PART TWO OF TWO PARTS:

Brad quit the house like it was on fire.  “Brad!...no!..don’t! ...wait...come back...” followed him down the stairs. He made it to the stair landing and then jumped over the banister to the floor below and boom out the kitchen door. Gone.  All he could see was Lynn falling on the floor. He knew somehow she wasn’t hurt badly. Choke. That thought made him stumble in his head long race into the woods to...anywhere but here. He’d really fucked up this time. The cops will be looking for him soon. There will be helicopters and dogs and ATV’s shit...shit..shit...His adolescent mind spun horrific scenarios,.panic ran the show now, so he just ran and ran.

Lynn got up and tried to run after him, but he was out of sight by the time she made the back porch. Grabbing the cell phone she dialed Jake. That wonderful deep calm voice answered on the other end.

"Hello? "

Thank heavens you're there. "Jake where are you?"

"Lynn? Baby, what's wrong?"

"Where are you, Joke! "

"I’m about 10 miles from the ranch. What's going on?"

She told him all about it in record time, clearly, calmly. Volunteer work for the local emergency had it's rewards.

"Jake, I’m so worried. I know he didn’t mean it. I know it."

"Hush, baby. I’ll find him. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I’m fine, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything to me. I think it was just reflex. I just lost my balance.  God, it’s starting to rain. He’ll get lost out there. I don’t even know what way he went. Oh, Jake, you should have seen his face." <Sob> She was crying now.

"Hush! Aw, Lynn. We’ll find our boy. Just stay by the phone, baby, okay?"

<Sob> "Okay" <Sob> <Sob> <Click>

 “Gotta keep move’n.”  On the run again he ended up in a blind run down a hill...a steep one. Right out in front of a truck.  The truck screeched to a stop just as he braced his hands out. He felt the hood. He looked up at the driver. Right into eagle colored eyes. Oh, shit.

"Oh, shit," Jake cussed just as he spied a figure hurtling down the embankment right in front of the truck. He slammed on the brakes. The F-350 stopped just short of the wet kid who was staring at him with his hands braced on the hood. Literally Bambi caught in headlights.

They stared at each other for mere seconds before Brad took off at a dead run.

"Bradley, get back here..!!!!" Jake yelled out the window. He pulled the truck off the road and gave chase. Brad may have had a head start but the way he crashed though the trees he was easy for Jake to follow. Years of growing up and hunting in these woods gave Jake a distinct advantage even over Brad's youth and speed.

Speed! ”Damn that boy must be half jack rabbit." Jake was hard pressed to follow. Brad ducked, dodged, and jumped around, under and over logs and low branches at full throttle even in the darkening forest.

"Fuck!  Fuck! Shit!"  Brad could hear Jake not far behind as he ran head long into the woods, branches slapped and grabbed him, tore at his face and clothes like they, too, were out to get him. He knew his feet were flying, he could feel it. More than once he nearly went down. Sheer determination and will...no plain fear is what drove his flight. Fear of the man behind him and what would happen should he get caught. Thinking about that nearly cost him as he plunged in a small stream. The slippery rocks conspired against him as he groped to remain upright and moving.

"Goddamnit," Jake cussed and sent a look of apology skyward. “Man, that kid is fast.”

Jake had lost sight of the boy.  Frustration and fear of losing the kid building, then he heard Brad splash through the creek. He stopped. Echo Creek. They must be at Echo Creek. Jake took off to the left, he knew this area very well and if Brad was at the creek he now had every chance of cutting him off just ahead. That knowledge spurred his own feet to fly.

Wet through and through and legs that felt like lead now, Brad's flight was now a fight to breath and keep his legs pumping. He didn’t hear Jake anymore only the storm and his own labored breathing. Flashes of lightning gave eerie strobe effects to the terrain. It was dark now and it slowed him some trying to keep from slipping on the wet ground.   It was in a flash that he got a momentary glimpse of a dark form leaping at him just before he was
slammed to the ground by something heavy. The wind rushed out of him in a strangled yelp.

Pure adrenaline coursed through him as he struggled and thrashed to get up and away from the strong arms that held him immobile.

"Bradley, stop it. Now! No more running! Just take it easy."

Oh, shit. No! Jake! Jake caught him. Bradley’s struggles increased.

Bradley found himself pinned on his back and Jake's face just inches from his own. A more stern look on a man's face he had never seen. That eerie light only added to Jake’s fierce countenance. Fear, real fear lanced trough the boy.  Anger born of that fear rose in him hot.

"Leme’go, fucker ,leave me alone, asshole. Get off of me!   Fucker!"

Brad bucked hard and was able to roll out from under his foster father and make it to his feet, but that was it. Strong hands attached to steel arms kept him captive. Brad tried kicking, biting, nothing worked.

"God damn it, fucker, leggo a me. Mother fuc...kerrrr," the last came out in a high-pitched wheeze, as Jake squeezed Brad harder.

"Knock it off, Bradley. You're just making it worse for yourself," Jake ground out as Brad got the stuffing shaken out of him.

When Jake stopped shaking him he focused on that face again. Golden eyes held him dead to rights. Leaden limbs, no wind left for fight or flight, Brad admitted defeat and hung his head and waited.

Jake could feel the fight die out of the wet figure before him.  Looking at him he could barely make out the features. Pale in the darkness, two black orbs peered out of a mud- streaked, scratched face.  Dark hair plastered down, only made the face seem more pale.  Great puffs of breath showed in the cold night air as lightning lit the forest.

Jake raised a finger to warn him not to try anything.

Brad felt as much as saw the movement and couldn’t help his reaction. He flinched and covered his head with his arms. "Don’t!!!!!!!I’m sorry!!!!I’m sorry... I didn’t hit her. I didn’t. It was an accident....don’t..." Brad just pleaded, hating himself for it.

Jake just stared at the kid a moment. Utterly taken by surprise by the form cowering before him as the moon peaked out from a cloud just long enough to spot light man and boy.

“Hey.!!" Taking Brad by the shoulders he shook him again.  “Hey! Bradley, shhh...calm down, son."

Brad flinched hard once and went still, head down, eyes closed tightly.

"Brad..?" another hard shake.

Brad made eye contact or what he thought was eye contact in the blackness of the woods.

Jake’s fingers latched onto his chin in a firm but painless touch. "Brad, I have never raised a hand to you, son. Relax. Take a breath. Okay, take another one. Good..that's right breath deep."

Brad began to relax some. Jake continued to coax with that deep voice.  "Better?"

Bradley could only nod. A lump was forming in his throat.

"Okay, let's get home and out of this rain."

Brad opened his mouth to say something; Jake must have sensed it or something.  "Move now.. talk, later."

Gone was the gentle coaxing.

“Home?” he croaked.

Jake collared the back of his neck with a large hand. Directing him towards the abandoned truck.  It took some hiking in the blackness to make it back to the truck. Brad was a wreck. His mind was racing, but his body was spent from the hike in the greasy mud. So he kept very quiet.

Once back at the truck, Jake guided his son up against the side of the bed.  “Stand put."
Then he opened the door and gently lifted a large box and placed in the back seat. Had Brad not been feeling sorry for himself he might have been curious.

Jake then covered the box with a Navajo and grabbed a couple horse blankets out of the truck box, tossed one to the boy and ordered him to wrap it around him.

“Get in,” Jake ordered.

Sitting on the seat wrapped in a cocoon of horse blanket brought back to mind a recent camping trip. After a day of riding, fishing, and swimming the three of them had lain around a fire wrapped up in blankets. Lynn called him her “Burrito Baby” as she tucked him in. A sob nearly escaped him at that sweet memory. He choked it down and concentrated on the buckles of the blanket.  The heater in the truck cab cut the chill.

Once on the road home, Jake made a call to Lynn to let her know Brad had been found.

Jake looked at Brad who had withdrawn into himself.  "Brad, care to tell me your side?"

"No, you wouldn’t believe me. She already told you," Brad said, peevishly.

"I want YOU to tell me, son. Now!"  This was said quietly but there was a definite note of or else in the wings.  Feeling like he now had nothing to lose, taking a deep breath, Brad told him everything. Sneaking off yesterday, getting drunk with Todd and being taken home early this morning, earning him a very dark look, but he continued on to tell Jake about today. That Lynn had just walked in at a bad moment. His voice caught as he told the husband of the woman whom he almost hit about it. Brad couldn’t bring himself to look up at Jake.

About that time they were pulling into the drive.  A prickling sensation traveled down Brad's back. The lights of the house glowed warm and yellow in the yard as they pulled up.
Brad had truly not ever planned on seeing it again.

Jake turned the truck off and shifted in his seat to face the withdrawn boy beside him.

"Brad, you never hit a woman. You don’t hit anyone. Especially in a temper. Do you hear me son?"

Brad just nodded. Looking at his hands.

"Look at me, son. Is that clear?"

Brad swallowed hard and met that stare. "Yeah."

"The correct response is 'yes, sir,'" that voice could have frozen ice.

"Yes, sir," Brad mumbled.

"Okay. Let's go in and get dry. You have some explaining to do. Now."

Brad got out and walked to the house with his foster dad.  Lynn was just walking out of the door when Brad stepped onto the porch.  Brad held her gaze a long moment. His chest felt tight, breathing became difficult, his vision misted. Brad opened his mouth several times to say...what. He couldn’t think of anything to say. Nothing that would fix it.

Lynn watched him work his mouth in hopeless attempts to say something. She reached up for him and grabbed his arms.  "Good Glory, boy! You had worried me to death. Why did you run off like that? Don’t you ever do that again. Now you get your wet caboose in this house now." She sent him in with a firm swat to his butt, wringing out her now wet hand.

"Jake, hon,  you're both drenched. Okay, both of you strip now. I’ll be right back."

Brad looked to Jake.

"You heard her, son. Shuck them clothes." Jake began to rid himself of his soggy garments. Lynn returned with sweats for both. Brad shyly started to undress. Lynn went into the living room so they could finish in semi-private.   Once in warm, dry clothes, Jake indicated to Brad to head into the kitchen. Once there they all sat at the table with hot cups of coffee for the adults and cocoa for Brad.

Silence was thick in the room. Brad could hardly swallow and never looked up at anyone, just studied the patterns of wood in the table. It took the rest of his strength not to hurl himself at Lynn and beg her to hit him, yell at him, anything to stop this guilt.

A chair scraping the wood floor brought his attention to his foster dad's face. Again that fierce look.

"Well, son, it seems to me you have had quite a busy couple of days.  Not what I would call time well spent, mind you.  What do you have to say for yourself?"

Brad continued to study the wood grain of the table. All he could do was shake his head. Finely he looked over to Lynn. "I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to knock you down. Honest,   Lynn." He was real close to tears.

Lynn cupped his hand with her’s, "I know, Bradley. I knew that then, too. But you shouldn’t have run off. You caused me a lot of worry. Your father, too."

"Bradley, I nearly hit you out on the road."

Lynn looked from one to the other.  "What!!!!"

"Damn fool kid ran right out in front of me. I nearly didn’t stop in time. Then Ol’ lickity split here ran off through the woods like a damn jackrabbit."

"Bradley!!!!  What were you thinking?"

“Son, where were you going to go?  By mornin’ you’d have been lost or worst the way you were running."

"What does it matter? You caught me didn’t you," Brad snapped back.

Jake stood up, and both Lynn and Brad watched as he poured another cup of coffee for himself. He took a long sip and looked over the rim the whole time drilling Brad with those golden eyes, one brow arched as if to ask if Brad wanted to keep it up.

Bradley leaned forward and rested his head on the table. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry," he said as he lightly hit his forehead on the table.

"Here, stop that now. Bradley, sit up," Jake ordered. "I know your sorry, but that isn’t enough right now. You're in trouble. Deep.  You told me everything in the truck?"

"Yes, sir."

"Anything more to add?"

"No, sir."

"Fine.  Go on up to your room. Your Mom and I need to talk a moment. Don’t get too comfortable we're not done, yet. Not by a damn sight."

Brad got up slowly and walked up the stairs that just a few hours ago he flew down.  He laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He tossed his baseball up and down to help relieve some tension. He was so tired. He rolled his head over and looked at his closet. Getting up he opened the door. There in with all his new clothes was his duffel. He began to pack it.  Slowly.  Making sure to pack only what he came with.   This is how the Granger’s found him.

"What do you think you're doing, Bradley?"  The question was asked so quietly he jumped.

"I..uh..you might... I thought..."

"No, you haven’t been doing any thinking the way I see it."

Brad stopped stuffing the bag and sat on his bed waiting.

"Well, we have discussed the situation, Brad, and have come to only one conclusion."

Brad felt a heavy dread settling in.  "I’m leaving? "

Jake just shook his head.  "No, son, you're getting your wayward rump tanned."

Brad looked at them like they spoke another language. What did he just say?

"Did you think a few well chosen chores would be all you had to do? What did you think of those? Great hangover remedy."

Brad gave Lynn an accusing glare.

"Better change that look. You're in enough trouble. I don’t think you want to add any more."

"No."

That brow arched again. "Uh, I mean no, sir. "

"That's better."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Your father told you, you're going to be spanked," Lynn said as she stepped closer.

Spanking? What? Were they kidding? Yelled at, lots, there was no doubt. Grounded for sure, but spanked? Oh hell, no!!  Brad’s tough-guy mouth kicked in, again.  "Fuck that, man," Brad said getting up off the bed and standing in front of them.

Lynn reached for him. This time did grab his arm very firmly and propelled him past Jake and into the bathroom.  Brad was taken off guard at the speed and force he was transported.

"Now you'd better watch that snotty mouth of yours, little boy.  Sit!" Lynn snapped as she closed the lid on the john. Brad saw that Jake had followed, and was pointing for him to sit. So he sat, albeit somewhat huffily.

Lynn took a toothbrush and poured some soft soap on the bristles.

This can’t be good, Brad thought.

"Here, brush that foul mouth of yours...now!"

Lynn was usually so even-tempered.  This was so strange to him it had him all flustered and upset. "Lynn, please...I don’t..."

"Bradley, you will do as I say and you will say 'yes, ma'am.' Now brush!"

He took the brush and grudgingly said, "Yes, ma'am."

He put the brush in his mouth and nearly gagged. As he was going to take it out, she grabbed his wrist and kept it in his mouth and began to brush for him. "I said brush."

When he began to brush she began to blast him for cussing, lack of respect.  Once she was sure he had a good mouthful she continued to give him a royal bawling out. His eyes watered from trying not to gag. His mouth burned. Jake had to step away from the door to control himself.  Brad looked so pathetic with that sad, puppy-eyed look and foam dripping down his oh so stubborn chin. When he regained his composer he returned just as Lynn was asking the boy if he could control his language.  Brad emphatically said he could and was allowed to rinse. He jumped up to the sink and stuck his head under the faucet like a man too long in the desert.  He was humbled by the experience. His mouth burned and the taste that lingered was horrible.

"Now, back into your room. We all have some unfinished business."

Jake pulled out a chair by the desk in the corner for Lynn. Lynn sat on the sisal rope chair pad and pointed to the bed. Brad sat down on his bed and waited.

"Well, mister, we are going to have a long talk about underage drinking and your disrespect for our rules here, and that running away tonight was not the way to deal with anything.  Then you are going to be reminded that you are underage and under our authority here by being soundly spanked, young man," Jake said as he stood by Lynn with arms crossed and a stern look on his face.  For the better part of an hour Bradley listened to both of his foster parents lecture him. Tell him that there will be some changes made in his attitude, language, no friends for a month, no phone for three weeks, no TV for two weeks, and tons of unpleasant chores. His muscles ached already at the thought.

Not once did either raise their voice to yell at him, but Jake's deep voice did more than any yelling could. Bradley did a lot of 'yes, sir’s,' and 'ma'am’s.

"All right, son. I don’t see any reason to put this off any longer. It’s been a long day for all of us. So let's just get it done. "

Lynn got up from the chair and Jake sat down and looked expectantly at his son who just stared at them. Wide eyed, there was no way to hide the fear and resentment displayed on his young face.  "NO!!!!! I won’t let you fucking hit me. You got no right.”

Brad came off the bed hands in tight fists and ready to defend himself.

Jake just sighed and shook his head. When he looked at Brad he just looked patiently exasperated, like this was what he expected. He, too, stood up and walked the short distance to the kid.  Brad took an involuntary step back, just one and then stood his ground.

Placing hands on Brad’s shoulders, Jake said, "Son, and you are my son, that is what right I have. Your mother and I have the right and responsibility to see that you do right and when you don’t it’s our job to correct you. Like right now, if you continue to cuss, I’LL be the one to clean out your mouth. And if I do, it will be a whole bar of soap this time."

Jake dropped his hands from the kid's shoulders. "When you moved in, didn’t you say you wanted to be treated like family. That you wanted us to be like a real family. Or was that just a line of crap?"

That hit a mark. Brad’s face said so. His tough guy bravado was cracking under the conflicting emotions.

"Well, were you, Bradley? "

He felt hurt and angry that Jake would think that. That conversation then was very emotional for him and he had truly meant it and still did.  "Yes, I meant it," Brad said quietly.

"Well, if you were born into this family you would get punished for drinking and taking off like that and a spanking is how you would be punished. Not HIT or BEAT, but spanked, in private, at home. Lynn and I won’t bust you one in public." Jake could see he was tying to think this out.

"You can rest assured that Todd got his butt toasted this morning, if not last night," Lynn chimed in. "Do you think there is something wrong with his relationship with his folks, Brad?" With that she said she was going to leave them to talk. She had to warm up dinner. She left Brad alone with Jake thinking about what she had said.

Todd had a great dad. Brad at first envied Todd’s closeness to his dad, but as he got more comfortable with Jake he felt the fluttering of a similar bond growing. No. Todd often spoke of getting “it” now and again. Never hinting at abuse.

"Bradley, there is no discussion about this. You made a bad  choice last night and this is the consequence of that choice. Now, let's get it over with."

Jake reached out again, "C’mon. "

Brad let himself be pulled to Jake's side. He was so confused, everything his foster parents said was true, but to surrender to this, to be... " No!!!! I..I can’t.."

Brad jerked away from Jake. Wildly looking for a way out.

"Oh, no you don’t, little man," Jake said grabbing a hold of him and in one swift movement sat and placed a struggling boy across his lap.

"You might not. But I can. Now settle down, Bradley."

Bradley found himself facing the bedroom carpet, it felt awkward and very scary. His stomach tightened. Jake's arms felt like steel bands around his middle. No give as he tried to break free. Then Jake unexpectedly grabbed his waistband and yanked down his sweats.

"No!!!!don’t!!!!!! "

Before he could protest much more, Jake’s hand came down hard on his still damp jockey clad butt. Hard. It didn’t hurt much at first, but after a few more steady spanks Jake was generating some real heat. SWAT...SWAT...SWAT...SWAT.

Brad bucked and tried to squirm out from the swats, Jake merely trapped Brad’s legs under his own very neatly containing the boy without missing a beat. Lynn tried to drown out as much as she could with running water and starting the wash. She wasn’t afraid to punish the boy herself but felt this first time should be handled by the father and son alone. She had no doubts about Jake's ability to handle the situation. None whatsoever.

Brad resolved himself not to make any noise or cry.

As Jake spanked from time to time he would lecture Brad further on his actions. Still never raising his voice. SWAT..SWAT..SWAT..SWAT..steady and hard.

Brad didn’t cry out, but a whimper or two escaped.  Tears began to build and he felt a kind of panic forming. Like if Jake didn’t stop soon he wouldn't be able to keep from really crying.  Finally, Jake did stop.

"Okay, Bradley, that was the attention getter. I do have your attention, don’t I?"

"Yes"  <sniff> <sniff> SWAT....SWAT..

"What was that?"

"Uh...yes...yes, sir....ouch!"

"That's better. Now you will be punished for sneaking out and drinking."

"No! I’ve had enough. Let me up." <sniff>

"I decide when you have had enough, little man. Not you. And we have only begun. That was just a warm up son," Jake sounded so reasonable, like he should just go and say “okay beat my ass s’more."

Then Jake really turned up the heat. The swats came fast and much harder. Bradley squirmed and bucked hard as he could. Still trying to hold it in. His right arm swung back to deflect the blows but was captured and held back and out of the way.

SWAT..SWAT..SWAT..SWAT..SWAT..SWAT...SWAT...SWAT.

"OUCH!"

SWAT..SWAT

"That’s enough, Jake, .don’t...Jake, no...no more..c’mon...shit...stop... " Brad yelled.

 SWAT..SWAT...SWAT...SWAT...SWAT.

"Fuck, Jake, that hurts. Stop...shit..argh.."

SWAT..SWAT...SWAT.SWAT.

"I’m sorry, but it’s suppose to hurt," Jake’s voice was soft and had a real tint of regret.

"Shit, Jake, no more..stop it..fuck.. "

"Boy, I warned you about that mouth of your’s." Jake laid on some very hard swats punctuating each word. Brad arched and strained, he began to kick as best he could. He wouldn’t be able to take much more as tears were already flooding his eyes.

"Ouch..stop..no more, Jake...Jake..stop...I don’t  want..Owwwwwwaa..I don’t wanna stay anymore..I wanna  leave..stop..It hurt..shit..sorry..sorry..stop.(gasp) don’t .Stop and I’ll go back..kay.." <gasp>

Jake did stop. He could feel the sobs that Brad was holding in. The boy was very close to losing it. He new that the pain was what made Brad try bargaining and he knew pleading would be next.

"Son, you have this coming in spades and you will get the full dose, little man. I am sorry. If you still feel that you want to leave. I will call the social worker, AFTER we are done here."

"No, Jake, please."

Jake picked the beat right back up, but for just a few more swats.  Bradley just lay there trying to regain his composure. When he tried to get up he was still held down.   "No, not yet. This would have been it, but you fought Lynn."

"It..was an accident..damnit it. I didn’t .."

SWAT...SWAT..SWAT."OUCH OWWWWWW."

'I know it was, Bradley, but none-the-less you did fight her and then you ran away. That was very wrong. You could have been hurt, you would have ruined any chance of an other home if   you had been caught by the police and tossed in Juvie. That was wrong, you deserve better even if you don’t see it.   Hell, I oughta whip your tail just for running out in front of the truck like that. For all of these reasons you are going  to get more. You will find that running away never helps and only makes it worst."

Brad felt the large form holding him strain and bend backwards a moment, he heard something move on the dresser. He found out what that was all too soon. "This is what is going to impress upon you never to run away again," Jake said, brandishing Brad's wooden hairbrush. "Hopefully never to drink again, too, never hit anyone or thing in anger."

"You're" <gasp> "hitting’ meeee." Brad tried to reason and failed.

"I am not hitting you, I am spanking you and there is a big difference, young man."

Brad felt Jake's hand at his shorts. Jake rolled the seat into a makeshift thong. Bearing Brad’s now red cheeks.  Cool air hit his burning skin.

"Jake!! no!!!stopppp! no more..please, it hurts.. I’ve learned..honest. I won’t squash a bug.... ..I
won’t run...just  stop."

Bradley squirmed and fought as hard as he could. Little good it did. With no more preamble Jake brought the brush down on the red half moons wiggling in front of him.  The sting stole Brad's breath from him, at first. Then he could no longer fight the tears, he cried out. Loudly, he begged Jake to stop.

CRACK..CRACK...CRACK..

"NOOOOOO.OUCH......STOP.....JAAAAAAAAKE
NO..MORE"....CRACK...CRACK."JAAAAAAAKE.".CRACK.SOB..SOB..SOB..CHOKE..CRACK..

Brad drummed his toes on the carpet, tossed his head back and forth crying loudly. He buck wildly tying to escape the horrible stinging of that brush. He knew he was bawling like a baby and didn’t care.

CRACK...CRACK...CRACK.

"NOO..NO MORE..STOP...STOP"..SOB..SOB.

A cuss word slipped from time to time earning him a brutal swat each time right on the underside of his butt where the cheeks met the thigh causing high pitched squeals of pain. He fought for all he could, but Jake had him dead to rights and not a thing he could do about it but lie there and take the spanking. He begged and made promises of sainthood but still the brush kept perfect tempo. Bradley was beside himself with bawling, tears and sweat and snot ran freely down his bruised scratched face onto the carpet floor.

Jake stopped the spanking when he felt all struggle leave the boy across his lap. Brad was just howling and the swats only changed the pitch of the howls. He had had enough.  Jake dropped the brush and began to rub the boys convulsing back.  Great racking sobs came from Brad. Jake knew he needed this, to purge himself.

Brad was crying so hard he didn’t realize that the brush had stopped. It was quite awhile before he noticed the large hand rubbing his back, shoulders, and neck. When Brad did, he tried hard to pull himself together and failed miserably. He was hoisted upright, Jake stood and sat Brad down on the chair.  Bradley cried harder as his burning backside made contact with the sisal chair pad. The sisal fibers poked and bit into his poor butt. He squirmed and tried to jump up but was held and firmly told to stay put. All he could do was cry and nod his head. A moment later a tissue was held to his nose and he was ordered to blow.  He did, then a wash cloth cleaned his face.

"Owwwww," he groaned as the cloth moved over a deep scratch.

"Sorry, kiddo."

Brad was then stood up and his hand flew to his injured bottom, still sobbing and tears still flowing as he desperately rubbed. Brad couldn’t help it he just rested his head on Jake's shoulder as Jake reached around and readjusted the boy's underpants. Jake then put his arms around Brad and let him cry.

"Hush!  It’s over now. You had that coming didn’t you?"

The dark head nodded reluctantly. Sad, liquid brown eyes looked up at him.  "I’m so sor..."

Jake pulled him in tightly, continuing to rub Brad’s back and bottom gently. "Shhhh! I know. I know.  It’s done now."

Jake held him a while longer then let him go. "I’m going downstairs. I want you to shower and get ready for bed. Then come down to dinner."

Brad made to say he didn’t want any.

"I want you to eat something and have something to drink.  Now move it. Or do you need some motivation?" The gleam in Jake's eyes softened the harshness of his orders.

"No..no, sir . Yes, sir." Jake ruffled his hair and left the room.

The hot shower felt like heaven. Well better than the hell that had been his day. Man, this day had really sucked. Brad let the water beat on him, all over except his butt, the sting had receded to a dull throb, still very tender.

Dressed back in his sweats and a clean t-shirt he went downstairs. His face flushed bright crimson when he walked into the kitchen and faced Lynn who had just placed a pillow on a chair. No doubt for him.

"Come and sit down. You need to eat something."

Brad sat very gingerly on the pillow. He was clearly sleeping on his stomach tonight and maybe the next.  He wasn’t hungry, but as she piled some chicken and dumplings on his plate his stomach announced itself loudly. He blushed even redder.  Lynn and Jake looked at him funny, Brad just shrugged his shoulders and dove into the meal with gusto. His foster parents just chuckled and smiled at him.

The box that Jake had in the truck was in the kitchen corner. It moved!. Brad, startled by it looked up at the box, to Jake who was beaming.  Jake got up and walked over to the box and opened it, reached in a pulled out a wiggling whimpering ball of multi-colored fur. He set it on the floor. It had four legs scrambling for balance. A puppy!  Brad’s eye flew from the Granger’s to the puppy who was running around chaotically on the wood floor.

"He’s yours, son. He’s an Australian Sheppard. Good dogs, boy.  You take care of him and he will be your best friend. "

Brad couldn’t believe it. He got up from the table and snatched up the wiggling fur ball and was instantly rewarded by having his tonsils washed.

"Every boy should have a dog," Jake said beaming foolishly at Lynn.

"Boys, come finish your supper, Brad you and your puppy need to go to bed soon and I want that plate empty."

Apparently early bed times were going to be part of his punishment. It was only 8:30. Brad didn’t mind, though, he was exhausted in mind and body.   He watched them from beneath lowered eyes as they chatted amiably about Jake's trip and stuff around the ranch. Nothing more said about anything else. His butt was real sore. The pillow didn’t help much. He was definitely not going to hint for awhile about learning to ride. He was sure his puppy would keep him occupied now.

The spanking really, really hurt, but he had no bruises other than from running in the woods. Lots of red skin back there but that was all. Just a red, sore butt, and that was more than enough.   A lump in his throat made swallowing difficult. He remembered that Jake had given him a choice again. Tears filled his eyes and overflowed.

"Brad, honey, what is it?" Lynn asked, alarmed by his tears. Jake just looked at him with those golden eyes now soft with concern.  Brad looked from one to the other through his tears and impatiently wiped at them. Fuck..ooops flip, he couldn’t remember the last time he cried so much.

"Jake, <cough>..Jake,  what I said..<cough>..<cough>.. up there..."

Brad was having a very hard time forming the right words. It felt like he swallowed a whole dumpling and it was stuck.

"Have you made your mind up? " Jake asked in that calm voice.

Lynn looked confused, Jake held up his hand to let Brad finish.

Brad could only nod yes.

"Well, do we make that call?" Golden eyes bore into brown.

"No, sir. I still want to stay. Please."  Tears flowed down his cheeks freely again.

"You know now what you can expect when you cross the line, right?"

Brad’s face flushed hot.  "Yes, sir. I know, I want to stay."

Jake got up and walked over to the boy. Bending down he wrapped his arms around Brad lightly and whispered in his ear.

That night Brad laid in bed (on his stomach) other than his tender butt he felt good. It felt right. He truly felt like someone’s son. It was more than the sore butt.  It was that he knew that someone really cared and took or rather gave “pains” to see that he was taken care of. Brad drifted off to sleep with his puppy, “Keeper,” curled up on his bed and the words Jake whispered to him lulling him to sleep.
 

                            Remember MY son. This is for keeps.

THE END!
 

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