Part 9 – Power struggle
Melanie almost stormed through the Caravan door, throwing it shut behind her, baby Angie on her hip, brow beetled, lips firmly set. She deposited the baby rather roughly on the couch, turned on her heel and walked over to the table. She threw her arms out and put her face in them, sighing loudly.
“What’s wrong, Melanie, dear?” asked mother. No reply was the answer, only more sighing.
“Please, speak to me. I didn’t invite you here to be upset” His mother laid a hand gently on Melanie’s arm, and squeezed encouragingly. Melanie looked up, and looked in her eyes.
“Well, it’s your brat of a son, also known as baby Angie”
“Oh dear, what is it?”
“Mummy, don’t listen to.....”
“Little baby girls are seen and not heard, be quiet while I talk to Melanie! now, what is it dear?”
“..but mummy..”
“I said be quiet!”
“..please listen, mummy”
“Right, that does it!” She turned to her daughter, who was playing cards with Melissa “Susie dear, our little baby is cranky and bad tempered. Please take her through to her cot, and put her down for a nap. I think you should smack her as well”
“No problem, mum” Susan picked Angie up, swung her on to her hip and started to carry her through to the big bedroom “Come along, baby” she said, picking up a slipper “It’s smacked bot time then beddy byes”. It wasn’t long till loud smacks could be heard on a clearly bare bottom with muffled cries.
“Now then, what was the problem?”
A shout came from the bedroom “Mum, I’m smacking his bottom, but it was already bright red”
“I know” said Melanie. “Ok, I’ll tell you”, she paused and took a breath “I really appreciated being asked to help with disciplining that brat of yours. You know, I used to see him and what he got up to at school. I always thought that he could really do with more discipline in his life, i even thought about putting him over my knee, more than once, but didn’t like to interfere”
“You know, you should have” said his mother.
“Then I saw his sister spank him, then helped her dress him up as a baby girl, and since then have been helping out with babysitting.”
“I know dear, it was very kind of you. That’s why I invited you along this weekend, to thank you”
“Well, please don’t think me ungrateful, but, really, he is a lot of work. I was quite happy to take the morning shift today, I wanted to help you out and help you relax, but he has been nothing but trouble!”
“How so?” asked his mother.
“Well, first I took him to the play park, and he refused to play with the other babies and toddlers there, saying he was too old and that he didn’t want his nappies to be seen. I tried to fix that by changing his nappy there and then, in front of all the mothers and children there. You should have seen the looks when they realised he was actually a boy”
“Go on”
“Well, he still refused to play nicely. So down came his nappy, and over my knee he went. Only then did he participate, and after all, it was me sacrificing my time by taking him there in the first place.
“You’ve smacked him before”
“Yes I know, but I am coming to the main part. I decided to take him to the camp cafe. I fancied a coffee, and I knew that there were children’s high chairs there. He’s so small I thought he would fit in one. So, I got there, and tried to put him in one, and he wriggled and wriggled. It’s very difficult; you know to get a wriggling infant’s feet into those holes.”
“I know, dear!”
“Eventually I got him in, ordered my coffee, and told him I’d let him feed himself, and handed him the milk bottle. At first he wouldn’t take it, and it took the threat of another smacked bot before he would! He started to drink, which I thought was fine, but then my coffee arrived. He took one look, lined up and threw that bottle. It hit the cup, deposited its contents over me, then it bounced quite hard somewhere behind me”.
His mother noticed, for the first time, the large brown stain over the front and side of her dress.
“You see, this is one of my favourite dresses and it might be ruined. I don’t know if the stain will come out”
“Take it off right away! Speed is of the essence here”
Melanie stripped her dress off, and his mother grabbed it, depositing it immediately in the sink basin. She added special soap right away and filled it with warm water. She came over and sat down again. “I am so sorry, Melanie”
“It’s not your fault, but I’ve been thinking. You see, after this, I don’t know if I can continue to babysit. It’s too exhausting and he always gets up to so much”
Susan came back through and sat down “Right, he’s in his cot. I smacked him good and hard. “Where’s your dress, Mel?”
“It’s a long story, but look in the sink”
His mother said “Oh no! Please listen to me. I had more or less decided that baby Angie is going to be around for a considerable time, but the thing is, I don’t think it can be done just between Susie and I. You two have been such a help. Indeed, you have made it possible. Without your help, I am not sure this type of punishment is really viable, and I’ll have to let him be big boy again”
Melanie looked at her again, and then looked at Susan and Melissa, then back to his mother “I appreciate what you say, but I don’t know, really”
Melissa said “Please, Sis, You know I’ll help all I can.”
“Mel, you’ve been my friend for so long, please help. Don’t let this put you off” said Susan.
“Please” pleaded his mother, close to tears
“Look, let me have the rest of this weekend to consider it. Maybe we can work something out” said Melanie.
Inwardly Melanie was ecstatic, but she knew she had to tread carefully. Her plan was working and it had been worth pouring that coffee over that old dress that really didn’t matter to her, just to get to this stage.
Melissa was worried. Supervising the “baby” made her feel all grown up. Surely her sister wasn’t going to take this away from her?
Susan was worried as well. She had just put her brother over her knee again, and really enjoyed the feeling of power. She was just getting in to being another “mummy”. It couldn’t be over, could it?
His mother was the most worried of all. She was more and more feeling that this punishment was just right, but the practicalities depended on the help of the two Mel’s. “Is there anything I can do to help you continue?” she asked, anxiously.
“I’ll think about it” said Melanie, her face set and serious..
“Yes!” she thought, “can I ever think of some things”
Through, in the bedroom, Ian (or Angie) couldn’t help but hear all this. His bottom smarted, and the nappy and plastic pants trapped the heat. “Oh, god” he thought, “Melanie is getting more and more involved, and my mother is positively opening the door. “What is she up to? Can I stop it?”