Lessons

Lessons...a “Lexie” Story (M/fff)

chapter five

(This story is dedicated to CT and lilbear. You two are so great. Thanks for everything.)

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Uncle Sam musta heard the loud noises and came running downstairs, still tying his robe. “What on earth was that?” he said.

I looked up from the piano. I had been fooling around with it. After playing each key one at a time, I had sorta wanted to hear what it would sound like to play them all at the same time, so I had gotten up and laid down on it.

It didn’t sound too good. Uncle Sam saw me getting down from the piano. “Lexie, what are you doing?” he asked me.

“Uh, playing the piano, sir,” I tried.

He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think so. That doesn’t sound like any playing I’ve ever heard. Were you sitting on the piano, Alexis?”

“Um, sorta, sir,” I said. Then I explained to him about my experiment.

Uncle Sam took my hand and led me away from the piano. He turned me over his knee and gave me about a half dozen smacks on the seat of my pajamas.

I said, “Owww” because it hurt, and rubbed my bottom.

“That was a quickie lesson, because I have never spoken to you about this. Let that be a warning to you not to use the piano that way. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I said sadly.

Uncle Sam pulled me into his lap on the couch. “Oh, baby, I’m not mad at you. I just don’t want you using things the wrong way like that. A piano is a beautiful instrument and should be treated with care.”

I nodded. “Do you play, Uncle Sam?”

“No, baby. My wife used to play. And Billy and Jimmy took lessons when they were kids. I’m not sure if they can still play or not.”

“Oh,” was all I said.

Uncle Sam looked down at me. “Would you like to learn, baby?”

“Me? To play the piano?” I asked, surprised. No one had ever asked me if I was interested in doing anything like that before. “Yes, sir!” I said excitedly.

“Great,” he said. “And I have just the instructor in mind. A good friend of mine. In fact, I haven’t seen old Steve in a while. I’ll call him up today. Okay?”

It was more than okay. It was amazing. “Okay, I mean, yes, sir,” I said, giving him a big hug.

It was Saturday morning and before I knew it I would be back at SCH. I only had the weekends with Uncle Sam. But it wouldn’t be for long. Uncle Sam was working on making my time with him forever. He said the papers would take a long time to come, but in the meantime we would be together. He was also working on getting me a babysitter so I could be with him during the week as well. I couldn’t wait til I lived with Uncle Sam all the time and he was my daddy.

I was so excited; Uncle Sam put in a call to his friend and we were going to have dinner with him and his daughters. Lissa was 10 and Jenny was 6, like me. Uncle Sam explained to me that he was a single dad. His wife had left when Jenny was a baby and they hadn’t heard from her since. It was sad, but I was used to hearing stories like that.

I had to put on a dress to meet Uncle Sam’s friend. I wanted to wear my overall shorts but Uncle Sam said no. He said I had to look presentable, whatever that meant.

Uncle Sam rang the doorbell and we stood and waited. I was excited...not just to be taking the piano lessons, but to meet new friends. The only friends I had right now were the kids I knew at Sunrise Children’s Home.

A very good-looking man answered the door. He smiled upon seeing Uncle Sam and me, and the two men shook hands. “Lexie, say hi to Mr. Rekaterac,” Uncle Sam said.

Mr. Rekaterac put out his hand to me and I shook it. “Hi, Mr. Rekartic,” I tried.

He just laughed. “Why don’t you call me Steve?” he suggested.

“No,” Uncle Sam said, “that wouldn’t be proper. You can call him Mr. R or Mr. Steve, Lexie,” he told me.

“Okay,” I said. “Mr. Steve.”

“Come meet my kids, Lexie,” Mr. Steve said.

We followed him into a big den. There were lots of toys everywhere, and a TV with a Nintendo attached, and two puppies lying on couches. “Molly, Syd, get offa there,” Mr. Steve said, shooing the two dogs off. “Have a seat,” he told us. He left the room and called, “Girls! Come downstairs!”

Moments later, I met Lissa and Jenny. Jenny was very friendly and within minutes, we were best friends. Lissa hung out and played with us too. Uncle Sam and Mr. Steve went to ‘catch-up’ in another room while we played.

After a while, Lissa said, “I’m bored.”

Jenny looked up at her big sister and said, “Me too.”

I wasn’t bored, but a change of scenery was fine with me. I looked at the two of them and said, “What do you wanna do?”

“Hey, wanna see our dad’s office?” Lissa asked, jumping up. She started to walk out of the room. I looked at Jenny and we both followed. We saw Lissa take some keys off a hook in the kitchen. We followed her.

“Won’t Daddy get mad?” Jenny asked.

“Nah, I’m just gonna show Lexie his office. She’ll see it anyway when she comes over to take piano lessons,” Lissa said.

“Oh, right!” Jenny said smiling. They explained to me that their daddy used his office to pay bills and give piano lessons. What they didn’t tell me was they weren’t allowed in there.

But I had this bad feeling. Just as Lissa unlocked the door, I asked, “Are you sure we can go in? Will we get in trouble?”

The two of them looked at me. Jenny shrugged her shoulders. Lissa just smiled. She flipped the light on and we walked in and looked around.

“Hey, Jenny, remember the time I redecorated as a surprise for Daddy?” Lissa said.

Jenny shook her head. “No.”

“Well, I did. I painted his desk purple with green polka dots and glued stuff to the walls.”

“Was he surprised?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, for sure!” Lissa said, laughing. What she didn’t tell me was it was not a happy surprise. I should have known.

We managed to get out of Mr. Steve’s office without him knowing, but when we went back to return the keys, he was right there. Lissa quickly put her hand behind her back real low down. She turned and looked at me. Suddenly I knew I was supposed to help her hide these keys and fast.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said, standing on tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek.

“Hi, my little bear,” he said, kissing her back.

It was then that I grabbed the keys and put them behind me. See, now if I had been wearing my shorts, I would have been able to put them in a pocket. But since I didn’t, I just stood there holding them. I hoped that he hadn’t heard them jingling. I tried to be extra quiet.

Jenny put her arms up to her dad then and Mr. Steve picked her up and swung her in the air. She squealed with delight. Mr. Steve was a big man and could do things like that. I think Uncle Sam was too old to try that with me. I wouldn’t want to do it anyway, I thought, as I watched her fly.

“What have you three been up to?” Mr. Steve asked us.

“Oh, nothing,” Lissa said quickly.

“Yeah, nothing,” I added. I hoped it didn’t sound as stupid as I thought it did.

“We was just playing, Daddy,” Jenny told him.

“Good. Please go clean up all your toys. We’re going to eat dinner in about ten minutes.”

“Okay, let’s go!” Lissa said, pushing Jenny and me ahead of her out of the room. As soon as we were back in the den, Lissa said, “Here, gimme them!”

She held out her hand. I had sat down on the floor already. As I took them out from behind my back to hand them to her, we heard footsteps, so I quickly threw the keys under the couch.

“What are you doing?” Mr. Steve asked us.

“Nothing, Daddy, I mean, we’re cleaning up, sir, like you told us,” Lissa said.

“I gotta go potty!” Jenny said, running out of the room. She was smart. I should have thought about that. I had no problem lying; I just didn’t do it very well.

Uncle Sam came into the room then. That was even worse. Trying to lie when HE was around. Somehow he could see right through me in an instant.

“Lexie, we’re having a bar-be-que. I made you a hot dog. Sound good?” he asked, not realizing that anything was wrong.

“Uh, yes, sir, sure,” I said.

Mr. Steve was staring at me. “Lexie, what did you just throw under the couch?”

I looked up at him. All of a sudden, he looked like a giant.

“Umm, nothing, sir,” I said quietly.

He looked first at Lissa and then at me. “You both have guilty looks on your faces.” He crouched down so he was at eye level with me. “Lexie? Do you know what a fib is?”

I looked up at Uncle Sam. He was frowning. I looked back at Mr. Steve and nodded. “Yes, sir, it’s a lie.”

“Okay, and do you know what happens to little girls who tell fibs?”

I didn’t know how to answer. I knew what happened at Uncle Sam’s house, but I wasn’t sure if the same thing happened here. Never before in my life had I been spanked or heard of anyone getting spanked. I looked over at Lissa. She was staring at the couch and I could tell she was trying hard to come up with a good story.

“They get in trouble?” I finally said, asking it though, like a question.

Mr. Steve nodded. “Hmmm, yes, well, that’s one way of putting it. So let’s try this again. What did you throw under the couch?”

I looked over at Molly and suddenly had a really good idea. “Just a dog bone, sir. Want me to reach under and get it? I don’t think that big dog will be able to fit,” I said, turning away from Mr. Steve. I didn’t want him to see my face.

Lissa watched me, silently wishing I would come back out with a bone. She knew that would not get her into any trouble. I realized Jenny had never come back from the bathroom. She was probably hiding somewhere. She was really smart. I looked under the couch and all I saw were the keys. I wasn’t sure what to do.

Mr. Steve looked at Lissa. “Someone had better start telling me the truth here.”

He said ‘someone’ but I think he meant Lissa or me. We was the only ones in the room.

“Lexie! Come out from under there!” Uncle Sam remarked. Doh! I had forgotten he was in the room, too.

I came out pulling the keys out. “Hey, Mr. Steve? Are these yours? I found them under the couch.”

Lissa looked at me and then at the keys. “Oh, Daddy, aren’t those the keys to your office? I wonder how they got there!”

“Hmmmm,” Mr. Steve said again. He turned to Uncle Sam then and said, “I think our bar-be-que is going to have to wait for a bit, Sam. I need to teach these girls a lesson.”

I was shocked. Surely Uncle Sam wouldn’t let Mr. Steve punish me. He’d be all over him in a second. I just waited.

“I believe you’re right, Steve. I’ll go turn off the grill,” was all he said as he left the room. I stared after him, amazed that he was going to leave me here with this man who was gonna teach me a lesson. I was young, but I sorta knew what kind of lesson he had in mind all of a sudden.

Mr. Steve took his keys and held them up to Lissa. “How do you suppose my keys got here, young lady?”

Young lady. Never a good sign. I stared at Lissa.

“Ummm, Molly or Syd got them?” she tried.

But her daddy shook his head. “I don’t think so. And I don’t think adding fibbing is going to help your case any, Melissa.”

Uh oh, full name...also never a good sign.

“Now you have two minutes to tell me what you were doing with my office keys. And I want the truth.”

So Lissa told him. Mr. Steve just listened, and then he shook his head. “Was your sister in on this too?”

Lissa nodded. Mr. Steve went to the stairs and yelled up, “JENNIFER! GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT THIS MINUTE!”

Jenny came flying down the stairs. She reluctantly came into the den where we were. Mr. Steve held up the keys in front of her face. Jenny looked at her sister and then started to cry.

“Whose idea was this?” Mr. Steve asked.

Both me and Jenny stared at Lissa until she said, “Um, mine, Daddy.”

“I see. And did you think it would be okay to use my keys and go into my office?”

Lissa looked down and mumbled, “Uh, no.”

“What was that?” he asked, cupping his hand under her chin and lifting it up so that she was staring into her daddy’s face.

“No, Daddy, sir,” she added.

Oh boy, another one with the “sir’s”. I’d have to remember that.

Lissa was fidgeting. “I was, uh, gonna surprise you, uh, I told Lexie and Jenny about that time when I redecorated your office.”

“I didn’t like that then, did I, young lady?”

Lissa shook her head.

“No, I didn’t. And you knew that sneaking in there without my permission was a bad idea, didn’t you?”

Lissa nodded. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said.

“You will be,” he answered. He stood up then, and put his hand out for Lissa to take. “Okay, girls, you wanted to see inside my office so badly. Well, now’s your chance. All three of you. Let’s go!”

I looked at Jenny and Lissa. They had also neglected to tell me that that was where their Daddy gave them spankings. I had no desire to see the inside of it now. In fact, I was dreading it.

I followed Mr. Steve and the girls back to his office. I saw Uncle Sam in the kitchen and I longed to run in there and have him take me in his arms. But he obviously knew what was going to happen, and he didn’t stop it.

“Go in!” Mr. Steve told us after he had unlocked the door. The girls went in but I hesitated when I saw Uncle Sam coming closer.

Mr. Steve stopped to talk to Uncle Sam. “Is there anything I can do?” Uncle Sam asked.

“No, I think I need to do this. I want Lexie to see what happens when she misbehaves in my house.”

“I understand,” he told his friend. To me he said, “And we will be having another talk later tonight when we get home, young lady.”

I gulped. “Uh, yes, sir,” I said. Surely he didn’t mean that he was gonna spank me again after this. Then again, maybe Mr. Steve was just gonna talk to me. Yeah, that was it. That would explain things.

I waved to Uncle Sam and went into Mr. Steve’s office. I saw Lissa and Jenny in two different corners. Mr. Steve directed me into a third corner. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but realized I didn’t have much choice.

“Melissa, come here,” he requested. I turned to look and saw Mr. Steve sitting on the brown leather couch. It looked real comfortable. Lissa walked over to him slowly. Mr. Steve stood her between his knees. “You know better than to go into my office without permission, don’t you?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”

Without warning, Mr. Steve leaned down and pulled Lissa’s shorts and panties down to her ankles. I turned away. I didn’t want to see what was going to happen next. It didn’t matter, anyway, because I heard everything.

I put my hands over my ears but it didn’t stop me from hearing the sounds.

{SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!}

“I've told you not to come in here without permission before, and you remember what happened when you ‘redecorated’ it?”

“Yesssssirrrr!” I heard Lissa say.

Holding my ears didn’t do anything. I still heard every word, every sound. I could feel the tears falling down my face, and it wasn’t even my spanking. I had never heard or seen someone else get spanked before, and I felt so sad.

{SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!}

“So you knew better and did it anyway?” he demanded.

“Owwwwwwwwwww, yessssssssssirrrrrrrrrrr, I’m sorrrrrrrrrrrry, Daddddddddddddy!”

“You had {SMACK!} {SWAT!} better be, {SMACK!} {SWAT!} young lady. {SMACK!} {SWAT!} I had better {SMACK!} {SWAT!} not {SMACK!} {SWAT!} have to speak {SMACK!} {SWAT!} to you {SMACK!} {SWAT!} about this again.”

{SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!} {SMACK!} {SWAT!}

“Owwww, owwwwieeee, yessssir!” Lissa cried.

Suddenly it got very quiet. I turned and took a peek. Mr. Steve had pulled Lissa up onto his lap and was cuddling her tight. I was glad her spanking was over. But in a way, I wasn’t. I wondered if I was next.

I watched as Lissa put her head on Mr. Steve’s shoulder. He rubbed her back and her bottom. She sniffled and blinked the tears away. Mr. Steve wiped at her tears with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said, sniffling.

“I know, baby, I know. It’s okay now. You’re forgiven and you’re my good little bear again,” her daddy said.

I thought that was really sweet. I continued to watch as Jenny came over then and offered her sister a tissue. Mr. Steve took it and told her thanks but to get back to her corner. I turned and stared at my corner again.

“Jenny, come here!” I heard him say a few minutes later. I turned and looked as Jenny and Lissa switched places. “I won’t use the hairbrush since I know it was your sister’s idea. But you still knew better than to come in here without my permission, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

Hairbrush? Wow, I had never been hit with a hairbrush before. I bet it hurt a lot. Uncle Sam’s hand was so hard; I couldn’t imagine something harder striking my behind. I hoped that Uncle Sam never spanked me with a hairbrush, EVER!

Jenny got a light spanking. It wasn’t as hard or as loud as Lissa’s, but I still heard it. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear.

Before I knew it, I heard, “Lexie, come here.”

I turned around and looked at Mr. Steve. Both Lissa and Jenny were sniffling in their corners. I didn’t want to go over to him. Suddenly I thought that he wasn’t gonna just talk to me.

“How come?” I asked.

“Come here, I said.”

“Why?”

“Do I have to get up?”

I didn’t want him to have to get up. I walked over to Mr. Steve slowly. I was very nervous. “Yes, sir?”

“Remember what happens to little girls who fib?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Did you do that?” he asked.

“Ummm, sorta,” I replied.

“Only sort of? Didn’t I ask you what you threw under the couch, and you told me a dog bone? I asked you a question and you didn’t tell me the truth. Isn’t that fibbing?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.” Then I added, “But I’m sorry, Mr. Steve.”

“I’m sure you are. You’re still going to get a spanking, young lady.”

“But I don’t want one.”

“I’m sure you don’t. But Lissa and Jenny got spankings. You were just as naughty as both of them. Now you might not have known that you weren’t allowed to come into my office without permission, but you did know that fibbing was wrong. I even warned you before you did it. So now you’re getting a spanking, young lady. You’ll learn to behave when you’re in my house.”

With that, Mr. Steve bent me over his lap. He didn’t take down my panties, but he did raise my dress. See, I knew I should have worn my overall shorts!

I felt him raise his hand and then he brought it down hard on my bottom. {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!}

“Owwwwww!” I yelled. He spanked pretty hard. I couldn’t decide at the time if he spanked as hard as or harder than Uncle Sam.

{Smacccck!} “It isn’t nice to tell fibs, Lexie.” {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!}

“Owwwww, yessssirrrr!” I cried.

“Not nice at all!” {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!}

I kicked my feet and squirmed around but Mr. Steve held me tight on his lap. I was crying hard. And I was feeling very sorry for myself about having lied to him.

“I’m sorry, sir. I won’t do it again.”

{Smacccck!} {Smacccck!} “Don’t you tell fibs again, Lexie.” {Smacccck!} {Smacccck!}

“I won’t, sir, I won’t, I promise!” I cried.

{Smacccck!} “Good, {Smacccck!} because next time {Smacccck!} I’ll use the hairbrush, {Smacccck!} and I promise {Smacccck!} you won’t like that one bit.” {Smacccck!}

“Owwwww, yessssir!” I cried.

I couldn’t even imagine. I would never fib to this man again, ever. I was in pain and didn’t know how much more I could take. Next thing I knew, though, I was standing up again. I was crying hard as Mr. Steve pulled me into his lap. I cried into his chest as he rubbed my back.

“That hurt, Mr. Steve,” I said.

“It was supposed to hurt, Lexie. That’s how you learn. And you will learn,” he told me.

I knew I was supposed to be learning, but it sure was taking a while. I had had more spankings in the past few months than ever in my life. I would probably get a lot more, too, before I was grown up.

“Am I forgiven, Mr. Steve?” I asked quietly.

Mr. Steve hugged me tight and kissed my cheek. “You sure are, Lexie. And I think you should call me ‘Uncle’ Steve. Okay?”

I smiled up at him. “Okay, but I’ll have to check with Uncle Sam first.”

He smiled back. “Okay, you do that.”

He called Lissa and Jenny over then and we had a four-way hug. Uncle Sam heated up our hot dogs and the three of us sat on pillows at the table. No other words were spoken about what had happened. We talked about my piano lessons that I would start the following week. Also, Uncle Sam and Uncle Steve talked about the good old days.

Both couples had been good friends and their kids had grown up together. Billy and Jimmy had played with Uncle Steve’s older daughters. They were both married now and had kids of their own. It was hard to believe Uncle Steve was a grandfather. His first wife had died and then he had married Lissa and Jenny’s mom. I thought maybe there was hope for Uncle Sam to get married again. Then again, right now I wanted him all to myself.

I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay and play with my two new best friends, but then Uncle Sam reminded me that the two of us still had to talk. I hugged them good-bye and hugged Uncle Steve, too.

“See you next week,” he told me. I couldn’t wait. I was actually gonna learn to play the piano. I was very excited.

Uncle Sam gave me a bath when we got home, and then helped me get ready for bed. When I was in my pajamas, he sat on the edge of my bed and called me over to him.

“Alexis?”

I looked up at him. I hated when he called me that. “Yes, sir?”

“What were you thinking of going into Uncle Steve’s office like that?”

“I dunno, Uncle Sam. We was just gonna look around, maybe.”

“You should have known that was naughty.”

“I didn’t, sir. Lissa and Jenny took the keys. I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to be in there,” I said, honestly. I started to fidget. This conversation wasn’t going in a good direction. I was starting to think maybe Uncle Sam was going to punish me again. “Besides, Lissa is 10. She’s a big girl.”

“Well, Alexis, that doesn’t mean you can do anything you want even if she’s bigger than you. What you did was naughty. And the room was locked, that should have told you something right there,” Uncle Sam explained.

I nodded. “Uh, yes, sir.”

“And you fibbed to Uncle Steve. I know you know that that is naughty.”

“Yes, Uncle,” I said looking down.

“And because of that, you are in trouble with me,” Uncle Sam told me. I knew it!

“But Uncle Steve already spanked me, sir!” I whined.

“Alexis!”

I jumped.

“Alexis, I don’t allow you to lie or get in trouble with other adults when I’m not with you. If you get into trouble with someone else, you are still in trouble with me, is that understood?”

I nodded, even though I didn’t think it was fair. Then I remembered back to when Mr. Trent had given me and the other girls extra chores at SCH for painting on the walls. Uncle Sam had punished me at home too.

“Are you mad at me, Uncle Sam?”

“No, I’m not mad; I’m disappointed. I’m also a little embarrassed, Lexie. I brought you over there expecting you to be the nice little girl I know and love. Instead the first thing you did was to go somewhere you had no business being and then lied about it. I don’t want people thinking that my girl doesn’t know how to behave, Alexis.”

I thought about what he was saying. It made me feel so horrible that I hung my head. I didn’t like to disappoint him, and the thought that I embarrassed him made me feel awful. I put my head into his lap and started to sob. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Sam.”

He lifted my head and made me look up at him. “I don’t want people thinking that I don’t care enough about you to teach you to mind me either. Do you?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you want people to think that I don’t know how to tell you to behave?”

I hadn’t actually thought about other people. I guess it was because I was only six years old. I shook my head though anyway. “No, sir.”

“Okay, then, you know what I must do now, don’t you?”

“Spank me?” I asked, even though I knew that was the answer.

“That’s right, Lexie,” he said. He leaned down and pushed my pajama bottoms and my panties to my ankles. Then he lifted me over his lap and positioned me so that my bottom was high in the air. It felt cool after my bath, and I wished I wasn’t in this position then.

“Now why are you getting this spanking, Alexis?”

“Because I went into Uncle Steve’s office and I lied to him, sir.”

“That’s right. And why can’t you lie?”

“Because it’s naughty, Uncle.”

“Yes, Lexie, and also because then when you do tell the truth, people won’t believe you.”

I hadn’t thought of that either, and started to mull it over when I heard and felt a loud {THWACK!}

I jumped. Ouch, that smarted, especially since my bottom was already sore from a few hours before.

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

“OWWWWWWWWWCHHH!” I cried out. I decided right then that it was a tie between Uncle Sam and Uncle Steve; they both spanked REALLY hard.

“I will not {Smack!} {Smack!} let you lie {Smack!} {Smack!} to people, Lexie. {Smack!} {Smack!}

People must always {Smack!} {Smack!} be able to talk to you {Smack!} {Smack!} and to expect the truth. {Smack!} {Smack!} Is that understood, {Smack!} {Smack!} young lady?”

“Owwww, yessssssssssir!” I cried.

“Okay, no more lying. I expect my girl to be on her best behavior when she’s around other people. I want you to make me proud,” Uncle Sam said, giving my bottom a few last smacks.

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

Soon after he helped me stand up. I rubbed my bottom and tried to get the sting out of it. Uncle Sam didn’t make me do any corner time. He just pulled up my clothes, pulled me up into his lap and held me tight. He rubbed my back and my bottom and said soothing things in my ear. I sniffled and sobbed over his shoulder and into his chest and hoped I would never have such an awful day again.

Uncle Sam took out his handkerchief and wiped my eyes and made me blow my nose. “I love you, Lexie,” Uncle Sam told me, kissing the tip of my nose.”

“I love you, too, Uncle Sam, and I’ll never be bad again.”

“Lexie! You’re not bad!” Uncle Sam told me.

“Yes, I am. I keep messing up,” I said.

Uncle Sam turned me around and looked me right in the eye. “Lexie, you’re a little girl. You’re allowed to mess up once in a while. But you’re not bad. No one’s ever disciplined you like this. I expect you to ‘mess up’, as you say, every now and then. But it’s your behavior that is bad, not you. Do you understand the difference?”

“I think so, Uncle Sam,” I said. I would have to think more about this stuff when I was alone. “Uncle Sam?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Do you think I will ever learn to be good all the time?”

“Eventually, you will, baby.”

“Okay.”

Uncle Sam held me for several more minutes. We were both quiet. “Uncle Sam?”

“Yes, Lexie?”

“Will the papers for you to be my daddy take much longer?”

“Yes, honey, I’m afraid they will. Why?”

“I was just thinking of something.”

“Want to tell me? Are you scared about it, Lexie?”

“No, not scared. I’m excited. I can’t wait til you’re my daddy, Uncle Sam. It’s just that, well,” I stopped. I didn’t want to sound stupid.

“Just what, baby? Come on, you can tell me,” Uncle Sam said. I knew I could, but I wasn’t sure if I should. I didn’t want my idea to be rejected.

“It’s just, uh, well, I never had an uncle before, and now I have two.”

Uncle Sam nodded.

“But you’re closer to me, and you take care of me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“So I thought that maybe I could, uh,” I stopped again.

Uncle Sam looked at me in his arms and said, “You know, Lexie, those papers are only a formality. I already think of you as my daughter. That’s why I was so hard on you today. I want to make sure you know and that other people know that you are MY little girl.”

Tears came to my eyes as I nodded. “I think of you as my daddy already, too.” But I was scared. Uncle Sam was the closest I’d ever let anybody get to me. I wouldn’t know what I would do if anything happened to change that.

“I love you, Lexie, my good baby girl.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

The end.

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