Count on Mom

Not long after Ann had been spanked by Karen for neglecting her chores, all four housemates agreed it would be a good idea if they drew up a list of rules for themselves to abide by. And it was agreed that any violations would result in a prompt and public paddling. The resulting list was posted--where else?-- on the refrigerator door, so no one could claim she didn't know the rules. And the sturdy spatula which had so thoroughly warmed Ann's bottom was hung on a hook by the kitchen door, where it served as a constant reminder of proper household conduct.

     And so things hummed along quite nicely among the girls, though, to be frank, all secretly felt that the rules, and the paddle, were being displayed pretty much for Ann's benefit. She was the only one who had been naughty; certainly, none of the other young women routinely stepped out of bounds. But who do you think was next to suffer the indignity of being spanked in front of her friends? Not Ann, certainly-- the memory of her thrashing was still too fresh for her to think of perpetrating new silliness. Not Karen, thoroughly correct Karen, chosen by the others to administer the punishment. Nor practical Linda, who was so efficient, neat, and thoughtful of others.

No, of all people it was Sherry, soft-spoken, sweet-tempered Sherry, the last of the group we would expect to earn a paddling. How could this have come about? Well, it all started with a phone call from her mother....

"Sherry, I'm only forty-eight! I'm not going to crawl into some hole just because your father and I are divorced. Now, listen, Marvin and I are spending the weekend at the lake, and we want you to come up for dinner on Saturday. It would be good for you to get away, and, well, we do have some interesting young men renting this summer that you should really meet."

"Mother, please!" Sherry expostulated. Not only was Madeleine Rinehart always trying to get her daughter married, she was also seeing somebody so soon after the divorce. Well, maybe it wasn't soon exactly. Close to a year, actually.

"Sherry, darling, I love you very much. I always will. And so does your father. He and I will always be friends, but we can't be husband and wife. You're just going to have to get used to it."

The tears were starting even as Sherry hung up. She knew she was being immature. Maybe she did subconsciously want Mom and Dad back together. But she hated to go to the lake to see her mother with-- that man!

So upset was Sherry that she forgot it was Thursday night-- shopping night. Karen was out of town at a teachers' conference, and Sherry had agreed to do the household shopping in her place. Linda, a nurse, was working late and Ann wouldn't return from her sales trip till tomorrow night. So there was no one to remind Sherry of what she had promised to do. The pert little redhead was all alone in the big Victorian house, thinking about Mom, about Dad, about marriage, about the old lake house, and getting more and more upset.

Next morning Linda called her at work.
"There's no coffee, Sherry. Didn't you do the shopping last night?"

"Oh, my God, I forgot! And I have to drive Mr. Johnson to the airport tonight. Can we hold off till Saturday?"

"I have to work today or else I'd do it for you," Linda replied. "But I don't want to fight those crowds this weekend. Besides, I thought you were going to the lake to see your mother."

"I wasn't really looking forward to it. This might be a good excuse to get out of it."

"Whoa, there, sweetheart, I don't think that's such a great idea. There things you and she need to discuss and this sounds like the perfect time."

"Don't you start too, Linda," Sherry pleaded.

Linda persisted. "It's important you go," she continued. "Ann and I will do the shopping on Saturday. No, don't argue, I've made up my mind. But there's just one thing. You are in violation of rule #6: 'All household shopping will be completed by the assigned person on the day designated.'" She paused, then added: "So, Sherry, honey, you can expect a good spanking when you get home tonight."

Sherry sat at her desk dumbfounded. Would Linda actually paddle her?

"Oh, I won't," Linda said candidly. Then she giggled. "But I'm sure Ann would be happy to oblige."

It was after nine o'clock on Friday evening before the three by-now-harried roommates were able to reassemble in the kitchen and talk about the trouble Sherry's forgetfulness would cause.

"After three days at a stupid sales convention, the last place I feel like spending my Saturday is at the supermarket,"Ann remarked heatedly.

"Well, Sherry," asked Linda, wagging her finger, "just what do you have to say for yourself? You did break a posted rule."

"She sure did," a quite-put-out Ann added emphatically.

"I'm sorry, girls," Sherry said. "I know I agreed to the rules just like you did and--" she continued hesitantly, "I agreed to the punishment, too." She stared forlornly at the floor, hands clasped behind her. "So I guess I get a spanking."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Miss," Linda said, somewhat relieved, "because I don't see how you have any way out of it either. So we might as well get it over with right now." She took the spatula down from its hook and handed it to Ann. Ann looked shocked.
"I thought you were going to do it."

"Me? Of course not. I've known Sherry longer than you have. We're too good of friends. You got the last punishment, so now you get to do the spanking."

Ann considered the spatula she was holding. She knew firsthand what it could do to a tender backside. Ann had a temper and was very annoyed at Sherry, but she knew she could never use that paddle on her roommate. She thought about the time Sherry had nursed her through the flu, and of how Sherry had gotten her through the jitters of her last job interview, and the perfect little dress Sherry had lent her for that first date with Paul.

"Sure, I'll spank her-- with a feather!" Ann exclaimed, and she handed the spatula right back to Linda.
Sherry plopped down at the kitchen table and held her head in her hands. She couldn't believe they were going on like this!

"Look," Linda said, "obviously Karen is the one to do it. But she won't be back till Monday. And if she finds out we waited till then, we'll all wind up over her knee!"

"So, what are we going to do?" Ann whined helplessly.

"I think I have a solution," said Linda, brightening. She smiled, quite satisfied with herself. "We'll just tell her mother!"

"You wouldn't!" Sherry gasped.
But Ann's eyes shone with merriment.
"Great idea, Linda!" she said excitedly.

"Ann and I agree, Sherry, so you're outvoted. Like it or not, that's how it will be," Linda spoke with finality.

 Linda made the call. Despite the lateness of the hour and the fact she was driving up to the lake the next morning, Mrs. Rinehart was more than happy to "help out," as she put it, especially where her daughter was concerned. She only asked Linda to tell Sherry to be "properly prepared."

"What did she mean by that, Sherry?" Linda asked.

"It means I'm to wait in the bedroom in my nightclothes," replied a clearly abashed Sherry. She bit her lip. Her mother lived only about ten minutes away. "I'd better get up there."

"Sounds like you've been through this before," Ann commented drily.

"For your information, not since I was seven," Sherry replied, a little heatedly. She said nothing more, but quickly headed upstairs with a worried expression on her face.

"Cup of tea, Mrs. R?" Ann asked as Sherry's mom came in. Ann knew and liked Madeleine Rinehart's brisk, cheerful personality. She had returned to work after raising her children and had become a successful real estate agent. In fact, she had just returned form showing a house when Linda had called. She was still clad in the checked skirt suit she had shown the property in.

"Oh, no, thank you, Ann. I think we should get right to it. Just let me say that I'm glad you girls have such clearly defined rules for getting along. You will all benefit from your foresight."

"Do you need a paddle?" Linda offered. "We have the spatula Ann was spanked with."

"No, thank you, dear. Sherry and I have our own little arrangement, if you don't mind. Now, usually I spank in private, but I understand Sherry saw you get it, Ann, so it's only fair that the two of you accompany me upstairs."

Sherry jumped up quickly when her mother entered the room. She was ready and waiting, wearing a pink nightshirt which ended several inches above her knee.

"I understand my darling daughter has been naughty."

"Yes, mother," a sad little voice answered.

"So you know what you have coming?"

"Yes, mother," came the quiet reply. An even smaller, sadder voice asked, "In front of everyone?"

"They're your friends, darling, and you've caused them a great deal of bother. They have a right to see that you pay for your irresponsibility."

Mrs. Rinehart took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Over Mommy's knee," she said simply.

Sherry complied without hesitation, and Mrs. Rinehart seemed used to just such obedience. The girls surmised that Sherry's last spanking was not quite as long ago as she would have liked them to believe!

As Sherry stretched over her mother's lap, the short nightie crept up her thights as the twin arches of her shapely bottom pulled the fabric tight. No one said a word, no one so much as breathed as Mrs. Rinehart delicately lifted the tail of Sherry's nightie. The roommates were instantly aware that Sherry had foregone the pair of panties she usually wore for modesty's sake. This, evidently, was also what was meant by being "properly prepared." The twin mounds of snow-white flesh glowed in the pool of light from the lamp on the bedside table. Sherry gave a little whimper and hid her face in the bedcovers, while Madeleine's long, manicured fingers smoothed and patted the girl's nervously twitching bottom.

"Mommy doesn't like to spank, Sherry dear, but sometimes she has to. When a girl misbehaves, she has to suffer the consequences." She paused, collecting her thoughts.
"It's very frustrating to need something around the house, and then to find it is unavailable, due to someone's negligence. You let your friends down by your thoughtlessness, is that correct, dear?"

"Yes, mother," Sherry answered hastily. Linda saw the soft, pillowy buttocks quiver and flinch as Madeleine's hand hovered menacingly. Then: SMACK! "Shame on..."SMACK! SMACK!"..you!" SMACK! "At your age!" SMACK! SMACK!

Before Linda or Ann knew it, fifteen or twenty sharp staccato notes had sounded on the upraised bottom, and pink roses were blooming all over Sherry's snowy flanks.

"I'm sorry, mother, I'm sorry," a quavery voice came from the bedcovers.

Mrs. Rinehart stroked the stinging cheeks soothingly. "Good, dear, I hope you take this lesson to heart." Mrs. Rinehart maintained an even, upbeat tone in her voice, as if trying to convey to her daughter her firm belief that Sherry's behavior in the future would be flawless.

As Sherry cried her tears of pain and remorse, her roommates, taken a bit aback by the flurry of spanks, thought, well, good--short and sweet, that's the way to get it over with.

But Madeleine kept Sherry over her knee. She noted the pinkness of Sherry's bottom, then continued. "Now, dear, why didn't the shopping get done?"

"Because I forgot."

"And why did you forget?"

"Because I...I..."

"Because you were moping, isn't that right, dear? You don't like me dating and you didn't want to go the lake to meet Marvin. You could have discussed the matter with me further, or called a friend, or taken a bubble bath, for heaven's sake. Instead, you acted in the most immature way possible. And I've spanked you for this before, haven't I?"

"Yes, mama."

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! The strokes came at a more measured pace. Each healthy wallop landed dead center on Sherry's upraised tush. Ann and Linda watched in fascination as the imprint of Mrs. R's hand on Sherry's bottom deepened and colored. For the next minute or two, there was no sound but that of Mrs. R's palm on bare flesh, till at length she paused again.

"Now, a girl who mopes gets in trouble lots of ways," Madeleine intimated as her daughter sobbed miserably. "Has anything happened at work recently?"

"Oh, mother," Sherry moaned. It was one thing to be spanked, another thing to be spanked bare-bottom, a third thing to be spanked in front of your friends, and now to be subjected to this humiliating line of questioning! This spanking had turned out to be about a thousand times more embarrassing than Sherry had anticipated. She had no choice but to confess to further failings.

"I couldn't keep my mind on my work yesterday. I forgot to notify Mr. Johnson and he almost missed an important meeting."

Madeleine tsked and shook her head. "Some secretary you are! Can you really afford to lose your job?" SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! This time Sherry's flanks received more attention, till the whole expanse of her bottom was glowing a bright red. Having lost the last traces of her dignity, Sherry began involuntarily to twist and kick the bedcovers. Far from being perturbed, Mrs. R seemed pleased by such girlish reaction. Her work was having its effect. After all, a young girl can learn to mend her ways, whereas a stubborn, unrepentant young woman is merely obnoxious.

Suddenly, Mrs. R burst out laughing. "The next time I see Mr. Johnson, I'll tell him not to fire you, Sherry, since you've already been spanked!"

"Mother, no!" Sherry gasped through her tears, then she too couldn't help but laugh. She propped herself up and turne to look at her mother. "Mom, only you could make me laugh in the middle of a spanking!"

"Well, I'm glad you can laugh, dear. I know this hasn't been easy for you, nor, I think, for your roommates. But we do have one more thing to discuss." Everyone got serious again very quickly. "Ten more spanks, Sherry, for the disrespect you've shown Marvin and me. While I spank you, I want you to think about how much I love you, and how I always will love and look after you to the best of my ability."

The spanks came slowly, not real hard, and Sherry accepted them somberly, and pondered as she had been told. Two final little pats on her flaming fanny told her the spanking was over. She pulled down her nightie and unabashedly cuddled on her mother's lap.

"Thanks, Mom. I really needed that," she said quietly. Madeleine kissed her warmly and stroked her hair.

"There are many tears in life, Sherry, but, you know, they usually end like this, in hugs and kisses." She looked at the beaming faces of her daughter's roommates. " I want to thank you girls for giving me the opportunity of spanking Sherry again. Linda, you're our nurse, could you see to it that Sherry's bottom gets some cooling lotion? And, Ann, that cup of tea sounds delightful!"

Sherry slept soundly and late, but made it to the lake by two. The drive wasn't bad, though she was glad she had brought the pillow to sit on on the way up. Dinner was nice, and she guessed that maybe Marvin was kind of cute. Most of all she noticed how happy her mother was around him. And, yes, Mom was right, she did meet some very interesting young men. Mom was always right.  After all, maybe, just maybe, last night's tears would lead to more hugs and kisses than she had ever imagined!