The Aussie Exchange

Kristy was the youngest of three sisters in a blended family.  She was the most rebellious of the three and provided her parents with many a sleepless night and most of their grey hairs.  When she was thirteen she sneaked out of her bedroom window and bicycled 30 miles to visit her boyfriend.  They moved her to an upstairs bedroom.  When she was sixteen she skipped school and went to San Francisco for the weekend with a bunch of her friends.  Her parents grounded her for months.  So when she was 18 and told them she was taking off for Australia, it was no big surprise.  They did everything they could think of to dissuade her to no avail.  She was going and that was that. 

She met some people at a hostel and they knew about this place near Adelaide that provided room and board for young people in return for work on their ranch.  Kristy thought this sounded like a lark. It was the seventies and communes were a big thing. The hippie lifestyle appealed to her.  Fortunately, it was not a commune but an actual hard working ranch that was low on funds but high on resources.  Kristy loved her time there.  She met lots of people and one of them was a policeman from Sydney who happened to be traveling through the area.  They made a connection and spent all of his two week vacation together.  He left with promises to be in touch.  Kristy kept thinking about Grant and two months later said goodbye to her friends and left for Sydney. 

She did not contact Grant ahead of time - just showed up on his doorstep.  He was surprised but pleased. Grant lived with two other chaps and they weren’t as thrilled.  Grant managed to convince his sister, who lived nearby, to take Kristy in.  This arrangement lasted six months.  Grant was in love with Kristy but Kristy being Kristy didn’t want to give up her freedom.  They decided to go their separate ways and Kristy moved back to the states.

Kristy got married on the rebound but the marriage was not successful. Youth and too many drugs led to the downfall after a year.  After the divorce she got in touch with Grant and he made arrangements to come to the US that summer.  He stayed for three months and once again he proposed.  Kristy did not want to live in Australia.  Her friends and family were in the US and although she liked traveling she didn’t want to be that far away all the time.  That was a deal breaker for Grant.  He went back to Australia without Kristy.

She floated for a couple of years and met Ryan.  She fell deep in love with Ryan and now wanted what Grant had offered.  Ryan, however, was fifteen years older than Kristy and had already raised one family and was adamant he wanted no more children.  Ryan thought it would be better if they ended the relationship because she was young enough to find someone who could give her what she wanted.  Once again Grant entered the picture.  He made arrangements to come to the United States on a temporary work visa, an exchange program at the Los Angeles Police Department whereby he would learn their tactics and share the tactics employed the Sydney Police Force.

Karen moved in with Grant.  She continued to live her life as a single woman which did not set well with Grant.  After he found out she had been with Ryan he went ballistic.  When he confronted her she told him they weren’t married and until she had a ring on her finger she could see and do what she wanted.  He told her he offered her a ring many times and her answer was always no.

“Well, it’s now or never, little girl.  I am not putting up with this anymore” he told her.

“I guess it’s over then” and went into the bedroom to collect her things.   He followed her and told her if she was leaving he was going to give her something she desperately needed and it would be something she could remember him by in the years to come. With that he took her over his knee and spanked her behind.  She was kicking and screaming and threatening assault charges. He was so frustrated with her behavior he didn’t care.  He continued to spank her until his hand was tired. He literally rolled her off his lap and onto the floor and told her to do what she felt she had to but he was done. She told him she never wanted to see him again.

Kristy gathered her things, threw them in the suitcase and walked out the door and back into her parent’s house once again. This time her parents told her she could stay until she found a place of her own and they gave her a month to do so.  Kristy, being Kristy, contacted Ryan and within two days she had moved in with him. 

She and Ryan lived together for two years.  Ryan did not put up with Kristy’s histrionics and she often found herself with a sore behind.  During this time she really came into her own.  Maybe it was the spankings, maybe it was because she finally found someone she couldn’t push around, but whatever it was it was working.  This may have been what changed Ryan’s mind because they married and a year later Kristy was pregnant.

They lived an interesting life.  Ryan worked for a company that transferred him to the far east where they lived for many years. They thrived. When their son was six, Ryan was transferred back to the states.   They settled in and bought a home.  All was bliss until the company decided to pare down and let go many of their older, higher paid employees.  He was given a nice package and for all outward purposes they didn’t seem to be too effected.  Kristy went back to school and completed her degree. She was able to find gainful employment and Ryan became Mr. Mom.  He tried his hand at writing, he did some consulting work but more and more he was bored.  Their son was in school all day, Kristy was at work and with time on his hands his eyes wandered and one day Kristy came home early in the day and found Ryan with one of their neighbors.  They weren’t having coffee.   Ryan insisted it didn’t mean anything; Kristy tried to accept that but found that too many things couldn’t be resolved.  They continued to live together as roommates and when that became too confusing for Mitch, Ryan found an apartment nearby.  Mitch chose to live with Ryan and visit his mom on the weekends.  Kristy was heartsick over this but Mitch was old enough to make his own decision. 

Now Kristy was the one with time on her hands because more and more Mitch was involved with his circle of friends and the many school activities that kept him busy.  He was sixteen and had a car of his own so he didn’t even need to be chauffeured everywhere anymore.

Then a funny thing happened.  Kristy’s oldest sister had kept in touch with Grant over the years and she mentioned to him that Kristy was divorcing.  He wanted to know if Kristy might still be interested.  Judy gave him her sister’s email address and told her she didn’t want to be the middleman. 

Grant sent an email and Kristy responded.  They began exchanging emails and eventually telephone calls. It was as if no time had transpired between them.  He had never married and still held a torch for Kristy.  He was retired now and suggested he come to the states and see if they could rekindle their relationship.  Kristy was both thrilled and frightened.  Did Grant expect her to make an immediate decision?  If so, it would be a problem. She decided to throw caution to the wind and see where this new path would take them.

Kristy told him to come ahead.  He did.  Kristy was as bossy as ever.  She had a great job with lots of people under her, the majority of them men, so she could show no weakness or hesitation in her decisions. This carried over in her personal life. Grant glossed it over the first week.  By the second week though, he was tired of walking on eggshells.   He warned her he was his own person and didn’t enjoy being ordered around. As usual, Kristy waved him off with a shrug of her shoulders, turned and walked away.  Before she got too far he caught up with her hauled her over his hip and gave her three hard smacks on her backside.  He let her go and she rubbed her bottom.

“That’s just a reminder of what’s going to happen if you keep behaving like you’re in charge of me” he told her.

“You still have a hard hand”, she told him.  “Ryan used to spank me too but he never spanked as hard as you.  I guess I’m destined to be with men that spank”

“Maybe it’s because you just seem to be a woman who needs to be spanked”, he told her.

She giggled, wiggled her butt as she left the room saying “I’ll try to keep my bossiness in check”.

He laughed and said then he would try to keep his itchy palm in check.

Sometime during the third week they decided to take a road trip to see Judy and her family.  He jumped at the chance as it was his chance to see some more of the country rather than flying over it in an airplane. The second day out they stopped for lunch in this small town.  It was a warm day and they sat outside to enjoy the day.  They had a couple of beers with their lunch and when Kristy ordered another,  Grant said he had enough and maybe she shouldn’t have another either.  She ordered one anyway.

 

 “Okay”,  he said.  “I’ll drive when we get back on the road”

“No, I’ll be fine, besides you want to see the scenery” she said.

He wasn’t about to argue.  Once they got to the car, he would take the keys and it would be the end of the discussion.   Or so he thought.  When lunch was over and they were on the way to the car, he took the keys off her purse where they were clipped.

“What do you think you’re doing? She asked.

“I told you I’m driving, you’ve had three beers.  You’ll be riding shotgun”

“Don’t tell me what to do, I’m fine, now give me the damn keys” she said.

Grant told her “I may not be a cop anymore but I still think like a cop and you won’t be driving and that’s final”.

She reached over and tried to grab for the keys.  When he held his arm up she kicked him in the shins.

“Okay, that does it.”  He pulled her over to a nearby bench and hauled her over his knee.  The short skirt she was wearing afforded no protection and his hard hand pummeled her bottom. When another couple walked by and was witness to this event, he let her up. 

“Are you going to behave now?” he asked her.  She shook her head yes and ran to the car.  

She was so embarrassed.When he got in the car she told him she couldn’t believe he spanked her in public.  He told her that she kicked him in public and from now on she could expect to get exactly what she gave.

“I guess I best be on my best behavior from now on then” she replied.

“I guess so”, he replied with a grin.  “I will be more than happy to spank that pretty ass whenever you’re naughty.  I should have done it years ago and then maybe we would have been together all these years”.

“Maybe so” she said and laid her head back on the seat as he drove away.

   

A Fresh Start

Derek and his two girls, June and Lacey, had moved into the neighborhood last winter.  Derek, a widower, had accepted a transfer in the hopes they could begin again.  Jillian had been a wonderful wife and mother but had succumbed after a long battle with cancer.  Her passing had taken its toll on them and Derek thought it would be best if they were closer to family.  June was 4 and Lacey 6 when Jillian was diagnosed and watched as their mother went from a vibrant force in their lives to someone they visited in a hospice center and who no longer bore any resemblance to her former self.  When she passed, it was both a blessing and a curse.  Derek was wise enough to get them to counseling early and it seemed to have helped them deal with Jillian’s passing and their ability to move forward with their lives.  He hoped the move was another step in that direction. 

Both his parents and sister lived in Oakwood, a suburb of Portland.  Derek had actually grown up there but after college the lure of a big city was much too enticing and he took a job in San Francisco.  He rented an apartment and bumped into Jillian in the elevator his first week there.  It was love at first sight for Derek but Jillian had given him a run for his money.  When she finally allowed him to catch her they married and lived in the city until she became pregnant with Lacey.  They bought a home and moved to Marin County and lived the good life until that horrible visit to check out a problem she was having with headaches. Tests revealed a brain tumor and their life was a series of one downward day after another.  Surgery was not an option and nothing else slowed the growth of the tumor. 

So when the job opened up in Portland he jumped at it.  He was ready for a fresh start and the girls needed family around. The company sent him out to find a house and instead of going alone he took the girls.  This was going to be their new home and they should have a say in the decision.  His sister set him up with a realtor friend and he found a gently used cozy three bedroom home not too far from his parent’s home.  It was in a good neighborhood, lots of families with kids, and Lacey could walk to school.

So here they were facing their first summer in Oakwood.  The girls would be out of school from June 10 to August 29^th and Derek had no idea how he was going to fill their time.  Neither one of them wanted to go to camp.  He didn’t want to impose on his parents for the whole summer and his sister worked.  He decided to place an ad for a housekeeper/nanny in the local paper.  He couldn’t believe how many responses he received.  When he narrowed down the field he had the girls sit in on the interviews to watch the interaction between them. 

After a thorough reference check he settled on Shannon Fielding.  She was a substitute school teacher and a freelance writer.  She was in her mid thirties and would be a good fit for the girls - young enough to relate to and respond to their needs but old enough to know how to handle the wheedling and cajoling that went on when they were trying to get their own way.  It would also be nice to have help with the laundry, cooking and cleaning.  He was exhausted from being mommy and daddy. 

Shannon was a gem.  He enjoyed living in a house he didn’t have to worry about cleaning, and taking a clean shirt out of the drawer that he didn’t put there and best of all sitting down to a home cooked meal that he didn’t cook. The girls were happy and carefree. As the summer wore on he found himself paying closer attention to Shannon. He wasn’t interested in a relationship but it would be nice to have dinner with a grown up.  He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea so he never followed up and then one day she asked if he and the girls would like to join her at a festival that was being held in the park close to the house. He agreed and they met at the park.  It was great fun riding the rides, eating junk food, playing the carnival games. He almost forgot to miss Jillian.  Somewhere along the way they met up with his sister.  She asked if the girls wanted to have a girl’s night with her.  June and Lacey loved Aunt Sarah and agreed readily.   That left Shannon and Derek alone and he invited her to have dinner with him.  She agreed.

He took her to a little Italian restaurant he loved.  It had been family owned for years and he had frequented it often when coming back to Oakwood.  It wasn’t very busy this early in the evening so they had their pick of tables.  He ordered a bottle of wine and appetizers.  As they drank they talked about their lives, their hopes and dreams.  He was surprised to find she had been married once. She explained they were both young and couldn’t resolve their differences so it ended in divorce five years later.  They didn’t have any children .  That was their major unresolved  difference - she was ready, he was not.  She said she came to understand it was because he was really still a child himself.  She said if she ever got married again the man would have to be an adult-  a strong man not afraid to show his feminine side but able to take charge when the situation called for him to do so. 

“How about you Derek, do you think you will ever get married again?”

“I haven’t really given it much thought.  I have been so busy with Lacey and June before you came along there wasn’t much time to think about me” he told her.

She told him it was like anything in life.  If it’s meant to happen, it will and usually when you are least expecting it.  She told him she found that making long range plans was a waste of time.  Something else always came up and she had learned to go along with the flow rather than beating her head against a wall.

After another bottle of wine and dinner, they noticed the wait staff was cleaning up.  He was surprised to look at his watch and see the time. 

“I best get you to your car Shannon.  I’ve taken up too much of your time already. You should have said something”

“To tell you the truth we were having such a wonderful evening I didn’t even think of the time”.

“Maybe we should do this again,” he said. “ I don’t want you to feel obligated though.  Just because you work with us doesn’t mean you also have to keep me company outside of work hours”

“I would love it Derek and I don’t feel the least bit obligated to do so”

They had dinner together three or four times over the course of the summer. Each time they shared more of themselves with each other. They were still in the friends stage and Shannon found she wanted to take it further but decided to wait until she was no longer in his employ.

September rolled around and she had not heard from Derek  so she decided to call him on the pretense of checking on how the children were doing.  Now that they were back in school all day, they spent most afternoons with their grandparents until Derek came home from work.  She got his voice mail and left a message.  It was later that evening he called her and told her the kids were doing well but missing her.  She said she missed them too.  He suggested she come over on Saturday and join them for a barbecue. 

Saturday turned out to be a rainy day and the barbecue was nixed in favor of pizza. The girls were happy to see her and when it was time for their bedtime she read them a story.  They asked if she could come again and she answered that it depended on their Dad. 

“Can she Daddy?”

“I think it would be great to have her visit again” he responded.

Derek asked if she would stick around while he put the girls down and she nodded her assent. 

Shannon was in the kitchen making coffee when Derek came down. She looked as if she belonged. It startled him for a second.  They took their coffee to the living room and Derek told Shannon he didn’t want her to feel obligated to come by to visit.  She put down her coffee cup, leaned over and kissed him. When she pulled back he pulled her back in for another kiss. 

“Wow, I didn’t expect that and I guess it answers my questions about not feeling obligated”

“Yes, I’ve been wanting to do that for some time” Shannon replied.

“Me too’, he replied. ‘But I want to get a couple of things out in the open.  I don’t know what you have in mind but I want you to know my girls are a priority.  I don’t want them getting hurt and thinking you are in their life and then you’re not.  They’ve been through that once and I don’t think they could deal with that again.  So I want you to be sure right now before anything gets started.”

  

She started to say something and he quieted her. 

“I am not finished.  The other thing you have to know is that I am an old-fashioned guy and believe in old-fashioned ideas.  I guess I’m a throwback.  I will be the head of my household.  I know we haven’t even reached that stage yet but I want you to know up front what kind of marriage I expect.  Things will not be a lot different than what they were this summer.  I am not a micro manager but there will be consequences when things are “out of sync”. 

Shannon piped up with “like when you lectured me on the safety of holding the children’s hands when they crossed the street, or the time I forgot to turn off the stove when we went to the park”.

“Exactly, he said.  Except the consequence then was a lecture, if we marry, the consequence may well be a trip over my knee”.

“Oooohhh” she said squirming in her chair.  “I love the girls and I have had romantic feelings toward you almost from the beginning.  My thinking is to not include the girls into our relationship until we are sure.  We can continue as before with my coming over occasionally for a visit as a friend.  Our dating will be just between us.  As for the other stuff, that’s food for thought.  If you need an answer today, it will be no.  But I promise to be open minded.  What is your opinion?”

“I think the idea about keeping our relationship between us for the present is a wonderful idea.  Regards to the other issue, sounds fair. 

And so began the adventures of Shannon Fielding and Derek Jansen and their two girls.