✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

154. Mommy's Rules

This bonus chapter is dedicated to Santoro, with thanks again for all the support you have given me.

Just one chapter left now, and then the epilogue... thank you too to everybody who has stuck with this story, for nearly a year and a half.

Spike reached out and took Tess's hand as soon as Ffrances left the room. He wasn't sure what he could say, but just his presence was enough to comfort her. They'd talked a little about what an appropriate lesson for Gabby might be; and reached a plan that might work well enough. Now, Ffrances would be presenting the options to her fiancée. Gabby could either leave and let Tess get back to normal, or she could submit to an intensive hypnosis session to ensure that she would follow the rules that they had decided on.

"Is it weird using regression as punishment?" Tess asked, a little while later. "I mean... Gabby's so into this stuff, she's been trying to turn me into a little kid for so long. But it seems wrong to make it like... I don't want to give the impression that it's bad as such. It just isn't what I want."

"She likes to be in control," Spike said with a shrug. "And it's not like it's a punishment. Not exactly. We're just trying to make her feel how she made you feel, so she knows what it's like. All the times she talked about it being good for you, or what you need... If she's not really a total monster, maybe it's really that she doesn't understand how it feels to have the choice taken away. To not understand what's happening to her."

"Yeah. If we can drive home that fear and uncertainty, and the embarrassment, maybe she'll really understand what she was doing. I don't like to treat her like this, but I want to believe she can learn. That she would only have behaved like that because she really can't believe somebody would not enjoy it."

There was another pause. The silence wasn't uncomfortable; it just meant that they were enjoying being together. And somewhere in the back of Tess's mind, she was slowly coming to terms with all the things that Gabby had confessed to. To knowing that her biggest worry over the last six months wasn't really her problem, and that after a couple of days she would be back to normal, with no more worries.

A little time passed, and then Tess's phone chirped. She looked at the XV message, and gave a nervous smile.

"From Ffrances," she said. "Gabby agreed. They're going to do the hypnosis session in her office upstairs, probably starting already. And she's sent me a memo with details of the triggers, so I don't forget it. Gabby won't even associate the effects with her punishment until we tell her, so she'll have no idea what's happening to her. Perfect for embarrassment, and for letting her understand how much difference it makes to have no choice in this."

"And...?" Spike answered, sensing that there was something else on Tess's mind at that point.

"I was just wondering if we should test out her new triggers. I mean... Ffrances said it's whenever I want, right?"

"Going to start giving her orders as soon as she comes down?" Spike said with a smirk. One of the things they had agreed on was that Gabby was now incapable of lying to Tess, and needed to get her permission before she could lie to anyone, unless it was work related. She also had to obey Tess without question if she gave a direct order. Tess found the idea kind of amusing, but she wasn't sure how natural it would feel to give commands to a woman around a decade older than her. But she knew that she would be happy to be back in control, and she hoped that she could use it effectively to make their point. It was a big responsibility, but both Spike and Ffrances had said they were sure she would be up to the task if she tried.

"Actually, I was thinking about right away," she said. And rushing to act before her nerves got the better of her, she walked over to the notice board inside the back door, and took two of the magnetic symbols. "She said it's when she looks at the notice board, right? So why not test it out while they're doing the thing, and see if it works right away?"