A/N: I have several messages from some of you in my inbox, but FF cut off my ability to reply to them and I have to figure out how to fix the problem because I don't remember my password and the old email address I used when I first joined FF no longer exists because I had to change my email a while back and never updated it with FF and FF won't let me change my email without my password. So rest assured that I have all of your messages and I fully intend to reply to them, just bear with me while I figure out how to fix this problem.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I love you so much, angel. I am just trying to remind you of the rules that you consented to abide by in our home. When I say no, I mean no. If you have a different opinion, I want you to come to me and talk to me about it, but you can't go behind my back to disobey me and lie to try to get out of trouble. Do you understand?" Olivia spoke lovingly but firmly as she addressed her beloved wife lying across her lap crying, gently stroking Alex's long blonde hair.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry, Livy. So sorry." Alex managed to choke out.
"That's my good girl. Get up when you want to and get in position on the bed. You have a paddling coming, and then a mouthsoaping." Olivia instructed.
Alex indulged in her tears for a few minutes before she pushed herself up from Olivia's lap and hesitated for only a split second before she draped herself across the bed with two pillows under her hips elevating her bottom, already a bright red from Olivia's strong right hand. Alex's heart dropped into her stomach when she heard that she was going to get her third mouthsoaping in six weeks, but she had to admit that the consequences she was currently enduring were perfectly fair and justified. Olivia went to the closet and retrieved the biggest of the three paddles they owned. She placed a hand on Alex's back to keep her in place and tapped Alex's bottom with the paddle.
"Relax back here, little girl. You know better." Olivia scolded, and Alex forced herself to relax her bottom muscles. Clenching was never allowed. What Alex didn't understand was that Olivia made this rule out of mercy, knowing how much more a spanking would hurt on a clenched bottom. There was no reason for a spanking to hurt more than it needed to.
"OW!" Alex yelped, bursting into fresh tears as the paddle crashed down on her bottom, followed quickly by another, and another, and another. Not wishing to get into any further trouble, Alex gripped the bed sheets until her knuckles were white to resist the overwhelming urge to reach back and cover herself.
It only took a few short minutes before the sound of Alex's sobbing changed and Olivia saw her go limp on the bed. The paddling was immediately over as Olivia threw down the paddle as if it had burned her and kicked it under the bed out of sight. Olivia sat down on the bed beside Alex's limp body and the hand that had been holding the sobbing blonde in place now reached underneath Alex's t-shirt to gently rub her heaving back. Olivia let Alex cry herself out for several minutes until she was a little bit calmer, and then she again addressed her wife, again speaking lovingly but firmly.
"I would love to tell you that it's all over, sweetheart, but I'm afraid we still have one last thing to take care of. You know what happens when you lie, so you are going to come with me to the bathroom now and have your mouth washed out with soap."
Still sobbing, Alex pushed herself up from the bed, being careful to keep her hands away from her punished bottom.
"Hug first?" Alex pleaded through her sobs, her head hanging in shame. Olivia's heart broke, but she knew that she had to deny her darling's request. If she held Alex now, she would never be able to bring herself to follow through on the mouthsoaping she had promised, and if she went back on her word, Alex would be the one who suffered. Alex needed Olivia's unwavering consistency in order to thrive. Olivia did plant a gentle kiss on Alex's forehead to let the blonde know that everything was going to be okay, but for right now, that was all the comfort she was going to offer.
"As soon as we are done, I promise I'll hold you all day if that's what you want. Come on, let's get this over with."
Olivia gently steered Alex into the bathroom. Alex looked down at the hard porcelain toilet seat lid that she knew she was expected to sit on, and looked back up at Olivia, her baby blue eyes silently pleading with her.
"Sit down, baby girl. I know it hurts." Olivia instructed, reaching for a cloth and a bar of soap.
Alex reluctantly obeyed and sobbed harder as her freshly punished bottom made contact with the toilet seat lid. While Olivia was preparing the soapy cloth, Alex took the opportunity to pick up a tissue to wipe her eyes and nose. Drying her tears only made room for new ones as the blonde tossed the used tissue into the trash can.
"Open your mouth. Breathe through your nose." Olivia placed a hand on the back of Alex's neck as if drawing her to her. Alex squeezed her eyes closed and obediently opened her mouth.
Olivia spent several minutes thoroughly scrubbing the inside of Alex's mouth. With that accomplished, she tossed the soapy cloth into the sink and placed the bar of soap in Alex's mouth. As always, the brunette detective allowed the repentant blonde to rest her head against her hip and held her hand to support her through the ordeal, gently stroking Alex's long blonde hair.
"This is the third time in six weeks I've had to do this to you, little girl. The last two times, you didn't get a spanking first, and maybe if I had spanked you then, we wouldn't be here today. I do not tolerate lying, and you know that. I don't lie to you, and I expect you to treat me with the same respect. I understand that you were afraid that if you told me the truth you would be in trouble. I know you don't like being in trouble, and I don't like it when you're in trouble either. We are both off from work today, and I would much rather spend our time together having fun instead of having to punish you. I need you to understand that if you come to me and talk to me like you know you're supposed to, you will be in far less trouble, if any trouble at all, than if you lie to me. If you had told me the truth today, you still would have gotten a spanking with my hand for disobeying me, but you wouldn't have gotten a paddling and you wouldn't be sitting here on your sore bottom with a bar of soap in your mouth. You are in complete control here, baby. You are the one who makes the choices to obey the rules you have agreed to obey, or disobey the rules and face the consequences we agreed upon. For the next few weeks at least, I am going to be keeping a much closer eye on you than I normally would. I am going to want to see your checkbook every day, I am going to want to know where you are at all times, when I give you a direct order I am going to expect a proper verbal response, and in addition to your Sunday night maintenance spanking, for the next few weeks you will get a maintenance spanking on Wednesday night as well. I think I've been working too much lately, and you've been trying to get my attention by acting out. If you want my attention and I'm not giving it to you, the proper thing to do is to come to me and talk to me. If you come to me and tell me that I've dropped the ball in regards to you, then I will do my best to reschedule things and move things around so that you are getting the attention you need. Acting out is not the proper way to get my attention, it will always land you exactly where you are right now."
Alex listened to Olivia's lecture with tears streaming down her face, realizing once again that she wasn't nearly as clever as she thought she was. Olivia knew exactly what she was doing and why she was doing it, and Alex began to sob harder upon realizing this.
"One more minute, my love, then it's all over and you get a cuddle." Olivia assured Alex kindly.
It was the longest sixty seconds of Alex's life, but as soon as Olivia removed the soap from her mouth and kissed her forehead, Alex didn't waste any time jumping up and hurrying to the sink where she spent several minutes rinsing her mouth with water until the awful taste of ivory was about as diluted as it was going to get. Alex turned and saw Olivia standing there with her arms open, and the sobbing blonde threw herself into Olivia's arms. Olivia gently guided Alex back into the bedroom where she helped her step out of her jeans and panties and arranged the two of them so that they were comfy on the bed. Olivia sat with her back against the headboard and Alex climbed practically on top of her to be cuddled, being careful to keep Alex's punished bottom off the rough material of Olivia's jeans. Every trace of sternness was gone as Olivia cuddled and comforted her sobbing wife, listening to Alex babble apologies and swearing up and down to be a good girl.
"My sweet angel. Come here, lovey, you just rest now and cry it out. I know you're sorry, baby, you don't need to be sorry anymore, I forgave you before I even put you over my knee. You had your spanking and we move on now with a clean slate. You will always be my good girl, no matter how you behave. I may be momentarily disappointed in your behavior, but I am never disappointed in you, my love. It doesn't matter what kind of trouble you manage to get yourself into, you will always be loved and you will always be forgiven. I know your bottom hurts, baby, but I only take the time to discipline you because I love you so much." Olivia cooed lovingly, gently rocking Alex in her arms.
"I'm sorry, Livy. I love you." Alex sobbed.
"I love you more than anything, my princess. More than life itself." Olivia assured her.
Alex cried for a long while until finally her eyes were dry, but she stayed cuddled in Olivia's arms and let Olivia soothe her. There was no safer place in the world to be after the pain of a sound spanking than wrapped in Olivia's strong arms.
"Livy?" Alex looked up, her baby blue eyes puffy and bloodshot from crying.
"Hmm?" Olivia gently kissed Alex's forehead.
"Are you really going to spank me every Wednesday?" Alex asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, baby, I am. For at least the next three weeks. But unless there's been a problem with your behavior, I will only use my hand." Olivia explained kindly.
Alex's lower lip trembled.
"It's just maintenance, lovey, not a punishment. Every Wednesday before bed, we'll discuss how the week is going, then I'll pull your pajamas down and spank a little sting on your bare bottom to go to sleep with."
"But if you spank me on Wednesday, does that mean you'll spank me harder on Sunday?" Alex asked, ready to cry again depending on the answer.
"No, sweetheart, not at all. I know it's just maintenance, I promise Wednesday night will never count against you on Sunday night." Olivia was quick to lay Alex's concern to rest.
"Okay." Alex reluctantly agreed.
"It won't last forever, baby, I promise. When I can see that we're back on track where we should be, we'll go back to having maintenance just on Sunday night."
"I'm sorry I've been so much trouble lately." Alex sniffled.
"That's forgiven and gone, my angel. There's nothing to be sorry for." Olivia said kindly.
Alex didn't remember falling asleep in Olivia's arms, but she woke up tucked into bed on her belly with a light sheet covering her. The blonde went in search of her panties, wincing as the material rubbed against her bottom, and then left the bedroom in search of Olivia.
"What are you watching?" Alex asked when she found Olivia on the couch watching TV. Olivia looked up and smiled as she turned the TV off and welcomed Alex to snuggle on her lap.
"You're awake. I was just catching up on the news. How's my good girl?" Olivia cuddled Alex close to her heart and kissed Alex's forehead, nose, and lips.
"Okay, just sore." Alex blushed lightly.
"You get arnica first thing after work tomorrow, I promise. It's way past lunch time, are you hungry?" Olivia inquired, and received her answer when Alex's belly called for attention, causing both women to smile.
"I'll take that as a yes." Olivia chuckled, gently rubbing Alex's belly.
"Do you think we could go out for Chinese?" Alex asked hesitantly, not sure if she deserved such a treat after the way she had behaved and fully expecting Olivia to say no.
"Of course we can. Are you okay to sit down?" Olivia asked genuinely, knowing that Alex needed to feel forgiven.
"I think so. Can we go to Ming's and get a booth?"
"We can do that, but you need pants. Or a skirt." Olivia smiled.
Alex disappeared down the hall and reappeared wearing a loose skirt and matching top. She hadn't considered that riding in the car on the way to the restaurant was going to be painful, and was genuinely touched when Olivia placed a cushion on the passenger seat of the car to make the ride a little more comfortable for her.
"Table or booth?" the waitress asked.
"A booth, please." Olivia requested.
The days passed peacefully enough until finally Wednesday rolled around. All signs of Alex's previous punishment were gone as she sat cross-legged on the bed waiting nervously for Olivia. Alex looked up with tears swimming in her baby blue eyes as the brunette detective emerged from the bathroom wearing her own pajama tank and shorts. Olivia smiled sympathetically as she sat on the bed with her back against the headboard and welcomed Alex to snuggle into her arms.
"You don't need to be nervous, baby. I am so proud of you." Olivia praised.
"It's hard." Alex sniffled.
"I know I've been expecting things of you that I don't usually expect because I've been keeping a closer eye on you like I said I would, and you've been such a good girl about all of it. You haven't fought me at all and I've only had to scold you once."
"I'm sorry." Alex whimpered.
"I don't expect you to be perfect, honey, that isn't the point of any of this. Perfection doesn't exist, it isn't a realistic goal for anyone. The point is to make daily life go as smoothly as possible for both of us, and I think we are heading back in the right direction. This is a good thing, sweetheart."
"Yeah, I know, it's just hard. I keep having to remind myself that you aren't punishing me, you're just doing your job and taking care of me. I want you to be able to trust me and not have to micromanage me."
Olivia kissed the top of Alex's head.
"Let's get you over my knee so we can be done with this and go to sleep, it's getting late and you have court early tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am." Alex responded as she obediently draped herself across Olivia's lap.
"Just my hand, baby, I promise." Olivia soothed when she heard Alex whimper as she gently pulled Alex's pajama bottoms down to her knees.
Alex obediently relaxed her bottom muscles and Olivia raised up her strong right hand and brought it down sharply, but not overly hard. Alex gasped as tears leaked out of her eyes. It did hurt, but she recognized that she wasn't being spanked nearly as hard as she usually was. The blonde was just getting ready to burst into full tears when suddenly Alex found herself being guided up and into Olivia's arms. Alex looked down at her bottom and saw that it was a healthy shade of bright pink, but nothing more.
"That's all?" Alex looked up at Olivia.
"That's all, princess. Unless you want more?" Olivia teased lovingly.
"No, Ma'am. That's fine." Alex snuggled down into Olivia's arms.
Olivia cuddled Alex close to her heart and reached down to gently rub Alex's bottom to soothe the sting she had just inflicted. Alex shed a few tears on Olivia's shoulder, but her baby blue eyes were soon completely dry as Olivia showered her with words of love and praise until Alex yawned tiredly.
"It's time for bed, little one." Olivia said kindly.
"Yes, Ma'am." Alex replied as Olivia gently pulled her pajama bottoms back into their proper place.
Alex crawled into bed beside Olivia and easily found her spot snuggled comfortably in Olivia's arms. Olivia kissed Alex's forehead, nose, and lips before turning off the light.