Seeing that Alex had finally cried herself to sleep in her arms, Olivia cuddled her for a while longer until she was certain that Alex was sleeping soundly and wouldn't wake up. Olivia very carefully laid her sleeping wife on the bed on her belly, carefully removed Alex's jeans and panties from around her ankles to allow her to rest more comfortably, and then covered Alex with a light sheet, being mindful of her punished bottom as she did so. With all of that accomplished, Olivia planted a tender kiss on her sleeping wife's temple and with one last adoring look she quietly left the room.

A little over an hour later, Alex began to stir. Her baby blue eyes slowly fluttered open and almost immediately she began to cry brokenheartedly, feeling the excruciating pain from the strict spanking she had received. Wiping her tears, Alex propped herself up on her elbow and noticed that her jeans and panties were gone from around her ankles. She didn't remember falling asleep in Olivia's arms, but apparently she had, and then Olivia had tucked her into bed the way she always did when Alex fell asleep after a spanking. Through her tears, Alex noticed a piece of paper with Olivia's neat handwriting laying on Olivia's pillow next to her. Blinking through her tears, Alex picked up the paper and read her wife's words.

Hi, baby -

I tried to wake you up, but you were out cold so I'm leaving you a note. I got called into work for an emergency. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can, hopefully in just a few hours, and if you want me to hold you again I will. I am so proud of you for being so good for me today. You have a clean slate, baby girl, you know I love you more than anything and I will always forgive you. I'll bring dinner home with me, so you can just rest and relax until I get home. You can do as you please until then, you aren't on restriction.

Love Always -

Me

Still crying, Alex got up and went in search of the loosest pair of panties she could find. She didn't even attempt to put pants on. Despite knowing it was against the rules, she gently rubbed her punished bottom. In her sad, vulnerable frame of mind, Alex suddenly began to panic. After almost twenty five years, Alex knew full well how discipline worked in the Benson-Cabot household. Olivia was lovingly in charge and spankings were given as Olivia deemed necessary, and all was forgiven immediately afterwards. But this was different; Olivia wasn't there to hold her, and in Alex's exhausted, fragile mind, that could only mean that Olivia was still upset with her and hadn't forgiven her yet and that's why she left. Alex cried for a long while, feeling incredibly lonely and hopeless, and when her tears finally started to slow down, the submissive blonde decided that she was going to do everything in her power to get back into her dominant wife's good graces.

A few hours later, Olivia pulled into the apartment building's parking garage and pulled into her assigned spot. With two bags filled with take out containers in her hand, the brunette detective locked her car and then walked into the building and to the elevator. As she rode up to the fourth floor, she dug into her purse for her key to let herself into her apartment, eager to see her beloved wife and make sure she was alright. Olivia had hesitated about going to work while Alex was recovering from a spanking, knowing that Alex often woke up from her post-spanking nap in need of comfort and another good cry, but when her detectives told her of the situation they were dealing with, Olivia had no choice but to go to work. Olivia let herself into the apartment, and her detective senses were screaming at her that something was very wrong with her sweet little Alex. When Alex woke up from a post-spanking nap, even if she woke up needing to have another good cry in Olivia's arms, there was always a certain peace about her, knowing that she was forgiven and very dearly loved and she was still Olivia's good girl no matter what she had done. The woman who greeted her at the door was not at peace in any way, shape, or form; Alex looked terrified and anxiety radiated from her entire body. The apartment was even cleaner than it had been when Olivia left, indicating that Alex had been cleaning for the past few hours.

"Here, Ma'am, I made this for you." Alex handed Olivia a glass of her favorite drink.

Olivia immediately went on alert. She responded to many names; Olivia, Liv, and Livy were just a few of them, and after all these years Olivia could determine Alex's frame of mind based on what Alex chose to call her. Olivia was usually 'Liv' to Alex on any given day in general conversation. For Alex to call her 'Livy' meant that Alex was feeling sad and vulnerable and needed to be cuddled, comforted, and babied. When Alex called her 'Detective', Olivia knew that she had done something to make her wife mad and she should run for her life to the florist downtown to apologize and make it right. When Alex screamed for 'Olivia', it usually meant that there was a spider in the kitchen or bathroom that needed to die. 'Ma'am' was a title of respect that Alex often used when she was given a direct order, answering a 'yes or no' question, or when she was being punished, but for Alex to call her 'Ma'am' immediately upon greeting her at the door meant that something wasn't right.

"Thank you, my angel," Olivia willingly accepted the glass and planted a kiss on Alex's forehead, "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, lovey. Fin called me in a panic and I had to run down there to straighten everything out before he had a stroke on the squadroom floor. Are you okay? Do you want me to hold you for a while?"

"No, Ma'am, I'm fine, just sore. I've just been cleaning, and I reorganized the pantry for you." Alex replied, clearly lying when she said she was fine.

"Oh, well, thank you for that, sweetheart. I was going to do that tomorrow, but I'll check it off my list of things to do, that was a big help." Olivia praised as she gave Alex another kiss, put her badge and gun away, then walked to the kitchen to put the bags of food on the counter and went to change her clothes.

Before Olivia could even bring it up, Alex started setting the table for dinner. With that accomplished, she began making up two plates, one for Olivia and one for herself, and Olivia was both confused and somewhat amused when Alex started cutting her food for her. Alex was the submissive partner, but Olivia had never required Alex to make a plate for her or cut her food for her.

"Alex, sweetie, you don't have to do that. I'm not five." Olivia smiled.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Ma'am." Alex blushed and immediately backed off.

"There's no need to be sorry, baby. Are you sure you're okay?" Olivia asked with loving concern.

"Yes, Ma'am, I'm fine." Alex lied, clearly a nervous wreck.

At this point, Olivia was beyond concerned and borderline worried. Had she been too hard on her angel during her spanking? Olivia went over the spanking in her head. She had been disappointed in Alex's behavior, but she had checked in with herself to make sure that she was calm and wasn't the least bit angry, irritated, or even annoyed before taking Alex over her knee. She had taken the necessary time to talk to Alex beforehand and make sure that the blonde understood why she was being punished and exactly what was going to happen to her and had given Alex the opportunity to explain herself. She had stopped immediately when she saw Alex reach the point of acceptance and give in to the spanking. She had cuddled, comforted, and babied Alex in her arms for over an hour while the blonde cried until she fell asleep. Alex's bottom was deep cherry red and very sore, but not bruised or bleeding or otherwise damaged; she would be perfectly fine in the next day or two. Olivia would give her arnica first thing after work tomorrow the way she always did twenty four hours after a spanking. Olivia couldn't think of anything that had gone sideways during the entire process aside from the fact that she wasn't there when Alex woke up, and she now wondered if she should have told Fin to be a big boy and figure out how to fix the problem on his own. The rest of their meal was silent, and afterwards Alex immediately jumped up to do the dishes despite it being Olivia's turn to do so.

"I'll do that, sweetheart, it's my turn." Olivia gently shooed Alex away from the dishwasher.

"I'll wipe the table and counter." Alex turned to grab a dish cloth.

"No, baby, I'll do that too. Right now I want you to go relax on the couch and wait for me so I can hold you and we can talk." Olivia said kindly.

"Okay, I'll just put away the leftovers first." Alex turned back to the table.

"No, princess. You are going to go relax on the couch and wait for me." Olivia turned Alex toward the direction of the couch and gave her a very gentle pat on her bottom.

Alex obediently went out to the couch and sat down as she had been told, and she burst into tears. How was she expected to earn Olivia's forgiveness if Olivia didn't let her do anything for her? Cleaning their already clean apartment and reorganizing the pantry wasn't nearly enough to make up for what she had done. Olivia quickly cleaned the kitchen and her heart broke when she walked in and found Alex on the couch in tears of distress.

"Oh, sweetheart." Olivia cooed lovingly, walking over to sit on the couch and cuddle Alex on her lap, "Talk to me, little one. Tell me what's wrong. I am right here for you, I want to help."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I'm so sorry. So sorry. Please forgive me. Please." Alex sobbed, completely distraught.

"What are you sorry for, my love? You have no reason at all to be sorry. You've been a very good girl since I got home." Olivia spoke kindly.

"I'm sorry I was so bad today. Please forgive me, I'll do anything. Please, I'm sorry." Alex sobbed, and Olivia's heart broke again.

"First of all, you were not bad today. Your behavior was out of line today and I had to correct it, but you are my good girl and always will be no matter how you behave. Do you understand the difference?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You are completely forgiven, my angel. I forgave you before I even put you over my knee today. You recognized that you broke your rules and you accepted the consequences without complaint, and I am so proud of you for being so good for me today. There's nothing left to be sorry for and nothing left to feel guilty for, you have a clean slate as if nothing ever happened. You're a good girl and there's nothing my good girl could ever do that would make me stop loving you or that I wouldn't forgive you for. I may have to punish you sometimes, but I will always forgive you when you get in trouble. You never have to do anything to earn my forgiveness, I will always give it to you."

"I love you." Alex wept on Olivia's shoulder.

"I love you more than anything, baby girl. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. I promise I won't do that again, I will always be here for you. I never want you to wake up after a nap and worry that I haven't forgiven you, because I will always forgive you and I will always love you."

"Can you just hold me for a while?" Alex whimpered, slowly calming down.

"Of course, baby, I will hold you for the rest of the day and all night if that's what you want." Olivia assured her.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch and Alex snuggled down into Olivia's arms while Olivia cuddled her close and the blonde felt all of her fears draining away as Olivia rocked her and spoke to her tenderly, showering her with words of love and praise and reassurance. Once again, Alex fell asleep in Olivia's arms, feeling safe and loved and knowing that she was forgiven, and once again vowing to herself that she would never do anything to make Olivia have to spank her again.

Yeah, right.