Spanking of minors. Don't like. Don't read.

Season 1 Episode 1 Part 4

Just because it's laying the groundwork chapter, it is a bit long. Sorry for that. The next ones will be shorter.

The next morning she woke up and got ready. She peaked in on her sleeping mom before heading over the the Matthew's.

Maya came through the front door and was called over to the table to eat. She set her backpack down and approached the table, worried about the night before. She handed her cell phone to Cory without looking at him and sat down. Cory nodded in Mayas direction, Topanga nodded back, looking at the lowered blonde head over her oatmeal bowl. "How was last night, Maya?" Cory asked.

"Okay." She whispered.

"Maya, look at us." Topanga said gently. When Maya meet her gaze, she smiled warmly, "Do you have anything you need to tell us?"

The girl remained quiet. "Your mom is coming over today, and it would be better to hear from you if something happened." Cory told her.

When she was still quiet, Topanga decided to play 50 questions. "Did you use your phone last night?"

"No." Maya said.

"Ah, she's alive!" Cory cried out. Both of his kids laughed, and Maya cracked a small smile.

"Did you watch TV?" Topanga pressed.

"No." She said again, slowly looking up and meeting Topangas eyes.

"Were you in bed on time?" Topanga asked. Maya tilted her head to the side. Bingo, both adults thought. "Maya?"

"I got into bed at 945." Maya told them.

"That's not too bad." Riley defended her friend.

"Why were you late getting to bed?" Topanga asked.

Maya played with her oatmeal. "Maya Penelope Hart," Topanga admonished. "I asked you a question. "

"I was late because I was arguing with my mom." Maya started to tear up.

"Riley, Auggie are you done eating?" Topanga asked.

"Yes ma'am." They both answered.

"Cory, can you take them to school? I will bring Maya by after we talk."

Sure thing. Maya sat frozen for the five minutes it took them to clear their bowls and shuffle out the door. Cory kissed Topanga and Mayas head before running out the door.

Topanga scooted back in her chair. "Come here, my amazon warrior." Maya looked up at Topangas open arms and went to sit in her lap. "Tell me what happened."

"I don't want you to be mad." Maya told her.

"I'm going to be more upset if I have to find out through your mom." Topanga told her.

"I don't want to go home with her tonight." Maya told her.

Topanga sighed, "It's one night Maya, then you are spending two nights here."

"I want to spend all of my nights here." Maya whispered.

"What happened, Lovely?" Topanga asked again. She wrapped her arms around the girls shoulders so that the girl had to relax into her.

Maya recounted the night to Topanga from when her mom picked her up to Katy not tucking her in. Topanga kissed the girls temple. "We will figure this out, Maya I promise." Topanga rocked with the girl for a minute, "I'm going to talk to your mom today, but I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Maya asked.

"I need you to give your mom a clean slate, as clean as you can. And just like we are giving you chances to trust you, you need to give your mom those chances too."

"What if I'm not ready to." Maya asked.

"I can't force you to, but I think it will be better for your heart if you do. And no matter what, snapping at your mom and slamming doors is not okay."

"Yes ma'am." Maya whispered.

"Go eat at least half of that oatmeal." Topanga told her. Maya stood up and forced the food down. Topanga hugged the girl and they left to take her to school.

When she got home, Topanga did the dishes and got ready. Katy knocked on the door at exactly 1030.

Topanga let her in and both ladies sat down on the couch. Before either could say anything, Topanga handed over Maya's progress reports. Katy went pale as she read them. "I didn't know it was this bad."

"What do you know about Maya?" Topanga asked hotly.

"Excuse me?!" Katy shouted. "Maya is my child, and you do not get to speak to me that way about her!"

"Then act like it Katy. Care about her getting to bed on time! Don't try and put a thirteen year old on the subway at 9 at night. Know how she is doing in school!"

Katy stood up, "I knew I shouldn't have come!"

Topanga stood up too, partially blocking Katys exit. She needed to reel it in or her easy-gping husband would get upset. "Katy, what do you want for Maya?" She tried to switch gears.

"I want her to be a happy, successful person." Katy answered quickly.

"How does someone become a happy, successful person?"

Katy gestured to her waitress outfit, "I clearly don't know."

"Don't sell yourself short like that Katy, Maya is picking up on it and doing the same. People become that way when they have structure and boundaries, and room to grow, learn and make mistakes."

"How do I give that to her?" Katy asked, sinking back into the couch.

"Did you tell us that we could correct Maya's behavior how Corey and I saw fit?"

Katy looked on confused at the shift. "Yes, I did say that. Why?"

"I'm just wondering why you would tell us that, and then try and go against her bedtime, and break her grounding." Topanga told her.

Katy blushed at that. "I just wanted to spend time with my daughter."

"You had the opportunity to do that the night before, and you choose to stay at work. Not only did you not see your daughter that day, but you let her down. She was waiting for you to come." Topanga lectured.

"I'm sorry." Katy whispered.

"Look Cory and I are okay being the disciplinarians, if that's what we need to do, but I will not have you undermining us while we are doing it."

"Jesus, I said sorry." Katy snapped.

"I heard you. I just dont believe that you are." Topanga told her.

"What do you want me to say? I'm a bad mother? Fine, I'm a bad mother, you know own it, I know it, and Maya knows it." Katy shouted.

"That's not what I want Katy. What I want is for you to parent Maya. I want you to know what her grades are, and punish Maya when she yells at you and slams her door. I want you to tuck that little girl in at night, and let her know that she is loved."

"I don't know how to do this parent thing. My mom was around even less than i am," Katy said in defeat.

"Cory and I talked about that, and we want you to stay for dinner and a hang out on Sundays when you come to pick Maya up. Parenting is a learning curve, but you need to be present to learn."

"Okay, Topanga I can do that."

"And set small goals, Katy. You don't have to be a super parent over night." Topanga assured her.

"Like what?"

"Like...tuck Maya in tonight. Then focus the next week on tucking her in every night you have her, and calling her around 9 when she is here. And Cory and I will check in on Sundays to see if you are meeting your goal, and help you set new ones when you master ones."

Katy nodded, "What do you guys do when you tuck your kids in?"

"We read with Auggie, not so much with Riley anymore, but Maya may like that, ask her. With the girls we usually just lay in bed with them for ten to fifteen minutes and talk about whatever they want to talk about. Then we tuck all the blankets around them, give them a kiss and tell them that we love them."

"Okay," she nodded in agreement.

Topanga bit her lip, knowing that this was going to be the hard part to navigate. "You said your mom wasn't around a lot...I can't be a mother to you Katy, but if you will let me, I can be a big sister."

Katy's face lit up, "I would like that."

"But, just like with Maya, that's going to come with consequences. It is hard for you to have structure and set boundaries with Maya, because no one did it with you."

Katy tried not to take offense to the blunt statement. "What type of consequences?"

Topanga leaned forward, "I'm going to tell you something very few people know." Katy leaned forward too. "When I start to get out of hand, Cory reels me in with a spanking, or sometimes a small reduction of privileges, like taking my credit cards."

Katy leaned back and laughed, "be serious."

"I am!" Topanga assured her.

Katy frowned at her. "You totally wear the pants in your family."

Topanga laughed that time, "Mostly yes, but sometimes even I need that structure, and my husband provides it. And I was wondering if you would let me provide it for you..."

"You want to spank me?"

"I want to provide you and Maya both with security and structure, and this is the best way I know how to."

"What would you s...s...punish me for?"

"Well the same as we all have. Like you need to tell the truth, and be respectful. I won't micromanage your life, but if you and I agree on a plan of action I will expect you to obey. And then there is responsibility...so if you say you are picking Maya up at 845, you need to do that. And you need to make sure her school work is checked, and just generally be a parent."

"And If I didnt, you would spank me?"

"Sometimes, sometimes we would just talk it out. Sometimes another consequences would be better, like when Cory took my credit cards. We would feel it out." Topanga assured her.

"I need some time to think," Katy said, standing up to go.

Topanga nodded, she stood and opened the door to let Katy out. "I understand. I will see you at 845, to pick up Maya."

"Yeah," Katy said, scurrying down the hall.

Topanga texted Corey about the conversation, and then set her phone down to get some work done. When she picked it back up around 1 as she was having lunch she had 2 surprises, the first was a text from Cory, saying he was proud of her, and the second were emails from Maya's English and PE teacher talking about how much improvement there was just in a single day. She saw that Cory was CCed as well, and couldn't help the overwhelming pride towards the girl.

Topanga was on her phone when Maya came through the door after school. She brought her backpack over to the table where Topanga was working. After handing over her phone, that Cory had given back for the walk home, she started pulling out her school work. Ending the call, the older woman gestured for Maya to come sit in her lap. "I want to show you something." Maya walked over and sat down, Topanga pulled up her mail and showed Maya the two messages. She kissed the girls temple, and told her how proud she was. Maya blushed furiously before getting up to start in on her homework. By the time Cory got home with Auggie an hour later, Maya had busted out four more math assignments. Cory told Maya that he was proud of her too, and the new routine of their week carried on. By the time Katy came to pick her up Maya had worked her way through a total of 9 Math pages, almost being done with two full subjects make up work.

Katys pickup was awkward, but Cory tried to push through, as he told her about all the progress Maya had made on her work, and the emails that her teachers had sent. Katy didn't say much in response and Maya wondered if she cared at all.

When they got home, Maya went to take a shower, and was surprised to see Katy waiting on her bed when she got out. "What's going on?"

"I'm gonna tuck you in. I don't know that reading is really our thing though, and while I would like our thing to be talking, I don't think we are there yet, so..." she pulled a guitar from behind Mayas head board. "I was thinking maybe we could sing." Maya's face lit up, and she crawled into bed next to her mom. The two sang for about fifeteen minutes before Katy looked over and saw that it was 928. "Alright Baby girl, we can sing more Sunday night. Its time for bed now." Katy put the guitar back behind the headboard, and stood up to allow Maya room to lay down. She tucked the quilt tightly around her daughter and kissed her nose. "I know that I'm not the best at this yet, but I promise that I will keep trying, can you keep trying with me?"

Maya smiled at her mom, "yes!"

"I love you baby girl."

"I love you mom!" Maya looked over at the clock as her mom left the room and noticed that it was 930 exactly. She closed her eyes in contentment on what felt like the perfect day.