Sunday, December 20, 2020

How the Blue Grinch Gift Almost Stole Christmas (Chapter 2)


This is Chapter Two of a series of Choose-your-own-ending stories. If you have not read Chapter One yet, please start there at Amy’s site https://eric51amy49.blogspot.com/ and once you’ve made your choice, read the appropriate Chapter Two Follow Up (Red, green, or blue?)

Dinner for breakfast was always a hit Becca thought as she made a mad dash to the kitchen to throw something together.  Hugh called the kids together to work on the family Christmas puzzle set out on the coffee table in the front room.  Each night they had spent half an hour or so trying to get that 1,000 piece puzzle completed before Christmas Eve.  Hugh had promised the kids they would go look at Christmas lights as a reward if the puzzle was done by then.  One thing had definitely changed with Covid, family time was a priority and Hugh enjoyed spending time with the kids.  He felt he really knew them now that his head wasn’t stuck in his phone all night.

Becca was at her finest making snowman and tree shaped pancakes, fried eggs, bacon as well as sausage links.  The house smelled delicious and she loved the fact that Hugh was spending quality time with the kids.  It was so nice to hear them all talking and laughing.  They were making a lot of noise.  A LOT of noise...Hugh seemed to be occupied...Maybe, just maybe, she could just take a quick peek at those presents! She turned everything down on low and crept to the doorway.  Hugh’s back was to her as she slipped past the living room entrance into the dining room.  “Whew!” thought Becca.  I made it without being noticed.


If she could reach the top of the china cabinet maybe she could give each gift a quick little shaky shake and make it back to the kitchen without being missed.  Standing on her tippy toes Becca reached as tall as she could, but it was no use.  The cabinet was taller than her reach by a good four inches.  She’d need a chair or a step stool to make up the difference.  She quickly checked to make sure Hugh was still involved with the kids. She was in luck! He was tickling their youngest and the giggling noise just about drowned out the sound of the chair being moved across the hardwood floor to the cabinet.  


Becca climbed as delicately as a cat onto the chair.  Her hand steadied on the top of the chair as she reached carefully for the blue package.  Almost there... when the sound of a swat reverberated around the room!  It wasn’t until the shock of the pain hit her as well as Hugh’s hands around her waist that she realized she’d been caught. He lifted her gently to the ground.


“Owww! Hugh!” she whispered as quietly as she should.  “What’d you do that for?”


“I thought I was clear.  No presents until after dinner.”  Hugh answered back with a smirk on his face.  “You deserved that swat for peeking!”  Becca’s frown was tugging into a smile as she swatted back at him.  


“You’re such a tease.  Worse than the kids!” 


“Maybe so, but I wasn’t teasing.  Now, you stay out of those presents, young lady.”  Young lady, oh, how she loved the sound of that.  


“Yes, sir,” she said, still relishing in the fact that he still felt he was HIS young lady.  Those two words could make her melt or quiver depending on how he said it.  Tonight’s made her literally dissolve on the spot in a gush of pure Christmas glee!  Hugh pulled her close and bent down to whisper sweet nothings in her ear when the sound of giggling alerted them to the fact they were no longer alone.


“Daddy’s kissing mommy!” came from their oldest followed by a chorus of how gross that possibly could be by the other three.  


Hugh then made a loud slurpy noise on Becca’s neck before calling out, “Yeah, and you’re next!” as he lunged towards the gathering of kids.  They all ran screaming and hollering from the room while Becca tried desperately to wipe her eyes from the tears of laughter streaming down her face.  Even after all these years Hugh could make her blush all shades whenever he was in the right mood.  Obviously tonight the mood was right.  It had been awhile since they’d had the opportunity to play and it appeared tonight just may be the night!  Becca could hardly hold the excitement in.


Hugh was struggling as well to contain his laughter.  He was ready to tear into the presents now!  He’d been working on this night of presents for weeks and he was hoping and praying that Becca was in the right mood for it.  He wanted badly for the holiday stress to melt away for both of them.  He had been working long hours this month while Becca stayed home with the kids.  Schools being shut down for covid and satellite learning was overwhelming Becca.  They both needed a night of early bedtimes for the kids and sexy play for them.


Becca gave Hugh a kiss on the cheek.  “Can you go wrestle the minions into washing their hands, so we can eat?”


“Sure, no problem.  I’m starved.”  More than starved Hugh thought as he headed to track down their gang of children, while Becca headed to the kitchen to finish dinner prep.  Two hours later the family had eaten, kitchen cleaned, showers done for the kids and everyone was snuggled in their beds until morning...hopefully.


Hugh retrieved the packages from the top of the china cabinet in the dining room and headed into the front room where Becca eagerly awaited his arrival.  As he settled in next to her he noticed her smile was literally lighting up her whole face.  “Well, someone looks like she’s about to burst.”  


“I am,” said Becca, “You never let us open presents early.  I can hardly contain myself.”


Hugh’s smile was rivaling hers.  “Well, we can always wait if you want to keep with tradition.”  


“No, thank you. I will take a pass on that offer,” she said with a slight pout to her voice.  


“Now, now, don’t be a party pooper, I was just teasing and you know it.”  Hugh said as he set the three packages in front of them on the coffee table while trying to avoid the Christmas puzzle pieces spread everywhere.


“I’ll behave,” Becca snickered as she eyed the presents set before her.  Her face was beginning to hurt from all the smiling she’d done since Hugh had arrived home, but she could not help herself.  The surprise was just so heartwarming and thoughtful.  She knew that Hugh must have been preparing this special Christmas treat.  It made her giddy just knowing he loved her so much to think up such a divine little plan.


“So there are three packages.  You can only pick one for tonight.  We’ll save the others for another night.”  Hugh could hardly contain his boyish grin. Regardless of what was in them any and all would help them come closer together thought Hugh.  Even though all were not for fun, each held a part of their relationship that needed some work.


Becca’s eyes scanned the gifts.  Her eyes immediately drawn to the blue package.  It was such pretty paper with silver reindeers and stars all over the deep shiny blue wrapping.  “I’d like to open this one,” asked Becca as she picked up the blue one.


“Awesome choice, my love,” Hugh agreed.  Becca quickly unwrapped the ribbon and bow from the top and removed the paper leaving it intact.  Inside the package were two cans of red and green silly string.


Confused Becca held the two cans up.  “Silly string?” she questioned.  


“Yes, sweet pea, we need some fun in our lives!”  Hugh took the green can and stood up.  “Now, there are two rules...we cannot wake the kids and we cannot break anything.  Oh, and we probably shouldn’t run outside, but other than that… are you game?”  Becca was always up for fun, but this was totally out of Hugh’s wheelhouse.  She handed him the green can and quickly shook her red can up, before he changed his mind.  This was going to be so much fun!


“I’m game! Let’s go!” Becca squealed as she began dousing Hugh as she backed away and tried to avoid the coffee table.  


“Hey, wait, I’m not ready!” Hugh called as he tried to scramble backwards.  “You have to play by the rules, Becca!” 


“I am!  You said not to wake the kids and not to break anything.  I am listening!”  Becca giggled as she took up a spot behind the recliner spraying Hugh’s back as she went.


Hugh ducked beside the piano sending a few recital books flying.  “Becca! Stop! Wait!”  The warning clearly stated by Hugh. Poor Hugh, who was not as accustomed to silly string fights in cramped quarters was having a hard time playing what he thought would be a fun little game.  His wife had transformed from his sweetheart to some raving lunatic trying to defend her part of the living room.  Becca, on the other hand, was taking this way too seriously as she tried to maneuver herself to a better position to reach Hugh, but keep out of his reach as well.  She doubled back and made a run for behind the Christmas tree.  In her mind the best advantage point in the room.


“Becca, watch out!  Wait! Stop for a second!” but Hugh’s warning came two seconds too late as Becca tripped over the coffee table taking half the puzzle with her as she fell right into the Christmas tree.  The tree, lights and ornaments came crashing down as Becca tried desperately to grab for anything to keep her from falling too.  “Becca, Becca, are you okay?”  


“Yeah, yeah I think so…”  she said as Hugh pulled her to her feet and gave her a once over.  They both surveyed the damage.  Hugh was trying to find the words to say to express his upset, their youngest little minion appeared followed by the other three. 


“The tree!”  they practically chorused as they ran to see the damage up close.  


Hugh commanded, “STOP!”  the kids stopped immediately looking up at their daddy.  “I don’t want anyone to take another step.  There’s broken glass everywhere.”


“What happened?” one of the kids asked.  


“Nothing, sweetheart.” Becca said softly.


“It’s nothing kids, momma and I will fix it up, you head on upstairs.  Becca, why don’t you get the kids settled and I’ll start cleaning up the mess.  We can discuss this when you’re done.”  Hugh’s voice held no laughter, no cheer.  All the fun they’d been having seconds before crashed along with the Christmas tree and the thousand piece puzzle laying all over the floor.  Becca felt that twinge in her stomach as she herded the kids upstairs and back to bed.  


Downstairs Hugh thought carefully about what had happened as he retrieved the broom and dustpan from the hallway closet.  He had asked Becca to stop, wait, listen.  She had ignored him, but it had been a game.  Or had it?  His sweet wife that he adored hadn’t listened to him from the get go.  He’d planned the game to be a fun bit of play to lighten their moods and then lead them to the bedroom where more fun and sexy adventure awaited.  But her die hard competitive personality had sprung out and made this into a do or die scenario.  Where had everything gone so wrong?


By the time Becca returned half an hour later Hugh had the tree back in it’s stand, and the glass swept up.  He was still carefully picking puzzle pieces out of the dustpan and placed them back on the now righted coffee table.  They’d need to replace several glass bulbs, but thankfully the most cherished of the ornaments had survived.  There was still silly string everywhere including the tree and the piano.  Hugh felt frustrated and Becca felt an immense amount of guilt.  Why had she acted so childish?  They both cleaned in silence until the room resembled a sense of normal.  


“Becca, come here,” Hugh called to her softly as he sat down on the couch.  His frustration of his gift gone bad was easing and he felt he needed to express his disappointment.  Becca came to him.  He pulled her into his lap.


“Honey, that was not what I intended to happen when I bought the silly string.”  Hugh said, rubbing his thumb on her petite hand.  He noticed how soft her hand felt.  “But we both know you were not listening to my words.  I gave you the rules of the game and you immediately turned it into a life or death scenario.”


“I did not!”  Becca’s own reaction surprised them both.  “You said we could play and I did.”


“No, I asked you several times to wait.  You didn’t listen from the very beginning.  Now, I wanted to play this game because I knew it may very well be fun and be a little bit competitive.  I had no intention of tearing our house apart or waking the children.  You disobeyed every command I gave you.”  


“You’re just upset because you lost!”  Becca said, trying to stand up and get off Hugh’s lap. Hugh took both her hands in his and then moved his hands to her upper arms.  


“Hold on, you need to settle down, sweetheart.”  Hugh held her in place.  “Now, I think you need to take a time out.”


“No, I don’t want to.”  She was being bratting and she knew it, but right now she was too wrapped up in her emotions and guilt to see that he was trying to help her avoid a spanking.


“Excuse me?  Since when do you get to decide when you go to the corner?  Young lady, you just earned yourself a spanking.”  With that Hugh stood up bringing Becca with him.  He wrapped his arm around her waist and began walking her rapidly to the stairs.  When he resisted he gave her two quick swats.  “Now, young lady.”  Becca was too wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even respond to the swats with a cry or whimper as she normally would.


Becca found herself upstairs and down the hall faster than she expected.  Once in their room Hugh locked the door and demanded her to undress and place herself in the corner.  He went to their en suite to change clothes as he tried to calm himself down.  In the corner, Becca had begun to rethink her choices.  Hugh was ticked and he rarely had to leave the room to calm down.  As she rethought the last hour she began to feel unbearably uncomfortable.  Guilt flooding her body and the need to be spanked grew.  She knew it would settle her part of wrongdoing and clean the slate, so to speak, but she was not looking forward to it.


Hugh returned to the room.  Becca heard the chair squeak as he sat down.  “Becca, turn around.”  She did immediately as she was told.  “Pick an implement and bring it to me.”  Becca turned to look at their bed.  Hugh had laid out three very different implements.


The first was their leather flogger with the tresses knotted to resemble a “cat o’ nines”. Not a weapon to be considered as dangerous as the other two, unless in the hands of a skilled spanker.  In the middle lay her oval antique wooden hairbrush.  Each swat by that medieval torture device left her sitting gently or not sitting at all for at least a few days after it’s use.  Lastly, was her sweet Hugh’s thick brown leather belt that he wore daily.  Another foe, but one that brought mixed emotions to both her heart and her behind.


Now which will you, our lovely readers, choose?


The flogger, the brush or the belt? It’s time to make your pick and then jump back over to Amy’s blog https://eric51amy49.blogspot.com/ later this week to read the post that aligns with Chapter Three!

P.S. I am having difficulty responding to comments. My apologies. Please leave a comment and as soon as I can have Hoss work out the issue I will respond. Thanks!



4 comments:

  1. Hi Baker,this is fun and a great start to the story. Thanks to both you and Amy. I will try and keep up with this :)

    Hugs
    Roz

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    1. Glad you liked it, Roz! Thankful you're up for the journey with us!
      --Baker

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  2. Oh my, I’m heading on over to Amy’s! Fun....

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    1. Minielle,
      So thankful you're having fun with this!
      --Baker

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