A/N: Grace has been punished at work, and now must be punished at home.
"S-s-sixteen, M-M-Ma'am!" Grace sobbed from her place obediently bent across Olivia's desk, gripping the edge until her knuckles were white.
"Good girl, stand up and into the corner with you, young lady." Olivia instructed sternly.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace slowly pushed herself up from the desk and made her way to the corner, placing her hands on her head with her pants and panties still pulled down to her knees. She blinked through her tears and tried to calm down while her bottom was on fire, and even through the haze of pain her heart warmed upon hearing Olivia call her a good girl.
Olivia sighed as she placed the cane back on the wall and sat down at her desk. She never liked disciplining any of her detectives, least of all her sweet baby, and as she looked at Grace's punished bottom she contemplated what would be the best course of action to take once they arrived home later that day. Grace would fully be expecting to be punished again, and Olivia wanted to make sure that whatever she decided to do would be fair. The minutes ticked by slowly and eventually Grace was no longer loudly sobbing and instead was crying quietly but steadily. Olivia glanced at the clock and decided to give Grace another ten minutes in the corner to finish her crying before sending the young brunette back to her desk. When it was time, Olivia stood from her desk and walked around to lean against the front of it.
"Come here, Grace."
Upon hearing her Captain's stern voice releasing her from her captivity in the corner, Grace reluctantly pulled her panties and pants up over her punished bottom, choking on a strangled sob as the material rubbed against her skin, and turned from the corner to stand in front of Olivia with her head hanging in shame. Olivia gently lifted Grace's chin to force the younger brunette to look her in the eye, repentant blue eyes clashing with stern chocolate brown orbs.
"Do you understand why you've been caned, young lady?" Olivia inquired.
"Yes, Ma'am, because I misjudged a dangerous situation and didn't call for backup when I should have." Grace admitted.
"Not quite, young lady. You were caned because you and Churlish never should have been at the brothel without my permission in the first place. If you had asked for my permission, I would have said yes, but I would have sent you there with proper backup and a wire. You are lucky that Fin and Amanda happened to be nearby and were able to get there before you got more than a black eye. You know how I feel about my detectives going undercover without my permission, do I ever let that go unpunished?"
"No, Ma'am, you don't."
"Back to work now, sitting up straight at your desk and no excessive wriggling. We will be talking about this again at home later."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Grace turned and walked out of Olivia's office. She went to her desk and, not having permission to switch her regular desk chair with a padded chair, she hesitantly sat down with a wince and a soft whimper. She looked over and noticed that Churlish was still doing everything in her power to avoid sitting down at her desk after getting a caning of her own. Amanda caught Grace's eye and gave her a sympathetic wink, remembering her own punishment for going undercover without permission several years ago.
"Churlish, sit down. Muncy, sit still. Where are we on the Geiger case?" Olivia addressed her detectives as she walked out of her office and joined them in the bullpen.
"A whole lot of nowhere. This guy may as well be a ghost; there's no prints, no next of kin, not even a birth certificate." Amanda said.
"I'm waiting on a call from one of my guys in the gang unit for information on whether Geiger has a birth certificate from another country." Grace said.
"Geiger worships at the Lutheran church on tenth street, but the pastor there said he hasn't attended services in over a month. The pastor gave us a home address, and Amanda and I were on our way there when Muncy and Churlish decided to play undercover cop."
"Why are we all still sitting here? Fin and Rollins, pay a visit to the home address. Muncy and Churlish, go with them and canvas the neighborhood. Kat, finish your report and get your butt over to the courthouse to testify, you should have left here fifteen minutes ago." Olivia gave her orders.
"Yes, Ma'am." all of the detectives scattered to do as they were told, understanding that their Captain was in no mood to be disobeyed.
Several hours later, Fin and Amanda walked back into the squadroom followed by Grace and Churlish, all four of them looking disheveled, exhausted, and in shock as Fin explained to their Captain the events that had transpired that afternoon. Olivia sighed and glanced over at her girl; Grace hadn't uttered one word since leaving Mercy hospital to return to the precinct and Olivia could practically see her baby girl screaming to come out as Grace sat silently at her desk. Olivia glanced at the clock and came to a decision.
"All right, we are going to call it a day and regroup with fresh eyes tomorrow, there's nothing more that can be done today and we don't need to sit around being unproductive. As they say, you don't have to go home, just don't stay here."
Olivia went back into her office to gather her things while her detectives gathered what they needed to take with them and filtered out of the squadroom until finally it was just Olivia and Grace left in the precinct.
"Come here, baby, let's go home and get you into a warm bath." Olivia said kindly, glad that they had decided to carpool that morning, seeing that Grace was in no shape to drive herself home. The drive home was silent and when they arrived, they put their things away.
Olivia gently led Grace to the bathroom and Grace let Olivia undress her. Olivia drew a rose-scented bath and gently guided Grace into the warm water. She used a cup to scoop up water and slowly pour it down Grace's back the way Grace liked. Upon feeling the warm water on her back, Grace began to cry for the second time that day.
"Tip your head back, angel." Olivia used the cup to soak Grace's long dark hair, then she reached for Grace's shampoo to wash her hair for her.
Grace sat in the tub thinking about the events that had transpired that afternoon and feeling incredibly guilty that there was nothing she could have done differently to bring about a better outcome. On top of that, Grace knew full well that she still had a second spanking coming, but Olivia was being so gentle and loving with her right now that it made Grace choke up with fresh tears.
"Ma'am?" Grace whimpered.
"Yes, sweetheart?" Olivia spoke kindly, inspecting Grace's black eye.
"When are you going to spank me?"
"Well, I'll give you the choice. Do you want your spanking after your bath so you can just relax for the rest of the day without having to worry about it, or would it be better to wait until bedtime so you have a little bit of time to unwind from your ordeal this afternoon?" Olivia offered the option.
"Can we get it over with? I need to be little." Grace's throat clogged with emotion.
"We can do that, sweetheart. Do you understand that the only reason you are being spanked is because you were caned earlier today? You are not being punished because Marlene Geiger died, there was nothing you could have done to help her."
"If we had only gotten there ten minutes earlier…" Grace choked out, getting up on all fours in the tub so that Olivia could wash her bottom.
"No, Gracie-baby. It wouldn't have made any difference, Marlene made her choices and she was going to die today no matter what we did or didn't do. The only thing we can do now is let her go and honor her memory by arresting the bastard who raped her. Can you answer my question, please? Do you understand why you're being spanked?" Olivia washed Grace's bottom extra gently, being mindful of her cane marks.
"Yes, Ma'am, I'm being spanked because I got caned this afternoon for going undercover without permission."
"That's my good girl." Olivia praised.
When Grace was clean, Olivia guided her out of the tub and into a warm towel. Grace had stopped crying, knowing that she was going to be crying yet again very soon, and wondering exactly how many tears she could possibly have to shed in one day. Olivia helped Grace dry her hair and then took her into the bedroom where Olivia sat down on the bed and removed the towel from Grace's body, leaving her standing there naked.
"Come here, let me look at your bottom." Olivia patted her lap, and Grace obediently draped her naked body over it.
Olivia carefully examined Grace's bottom, her hand gently gliding across the sensitive skin. Grace's bottom had cooled off significantly, although her cane marks were still clearly visible and tender to the touch. Olivia came to a decision and reached over to the bedside table to retrieve the hairbrush. Grace whimpered when she felt the hairbrush tapping her bottom, but she had been expecting much worse. Grace placed her hand in the small of her back, knowing that she would never be able to make it through this without reaching back to cover herself, and she breathed a sigh of relief when Olivia took hold of her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, which reassured Grace that even though she was being punished she was still dearly loved.
"Tell me again why you're being punished, young lady." Olivia continued to tap the hairbrush on Grace's bottom.
"Because I was caned for going undercover without permission, Ma'am." Grace replied, staring down at the familiar patch of carpet and forcing herself to relax her bottom muscles. Clenching was never allowed.
"The only reason you aren't getting belted on top of these cane marks is because you had a rough afternoon. I expect you to learn this lesson the first time and don't make me regret being lenient with you, because if you ever go undercover without my permission again, I will take my belt to you." Olivia warned.
"Yes, Ma'am, I won't do it again, I promise." Grace whimpered.
"That's my good girl, take a deep breath now."
Grace obediently took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes closed, choking on a scream as the hairbrush began to spank and punish her naughty bottom. She was glad that Olivia was restraining her hand, because she would have reached back after the first ten spanks. Olivia was watching carefully to make sure she didn't over-spank her naughty girl and listened to all of the usual pleading and apologizing as Grace swore exemplary behavior in the future. Finally, Grace stopped pleading since it wasn't getting her anywhere and just sobbed, accepting Olivia's authority to spank her for as long as she deemed necessary. Olivia was grateful when Grace stopped pleading as it was getting difficult to listen to without giving in to Grace's begging for her punishment to be over. A few minutes later, the sound of Grace's sobbing changed and she went limp over Olivia's lap. This was the signal Olivia had been waiting for and she tossed the hairbrush aside as if it had burned her. She reached over and picked up the arnica and applied a generous portion to Grace's bottom. Olivia carefully inspected Grace's bottom and was relieved to find that her girl would have no problem sitting down easily at her desk tomorrow. Maybe not entirely comfortably, but easily. When she finished doctoring Grace's bottom, Olivia picked Grace up and carried her across into her own room where she carefully laid Grace on the bed and very gently began to change her into a diaper, remembering Grace expressing her need to be little.
"Mommy!" Gracie sobbed, sinking into 'little space' upon feeling the safety of the diaper around her body and reaching out towards Mommy, clenching and unclenching her hands.
"Mommy's right here, Gracie-baby, it's just a diaper change and jammies for my sweet baby to be all warm and cozy. Mommy will cuddle you in just one quick second, I promise." Olivia cooed lovingly as she gently changed Gracie into a pair of baby girl pajamas. It was very early to be dressed for bed since they were usually still at work at this time and they hadn't even had dinner yet, but they wouldn't be going anywhere for the rest of the day anyway and Olivia wanted her baby girl to be comfortable.
Olivia picked Gracie up and carried her into the nursery where she located a pacifier and Jewel, then she took Gracie to the living room where she sat on the couch and cuddled Gracie on her lap with Gracie clinging to her for dear life while she sobbed. Olivia understood that Gracie's tears were more than the result of a sore bottom, they were cleansing her soul from a long, stressful afternoon, and she lovingly cuddled Gracie close to her heart while Gracie cried herself out until finally her dazzling blue eyes were mostly dry.
"Here, Gracie-baby, do you want these?" Olivia held up the items she had retrieved from the nursery. Gracie clutched Jewel in her arms and opened her mouth to receive her pacifier. Gracie played with a button on Mommy's shirt while Mommy talked to her lovingly, showering her with love and praise while they cuddled on the couch and engaged in baby girl activities, playing 'Thumbkin' and counting the number of butterflies on Gracie's pajamas. Mommy turned on cartoons and Gracie giggled at the silly antics of Bugs Bunny, cuddled safely in Mommy's arms. Whether she was a big girl or a baby girl, a sore tushy sometimes came with the territory, but Gracie knew she was loved and she wouldn't trade being Mommy's baby for anything in the world.
"Mommy, mine eye hurts li'l bits." Gracie said after dinner.
"Well, let's see if we can fix that." Olivia made a cold compress and showed Gracie how to hold it on her eye. It was basically the same as when Mommy put a cold cloth on her head when she had a fever, except on her eye. Mommy gave her two pills to soothe the pain, and then cuddled Gracie in her arms in a relaxed, reclined position while Gracie drank juice from her sippy cup to wash the medicine down.