Olivia looked up from where she sat on the couch reading through a stack of files for work and realized that the apartment was much too quiet. It wasn't naptime or bedtime, which probably meant that her little girl was getting into some kind of mischief.
"Mama, help! I'm stuck!" Amanda suddenly called out from down the hall.
"I'm coming!" Olivia called back, getting up from the couch wondering what exactly Little Mandy had gotten into that she could have possibly gotten 'stuck' in.
"Were you trying to arrest yourself?" Olivia teased when she found Little Mandy in her room with her left wrist handcuffed to her bed. Erica was dressed in her tiny police uniform and 'Big girl' Amanda's badge and gun were lying on the bed.
"I just wanted to know what it felt like but it's too tight!" Amanda sniffled.
Olivia quickly located the key and released Little Mandy's wrist from the cuffs. She sat down on the bed and carefully inspected her wrist. The cuffs hadn't been tight enough to break the skin, there was just a faint pink mark on Amanda's wrist where the cuffs had pinched the skin. Olivia tenderly kissed Amanda's wrist.
"There, all better. Come sit on Mama's lap, sweetheart."
Amanda happily snuggled into Mama's arms. Olivia reached over and picked up 'big girl' Amanda's gun, double checking to make sure that it was empty even though she knew it was. She had seen 'big girl' Amanda take the bullets out and put it away after work. Little Mandy watched with great interest. 'Big girl' Amanda was expertly skilled with her gun, but Little Mandy didn't know the first thing about them.
"This is not a toy, baby." Olivia launched into a lecture about gun safety.
Little Mandy obediently listened to Mama's lecture, but the more Mama talked, the more she realized that she had been very naughty playing with 'big girl' Amanda's gun and fear gripped her heart. Mama was extremely tender and gentle and loving, but sometimes when Little Mandy got in trouble, she worried about whether she had done the one thing that would make Mama stop loving her. 'Big girl' Amanda's parents were angry, abusive disciplinarians who held grudges, sometimes for weeks on end, often leaving their eldest daughter never knowing if she was forgiven for any mischief she got into. Mama was very strict when she needed to be, but she was always calm and always made sure that Little Mandy understood what she had done wrong, and she always cuddled and comforted Amanda after a spanking or a time-out, taking as much time as necessary to reassure Amanda that she was a good girl and very dearly loved. Mama never held grudges; after a spanking or a time-out, whatever had happened was officially forgiven and over, never to be brought up again. Still, Little Mandy couldn't help but worry sometimes, and today was one of those days.
"Mama, I'm sorry! Don't throw me away!" Little Mandy suddenly wailed, bursting into sobs.
Olivia stopped her lecture immediately, realizing what was going on in her little girl's mind, and cuddled the distraught blonde close to her heart.
"Oh, honey, Mama would never throw you away! Mama will always love you." Olivia assured her.
"But I was bad." Amanda choked out between sobs.
"First of all, you are not bad. Your choices today were not the best, but you are Mama's good girl. Do you understand the difference?"
"I don't know, Mama." Amanda's lower lip trembled.
"Okay, let's try again. Do you understand what you did wrong?"
"I was playing with 'big girl' Amanda's gun."
"Yes, that's right. Was that a right choice or a wrong choice?"
"Wrong choice."
"That's right, you made a wrong choice today. But you, as the sweet person you are, are not a bad person, lovey. You are separate from your actions. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even Mama makes mistakes. We are human beings and making mistakes is how we learn. It's okay to make mistakes sometimes as long as we learn from them and try really hard not to make the same mistake again and accept the consequences of our actions."
"Are you going to give me a spanking, Mama?" Little Mandy's lower lip trembled.
"Yes, baby, I'm going to spank you because I love you so much and I want to help you remember not to touch 'big girl' Amanda's gun again."
"Can't I just sit over there for, like, ten hours?" Amanda pointed to the time-out chair in the corner.
"You don't have to sit over there for ten hours, silly girl. Ten hours is a really long time, you would miss SpongeBob." Mama smiled.
"Oh." Little Mandy hadn't considered the fact that sitting in the corner for so long would cause her to miss cartoons.
"Mama doesn't like this anymore than you do, baby love. Let's just get it over with really fast and then Mama will hold you, okay?"
"Okay." Amanda agreed reluctantly, standing up from Mama's lap. Spankings were no fun, but as long as Mama held her afterwards everything would be okay.
Olivia pulled down Amanda's pants and diaper and bent the naughty little one over her lap. Amanda sobbed as Mama spanked her poor bottom to a painful shade of crimson. Little miss Mandy was certainly learning her lesson as she wept over Mama's lap. After what felt like hours, it was finally over. Olivia let Amanda rest across her lap for several minutes while the brunette detective tenderly rubbed her sobbing little girl's sore bottom with arnica. Then Olivia picked Amanda up and cuddled her, gently stroking her long blonde hair and rocking slowly.
"There, there. That's Mama's brave girl. Such a good girl." Olivia cooed lovingly.
"Mama, it hurts!" Little Mandy sobbed as if Mama didn't already know that.
"I know it hurts, little one. That was a very hard spanking and Mama is so proud of you for taking it like such a big girl." Olivia praised, still rubbing Amanda's bottom to soothe the pain.
Little Mandy sobbed for a long time while Mama showered her with gentle praise and tender affection. When she finally stopped crying, she laid her head against Mama's shoulder with a sniffle, soaking up Mama's love for a while longer.
"Mama, does Erica need a spanking too? She was playing with the gun just like me." Amanda wondered, looking at the doll in her hands.
"Well, that's up to you, sweetie. You're Erica's Mama." Olivia smiled.
"No, I don't want to spank her. But maybe she needs a time-out, but not for ten hours, just ten minutes. Erica, you're a good girl but playing with guns is very naughty. You sit here and think about it until I come get you." Amanda scolded, taking the doll over and putting her in the time-out chair.
"Let's go get you some juice in your sippy cup, then you can come get Erica out of the corner and give her a cuddle. I'm sure she'll have learned her lesson by then." Olivia smiled, standing up from the bed.
"Mama, has it been ten minutes yet?" Amanda asked, finishing her apple juice cuddled in Mama's arms. Olivia looked at her watch.
"Yes, it's been just over ten minutes." Olivia nodded. In reality, it had been about twenty minutes, but she played along with Little Mandy's imagination.
"I'll be right back." Little Mandy got up from Mama's lap and disappeared down the hall to release Erica from time-out.
Amanda reappeared holding her doll and crawled back into Mama's arms, chattering innocently about all the things little girls love to talk about, giggling when Mama tickled her belly.