Saving Little Jenna by Ruth Kennedy

Chapter 13: Clark

When Kristen called to let us know that a wild animal had entered the home, John and I ran out of the club without even explaining to our friends what was going on. We were scared to death that something unspoken had happened to our precious Littles. I drove us back as fast as I could, thanking the universe for green lights all the way through. The mere thought of coming home to our Littles injured or worse was traumatizing, to say the least.

When we found them joyfully watching TV in the living room instead, I knew something was fishy about the whole situation. When they revealed what happened in a clearly rehearsed way, Jenna looked like a deer in headlights speaking like a robot. She fidgeted a lot when she was hiding something or outright lying, which only heightened my suspicions. The way she paced nervously as Michael was being punished, she had guilty written all over her face.

Things didn't add up and it only meant one thing, that my sweet girl had a hand in the cruel way Kristen was pranked. I couldn't believe Jenna could agree to something so heartless, so I decided to wait until we got home to listen to her side of the story. Maybe she hadn't taken into account how horrified we Daddies would be upon hearing about a wild animal attack.

Now the moment Jenna and I reached home, she let out a loud yawn which was clearly forced, and stretched her arms above her head. "Wow, I'm so tired Daddy. Can't keep my eyes open any longer. I'm gonna go straight to bed."

"Not so fast, young woman," I said in my Daddy voice as I took a seat on the couch and patted my lap. "Things don't add up and I have some questions."

The warmth of my lap could make her realize that at the end of the day, Daddy still loved her to death. But at the same time, I had to convince her to tell the truth, which my stern Daddy voice would accomplish.

"Questions, Daddy?" She gulped, putting on a forced smile and sitting in my lap. "What kind of questions?"

"About what happened tonight."

"Yeah, tonight was something." She wrapped her arms around my waist but I maintained a stern stance. "Did you miss me like I missed you?"

"Did you have anything to do with Michael's prank?" I asked, causing her to instantly begin trembling. "I can see how it could seem like an innocent prank. I mean, the threat wasn't real so no harm could've come to Kristen. But you have no idea what it put me and John through. We were planning on jumping a light to come and save you two. They were the hardest twenty minutes of our lives. We were scared to death that we were gonna come home to your lifeless bodies. Neither of us said it during the drive because we didn't want to jinx it, but I assure you that John was going through the same terrifying fears. Losing a loved one is the most traumatic thing and it's nothing to joke about."

I waited for her reply but she just continued to shake like a leaf, so I continued. "Now I know Michael isn't a bad boy, and neither are you, which is why it's all so confusing. Mistakes were made and maybe you weren't thinking clearly, but I want the whole truth. The truth eventually finds a way to light, Jenna. When it does and it turns out you had anything to do with this, I'll have to use a paddle on your bottom too. If you come clean now instead, I'll let you off much easier. You know how much I hate lies that concern your safety. We've already been through this, so please Jenna. No more lies."

I waited for her as she took a few deep breaths, tears forming in her eyes before began she speaking a mile a minute. "It was my idea to teach Kristen a lesson, Daddy. I'm sorry we worried you, but we were so consumed by rage that we didn't consider the possibility of Kristen calling you. Kristen called for a truce but then minutes later fed us bottles that had more salt than milk in them. We did nothing to provoke her and yet she proceeded to humiliate us for wearing diapers, sucking on pacifiers, and crawling around. I'm a big girl so I could take it, but I couldn't bear to see my best friend humiliated and let him think something was wrong with him, especially after a lifetime of homophobia he had to face. So I suggested we take revenge and teach her a lesson. Michael came up with the plan but I was totally down with it."

I was proud of my baby girl for standing up for a friend, but big mistakes were still made. "So I was right after all. You had an equal hand in the prank. You had good intentions but responding to cruelty with more cruelty isn't the way to go. You should've waited until we returned and then confided in us. You know we would've believed you. You should've trusted us to take care of the situation, but you instead took the matter into your own hands. Because of what you did tonight, Kristen escaped the consequences of her actions. See how revenge isn't the best course of action?"

When she nodded looking at her feet, I wiped a tear running down her cheek and continued. "I'm very disappointed in you, Jenna. You know what this means, don't you? You've earned your first set of spankings. Over my knee now."

It hurt to see tears in her eyes, but the punishment was necessary. She had to be taught right from wrong and good from evil.

She sniffled and continued to look at her feet as I undressed her out of the onesie. When she was stark naked, I took her over my knee. She had a hand and a leg on the floor while the other limbs were mid-air. Erotic spanking involved warming up with some rubbing, but this was far from it so I started right away.

"Count for Daddy," I said before smacking her bottom with a hand.

"Owie!" She squeezed her butt tight before relaxing, her cheeks now a crimson pink. "One, Daddy."

A dozen was the goal but she began squirming and kicking her limbs about halfway through. Her whimpers and cries were very hard for me to hear but John was right. Little ones needed to be disciplined and brought to the right path when they begin to stray and disobey their Daddies. It was a necessary evil.

By the time she counted to eight, tears were back in her eyes and she sniffled between the whimpers. I raised my hand to give out the last two spanks, but I just couldn't do it anymore. It hurt me more than it hurt her. I rubbed her sore bottom gently.

I helped her out of my lap and dressed her back in her onesie, gently patting her bottom but then remembering it was sore. It caused her to close her eyes and wince.

"Now I want you to stand in the corner for twenty minutes and think about your actions. Think hard where you went wrong and how this whole situation could've been avoided."

She nodded, still looking at the floor and finding it hard to look me in the eyes. I led her to a corner in the living room and made her stand facing a wall. Walking back to the couch, I stared at the clock and wondered if her actions were somehow my fault. Had I failed in being a good Daddy and teaching her right from wrong?

I sat in silence staring at the clock and they were the slowest twenty minutes of my life. Hearing the sobs and sniffles of my sweet girl in the distance absolutely broke my heart. The moment the time was up, I announced it. It was important I explain why she was punished and that I still loved her just as much.

She swiftly turned around and ran to me, jumping into my lap and throwing her arms around me. There were stains of dried tears on her cheeks, but the moment she looked me in the eyes, she burst into tears. "Please, Daddy! I beg you. Don't hate me as my father did for being defiant. He always hated me for wanting to see the outside world. I'll behave, I promise. Just don't kick me out of your life, Daddy. No one cares about me but you. You're the best thing to have ever happened to me and I was foolish enough to risk it."

"Hush now, my silly girl." Breaking the hug with a smile, I stroked her pigtails and kissed her on the forehead. "Didn't we talk about overthinking things? No one's kicking you out and I definitely don't hate you. You made a horrible mistake and you needed to be punished. I had to be strict. But now you've been disciplined and it's back to kisses and hugs. Don't you see why it had to be done? I care enough to discipline you. If I wanted nothing to do with you, I wouldn't have bothered.

"Daddy loves you, sweetheart. Yes, it's true. I fell in love with you a long time ago. Maybe it was when I first saw you, or maybe it was when you told me you were a Little. You've brought joy to my life just by being yourself. I know it in my heart that you're gonna be my wife one day and nothing’s gonna change that."

Suddenly she stopped sobbing. "You mean it, Daddy? You really love me? No one's ever said that to me before, not even my family. I've never been loved and I thought I'd die unloved."

She continued sobbing but this time from happiness. I lay soft kisses until she calmed down, wiping away the tears off her cheeks.

"Aw, my baby girl is so emotional. No more tears, darling."

"Are you sure that you love me? You can't take it back now!"

Her face lit up when I nodded and she buried her face in my chest, peeking up at me with big eyes. Giggling, she wiggled her butt in my lap.

"I love you too, Daddy."

I leaned over to give her a searing kiss on the lips. "So do you understand why you had to be disciplined?"

"Yes." She bobbed her head up and down. "I knew you disciplined me because you cared enough to correct me, that it came from a place of love. But there's this voice in my head that's learned to assume the worst. It was a necessary tool for survival back then, but now it just lives in my head rent-free spouting negativity. I need to tell it Silencio, Bruno, like that kid does in the animated film Luca."

I sighed in contentment, enjoying the warmth of her body so close to me. "Aren't you glad you told me the truth? Truth sets you free. Just when I thought we couldn't possibly grow any closer, now it's brought us closer than ever."

She nodded with a bright smile and yawned, this time a genuine one. When she rubbed her eyes, I carried her upstairs to the bedroom. She cuddled into me as we went to sleep. Knowing she loved me just as much was the best feeling in the world. Having her so close to me in my arms where no one could harm her gave me one of the best sleep of my life.

The next day we couldn't help smiling at each other all day long. We had confessed our love and the joy was physically hard to contain. In the evening we drove over to John's house.

"But I thought Michael was grounded for being naughty, Daddy." Jenna clutched Doggo to her chest with one hand in the seat next to me, a binky in the other. "Uncle John told us yesterday that we couldn't have a sleepover until he was a good boy again."

"Well, John called me a few hours ago and told me everything." I looked at her sweet face before swiftly turning back to the road. "Michael told his Daddy that he pranked Kristen because he couldn't watch her bully you. Obviously, I told him I already know. So just like that, the sleepover is back on. What you both did was wrong, but at least now it doesn't look like a cruel unwarranted prank."

"Are we going to get a second set of punishments for hiding Kristen's rude behavior?" She winced and held her breath, probably imagining the pain from yesterday.

I chuckled and shook my head. She instantly blew out air through her mouth and wiped imaginary sweat off her forehead.

"There's only so many spankings a girl can take before I permanently need to avoid sitting."

The moment Michael opened the door, Jenna got on the floor next to him and gave him a long hug.

"How is your bottom today?" Jenna asked when she broke the hug.

"Sore." Michael winced as they crawled inside. "I keep wincing every time I remember. How about you?"

"Same." She carefully took a seat on the floor by the couch and Michael did the same. "Not as bad as you, thankfully. It was Daddy's first time and he went easier than I expected."

When the doorbell rang, I opened the door to find Kristen smiling at me. I could no longer tell if her smiles and laughs were genuine after what Jenna had told me.

When she stepped in and walked towards the couch, the Littles gasped in horror and held onto each other.

"What is she doing here?" Jenna asked with a frown, letting go of Michael and crossing her arms. "There's no way I'm gonna have a sleepover with her after what she did to us."

John cleared his throat when Kristen's smile faded. "That's right, Kristen. They've told us all about your bullying. What they did to you wasn't right, but you started it. I need you to apologize to them. If you don't, I'm telling your Daddy and you'll never see them again."

"He's right," I said. "Being a rebellious Middle reliving her teen years is one thing, but how the hurtful words you told them was outright bullying. We can't have such negativity around our precious Littles. They've been through enough bullying for one lifetime and we won't let them go through it again."

Putting a hand on her hips, Kristen rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm sorry for being so mean to you. You guys are alright and I still want to hang out with you."

"We forgive you," Jenna said and turned to a surprised Michael. "Yes, Michael. It's the right thing to do because it's what our Daddies want. How can they be wrong when they love us to death and only want the best for us?"

"Fine." Michael imitated Kristen's dramatic eye roll. "We'll give you a third chance, Kristen. But there won't be a fourth, so tread lightly."

John and I got on the floor next to them and gave them a combined hug, joining Kristen in.

"Now, who's excited for a sleepover?" I asked.

Everyone raised their hands, but Michael was the most excited since he raised both his hands.