Page 30 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

Life’s Unexpected Gifts by Livia Grant

Chapter One

Troy Jackson looks at the time on his cell phone just before pulling out of the roadside gas station just off the Denver Boulder Turnpike. He’s not happy to see it’s already after six p.m. The Friday night traffic paired with the heavy December snowfall has slowed him down. He regrets not calling his sister to let her know he was on the way.

That’s what I get for trying to surprise her for her birthday. I guess the surprise will be on me if she’s not even home when I finally get there.

It’s been over six months since he’s seen his sister, Traci, and he’s been increasingly worried about her with each weekly Skype conversation they’ve had these last six months. As the only two remaining living relatives in their small family, Troy’s decided it’s about time they spend more time together. Tonight is meant to be a double celebration. Not only does he want to help his sister celebrate turning the big 3-0, but he can’t wait to see the look on her face when she finds out his transfer back to Denver is complete.

Just the weekend before, Troy had finished moving his relatively meager collection of possessions into his off-base apartment. At thirty-four years old, it had depressed him to realize he had so very little in the way of possessions to show for a lifetime of hard work. Sure, his bank account and investment portfolio were well padded with the money saved by being a single workaholic. His computer expertise along with his ability to lead research teams had spurred his military career along very quickly, making him a rather young Captain in the Air Force. He’s proud of his contribution to his team and service to his country, yet the older he gets, the bigger that hollow hole in his gut gets when he sees his friends with their families.

The irony is, there was a time when he felt sorry for those friends trying to keep it all together while moving from country to country, families chasing their husbands and fathers when they could. Now he knows those same men pity him as they talk about their plans for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Sure, he always gets invitations to join in his friend’s family celebrations when away from home, yet those requests really amounted to an invitation to be a fifth wheel. At least this year, he’ll spend Christmas with his sister for the first time in four years.

As he maneuvers a curve, Troy’s SUV slips on the slick mountain road, weaving the way to Eagle’s Pass, Colorado, the small town where Traci lives. As he gets the vehicle under control, he allows his thoughts to shift back to his sister.

He’s still in disbelief that Traci had chosen to live in Eagle’s Pass, a community populated by people who have one major thing in common, their love of spanking. Troy smiles to himself as he remembers his sister’s loud carrying on during one of the last spankings she’d received from their strict father. Only a few weeks from her high school graduation, she’d been more than three hours late for her curfew. Their parents had been nearly frantic with her uncharacteristic behavior. It was only bad luck that had Troy home from college that weekend to witness his father’s normally calm demeanor shattered by worry for his daughter. After they had found Traci safe and sound, his father’s anger bubbled up, replacing worry.

As a twenty-two-year-old college senior at the time, Troy had still been selfishly resenting his father’s rather strict discipline. But there, waiting along-side his parents to hear news on the safety of his sister, he’d seen another whole side of a loving domestic discipline way of life. He had watched with envy the closeness of his parents as they supported each other through their hours of worry. That was the first night Troy had finally understood the value of his parent’s consistent boundaries in his life, which had kept him and his sister remarkably grounded while allowing them the security of spreading their wings with the knowledge of their parent’s unconditional love. Unconditional love even when they did something stupid, like staying out half the night with her new boyfriend. Troy is sure his sister had not felt the same way after receiving the tanning of her lifetime courtesy of Dad’s well-worn belt to her bare bottom.

Yes, Troy had grown up a bit that night, uncovering important revelations about the kind of relationship he wanted in his future. Little did he know just how hard it would be to find a woman in the twenty-first century who actually wanted to be guided by their dominant husband. Between deployments, he’s had little time to play the field, but even those few relationships he’s had over the years have been a shallow imitation of what his parents had. So far he hasn’t been willing to compromise. Unfortunately, as he comes up on his thirty-fifth birthday, he finds himself worried he may need to settle for ‘good enough’ soon.

If I don’t start a family soon, I’ll end up being a senior citizen by the time the kids graduate.

When Traci had told him of her plans to buy into the co-op community to both live in Eagle’s Pass and serve as the resident therapist, he had actually laughed at her, thinking she was playing a joke on him. He wasn’t sure such a place could actually exist and if it did, why in the world would his sister choose to live there as a single woman? The fact that she would voluntarily live in a place heralding the benefits of something she’d howled so loud over as an eighteen year old always amuses him. The only thing he’s come up with is that maybe his sister had realized how great their parent’s marriage had been after all.

They’ve never openly talked about what they’d both learned that fateful night, but he wants to change that. He’s sensed a growing sadness each time he’s talked to Traci over the last few months. He’s been worried about her and is relieved he’s close enough now to drop in to visit more often. She’d been so happy when she first moved to Eagle’s Pass, but he can’t shake the feeling she might be regretting her decision now, almost two years later.

Troy is relieved to see the large sign welcoming him to Eagle’s Pass. The country roads have been getting worse by the minute, making him happy to see the plowed streets of the town nestled into the mountains outside Boulder. He chuckles as he turns onto his sister’s street, Spanking Loop. The last time he’d been here it had been a hot summer day and the park across the street from her house had been full of happy children. Tonight, the park is empty as he passes by before slowly pulling into the first driveway he gets to. His sister was lucky to get this prime location in town, so close to the park and only a few blocks walk to the community center, pool and theater, all locations they’d enjoyed together the last time he was in town.

Only once he puts the SUV in park does he take the time to realize his sister’s house is completely dark, confirming his fear that he should have given her a heads up he would be coming tonight. He’d wanted to surprise her, but the surprise is on him. Troy gets out of the vehicle, his leather boots sinking into the several inches of wet snow on his way to her large front porch. He rings the doorbell, with only a small hope of her opening the door. After several attempts to rouse her, he takes out his cell phone to text her.

Text from Troy to Traci:

Hey, sis. Happy birthday! What are you up to for your big day?

No response. Okay, she must be out having fun.

Troy chooses ‘Sis’ from his contacts, pressing SEND on a call. He’s not happy when the call goes straight to voice mail.

The least she could do is answer her damn phone.

He goes back to sit in his idling car for what seems like an eternity but is most likely only ten minutes. After trying her phone several more times, he’s in a quandary of what to do. It’s way too far to drive home, not to mention he’d hate to drive the roads back down to the turnpike with the snow continuing to come down at this clip. He knows there’s no hotel in town and he’s never bothered to get a key to Traci’s considering he visits so rarely. Hopefully, they can correct that now that he’s moved back to Colorado, but little good that’ll do him tonight.

Impatient, he checks the locks on both the front and back door, actually happy when he finds both secure. He’d not be happy if his sister had been careless enough to keep her doors unlocked, especially living alone, safe community or not.

As he stands near the front door, his eyes travel down to the ceramic guard goose dressed in a Christmas Santa suit. His heart lurches as the childhood memories of his mother lovingly changing the clothes on their family guard goose as each new holiday season would approach. He’d completely forgotten about the silly tradition, yet he’s happy to see his sister carrying it forward. He knows his mom would be pleased. A pang of homesickness he hasn’t allowed himself to feel in a very long time invades.

If only that were the only memory he had of that stupid goose.

It was their family’s guard goose that had made him aware that their father not only disciplined Troy and his sister, but their mother, too, when she’d broken a family rule. Even in the frigid cold, a warmth passes through Troy at his vivid memory as a thirteen-year-old boy coming home from school to hear the unmistakable sounds of his mother being paddled by his father through their clearly-not-thick-enough bedroom door.

Troy had felt the hard, wooden paddle on his own bottom enough to know conclusively what was happening on the other side of that door. His father’s stern lecture pointing out the foolishness of putting their family’s safety at risk by hiding the key to their house in such an obvious place, only two feet from the front door, could barely be heard over his mother’s sobbing promises to never let it happen again.

The spanking had gone on for what seemed like an eternity as he stood there, completely panicking over how this turn of events would change their family dynamic. He remembers selfishly standing there listening to the sounds of the harsh punishment, wondering how it was going to feel having parents who were divorced, because surely his mom was never going to put up with being thrashed by her husband like a naughty child.

After the paddling ended, he had run to his room to hide, ear to his door listening for sounds of an argument or worse, his mom leaving. When his mom had called him down for his after-school snacks like she did every other day, he’d been shocked. He had crept down to the kitchen, cautiously, hoping not to see his father. Afraid he might deck his dad for driving Mom away.

Troy had almost fainted when he arrived at the kitchen to find his mom sitting on Dad’s lap at the table, snuggled up close as he hugged her to him as if she was precious. The peaceful smile on her face as she looked up as he entered overshadowed the slightly red rims of her eyes, the only indication he had really heard what he had heard. He remembers the rush of relief followed by his own confusion over what had transpired between his parents. He took every opportunity to watch them closely in the following years, witnessing firsthand how much happier they seemed than any of his friend’s parents. Only years later would he start to truly understand the power of such an intimate relationship.

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