Van, Bryce, and a Teddy
(This story takes place on the Tuesday following Van’s first time.)
I’m sure I’ve repeated some things a number of times in these stories, and I’ll probably repeat them many more times in the future. However, for the sake of the stories, I think some of them do bear repeating. One of those things is, I think it’s much more effective to give a boy a long, slow, spanking with medium swats, rather than a short, fast one while swinging like Barry Bonds. Of course, in this realm, all things are relative. What is a thorough spanking for a 10-year old would be abusive for a 5-year old, and a joke for a 15-year old. Therefore, I think it’s important to have the proper implement ready when needed. Even though Bryce was small for his age, he was still over three years older than Van, and I felt Van needed his own implement.
To that end, on Tuesday I’d dug through some old keepsakes and things I’d retired, and come up with the perfect answer. I’d already let Van know I’d be picking him up when his kindergarten class was done, and he was happy about that. He enjoyed his day care, but also liked when he and I could spend private time together. We did some grocery shopping, then headed home.
After he ‘helped’ me put the groceries away, and we’d had a snack, I gave him his surprise. Many, many years before, before the twins came to live with us, Barry was the youngest boy I’d ever needed to spank on a regular basis. Cathy and I had talked about how old was the right age to switch from a swat or two to a ‘big boy’ spanking. We hadn’t come to a decision when he took it out of our hands.
By the summer Barry was 5, Steve and Mikell were mostly away at college. JD and Chris weren’t actually living with me, but were there more than the two at college, yet they were both in their late teens and neither they nor my little brother Aaron, who was still living with us at the time, had paddles up in their rooms. However, Bobby and Tommy were both living with me at that time and both of them, as well as Corey, with whom I had regular visitation, had paddles hanging in their room. I knew that Barry was not only aware of paddlings occurring in our house, and that he’d heard his older brothers talking about them, but he’d actually seen one, when I’d spanked his (then) cousin, Caleb, for picking on him. Yet, after he’d received his first ‘big boy’ spanking, the fit he threw when I hung the paddle in his room was almost worse than how he’d acted when I’d actually spanked him.
I never did quite understand the reason he’d acted that badly about the paddle being displayed in his room, unless maybe one of his older brothers had said something about it. Whatever the reason, I found an alternative that worked for us.
Several years before, when Corey had been a first grader, I’d seen one of his friends get spanked while hugging a large teddy (See Dougie Weiss), and that gave me an idea that I thought was worth trying. We went to the toy store and picked out a new teddy bear. I explained to Barry that this was a special teddy. He loved Barry very much - like all teddy’s do - but he also wanted to help Barry remember to behave. To that end, this teddy was going to have a special place on Barry’s dresser, where he would hold Barry’s paddle, when Barry didn’t need it, and he’d even share corner time with Barry, when Barry did need the paddle. That seemed to do the trick, and I even re-did the paddle with a cartoon of a daddy bear spanking a cub, and christened the result ‘For the bare cub’. Since that was also a play on his name, he loved it very much, and the teddy was soon dubbed The Spanky Bear.
When the twins dad went back to prison and I took custody of them, I handed Spanky Bear down to them (much to Barry’s distress, though I didn’t know this for years). The other boys moving in with us were older - even Bryce had been already in first grade - so Spanky Bear had remained in retirement when I upgraded the twins at the end of their first grade year. Now that Van was beginning to receive spankings, I thought it would be a good time for Spanky to go back to work.
After our snack, I took Van to his room, showed him the new tenant on his dresser, explained who Spanky was and how he helped little boys, and pointed out that he had his very own paddle. Van seemed to be very excited at this evidence that he was now like the other boys, and even wanted to test the paddle, until I reminded him how much his spanking the previous week had stung. That dampened his enthusiasm a bit, but not too much.
We spent the afternoon talking while I did some baking, and he was busily filling in pages in his coloring book. He was up all afternoon and several times talked about how he couldn’t wait to show Bryce. When the boys did get home, Van was very excited. Bryce barely got to put his books down before Van was dragging him to their room. I told Bryce to go look, while I got his snack ready. Ryan and the twins trailed along to find out what was going on.
Feeding pre-adolescent boys has rarely been a problem with me. Keeping them feed on the other hand… I was fixing PB&Js for the group when the yelling started.
I was already moving towards the boys’ rooms when Ryan came running towards the kitchen. He was clearly upset and nearly incoherent.
"Bryce.. Dad, something’s wrong! He’s crazy."
I was already moving as fast as I safely could, but still tried to pick it up. As soon as I got into the playroom, I could see Van standing in the door to his room (though standing might not be the right term, since he was leaning against the door frame and looked as though he was about to fall over). I could hear some type of weird, angry noise coming from the bedroom, but most of the screaming I’d heard was Van.
"Make him stop, Daddy! He’s hurting him! Please, make him stop hurting him!!!"
The little fellow was in obvious anguish with tears streaming down his face. Even as I rushed to his room, my mind was in turmoil, trying to figure out what could have happened in just a minute or two. Had someone broke in and been hiding in there? Had one of the animals gone rabid?
I rushed through the doorway, slowing only long enough to be sure I got by Van without running him down, and immediately started checking for the danger. What I saw shocked me. There was no rabid animal or intruder. The angry, grunting noises came from Bryce, who was in the midst of assaulting Spanky Bear. The poor bear had already lost one leg, and Bryce was working on the arms. I could see stuffing coming out of a chest wound. What I could also see was Johnny sitting on his rump and looking stunned, while Josh was just holding his groin and looking worse. Bryce didn’t look any better, since he looked possessed. His face was a darker red than his bottom had ever been and tears were running down his face. The fact that Van was still crying and begging me to stop the assault was NOT helping my concentration.
"Bryce Radley!" I thundered in a voice that would have done drill sergeants and high school coaches proud.
Bryce stopped, still holding Spanky as if he were on the rack. He looked up at me and it was obvious that the bear was causing him as much pain as he was causing everyone else.
"Hand me that bear, right now, mister!" I said in a lower, but no less demanding voice. For some reason, asking for the bear must have been the wrong thing to do, because Bryce threw the bear and me, then just collapsed onto the floor, bawling. I didn’t know what had brought this on or why there even was a problem, but I had to prioritize.
Doing a quick triage, I made sure that Johnny was all right - he was simply stunned that Bryce had actually been able to push him down when he’d tried to take the bear, Josh had been the first to move, and had gotten kicked in the privates for his troubles. He was sore, but hadn’t been hit hard enough to make him barf, so I figured I could put an examination off for a bit. Then I picked up Spanky Bear and went to Van. Van seemed inconsolable, but when I explained that teddies are tougher than humans, and that his Aunt Cathy was very good at teddy surgery and could have him fixed up and ready to play in a day or so, he started to settle down. The I turned my attention to the source of the day’s troubles.
He’d weeped harshly after first throwing the bear; but, by the time I turned my attention back to him, he’d settled down to a quiet, but broken-hearted sobbing. I gathered him into my arms and took him to my office. Avoiding the spanking chair, I settled into the couch without ever letting him go. Upon sitting, I settled him into my lap, and he instantly clung to my neck. He was saying something, but it took me a minute to realize he was simply repeating the same thing over and again.
"I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Daddy."
I don’t know how long I held him, but it couldn’t have been as long as it had seemed. When he finally quieted down, I held him tight for another minute, then loosened my hold just enough so I could look down into his face. I quietly stared for a minute, until he finally looked up at me. When I was sure I had his attention, I finally spoke.
"Would you like to tell me why you commented attempted murder on a teddy bear, son?"
He blushed slightly, then looked away. I was quiet. I still didn’t really know what had happened, but I knew this was a time for conversation, not lecture. He finally looked back to me.
"You don’t need him, Daddy. You should make him go away."
"The teddy bear?" I asked, not quite understanding his thoughts.
"No. Van! You don’t need him. I’m your baby boy, not him."
"Bryce, Van and Misha aren’t here because I need them. They’re here because they need us." I was very careful to pick that pronoun. "They don’t have anyplace else to go, just like you didn’t when you moved in here. They need a family to care for them." I paused to gather my thoughts, while Bryce was looking very doubtful. "Besides, just because Van’s younger than you, that doesn’t mean you’re not still my baby boy."
"It doesn’t?"
"No, sweetheart. Don’t you ever listen to your Granny?"
He didn’t want to say no, but obviously didn’t know to what I was referring, either.
"Well, why don’t we give her a call, then. She’ll tell you."
I picked him up to get the phone, then settled back down as I dialed. It didn’t take Mom long to answer.
"Hi, Mom. Somebody’s having a rough day today and wants to ask you a question."
I handed the phone to Bryce and told him the question to ask.
"Hi, Granny. Who’s your baby boy?"
I couldn’t hear Mom’s reply, but had heard it often enough hat I didn’t need to hear it. I knew by Bryce’s reply that she had given the expected answer.
"Really? But he’s old!" Thanks kid. "He’s really still your baby boy? Okay." He smiled, then giggled and handed the phone back to me. I said good-bye and hung up, setting it on the table beside us.
"Granny said you must not be her baby boy, ‘cause if you're old, she can’t be your mom after all." The smile on his face said he found that much more amusing than I did.
"Do you understand now, Bryce? I love all you boys very much; but, each of you is special to me in your own way, and I’ll never forget all the mornings we’ve spent sitting together and doing puzzles. I love other people, but no one will ever take your place with me."
He started crying again, but it wasn’t the hard crying he’d been doing before.
"Bryce? Don’t you know that Van loves you very much, and he wants you to love him? All afternoon, he was looking forward to showing you his bear and paddle. He was proud of it, and wanted you to be happy for him."
I didn’t ask anything else, because I didn’t want to push him, but I didn’t need to. He was ready to tell me.
"If I’m your baby boy and not him, why’d you give him Spanky Bear and not me? You do love him more." He was pouting by the time he finished the last exclamation, and I think he was nearly in tears again.
"Bryce, I love all of you, and there’s nothing that says you can’t both me my babies," he started to complain, but I cut him off at the pass, "but you were first. The thing is, I never thought you needed Spanky. Don’t you remember seeing him in the twins room?"
He thought about it, but finally shook his head no.
"Well, I put him up about the time they turned seven, and we hung Mr. Spanky up, instead. You were already playing baseball with them before I took it down, but you might not have been in their room before that."
"Anyway," I continued, "don’t you remember me spanking you with them that summer, before you moved in with us?"
"Yeah…" He said thoughtfully.
"Well, I didn’t spank you as long or as hard as I had them, but I still spanked you with Mr. Spanky. When you moved in with us, I’d already spanked you, and you were sharing a room with the twins, where Mr. Spanky was already hanging, so I just never thought about you needing your own paddle. When the twins got too big for Mr. Spanky, you kept him and started getting longer spankings like they were getting, and I gave them The Little Deer."
"I remember. But if I’m your baby boy, why didn’t you give me the bear?"
"Because there’s a difference in being my baby boy and being a baby. If you’d never had a spanking before you moved in here, I would have given you Spanky, I just didn’t think you needed him. Would you like a spanky bear?"
"I thought you gave him to Van?"
"First, I didn’t say I was going to give you that one. That one was actually Barry’s, and I think I’ll put him away, after your Aunt Cathy performs surgery on him. He’s a tired old bear, and I’ll bet he’s ready to retire. No, I was thinking we’d go Saturday and get you and Van both new bears, if you want one."
"Yes! Thank you, Dad. That’d be great."
"Good, I’m glad we solved that problem, but that’s not the only problem we had today, was it?"
Bryce suddenly looked very embarrassed and replied in a sheepish voice, "Am I gonna get a spanking, Daddy?"
"Why would you ask that, Bryce?"
He thought for a second. "I know I deserve one. Is that what you mean?"
"No, I mean, why do you think you deserve one?"
He gave me an odd look. I’m not sure if he thought I was laying a trap for him or if I’d gone crazy in the last few minutes (or maybe I really was getting old and senile and just forgot what had led to this little discussion). He finally decided I was probably just testing him, so he gave me the honest answer.
"Because I pushed Johnny, and ‘cause I kicked Josh in the bad place, and ‘cause I was mean to Van, and ‘cause I hurt Spanky."
"That’s a lot of stuff, isn’t it?" I waited for him to nod. "If you’d only done one of those things, which one do you think you’d still get spanked for?"
He paused to think about it for a minute, and then his eyes started to tear up before he answered, "All of them."
"That’s a lot of spanking, isn’t it, kiddo?" He nodded as a fresh tear began to trace it’s way through the stains already on his cheeks. "I’ll bet you wouldn’t sit down for a week if I gave you four spankings." I paused for a minute. "I guess we’d better not do that."
The boy was suddenly limp as a wet noodle as the tension fled his body.
"I guess, instead of giving you four spankings today, I could give you one spanking after school every day for the rest of the week," I paused only a second, and continued before he could become to upset again. "but I don’t think that would be fair."
After another slight pause, I continued again. "I want you to understand something, Bryce. I love you and I want to be happy, but that means, as your daddy, that I have to balance two things. Sometimes it means giving you what you want and making sure you have a good time. At other times, that means that I have to punish you when you do something wrong. That’s not to make you happy now, but so you’ll learn that bad things happen when you don’t act right. That way, you’ll be a lot happier when you grow up."
"Here’s what I want you to understand. Being fair to you doesn’t always mean being nice to you. In this case, it means that I have to give you the punishment you deserve, not just to make sure you remember not to act like this again, and not just so you’ll realize how much better it would have been to come and talk to me in the first place, and not even so your brothers know that you aren’t allowed to do those things anymore than they are. I can look at you and tell you’re very unhappy with yourself and the way you acted. You don’t feel good and you’re probably thinking that your brothers don’t like you anymore. Aren’t you?"
Another tear trailed down his cheek as he nodded, and he was quickly crying steadily, but not hard. "I think you already know that a good spanking will clear your conscience. You’ll feel better and, if your brothers are mad at you right now, they’ll be more willing to forgive you, just like you forgave Johnny and Huck for picking on you that time, after they’d been spanked. Remember that?"
He nodded again and the tears slowed as he did remember the cruel trick that had been played on him, and that he had forgiven them after watching them get their bottoms burned, and was still friends with them both.
I paused and looked closely at him. The poor kid knew he had a butt ache coming, and he deserved it; but, it was obvious looking at his red eyes and tear-stained face that, if he didn’t already have a headache, he was going to have one soon. He was so small, and he’d lost so much water, I was half-surprised he hadn’t already dried up and blown away.
"First, go to my bathroom and wash your face, pee if you need to, then get a big drink of water. That’ll give me time to decide what’s fair, but come right back here as soon as you’re finished."
Matching actions to words, I picked the boy up, put him on his feet, and gave him a swat on the rear to get him started. He scurried off towards my bathroom. I already knew what I was going to do, and used the few minutes to check on the other boys. Josh was still walking a little carefully, but wasn’t sore enough to not complain when I started to examine him. He wasn’t happy, but wasn’t damaged either, which was my worry.
When I stepped back into the office, Bryce was standing by the couch, awaiting me.
"You’ll be glad to know that Josh wasn’t hurt too bad." His relief was evident, so I didn’t belabor the point.
"Now, are you ready to hear your sentence?’
He nodded, his face managing to be both grim and worried.
"You’re only going to get one spanking. However, I think this is one of those rare cases where we need to be fair to you and your brothers. That means I’m going to get you ready for your spanking, then you’re going to go and ask that they come in here to watch."
It was obvious he didn’t like that much, but I don’t think he even wanted to argue with the fairness of it. I prefer to spank in private most of the time, but I feel there are times when a boy’s behavior has a direct enough effect on others that they deserve to witness his correction. Bryce had been on the other side of this, and I think he understood it.
"The second thing," I continued, "is that I’ve already been thinking Mr. Spanky isn’t doing a good enough job on your little bottom anymore, and so you needed a new paddle. Saturday, you and I will go to the work room and make a new one for you." This news obviously had him torn. On the one hand, he was excited that I thought he was growing up (yet still thought of him as my ‘baby boy’), and probably more so that I planned for the two of us to spend some private time together. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure he wanted to assure me that Mr. Spanky still did a much better job on his little bottom than he really cared for, thank you very much.
"So, we’re going to retire Mr. Spanky today, until Van’s ready to upgrade to him, and for this afternoon, we can use the Little Deer on you."
Bryce winced visibly with this pronouncement. It was obvious he remembered seeing the twins receive a session or two with the little deer and didn’t much care to find out if it looked as bad as it felt.
"Daddy, am I going to get the little deer from now on?"
"No, sweetheart. I think you’re still a little small for the little deer. Maybe next year. I think you deserve something special today, but we’ll make a new one that’s bigger than Mr. Spanky, but not as big as the little deer."
He nodded his acceptance.
"In that case, I think it’s time to get you ready for your spanking, little one. You know what to do."
Without me having to say anything else, Bryce took a step closer. His shirt had come mostly untucked during his histrionics, and he pulled it the rest of the way loose, before hiking it up under his arms. He watched nervously as I began to undo his lower clothing. With some of the boys, I did this as quick and dispassionately as I could. With Bryce, I had to give him a lot of contact as I did it or he got panicky. Never getting out of place, I let my fingers lightly trace across his belly as I unfastened his belt. Even if it was just patting his still jean-clad hip for a second, the contact kept him a bit calmer. Soon enough, I had his jeans and Power Rangers briefs around his ankles, then I broke our custom, by picking him up and sitting him in my lap.
"You’re going to have to go get your brothers for this Bryce, so we’re going to get your clothes all the way off this time."
Bryce wasn’t the little nudist some of my other boys had been (are!), but he wasn’t really embarrassed by the idea either. As I removed his shoes and socks, then his pants and briefs, he shifted to allow me easier access. When he was bare from the waist down, I stood him again and lifted the shirt over his head.
As soon as the shirt came over his head, his hands snuck down in front of him. It’s amusing to me how, even though I see him naked on a regular basis, he becomes shy when he’s about to be spanked. I often check in with him when he’s bathing to make sure he gets behind the ears and every place, and he still can’t do a half-way decent job of washing his own hair. On those occasions, he has no problem with me seeing him undressed. It’s a good thing, I suppose It makes it clear that they are uncomfortable with the punishment, which shows it’s getting through to them.
Bryce has very clear, fine skin with no freckles, probably due to the Mediterranean influence that gives him his dark brown hair and eyes and perpetual tan. He’s a very nice looking boy and it’s always a pleasure to look at him, in the way one would appreciate any work of art. He’s not especially well built or endowed, but he’s a healthy, active boy and looks it. I just hated that it was in this situation. As much as I love spanking, I’ve really grown to hate the times that I spank one of my own little darlings. Still, like it or not, I really do believe it’s one of the best ways to teach a boy the consequences of his behavior.
He was looking down at his feet, so I sat back and admired him as I folded his clothes. Finally he looked up at me. I was quiet another minute, letting him stew just a bit.
"Do you know what you need to do now, Bryce-ster?"
He nodded, but then continued without me pushing. "I gotta go ask Van and Johnny and Josh to come here so they can see me get spanked."
"First, I think Ryan was there, too. You didn’t do anything to him, but I think you scared him pretty bad when you went all Incredible Hulk, so you’d better ask him to come also. Second, don’t forget that we need the Little Deer. Why don’t you ask Josh if he’ll bring it here for you, and you can bring Mr. Spanky, so we can put him in the drawer for now?"
He nodded again to show he understood the instructions, then started towards the door, but stopped and looked questioningly at me. I nodded my permission and he left to do his errands.
It didn’t take him long. I’d imagine that running around with his bare bottom showing encouraged him to move quick. By the time he came back, I’d moved to my normal spanking chair and was waiting. It wasn’t five minutes before he came back, his brothers trailing behind him, trying not to look too happy, lest they incur a session of their own.
When the other four boys had found a seat on the couch, I called Bryce over to me. When he was standing at my side, I rested my hands on his hips, then turned him to face his brothers.
"I think you have something to say, don’t you Bryce?"
"Yes, sir," he said, looking back over his shoulder to me. Then he turned to face his brothers again.
"I’m really sorry that I acted like that today. Me and Dad had a long talk, and he’s gonna give me a really hard spanking, and I know I deserve it. He thought y’all should get to see it ‘cause I acted up towards y’all and I think he’s right." Then he held up Mr. Spanky.
"Daddy says I’ve been getting spanked with Mr. Spanky too long and it’s time for me to get a new one." He turned and dropped it in the paddle drawer, then turned back. We’re gonna make me a new one; but, because I was acting really naughty today, I gotta get the Little Deer. Josh, could I…" I stopped him before he could complete that thought.
"We’re not quite ready for the little deer, sweetheart. I know you’re feeling pretty bad right now, and I think you need a nice, long spanking, so you can cry all the naughty out. Since I don’t think you’ll be able to take a long spanking from the Little Deer, why don’t we start with my hand. C’mere," I instructed him, patting my lap.
Bryce had turned to face me when I interrupted him, but I turned him away from me, then lifted him under his arms and draped him across my lap. The boy was very tense, and I decided that starting his spanking then would be counter-productive. Instead, I rubbed his legs with my right hand and his back with my left. As I did, I reviewed the reasons that we have to treat each other with respect (besides the fact that Dad will spank you when you don’t). As I continued, I could feel Bryce begin to relax across my knees. When most of the tension was gone, I moved my right hand and began rubbing his bottom. When he didn’t tense again, I knew he was ready.
My left hand shifted from rubbing to lightly holding him in place. My right hand rose from his cheeks, then popped right back down. I wasn’t trying to burn him right from the start. I knew that all the boy’s senses of justice, including Bryce’s, would only be served by a long spanking, so I set out to warm him up at first. That’s not to say the smacks were soft or playful. His bottom quickly pinkened, and he began squirming. The falling swats slowly reddened his bottom until the heat and sting reached that magic point and he began to sob. At that point, I began to increase my tempo and force a bit, and he quickly moved to real, hard crying. He was trying to take his spanking ‘like a good boy’, and kept a firm grip on the leg of the chair and my pants leg, but couldn’t keep his little legs from kicking. When he was starting to go limp, I could sense that he was about to go over the top and be totally broken, and I stopped. Just like that, with no climax or anything. The little legs kept making their swim kicks for a moment, before he realized it was over, and he collapsed - all tension running from him again.
I felt sorry for the little tyke. He deserved this, and I don’t think any of us doubted that. Still, it’s hard for anyone to continue being put under pressure then having it released, only to begin building again. I had no doubt this was the same thing, but I also think it’s really what he needed. I’d seen that he was really upset with himself, and he needed to know that he’d earned his release and forgiveness.
As he lay there crying, I softly rubbed his cheeks with my left hand, enjoying the rising heat. Slowly, his crying subsided and I could feel him begin to move his bottom to rub back against my hand. At that point, I thought he was ready to finish it.
"I think you’re warm enough now, Bryce. What comes next?"
His voice caught as he answered, "I gotta get The Little Deer."
I had Josh bring me the paddle and settled it against Bryce’s already red tush. I didn’t see any reason to delay this time. Bryce was a little tense, but I expect it would take more than a back rub to get him to relax this time.
The paddling wasn’t long as they usually go. This time I was going for maximum effect with minimum count. He’d already had a good long session over my lap, and know I wanted to make sure it lasted for a while. One, two, three, four - I went straight down his left side, onto the top of his leg, then repeated it on the right. He was howling loud and hard before I came back up to place two more right on the center valley of his trim little cheeks, and a final two right on his sit-spots left him broken and bawling.
I gently picked him up and turned him to sit in my lap. I hugged him close and he clung so fiercely that he nearly choked off my air. I was surprised that the other boy’s weren’t restless, but I think they were in awe. I rarely allow witnesses for spankings, unless that boy is also about to get a turn, and what they’d just seen was not a normal spanking for me. Sometimes I think it would be good to make every spanking public, because a spanking somehow seems scarier when you’re seeing it,can’t really tell how much it hurts. Then your mind fills in what should go with all those sound effects.
When Bryce had settled down enough to talk, I had all the boys stand. Going from oldest, I had Bryce apologize to each boy. When the only apology left was the one he owed Van, I dismissed the other boys. Then I picked Bryce up and moved to the couch, signaling Van to come cuddle with us.
"Van," I addressed him, "Bryce is going to apologize to you, but I want you to understand something, before he does. Bryce does not hate you. Bryce wasn’t really even angry at you. And he certainly wasn’t angry at the Spanky Bear. Bryce was mad at me and scared of you, and he just didn’t know how to explain it or what to do about it, so he got really angry and did things he shouldn’t."
I then had to spend several minutes explaining concepts such as identity and dislocation to a 6-year old, but I think he understood the basics at the end. At that point, Bryce wiggled up from my lap and apologized. Van stood and accepted the apology with a hug.
Bryce was so warn out that I just got him back into his undies and carried him to their room, where I let him wash his face, get some water, and take a leak, before I put him down for a nap. The poor kid was asleep before I got a cover over him. Van, showing the forgiveness that’s possible between brothers, climbed up next to him and laid down.
The next Saturday, Bryce and I did design a new paddle. I was trying to come up with a cute name for it, when Bryce suggested Apply Before Corner time (in slightly different language). He even suggested a picture, with a red-bottomed little boy standing in the corner, and I was able to ‘find’ one of those quickly enough. The paddle is now commonly known as ‘B4’.
The three of us took a trip that day also (me and Bryce and Van, not the paddle) into the Metroplex, where we visited North Park Mall and the Build-a-Bear Workshop. Both boys got to select and outfit their very own Spanky Bear. It was funny because neither went with anything close to the classic Spanky, who’d started all this trouble. Van chose one of the smaller bears, so he could get a big t-shirt with it, which was all it wore, except for a pair of bear paw briefs. Bryce managed to pick a bigger bear he liked, and dressed it in copies of his favorite old overalls and red ball cap. They were both ecstatic as we went to lunch carrying their friends.
I think that was a turning point for the boys. Van has always seemed pretty easy going to me, but I knew there’d been some trouble between them. Once Bryce realized that Van wasn’t a threat to them, they seemed to reach a new level, and they’ve since become friends, as well as brothers.
Of course, Bryce did spend a few very nervous weeks, until he found out exactly how bad B4 was actually going to be, but that’s a story for another time.