"Noah, no more cookies, baby. It's almost dinnertime." Alex told her five-year-old son as she took the plate of cookies that had been left on the kitchen table and placed them on the kitchen counter out of the little boy's reach.

"Okay, Mama." Noah smiled up at Alex and then ran out the back door to resume playing.

"Oh, sweetheart, a few cookies won't hurt him." Evelyn Cabot informed her daughter, though she made sure Noah was well out of earshot before she said it.

"I know that, Mother, but dinner will be ready in less than an hour and I don't want him to be too full of sweets to eat a healthy meal." Alex resumed chopping carrots.

"I seem to remember a certain little girl who refused dinner because she was too full from eating all of her grandmother's imported chocolates." Paul Cabot teased with a smile as he walked into the kitchen for a glass of water to take his medication with.

"And I was sick for three days, so that just proves my point, Daddy. And I got grounded for a week for taking Grandmother Cabot's chocolates without asking permission." Alex recalled the incident her father was referring to.

"You got off lightly, young lady. I was ready to paddle your behind, but your grandmother convinced me otherwise." Paul winked at his youngest daughter.

Alex couldn't help but smile. She had nothing but fond memories of her father's mother.

"Party in the kitchen?" Olivia asked as she walked in and wrapped her arms around Alex, kissing her neck.

"We were just discussing the time your wife indulged herself a little too much in her grandmother's stash of chocolates. If memory serves, she was about eight at the time." Evelyn smiled at Olivia.

Olivia laughed. It was no secret that chocolate was Alex's weakness. Milk chocolate was her favorite, but dark chocolate would do in a pinch. And Noah was just like his Mama. Most kids enjoy sweets, but anything chocolate was Noah's preference.

"I did the same thing around that age. Except it was my Nanny's stash of pixie stix, and I didn't get off with just a grounding." Olivia chuckled, patting Alex's bottom affectionately and then reaching around her to steal a carrot, earning a playful swat to the back of her hand.

"Stop stealing carrots and call Noah inside to wash up." Alex ordered with a grin as she popped the carrots into the microwave.

The next day, the rest of the family arrived, and Noah had a blast running around with all of his cousins while the adults caught up on each other's lives. Along with their arrival came the showering of gifts from Evelyn and Paul upon all of their grandchildren. Alex bit her tongue as she looked around at all of the junk that they would now have to haul back to the city. And she knew that most of it would be played with for about a week and then forgotten about. The book set was at least somewhat educational and therefore didn't bother her so much, but the rest of it was highly expensive and, in Alex's mind, highly unnecessary. Alex knew full well that it was a grandparent's job to spoil and indulge their grandchildren, and remembered being spoiled rotten by her own grandparents, but she just hoped that these gifts would be the last of the surprises until Noah's birthday rolled around.

"Noah, sweetie, Gramps and I have one more surprise for you." Evelyn informed her grandson on the last day of their visit.

"What is it?! Can I see it?!" Noah asked excitedly.

"It's on the porch, kiddo." Paul pointed toward the front door.

Alex struggled to keep herself from groaning out loud as she followed her parents, wife, and son out to the front porch to see what her parents had spoiled her son with now.

Noah squealed in delight. Alex nearly exploded.

The puppy tied to the porch swing was about ten weeks old. Noah immediately picked it up and giggled happily as the puppy enthusiastically licked his face.

"The neighbor's dog down the road had puppies, so Gran and I picked this one out especially for you. What are you going to name him, sport?" Paul inquired his grandson.

"I'm going to call him Fin!" Noah happily informed the crowd.

As ticked off as she was at her parents, Alex couldn't help but burst into laughter along with her wife. Both women were imagining the look on Detective Fin Tutuola's face when they informed him that a dog had been named after him.

"Honey, take Fin out back and play with him while Mama and Mommy talk to Gran and Gramps, okay?" Alex smiled down at her son, untying the puppy and handing Noah the leash.

"Okay, Mama! Come on, Fin!" Noah took the puppy and went around to the back yard. He was only five years old and he was so excited about his new pet that he didn't even pick up on Alex's change in mood.

"Mother, Daddy, can we talk inside?" Alex asked stiffly as she turned and marched inside.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" Paul asked when the foursome was standing in the living room.

"What the hell do you mean 'what's wrong', Daddy?! Not only have you been indulging Noah's every whim since we got here, but now you spring a damn puppy on us?!"

"Alex, calm down. We thought a puppy would be great for Noah. Peanut was great for teaching you and your sister responsibility." Evelyn reasoned calmly.

"Yes, Mother, but this is completely different! You were a stay-at-home mom and were able to make sure that Addison and I took the responsibility of feeding Peanut every morning and evening, walked her every day after school, picked up after her, and bathed her. Liv and I both have jobs and can't be there every day after school. Lucy is the one who takes care of Noah after school most days until we get home and now she has the responsibility of taking care of a child and a dog. Not to mention that Peanut was quite literally the size of a peanut! Fin is going to be quite a bit bigger when he grows up, and along with big dogs comes big messes. A dog that size will destroy our apartment! Did you think about any of that?!" Alex's tone dripped with sass and attitude.

"Alexandra, you can be angry with me all you want, but you will not take that disrespectful tone with me." Evelyn warned sternly. She still expected her children to respect her.

Olivia hung back quietly, trying to decide what her place was in this situation. If they were at home, then by this point in the conversation, she would have hauled Alex across her knee for being disrespectful, but this conversation was between Alex and Evelyn and therefore really none of her business.

"Screw you, Mother." Alex snapped rudely. She was beyond reason at this point, and nothing short of a sore bottom would snap her out of it.

Olivia was about to jump in and get after Alex when Paul suddenly spoke.

"Young lady, you will apologize to your mother this instant or there will be consequences." Paul's voice took on that 'parental warning tone'. The tone that every child should know better than to mess with, no matter how old they are.

"No, I won't apologize for being a mother. Noah is my son and I do have a say in how he is raised." Alex spat angrily.

Paul's next move surprised everyone. He took off his belt and handed it to Olivia.

"Detective, I suggest you take this and teach Alexandra what happens when she is disrespectful to anyone, let alone her own mother. Alexandra, as much as it pains me, you leave me little choice in the matter. Your mother learned the same lesson with this very belt when she disrespected your grandmother when we were first married, and now it is your turn to learn a lesson in respect." By all rights, Evelyn should be the one to deliver Alex's spanking since she was the one who had been disrespected, but Paul knew that the arthritis in his wife's hands hindered her from such a task.

You could have knocked both Alex and Olivia over with a feather. They had no idea that Paul and Evelyn lived a Domestic Discipline lifestyle. The more that Alex thought about it, though, the more it made sense. She recalled her mother sometimes looking nervous when she sent Alex and her sister off to bed at night. She recalled coming down for breakfast in the morning and sometimes seeing her mother eating standing at the counter instead of sitting at the table. She recalled hearing her mother always address her father as 'Sir' whenever Paul gave a direct order. She recalled not being allowed to go into her parents' closet as a child, and now assumed it was because the closet was where they kept many of their spanking implements, much like Alex and Olivia did.

Evelyn gulped when she saw her husband take his belt off. They had been married for almost fifty years and practiced Domestic Discipline for most of that time, although the implementation of spankings had been temporarily suspended during Evelyn's two pregnancies and replaced by non-physical methods until the babies were born. Evelyn loved and respected her husband, and believed that the lifestyle they lived made her a better wife and mother, and believed that it allowed them to more freely create a happy home for their children, since marital arguments were virtually non-existent and differences of opinion were settled peacefully. Neither of their daughters could even remember their parents raising their voices to each other in anger.

Olivia shook herself out of her momentary shock, and had to admit that her father-in-law was right. Alex had been disrespectful and deserved a good, hard spanking. Olivia took the belt somewhat hesitantly, but as soon as she felt the weight of it in her hand, she came to her senses. She was Alex's Dominant and it was her job to see to it that Alex understood when she crossed a line. She loved Alex too much to let her get away with naughty behavior.

"Alex," Olivia spoke firmly but not unkindly as she placed the belt on the coffee table and sat on the couch, "come here."

Alex immediately recognized the tone that Olivia was using with her, and recognized the position that Olivia was taking. She knew that she was about to get a sound spanking in front of her parents. She also knew full well that no amount of pleading or whining or arguing would change Olivia's mind, and would most likely just make her punishment worse. With a sigh of resignation, Alex made her way over and stood in front of her wife. Alex blushed and hung her head. It didn't matter that these were her parents and that they had seen her bare bottom before. It was still going to be humiliating to be punished by her wife in front of them.

"Look at me, young lady," Olivia ordered, and Alex instantly obeyed, "you have been very naughty today. Why are you being punished?"

"Because I was disrespectful, Ma'am." Alex responded.

"Good girl. Come here." Olivia pulled Alex's jeans and panties down to her knees, guided Alex across her lap, and began to spank her wife with her hand. Tears gathered in Alex's eyes and she hid her face in Olivia's leg as Olivia spanked her good and hard.

Olivia wasn't entirely thrilled about the dog either. The animal was going to be a pain to get home to the city, and their landlord was going to demand a pet fee, which meant that their rent was going to increase. The difference was that Olivia had the good judgment to keep her mouth shut and be respectful of Alex's parents. Their hearts had been in the right place, after all.

Paul and Evelyn watched silently as their youngest daughter received a well-deserved spanking from her wife. Evelyn couldn't help but sympathize with her baby, knowing full well just how much a spanking hurt, and Paul looked on sadly as his beloved 'Daddy's girl' accepted her discipline. When Alex and her sister were growing up, Evelyn had left the discipline up to Paul whenever one of the girls earned a spanking. She just couldn't bring herself to do it, although she supported her husband wholeheartedly whenever physical discipline was deemed necessary, which fortunately wasn't very often since groundings and loss of privileges were usually very effective methods of discipline for the girls, and they were very good girls to begin with so even those were not needed often.

Alex had tears streaming down her face when Olivia let her up off her lap, after two full minutes of spanking. Olivia guided Alex around to the arm of the couch and told Alex to bend over it, an order which Alex reluctantly obeyed. Her bottom was glowing a healthy shade of pink and was properly prepared for the belt.

"Here, princess, hold this. I don't want to have to give you extra swats." Olivia handed Alex one of the couch pillows to hold, and Alex took comfort in being called 'princess'.

"I'm sorry I disrespected you, Mommy." Alex sniffled sadly, looking over at her mother through her tears.

"You are forgiven, darling." Evelyn walked over and kissed her daughter's forehead before walking back over to stand next to her husband. Paul put his arm around his wife as Olivia picked up the belt from the coffee table.

Alex sobbed when the belt landed on her bottom. She tried to be quiet, knowing that her son was outside playing in the yard, but she soon began to cry and buried her face in the pillow to muffle the sound. Alex felt Olivia's gentle hand on the small of her back, helping to keep her in place. She clung to the pillow to keep from reaching back, and crossed her ankles to resist the urge to kick. When she felt Olivia begin to whip her sit-spots, she nearly lost her resolve to be a good girl. The ride home tomorrow was going to be a miserable experience. Alex finally went limp across the arm of the couch and just sobbed brokenheartedly as she waited for her punishment to be over.

Olivia recognized the change in Alex's crying and knew that it was time to stop, so she delivered a final flurry of five swats across the fullest part of Alex's bottom, and she threw down the belt as if it had burned her. Momentarily forgetting that Alex's parents were in the room, Olivia focused all of her attention on her distraught wife, stroking her long blonde hair and cooing tenderly to her as she bent down to kiss her.

"It's all over, angel. That's my good girl. I'm so proud of you, baby. Get up when you want to, sweetheart."

After several minutes of Olivia stroking her hair and rubbing her back, Alex slowly pushed herself up to her feet and stretched out her arms. She didn't care whose arms she ended up in as long as somebody held her. Alex somehow found her way into her mother's arms and cried into her chest, apologizing profusely.

"There, there. It's all right, honey. It's over and forgiven." Evelyn comforted her daughter.

Alex then found her way into her father's arms and cried into his chest as well.

"We love you, sweetheart. You're a good girl." Paul kissed the top of his daughter's head.

"Do you want to lie down, angel?" Olivia asked kindly when Alex was back in her arms where she belonged. Alex nodded against Olivia's shoulder.

"Will you guys keep an eye on Noah out there?" Olivia motioned toward the backyard.

"Of course, dear. Go take care of our girl." Paul nodded.

Olivia picked Alex up in her arms and carried her into the bedroom that they had been occupying for the duration of their vacation, closing the door behind them, continuously cooing in Alex's ear. She positioned them comfortably on the bed and cuddled Alex close to her heart, stroking her hair and rocking slowly, reassuring Alex that she was a good girl and very loved. Alex sobbed as she was cuddled and comforted in her wife's loving arms, clinging to Olivia for dear life. She hadn't been whipped with the belt for a very long time, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind just how much she was loved. Alex eventually fell asleep with Olivia's tender reassurances of love swirling in her ears.

The next morning, it was time to say goodbye. Alex was incredibly sore, but for Noah's sake tried to act as if nothing was wrong as she and Olivia packed up the car, and fortunately the little boy didn't notice when Alex winced occasionally. Fin the dog was placed in a crate and placed in the back of the car. There were hugs and kisses all around, and Noah was buckled into his car seat. When Alex walked around to the front passenger seat, she smiled when she saw the cushion that Olivia had lovingly placed there. It would still hurt to sit, but the cushion would at least make the ride home bearable.

"Mama, what are you sitting on?" Noah asked curiously when he looked up from his new action figure and noticed that Alex was sitting on the cushion.

"Mama woke up with a back ache, buddy, so Mommy put a cushion on her seat to help her back not hurt so much while she's sitting in the car." Olivia explained nonchalantly from behind the wheel.

"Oh, okay." Noah resumed playing with his action figure, satisfied with Mommy's explanation.

Alex smiled at Olivia gratefully, and Olivia winked in return, reaching across to hold her wife's hand. Alex would be sore for a day or two, but she was forgiven and life had returned to normal.