Patience Is a Virtue

by Lenore and Breanna

As Christmas neared, both Breanna and Lenore found themselves more excited than ever. And excited for the same reason -- presents!! Bre was almost positive that her dad was going to reward her hard work this semester with the new iphone, since she'd been begging him for it for-like-ever. And Lenore? Well, she still believed in Santa, and was worried about asking for her presents since nobody would ever take her to the mall. That is, until Breanna announced she had to buy some last-minute gifts and invited her younger sister to join.

Lenore was super stoked her sister had invited her along. She was finally going to see Santa! She'd her small list of items she wanted most with her, and was determined that he would get it that day while she was at the mall. Besides, their father had given her some money, so she could do some Christmas shopping too. How exciting!

"Just don't run off," Bre said when they arrived. "It gets super crazy this time of year... if we get separated, we might never find each other."

"No worries, Bre!" Lenore grinned. "So long as we find Santa first. He's super important!"

Breanna shook her head. "We'll go to Santa when we get to him. We have to go to the stores in order." She should've known that the ten year old didn't have much patience, but she hadn't thought about it. Instead, she was focused on her shopping list. First things first -- a present for Chris.

"But Bre!" Lenore whined. "Santa isn't here all day! An' if I don't see him today, he's never gonna get my letter!"

Bre had stopped paying attention though. They'd arrived to the first store and she immediately searched for Chris' present. She wasn't sure what to get him, just knew that it had to be the coolest, best gift ever. "Help me find something for Chris."

Lenore huffed slightly, not happy in the least bit. "I'd be more help if you'd let me go see Santa first," she retorted, as she glanced around. "Why don't you get him a hat?"

Bre glared at her little sister. "Just chill. We'll go in a bit. I'm sure he already knows what you want anyway." Truth was, it took all the self-control that Bre had not to blurt out that Santa didn't even exist, that it was just their father stuffing perfectly wrapped packages under the tree and candies in their stocking. Everyone seemed to think it was cute that Lenore still had the faith of a child, but it was annoying to her big sister. Even so, Bre tried to keep the Christmas spirit and not be the bearer of bad news. "Hmmmm, nah, it's gotta be cooler than a hat," she said.

"What about a leather jacket?" Lenore suggested, wishing her sister would pick something so she could find Santa. "Or some movies, or some Nintendo."

"Yeah, a video game sounds cool. Let's go next door and look at them." She grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her to the next store, picking up a game that she secretly wanted for herself, but knew Chris would enjoy, too. "Okay, now we have to get something for Dad." Bre dragged her sister store to store, ignoring any frustrated glares shot in her direction.

After about the eighth store, Lenore had had enough. "Bre! Can we go find Santa NOW? Please?"

"Shhhhh," Bre said as she read a page out of a book she was flipping through.

She didn't get the chance to answer Lenore, though, because someone shouted, "Ohmygod! Bre Stabler... is that you?" She looked up to see a friend of hers from middle school that she hadn't seen in years. She gave the same OMG shriek and hugged the girl, catching up on old news.

Lenore stomped her feet impatiently. Her sister had promised her she'd see Santa, and so far, all they'd done was shop. If she didn't find him soon, he just might up and leave without seeing her. "Bre, you promised!"

"Hang on!" she said, irritated, then rolled her eyes and continued the conversation.

"I am done hanging on!" Lenore growled quietly. She turned on her heel angrily, and marched out of the store, and began searching for Santa Claus. She wandered the mall, until finally spotting the line-up for the jolly old man in red and white. She stood in line, and was thrilled when it was finally her turn!

She eagerly went up to him, and sat on his lap, and rattled off her list of goodies she was hoping to get. She even asked him to bring the iphone for her sister. She smiled for the photo, and paid the man taking the photos. Then she left Santa, carrying her photo and her Santa colouring book.

She moved out of everyone's way and glanced around, trying to remember which way she had come from. "Uh-oh...." She thought. "I'm never gonna find Bre in all this people traffic!"

That was about the same time that Bre realized her sister wasn't with her anymore. She said a quick goodbye to her old friend (after adding each other on Facebook of course) and searched frantically through the store. Then, beginning to get angry, she realized that Lenore had probably run off to find Santa. Oh would that little girl be sorry!

Lenore, meanwhile, wandered away from where Santa was, in hopes of spotting something familiar. Instead, all she saw was more people hurrying along their ways. She felt herself beginning to panic, as she did not do well in these types of situations. She wandered past toy stores, and even more clothing stores. She even walked past the Build-a-Bear Workshop, as she scanned the crowd for her sister.

And Bre walked towards Santa, now having quickened her pace. She shoved angrily through the mass of people, mumbling bad words under her breath. Finally, she arrived to Santa's area. She looked through the line of kids for Lenore, getting frustrated and a bit worried. "Lenore!" she shouted, hoping that one of the kids would turn around and magically be her little sister. "LENORE!" she shouted again.

"BRE?" Lenore called out, as she walked a bit, and somehow ended up back in front of Build-a-Bear. She groaned, and decided to stay put. She stood near the entrance, but still outside of the store, as she kept watch for anyone who might be her sister.

Breanna was almost ready to pull her hair out. She had gotten a good look at all the kids around Santa and Lenore was nowhere to be found. "She is in so much trouble," Bre grumbled, narrowing her eyes and continuing her search. She looked as best as she could, checking out the food court and arcade, and finally reaching a cluster of clothing and toy stores. By this time the anger was turning into worry and she desperately hoped that her little sister was okay.

Lenore's eyes darted every which way, until they finally landed upon her sister. A sense of relief washed over her, as she ran for her sister. "BRE!!!!!!!!"

Bre heard the voice, then turned to see Lenore running towards her. The worry turned to anger once again. "Lenore! I'm so glad you're okay!" she said first, giving her sister a hug, then looking down at her with disappointment. "Don't you EVER run off like that again!" she half-shouted. "I told you to stay with me and that we would go to see Santa later. You have to be patient! We were going to go!"

Lenore hugged her tightly, then looked up at her indignantly. "No we weren't! You were s'pose to take me there first! An' instead we shopped everywhere!"

"Don't you talk back to me like that, Young Lady!" she scolded, in a voice that sounded shockingly similar to her father's. "I invited you to come to the mall with me because I had to do some shopping and said if we had time we could see Santa. And when you come with me, you have to follow my rules. Dad said so, remember?"

"Daddy also said that you had to take me to Santa!" Lenore argued. "He would've been gone by the time we got there!"

"You still can't run off like that! Somebody coulda kidnapped you!! That's dangerous, sis. You can't do that!"

"Nobody took me," Lenore pointed out. "I just got a little lost...."

Frustrated, Breanna said, "You're so getting a spanking."

Lenore's eyes went huge. "You can't spank me!"

"Fine, then I'll just tell Dad you ran off by yourself when I told you to stay close and HE'LL spank you instead!" she said, a little too loudly and much to the amusement of some middle school kids close to them.

Lenore looked absolutely mortified. She didn't need the whole world knowing she still got spanked! "I'll tell him how you were never gonna take me to see Santa....." She argued weakly, her face a bright crimson from embarrassment.

"Yeah, and he'll agree that this was MY trip to the mall, not yours. You coulda waited 10 minutes to see Santa, but you were just being impatient." She took Lenore by the arm and started walking towards the exit.

Lenore allowed herself to be dragged out, shrinking a little. "Daddy never gave you permission to spank me.....so you can't...."

"I'm going to spank you anyway. You deserve it."

"If you hadn't taken so long, none of this would've happened....." Lenore grouched. "An' I'ma tell Daddy on you."

"Fine, tell him," she said. They took the bus home and Breanna was silent the whole ride, too irritated with her sister to speak. She hoped that Lenore was thinking about what she'd done.

Lenore sat with her arms crossed, pouting. Well, so much for her finishing her shopping. She grumbled the whole way home. Once home, she stormed in the front door, and slammed it in her sister's face. She then stormed up to her room, slamming her bedroom door as well.

Since their father wasn't home, Bre was in charge. That's how it always was when Elliot was away. And no, he hadn't technically given Bre permission to spank her younger sister, and she wouldn't normally, but she was so angry and knew the brat deserved it. So she grabbed her father's wooden hairbrush and climbed the stairs.

Lenore was lying on her bed, staring angrily at her door, her arms crossed over her chest. First her sister was never going to take her to Santa, and then she had the nerve to humiliate her in front of kids her age!

And then Bre pushed open Lenore's door. She didn't say anything, just grabbed the chair from Lenore's desk, placed it in the middle of the room and stared down at the little girl.

"You can't make me," Lenore protested, not budging an inch.

But Breanna was stronger than Lenore, and grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the chair.

Lenore struggled to get away, feeling angry when she couldn't. "I just wanted to see Santa!" Lenore cried, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.

Bre felt kind of bad, but didn't let that keep her from the matter at hand. "I know you did. But I told you to stay close and you didn't. You could've gotten hurt or what if I hadn't found you? Then you'd be stuck in the mall all night and Dad would be really worried."

"I would've found you," Lenore argued softly, trying not to think about the fact she'd been scared when lost in the large mall. "An' none of the what ifs happened, Bre....."

"Well, you got lost, didn't you?"

She didn't allow Lenore to answer, just sat down and flipped her little sister over her lap. She didn't take her pants down, just began crashing the hairbrush down as hard as she could.

Lenore shrieked, her legs kicking wildly and her hands flying back. Who knew her sister could hit so hard?

"Move your hands!" Bre shouted, pushing them out of the way. She continued the spanking, peppering her backside.

"You're hurtiiiiiiiiing me!" Lenore wailed, grabbing onto the chair legs, so her hands wouldn't get hit or anything.

"Good. That's what you get for running off when I told you not to. Maybe next time you'll listen to me and be patient." WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK!!!

"I'm sorry!" Lenore sobbed. "I just wanted to see Santa!"

"Yeah, well, next time you'll just have to wait until I go with you," Bre said, still spanking. She hit Lenore's sit spots, a few good whacks, then stopped. "Have you learned your lesson? Or am I going to have to tell Dad?"

"Next time, don't take so long!" Lenore whimpered. "An' don't tell, Daddy! He'll tell Santa not to come!"

It was clear that her sister hadn't learned a lesson yet, so Breanna started spanking again. "Next time be a little more patient!"

"STO-OP!" Lenore shrieked, pounding her sister's legs with her fist.

Irritated at Lenore's lack of submission, Bre began spanking harder. "Stop hitting me!"

Lenore screamed as though she were being murdered, tears streaming down her face. Her backside was throbbing! And this was through her jeans!

That's when the door burst open and a frightened Elliot turned into a confused Elliot. "What's going on in here?!"

Bre stopped mid-air and looked up at her father. "Ummm..." she stammered, not sure what to say.

Lenore kicked slightly, still bawling, as she tried to catch her breath. "She's killing me!" She finally exclaimed, through her sobs and hiccups.

"Lenore ran off while we were at the mall and she got lost and I couldn't find her!" Bre said quickly, dropping the brush and lifting her sister up. "I told her to stay close and she didn't listen! She wouldn't just wait to see Santa!"

Elliot blinked and moved towards the girls, squatting down to Lenore's level. "Is this true?"

"She made me go into eight stores!" Lenore complained. "Santa was gonna leave without me giving him my letter!"

"Did you run off from your sister?" he wanted to know.

"Only 'cause she was chattin' too long," Lenore pouted, looking rather unhappy. "I just wanted to see Santa, Daddy....."

She reached back quietly, to rub her throbbing behind.

He sighed and looked at his oldest, who seemed really worried. Truth was, he agreed that Lenore deserved a spanking, but he wasn't sure how he felt about Breanna giving it to her. "Breanna, go to your room and let me talk to Lenore for a minute."

Bre nodded and shuffled to her room, worried that she'd be in trouble for punishing her little sister, but tried not to think about it.

"I don't want another spanking!" Lenore wailed, starting to cry again. "My bum hurts lots all ready!"

Elliot sat down and pulled Lenore into his lap. "I'm not happy that you disobeyed your sister, Kiddo."

"I'm sorry," Lenore choked out through her tears. "But it was important that I got to Santa." She snuggled into him, careful not to let her bottom touch his leg.

"I understand that. But if you're going to go with your sister somewhere, you have to do what she says. You can't run off like that. You could get hurt."

"I know," Lenore sighed. "I just get tired of havin' to wait for her so long all the time."

"If you want to go places with your sister, you have to obey her rules. If you're going to just run off, then I'm not going to let you go places with her anymore, understood?"

"Yes, Sir....." Lenore pouted, sighing softly.

He kissed her forehead and stood her up. "Did you at least get to see Santa though?"

Lenore nodded. "Yes......" She handed him the photo that'd been lying on her bed. "Daddy, is Bre allowed to spank me now? Cause I don't think it's fair."

He looked at the picture and smiled. "That's a good picture of you." And then, pondering his little one's question, he answered "We will see. I need to think about it, and we will talk about it together as a family afterwards. But not now -- I had a long day at work and need to rest."

"Kay....." Lenore answered softly. "Daddy, am I in any more trouble?" She hoped she wasn't grounded or anything boring like that.

"Should you be in more trouble?"

Lenore shrugged. "I dunno.....though, I bet Bre would say yes.......I didn't mean to scare her, Daddy......."

Elliot nodded. "Well, no more spankings, but you're grounded for the rest of the day, and I expect you to apologize to Breanna, understood Young Lady?"

"Yes, Daddy," Lenore replied obediently.

Lenore quietly left her room, and went to her sister's room across the hall, knocking softly.

"Come in," Bre called.

Lenore entered, fidgeting nervously in the doorway. "Um....I just wanted to say I'm sorry.....I didn't mean to scare you...."

Bre nodded. "No worries." She paused, chewing on her lower lip. "What'd Dad say?"

"Daddy said we're gonna discuss you spanking me later, as a family," Lenore answered, making a face. "An' I'm grounded for the rest of the day....least he didn't spank me!"

"That's good," Bre said, smiling. She then gave her sister a hug. "Love ya sis. Sorry that I spanked ya so hard... but you just worried me loads."

"I'm sorry," Lenore whispered, feeling bad, as she returned the hug. "I didn't mean too. I love you."

"Wanna help me wrap presents?" Bre asked, pointing to the pile of unwrapped gifts taking up 75% of her bed.

"I'd love to!!"

And thus the girls put the afternoon (and spanking) behind them, not to think of it again... until a few months later. But that's another story.