guy immediately pulled on some very thick protective gloves, and placed the dead bat into a heavy protective bag.

"Were you bitten by this thing?" he asked Teddy, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes." Teddy replied, as the majority of the group arrived back with us, looking concerned.

"OK folks, tour's over. This young man is going to need to see a doctor ASAP! We are actually still a lot closer to the entrance that we came in, so let's all just head back out as quickly as is safely possible."

With that, we all headed back toward the entrance where we came in. This time, Teddy and I were in the front, and the tour guide.

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Teddy:

And that is the way my last school field trip ended. One of the other tour guides drove mom and I to the nearest hospital emergency room, some 20 minutes away. After sitting in the waiting room for about an hour, we were finally taken back to one of the small rooms in the ER. After another 20 minutes or so, an attractive slender young dark haired nurse came in and began making small talk with my mom.

"So what brings you guys in here on such a nice afternoon?" she asked as she proceeded to take my blood pressure and temperature, both of which were slightly high.

"Theodore suffered an accident back in the cave we were just in." replied mom.

"Oh my goodness, that's terrible! Is that the culprit?" she asked, motioning toward the bagged bat mom had sat on the floor by her feet. Before mom could answer, the doctor joined us in the room. He was a short, pudgy, bald man, probably in his early sixties.

"Hello!" he interrupted. "So what brings you folks in today?"

"Theodore has been bitten by a bat." She repeated patiently. "We have brought the dead bat along with us for you guys to check out."

"Excellent! Nurse, please rush this to the lab and request that they test it for rabbies and run all the other standard tests on it."

"Yes doctor," replied the nurse. "Both his blood pressure and temperature are slightly elevated" she added as she picked up the bag and exited the room.

"So where have you been bitten?" asked the doctor.

"Ummmm..." I started, feeling like a complete idiot.

"He was going to the bathroom in the cave," my mom interjected. "He had switched off his flashlight, and the bat bit him directly on the penis."

Apparently my mom decided that this was no time to be bashful.

"I see," replied the doctor. "Well, let's have a look at it. Climb up on the exam table, and slide down your pants and underwear."

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Tammy/Mom:

Teddy followed the doctor's instructions, sliding down his pants and underwear as he lay down on the operating table. I immediately felt a pang of sorrow for my son at what I saw. The doctor reached into the drawer beside where he was sitting to remove a flashlight and magnifying glass so that he could closely examine the wound which had stopped bleeding.

Poor Teddy, though he had finally completed puberty and grown into a young man, was still so small in every way. His nearly bald little penis was probably the size of the tip of my pinky laying over his tiny and also nearly hairless scrotum. Though you couldn't directly see the bite marks, his penis had obviously suffered some type of trauma, as it was covered in his own blood.

After a fairly extensive examination, the doctor applied an ointment to the wound which he explained was a strong anti-biotic. In the meantime, the nurse had returned with the rabbi results. They were, thank God, negative.

Having finished examining and administering treatment to Teddy, the doctor told him that he was finished and that he could get dressed now.

"Well, the negative rabbis is the best news out of this whole day. We haven't seen much of this type of bat, but there have been some cases of bites from them around here. This bat carries something called testomatics, which we aren't entirely familiar with yet. In the few bite patients we've seen, they have complained of headaches, excitability, and sometimes some temporary anger issues. It seems to temporarily enhance or increase the males hormone testosterone."

"Oh my" replied my mother, looking frightened.

"Never fear Mrs. Bentise. These results are quite temporary, and not really anything to worry about. Your primary concern is the prevention of infection from the bite. I will send a prescription with you for this antibiotic that I administered today. You'll need to get some of that and apply it twice daily for 10 days. Please schedule a follow-up with your family doctor after that."

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Part Three: Restless Night

Tammy/Mom:

That night, I found myself completely unable to fall asleep. After tossing and turning for hours, falling into and out of restless frustrating sleeps, I finally just decided to give up and got up. I was afraid if I kept at it that I was going to wake Mark up with my restless tossing and turning.

So, wearing my silky pajamas, I gently kicked my way out from under the covers and got out of bed stealing as stealthily as I could tip toeing past Teddy's room on the way to the kitchen, thinking I would grab a cup of milk or something.

As I approached Teddy's door, I stopped and cocked my head, listening for anything amiss. I don't know, I guess I just had some kind of mother's intuition going. As I did this, I heard a light moaning and weeping coming from his room. Immediately concerned, I decided to sneak in and check on him, trying not to wake him.

It turned out that sneaking wasn't really necessary. As I peered through the darkness into his room, I could fairly plainly see by the light cast from the outside street lights coming through the windows behind his bed. Teddy was lying half-awake in his bed. I could also tell that he was damp with perspiration and appeared to be running a high fever and looked simply miserable.

When he caught sight of me, he called out.

"Mom, is that you?"

My heart just melted. He may be a fully grown 19 year old young man, but all I saw before me was my poor sick baby. His voice sounded so weak and trembling.

"Would you hold me mom? I feel awful!"

How could I refuse my pitiful young man? I climbed into bed next to him, drawing him into my arms, pulling his face to my silky pajama top. I felt him bury his face into my breast. A feeling of complete warmth and a loving motherly protectiveness washed over me as I lay there gently stroking his hair.

At the same time, I also suddenly felt completely dazed, confused, and exhausted seemingly all at once. The fatigue that all through the night had refused to come over me when I was trying to fall asleep all at once completely caught up and overtook me. I almost immediately fell into a semi-sleep and semi-awake state. I closed my eyes, and completely let go.

I have no idea how much time actually passed between laying down and when I suddenly became aware that Teddy had begun nursing on me.

It was almost as if he was a baby all over again, and I was holding him as he nursed. But he most definitely was not an infant anymore.

Still feeling dazed and confused, I gazed down at him, still not completely sure if I was awake or dreaming. His eyes were wide open and aware, and immediately met mine as I looked down at him. My silk pajama top was utterly soaked through with his saliva, and he was alternately sucking fairly hard at my nipple, then running his tongue all over it. It wasn't so much the way a baby would nurse, but rather more like the way a lover would tease and stimulate during foreplay. In fact, it was exactly the way I liked having my very sensitive nipples played with, and it had been some time since they had been so pleasantly teased. I was completely confused, and found myself a bit shocked that I felt my body beginning to respond to this stimulus.

"What...?" I started to ask.

Teddy lifted up from my breast just long enough to reply a calming, "Shhhh...it's OK. You're just having a dream."

"A dream? What? Is this really a dream?" I thought to myself, trying to make sense of the crazy and seemingly surreal situation.

As I tried to clear my muddled thoughts, Teddy suddenly reached up, and with his right hand deftly unbuttoned one of the buttons on my pajama shirt. I couldn't really comprehend what was happening. It really did feel like I was having a dream. Next, he slid the shirt over to the left, exposing my left breast.

Still confused, I looked down at the hardened pink nipple that had just come into view. Immediately, the nipple disappeared back into Teddy's eager mouth as he resumed firmly and urgently sucking it. Only now, there was no pajama shirt between his swirly tongue and my now achingly erect nipple.