Sisters-in-Law

Megan bit her lower lip as her husband pulled up in front of his parents’ house. She’d only met James’ family a few times before this and this was the first time the whole family would be together at one time.

James’ voice cut through her worrying. “Please try not to start anything with Katie today.”

Megan whipped her head around and stared at him in disbelief. “What do you mean? I have tried so hard to be friends with her. She has just been awful to me!”

James sighed. “She’s just having a hard time adjusting to me being married. Promise me you’ll be nice and if you can’t, just stay out of her way.”

Megan huffed and stared out the window.

“Megan, look at me.”

The warning tone in James’ voice had her turning her head to face him. James leaned over and pressed a light kiss to her lips.

“I love you Meg, you know that. And I know that Katie can be difficult. But I love her too and I won’t be caught in the middle of you two. So try for me, ok?”

A reluctant smile tugged on Megan’s lips and she nodded in agreement.
* * * * * * * * * *
Katie glared out the window as her brother jogged around the side of the car to open the door for his wife. How her brother had ended up with someone so superficial and shallow, Katie couldn’t figure out. When Megan stepped out of the car, Katie shook her head.

“What are you staring at?” a deep voice asked from behind her.

Katie spun around and grinned when she spotted Matthew, her boyfriend of almost a year. “I was just checking out the new addition to the family. Can you believe she wore a dress to a picnic? I swear if she ever got dirty she’d have a heart attack or something,” Katie chuckled.

Matt frowned. “I don’t think you’ve given her a fair chance, Katie. What did she do to make you dislike her so much?”

Katie rolled her eyes. “She didn’t do anything. She’s just so prim and proper. She doesn’t fit in with the rest of us.”

Matt sighed at the petulant tone in her voice. “Try to be nicer to her, ok? I’m sure she’s nervous enough about meeting being around so many new people all at once as it is, she doesn’t need you pecking at her.”

Eyes wide with playful shock, Katie replied “I’m always nice, Matthew. I have no idea what you mean.”

Matt laughed and pulled her in for a hug and lengthy kiss. “I love your sense of humor Kat…but please be nice.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Megan began to relax as the day played out. James’ family was so warm and accepting, she couldn’t remember what she’d been nervous about in the first place. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the petite figure of Katie coming towards her and she tensed again. Right, she thought to herself, This is why I was so nervous this morning.

Katie sat on the bench next to her sister-in-law and stretched her legs out. “Enjoying the party Meggy?”

Megan relaxed a fraction. “Yes, thank you. Your family is absolutely wonderful… you’re very lucky to have them.”

For a second, Katie thought she caught a sense of wistfulness in Megan’s voice but shrugged it off. “We’re thinking of getting a volleyball game going later…but I bet you wouldn’t be interested. Might get your dress dirty,” she sneered.

Megan ground her teeth against a scathing reply as James’ warning to “be nice” played over and over again in her head. “Actually, James mentioned that you all often play a few games when you all get together. So I brought a change of clothes,” she replied sweetly.

Annoyed that her jibe seemed to have fallen short of the mark, Katie levered herself off the bench and stomped away.

Seeing his sister storming away, James broke away from the group of young cousins he was entertaining and made his way over to his wife. When he sat down and draped an arm around her shoulders, he was surprised by the tension he felt. Frowning, he asked, “What happened Megs? I saw Katie storm off…did you have an argument?”

To Megan, James’ words simply poured salt into her wounded emotions. “Somehow, I just knew you were going to jump all over me. I did not say a damn thing to her,” she hissed. “You want to know what happened? Ask your beloved sister.” Fighting back tears, Megan jumped up and walked stiffly towards the house.

James was still sitting there, baffled by the exchange when he heard the scream. Panicked, he raced to the back door and into the kitchen.

The scene that met his eyes might have been comical, if tensions weren’t already so high in the house. His sister was standing in the middle of the floor, her shirt and jeans covered in what appeared to be coleslaw. His wife was standing off to the side, eyes widened in horrified shock, both hands clamped over her mouth.

“Katie….what happened?”

It was a moment before Katie found the voice to answer. “Your…wife,” she snarled.

James turned to stare at Megan who seemed unable to speak. “Megan?” he asked, shocked. His wife was always very ladylike…until she was rattled, he remembered clearly. With no explanation forthcoming, James grabbed Megan’s hand and began leading her up the stairs.

Megan still couldn’t seem to speak. She was afraid if she did, the laughter she felt building in her chest would simply burst out and embarrass everyone. Personally, she felt that Katie had finally gotten what she deserved, even if it had been an accident. She’d had every intention of locking herself in the bathroom for a few minutes to calm down, but when she had flung the back door open, Katie had been on her way out with a rather large bowl of coleslaw. The scream that James had heard was Katie’s scream of alarm as the bowl had been knocked back, dumping the contents down her front.

James found his old bedroom, now a guestroom and pulled Megan inside. He pushed the door closed, but it didn’t quite shut in place and hung open a few inches. Angrily, he rounded on his wife.

“What the hell got into you Megan? I know Katie’s been difficult, but to dump food on someone….don’t you think that’s a bit childish young lady?”

The humor fled as James’ words struck home. For a minute all Megan could do was stare in disbelief before stammering, “You…you think I…did that on purpose?”

James shook his head furiously. “What am I supposed to believe? I see you and Katie talking, her stomping off, then when I try to talk to you about it you snap at me and storm off and the next thing I know, she’s covered in coleslaw. You tell me what I’m supposed to think.”

Fury lit Megan’s eyes. “You’re supposed to think that I wouldn’t do such a thing intentionally. Did it ever occur to you that it was an accident?”

“Was it?” James demanded.

Tearfully, Megan replied, “Believe whatever you want, I don’t care. I’m not telling you one way or the other.”

“Fine,” James replied. “If you won’t tell me it was an accident, I have to believe it wasn’t.” With that declaration, James pulled the straight backed chair out from his old desk and sat, pulling Megan over his lap. Foregoing any more lecturing, he flipped her sundress up and began spanking her panty clad bottom, fast and furious.

Megan squealed and began fighting her way off James’ lap. She couldn’t believe he was spanking her for something that was entirely not her fault! The hurt and indignation built as each spank fell, building the fire in her bottom. Suddenly, the spanking stopped and Megan started to push herself up, only to find that she was still pinned in place by his arm.

James reached over and opened the drawer in his desk. Rooting around a bit, he found an old wooden ruler and pulled it out. Locking his right leg over Megan’s legs, he tilted her forward over his left leg and pulled her panties down, baring her pinkened bottom.

“James! I didn’t do anything, I swear!” Megan pleaded.

“I wish I could believe you baby, but you had your chance to explain yourself before this spanking started.” James lifted his arm and brought the ruler down with a *SNAP* against her bare skin.

Megan cried out at the first bite of the ruler. James had never spanked her with anything other than his hand and she was unprepared for the sting and burn of the little wooden stick. Tipped forward as she was, she didn’t have any choice other than keep her hand on the floor to keep her balance and take the spanking. James continued to spank at a fast pace, the wooden ruler biting into her bare bottom again and again and again. When it seemed he would never stop and the pain seemed unbearable, Megan lay over James’ lap, limp and sobbing.

Feeling the tension leave his wife’s body, James stopped spanking and dropped the ruler on the floor. He kept her there until her sobs quieted, rubbing her now bright red bottom. When she seemed to have calmed, James helped her to her feet. Taking her chin, he lifted her tear filled gaze to his eyes. “Now. Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked gently. Megan nodded weakly before taking a deep breath and shakily telling him what happened.

When she finished her tale, Megan looked up to see James frowning down at her. “Megs…why didn’t you just tell me it was an accident baby? I wouldn’t have spanked you at all if you had.”
Megan began sobbing again. Alarmed, James gathered her into his arms and rocked her gently, stroking her hair until she calmed once more.

“I didn’t tell you because…I just thought you’d already taken her side. I don’t understand why she hates me so much, James! I haven’t done anything to her! I’m doing my best to fit into your family…” Tears fell silently from Megan’s eyes as she clung to her husband.

“Oh baby…I’m so sorry. I know how badly you want to be a part of a family. I promise I’ll talk to Katie about this, maybe explain where you’re coming from and see if that helps at all. Right now…why don’t you take a nap sweetheart?”

Megan nodded sorrowfully and James led her to the bed and tucked her in. When he pressed a kiss to her forehead, she had already fallen deeply asleep.

As James left the room, he didn’t notice the two figures pressed against the wall, trying to stay out of sight.