Chapter 2 – Husband and Father, Justice and Mercy
Carlisle POV
I couldn't believe the scene I had come home to. Edward and I were about a mile away from the house when he reached out and grabbed me. Horror etched all over his face.
"What?" I asked, terrified that something had happened to one of my children, or worst of all, my wife.
"Bella is lying over Mom's lap, crying. I think Mom had to spank her." Edward explained, leaning toward the house, wanting to come to Bella's rescue.
"The you had better head to your house while I investigate." I told him.
"Carlisle." Edward growled at me, not a serious growl, but enough to let me know that he didn't like my suggestion. He ran closer to Bella, ignoring my command. "She…"
"Edward Anthony Cullen." I reprimanded him, causing him to stop in his tracks with my sharp tone. I let him know without a doubt that my previous statement had been a command, not a recommendation. "Are you implying that your mother, has unjustly spanked Bella?" I asked him incredulously. "I don't even think she could do such a thing."
"But Bella never…" He argued again.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Edward." I reminded him, gently placing my hand on his shoulder. I briefly worried that Esme was the one who made the mistake. Edward narrowed his eyes at me, and I answered with a promise… "I will find out what happened." and a warning. "Go to your house now, and I will forget about this little mistake of yours."
Though he clearly didn't like it, he sprinted off in the direction of his cottage. I made my way to the larger house, glad that Edward had obeyed. I didn't know what I would find when I probed into what led to Esme spanking Bella, but I knew that the last thing I needed was to get Edward back in line as well.
As I ran towards the house, I could tell that Edward was right, at least about the crying. I could hear my Sweet pea weeping, each wail wracked with guilt. From the sound of it, she was deeply ashamed of what had landed her in that position, and she was nowhere near forgiving herself. She did not seem angry or indignant as if she had been falsely accused or refused to believe what she had done was wrong. Her self-castigating cries told me that she knew exactly why she was over her mother's lap. Even though I didn't know what Bella had done, I knew that I was going to have to discipline Bella as well, and I would have to be rather harsh with her. I thanked God that she was usually so well behaved. I wouldn't have had the strength to bring her back in line as much as I had done with some of my other children when they were newborns.
I walked into my office, thinking I was prepared for what I would see, but I was not. Edward had failed to mention that Bella had received a bare bottom spanking. Granted he may not have known because Esme may not have been thinking about that part when Edward read her mind. Either way, I was positively shocked when I walked in to see Bella with both her pants and undergarments down around her knees. Not only was it hard to believe Bella had disobeyed severely enough to warrant such a punishment, but also a bare bottomed spanking was something my wife had never given to any of the other children. Needless to say, I was very confused and worried for my dear wife.
"What did she do?" I asked my wife, trying to keep the fear out of my voice that she had been overly harsh. Though I worried before, I knew in my heart that wasn't even possible. Though it might have seemed accusatory, I actually only wondered what had led to this scene and why Bella had not yet forgiven herself. My next question was purely only to probe the depth of Bella's guilt. If Esme had already spanked our daughter quite thoroughly, then how much more would it take for Bella to have a breakthrough? "And how long did you spank her?"
"I'll let her explain what she's done, if she can," she looked down at Bella. Something was off about her voice. It must have been a terrible ordeal for her, or maybe she thought that I doubted her, "and for your information, I didn't spank her at all." I winced that she thought I was accusing her, but honestly, it shocked me that she hadn't yet landed a swat. Why was Bella sobbing dejectedly over my wife's lap, bare bottomed, if my wife never spanked her?
"Sweet pea." I tried to ask her in as normal of a tone as possible, using my pet name for her. "Care to explain why you are in that position?"
"I promise I'll tell you the whole story after you make sure Mama's arm is all right." She sniffled as she spoke out of great concern for her mother, but making very sure that I knew that she had every intention of complying once I cared for her mother.
"What's wrong with you arm, love?" I focused my attention on my darling wife, who gestured toward her right shoulder.
I rolled up my Esme's sleeve and examined what looked like a healing crack where someone had ripped off her arm. When I saw the crack, I nearly punched a hole in the wall and demanded the offender be brought to justice. Instead, I swallowed, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath before I examined her delicate shoulder.
"Bella will tell you in a moment." Esme explained, wincing as I touched the tender area.
I couldn't believe my ears. My little Sweet pea had hurt her mother. I had to be jumping to conclusions, right? She was so well behaved, incredibly well behaved. I could hardly believe it.
Regardless of the culprit, my wife, my sweet Esme had been severely injured. I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. Even though I had always been considered a very human vampire, the thought of my beloved suffering, especially at the hand of one of my children, infuriated me, and I had to control my rage before I continued.
"It will hurt for a few days, love, but it will heal just fine." I kissed her arm where the crack was, distracting myself from my anger by giving my wife much needed affection. I only wished that kisses could literally make it feel better. "I'm sorry."
"I know. I've seen the kids after a fight before. I just didn't realize that it was this uncomfortable." She said uncomfortable like it was much more than that, but she didn't want to upset me or possibly even Bella more than we already were.
"So much so that you couldn't spank our wayward daughter?" I asked rhetorically, I knew exactly how much pain she was in. If this had happened to me, I would have had to ask Esme to step in to discipline or wait for three days before I could administer the proper spanking. It isn't practical to switch arms because we both use our off hand to steady our children, especially when they are over our laps. On top of that, a spanking is a very jarring experience, and it would be impossible to not feel every swat, no matter which hand delivered the blow.
My wife nodded sadly and looked pointedly at our daughter. Esme clearly thought that Bella had been torturing herself for too long. I'm afraid that some of my ire seeped into my speech when I addressed my daughter, but I couldn't help it. Esme was my beloved, my other half. The need to protect rose up inside me.
"Speaking of which, she," meaning Bella, "had better start explaining."
Bella took a breath and let it out raggedly. I could tell that she was trying to speak, but she had great difficulty forming words.
"Wouldn't you rather she looked at you while she explained?" Esme asked me, as she reached out with her good hand and stroked my cheek, looking like she wanted nothing more than to take our daughter in her arms and hold her, to remind her that she loved her.
"I thought she was in this position for a reason, Esme, dear." I told her, leaning into her palm, but gritting my teeth in frustration at Bella.
"Because I tried to spank her but couldn't." She reminded me, looking down at her lap, feeling badly that Bella still hurt over whatever happened. When she looked up at me, her eyes pled with me to please allow our daughter to sit and speak.
"What do you think, Bella?" I asked her, tearing my gaze away from my wife. "Do you think you should sit up and discuss this like adults?"
"I don't deserve to!" She wailed. "I…"
I got the feeling that she was about to start telling me what an awful person she was, and I was about to agree with her. She was interrupted by her mother righting her and fixing her clothing with only her left hand. It looked difficult, but Esme managed.
I knew that her pants and undergarment were going to come back off because if my wife had deemed Bella's behavior bad enough to spank her on the bare, I certainly wasn't going to decide differently. Esme however, wanted nothing more than to assure our child that she was loved.
"I love you, dear one." Esme told Bella as she hugged her with her good arm. Bella embraced her mother, probably harder than she should have considering Esme's fragile state. But at the moment, Esme didn't let on that the action caused any discomfort whatsoever. Bella, in her emotional distress, clung to her ever-loving mother, sobbing onto her shoulder. "Nothing will ever change that, sweetheart."
"But I hurt you!" Bella screamed in guilt over injuring her mother, muffled somewhat by Esme's blouse. "And I growled at you and snarled at you, and I defied you twice, not to mention what a terrible example I've been to Nessie, all because…"
My little Sweet pea had accomplished quite a lot in the course of a few hours. I sat in mortified silence as Bella rattled of her list of crimes. It took a great deal of restraint and my wife's withering gaze to keep me from teaching my young daughter a lesson in civility this very second.
"Enough, Bella." Esme told her, and Bella became very quiet. "Tell your father the whole story, sweetheart, and no editorializing to make yourself look worse."
I had to bite back a grin at that one. Even though I was very disappointed, (and still more than a little angry at her, if I'm honest with myself), in my daughter's behavior, I knew that she had a propensity for embellishing a story so that she would seem worse than she actually had been.
Bella took a deep breath and recounted a tale of Jacob and the motorcycle with her daughter and how she had lost her temper and attacked Jacob, severely injuring her mother in the process.
I started to speak, but Esme held up her good hand. After hearing all of what my young daughter had said, I could see why Bella flown into a rage. It didn't excuse her behavior, but... I could now understand it. In fact, I wasn't far from making that same mistake when I saw Esme's injury. Bella's story unquestionably helped me control my own temper. I didn't need a moment to calm down, but my wife needed to add something to the story. I patiently waited for my wife to say her peace.
"I want you to know how utterly submissive Bella has been since the incident. When she asked to wait for you to spank her, she did so very respectfully, and made sure it was clear that she willingly accepted my decision whether or not she agreed, and it was purely because she was concerned for me, not because she felt that only you had the right to discipline her." Esme advocated for our daughter, causing Bella to become very embarrassed. "In fact, she very meekly went over my knees without even being asked to do so and lowered her own panties of her own volition."
She… what? I couldn't believe my ears. Our daughter truly was a bizarre creature.
"Sweet pea, you should teach a class on how to behave during a spanking." I teased her, trying to let them know that I wasn't nearly as upset as I was before. "I know several of the others who could use…"
"No way!" She cut across me, looking horrified at the prospect. "They already call me a white-noser enough, don't you think?"
"I never understood what that meant." I admitted to her. "But yes, they do call you that quite frequently."
"It doesn't matter; never mind." She mumbled.
"I have to know now." I told her, my curiosity piqued.
"Umm…" Bella hedged.
"You shouldn't have brought it up, Bella. Now he's never going to let it drop." Esme wisely counseled our daughter, having known that I was as stubborn as a mule when I set my mind on something, although… I wondered if she actually wanted to know the meaning of that phrase as well.
"It's embarrassing!" Bella begged me to just forget about it.
"About you? Are they bullying you?" I became defensive of my daughter.
"No… umm… they aren't bullying me." She emphasized the word. "It's… about… … … you." Bella very reluctantly told me, whispering the last word.
"Me?"
"Yeah," she looked down away from my gaze, clearly not wanting to continue, "one of my siblings," when she didn't say which, I tipped her chin up so that she was forced to look me in the eye, "I think you'll figure it out. It's kind of obvious." She told me. I let it go, knowing that this wasn't a life or death situation. "Anyway his… or her theory is that you are so straight-laced and were as a human that your… poop was white, not brown. And I am such a kiss… a kiss… up that my nose would be white, not brown."
"Only Emmett…" I mused, chuckling to myself. Emmett's joke was extremely corny, and not really funny. But… Bella's censored version made the explanation sound hilarious. I loved the way she said poop when knowing Emmett, he would have said shit, and she substituted kiss-up when Emmett most probably called her a kiss-ass. I normally didn't tolerate vulgar language, mainly because we didn't want Renesmee cursing like a sailor, but this incident could be overlooked as long as it wasn't a pattern.
Esme, who had never heard this explanation before either was reduced to a fit of giggles. Bella was the only one of us not laughing. This reminded me of why we were here.
"Anyway… Bella was still over your knees when I arrived because…?" I prodded my wife to continue.
"Because I asked her to stay there until you arrived." She told me, looking very proudly at our daughter for complying so excellently. "I wanted her to be in a submissive position to remind her that I deserve her respect, and though corner time would have accomplished a similar goal, I felt the position she was in would help her focus more clearly. But now, I doubt myself, Carlisle." Esme looked at me terrified that she had scarred Bella for life. "Was I too harsh?"
"N-n-no!" Bella sobbed, her desperation was rekindled by Esme's self-doubt. "I… I…"
I interrupted Bella knowing exactly where she was going with this. I said nothing immediately, but I silenced her with my finger on her lips. Of all our children, my Sweet pea was extremely susceptible to guilt. It ate away at her. Though Esme's intent was to remind Bella to be respectful, she didn't realize that with our youngest daughter, making Bella wait was truly more punishment than spanking her. That being said, the wait couldn't be avoided. Hopefully, Bella has learned this lesson well, and it will never need to be repeated.
"Of course you were not too harsh, love." I assured Esme. "Neither one of us think that, do we, Sweet pea?"
"I-I-I love you Mama." Bella sniffled as she tightened her grip on Esme.
Esme cried with her, hugging Bella just as fiercely as Bella hugged her. I waited for their embrace to end before I continued.
"What do you propose I do, Sweet pea?" I asked her, not sure where to go from here. Other than her feeling of guilt, she was both accepting of her punishment and, though I hadn't heard her apologize, she obviously felt remorse over her actions. The only thing that remained was for her to feel that she was punished enough to be forgiven.
After asking her opinion on the matter, I could tell by the look on her face what she was about to ask of me. I decided to amend the request for her input. "And I had better not hear anything about detaching limbs from your body."
"Yes, Dad." She slumped but acquiesced. It took her a moment to come up with something, but in the end she told me, "I… I think you should spank me every day until Mom's arm is better."
I knew she would suggest a harsh punishment. She was not the only one to ever do that. In fact, the first time I disciplined Jasper, he had suggested that I separate his head, arms and legs from his body and leave them a great distance from one another, perhaps even bury them so that it would take a long time for them to reunite and he would be in agony the entire time. Thankfully, Bella didn't have that experience in her repertoire, or I was convinced that she would have suggested it as well. Of course, I would never have even considered such a thing. I have never and would never consider dismemberment as a punishment for one of my children.
"No." Esme and I said at the same time.
Bella started to protest, but I stopped her.
"The sentiment is noble, Sweet pea, and I appreciate your willingness to accept your punishment, but there is no way I would have you over my knee ever night for a week if it took that long for your mother to feel better." I explained.
"How about this," Esme suggested, "you spank Bella today, the same as you would for any of our children if they had injured me, and I will spank her when my arm is better?"
"I can't do that either, love." I told her. "This needs to be over today."
"But when I was human, you told Edward that if he gave Mama any trouble…" Bella started to remind me.
"Of course you would remember that little gem." I laughed and shook my head at her. She referred to a threat I had given Edward regarding being spanked for a week straight if he gave his mother any trouble. "You, Sweet pea, are not Edward. You are Bella. You are much more sensitive than he is. Sometimes it takes multiple sessions to get through to him. And sometimes, he needs the reminder for a few days. With you, it does not. You would do nothing but wallow in self-hatred for the entire time until your punishment was complete." Though she looked like she was willing to despise herself for a few days, I added, "I don't think either one of our hearts," I motioned between Esme and myself, "could take that."
"Then I will suffer through spanking her myself." Esme bravely told us both.
"If you are looking to alleviate my burden, it is quite unnecessary." I told her smiling fondly at her. "If it is because you feel that Bella needs a reminder that you are her authority…"
"No, I feel that she understands that quite well." My wife grinned at me mischievously. I knew that she had thought she would take the load from me. Didn't she realize that her pain would not reduce my load in the slightest; it would only magnify the pain in my heart. After a brief moment, Esme continued. "I thought that Bella might need to know that I…" Esme stopped to catch her breath, "that I still loved her enough to spank her."
"I think that Bella learned that lesson already." I raised my eyebrows at Bella, who caught on immediately.
"I know you do Mama." Bella nodded and kissed her mother on the cheek, assuring her that she had no doubt about her love.
"Carlisle Cullen!" Esme gasped at me scandalized. "Did you just manipulate our daughter to conspire against me?"
"Maybe." I admitted sheepishly.
"Not really." Bella told us. If she were not wallowing in guilt right now, she would have rolled her eyes at us. I knew that Bella would never let her mother continue to believe that she didn't know she loved her. Despite all of Bella's self-castigation, she wouldn't let her mother do the same thing to herself. "I was going to say that anyway. I tried to get you to wait in the first place, Mom." She reminded Esme of her earlier plea.
"In any case, Carlisle." My wife narrowed her eyes at me, playfully so. "When my arm is healed, we will have words about this."
"Yes, ma'am." I tried to sound properly abashed, but it was difficult because I was impassioned by the strict tone in my wife's voice.
"Anyway, I want to make absolutely sure…" Esme looked into Bella's eyes.
"I know without a doubt, Mama." Bella assured her honestly, tenderly.
"Then we should talk about the actual punishment." Esme told her.
"I would like to do that with Dad alone, Mom." Bella told her biting her lower lip, clearly embarrassed over what she was about to ask of her mother. Esme was about to interrupt her, but I shook my head at her. I wanted to hear where Bella was going with this. "I actually need you to do something else for me. I know I have no right to ask this of you. Daddy can make sure I've learned my lesson." As she spoke, her resolve locked firmly into place as she spoke to her mother. "This is very important, Mama." Esme nodded to her, successfully distracted from the ridiculous notion she had of spanking our daughter herself while in great pain. I smiled at Bella gratefully. I couldn't read whether or not Bella was doing this to save Esme the heartache of spanking her. One thing I knew, it wasn't because she wanted to mitigate any punishment. "Since I haven't acted like an adult, I would like for you to sit in my place while Edward discusses with Jacob this whole motorcycle fiasco. I've behaved far too childishly today to get a say in that decision."
"You would trust me with this?" Esme beamed in joy over this opportunity.
I surreptitiously gave Bella a thumbs-up behind Esme's back. Bella hung her head in shame, and I knew that this was not a distraction for Esme, nor was it a way to keep her mother from feeling sad. This was Bella's punishment for herself for being such a bad example for her own daughter. From the look in her eye, it wasn't even close to making up for her crimes. I knew that I had to move things along. Bella was going to continue her self-imposed Purgatory until I spanked her.
"You'd better get going, love." I leaned around our daughter to give Esme a kiss on the lips. "If Edward has caught wind of this, he may have started the discussion without Bella."
Before Esme had time to think about what I had said, I gracefully lifted Bella off of Esme's lap and placed her on mine.
"I should tell you that Edward knows Bella is in trouble and is likely to interrogate you once you get there." I told my wife, and Bella's breath hitched.
"I'll tell him that she lost her temper, and nothing more." She promised me, blowing me a kiss as she ran off toward the cottage.
"I'm sorry, Sweet pea." I told her, kissing her on the top of her head. "Edward read your mother's thoughts earlier. He only knows you are in trouble. He has no idea what you did."
"What I did was the most…" She started to rip herself to shreds again.
"Isabella." I scolded her gently. "I plan on spanking you for that."
"I still feel that you are going easy on me." Bella admitted, begging me to do something more… something that was more painful than a spanking.
"Trust me, I don't plan on going easy on you at all." I sighed, resigned to treat her as I would my other children, within reason of course. No two children are the same, and so discipline for each child will be a little different.
"Good." She answered me seriously.
"Then, let's discuss this." I told her, shifting my tone to a sterner voice. I lifted her off of my lap and placing her next to me so that I could look at her while I spoke.
She nodded, but didn't look at me as she was once again feeling the shame of her actions. I lifted her chin so that she was forced to look me in the eye while I talked to her.
"First," I began speaking, keeping the authority in my voice without being overly harsh, "let me assure you that I am taking into account that your instinct to protect your daughter overruled your judgment." Bella looked as if she was going to interrupt me, but thought better of it. "That instinct is right on track, and I am proud of you for taking your daughter's life so seriously." She sighed, but nodded in agreement that her daughter was very special. I knew that she couldn't disagree with that. She had given her life to save Nessie when she had given birth to her, and again when the Volturri had come to kill her. "Instinct alone, however, does not excuse your assault on your mother."
"I know." She agreed, her lower lip trembling while she spoke.
"It also doesn't excuse the extreme disrespect you showed her by growling and snarling at her or the deplorable example you have set for your daughter." I reminded her, staring straight into her eyes.
Bella closed her eyes to escape my gaze. From the slump of her shoulders to the wringing of her hands, shame framed every cell in my daughter's body. But I needed her attention, to see in her eyes that she heard what I had said.
"Bella." I chided her softly, and she immediately opened her eyes. I continued after a few seconds of silence. I knew that later, I would have to be crueler with her, and I didn't want to go there now if I didn't have to.
"I feel that you have adequately punished yourself for setting a bad example for Renesmee, and I am also prepared to allow mother's punishment of you to stand for the disrespect. I feel that her decision to keep you over her knees in a submissive position served to be more effective than a spanking would have been for you." I informed her, and she looked very confused, but she said nothing.
"Nonetheless, I take assaulting your mother very seriously." I continued in my same even tone. "I intend to correct this behavior in a similar manner as I have when it happened with some of the other children."
She looked positively shocked that she wasn't the first to hurt Esme, but she knew better than to ask about it.
"When it happened before, the attack wasn't so severe that Esme couldn't deliver an initial spanking herself." I continued. "And after I came home, I spanked the offending party again as an extra reminder to respect their mother."
Bella bit her lip, angry with herself that she had hurt her mother worse than the others had before.
"Since your mother isn't available to administer the initial spanking," I continued before I lost her to self-hatred again, "I will spank you in the manner I believe she would have done if she were able." I informed her. "Afterwards, we will hunt, and I will spank you again, my way."
"Does Mom spank differently than you?" She sounded a bit confused.
"A bit, Sweet pea." I told her. "For instance, your mother isn't as forceful as I am, but I wasn't really speaking about the effect it has on your bottom. I was speaking about the effect it has on your heart. When I stand in for your mother, I'm not sure that you will quite feel forgiven when that session is complete. I am not entirely convinced that your mother's technique," I emphasized the word to let her know that it had nothing to do with the force of the spanking, "would be enough to help you let go and forgive yourself. My spanking will be… more intense." I deliberately left it cryptic so that she wouldn't know exactly what I had in mind. "I aim to make my spanking to leave a lasting impression on you. You will be completely spent when we are through."
I left out the part about Esme never spanking on the bare bottom because I felt that Bella wouldn't accept that as easily. Bella had willingly exposed her own backside earlier, and Esme had let it stand. I would spank her the same way.
"Okay," she nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Let's get started." I told her as I straightened myself on the couch and patted my legs.
Bella took a deep breath as she stood and lowered both her pants and undergarments and placed herself across my lap.
I recalled the spanking I had seen Esme give Alice as I started peppering my Sweet pea's bottom. As Esme had before, I spanked very quickly, releasing the flesh of Bella's bottom quickly, causing it to snap back into place harder without using as much force. I also spanked her five times in each spot before I moved on to the next spot. After I had covered her entire bottom, I began my lecture, as Esme would have.
Like when she was human, Bella didn't make a sound. She tensed, determined that she merited every bit of the spanking I was giving her.
"This is to never happen again, Isabella. Do you understand me?" I asked her a question, demanding an answer. By making her speak during the spanking, I could tell how it was affecting her and how much longer it was going to be.
"Yes, Daddy." Her voice was stiff and strained. Her words shook a bit, but she gritted her teeth in determination. She definitely wasn't close to crying. I had a fair amount of work to do.
I spanked my way around her bottom again, using a little more force than I had before. I continued my same pattern of five swats in a single place before I switched to a new place. This time, however, I didn't follow the same path. I went in a different, more unpredictable order. Bella's breath caught more often, and I could tell that she was getting closer crying.
"Your mother was only trying to help you, Isabella." I lectured again. "And how did you repay her?"
"I-I ripped off…" Bella let out in a huff, trying to desperately not cry, "her aaaaarm!"
Again, I increased the intensity of the spanking, past where Esme would have pushed it, but not quite as forceful as I would have had she been unrepentant.
A small sound escaped Bella's mouth, but only one. After she let that slip, she reinforced her resolve and quit breathing. I wondered if she had determined to take as much pain as possible before she gave in and cried. Though I had never said it aloud to any of my children, I believed that they figured out that my pattern of spanking until the will breaks. I knew that they all talked about being spanked, and Bella could easily surmise that I would spank until she broke. She believed she deserved to be in agony. Since she knew that I wouldn't dismember her, she stubbornly took as many stinging swats as she could, consciously forcing herself to not break.
I allowed her to do this, knowing my later spanking would be a whole different story.
"If you ever touch your mother in anger again, young lady, I will spank you every night for a week," I spanked her harder when I emphasized words. "Because if that happens, it will mean that this spanking meant nothing!" Again, to make her speak, I asked said something that demanded an answer. "Do you understand me, Sweet pea?"
"I-I-I'm s-s-s-s!" She cried, but stopped herself from apologizing. "I promise! I-i-i-it won't h-h-h-happen a-a-a-gain!"
She started to break down and cry, but abruptly stopped, willing herself to rein it back in. I sighed, not surprised at all at her actions. Even so, I decided to leave it there, knowing that Esme would have never dared spank her further. I had already been more forceful than her mother would have been, but like I mentioned before, all of our children were different and needed to be treated differently. I declined to give her the finishing strokes because I knew the intensity of the spanking would never make my daughter break, not for a offense of this magnitude.