Leah 19

"I'm ready," Leah said quietly from the kitchen doorway.

Meredith looked up from the newspaper to see Leah standing there, still looking a little flustered, seemingly ready to go.

"We don't have to go just yet...why don't ya come have some breakfast sweetie," Meredith suggested.

Leah shrugged and slowly walked into the kitchen. She looked around for a minute, unsure of what to do. She decided on toast. She put some bread in the toaster, and waited. It popped, and she spread some jam on it, still in silence. She put her toast on a plate, carried it over to the island, leaned up against it, and took a bite. They both ate in silence for several minutes, until Meredith became a little concerned. Her normally chatty, enthusiastic (even after a spanking), happy little Leah seemed a little off, even for being in so much trouble.

"You okay?" Meredith asked casually, turning around to face Leah.

"I'm fine," Leah said. She wasn't being rude or snippy, just quiet.

"You don't seem fine," Meredith said.

"I just...I wanna stay home," Leah whined. There was nothing worse than having to be around other people, especially her friends, after being spanked.

"Well...so do I," Meredith said.

"Let's then" Leah said with conviction.

"Leah, you know that isn't how it works. You have a responsibility to go over and clean up that house. Don't argue with me about it" Meredith warned.

"I really wish I hadn't gone out last night" Leah said, her eyes not moving from the spot on the floor she had chosen to stare at.

"Yeah?" Meredith asked sympathetically, with an air of "told ya so."

"Yeah." Leah said, still staring.

"Why's that sweetie?"

Leah took a deep, exhausted breath. "Well.....lots of reasons. I'm mad at myself for creating this whole situation. If I had just stayed home none of this would be happening" Leah started, tears forming in her eyes. "You and John wouldn't be mad at me, John's car wouldn't be ruined, I wouldn't be grounded.....and I wouldn't have to have a spanking with the belt" she whispered.

"I've told you this before, and I'll tell you again. We all make mistakes. It doesn't make you a bad person, and it certainly doesn't mean that John and I love you any less. It's important that you learn from your mistakes so that you don't make them again...which is why you have to be punished" Meredith explained. "It's not because we want you to be miserable for weeks on end, and it certainly is not because I enjoy spanking you. I don't, and you know that"

"I know" Leah said, wiping her eyes.

"We'll get through this" Meredith said, putting her hand on Leah's arm.

"Yeah" Leah said, not convinced.

"Why don't we go" Meredith said, anxious to get the day over with.

After a painful ride (for Leah's already sore bottom), they stood at the Smith's front door, waiting. A peppy Mrs. Smith opened the door.

"Good morning!" she sang.

"Oh...hi!" Meredith said, taken a little off guard.

"Come on in" she said, leading them into the house. "Alana and Sarah have already started cleaning up....their parents and I are just having coffee in the kitchen" she said.

Leah took this as her cue to go find her friends, happily leaving her sister with Mrs. Smith, secretly laughing a little at the fact that she finally found someone more bubbly than Meredith. Leah walked through the house and eventually found Sarah and Alana in the livingroom.

"Hi!" Leah said.

"Leah! You're alive!!" Sarah cried. Leah laughed.

"Yes! I'm still alive!" Leah said, still laughing. "And you guys?"

"Oh I'm fine....I'm just grounded" Sarah said. Typical. Sarah's parents were pretty easy-going.

Alana wasn't saying much. Sarah and Leah turned to see her cringing a little at she bent down to pick something up. Sarah didn't think anything of it, but Leah definately wondered whether or not Alana had received a spanking as well. She did seem like she was afraid of what would happen to her last night...maybe she should try to talk to her sometime...

The girls spent the better part of the morning chatting and cleaning. Leah's bottom still hurt quite a bit, but talking with her friends definately helped to take her mind off it. She even forgot about her impending spanking for a little while, which was a very welcome break for her worrying mind. This break was inturrupted in the mid-afternoon when the girls were called into the kitchen and told that they had done enough work.

Leah watched as Alana's aunt moved closer to her and put her hand on her shoulder. Alana flinched a little, and moved away. Leah thought this was a little bit strange, and made a note to send Alana an e-mail when she was at school the next day, just to try and get to know her a little. And maybe somehow found out if she was spanked as well.

As soon as they were out of the Smith's house and into the car, Leah's anxiety returned. Without the distraction of her friends, she was right back where she started- faced with the reality of a belt spanking, and the only person she was allowed to talk to was the one who would be giving the spanking.

"So when we get home I'd like you to go up to John's office...he left lots of filing for you to do" Meredith said.

"Today?!" Leah asked, surprised.

"Yes, today" Meredith said firmly.

"Can't I do it tomorrow?" Leah asked.

"Yes, you can do it tomorrow. But you're also doing it today" Meredith said, with the no-nonsense tone that she has worked so hard to master.

"Fine" Leah said, crossing her arms.

"Don't you dare start with the attitude, I'm in no mood to deal with that today" Meredith said.

"I said FINE!" Leah sassed, as they drove into the driveway.

"I would have thought that your bottom's sore enough, and that you wouldn't want to be in any more trouble than you're already in" Meredith said, turning to face Leah. "I guess I was wrong. You can go right inside, march yourself right up to my bedroom, and wait for me" Meredith said angrily. Leah opened the car door and ran inside as quickly as she could, slamming the front door behind her. Meredith turned the car off and rested her head on her steering wheel, taking several deep breaths to calm herself down.

Leah ran up the stairs and into Meredith's bedroom. Once inside she stopped and actually thought about the fact that she was now in even more trouble. Great. Meredith came up the stairs moments later, with the plan of giving Leah one more chance to comply, not wanting to spank her any more than was absolutely necessary. Leah was standing at the far end of the room looking out the large window into their backyard. It was sunny, and the snow was glittering. She thought about how, if she hadn't put herself in this position, she could have maybe gone skiing tomorrow. Meredith stormed into the room, went straight to Leah, grasped one of her arms, and spun her around to face her.

"I'm not playing games here Leah. I'm giving you one more chance. You can either get into John's office right this second and start working, or I'm giving you another spanking" Meredith said without flinching.

"I'll go file" Leah said as respectfully as she could.

"Good" Meredith said, letting go of Leah's arm. Leah rubbed her upper arm..it hurt where Meredith had been holding it so tightly. She looked up at her sister who was still looking sternly at her. Leah simply turned and left the room, going right into John's office. She sat down carefully on the big comfy office chair, and opened up the first file. Just as she started to sort its contents, Meredith appeared in the doorway.

"I want you in your room and ready for bed at 7. I'll bring your dinner up when it's ready" Meredith said without emotion, and left the room. Leah rubbed her arm one last time, and set to work on her filing, fearful of the consequences of not doing just that.

After 5 long hours of boredom and monotany, Leah made her way into her bedroom. The knots that had been forming in her stomach all afternoon started to tighten and she felt a little bit sick. She was absolutely terrified of the belt. She could almost hear the slaps echoing as she took her clothes off and put her pajamas on. She shivered as her bare feet walked across the hardwood floor, making her way to her bed where she sat down to wait. Her hands clasped eachother, squeezing hard. Her feet tapped on the floor, and her heart was beating hard. This wasn't worth it...she was NEVER going to drink again. For real this time.

Meredith closed her laptop, stretched, and stepped down off of her comfy, warm bed. She went to her closet, opened the doors, and removed a belt that was never actually worn. It was thicker leather, and more plain than she would wear. It was kept for this purpose only. Meredith hated holding the belt. It made her feel like a bit of a monster. She knew what it was like to be in Leah's position; she had been there herself not all that long ago. But on the other hand, she knew that there was no other way.

She grabbed an empty box off her floor, left her room and slowly walked to the end of the hall, and knocked on Leah's door.

"Come in" was the quiet, scared reply. Meredith opened the door, went in, and shut it behind her. Leah was sitting there, ready for bed, staring up at her with a look of absolute terror in her eyes. Meredith sat next to her on her bed.

"Do you understand why you're in so much trouble?" Meredith asked calmly, almost kindly. Leah nodded her head yes. "Can you tell me?" Meredith asked.

"I already got into trouble for drinking before. I'm not allowed to, and I know that, but I was going to do it anyways. But I'm never going to again. I promise!"

"I'm going to make sure of that" Meredith said. "Look, Leah. Here's the thing..." Meredith put her arm around Leah. "I'm scared to death of losing you. If you keep doing things like this.........Leah, it's dangerous. You have to stop"

"I am going to stop...I'm never getting spanked with the belt again" Leah resolved.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that" Meredith responded, smiling at her cute sister. "After we're finished discussing this, you're going to bed. I'm taking your phone, your laptop, your DS, your magazines, and whatever else, and I'm putting them in this box. When you've earned them back, I'll give them back."

"But...what am I gonna do?" Leah asked.

"Well, you have plenty of filing to do. After that's done, I'm sure I can find something."

"Great" Leah said.

"Alright. So...seriously Leah, I don't ever want to deal with this again"

"I know, I'm sorry..." Leah said shakily.

"Stand up" Meredith ordered. Reluctantly, Leah complied. Meredith took hold of Leah's arm, and guided her to stand in front of her. Leah knew what was coming, and started to cry, covering her face with her hands.

"Leah, hands at your sides please" Meredith said. Leah took a breath and dropped her hands, sniffling back tears. Meredith slid Leah's pretty flowery pajama pants down, and then her panties. This made Leah cry harder, and her hands went back to cover her face.

"Leah!" Meredith snapped. "I want you to look at me" she ordered. Leah dropped her hands once again, and tried to look at her sister. "You are NOT going to do anything like this ever again, understand me?"

"Yes" Leah squeaked.

Meredith moved Leah to her side and guided her over her lap. She pressed down on her lower back with her left hand, and raised her right hand into the air, and quickly slapped it down onto Leah's slightly bruised bottom.

"Ow!" Leah cried, surprised at how much that one spank hurt. She didn't have any time to dwell on it, because Meredith didn't waste any time. She spanked Leah's bottom sharply and quickly, covering every small inch of it. Leah yelped at every spank, and when she couldn't take it anymore, she lost her composure.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Stop...pleeeeaaasssssssssssssssseeee stop!" she cried, flinging her hand back and catching Meredith's wrist, clinging to it.

"Leah, let go" Meredith warned.

"I will....but please...please stop!" Leah cried.

"We're just getting started. Now...young lady, let go, or there will be consequences" Meredith said sternly. Leah's small hand slowly unclenched itself as she cried, and Meredith took hold of it and pinned it at the small of her back.

Leah knew that she was defeated. She couldn't compete with Meredith. There was nothing left for her to do other than cry her eyes out, and kick her feet to alieviate some of the sting.

Meredith didn't prolong the process. She spanked Leah's bottom hard, and when it started to colour a little purplish, she stopped.

"Now, I want you to stand up, and bend over your bed" Meredith said, helping Leah to stand up.

"Please, please don't use the belt Mere...please!" Leah begged, her sweet tear-streaked face looking at Meredith.

"Leah, you knew exactly what the consequences of your actions would be, and you made the choice to do it anyways. This was your choice, not mine" she said, gently encouraging Leah over the bed. Leah knew that she couldn't talk Meredith out of this, and cried harder, scared of what was coming. Once she was laying at the end of her bed, Meredith picked up the belt, and doubled it in her hand. She pressed down on Leah's back with her free hand, and swung the belt hard. Leah felt the surface sting that comes with leather first, and then the burn that imprints itself into the skin.

"AHHH!!!!" Leah cried at the first spank, and broke down in tears again. She gripped big chunks of her bedspread to stop herself from reaching back. Meredith tapped the belt a little bit lower, then delivered a hard spank to the same spot. She worked her way down Leah's bottom, not missing a single spot. Just as she got to the top of Leah's thighs, Leah started to stuggle to get away. The spanks on her bottom were too much already. She didn't think she could handle them on her thighs too.

"Leah, stop" Meredith said calmly.

"You have to stop...please!" Leah pleaded.

"I'm almost finished. If you don't stop right now, I'll be starting over" Meredith said. Almost the second she said that Leah stopped moving around. She knew Meredith was serious. "Thank you" Meredith said, tapping the belt on the top of Leah's right thigh. When the belt slapped down, Leah screamed. This was her reaction each of the 8 times the belt spanked her thighs, and she was sure she was going to die. Meredith gave Leah a couple more strokes on her bottom, and then laid the belt down on the bed.

Leah was crying almost uncontrollably. Meredith sat down next to her and stroked her hair. After a couple of minutes, Leah stopped crying loudly.

"I LOVE you, Leah" Meredith said, helping Leah up. Leah laid down on her side, and rested her head in Meredith's lap. Meredith covered her up with a blanket, and held her as she cried.

An Icy Morning and a Story- Leah 18

I was not-so warmly greeted this morning by an inch of ice, covered with an inch of snow on my car. After chipping away for what seemed like a long time I stepped back and crossed my arms, realizing that I hadn't accomplished anything...too much ice. After staring at my car for a few minutes I tried again, and developed a bit of groove and ice actually started coming off. It took exactly 23 minutes to get it to the point of being able to see, and I'm sure that at 5:30 in the morning, my neighbours wanted to kill me. So I made it, only to come out of work 8 hours later to chip away for another half hour. So I decided to skip the gym and the other things I was supposed to do this afternoon and came home to hibernate...and WRITE! So here's a new story! Enjoy!

Leah 18

Leah and Meredith sat side by side on the large leather couch in their spacious livingroom with their feet resting on the coffee table in front of them. They had plates of pasta on their laps and Meredith was holding a pen in her hand, poised to write on a pad of paper sitting between herself and Leah.

"So....start at the beginning" Meredith said. Leah looked at her nervously. She took a bite of her pasta, chewed it slowly, swallowed, and looked down at the blank piece of paper, wishing desperately that it could remain blank. But it couldn't.

"I smashed one of your wine glasses on the floor" she said, and Meredith wrote it down.

"Punishment?" Meredith asked, looking at Leah, who looked away and said nothing for a couple of minutes.

"I could do work for you and earn money to buy you a new set of glasses" Leah suggested.

"Works for me" Meredith said, and wrote that down next to the offense. "Next?"

"I snuck out" Leah said quietly, hoping to hide her embarassment. Meredith wrote it down, and looked expectantly at her sister. "I could be grounded for a while?" Leah suggested.

"For a month. You'll be grounded for a month, and that means no phone, no television, no friends. You can go to school, and Holly's, and home. That's it."

"Okay" Leah said, hoping that this harsh punishment would be where it stops.

"Okay, what next?"

"I lied about where I was planning on going" she said, looking down at her plate. Meredith looked at her expectantly. Leah didn't offer a punishment, hoping against all odds that her long grounding would be enough. After a few minutes of silence, Meredith spoke.

"Punishment, Leah?" she asked.

Leah was out of ideas. She knew what answer Meredith was looking for. She knew, all too well, that lying equals spanking in her sister's home, no questions asked. But she dreaded this particular punishment more than anything, and was reluctant to suggest it. Meredith didn't push her. She was willing to sit there all night in silence until Leah took enough responsibility for her actions to admit that she deserved the most hated punishment. What she wasn't expecting though, was for tears to start rolling down Leah's pale face. Meredith put her hand warmly on Leah's knee.

"Sweetie, it's okay" Meredih said reassuringly. "It's gonna be okay."

"I'm so sorry" Leah cried, putting her head in her hands, her small shoulders shaking. Meredith put her arm around her little sister.

"We all make mistakes Leah. I'm no more perfect than you are....it's what we do to make up for the mistakes that counts. It's what we learn from them that's most important. Yes?" Meredith asked. Leah nodded her head. "Okay, so...take a deep breath and try to relax so we can talk about this." Leah looked up a minute later, wiped her face, and looked at Meredith.

"That's my girl. So where were we? Punishment for lying?" Again, Leah said nothing. "Leah....sweetie, what's the usual punishment for lying?" Meredith asked gently, trying to coax Leah into saying it herself.

Leah let out a long breath. "A spanking" she whispered.

"Yes" Meredith said, writing it down next to lying. Her fate was sealed..the most dreaded of all punishments promised. "What else?"

"John's car...?" Leah half-asked.

"The accident wasn't your fault, but we shouldn't have been out in such bad weather. That was your fault."

"I know it was," Leah said honestly. "I don't know if I could work long enough to pay to fix John's car...."

"Probably not" Meredith said smiling. "But you could offer him some help at the office for the next two weekends"

"Okay, I will" Leah said, relieved not to have another spanking added on. Meredith wrote it down.

"Next?" Meredith asked. Leah looked confused.

"I....didn't do anything else" she said.

"Well I assume that since you were playing a drinking game that you were drinking" Meredith offered.

"I didn't actually drink anything" Leah said.

"Were you planning to?"

"I.....yeah" she said regretfully, deciding not to lie.

"This is the second time we've had to deal with this problem Leah" Meredith said a little more firmly.

"I know, and it'll be the last, I promise" Leah said.

"I hope so. This will be a spanking with the belt." Leah's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "This is serious Leah. I won't tolerate it. This will very likely be the worst spanking you've ever had, and I hope it serves as a deterrant in the future" Leah shook a little bit with fear. "I'll give you your first spanking for lying in the morning before we go back to Mrs. Smith's to clean up, and I'll give you the second one tomorrow night before bed. Understand?" Leah nodded tearfully. "Leah, sweetie...I don't like having to spank you. It's horrible. You know how upset you got last week when Shep's paw was hurt? How you said that you love him so much that it literally hurts you to see him suffer? Well, that's what it's like for me to have to spank you." Meredith explained, trying to reason with Leah that it wasn't exactly fun for her either.

"I'm sorry" Leah whispered through her tears, and Meredith hugged her close and stroked her hair.

The next morning Leah was up early. She knew she had a hard day ahead of her and found it difficult to sleep, even after she and Meredith had talked. She sat on her desk chair, her feet pulled into her chest, and occupied herself by playing a game on her laptop. When she heard a soft knock on her door she jumped.

"Come in" she called hesitantly.

"Morning!" Meredith said as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. "You're grounded Leah...that means no internet...if I didn't make myself clear last night" Meredith reminded.

"Oh....sorry..." Leah said weakly, exiting her game. "You didn't say."

"It's okay, now you know" Meredith said, gently spinning the computer chair holding Leah around to face her. She got down on her knees and rested one hand on the back of the chair. She searched Leah's eyes for answers. She wanted to know why Leah insisted on lying to her, why she couldn't just listen and make life for everyone a little easier. She had to be careful though. She knew from experience that scaring Leah would only cause her to crawl inside herself and not answer anything at all.

"Last night, when I told you that you had to stay home, it wasn't because I was trying to be mean. The weather was really bad and I didn't want you getting hurt. Now, you chose to go anyways, and even though I'm very upset about that, I'm more upset about your lying about where you were going. What if you had gotten into some sort of accident? What if the hospital called me and told me that on your way to this party you were in an accident and got hurt and that I had to come? I wouldn't know that it was you. I'd say sorry, you must have the wrong kid...Leah's at Sarah's house. Not on her way to a party on the other side of the city. And what if something had happened to John? Or to me? What if there was an emergency and we had to talk to you? We'd call Sarah's house...and her mom would tell us that you weren't there. How would we find you?" Meredith asked. Leah stared at her wide-eyed.

"I....I didn't think of it like that" she responded.

"It's going to take a long time for John and I to be able to trust you. That's why you shouldn't lie Leah. Now when you tell us things, we might not believe you."

"I know Meredith, I'm so sorry" Leah said desperately.

"You understand why you have to be punished for lying?" she asked, forcing Leah to look at her. Leah nodded. Meredith gently helped her to her feet and lead her to a corner. "I'm going to make a pot of coffee. I want you to stand here and think about the consequences of lying until I come back" she said, leaving Leah in the corner.

Once downstairs she filled the coffeepot with water and flipped the switch. She sat down at the table to wait, dreading the day just as much or more than Leah was dreading it. Upstairs Leah was standing, staring at the lilac purple corner in front of her. Distracting herself from the spanking in her immediate future, she noticed how perfectly the painted walls met to make a corner. The funny thing is, this caused Leah to actually think about what she was told to think about: the consequences of lying. She had backed herself into an invisible corner through her lies and had essentially isolated herself from the two people who she knew would be there for her forever. Now she understood her sister's frustration, because she was frustrated too. She didn't know why she did these things.

Leah was startled out of her thoughts by the sudden opening and closing of her bedroom door.

"Let's get this over with" Meredith said, seating herself on the edge of Leah's bed. Leah turned around and obediently approached her sister, frightened, yet determined to let her know that she was sorry. She practically flung herself into Meredith's arms.

"I'm so sorry" she said whole-heartedly. Meredith, taken completely off-guard, hugged her back.

"It's okay...it's okay Leah"

When Leah finally released her grip on Meredith she stood in front of her, knowing what was expected of her. Meredith looked up into Leah's shining blue eyes with a firm look on her face, hoping to trick her sister into believing that she wasn't crying inside herself. She quickly slid Leah's black capri track pants down to rest at her feet, atop her fluffy blue slippers, and gently guided her over her lap. Once she had Leah positioned just right she secured her by strongly circling her waist. She rested her other hand on Leah's lower back. Leah bent her knees and pulled her feet in close to her bottom, bracing herself for the first spank. Meredith looked at the blue slippers that were currently right in her way, a little annoyed, knowing that an arguement would make them late for their appoitment at the Smith's.

"Leah...can you move your feet please?" she asked as nicely as she could. Leah hadn't really realized that her feet were in the way, and reluctantly lowered them.

"Sorry" she mumbled.

With this Meredith raised her hand and delivered the first of many spanks. Leah tried to be as quiet as possible. She didn't want to make Meredith feel worse. She didn't want to cause her any more pain than she already had. But as the sound of Meredith's hand slapping against Leah's pantied bottom resounded in Leah's ears, there was a building pain that she couldn't help but cry out at. Leah's intolerance and frustration came out all at once as she broke down crying and began to struggle to get away. Meredith wasn't ready for this and jumped to hold her in place.

"Leah, stop!" Meredith said half-firmly, half-sympathetically.

"It hurts too much...pleaseeeeeee stop!" Leah cried, sniffling desperately.

Meredith did stop, but only to trap Leah in place between her knees and quickly tug her panties down to rest just below her bottom.

"Nooo!!! I'm sorrrrr-yyyyyyyyyyy!" Leah pleaded.

"Leah, listen to me" Meredith said calmly. "You will not lie to me again. If you do, we'll be right back where we are now."

"I won't!!! I promise!"

Meredith gripped Leah's waist tightly and picked up a large wooden spoon that she had carried in with her. Leah didn't see it. She pressed it firmly onto Leah's already stinging bottom. Leah jumped slightly and involuntarily flung her hand back to cover her bottom. Meredith saw this coming and caught her hand and held it in her own. She quickly lifted the spoon into the air and snapped it sharply down onto Leah's bottom, alternating from left cheek to right. Leah jumped and yelped with each spank, crying uncontrollably at the same time.

When the bright pink glow of Leah's bottom started to hint at a deeper purple Meredith decided to stop, remembering the spanking the she had promised Leah before bed. She delivered two extra-sharp spanks on each cheek, and then set the spoon down.

"Shhhhh" Meredith soothed, rubbing Leah's back calmingly.

Leah tried to focus her concentration on calming down, rather than her burning bottom. After a few minutes of deep breathing, she put both of her hands on Meredith's thigh and pushed herself up. Meredith helped her, and pulled her onto her lap and hugged her tightly.

"Sorry Mere" Leah said, looking up at her sister.

"It's okay sweetie. Please...just think before you tell another lie, okay?"

"I will" Leah said, knowing that she would definately think about this spanking the next time she decided to tell a lie.

Meredith let go and Leah stood up, untangling her pants and panties and pulling them up, wincing, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"Alright, have a shower and get dressed, then we'll go over and help clean up from last night" Meredith said, kissing Leah on the top of her head and leaving, closing the door behind her.

....to be continued

Leah 17

Leah, Sarah and a few other girls sat in the Smith's livingroom awaiting that horrifying moment when their parents would walk through the front door. Mr. and Mrs. Smith came home early from their holiday and had walked in just in time to see their thirteen year old daughter, along with her friends and several older people that the Smith's had never met before, start playing Kings, a popular drinking game. The older kids left but the younger ones had no choice but to stay and wait for their parents to come. Mrs. Smith had gallantly decided to called each and every parent and inform them of their daughters' activities.

"This is bad" Sarah whispered to Leah.

"Really bad" Leah responded.

A girl they had never met before was sitting with them on the large couch. She must have come as a "friend of a friend."

"Seriously.....really bad" the girl said.

"I'm Leah, this is Sarah" Leah said kindly.

"Alana" she replied. She seemed friendly. "Any chance one of your parents will take me home too? My aunt and uncle are gonna kill me" she said. Although she said this with somewhat of a joking smile, everyone could tell she was half-serious.

"Trust me, you don't want to come with me...my sister's gonna be really....really mad" Leah said.

"I'd take my chances" Alana replied.

"We should hang out some time" Sarah suggested, taking an instant liking to Alana. She seemed very similar to Leah and herself. Alana took out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote her phone number down.

"Call me, that would be cool" she said, handing the paper to Sarah, and another to Leah.

The doorbell rang and the room went silent. Everyone held their breath and looked toward the hallway. Mrs. Smith went to answer the door.

"I am SO sorry" Leah heard Meredith say. She felt sick. She was scared, as she should be. They talked as they walked toward the livingroom. Leah turned to see both Meredith and John standing there. Meredith had her arms crossed and was glaring at Leah while speaking with Mrs. Smith.

"Leah will come back tomorrow and help clean up the mess....we're so sorry" she said. As Mrs. Smith and Meredith continued speaking Alana leaned in and whispered in Leah's ear.

"Oh my God, Meredith Forrester is your sister?! I LOVE her! I have a subscription to her magazine and her shows are all so awesome, you're soo lucky!!" she said excitedly.

"Lucky? She's going to kill me!" Leah whispered back.

"No she's not! She's like...the coolest nicest person I've ever seen in my life" Alana whispered back, shocked.

"Yeah, she's cool....but she's scary when she's mad...trust me"

"So are my aunt and uncle...." Alana said, just as the door opened to reveal Ruth who also began apologizing to Mrs. Smith. As the three women were talking John wondered over to Leah.

"Come on Leah, let's go" he said seriously. Leah stood up.

"I'm here to keep your sister calm...don't give her any attitude, or any reason to be angrier than she already is" John warned firmly.

"Is she really mad?" Leah asked, worried.

"Of course she is! You snuck out after you were told to stay home, and now here you are, there are half-empty bottles of rum everywhere!" he exclaimed. Leah's gaze fell toward the floor. She was embarassed to be yelled at in front of her friends, and also embarassed that she had acted so irresponsibly.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Smith, Ruth and Meredith had come to join John in front of the couch, Leah standing off to the side. All three girls looked pale.

"Come on Sarah, I'll drive you home" Meredith said without her usual bubbly flare. Instead, she sounded exhausted. Sarah stood up.

"You've all been volunteered to clean my house tomorrow, so I'll see you in the morning" Mrs. Smith said as the group made their way to the door. Meredith and Ruth both apologized agaian, and Leah, Sarah and Alana followed suit, and the group left.

The drive to Sarah's house was silent. When John put the car in park, he got out and opened Sarah's door. She got out slowly, looked to Leah for help, and when Leah didn't offer any, she allowed herself to be lead to the door by John, who rang the doorbell, waiting for Sarah's parents to open the door.

Meanwhile, in the car, Meredith turned around and shot Leah one of the scariest looks she had ever seen. But neither sister said anything. John came back to the car and they began to drive home, in silent. Leah knew that Meredith would only be able to stay silent for so long, and she was right. About ten minutes into their drive, Meredith turned around.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded angrily. Leah looked out the window, and didn't respond. She figured it was useless. No matter what she said it would be the wrong answer.

"Hey! I asked you a question" Meredith demanded.

"I don't know" Leah said.

"You don't know? I want a real answer, young lady" she said.

Leah was annoyed that Meredith wouldn't leave her alone. They had had this same conversation hundreds of times, and it was pointless. It was always going to have the same conclusion.

"No, I don't know! If you had just let me go in the first place this wouldn't have been an issue!" Leah exclaimed, tired and afraid, her fear translating into anger. She knew by the look on her sister's face that she shouldn't have said that..or at least said it in a more respectful tone.

"Oh yeah, about that! What happened to "I'm just going to Sarah's?" Meredith exclaimed, imitating Leah's original claim. "I know you think I'm stupid Leah, but that wasn't Sarah's house!"

"Oh, no, ya think!?" Leah yelled back.

"Shhh, can you guys be quiet? The roads are really bad" John said, annoyed.

"Don't take that tone with me!" Meredith yelled, ignoring John. "I want to know! I want you to tell me right now, how you expected me not to notice that you had snuck out!"

"I didn't care if you knew! I wanted to go!" Leah yelled.

"Oh my God, are we seriously going to have this arguement AGAIN?! You're thirteen, I said no, you listen!! What is it about that that you can't get?"

"I get it! Okay? I get it!" Leah cried, tears rolling down her face.

Before Meredith had a chance to respond their car slid right into the back of the car in front of them that had stopped abruptly. Meredith turned to John.

"What happenend?" she asked, surprised.

"That's great...that's just great! I told you two to stop yelling!" John said, frustrated. He got out and went to talk to the driver of the other car and assess the damage. Meredith followed him, and Leah crossed her arms and leaned back against the seat. She hadn't had a moment of silence to think since the Smith's came home, and only now did she fully understand just how much trouble she was in. A few minutes later Meredith opened Leah's door.

"Get out" she said.

"What?"

"Come on, we can't drive the car home, the lights are broken. The tow truck's here, and Addie's on her way to pick us up." she said, collecting some things from the car. Leah got out and followed Meredith to where John and a couple other people were standing. They stood making small-talk with the people from the other car for what seemed like a really long time, waiting for Addie. Finally Leah couldn't stand it any more. It was raining and snowing at the same time, the wind was blowing it forcefully into her face, and she was beyond freezing.

"Mere I'm SO cold! Do you have a hat or anything in your bag?" she asked desperately.

"You're cold? Too bad!" John spat at her. "We're out here because of you...this is exactly why we didn't want you out tonight!"

"I'm sorry" Leah's small voice said. She sniffed back some tears, and shivered. Meredith looked down at her little sister and thought about the memory that had lead her to realize that Leah was gone. She knew what it was like to be a kid, and she knew that it was hard. She wrapped her arm around Leah and pulled her close to her side, holding her up against her and rubbed her arm, trying to warm her up a little. Leah leaned into Meredith and allowed herself to be held. There was such a degree of comfort that she felt from her sister, even though she knew how angry she was.

Later that night when they finally walked through the front door into the warmth of their home Leah stood awkwardly in the hallway unsure of what to do. While the three of them took their wet coats off and hung them up Leah was shaking with fear inside. She had never done something quite this bad before, and didn't know what was going to happen to her.

"You can go to bed Leah, we'll talk about this in the morning" Meredith said, heading into the kitchen, probably to make more coffee so that she could work later into the night.

"But...uh..." Leah said, and then hesitated.

"What is it?" Meredith asked, turning back to her.

"Can I still go to yoga in the morning?"

"No" Meredith said simply. Leah nodded and headed up the staircase to her room.

Leah tossed and turned in bed unable to sleep. After a couple of hours of miserable efforts she gave up, turned her lamp on and tried to read. But she couldn't concentrate. She couldn't stop thinking about the car accident she had caused, and although nobody was hurt, they could have been. John's car was smashed, and he was right. It was her fault, and they shouldn't have been out there in the first place. Her mind kept spinning in circles, thinking about John and Meredith, and how much they loved her, and how much stress she caused them because she just had to have her own way all the time. Finally she got up, slid her fluffy blue slippers on, and quietly went downstairs.

She filled a big pot up with water and put it on the stove to boil. She opened up the fridge, looked at the contents, and then made a decision. She gathered up some bacon, grape tomatoes, peppers and cheese, and went to work cooking something she was sure her sister would love. She would wake up in the morning, come down to make coffee, and see that Leah had made her a delicious meal. Maybe that would demonstrate how sorry she was.

Unfortunately, Meredith was still up working and heard Leah banging around in the kitchen. She ignored the sounds for a while, but finally padded down the stairs. She stopped in the kitchen doorway and took in the scene. Leah's long blond hair was being held back by a sporty black headband, and hanging down with shiny waves...clearly the result of the curling job she had done in preparation for the party. She was wearing a grey Adidas hoody, loose black capri track pants, and fluffy blue slippers. Without looking up she pulled a pan of roasted grape tomatoes out of the oven and put them ontop to cool. In Meredith's opinion, there couldn't be anyone more adorable in the entire world. She stepped into the kitchen.

"So...what are you doing?" Meredith asked, stepping in further. Leah looked up and let out a surprised yelp.

"You scared me!" she whispered.

"Sorry. What are you doing?" she repeated.

"Um...I'm making you some pasta" Leah said, looking down, a little embarassed.

"I hope this isn't some attempt to bribe me out of punishing you" Meredith warned.

"It's not!" Leah said, looking up. As her bright blue eyes met Meredith's, she continued. "You always say that the best way to say sorry to someone, or show them that you appreciate them is to cook for them...I couldn't sleep. I feel so bad, I shouldn't have snuck out tonight or lied to you, or been such a jerk. I'm sorry Meredith" Leah said slowly.

Meredith was silent for a minute.

"Awww pumpkin" Meredith said, clearly touched, and rushed around to Leah and pulled her into a big bear hug.

"I'm so sorry!" Leah cried, tears falling down her cheeks.

Meredith wiped a few tears from her own face, and told Leah that it was okay, that everyone makes mistakes. After a few minutes of clinging to eachother, Leah jumped.

"My pasta!" she cried, running to the stove and pulling it off, knowing that it had now been boiling for a few minutes too many.

Meredith laughed.

"Oh my little Leah, you're the best" she said, walking around to the counter and starting to grate the cheese.

.....to be continued

Leah 16

Leah was ecstatic to have been invited to a party...a real party. Almost everyone in her grade would be there, and the best part...no parents. A girl named Natalie was having the party at her house...her parents were away on vacation and had actually trusted her to be left alone. Leah knew that her sister Meredith wouldn't let her go, so she and her best friend Sarah told their parents that they would be staying over at eachother's houses. It seemed like a brilliant plan at the time. John or Meredith would drive Leah to Sarah's house, where they would be picked up by an older friend who could drive, and was also attending the party.

It was a Saturday, and both Leah and Meredith spent the day at home. Leah was working on a book report and a math assignment, and Meredith was just so happy to have the day off that she didn't move from the couch, except to make another pot of coffee. In the early afternoon she noticed that a movie was coming on that both she and Leah had wanted to see.

She excitedly made her way upstairs, with their German Shepherd dog Shep at her side, and poked her head into Leah's room. Leah was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed, laptop sitting infront of her, surrounded by books.

"Soo.....guess what movie's coming on in a few minutes" Meredith said, strolling into her thirteen year-old sister's bedroom.

"Ummmm I don't know" Leah said without looking up.

"The Other Boleyn Girl!" Meredith exclaimed. Leah looked up and smiled.

"Really?"

"Really."

Leah glanced over to her tidy, strictly organized bookcase and saw her copy of The Other Boleyn Girl sitting next to The Queen's Fool and The Virgin's Lover. She was now onto The Constant Princess. This was probably her favourite series of books ever. She looked back at her computer and considered her homework. She was almost finished, and would have all of the next day to work on it.

"Sooo.....can you tear yourself away from your homework and come watch it with me?" Meredith asked hopefully.

"OKAY!!" Leah exclaimed, and got up. Together they went downstairs, stretched out on the couch, and waited for the movie to start.

This was how Leah and Meredith's relationship was normally like. They were friends, and loved eachother and being in eachother's company more than almost anything else in the world. But, on the odd occasion, they would disagree about something, and Meredith would have to play the "responsible parent" card. It wasn't something that she enjoyed, but she knew she had to do it.

They sat side by side, stretched out on the oh so comfortable leather couch in the livingroom and watched the movie. They snacked on popcorn, and discussed what was happening throughout. When it was over Meredith turned to Leah.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed.

"What? No! It completely missed the point!" Leah said.

"And just what point is that?" Meredith asked her.

"It's called "The OTHER Boleyn Girl!" Soo...the point of the book is to take notice of all the sacrifices that Mary makes for her family and for Anne. The movie was ALL about Anne!"

"But it was a good movie!" Meredith argued.

"As a movie on it's own, yes, it was good. But it missed the point of...itself!" Leah exclaimed, trying to hold back her laughter. Meredith didn't even bother trying. She burst out laughing and gently pushed Leah's arm, causing her to fall over and start laughing herself. John appeared in the doorway, and as they looked up and saw him, soaking wet, covered in snow and ice, and looking extremely serious, they laughed even harder.

"What happened to you!?" Meredith exclaimed, trying to control herself. John softened and smiled.

"It's snowing, it's raining, it's hailing, there's ice everywhere. I almost died like a hundred times on my way home" he said, shaking chunks of ice out of his hair.

"Really? Are the roads bad?" Meredith asked.

"They're horrible...like I said...I almost died"

"Leah, I think you should stay home tonight" Meredith said, looking at her sister.

"Nooo" Leah whined. "She only lives like 15 minutes away....it'll be fine"

"No, really. It's bad" John said. "I'm not going back out there"

"I'm not either" Meredith said. "Why don't you go to Sarah's tomorrow?"

"No, I HAVE to go tonight!" Leah exclaimed dramatically. "I'll see if her Mom can come pick me up."

"No, sweetie, you'll have to stay here. I don't want you out there at all" Meredith said.

"JOHN!" Leah cried desperately, looking to him for help.

"I agree, you can't get into a car, the roads are horrible. It wouldn't be safe." John confirmed.

"You guys are jerks" Leah said, and stomped out of the room.

She went upstairs to call Sarah, and together they came up with a plan. Tell Meredith and John that Sarah's mom had to come this way to pick something up anyways, and that she'd be stopping. Meanwhile, Natalie would pick Leah up on her way to pick Sarah up and nobody would know.

Leah waited until Meredith called her for supper. She wanted them to have plenty of time to feel bad about making her stay home. She sat down at the table and started eating. She waited for a lull in the conversation, and tried again.

"So I called Sarah to tell her that I couldn't come" Leah said.

"Thanks sweetie, why don't you invite her over for tomorrow?"

"Well, she said that her mom was out and is coming back this way and that she'll stop and pick me up" Leah said quickly.

"Which part of "no" exactly, did you not understand?" Meredith asked slowly.

"But she's coming this way anyways!"

"Leah....it has nothing to do with the convenience of picking you up. The issue here is that the roads aren't safe, and I don't want you out on them."

"Meredith!!" she whined.

"No, the answer is no....so call Sarah and tell her to tell her mom not to bother stopping" Meredith said firmly.

"No" Leah countered.

"Well then, that's fine. When she gets here we'll just have to tell her that she stopped for no reason because you aren't going" John said.

"Please!!!"

"No Leah! I'm sorry, but you can't! It's not that big of a deal honey, you two can do something tomorrow" Meredith said soothingly, trying to help.

Leah made a loud noise of frustration, stood up, picked up her glass of water, and purposely dropped it on the ground. The glass shattered, and water flew everywhere. John and Meredith just stared at her, too shocked to say anything. Leah left, went to her room, and slammed the door. John looked furious. He stood up, about to go after her.

"No, just leave her" Meredith said, taking hold of John's hand and pulling him back down. "Give her some space. I'll deal with it later" she said.

Later that night, after John had settled into his regular football watching, Meredith sat alone in their large bedroom on her bed, legs pulled up to her chest, with her head resting on her knees. She hated to say no to Leah, and hated it even more when, on the rare occasion such as this, Leah didn't accept her answer. She closed her eyes and a memory from her own teenage years popped into her head. A memory that she hadn't thought about in years, but it was strikingly similar to what she was dealing with now concerning Leah.

1996

Meredith was 17 years old. Leah had just been born, Addie was 10. The three girls and their parents sat around the kitchen table enjoying a late lunch together. They were all laughing and joking with eachother, and having a good time...until the phone rang. Their mother Courtney got up and answered it, and left the room to have a private conversation, while Matthew, their father, continued to entertain his girls. A few minutes later Courtney re-emerged, and sat back down at the table looking more serious than she had when she left the room.

"That was your teacher Meredith" she said.

"Oh yeah?" Meredith answered, not entirely sure where her mother was going with that.

"Yeah. She wanted to talk to me about your grades" she said.

Meredith's heart skipped a beat. She had been warned that if her grades had been affected by her numerous clubs and sports that she would be in trouble. She had been so busy lately that she hadn't bothered to study for several tests, and failed to hand in several assignments.

"What about them?" Matthew asked casually.

"Meredith, you failed two tests and didn't hand in three assignments in the past two weeks" Courtney said.

"Meredith?" Matthew asked, looking to his daughter for an answer.

"I....I was just really busy, I'm sorry Mom" Meredith said.

"What did I tell you about your grades?" Courtney asked. At first Meredith thought that the question was rhetorical, but when her mother didn't speak after several minutes, she thought it would be best to answer.

"I know, if my grades aren't good I can't do anything else" she sighed, with just a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

"That's right" Courtney said. She was never mean or harsh...just firm. "So instead of going to the football game tonight, you'll have to stay home and study. If your grades don't come up soon you'll have to quit a few things."

"Mom! I HAVE to go to the football game! I'm a cheerleader, they need me!"

"You should have thought about that earlier Meredith. I'm sorry, you'll have to miss it"

"Mom. You don't understand. If I don't go, everything will be messed up. We all have a place to be, and if I'm not in my place, everything will be off."

"I'm sorry" Courtney repeated.

"Mom!!"

"Meredith, your mother's right. You know the rules. You'll be spending your night in your room studying." Matthew said, with a sternness that sometimes scared the girls.

Meredith stood up.

"I hate you!! Nobody else's parents are like this!" she screamed, picked up her glass of Pepsi, and emphatically smashed it on the floor, and stormed out of the room.

2009
Meredith lifted her head.

"She learned that from me" she said to herself. "Even though Leah was only a baby, she saw me throw that glass, and she must have somehow remembered. Hm. What goes around comes around" she thought to herself, and once again rested her head on her knees.

1996

That night Meredith waited until her parents were busy with her two little sisters, and snuck out of the house. She made it almost halfway through the football team before she spotted her dad standing on the sidelines. When he saw that she knew he was there, he waved to her to come to him, which she did.

"Let's go Meredith"

"Dad...."

"Let's go" he said again, with a little more emphasis. She nodded her head, and followed him to the car. He yelled at her the entire way home, and once they got there, Courtney yelled at her some more. As she sat on the couch in the livingroom with both of her parents standing in front of her lecturing and scolding, she thought about how there was no way life could ever get any worse.

"I think you're in desperate need of some discipline Meredith" her mother lectured. She rolled her eyes, thinking that she would be grounded yet again, but stopped immediately when she noticed her father unbuckling his belt. Her eyes widened and she probably stopped breathing momentarily.

"It's been a long time since we've spanked you Meredith" Matthew said. "But you've shown us tonight that you're still immature and irresponsible. So I guess we'll have to start punishing you like this again" he said as he slid his belt through the loops of his pants.

"WHAT?! No way! You can't, I'm 17!!" she cried. She hadn't been spanked since she was probably thirteen or fourteen.

"Yes, you're right. You are 17, and it's a shame you can't act like it" Courtney said. "And as long as you live under our roof, we'll punish you however we see fit"

"I don't think so" Meredith countered.

"Oh, I know so" Courtney said, taking hold of Meredith's arm and pulling her up off the couch, practically against her will. She sat down and forced Meredith over her lap, fighting and screaming all the way. Courtney flipped her cheerleader skirt up and started to land sharp stinging spanks to Meredith's pantied bottom. Meredith continued to fight her mother to the point that she had to stop, twist Meredith's arm behind her, and Matthew had to sit beside her and firmly hold Meredith's legs so that she wouldn't kick her mother any more than she already had. At this point Meredith realized that she really had no choice in the matter, and that maybe if she started crying hysterically, her parents would feel sorry for her and stop. So she started crying hysterically. But her parents didn't stop. Courtney spanked Meredith's bottom until it was bright pink, and then stopped to pull down her panties.

"What are you doing?!" Meredith screamed. "Noooo!" she cried as her mother peeled the blue silk panty-shorts down to her knees.

"Meredith, I suggest you stop fighting with us and accept your punishment....unless you'd like to be punished tomorrow for fighting with us" Matthew said sternly.

"But I want you to stop!!!" Meredith cried.

"Oh we're only getting started young lady" Courtney said, and began to spank Meredith's rounded bottom. Although Meredith was outraged that her parents were spanking her, she did want it to stop because it hurt really badly, and before long, as the slapping sounds of her mother's hand making contact with her bare bottom over and over again resounded in her ears, she was crying genuine tears, and begging her mother to stop.

Finally the spanking stopped and she felt her father release her legs, and her mother lossen the grip she had on her, and helped her to her feet. Her hands immediately shot back and she started to gently rub her bottom, in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the pain. Courtney rubbed her back and Matthew smoothed her dark brown hair, and tucked a stray piece behind her ear.

"We love you Mere....we only want what's best for you" Matthew said.

"I love you too, I'm soo sorry!" she said, allowing herself to be pulled into a three-way hug. When her parents released her, she bent down to pull her panties back up.

"Not yet" Matthew said, gently catching her hand. "That was for your little glass-breaking outburst this afternoon. You have be punished for sneaking out as well Meredith. It was wrong. You disobeyed your mother and I, and we won't have it" he said. "Bend over" he said, leading her around do the arm of the couch. She reluctantly did, and, as she gripped one of the pillows on the couch for comfort, thought about how childish and exposed she felt. She was rather short for her age, so her toes didn't touch the floor, and her bare bottom was sticking up for the entire world to see. Horrible.

"I want you to keep your hands in front of you and your feet down please" Matthew said. "You could really get hurt if I accidentally hit them with the belt" Although Meredith knew that she was going to be belted, hearing it out loud made her cry fresh tears, and shake a little with fear.

Matthew moved to the side, lifted the doubled belt into the air, and brought it back down, biting into the tender flesh of Meredith's bottom, right in the middle of both cheeks. She screamed, her hands flew back to rub the spot where the belt had hit, and her legs bended at the knee, her feet flailing around in the air as she cried. Her father let this go on for several seconds, and then gently reminded her to keep her feet down and her hands in front of her. She reluctantly complied, and braced herself for the next. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before, and she didn't know if she would live through this spanking. As the belt continued to bite into her bottom and upper thighs, Meredith cried, only stopping to scream each time contact was made. Just when she was sure she was going to die, her father stopped.

"Alright sweetie, we're finished" he said gently. She lay over the couch crying for a long time before anyone tried to help her up. When they did she let herself be held by them. She didn't care that she felt like a little girl, she just wanted to be comforted by her parents. Once she had calmed down a little, she kicked her panties off, wiped some tears from her face, and whole-heartedly apologized to her parents for upsetting them so much.

"We want you to grow up to be a good responsible person Mere" Courtney said. "There are two little girls living here. Addie idolizes you, and Leah will one day too. You have to set a good example for them, and yelling at us and throwing glasses on the ground when you're angry only teaches them that behaviour like that is okay. I'm sorry that you had to learn this lesson the hard way Meredith, but I really don't want to have to punish you again. You're too old to act like you did today, so please, in the future, be more mature and responsible"

This lecture caused Meredith to cry once more, not from pain, but from guilt. She loved her parents and her sisters so much, and she really didn't intend to cause any of them distress. She wasn't thinking beyond what she wanted at the time. She went to bed that night with a very sore and striped bottom, but she learned her lesson. She never needed to be punished by her parents again.

2009
Meredith's head shot up and she leapt off her bed.

"I can't believe I didn't think about this" she thought to herself as she quickly made her way down the hall to Leah's room. She had heard what sounded like the front door opening or closing about an hour ago and just assumed that Shep was shuffling around down there. Big dogs made a lot of noise. But so did small thirteen year old girls who snuck out in order to do what they wanted........

She opened Leah's door and went in. Leah was gone.

.....to be continued

Leah 15

Meredith came from work in her usual mood: exhausted, but happy. Home was her favourite place to be, no matter what. And this was especially the case when her whole family was there. Her husband John, her best friend, the love of her life. Her beloved dog Shep, and her thirteen year old sister Leah who Meredith thought was just such a cool kid, never failing to amaze her in one way or another.

As she set her bag down at the door, kicked her boots off, walked into the kitchen and started to make a pot of coffee she wondered where everyone was. Shep hadn't greeted her at the door like he did every single day of his life, and she couldn't hear a TV, or any phone chatter.

"Strange" she thought, as she pulled her coat off and hung it on the back of a chair. She poured herself a cup of coffee and wondered curiously out into the large hallway. She thought she heard some shuffling in the livingroom so she headed there. She stopped dead in her tracks the second she reached the entrance.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, laughing. There was Leah, sitting on the couch, her long blond hair pulled back into a pony tail, a black headband holding the shorter pieces out of her face, wearing her thin, dark-rimmed glasses. She had a large hoop in one hand that was holding a large white piece of cloth, and the other hand held a needle and thread. On once side of her was a magazine with a pattern, on the other side, a box filled with little baggies holding different colours of thread, all labelled. She was obviously working with the concentration of someone working toward their PhD.

"I'm cross stitching" Leah replied, knowing that her sister would be amused by this.

"Well..then...GRANDMA, where'd you get all this?" she asked sarcastically.

Leah smiled and rolled her eyes.

"When I was at Holly's house this morning she was cross stitching and asked me if I wanted to learn. And I did! I picked out a project from one of her magazines and we went out and she bought me the stuff I needed. Cool eh?" she asked, holding it up for Meredith to see. It was a large picture, a loose bunch of poppies. It was beautiful.

"Wow" she replied. "That's really really good!"

"It's really fun, seriously." Leah said, taking it back from Meredith.

"So you had a good time at Holly's then?"

"Yeah, it was good. Their new puppy is so cute...I played with her most of the time, and played with Cora."

"Good, I'm glad. Holly just loves you." Meredith commented. Since Leah began to get into trouble a couple of months ago, Meredith decided that it would be a good idea for her not to be left at home alone as much. Since she worked a lot, there weren't many options. The best was to have her go over to Meredith's best friend and co-worker Holly's house. She was on maternity leave, and really did adore Leah, they got along perfectly. And Holly's eight year old daughter Cora LOVED Leah...idolized her even. And Leah was great with her. Meredith hadn't heard one word of complaint from Holly about Leah's behaviour...not because Holly wouldn't tell her, but because there were no behaviour issues...Leah was perfect when she was with Holly....

"So tomorrow we're going to the movies right?" Leah asked, pulling thread through a hole, not taking her eyes off her work.

"Well....I actually have to work...something came up at the last minute" Meredith explained.

Leah stopped working on her project and looked at her sister.

"What?"

"Well....a few things. The Food Network wants me to tape a couple of shows, and have a meeting with someone new who they want me to fund."

"You promised!" Leah cried dramatically.

"I know sweetie, we'll do it next weekend for sure."

"Meredith, that's what you said when you broke your promise to go to the movies LAST weekend! Why didn't you say no!?"

"Because...it's a really good opportunity for me" she explained.

"For YOU. You're just like Mom and Dad" Leah spat at her, and quickly picking up her stuff, she left the room.

Meredith cringed at the idea of having to deal with Leah. When she was upset she tended to lash out and be completely uncooperative. She left her alone in her room all night, figuring that if she wanted to talk, Leah could come to her. Otherwise she'd just end up starting a bigger fight than she was already dealing with. She sent John up with Leah's dinner, and apparently she was civil to him, but did express her unhappiness with Meredith's lack of being around. John also told her that she'd have to go to Holly's tomorrow instead of stay home, since he was working too. She told him that she wouldn't be going to Holly's, and that he couldn't make her. He didn't argue with her, he just left her alone.

Meredith didn't sleep much that night. Leah had been so good lately....back to the Leah she was used to. Sweet, kind, polite, and fun to be around all the time. She had been accepting when she didn't get her own way, she'd been obedient and respectful, and hadn't gotten into any trouble at school. She hadn't been punished in months. Meredith didn't want that to change. She dreaded the morning when she had to get Leah up and take her to Holly's. Although Leah had always enjoyed going to Holly's and spending her time with her, and not once expressed any displeasure in not going, Meredith suspected that the next day would be different. And she was right.

"Leah!" Meredith called, while knocking on her door for the second time that morning, and for the second time got no response. She had no choice but to go in. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Leah was laying in bed facing away from the door, and appeared to be sleeping. Meredith went around to the other side and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Leah" she said softly. "It's time to get up sweetie...Leah" she said gently shaking her. Leah slowly opened her eyes and woke up.

"What?" she asked, extremely unenthusuastically.

"It's time to get up" Meredith whispered. Leah looked over at the clock.

"It's 6...it's Saturday. Go away" she said. Yep, Meredith thought, here we go.

"I'm gonna drop you off at Holly's, pumpkin...come on" she said.

"I said I wasn't going to Holly's" Leah responded.

"You don't have a choice...so please Leah, get up and get dressed" Meredith all but begged.

"I'm a person, I have a choice" Leah said bitterly. "And I'm choosing to stay home."

"I'm sorry you're upset Leah...but it happens. I don't want to go to work today...I would so much rather spend the day with you. But I don't really have much of a choice sweetie...so please, if you get up we can do something tonight when I get home. Dinner maybe? At.....Riley's?" Meredith was definately not beyond bribing her sister at this point. All she wanted was for Leah to get up and get into the car without gaving a tantrum. When Leah still didn't move she had to throw in a threat. "And you know the consequences for not listening" she said more sternly. Leah rolled her eyes at this, and got up.

"What, are you gonna stay and watch me get dressed?" Leah asked rudely.

Meredith let it go. She got up and silently left the room.

The drive to Holly's was silent and tense. They pulled into her driveway and got out. Meredith rang the doorbell and Holly answered.

"Gooood Morning!" she sang.

"Morning!" Meredith exclaimed, handing her friend a coffee.

"Ooooh, thank you" Holly said.

Meanwhile Leah had walked in, kicked her boots off and gone into the livingroom.

"Hey, Leah, be good okay? I'll be back soon and we'll go for dinner" Meredith called, and Leah didn't respond.

"What's with her?" Holly asked.

"She's a little upset because I wasn't supposed to be working today. Hopefully she'll get over it. If she gives you any problems just call me okay?"

"Yep, don't worry about it" Holly said, and Meredith left.

As Meredith walked up Holly's driveway at the end of her long day she assumed that all had been well, since she didn't hear anything from Holly. She opened up the door and let herself in. There was no laughter...there was no TV on...the baby wasn't even crying. It was a little eerie. She found Holly in the kitchen getting dinner ready.

"Hey you" Meredith said.

"Oh...hi" Holly said.

"How was your day?"

"Our day was....a little rough" Holly said smiling.

"Rough? What did she do?" Meredith asked, sighing.

"Well...we had some attitude issues."

"Holly...I know how she is, don't worry about hurting my feelings. What happened?"

"Well...she was just so rude about everything. She even told the baby to shut up once. And not in a joking way. She wouldn't listen to me...she wouldn't eat a thing...she freaked out when Cora left to go to a friends' house....it was pretty bad."

Meredith looked very unimpressed.

"I'm so sorry Holly" she said.

"Oh Mere, it's okay! I have one, I know what they're like!"

"I'm so embarassed. I know she's mad at me, but she loves you, I thought she'd be fine once she got here!"

"It's okay Mere...it's happened to me..a lot. Cora isn't perfect, trust me!"

"Where is she now?" Meredith asked.

"She's in my bedroom with a book....she's in time out."

"Oh God...my thirteen year old still needs to be in time out....it's horrible!" Meredith exclaimed half-jokingly. Holly just laughed at her. Meredith went down the hall and opened up the bedroom door. Leah was sitting on the bed reading. When the door opened she looked up.

"Hi" Leah said. Meredith crossed her arms and leaned against the door way. "I'm glad you came, I'm starving. I think I'm gonna have a wrap at Riley's."

Meredith just looked angrier and angrier and, shaking her head, approached the bed and sat down.

"What?" Leah asked innocently.

"Do you think Holly and I don't talk to eachother?"

"What?"

"Do you think she didn't tell me about how you acted today? No wonder you're starving, you refused to eat all day!"

"....oh" Leah said, looking back down at her book. Meredith reached out and took the book from her.

"Leah....you're not five...you can't just be a jerk to people when you don't get your way. I thought we'd taken care of this kind of behaviour, but obviously we haven't. I don't know what to do with you! I don't know how to make you stop doing this stuff!" she exclaimed, frustrated.

"I'm sorry" Leah said, almost surprised that Meredith was so upset.

"No you're not. You're sorry you're in trouble. You aren't sorry about your behaviour at all" Meredith said angrily. "Let's go. And I want an apology to Holly, and I'm not kidding" Meredith said, standing up. Leah followed her out into the kitchen.

"Leah?" Meredith said, when Leah was standing next to her sister awkwardly, but not saying anything.

"Sorry I was so rude today Holly" she said, looking down.

"Ohh it's okay, we all have bad days" Holly said, and bent down to hug Leah.

"I'm so sorry Holly...again. We'll see you Monday....if that's still okay?"

"Of course!! Don't be ridiculous" Holly said.

The drive home was silent until Meredith drove past the street that Riley's was on.

"What about dinner?" Leah asked, her voice small and quiet.

"Are you serious?! Did you seriously just ask me that? Do you think you deserve to be taken out for dinner after your behaviour today?!" Leah didn't say anything.

When they got home and into the house, Meredith asked Leah what she wanted for dinner.

"A wrap from Riley's" Leah said, pouting.

"I don't want to hear another word about that unless it's to say "you're right Meredith, I don't deserve to go out for dinner, I'm sorry" Otherwise, not another word" she said firmly, and then turned to start heating up some leftover lasagna from the previous night. Before Leah had a chance to escape, Meredith pointed to a chair at the table. "You can sit there and wait for dinner" she said. Leah pouted, and sat down.

"I just...I don't understand you Leah. You can be so amazing and then flip and be just horrible. I know you understand what you're doing....but I don't understand why. Are you trying to get attention? Because really Leah, the way to get attention is to be good....and you know that. Can you explain it to me?" she asked, turning to look at her sister.

"No...I don't know" Leah said quietly. "I don't know why I did that. I was mad at you."

"I know you were, but I would have thought that your last punishment would have taught you that you can't lash out at others because you're mad at me."

Leah blushed at the thought of her last punishment. She was spanked, months ago, by both John and Meredith. It had been the worst week ever, and both spanking hurt so much that she'd been on her best behaviour since. She didn't respond.

"Maybe it's time you go to some sort of councilling" Meredith said.

"What? No way!" Leah responded.

"We'll talk about that later" Meredith said.

"No we won't because I'm not going...not now, not ever."

"I said we'll talk about it later. We have other things to talk about right now young lady, like how we should handle your behaviour today? Holly is my best friend Leah, and I'm really very upset that you treated her so badly. After everything she does for you. I really thought you were better than that" she said, placing a plate of lasagna in front of her sister, and then retrieving her own plate and sitting down next to her at the table. "Ya know, if you keep doing things like this people will stop liking you" Meredith said.

"Can we just talk about something else? I said I was sorry!" Leah said rudely.

"And since when does saying you're sorry fix everything?" Meredith asked her. Leah didn't respond. "We have to talk about this Leah, it isn't funny. It's actually very disappointing for John and I. We want you to be the best you can, and treating other people badly is not something we want. Do you at least understand why I'm upset?"

"Yes I understand why you're upset! I was rude to Holly! I made her whole day miserable and I did it on purpose to make you mad! But can't you understand why I'm upset Meredith?!"

"Yes I do know why you're upset, but there isn't anything I can do about it! I had to work!! I offered to take you out for dinner! And we could have gone to the movies tomorrow! It's not like I'm never here....I'm here almost every weekend and I'm here with you after school every day! So don't even go there. Don't start comparing me to Mom and Dad because I won't listen to any of it. I'm here with you always, and just because you had to miss one movie....I just can't believe how selfish you're being" Meredith finished. There were a few minutes of silence, and then Leah spoke.

"I don't think you're like Mom and Dad" she said quietly without looking up. "I'm sorry I said that yesterday"

"It's okay" Meredith said.

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, and when she was finished Leah got up, rinsed her plate off, and put it in the dishwasher. She began to walk out of the kitchen.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Meredith demanded.

"Can I be excused?" Leah asked.

"Yes, you may be excused, you can go up to my bedroom and stand in the corner and wait for me."

"I'm getting a spanking?!" she cried, exhausted and scared.

"Yes you're getting a spanking Leah. So please go wait for me in the corner" Meredith said evenly. Leah turned and stomped out and up the stairs.

Meredith waited another half hour before going up to deal with her sister. She entered her bedroom and Leah was standing in a far corner of the room. Meredith closed the door softly behind her. She sat on the edge of her bed facing Leah.

"Leah?" she said. Leah turned around, but didn't move. "What you did today....how you treated Holly....I know that you know it was wrong. Our actions have consequences, which for you, means a spanking. You know that, and you chose to act badly anyways, so you have to be punished." Meredith said calmly.

"Please don't Mere...please. I'll do anything you want, just...don't spank me." Leah pleaded, with tears rolling down her face. Her last spanking, the worst one ever, was still fresh in her memory and she was terrified to be back in that position.

"Leah, I know that you don't enjoy being spanked, and I know it hurts. That's why it's a good punishment. You know that what you did was wrong, so please, just come here" Meredith repeated.

"No, please...I don't want a spanking"

"I'm not going to ask again. Come here" Meredith said more sternly. Leah didn't move.

"No. I'm too old to be spanked! Find some other way to punish me, this is just stupid!" Leah protested.

"Look Leah," Meredith said, her patience running very short. "I've told you a hundred times before that you are not too old to be spanked. And besides that, if you're willing to act like a little kid, then you'll be punished as one."

"No" Leah said. "I'm serious"

"Alright, fine. I'm not going to force you to come over here. You're old enough to accept your punishment and deal with it. So until you're ready to do so, you can turn back around and stay right where you are. I have time, I'll wait. Just let me know when you're ready" Meredith said. Leah looked frustrated, let out an angry sigh and turned back around. Meredith picked up a magazine, and leaned up against the head of the bed and started to read.

She wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing. She was essentially letting Leah choose when she would be punished. Didn't that kind of contradict the whole idea of a punishment? But dragging her across the room and forcing her to bend over her knees and holding her down....would that also contradict the idea of punishment? She wanted Leah to understand her misdeeds and realize that she broke a rule, and when that happens, punishment follows.
Leah on the other hand, was just getting more and more frustrated. She was a little bit surprised that Meredith hadn't taken her hand and forced her to accept her spanking because that's what she had done in the past. But she also knew from experience that her sister wouldn't back down....ever. Not when what Leah had done was obvious and uncomplicated. She weighed her options. She could stand in the corner for the rest of her life, or she could just get the spanking over with. Part of her thought that maybe if she stood there long enough, Meredith might just get tired or bored and tell her to go to bed or something. But she doubted it.

An hour and a half passed and neither had said a word. Meredith had moved on to making notes for work on Monday and Leah had crossed her arms and was leaning on the wall, her nose still in the corner. She was bored to death, and her legs hurt from standing there. She took a deep breath, and knowing that Meredith didn't have any plans of backing down, she slowly turned around, and leaned against the corner.

"I'm sorry for what I did today" she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks once again. She forced herself to move from her safe haven (the wall), and went to the bed, and sat down. Meredith sat up and put her arm around Leah, who leaned on her.

"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me" Leah begged.

"You just need to think before you act Leah" Meredith said gently. "You're a good person sweetie...you just need to think."

"I know, I'm sorry" she said again.

"Alright, it's okay" Meredith soothed. Leah leaned against her and eventually stopped crying.

They were both quiet, both thinking about things. Once Leah seemed calm, Meredith decided to try again.

"Thank you for doing as you were told....even though it took a while, you still did it. So I would like you to stand up please" she said. Leah looked at her for a minute, wiped her face, and stood up.

"I'm going to spank you with my hand, and then with the paddle" Meredith said.

"The paddle? What paddle?" Leah asked, panicked.

"It's new, a friend gave it to me actually. It's not made of wood, but similar. That way it won't bruise your skin" she explained, believing that Leah shouldn't be too terrified.

"Oh.." Leah said regretfully, and with a shake in her voice.

Meredith reached out and began to pull Leah's pants down. She hadn't gotten very far when Leah's hands grasped her own, trying to stop her. All Meredith had to do was shoot Leah a warning look, and Leah took a deep breath, let out a sigh, and let go. Meredith nodded approvingly and slid the pants down to Leah's knees. She then lead her over her lap so that her top half was resting on the bed. It was a little awkward for them both...it had been so long since either of them had been in this position. Leah felt that familliar warmth of Meredith's free hand wrapping around her stomach, making contact with her bare skin, and pulling her close.

Meredith hardened her palm, lifted it into the air, and snapped it back down, creating the slap that was so familiar to both of them. She did the same again, and again. Before long Leah was letting out the regular "oww" and "ohhh" and "ahh"'s and was almost crying a little. As Meredith spanked, she made sure to cover every part of Leah's pantied bottom...all the way from the top of her panties to the tops of her knees. The spots that got the most reaction were the "sit spots" and Meredith took note of that. Meredith tried to focus on the rhythmic sounds of slapping rather than her little sister's cries and begging. She knew Leah was sincere. She wasn't one to fake cry to get let off easy. Meredith could feel her stomach moving up and down as she cried and tried to breathe.

She stopped spanking for a minute.

"Stand up Leah" she commanded. It took a minute, but Leah stood up, with the help of her sister. Meredith hooked her fingers into the waistband of Leah's panties at her hips, and slid them down, without taking her eyes off Leah's face once.

"I don't want to ever have to speak with you about this again. Do you understand?" Meredith asked. When Leah didn't respond Meredith landed a hard spank to Leah's now bare bottom.

"Oww!" Leah cried, reaching her hands back to rub. Meredith reached around Leah and pried her hands away and held them tightly.

"Do you understand?" Meredith asked again slowly.

"Yes" Leah said, crying.

"Good" Meredith said, and guided Leah back over her lap. She picked up this new paddle and looked at it for a minute. It was very thin....and almost looked a little flexible. It looked like wood, but wasn't. Hopefully it would make a point. She pinned Leah's legs between her own and gently twisted Leah's outer arm behind her back and pinned it there.

"Noo!" Leah cried.

"I don't want to hurt you with this. If you reach your hand back it might get hit" Meredith explained calmly. All Leah did was continue crying.

Leah was trembling in anticipation for the first spank with this new implement, and so was Meredith. It made her a little nervous. She took a deep breath, lifted it, and slapped it back down very sharply. Leah cried out, and Meredith continued. She covered her entire bare bottom until it was glowing, and then moved to Leah's upper thighs. She snapped the paddle down again and again, and then moved back to Leah bottom. She alternated cheeks, and used even force. Leah was crying and begging her to stop. Meredith of course, didn't.

"Owww" Leah cried. "It stings.....it really stings Meredith....pleeeeeaaaaseeeeeee stop!!!" Leah begged. Meredith ignored her. This took all of Leah's breath, so instead of crying again, she went back to crying.

Meredith placed a few more forceful spanks, and then spoke very sternly.

"Leah, will we have to deal with your rudeness again?"

"Noo" Leah cried.

"And will you act gracefully when you don't get your own way?"

"Yessss" she cried.

"You will spend the rest of your evening writing an apology letter to Holly and we'll take it over tomorrow, do you understand?"

"Yes" she cried a lot quieter.

"Good" Meredith said. She lifted the paddle again, and delivered the hardest spanks yet to Leah's sit spots. Leah screamed bloody murder. It's a good thing the windows were closed.

Meredith set the paddle down on the bed and released Leah's arm. She also unclamped her legs.

"Alright sweetie, we're finished, it's over. I forgive you" Meredith said softly, and Leah cried and said she was sorry repeatedly. She eventually allowed Meredith to help her up. She stepped out of her panties that were twisted around her feet, and Meredith hugged her close. After a few minutes she let her go.

"Why don't you go get your pjs on and meet me in the kitchen...we'll work on your letter"

"Okay Mere...I'm so sorry"

"I know you sweetie....it's over now" she said, and Leah turned, not at all concerned with modesty at this point, and, rubbing her bottom the whole way, left and went into her bedroom.

Leah 14

As the end of the week approached Leah became more apprehensive. She had been very well-behaved after John spanked her, and showed him the respect that she usually did. She remained grounded, and did so obediently, not going anywhere without John's permission and accompaniment. Despite Leah's prayers and hopes, Friday eventually came and she had to face Meredith, who had promised her a "much worse spanking" than John had given her, which had hurt plenty.

Leah was in her room reading when she heard the door open. She heard some commotion coming from their dog Shep and then heard Meredith's bubbly, friendly greeting to Shep and John. Despite her fear Leah was extremely happy that Meredith was home. She had never been away from her for an entire week before. She tossed her book onto the bed, not caring that she lost her page, and ran downstairs into Meredith's open arms.

"Meredith! I missed you!" Leah cried happily. Meredith hugged her tightly.

"Missed you too baby" she said, kissing the top of Leah's head.

They all went into the kitchen. Leah and Meredith sat down on island stools and John poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and set it down infront of his wife.

"Thanks honey" Meredith said sweetly, scrunching up her face jokingly. He leaned in and kissed her.

"So how was the rest of the book tour?" John asked, sitting down across from them.

"Amazing. It was just great to be able to meet so many people, and so many of them had ideas to give me and suggestions for future books"

"That's great" John said.

"And Leah, you would have loved to see some of the kids! There were adorable little 3 year olds coming up and telling me that they wanted to be a cook because of me. It was so touching"

"Did you take lots of pictures?" Leah asked.

"I sure did, and tomorrow after I develop them we'll have to have a scrapbooking date!"

"Sweet!" Leah said, secretly hoping that she'd forgotten everything that Leah did.

"And...." Meredith started as she reached into the bag that sat by her feet, "Look what I found!" she pulled out a glass donkey figurine. "A glass donkey!" John and Meredith had a thing for donkeys, and collected figurines to decorate their kitchen.

"Oh cool! We don't have a glass one!" John exclaimed, taking the donkey and admiring it.

"And I got you...this shirt!" she said, pulling out a rocker t-shirt, another collection that John was working on.

"Aw thanks baby!" he said, kissing her.

Leah looked at Meredith shyly and asked "Did you bring anything for me Mere?"

"I did, but I bought it before John told me about your behaviour. I couldn't return it, but you won't be getting it until your behaviour improves" she said firmly. Leah's heart sank. She did remember.

"What is it?" Leah asked hopefully.

"It's a Nintendo DS" Meredith said. Leah didn't usually like video games, but had been begging for a DS since she played with one at a friend's house and fell in love with it.

"Really?" Leah asked, brightening.

"Yes, really. But don't get too excited, you're not going to be playing it anytime soon." Leah looked away, wiping a tear that had gotten away from her. "So, we have a lot to talk about don't we young lady?" Meredith asked. Leah nodded sadly. "Have you been behaving since we last talked?" Meredith asked.

"Yes" Leah said respectfully.

"John?" Meredith asked.

"She's been very good"

"Good, I'm glad to here that your spanking from John was effective" Meredith said. Leah blushed and looked away, embarassed. "Look Leah," Meredith said gently, "I know we said that John would never spank you, but we didn't know what else to do. We were very worried that something could have happened to you. You weren't where you said you'd be...it was night time, you could have been anywhere." Meredith took hold of one of Leah's hands, and Leah finally looked at her. "We just didn't want something bad to happen to you sweetie. It's dangerous to be out at night alone, and we didn't want you to get hurt"

"I know that. I wasn't alone, but I know you guys didn't know that. I'm sorry" Leah said genuinely.

"I'm just....I'm so disappointed that I couldn't leave you alone for one short week without you getting into trouble! I so want to trust you Leah, but I just can't" Meredith lectured. "John is so kind to you, and he would do anything for you, and you treated him so horribly. I'm so embarassed that you did that" she said.

"I'm sorry" Leah said, obviously near tears. "I wasn't doing anything because I wanted to disappoint you and John. I was mad! I was mad that I couldn't see Mom and Dad, and I wanted to....I wanted to get back at you" Leah said, the last part very quietly.

"Sweetie, I understand that you're upset about that, but you have to trust me. You have to trust that I do what's best for you. It's okay to be mad at me, and it's okay to tell me that you're mad and we can talk about it. But it's not okay to lash out at John to get some sort of revenge on me. That's immature and irresponsible, and trust me Leah, this is the last time anything like that will happen, I'm going to make sure of it." Meredith said, not so gently. That last sentence really got Leah's attention and her heart began to race, and her stomach knot.

"I....I know" Leah stammered nervously. "John punished me, and I apologized, and I was good for the rest of the week. I wasn't thinking. I know now that what I did was wrong, and I promise, I'll never do anything like that again" she said.

"John did punish you, for disobeying him. But I'm going to have to punish you as well. You disobeyed me, and lied, and you acted horribly. I take this sort of behaviour very seriously Leah, it isn't a joke. You could have been seriously hurt, and nobody would have known. Not to mention the trust issue we now have. I think it would be best if we dealt with this right away, so I would like you, please, to go up to my room, find a corner, and stand in it. Understand?"

"Yes" Leah said tearfully, and ran upstairs. She figured that there was point in running, it would only make things worse for her. She did as she was told, found an empty corner near the window, and stood in it. She had nothing to do but think. Unfortunately, the longer she thought about it, the more convinced she became that this was all her sister's fault. She should have let her see their parents! If she had, none of this would have been happening. Although on a rational level Leah knew that she was just trying to pass the blame off on someone else, but she was upset, andn when she was upset she didn't think rationally. Besides, she was too old to be spanked. None of her friends were (she didn't think), and there was no way she was giving in to this punishment easily. She had already been punished! Meredith was, in Leah's very upset and panicky mind, being extremely unfair. Leah huffed in frustration, turned around, and stomped out of the room, across the hall into her own room, slammed the door, and flopped down on her large over-stuffed chair, crossing her arms angrily.

About a half hour later Meredith came upstairs to find her bedroom empty.

"Leah?" she called out to...the empty room, not knowing what kind of answer to expect. She turned around and noticed that Leah's bedroom door was closed. She crossed the hall and opened the door to see Leah sitting, angrily in her chair.

"What are you doing?" Meredith said, entering the room, and sitting on the end of Leah's bed to face her in the chair.

"You're not giving me a spanking" Leah said through clenched teeth.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asked, shocked and considerably angry.

"You heard me" Leah said sarcasitcally. Meredith didn't want to use force to make Leah cooperate, so she decided on talking it out.

"First, I'd like you to lose the attitude" she said firmly. "Second, you know better than to argue with a punishment. If you don't march yourself back across the hall and into my room right now, you're going to be in a lot more trouble young lady" Leah didn't move. Meredith stared at her with "the look" on her face, and waited. Still, nobody moved.

"Is there something you'd like to talk about?" she asked. Leah said nothing for a few minutes, but Meredith waited. Finally she spoke, not as bravely.

"John already spanked me" she said quietly, losing her nerve, and looking down.

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm punishing you now. Is that all that's bothering you? I told you on the phone that you'd be getting a spanking when I got home, so it's not a surprise" Leah was silent for another moment.

"Did you see Mom?"

"No sweetie, I didn't."

"For real?"

"Yes, for real. They called and said that something came up, they were busy."

"Oh."

"We can talk about that later, no more stalling. I want you in my room NOW" Meredith said, not allowing herself to be swayed by the little girl's hurt feelings.

"No, I said" Leah replied, not nearly as bravely as she had started out.

"You will not say no to me Leah. Go!" Although frightened, Leah still didn't move. "I've had enough of this Leah," Meredith said, standing up, firmly grasping Leah's upper arm, and pulling out of the chair.

"Don't!" Leah protested, but to no avail. Meredith practically dragged her across the hall and into her room, only releasing her to close the door and stand in front of it, blocking Leah's only escape. Knowing she was now trapped, Leah started to cry. She turned around to face a wall and buried her head in her hands and cried. Meredith went to her and wrapped her arms around her, holding her until she calmed down enough to talk to. Meredith released her a little, but still held onto her.

"What's wrong Leah?" she asked sympathetically.

"Nothing" she sniffled.

"Why are you so upset? Is it because you're getting a spanking, or is it for some other reason?"

"I don't know" Leah said, unable to figure out what was really wrong herself.

"Do you want me to leave you here for a little while so you can calm down and have some time to yourself?" she asked. Leah nodded. "Alright, hop up" Meredith said, tapping her bed, and handing Leah the tv remote. "I'll be back in a half an hour....don't leave this room okay?"

"Okay" Leah said, and Meredith left. Leah curled up on the large bed and hugged a pillow close.
Meredith returned, as promised, a half hour later to find Leah exactly as she left her. As soon as she entered the room Leah sat up.

"I'm sorry" she said immediately. "I was....I was just really frustrated."

"It's okay to be frustrated, but you need to learn to deal with it differently. You can't disobey me and fight with me anymore okay?"

"I know...sorry" Leah said quietly.

Leah wanted to badly to communicate with Meredith about why she was upset, but she herself wasn't sure, and Meredith knew this. She didn't push it.

"Are you ready to deal with this?" Meredith asked more kindly.

"I guess" Leah said quietly, looking away.

"Good. Can you tell me why you think I'm so upset?"

"Because.....I treated John really badly, I lied to him, and when you left I told you I'd be good and I wasn't...so I lied to you too." Leah responded, looking away.

"Yes, you're right" she said, gently pulling Leah up and off the bed. She sat down, and held Leah in front of her. She unbuttoned her jeans as she spoke, and slowly pulled them down. "And you knew exactly what was expected of you while I was away. We talked about it, and you said that you'd behave and listen to John. And you didn't. This is serious, I need to know that I can leave you for a couple days without worrying that you'll make John's life miserable" she lectured. Leah looked away, a tear falling down her face.

"Look at me please Leah" Meredith said gently, and Leah looked back at her sister, struggling to keep eye contact.

Meredith hooked her fingers in Leah's snug, plain blue panties and, still looking into Leah's eyes and lecturing her, pulled them down to rest just above her knees. Leah gasped a little, but did nothing. Meredith pulled Leah over her lap, pulled her close with one arm, and began spanking with the other.

The first spank took Leah's off guard. Usually Meredith didn't start off so hard. Her hand felt like a solid piece of wood! She alternated between cheeks, spanking with force, but not great speed. Before long Leah was gasping, and soon after that, crying. Meredith didn't leave any area of Leah's small bottom untouched, and before long it was glowing bright pink. Leah was kicking and struggling, and Meredith had to tighten her grip.

"Please.....please stop!" Leah cried, sniffling. Meredith ignored her, and continued, moving from her bottom to her thighs. This made Leah cry harder.

"No! Stop! It hurts too much!"

"It's supposed to hurt Leah, and this is just the beginning"

Upon hearing this horrible news Leah bunched the comforter up in her hands, put her head down, and cried, while occasionally crying out a long "Noooo"

Meredith continued, restraining Leah as best she could. Once she had achieved an even deep pink colour, she stopped. She helped Leah up, and had her step out of her panties. Her pants had flown off long ago. She led her to the corner, and placed her in it. Leah reached back and attempted to rub her bottom, against her better judgement. Meredith delivered two firm and stinging swats to her upper thighs.

"Owww!" Leah cried, turning around.

"You know better than that" Meredith lectured, gently turning Leah back around to face the corner. "No rubbing, and no turning around, understand?"

"Yes" Leah sniffled, and then continued to cry.

She could hear Meredith shuffling around behind her, but didn't dare turn around again. Meredith was digging through her drawers looking for the belt that she usually used on Leah...although it had only been used twice in the past. Although some might not agree that this was a serious enough offence to warrant application of the belt, Meredith took this very seriously. In her mind Leah could have been killed while she was out, and nobody would have known because nobody knew where she was. Eventually she found the inch and a half wide plain brown belt. She took it out of the drawer, and placed it on the bed. She approached Leah, and turned her around. She was still crying softly. At first glance she didn't notice anything different. But then her gaze swept across the bed and she saw the belt.

"Nooo" she cried, breaking out in sobs.

"Yes Leah. What you did was very serious, so we have to deal with it very seriously" Meredith chided. She gave Leah a minute to calm down a little, and accepting her fate, she did. Meredith led her over to the end of the bed and bent her over it. Once in position over the tall bed Leah's feet didn't touch the floor. She felt so helpless. Meredith handed her a pillow.

"Hold onto this. I don't want to see your hands behind you once. Understand?"

"Yes" Leah responded pitifully, in such a way that made Meredith so sad that she had to do this.

Meredith moved behind Leah to one side, picked up the belt, and doubled it, holding the buckle in her hand. She placed her other hand on Leah's lower back and pressed down, securing her somewhat in place. She didn't waste any time in delivering the first spank. She held the belt away from her and swung it sharply, but not too forcefully onto the middle of Leah's already-pink bottom.

"Ahhh-owwwww!" Leah cried, surprised. It had been quite a while since she last felt the bite of leather, and had forgotten just how much it stung. Her feet instinctively shot up, bending at her knees. Meredith gave her a few seconds, and when she still didn't more her feet Meredith tapped them gently with the belt.

"Feet down Leah" she said firmly but kindly, and Leah reluctantly complied.

She pressed down harder on Leah's back and continued to deliver several very fast spanks with the belt, which left Leah screaming out and crying.

"Stop.....please stop" she sobbed, but didn't move.

Meredith then slapped the belt down a bit gentler onto Leah's thighs. She quickly spanked every inch, moving from the crease of her bottom to just above her knees. Leah screamed the whole time, and Meredith had to numb herself from the noise. She then went back up, leaving her thighs a deep pink colour, with a couple tiny darker areas that would likely turn into bruises. Meredith decided to finish up and delivered four extra hard spanks to the middle of her bottom, all int he same place. Leah again, let out one long howl, expressing her pain.

Meredith put the belt down, sat down next to Leah and rubbed her back.

"I'm finished sweetie, it's over" she said, smoothing her now tangled hair.

It took Leah a good few minutes until she tried to get up, but the movement hurt her bottom and made her cry more. Once standing she tried to reach back and rub her stinging bottom but Meredith caught her hands and held them.

"Not yet" she said gently, looking at her sister's tear-streaked, red face and messed hair. Leah jumped up and down a little, and cried through gritted teeth. Meredith pulled her close, still holding her hands tightly so that she had to feel the pain just a little while longer, which Meredith thought, emphasized her point....which it certainly did.

Leah leaned against her sister and cried.

After a few minutes Leah stopped crying as hard, and was just sniffling a little. Meredith let go of her hands.

"Your punishment is over.... you can rub" she said. And immediately Leah's hands gently rubbed her throbbing bottom. "I'm going to leave you to get dressed okay? And you can come down when you're ready"

"Okay" Leah said weakly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you" she said smiling, and left the room, softly closing the door behind her.
After a few minutes of rubbing Leah gathered her clothes and opened the door a crack. She looked up and down the hall, didn't see John, and walked across the hall. She definately didn't want him seeing her naked bottom. She went into her room, closed the door, sucked back her tears, dropped her panties and pants in her laundry hamper, and slipped on a loose fitting peasant-type skirt. She carefully lay in her bed on her stomach to cry some more.

Meredith was downstairs with John starting dinner, and secretly worried that Leah would be mad at her and not come down. But, sure enough, about a half hour later Leah came down the stairs, went straight into the kitchen and went to Meredith, and hugged her. Meredith hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry Mere" she said genuinely.

"Thank you sweetie" she said, and released her. She then turned to John.

"And I'm really really sorry for treating you how I did" she said, walking toward John and wrapping her arms around him. He held her in a strong hug for as long as she wanted. When she pulled away she asked if she could help with dinner, and all was forgiven.