A/N: In watching a recent episode of SVU, I realized that I forgot Grace Muncy has blue eyes, not brown eyes. Oops! Sorry! :-)
Understanding that her sweet little submissive was deeply confused, Olivia sighed and tried not to feel a flash of judgmental rage at Sarah McPherson. Grace's behavior made complete sense; if she didn't even understand how a gift worked, how on Earth could she be expected to understand how forgiveness worked? Olivia stood from the bed, picked up the hairbrush and placed it back in the bedside table drawer, and then walked up behind Grace and planted a loving kiss on top of her head. Gently stroking Grace's long brown hair, Olivia spoke lovingly into the sobbing submissive's ear.
"I forgave you before I even put you over my knee, baby angel. In this house, there is no such thing as having to earn or wait for forgiveness. It doesn't matter how you behave, you will always be forgiven immediately. Even when I am momentarily disappointed in your behavior, I am never disappointed in you; I will never, ever put my hands on you in anger and you never have to be afraid to come to me for affection and comfort after a spanking, or at any other time. It doesn't matter if it's the middle of the night, if you need a cuddle, you wake me up and I will give you a cuddle. I am going to go order us something to eat, when you're ready you can come find me. And you may rub your bottom as much as you want."
With a heavy heart, Olivia left the bedroom, leaving Grace in the corner alone with her thoughts. The dominant brunette had considered simply calling Grace out of the corner and scooping her young submissive into her arms to cuddle her, but ultimately had decided that giving Grace the power to come to her on her own would send a more powerful message. Olivia did as she said she was going to do and ordered food for them to eat, and then she forced herself to sit down on the couch with a glass of wine instead of going back into the bedroom.
Back in the bedroom, Grace knelt in the corner gently rubbing her cherry red bottom as she sobbed quietly. It certainly did hurt, but Grace was amazed to find that she felt loved and protected as she contemplated Olivia's words, and she somehow instinctively understood that her punished bottom was part of that love and protection rather than merely being retribution to satisfy Olivia's wrath. The submissive brunette continued to contemplate the situation for a while longer and came to the conclusion that being under Olivia's care was going to be good for her. Grace continued to sob quietly as she pulled up her panties and then left the corner and crawled down the hall in search of Olivia, realizing how incredibly lonely she felt and craving the affection and comfort she knew she would find in her Mistress's strong arms. Olivia had just drained her glass and was contemplating pulling out all of her hair when she looked over and saw Grace crawling toward her. Olivia looked into Grace's crying eyes and was relieved to see understanding rather than confusion. Grace bent down and kissed Olivia's feet.
"Can I have a cuddle, Ma'am?" Grace asked quietly through her tears.
Olivia welcomed Grace onto her lap and cuddled her close to her heart, being careful to keep Grace's spanked bottom off of the rough material of her jeans. Grace snuggled down into Olivia's arms and laid her head on Olivia's shoulder to finish her crying, clinging to Olivia for dear life while Olivia cuddled and rocked her and gently rubbed her red bottom to soothe the pain.
"That's my good girl. Just relax now, sweetheart, I'm right here; you are very safe and all forgiven. Just cry it out." Olivia soothed lovingly.
"She never forgave me." Grace sobbed.
"I know, honey, she was very wrong. Do you remember what I told you? It doesn't matter how you behave, you will always be forgiven, and in this house there is no such thing as having to earn or wait for forgiveness. I took away your internet privileges for three days, but that doesn't mean that you have to wait three days to be forgiven or that during those three days you won't get any affection or approval from me. You will get both of those things from me every day. If you need a red bottom to help you learn a lesson, I will certainly give you one, but always keep in mind that even when I am spanking you, I have already forgiven you and I will always hold you and comfort you immediately afterwards. You are a very good girl and a beautiful human being and I am proud to share my home with you. You have a clean slate, my baby, nothing ever happened."
When the food arrived, Grace's big blue eyes were dry and she was genuinely touched to find that Olivia had ordered her favorite meal from her favorite restaurant, and recognized the gesture as another sign of forgiveness. Grace knelt at Olivia's feet and was fed by hand as usual.
Several days later, Olivia drove Grace to Mercy hospital for her follow-up appointment to have her wrists examined and to start catching up on all of her vaccinations that she should have been given while she was in Sarah McPherson's care. Olivia had been faithfully doctoring Grace's wrists every day and was pleased with how the bruises were healing, but she wasn't a professional and she was anxious to hear what the professionals had to say.
"Good afternoon, ladies." Dr. Flowers greeted as she walked into the exam room wearing her white lab coat with her stethoscope around her neck. Olivia immediately noticed the tattoo on her wrist that read 'Property of Master Leon Peyton'. Grace was too nervous to be that observant; even though Sarah had never taken her to a doctor, Grace remembered being taken to the doctor as a child and needles were not her friend.
"Hello, Doctor." Olivia replied, gently prompting Grace to do the same.
"Hello, Ma'am." Grace replied, and Dr. Flowers smiled and showed Grace her wrist.
"Oh, I'm not a Ma'am to you. Call me Dr. Flowers, or if you prefer you can just call me Brittany."
Dr. Flowers took Grace's vitals and entered them into her computer, and then she carefully unwrapped the bandages on Grace's wrists and carefully examined them, pacing Grace through a number of exercises to test her range of motion.
"I'm happy to report that I don't think physical therapy will be necessary, your range of motion is fine, and your bruises are healing very well. Keep putting ointment on them every night before bed until the bruises are gone, but you don't need to keep bandaging them. Now, I understand that you're scheduled to receive two vaccines today that you should have already received a number of years ago. I'll send my nurse in and he will give you your vaccines, and then you'll be free to go on your way."
Alone in the room again, Olivia noticed that Grace had grown pale and she gently held Grace's hand in her own.
"Just relax, my baby, I am right here and you are very safe. Take a deep breath in; one, two, three, four. And hold it; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And let it out slowly; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That's my good girl." Olivia soothed.
A tall man in scrubs walked in and greeted them with a kind smile.
"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Flowers' nurse, you can just call me Mike. I'm here to administer your vaccines. Before we start, I do need to warn you that both vaccines will be administered in your bottom and if you would prefer to have a female nurse I can go find one for you."
"It's fine, I just want to get it over with. Where do you want me?" Grace asked.
"Take your jeans and panties down to your knees and hop up on the exam table and lie on your belly." Mike motioned toward the exam table with white paper covering it, "I'm not a fan of needles either, I totally sympathize. I've already had a kid bite me today; you don't bite, do you?" Mike feigned fear, hoping to put Grace at ease and make her laugh.
"Only if you get in between me and my coffee." Grace laughed.
Mike graciously turned his head away until Grace was lying on the table on her belly with her jeans and panties pulled down to her knees, and he turned back when Grace informed him that she was ready.
"Ma'am." Grace reached out her hand toward Olivia.
"I'm right here, little one. I'm very proud of you, you're being very brave." Olivia praised as she took Grace's hand in her own to hold in support. With her free hand, Olivia gently stroked Grace's long brown hair.
"I'm going to spank a little color on your right cheek to get the blood circulating, then I'll administer the vaccine, and then I'll do the same for the left cheek." Mike explained as he slipped a pair of rubber gloves on his hands.
"Don't enjoy yourself too much." Olivia immediately jumped in to protect her property and gave Mike a glare that actually made him shrink back a little.
"No, Ma'am, of course not. It's procedure for everyone over eighteen."
Olivia nodded, granting her permission, but her protective glare only softened a little.
"Ouch!" Grace winced as Mike gave her ten sharp spanks on her right cheek, making the skin blush pink, and then she winced again when she felt the needle being inserted.
"That's my good girl, halfway done." Olivia soothed.
"Ow!" Grace winced again as Mike gave her another ten spanks on her left cheek and she felt tears welling up in her eyes as Mike inserted the needle.
"There, all done." Mike announced as he took off his rubber gloves and tossed them away and then turned to type something into the computer and to give Grace privacy to get up and get dressed.
Olivia guided Grace up from the table and gently pulled her clothes back into their proper place and then pulled Grace in for a hug. The two women said goodbye to Mike and then they left the exam room and made their way out of the hospital to the parking lot.
"Well, that sucked." Grace stated as Olivia led her by the hand out the front doors of the hospital. Olivia chuckled.
"We'll get ice cream on the way home, and when we get home I have something special for my good girl."
"Grace!"
Grace turned around when she heard someone call her name and it took every ounce of her strength not to sink to the ground in fear as she stepped closer to Olivia's side for protection. Olivia felt Grace applying more pressure to her hand and she immediately jumped back into her role as protector, turning around to see what Grace was seeing.
"Sarah." Grace identified the woman walking toward them, her big blue eyes widening in fear.
Olivia had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Sarah wasn't much to look at, she was short and stocky, probably in her late thirties or early forties, with less than striking features. Anyone passing by her on the street wouldn't think that she was capable of putting anyone through any kind of trauma, but Olivia and Grace both knew better.
"Haven't you missed me, little one? I've been looking everywhere for you, thank God I have a friend who works at SVU who spotted you there a few days ago. Where's my hug?" Sarah smiled a strange smile that made Grace sick to her stomach. 'Where's my hug?' was the phrase Sarah always said after she had put Grace through yet another beating or some other kind of trauma to satisfy her twisted fantasies that tiptoed on the edge between sanity and insanity. And then of course there was their last interaction where Sarah had intentionally violated one of Grace's hard limits and ignored her safeword. Unlike Olivia, who always offered a hug as a means of comfort or as a sign of approval, but never demanded it, Sarah did it as a way of signaling to Grace that she had no control over her own body; 'where's my hug?' wasn't really a question, it was a demand, and Grace knew that if she rejected this demand it would not end well for her. Even now, it was taking all of Grace's willpower not to give in and give the blonde woman a hug. Grace squeezed Olivia's hand even more tightly.
"Sarah, legally you are not allowed to be within fifty feet of Grace until the hearing. I suggest you turn around and walk away. Now." Olivia growled, glancing around and wondering where Sarah's twenty four hour surveillance was, and making a mental note to call Cragen about it later.
"So you're the bitch from SVU trying to strip me of my title. I know Grace won't let that happen, she knows the truth." Sarah said confidently.
"I said walk away, Sarah." Olivia repeated.
"I'm going, I'm going. Be a good girl, Grace. I'm watching you, no matter where you go. I promise we'll have lots of fun when you come home." Sarah smiled again and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
Olivia caught Grace in her arms before the distraught brunette could sink to the ground and she quickly guided Grace to the car and into the passenger seat just as Grace broke down completely and began to sob heavily. Olivia slid behind the wheel of the car and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number and pressing the phone to her ear.
"Hey, El, it's me. I'm at Mercy hospital with Grace and we just ran into Sarah McPherson in the parking lot…. No, we're fine, but she made some veiled threats and I want you to send someone to come down to the hospital and escort us home so we know she hasn't followed us. We'll just sit here in the car until someone comes…. Great, thanks."
Olivia hung up the phone and turned her attention to her frightened submissive.
"I know you're scared, my baby. I'm right here, I promise I will keep you safe." Olivia soothed.
"She's going to get me back." Grace sobbed fearfully.
"No, she isn't. Her rights to you were severed the moment she violated your contract. Look at me, sweetheart, let me see those pretty eyes. I promise she is never going to hurt you again, and if she approaches you again before the hearing I am going to throw her in jail."
"I want to go home. Please, Ma'am." Grace pleaded.
"I am trying to get us there as fast as I can, baby. Ah, there's one of my detectives now." Olivia observed with relief.
Fin spotted his Captain's car, pulled up beside it, and rolled his window down. Olivia also rolled her window down.
"You guys okay, Captain?" Fin asked.
"We're fine, I just want you to follow us home. I'm going to make a few turns along the way and we're going to stop for ice cream, and when we get home I want to do a drive by first just to be extra sure everything's okay." Olivia replied.
"I'll be right behind you. I could go for some ice cream myself." Fin agreed.
"What flavor do you want, my baby?" Olivia asked while they were sitting in line at the drive-through.
"Chocolate, please." Grace replied, still shaken but significantly calmer than she had been when they left the hospital.
"Good girl, so polite." Olivia glanced in the rearview mirror and relaxed seeing that Fin was still behind them.
When they arrived home, Olivia made sure that Grace saw her close and lock the door so that she would understand that she was safe while Grace stripped out of her clothes, leaving her in just her bra and panties. Olivia sat on the couch and cuddled Grace on her lap to soothe and reassure her after the ordeal she had just endured, and she guided Grace through a couple rounds of breathing exercises. After a while of silent cuddling, Grace's heart was no longer racing and her face was calm as she simply rested in Olivia's arms.
"Hey, baby, you still have a special reward coming for being such a good girl at the doctor. Would you like that?" Olivia spoke lovingly as she gently stroked Grace's long brown hair.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Olivia guided Grace to the bedroom with a gentle hand on her back.