Spring Fever

Spring Fever...a “Lizzie” story (M/f)

chapter 7

Uncle Dom and I were playing checkers. I was beating him again. “Awww, man,” he said to me. “You keep jumping all my men.”

“Yep,” I said, getting his last man and winning the game again. I smiled. “Now pay up!”

Uncle Dom grabbed me to him and hugged me tight. He started kissing me all over. I giggled.

“No, Uncle, I want real money,” I whined. “All my friends get a ‘lowance.”

He looked at me. “They do? How much do they get? And what do they do for it?”

“Can’t I just get one for being cute?” I asked.

“Well, you are cute. But no, if I’m going to give you an allowance, then you have to earn the money doing something.”

“What can I do?” I asked.

Uncle Dom put his hand on his head and pretended to scratch, thinking. “You can clean the garage, rake the leaves, mow the lawn, and wash my truck,” he said, smiling.

I shook my head no. “I can’t do all that. I’s only 6.”

“You’re almost 7,” he said, grinning. It was true; my birthday was coming up, but not for a couple more months. Actually Uncle Dom’s birthday was coming up sooner. It was next week, and I still hadn’t gotten his present. I wanted to get him something really special. And I needed money to do that.

“But still!” I said, pouting.

Uncle Dom laughed. “How bout I give you three dollars a week for giving me butterfly kisses at bedtime?”

“Noooo, Uncle, I like giving you them. They’s free,” I said smiling. Every night at bedtime, when Uncle Dom tucked me in, I gave him butterfly kisses. He always said, “mmmmm” and smiled. He said they tickled his face.

“Okay, okay, so what are you going to do?” he asked.

“How ‘bout I set the table for dinner and empty the dishwasher when it’s clean, ‘cept the knives, and I can dust the table in the living room,” I suggested.

“Wow! All that?” Uncle asked.

“Uh huh, I’s almost 7, after all, I can handle it.”

“It’s a deal, Lizzie,” Uncle said, putting out his hand to shake. I shook it.

I started cleaning up the checkers, smiling to myself. Then the phone rang. Uncle Dom went to answer it. My sister was out doing grocery shopping. I figured I would help her put the food away when she got back.

“SHE WHAT?!” Uncle Dom yelled into the phone. “Okay, Okay, La-La, calm down!” I watched as Uncle Dom sank into the big armchair in the living room. “Tell me all the details. Uh huh, uh huh, yeah, okay. Yeah, okay, I’ll go and get her and bring her back here. What? Oh you bet, she’s going to get it!” he said loudly.

I tried to figure out who Uncle Dom and Aunt La-La were talking about, but I had no idea. Whoever it was, she was in really big trouble. And I was glad it wasn’t me.

Later that day, I found out exactly who Uncle Dom had been talking about. It was his 14 year-old niece, Debbie. She was the one who Uncle Dom told me once I reminded him of. She went to boarding school upstate, and she had been caught smoking marijuana. They were suspending her from school, and she was facing possible expulsion. I didn’t know what all that meant, but I gathered it was pretty bad.

I listened as Uncle Dom explained to Melinda all about Debbie. Debbie was Uncle Dom’s younger brother’s daughter. His brother, Tom, had gone with a girl when he was very young. When she had become pregnant, Tom and Dom’s mother had let her live with them. Not too long after the baby was born, the young girl split. She just couldn’t handle raising a little baby. They had never heard from her since.

Tom had been only 19 when Debbie was born. He was pretty irresponsible and his mother had really raised the little girl. Also, Dom, La-La, and their other brothers and sisters had all taken turns raising Debbie. She had a lot of parental figures. But all she really wanted was her daddy. And she couldn’t have him. He was off doing what he wanted to do.

After several years in public school, and Debbie was always acting up and getting into trouble, her grandmother decided to send her away to boarding school. She figured this way Debbie would get the discipline she needed. Now, after almost three years away, she had really cleaned up her act, and was finally doing great.

“Until now,” Uncle Dom said, sighing. “I just can’t believe she would do something so stupid!” he said, his voice getting louder.

“Hon, calm down,” Melinda said, putting her hand on his arm. “You can’t approach her like this, while you’re so angry and upset. You need to calm down, before you go pick her up. Now take a few deep breaths and decide what you’re going to say to her.”

Uncle Dom took some deep breaths. “You’re right, honey, thanks,” he said, kissing Melinda deeply. He looked down at me. “C’mere,” he said, patting his lap.

I walked over to him slowly. I was kinda scared at how angry he had seemed. I knew it wasn’t because of anything I had done, though, and that made me feel better. I climbed up in his lap.

Uncle Dom put his arms around me and held me tight. “I love you, Lizzie,” he said.

I looked up at Uncle, kinda surprised. “I love you, too, Uncle Dom.”

I don’t know why he said that then or why he wanted to hold me, but I didn’t question it. I sat there, loving it.

Finally, Uncle Dom stood up and put me down in his chair. “I have to go out for a couple of hours. I need to go pick up my niece, Debbie, at her school. She’s going to be staying with us for a couple of weeks, Lizzie.”

“Okay,” I said. We had an extra room that we didn’t use. Melinda said that while Uncle Dominic was gone, we were going to fix it up for Debbie. We both hugged him and kissed him good-bye.

“See you tonight,” Melinda told him. “And remember, keep yourself calm.”

~~~~~~~

Dominic had plenty of time to calm down, for it was a good three-hour drive up to his niece’s school. He hadn’t actually been up there since they first dropped her off almost three years before. The last time he had seen Debbie had been the previous summer. It was now March. They sent letters back and forth and talked on the phone a lot, though. Dom felt they had a pretty good relationship. He knew that if Debbie had ever needed anything, he would have been one of the first people in the family she would call.

That was why he couldn’t understand why she would do something like this: something so stupid, and wrong. He knew she had a tough life, but he and his mother, and La-La, and the others had really tried to bring her up right. Oh, well, he thought, I’ll find out the real story when I get there.

When Dominic got there, he vaguely recalled where the Headmistress’ office was. He walked there; quietly wondering what he would find when he got there. The headmistress was a very sweet, rather young woman, Ms. Hicks. She briefly filled Dom in on what had transpired two nights before.

“She and her friends were all paddled, in addition to the suspension.”

“Oh, they were, huh?” he asked, eyebrows raised. He knew the school had a discipline policy. His mother had made sure of it. “I see.”

“Yes, and Deborah and her two friends will receive the two week suspension. Also, our board is meeting to decide if they should be expelled. We want to be very firm about this with all our students. Smoking of any kind, especially illegal substances, will not be tolerated.”

“I agree, Ms. Hicks, but expulsion? Debbie has been here for three years, and except for the occasional little prank, she has been pretty well behaved,” Dom said, in his niece’s defense.

“I understand how you feel, Mr. Bloom, but that’s what the board is meeting to decide. As it stands now, you can bring Deborah back in three weeks. We have our spring break coming up after her two-week’s suspension. The board will be meeting in a week. Unless you hear from us, she is welcome back.”

Dominic nodded. There wasn’t much he could do or say on the matter; things had already been decided. Ms. Hicks rang for Debbie to meet them in her office. While Dom waited, he wondered how he would react to his niece when he finally saw her again.

But when she walked in, all his feelings of anger and disappointment quickly went away, and all he felt for her was the love he had for her all her life. She had a sweet, innocent looking face, with bright green eyes, and her light brown curls were partly covering her face. With the light coming in through the window, they looked almost golden. She truly looked like a little angel.

Debbie walked timidly into the room. She held a large tote bag in one hand and her pillow in the other. When Ms. Hicks motioned for her to come all the way in, Debbie put the bag and pillow down on the floor. She walked slowly over to her uncle. She just knew that he would probably hate her for what she had done.

She was momentarily taken aback, though, when he grabbed her in his arms and pulled her tight to him. He hugged her very hard. When Debbie felt all his love soar through her, she put her head into his chest and started to cry. Dominic held Debbie for a long time and told her how much he loved her.

The three of them spoke very briefly and then Dominic led Debbie to his truck. She climbed in. They were very quiet for the first hour. She didn’t know what to say. And neither did he. He knew he would have to punish her at some point, but they had a three-hour trip ahead of them, and they would get home way too late for any of that tonight. Besides, she was still sore from her school paddling two nights before.

Dominic almost grinned when he saw his niece place the pillow on the seat and then sit down on it.

“Uncle Dominic?”

“Yes, Debbie?”

“I’m really sorry you had to come all the way up to get me. Are you taking me to Grandma’s?”

“No, honey, you’re coming home with me,” he told her.

“I am?” she said, half delighted. “How come?”

“Aunt La-La is away, and Grandma is just getting too old to deal with this kind of stuff, Deborah Anne,” he said firmly.

Debbie gulped. “Oh,” she said. She snuck a peek at her uncle to see if he was frowning or smiling. “Are you very angry with me, Uncle Dominic?”

“We can talk about this more in the morning, after you’ve had a good night’s sleep, Deborah.”

“Y-y-yes, sir, but I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. It was my first time, and I know it was really stupid what I did.”

Dominic sighed. She was pushing it. He hadn’t wanted to talk about the incident on the way home, because he wasn’t sure he could trust his feelings and reactions.

“Yes, Deborah Anne, it was very stupid. Now let’s drop it,” he said gruffly.

Debbie didn’t push it any more at that time. She sat quietly and looked out the window, wondering what her friends at school were doing that very second. After a while, Debbie broke the silence.

“Uncle Dominic? Does my daddy know what I did?”

Dominic swore under his breath. He wished she hadn’t asked that question. Yes, he knew, but did he give a damn? NO. His mother had tracked Tom down in Venice. Venice; he still couldn’t believe it. When his mother had told Tom what Debbie had done, he laughed and said, “Kids will be kids.” Of course he wasn’t doing anything about it.

“Yes, he knows,” Dom said quietly.

“Oh. He didn’t care, did he?” Debbie asked, tears falling down her face.

Dominic wanted to say, ‘No, he didn’t’ but he kept his mouth shut. They had always tried to keep Tom’s reactions to things Debbie did, quiet from her. For some reason, they still wanted to protect her and let her think that her daddy really did care.

“Well, your daddy is very busy these days. He’s in Italy working on some new project,” Dominic lied.

But Debbie didn’t answer. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t true. She also knew that her daddy had never cared what she did or didn’t do. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had seen him. On their last phone call, her daddy had been laughing and Debbie had heard women giggling in the background. Oh well, she thought.

They tried to make other small talk on the ride home, but Dominic really wasn’t in the mood. Finally, Debbie fell asleep, and Dom was grateful for the peace and quiet. They arrived at the house at 10:00 at night. Dom was exhausted and was ready to just fall into bed.

He gently shook Debbie awake and pointed to the little house. It was a small ranch house, but it had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a basement. It was Melinda’s house; her mother had willed it to her when she died. Dom hoped someday to buy a big house, maybe a colonial or a split-level, but for now, this one was fine.

Debbie walked into the house. From somewhere, she heard screams and laughing and wondered just what she had walked into.

“She’s here! She’s here!” a little voice yelled. “And Uncle’s home!”

Lizzie came tearing out from the back of the house, and ran straight into Dominic’s arms. He picked the little girl up and swung her around, even though he was tired. He didn’t want to upset her since she seemed so excited. He was surprised, though, that she was still awake. Lizzie hugged her uncle tight.

Melinda came out of the bedroom, too. Dom made introductions all around. Debbie politely said hello to both Melinda and Lizzie. When Dom put Lizzie down, he raised his eyebrows at Mel.

“I tried to put her down, but she wouldn’t, hon. She was too excited,” Mel told Dom. “We fixed up your room, Debbie. Come and see.”

“Yeah, come! We hanged up little curtains, and put fresh sheets on the bed. The room is yellow, but we can use stencils and paint things on if you want. Come see!” Lizzie said, excitedly, taking Debbie’s hand.

Dominic had to smile. All it took was for one little six-year-old to put him in a better mood. He looped his hand in Melinda’s and followed his nieces to the guest room. Debbie looked around and nodded.

“Thanks, ma’am, it’s really nice,” she said politely.

“You can call me Melinda or Mel, if you want,” Melinda said.

“Aunt Melinda,” Dom corrected her.

“Okay, Aunt Melinda,” Debbie said.

“It’s late; you two need to be getting to bed. I’m real tired and am going to sleep, too,” Dom said.

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

“Oh, do I gotta, Uncle? I not tired,” I whined. Lin and I had spent the whole afternoon getting the guest room ready for Debbie. I wanted to do something fun now.

“No, Elizabeth, it is late, and it is way past your bedtime.”

“But I not tired!” I said a little too loud.

“Lizzie!” Melinda scolded. “Your uncle has been driving all day and he’s tired. Don’t even start!”

I bit my lip and looked up at my sister. I then looked at my uncle. He was not smiling. “Um, yes, ma’am.”

It was a quick tuck in, but I got to give Uncle Dom his butterfly kisses. “Mmmmm,” he said, smiling. I loved to see the smile on his face after I put my eyelashes on his face and blinked. He leaned down and kissed my nose. I loved when he did that. Melinda hugged me tight and tucked my covers up all around me. I noticed Debbie standing shyly in the doorway.

I motioned for her to come closer and she did. I reached up and pulled her down close to me and hugged her hard. “I’s glad to have a cousin,” I said. She smiled. It was the first time I had seen her smile. “Want some b-kisses?”

She looked up at Uncle Dom and he nodded. “Uh, sure, I guess so. What are they?”

I pulled Debbie close again and gave her some butterfly kisses. “Ohhh, they tickle!” she squealed.

“Uh huh,” I said.

“Let me try,” she said, leaning over me and fluttering her eyelashes on my face. I giggled. I hadn’t actually ever gotten any because I was the one to always give them. “G’nite, Lizzie,” Debbie said, giving me another hug.

“G’nite, cuz!” I said.

The next morning was Sunday. Usually Uncle Dom went out early and got hot fresh bagels, but when I ran into the kitchen, there were none there. I was surprised. I smelled the yucky coffee brewing, so I knew someone was awake.

“Lizzie!” Lin whispered.

I turned around and saw my sister already dressed. I looked at the clock. It was only 9:00 and she was already up and dressed. I was shocked.

“C’mon, go get dressed. We’re going out for breakfast and then we’ll go somewhere, just the two of us.”

“Really?” I asked. “How come?”

“Because your uncle has to ‘talk’ to Debbie, and they need time to be alone.”

I knew what ‘talk’ meant, and I knew I didn’t want to be around for that. Whatever that marijuana stuff was; it wasn’t good, and she was gonna get a big spanking. I ran to my room to get dressed.

Half an hour later, me and Lin were out the door. I had a long list of places I wanted to go. I would give Uncle Dom and Debbie lots of alone time.

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

Dominic walked into Debbie’s room after he had hugged and kissed his girls good-bye. They had loads of things planned. This was good because he knew he was going to be quite busy with his naughty niece.

Debbie was standing in the corner, still in her pajamas. Her uncle had told her not to bother getting dressed; she wouldn’t be wearing most of her clothes for too much longer, anyway.

Dom moved the chair away from the desk that had been empty until the night before. Now he noticed it was covered with books, pens, pencils, and some writing paper. There was also an empty water bottle, some hair clips, and a magazine.

After putting the chair in the middle of the room, Dom cleared his throat. “Come here, little girl!” he said sternly.

Debbie gulped and turned toward her uncle. She knew the time was near that she would be punished for doing what she had thought was cool at the time. She wished now that she could turn the clock back three nights and erase her stupid actions.

“Tell me why you are going to be punished,” Dominic said.

“Because I smoked pot and got suspended from school, Uncle,” Debbie said, trying not to cry. She wanted to save her tears. She knew she’d be using a lot of them soon.

Her uncle nodded. He was trying to stay calm. “And what on earth were you THINKING?” he said, his voice rising slightly.

“I don’t know, Uncle Dominic. Lauren and Maddie had just gotten the stuff from somewhere; I don’t even know where. They asked if I wanted to try it. I was curious,” she said honestly. “I’m sorry. It was stupid. If I could go back, I wouldn’t do it.”

“But you can’t go back, little girl, can you?” her uncle uttered.

“N-n-no, s-s-sir.” Debbie knew she had really disappointed her uncle and the tears were starting to leak out of her eyes. Growing up, she had hated when her aunts or uncles or her grandmother had been disappointed in things she did. She tried to be good, but it didn’t always work.

“I suggest you hold onto those tears, Deborah Anne. You’re going to be shedding a lot of them before I am through with you.”

Debbie nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

“You’ve been very naughty, and I’m going to spank you very hard,” her uncle told her. “You are just a little girl. Even though you’re 14, and a teen-ager, and you think that you can do whatever you want, I am here to let you know that you CAN’T!”

Debbie waited. It was coming; she just knew it.

“Come here, little girl,” Dominic said sternly. Debbie walked over to her uncle. He stood her by his left side, as he would do to either Melinda or Lizzie, and reached down and pulled her pajama bottoms and panties down to her ankles. Debbie gasped.

Dominic laid her over his lap, raised his left hand and brought it down hard on his niece’s bottom. Over and over again his hand went. {Smack! Smack! Smack!} Debbie winced as his hand connected with her tush. It had been months since she gotten a hand-spanking. Her grandmother still spanked her OTK, but at school, when she misbehaved, she got the paddle, bent over a chair. And she had made sure that didn’t happen too often.

{Smack! Smack! Smack!} “You are way too young to smoke, young lady,” Dominic started to lecture, as he spanked. {Smack! Smack! Smack!} “And you should especially NOT be smoking marijuana, {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!} which I might add is an illegal drug.” {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!}

Dominic continued to rain the spanks down on Debbie’s sore bottom. He didn’t stop for anything. He just kept spanking, alternating cheeks as he went. Debbie cried a little to herself. She tried not to cry out, and she definitely did not put her hand back to rub, as much as she wanted to. She knew her uncle would frown on that, and it would only cause her more spanks.

{Smack! Smack! Smack!} “I am very disappointed that you would try something {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!} like this, Deborah Anne. I know your grandmother, {Smack! Smack! Smack!} and your aunts and uncles, {Smack! Smack! Smack!} and I raised you much better than this!” {Smack! Smack! Smack!} {Smack! Smack! Smack!}

This spanking didn’t seem like it was ever going to end. And Debbie thought it still wouldn’t be over yet, if she knew her uncle. And she did. Finally, though, after peppering her bottom with many rapid-fire spanks, Dominic stopped. He stood her up, pulled up her panties and pajama bottoms carefully and pointed to the corner. Debbie wanted to rub so badly, but she didn’t even ask. Her panties rubbed against her tush and made it hurt even more, too.

“I want you to stand there for half an hour and think about what you’ve done, little girl. I will be back to finish your spanking,” her uncle said, and then quietly left the room.

Debbie stood there in the corner, and cried. She reached back and tried to soothe her aching bottom but rubbing it only made it worse. She knew she didn’t have permission to rub it anyway, and if her uncle came in and caught her doing it, she’d be in even bigger trouble, so she stopped. She just stood in the corner, sobbing, for the full thirty minutes. Debbie thought her legs were going to buckle. It had been a long time; too, that she’d had this much corner time.

After a long time, she heard her bedroom door open. But she didn’t turn around. That was another no-no. Even though she hadn’t seen her uncle or been spanked by him in a while, she still remembered his rules.

“Deborah, come here,” Uncle Dominic said.

Debbie turned around and walked over to her uncle. He lifted her chin so that she was staring right up into his face. She wished she could just sit on his lap and have him cuddle her, and play with his beard, like she did when she was younger. But there was no time for that now. He was upset with her and was going to continue spanking her.

“I’m sorry that I have to be so tough on you, Debbie. I know this isn’t how you would like to spend your time with me. But you have to know that you made a very bad choice a few nights ago, and now you are facing the consequences. Do you understand that?”

Debbie nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” he told her. He motioned to her bed. “I want you to bend over the end of the bed, young lady.”

So he had moved from ‘little girl’ to ‘young lady’, Debbie thought. She wasn’t sure this was a good thing. She got right to where her uncle told her to be and did what he said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pull the belt from the loops of his pants. Debbie cringed. She wasn’t sure she could take a belt spanking on top of the hand spanking that he had already given her.

She swung around and stood up. “OH, please, Uncle, NO!” she cried.

“Deborah Anne, how dare you tell me NO! You turn right back around, young lady!”

Debbie stood there for a minute, staring at her uncle. She didn’t want to go back, but she knew she shouldn’t argue with him. Uncle Dominic stared at her waiting for her to obey him. When she didn’t move fast enough, he turned her around and gave her one hard {SWAT} with his hand.

“Owwww! Okaaaaaaaay!” she cried, turning back around, and getting into position.

“That was nothing, missy! I’m going to teach you never to try something so foolish again,” he said, gruffly.

Dominic pulled the belt from his pants and doubled it over. He raised his arm back and swung that belt. You could hear the ‘whoosh’ as it sailed through the air. Debbie felt it connect to her backside a second later.

{TTHHHHHWWWAACCCKKK!}

“Owwwwwwwwwww!” she cried.

“YOU WILL NEVER SMOKE MARIJUANA OR ANY OTHER ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE, EVER AGAIN!” Dominic said very loudly. He had to talk loud over the sounds of the belt smacking her behind.

{TTHHHHHWWWAACCCKKK!} {TTHHHHHWWWAACCCKKK!}

Debbie screamed. On top of the hand-spanking, this hurt so much. She cried out in pain. “OWWWWWWWWW, I’m sorrrrrrrrrrry, Uncle Dominic!”

“I’m sure you are. I want to make sure this lesson sinks in and that we NEVER have to discuss you smoking ANYTHING ever again,” he said.

{TTHHHHHWWWAACCCKKK!} {TTHHHHHWWWAACCCKKK!}

Debbie’s bottom was on fire. She was crying so hard. She could barely even feel the pain anymore. Dominic put the belt down. He had to wipe a tear away from his own eyes. He looked down at his niece’s bottom. It was bright red and purple and a few welts had started to form. He knew she would never try something like what she had ever again. He knew that was the point of his spanking her so hard, but he had hated doing it.

“Lay down,” he told her gently.

Debbie practically fell tummy first onto the bed. She grabbed her pillow tight to her and just cried into it. Dominic put his belt back on, and then sat down next to his niece. He felt terrible, even though he knew he had done what he had to, as one of her guardians. He had to protect her and make sure she grew up right.

Without even asking if she wanted any, Dominic squirted the aloe cream on her backside and gently rubbed it in. He knew Debbie would have trouble sitting down on it for many days. But then that was the point. She would remember every time she sat down, not to do what she did, ever again.

After rubbing in a lot of lotion, Dominic just sat there and held Debbie’s hand and waited for her to calm down some. He was trying hard to regroup his own feelings, as well.

When his niece’s sobs turned more into sniffles, he pulled her up to him and hugged her tight. She cried against his chest and begged him to forgive her.

Dominic smiled and kissed Debbie’s cheek. She couldn’t believe it. “You forgive me?” she asked.

“Of course I forgive you. You’ve been punished. And aside from being grounded for the first two weeks you’re here, it’s done with as far as I’m concerned. I just hope you’ll never do anything like this again.”

“Oh, no, Uncle Dominic, I won’t, I promise. I was just trying it, but it was stupid and I know it was. I can’t believe you actually forgive me.”

“Debbie, I love you very much. There is nothing you could ever do that I couldn’t forgive you for. Nothing. You remember that, all right? I don’t want you to think that you can’t come to me with anything you might do. Even if I punish you, we can talk through it and you will always be forgiven. You understand?”

Debbie nodded. “Oh yes, Uncle, and I love you too, so much!” she said, starting to smile for the first time that day. Then she yawned, and Dominic tucked the covers in around her and left the room quietly.

Later on that day, Dominic made Debbie some soup for lunch. She wasn’t very hungry but he told her it was important to eat. She was feeling pretty lousy, between getting thrown out of school and missing her friends, and that double spanking. Before dinner, she went to take another nap.

Not too long after Debbie laid down the second time, the front door burst open and I came running in, laden with things in my hand.

“UNCLE DOM! LOOK WHAT I GOT!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I ran right over to him and threw everything down so I could give him a big hug. He smiled and picked me up and swung me in the air. “Hi sweetie, I guess you and your big sister had a good day, huh?” he said quietly.

“YEAH, but how come you’s whispering?” I asked.

“Well, your cousin is taking a nap. Although I suppose now she might be awake,” he said, smiling. Melinda smiled over my head at Uncle Dom. Then she came over and gave him a big hug and kiss too.

“So tell me what you did, sweetie.”

“Well, me and Lin went to IHOP for breakfast and I had pancakes, you know those little ones? And I had blueberry syrup. It was really good. Then we went to the zoo, only it wasn’t open yet, so we went into the bookstore. I read Lin some books and she read me some, and we bought this one.”

I held up a book. It was by Dr. Seuss. “It’s called My Many Colored Days, and it’s all about feelings. I really liked it.”

Uncle Dom nodded, and I continued. “And then we wented to the zoo. And I saw monkeys, and giraffes, and a beaver, OH, AND LOOK WHAT I GOT!” I yelled, forgetting about Debbie sleeping.

“What? What did you get?” Uncle Dom asked. He was smiling at me; glad to be happy for a bit this day. That morning had really worn him out. He was thinking he should have laid down for a nap, as well.

I thrust a stuffed animal into his lap. “His name is Busy. He’s a beaver. Get it? Busy IS a beaver, instead of Busy AS a beaver,” I explained, giggling. “Lin buyed it for me because I was so good.”

“Wow, he’s cute.”

“I’s gonna sleep with him. But my bed sure is getting crowded,” I said.

“Well, you don’t have to sleep with them all at once, sweetie. You can rotate them.”

“I can do that?” I asked Lin. She nodded. “Oh,” I said.

“Oh, and we saw bears. They was real big. And they had big bear noses. And I ast Lin if they were wet like a dog’s nose, and she said probly, and I wanted to keep one as a pet, but she said no, they were too big, and they would probly make really big stinky bear poop.”

My uncle roared with laughter, and just then my new cousin, Debbie, came into the room. “HI DEBBIE!” I said loudly. “Look what I got!” I showed her the stuffed beaver and the t-shirt with the giraffe on it. “It says ‘Zoo’ on it. And I’s gonna paint a giraffe in my room, with stencils. Lin said we could, and, and, and....”

“Okay, Lizzie, that’s enough,” Lin told me. “You were so good today; don’t ruin it by making everyone crazy.”

I really had been good. I had held Lin’s hand the whole time, and I hadn’t run off. And I didn’t beg for more when we was in the gift shop or nothing. I didn’t even ask her to buy me nothing; she just ‘cided she was gonna. She’s a great big sister.

The following Monday was April 1^st, and you know what else it was? It was April Fool’s Day. I wouldn’t even a known if it hadn’t been for these boys in my class. They was playing jokes on everyone all day long. My teacher, Mrs. Foxxe, wasn’t too happy ‘bout that neither.

When I got home, I ran upstairs to check to see if Uncle Dom’s present was still where I hid it. Me and Lin had buyed it when we had our special day together. We gotted him a keychain, with charms on it, and Lin had something engraved on it, but it’s a secret.

I peeked into Debbie’s room but she wasn’t in there. That was kind of strange because ever since she had come to live here, she had been grounded to her room. But maybe Uncle Dominic had let her out for good behavior. He sometimes did that with me when I’s in ‘time out’.

I saw Debbie’s slippers just sitting there at the foot of the bed. They were light blue and had ruffles on them, but they were really worn out. She musta had them since she was my age. I don’t know why I did it; maybe it was cuz it was April Fool’s Day, but something just inspired me to do it. I went into Uncle’s bathroom, took his shaving cream, and squirted it into Debbie’s slippers. It looked so ooey and gooey; I just giggled.

Then I flipped open her bed and squirted some in the bed under the blanket. I giggled some more.

“Elizabeth! What are you doing?” Lin called. I jumped. I hadn’t seen her pop up behind me. I turned around quickly and hid the shaving cream behind my back.

“Uh, nothing!” I lied. I’m not a very good liar, either. Lin knows this really well.

I took a step forward, hoping my sister would take a step back and we could casually walk out of the room. Then the worst thing happened. Uncle Dominic appeared behind Melinda.

“What are you doing in Debbie’s room?” he asked me.

“That’s what I was trying to find out,” Lin told him.

“N-n-nothing,” I said, still with my hands behind my back.

“What’s behind your back, Lizzie?” Uncle asked in that stern Daddy voice.

“N-n-nothing,” I stuttered again. I was gonna have to work on my lying, if I wanted to live longer than my six years.

“I asked you a question, Elizabeth!” Uncle Dom stated.

“Don’t call me that!” I whined. I hated being called my full name.

“Someone’s going to get spanked in a minute!” Uncle said.

“Why? I didn’t do nothing!” I cried.

Uncle Dom rested his hands on his belt. “You have two seconds,” he told me.

I burst into tears and brought my hands out from behind my back and produced the can of shaving cream. Uncle’s eyes popped open and he raised his eyebrows.

“What are you doing with that can of shaving cream?” Melinda asked me.

I turned back and looked at Debbie’s bed and then back at my sister and my uncle. They tried to look around me but I was blocking them.

Uncle Dominic sighed and physically moved me out of the way. When he saw the shaving cream in the bed, he grabbed me, bent me over his knee and smacked my bottom about six times.

“Owwwwwwwww!” I cried.

“Lizzie! Why would you do that to your cousin’s bed?” Melinda said, exasperated.

“It was just a joke!” I cried, rubbing my bottom.

“Well, it wasn’t very funny,” Melinda said, going over to the bed. She started to unmake it.

“Today’s April Fool’s Day!” I explained.

“Oh god, lord help us!” Uncle Dom exclaimed.

Melinda nodded and said, “It’s spring fever.”

Uncle turned and looked at me. “I want you to go to your room and stand in the corner.”

“But I,” I started to say.

“No buts. Now go!”

I cried and ran to my room. I stood in the corner, waiting for my uncle. He had already smacked my bottom. I hoped he wasn’t gonna give me a real spanking. I had only been kidding. Like when Philip told Juan that he had snoo in his hair at school today. And then Juan said, “What’s snoo?” and Philip said, “Nothing, what’s new with you?” It was just a joke, and everyone laughed.

Uncle Dom came into my room a few minutes later and called me over to him. “Do you know what your big sister is doing right now, Elizabeth?”

I shook my head no even though I sorta had an idea.

“Well, she is changing the sheets on Debbie’s bed. You know, Lizzie, a joke isn’t funny if someone else has to do work to fix what you did.”

I looked up at Uncle Dominic then. “I’s sorry, sir. I’ll go clean it.”

“No, let your sister do it.”

“You gonna spank me, Uncle? Please don’t; I’s sorry.”

“No, not this time. I just wanted you to think about what you did.”

I bit my lip and nodded. “I not do it again.” I wondered if I should tell them about the slippers, but thought it better not to mention it. I would go in later and clean them out and no one would know the difference.

I went into Debbie’s room when Uncle Dominic told me he was through with me. But Melinda was still in there. She was putting new sheets on the bed and making the bed again. “Sis? I’s sorry I gived you extra work.”

She smiled at me and then came over and hugged me. “I know, sweetie. And I know you won’t do this again.”

I shook my head. “Uh uh, I won’t.”

I didn’t have a chance to clean out the slippers that night. Things kept happening and I couldn’t get back into my cousin’s room without anyone being suspicious. And unfortunately, the next day I forgot all about what I had done.

It wasn’t until Wednesday night that I remembered, and by then it was too late. I was sitting in the living room, watching TV. I had finished my homework and Melinda was checking it. Uncle Dom was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Debbie yelled from her bedroom.

Uncle Dom jumped up. Melinda and I jumped up too. We all ran to Debbie’s room.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Uncle asked her.

She pulled her foot out of her slipper and held it up. “There’s something sticky in my slippers!” she cried.

“Uh-oh!” I said. Now I remembered there was something I needed to do.

My uncle and sister and cousin all turned to stare at me. I looked at the floor. Uncle Dominic went over to Debbie’s slippers and picked one up. He touched the white sticky foam and then sniffed it. He turned and looked at me. I looked up. He was frowning.

“Do you know anything about this, Elizabeth?”

“Uh, well, I, uh,” I tried, not knowing what to say.

“The truth.”

I nodded. “I did it, sir.”

“I see,” he said. He sighed and pointed. “Go to your room and get into the corner, Elizabeth.”

“Yes, sir.” I didn’t even try to make up an excuse. I knew I had none. I should have remembered to clean them out after I had gotten into trouble for the bed the other night. But I’s only six, and I have a bad rememberer in my head.

I walked slowly to my room and put my nose in the corner.

When my uncle came into my room a few minutes later, I could hear him sighing. “Come over here, Lizzie,” he told me. I turned around and saw him sitting on the edge of my bed.

“I seem to remember having a discussion with you about this just a few nights ago, little girl.”

“Yes, sir, but that’s when I did it. I just forgot to clean it up.”

“I see. So when you said you would never do it again, you didn’t think it wise to mention what else you had done?” he asked.

Hmmm, I really hadn’t thought of doing that. I figured that would just get me in more trouble that night. I shook my head. “No, sir.”

“Lizzie, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” Uncle Dominic said. “I think you already know that what you did was wrong, so I’m not going to even lecture you.”

With that, he just pulled down my pants and panties and put me over his lap. He raised his hand and brought it down hard on my bottom, over and over again.

{Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!} {Spank! Spank!}

It didn’t last forever like most of my spankings did, but it was enough to hurt my poor little bottom. After giving some extra spanks to my sit spot, Uncle Dom lifted me up and held me close to him.

I cried on his shoulder and he rubbed my back. “I’s sorry, Uncle, I promise I not do it again.”

“I know you won’t, Lizzie.”

He leaned down and kissed my cheek and I knew I was forgiven. I smiled a little, even though I couldn’t understand how he could forgive me so quickly.

“You still love me?”

Uncle Dom looked at me. “Of course I do,” he said, smiling. “More and more every day.”

“You does?”

“I does,” he said, smiling. I smiled too, cuz it didn’t sound right. But they almost never corrected me.

“How come?” I asked.

“Just because I do.”

“But I ‘spoint you all the time.”

“Just sometimes.”

“I don’t mean to, Uncle, it just happens.”

Uncle Dominic nodded. “It’s a part of growing up.”

I reached up and hugged Uncle Dominic tight. “I loves you, too.” I gave him some butterfly kisses. “Them’s free,” I told him. “Always.”

“Mmmmmmmmm, I like them,” he said.

“I know,” I said.

My eyes drifted to the package under my bed and I smiled. I couldn’t wait to give Uncle Dominic his present. His birthday was only two days away.

Finally Friday came. I didn’t think it would ever come. I was so proud of myself for keeping the present and party a secret. I patted my rememberer and said, “Good job”.

Debbie and me baked a cake for Uncle Dominic. Melinda went out and bought party hats and streamers. And I made a big sign that said, “Happy Birthday.” I used my markers. We hung everything up. And we ordered in Chinese food for dinner. Uncle Dominic loved Chinese food.

When he came home, we yelled, “Surprise!” and “Happy Birthday!”

“Wow!” he said. He looked around, smiling. “All this for me?”

“Uh huhs,” I said, “Cuz we loves you.”

We sat down to dinner then, and we all stuffed ourselves silly. After we ate, we all opened up our fortune cookies. Debbie smiled when she read hers. Then she read it out loud to us. She took a deep breath. “It says, You will begin a new adventure.”

“Wow,” Melinda said. “I wonder what that means.”

“What’s yours say, Uncle?”

“It says, You are a sincere friend.”

My sister nodded. “That you are,” she said.

Mine said, “You are a creative person.” Everyone said it was true. Melinda didn’t wanna read hers out loud. She just showed it to Uncle and the two of them laughed.

“Must be a grown-up thing, Lizzie,” Debbie said. I nodded.

“Okay, present time!” I shouted.

“There’s more?” Uncle asked.

“Uh huh,” I said, putting a little present into Uncle’s hands. He looked at the oddly wrapped present and smiled. “I wrapped it myself.”

“You did a good job, sweetie,” he said, kissing my forehead.

He opened the package and pulled out the little keychain with the charms dangling from it. “You needed a new keychain, didn’t you, Uncle?” I asked.

Uncle Dom nodded. “It’s wonderful,” he said, looking at it carefully.

“It was Lizzie’s idea,” my sister told him.

“Lin is the bear, I’s the puppy and we gotted a cat for Debbie. Did you know she likes cats?” I asked.

“Yes, I did,” Uncle said. “We had a cat named Scamp when Debbie was growing up.”

“Ohhhh!” I said. “Wait, Uncle, there’s more,” I said, pointing to the back. “Lin got a ‘scription on it.”

Uncle turned the keychain over and read the inscription. “To Dominic, you’re the best. Love your family.”

“Awwwww, I love it!” he said, hugging and kissing everyone. He opened the cards we gave him, also, and couldn’t believe we had done all this for him.

“There’s more,” I told him. “We maded you a cake. Chocolate, your favorite.”

“Wow, I love chocolate!” he said. We went to the kitchen and I showed him the cake.

“Me and Debbie maded it.” It was a little lopsided, but it sure tasted great.

All in all, Uncle Dom said this had been the best birthday ever.

“I have one more present for you, Uncle,” Debbie said, smiling.

“You do? What’s that?” he asked.

Debbie showed him the letter she had received from her school. It said that after spring break, she was welcome back at her boarding school. It said because of her academic record and the fact that she had never been a behavior problem before; they were allowing her back in. Lauren and Maddie were allowed back, too. Debbie had called them the second she had received the letter.

Dominic hugged his niece tight. “Good girl!” he said. “I’m so proud of you, sweetie! In fact, I will let you off your grounding two days early.”

“Really? WOW, thanks, Uncle. I love you!” Debbie said, hugging Uncle tight.

I smiled. Everyone was happy.

That night Melinda and Uncle Dom tucked me into bed. I had on my favorite nightshirt that said ‘football sucks’ on it. It had been a Christmas present from Uncle Dominic. He had had it made when I told him how much I hated him watching football instead of spending time with me.

I went potty and brushed my teeth. Uncle picked me up and laid me into bed. Melinda tucked the covers around me. I reached up and hugged them both tight. I gave Uncle Dominic his butterfly kisses.

“Mmmmmmm,” he said.

“I loves you both,” I told them.

“We both love you, lilone,” Melinda said. ‘Lilone’ was her pet name for me, even though I wasn’t a pet.

“G’nite, Lin, g’nite, Uncle. Did you have a good birthday?” I asked him, getting very sleepy.

“I sure did. And yours is coming up next, so start thinking of what you want,” he told me.

I nodded, sleepily, and drifted off to sleep. I loved my family.

The end.

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