"So how was your day with Mama, buddy?" Olivia asked as she served her five-year-old son a plate of spaghetti.
"Good. We went to the store and we had lunch at McDonald's. I got a happy meal." Noah informed her as he picked up his fork and twirled a big ball of spaghetti.
"Oh, yeah? Well, that was very nice of Mama to give you such a special treat. I hope you gave her a big hug and said 'thank you'." Olivia was surprised, knowing how much Alex normally disapproved of Noah eating fast food.
"I did. It was a special treat because she lost me at the store, but she said not to tell you." Noah carried on conversationally in his childish innocence, not realizing how much trouble he was getting his Mama into.
"Mama lost you at the store?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Yep. Where is Mama?" Noah looked around as if just realizing that Alex wasn't with them.
"She had to go to work for a while. She won't be home until after bedtime. Did you wander away from Mama at the store?" Olivia asked, trying to get a clear picture of exactly what had transpired that afternoon in her absence.
"She said that we could go look at the toys, but she was taking forever looking for some really boring grown up things. She let go of my hand, so I figured it would be okay if I just went and looked at the legos real quick. Then I couldn't find the legos, and I couldn't remember where Mama was, and she couldn't find me either until a store person found me and brought me back to her. Mama was crying." Noah explained cautiously, suddenly sensing that he might be in trouble.
"I'm sure she was. I'm sure Mama was very worried about you. Noah, it is never okay for you to wander away from Mama or Mommy at the store. You should have stayed right with Mama until she was done with what she was doing. If you wander away and get lost, a bad guy could take you away and hurt you. Mama and I would be very sad and worried if that happened."
"Oh." by the startled look on Noah's little face, he clearly hadn't considered this possibility.
"I think Eddie is going to spend a few nights in Mommy and Mama's room, to help you remember not to wander away from us. You can have him back at bedtime on Saturday." Olivia informed her son.
"Eddie wasn't bad." Noah frowned, looking up at his Mommy innocently. Olivia couldn't help but smile at her cute son.
"You're right, Eddie wasn't bad. You are not bad either, sweetheart. You just made a wrong choice by wandering away from Mama today, and these consequences are because Mommy and Mama love you so much. Now sit down properly on your bottom and finish your dinner, please. I want to see all of those carrots gone, and then after dinner you need a bath."
"Why is Eddie in here?" Alex asked, noticing her son's beloved stuffed animal sitting on the shelf in the closet while she was changing her clothes.
"I took him away until bedtime on Saturday to remind Noah not to wander away from us." was Olivia's simple reply from where she sat cross-legged on the bed looking through a stack of papers.
Alex stiffened, suddenly realizing that her son had told on her.
"Oh."
"That's all you have to say for yourself is 'oh'? Come here, and let's have a conversation." Olivia looked up and set her papers aside.
Alex quickly finished changing and joined Olivia sitting on the bed, only to be guided to sit on Olivia's lap.
"What happened?" Olivia asked, wanting to afford Alex the opportunity to explain herself.
"Well, I took Noah to the store with me and he asked me if we could look at the toys. I said yes, but first I needed to get a few things. I only turned away for a split second, Liv, and then he was just gone. A store employee found him."
"And thank God it was a store employee that found him and not somebody else. Noah told me that you let go of his hand?" Olivia asked rather than stated.
"Yeah, I did. I was reaching for something, and I almost knocked over a bunch of stuff, so I let go of Noah's hand to keep everything from falling." Alex blushed heavily.
"And then you told him not to tell me about this."
"I was so relieved that he was safe, punishing him never even crossed my mind. He asked me if I was going to tell you. I thought you would be mad at me for losing him, and I told him that as long as it never happens again, I wouldn't tell you this time."
"So instead he rats out Mama and screws himself in the process," Olivia couldn't help but chuckle, "Look, baby, you're an awesome mom. Noah is five; at that age wandering off is pretty typical behavior. But you really should have been watching him better. You shouldn't have let go of his hand. And you definitely should not have given him the idea that it's okay to hide things from me. I don't mind being the disciplinarian around here for the both of you, but when you tell him that it's okay to hide things from me, you turn me into the big, scary bad guy that needs things hidden from them, and that's not fair to him or to me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you." Alex's baby blue eyes filled with tears.
"All right," Olivia sighed and kissed Alex's forehead, "enough said for now. Let's go to bed, and tomorrow when I get back from dropping Noah off at school, we'll deal with the consequences." Olivia tenderly patted Alex's bottom.
"Okay, sweetie, give Mama a hug and let's go to school." Olivia smiled, picking up Noah's backpack and waiting by the door.
"Bye, Mama! I love you!" Noah threw his little arms around Alex's neck and kissed her cheek.
"Bye, baby. I love you too." Alex returned the affection with a smile.
When Olivia returned, she found Alex exactly where she was supposed to be, standing in the corner with her hands on her head. Olivia retrieved the hairbrush from the bedside table drawer, sat on the bed, and called Alex to her.
"Why are you being spanked?" Olivia asked as she raised Alex's pencil skirt and pulled her panties down to her knees.
"Because I was irresponsible and let go of Noah's hand at the store and I didn't tell you that I lost him." Alex's lower lip trembled.
"You know what hiding things from me earns you, sweetheart." Olivia warned, picking up the hairbrush from the start and bringing it down sharply.
"Owie! Yes, Ma'am, I know!" Alex quickly began to cry. Sitting down in court today was going to be a miserable experience.
Olivia spanked hard and fast, focusing most of her strict attention on Alex's tender sit-spots to get her point across as effectively as possible. But sympathetically knowing that Alex hadn't meant to lose track of their son, Olivia kept the lesson short and sweet. She threw down the hairbrush and guided her sobbing wife into her arms less than five minutes later.
"There, there. That's my good girl." Olivia rocked Alex and cuddled her close to her heart.
"I'm sorry!" Alex wailed, clinging to Olivia for dear life.
"I know you are, angel. It's all over and forgiven. I love you." Olivia cooed lovingly, tenderly stroking Alex's long blonde hair. Her work shirt was getting wet with Alex's tears, but she didn't mind. She could change into a different shirt before they left the apartment.
Alex soon stopped crying, and Olivia helped her to gently wash her face before Alex reapplied her mascara. Olivia quickly changed her shirt and picked up her car keys, giving Alex a loving smile.
"You ready, sweet girl?"
"Yeah." Alex smiled when Olivia kissed her forehead, and winced as she bent down to pick up her briefcase.