"The witness will answer the question, please." Judge Donnelly repeated her instruction.
"I… I… I was a stripper. On the other side of town." Grace choked out.
"You worked at The Swing Set, isn't that right?" Langan asked.
"Yes, sir." Grace admitted, looking down at her hands, unable to bring herself to look up.
"So you spent your college years as a stripper, and now you expect us to believe that you didn't want anything that happened to you?"
"Objection. A safeword is a safeword. It doesn't matter how Miss Muncy chose to feed and clothe herself in college, what matters is that a safeword was used and was violated. We've already seen the pictures of the damage that was caused because Melissa Steele chose to ignore Grace's safeword." Carisi stood up.
"Miss Muncy, how long were you under my client's care?" Langan changed his course.
"Almost seven years."
Grace wasn't sure how she managed to get through the rest of Langan's questioning, and she wasn't sure how she managed to get down from the stand when she was finally released, but she somehow managed to find herself standing outside the courtroom in the hallway wrapped in Olivia's arms while she sobbed, completely distraught.
"You were such a good girl in there, my baby. I'm so proud of you." Olivia praised as she cuddled Grace close to her heart, "It's over now, it's all done and we don't have to come back again. Look at me, little one. I love you more than anything, and nothing about what I just heard in there changes how much I love you." Olivia spoke lovingly but firmly with Grace's chin in her hand. Grace didn't understand how Olivia could possibly still love her after discovering her secret, but she was too distraught to question it at the moment. Olivia guided Grace over to a bench in the hallway where she sat down and cuddled Grace on her lap for a long while until finally the courtroom door opened and Carisi walked up to them.
"Day one over. You did great, Grace. I'm sorry that was so hard on you, but you don't have to come back again. I'm not sure how many more days this is going to last, it will depend on what kind of tricks Langan has up his sleeve, but I promise I will call when we have a verdict."
Grace was no longer crying, but she wanted nothing to do with anyone besides Olivia and she simply buried her face on Olivia's shoulder and let out a small whine. Olivia gently patted Grace's bottom.
"I know you aren't happy right now, little one, and no one expects you to be, but you will not be rude. Carisi isn't the bad guy, we use our manners and say goodbye properly."
"Thank you. Goodbye." Grace spoke, but she refused to look up, and Olivia decided not to push it any further than that, knowing that Grace was beyond stressed and her manners would come back when she calmed down.
"Good girl. Come along now, we need to make one stop before we go home."
Grace followed Olivia down another series of hallways until they reached Abbie Carmichael's office and Grace watched as Olivia signed the appropriate paperwork to make her temporary ownership of Grace permanent. Grace signed her name underneath Olivia's and Melissa's collar was officially removed from her neck and replaced with a temporary collar that Grace would wear to signify her status as a submissive until Olivia put the permanent one around her neck. Grace started to sob again as Melissa's collar was removed and replaced with her temporary collar as her body was flooded with relief, joy, confusion, excitement, gratitude, and a lot of other emotions that she couldn't even identify. Grace felt a huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders as she continued to sob in Olivia's arms. She could hear that Olivia and Abbie were talking, but she wasn't paying attention to what was being said. With all of that accomplished, Olivia led Grace out of the building and to the car where Olivia gently guided Grace into the passenger seat.
Once they were home and Grace was stripped down to her underwear as usual, she climbed practically on top of Olivia to be cuddled and refused to move. The young submissive hadn't spoken a word since they left the courthouse, and Olivia didn't try to make Grace speak, she simply cuddled Grace close to her heart and showered her with praise and love.
"How can you still love me now? You know I'm a slut. Ow!" Grace's lower lip trembled as she finally spoke for the first time and she winced as Olivia popped her bottom one time.
"You are not a slut, and I don't ever want to hear you describe yourself that way again or I will take my belt to you. I don't care how you chose to provide for yourself in college. You are a beautiful human being inside and out, and you make me so proud every day. I didn't even know you went to college, what did you study?"
"I started out studying law. My intention was to transfer over to the Academy when I had enough credits stored up and study to become a detective in the Gang Unit, but then everything with Melissa happened." Grace explained, her head still resting on Olivia's shoulder as Olivia continued to cuddle and rock her.
"Would you still like to study at the Academy? We can make that happen for you." Olivia offered.
"You would let me do that?" Grace picked her head up from Olivia's shoulder and just stared at her. Olivia laughed.
"Don't look at me like I've grown another head, little girl. We can talk about it and you can take some time to think about it, but yes, if studying at the Academy is something you would like to do, then of course I would let you. We can work out a schedule to help you balance out your studying and your chores. You wouldn't be allowed to wear your collar while you're working, but you can wear it here at home and on weekends, and we can put a tattoo on your wrist to keep you safe when you're not wearing your collar. Some submissives choose to stay at home and devote themselves to service full time, but not all of them. You aren't a prisoner in this apartment, there are plenty of submissives who hold down outside jobs. Do you remember Doctor Flowers?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Can I think about it for a little while?" Grace asked.
"Of course, I want you to take your time and make whatever decision feels right to you. Are you feeling better now, my baby?" Olivia gently stroked Grace's long brown hair.
"Yes, Ma'am, a little. I just don't want you to let go of me."
"I'll hold you for the rest of the day if that's what you want, my baby, and since tomorrow is my day off, my good girl has definitely earned a reward. How about we spend the rest of today on the couch watching movies and we can order pizza for lunch? No fuss, no stress."
"Yes, Ma'am, I would like that." Grace agreed.
Grace spent the rest of the day wrapped in her Mistress's arms watching movies and being showered with love and affection. Olivia looked down when she felt Grace shaking in her arms and noticed that Grace was sobbing again. The older brunette paused the movie they were watching and focused her attention on her sweet little submissive.
"I'm right here, my baby, I've got you. I know today was very stressful for my good girl, you go right ahead and cry it out." Olivia gently rubbed Grace's back.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't know what's wrong with me. I just want to cry." Grace sobbed.
"Then you go ahead and cry as much as you want to, sweetheart. I'm right here holding you, you are very safe right here in my arms."
"Ma'am, please rub my bottom." Grace pleaded, and Olivia lovingly obliged.
The next morning, Grace woke up and felt like a brand new woman as she reached up to feel the collar around her neck. She hadn't realized how much of a burden it had been to wear Melissa's collar on her body every day. Grace looked over at her sleeping Mistress and was overwhelmed with love and adoration. The young submissive crawled out of bed, showered, and put on a fresh pair of panties and matching bra before going to the kitchen to prepare a special breakfast with all of her Mistress's favorite foods. Grace was in the middle of cooking and she smiled when she felt Olivia's arms wrap around her and Olivia kissed her temple. Grace turned and dropped to her knees to kiss Olivia's feet.
"Something smells delicious." Olivia commented as she walked over to pour herself a cup of coffee while Grace went back to her cooking.
"I wanted to make the cheese Danish you like, but I couldn't find the recipe, so I'm making biscuits and gravy instead, and I have blueberry muffins in the oven and there are raspberries in a bowl on the table." Grace explained, and Olivia chuckled.
"You couldn't find it because it's in my head. I'll write it down for you so you can make it whenever you want to. How did you sleep, my baby?" Olivia took a sip of her coffee.
"Fine, once I actually fell asleep. I laid awake for a while, I just couldn't turn my brain off even though I was exhausted."
"Yesterday was an emotional day for you. I don't know if you remember, but at one point last night I was holding you while you cried."
"I don't remember that, I just remember being exhausted but I couldn't sleep." Grace said honestly, racking her brain trying to remember being held last night.
Since there was nowhere they needed to be in a rush, breakfast was a relaxing, easy affair as they took their time eating and enjoying each other's company. After breakfast, Grace cleaned up the kitchen as always and then Olivia swept her off her feet and carried her to the couch where she sat down and settled Grace on her lap to cuddle her. Grace wriggled into a comfortable position, snuggling down into Olivia's arms, and laid her head on Olivia's shoulder. Grace giggled softly as the tips of Olivia's fingernails grazed her sensitive side.
"I seem to recall promising that my good girl would get a reward today."
Grace looked up above her head and watched as her Mistress tied her wrists to the bed with expert skill and then she went down and tied Grace's ankles to the bed, her legs spread eagle. Grace giggled happily as Olivia's nails danced briefly on her feet.
"All right, my baby, since this is your reward you get a choice. Do you want something I already know you like, or do you want to try something new?"
"I would like to try something new, Ma'am." Grace decided.
"All right, something new coming right up." Olivia moved about the room and returned with something in her hand and showed it to Grace, letting her take her time looking at it. In Grace's mind it was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen and she had no idea what it was. "This is called ginger root, my baby. When it's inserted into your body it produces a tingly, slightly burning sensation. I'm going to put this inside of you, and what do you say if you decide you don't like it?"
"Red, Ma'am."
"That's my good girl." Olivia began to very gently and carefully insert the ginger root between Grace's legs. Almost immediately, Grace felt the sensation Olivia had described to her and she panicked as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I don't like it, Ma'am. Please take it out. Red." Grace whimpered fearfully. Olivia immediately removed it and showered her little one with praise.
"That's my good girl. You did so well, my baby, I'm so proud of you for trying something new. Is it a hard limit, sweetheart?"
"Yes, Ma'am, it scares me." Grace whimpered as Olivia lovingly wiped her tears away.
"Okay, then we never have to do it again. Since you didn't like it, that wasn't much of a reward, so let's try something I already know you like." Olivia climbed up on the bed and straddled Grace's body, watching carefully for signs of fear as she slipped the blindfold over Grace's eyes.