Emma's POV
It's been several weeks since Drew has been apart of
our family. He's fit in so perfectly, it's hard to imagine life without him. I swear he's the most spoiled baby. He's never put down. Someone is always holding him. Usually, it's Luke or dad fighting over him.
Luke is such a softy. He gets a bad rap. He always pretends to be tough. An ass. He's not, though. He gets his feelings hurt easily and things bother him easily.
The other day he came into my room. I was watching TV, and he flops down on my bed and puts his head in my lap. I'm watching I Love Lucy, and he says nothing as he watches an entire episode with me. I'm waiting for him to gripe about it, but he doesn't.
"Luke, what's wrong?" I ask after he's been in my room about half an hour.
"Nothing" he says, not even looking at me.
After ten more minutes I shut the TV off. "Talk to me."
He sighs and sits up, looking at me hard. "Am I a good person, Emmy?"
"Of course you are" I say, grabbing his hand. He almost looks like he's going to cry. "Why are you asking me that?"
He sighs and shakes his head, sniffing a little. "I overheard Kelly talking to her friend today. She said that I'm an ass, and it's a good thing I'm so hot, because that's the only reason I have any friends at all. I thought I had been pretty nice to her these last few weeks."
I squeeze his hand. "You were awful to her for four years, you can't expect her to be good with you after you've been civil with her for three weeks" I say as gently as I can.
He nods and sniffs again. "Have I really been that bad?" He asks.
I shrug. "You're great with a lot of people"
"Not what I asked, Emmy"
"You're not nice to people who aren't in your circle, Luke."
Luke nods. "I don't want to be an ass anymore, Emmy."
I smile and kiss his cheek. "Then don't be" I say simply.
He's really been trying hard lately...But sometimes it's too little, too late. Thankfully high school is just about over, and he can start fresh. Start over and be the person he wants to be.
I'm sitting here with a knot in my stomach this afternoon. I need to talk to mom and dad, but I know when I do, I'm going to get spanked. I don't want to be spanked. The last spanking I had was when I stayed out all night. I had promised myself that that was the last spanking that I would ever have....Now I'm going to incriminate myself. Why am I going to do that? Because I can't sleep. I'm feeling so incredibly guilty that I just need to tell them.
I finally get the courage, and I go downstairs to find them. Sasha is at the table, working on homework.
She's already back at school. She completely has her body back. You would have absolutely no idea that she just had a baby. She looks amazing. I'm trying really hard not to be jealous, but sometimes those feelings still creep in.
I go into the kitchen and find mom and dad kissing.
I stand at the counter, and clear my throat when it's obvious they have no idea I'm right here.
They immediately pull away, looking at me with a smile.
"What's up, Emma Kate?" Dad asks, wiping his mouth a little. The kiss was pretty intense.
"Um, can I talk to you guys in private, please?" I ask nervously.
"Sure" dad nods as he immediately starts heading to my room. I don't think any of my siblings have ever incriminated themselves before. I'm thinking this is a first.
We all get to my room, and dad holds the door for me and mom. When we're all in, dad shuts the door and plops down on my bed, care-free. It's obvious he has no idea that he's about to spank me.
"What's going on, Emmy?" He asks with a smile. As soon as he reads my face, he loses his smile. "What's wrong?" His tone is concerned.
"I'm nervous" I chuckle humorlessly.
Dad just nods.
I take a deep breath. "I'm incriminating myself because I'm feeling too guilty. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in big trouble" I say in a rush.
Both mom and dad's faces are a mixture of things...Surprise, confusion, nervous, apprehensive.
"I, uh, I snuck out last week. In the middle of the night" I say, looking at the floor.
Complete silence
I look up and see that mom and dad are sharing a look, and then turn to look at me again.
I just stand there, looking at them.
"Keep going" dad says darkly.
I nod. "Owen wanted to take me to this club he found that doesn't check ID's closely. So he got me a fake ID and we went."
Mom and dad are absolutely furious.
"Did you drink?" Dad asks after a minute. I can tell he's trying to keep his voice under control.
I shake my head. "I didn't but Owen did" I say quietly.
Dad nods. "Who drove home?"
"Owen" I'm definitely getting spanked.
"Why didn't you drive home?" Dad asks, getting madder by the second.
"He said he was fine. He only had two beers. We got home no problem."
Dad looks at mom. "I really liked that kid. Not now, though, after he endangered my daughter" he says, standing up and walking over to the window, looking out of it.
I just stand there, waiting.
"What are you expecting to happen?" Dad asks after a minute, still looking out the window.
"I'm expecting to get spanked" I admit.
Dad turns around then and looks at me. He starts to nod. "I'm having a real problem right now, Emma. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't punish my kid if they came clean like you just did. Mom and I would have had absolutely no idea. You would have gotten away with it. Why did you tell us?" He asks.
I look at him and wipe away a tear that fell.
"Sneaking out and going to a club isn't me. I didn't have a good time at all, because I knew how disappointed you would be. I've felt so guilty that I haven't been sleeping. I can't live with the guilt anymore" I say, wiping another tear.
"Damn it" Dad hisses under his breath.
"What do we do, Ellie?" He asks after another minute.
Mom looks from me to dad for several seconds before speaking. "We look past the sneaking out, going to a club, and using a fake ID. We don't punish her at all for that. If we would have found out about it, that would have earned her the paddle. She told us, so we don't punish her for it" she says.
I start to feel optimistic. I start to let out the breath I've been holding for days.
"And letting him drive her home while he had been drinking?" Dad asks, still furious.
"That could have been life or death. She gets spanked for that" mom says quietly.
All hope is gone. Dang it. I knew I was getting spanked.
Dad nods, obviously upset.
"Girly, I don't want to spank you at all. Not at all. You told us the truth, even when you didn't need to. I'm so incredibly proud of you for that, kid."
"Dad, I deserve to be spanked. I really messed up."
"Damn it. Quit making me feel worse about this" dad says sternly.
He looks at mom for a minute.
"Ok, here's what we're going to do. Normally you would get worn out for this. I'm not doing that. A paddle is the next thing, but you're not getting that either. I'm going to spank you with my hand for five minutes. You won't even be close to the edge, but it is what it is. This will be the easiest spanking of your life, but I don't have it in me to care. You literally incriminated yourself. However, if this happens again, it doesn't matter if you incriminate yourself or not, you will get worn out. Hear me?" He asks sternly.
"Yes sir"
Dad nods. "Ok. Go grab some shorts and go into the bathroom to change."
I do what he says, and when I get back in, he and mom are talking quietly.
I go up to him and he takes my hands in his and bends so he is staring in my eyes. "You're such a good kid" he says, kissing my forehead. I let my tears fall. I don't feel like a good kid. I feel so insanely guilty.
Dad pulls me over to the bed silently and quickly pulls me over his lap. He gets me situated and then he puts his hand on my thigh. "Start the timer, darling" he says to mom.
"Started" mom says quietly.
Dad wastes no time smacking me. He smacks my butt first, and it immediately makes me tense up. I think dad forgets that I never get spanked, so these smacks hurt. Especially since I'm in workout shorts, my thighs are totally bare.
He continues raining smacks down, and starts to
focus on my thighs. I have no idea what being bare feels like, but after today I have a pretty good idea. The sting on my bare thighs is excruciating. Poor Trace. I can't imagine how bad this hurts for him all of the time.
Trace would never have put me in this position. That sudden realization hits me like a ton of bricks. He hates when I'm in trouble. He's actually over at our house now, so I'm sure he's hearing my screams. I'm already screaming. Dad is hitting hard and fast. I'm so thankful it's only five minutes.
Trace never would have had me to go a club. Gotten me a fake ID. He NEVER would have driven me home after he had been drinking. I always felt so safe
with him. I didn't feel safe the other night.
I actually feel safer now, over dad's lap, than I did at that club.
I'm dying right now. Dad is picking up the intensity, each hard smack bringing a blistering pain to my butt. I'm crying so hard that my tears are soaking the comforter.
"You will NEVER get into a car if the driver has been drinking, again. Do you understand me, Emma Katherine?" Dad asks, bringing blistering smacks down over and over.
I just nod. I'm crying so hard I can't answer him.
Suddenly I hear the alarm go off. I've never heard anything so beautiful in my life.
Dad immediately stops and puts his hand on my back, waiting for me to sit up.
I finally do, and he brings me to him, kissing my head.
"I'm not even grounding you. No restrictions. Promise me that this won't happen again" he asks desperately.
"I promise. I'm so sorry" I say, still crying.
He rubs my back and kisses me again.
"I'm sorry. I never would have spanked you for confessing. It's only because you let him drive you home after he had been drinking. I'm calling his mom for this, Emma" he says darkly.
I just nod.
Mom and dad leave a couple of minutes later, and I hear a knock on my door.
"Come in" I sniff.
Luke and Trace come in, and Trace immediately pulls me into a hug.
"What on earth happened?!?" He asks, concerned.
I tell them the story, and Trace is FURIOUS. "I'm going to kick his ass" he says darkly.
I say nothing.
He brings me into him and kisses my cheek. "I can't stand to see you hurt, Emmy."
He means that. He means that completely. I let him hold me, and I feel safe. I don't think I've ever felt safe with Owen. Happy. Content. In love...Yes.
Safe? No. I've only ever felt safe with Trace.