"Okay, sweetie, you run along with Peter and Mommy will meet you at the park as soon as I can. I need to talk to Lucy before she goes home." Olivia explained as she handed Noah his baseball bat and glove.
"Okay, Mommy." Noah agreed happily and skipped out of the apartment hand-in-hand with Peter Stone to go play baseball in the park.
"Is something wrong, Liv?" Lucy asked hesitantly when the two women were alone in the apartment. She could count on one hand the number of times she had been in trouble with her young charge's mother, but it wasn't unheard of and her bottom involuntarily clenched in anticipation.
"I'm afraid so, honey. Let's sit down and have a little chat." Olivia replied, firm but not unkind.
Lucy followed Olivia to the couch and sat down beside her, fiddling with the hem of her knee-length denim skirt.
"I got an interesting phone call on my lunch break this afternoon from Noah's school. According to the principal, Noah has been nearly half an hour late to school almost every day this week. Now, I know that I always try to make sure that by the time you arrive in the morning, Noah is almost done eating breakfast so that when I leave for work, all you have to do is help him put his shoes on and take him to school, that way neither he or I are late. So it makes me wonder what's been happening around here after I leave in the morning."
Olivia chose her words carefully, wanting to make certain that Lucy knew she was not being accused of anything abusive. Lucy had been helping Olivia take care of Noah since he was a baby and Olivia knew full well that Lucy would never hurt a hair on Noah's head. Lucy sighed and hung her head momentarily before looking back up with a few tears in her eyes.
"Liv, I'm so sorry. Sometimes after you leave, Noah and I start playing and being silly and we lose track of time. It won't happen again, I swear. Please don't fire me." Lucy pleaded. The other family she had worked for moved out of state, so she really needed to keep her job as Noah's nanny.
"I have no intention of firing you, honey. Noah adores you. And I have no intention of docking your pay because I know you need that money to make ends meet. But I do have to insist on consequences, to discourage this from ever happening again. Noah is five years old, it isn't his responsibility to keep track of time, it's your responsibility to make sure that he is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. I could understand being a few minutes late once or twice, but not half an hour. There is plenty of time for playing and being silly after school. I have very rarely had any trouble out of you and I hope you don't start making a habit of it now. Go find a corner for your nose and I'll be there in a few minutes." Olivia instructed.
"Yes, Ma'am." Lucy obediently stood from the couch, walked to Olivia's bedroom, put her nose in the corner, and lifted her skirt, holding it up to reveal her panty-clad bottom.
When Olivia walked into the bedroom a few minutes later, she was pleased to find Lucy standing in the corner where she was supposed to be. The brunette detective reached into the bedside table drawer to retrieve the hairbrush and a tube of arnica for later. She put the arnica on the bedside table, then she sat down and set the hairbrush beside her on the bed.
"Come here, honey." Olivia called Lucy out of the corner.
Lucy felt like butterflies were doing gymnastics in her stomach as she turned from the corner and, still holding her skirt up, walked over to where Olivia sat. Lucy had never been spanked as a child, so it had been quite a shock when she discovered how her boss liked to keep her in line. After her first spanking over Olivia's knee, while Lucy sobbed in Olivia's arms, the young nanny had vowed to never do anything to earn another spanking. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to keep that promise, but she was a good girl and did her best to stay out of trouble. Lucy reasoned that it was worth a red bottom every now and then if it meant she was able to keep her job, and if she was being honest with herself, she even had to admit that the discipline somehow made her a better person. Lucy was close with her mother, but she hadn't been raised with the structure and discipline she knew she needed, so now Olivia was filling that role.
"Why are you being spanked, honey?" Olivia inquired as she guided the young nanny over her lap and pulled Lucy's black lacy panties down to her knees.
"Because I was irresponsible with my time management this week, Ma'am." Lucy whimpered, reaching her arm behind her so that Olivia could hold her hand in the small of her back. Lucy wasn't used to being spanked, she was usually loud about it and she usually tried to reach back to cover herself, so Olivia held her hand out of the way to help her submit.
Olivia raised up her strong right hand and brought it down sharply. Lucy gasped in surprise and immediately set to squirming over Olivia's lap. After just five spanks, Lucy was crying and pleading and Olivia was having a bit of trouble aiming at her moving target.
"Honey, I know it hurts, but you need to try to keep your bottom still for me." Olivia scolded.
"I can't! Ow, ow, OW!" Lucy wept, wriggling and kicking her feet.
Olivia rolled her eyes at Lucy's dramatics and paused long enough to shift Lucy's position over her lap. Lucy was now bent over Olivia's left knee at a slight angle so that her toes were on the floor and Olivia put her right leg over Lucy's legs, securing her in place. Struggling was nearly impossible in this position and Lucy burst into tears, having no choice but to submit to her punishment. Olivia continued to spank until Lucy's bottom was a bright, cheerful shade of pink, although the last thing Lucy was at the moment was cheerful. When Olivia was satisfied with the color of Lucy's bottom, she paused and picked up the hairbrush. When Lucy felt the hairbrush tapping her bottom, she squeaked in fearful anticipation and clenched her bottom muscles. Lucy had only gotten the hairbrush once before, and she hated it.
"Honey, clenching is only going to make it hurt more than it needs to." Olivia explained, gently rubbing the cool wood on Lucy's pink bottom, hoping to encourage her to relax, but when Lucy didn't relax after a few moments, Olivia sighed and raised the hairbrush.
Lucy choked on a scream and every fiber of her being was screaming at her to jump up, but she was locked in position and had nowhere to go. Olivia wondered how the neighbor's toddler was napping through all of Lucy's racket as she brought the hairbrush down again and again and again. Finally, Olivia felt Lucy go limp across her lap as the young nanny's loud wailing turned into deep sobbing. Olivia gave Lucy five final spanks to her sit-spots for good measure, and then threw down the hairbrush as if it had burned her.
"That's a good girl. It's over, honey. It's over, you're a good girl." Olivia soothed as she gently shifted Lucy's position so that she was once again lying across her lap properly. Olivia reached over for the arnica and gently rubbed a generous portion onto Lucy's red, punished bottom.
Lucy yelped, but it felt much better to be rubbed rather than spanked, and she melted into Olivia's lap. She knew that she was welcome to stay there for as long as she wanted to until she felt like getting up. Olivia never rushed Lucy off of her lap, the aftercare was just as important, if not even more important, than the discipline itself. Lucy knew that her reaction to spankings was probably more dramatic than was really necessary, but she appreciated Olivia taking the time to soothe and nurture her afterwards.
"I-I'm s-so s-s-so-s-sorrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Lucy sobbed.
"I know, honey. I know you're sorry. It's all over and forgiven. We'll move forward now with a clean slate and I know we won't have to have this discussion again, will we?" Olivia finished rubbing in the arnica and carefully pulled Lucy's panties back into place and smoothed down her skirt.
"N-No, M-Ma'am! I-I'll be m-more r-re-responsible!"
"Good girl. Just breathe, honey. I know it hurts." Olivia cooed, gently rubbing Lucy's back.
"Liv?" Lucy whimpered as she slowly calmed down.
"Hmm?"
"Can I… uh… can I have a cuddle?" Lucy blushed in embarrassment, but Olivia had cuddled her after all of her previous spankings, and she hoped that it would be the same today. She really needed a hug.
"Of course, honey. One cuddle coming right up." Olivia agreed kindly.
Olivia picked Lucy up and cuddled the younger brunette close to her heart. Lucy whimpered and sniffled on Olivia's shoulder until finally her eyes were dry.
"I think I'm going to set the alarm on the stove before I leave for work each morning so that you will know when it's time to take Noah to school, for at least the next two or three weeks until you can prove that you can keep track of time better." Olivia explained, still holding Lucy and rocking her.
"Yes, Ma'am. That's fair." Lucy agreed.
"Okay, you've had a good cuddle now. Noah is going to be wondering where I am." Olivia gently patted Lucy's skirt-clad bottom.
"I think I'll walk home today. I'd rather not have to sit down on the subway." Lucy smiled.
Despite the pain, Lucy walked home with a light step and a light heart, looking forward to going to work again tomorrow morning.