Being Their Baby

by Korey Mae Johnson

  She leaned her head against Charlie’s chest and said, “I’m sorry I called for Josh. I didn’t mean to. It just came out because I was angry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Charlie, who looked like he had been settled on continuing to be pissed when she’d first come into the room, melted visibly and put his arms around her, and so Josh turned toward the coffee pot.

  “That’s okay, honey,” Charlie was telling her. “I know it hurts. But you know I’m not going to give you any more than you can take, right? I’ve done this for many years. You don’t have to feel like your safety is in jeopardy.”

  “I didn’t,” she protested innocently. “I trust you, Daddy. I honestly do. You’re right. I wasn’t being fair. You and Mommy have all the right in the world to go out and have fun by yourselves.” Josh turned a bit and saw Sophie taking Charlie’s hands in hers. “I really am sorry. I didn’t… I don’t want anything to change.” She bit her lip and looked like she was waiting to see what Charlie’s thoughtful expression was brewing.

  He put his hand on the back of her neck tenderly and looked into her eyes with his most serious expression. “Then I don’t think we’re done, do you?”

  She frowned theatrically. Surely, this was what she’d feared the most out of the confrontation with Charlie and also why she was thinking about putting it off. She shook her head and finally sighed, “No.”

  “Go over and bend over the arm of the sofa, baby girl. I’m gonna make this quick, then I need to get you to class.” He patted her bottom, and leaned into her to kiss her forehead.

  Josh wiggled his eyebrows as he watched Charlie gently help her off his lap. If Charlie and Josh didn’t spend so much time together in the middle of the day to talk about things, Josh would have assumed that Charlie didn’t want the girl sexually. Charlie had moved his daddying up a notch with Sophie—he was much more gentle, tender, and patient than he had been with any other girlfriend before in his entire life.

  Charlie used to pride himself about how hard he could spank, or how he could get in a girl’s head enough to incite tears. Josh had a feeling that was no longer Charlie’s end-game. Sophie could cry on her own without anyone getting “into her head” quite well, and Charlie admitted he’d never spank Sophie any harder than he would a child. Yet, even though it was so against his norm, Charlie seemed much more confident and happy lately.

  Josh was pleased that he’d had the sense to get Sophie to apologize right away. He didn’t want her nervousness over punishment or the awkwardness of apologizing to get in the way of her and Charlie’s relationship.

  As for himself, he had no doubt as to how close they were. He wasn’t the disciplinarian, and he wasn’t the spoiler that Liz was. She’d constantly give Sophie gifts, probably because she’d feel guilty about not having more free time. Josh had oodles of free time, on the other hand, and he spent most of it with Sophie, feeling that that’s what she needed most of all.

  Sophie acted like Josh was Superman, and he loved it. Sure, they teased each other a lot, but it was obvious that Sophie held Josh in high esteem, and that was something that he’d never really had with Liz. Liz always sort of mothered him—sexily, of course, but she mothered him all the same. Liz had known Josh all his life; she had been there to witness every single screw-up he’d ever made. Sophie was blissfully ignorant of how horrible of a child he’d been, how annoying he’d acted, and how pig-headed he’d been all through high school.

  He turned, leaning back against the countertop as he watched Sophie nervously step over to the sofa, her eyes darting toward Charlie, who was unbuckling his belt.

  Josh could hear her gulp before she whimpered, “Daddy… Not the belt.”

  “You’ll be okay. Bend over, bottom out, legs apart,” Charlie replied, pointing to the padded, overly large sofa, which sat in the family room next to the kitchen.

  She slowly bent over, sticking that round, glorious little bottom out to the entire room. She was wiggling back and forth, nervous. She jerked nervously when Charlie came behind her and pulled up her skirt to her lower back.

  Charlie tapped the inside of her thigh patiently to demand she move her legs further apart. She complied with his direction, but she was clenching already so much that it was obvious that she was worried about herself.

  Josh wanted to say something like, “Take it easy on her!” but couldn’t. Liz was shooting him a look that demanded he not commentate. The edges of his mouth went down. He certainly couldn’t disagree that Sophie needed discipline in her life. If she went a whole week without a spanking, she became a real brat every time and would seem to go out of her way to earn herself one.

  Watching Sophie get a spanking was also extremely exciting. Yet Josh couldn’t help wishing he could keep her from them all the same.

  “You’re getting fifteen. I’m not going to have you count them out because that might take all morning,” Charlie told her. “But I want you to keep your hands down and I want you to stay in place like a good girl, you hear me?”

  “Yeah,” she replied with a voice barely above a whisper.

  “Answer me correctly,” Charlie demanded.

  She took a deep breath. “Yes, Daddy.” She also had the option of saying “yes, Sir,” but she never did. Josh wondered if she forgot Charlie’s real name half the time. She never, ever used it at home and Charlie’s name was only said with difficulty in public, normally coming out as, “‘Da—Charlie.”

  “Good girl.” Charlie whipped his arm back and brought it firmly and perfectly across Sophie’s flinching, pink bottom.

  Sophie’s back went up and she gave a loud, sharp cry of, “Ow!”

  “Get back down, baby, we have to make this quick,” Charlie told her firmly.

  She whimpered sadly and then bent down again.

  And SLAP! Another perfectly placed, utterly controlled strike fell across Sophie’s bottom, right on her sit spot, with enough impact that she rocked forward on her toes. “No-oh-oh!” She put her hands back and then immediately pulled them obediently forward.

  “Good girl. Keep still,” Charlie encouraged. In many ways, Charlie’s rigid posture and dutiful appearance made him seem sort of like a schoolteacher. One with a thick neck and shoulders the size of most people’s thighs.

  Charlie strapped the poor girl to tears. After ten, he had to hold her down; her bottom was well beyond pink, and even her upper thighs were showing marks, yet not low enough that they wouldn’t be hidden by her skirt while at school.

  “I’ll be good, I’ll be good!” she cried into the sofa, wiggling her bottom back and forth. “I will! I’m sorry!”

  Charlie wasn’t going to be stopped, apparently, by any amount of pathetic begging, because he wrapped his arm around her and delivered the rest of the strokes, letting each one settle in before he struck again.

  He stroked her quivering bottom cheeks with his fingers when he was done, letting her cry it out a little before releasing her.

  Instead of withdrawing, Sophie got up and crawled miserably onto Charlie’s lap, letting him cuddle her against his chest and rest his chin on the top of her head while he rubbed her back in soothing circular motions. Tears were staining her freshly cleaned cheeks as she accepted Charlie’s comfort.

  “You know I love you, snuggle bunny?” Charlie asked, wiping her tears off her cheeks. Charlie looked like a giant next to her; his hand covered the full expanse of her face. Josh knew that it couldn’t have looked too different when she was sitting on Josh’s lap, but he normally didn’t notice it as much unless she was near Charlie. Josh imagined that Sophie had to feel like she was Goldilocks in a house full of bears.

  She sniffled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too.”

  “Are you still upset with me and Mommy?” Charlie asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  He kissed her cheek and squeezed her. “Thanks, sweetheart, for understanding. Now, do you have your books and everything together?”

  She looked over
his shoulder and he followed her gaze to the table in front of the television, where she had about three books open, pens and papers everywhere, and papers piled around haphazardly. He groaned and she said, brushing her tears from her cheeks, “In my defense, I thought I’d have more time this morning.”

  He laughed, to which she immediately smiled, then he helped her up from his lap. “Stay still. I’ll put your panties back on, you naughty thing.”

  Josh had to give this much to his brother: Charlie was a genius. He found sexy where most men didn’t. The idea of pulling panties down a girl’s legs being sexy was no new concept; Josh always got that. However, Josh hadn’t before imagined the scene of Sophie stepping into them awkwardly, biting her pouting bottom lip with embarrassment while the flimsy fabric traveled up her legs and scraped over her tender, red flesh, exposing both her bald little pussy and her bare bottom to the whole room as she raised her skirt enough that Charlie could see what he was doing. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes watery; the picture was so seductively perfect.

  “Now what do you have to do to keep those panties on?” Charlie asked her, causing to blush an even deeper pink.

  Penitently, she responded, “Be a good girl.”

  “That’s right.” He gave her a pat and then he slipped back into his daddy-caregiver mode without a hitch, although now, if he was anything like Josh, he was probably packing some serious wood. “Now, hustle. I’m putting an extra granola bar and a yogurt in your lunch cooler; you can eat it in the car.” He looked at Josh as he strode into the kitchen. “You gonna don a shirt today, or is this your new look?” he asked him, pushing him aside so he could get into the fridge.

  “Maybe,” Josh replied with a shrug. He turned to Liz and posed. “What do you think, goddess?”

  “I think you need to tell your friends that it’s just a game, and you guys aren’t trying out for the NHL,” Liz replied, eyeing the bruises on his abs, left pec, and right arm.

  “The ones below the belt are all from you, sugar britches,” he replied with a wink, sipping his coffee. He nodded over to Sophie. “What about you, bunny? Think bruises are sexy? Makes me look tough and manly?”

  Sophie looked up from quickly shoving all her binders and books into her backpack to raise an eyebrow at him. She shrugged indecisively. “Yep. I guess they give you that bad-boy look.”

  Josh raised his mug to Sophie in a salute of approval and turned to Liz. “You see? The chicks dig me.”

  “Well, make sure you pick up the little chick from school tonight, because Liz and I have to take off early to beat traffic,” Charlie said, pulling Sophie’s lunch bag out of the fridge. “And she’s got an important paper due on Monday, so make sure she gets started on it tonight.”

  Josh shook his head. “No can do, bro. No papers, no homework, no nothing—I’m spoiling her tonight. We’re gonna go and paint the town while you’re gone. Boston might not be here when you get back; we might party it off the map.”

  Charlie turned his head, something between suspicion and concern darkening his features. “I thought you were on-call tonight.”

  “Backup call,” Josh corrected, raising a finger to point out Charlie’s simple yet amazingly wrong mistake. “That means the two guys on call would have to have to call in before I’m even on call.” He shook his head with confidence. “In short, I’m off tonight, and I’m spending it with the brat.”

  Sophie snorted at being referred to as a brat, but Josh didn’t miss her seductive smile at him.

  “No booze.” Liz was suddenly next to him and jabbing her finger into his bruised ribcage. “She’s eighteen, and I don’t want you passing a twenty to the waiter to make it happen, either.”

  “You can do that?” Sophie asked from the other side of the room.

  “I wasn’t planning to.” He winced at Liz’s accusatory look and defended himself. “Hey, calm your tits. I can’t drink anyway, since I’m on backup call. Drop the worry; I’ll take care of her. I’m not gonna light her up on cocaine and then go streaking. Give me some credit, here!”

  Liz put up her hands. “Fine, fine. You’re right.” She patted his shoulder. “We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, but if you need anything, we’ll have our cells on—”

  “I think I know how to show a girl a good time without you,” he replied, tilting his head up and bobbling it side to side with a swaggered confidence.

  Liz grabbed Sophie as she walked by with her backpack, grabbed her chin, and kissed her mouth. “Be good,” she directed the girl firmly.

  “I’m always good!” Sophie replied, a little defensiveness in her tone.

  Liz broke out into a warmer smile and brushed Sophie’s bangs back. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. Don’t let Josh corrupt you too much when we’re gone.”

  Sophie got up on her tiptoes and tilted her head up to kiss Liz tenderly on the mouth, but then turned to Charlie. “You done pulling all the good stuff from my lunch?”

  “Where’d you even get this?” he asked, picking up the energy drink he’d pulled out of the bag and replaced with a bottle of orange juice and a small bag of vitamins.

  “I’m not giving up the name of my dealer, Daddy. Nice try,” she told him cockily, but then winked at Josh, her dealer of Red Bulls.

  Charlie gave Josh a warning glare, but then pulled Sophie’s backpack out of her hands and tossed it over his good shoulder. “To the car, let’s go,” he instructed her with a slap on the butt.

  Sophie turned to Josh. “Don’t forget to pick me up,” she demanded, pointing at him with her little finger, seemingly trying to copy Liz’s firm tone.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he teased with a grin.

  She smiled and ran toward the front door, scooting around Charlie on her way out.

  When they were out of the house, Liz was standing there, watching him. “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” Liz said with a shrug. “So… You’ll have the house all to yourselves tonight, then,” she drawled.

  He nodded, wondering where she was going.

  She smirked. “Make it special for her?” she requested.

  Josh swallowed, suddenly getting Liz’s meaning. He suddenly felt a world’s weight of pressure. “There’re no solid plans for… that.”

  Liz nodded, then said, “I appreciate how you’ve treated her since meeting her. I really think if it wasn’t for you, she would have left us a long time ago. It’s hard to remember what it was like around here before she came along.”

  “It did seem like an awful long time ago… She’s pretty special,” he agreed.

  “Do you like her?” Liz asked, and then added, “You know, in a traditional girlfriend sort of way?”

  Josh quickly blurted, “Well, I would never keep you or Charlie from—”

  “I know,” Liz soothed, touching his arm. “But you know what I mean, right? Do you… have more of a thing for her than…”

  “I don’t love her more than I do you,” he added softly. “It’s different with her, that’s all. I wouldn’t let her top me like you do, and I couldn’t do without you. Now, if you’re asking me if she means more to me than my weekend catches, then yes. That’s why I haven’t brought them around. She’s enough. She fulfills that dominant part of me. So yeah. Let’s just say I’m glad you brought her home.”

  “She’s good for you, she’s good for Charlie, and she’s good for me,” Liz replied, almost mysteriously. She finally added after Josh stared at her for a moment, “Well, this all finally feels like home. I feel more…”

  “Contented?” Josh guessed.

  Liz smiled softly and nodded. “It’s nice when you have everything you want.”

  “You mean two amazing boyfriends and a hot-as-hell girlfriend, a good job, a nice house, and a 401K?” Josh asked. It did seem like they had it all. Even Josh had two goddess-like girlfriends—he couldn’t ask for better than Liz and Sophie. They were very different, but because of that they seemed to round all of his bases.

  She giggled sligh
tly. “I’m a girl who wants it all, and I’m running out of things to want.”

  “Next, you’ll take over the world,” Josh told her with a wink.

  She shook her head. “Maybe, but when you have everything you want, the hardest part is always keeping it.” She reached forward and patted Josh’s hands. “So take care of her.”

  Josh smirked, almost feeling like Liz had not just passed Sophie’s safety to him for the night, but Sophie’s well-being in a more permanent sense. And he wanted the job. “I’ll keep both eyes and hands on her at all times,” he replied, laughing.

  She gave him a scolding glance, but then laughed. “I believe it. Poor girl doesn’t know what she’s in for when it comes to you.”

  Josh shrugged and replied airily, “I always feel the same way when it comes to Sophie. She’s unpredictable, but I keep coming back for more.” He shook his head. “God bless those age-play–prone virgin schoolgirls.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Don’t fall asleep, don’t fall asleep… It was hard to not sleep when Sophie’s teacher seemed to be giving his best Ben Stein impression. The May sun shone outside, and she was giddy about going out in it.

  She heard a buzzing in her backpack pocket, alerting her that someone sent a message. Hoping it was Josh with information on what he had in store for her that evening, she plucked it out of her backpack and unlocked the screen to see that a group of girls from her class had texted her.

  She looked over and saw a few sets of eyes staring at her, and then looked back down at the message. “Got a car? We’re trying to get a girls’ night together.”

  She had neither a car nor a license to drive it even if she had—for now. Even then she had a feeling if she ever was given a car, Daddy would attach so many rules to it that all the joy of receiving it would be overshadowed with worry of something happening to it.

  She didn’t want to explain all that, so she waited for the teacher to turn before she quickly typed, “Can’t. Got a hot date tonight.”

  She got a text back before too long.

  “Oooh. Hot date? Gonna lose the Big V?”