Author's Note: This is based on Party of Five, currently airing on the Fox Network with re-runs on Lifetime. It can be kind of soap opera-ish, so I've tried to include the necessary information in the story for those who don't watch it. It's based on current events in the show, so it may become dated rather quickly. I'm betting (and hoping) that Bailey will get custody of Owen, but we will just have to watch and see.
Owen Salinger was feeling sulky. It just didn't seem fair to him. Charlie was his brother. Bailey was his brother. How come he couldn't pick which one of them he wanted to live with? Even though he was only five years old, Owen felt he understood a lot of things. Most families had a mommy or a daddy or both and the kids lived with them. Owen didn't have either; both his parents had been killed by a drunk driver when he was just a baby. Charlie had been the oldest, so he had been put in charge of the rest of them, but Bailey and Julia had been there to help him. And from what Owen could remember, Bailey had done just as much as Charlie had with him and his sister Claudia.
Everything had been fine while Bailey was living with them, but then he had moved out. It made sense, of course. Bailey got a girlfriend and so did Charlie. But Bailey still had his girlfriend, while Charlie's was gone. And she'd left behind this new baby that she and Charlie had made.
In a way, that was the worst thing. Diana was Charlie's baby and she was the one who got all the attention, at least from Charlie. So how come he couldn't go live with Bailey, who wanted to give him all the attention? It wasn't that he hated living with Charlie, Claudia and Diana, but he liked it better when he stayed over with Bailey and Sarah. And now Charlie and Bailey were mad at each other and he felt like it was all his fault. He didn't want to hurt his oldest brother's feelings, but why wouldn't he just let him go? It's not like he ever noticed him around, anyway.
Right now was a good example. Charlie had picked him up from preschool, but was paying no attention to him. Bailey always asked him what he'd done and they talked about everything, but Charlie had Diana in the car and was making baby noises with her. Then he had to stop at the store to buy some Pampers. Owen got out and followed as Charlie carried the baby in his arms, not even noticing his little brother. The baby supplies were in the aisle past the sweets. Owen's eyes lit up as he saw all the goodies.
"Hey, Charlie, can I have a candy bar?" he asked, stopping to drool. He didn't hear Charlie answer, so he looked up. There he was, walking down the aisle, looking at Diana in his arms. He hadn't even heard Owen. That wasn't fair!
Now Owen got kind of mad. He took a Snickers bar from the shelf and put it in his pocket, and then, after a moment, took another one. Since Charlie wasn't paying any attention to him, he'd just take what he wanted. He'd asked and Charlie hadn't said no, so that mean it was all right. When they got back to the car, Charlie finally started talking to Owen, but he wasn't interested, now. He just gave short, one word answers until Charlie gave up. Owen was so peeved at Charlie that he didn't even notice Bailey's jeep in front of the house when they pulled up. He walked slowly to the door, letting Charlie and Diana go first. As soon as his brother opened the door, he took out one of his candy bars and started to eat it.
"Hey, what are you doing here, Bay'," he hear Charlie say from inside. Bailey was here? Forgetting for the moment about the incriminating evidence in his hand, he rushed inside.
"Bailey!" he shouted as he ran up and hugged his brother. Bailey picked him up and gave him a big hug.
"I came to see if you wanted to hang out with me this afternoon," he said. But then he noticed the Snickers that Owen was holding.
"Hey, isn't it a bit early for this?" he asked, turning from Owen to look at Charlie in a slightly accusing way.
"I didn't give it to him," Charlie said. "Where did you get that from, Owen?"
Owen swiveled his head and looked from one brother to the other. Both of them were now looking at him, waiting for him to speak.
"From school?" he said. It was the first thing he could think of, and right away he knew it sounded lame.
"You got that from your teacher?" Bailey asked him, doubt evident in his voice.
"No, I took it from the store," he admitted, hanging his head in shame. Bailey put him down and held his arms firmly by the sides.
"Owen," he said, "I've told you before about taking things that don't belong to you."
"I asked Charlie if I could have it," he protested, "But he didn't answer me."
"Owen, I didn't hear you ask me anything. If I had, I would have answered you. What kind of an excuse is that?"
"You never hear me! You never pay attention to me!" Owen yelled. All this was Charlie's fault, but now he was the one in trouble.
"Owen, just go to your room. You'll have to spend the rest of the day there. And no supper for you, either," Charlie told him.
Bailey had let go and Owen ran up the stairs. He was upset and wanted to get away from Charlie, anyway. He slammed his door, but then quickly turned around and opened it a crack. He wanted to hear what Bailey had to say.
"Are you kidding, Charlie? It's the middle of the afternoon. You can't expect Owen not to eat anything until tomorrow morning," Bailey was saying.
"Well, what am I supposed to do? Let him get away with it? He was stealing, Bailey, and apparently not for the first time."
"Okay, you know what? I think he stole that candy bar because you weren't paying attention to him."
"Oh, is this about me again? You always turn everything around so it's about me. What I'm not doing right. I'm sick of it, Bailey!"
"Look," Bailey said after he took a deep breath and calmed down some. "This isn't about you or me right now. It's about Owen and how he should be punished for stealing."
"What? There's nothing to talk about with that. I've sent him to his room and that's the end of it. He'll go to bed hungry and next time he'll remember."
"Charlie, Owen is only five. I don't think it's right for him to be up there all day and night with nothing to eat. It would be one thing if you made him miss his afternoon snack, but dinner? Come on, Charlie!"
"Oh, and what would you do? Just talk to him and tell him it was wrong? He already knows that. No wonder he wants to come stay with you, you let him get away with everything!"
"No, I don't and I wouldn't. I'd do what Dad would have done."
"What are you talking about Bailey?"
"I remember what Dad used to do when we were little. We'd get one warning, and if we did it again, he'd spank us."
"Oh, so you want me to spank Owen? No way, Bailey. I'm not Dad and I'm not going to do that!"
"I'm not Dad either, but I would. Then Owen would be punished, but it would be over. He wouldn't have to sit up there brooding all day about how his big brother ignored him in the store."
"So, it's still about me, huh? All right, Bailey, guess what? Let's give Owen a choice. We'll go up there and tell him what both of us feel his punishment should be and let him pick one."
"Right, Charlie, that makes a lot of sense. What five year old is going to choose to be spanked? This is something we need to decide."
"No. No, we don't need to decide. I'm his legal guardian and I've already decided. I just want Owen to know that it's you who feels he should be hit. Then he'll understand that you're not some saint."
There was a pause and then Bailey spoke again.
"All right. I'll put my money where my mouth is. I'm sure Owen will choose your punishment, but it's fair to let him know what I think. He should know what to expect if he ever comes to live with me and Sarah."
"Let's not even go there," Charlie cautioned.
"No, you're right. This isn't the time. Just give me a minute; I have to call the restaurant and check in, then we'll go upstairs and tell him.
Owen pulled his door closed and climbed up on his bed. He was sorry that he'd caused Bailey and Charlie to have such a big fight, but now he had a new problem. They were going to come up here and make him choose. Bailey had been right about one thing; he didn't want to be spanked. While he'd never had that experience himself, he'd seen it happened to a few of his friends at pre-school and it looked like it really hurt. He didn't want to go hungry either, but being hungry wouldn't make him cry.
But if he chose Charlie's way, wouldn't that mean Bailey would loose the argument? Both of them thought they knew best, but most of the time, Owen liked how Bailey treated him better. If Bailey knew best, maybe he was right. Maybe he should be spanked. He didn't want one, but he figured that he would have to take the good with the bad. Charlie had said that Bailey let him get away with stuff, but that wasn't true. In fact, he got away with more stuff here because Charlie paid less attention to him. The door opened and his two brothers walked in. Charlie sat on the bed next to him and Bailey pulled up a chair.
"Owen," Charlie said, "First off, I'm sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you. That's something we can talk about, but first we have to deal with what you did. You know it was wrong and that you have to be punished?"
Owen nodded, tears forming in his eyes.
"Well, I don't usually do this, but I'm going to give you a choice. You can stay here the rest of the day and not have any food, or, if you don't want to do that, you'll have to have a spanking. If you choose that, you can come out when you're ready. Do you want to think about that for a minute?"
Charlie thought he was being smart, not telling Owen whose idea was which, but he already knew. He was going to surprise both his brothers.
"I....I guess I should be spanked, huh?" he said, looking at Bailey. Bailey raised his eyebrows and looked over Owen toward Charlie, surprise on his face.
"All right," Charlie sighed, "But Bailey is the one that's going to spank you. It was his idea."
He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. Bailey was biting his lip, apparently to keep from laughing. He moved next to Owen and put him one his lap.
"Owen, did you hear Charlie and I talking downstairs?" he asked. Owen looked up and him and slowly nodded his head.
"Why did you choose to be spanked? Did you think I'd be mad if you choose Charlie's punishment."
"No, Bailey, but....you know best. I trust you."
"Thank you, Owen. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I do." He stood the boy on the floor and pulled his shirt off.
"I've told you before how wrong it is to steal. If you want to get someone's attention, doing something bad isn't the right way," Bailey said as he took Owen's shoes off, "And then when Charlie asked you where you got the candy bar, you lied to us and said you got if from school."
"Bailey," Owen interrupted. He was standing there in just his pants, but he wanted to make a clean breast of things, "I took two, not one."
He took out the other Snickers and handed it to Bailey.
"I'm glad you told me that, Owen, but I'm afraid I'll have to give you a few extra spanks for that. Not only did you steal, you were being greedy about it."
Bailey undid his brother's belt and pulled his pants down. Owen stepped out of them and he was left with just his briefs.
"Do you hafta' take my underpants off too, Bailey," he asked softly.
"I'm sorry, Owen, but I have to pull them down, at least."
Bailey hooked his fingers inside the waistband of Owen's briefs and tugged them down to his knees. His little dickie flopped out and he could feel the cool air on his naked bottom. Bailey picked him up and laid him across his lap. He sniffed while his big brother maneuvered him into position. Bailey rested his large hand on Owen's backside and then spoke again.
"I'm sorry I have to do this, Owen, but I have to teach you that stealing and lying are serious things. They may get you attention, but I doubt if this is the kind of attention you wanted."
Owen felt Bailey move his hand, but then it was back, slapping his bare bottom with stinging force, WHACK!
He cried out in shock and surprise. Now he knew why people cried when they got spanked, it really hurt! WHACK, WHACK, WHACK!!
Owen started bawling. He was only five; he wasn't about to hold anything back. His little bottom felt like it was on fire and each time Bailey spanked him, it made it worse. He kicked his legs up and down, but it was more of a reflex. He wasn't trying to get away, or even stop Bailey from spanking him, it was just an automatic response to the burning in his backside. Owen didn't know it, but Bailey really wasn't spanking him all that hard. What he was doing was pacing the slaps, going from cheek to cheek and turning Owen's bare bottom bright red. By making it last longer, he was able to give him a proper spanking without hitting him too hard.
Owen, of course, was in no position to appreciate this. The only position he was aware of was his own; draped over Bailey's lap, his underpants bunched up around his knees, his bare dick and balls pressed against the brother's pants while his poor bottom was being set alight. The whole spanking lasted five minutes and then Bailey stopped.
Bailey let him cry for a minute, and then he started rubbing his bottom, easing the pain just a little bit.
"That wasn't fun for either of us, Owen," he said over the boy's sniffles, "But I hope you leaned a lesson." He eased Owen's underpants back up and covered his blazing bottom. Then he gently moved Owen off his lap and stood up.
"Get dressed and come downstairs when you want to, Owen. Everything's fine, now."
He went out and closed the door. It was easy for Bailey to say everything was fine; his bottom wasn't the one that got spanked. Owen slipped his hand underneath his briefs and rubbed himself some more. He was glad Claudia wasn't home; he wouldn't have wanted her to hear him crying. For a few minutes he lay there, feeling a bit resentful, both at Charlie for ignoring him and at Bailey for spanking him. But the more he thought, the less mad he got at Bailey. At least he hadn't ignored him. Charlie had just wanted him to go to his room and stay out of his way. Bailey had come up and talked to him and punished him himself. And now, at least, he didn't have to spend the rest of the day in here. He put his pants and shirt back on and went downstairs. Charlie was in the back with Diana, but Bailey was sitting on the couch reading. He went over and hugged his big brother.
"I'm sorry, Bailey," he said.
"I know, Owen. Just don't do it again."
"What do I do with the candy bars?" he asked.
"Well, we have to go back to the store and pay for them. Then, if you like, you can come to the restaurant with me for a while. Charlie says you can spend the night with me and Sarah."
"Really? Let's go!"
They packed some stuff for him and then drove off. Bailey made him go up to the lady at the counter and tell her that he took the candy bars without paying and give her the money. It made him feel a little scared, but Bailey was there with him and he felt even better after doing it. And he went though the rest of the day and night a very happy boy.