“I told Jess you have a concussion,” Lena comments in a murmur. “And so you needed a place to rest and no light. She made it so the drapes and couch were put in place. Make sure to thank her when we leave.”

Dallas nods. That’s smart of her mama to do. Though it also completely unnecessary, it’s only a ‘mild’ concussion.

“I’m not coming to work until Monday,” Lena continues, “so I need to go into a meeting in a little while. I also need to make a video call. I expect you to nap while I’m on the call… It looks like it’s going to be a long one.”

Dallas whines. She hates it when her mama makes her nap like this. One thing is to fall asleep for a little while after having eventful day at school or at the park with her mama, and other entirely is to be sent to bed while her mind is busy and there are things to do.

Lena tugs at a strand of her hair. “I want to make sure you’re well rested for the evening, so stop complaining.”

Dallas rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. She didn’t need a nap. Naps were for little kids, and she wasn’t a little kid.

“I’m needed at the meeting,” Lena says, ignoring Dallas attitude. “Stand up, bub.” she commands, rising from her chair too. Dallas whines and follows Lena’s motions. She gets a peck on her forehead as Lena cups her face.

“My good girl,” Lena murmurs against her cheek, leaving a peck to her skin. “Sit for me.”

Dallas is pushed into Lena’s big chair. She huffs in response, still slightly annoyed with her mama. Lena kisses her forehead again, cupping Dallas’s face to crane her neck up in order to accommodate make her look up.

“I won’t be long,” Lena says softly. “In the meantime, I want two hundred of these.” Dallas looks at the paper her mother is pointing and she whines.

Lena clucks her tongue. “I expect to be able to read it, so take care to make it legible. If you are not done by when I’m back, or if I find it hard to read, you’ll go over my lap. I don’t care if you’re still sore, you’ll receive how many lines you messed up or missed. Do you understand?”

Dallas whimpers, “Mama!”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Dallas hangs her head. She eyes the paper before her with the single line written in her mother’s flawless cursive:

‘1. I will take care of myself.’

Dallas hates doing lines. She hates it as much as she hates being sent for a nap. It makes her feel like she is an irresponsible kid and it also makes her feel so, so, so powerless.

Dallas said so to Lena once, how doing lines simply makes her feel so out of her skin and so tiny. Not tiny in the sense of being young, but in the sense of her being insignificant. Lena heard her and understood and made her a promise.

Lines would be the one punishment reserved for the greater offences.

The fact Dallas is doing them now means that her mama thinks what Dallas did is close to unforgivable.

That thought alone is worse than the itching doing lines gives her.

Lena tips Dallas’s head up, forcing Dallas to look into her troubled eyes. “I never want to find out again you forgot sleep or that you forgot to eat and drink.” she says in an undertone. “If this way I can impress on you how important this is, then I’ll make you write lines until your hand falls off.” She presses a kiss between Dallas’s brows. “I love you, Dallas. You are my heart and soul and I’ll be damned if I don’t teach you to be nice to yourself.”

Dallas goes stiff at the intensity of Lena’s words. She cannot do anything else but to echo back, “I love you, too.”

Lena smiles down at her. “I’ll be back in an hour. Be wise with your time.”