Chapter 10

** warning: spanking in this chapter **

Logan made sure to speak in a low and calm voice and he also made sure to keep his expression somewhat neutral while he spoke, so that he could extract all the important information he needed before he made a conclusion about what had happened.

He wanted the truth alright and he already had an idea, but he wanted his son to confirm it for him.

Milo dropped his gaze the minute Logan started talking and had a hard time trying to come up with a logical explanation that wouldn't automatically lead to trouble for him.

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer", Logan reminded him, putting one finger under Milo's chin and gently forcing it up so he could look him in the eyes.

Milo shrugged, to which Logan only shook his head.

"I don't understand shrugging, Milo. Use your words please."

"I really wanted cookies for dessert", Milo started, almost in a whisper, tentatively looking up at his Daddy. Logan nodded.

"But I told you that you couldn't have any. Do you remember why?"

"I was cheeky to you", Milo replied with disdain, hating the word "cheeky". It made him sound so little, same as "naughty". And he was a big boy!

Logan nodded again. "Exactly. So what happened? Did you climb on top of the counter to reach the cookie jar and get some anyway?"

Milo remained silent then, knowing full well that he didn't have any other explanation than the one Daddy had listed earlier. That's what happened, there was no sugar-coating it - and he knew that lying about it was making it only worse for him, so he decided that giving Daddy the silent treatment for trying to get him to talk would be decidedly wiser.

Sighing, Logan had made up his mind. He picked Milo up and stood, swiftly walking over to one of the corners in the living room, placing Milo on his feet, facing the wall. Normally, the little boy was allowed to sit in the corner, but Logan figured that standing still was a tick harder on the little troublemaker. It had always been for him growing up. And if Milo decided that he didn't want to talk, he'd just make him stand still until he cracked, even though he hated himself a little for those thoughts.

Milo wanted to protest immediately as he made himself sit down and Logan wordlessly pulled him to his feet again, but Logan silenced him with a hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze.

"No, little boy. Are you allowed to talk in time-out?"

Milo shook his head and felt his tummy twist and tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Good boy", Logan praised silently, stepping away a bit and watching his son before speaking again. "You're going to stay there until you're ready to tell me what you did exactly. I want to hear you telling Daddy the truth."

He watched Milo squirm a little, then added sternly: "And then we can have another little chat about listening to Daddy when I tell you that you are not allowed to do something."

Logan sighed inwardly when he heard Milo sniffle. It was really hard being the bad cop all the time - he was really looking forward to Rory coming back home.

He also thought on how fast Milo was changing and growing from the toddler that sometimes threw temper tantrums to get his way to a little boy that silently plotted mischief. Actually, it was quite impressive for a boy of five, Logan mused while he made his way over to the sofa and picked up a magazine. If he wasn't so sure about what had happened, he would have been even more surprised. But Milo being all silent and not really forthcoming with his explanation even in the face of a time-out was an almost dead give-away that it had happened just like Logan thought it had.

And he didn't have to wait long.

"Can I come out now?"

Logan almost laughed at the pleading tone but thought better of it. Instead, he kept going through the magazine - although he wasn't really interested in it - for a few minutes longer, until he heard Milo squirming, obviously restless.

Mean Daddy, Milo thought, so he tried it again, this time with a little more force.

"Daddy!"

"No talking in time-out, mister", Logan chided, putting his magazine down on the table in front of the sofa. "Or are you ready to come here and tell me what you did?"

"I don't want no time-out no more! Stupid time-out!", Milo cried instead, his tears and frustration getting the better of him. He had wanted to go on like that some more, but when he heard Daddy clearing his throat, he stopped and straightened up a little.

"Be still, Milo. As I said, as long as you're not telling me what you did to get chocolate on your face, you're staying there", Logan replied, hating how stern and how much like his own father he sounded. "You can let me know in your normal inside voice when you're ready to talk to Daddy."

Milo contemplated that for a second, then decided that nothing his Daddy could do to him now was worse than having to stand in stupid time-out. So he turned around, facing his Daddy and whined: "Daddy, can I come out now? Pleeeease?"

Logan looked at him with a frown and held up his finger, twirling it as to get Milo to turn around again. "No whining."

Milo complied, huffing, but stopping himself from further cheekiness. Then, Logan said: "That's better. Now, are you ready to come out and be honest with Daddy?"

"Yes!", Milo all but yelled, but making sure to keep all traces of a whining out of his voice, happy to finally be able to leave the corner again. It had been totally and absolutely unfair of Daddy to let him stand there for an eternity to begin with, but luckily, his self-preservation instincts kicked in and he decided against telling Daddy that. Instead, he turned around and looked expectantly at Logan, who made a coming hither motion with his forefinger and said: "Come here, son."

Milo was a little worried about Daddy's tone of voice, but he shuffled over anyway. He knew that refusing to come to him would only lead to a longer time-out and he really didn't want that at all. When he finally stood before Logan, the young man put both his hands on the boy's slight hips, making him stand directly in front of him and between his knees, so that he could make direct eye contact.

"Alright, kiddo. Time to tell Daddy the truth about the chocolate cookies", Logan told him firmly, "And I'd also like to know how you managed to get them, to be honest."

The last sentence was spoken with more amusement in his voice than he really felt at the moment and he prayed that Milo wouldn't notice it, otherwise he'd probably think that Daddy was only joking around.

But Milo was too worried right now about how angry Daddy would be about his whole cookie-adventure that he didn't really pay any mind to that, instead, he dropped his gaze again guiltily.

Logan sighed and forced himself to remain stern. "Do you want to go back in time-out?"

"No, please, Daddy!", Milo immediately looked up at him, eyes widened.

"Tell me then, please. The whole truth."

Milo gulped, then started, voice slightly more than a whisper. He really hoped that Daddy wouldn't be able to hear him - otherwise he'd probably never ever get cookies for dessert again.

"You promised me the bestest cookies which I really really like best for dessert and when you told me no, I got really angry, Daddy. It just wasn't fair. I didn't mean to be bad and I wanted to 'pologize, but you wouldn't let me and it wasn't fair of you to take away dessert from me, because I really wanted cookies, real bad!", Milo started in a little bit of a rush, so Logan had trouble grasping every bit of it, but he managed somehow. He was somehow glad for the quick speed of the string of words that came flowing out of his son's mouth, otherwise he'd probably had trouble to remain stern and not burst out into a fit of giggles at his little one's colourful description of the previous events.

"And after you told me no, I was really sad. Like, really sad. So I thought that because you promised me earlier, I could just take some and eat them really fast, so you wouldn't have to be mean to me about it...", now, Logan really had a fight between his sense of humour and his will to keep a straight face, but he somehow won in the end.

"I see", he replied, when Milo stopped for a minute, watching his Daddy closely. "Go on, please."

Milo pouted a little - he'd hoped that he could leave out the part about him planning out the whole ordeal, but Daddy was seemingly having none of it.

"So when you started rolling out my play-doh, I goed into the kitchen and putted a stool in front of the counter, then climbed up and got my cookies", Logan almost stopped his son to correct his grammar errors, but he thought better of it and let him continue.

"And they tasted yummy!", Milo ended his speech smiling triumphantly, then looked up at his Daddy again. Which almost instantly resulted in him loosing his wide smile.

Logan looked not at all pleased - as well as confused, but Milo didn't know how to interpret that - and raised both of his eyebrows at the little boy in front of him.

"Alright, let me get that straight", he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "After I told you no biscuits for dessert because you were cheeky to Daddy, you went behind Daddy's back and got them anyway by climbing on top of the kitchen counter and stealing them right out of the jar, although you knew that it was dangerous for little boys to be up there, because Mommy and Daddy have told you that in the past already."

He waited a little, watching his little boy closely. Logan almost smirked at the look of shock that crossed Milo's face - he obviously hadn't planned on getting caught so easily and he hadn't wasted too many thoughts on what Daddy would think about it, either. Or maybe he had, but chose to do it anyway.

"And you know what I think, too? I think that you already had everything planned out right after I'd taken away your dessert privileges. So you lied to me when I asked you where you were going while we were playing with your play-doh, didn't you, Milo?"

Milo wasn't looking at him, instead glaring at his Daddy's hands holding his own little hands, getting more and more frustrated by the minute as every bit of his naughtiness was being laid out practically before him. He didn't like it one bit that his Daddy knew of his plans.

Logan forced his chin up gently with one finger again, giving him a pointed look.

"Daddy asked you a question, little man", he told him sternly.

"Yes, Daddy", Milo whispered, still avoiding eye contact, but Logan could see that he had started to cry.

Phew. Logan sighed audibly and closed his eyes for a moment, then he pulled the little boy up and into his lap. They sat together in silence while Milo cried, being slightly exhausted by the whole ordeal and feeling guilty for having been so naughty and Logan debating on what to do next. There had to be some sort of consequence obviously, but he wasn't really sure what of the possibilities he had were best for a situation like this.

He put both his arms around his son when he heard him hiccuping, not wanting him to feel as though he didn't deserve any form of comfort now - he wasn't sure if that was entirely clever at that point, but he just wasn't able to keep up the stern-daddy-act any longer.

So they sat, Milo waiting for his Daddy to lecture or punish him and Logan for his little boy to finally calm down. When he did, he cleared his throat and started rubbing Milo's back soothingly.

"Sorry, Daddy", Milo whispered and Logan felt as though his heart was going to break. He forced himself to answer: "I know that you're sorry now, because Daddy has caught you."

Milo teared up at that although Logan was surely lacking his former stern tone and Logan just kept up rubbing his back, wincing when Milo started wailing in earnest.

"Shhh. Stop crying now, Milo, you'll make yourself sick if you keep that up. What's done is done. You knew that I wouldn't be happy if I found out and now we have to make sure that you're not going to do something like that again", Logan told him calmly and Milo nodded, tears finally stopping and his breathing returning back to normal slowly. Logan just waited a little longer before he spoke again.

"You know why you are in trouble, don't you?"

Milo nodded meekily. "I was cheeky and said I'd go potty 'cept I didn't and got cookies instead. And I climbed onto the counter and ate four of them...", he looked up at his father and seeing his frown, he quickly added: "And I didn't even share with you!"

Logan snorted a little at that. That totally was a Mommy thing. Rory always insisted on sharing - Logan wasn't sure why exactly, but he had a suspicion that she wanted to show her son that even though they had enough money to buy their son everything he wanted, they weren't going to just spoil him rotten with every toy wish he came up with. Sharing his toys and sweets with others was a simple way of keeping him down-to-earth.

If it was an attempt to try and get Milo to be less arrogant growing up than Logan had been, the young man could live with that, also. He didn't see any fault or insult in that, because he knew that his parents had failed royally with both him and his older sister concerning that particular parenting chapter.

He forced himself to snap out of his musing when he felt the little boy getting restless on his lap.

"Well, yes. You are in trouble for lying to me and climbing on the counter, because lying is never okay and climbing on the furniture is dangerous, especially in the kitchen. You could get hurt if you fall", he explained. "You are not in trouble for being cheeky at lunch, because you were already in trouble for that earlier and got punished for it. You chose to just disobey me again after that - that's what you're in trouble for. You're certainly not allowed to go behind my back and do something dangerous because you don't like a punishment I gave you. If you really feel that you're being treated unfairly, you can let me know, as long as you're being respectful."

"And thank you for remembering our rule to share", he added quickly, not wanting to deny his son some sort of praise for that. Milo smiled weakly.

Logan let that and all of the rest sink in for a minute, then prompted: "Can you understand all of that?"

Milo nodded again, not trusting himself to speak, as a few silent tears made their way down his flushed cheeks.

Logan sighed, then cleared his throat once more.

"That's what's going to happen: you're not allowed to have dessert for the rest of the week, because you went behind my back to get the cookies", Logan began. "And you're going to get a five-swat-spanking because it was very dangerous, climbing on top of the kitchen counter like that. You could have fallen and hurt yourself badly, without Daddy even knowing what was going on. So you're getting five spanks, one for each year of your life."

Milo used exactly that moment to burst into fresh tears again. A spanking, although a "small" one, was the big consequence. He knew he had messed up pretty badly when Daddy resorted to that form of punishment - up to that point, Logan had debated with himself over a spanking or a grounding or yet another time-out. But he knew that he had to be somewhat consistent. He'd given the boy a spanking - albeit a harsher one - on the weekend for doing something dangerous, now he had to follow through with it again, although he hated the very thought of it.

Why couldn't Milo just behave? He'd already contemplated giving him his beloved cookies as an afternoon snack for beeing a good boy, but he knew that that wasn't an option now.

He hugged his little boy again, kissing his blond head repeatedly, until Milo had calmed down yet again. Logan was a little concerned because of the intensity of all the crying, but he figured that it had a lot to do with having been caught for his first real act of carefully planned mischief.

"I don't like that, Daddy. It's very scary. I'm scared", Milo suddenly stated, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Logan sighed again.

"Scared of what, baby?", Logan asked, fearing the worst - it would be horrible for him to know that Milo was afraid of him for spanking him.

"That you're dis'pointed", Milo answered instead, burying his face in Daddy's shirt, perfectly content to stay there forever, breathing in his Daddy's well-known scent.

"Hey", Logan said, somewhat relieved and surprised at the boy's statement. "There's absolutely no reason for you to be scared. I know that it might seem scary when I have to punish you and when you get caught doing something naughty, but you'll never ever have to be afraid of me, kiddo. I don't like it when you break the rules, but, as I said before, you couldn't ever do something that would make me stop loving you."

He hugged him a little tighter, then let go, looking into Milo's slightly red rimmed, shiny blue eyes. "You'll always be forgiven after punishment and you'll always be loved and safe with me. Do you understand what Daddy is telling you?"

"Yes, Daddy", Milo sniffled a little, then took a deep breath.

"Are you ready to get it over with?", Logan asked, whishing he could just forget about the spanking altogether.

Milo nodded bravely, letting his father turn him carefully face-down over his lap and prepared himself anxiously for the first swat to fall. He whined a little when he felt Logan pull down his pants and underwear just below his bottom, but didn't wriggle or fight it.

Logan closed his eyes briefly, then quickly delivered five swats, just a tad bit harder than he would normally dole out when he gave Milo swats for telling him no. At the end, Milo was sobbing, more from guilt and relief that it was over than from being in pain. Logan rightened his clothes carefully, then drew him up and into his arms, gently rubbing at his little bottom with one hand while the other cradled his head. He used his fingers to card through the boy's blond hair and softly massage his scalp.

Milo reacted well to that, quietly clinging to his Daddy and drawing one of his thumbs up and placing it into his mouth. Logan stopped his comforting hand from stroking his head for a minute to place it on Milo's smaller one and taking his thumb out of his mouth.

"Don't do that, please. It's not good for your teeth and your fingers are germy. You could get sick", he murmured, the doctor in him getting the better of him.

He almost expected the little boy to resist and fight him over it, but he didn't. Instead, he used both his little hands to clutch at Daddy's shirt.

Logan knew that he didn't need to lecture his son more about earlier, all things had been discussed and he knew that the little boy had understood.

"I love you very much, Milo Elias Robin. More than anything in the whole world. Always and forever."

"Love you, too, Daddy. Always and forever", Milo said earnestly, pulling back slightly and letting go of Daddy's shirt, smiling through his tears at Logan, which was quite frankly the most adorable thing Logan had ever seen. He kissed the boy on his forehead and said: "Thank you for being such a good boy during your spanking, I know it wasn't easy. You are so brave, little one. I'm sorry I had to do that."

Milo didn't respond to that, shyly playing with Daddy's fingers and keeping his gaze firmly on his hands.

"How does a Disney movie and some cuddles on the sofa sound?", Logan asked gently after another few minutes. "Or would you like to go on playing with your play-doh?"

"Cuddles and movie!", Milo cheered, squirming out of his fathers arms, grabbing Linus and making a beeline for the sofa. Logan smiled but called him back.

"Not so fast, bouncy boy. We need to clear your play-doh away first."

Milo sighed but complied hastily, not wanting his Daddy to get mad at him again.

When Logan started joking with him again about how it was unfair that they put away his carefully rolled out play-doh, the little boy knew that he was truly forgiven.

Logan gave him a kiss on the cheek before putting the play-doh away in the boy's toy closet and when he got back, Milo had already made himself comfortable on the sofa.

"Daddy, come here! Sit with me, please", Milo stated impatiently, wanting to be near his Daddy now more than anything. Logan smiled and complied, thinking it rather cute how Milo got all clingy after being reprimanded.

"Of course, champ. I wouldn't want to sit anywhere else", he told him sincerely and made his way over to the sofa, snatching the little boy up before sitting down and putting him on top of him.

Then, they both cuddled together on the sofa with Peter Pan on the telly. Logan had Milo halfway on his lap with the little boy's head resting on Daddy's chest and Milo cuddled Linus to him, his eyelids growing heavier by the minute.

Logan saw that of course but he decided to just let him fall asleep right in his arms. He sighed contently, hugging the little boy tighter and dropping yet another kiss on the blond strands of hair. He knew he had to get up and prepare dinner soon, but he just couldn't force himself to do it, so he just decided to stay right there on the sofa.

They could always call the pizza place and order some take-out - anything, just so he could go on staying there, breathing in the child's scent and holding him.

That was all that mattered right now anyway.