"Zoe!" Sierra pouted, staring up at her friend in annoyance, stomping one sleeper-clad foot. "You hafta promise!"

Zoe giggled. "But you're so cute like this! Why would I want to help you get out of it?"

Sierra's stomach twisted, and, briefly, she wondered why she'd thought this was a good idea. Of all the people she could have asked to help her, why had she gone with Zoe? It did help that she already knew about Sierra's magic, and about at least some of Sierra's history with Santa, so she didn't have to do as much explaining as she might have with other people.

On the other hand, she actually like wearing diapers, and acting like a baby, and she'd made it clear in the past that she liked to have Sierra do the same. She should have known that letting her know that she'd been trapped as a toddler for a year wasn't going to end well for her.

And she'd really had to beg Nellie to let her invite Zoe over in the first place, finally winning her over when she mentioned it was Zoe's birthday, and obviously she couldn't exactly go celebrate with her like normal. Nellie didn't like having anyone over unless she needed them for some reason, whether that was to entertain her, or look after Sierra during the day, when, as a vampire, she wasn't able to as easily. Sierra had made her promise not to feed on Zoe, and that she wouldn't tell Zoe about her true identity.

Of course, that did make it a bit awkward to explain why Sierra was staying here with her, seemingly alone. "Her mother is out of town for the weekend," she'd finally settled on for a reason. "So you're kind of babysitting both of us. But she's that age where she doesn't like to think she needs a sitter, so you don't have to do anything for her. Or, you know, mention that that's why you're here."

After all that work, finding a way to satisfy both of them, it was starting to seem like it had all been for nothing. Well, not nothing, exactly. She was getting to celebrate Zoe's birthday, which would be nice. It was just too bad she wasn't going to get to do it as an adult.

"Oh, don't look so sad," Zoe shook her head, adjusting the zipper on Sierra's sleeper. "I was only teasing."

"Wait," Sierra felt a smile slowly spreading across her face. "You will?"

"Yeah, of course," Zoe nodded. "You are cute, but the rest of the year is a long time for you to stay this way."

"Thank you!" Sierra wrapped her tiny arms around Zoe's leg. "I owe you, big time!"

"Definitely," Zoe agreed. "Especially since you're making me do this the night before my birthday. But don't worry, I'll find a way for you to repay me." She winked, but Sierra had a feeling she wasn't entirely joking about that. Still, as long as she was an adult again, she could probably deal with it. Then again, it would be easier if she had her wand, too, but that was going to be even more difficult to pull off.

When her attempt to get a wish from a leprechaun had failed, the Easter Bunny had seemed like the most logical next person to go to for help. Assuming, of course, that it was real. That part, she wasn't so sure about. Santa very obviously was, and she'd learned about plenty of other magical creatures during her time at school, but that was one she still wasn't clear on, and she wasn't exactly in a good position to do any research, since Nellie had glamoured away her ability to read.

If it did exist, it was obviously magical, and, maybe, with some luck, she could talk it into helping. Unfortunately, she only had one shot at it, and her attempts at staying up over the past few days to see if she could wait for its arrival had failed miserably, which was why she'd had to go to Zoe for help.

She had felt very silly, sitting there in the princess dress Nellie had dressed her up in when Zoe had first arrived for the day, and her soggy diaper, telling Zoe all about it. "Do you really think the Easter Bunny exists?" she'd asked, eyes wide.

"Maybe," was the best Sierra could say, but she did have hope.

"So," Zoe said now, "what's the plan? We just stay up all night?"

"W-We can try," Sierra told her. Unfortunately, she'd grown very used to taking naps, and being put to bed very early, so she wasn't sure that was something she was capable of. It wasn't fair to expect Zoe to do it if she wasn't going to, though. Besides, she didn't know how much of a window they'd get with the Easter Bunny, and if it would help if Zoe talked to it alone, without Sierra to give it all the details, and she didn't want to make it wait for her to wake up.

"Hmm," Zoe pursed her lips for a moment. "Good thing I brought my candy!"

They had as much of a sleepover as they were able to, given the circumstances, munching on candy and chatting, Zoe having nearly as much fun as Nellie did looking through the closet at all the babyish clothes the vampire had bought to dress Sierra up in.

"I am so jealous," Zoe told her, shaking her head. "They make all the really cute clothes for actual babies, like you."

"You have some..." Sierra's words were cut off with a huge yawn she couldn't quite suppress, making her blush and shake her head, not quite able to recover afterwards. "What was I saying?"

"You look sleepy," Zoe said. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I can do it!" Sierra insisted. "We're doing this for me!" She closed her eyes, trying to center herself, then almost nodded off. "No!" she pouted, eyes snapping open. "Y-You have some cute clothes, too!" she blurted out, finally recalling what she'd been about to say.

"How long has it been since you've been allowed to stay up this late?" Zoe asked.

Sierra stared up at the clock, even though it didn't make any sense to her anymore, that bit of knowledge hidden away from her, too, thanks to Nellie. "What time is it?"

"What's wrong?" Zoe frowned. "Do you need glasses? The clock's right there, silly!"

"Oh, right," Sierra blushed, pretending she just hadn't noticed it. "I-It's been a while."

"Hey, speaking of, should I be checking on that Nellie girl?" Zoe asked. "I didn't even think to check if she'd eaten dinner. And do I need to make sure she's in bed by a certain time?"

"Don't worry," Sierra told her. "I'm sure she took care of that herself." Probably, she was doing that right now, actually, judging by how dark it was outside the window.

Zoe shrugged. "If you say so. You know, if you want to go to sleep, I can do this myself."

"No!" Sierra shook her head. "You don't have to do that! It's your birthday!"

After a few more minutes, however, Zoe picked Sierra up, after she almost nodded off mid-sentence again, and tucked her into the crib, the regressed witch only able to kick her feet uselessly to try to stop her. "No, I'm fine!" she insisted, as Zoe pulled the blanket up over her.

"Just take a little nap," Zoe said. "I'll get you up in a little bit, okay?"

"I-I'm not even sleepy," Sierra yawned, but, almost before she finished speaking, as Zoe slipped a pacifier into her mouth, she was fast asleep.

She expected to feel a shake before long to holt her back awake. Instead, when she slowly yawned and stretched, the sunshine was leaking through the closed curtains, and Zoe was curled up on top of her sleeping bag beside the crib, thumb in her mouth.

"Zoe!" Sierra's stomach lurched, realizing that it was the next morning, and they'd missed their chance. She looked down at herself, then clambered to her feet, just to verify that she hadn't gotten any bigger. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she reminded herself that it wasn't her friend's fault, really. Sierra hadn't been able to do it, either, and she had much more to gain from staying up.

"Huh?" Zoe sat up drowsily, looking around. "Is it here?" It took her a moment to figure out what had happened. "Oh, Sierra, I'm sorry! I tried, I really did, but I just had to rest for a second, and I guess it turned out to be more than a second."

"It's okay," Sierra tried not to sound disappointed. "Thanks for trying, anyway. I can't be mad at you. It's your birthday! Happy birthday!"

"Aww, thank you," Zoe smiled, though she still looked sad. "I did try, Sierra. I guess it's been a while since I was up that late, either."

"I know," Sierra nodded. "I-I'll figure something else out."

She couldn't think of any other times when a supernatural creature would conveniently come right to her, but there had to be other alternatives. There were some she definitely didn't want to deal with, though, if it came down to that or spending another eight months in diapers, she supposed she might just have to bite the bullet.

And then, the door swung open, and Nellie burst in. "Sierra, you are not going to believe what happened!" she exclaimed. "There was a note on the coffee table, to you, from the Easter Bunny!"

"What?!" Sierra's eyes widened, staring up at the vampire from behind the bars of her crib, hardly able to believe it. Had the bunny heard about her plight, and decided to take pity on her. "What does it say?!"

"What's wrong, Sierra?" Nellie smirked. "Don't you want to read it yourself?"

Sierra blushed, seeing what the girl was doing. It had been bad enough having to tell Zoe that she was a two year old again, she didn't want to admit everything else she'd lost. But Nellie wanted to see her do it.

"I'll do it!" Zoe luckily saved the day, snatching the note out of Nellie's hands. "'Dear Sierra, I heard you needed my help, but I didn't want to wake you. I've cast a spell that will return you to normal, but it was too dangerous to do in your sleep, so I've hidden the pieces of it around your house. Be quick, though! If you don't find all the pieces before nine a.m., the magic will fade. Love, The Easter Bunny.'"

"Really?!" Sierra bounced in place, beaming.

"That's what it says," Nellie nodded. "But first, I bet you need a change."

Nellie picked her up out of the crib, carrying her over to the changing table, as Sierra tried to break free. "Nellie, we hafta hurry!" she whined, as the girl unsnapped her sleeper for her.

"This isn't so important that we can have you leaking all over the house," she said. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Do you want me to do it?" Zoe offered.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Nellie winked. "I'm used to it."

Zoe, still thinking she was the babysitter, shrugged. "Sure. I can take care of my own change, then."

"Come on, Nellie, hurry!" Sierra squirmed impatiently. "I don't even know what I'm looking for exactly, yet!"

But Nellie was taking her time, and, infuriatingly, decided to tape on a second diaper over the first, pushing Sierra's legs even further apart. "Nellie!" Sierra fumed. "This isn't fair! I hafta find all those pieces of the spell! This is going to make it even harder!"

"No," Nellie told her. "It'll make it more challenging."

"This isn't one of your games," Sierra sulked, while Nellie taped on the second diaper, following it up with a pink onesie with a bunny tail on the back, and a bunny ear headband. "This is important!"

"I'd hate for it to be too easy," Nellie said. "I don't want to lose my sweet little baby sister."

"D-Does that mean you aren't going to help?" Sierra stared up at her nervously, the vampire shaking her head. "Nellie! I wanna be a big girl again! Please!"

"What if I'm not done with you as a little girl?" Nellie asked.

"It's okay, Sierra," Zoe stepped over, looking very cute herself in her lacy, yellow Easter dress. "I'll help you." She picked Sierra up off the changing table, setting her down on the floor, the toddler nearly losing her balance as she tried to get used to the bulk of her double diaper, very glad Zoe took her hand, since she wasn't sure she would have made it through the first half of the hallway out to the living room without her help.

"Let's open the curtains so we can see better," Zoe suggested when they arrived.

"Or we can just turn on the lights," Nellie flipped the switch. "That's bright enough, right?"

Sierra nibbled her paci, looking between the two, wondering if Nellie was about to reveal her true nature. Fortunately, Zoe shrugged. "Sure, I think so. So, what do you think we're looking for, Sierra?"

Sierra blushed. "I don't know!"

"But you're a witch!" Zoe reminded her. "Can't you sense the magic?"

Sierra shook her head. "I don't sense anything! Maybe if I was older, I could, but I don't feel anything now!"

"Well," Nellie stepped in. "I don't know for sure, but I don't think this was here yesterday." She stepped forward, reaching behind the TV and picking up a light blue, plastic egg.

"Do you think that could be it, Sierra?" Zoe turned to her. Sierra took the egg from Nellie, holding it and studying it, trying to fumble it open with her tiny fingers.

"It might be," she decided, after failing. "Maybe you can't open them until we have them all."

"All right," Zoe said. "I guess we're going on an Easter egg hunt."

It felt silly, hearing it described that way, but that was what it was, Sierra realized. She blushed, remembering another Easter egg hunt she'd been on with Zoe, that had ended pretty poorly for her. She could only hope this one turned out a little better.

Of course, her regressed state didn't do her many favors. She could see the eggs the bunny had left under things, and on low shelves, but that was about it, and her double diaper made it difficult to get to even them. Part of her was glad she couldn't read any of the clocks, to know exactly how little time she had, though she knew it was definitely ticking away as she toddled from egg to egg, gathering them up in a basket that Nellie had helpfully handed to her, the one nice thing she'd contributed before sitting and watching it all.

"Got one!" Zoe declared, plucking a pink one from the top of a shelf of knick-knacks.

"Why would he put it all the way up there?" Sierra whined, almost feeling nauseous at the thought of trying to get that one herself, as if she'd ever even be able to notice it from all the way down on the floor. It was hard to imagine being up high enough to grab it!

"Maybe he wants you to stay a cute little baby, too," Nellie mocked from her chair.

"Then why would he have helped at all?" Sierra glared at her, stomping her foot.

"Just concentrate on what you're doing, Sierra," Zoe patted her on the head. "Don't let her get to you."

Sierra sniffled, nodded, and went back to her hunt. Zoe paused, turning to Nellie. "Don't you see how much this means to her?" she shook her head. "Are you really not going to help? She is cute, but I promise, she's almost as cute when she's full size, as long as you keep her in diapers."

"Hey!" Sierra shot her a dirty look.

"Oh, I know," Nellie smirked, Sierra blushing at the confused look on Zoe's face. "But I think if she really wants this, she ought to earn it herself."

"Well," Zoe took a step closer to Nellie, "I think that, as your babys..."

"Zoe!" Sierra nearly fell over her own feet as she scrambled over to Zoe to grab her hand and try to hold her back, worried about what Nellie might do if she heard Zoe thought she was babysitting her, too. "It's okay! We can do it, just the two of us! She doesn't have to help if she doesn't want to!"

Zoe glared at Nellie for a moment, then nodded. "If you say so, Sierra."

Sierra's basket was almost full by the time they were done, and, with the last few Zoe had picked up from the higher places in the room, it nearly overflowed when she dropped them in. "This has to be it, right?" Sierra asked, looking around the room. "I don't see any more."

"Me, neither," Zoe confirmed. "Let me look some more, and you start seeing if you can figure out the spell."

Sierra plopped down on the floor, glad she didn't have to try to walk in her double diapers any more, though there was quite the squish when her bottom landed on the padding. She picked up an egg, trying with all her toddler strength to pry it apart. Finally, it split, and... nothing happened.

"That's okay," she muttered to herself. "I bet I have to open all of them."

She went through the basket, one by one, opening egg after egg, squirming in excitement, praying that she wasn't too late, a whole field of empty eggs slowly growing around her as she set them aside. Finally, she reached the last one, her hands shaking and sweating as she picked it up. "Wh-What time is it, Nellie?" she asked, not having wanted to know until now how close she'd been to failing.

"You have about five minutes," Nellie informed her.

She was cutting it close, but she was used to that. Sierra nearly dropped the egg in her excitement, her sweaty hands having a hard time keeping a hold of it, and grasping it hard enough for her to split it in two, but, after a moment, she did it, and, again, nothing happened.

"That wasn't five minutes, was it?" Sierra sniffed, looking around the room. Had they missed one?!

And that was when she spotted Zoe, standing on the other side of the room, one hand closed around something. She could only see a hint of it between the girl's fingers, but it definitely looked like a nice, pastel color, like the rest of the eggs.

"Zoe!" she scrambled to her feet, really regretting how she'd placed the eggs now as she tried to find a way to walk through them all without stepping on them, her extra thick diapers only making it more difficult. "Zoe, is that another egg?"

Zoe paused, looking down at Sierra, and, for a moment, Sierra's heart sank. Was she really going to keep that one for herself, and keep Sierra from getting to grow up again?! Sierra could see her doing that, but surely she wouldn't, not after everything she'd said to Nellie!

And then, a second later, Zoe nodded, tossing the egg to Sierra. "There you go! I think that really is it this time!"

Sierra breathed a sigh of relief, cracking open that one, last egg, eyes closing almost involuntarily as she waited to feel the tickle of magic on her as her body grew back to its normal size, resolving to never complain about that size ever again after spending so long this much smaller.

But, when she opened her eyes again, nothing was any different. "No!" she pounded her hands on the floor. "We missed one! And we looked everywhere! D-Do we have time to find it?"

Nellie snickered, then burst into full-blown laughter. "You really don't get it, do you? What a dumb baby!" She shook her head. "That note wasn't from the Easter Bunny! The Easter Bunny isn't even real! I can't believe you think it is! I overheard you talking on the baby monitor last night, and I just had to mess with you. I wrote the note, and I hid these eggs, so I could watch you try to find them! It was a pretty good game, if I... Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"

Just as Sierra could feel the anger building up in her, about to explode into a tantrum, since that was all she could do about it, Zoe stepped forward, grabbing Nellie by the wrist and yanking her out of her chair, sitting down in it herself, pulling the girl over her lap. It had all happened so quickly, she wasn't able to look Zoe in her eyes, couldn't use her glamour.

"Don't you dare!" Nellie kicked her legs. "You have no right to do this to me!"

"That was very, very mean, young lady!" Zoe scolded her, giving the vampire a smack on her wiggling backside. "You deserve this, you little brat!"

Sierra watched, worried at first, but, despite her true age, Nellie folded before the spanking like the child she appeared to be, very quickly reduced to tears as Zoe paddled her bottom, giving her the punishment she'd been needing for probably a few decades, at least. Sierra should have known this was one of the games the girl loved to play, and it didn't completely soothe her after letting her hopes get so high, only to have them crash down, but it was still very satisfying to get to watch from her place on the floor.

Nellie was sent to the corner afterwards, blubbering and rubbing her backside. Sierra went back to her nursery with Zoe to help her pack up, since she had other birthday plans to get to. "Thank you," Sierra told her, giving her a big hug.

"You're welcome," Zoe smiled. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"No, it's okay," Sierra promised. "We did the best we could."

"Are you sure you two are going to be okay until her mom gets home?" Zoe asked. "Maybe I should stick around to explain..."

"It's fine," Sierra told her, since, of course, Nellie's mother wasn't around to get home at all, if she was even still alive. "Nellie's old enough to look after me during the day by herself, it's just overnight, you know. And I promise, she won't be mad about a little spanking."

"If you say so," Zoe shrugged. "Happy Easter, Sierra. I had fun, despite everything."

"Me, too," Sierra said. "Happy Birthday, Zoe!"

Sierra followed Zoe to the door, making sure that Nellie didn't try anything for revenge. She was still sulking in the corner, fortunately. "Do you have any more messages from the Easter Bunny?" Sierra teased, after watching Zoe's car pull away.

"Yeah," Nellie pouted. "He says you're a dumb baby."

"Okay," Sierra shrugged, not nearly as bothered by the girl's teasing now that she'd seen her get spanked. "Have fun picking up all these eggs!" She toddled back to her nursery happily, feeling like, for once, even without getting her real age back, she had, in some tiny way, won.