Alex sat down criss-cross on the floor at Olivia's feet, and after a brief moment Michaela copied her, moving a bit more slowly because of her bruises. Olivia opened the notebook on her lap to a blank page and wrote Michaela's name and birthdate at the top.
"Good girls. Michaela, welcome home, baby. Before anything else gets said, I want you to know that you are safe. You've had a rough time of life up until now, and if I have it my way, nobody is ever going to hurt you again. In this house, you will always be respected as a human being. I want you to feel free to come and talk to me if you are confused or unhappy about something. I can't help you fix it if you don't talk to me. You are allowed to speak your mind and I will always listen to what you have to say. I am in charge around here, but your opinions, needs, wants, and desires will not be overlooked. You will be expected to obey the rules just the same as Alex does, and I may sometimes have to punish you for breaking the rules. That's okay. It doesn't make you a bad submissive or a bad person. It just means you are human like everybody else, and everyone makes mistakes from time to time. What matters is learning from your mistakes. I don't expect either of my girls to be perfect. I saw the look on your face when I swatted Alex a minute ago. In this house, beatings do not happen for any reason. Spankings happen when you deserve them, or reminder swats like Alex got, but I don't believe in beatings. If I am angry at something you have done, I will wait until I am calm before I punish you. I don't ever want you or Alex to be afraid of me. Do you understand everything I just said?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Michaela listened to everything that her new Mistress was saying and wanted so desperately to believe that it was all true.
Alex smiled. She had received a modified version of the same speech.
"Good girl. Now, moving on. The very first thing we need to do is establish a safe word for you. Do you know what a safe word is?"
"No, Ma'am." Michaela pouted.
"That's okay, sweetie. I will explain it to you. A safe word is a word that you say when you get scared or unsure of your surroundings and you need everything to stop. For example, Alex's safe word is 'chocolate', because she would eat chocolate for three meals a day if I let her. It's just a random word that you can easily remember when you are stressed out, and it is there to keep you safe. When you say your safe word, whatever is happening stops immediately and we assess the situation and fix whatever is wrong. Do you know what you would like your safe word to be? Take your time and think about it."
"May I use 'bubbles' as my safe word, please, Ma'am?" Michaela asked after a long pause.
"Yes, you may. That's a good word. Now here's a random question for you. Do you have a favorite color?" Olivia wrote down the word 'bubbles' in her notebook underneath Michaela's name and then looked up and waited for an answer to her question.
"I like purple, Ma'am."
"Good to know. We're going to go shopping to get you a few things. For tonight, you'll use one of our spare toothbrushes, but by tomorrow you'll have a toothbrush of your own in your favorite color, and at least by Friday you'll have a collar in your favorite color too. I have a friend who can create pretty much any type of collar you can imagine. As you can tell, Alex's favorite color is blue." Olivia gestured to the blue collar around Alex's neck with the white pearl dangling at her throat.
Olivia, Alex, and Michaela went over a ton of information, and by the time they were almost done, Michaela's head was ready to spin. She hoped that Olivia would be patient with her. Olivia gave her a written list of all of the rules for her to study. There were eleven of them:
Greet Mistress on your knees and kiss her right hand
Address Mistress as 'Ma'am' at all times
Do not pleasure yourself without permission
Always tell the truth
Be respectful
Accept punishments like a good girl
Come when you are called
If you make a mess, you clean it up
Use your safe word when needed
Do not whine
Obey orders to the best of your ability
"Do you have any questions about the rules, sweetheart?" Olivia asked kindly.
"I don't think so, Ma'am." Michaela responded honestly. It all seemed pretty clear.
"You may develop some as time goes by, and I don't want you to be afraid to ask them. You will never be punished for asking a question about a rule, only for breaking a rule. However, since I now have two lovely girls living with me instead of just one, there is a new rule to add to that list. The new rule is that there will be no fighting. Bickering is going to happen, that's just life, and we will handle that as it comes up. But there will be no screaming matches and no cat fights, or I will have two naughty girls with sore bottoms. Do you understand?" Olivia directed her gaze first toward Alex, then toward Michaela.
"Yes, Ma'am." both women responded obediently. Alex had already been punished for fighting with another submissive in the community who she didn't particularly like. She didn't want to experience a spanking like that ever again.
"Good girls. Now, the last thing we need to do is draw up Michaela's contract, and then once we have written it all out I will take it to a lawyer to get it signed and filed with Alex's. Would you like to see a copy of Alex's contract so you can see an example of what a contract is, honey?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, please, Ma'am." Michaela had no idea what a contract was.
"Alex, may I show Michaela a copy of your contract?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Alex smiled. She excited to have Michaela with them and she was going to be as helpful as she could be.
"Thank you, princess." Olivia reached into a folder and took out a sheet of paper. Instead of handwriting, it was typed up neatly.
May 12th, 1999
On this day, Dominant Olivia Margaret Benson and submissive Alexandra Justine Cabot agree to live together by the rules and guidelines pre-established by face to face negotiation.
Alexandra understands the duties and expectations of a submissive and agrees to abide by them to the best of her ability under the care of her Dominant until such time as one or both parties decides to sever the relationship, or until death parts them.
Alexandra's safe word is "chocolate". Her hard limits are scat, animals, children, needles, and bloodplay. These limits are non-negotiable.
Olivia understands the duties and expectations of a Dominant and agrees to care for, teach, guide, and direct Alexandra to the best of her ability until such time as one or both parties decides to sever the relationship, or until death parts them. Olivia will respect Alexandra's safe word and hard limits.
If at any time Alexandra's safe word or hard limits are not being respected by her Dominant, Alexandra will be removed from Olivia's care and placed in the custody of Submissive Placement Services until such time that a suitable placement can be found for her.
At the bottom of the contract were four signatures. One belonged to Olivia, one was Alex's, one was the lawyer's, and one belonged to a legal witness. Michaela was officially fascinated. Clearly these contracts held a lot of weight. This was going to be difficult, though. Michaela had never had a contract before. She didn't know what her hard limits were, and decided to go with Alex's, just to be safe. Olivia wrote down Michaela's contract on a piece of paper for now. Later on, it would be typed up properly and signed.
Days turned into weeks, and Michaela was shocked to learn that not only did she have a bed to sleep in and food to eat, she was free to use the hot water in the shower anytime she pleased. Alex was more than willing to share her collection of shower gels and shampoos. So far, the two submissive women were getting along beautifully and Olivia was very proud. Olivia put in an order for her friend to make a collar for her. When Michaela finally had her new collar around her neck, it was the strangest sensation she had ever felt. Her previous collar was nothing more than a heavy chain that was too tight around her neck. Her new collar was made of supple leather, dyed purple, and fit Michaela's neck perfectly.
Michaela was also learning that she was not going to be harshly punished for every little thing. The second evening she was there, she was washing the dishes after dinner when a dish slipped out of her hand and shattered on the floor. Olivia came running to see what had happened, and Michaela began to visibly shake, fearing her new Mistress's wrath. Olivia saw the fear in Michaela's eyes and approached her very slowly and carefully.
"Come here, sweetheart. I'm going to put my hands on you, okay?" Olivia slowly reached out and lifted Michaela up onto the counter so that her bare feet were well away from the broken shards of porcelain on the floor. Olivia very carefully inspected Michaela's hands and feet to see that she had no cuts, and was relieved to find none. Her sweet little submissive was not hurt. Alex went to the pantry and got out the broom and dustpan, bringing it back and waiting until Olivia was finished with her inspection. She knew better than to clean the mess up herself. In this house, everyone cleaned up their own mess.
"All right. Good girl. Here's the broom and the dustpan, just clean up as best as you can." Olivia said.
Michaela just stared at Olivia in complete shock. Where was the screaming? Where was the anger and rage? Where was the beating or the spanking? Michaela had just broken something that belonged to her Mistress, and here Olivia was as calm as could be, calling Michaela a good girl and telling her to just clean up the mess. Good girls didn't make messes. Good girls knew how to be neat and tidy at all times. Michaela was a bad girl, and she knew it. She didn't understand why Olivia was being so kind to her.
Michaela cleaned up the mess, but she couldn't force herself to relax. The shit was going to hit the fan at some point. It always did.
"Come here, girls." Olivia called from her spot sitting on the couch.
Alex and Michaela immediately went to their Mistress, and Michaela was once again shocked to find herself being settled comfortably sitting on Olivia's left knee, with Alex on Olivia's right knee, and Olivia holding each girl around the waist securely. Michaela would soon come to learn that Olivia loved holding and cuddling her submissives.
"Alex, princess, can you please tell Michaela when punishments are given in this house?" Olivia inquired kindly.
"When we break a rule, Ma'am." Alex responded confidently.
"Good girl. Michaela, sweetheart, can you please tell me where on the list of rules it says 'do not have accidents'?"
"Nowhere, Ma'am." Michaela responded after a moment of thought.
"Good girl. That's correct. Did you break that plate on purpose?"
"No, Ma'am." Michaela's eyes widened, praying that Olivia would believe her.
"No, you didn't. It was an accident. You didn't mean to do it. If you break something because you are being careless and not paying attention, you may get a reminder swat, but you will never, ever be punished for an accident." Olivia assured her kindly.
Michaela received her first reminder swat the next day for not being polite, and Olivia spent twenty minutes comforting her distraught little submissive while Michaela cried and begged her Mistress not to throw her out.
Alex watched Michaela be rocked in their Mistress's arms and tried not to feel the first stirrings of jealousy inside of her.