Callie walked slowly over to her mother. She was dreading this with every ounce of her being. This was Mama. Mama! Callie wanted to kick herself for being so stupid. She had honestly outdone herself this time. Mama wasn't mad, per say, but she definitely wasn't happy.
"Mama, I am sorry," Callie whispered, stopping a foot or so in front of Lena, tears already starting to pool in the corners of her eyes.
"I know you are, Callie. But this must be done. There are consequences to our actions, both good and bad. Your actions today were not your best, and you have to be punished for them, in hopes that you won't make the same mistakes again," Lena explained gently.
"But, Mama, please don't do this to me …" Callie said, her tears finally falling over and down her cheeks.
"Callie, come here. Now," Lena told her daughter.
"But, Mama, I won't ever do anything like this again, I promise!"
"Callie, do not make me count. I promise this hurts my heart very much. But I have to follow through with this. What you did was so dangerous, sweetheart. You could have been killed, Callie. You have a bad habit of putting yourself in danger and I will not let it slide. Not ever again."
"It wasn't that big of a deal," Callie whispered through her tears.
"And that, Callie, tells me you have much to learn. And this is me teaching you," Lena said as she stood up and gently pulled her daughter to her. She could tell Callie was trying not to pull away.
"Don't, Love. I want to get this over with so that it's in the past and we can move forward. At this point, we can't move forward until this is behind us."
Lena sat down on the bed as she pulled Callie to her so she was standing between her knees. Her daughter, standing in her pajamas and her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, looked so much younger than her fifteen years.
"Love, you know the rules. There will be no hitting, biting, or scratching because you want up. This is over when I say it is over, not when you want it to be over. Understood?"
Callie nodded her head.
That was all it took for Lena to proceed. She pulled her daughter over her knees and quickly pulled her pajama bottoms and panties down.
Callie reached back immediately, "No, Mama!"
Lena swatted her hand and then moved the offending hand from her daughter's behind and put it instead in front of her.
"Do not reach back again, Callie."
Callie simply sobbed, putting both of her arms under her head and crying into her arms.
Lena made quick work of the bare behind in front of her, leaving not a single spot unmarked. She had to drive this lesson home to her child before her daughter got herself killed.
Callie's sobs were definitely there, but Lena also knew that some of her sobs were the dramatics her daughter was putting on in an attempt to get Lena to let her up as soon as possible.
However, Lena knew something her child did not, and that was that this spanking was nearly complete.
Lena slowed her pace on Callie's behind and then gently rubbed it as she talked to her.
"Callie, if I teach you nothing else, I will teach you that your safety matters. I will teach you that as your mother, I refuse to let you put yourself in danger." Lena leaned back and then grabbed the wooden brush she had brought in. She wouldn't use it for many of the swats, but she would get her point across.
"Callie, do not reach back. If you do, I will add another two swats for every time. Do you understand?" Lena asked.
"Yes, I understand," Callie said, not quite sure where this was going.
It did not, however, take her long to figure it out when her Mama brought the wooden brush down on her backside.
"Mama!" Callie cried, holding onto Lena's leg to keep herself from reaching back.
"I want you to listen to me, Callie Quinn Adams Foster, what you did was beyond dangerous, and I will not have it."
Lena let down another swat with the brush.
"If this happens again, this will seem like a walk in the part compared to what you will get."
Another swat.
"You will not go anywhere with anyone Mom and I do not know. In fact, you will not go anywhere, especially with another person, without asking first, anyways, which you know are our house rules," Lena said, bringing down another swat to her daughter's backside.
"You will stop endangering your life, Callie, because I refuse to lose my child. I will protect you from yourself if I have to. You are free to make mistakes and learn from them, but this is not a mistake. This is a situation that could have ended in you being killed. I. Won't. Have. It."
The last four words were punctuated with a swat each, at which time Callie just relaxed over her mother's legs and cried.
Lena tossed the brush on Stef's bedside table and gently stood her daughter up and pulled her pants up, taking care not to rub them against her red behind.
Callie's face was also red, tears streaming down her face, she wouldn't look up at Lena, embarrassment creeping up.
Lena reached up and, with both her hands, lifted her face, using her thumbs to wipe the tears away from her cheeks.
"Look at me, love bug," Lena said softly.
Callie finally moved her eyes to look at Lena.
"Mama …" Callie started, then reached her own hand to touch her Mama's cheek, also covered in tears.
"Callie, I cannot lose you. You are my heart, along with your brothers and sister. You five are my heart and soul, and nothing can hurt me as much as me finding out something happened to one of you. No more putting yourself in danger. Do you understand? I am not kidding when I say this will be a walk in the park on a sunny day, I mean it. Do you understand me, Callie?"
Callie nodded quickly.
"I am sorry, Mama … why are you crying?" Callie asked with a sniff.
"Callie, I do not enjoy punishing you or your siblings. In fact, I hate it. It causes me pain, too. It hurts my heart to know that I have to spank you to make you realize why your actions were so wrong. But, I will do it again if I need, too. I won't let you make a mistake that could cost you your life."
Callie nodded and then threw her arms around her mother, sobbing.
"I am so sorry about today. I will try harder, Mama, I promise. I am so sorry."
Lena held her daughter to her tightly, hugging her so she was as close to her as possible. This was what Callie had needed. Neither of them had liked it, but it was what was needed.
"Come on, Bug, let's lay down. I think we could both use a nap after this morning."
Callie nodded and shrugged her pajama pants off — she didn't need the friction — and climbed in the bed. Lena tucked her in and kissed her head, "Let me put on some comfy clothes and then I will lay with you."
The teen was already nearly asleep, on her stomach, but nodded in response.
Within ten minutes, both were asleep, Lena holding her daughter close.
The little girl stared up at the women in front of her. Her mommy had died and her daddy had killed her — at least that is what the man who brought her to this house had said.
Her baby brother was in his carseat, being held by the man who brought them to this house.
They were going to live here now. At least for a little bit.
The woman bent down, eye level to Callie Jacob. Callie couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. Her hair was big and full of soft curls. Her voice was mellow and sweet, like her mommy's had been before she had died. That meant she was never coming back. That had been hard for the little girl to hear when the man had told her that.
"Hi, Callie. My name is Lena. You are going to stay with me and my wife, Stef, for a while," the woman explained.
Callie nodded, a tear falling down her cherub cheek, "My daddy killed my mommy. I won't ever see them again."
And then Callie started to sob, falling into the woman, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck.
That was the moment Lena Adams Foster knew Callie and Jude Jacob were here to stay. It was also the moment social worker Bill Kole realized he was about to meet the wrath of a mama tiger — and when he learned the way he phrased things to children mattered. He would never be so clueless again.
