Picking up an extra two hours of overtime had sounded like a great idea at six o’clock, when his brother asked him for the favor. The holidays were coming and Keith had more presents to buy than he’d ever had before. Unfortunately, his body didn’t appreciate the extra abuse and it took the last of his energy to drag himself out of the car and up the front walk.

A dim light shone through the front window from the living room and Keith wondered if Sara was still up or had just left it on for him. When he’d called earlier to see if she minded him working she said it was fine because there was a big assignment for school she needed to get done over Thanksgiving break and she wanted to get it out of the way. Keith thought it was pretty shitty that her professor made them work over the holiday, but apparently that’s how things worked in college. Luckily, he’d never had the need, or desire, to find out for himself. Factory work suited him just fine, except when he was stumbling in at 1:30 in the morning, bone tired and in desperate need of a shower.

Usually he used the locker room at work, but tonight he just wanted to get home. Tomorrow was turkey day and the first holiday he was spending with Sara. Angie and Kevin were hosting dinner and his father would be meeting Sara for the first time. Not that he was worried about his father’s opinion, if he even had one. Keith just didn’t want Sara to feel uncomfortable or intimated by the surly old biker.

Truth be told, Keith was more nervous about meeting Sara’s grandmother tomorrow than she was about meeting his father. Keith had offered to pick her grandma up from the nursing home and bring her over to Kevin’s house for dinner, but Sara said that would be too much excitement for the elderly lady, and that she’d just go for a visit before dinner. She hadn’t actually invited Keith and Carter, but if she was meeting his dad there was no reason Keith shouldn’t meet the woman who raised Sara.

They were at that point in the relationship where he wanted to take the next step and Keith couldn’t wait. If it were up to him, Sara would already be living with him, but he knew she was nowhere near ready for that proposition. He’d actually already suggested it once, and she’d shot him down without even thinking about the possibility. His plan was to back off for a week or two and ask again, and then repeat until she said yes. It just didn’t make any sense for her to be going home to sleep in her house when she spent all the rest of her time at his. Maybe he was rushing things a bit, but he knew how he felt.

The short walk from the car to the front porch felt like it took forever, and when Keith finally reached the door he was so tired he fumbled the keys when he tried to shake out the correct one. He wearily bent down to grab them from where they’d fallen on the porch, resting his hand on the doorknob so he didn’t fall over from sheer exhaustion, and almost hit the ground himself when the knob turned under his hand and the door swung inward a few inches.

What the hell!

Keith gently pushed the door fully open, praying he wouldn’t find his worst nightmare inside. Awful thoughts raced through his mind as he fought to remain quiet and calm. What if someone had broken in and hurt Sara and Carter? What if they were gone?

The light from the living room was on low, but it was enough for him to see, to move around and take stock of what he was facing. There were no telltale wet footprints from the melted snow on the entryway floor and nothing appeared to be broken or tossed around. Actually, everything seemed to be fine.

Keith released the breath he’d been holding when he spotted Sara, fast asleep on the couch, a book lying open on her chest, but he couldn’t fully relax until he checked to make sure Carter was safe in his crib. Which is where Keith found him seconds later, lying spread eagle in the middle of the mattress, taking up as much room as his small body allowed. If his current sleeping habits were any indication of the future, Keith pitied whoever ended up marrying his son.

Now that he knew everyone was safe and where they were supposed to be, Keith began to get annoyed. Which rapidly turned to frustration and anger as he realized what had happened. He strode down the hall, back towards the living room, fighting the urge to shake Sara awake and lay into her for forgetting to not only set the alarm, but even lock the door. Anyone could have waltzed right into his house and hurt her and Carter without anything to stop them! He couldn’t believe her carelessness, especially since she knew how important their safety was to him. He was far too upset to take care of this situation right now, even though he really wanted to address it immediately.

More than that though, he wanted to keep his relationship with Sara, and with the way he felt, he feared he might say something mean or overly harsh. Something he would regret. He needed to take the night to calm down and organize his thoughts.

After locking the door and arming the alarm, Keith gently removed the book from Sara’s chest and spread a blanket from the back of the couch over her still form. She looked so sweet and peaceful he almost wished he could ignore the whole incident to avoid upsetting her.

Almost, but not quite. Safety was too important to let her slide on when she broke the rules, and he’d made it a rule that the alarm had to be on at all times. A non-negotiable, no excuses rule.

Which meant that tomorrow, his sweet Sara was going to be one very, very sorry Sara.

* * *

Sara woke snuggly warm, but with a stiff neck and very confused. The last thing she remembered was reading a textbook on Keith’s couch, waiting for him to get home from work. Now the book was gone and there was a blanket keeping her toasty. He must have come home and found her asleep, and covered her up. Hopefully he wasn’t annoyed that she’d passed out, but Sara couldn’t imagine him being upset over that. Usually he wanted her to spend the night.

The sky she could see through the living room window was barely gray and only a few lone birds chirped in the pre-dawn hour. Even though it was disgustingly early, Sara quietly stood up, folded the blanket and straightened up her things. She didn’t bother packing her books up since she’d be back here later tonight anyway, and she wanted to get out of the house without waking either Keith or Carter.

Guilt made her hesitate at the front door, but she shoved it away without another thought, and quickly turned off the alarm before slipping down the front walk. Keith had made several comments about coming with her to visit Grandma today, and Sara just wasn’t ready for that yet. She didn’t know how to explain her reluctance to Keith so her plan was to go to her house this morning and get ready, and just head to the assisted living facility on her own. Then return to Keith’s house so they could go to Thanksgiving dinner at his brother’s together. He’d probably get a little upset about it, but she had no other choice. When the time was right she’d explain everything to him and hope he’d understand, but today was not the day.

Three hours later Sara was on the road. Even though it was still early she knew Grandma, always an early riser, would be up and ready to face the day. That was a personality trait that Sara hated as a teenager, when Grandma would roust her out of bed at seven-thirty every day, even the weekends, but now she was grateful.

The whole situation made Sara cringe when she thought of how sneaky she was being, but she didn’t know what to do about it, other than coming clean to Grandma. And she really didn’t want to upset her on Thanksgiving. Maybe she was being overly cautious, or she was just scared to admit her lies to the woman who had wielded a paddle with an iron hand for most of Sara’s life. It didn’t matter that Grandma spent her days in a wheelchair. That fear of disappointment and punishment was very much alive and Sara still wilted whenever she received Grandma’s stern stare. Either way, no confessions were being made today.

The facility was busy even at eight-thirty in the morning, with family coming to pick up their relatives to spend the holiday together. Keith had offered to do that too, but Sara declined without even considering, giving him some excuse about Grandma being too delicate for all that excitement. Which was a complete crock of shit. Sure, it had been rough the first few years, but now Grandma was pretty much back to her old self, at least mentally. If she ever found out that Sara said the excitement of going to Kevin and Angie’s for Thanksgiving would be too much for her, Sara had no doubt Grandma would be mortified. And very angry with her.

What Sara should have done was tell Keith the truth when he first asked instead of covering up her lies with another lie. He would have understood why Sara did what she did, even if he might not agree with her reasoning, but now it was too late.

Grandma’s room was only a few doors away so Sara tried to block out her guilty thoughts and worry over what would happen when the truth did come out so Grandma wouldn’t read it all over her face. Pasting a bright smile on her face and wielding the doughnuts she’d purchased on the way there as a shield against any suspicions, she knocked and opened the door when she heard a robust, “Come in!”

“Hi, Gram, Happy Thanksgiving!”

“Hi, dearie, how are you?”

Sara bent down to place a kiss on Grandma’s soft cheek, inhaling her familiar scent. It never failed to remind her of the safety and security her grandmother had provided when Sara was growing up and she instantly relaxed.

“I’m good, Gram. Here’s a treat for breakfast for us.” Sara bustled around the small table by the window where Grandma sat and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot already there waiting. She took her time getting out two paper plates and selecting a doughnut for herself before setting the box in front of Grandma. The whole time Sara could feel her grandmother’s eyes on her, inspecting her, and probably seeing far too much.

“Is everything okay, Sara? You look tired and stressed,” she asked, after Sara finally sat down across the table from her.

At least Sara could answer that question somewhat honestly. “I was up late studying for this project I have to complete by Monday. The class is really hard and I have to get a good grade, because it’s a requirement for my program.”

Grandma studied her again, apparently not quite satisfied with her answer. “Is that all that’s bothering you?

Again, Sara had an answer at the ready. “I’m a little worried about the state of the house. I think it’s definitely going to need to be painted in the spring, and the porch needs some work, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it.”

Grandma took a bite of her cruller and chewed slowly, contemplating Sara’s words. Hopefully she’d be satisfied with those two issues and not press for more information. After a long moment of scrutiny, she finally relented.

“Don’t worry about the house right now, Sara. Focus on your studies and get through your first semester at this new school,” she declared with the authority of a ruler that expects to be obeyed without question. “We’ll talk about the house in the spring. You can’t go fixing it up when it’s cold and snowing out anyway.”

Relieved that Gram had absolved her of worry about the state of the house for now, and that she’d accepted her excuses, Sara smiled. “I will, Gram, thanks.”

“Now tell me what else is new. How’s your new nanny job going?”

“It’s good. The baby is sweet and growing like crazy,” Sara replied, choosing what she disclosed carefully. She’d told Grandma that she’d gotten a new job in childcare, but not what the connection was to their family. Of course, she couldn’t tell Gram about Carter when she’d never told her about Molly being pregnant in the first place.

It had seemed like the only solution at the time. She didn’t want to worry Gram, and finding out her other granddaughter was pregnant, and not getting married, would have upset her terribly. So Sara kept it from her, and now she couldn’t very well announce Carter’s existence without admitting to keeping secrets. And blatantly lying to Gram whenever she asked about Molly.

“I’m glad you’re not working at that horrible clothing store anymore,” Gram said, patting her hand gently. “You’re such a good girl, Sara. So sweet and kind and honest.” Sara almost winced at the compliment, guilt washing over her and tightening her belly. She felt awful, but it didn’t change anything. She’d fess up eventually. Just not today.

After a nice long visit, Sara headed home to change for dinner. Thankfully, Grandma hadn’t asked any more questions, instead regaling Sara with silly stories about the other residents. Keith called while she was talking to Grandma, but her phone had been in her purse on silent so she missed it, and instead of returning the call, she texted him on the way to her house to let him know she’d be over in an hour and a half. Sara knew she was avoiding the inevitable questions about why she didn’t take him with her for the visit, but she just wasn’t ready to talk to him. Maybe she’d be ready after she had a few minutes alone to prepare. Hiding the truth from her Gram exhausted her, and Sara just needed a little while to regroup before facing Keith. The guilt from hiding the truth from the two most important people in her life sickened her stomach, but she didn’t know how to break free from the web of deceit she’d spun.

Exactly an hour and twenty-seven minutes later, Sara quietly let herself in to Keith’s house through the back door, after parking her car in the garage. Carter should be down for his nap and she didn’t want to risk waking him when he’d need his energy to deal with the excitement the rest of the day would bring. The house was still and silent, which was odd since Keith usually had the television or a video game going when he had a free moment, but maybe he’d decided to take a nap too since he’d worked late the night before. Stepping out of her heels so they wouldn’t make noise on the hardwood floors, she set the pie and cookies she’d baked this morning on the counter and went in search of Keith.

It didn’t take long to locate him, and what she found made her pause.

Keith sat in the middle of the living room, facing the couch, in a straight-backed chair from the dining room. The house was silent, except for their breathing as they took each other in. He wore a strange expression, not angry exactly, but definitely unhappy, and maybe resigned? And he’d definitely been sitting there waiting for her.

Sara’s mind struggled to figure out what he intended to do. From the looks of it she was about to be punished, but she didn’t know why. Unless he was that upset about her taking off this morning and going to visit her grandmother without him?

“Hi,” she said brightly, breaking the tense silence. “Is Carter down for his nap?”

Keith nodded. “I just put him down about fifteen minutes ago. Come over and sit down,” he instructed, gesturing to the spot on the couch directly in front of him.

“What’s going on, Keith?” Sara asked, nerves making her voice wobble ever so slightly and her legs tremble as she walked across the room and sat down. His face gave her no clues about what was about to happen.

“How was your visit with your grandma this morning?” he asked, ignoring her question. “I’m assuming that’s what you did when you left here at the crack of dawn.”

Okay, he definitely wasn’t happy that she’d gone alone. “It was good; I went first thing in the morning and brought her some breakfast treats.” He nodded again, but didn’t say anything and Sara felt the need to explain. “I wanted to let you sleep since you worked so late and I figured I’d just go and get my time with her out of the way early so we could spend the rest of the day together.”

There. That was a truthful statement. Unfortunately, if the way he was staring at her was any indication, he wasn’t buying it. The silence stretched between them, and Sara was just about to spill her guts and tell him everything when he spoke again.

“That was very thoughtful of you, Sara, since I did work very late. In fact, I didn’t get home until after one in the morning. And do you know what I found when I went to open the door when I got home in the middle of the night?” He bit out his last words as if he were fighting the urge to start yelling. Her brain raced to figure out what could have possibly upset him so much, running through the events of the evening.

She’d made their dinner while feeding Carter his baby food. Then she gave him a bath and let him play in his jumpy saucer thing for a while. Then she put him to bed and started studying on the couch, where she fell asleep. There wasn’t anything wrong with any of that.

“No, I can’t think of anything. Unless you’re mad because I didn’t put the dishes that I washed away?” She made the suggestion, but knew that couldn’t be the reason for this conversation. Keith always told her to leave them for him to put away, since she did all the cooking he said he didn’t mind helping with the cleanup.

“No, this isn’t because of the dishes and you know that,” he snapped, appearing offended she’d even made the suggestion. “Did you go outside for anything yesterday?”

“No,” she answered without thinking. “It was too cold to go for a walk and we didn’t run any errands.”

“Think again,” he insisted and patiently waited while she wracked her brain, until finally it came to her.

“I went outside to get the mail after dinner.” His regular mailman must have been on vacation because it wasn’t delivered until almost five o’clock. She’d heard it while she was cooking, but didn’t get a chance to grab it until Carter went to bed. It was freezing and she didn’t bother putting on a coat to take three steps across the porch to where the mailbox was mounted to the house, so she’d dashed outside and was back in the house in three seconds. Then she tossed the mail on the kitchen counter and went to the living room to study. What was the problem with that?

Her confusion must have showed on her face because Keith prompted, “Did you forget to do anything after you got the mail?”

Sara started to get frustrated with all his questions, and opened her mouth to tell him so, when she finally realized what his problem was, and her heart sank when it clicked.

“You remember now?” he asked, obviously seeing her face fall.

“I’m sorry, Keith; I forgot to set the alarm.”

This was not good. Not good at all. He’d been very clear about wanting the alarm on at all times, but especially at night. To have him come home and find her and Carter asleep and the alarm off… Well, she was surprised he wasn’t screaming his head off at her right now.

“That’s not all I found when I got home, Sara,” he said, making her head whip up from where she’d been staring at the floor. “Not only had you not set the alarm, the door wasn’t even locked!”

She hung her head again, not even bothering to protest. It wasn’t the first time she’d fallen asleep without locking up, though that had only happened at home before. She was usually so vigilant at Keith’s because she knew keeping Carter safe was her responsibility.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, then offered the only excuse she had. “I was so stressed about that project and I didn’t want to have to work on it today, so I must have just been distracted and not paying attention.”

“Do you have any idea how scared I was when I found the door unlocked?” he asked.

She shook her head forlornly, unable to meet his eyes, but Keith was having none of that.

“Look at me, Sara.”

She forced herself to do what he demanded, even if it was the last thing she wanted, but she’d screwed up and had to deal with the consequences. If Keith hated her after this, she wouldn’t blame him, she just didn’t want to see it looking back at her.

However, when she finally managed to lift her head, she didn’t find any hatred on his face. Sure, he was mad, but mostly he looked disappointed. So disappointed that tears pooled in her eyes even though he hadn’t said another word.

“All I could think of when the door just opened and the alarm didn’t go off, was that something awful had happened to you and Carter. That you two had been hurt, or taken, and it terrified me.”

The tears spilled over as his words penetrated and she imagined how he must have felt. Tired after a long day of work, then to come home and find the house wide open. The worst-case scenarios that must have run through his head.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Though it was the third time she’d said it, there wasn’t really anything else she could say. Nothing could change the fact she was so preoccupied with her schoolwork that she’d left Carter vulnerable for hours.

“I know you’re sorry, I know you didn’t do it on purpose and that you would never want anything bad to happen to Carter,” Keith said gently. “But I also know I made it very clear that I expected the alarm to be on at all times and the house to be locked up tight. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.” Sara knew what was coming next, and knew she deserved it.

“And what did I say would happen if you broke that rule?”

Sara squirmed under his direct stare, feeling like a child again. Why couldn’t he just get on with it! She didn’t want to say it out loud, but apparently he was going to make her.

“That you would punish me if I broke that rule.”

“You knew that I was very serious about that rule, correct? That I take Carter’s, and your safety very seriously.”

“Yes.” Next he was going to point out that it wouldn’t have even been such an issue if Sara hadn’t invited Molly over to his house in the first place. That would just be the icing on this cake layered full of guilt, remorse and bad decisions, but Keith surprised her again.

“Good. I just wanted to make sure you understood why you were being punished.” Keith sat back and patted his lap. “Now stand up and get over my knee.”

Her head hung in shame, Sara did as she was told, lowering herself across Keith’s strong thighs. He moved her into the position he wanted with warm hands, hands that would momentarily be heating her backside. Her head and arms hung over one side while her legs dangled over the other, leaving her behind front and center.

“Are you ready, Sara?” Keith asked. He sounded confident and in control, much more so than the first time he spanked her.

She answered him with the only answer he wanted to hear. “Yes.”

He didn’t waste any time once she uttered the word. The first blow landed hard and stung through the thin jersey of the skirt she’d worn for the holiday. That one still burned when he spanked her again, and Sara knew this spanking wasn’t going to be like the last one. Not. At. All.

Keith didn’t let up or give her a break to breathe. Just kept up a steady pace of smacks leaving not even a centimeter of skin untouched. Thirty seconds in and Sara’s butt was on fire, and she couldn’t help yelping in pain.

“Ow, Keith. Ow!” she shrieked, thrashing her legs to try to get away. “That hurts!”

“Keep it down, Sara, or else you’ll wake up Carter,” he replied, not slowing down at all. “And stop kicking.”

Smack. Smack. Smack.

“Keith, please stop,” she whined trying to be quieter, but it was awful hard to do with his huge hand blistering her bottom.

“No, Sara. You deserve this.” Smack. Smack. “You broke a rule and were unbelievably careless with my son’s safety and with your own safety. Anyone could have just walked right in to the house and done who knows what to you two. How do you think I would feel if something happened to either of you? I’ll tell you. It would break my heart.”

Each word hit her harder than all his spanks combined, though he never let up blistering her behind. He was right. She did deserve this. Every single painful moment.

“I’m sorry, Keith,” she sobbed, tears and snot running down her face. “I won’t ever let it happen again. I promise.”

As swiftly as it started, Keith stopped, but kept his hand on her bottom.

“Are you going to be more careful and make sure you lock the door and set the alarm?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.” She’d never, ever break that rule again. Her butt throbbed and it felt like the entire thing was on fire. Between the pain and her tears, she could barely catch her breath, until Keith started rubbing in small circles to ease the sting. Unfortunately, that only lasted a minute before he helped her to her feet and set her in front of him.

“I don’t want to have to address this issue again, Sara,” he said, giving her a look that promised an even worse punishment if there was a next time.

“You won’t, Keith,” she promised looking straight into his eyes. Eyes that now held relief and caring. No more anger.

“Good. Why don’t you go get cleaned up while I check on Carter,” he said pulling her in for a hug. “We have to get going soon.”

He got up and put the chair away in the dining room. Sara trailed behind him on her way to the bathroom to fix the mess her face surely was after all that crying.

“I can’t go see your family like this, Keith,” she protested, rubbing her sore behind.

He turned and gave her a look that would have stopped any further protests on its own. “You’re not skipping out on Thanksgiving because you got spanked. Consider it part of your punishment.”