The Easter Egg Hunt (3 page)

“I
thought I heard you come down, Meggie.  How do you feel?” Noah asked.

“Noah,
I didn’t know you were here!” She moved toward him and he welcomed her with
open arms.  “Thank you for taking care of me this morning.  I felt so
ill,” she whispered.  “I’m sorry I went nuts over the chocolate, and I’m
going to try really hard to do better.”

“I
hope so.  I hate to see you so ill.”

“I
know, and I have to tell you that I was even more awful than you think.  I
ate a chocolate bunny, too,” she confessed.  “That’s why I got so sick. 
What makes me think that ‘this time I’ll be able to eat chocolate and get away
with it’?  I don’t blame you for being so upset with me, honey.  I’m
upset with me, too.”
 
She snuggled
in his arms.

“This
time of year is difficult for you, especially since you love Easter so much,”
he stated.  “I think perhaps you should get someone else at work to handle
the Easter Egg Hunt.”

“Nooooo! 
Oh, please, Noah, don’t insist I give that up!  I love planning the Easter
celebration for the children and the adults.  I enjoy it more than
Christmas and I would be devastated if you said I couldn’t do it any more.” 
Her blue eyes were full of tears and Noah felt himself weaken.

“I’ll
let you try it this year, Meggie, but if we have a repeat of this, then you won’t
be permitted to organize the Easter Egg Hunt next year.  Is that clear?”

“Yes,
Noah,” she demurred, and then asked, “What are you doing home, anyway?”

“I
wasn’t about to leave you here alone when you were so out of it,” he said
quietly.  “I am working at home today.”

“What’s
in the crock pot?” she asked.  “I’m hungry!”

“That’s
a good sign,” he smiled.  “Sit down and I’ll feed you,” he bossed.

Megan
was surprised and pleased to find the cushion returned to her chair.  Most
of the time Noah didn’t give it back for several days, but he was trying hard
to be nice to her, and she was really going to try very hard to keep her
promise to leave the chocolate completely alone.

********************

Noah
was pleased when the rest of February and the first two weeks of March passed
without incident.  He checked her daily blood sugar readings and praised
her for doing so well.  She’d gone shopping several times to get plastic
eggs to paint, and she spent hours in the evening making the plastic eggs look
very expensive. 

When
he got home from work late during the first week of April and Megan wasn’t home
yet, he was concerned.  He called her cell phone and when she answered, he
asked, “Where are you?”

“Almost
home, Noah.  I’ve been shopping.  Will you help me carry everything
inside?”

“Sure,”
he answered.  “Do you want me to call for a pizza for dinner?” he offered.

“Nope,
I have it covered,” she replied.  “I’m turning on our street now; be there
in two seconds.”  She closed her cell phone and he hung up. 

Noah
heard the garage door going up as he reached the door from the laundry room
that went into the garage.  Megan pulled in and pushed the button to open
the trunk.  Noah shook his head when he saw all of the stuff she
purchased.  “I take it you received your allowance today for the big
Easter Egg Hunt?”

“Yes,
and I will probably have to make more trips,” she exclaimed.  “I’ll be
filling eggs and Easter Baskets from now until the day we have the party.”

“The
Saturday before Easter, right?”

“Yes. 
Ralph Rider agreed to be the Easter Bunny and pass out baskets to the children,
and I have some nice adult gifts, too” she said happily.  “I’ve bought
some nice things, Noah!” She was smiling excitedly.

Noah
helped her carry in all of her packages and she insisted they take them right
up to her craft room.  It took several trips each, and Noah went out to
close the trunk and check to make sure everything was out of her car. 
That is when he spotted the empty candy wrapper for a Reese’s peanut butter
egg!  After all of her promises, and doing so well, Meggie touched
chocolate again!  While it was only one egg, and mostly peanut butter, the
simple truth was that little bit of chocolate would make her crave more, and he’d
already seen all the candy in the bags upstairs.  He knew she had to fill
the plastic eggs and the Easter baskets, but her attitude was already slipping
and with that much candy in the house, it was only a matter of time before she
made herself ill again.  He wasn’t having it, and nipping it now was the
answer.  He’d warned her exactly what to expect, and she was going to have
an extremely sore backside by Easter Sunday.  She’d signed the agreement
that was still hanging in her closet, and if he had to spank her daily until
Easter was over, then he would do it.

Megan
picked that moment to come and see what was taking Noah so long, and she gasped
when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to his workbench and bent her
over and started spanking… hard.  “Noah!  What did I do?” she cried
out, shocked.  “
Noah!
 
Owwww!”

“You
know damn well what you did, Megan, and don’t you dare stand there and tell me
you don’t!”  He picked up a heavy five gallon paint stirrer that was lying
on the bench and he pulled up her skirt and pushed her panties down to bare her
butt. 

Megan
cried out as the paint stirrer made contact with her delicate skin.  It
hurt!  But what hurt most of all was not knowing what she did to incur his
anger, and he was angry! No doubt about it!  He wasn’t in a rage, but he
was spanking her hard… for whatever reason!  “Owwww!  Please, Noah! 
Stop!  I don’t know why you are spanking me!”

“Stop
it, Megan, or I swear I’ll take my belt off!”

“I’m
serious! Owwwwww!  Stop!  Talk to me!”
 
She tried to get free of him.  “I’m getting angry, Noah!”
she said, and then burst into tears.  “This is
NOT
fair!”

Noah
gave her a final hard crack with the paint stirrer before tossing it on the
workbench.  “You look inside the car and tell me what you see, young lady,”
he ordered, jerking her over to her car and giving her bared rump a hard spank. 
“Well…?” he demanded.  “Are you going to stand here and tell me you don’t
know why you were spanked?  And why you are getting a spanking every day
between now and Easter?”  His hand landed again and Megan squealed.

“You
jerk!”
 
She whirled and pushed him
away from her.  “
You farden jerk!
”
she borrowed a favorite word from one of her favorite futuristic romances. 
“That candy wrapper was Shirley’s!  She offered to go shopping with me,
and since I needed to buy so much it was nice to have help.  She bought a
candy egg, but I didn’t!  I took her home after we finished shopping… and
she left the wrapper in the car!”

Noah
felt like a jerk… no… he felt like a
‘farden’
jerk, whatever the hell that meant.  Meg didn’t lie, and he knew it, and
he was in some deep doo over this one.  “I’m sorry, honey,” he apologized.

“I’m
really angry with you right now, Noah Martson!” she declared, reaching down to
step out of her panties.  She was hurting too much to pull them up. 
Megan marched into the house and went upstairs.  She needed some time
alone to calm her temper.  Of course the first thing she saw when she
opened her closet to walk inside was that damned agreement.  She snatched
it off the wall and tore it into tiny pieces and then tossed the pieces on the
floor of Noah’s closet. 
He could
take his agreement and shove it!
she decided.  She opened a drawer and
took out a soft night gown to put on.  Her backside couldn’t tolerate
anything else…!
 
And, damn it, she
had an all day conference to attend the next day!  How would she ever sit
through that!

“Meggie,
you have every right to be angry,” Noah said as she came out of the bathroom. 
“Come here and let me put some aloe gel on your backside.  I feel
terrible.”

“I
already did it myself,” she said shortly.

“Babe,
please…!”
 
He moved to stand in
front of her and block her from leaving the room.  “I
am
sorry.  At least let me hold you and make it up to you
somehow.”

Megan
shook her head ‘no’.  “I’m too angry for that, Noah.  You should have
talked to me before you punished me.  Please move; I’m hungry, and I have
a lot of work to do tonight.”

Noah
followed her to the kitchen and watched as she reheated the Chinese take-out
she brought home.  She politely handed him his plate and then did one for
herself, but instead of sitting with him at the table, she took her plate and
practically ran from the room.  Noah ate his food without tasting it and then
cleaned up the leftovers.  He knew that Meg wouldn’t want anything else to
eat.  She was very conscious of her portions and seldom ate too much…
unless it was something sweet.

Tempting
fate, he went upstairs to her craft room.  She glared at him when he
entered.  “What?” she demanded.

Her
dinner was still untouched.  “You haven’t eaten, Meg.  Do you want me
to reheat your food?” he offered.

“No. 
I’ll do it myself when I’m ready.”

“Do
you want some help filling the eggs?” he offered.

“No. 
I prefer to do it myself.  It’s my project and I don’t need to have you
sitting in here watching me like an eagle to make sure I don’t touch the candy!”

Noah
took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Megan, I know you are upset
with me, and with good reason, but that was disrespectful.  I was trying
to be nice; I didn’t want to sit here to watch you.  But, since you
obviously want to stay angry for a while, I’ll go to the office and get some of
my work done.  If you need me, let me know.  And, don’t plan on
staying up late to work on this.  You have plenty of time to finish before
the Easter Egg Hunt.”  He turned and left the room, but not until he
picked up her plate.  He reheated the food and took it back upstairs and
put it beside her.  “Eat your dinner, Megan,” he said firmly and then left
the room.

Noah
tried hard to concentrate on his work, but he felt like a jerk for punishing
Megan when she was innocent of any wrongdoing.  He finally gave up trying
to work and shut down his computer.  He went to the kitchen and fixed a
snack to share with Megan and carried it up to her craft room on a tray. 
To his surprise, she had her head on her arms, sobbing.

Chapter
Three

“Honey,
what’s wrong?” Noah asked, sitting the tray down on the cluttered table and
hurrying to pull her in his arms.  “I am so sorry I upset you so much. 
I’ll kick my own butt if it will make you feel better,” he offered.

“Noooo. 
I’m the one who is sorry, Noah.  I didn’t have any right to get so angry
with you.  You never refuse to forgive me when I am terrible.  And,
the only reason you got so upset is because you love me.  I would react
the same way you did if the situation was reversed.  I hate myself when I
am so mean to you.”

“You
aren’t mean, Meggie.  You were upset with me, and with just cause.  Now,
no more crying, okay?  I brought us a snack.”

“A
peace offering?” She tried to joke, reaching for a cracker and a piece of
cheese.

“Just
trying to take care of my girl,” he insisted, and then asked, “Is any of this
stuff for the grandkids, Meggie?”

“Your
daughter said she didn’t want us overloading them with Easter candy,” Megan
said with a pout.

“Well
that’s no fun.”
 
He pouted along
with her.  “We’ll just have to get toys to fill their baskets.”

“Right.”
Megan nodded, but she didn’t look at him.

“What
are you up to, young lady?” he asked.

“I’m
not telling,” Megan said smugly.  “If I can’t do any candy, then I’ll
still make it an Easter to remember.”

“You
are up to something,” he said with a smile.  “Is our daughter going to
wish she hadn’t said anything about candy?” he wanted to know.

“Of
course she is!”
 
Megan giggled and
then said, “Could we go to bed now, honey.  I am in need of comfort,” she
said with a perfectly straight face.

After
nearly thirty years of marriage he knew exactly the kind of ‘comfort’ his wife
was talking about.  He was anxious to be forgiven, and he quickly took her
hand and led her to their bedroom.  The dirty dishes would still be there
in the morning, and he wasn’t going to keep her waiting now.  Making up
sex was the greatest.

********************

The
roses that arrived at work the following day made her sore bottom much easier
to sit upon.  The card read, “Love you with all my heart, Noah,” and she
immediately sent him an email thanking him for the beautiful flowers.  He
emailed back and offered to help her shop after work, and she agreed to meet
him at the store.  She would be able to finish the shopping with two cars
to haul everything home.

To
her surprise, Noah was already there and waiting for her when she pulled into
the parking lot and parked beside him.  “Sorry I’m late, Noah.  I had
a problem that I had to deal with before I could leave.”