A/N: This is mostly just a gentle filler chapter to give Grace a little bit of a break before the drama starts up again. Enjoy. :-)

"Ma'am, do you… do you still love me?" Grace sobbed on Olivia's shoulder. She wasn't sure how long she had been cuddled in Olivia's arms being comforted and babied, but she wasn't anywhere near ready for Olivia to let go of her. Olivia's heart broke upon hearing Grace's question.

"Of course I still love you, little one. There is nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you. I know I was a little rougher on you today than you're used to, and you were so, so good for me." Olivia soothed, still gently rubbing Grace's punished bottom.

"It hurts! I know I deserve it, but it hurts!" Grace sobbed.

"There, there. I know it hurts, my baby. You've been very, very good. Just relax now and cry it out. I'm right here to hold you for as long as you want, and as soon as you calm down I have arnica for you."

"Ma'am, don't let go!" Grace gasped.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm not letting you go, baby, I'm right here. I'll hold you for the rest of the day if that's what my baby wants." Olivia soothed, slowly rocking Grace in her arms.

Olivia comforted and babied Grace in her arms until finally Grace's heavy sobbing died down to quiet whimpering.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Grace choked out tiredly. She was exhausted.

"No more apologies now, my baby, you just rest now. My good girl is all forgiven. You will always be my good girl no matter how you behave." Olivia assured her.

Olivia began to notice that Grace was growing heavy in her arms, and it wasn't too long after that when the young submissive fell asleep in her Mistress's arms. Olivia cuddled Grace for another thirty minutes or so, and then very gently laid her down on her spot at the foot of the bed to let her rest properly. Olivia carefully removed Grace's shorts and panties from around her legs to let her rest more comfortably, bent down to lovingly kiss Grace's temple, and with one last adoring look she tip-toed out of the bedroom, making a mental note to give Grace arnica as soon as she woke up.

Grace began to stir about an hour later. Her big blue eyes slowly opened and almost instantly she began to sob, reaching back to gently rub her punished bottom. Olivia heard Grace wake up and begin to cry, and the brunette detective hurried to the bedroom.

"There's my good girl. Come here, my baby." Olivia sat with her back against the headboard and welcomed Grace back into her arms. Grace climbed practically on top of her Mistress to be comforted, laying her head on Olivia's shoulder as Olivia began to gently rub her bottom.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am!" Grace sobbed.

"I know, sweetheart. There's nothing left to be sorry for, it's all over."

"Please don't get rid of me!"

"Oh, honey, I would never do that!" Olivia assured her, "Why would you think I was going to get rid of you?"

"I was so bad today." Grace choked out.

"You are not bad. There is nothing about you that is bad. Your behavior today was certainly very naughty, which is why I had to give you such a big spanking, but you are my good girl and always will be no matter how you behave. I could give you a spanking every single day and I still wouldn't send you away from me, because you, my baby girl, are my most treasured possession and there is nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you or send you away."

Luckily, Grace was easily soothed and calmed down after a few minutes.

"I'm going to put you back over my knee now, my baby, so I can give you arnica. No more spanking, just arnica for my good girl's sore bottom." Olivia assured her, and received a tiny nod of understanding in response.

Back over Olivia's lap, Grace breathed a sigh of relief as the cold lotion worked its magic on her sore bottom.

"All right, this incident never happened. I think I'm in the mood to go out for lunch today. Put your pants on and we'll go to the Pizzeria." Olivia decided as she very gently patted Grace's bottom, knowing that Grace needed to feel forgiven.

The next day, Grace was still a little subdued as she went about her chores, rubbing her still sore bottom every once in a while. The young brunette looked up when she heard her Mistress calling for her. Knowing better than to keep Olivia waiting, Grace dried her hands on a towel and walked toward the sound of Olivia's voice.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"There you are. Come with me to the bedroom, we're going to have our first weekly check-in." Olivia informed her.

"Yes, Ma'am." Grace obediently followed Olivia to the bedroom.

"Take your clothes off, my baby." Olivia ordered as she picked up a notebook and a pen.

Grace stripped out of her jeans and shirt, leaving her standing there in her bra and panties.

"All of your clothes." Olivia clarified kindly.

Blushing lightly, Grace did as she was told and stripped out of her bra and panties.

"That's my good girl." Olivia praised.

Grace stood obediently still while Olivia slowly circled her and marked down every place she found a scar on Grace's body. While she was at it, she took a moment to double check on Grace's bottom. When she was finished, she showed Grace what she had written down.

"So next week I'll be able to look at this and tell if you have any new scars that weren't there before." Olivia explained, "You can get dressed now, angel, you were a very good girl. See, that wasn't too bad, hmm?" Olivia kissed Grace's forehead.

"No, Ma'am, it wasn't." Grace agreed as she put her clothes back on.

"All right, back to chores now. When you're finished, come find me and you can have a cuddle on my lap." Olivia very gently patted Grace's bottom. She had noticed Grace's subdued mood and figured her girl could use a little extra loving up.

"I've finished everything, Ma'am." Grace announced some time later.

"Such a good girl. Come here, my baby."

Olivia settled Grace to cuddle on her lap and Grace automatically snuggled down into her Mistress's strong arms, laying her head on Olivia's shoulder the way she liked to do. Grace relaxed further into Olivia's arms when Olivia's hand disappeared underneath her shirt to lovingly rub her belly.

"Ma'am, can I ask you a question? I'm confused." Grace spoke quietly, fiddling with a button on Olivia's shirt.

"You can always ask me anything, sweetheart. What is it?"

"You were so angry with me yesterday, you didn't even want to hear me speak. But you didn't punish me while you were angry, you waited until you were calm, and you even took me to the Pizzeria after my whipping was over. Melissa never cared if she was angry when she punished me, she just did it anyway. I don't understand why you waited." Grace blushed lightly at her lack of understanding.

"Well, there are several reasons why I waited to punish you until I wasn't angry anymore. The first, and probably most important reason is because if I punish you while I'm angry there's a very real chance that I could lose my temper and actually cause you real harm, whether that be physical, mental, or emotional harm. That's why I asked for silence on the drive home, so that I wouldn't say something I would regret. A spanking is supposed to hurt to teach you a lesson, but it shouldn't cause you any lasting damage, so that's why I waited, because I knew I was going to have to whip you and I wanted to make sure that I was calm first so that I wouldn't cause you any harm. The second reason is because if I punish you while I'm angry, your punishment becomes about me and my emotions rather than about you and your behavior. If I'm angry I don't have time to think about what's best for you, and then your punishment won't teach you anything. But I think your whipping did teach you, and after a punishment is over life moves on, so there was no reason why we couldn't go to the Pizzeria yesterday and have a nice meal together. I was hoping it would help you feel a little bit better and help you understand that you were forgiven. Does that make sense?" Olivia continued to rub Grace's belly as she spoke.

"Yes, Ma'am, it does. Thank you for explaining it to me. And thank you for teaching me." Grace offered a tiny smile.

"In any case, always remember that I love you, even when I'm angry, and you will always be forgiven." Olivia kissed Grace's forehead, "I know your bottom still hurts, my baby. It should stop hurting by tomorrow." Olivia stopped rubbing Grace's belly and moved her hand to gently slip Grace's pants and panties down and lovingly rub her bare bottom. Grace breathed a content sigh and snuggled down further into her Mistress's arms.

A few hours later, Grace was feeling much better within herself and was settled down on the couch sitting on a pillow with more reading material Olivia had given her that would be important information for her to know if she decided that she wanted to study at the Academy, which she was strongly leaning toward but hadn't made her final decision yet. The young brunette looked up when she heard her Mistress's cell phone ring.

"Benson." Olivia spoke into the cell phone pressed to her ear, "Hi, Daddy."

Grace stopped listening and went back to her reading. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her book to the floor.

"Holy shi- uh, sugar!" Grace caught herself before the word could slip out of her mouth.

"Nice save. Watch it, or we'll get out the soap." Olivia warned, "I'm sorry, lovey, I didn't mean to startle you, but you didn't hear me talking to you. Don and Eileen invited us over for dinner tonight, so we're leaving here at around five thirty."

"Yes, Ma'am." Grace spoke hesitantly, blushing lightly.

"Tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours." Olivia squatted down next to Grace and lovingly rubbed her arm, noticing that Grace seemed nervous.

"Don and Eileen know what I did up at the cabin. Are they angry?" Grace asked hesitantly. She had come to love Don and Eileen almost as much as she loved her Mistress. She thought of them as family and valued their opinion of her.

"No, my baby, not at all. They aren't angry with you, and neither am I. No one is angry, we are just going to go and have a nice time with them the way we always do." Olivia assured her. The older brunette reached for the book Grace had been reading and sat down on the couch, "Let's see what you've learned so far."

True to Olivia's word, Don and Eileen were perfectly normal with her when Grace and Olivia arrived for dinner, and Grace relaxed in the homey atmosphere as she received affectionate hugs from the older couple. Olivia sat down on the couch, and Don noticed Grace wince a little bit as she knelt down at Olivia's feet and her bottom rubbed against her jeans. He, of course, knew that Grace had been whipped but he wisely said nothing about it. He knew full well that his daughter was a competent Mistress and he knew that he had no reason to question her discipline methods. The more he watched Grace and Olivia interact throughout the evening, the more he was proven correct. Grace clearly knew that she was loved, he could see it in her big blue eyes everytime Olivia smiled at her or lovingly stroked her face or offered a word of praise.

Back at home later that night, Grace's eyelids drooped tiredly as she lay at the foot of the bed while Olivia lovingly rubbed her bottom to soothe her to sleep.

"That's my good girl. You just rest now, my baby, it's time for good girls to go to sleep." Olivia soothed as Grace fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The next day, Olivia called Grace to her and settled her sweet little submissive on her lap to cuddle and rock her.

"Well, my baby, I've been watching you, and I think I can safely say that you can consider yourself off of obedience training." Olivia informed her.

"Oh. I forgot I was on it, Ma'am." Grace admitted, trying to remember the last time Olivia had needed to take the wooden spoon to her.

"You've still been on it, you just haven't needed me to take the wooden spoon to you in a long time, and I am so proud of you, little one."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"So what do you do when I give you an order?"

"I obey the first time, Ma'am."

"That's my good girl." Olivia praised. She kissed Grace's forehead, and Grace beamed as she felt her Mistress's fingernails lightly grazing her side.