Chapter 6
The ride back from the hospital was miserable for Rick, Evy and Jonathan. The idea that Alex was dead had invaded itself into their brains. He wasn't that boy they had just seen, thank God for that. But then where was he? It was getting dark and their little boy was still out there somewhere. They were more worried than ever now.
They were greeted at the manor by Danielle, Simon and Mrs. Wallace who were all just as concerned as the family. The domestics were relieved by the news that the dead boy wasn't Alex. Rick and Evy had hoped that Alex had returned home while they were away, but he hadn't. Where was he?
*~*~*~*~*
Alex O'Connell had had the worst day of his life. It started when he boarded the wrong train, continued when he got lost in a strange city, and got worse when encountered that awful man in the men's room. He had managed to make it back to London and spent two hours lost, trying to find the train to take him to the right side of town, terrified that he would never make it home—and terrified about what would happen to him when he did. Now he was in the back of a police car. Safe, but he'd be home in just a few minutes. It was way past his curfew. Alex knew he was in big trouble.
Rick and Jonathan went into the parlor to wait. When Evy followed them Rick could see she was exhausted. "Why don't you go lie down for a while?" he suggested to her.
"I could never sleep," she said. "Mrs. Wallace is making us some tea. I'll be alright." She tried to smile. Rick tried to smile back.
The tea arrived. They stared at it, uninterested for half an hour while it cooled. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of the doorbell. The three of them bolted for the front door. Simon had already opened it; outside stood a policeman. Behind him was Alex. The policeman grabbed him by the back of his collar and pushed him into the house where he was seized in a fierce embrace by his mother and father. Jonathan stood by and watched, overjoyed.
"Thank God, thank God you're alright! You're alright, aren't you?" Evy didn't wait for Alex to answer. She held him out at arm's length and she and Rick turned him around in a circle looking for injuries. He was dirty, he looked tired, but he was warm and pink and alive! His mother was laughing and crying, she embraced him again. Alex hugged her neck. He hadn't expected this kind of greeting and it scared him. What scared him even more was that his father and uncle both looked like they had been crying too.
Rick stood and grasped the policeman's hand in a firm shake. "Thank you so much for bringing him home. Where did you find him?"
"At the train station," the policeman replied.
"Train station?" Evy looked up from Alex. "What was he doing at the train station?"
"I presume he'd just gotten off a train. I thought I'd bring him home and let his parents sort him out," the policeman replied.
"Oh, we'll sort him out alright," Rick said. Alex didn't like the sound of that and gripped his mother's neck tighter.
"I'm sure you will," said the policeman. "I have to get back to the station to let everyone know he's safe and sound." He turned to leave. Alex felt a strong urge to go with him. The door closed. The entryway was silent.
"You. Parlor. Now," Rick commanded his son. Alex released his mother and dragged his feet into the parlor. Evy followed him.
"Well," said Jonathan. "Well, now that the little tyke is back safe and sound, I think I'll pop round to the pub for a drink." He knew what was going to happen to Alex and didn't want to be there to hear it.
"Thank you, Jonathan," Rick told him. "You were a big help today."
It wasn't often that Rick praised Jonathan for anything. "Well, it's okay," he said. "I'm just trying to be a good uncle."
Rick stepped up to Jonathan, put his hand on his shoulder and looked him solemnly in the eye. "You are. And you're a good brother," he told him. "To Evy and to me."
"Well," said Jonathan, not know what else to say. He was happy and a bit embarrassed. Rick gave him a quick embrace, and Jonathan left.
Rick went into the parlor. Evy had seated Alex in the chair opposite the couch. He looked very small there with his hands folded in his lap. Evy stood in front of him with her arms crossed. Rick took his position next to her. Alex was afraid to look at them.
"Do you have any idea what you put us through today?" Evy asked Alex.
Alex was silent. That was one of those rhetorical questions that didn't really need an answer, wasn't it?
"Where have you been?" Evy asked.
Alex stared at his hands.
"What were you doing at the train station, Alex?" She asked. He remained silent. Evy stepped forward, took Alex's chin and tilted his face up toward her. He averted his eyes. "Look at me and answer me," she commanded. "What were you doing at the train station?"
His parents were a lot angrier than he thought they'd be. "I had just gotten off a train," he squeaked and instantly regretted it.
"I've had enough of this," declared Rick. He began to take off his belt. Alex was petrified. He his father had never used his belt before.
"Wait," Evy told Rick. She was determined that she would handle at least this part of Alex's homecoming. "Alex, you will start talking now and tell me the whole story or I will take that belt from your father and you'll get two spankings tonight." Alex started to cry. "That isn't going to work," she told him.
Alex took a breath and tried to compose himself. He was really in big trouble. The biggest ever. His parents waited silently. He knew they wouldn't wait long. Alex tried to will himself to disappear. It didn't work. "I wanted to go to the aviation exhibit," he finally said. They stared at him. They wanted more. He took a deep breath and continued. "I went to the train station, bought a ticket…"
"Where did you get the money?" Rick interrupted.
Oh, that, thought Alex. He'd forgotten that part. He looked at the belt in his father's hand. "I took it out of Mom's purse," he said in a small voice.
Evy turned away from him for a moment, and then turned back. "And then what?" she asked. Her voice was icy cold.
Alex could no longer keep from crying. He got the story out between sobs. "I got on the wrong train," he confessed. "It was going to Dover. I got off in some other town to take a train back to London but there wasn't one until three so I had to wait there and I decided to look around a bit and I got lost and…" he couldn't tell his mother about the man in the bathroom, "… and I got back on the train to London but it didn't go to the station near the house and I got on another train 'cause I thought it was the one to our side but it was going east and I've never been there before and I was scared and then the police found me and brought me here. I was scared, Mum. I thought I'd never make it home."
Evy melted and started to cry too. She knelt to comfort her son. "We were scared too, baby," she said. "We thought something awful had happened to you."
Alex clutched her and cried. "I'm so sorry, Mum. I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again"
"I hope you won't Alex," his father said. "But you are going to have to be punished for doing it this time."
"No! No, please!" Alex clung to his mother for safety. "I swear I'll never do it again."
Evy held him close. "I know you're sorry, Alex. But you're father is right. You have got to be punished for this."
"No," he cried again.
"Alex, go to your room," Rick said calmly. "Get washed up and dressed for bed, then wait for me. Now."
It nearly broke her heart, but Evy said, "Go," and pushed Alex away from her. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to look stern. She wasn't going to help him. Alex ran up to his room.
Evy remained on the floor where she had been kneeling in front of Alex. "Thank you for backing me up and not trying to talk me out of spanking him," said Rick.
Evy stood. "He deserves a good spanking this time. But I will talk you out of using this." She walked over to Rick and took the belt from him.
"Evy…" he protested.
"No," she said. "He's just a little boy. You are not going to whip him with this. Your hand will hurt enough."
"Alright," Rick relented. They embraced. "God, it's good to have him home," he said. "Remember when all he did was poop and pee and we could keep him in a playpen all day? I miss those days…"
"Yes," replied Evy. "Me too."
*~*~*~*~*
Upstairs, Alex was beside himself. He was going to get a spanking; there was no way out of it. And Dad was going to use his belt to do it. His belt! Alex had never been spanked with a belt before but had heard other kids talk about it. It was really going to hurt.
Alex ran his bath and got undressed. He caught a glimpse of his white backside in the mirror. It wouldn't look like that for long. He cried through his bath, and then dried himself off. As he got out his pajamas, he had an idea. It wouldn't help much, but it would help some. He put on three pairs of underpants before he slid into his pajama bottoms. It briefly occurred to him that he could climb out the window, shimmy down the drain pipe and run away… No. They would find him and he would be in more trouble. Besides, he had already spent a lot of time being lost today and it was no fun at all. He sat on his bed, to await his fate. The only sound in the room was the tick-tock of his alarm clock and his own breathing. Five minutes passed. Ten…fifteen. What was taking so long? He heard the first heavy footstep on the stairs. Oh, God. He was coming! Alex put his hands underneath him, feeling the thickness of his three layers of protection. It wasn't thick enough! The steps continued. Alex looked frantically toward the window again. The steps were in the hallway now… Alex stood up. There were two short knocks then his bedroom door opened and the large form of his father appeared. Alex burst into tears and ran to him, throwing his arms around him. "Dad, Dad! I'm so sorry, Dad. Really I am!"
Rick hadn't expected this. He thought he'd probably have to drag Alex out from under the bed before getting down to business. He picked the crying boy up and carried him over to the bed. Rick sat down, held Alex in his arms and rocked him. "I know you're sorry. I'm sorry too," he said.
"I had the worst day of my life!" sobbed Alex.
"I did too…"
"I was so scared when I was lost. I thought I could find my way around but I couldn't. I felt so stupid."
"Alex that is why you are not allowed to go out by yourself like that. You are too young. That's why we made that rule."
"I… I got on the wrong train, I got lost in the city and… and when I went into the bathroom there was that horrible man…"
Rick's blood ran cold. Remain calm, he told himself. "What horrible man, Alex? What happened in the bathroom?"
"I can't say."
"Yes, you can," Rick said. "I'm your father. You can tell me anything. What happened?"
Alex wouldn't look at him. He kept his face buried in his father's shoulder as he talked. "Well you remember that thing you told me that every guy does and it's okay to do when you're alone?"
"Yes," said Rick. He had walked in on Alex one day and found him 'occupied'. His little boy was growing up. Rick wasn't sure which of them had been more embarrassed at that moment, or during the first man to man talk he'd had with his son afterward, but they had gotten through it. Now he and Evy always knocked on Alex's door before entering his room.
"Well, there was a man in the bathroom at the train station doing that."
If some sick bastard had touched his boy… "Go on…" he prompted.
"I went in the bathroom and saw him standing there and I thought he was just peeing but then I saw what he was doing and he saw me see him… "
"Alex… what happened?"
"He smiled at me and asked what my name was. And then I ran. I ran and I hid behind a trash can. I was afraid he was coming after me."
"Did he chase you?" Rick asked.
"I don't know," answered Alex. "He didn't find me. I waited until it was time to get back on the train before I got out from behind the trash can."
Rick was relieved. For the third time today he narrowly missed having a heart attack. He could feel his hair graying by the moment. "I'm glad you told me about this, Alex. Running was a good thing to do, but instead of hiding you should have found a policeman and told him what happened."
"I was scared…"
"I know, but promise me if anything like that ever happens again you will tell a policeman."
"Alright, Dad." Alex had calmed down and was now only sniffling.
"You should have called me or you mother or Jonathan to come and bring you home when you realized you were lost," Rick said.
"I was afraid of what would happen when I got home," Alex said.
"You should never be afraid of us, Alex."
"I was afraid that you'd spank me. I'm still afraid of that..."
"Well, that's what I'm going to do, but a stranger could do things that are a lot worse, do you understand?" Rick didn't want his little boy to know the kind of things strangers could do.
"Yes," Alex said. "Do you have to spank me now?"
"You broke a lot of rules today, Alex," his father told him.
"I know…" said Alex miserably.
"You skipped school… that is something you know your mother and I won't tolerate."
"I know…" said Alex.
"You stole money from your mother's purse. Stealing is one of the worse things a person can do… We have talked about that more than once.
"But you and Uncle Jonathan…"
"Don't do it anymore," finished Rick pointedly. "We knew it was wrong when we did and we've both gotten into a lot of trouble for it. We stopped and you will too, understand?"
"Yes, sir," said Alex.
"And you took a train—several trains—when you knew you weren't allowed and got yourself lost. We were so worried about you. The police even made us go to the morgue to look at a boy they thought might have been you."
"A dead boy?" Alex asked, aghast.
"A dead boy," Rick said.
"Is that why Mum was crying?"
"Yes. That is why Jonathan and I cried too," Rick told him
"You cried?" Alex had never seen his father do that.
"When I thought you were dead, yes," said Rick.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Alex hugged his father.
Rick hugged him back. "I'm sorry too. I'm glad you're home and you're safe."
"I just really wanted to go to the aviation museum," Alex justified.
Rick sighed. He wasn't getting through to him, but he would. He stood Alex up before him and looked him in the eye. "You can't just do what ever you want. Your mother can't, I can't, no one can. There are rules that we all have to follow and when we break them we have to face the consequences. You knew all of those things you did today were wrong and you did them anyway. That deserves a serious punishment, don't you think?"
"I guess…" Alex admitted. He felt terrible knowing that he had made his parents cry.
"Then let's get this over with." Rick said.
"Are you going to use your belt?" Alex asked in a quivering voice.
"No," Rick told him. Your mother and I talked about it and decided not to. Instead I'm going to pull your pants down and spank your bare butt."
Alex's heart leaped into his throat and he gulped. So much for the three pairs of underpants, he thought. He hoped his father wouldn't notice as he was pushed face down across his lap. Rick did notice the extra fortification as he pulled down his son's pajama bottoms, but he said nothing as he lowered the underpants too. Holding Alex firmly in place with his left hand and arm, he spanked his bare backside hard with his right, again and again and again. Alex wailed: this was the worse spanking he had ever gotten. He thought his bottom would catch fire, but through the pain Alex felt comfort in his father's strength. He felt loved and cared for and a little less guilty for the things he had done.
When it was over, Rick pulled his boy's underpants and pajamas back up, then held him and rubbed his back while he cried. When his sobs had subsided into sniffles, Rick picked him up and laid him on the bed. "I'll give you half an hour, then your mother and I will bring you something to eat," he told him.
"Okay." Alex sniffed.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Evy had been listening at the foot of the stairs. Rick came down looking worn out. "I feel like a bastard," he told her.
She put her arms around him. "Well, you acted like a Dad," she said. "Let's go fix him some dinner. I sent Mrs. Wallace home."
The three of them had a dinner of potato-leek soup and rolls in Alex's room. They were all famished after the long day. Alex promised to work extra hard at school the last week to make up for the day he missed. This time, they believed him.
The ride back from the hospital was miserable for Rick, Evy and Jonathan. The idea that Alex was dead had invaded itself into their brains. He wasn't that boy they had just seen, thank God for that. But then where was he? It was getting dark and their little boy was still out there somewhere. They were more worried than ever now.
They were greeted at the manor by Danielle, Simon and Mrs. Wallace who were all just as concerned as the family. The domestics were relieved by the news that the dead boy wasn't Alex. Rick and Evy had hoped that Alex had returned home while they were away, but he hadn't. Where was he?
*~*~*~*~*
Alex O'Connell had had the worst day of his life. It started when he boarded the wrong train, continued when he got lost in a strange city, and got worse when encountered that awful man in the men's room. He had managed to make it back to London and spent two hours lost, trying to find the train to take him to the right side of town, terrified that he would never make it home—and terrified about what would happen to him when he did. Now he was in the back of a police car. Safe, but he'd be home in just a few minutes. It was way past his curfew. Alex knew he was in big trouble.
Rick and Jonathan went into the parlor to wait. When Evy followed them Rick could see she was exhausted. "Why don't you go lie down for a while?" he suggested to her.
"I could never sleep," she said. "Mrs. Wallace is making us some tea. I'll be alright." She tried to smile. Rick tried to smile back.
The tea arrived. They stared at it, uninterested for half an hour while it cooled. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of the doorbell. The three of them bolted for the front door. Simon had already opened it; outside stood a policeman. Behind him was Alex. The policeman grabbed him by the back of his collar and pushed him into the house where he was seized in a fierce embrace by his mother and father. Jonathan stood by and watched, overjoyed.
"Thank God, thank God you're alright! You're alright, aren't you?" Evy didn't wait for Alex to answer. She held him out at arm's length and she and Rick turned him around in a circle looking for injuries. He was dirty, he looked tired, but he was warm and pink and alive! His mother was laughing and crying, she embraced him again. Alex hugged her neck. He hadn't expected this kind of greeting and it scared him. What scared him even more was that his father and uncle both looked like they had been crying too.
Rick stood and grasped the policeman's hand in a firm shake. "Thank you so much for bringing him home. Where did you find him?"
"At the train station," the policeman replied.
"Train station?" Evy looked up from Alex. "What was he doing at the train station?"
"I presume he'd just gotten off a train. I thought I'd bring him home and let his parents sort him out," the policeman replied.
"Oh, we'll sort him out alright," Rick said. Alex didn't like the sound of that and gripped his mother's neck tighter.
"I'm sure you will," said the policeman. "I have to get back to the station to let everyone know he's safe and sound." He turned to leave. Alex felt a strong urge to go with him. The door closed. The entryway was silent.
"You. Parlor. Now," Rick commanded his son. Alex released his mother and dragged his feet into the parlor. Evy followed him.
"Well," said Jonathan. "Well, now that the little tyke is back safe and sound, I think I'll pop round to the pub for a drink." He knew what was going to happen to Alex and didn't want to be there to hear it.
"Thank you, Jonathan," Rick told him. "You were a big help today."
It wasn't often that Rick praised Jonathan for anything. "Well, it's okay," he said. "I'm just trying to be a good uncle."
Rick stepped up to Jonathan, put his hand on his shoulder and looked him solemnly in the eye. "You are. And you're a good brother," he told him. "To Evy and to me."
"Well," said Jonathan, not know what else to say. He was happy and a bit embarrassed. Rick gave him a quick embrace, and Jonathan left.
Rick went into the parlor. Evy had seated Alex in the chair opposite the couch. He looked very small there with his hands folded in his lap. Evy stood in front of him with her arms crossed. Rick took his position next to her. Alex was afraid to look at them.
"Do you have any idea what you put us through today?" Evy asked Alex.
Alex was silent. That was one of those rhetorical questions that didn't really need an answer, wasn't it?
"Where have you been?" Evy asked.
Alex stared at his hands.
"What were you doing at the train station, Alex?" She asked. He remained silent. Evy stepped forward, took Alex's chin and tilted his face up toward her. He averted his eyes. "Look at me and answer me," she commanded. "What were you doing at the train station?"
His parents were a lot angrier than he thought they'd be. "I had just gotten off a train," he squeaked and instantly regretted it.
"I've had enough of this," declared Rick. He began to take off his belt. Alex was petrified. He his father had never used his belt before.
"Wait," Evy told Rick. She was determined that she would handle at least this part of Alex's homecoming. "Alex, you will start talking now and tell me the whole story or I will take that belt from your father and you'll get two spankings tonight." Alex started to cry. "That isn't going to work," she told him.
Alex took a breath and tried to compose himself. He was really in big trouble. The biggest ever. His parents waited silently. He knew they wouldn't wait long. Alex tried to will himself to disappear. It didn't work. "I wanted to go to the aviation exhibit," he finally said. They stared at him. They wanted more. He took a deep breath and continued. "I went to the train station, bought a ticket…"
"Where did you get the money?" Rick interrupted.
Oh, that, thought Alex. He'd forgotten that part. He looked at the belt in his father's hand. "I took it out of Mom's purse," he said in a small voice.
Evy turned away from him for a moment, and then turned back. "And then what?" she asked. Her voice was icy cold.
Alex could no longer keep from crying. He got the story out between sobs. "I got on the wrong train," he confessed. "It was going to Dover. I got off in some other town to take a train back to London but there wasn't one until three so I had to wait there and I decided to look around a bit and I got lost and…" he couldn't tell his mother about the man in the bathroom, "… and I got back on the train to London but it didn't go to the station near the house and I got on another train 'cause I thought it was the one to our side but it was going east and I've never been there before and I was scared and then the police found me and brought me here. I was scared, Mum. I thought I'd never make it home."
Evy melted and started to cry too. She knelt to comfort her son. "We were scared too, baby," she said. "We thought something awful had happened to you."
Alex clutched her and cried. "I'm so sorry, Mum. I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again"
"I hope you won't Alex," his father said. "But you are going to have to be punished for doing it this time."
"No! No, please!" Alex clung to his mother for safety. "I swear I'll never do it again."
Evy held him close. "I know you're sorry, Alex. But you're father is right. You have got to be punished for this."
"No," he cried again.
"Alex, go to your room," Rick said calmly. "Get washed up and dressed for bed, then wait for me. Now."
It nearly broke her heart, but Evy said, "Go," and pushed Alex away from her. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to look stern. She wasn't going to help him. Alex ran up to his room.
Evy remained on the floor where she had been kneeling in front of Alex. "Thank you for backing me up and not trying to talk me out of spanking him," said Rick.
Evy stood. "He deserves a good spanking this time. But I will talk you out of using this." She walked over to Rick and took the belt from him.
"Evy…" he protested.
"No," she said. "He's just a little boy. You are not going to whip him with this. Your hand will hurt enough."
"Alright," Rick relented. They embraced. "God, it's good to have him home," he said. "Remember when all he did was poop and pee and we could keep him in a playpen all day? I miss those days…"
"Yes," replied Evy. "Me too."
*~*~*~*~*
Upstairs, Alex was beside himself. He was going to get a spanking; there was no way out of it. And Dad was going to use his belt to do it. His belt! Alex had never been spanked with a belt before but had heard other kids talk about it. It was really going to hurt.
Alex ran his bath and got undressed. He caught a glimpse of his white backside in the mirror. It wouldn't look like that for long. He cried through his bath, and then dried himself off. As he got out his pajamas, he had an idea. It wouldn't help much, but it would help some. He put on three pairs of underpants before he slid into his pajama bottoms. It briefly occurred to him that he could climb out the window, shimmy down the drain pipe and run away… No. They would find him and he would be in more trouble. Besides, he had already spent a lot of time being lost today and it was no fun at all. He sat on his bed, to await his fate. The only sound in the room was the tick-tock of his alarm clock and his own breathing. Five minutes passed. Ten…fifteen. What was taking so long? He heard the first heavy footstep on the stairs. Oh, God. He was coming! Alex put his hands underneath him, feeling the thickness of his three layers of protection. It wasn't thick enough! The steps continued. Alex looked frantically toward the window again. The steps were in the hallway now… Alex stood up. There were two short knocks then his bedroom door opened and the large form of his father appeared. Alex burst into tears and ran to him, throwing his arms around him. "Dad, Dad! I'm so sorry, Dad. Really I am!"
Rick hadn't expected this. He thought he'd probably have to drag Alex out from under the bed before getting down to business. He picked the crying boy up and carried him over to the bed. Rick sat down, held Alex in his arms and rocked him. "I know you're sorry. I'm sorry too," he said.
"I had the worst day of my life!" sobbed Alex.
"I did too…"
"I was so scared when I was lost. I thought I could find my way around but I couldn't. I felt so stupid."
"Alex that is why you are not allowed to go out by yourself like that. You are too young. That's why we made that rule."
"I… I got on the wrong train, I got lost in the city and… and when I went into the bathroom there was that horrible man…"
Rick's blood ran cold. Remain calm, he told himself. "What horrible man, Alex? What happened in the bathroom?"
"I can't say."
"Yes, you can," Rick said. "I'm your father. You can tell me anything. What happened?"
Alex wouldn't look at him. He kept his face buried in his father's shoulder as he talked. "Well you remember that thing you told me that every guy does and it's okay to do when you're alone?"
"Yes," said Rick. He had walked in on Alex one day and found him 'occupied'. His little boy was growing up. Rick wasn't sure which of them had been more embarrassed at that moment, or during the first man to man talk he'd had with his son afterward, but they had gotten through it. Now he and Evy always knocked on Alex's door before entering his room.
"Well, there was a man in the bathroom at the train station doing that."
If some sick bastard had touched his boy… "Go on…" he prompted.
"I went in the bathroom and saw him standing there and I thought he was just peeing but then I saw what he was doing and he saw me see him… "
"Alex… what happened?"
"He smiled at me and asked what my name was. And then I ran. I ran and I hid behind a trash can. I was afraid he was coming after me."
"Did he chase you?" Rick asked.
"I don't know," answered Alex. "He didn't find me. I waited until it was time to get back on the train before I got out from behind the trash can."
Rick was relieved. For the third time today he narrowly missed having a heart attack. He could feel his hair graying by the moment. "I'm glad you told me about this, Alex. Running was a good thing to do, but instead of hiding you should have found a policeman and told him what happened."
"I was scared…"
"I know, but promise me if anything like that ever happens again you will tell a policeman."
"Alright, Dad." Alex had calmed down and was now only sniffling.
"You should have called me or you mother or Jonathan to come and bring you home when you realized you were lost," Rick said.
"I was afraid of what would happen when I got home," Alex said.
"You should never be afraid of us, Alex."
"I was afraid that you'd spank me. I'm still afraid of that..."
"Well, that's what I'm going to do, but a stranger could do things that are a lot worse, do you understand?" Rick didn't want his little boy to know the kind of things strangers could do.
"Yes," Alex said. "Do you have to spank me now?"
"You broke a lot of rules today, Alex," his father told him.
"I know…" said Alex miserably.
"You skipped school… that is something you know your mother and I won't tolerate."
"I know…" said Alex.
"You stole money from your mother's purse. Stealing is one of the worse things a person can do… We have talked about that more than once.
"But you and Uncle Jonathan…"
"Don't do it anymore," finished Rick pointedly. "We knew it was wrong when we did and we've both gotten into a lot of trouble for it. We stopped and you will too, understand?"
"Yes, sir," said Alex.
"And you took a train—several trains—when you knew you weren't allowed and got yourself lost. We were so worried about you. The police even made us go to the morgue to look at a boy they thought might have been you."
"A dead boy?" Alex asked, aghast.
"A dead boy," Rick said.
"Is that why Mum was crying?"
"Yes. That is why Jonathan and I cried too," Rick told him
"You cried?" Alex had never seen his father do that.
"When I thought you were dead, yes," said Rick.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Alex hugged his father.
Rick hugged him back. "I'm sorry too. I'm glad you're home and you're safe."
"I just really wanted to go to the aviation museum," Alex justified.
Rick sighed. He wasn't getting through to him, but he would. He stood Alex up before him and looked him in the eye. "You can't just do what ever you want. Your mother can't, I can't, no one can. There are rules that we all have to follow and when we break them we have to face the consequences. You knew all of those things you did today were wrong and you did them anyway. That deserves a serious punishment, don't you think?"
"I guess…" Alex admitted. He felt terrible knowing that he had made his parents cry.
"Then let's get this over with." Rick said.
"Are you going to use your belt?" Alex asked in a quivering voice.
"No," Rick told him. Your mother and I talked about it and decided not to. Instead I'm going to pull your pants down and spank your bare butt."
Alex's heart leaped into his throat and he gulped. So much for the three pairs of underpants, he thought. He hoped his father wouldn't notice as he was pushed face down across his lap. Rick did notice the extra fortification as he pulled down his son's pajama bottoms, but he said nothing as he lowered the underpants too. Holding Alex firmly in place with his left hand and arm, he spanked his bare backside hard with his right, again and again and again. Alex wailed: this was the worse spanking he had ever gotten. He thought his bottom would catch fire, but through the pain Alex felt comfort in his father's strength. He felt loved and cared for and a little less guilty for the things he had done.
When it was over, Rick pulled his boy's underpants and pajamas back up, then held him and rubbed his back while he cried. When his sobs had subsided into sniffles, Rick picked him up and laid him on the bed. "I'll give you half an hour, then your mother and I will bring you something to eat," he told him.
"Okay." Alex sniffed.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Evy had been listening at the foot of the stairs. Rick came down looking worn out. "I feel like a bastard," he told her.
She put her arms around him. "Well, you acted like a Dad," she said. "Let's go fix him some dinner. I sent Mrs. Wallace home."
The three of them had a dinner of potato-leek soup and rolls in Alex's room. They were all famished after the long day. Alex promised to work extra hard at school the last week to make up for the day he missed. This time, they believed him.