Work Text:
It had been a rough day.
Luca woke up little and in a mood, something that was rare, but it did happen. Everyone thought that Luca was the sweetest baby who could hardly do wrong, and that was mostly true. Luca really didn’t like being in trouble with anyone, especially his Daddy. Daddy had a look he could give that made Luca’s stomach clench and twist and drop.
They woke up on a day off in the apartment that they shared in Ottawa. Luca refused every option that Cliff gave him for breakfast, insisting on wanting a donut from the most popular shop in the center of downtown. That usually wouldn’t have been an issue, but it was closed for their “weekend”. Cliff got donuts from the best shop (in his opinion) and brought them home. Luca had cried a little before Cliff had been able to encourage him to try a bite.
The donut had stopped the growing tantrum, thankfully. After breakfast, they went to sit on the patio with a few different books. Some were for Luca to read on his own, some for Cliff to read to him, and one thick, beaten-up paperback that Cliff was trying to get through. Luca brought a fluffy blanket and Lina, settling against Cliff on the comfortable patio couch.
They snuggled up under the blanket, Cliff spreading the book options out on his lap. “You wanna read by yourself, or you want Daddy to read to you?”
“By myself,” Luca said, grabbing one of the books that Cliff usually had to read to Luca. Cliff smiled. If Luca wanted to try reading it by himself, Cliff wasn’t going to stop him. He wrapped Luca up in a hug and opened his book, settling in contentedly.
Luca started huffing about three minutes into their comfortable quiet. He flipped the pages too quickly, annoyed puffs of air leaving him. Cliff placed his bookmark in his book and set it aside, grabbing the easiest book in their collection. It was a soft book full of sensory panels that Luca loved to feel while Cliff read the words on each thick page.
“Let’s try this one instead,” Cliff said gently, offering the soft book.
“No, I can read this one.”
“I know you can, baby, but I think you’ll like this one a lot more. Can you show me your favorite feeling in the book?”
Luca scowled. “No! I can read this one,” Luca protested, kicking his feet under the blanket. Luca grabbed the soft book and tossed it… over the edge of the balcony. Luca watched, mouth open in shock. Cliff stood up immediately, leaning over the edge.
Below them, a person was holding the book and rubbing their head. Cliff’s heart dropped to his stomach. Fuck. He turned to his boyfriend, frowning. “Stay in the apartment, I’ll be right back.”
Cliff went inside and slipped on shoes and a robe, heading to the elevator. He made his way down impatiently, dashing out once he reached the main floor. The person he’d seen from 8 floors up was in the lobby, offering the book to the security guard at the desk.
Fuck.
Cliff jogged over to the desk. “Hey, I am so sorry. Are you okay? My little was throwing a fit. He’s never thrown anything over the balcony before.”
The man nodded, offering the book to Cliff instead of the security woman. “I’m totally fine, not a big deal. I know how tantrums go. Are you Cliff Marleau?”
Cliff exhaled a sigh of relief as he took the book from the man. He nodded. “Yeah, I am.”
“Love that you traded over to the Centaurs, man, great move for our team. Gonna help take us to a Cup this year, eh?”
Cliff nodded again, putting on his ‘meeting a fan’ smile. “That’s the plan. Again, I’m so sorry that happened.”
“No worries, man, have a great day and beat San Francisco in a few days!”
Cliff smiled, watching the man exit the building. He exhaled heavily, looking at the security guard. “That was close.”
The guard laughed a little. “You’re lucky. So many things just went your way.”
Cliff ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, for sure. I gotta go back and deal with my boyfriend. Have a good day.” He turned and walked to the elevator, going back to the apartment.
Luca was sitting on the couch with Lina, sobbing softly. He looked up when Cliff closed the front door, popping up. He held Lina against his stomach, chest hitching. “Hurt?”
“You didn’t hurt anyone.”
Luca sat down heavily, hiding his face against Lina’s back. Cliff walked around the couch and sat next to his boyfriend, pulling him into a hug. Luca moved from hiding his face against the stuffed lamb to hiding against Cliff’s shoulder, sobbing still. “I’m sorry, Daddy, I didn’t mean to!”
“I know you didn’t mean to throw it over the balcony. But you meant to throw it, didn’t you?”
Luca cried as he nodded, bullying his way onto Cliff’s lap. Cliff leaned back to accommodate the other man, wrapping his arms around the blond and rubbing his back. He started rocking them gently, humming.
“Cry as much as you need to, it’s okay,” Cliff murmured. “No one got hurt.”
“In trouble?” Luca asked, sniffling sharply. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his hoodie. Cliff cupped his face, wiping away the rest of his tears.
“Yes, you’re in trouble,” Cliff told him softly. “Throwing things is not nice, and someone could have gotten really hurt.”
Luca tilted his head back and cried, squirming on Cliff’s lap while he clung to Lina. “I’m sorry, Daddy! I won’t do it again!”
“I know you won’t do it again, baby,” Cliff said soothingly, petting his blond hair down with gentle fingers. “You’re still gonna get a spanking. If you’re gonna throw a tantrum, you can do it on your time-out rug. Are you calmin’ down or are you spending some time on the rug?”
Luca kicked his feet, whining. “No rug, no time-out, is mean!”
Cliff took a slow breath in, watching his boyfriend squirm through his big feelings. He should roll out the small, fluffy rug and set Luca on it, but he was too indulgent with his boy to pry him off his lap for a time-out. Luca wrapped his arms around Cliff’s neck, tucking his face against Cliff’s throat to hide.
Cliff rubbed his hand along Luca’s back, kissing the top of his head. Luca’s crying was tapering off into little sniffles and shuddery breaths. Eventually he calmed down, squirming until he was sliding off Cliff’s lap.
“Where are you going, baby?”
“Bed. Nap? Please nap, Daddy?”
Cliff snagged Luca’s wrist in a gentle grip. “We can go take a nap, but you’re still getting a spanking. You can get spanked before our nap or after. Pick.”
Luca stomped his foot, squeezing Lina in a one-armed hug. “I don’t want.”
“You can decide, or I can.”
“No!”
“Now, then,” Cliff said easily, pulling Luca across his lap. Luca squirmed, kicking his feet until Cliff trapped his legs with one of his, effectively pinning the younger man. He pulled Luca’s pajama pants down, exposing his bare ass.
Cliff laid down the first swat on Luca’s pale skin, watching a bit of pink bloom where his hand connected. Luca squirmed harder, but it did nothing; Cliff was stronger in this position. “Daddy!”
“You know that throwing things is not nice, Luca. Throwing things over the balcony is incredibly dangerous. You could’ve really hurt someone.”
“I know! I didn’t mean to throw over the balcony! Accident!”
“Accidents still have consequences, baby,” Cliff told him, laying down steady smacks. Luca jolted with each heavy swat, grabbing handfuls of the couch cushion to try to crawl away, Lina forgotten on the cushion in favor of trying to claw to safety. Cliff held him around his middle, pulled tightly to his front.
“I said sorry!” Luca cried out, throwing a hand behind him to try to protect his behind. Cliff grabbed the hand and pinned it to Luca’s lower back easily, still laying down evenly timed swats.
“I appreciate that you said sorry, little one. Still have to get spanked for it.” Cliff focused on Luca’s lower cheeks and upper thighs now, turning them the same color as his ass.
“Wanna be done!” Luca cried, kicking his feet as much as he could.
“Almost done,” Cliff promised, tilting Luca a little so he had better access. Luca finally stopped fighting, going limp over his boyfriend’s lap. Cliff laid down harder, more deliberate swats now, Luca starting to sniffle as tears flooded his blue eyes. The sniffles grew as the swats continued, morphing into sobs.
“Daddy!” Luca sobbed, wiping his face against the couch cushion. He smeared tears over the material, sobs bubbling out.
Cliff finished with a few more of the hardest swats yet, releasing Luca’s hand and legs once he was done. Luca shook with his cries, writhing a little over Cliff’s thighs. Cliff rubbed his hand along Luca’s exposed lower back, his shirt having gone up his back during the spanking.
“All done, Luca. You did good, baby,” Cliff praised lowly, carefully pulling the waistband of Luca’s sweatpants back up to his hips. Luca jumped a little when the fabric came in contact with his ass, sniffling sharply.
“Up?”
“You can get up, sweetheart,” Cliff said easily, helping Luca stand up. Luca immediately straddled Cliff’s hips, settling on his lap heavily. He hid his face against Cliff’s neck, still crying softly.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Luca whimpered, clinging to the other man. Cliff reached over and snagged Lina from the couch, tucking the stuffed lamb between them so that Luca could snuggle it.
“You’re forgiven, baby.” Cliff rubbed his hand along Luca’s back, slipping under his shirt. Luca took a few minutes to calm down, still hiding in his boyfriend’s neck, one hand squeezing Lina’s foot. He eventually pulled back, stealing a quick peck from the other man. Cliff offered a smile, reaching up to cup Luca’s red face, wiping away the tears gently.
“We nap now?”
Cliff nodded, smoothing Luca’s blond hair down. “Yes, baby. We can go take a nap now.” Cliff adjusted his hold on Luca before standing, carrying the younger man into their bedroom with ease. Luca clung to the other man tightly, even when Cliff tried to set Luca down on the bed.
Cliff laughed a little. “I’m gonna cuddle you. You don’t have to cling.”
Luca reluctantly released his hold on Cliff, allowing himself to be deposited onto the bed. He clung onto Lina instead, who had been squished between them while Cliff carried him to the bedroom. Cliff pulled the comforter down and got in bed, Luca crawling under the blanket with him.
They met in the middle of the bed, tangling together with a practised ease with Lina tucked between them. Cliff pressed a kiss to Luca’s head, settling in to nap. Luca settled too.
-----
Cliff woke up alone.
Technically, he didn’t. Lina was there in his arms, where Luca was and should’ve continued to be. Cliff groaned softly, setting the lamb to the side before he rolled onto his back. Cliff didn’t hear anything from the en-suite bathroom, so he assumed that Luca was in the living room or kitchen.
Fuck, Cliff thought. Hope it’s not the kitchen. Fuck.
Cliff rolled off the bed and made his way out of the bedroom. Luca was on the couch in the living room, his head visible over the edge. He was wrapped up in the extra-large couch blanket, holding his phone out so that he was visible.
On Luca’s screen was Shane Hollander. Cliff groaned internally, just a little. Shane always seemed to encourage Luca to act out. Cliff wasn’t sure if it was on purpose, maybe as payback for the broken collarbone years ago.
“And I didn’t mean to throw the book over the edge,” Luca lamented to Shane. “But he still spanked me for it!”
“I think you should take the laces out of all his shoes,” Shane suggested, shifting a little. Cliff stepped closer, but Luca didn’t look up at him, focused on his phone.
“Have you done that?”
“Yeah, I started with the sneakers that Ilya keeps by the back door for quick use. Then his normal shoes. He caught me when I was in the closet for too long. I got about 4 pairs done before he caught me.”
Luca looked like he was considering the information. How long had Shane and Luca been sitting on a video call, swapping war crime stories and techniques for being a brat? Cliff cleared his throat, Luca turning to look at him in surprise.
“Is that Cliff? Do you have headphones in? Tell him I’m going to check him into the boards next practice for spanking you unjustly.”
“Roz won’t let you,” Cliff countered easily.
“He can’t stop me,” Shane argued. Cliff walked around the couch and sat next to Luca, wrapping his arm around Luca’s shoulders.
“Who can’t stop you from doing what?” Ilya asked in the background, sounding a little far away, but still slightly threatening.
“No one!” Shane called back, running a hand through his hair. He glared at Cliff. “I’m watching you.
Cliff laughed. “Not anymore. Say ‘bye’, baby,” Cliff prompted. Luca waved a little with his free hand.
“Bye, Shane.”
Cliff hit the end button, taking Luca’s phone from him and setting it on the coffee table in front of them. “Planning on takin’ my shoelaces?”
Luca blushed a little. “No!”
“Good. Because I remember when Shane did that. Roz told me about it. He spanked Shane for the shoelaces bit.”
Luca grimaced. “Don’t want another one.”
“I figured. So instead of trying to earn another spanking, let’s figure out what we’re having for dinner. Sound good?”
“Can we order pizza?”