Blake nodded. “Me too.”
“Lines, huh?” Derek asked, folding his arms. “Even if it’s going to be a long one, and you’ll have to do ten for every sticker you made?”
Danny widened his eyes and trying to remember how many stickers they’d made, he said, “We got carried away. It was a group thing, not just one person. So, the punishment should be shared. Just... don’t take away the stuff that helps us feel safe.”
“We can do other stuff, too,” Georgie added. “Like... I don’t know, corner time?
Easton smiled slightly. “We’ll come up with something. Something fair.”
“And boring,” Sam added.
“Oh no.”
Easton had to admit it was pretty amazing how much weight two simple words had when emphasized by a loud, long groan chorused in unison by the five Littles.
Danny grimaced as the Daddies finalized their decision. They might not get spanked this time, but the consequence might be worse.
Lines.
The long kind. The reflective kind. The ones that made your wrist cramp and your brain itch.
Fifteen minutes later, they were seated at one of the large wooden tables in the cafeteria-turned-temporary-detention room. Georgie’s Daddy, Lucas, and the other Daddies were scrubbing glitter from grout and peeling rogue sparkles off signage and their Littles’ punishment was just beginning.
“Eyes down. Pens moving,” Nurse MacIntosh instructed from her post by the coffee machine, her tone brisk but not unkind. “And no sighing louder than a three on the Dramatic Scale.”
Danny sat in the middle, hunched over the page, chewing the inside of his cheek. His fingers already ached, and he was only halfway through the first page filled with the sentence:
I understand that what seems funny to me might be offensive, disruptive, or even frightening to others, and I will think carefully about consequences before taking action because every person at Rawhide deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued.
He was half tempted to add “even if they have no sense of humor” by his own accord but it was probably better to refrain from being a smart-ass, if he didn’t want his ass to smart.
“I’m going to die,” Sadie whispered from his left, her head resting dramatically on her forearm. “We should have taken the paddle.”
Danny’s eyes widened. “You’re a serious masochist, girl, the rest of us nuh-uh.”
“I know,” she grumbled. “But this is too long. I’m filing a formal complaint.”
“Filed and rejected,” Nurse MacIntosh replied, not even looking up from her mug.
Blake scribbled furiously beside Danny, his letters getting increasingly lopsided. “Do you think if I write it faster, it counts double?”
“Nope,” Beverly said sweetly.
On the far end, Lori added a personal flair to her copy, murmuring aloud as she wrote.
“Lori,” her Mommy warned.
“I’m adding sincerity,” she said defensively. “It’s called emotional resonance.”
Danny stifled a laugh, then cursed as he smudged his line with the side of his hand.
“Ugh, it’s turning into a manifesto,” Blake grunted.
Sadie lifted her head just enough to glare. “I want my lawyer.”
“Isn’t he one of your Daddy’s best friends?” Danny muttered.
“Then I want my Daddy.”
