His birthday party seemed a big success so far, everyone loved the cake and he got some very nice presents. He had put his lovely chicken in her box on the table while he had unwrapped the rest of his gifts but now he was just carrying her around on his arm. She seemed perfectly content with being carried and petted all the time, which Chris was grateful for as he couldn't stop stroking the soft feathers. She was absolutely perfect. He yawned widely and decided to sit down.
He was so tired, that panic attack really drained his energy. He put the chicken on his lap before looking around the room for his dad.
It didn't take long to find him. Hawkeye seemed a bit drunk as he tried to convince some nurses to go back to his tent or to invite him over but none of them seemed interested. Hawkeye just shrugged and got a refill of that spiced fruit juice.
Chris watched him as he walked over to a tipsy Colonel and a drunk Radar, who were laughing loudly over something BJ had said, before he looked back at the juice. He had always wondered what alcohol tastes like, and why adults get so silly because of it, but he knew he wasn't allowed to. He still wondered though. Adults were so weird when they got drunk, and the only explanation he got was that alcohol makes you act funny. That wasn't saying anything about the taste or feeling of it.
Chris sighed tiredly as he looked down at his lap where the tiny chicken sat snuggled deep and felt a wave of affection for his dad. He loved his dad, his dad was the greatest. He even bought him his own pet, and she was the cutest one he'd ever seen.
He decided to call her Cinderella, after that animation movie he'd seen a while back. It was the first one he had ever seen and he loved the way it was drawn, the colors and the funny mouses. He wasn't the only one who enjoyed watching it, a lot of adults laughed as well and seemed to like it. So he was glad Radar convinced the colonel to play it anyway as it was sent to their mash unit by mistake.
That ball gown looked so sparkly and pretty and his little Cinderella was just as pretty and even looked a bit like she was wearing a ballgown, if you squeeze your eyes shut slightly. So he thought the name fitted really well. His dad however did not. He had barked out a laugh and it took a while for him to be able to stop after he heard the name. Chris had glared at his dad but couldn't stay mad at him for long. After all, his dad had bought him the best thing in the whole wide world.
Hawkeye looked at his son with affection, it was good to see Chris so happy. Tired but happy. The kid had a whole pile of gifts next to him on the table but he only had eyes for that little chicken he'd been carrying around the whole evening. Which meant, he did a good job as a father. He wasn't happy that BJ and him had spent a whole hour making a cage for the chicken to sleep in. Especially after he had bought a bird cage already.
The enclosure was built next to Chris's bed and was basically a large oblong rectangular grate, large enough for her to even walk around in. They filled it with grass and such but Chris wasn't happy enough with that and spent quite some time making a bed for her. Apparently dried grass wasn't enough, she needed a blanket as well and some bowls for water and food. It was perfect for a little chicken according to the little book Radar had given Chris, but the boy still wanted to bring the chicken back to the party. To bring Cinderella back to the party.
Hawkeye snickered at the silly name, of course his son would name his pet after a cartoon drawn princess. It didn't matter as long as Chris was happy, and the boy looked very happy at the moment as he was swinging his legs and he took out his little chicken book and started reading.
Chris petted Cinderella, he was trying to read but thinking about alcohol got his curiosity peaked. It was an interesting book, and he really loved it but now he kinda wanted to know what alcohol tastes like. He looked over at his dad, but the man wasn't paying attention to him. He knew he would be in trouble if he tried it so he tried to forget about it.
Some people had already left but some people were still having fun. The music is playing in the background but it didn't help at all with staying awake. Chris yawned again as he looked over at his big pile of presents he'd gotten. It was a lot, he had gotten a lovely soft sweater from Klinger, a bright red one, and several books, as everyone knew he loved to read. BJ had given him a water pistol but he didn't know if he liked it or not. He was grateful of course but the gun scared him a little, even though it was very colorful. Kellye gave him some toy wooden animals he loved and he even got a slinky from the cook, which surprised him.
The only thing he didn't like was a cowboy hat the colonel gave him. It was just plain ugly and its only function was messing up his hair. Of course he was still very polite and thanked the colonel just like everyone else numerous times throughout the evening. He felt a bit awkward accepting so much as he wasn't used to it and it made him nervous despite the fact that he loved the gifts very much.
He looked over again and his dad still wasn't watching him, maybe he could try some juice with alcohol without his dad knowing, it wasn't like you could see the difference anyway. He was already drinking normal juice. Besides he felt really tired and maybe he would also act silly like his dad and get more energy from drinking it. He shot another glance at his dad but the man still seemed busy.
Maybe his curiosity got the best of him or maybe he was just too tired to think straight, but the next thing Chris knew was that he stood next to the forbidden juice and he had poured himself a little in his cup. He didn't dare to glance at his dad so he quickly moved away, back to the chair he was sitting in.
Cinderella made a soft sound that sounded a bit like she was complaining but she settled down again after Chris sat down and petted her a little. He timidly looked around to look for his dad and he almost fell out of his chair startled as he saw the man standing right there next to him. Cinderella let out a loud complaining cluck as she was slightly launched into the air. She ruffled her feathers angrily as Chris burned bright red as he looked at his stern looking dad.
Hawkeye could almost laugh at the startled quilty expression of his son, but he wasn't at all amused about what he just saw. They didn't call him Hawkeye for nothing. He shot his son a stern look and said. "What do you have there? " He hoped his son would tell the truth, he really didn't want to punish his son on his birthday.
Chris felt his ears burn. Did his dad know? How did he know? He'd made sure his dad wasn't looking. Maybe his dad didn't know, but he did sound mad, so maybe he did. He couldn't stop his face from burning as he opened his mouth to say something but his dad interrupted him.
"You better think real hard before you answer, Mister. "
"I-I'm s-sorry..." Was all Chris could get out in a soft trembling voice. He wanted to admit what he did wrong but he also didn't want to get in trouble even though it was probably already too late for that. He saw the disappointment flash across his dad's face before the man beckoned him. "Follow me." He said and walked away.
Chris gulped, it was never a good sign if his dad wanted some privacy to talk with him. He quickly got up to follow, he couldn't disobey something like that. Cinderella again made a disapproving sound as she quickly got picked up again. He followed his dad outside and found him right next to the door.
Hawkeye leaned against the door and shot his son with another stern look. The boy looked absolutely miserable, miserable and exhausted. He cleared his throat to get Chris to look at him and said. "I want to know exactly what you are sorry for." He hoped for the boy's sake he would be telling the truth.
The boy in front of him took a deep breath and with a flushed face said. "I-I'm s-sorry f-for taking some a-alcohol."
Hawkeye sighed relieved as he felt proud his kid was at least honest over what he did.
"I-I didn't d-drink any." Chris added timidly.
"Only because I stopped you, young man. Don't even try to justify what you did." Hawkeye said sternly.
"No, s-sir." Chris responded. "I'm s-sorry." He quickly looked away from the angry glare his dad was throwing his way.
Hawkeye took a hold of Chris's chin and made him look up again before he said. "You better be sorry. I'm not at all happy about what you were trying to do, Mister. Not happy at all! You should thank your lucky stars you told me the truth otherwise you'd be standing bent over right now."
Tears filled Chris's eyes and his flush returned. "Daad!" He whined softly. "Please don't be mad."
"Don't be mad? I'll be as mad as I want to be. You are the one misbehaving!" Hawkeye said sternly to his son, who looked absolutely dead on his feet. "I'm letting this go with only a warning because this is your birthday but I'm also sending you to bed right now."
Hawkeye released Chris's chin as the boy gasped. "Dad! nooo." He whined. He still had over an hour left before he normally was sent to bed, it wasn't fair. Especially not on his birthday.
"Christopher Wouter Pierce!" Hawkeye snapped, seeing his son flinch at the use of his full name. "You better not start whining and complaining to me. I don't want to punish you but I definitely will if you don't do as I tell you. "
"Y-yes, sir." Chris said in a soft voice. "P-Please don't.. "
"Then you better get moving towards the Swamp. " Hawkeye added as he guided the child back towards the Swamp. He was following close behind his son with his hand on his shoulder and said in a gentler tone. "Don't mind your presents, BJ and I will get them for you. I want you to get ready for bed while I get some water for you to brush your teeth."
Chris nodded before he sighed defeated and put Cinderella in her new sleeping place. The little bantam ruffled her feathers before she started exploring the new surroundings while she was softly clucking.
"I'll be back soon and you better be in your pajamas when I get back." Hawkeye said. He tried to sound a bit gentler but he was still a bit pissed about what his kid tried to pull. He couldn't punish his kid on his birthday but he wanted to be very clear about him not being happy about what the boy did.
He fetched some water and when he came back he was relieved to see that his son listened to him. Chris looked ready for bed. He was still sniffing a bit and had glossy eyes but at least he wasn't crying. He didn't want his son to cry on his birthday. He hated that he had to be so strict sometimes, but he knew he wouldn't have gotten away so easily with trying to sneak in a drink at that age. He knew that because he tried the same thing but then at twelve and his dad had definitely strong feelings about the subject and wasn't as nice about it as he was.
After Chris brushed his teeth, Hawkeye threw away the rest of the water outside the tent and walked back to open his blankets for him and made a gesture for him to get in bed. Chris looked at him with pleading eyes but his dad simply glared back so he decided it wasn't worth the fight. The fight he would probably lose anyway. He climbed in and he felt the relief radiating from his dad as the man put the blankets snugly around him.
"I'm sorry. " Chris said again, he never wanted to be bad today and pick a fight. He was just curious about it but now he felt really bad.
"That's okay, Kiddo." Hawkeye said as he smiled. Chris wasn't stuttering anymore so that meant he was feeling less nervous. "I'm not happy you did what you did, but I'm proud of you telling me the truth. Next time however I will not be as nice about it, you understand me? I will be spanking your ass if I find out you drank alcohol without my permission. "
Chris's face flushed again as he gulped and nodded quickly. "Yes, sir. "
"Now aside from all that." Hawkeye said with a grin as he ruffled the boy's hair. "How did you like your birthday? Did you like the gifts?" Hawkeye asked, he knew the boy loved most of his gifts, especially the little chicken. His son had thanked him several times throughout the whole evening.
"Yesss! it was so swell, dad." Chris said with a smile and an excited sparkle in his eye. "I love Cinderella very much! I promise to take good care of her. I promise. And I like all the new books I've gotten, and the clothes." He said eagerly. Even the socks he got from Charles, they were a boring color but they were really soft.
Hawkeye grinned at the happiness of his son. "Already eleven years old. You've grown a lot this year. "
"Really?" Chris asked with excitement. "I've grown? "
Hawkeye laughed loudly. "Not literally! You're still tiny. " He said laughing as his son glared at him. "I mean you have overcome a lot of problems in your life already, and I just want to say I'm really proud. "
Chris blushed again and mumbled. "Even after what I did? "
"Of course, no matter what I'm always proud of you." Hawkeye said with a grin. "because I'm your dad and I'm supposed to love you unconditionally. Don't you think I tried to do the same thing at your age? It's just a part of growing up and It wouldn't be the first and it wouldn't be the last mistake you make. " Hawkeye wanted to say more but he heard Radar storming out of the mess hall.
"Hold your horses" The colonel called out before they heard a loud splashing sound.
Chris looked a bit shocked but Hawkeye quickly explained that dumping someone in cold water will help with sobering up. They heard Radar loud sputtering before the man asked "What was that for?"
"It will sober you up" The colonel explained before they heard another loud splash.
Hawkeye quickly gave his son a kiss on his head and told him goodnight before he had to run off to help with the incoming wounded.
Chris yawned widely before moving to the side of his bed to say good night to Cinderella. He petted the little chicken but Cinderella had other plans and tried to jump on the bed. He giggled slightly at the sight of the little chicken jumping before picking her up. He put her in bed with him and snuggled close while he fell asleep.
It was almost morning by the time Hawkeye was released from the O.R. He stumbled inside after BJ, who immediately went over to his bunk and sat down to remove his shoes. Hawkeye wanted to do the same and sat down. He already had one shoe off before he saw the chicken sleeping in the bed.
He sighed and pulled the cozy chicken away from his sleeping son's arms and dropped her back into her grate. She let out a loud complaining cluck and ruffled her feathers which made her incredibly puffy. Hawkeye chuckled at the sight of the very indignant little chicken before he went back to his own bunk to sleep.
The next couple of days flew by in a busy blur of meatball surgery. This war was absolutely crazy, both sides were going berserk on each other, trying to get as much killing done before Christmas. He'd never understand why people needed to inflict so much damage before the Christmas truce, but they did.
This current O.R session also took hours, they worked throughout the whole night and even through the morning. Hawkeye had spent a small break with his son eating breakfast but that was only for about ten minutes. He always felt a bit guilty when he had to work so long but thankfully Radar was spending time with Chris today. They were going to decorate the camp because Christmas was coming soon, so at least he knew his kid was going to have fun today.
Hawkeye could barely walk when he exited the O.R. He had been standing in front of that operation table for so long his whole body felt stiff. He was exhausted and barely made it to the bench before he dropped down to sit on it with a heavy sigh. He pulled off his mask and hat when Chris walked in with a big smile and an excited Hey, dad.
"Hey, Kiddo." Hawkeye answered back as Chris sat down next to him.
"Are you finished for today?" the boy asked him with a hopeful smile.
"God, I hope so." Hawkeye mumbled as he put his arm around the boy. He hoped they had time to sleep for a couple of hours until the next shipment of wounded arrived. He stood up slowly, stretched his back and arms before he changed back into his 'normal' army clothes.
Chris followed him happily when he walked towards the Swamp, he felt like the living dead. He must definitely look like one too, if he even looked a tiny bit like he felt at the moment.
At least the kid had a fun day so far, Chris was telling him about decorating the tree together with Radar and Klinger and of course Cinderella helped. Hawkeye snorted a little but felt too tired to laugh. He could see Chris holding up the bird towards the tree in order to let it help.
Inside the Swamp, Chris walked over to make him a drink, which he was very grateful for. He needed something to forget all the blood on those way to young soldiers' faces. It was horrid.
The first one went down straight away and he was already sipping on his second one as he got undressed. He needed sleep and needed it now.
Chris decided to find Radar and asked his tired dad for his permission. He hadn't had any schoolwork and no chores to do for the rest of the day so he was kinda bored at the moment.
His dad agreed and gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head before Chris ran towards his best friend. He left Cinderella in her cage. He loved bringing her with him, but if Radar or someone else needed his help he didn't want to have to run back to drop the little bird off. He was still really happy with his little princess, and he felt very proud this morning when she laid an egg for the first time since he got her. I was a tiny egg so it wasn't very useful, but it was perfect either way.
He found the clerk next to The Father, who was saying a prayer to someone on the phone and Charles who was mumbling angrily at the door.
"Hey Radar!" He exclaimed happily as he came closer. Radar looked very nervous but smiled as he saw him. "Hey Chris. "
"What's going on? " Chris asked as he went to stand next to him. Radar only shook his head and kept pacing around the small clerk's office.
Francis gave the boy a happy nod before he turned towards Radar and said. "She's holding the phone out, so that the cow can hear it."
"She's doing what?" Charles asked, confused.
"Our cow is in labor." Radar quickly explained as he nervously walked back and forth.
"You held up a phone call from my sister so he could bless a cow?" Charles snapped as he walked up to the clerk with anger.
Chris immediately hides behind his friend, Charles could be very scary if he was angry.
Radar did his best to shield the boy and the phone at the same time, just in case Charles decided to steal the phone away and said. "Well, cows are people too, you know. "
Charles looked outraged but Francis interrupted him with the news the cow was giving birth.
"Oh! Oh, gee, the vet isn't even there yet! " Radar almost screamed as he grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. "Yeah mom! Oh, it's coming out backwards!" The clerk explained in wild panic.
"Like everything else around here." Charles replied angrily from the side.
"Wait a minute, Mom! I got a doctor right here! " Radar said loudly before he rushed towards Charles to drag him to the phone.
"Don't you dare!" Charles snapped but Radar wasn't taking no for an answer and said. "Come on. I don't want my mom to go through this alone. You're a doctor. You gotta! "
Charles took over the phone with some urging from Radar. He gave the clerk a glare but started talking anyway. "Hello, Mrs. O'Reilly. Yes. Yes, I am a doctor. Wonderful. All right. Please describe the situation."
He listened for a while and said. "Right. Now listen carefully, Mrs. O'Reilly. You're going to have to put your hand inside the cow and turn the calf around. "
Chris's mouth fell open as Radar yelled. "Oh! Ew! Ick! "
Charles tried to listen to the woman on the other side of the phone as Radar groaned loudly. Francis helped the hysterical clerk to his bunk. "Oooh! Oh, boy! Ick!" Radar said as he sat down. Chris sat down next to him as Charles kept talking to Radar's mother. He wanted to help but hadn't had a clue how, he never helped a cow before. And he didn't even know how labor worked. His dad explained labor with people but he didn't know if cows were the same. He definitely couldn't imagine someone putting his arm inside a cow.
Radar stayed almost hysterical and he only calmed down a little when according to his mother the vet had arrived. He was talking on the phone with his mom but before the calf was born the line cut off. Which didn't help the nervous clerk at all but there wasn't anything they could do about it.
Charles demanded that Radar would try to get a hold of his sister so there wasn't much for Chris to help with. It made him feel a bit useless, not being able to help. Everyone seemed so busy and also a bit down these days, it must be the loads of casualties they have been having these days. The whole camp was already decorated including the big tree inside the mess hall but nothing seemed to cheer people up.
He went inside, put off his shoes and dropped down on his bunk. He reached down to pet Cinderella but the bird seemed angry with him and pecked him. "Ohh come on. I was only gone for a couple of minutes." He said to her, he kept talking and after a couple of minutes, she finally seemed to calm down enough to be pet. At least he could cheer someone up, Chris thought as he softly petted his princess.
When Christmas day arrived, the wounded arrived with it. All of the doctors got called out of their bunks, the first thing in the morning and they were still working now at dinner time. At least these would be the last for at least today, the Christmas truce should be active right now.
The only patient left was a young soldier. His leg had been amputated just above the knee and the stump was covered in gauze and bandages. He hated amputating, but there wasn't much left to resemble anything of a leg and foot. It was all blown to pieces and this was the best way to help the man, but it left a bad taste in his mouth on top of his already depressed mood.
For the umpteenth day in a row, the doctors left the O.R completely exhausted. Everyone was deeply depressed at this point.
Hawkeye sighed as he put his arm around his son, the boy also seemed to be affected by the bad mood around camp lately and that just wasn't something Hawkeye wanted for his kid on Christmas day.
They walked to the mess hall. The colonel had given them a lecture earlier about how they all needed to pitch in to make this day any better. They were just making themselves more miserable because they don't want to be here. "But if you ain't somewhere, you are nowhere." He had said, so Hawkeye joined the colonel and Margaret to the mess hall. The cook had made a special Christmas dinner and Hawkeye at least wanted to try to cheer up a bit, if not for him, than for his son. The boy deserved a nice holiday.
They entered the tent and the mood seemed to change. People were talking and some were even laughing, the Christmas tree stood proudly in the middle of the tent. They decorated the tree with stuff they already had, as the army didn't send Christmas decorations to the units, so the tree was filled with cotton balls, popcorn strings, toilet paper garlands that were cut into shapes and even thermometers were dangling from the branches. It was a silly sight but it was the best they could do.
Chris seemed to cheer up a bit as he enthusiastically began to tell him about how he cut those paper strings. Radar showed him how to fold the paper before you cut it, but he did all the cutting on his own.
Hawkeye agreed that the little paper stick figures were the most beautiful paper angels he had ever seen. They weren't of course. You could barely make out that they were meant to be human, but his son was just so excited. And seeing his son cheerfully made him happy as well.
They headed to the food line and stood behind the Colonel. "I understand the cook made us a traditional Christmas dinner." Hawkeye said hopefully to Igor, who was serving the food.
"Right. Turkey on shingles with cranberry sausage." Igor explained.
The doctors looked at each other with concern until Colonel Potter sighted and said. "I'm not too proud. Fork it over."
As Igor did that they could smell the food and immediately lost their appetite. "You know what this smells like, Son?" The Colonel asked.
"I can't smell anymore, Colonel. I've been here too long." Igor said.
The Colonel simply nodded before he gave back the now filled tray with food and headed over to Radar next to the eggnog. Hawkeye and the rest of the food line quickly left after that. Chris wanted to try it but Hawkeye quickly pulled him away with the explanation that the food smelled like it was made in WWI.
Music was playing in the background, a jazzy Christmas song as they neared Radar. The clerk smiled and served everyone their drink. Chris had a small hope of tasting eggnog but Radar gave him hot chocolate milk instead. He wasn't that disappointed because he loved the army chocolate milk.
All of a sudden the roof of the tent opened up and someone dressed in a red suit came through. Chris grabbed his dad around the waist and hid behind the man, but quickly noticed people had started laughing instead of being scared. He heard a loud HO HO HO and recognized BJ's voice so he slowly let go and tried to calm down again.
Some people started calling him Santa as he showed them he was carrying a big bag of presents.
"Now that's what I call pitching in." The Colonel said with a laugh.
Chris let out a soft giggle as he finally got a good look at BJ's face. The man had a white beard made of cotton balls and it looked very silly. He knew about Santa Claus, his dad had told him about it. He couldn't really remember knowing about the holiday before his dad told him, but he thought he remembered a man dressed in red, only that man had a horse.
He followed his dad closer to BJ, who even had white cotton over his eyebrows and was throwing out gifts. He threw one at Chris, but he wasn't that good at catching things so it landed on the floor. He burned bright red as he quickly picked it up, hoping nobody had seen that. He unpacked it and found out he had gotten a pair of army socks. He could always use socks.
"Listen, fella. I've actually seen Santa Claus." Hawkeye said as he sat down next to BJ, who threw his empty bag on the side. "I sat on his lap once." Hawkeye continued as he pulled his giggling son closer into a one armed hug. "And I'm here to tell you you ain't him." He said with a grin.
BJ laughed and asked. "How can you tell?"
"Well," Hawkeye started as he pointed an accusing finger to BJ. "In the first place, is that a brown mustache or are you eating a mouse? "
Chris laughed as BJ turned serious and gave his dad the stink eye. He knew BJ was only playing and not really mad as he felt the fun the man felt, the feeling surrounded him like a cloud.
BJ frowned and said. "Listen, I don't cover up this mustache for nobody, Fella. Buzz off."
"Gee," Hawkeye said as he got up to get some more to drink. "Whatever happened to "ho ho ho?"
Chris stayed behind with BJ, drinking his chocolate milk. He was thinking about Cinderella back at the Swamp until BJ bumped his shoulder gently with his shoulder and clinged his mug with the one of Chris.
As the evening went on, people started to get happier. The tent was filled with a thick tension of fun and excitement and it was getting a bit much for Chris. He had fun at first but now he just missed his pet and with this many people he started to feel uncomfortable.
His dad climbed up on the table and Chris quickly headed out while everyone was distracted. He walked back to the Swamp and immediately checked in on his little bird,but she was fine. His little Cinderella was asleep in her blanket and didn't even bother to pull her head out of her feathers to look at him.
He sighed and dropped on his stomach on his bunk. He hated feeling this overwhelmed and tired, it made him moody. He glanced around the tent and his eyes landed on a half filled martini glass standing near the still. It wasn't real martini according to his dad but he didn't know what martini was anyway. his curiosity peaked. He knew he definitely wasn't allowed to try it, but he wondered about what would happen, how he would feel if he drank it. How it would taste.
Chris slowly got up and waited a couple of seconds to listen. It stayed quiet, he heard some people in the distance, the mess hall wasn't that quiet but nothing was heading his way. He walked closer to the still and waited again. Nothing happened so making his decision he grabbed the glass and raised it. It smelled terrible, he couldn't imagine this tasting any better but the adults loved it.
He hesitated for a second before he took a big swig. The alcohol tasted absolutely horrible and it immediately burned its way down his throat. He started to cough violently at the sudden shock and heavy burn. His hands shook so much that the glass nearly fell from his grasp. He managed to catch it just as it would have shattered on the floor. His eyes were teary as he tried to take back control to stop coughing.
His insides became stone cold when he heard footsteps approaching. It sounded like his dad. While he was still coughing he quickly put the glass down and tried to act normal but he couldn't stop. His throat was still burning and his panic didn't help at all.
Hawkeye walked in saying. "Chris, are you here? Didn't we have a rule about wandering off, you missed the singing..." He stopped at the sight of his teary eyed coughing and sputtering child and saw the martini glass placed upside down near the still and he knew exactly what had happened.
"Really, Chris?!" Hawkeye snapped as he walked up to the boy and grabbed the boy's bicep. "You still had to drink it. Didn't I warn you?" he said as he sat down on BJ bunk and dragged the boy over his lap without waiting for an answer.
Chris let out a soft "Nee" between his coughing before he landed on his stomach over the knees of his father. His coughing turned into unsteady sobs as Hawkeye pulled his pants down. He wasn't gentle and Chris could feel the anger radiating from his dad as his briefs followed down.
His dad used one arm around his torso to pull him closer and at the same time pin his arms to his side as he raised the other.
*SMACK*
The first slap across his bare backside was painful. The second hit was worse and had him gasping, tears streaming down his face as his dad continued, the slaps were harsh and fast.
Chris started kicking his legs wildly as soon as he realized what was happening."No! Ow! No!" He cried out over and over again. He couldn't focus on anything else besides the burning pain on his backside. He tried to struggle but his dad had him completely locked in place, the slaps rained down fast making it impossible to think.
"I can't believe you still had the audacity to drink it, especially after I warned you only a few days ago. I hope you are proud of getting a spanking on Christmas. Young man." Hawkeye lectured, not losing his pace.
"Ow! N-no p-papa!" Chris cried. He knew it wouldn't matter what he said or how much he cried, but he couldn't help himself. After what felt like hours, Chris went limp over his dad's lap. His backside was burning.
Hawkeye kept spanking and continued his lecture. "I thought I was very clear about it, but apparently you need more convincing." He didn't wait for an answer, he just kept slapping the small bare backside. His son knew exactly what he had done to earn this spanking. His dad gave him three last hard smacks before he stopped and released his hold. He began stroking his back gently to let him know they were done.
Chris let out a loud sob as his hand flew to his red burning cheeks. He cringed, trying not to wince at how painful they were.
"I'm s-sorry... P-papa," Chris whimpered softly between sobs.
"I hope you are! Getting a spanking on Christmas, really!" Hawkeye said. He still sounded angry but he kept stroking gently. He hated to spank his kid, he really did, but he just couldn't let Chris get away with something like this, especially not after the boy was warned just some days ago.
After a while Chris slowly got up and threw himself against his dad sobbing. He put his arms around the man's neck and buried his face close as he cried.
Hawkeye put his arm around him and hugged him tight while with the other arranged the boy's briefs back in position.
"It's okay, Kiddo. We're good." He said as he stroked the child's back gently. He felt guilty, if he had spent more time with his son, maybe this wouldn't have happened. His son shouldn't drink of course, but he felt responsible for a big part in this situation.
After a while of cuddling, Hawkeye untangled the boy's arms and told him to get ready for bed. It was still earlier than he would be sent to bed normally but Hawkeye thought it would be a fitting punishment.
Chris pouted but became quickly motivated by a slight pat on his already sore backside.