Leah 13

Meredith paced outside of Leah's bedroom, knowing that the conversation they were about to have probably wouldn't end well. Her annual (cook) book tour had kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and so far they had been within driving distance, so she hadn't had to spend any nights away from home. The next city however, was Los Angeles. Located across the country, it was home to Leah and Meredith's parents who were "too busy" to have anything to do with them. Meredith predicted that when she told Leah where she was going, the girl would demand to go too, to see their parents. She wasn't sure what to tell her. Should she tell her that she was in fact planning to have dinner with them? Should she tell her that the whole point of the dinner was to discuss Leah and the fact that they hadn't even called her in months? She had always been honest with Leah about matters concerning their parents, but she didn't want to tell her that they didn't have time to see her.

Her train of thought was inturrupted when Leah's bedroom door opened. Leah appeared in the doorway, looking at Meredith like she was crazy.

"What are you doing?" she asked, baffled. Meredith spun around, surprised.

"Oh! I...uh...I was just coming to talk to you."

"Well, you've been walking around outside of my door for like 15 minutes...what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong....I just...do you want some hot chocolate?" Meredith asked, stalling.

"Um....okay" Leah said, confused.

Leah followed Meredith downstairs, curious to know what was going on. Meredith poured water into the kettle and plugged it in, then turned to Leah, who had seated herself at an island stool facing Meredith. She had a funny look on her face. A half-smile, eyebrows raised.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"You're acting weird" Leah said.

"No I'm not...."

"Alright....so, what's up?"

"What do you think of this shirt?" Meredith asked, still dressed from work.

"It's nice" Leah responded. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just wasn't sure if I liked it" Meredith said.

"So you've been wearing it all day and you don't know if you like it?" Leah asked.

"Uh....yeah, you're right....it's nice" Meredith said, and turned back around, preparing the hot chocolate.

Leah had resolved that her sister was going crazy, and opened up the Paula Dean magazine that was sitting on the island.

"I love Paula. Her food is amazing. Can we make something? Like....this cake!" Leah said.

"Sure sweetie, whatever you want" Meredith said. Now Leah was sure her sister was crazy. If there was one thing Meredith hated in this world, it was baking. She never agreed to help Leah bake anything, it stressed her out too much.

Meredith approached the island and set down the cups of hot chocolate. She pulled a stool out from the other side and sat down across from Leah.

"I'm leaving for my next book tour stop tomorrow" Meredith said.

"Oh yeah, where is it?"

"It's in LA" Meredith said.

"What?" Leah demanded. "I'm coming" she stated.

"No sweetie, you're not." Meredith said gently.

"Yes I am! I want to see Mom and Dad! Are you seeing them?"

"Well...we....we might have dinner" Meredith said.

"I'm coming" Leah stated once again.

"Leah, honey....you can't come. I'm sorry. You have school" Meredith said, knowing full well that this explanation wouldn't be good enough. It sounded ridiculous even to her.

"So what? I'll bring my work with me! I want to see Mom and Dad!" Leah cried.

"They're too busy honey" Meredith said.

"But you're seeing them" Leah said.

"I know sweetie, but....but they only want to see me this time." There. She said it. She told Leah the truth, even though it wasn't about to go over well.

"That's not true!" Leah said. "You're lying! You just don't want me to come!"

"No Leah..." Meredith said, coming around the island and taking Leah's hands lovingly in her own. "They can't see you this time...they only have a few minutes to see me"

Leah angrily pulled her hands free.

"You're a liar!" she yelled. "You just don't want me to come so that you can spend more time with them!"

"No Leah, that's not true, I promise, I want you to come more than anything! It's just not going to work this time!" Meredith pleaded.

"I don't believe you. I hate you" Leah said calmly but visciously, and stomped upstairs to her room.

Throughout that night and the next morning Meredith tried several times, with several different approaches to talk to Leah. No matter what she said, Leah wouldn't listen. Meredith felt horrible, but she knew just as well as Leah did that deep down Leah was really mad at her parents, not at Meredith. Leah knew this best of all, but refused to let Meredith know.
Meredith finally got Leah to speak to her, just a few minutes before she had to leave. Leah actually opened her bedroom door willingly and spoke to her sister with a little more kindness than she had been for the past day.

"Sweetie, I'm leaving now" Meredith said. "Do you want me to bring you anything back?"

"No, that's okay. Have a good time" Leah said. Meredith gave her a great big bear hug.

"I want you to be good for John okay? Listen to him, and do what he says. Okay?"

"Okay" Leah said. Meredith hugged her again, and left feeling a little better about leaving Leah with John. What she didn't know is that Leah had silently resolved to make Meredith regret not taking her. She desperately wanted to see her parents. She hadn't seen them in almost two years (except for when she watched them on TV) and missed them terribly.

Later that day Leah went downstairs in search of John. She found him in his office working. She quietly went inside.

"John?" He looked up.

"Hey Leah...."

"Can I go to Hannah's house, please?"

"Sure sweetie, do you need a ride?"

"No, her Mom said she'd pick me up."

"Okay. Make sure you're home by 8 okay?"

"I will be."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, I have a ride" Leah said.

"Okay, have fun."

"Thanks" Leah said, and left.

This was the first part of her plan. She wouldn't be home by 8, and she wasn't even going to Hannah's. She felt badly about lying to John because he had nothing to do with Meredith leaving her behind, but the way to get to Meredith was through John. When 8 o'clock rolled around, and later 9 o'clock and Leah failed to answer her cell phone, John jumped in his car and headed to Hannah's, only to discover that Leah wasn't there. According to Hannah's mother, the girls were at another friend's house. When John finally arrived across town at Sarah's house, it was 9:30 and he was angry. Traffic was horrible, it was raining, and he had developed a headache. He walked up the front stairs to the porch and rang the doorbell. Sarah's mom answered.

"John, hi" she said.

"Hi. Is Leah here?" he asked.

"She is, the girls are downstairs watching a movie"

"Could you tell her I'm here?" John asked, stepping inside.

"Of course" she said, disappearing into the house. Minutes later she came back with Leah.

"Let's go" John said firmly.

"John, we're in the middle of a movie, can't you come back later?" Leah asked rudely, as if he was inturrupting her.

"Leah, get your coat. We're going NOW" John said, more firmly. Although Leah looked disappointed on the outside, she was definately smiling on the inside. Her plan had worked perfectly. She got her coat, put her shoes on, and followed John out of the house. Once in the car, he expressed his displeasure.

"You knew you had to be home at 8. And you told me you were at Hannah's! I've been driving all over the city because of you Leah, and I'm not at all happy about it" John lectured.

"Hm...that sucks" Leah said sarcastically.

"Don't take that tone with me young lady. This isn't something you would pull with Meredith, and I'm certainly not going to tolerate it"

"Uh huh" she said, knowing that there was nothing he could do about her attitude.

"Hey!" he snapped. "I'm not listening to your attitude. If you open your mouth again it better be to apologize" John said. So as a result Leah smiled, and didn't say another word.

When they got home Leah silently went up to her room and John went back to his office. The next morning her drove Leah to school and, dropping her off, said that he'd pick her up at the end of the day.

"I'm going out to the movies with my friends. We have a ride." Leah responded.

"No you're not Leah, you're grounded, and I'll be picking you up" John said.

"Hmm....too bad" Leah responded, closed the car door, and went inside.

Later that afternoon, standing infront of Leah's school waiting for his sister in-law, he was informed by another mother that Leah and the girls had left already to go to the movies. John was furious. He wasn't planning on calling Meredith. She deserved to go away for a week and not be bothered, but he realized that he couldn't manage Leah's behaviour and didn't know what to do.

"Hey sweetie!" Meredith exclaimed when she saw John was calling.

"Hi honey!" he responded. "Having a good time?"

"Ugh, wonderful!" Meredith gushed. "How about you, how's it going?"

"Um......"

"What's wrong" Meredith asked, not expecting to hear what John had to say. He immediately filled her in.

"Wow" was her only response, followed by several seconds of silence.

"What do you want me to do?" John asked, almost desperately.

"What do you think you should do?"

"I don't know. I told her she was grounded, and she left anyways. What else can I really do?"

"You have my permission to spank her, if you're comfortable with that...but you don't have to....only if you're okay with it."

"I don't know..."

"Oh, sweetie, I have to go...I'll call you back tonight okay?"

"Okay" he said, and they hung up.

Later that night, after Leah had come home, changed into her plaid pj pants and long-sleeve white t-shirt, she heard the phone ring. She ignored it, happily hopped onto her bed, kicked back, opened her latest novel, and started reading. Only a few minutes into her reading she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in" she called sweetly, and John entered, holding the phone. He brought it to her, then sat down on her bed. She looked confused.
"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Hi Leah" Meredith responded. "What's this I hear about your disobeying John?"

"I.....uh..." Leah stammered, caught off guard.

"I told you to listen John, and it's clear that you haven't been. You're in serious trouble young lady. I expect you to treat John with the same respect that you're to treat me with, do you understand me?"

"Yes" Leah said, respectfully.

"I know you're mad at me, but your rudeness toward John isn't okay. Believe me Leah, we'll be dealing with this when I get home."

"I'm sorry, I just...."

"I don't want to hear it right now. Listen. I've given John my permission to give you a spanking" she started.

"What!?! NO! You can't do that!" Leah protested.

"Yes I can. I think you deserve one for how you've been treating him, and I know you think that he can't do anything to you so you can do whatever you want while I'm gone, and you need to know that that isn't the case at all."

"I don't think that! I'm sorry Mere!"

"Yes, you will be very sorry. John's going to give you a spanking, and when I get home you'll be getting a much worse one from me. I'm so disappointed in you. I thought I could trust you to be responsible while I'm away, but clearly I can't. I know you wanted to come, but your displeasure doesn't give you a free ticket to do whatever you want"

"I know! I'm sorry!!! I just wanted to come, I wasn't trying to be mean to John!" she cried into the phone.

"Well, I'm sorry that you couldn't come Leah, but you can't always have what you want. I know you wanted to see Mom and Dad, and we'll talk about that when I get home. But like I said, it isn't an excuse to act like you are. For the rest of the week you will listen to John. You will be respectful and treat him kindly. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, but Mere, please don't let him spank me!"

"This isn't negotiable. You have to be held accountable for your actions, and apparently grounding you didn't work. You went out anyways! Leah! That's not okay"

"I know, I'm sorry!!"

"It's too late for apologies. John has my permission to give you a spanking. And for the rest of the week you can think about the spanking you'll be getting from me when I get home, got it?"

"Okay" Leah said, sniffing back the beginning of many tears.

"Okay. You'll be okay. Be good" she said firmly. "I love you Leah"

"You too" she said, and hung up. She wiped another tear away and looked at John, who was looking back at her.

"John I'm sorry" Leah said.

"Why did you go out today when you knew you weren't allowed?"

"Because I'm mad that I couldn't go with Meredith. I'm so sorry John, I wasn't trying to be mean to you, I was trying to be mean to her...I shouldn't have."

"No, you shouldn't have. But your actions have consequences Leah. I'm gonna have to spank you" he said without flinching.

"No you don't have to," Leah said, thinking she could talk him out of it. "You know why I did it, and I promise I'll stop. Besides, you don't really want to, do you?"

"Of course I don't want to, but I have to be a responsible parent. I know you understand that, you're a smart kid."

"I know, I know that you have to be responsible...you grounded me, so I'll stay grounded...I promise, I won't go anywhere" Leah pleaded.

"Yes, you will stay grounded" John said sternly. "But you're also getting a spanking. Meredith and I talked about it, and I'm not changing my mind" John said.

"Pleeeeease John!" Leah cried, realizing that he might actually spank her. "I promise I'll be good, I promise!"

Leah looked at John's hands and suddenly realized how big they were. They were way bigger than Meredith's, and were sure to hurt a lot more. He was also stronger...Leah started to worry. He was wearing designer jeans and a black t-shirt. Her eyes moved from his hands to his arms. She could see his muscles. Yikes.

"What you did to me yesterday really hurt me Leah. I thought we had a better relationship than that"

"We do! I wasn't doing it to you, I was doing it to Meredith!" Leah cried desperately.

"You've demonstrated that I can't trust you, and that's too bad because it's a very important quality to have. Trustworthiness and honesty are the most important, and you're lacking both" he lectured.

Leah didn't respond well to this kind of lecture from John. She was a sensitive girl to begin with, and when John scolded her it seemed a lot worse than when Meredith did. She started to sniffle, tears rolling down her face. John also didn't respond well to this. Seeing Leah cry was one of the things he hated most in life.

"I love you sweetie" he said, hugging her. He held her for a minute, and then released her, holding her wrist. "Please don't make this harder than it has to be...let's just get it over with" he said.

Leah hung her head and didn't say anything, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks. John adjusted his position on the bed so that he was sitting on the edge formally.

"Stand up" he said simply, and she complied without arguement. John reached out and guided her over his lap. Once she was in place he rested his left hand on her back and held her waist with the other.

"Ya know Leah, there are lots of ways we can deal with our anger. We can talk about it with someone, we can write about it.....we can even go to the gym and work our agression out there. But it's not okay to deal with it by trying to get so-called revenge on the person you're angry with. Understand?" John gently scolded.

"I understand" Leah said quietly. "I'm sorry"

John smoothed her long, fine blond hair and told her that her punishment was beginning. Leah's embarassment got the best of her and she crossed her arms over her head and cried into them. John slid her pajama pants down to her her knees, and given Leah's small child-like frame, this was easily accomplished without any hassle. He secured her in place by strongly encircling her waist and pressing her down. He stiffened his hand and prepared himself to give his adored Leah a spanking.

Without further conversation John sharply slapped Leah's right cheek, and then her left, taking them both by surprise. John was surprised that he had actually did it, and Leah was surprised at the initial sting. It was already more painful than Meredith's. John didn't waste any time and continued alternating cheeks. Before long Leah couldn't help but let out a yelp each time he spanked her, and then began to cry out. John was worried that he was hurting her too much, but continued anyways.

Leah's pantied bottom was a bright pink hue and was stinging like crazy. She didn't know how much more she could take. With each spank she cried out, and promised to be good. Meredith and John truly were best friends; they talked about everything, including the spankings that Meredith gave to Leah, so John knew that she spanked her thighs as well, and felt it was his duty to make this a serious and memorable punishment. He slapped her thighs with force and found it hard to restrain Leah who was kicking and squirming and trying desperately to avoid every spank that landed.

"John, I'm sooo sorry! Please stop!" Leah cried between sobs.

John stiffened his resolve and continued. When Leah realized that he wouldn't give in to her pleas she broke down and cried. She stopped trying to get away and stopped pleading. This broke John's heart, but he knew he was doing what was best. He spanked each thigh a few more times, and delivered a few extremely hard spanks to her panty-covered bottom. In fact, these spanks were so hard that they produced the loudest screams from Leah yet. Once John had reached a sufficient "colour" he decided to stop. He rubbed Leah's back and told her that she was forvigen. She continued to cry over his lap for some time before her breathing calmed and she regained her composure. John helped her up, and handed her pj bottoms which had been kicked off. He told her she could put them back on, and after briefly debating whether she would rather be embarassed by standing in front of him in her panties or endure the pain the fabric would cause when it came into contact with her bottom, she chose to carefully slide her pjs back on.
John stood up and hugged Leah.

"I love you sweetie" he whispered into her ear.

"Love you too" she said back, returning his hug. "And I'm so sorry for not listening to you, I know I scared you when I didn't come home, I shouldn't have done that" she said.

"I'm glad you realize that" he said kindly.

Once Leah had calmed down, she and John made plans to have breakfast together the next morning, and he left her in her room. She flopped down on her stomach, and thinking about what had happened, she was truly embarassed for acting the way she did. It was incredibly immature, and she made a note not to do something like that again. Her mind then drifted to Meredith's promise of a "much worse spanking" when she came home. This produced a whole new set of butterflies in Leah's stomach, and as she drifted off to sleep, she worried silently about whether Meredith would spank her with the hairbrush or the belt........

.....to be continued