I Was Never Yours

Chapter 67

Steve P.O.V

I'm standing outside Callie's bedroom, my knuckles pressing into my eyes. She's still crying. My stomach is twisting, I feel like I could be sick. Tony is on his way, I texted him.

I still can't believe I did it. She deserved a punishment, there's no doubt about it, but a spanking? What is wrong with me?

"What's wrong?" Tony rushes to me and grabs my shoulder.

"I spanked her," I whisper.

He wipes my tears away and hugs me. "She was being a little shit, I get it."

"She started stimming, like, instantly."

"What? Really? But she hardly ever does that anymore."

"I know." I can't stop crying, I just feel so guilty.

He shushes me, rubbing my back. "Pull it together. You need to help her. She needs to know you still love her."

Nodding, I wipe the tears away and take a big breath. When I'm ready, he opens the door and what I see breaks my heart.

Callie is sitting on the bed, rocking violently, sobbing despite the thumb in her mouth. Tony looks at me, alarmed.

Tony wraps her in a blanket and squeezes to still her body. I sit beside them, leaning my head on his shoulder to kiss her.

"It's okay, you're okay, baby. What happened?"

"Uncle s-spanked my bum."

"I'm so sorry, Callie. I shouldn't have—"

Tony shushes me and whispers in her ear, "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. He shouldn't have spanked you, but he feels really bad."

Callie peeks over at me, her eyes crystal blue. I take her hand, allowing her to push into my consciousness, but there's something strange about it. The picture, which is usually clear, is jumping around. I see myself, crying. Then it flashes to me sleeping with May and suddenly we're in Callie's bed and she's clutching someone's shoulders, crying. It must be me? But this person is wearing a t-shirt, and I'm wearing a tank top.

Beside me Callie shakes her head and snaps her hand off mine. "What was that?"

She shakes her head, thumb still crammed in her mouth.

"What was what?" Tony asks, looking between us.

"She showed me something. Like, usually it's my memory. But I was seeing hers, like when she connects to the television you know?"

Tony frowns and kisses Callie's temple. "What are you trying to tell us, baby?"

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head again.

I gently pull her thumb from her mouth, "you're too old for that, little love."

"I want it," she says, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"It's okay," Tony takes her hand from me and puts it back to her mouth. "When you're really sad, you can suck your thumb."

"Come here," I whisper and pull her onto my lap. She whines and reaches for Tony who kisses her hand and wraps his arms around us both. We hold each other for a long time and once everyone's reduced to quiet sniffles I take Callie's face in my hands.  "I'm sorry for spanking you, but do you know why I did it?"

"Cause I was being naughty," she whispers, rubbing her face against my lips.

"Mhmm. I was embarrassed to have May see that, so I lost my temper."