Chapter 19
COLT
Well, I wanted my little firecracker back, and I sure as hell got her.
Unfortunately for her, swearing at her Daddy isn’t the kind of wild, spontaneous behavior I can allow.
Turning away from my wide-eyed family, I carry Tabby toward the stairs.
“No!” Just like an actual toddler, she wriggles and writhes in my arms, trying to escape my hold. “I don’t wanna go to my nursery!”
Spending the morning in an extended timeout should be the least of her worries, but clearly she hasn’t caught on to how much trouble she’s in.
“Then you should have listened to Daddy. You could be getting dressed to go play with your cousins, but instead you’ll be spending the morning with a soapy mouth and a sore bottom. ”
At that, she goes still, her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling. “But I don’t wanna spankin’!”
“I’m sure you don’t. But you are getting one anyway. Swearing at Daddy like that was a very naughty thing to do.”
Tears sparkle in her eyes. “I was upset.”
By now we’ve reached her nursery, so I carry her into the bathroom and sit her on the vanity countertop. Gripping her chin, I tilt her head back so she’s forced to look me in the eye. I want her to see that I mean every word of what I’m about to say.
“I understand you were disappointed about not being allowed to wear one of your pretty dresses to go play outside. But sometimes Little girls have to accept that Daddy only wants what’s best for them in the long run, even if it isn’t what they want in the moment.
Do you understand what I’m saying, baby? ”
“I guess so,” she grumbles, clearly still unhappy with this morning’s events.
“I know you’re upset right now, but think about how upset you’d be if your dress got a stain on it that we couldn’t get out. Or if you tore it and we had to send it away to be fixed.”
The stubbornness I sensed in her earlier comes flaring back to life. “It wouldn’t! I woulda been so careful!”
“I’m sure you would have tried really hard to be careful. But Little girls can get caught up in their games and forget to be careful. And wouldn’t you be so very sad if that happened and your pretty dresses all got ruined?”
Shoulders slumping, she sniffles quietly. “Yes, Daddy.”
“So the next time Daddy tells you no about something, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll listen,” she says with a dramatic sigh.
Fucking adorable.
Leaning forward, I press a kiss to her forehead. “That’s my good girl. Now, I’m going to tell you something and I want you to listen very, very carefully. Okay?”
Eyes widening slightly, she nods. “Okay, Daddy.”
“Daddy’s going to punish you, but I want to be very clear that I am not punishing you for wanting to wear your pretty dresses. I am punishing you because you didn’t listen to Daddy and because you called Daddy a rude name. Do you understand the difference?”
Her brow wrinkles adorably as she thinks it over. “I think so…”
“You can always tell Daddy when you want something. Sometimes the answer might be no, and if you argue too much you will probably get your bottom spanked, especially if you get a bad attitude about it. But Daddy will never, ever punish you just for asking.”
There’s a glint of something in her eyes that says she doesn’t quite believe me, but she nods anyway. “Okay.”
“Good girl. Daddy’s going to wash your mouth out with soap to get rid of any yucky words that might still be hiding in there and then you’re going over Daddy’s knee for a spanking to remind you to be kind even when you disagree with people.
If you want to go out and play with your cousins after your punishment, you can, but you have to wear your play clothes. ”
“Do you think they’ll still wanna play with me?”
Goddamn, my heart feels like it’s about to shatter into a million pieces right in the palm of her hand. “Of course they will, baby. No amount of naughtiness will change how much your family loves you.”
Again I’m left with the impression that she doesn’t believe me even though she nods in agreement.
“All right. Daddy’s going to get the soap now. Are you going to be a good girl and take your punishment or do I need to get one of your uncles up here to help me?”
“No, Daddy, I’ll be good.” She opens her mouth, as if to say something else, but then snaps it closed again.
“What is it, baby?”
“Nothing.”
“Tabitha. Do you remember what happened at Utopia when you wouldn’t tell Daddy which store you wanted to go in?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then you know Daddy doesn’t like it when you don’t tell him things. Tell me what you want.”
Pink colors her cheeks and she shifts uncomfortably on the vanity. “It’s not important, it’s just… Can I have a pacifier after my spanking?”
A sense of pride wells in my chest. “Of course you can, baby. And Daddy is so very proud of you for asking.”
Her eyes light up at my praise. “You are?”
“Very proud. But you’re still getting that naughty mouth washed out with soap.”
Tabitha
My tummy is a churning mess of emotions. On the one hand, I’m terrified of the punishment coming my way. But on the other hand, I’m proud of myself for not just giving in and being a good girl right away.
And on the other, other hand is more fear. Fear that Daddy and the others are lying when they say that no amount of naughtiness will make them stop loving me. Everyone, in my experience, has a breaking point.
What will it take for them to reach theirs?
I don’t have long to go down that mental rabbit hole, however, before Daddy is unwrapping a bar of soap and running it beneath the water in the sink. When it’s nice and sudsy, he holds it in front of my face and I inhale the sharp, acrid scent that already has me wanting to gag.
“Open up, little one.”
No! I want to scream it at him, to refuse with everything I have in me. The problem is, I don’t really have anything left to fight with. I’m pretty sure I used up whatever bravery I have in me when I argued with him about wearing one of my dresses.
So even though I don’t want to, I force my lips to part. But just like when I was going to give him a blowjob, Daddy chuckles at my attempt.
“Wider, Tabitha Grace. You need to take at least half this bar in your mouth.”
Groaning, I open my mouth even wider. Daddy pushes the bar between my teeth and the disgusting taste of soap coats my tongue.
“You are going to hold that there for one minute. And every time you use a grown-up word, Daddy will add another minute to your punishment. Understood?”
Unable to speak around the bar in my mouth, I nod, widening my eyes to silently plead with him to take it out before the minute is up.
To my dismay, he pulls his phone from his pocket instead and sets a timer.
Putting the phone aside, out of my line of sight, Daddy folds his arms and pins me with a hard stare.
“Little girls do not use words like ‘asshole’ in this house, Tabitha Grace. There are plenty of other ways to express your feelings without using grown-up language. I don’t expect you to be perfect, but I do expect you to be respectful, and part of being a sweet, respectful, polite Little girl is not using those words. Nod if you understand me.”
I understand. It isn’t fair, considering I’ve heard the “adults” in the house say far worse than what I said. But I do understand that he doesn’t want me to use those words, unfair as it might be, so I nod vigorously, praying my enthusiastic agreement will earn me some leniency.
It does not.
For a full sixty seconds, I sit on the counter, trying and failing miserably to keep my tongue from brushing against the disgusting soap.
By the time the timer goes off, tears are streaming down my cheeks and I’ve silently vowed to myself no less than a dozen times to never, ever use another “grown-up” word again.
“Here you go, little one.” Pulling the soap from my mouth, Daddy hands me a cup of water. “Use this to rinse your mouth and then it’s time for your spanking.”
Desperate to rid myself of the burning, acrid taste, I rinse and rinse and rinse until it’s mostly gone. The taste lingers, though, and I have a feeling it will stay with me for a long while.
Sniffling against my tears, I hand the cup back to Daddy. “I’m sorry I was so naughty.”
“You weren’t so very naughty, little firecracker.
It’s natural for Little girls to need to test their boundaries and a good Daddy understands that.
” Plucking me off the counter, he settles me on his hip and carries me into the nursery, where he sits on the oversized chair in the corner and flips me over his lap.
“And a very good Daddy makes sure to reinforce those boundaries with rewards and punishments.”
With that, he strips my diaper from me and swats my bare bottom, all in one breathtakingly fast move. Over and over his hand falls, scorching every inch of exposed skin.
“Owie, owie, Daddy, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
To my surprise, the spanking ends there.
Daddy sits me up on his lap, cuddling me close.
Seemingly from thin air, he produces a pacifier decorated with pink rhinestones and pops it into my mouth.
Closing my eyes, I snuggle into his embrace, letting the sucking of the pacifier soothe the lingering ache in my chest.
“You’re a very good girl, Tabby. But even when you’re naughty, Daddy will always be here.”
Cuddled in his arms like this, I can almost believe him.
Almost.
We sit like that for a long time, with Daddy rocking me gently as I suck my pacifier, until the burn in my bottom fades to nothing more than a memory. “Are you ready to go pick out some play clothes to wear outside?” he asks softly once my sniffles have stopped.
I hesitate for a moment, then nod. Part of me wants to stay cuddled up in his arms forever, but the more pressing part of me really wants to go play with my new cousins.
Daddy rises from the chair with me still cradled in his arms and carries me to his bedroom, where all the boxes from downstairs have been stacked.
Someone has laid all of my play clothes out on the bed, and Daddy picks up a pair of denim overalls covered in pretty embroidered flowers.
“I know it’s not as pretty as your dresses, but they’re still very cute. What do you think?”
Out of all the choices in front of me, they are the prettiest, so I nod.
“Perfect,” Daddy declares, setting the overalls aside. “Which shirt do you want to wear with them?”
Pulling hard on the rubber tip between my teeth, I scan my options carefully before pointing to a long-sleeved shirt covered in flowers that almost match the ones on my overalls.
“I think that’s a perfect match. Let’s get you dressed so you can go outside and play for a bit before lunch.”
He makes quick work of wrapping me in a fresh diaper and putting me in my new clothes before brushing and braiding my hair. Once I’m dressed, he shows me my reflection in the floor-length mirror in my nursery and I have to admit I do actually look kinda cute.
Not as cute as I looked in my fluffy princess dress, but cute enough.
Still sucking on my pacifier, I look up at him and nod, and he must understand that I'm telling him I’m happy with the outfit because he immediately scoops me up and heads out the door.
“When we’re outside, you don’t go anywhere Daddy or another grown-up can’t see you,” he lectures as we make our way downstairs. “No touching any of the vehicles, and no climbing trees. If Daddy catches you doing anything dangerous, you won’t sit comfortably the rest of the day. Understood?”
I nod again, my excitement at going outside to play growing the closer we get to the front door. Daddy opens the door and pauses, sticking his arm outside, reminding me of the way he checks the water in the tub.
“Hmmm. It’s not too cold, so you should be fine in just the shirt. But if you start feeling chilly, you let Daddy know so we can get you a jacket, okay?”
Another nod, and I wriggle my butt, hoping he’ll get the hint and put me down. He does with a loud laugh, setting me on my feet and sending me out the door with a swat to my diaper-covered bottom.
I step out onto the front porch and gasp at the expanse of land that greets me. It seems to go on for miles and miles, with no one else around, giving the impression we’re the only people left in the world.
A loud shriek draws my attention to my right, where Lanie and Josie are climbing on an elaborate swingset that looks like a giant castle while Uncle Axel watches them with an eagle eye. I hesitate, looking back at Daddy for reassurance.
Grinning down at me, he nudges me forward. “Go on, little one. Go play.”
I take a tentative step down the front stairs, and then another. And before I know it, I’m running across the yard, straight toward my friends.
And even though my bottom still stings and the taste of soap lingers on my tongue, I’ve never felt more free.