In-spite of her apology, Vanessa now genuinely wanted to punish the rude redhead. This had to leave a mark. Tomorrow, whatever Natasha was doing, the ...razilian woman wanted her to remember this encounter; to wince every time she sat down.Reaching behind her surreptitiously, Vanessa found the handle of the riding crop nestled in the red satin sheets. The brunette beamed, swiftly bringing the whip swinging down on an unsuspecting behind.... 4 Weeks EarlierVanessa Carlysle's ApartmentNew. * * *The rest of the Gaffney's trip home was marked by the same tense and uncomfortable silence that they had greeted this morning with.They had not been intending to stay out overnight and so none of them had brought along a change of clothes. Not even Gloria, who now had to finish the trip in a blouse that had been practically torn off her by the son who now could hardly stand to look at her. She didn't even try to hold it closed though and had pointedly refused to put on her bra and so her. " She patted Greg affectionately.I smiled and raised my glass. "Congratulations," I said. "Here's to the growing Young family."Greg had a sip from his glass, even though he was being toasted rather than toasting. "It was actually quite amazing. How it happened, I mean," he said. "You know, I was married before. My first wife died in a skiing accident. She and I had tried for a couple of years to conceive. Tried everything. No luck. But the very first month that Megan and I gave it a shot --. Thank you.”“About last night … you gave us all the signs, so I hope you feel good about it all.”“Oh, Michele, it was wonderful. My body feels so … I don’t know … alive? You two made me feel so loved, cared for, wanted. Thank you for last night.”“Well, if I know my husband, and I do, he still has plans for our weekend. Some, I am sure, he just figures will happen as a natural course of the day, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t have something more planned for us.”And that is when we went in.