Kurt sniffed from his corner. He really wanted to reach back and rub at his stinging bottom, but that was against time out rules. So, instead, he hung his head and sniffed, trying to think about anything besides his butt.

Noah sat down heavily on the couch, keeping his eyes trained on Kurt's back. He was waiting for the rigid line of Kurt's shoulders to soften, his little cue that let him know he felt badly about his behavior. When Kurt slumped forward toward the corner, Noah looked at the time. Five more minutes in the corner, and Kurt should be ready to talk.

Noah sighed quietly, leaning against the back of the couch as he thought about how quickly their afternoon had gone down hill.

************************************Flashback**************************************

When Noah came in Kurt's front door after football practice that afternoon, he found Kurt curled up on the couch with Geoffrey and Thatcher, thumb in his mouth watching Project Runway. He slung his backpack down onto one of the kitchen chairs before padding to Kurt. He nudged at Kurt's shoulder to get him to sit up a bit, and Noah slid onto the couch, cushioning Kurt's head on his lap.

"Hey, baby," he greeted quietly. "How are you?"

"Hi, Da'y," Kurt garbled around his thumb. "'m fine." He scrunched up his nose as he tried to get comfy again, his eyes never leaving the TV.

Noah brushed some hair off of Kurt's forehead. "How long have you been watching TV?"

Kurt shrugged, still watching with his thumb firmly between his lips.

"Did you do your homework before you watched TV?"

Kurt shook his head no, still watching the screen.

Noah sighed and grabbed the remote from the end table and turned off the TV.

"Da'yyyyyyyyyyy. Washin' that!" Kurt whined, still sucking his thumb.

Noah gently removed Kurt's thumb from his mouth. "You know I can't understand you when you have your thumb in your mouth."

Kurt whined at the loss of his thumb, but he repeated himself, grabbing for the remote. "Was watchin' that, Daddy."

"Yes, I know. But, homework needs to be done before you watch any more TV. In fact, it should have already been done before you ever turned it on. You know that's our rule." Noah wriggled out from under Kurt. "Up, baby. Homework time. I'll make you a snack."

With that, Noah walked to the kitchen, making Kurt a PB&J and a sippy cup of milk. He knew Kurt was always cranky when he was hungry. He was disappointed to see that Kurt was still not at the table when he came back out of the kitchen. "Kurt?" he called, setting down the plate and sippy on the table.

Noah thought he could hear movement on the couch again, and as he returned to the living room, he could see the glow of the television in the dim room. "Kurt!" Noah grabbed the remote roughly from Kurt's hand, clicked the power button, and stuffed the remote into his pocket. "Up. Table. Homework. Now."

Kurt, who had been lamenting the loss of the remote and making grabby hands in Daddy's direction, huffed. "Don't wanna do homework. Wanna watch TV."

"The sooner your homework is done, the sooner we can do something fun." Noah went back over to the table and began pulling books from his bag. "Come on, Kurt. Go get your bag and get over here."

Kurt didn't respond, just continued to lay on the couch, arms folded across his chest and an angry pout on his face.

Noah was out of patience. "Kurt, you need to come over here and do your homework. If you're not up off that couch in the next three seconds, we'll see how you like doing homework on a sore bottom." Noah waited a beat, two, three. Still not movement. "Alright. You've earned yourself a spanking now, and you need to go to time out, Kurt." Noah was fighting to keep his tone even and calm.

When Kurt still didn't move, Noah began, "You have until the count of three to be in your naughty corner little boy. One."

Nothing.

"Two."

"Or what?" came a little voice from the couch.

"Or I'll help you. You better go."

"No. Don't wanna."

"Three."

"No!"

Noah very calmly walked to the couch, despite the fact his blood was boiling. He had put up with enough of Kurt's crabby attitude that night. Kurt hadn't acted this bratty since the night he got his first spanking. And, other than a few warning swats here and there, Kurt hadn't really needed a spanking in almost three weeks. Noah silently thanked the stars that Burt and Carole were gone for the evening.

Grabbing Kurt's arm, Noah pulled him up from the couch and positioned Kurt in front of him as he sat down. Divesting Kurt of his pants and boxers, Noah pulled him across his knees, giving several swift slaps to Kurt's bottom almost immediately. It didn't take long for Kurt's backside to turn pink, and that's when Noah started talking. "Why are we here, Kurt?"

Kurt had struggled at the beginning of the spanking, but so far, he hadn't made a sound. Instead, his body was stiff, and he replied angrily, "Because you're an overbearing jerk!"

Noah smacked harder, aiming for Kurt's sit spots. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. We have rules for a reason, and you need to follow them. If you don't, there will be consequences. Just. Like. This. One," he said, punctuating each word with a smack.

"You aren't the boss of me!" Kurt snapped.

Noah paused the spanking for a moment. "Oh, but I believe I am. You agreed to this, and I'm not going to stop taking care of you. Even when you act like a brat. I love you, Kurt, and we both know this has been good for you. The only way anything will change is if we sit down and talk about it." Noah rubbed his hand across the warm skin of Kurt's bottom. "Are you ready to listen yet, baby?"

The use of the pet name broke Kurt. He'd had a bad day at school. He and Mercedes had gotten into a scuffle over an opinion on Kurt's musical-in-progress, Pip, Pip, Hooray, and some of their snide remarks had gotten a little out of hand. And with Noah not being home when Kurt got home, he'd spent a large portion of the day feeling pretty unloved. So, when Noah called him "baby," Kurt's dam broke, his pent up tears streaming down his face. "Sorry, Daddy! Sorry!" he wailed. "Sorry!"

Noah wasn't sure what had brought about the sudden change in Kurt's demeanor, but it was clear that Kurt needed some more love right then. So, Noah righted his sobbing boyfriend, bringing him up to sit in his lap, Kurt's pink bottom settling between his knees so as not to touch anything. "Shhh, baby. It's okay. Shhh." He rocked Kurt gently from side to side, waiting out the tears.

After a little while, Kurt's tears became quiet sniffles, and he nuzzled his cheek against Noah's chest, seeking as much comfort as Daddy could give him.

Noah kissed Kurt's hair, squeezing the boy to him momentarily. "Can you tell me what that was all about, baby?" he asked, rubbing his back.

"Bad day," Kurt mumbled, his thumb already sneaking toward his mouth.

Noah intercepted it, however, rubbing his own thumb over Kurt's hand softly. "You had a bad day?" he asked. "What happened?"

"'Cedes doesn't like my play," came the soft reply.

"Oh. I see."

"She sayed I don't know how to write a play."

"Uh huh."

"She hurted my feelings, Daddy," Kurt whined. "And I wanted you. But you was at stupid football an' then when you got home, you was mean to me."

"I was mean to you?"

"Uh huh. Don't wanna do homework. Wanna watch TV and feel better." The sadness over his fight with Mercedes was quickly turning into upset over his Daddy's injustice.

Noah rubbed at Kurt's back. "I'm sorry. I know it stinks that you had a bad day. I would love nothing more than to cuddle and watch TV with you, make you feel better. But you know the rules. Homework before TV. Why do we have that rule?"

"Acuz I have to be 'sponsible 'fore I can play. And bein' 'sponsible means homework."

"That's right. What a smart boy," Noah praised, squeezing the little boy on his lap.

Kurt preened a little at the praise, snuggling closer into Daddy's chest. Despite the sting in his bottom, he was starting to feel a little better; if he wanted to cuddle with Daddy before bedtime, he needed to get started on his homework. Wrapping his arms around Daddy's neck, Kurt gave him a tight squeeze. "Ready to do my homework now, Daddy," he beamed.

Noah hated himself a little bit for what he had to say next, but he knew he needed to be consistent, for Kurt's sake. "I'm glad to hear that, baby, but there's something we have to take care of first." When Kurt flashed him a confused look, he explained. "Before I counted, I told you to come and sit down at the table, and you didn't listen. I told you that you had a spanking coming, and to go to time out, and you refused, even after I counted. So-"

Kurt could tell where this was going. "But—but! Daddy! I didn't know countin' meant spankin's!"

"If I have to count, that means you're disobeying me. Disobeying is something I will always punish you for. This time, it was a spanking."

"But you already spanked me for dis'beyin'!"

"You disobeyed me twice, Kurt."

"'m really sorry, though! I won't do it 'gain," he plead.

"Good. I don't want to have to do this again." With that, Noah quickly turned Kurt over his knee again. Taking note of his poor red bottom and how noisily the boy was already sobbing, Noah couldn't bring himself to do more than a token spanking.

Deciding on twenty five swats, Noah counted in his head as he smacked randomly at the blushing skin. He was far gentler this time around, barely putting any force behind any of the swats.

Kurt, however, thought that they were just as hard as ever, and now he was mad at Daddy. Second spankin's were not fair, and Daddy was mean for giving him another. Kurt kicked and wiggled as Daddy spanked, squealing when a swat landed on extra sore spot.

After the final smack, Daddy said quietly, "Corner please, baby."

Kurt stomped to the corner, angry at Daddy. He crossed his arms and stared determinedly at the floor, his very sore bottom on display, underwear and pants long kicked away. Daddy was no fair. Second spankin's were no fair. And, plus, Kurt hadn't even known that counting meant spanking. He thought Daddy was just counting for fun!

**************************************Present***************************************

As he stood in the corner, he thought that that maybe wasn't completely true. He'd known he was dis'beying Daddy and that countin' was givin' him a chance to do what Daddy said. So, then, Kurt started to feel bad. His body slumped hard against the wall as he thought about how he'd disobeyed Daddy, not once but twice, had gotten mad at Daddy for second spankin's, and prob'ly made Daddy really sad. And that realization was just too much for him, especially after having a bad day. So, he leaned against the wall and cried, quietly at first, then sobs that grew in volume.

When Noah heard the sobbing, he glanced at his watch. Screw the three more minutes he'd planned on leaving Kurt in the corner. Rising, he went to Kurt and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked softly. When the sobs continued, he added, "Come here. Let's go snuggle."

Kurt still didn't move. He didn't deserve to cuddle. He'd been very naughty, he'd made Daddy sad, and he deserved to be in his naughty corner all by himself because he was bad. Realizing that only made him cry harder, and it was becoming difficult to breathe. He felt like he was going to throw up; his stomach hurt, and his throat was constricting.

When Kurt remained in the corner, sobbing, Noah's heart broke. He wasn't going to let him stand there and cry so pitifully. So, he scooped him up and carried him to the couch where they sat, Kurt cradled in Daddy's arms.

"Kurt. Kurt," Daddy tried to talk to him, to get him to calm down, but nothing seemed to be working. Kurt continued to cry, and so, at a loss for how to soothe him, Daddy began to silently rub up and down his arms, pausing every now and then to wipe at the tears on his baby's face. He needed him to calm down so he didn't end up with a puking little boy.

Kurt had thrown up his hands to hide his face as Daddy carried him away from his naughty corner. He struggled to get away at first, but Daddy's arms were strong, so he kept his face covered as best he could and continued to pour his emotions out.

The tears continued for a few minutes. Daddy did his best to comfort his baby, and Kurt stayed hidden behind his hands as his sobs became sniffles and hiccups.

"That was a lot of feelings, baby," Daddy whispered into his ear. "I know you don't want to, but we need to talk about it."

Kurt shook his head no, hands still covering his eyes.

"Okay. I'll talk first while you take a minute," Noah replied softly. He didn't want to start an argument right then. "I love you very much, Kurt. I love you all the time, no exceptions. Even when you do something super naughty. I may punish you for your behavior, but I still love you. You're my baby, and I wouldn't trade you for anything." Daddy squeezed Kurt. "Do you understand that?"

"Don't 'serve it," Kurt mumbled into his hands.

"What's that?" Daddy asked, leaning in closer.

"Don' 'serve to be loved like that," Kurt repeated.

"What would ever make you think a thing like that?" Daddy asked, alarmed. "Baby, come out." He tugged at Kurt's hands that still covered his face. "Let me see your eyes, baby."

Reluctantly, Kurt let Daddy uncover his face, his cheeks burning red as he allowed him to rub his thumb over the tear stains.

"My poor, poor baby," Daddy crooned, kissing the corner of Kurt's mouth and rocking. "Why would you think you don't deserve my love?"

"Acuz I was mean to you!" Kurt explained. "I was naughty and dis'beyed you an' then I dis'beyed again! Then I got mad at you an' lied 'bout countin' not bein' fair! That's too much bein' naughty to 'serve that..."

"Oh, Kurt. Baby, that's not true," Noah began.

"Uh huh," Kurt insisted. "Was too much trouble for my Dad, and he started lovin' Finn 'steada me."

"Kurt, that's not what-"

"And he loves Carole 'steada me, too, acuz I'm too hard to love."

"Kurt. Please stop interrupting me, baby. Your dad still loves you."

Kurt shook his head sadly. "Nuh uh. He loves Finn an' Carole, but not me."

"Baby, that's just not true." Noah was genuinely concerned by this. He knew that Kurt and Burt hadn't been spending much time together, which was unusual for them, but he hadn't realized how Kurt understood it. So, he made eye contact with the baby, making sure to keep his chin angled up toward him. "Your dad loves you a lot. He may not know how to tell you right now, but he does love you. He also loves Finn and Carole, but you're his son. He's never going to stop loving you."

Kurt didn't say anything for a long time. He let his eyes drift away from Noah's face as he released his chin, but he didn't make any move to get up from Daddy's embrace. Finally, he spoke in a hushed voice. "My dad never took care of me like you do."

Noah opened his mouth to protest, but Kurt continued.

"When I was little, it was mostly my mom. She was the one who spent time with me and did things with me. Dad never really knew what to do with me, I think, because I didn't like sports." He sighed, leaning more heavily into Noah's chest and wrapping a fist up in his shirt. "After my mom died, I was on my own, taking care of things that weren't really my job. I thought Finn and Carole would make us more like a real family." He didn't want to add that, although his father was happy, he was feeling more lost than ever.

Noah wasn't really sure what to say to that. He couldn't deny that those things were true. He hadn't known Kurt very well when he was little the first time, and he was sad if what he was saying was true. Realizing he didn't have much time to make a decision about what to say, not wanting Kurt to think he'd said something wrong, he made a mental note to talk to Burt about spending more time with his son. "Can I tell you something?" he asked, just as quietly as Kurt.

Kurt nodded.

"Even if your dad never takes care of you, I will," he said firmly. "I want to. I suggested this," he gestured mildly with his hand, "because I knew you needed someone to love you and take care of you and make sure you were okay. I want to do that. That won't ever change."

Kurt's eyes were a little misty again, but he held the tears back as he spoke. "Why? My dad is supposed to do that, and he doesn't."

"That's the difference," Noah explained. "I chose to. You're my favorite person on the face of the earth, Kurt, and I love you more than anything. Even before we started this, when we were just dating, I loved you more than anything. I want what's best for you, and if I can help with that, I will."

Kurt didn't know what to say to that, so he wrapped both arms around Noah's neck and squeezed tight, letting a few more tears fall and soak into Daddy's shirt.

Daddy rubbed his back, waiting for the tears to stop. "You're okay, baby," he murmured. "You're okay. I love you. Always."

"Love you, too, Daddy," Kurt mumbled against his shoulder. "Sorry I was naughty."

"That's all over now. You're forgiven." Noah leaned back to plant a kiss on Kurt's cheek. "You do still have homework you have to do." He grinned at his baby.

"Daddy!" Kurt protested halfheartedly. He knew that he had to do his homework. He still didn't want to, though.

"I know. Come on now," Noah said, pushing Kurt off of his lap. He grabbed the discarded underwear and pants, helping Kurt pull them up, doing his best to ignore the hissing sounds Kurt made as the fabric slid over his bottom. Then, Daddy escorted him to the table, settling him in his seat before handing over his school bag.

Kurt got his books and homework out, settling uncomfortably into his chair. He was thankful that he didn't have a lot of homework. The idea of spending a lot of time on his sore bottom was unpleasant to say the least. Besides, the faster he finished his homework, the sooner he could snuggle with Daddy which was really the only thing he wanted to do tonight.