Measure of a Man Ch. 03

Trisha and Jake continue to lend a hand while Tad and Charlene reconcile and work out their issues to ensure that the family unit will remain strong and solid, despite the wilds of the world.

Trisha firmly guided Kitty away from the couple so that she was out of earshot. Although Kitty knew the story, this was for Charlene, and Kitty needed a distraction, badly, because she was vibrating with tension and stress.

"I'm not going." Kitty said, then she was picked up and tossed over Jake's shoulder like a sack of flour and found herself being dumped into the bed one of the rooms where Trisha closed the door behind his broad back, leaving just her and Kitty alone, while Jake kept an eye on the couple working through a major reconciliation.

"I need to be there." She protested. Trisha shook her head and stood by the door, looking at the younger determined girl who was now kneeling on the bed glaring at her.

"You have very pretty eyes when you're angry, Kitty. This is not for you. This has to be about them right now. Your time will come, and it will be glorious. Let them sort out their feelings so they can get back together properly, for each other, and for you." Trisha said, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"So what are you going to do? Tie me up and keep me here until they're ready?" Kitty snapped, then got off the bed and went to the door before she was pulled off her gait by a firm grip on her forearm and was upended across Trisha's lap.

"Submissives don't dictate. They get dick, and they get spanked, Kitty." Trisha said, then put action to words and pulling down the bikini bottoms, paddled Kitty's bottom until it was a light red colour and Kitty was howling tears of anguish. She was not hurting, that was certain, but this was a release of tension for her.

Trisha continued the mild domination by making Kitty kneel on the bed, panties still around her knees, red tinged bottom on clear display and stay in the classic sub pose as she walked around the bed, looking at the younger girl as she composed herself. Kitty finally looked up at Trisha, wetness on both of her cheeks and whispered something Trisha didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" Trisha asked quietly.

"Thank you, Mistress." Kitty repeated, a bit louder.

Trisha sat on the bed and pulled Kitty into a long embrace as the girl shook with tears but not the anguish she had been feeling earlier. Once settled, Trisha undid the top and efficiently stripped Kitty so she was nude, except for the heeled pumps she liked to wear. A tap at the door, and Jake opened it. "They're ready, Trisha." He said.

Trisha got up and taking a naked Kitty by the hand, they went back into the living room.

"What happened?" Charlene asked, curled up on Tad as she was, with legs and an arm wrapped around her man, she was surprised to see Kitty naked, and with some dampness on her cheeks.

"Your girl here decided to try and take some initiative. I dealt with it." Trisha said, then turned Kitty so they could see her reddened bottom, turned her again, and with a firm swat, sent her over to the couple who owned her heart and mind.

Kitty walked over and knelt in front of her Mistress and Master, then looked up at them.

May I ask a question?" She said after a moment.

"You may." Charlene said, slipping back into the role of primary Dominant for the girl she had raised.

"Are you two good again?" Kitty whispered.

"We are all good, Kitty. You are with us, and we are all good again. I am back, and I'm not going anywhere." Charlene said, then leaned over and hugged her girl, then kissed her cheek and then forehead.

Charlene ended up sitting on the carpeted floor holding Kitty in her lap while they all talked about the events of the past weeks while she had been gone. Charlene did not react when she heard about Tad's descent into an alcohol fuelled blitz, but he knew that she would be talking about it with him later, when they were alone. She told them about her travels, where she had gone, what she had done to try and find out what had happened and how to heal. For her it had finally happened when she got to New Mexico.

She had gone on what the natives call a Spirit Quest, and had travelled into the mountains to seek out answers. She felt that she found them, sitting on the cold side of a mountain near an abandoned Pueblo village, watching the stars, more stars than she could ever recall seeing, and then it had finally come to her. Family and love is not what you can give to the group, it's what you yourself add to the group. Whether or not Charlene could give a child to Tad was irrelevant. She was what Tad wanted. She was there for Kitty, and she was loved for who she was, not for what her body could produce.

It was still difficult for her to come to grips with, the loss of their child, but it was no longer the biting burning acid feeling that had been eating at her soul for months. She was able to give love, and to receive it back again, and that was why she had returned, ready to rejoin the family that she had developed with Tad and Kitty, as long as they would have her.

Kitty was asleep by the time Charlene finished her tale, and even though Kitty was quite a lot taller than her, Charlene had little trouble picking up the naked submissive and carrying her into one of the other bedrooms, where she put her to bed and with a gentle kiss on her cheek, let the girl sleep peacefully for the first time in many weeks.

Trisha and Jake also went to bed shortly thereafter, leaving Charlene and Tad to sit on the couch facing one another, in the quiet as the night closed in. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, the living room was warm, but Charlene still felt cold. Tad noticed her shiver and pulled her back into his lap where he wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.

"God how I missed you, Tad." Charlene murmured as she relaxed into the embrace.

"Aye, love. I missed you as much, if not more." Tad softly replied.

Charlene rolled over and looked at him, resting her chin on his chest as she had done so many times before. "Why did you let the alcohol get the better of you?"

"I'm nae proud of that, lass." Tad began but she stopped him with a finger to his lips. "I'm not asking for you to apologize, my Scot. I just want to know why."

Tad looked at her, but Charlene could see that he wasn't focused on her, his gaze was distant.

"I dinna want to lose you." He finally said.

"You didn't lose me." She replied quietly.

"It felt like I had, Red. You were gone." Tad whispered. "It felt to me just like Siobhan, all over again. Losing a child, then losing my woman, just like before. Everything just falling through my fingers like sand on a beach."

"I told you I would return, my Scot. You knew that." Charlene said, getting up onto her knees to look at him, but he was unable to properly met her gaze.

"Rationally, I knew you'd come back. You don't break your word, and you told Kitty the same thing. Emotionally, I broke. It felt too similar to my history, and I dinna know what to do. Things got a bit crazy here after you'd gone, I'm not too sure what you got told by Trisha, love." Tad said, finally looking at her squarely.

Charlene nodded. "I know you and Kitty kept drifting apart, then coming together, and that you were stand-offish to her, which nearly broke her apart, until Trisha pretty much put you both to bed and ordered you to fuck her. I also know that Trisha took you to bed as well to help you to regain some focus."

Charlene reached over and caressed Tad's cheek. "You have such a basic and simple view on life, my Scot. When a woman in your life makes an error, you feel justified to put her over your lap and spank her to correct her behaviour. What happens when you make the error, though?"

"I lose people." Tad said quietly, looking at her eyes, then looking away.

"Look at me." Charlene said with a snap to her voice. Tad's eyes focused on her.

She took his hand and put it on her chest, pressing it with her own until he could feel the strong heartbeat within her ribcage.

"Do you feel that?" She asked. Tad nodded.

"I had to go away, to find myself. To heal after my own very personal loss. I know it was your loss as well, and that it effected you deeply. Even more now that I know what happened with Siobhan years ago, my love. You are my rock, you are my anchor and my solid against the wilds of the world, Tad. What is your rock to rely upon?"

Tad didn't reply, and Charlene did not wait too long before squeezing his hand hard enough to hurt. "I am your rock, Tad. Just as you are mine, you have to let me be yours. You may be a traditional man with solid and decent values, but you need somebody who will stand by your side. An equal, not a submissive. That was a means to you finding me. Searching for a girl who would not abandon you like Siobhan did. Controlling that most intimate part of your life was all about finding me."

"It felt like you did abandon me, Red." Tad finally said into the growing uneasy silence.

Charlene nodded. "Your response to that was to get drunk on whiskey and scare our young girl so much that she began to have flashbacks of JJ. Thank God Trisha and Jake stepped up to the plate and helped to pull you back together, Tad."

She pulled him down so he was lying on his back on the couch and then straddled him. "I am not going to leave you again, my Scot. This was a one time event. I will never repeat it. Can you give me the same assurance you won't fall apart and descend into the bottle again, if things get rough?"

Tad swallowed. "I never intended to in the first-" Charlene stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"Stop making excuses and give me your word."

Tad looked at her squarely, then "On My Honor, Charlene O'Reilly, I will not use the bottle as a means to excuse my actions in our future."

Charlene nodded, then "And upon my Honor, Tadius McDragough, I will not leave you again, to find myself or for any other reason, in our future."

She sealed the deal with a kiss upon his hungry lips, which was soon joined by their arms twined around each other as they lay on the soft couch, the fire crackling in the hearth in front of them, darkness all around them, but not a threat, just a warm easy covering of night.

She got up, and with a finger to his chest, told him to wait as she walked out of the living room. Tad relaxed, waiting as he was bid. In a lot of ways his entire dominant streak was gone, burned out of him by both Charlene's presence, and by the people around him. Love conquers all.

She returned, wrapped in the sheepskin throw that he had as a reminder of the Old Country, she looked warm and inviting, wrapped in it. She came over to the couch and slipped it open to reveal she was naked underneath, then got back on top of him, the throw around her shoulders and draping down with the soft wool caressing them both.

Tad felt her nimble fingers at the clasp of his pants and soon he was assisting her to strip him out of his clothing, but she only wanted his pants and shorts off, his shirt was left on as she again straddled him, this time, his cock was beginning to get interested, and one of her hands was giving it attention.

"I know you've been feeding this, it's had pretty Kitties and mulatto queens. I have missed it though, and I think it's my turn, my fine Scot." Charlene whispered as she kissed him, her hand busy wrapped around his erect shaft as she gently moved it up and down to bring him to full attention and prepare him for her use.

Charlene raised herself up and holding him in place, slipped down so that the head of his cock slid past her outer lips and pressed against the entrance to her pussy. She bit her lip and pressed down, feeling him fill her aroused but not very lubricated sheath, but she persisted, feeling the slight pain as she stretched to accommodate him and finally, she was fully down, her pubes resting against his, feeling his full shaft in her, stretching her open and filling her properly.

"God I have missed this, I have missed you so much, Tad. I never knew how much I missed this until it was gone." She said, beginning to roll her hips and move so that he began to slide in and out of her slowly.

Tad's hands slid up her body, caressing her hips, then her stomach, then reaching up to cup her full breasts as she shivered with growing arousal and anticipation. She leaned into the caress as one hand gently stroked her neck then the side of her face, and leaning forward, she kissed him with a passion he returned, her hips beginning to move faster as her body responded to his fullness with lubrication and arousal at their coupling.

She could feel the beginnings of an orgasm that had been long denied to her by her travels and absolute lack of interest in anything, even masturbation. Charlene had neglected her sexual needs on her journey, and now, her body was making up for lost time. She bit her lip as her orgasm rapidly began to build and even as she tried to fight it, with Tad's gentle caresses and the strong full feeling of him buried deep inside her quickly pushed her over the edge and she clenched around him, her body quivering with release as she came, collapsing on top of him while he held her, gently caressing her back and sides as she gasped and shook with reaction.

Charlene opened her eyes as Tad lifted her, still wrapped in the sheepskin throw, and carried her into their bedroom where he laid her on the bed and pulled off his shirt and socks, then joined her on the throw as she spread her thighs to invite him to explore her depths.

He slid into her as she locked her ankles behind him, feeling him slide all the way into her and they began to move. Her orgasm had fully lubricated her so there was no longer any discomfort, just pleasure as her man solidly fucked her into the bed, and back into his life. She shook with another strong orgasm as Tad finally unloaded, filling her with his seed as he moaned into her mouth, feeling each others' pleasure at their coupling.

She lay curled up against him, one leg over his, his wetness slowly oozing out of her as she idly ran a finger over his chest.

"I love you, Red." Tad whispered, then kissed her head.

"I love you, Tad." She replied, looking up to kiss him, then hugging him, she held tightly to her man until sleep came for them both.

...

"I can't get pregnant." Charlene said as she looked at Tad. They had gone to the Doctor's office for a six month checkup after her miscarriage, and she had come out ashen faced and just walked into his arms for a long wordless hug.

"What is the matter, Red?" Tad asked her gently.

"I have scar tissue on my uterus. It is too thick to allow for embryo implantation. They can try to scrape it clean, but there is a good chance it will just grow back and become even thicker. I'm sterile, Tad." She said looking into his eyes, searching for an answer that she hoped he would have.

Tad held her tightly, kissing her head, then he took her face in his hands and kissed her lips softly.

"We have a wedding to plan, love. I pledged to spend my life with you, I aim to keep my word." He said softly.

"It's not fair to you. You deserve somebody who can give you children." Charlene cried.

Tad shook his head. "It will be what it is, Red. I want you in my life. If that is how it will be, then so be it. I am happy and content. You are my life."

"You are too good of a man not to have children, Tad. I can't give you that gift any more. We don't need to get married, you need somebody who can give you that gift. It's not me."

"Charlene O'Reilly, you will stop talking nonsense this instant." Tad said with a snap to his voice that Charlene had never heard before.

The ride back to the house was somewhat strained, neither of them knew what to really say so they sat in silence until they pulled into the driveway. Tad got out, and went to her side where he held the door so she could get out, then escorted her to the door, which he held open for her, like he normally did.

Once inside, they were greeted by silence. A note left by Trisha said she had kittynapped their submissive for an afternoon out and would return her, well worn out, by the evening.

Tad went and took a chair, then sat it in the middle of the floor and stood by it. "Come to me, Red." He said.

Charlene walked over to him, nervous and not quite understanding.

"I'm not a submissive, Tad. We've been over this many times." She said. Tad gently caressed her cheek and kissed her.

"You are my girl, love. That will never change. You did a similar thing to help bring Kitty to ground, I feel I need to do something to bring you to ground so you know you truly are loved, and that no matter what, I will take care of you." He explained as he gently unbuttoned the top of her dress, then pulled it free of her arms as she allowed him to undress her, The clothing pooled around her slim ankles so she was left just in a brief pair of white panties and matching support bra.

"You are going to spank me?" Charlene whispered.

"Aye, and you'll not argue with me, love. We have a very non traditional relationship going on here, you are such a strong woman that you match me well. I think now is the time for me to put the palm of my hand down upon your bottom so you realize how much I love you, in every way." Tad said as he walked around her while Charlene stood in just her bra and panties, feeling the cool air raising goosebumps on her skin and shivering from a very nervous feeling.

"Take down your panties, my love." He whispered in her ear. Charlene hesitated, then slipped her panties down and let them drop to the floor where she stepped out of them. Now naked from the waist down, she was more nervous and her hands clenched and unclenched. She felt like covering herself, which was silly, Tad had seen her like this countless times. He had fucked her in all manner of undress. Why was she so nervous now?

Tad sat on the chair in front of her and gently pulled her over so she settled across his lap, adjusting himself and her so her weight was distributed properly and she was as comfortable as this very uncomfortable position could get. She breathed slowly and steadily as she felt his hands, one gently but firmly holding her on the small of her back, fingers curling around her waist to ensure she did not fall off his lap, the other gently caressing her bare cheeks as she lay there, waiting and anticipating his next move.

"Who are ye, Red?" He asked her quietly.

"I am your girl, Tad." She replied. His hand flashed across her bottom and the crack echoed through the empty house as she gasped from the sudden contact. The hand then began to rub and massage where it had slapped, and as the shock from the sting began to ebb, she felt the warmth begin to spread.

"Who loves you, my girl?" He asked.

"You do." She whispered. Another firm slap and then more rubbing. Two slaps like this and her bottom was already beginning to burn. How could Kitty tolerate fifteen or more minutes of hard spanking?

"Did I give you any terms for my love?" He whispered close to her ear.

"No. Your love was without terms, unconditional." She replied with a voice full of unshed tears, then his hand slapped down four times in quick succession, and Charlene winced and felt tears begin to flow as her bottom stung under the attention.

"Am I going to marry you?" He whispered.

"Yes, Tad." She replied, tears now running down her cheeks. The spanking began in earnest, and as Charlene sagged against his lap, her bottom rapidly turned red under the firm attention of his hand which slapped her derriere all over. Leaving hand prints that quickly blended together into a hot red blush across her alabaster cheeks.

When he stopped, she didn't realize, Charlene was too busy crying to even notice when the slaps stopped and the caressing began. She knew that she was no longer face down, but cuddled in his arms, her bra had vanished, so she was naked, and they were now on the couch, but aside from that, he was her entire world, and he was solid. He was there, and he was not going to let her go.