The Break

The Break...a “Missy” Story (M/mf)

It was Saturday afternoon. Mommy had gone out for the day with Katie and Debbie. Daddy was busy in his workshop down in the basement. Billy was in his treehouse, like he would ever be anywhere else. And me and Joey were playing on the swingset in the backyard.

Daddy had told us to play nicely. Daddy had told us to be careful. Daddy had told us not to stand on the swings or jump off. We didn’t always listen to Daddy.

I screamed and Joey laughed as we once again jumped off the swings. “This is so much fun,” I said.

Billy peeked his head out of the treehouse window. “What are you two doing?” he called down to us.

“Having fun!” I yelled up to my oldest brother. “Why? What are you doing?”

Joey laughed at this. Usually he liked to be doing whatever it was that Billy was doing. But for some reason Billy had blown him off today, so he was stuck with me. But me and Joey get along well, and neither of us seemed to mind each other’s company.

“I’m busy,” Billy yelled back down, “but you two better be careful. Didn’t Daddy tell you not to jump off the swings?”

“Who are you, our keeper?” Joey asked. This made us both laugh.

“Whatever!” Billy said, retreating back inside. Maybe someday I would find out what it was he did up there. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t even care.

Typically, Joey and I continued to swing standing up. We continued to fool around and laugh. We continued to race. And we continued to jump off the swings.

It was when the screaming and laughing turned to actual screaming that Billy became concerned. He looked out the window again and saw Joey hanging upside down from the swing and me lying on the ground. Joey was sort of resting on me. I was crying.

“Oh my god! What happened?” Billy screamed.

I found my voice. “Billy! We’re hurt! Help!” I cried.

Before I knew it, Billy had come down from the treehouse, and was standing at my side. “My god, Missy, what happened?”

“We fell, Billy,” I sobbed. “Billy, it hurrrrtttts!” I was crying and holding onto my stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Billy ran as fast as he could, into the house. He screamed, “DADDDDY!” as soon as he reached the kitchen. Billy knew that Daddy was in the basement, and took the stairs real fast, yelling Daddy’s name all the way down.

Daddy heard Billy and peeked his head out the workshop room door. “Billy, what is it?” he asked, as Billy came to the door.

“Daddy, Daddy, come quick! Missy and Joey fell and they’re hurt!” he cried.

Daddy dropped his stuff and followed Billy up the stairs, taking them just as fast as his son. He raced with Billy through the kitchen and out the back door. But when he got out, he ran way ahead of Billy and headed for the swingset.

David saw them when he was ten feet away. He looked at the picture and knew something looked wrong. It was when he got close, that he saw it. Joey was lying at a very strange angle and was unusually quiet. Missy was lying on the ground, clutching her stomach and crying.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy dropped to my side. “Baby, what happened?” he asked, choking back a tear. It killed him to see his kids hurt or even upset.

When I realized Daddy was there, I felt just a tiny bit better. “Daddy!” I cried. “Daddy, my tummy hurts! Joey’s on me, get him off!”

“Okay, baby, in a minute. Tell Daddy what happened.”

Daddy couldn’t think straight. He didn’t know what to do. I never answered him, just kept crying.

“Daddy? Want me to help you move Joey?” Billy asked.

“No, no, son, we can’t move them,” Daddy answered. He seemed to wake up then. He turned to look at Billy, really look at him. He looked him up and down. “Son? Do you think you could do something really grown up?”

Billy nodded. “I can, Daddy, I’m almost eleven. I can do it.”

“Right, so you can. Okay, son, listen to me; listen closely. I want you to run into the house, pick up the phone and call 911. I want you to tell them to send an ambulance to our house. Tell them what happened and where we are and everything. Okay? Can you do that?”

Again Billy nodded. “I can do that. Be right back!” Daddy watched Billy run back for the house. Then he turned to me and took my hand.

“Okay, baby, help is coming!” he said, still fighting to hold back his own tears, as he watched me cry.

“Daddy? Why can’t you get Joey offa me? He’s hurting my tummy!” I cried.

“I can’t, Missy. Daddy doesn’t want to hurt Joey. Special people are going to come and help us in a few minutes. Just hang on.”

“Why’s Joey so quiet, Daddy?” I asked.

Daddy turned to look at Joey. He was hanging upside down from the swing, with one of his legs caught on the chains. He had a quiet look on his face, like he was asleep. Daddy knew Joey was unconscious but he did not want to scare me.

“He’s sleeping, honey. Just taking a little rest. He’ll talk to us later, okay?” Daddy asked gently, squeezing my hand.

I nodded. My tummy really hurt. I didn’t understand what was wrong with my brother. Maybe if I had been a little older, I would have known what was going on. I would have realized that Daddy was probably scared out of his mind for the two of us, especially Joey.

Billy ran back to us. “I did it, Daddy. I told the lady to send an ambulance. They’re coming!”

“Good boy!” Daddy said, putting an arm on Billy’s shoulder. “Very good. Now we just wait.”

It seemed like a long time until the ambulance got there. Daddy continued to hold my hand and talk to me. Billy talked to me, too. Joey didn’t talk at all. I guess he was still sleeping.

After a while, Daddy said, “Billy, go see if you see the ambulance, okay, son?”

“Okay, Daddy, I’ll tell them where we are.”

He ran to the side of the yard, and lifted the latch on the gate. It was then that me and Daddy heard the sirens. “Thank god,” I heard Daddy say quietly.

Then there was a lot of noise and confusion. I’m not really sure what happened next. There were lots of people and these long table things with cloths on them. I think I heard someone say it was called a girlknee, but I’m not sure.

One of the special men that Daddy had told me about, lifted me up and placed me on the girlknee. They covered me up and asked me a dozen questions...like my name and how old I was, and where it hurt. I think I answered them. I must have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“David Ross,” Daddy said, holding his hand out to one of the paramedics. “Yes,” he answered, “yes, these are my children. My son, Joey, is 9, my daughter, Missy, is 7.”

“Did you happen to see how it happened, sir?” a female paramedic asked, as she helped to settle Joey on the gurney.

Daddy almost sobbed when he answered. “No, I didn’t. I was inside. They were probably fooling around on the swings.” He put a hand through his hair and said something under his breath. He watched as they worked on Joey.

“They were standing up and jumping off,” Billy stated quietly. “I think that’s what they were doing, anyway. I was up in my treehouse.”

Daddy didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Billy said.

Daddy turned to look at his oldest son. “Why are you sorry, honey?”

“Cuz if I wasn’t so busy working on a special project, I might have seen them. I could have been watching them,” Billy sobbed.

Daddy hugged Billy to him. “Billy, this is not your fault. This was an accident. Do you hear me?”

Billy nodded.

“If anything, I should have been out here watching them.”

Damn, David said to himself, why wasn’t I out here watching them? Why didn’t they listen to me? They knew better than to stand on the swings and jump off. What’s Christine going to say? Oh god, Christine. He had no idea how to reach her.

“Um, excuse me, sir?” David was awoken out of his reverie by a paramedic. “Your daughter is refusing to let us take her to the ambulance.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy came over to me, where I was laying on the girlknee. “Daddy, I’m scared!” I cried.

He took my hand. “It’s okay, sweetie. These are the special people I told you about. They help the doctors. They’re trying to make you and Joey well. We’re going to go for a ride to the hospital.”

“I know, Daddy, but I don’t wanna! I’m ‘fraid. My tummy hurrrttts!”

“I know, baby. That’s why we have to get into the ambulance, to get to the hospital, so the doctors can look at your tummy. Daddy’s coming, too. Okay? I’m just waiting for Joey to be ready. He’s scared, also.”

I thought about this. Joey was two years older than me, but he was also a bit of a baby.

“Billy, come here,” Daddy said. “Please stay with your sister, until I can get there, okay?”

“Sure,” Billy answered, taking my hand. Daddy nodded to the paramedics and they were able to transport me to the ambulance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy watched the paramedics working on Joey. Oh god, please let him be all right, David said to himself. He wasn’t a religious man, but this was the time to be praying. He looked heavenward and said a silent prayer that his son would be all right. He swore he would never leave his kids unattended again.

“We’re ready to move him, sir,” one of the paramedics said.

“Okay, thank you,” Daddy said. “Is he going to be all right?” He had to know.

“Well, he’s unconscious now, and his left leg is definitely broken, but we think he’ll be fine,” the paramedic, whose name was Vic, said.

Daddy took Vic’s hand, before he could get hold of the gurney, and pumped it. “Thank you, thank you very much, for helping my son.”

Vic smiled. “All part of a day’s work, sir.” He turned to his colleagues. “Okay, let’s move him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ambulance ride was scary. Probably if I hadn’t been hurt, it would have seemed fun. Hey, it wasn’t every day that a kid gets to ride in an ambulance. But here I was, laying on this girlknee, strapped on, actually, going a million miles an hour. All I had to look at was the ceiling.

Daddy was holding one of my hands and with his other hand, he was holding Joey’s hand. I still had not heard my brother speak. Billy was holding my other hand. He was being real nice to me. I felt a little bad that the last thing I had said to him was mean.

The next thing I knew we were at the hospital. I could hear the sirens still, and then I saw lots of doctors and nurses, and other people in white uniforms. I was being zoomed down a hall. A nice doctor asked me my name and where it hurt. Daddy and Billy stayed with me the whole time. I don’t know where Joey had gone off to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had whisked Joey away. Daddy had been sad that he couldn’t be with him, but knew the doctors would be taking real good care of him. Daddy held my hand while the doctor checked me out.

For some reason, all of a sudden, my stomach felt better. It didn’t hurt at all anymore.

The doctor explained to Daddy that I had been real lucky. I hadn’t gotten too hurt when I fell off the swing. He said the reason my stomach had probably hurt was because of the pressure of Joey laying on it. The doctor told Daddy that my stomach might be a little tender, but I would be fine.

“Good as new,” the doctor said, helping me up from the table. “She can get dressed now. All’s fine.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Daddy said, shaking his hand. Daddy smiled at me. “You’re okay, baby? You sure?”

I nodded. “I feel fine, Daddy. Honest.”

“Okay.” Daddy helped me get dressed. I mean, I can do it myself, but sometimes I let Daddy help me because he wanted to. Sometimes I think he was sad that I wasn’t as little as Debbie or Katie anymore. I think he needed to feel like I still needed him.

When I was dressed again, Billy took my hand and we followed Daddy to the waiting room. We sat in the chairs and just waited. I guessed that was why they called it the “waiting” room.

There were some books and magazines to look at. Billy was looking at one about racing. Daddy was looking at one that said “Time” on the front. I read a few of the books. They were all books I had read before. I was bored.

It had seemed like we had been there forever, waiting for Joey. It was only an hour, but it seemed like the longest hour ever. I got up quietly, not wanting to disturb Daddy, and wandered around. Daddy looked up and over at me, shook his head, and said, “Missy, no, no, come back and sit down.”

I was just gonna check out some stuff on a cart that a nurse had left in the hall. Everything on the cart had looked like such fun. But Daddy had said no, so I went back and sat down.

For a few minutes anyway. Daddy got involved back into his magazine and I was bored again. I got up quietly and snuck back over to the cart. I was just gonna look; I wasn’t gonna touch.

“No, little girl! DON’T TOUCH!” a loud voice said. I jumped three feet.

Daddy, along with most of the people in the waiting room, jumped up and looked over at me. They had all been astounded by the loud voice of the nurse, in the semi-quiet room.

I looked back at Daddy. He had a frown on his face. Uh oh. He came over to me, took my hand, and led me back over to my seat, after first apologizing to the nurse.

He sat me down and looked at me. I looked at the floor. He cupped my chin in his hand and made me look at his face. “What did I just tell you, Melissa?”

“Not to touch, Daddy.”

“That’s right. And a minute later, you were back over there, about to touch,” Daddy said, in that stern Daddy voice.

“I wasn’t gonna touch, Daddy. I just wanted to look.”

Daddy looked at me, really looked at me, til I was uncomfortable enough to turn away. He turned me back to look at him. “Don’t do it again, Melissa. I don’t want to have a ‘talk’ with you about disobeying me. Not here. Not today. Do I make myself clear?”

I nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Now sit right here, and read a book.” Daddy took a book off the table and put it in my lap. It was a Dr. Seuss book. I liked it, but I had already read it a zillion times. Okay, I guessed I was going to read it again.

Another million years later, the doctor came out to talk to Daddy. He got up, started to walk away, then turned back and crouched down.

“Billy, Missy, Daddy needs to go talk to the doctor. I want you two to sit here quietly. Billy, keep an eye on your sister, please.”

Then he walked away again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“How is he, Doctor?” Daddy asked, concerned.

“He’s out of the woods. He’s regained consciousness, thankfully.”

“Oh, thank god,” Daddy said, relieved. “And the leg?”

“It’s broken. But we knew that. Luckily, it’s only broken in one place. Originally because of the angle your son was found in, the paramedics thought it might have been broken in more than one place. But thankfully, that’s not the case.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. Can I see him?”

“Well, we’re setting the leg now, and then we’ll put the cast on. You can see him very soon, I promise you. We don’t like the parents to be present while we’re doing this; you understand, don’t you?” the doctor asked, kindly.

“Yes, of course,” Daddy said. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t say anything.

“I just need you to sign this paper,” the doctor said, starting to lead Daddy away.

Daddy turned back toward where we were waiting, then nodded, and followed the doctor to an office.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Billy, I’m bored,” I said, the minute Daddy went with the doctor.

“Read your book,” Billy said, turning another page in his magazine.

“I don’t wanna read any of them books!” I said, a little too loud. “Them’s baby books!”

“Shhhh, Missy!” Billy said, putting a hand over my mouth.

“Well, I’m sorry, I just wanna do something besides sit here and read those stupid books.” I looked around and something down the hall caught my eye. “Billy, look!” I said, pointing.

Billy looked to where I was pointing. “What?” he said. “All I see is a couple of wheelchairs.”

“Yeah, let’s try them,” I said, already taking off running.

Billy jumped up and ran after me. “Missy, no! Missy, you can’t. Those are for people who can’t walk. They’re not to play with.”

I jumped in one of the chairs, and reached for the thing to turn it. “This is so cool. I wanna try it, for real. Outta the way, Billy!” I said.

He jumped out of the way, so I wouldn’t run him down. He watched me, and looked over his shoulder. “Missy, you’re gonna get in trouble. Get out of that thing right now.”

“No, it’s fun. There’s another one. Why don’t you try it?” I said, wheeling around in circles.

Billy looked around. It really did look like fun. But he was older than Missy. Almost four years older. He was supposed to be the responsible one. He was supposed to be watching her. Well, he was watching her. What could it hurt? Billy sat down in the other wheelchair. It only took a few minutes for him to be hooked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A nurse ran into the office where Daddy was signing papers. “Umm, sir?”

Both Daddy and the doctor looked up at the nurse. “Just a minute, Janice,” he said.

“Umm, yeah, well, I’m sorry to bother you. But umm, uh, Mr. Ross?”

Daddy picked his head up then, and handed the clipboard to the doctor. “Here you go.” He turned to the nurse. “Yes, I’m David Ross.”

“Um, sir, I need you to come with me. Your kids are running through the halls, on wheelchairs. They’re disturbing everyone,” she said, kind of exasperated.

“WHAT!?” Daddy said, getting up quickly. He gave the doctor a look and ran out of the office. He went with the nurse, and sure enough, he saw me and Billy racing each other through the waiting room, each of us in our own wheelchair. Daddy sighed and put his hands through his hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was winning. I was definitely winning. I was almost to the finish line. Almost. But then something was in my way. No, someone. Uh oh.

Daddy stood blocking me from getting to the end of the hall. I stopped the wheelchair. Thankfully I had figured out how to do that a few minutes earlier, when I hadn’t crashed into a nurse coming the opposite way.

Billy was right behind me. But he stopped too when he saw Daddy. Daddy looked really mad. I mean, really angry. From my point of view, it looked like steam was gonna come out of not just his ears, but his eyes, nose, and mouth, too.

“Hi, Daddy,” I said, quietly.

The next part of time in the hospital was not fun. Daddy had made me and Billy return the wheelchairs to where we had found them. Then he marched us back to our chairs in the waiting room.

He looked at us and sighed again. We both knew that was not a good sign. “I am very upset and disappointed in both of you. Billy, you definitely knew better.”

Billy hanged his head. “Yes, sir.”

Daddy sighed. “This is not the time or place to go into a full discussion on what you two did wrong. Just know that I am not happy with either one of you and we WILL ‘talk’ tonight. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Billy said.

“Yes, Daddy,” I said.

“Good, now I want the both of you to go around and apologize to every last person in this waiting room, every nurse behind that desk over there, and any other person you see walking down the hall. If they don’t know why you’re apologizing, then you tell them.”

“But Daddy...” Billy began.

“No buts, son, you better get started; they’re a lot of people here waiting.”

I looked around. There sure were a lot of people. I hadn’t realized it when we were zooming by them in the wheelchairs. I looked up at Daddy, and wiped away at a tear. “EVERYONE, Daddy?”

“Everyone, Melissa. Now scoot!” Daddy said, gently smacking my behind to send me on my way. “You too, William, now!”

Billy and I looked up at Daddy one more time. He nodded and we started at one end of the room and started apologizing. If I could have seen Daddy’s face, I would have seen a slight smile on it.

It was so hard to say sorry to so many people. I was feeling really bad by now. All these people were here for a reason; most of them probably had someone sick that they were visiting, or waiting for. Like we were. And then me and Billy had gone and disturbed them.

When we had said sorry to every last person, we walked back up to Daddy. “We’re done, sir,” Billy said.

“Good. Now you can sit back down. I’m sure your brother will be ready to go soon. He broke his leg and they are putting a cast on it,” Daddy explained.

“Wow!” Billy said. “That’s pretty cool. Can we sign it?”

Daddy smiled. “Yes, I’m sure Joey would let you sign it. Now have a seat, and don’t move!”

I took a seat next to Daddy and Billy sat next to me. We were very quiet for the next million years. After a bit, I whispered to Daddy, “I gotta go potty.”

Daddy started to stand up, but I said, “No, it’s okay. I can go myself. It’s right over there!” I pointed out the ladies’ room. It was about 25 feet away.

“Okay, Missy, but come right back,” Daddy told me. I nodded and he watched me go.

When I came back, I stood in front of Daddy’s chair. He put down the magazine he was reading and looked down at me. I put my arms up and he helped me climb into his lap. I knew Daddy was upset with me, but I needed a cuddle. He held me for the rest of the time.

Finally, the doctor came out and told us we could see Joey. It seemed like forever since we had gotten to the hospital. I wondered where Mommy was, and what she would do when she found out about Joey’s leg.

As we walked to the door, I asked Daddy, “Daddy? How is Mommy gonna know we’re here?”

“I left her a note, sweetheart. She’ll find us,” Daddy answered.

“Okay,” I answered, following Daddy into the room where Joey was. He was lying on a table and he had a huge cast on his leg. He was smiling, though. I ran to him and gave him a big hug.

“You okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

Billy ran over and hugged Joey too. “My god, Joey, you had us scared to death. You sure you’re all right?”

“Uh huh. See my cast, Billy. You can sign it. The doctor gave me this cool pen,” Joey said, showing us the pen.

Daddy watched us from the doorway as he signed some more papers. Me and Billy each took a turn writing our names on Joey’s cast. I even drew a smiley face and a star. He wouldn’t let me make a heart or a rainbow. What would his friends think, after all!

Then Joey’s face turned to a big grin and he shouted, “Mommy!”

We all turned toward the door. There was Mommy in the doorway. She and Daddy hugged and kissed. Yuck! Then Mommy came to stand next to me and Billy. She reached down and gave Joey a big hug and a kiss.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” she asked.

“Yes, Mommy,” Joey said. He proceeded to show Mommy the pen and his cast. He showed her where me and Billy had already signed it.

“Come on, guys, let’s go home,” Daddy said.

A nurse came with a wheelchair and helped us get Joey to the van. Thankfully Mommy got there just in time with the minivan. I didn’t even think about how we would have gotten home. I forgot we took the ambulance there.

When we got home, Daddy helped Joey into the house. “Melissa, I want you in your pajamas, waiting on your bed for me. As soon as I settle your brother, I will be in to talk to you.”

I looked up at him and nodded. Darn. I was hoping with all the excitement that Daddy might actually forget to punish me.

“William, go to my room and wait for me,” Daddy told Billy.

“Yes, sir,” Billy answered, running past me up the stairs.

I turned back down. “Mommy?”

Mommy looked up. “Yes, Melissa?”

“Where are Debbie and Katie?” I asked, suddenly realizing they were nowhere to be found.

“They’re next door. We’ll go get them in time for dinner. Now, do what your father told you,” Mommy said.

I walked slowly up the stairs. I guessed Daddy filled Mommy in on our behavior in the hospital. I just didn’t know when he did that.

I did what Daddy told me and laid on my bed, clutching Gus, my stuffed polar bear. About half an hour later, Daddy poked his head in. “Missy, I’m going to go talk to Billy and then I will be in to talk to you. I don’t want you getting up from that bed, unless you need to go potty. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I said. I laid back down, and talked quietly to Gus til Daddy came back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy walked into his bedroom and saw Billy sitting on the edge of his and Mommy’s big bed. Daddy sat down beside Billy and looked down at him.

“Well, young man, would you like to tell me what on earth you were thinking at the hospital this afternoon?”

“I guess I wasn’t thinking, Daddy. What we did was stupid,” Billy said.

“Stupid and dangerous, William Mark. You and your sister could have been hurt or you could have hurt someone else. Also, those wheelchairs may have been needed for a patient and the staff wouldn’t have known where to find them. Not to mention, that a hospital is NOT a place to have races, wheelchair, or otherwise. Think of all those people you disturbed today with that behavior.”

“I know, Daddy. I’m sorry,” Billy said.

“I know you’re sorry, now, but that doesn’t excuse what you did. I might add, William, that when I walked away to talk to the doctor, I specifically told you two to sit there quietly. AND young man, I asked you to keep an eye on your sister. Did I not?”

“You did, Daddy.”

“Then why on earth did you do what you did? I just don’t understand. You’re always telling me how grown-up you are. I ask you to do one simple thing and this is what happens. Frankly, William, I don’t know how to react at this point.”

Billy started to sob. “I’m sorry, Daddy. Really sorry. I messed up. I told Missy not to touch the wheelchairs. I told her to stop wheeling around in them. Honest. But then,” Billy stopped to wipe at his tears. “But then, I don’t know, Daddy. It just looked like such fun. I was just gonna try it. I guess we got a little carried away.”

Daddy sighed. “You got more than carried away, young man. I’m afraid I’m going to be rather hard on you. Stand up!”

Billy nodded. He had been punished before, obviously, but he had a feeling this was going to be rough. He stood up in front of Daddy.

Daddy pulled Billy’s pants and underwear down to his ankles. Then he pulled Billy over his lap and started hand-spanking him.

{Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!}

“You will listen {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} when I tell you to do something. {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} You will not just do {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} whatever you want. Is that understood, young man?” {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!}

“Owwwwwwww!” Billy cried. “Yes, Daddy! I will, I promise!”

Billy’s bottom was already on fire, but Daddy was not done. He picked up the large wooden hairbrush he had brought it with him. He started to smack Billy’s bottom with it.

{WHACK!} {WHACK!} {WHACK!} {WHACK!} {WHACK!} {WHACK!}

“I expect you to start acting the way you want to be treated. {WHACK!} {WHACK!} You are old enough {WHACK!} {WHACK!} to follow directions. {WHACK!} {WHACK!} If I ask you to watch your sister, you will do it. {WHACK!} {WHACK!} Am I making myself clear?” {WHACK!} {WHACK!}

“Y-y-yes, sir!” Billy managed to say through his tears. He was sobbing. Never before had Daddy used the hairbrush on him so forcefully.

“And Billy, I don’t ever {WHACK!} {WHACK!} want to see you doing any kind of behavior like you did today. {WHACK!} {WHACK!} It was completely out of line. {WHACK!} {WHACK!} I don’t want to have this kind of discussion again anytime soon.”

“Yes, Daddy,” Billy said sadly. He was in so much pain.

Daddy put down the brush and finished up with half a dozen smacks of his hand to Billy’s sit spot. Then he let him up. Daddy pulled Billy to him and hugged him hard. Billy cried on Daddy’s chest.

Daddy reached down and helped Billy adjust his clothing. Then he pulled Billy up into his lap so that he was kneeling on Daddy’s knee. Daddy held Billy while he sobbed and tried to calm down.

When Billy was calmer, Daddy said, “I’m sorry I had to be so hard on you, son.”

“It’s okay, Daddy. I know I deserved it. I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

“Well, it’s all over now, and you’re forgiven. Mistakes happen. Let’s just make sure this kind doesn’t happen again. Okay?”

Billy nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Daddy?”

“Yes, son?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, son. You’re a good boy.”

Daddy put Billy down and said, “Now why don’t you go wash your face, and then see if you can cheer your brother up a bit?”

Billy smiled and said, “Okay, Daddy.” He gave Daddy one last hug and left the room, wiping at the tears that had finally stopped falling down his cheek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daddy came in and I was asleep. “Melissa, you need to wake up, baby,” Daddy said, as he gently shook me.

I looked up. Daddy was not smiling. Oh yeah, I remembered why he was there. “Sorry, Daddy, I got tired of waiting for you.”

“It’s okay. You can take another nap when we’re finished talking.”

“Daddy? Why do you always call it talking? It’s not like we do much talking,” I said.

“Missy, now is not the time for you to be sassy to Daddy. We have some business to take care of from this afternoon, don’t we?”

“Yes, sir,” I said. I hadn’t meant to be sassy. I really didn’t understand. But whatever.

Daddy made me stand in front of him. It seemed like I was in this position a lot. I looked up at him.

“Tell me why you’re getting a spanking, Melissa Erin.”

I took a deep breath. “Cuz I was wheeling down the halls of the hospital in the wheelchair, Daddy.”

“Yes, you were. And why is that not a good thing to do, young lady?”

“Cuz I wasn’t s’posed to touch them?”

“Well, that’s true. But why else?” Daddy asked. When I didn’t answer right away, he said, “Think hard.”

I thought. Then I said, “Cuz I coulda got hurt?”

“Yes, or you could have hurt someone else. You must never do anything like this again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

“I know you’re sorry. And you’re about to be much more sorry,” Daddy said, already pulling down my pajama bottoms. My panties flew down too, and the next thing I knew I was face down over Daddy’s lap.

He lifted his hand and began smacking my poor bottom. {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!}

“You will not touch things that don’t belong to you. {Smack!} {Smack!} You will not do something {Smack!} {Smack!} that you know is dangerous. {Smack!} {Smack!} Is that understood, young lady?” {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!}

“OWWWWWWWWWW! Yes, Daddddddddy! I’m sorrrrrrrrrry!” I cried.

“And when I tell you to sit {Smack!} {Smack!} and not get up, {Smack!} {Smack!} I mean it. {Smack!} {Smack!} You must learn {Smack!} {Smack!} to follow directions, {Smack!} {Smack!} Melissa Erin. {Smack!} {Smack!} I don’t want to keep repeating this lesson for you. {Smack!} {Smack!} Are we clear?” {Smack!} {Smack!}

I was sobbing and hiccupping. “Owwwww, yes, sir! I sorrrrry!”

Daddy couldn’t just stop there. He had to give those last five smacks to my sit spot. {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!} {Smack!}

Waaaah, that hurt!

Daddy stood me up, and pulled up my panties and pajama pants. He pulled me into his lap and hugged me tight. “There, there, now, it’s all over.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy, so sorry,” I sobbed.

“I know, baby, and it’s all over now. Daddy forgives you. I know you won’t do anything like that again.”

I shook my head from side to side. “I won’t, Daddy.” Then I thought of something. I looked at Daddy. “Daddy?”

“Yes, baby, I still love you, if that’s what you were going to ask,” Daddy said smiling.

I smiled, too. I did usually ask that after a spanking. Even though I knew it was the truth, for some reason, I needed that extra reassurance.

”I know,” I said, “I love you, too.” Daddy smiled again and hugged me tight.

“But Daddy? That’s not what I was gonna ask,” I admitted.

He was taken aback. “Oh? Okay, sweetie, what is it?”

I took a deep breath. “Daddy? Are you gonna punish me and Joey for jumping off the swings today?”

Daddy just looked at me. “Well, you do know that was a very naughty thing to do, don’t you?”

I nodded, not sure if I liked where this was leading to.

“And I did tell you both not to do it beforehand. So you did disobey me, didn’t you?”

Again, I nodded.

“Missy, why do you think Mommy and Daddy don’t want you jumping off the swings? Why do you think that’s an important rule?”

“Cuz we could get hurt,” I answered.

“That’s right. And what happened when you and Joey disobeyed me and jumped off the swings?” Daddy asked.

I thought about it and a lightbulb went off over my head. “We got hurt, Daddy,” I said almost sadly.

“Yes, you did. Now do you think it’s a good rule we have not to jump off the swings, Melissa?”

“Yes, sir,” I said sadly. Then I added, “So you are gonna punish us for it?” I tried to think how Daddy was gonna spank Joey with his cast, but then I heard Daddy calling my name. I turned and looked up at him. “Yes?”

Daddy repeated what he had said. “I said, no, I think you’ve been punished enough. Both of you.”

I thought about what Daddy said. Joey sure was punished enough. He had a cast on his leg that he would have to keep there for god only knows how long. And I had the memory of this day. I don’t think either of us would be jumping off the swings again anytime soon.

I did take another nap. Me and Gus. Mommy picked up Katie and Debbie from next door and we all had a nice family dinner. It was a nice break. A different kind of break from the one Joey had gotten. Thank goodness!

The end.