Carlisle POV
"Sir…may I have a word please?" I heard Bella call out as I was leaving the study to give both of my children some time to themselves.
"Yes, Isabella?"
"Sir..are you going to use the cane for the entire punishment?" she asked in a low voice.
"No Isabella. The first 50 will be with a leather strap. The cane will come after that." I replied.
"But Sir, we discussed.." this was Edward. Cutting off before he could continue, I said "Edward, just because I have accepted your suggestions for the quantum of the punishment, don't think that you have full control on what happens in my playroom. Remember that once you are in my playroom, you submit to me. I will use whatever I want to. You don't have any say in that."
"Thank you Sir" my daughter said softly. I could hear relief in her voice.
"And Isabella…" I continued, "If you want you can remain in the playroom during the punishment"
"Thank you Sir, thank you"
"Don't thank me so quickly. If you are there, you will have to be quiet - no sound, not even a whimper. If I hear even a sigh out of you, your Dom will face the consequences. So make your choice wisely. Am I clear?"
"Yes Sir"
With that I walked out, leaving both of them alone to prepare for what was to come. Esme had already left.
I went into the den in search of my wife. As expected, she was sitting on the couch waiting for me, looking crestfallen.
"Hey, are you ok baby?" I asked while sitting down next to her.
"I don't know Carlisle, I really don't know what to feel right now. I know what he did was very wrong and that he needs to go through this, but he is my son" she looked at me with teary eyes.
"Esme, please…I need you to be strong. Please baby, I cannot do this without your support. You said… you agreed that this is what both of them need to move forward in their relationship. I know the punishment is harsh, even cruel. But both of them need something drastic. Edward needs to learn to control himself better and Bella needs to use her safe word if he crosses the limit." It was Esme who talked me into agreeing to Edward's suggestion for his punishment. But if she does not want me to go ahead with it, I will not. So I told her that. "But if you are having second thoughts, we will not do this sweetheart. I have already told Edward that I am not obligated to do exactly what he wants in my playroom. We can think of something else."
"Will they be ok after this?" she asked.
"Yes sweetheart, they will be," I reassured her, "Edward is strong physically. He will be able to endure it. And Bella is stronger than him emotionally. She will see him through."
"But you know how stubborn that boy is. What if he does not safe word when he should? What do we do then?"
I smiled at that, "I have already taken care of that. I have told Bella that if she wants, she can be in the playroom during the punishment. I know she will not be able to resist being close to Edward."
"How is that going to help?" she asked.
"Just wait and watch."
She did not look too convinced. "Come on baby, have some faith in your husband." I tried to lighten the mood. Then added seriously, "I promise you Esme, I will take care of our son. He will be fine - in a lot of pain, but fine."
"Of course Carlisle, I believe you." She replied with a small smile at last on her beautiful face.
"I should go now." I said while getting up.
"Carlisle… do you want me to come with you?"
"Why sweetheart?" I asked her perplexed. Why would she want to see her son like that?
"For you my love. I mean Edward will have Bella for him. But what about you? We both know that this is not going to be easy for you as well. If you need me, I want to be there for you"
"Oh baby, I'll always need you." I sighed, "but I cannot and I will not make you go through this." I said with conviction. No mother should be made to see her son in pain. However much I may need her there, I cannot do this to my Esme. "Meet me in the bedroom after all this is done?" I asked her softly.
"Yes, of course" she replied.
I look her in my arms and kissed her.
"I love you sweetheart."
"I love you too Carlisle, and I am so proud of you. You are the best father I could have asked for my children."
"Thank you Esme, thank you for saying this. You always say what I need to hear sweetheart." I replied while leaving.
On entering the playroom, I saw Edward on the bench in the middle of the room and Bella standing near the door. As we had decided, Edward was kneeling on the bench, with his torso lying on the padded bench, his hands resting on the floor above. His ass and thighs were bare, with his sweatpants pooling near the ankles.
"Isabella," I addressed my daughter first, "since you are here, I assume you want to witness the punishment." I asked her.
"Yes Sir", she replied.
"Very well", please go and sit on the couch then" I had re-positioned the couch so that it faced Edward. This way she will be able to look into his eyes, but his backside will not be in her direct line to vision. "Remember Isabella, not a word out of your mouth, except your safe word" I reminded her.
She looked at me, confusion clear on her face. I know what she was thinking, why would she need to use her safe word. I just smiled at her and gestured her to go ahead and sit, giving her no further explanation. She will have to understand what I meant on her own.
BPOV
I was thankful that Dad would not be using the cane on Edward for the whole time. Once Dad left the room, I turned towards my stubborn husband.
"Edward, this is excessive." I told him directly. He could see that I was angry with him.
"Sweetheart, please don't be like this. You agreed that you will let me take whatever punishment was decided."
"That's my point Edward. This punishment was not decided by all of us. You decided it on your own and somehow got Mom and Dad to agree to it, even before we came here today." I stated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes sweetheart, we did that. But Dad did not agree to it right away, we talked and negotiated. It's not that he agreed to whatever I said. For instance, I wanted him to give me 10 strikes after the safe word, but he put his foot down on 5."
"What…you…" I shook my head, "that's beside the point. You still went behind my back…"
"No we did not, we still met today and discussed. You agreed to our reasoning."
"But still.. we agreed to discuss together…"
"Enough Isabella… don't forget that I am your Dom. In matters pertaining to our dom-sub time, I don't need to explain myself to you. I will do what I deem fit for both of us."
I immediately looked down on the floor, that's right, my master does not need to do that. "I'm sorry Sir"
"Come here sweetheart," he took me in his arms then. "If you want we will talk about this later, for now just remember what Dad said, this is as much your punishment as it is mine. You have to stop putting my needs before your own wellbeing sweetheart. I am not perfect baby, far from it. I need you to whip me back in shape when I mess up. I will never forgive myself if I end up seriously hurting you ever. Please…I came so close to doing that last week, actually I did cross the line last Saturday. And that scares me baby. I cannot trust myself to be your Dom again, till I learn to control myself better. And till you learn to use your safe word. I will not put you in such a dangerous situation again."
"You can never hurt me Edward, I know this in my heart. You did stop Edward, you did not complete the 50 strikes. Please don't be too hard on yourself love. And I agree that I should have safe worded earlier. I promise I will do better."
"Thank you sweetheart. That is exactly why we are going through this harsh punishment. I am sure the "reverse punishment" as you call it, is going to be much more effective than anything else that could have been done to you." He smiled.
I grimaced at the mention of reverse punishment; he has not allowed me to add it in my hard limits so far. "I understand Sir. It's just that you are going to endure much more than what I did. And that troubles me. " I told him clearly.
"Because sweetheart my offence is way bigger than yours. When we are playing, I am responsible for your wellbeing, your comfort and your happiness, not you. Your needs should always come first. This is one cardinal rule of this lifestyle baby and should be "the" mantra for any Dom worth his salt. But I disregarded that – that day my needs took precedence over yours. It is fine if that happens once in a while when we are husband and wife, but should never happen when we are dom and sub. Do you understand now why my punishment has to be much more than yours?"
"Yes I do now." I really got it now and promised myself that I will never ever hesitate to safe word when required. I understood now that my not doing so was hurting my master and my lover both. Plus, I cannot watch my Edward go through this kind of pain again because of my fault. Damn, this reverse punishment was working even before it started.
"Ok then, let's go now. Baby, just so you know, I would have preferred you not being in the playroom with me," I started to protest, "baby, let me finish first" he said before I could interrupt him. "I don't know why but Dad was adamant to have you in the room. He said it was a deal breaker, either you remain in the room or there will be no punishment. I had no option but to agree. Now when I think about it, I guess he was hoping seeing me getting it will serve as an even greater reminder for you to safe word."
I groaned. "Will he agree to bypass the actual punishment if I tell him that imagining it is enough of a reminder for me?"
Edward laughed at that, "I'm afraid sweetheart, even if he does, I won't agree to it."
"Oh well, it was worth a try. What I don't understand is that if this was a deal breaker for him, why did he give me a choice? He could have just ordered me to be there." I asked
"That's because I agreed on one condition - that you are given a choice. Bella, I'll never force you to do something you don't want to." He told me.
"I know Sir." I assured him and smiled. I guess Dad knows me enough to know that I will never pass up an opportunity to be with Edward when he needs me.
We reached the playroom then and Edward positioned himself as per Dad's requirements. I remained standing near the door as I didn't know where Dad would want me to be.
When he entered after sometime and asked me to go sit on the couch, I was surprised. The couch was facing Edward and I would be away from the direct sight of his backside. If Dad wanted to make a big impression on me, he would have positioned me where I could get a good view of the damage the strikes would do on Edward. I was even more astonished when he reminded me to speak only if I needed to safe word. Why would I need a safe word, it's Edward who is going to receive the corporal punishment. That's when I thought for the first time that maybe Dad has some other purpose as well for my being here.
I went and sat on the couch. As I had thought, Edward could see me clearly. I had decided that I will only concentrate on his face and will try to convey all my love with my eyes. We are staring into each other's eyes and I could see a small smile on his face. I could not help smiling back. Though the next hour or so was going to be extremely difficult for me, I was determined to be brave for my love. I would see him through this ordeal with my love and devotion.
"Edward, are you ready?" I realized Dad was in position with the leather strap in hand.
"Yes Sir" my love replied calmly.
"Count"
I braced myself for the first strike and "twat" it landed. I was jolted to my very core, but I managed to compose myself enough to not run to my love. With the first strike itself I realized that this was going to be much more difficult to endure that anything on my own person.
"One, thank you Sir" my love said, still calm.
Twat…
"Two, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Three, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Four, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Five, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Six, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Seven, thank you Sir"
Twat..
"Eight, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Nine, thank you Sir"
Twat…
"Ten, thank you Sir"
And so it continued till 50 – the strap landing on Edward and then him thanking Dad. Not once did he flinch, or cry out or ask to stop.
On the other hand, I was dying inside. Each strike felt as if someone was branding my heart with a hot iron. By the time they reached 30, I had silent tears flowing down my face, but no sound came out of my mouth. By the time they reached 40, I was on the edge of the couch, barely containing myself, but somehow managed to keep looking in his eyes. But the moment 50 were done, I was kneeling on the floor with my hands on my face, crying and hiccupping badly.
"Edward, what color are we?" Dad asked.
"Yellow Sir." I lifted my head up in shock to find Edward looking at me. There was pain clearly etched on his face, instead of the calm I had seen throughout his punishment so far.
"May I have a minute Sir?" Edward asked.
"Yes son, take whatever time you need. Tell me when you are ready to continue, when you both are ready to continue." With that Dad moved towards the far side of the room giving us some privacy.
"Bella.." my love called me. I rushed to him, "Edward…I…I'm so sorry" I stammered. "No sweetheart, you don't have to apologize. If this is getting too difficult to witness, please go. You don't have to be here, really." He replied.
"No..no.." I tried to stop crying, "No, I am not leaving till this is over. Please love, this is enough. Please safe word and then we can both go." I begged.
"No sweetheart. I can't do that. My actual punishment will begin now. But you can leave, please baby, please - I can't see you so distraught." He begged too.
"Ok, if that's the case, no more tears." I wiped away my tears and stood up. "I am ready sweetheart, whenever you are." I told him composing myself.
"Sir," Edward called, "we are ready"
Dad came back immediately with a thick rattan cane in his hand. Though I did not have any experience with canes, I knew the thicker and less flexible they were, the more painful they would be. God….please give me the strength to see this through without breaking down, I prayed.
"Edward, no need to count now. As decided, now I will stop only when I hear the safe word. You will then count the last 5. Understood?"
"Yes Sir"
"Ok, so what color are we Isabella?" Why is Dad asking me this question?
I looked at both of them and saw Edward laughing quietly. "Go ahead Isabella, reply. I guess I know now why he wanted you in this room today" he said.
"Green Sir?" my reply came out as a question.
"Very well then" Dad said and positioned himself about a half a foot away from Edward.
Swoosh.. it was like the cane cut the air and landed on Edward's ass. And my love gasped. And that's when I realized what a cane is capable of. I know how much the strap hurts; still he was composed the whole time it was being administered on him. But the first strike of the cane made him lose his composure.
Dad continued raining the cane on Edward's already bruised backside again and again. And with every strike I saw Edward's composure going away slowly. By the time the cane landed on him the 20th time, his eyes were shut tightly and he was struggling to remain still. As for me, I was crying openly.
Dad paused after the 20th strike. "Edward, what color are we son?" he asked softly.
"G…green Sir" he replied.
A look of frustration crossed on Dad's face before he resumed the caning.
What was wrong with Edward, why was he not safe wording? He was crying out on each strike now, but still no safe word. I was getting restless and agitated, looking at both Dad and Edward alternatively. Oh my God, we still had 5 to go after the safe word that was nowhere in sight. We were already past 25 strikes, how many more could he take.
Somebody, please do something, please stop this torture, my heart was calling out with each strike.
I wanted to do something, anything. But what could I do? Should I ask Dad to stop, plead with Edward to safe word? That's when I remembered, Dad's words from earlier – "Remember Isabella, not a word out of your mouth, except your safe word". And then Edward's words from the morning – "The rules of this lifestyle be damned - if you did not say Red, I should have said it".
"Red" I shouted standing up, finally understanding why Dad was adamant to have me in the room today and what he was trying to tell me at the door – The rules of this lifestyle be damned, if Edward will not say Red, I shall.
On hearing the safe word, Dad paused in midair. Since the cane was already in motion, Dad brought his left hand between Edward's butt and the cane, taking the brunt of the cane on his hand. Ooohh that would have hurt.
"Ok Edward, last five now. Will you be able to count?" Dad asked.
"I will do it Sir." I replied, kneeling next to Edward's face, facing him.
"Very well" Dad replied.
Swoosh…
"One, Thank you Sir" I said
"Two, Thank you Sir"
"Three, Thank you Sir"
"Four, Thank you Sir"
"Five, Thank you Sir"
We were done. Dad was helping Edward to get up from the bench.
"Edward, Isabella..well done both of you." Dad said and left the room.
"Bella…. " and finally my husband was in my arms.