Hunting was alright. Esme was displeased, but she didn't say anything. When we returned to the house, Jasper told me that I should wait in his study, then he sat down with Esme and Carlisle and they discussed what to do with me. I could hear everything they said and everything they thought. Usually, I would attempt to give my family some privacy when they were having a serious conversation. It was hard to do that whilst waiting meekly in Jasper's study, however. My piano was my favourite distraction, and I couldn't use that. I didn't dare pick up any of Jasper's books. He'd sent me into his study to wait, not to read. I suspected that my role was to stand here thinking about what I'd done and what I was going to get.

I spent some of the time trying to think of ways out of my current situation. Carlisle and Esme had given Jasper free reign to mete out whatever punishments he pleased for whatever infractions he judged me to have committed. Jasper had been thinking about soldiers that he had trained in the past and about the standards to which he planned on keeping me. When I saw the images in Jasper's mind of all the punishments that he had inflicted during his times in armies, I was terrified. Even if he only did a few of those things to me, I would never recover. If I had to obey Jasper's every command, I would lose any personal freedom that I currently retained. There must be a way out.

Esme was probably the weakest link. She hated the idea of me being hurt in any way. She was already longing to wrap me in her arms and keep me safe from Jasper's harsh condemnation. If I played up the 'littlest brother' act a bit, I could probably fill Esme with so much pity for me, that she would insist Jasper left me alone. Unfortunately, Jasper also noticed Esme's pity. He reminded her that it was best for me in the long run that I should learn to behave and that she was being a good mother in bearing her own suffering for my sake. That made Esme determined to stick to the plan.

I heard Carlisle's thoughts about the matter. He suspected that I might try and guilt Esme into interfering and resolved that he would put an instant stop to any such behaviour. Carlisle was seriously considering sending me and Jasper away for a few months, or a year. That would have been awful. I'd far rather accept the odd beating and see Bella at school, than have my mother protect me from corporal punishment and get sent away from my Bella. Carlisle's resolution decided me against begging Esme to save me.

Rose and Emmett might have helped. They had personal interest in preventing Jasper from becoming too much of an authority figure in the house. Rose thought that I deserved whatever I got, however, and was getting close to convincing Emmett. If I asked him, Emmett would help me in any way he could. Emmett would definitely be happy to fight with me against Jasper. He would probably draw the line at defying Carlisle, though. Emmett had never defied Carlisle and he always accepted Carlisle and Esme's word as final. When he heard that they had agreed with Jasper's plan, he would probably desert me.

When it came down to it, my choices were really pretty simple: accept that Jasper is now in authority over me, or run away. Running away, though tempting, would mean that I could never live with my family again. Vampires have long memories and they wouldn't forget that I was owed a discipline session with my brother. If I ran I would have to keep on running. Bella probably wouldn't agree, anyway. She respected Esme and Carlisle, liked Rose, Emmett and Alice, and was beginning to get on pretty well with Jasper. She wouldn't agree to abandon them just because I asked her to do so. She would demand a reason and would probably not agree that running away from Jasper's wrath was a sensible plan.

There was no sensible plan, really. I had no option but to stand here and take what Jasper decided to deal out. I had a lot of time to think about this. After they'd finished their conversation, Carlisle and Jasper went out, presumably to hunt. Jasper couldn't have forgotten that I was standing in his study, so it must have been his intention to give me a little bit more anticipation time. I tried not to spend it all trying to guess what he was going to do and say when he finally joined me.

Jasper didn't bother warming up to the subject, he walked in, sat down and said "what you said to Bella was unacceptable."

Unacceptable: there was that word again. That was what he'd said last time before he offered me my choice. He'd said that my behaviour wasn't acceptable and then he'd offered me a chance to fight him, or to submit to a spanking. I didn't think that I was going to get a similar choice this time. Jasper had spoken about how things had changed, and I was pretty sure that they'd changed in a way that meant I didn't get to choose between fighting and submission anymore. If I didn't get a choice, that left me with only one possibility If my behaviour unacceptable that meant that Jasper was going to punish me.

He as good as called her a whore he thought, angrily.

I winced, "yes, sir," I said, "I know that."

He's doing it again, Jasper thought, then he said, "Edward, you don't have to call me 'sir'. You know that too." I nodded, remembering his comment at our last session, and Jasper went on, "I've spoken to Carlisle and Esme about today's incident."

"Yes, I overheard."

"So, you'll know what we agreed, then." He raised his voice at the end, allowing me to treat it as a question.

"Yes, sir. You agreed that I need to improve my behaviour and that the best way of helping me will be to make me more accountable. You agreed that, until I can control myself properly again, I need to be under someone else's control, and that I need to have discipline provided for me until such time as I regain a sense of self-discipline."

"That's all true, so what arrangements did we make?"

I sighed, "Carlisle and Esme have given me over to you," I said, "they requested that you would take charge of me and instil me with some more discipline. They said that they trusted you to make decisions regarding my discipline and that they would expect me to obey you without question." I hung my head, what was Jasper going to do with me?

"When I was human, a boy your age would never have addressed a lady in the manner in which you addressed Bella this afternoon."

"I know, sir."

"Wasn't it the same when you were human?"

"It was the same, sir."

"Do you believe times to have changed so very much, Edward?"

"No, sir. I believe that my tone and my words were appalling to people of this time as well as people who were brought up as I was."

"I don't think that your parents finished bringing you up. I think that's the problem. What would your father have done if he had heard you this afternoon?"

"He would have thrashed me, sir."

"Well, at least this shouldn't come as a surprise then."

He stood up, and I knew exactly what he was planning on doing. Now, I knew that I couldn't fight Jasper and I knew that he had the backing of most of my family. The only sensible thing for me to do was to let him grab me and punish me however he saw fit.

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling very sensible. I was scared of being hurt by Jasper again, I was embarrassed about having to submit to a man whom I had always thought of as a brother. Jasper had been the one whose lapse of control had almost killed Bella. It wasn't right that I should now be expected to accept him as my judge. I'd never tried to hit him for attacking Bella, why was it ok for him to hit me for insulting her?

Stupidly, I decided that this wasn't fair or right and I wasn't going to let it happen. I waited for him to reach out to grab me, and I stepped neatly out of his way. I watched his mind carefully, waiting for him to plan on making another grab.

Instead, Jasper imagined chasing me around his study and thought of all his nice things that could get broken in the process. Well, I'm not doing that, he thought. I'll have to make him submit.

"Do you object to my planned punishment?" he asked me, with a slight smile hovering on the edge of his lips.

"I don't want you to spank me whenever you think that I've misbehaved. You're not my father."

"Fine," he said. Another hour ought to do it.

Before I could work out why he was thinking about an hour, Jasper left the study. He shut the door calmly behind himself and walked off, looking for Alice.

Left alone in Jasper's study, I began to panic. What was my great plan? He didn't want to chase me around the room, but he wasn't going to just give in and agree that I no longer required punishing. I'd already convinced myself that none of my family were likely to support me in an attempt to stand up to Jasper. My choice was clear: submit or leave.

When he returned, Jasper was going to be just as determined to punish me as before, but this time he was going to be angry because I'd defied him. This really wasn't a good plan at all.

I had been right. Jasper wasn't my father. But, that wasn't really the point. Carlisle was my father, and he didn't want to deal with me anymore. Carlisle had asked Jasper to deal with me. Even after I'd rebelled in Chicago, Carlisle had never given up on me. What I'd done to Bella, however, had finally caused Carlisle to turn his back on me.

I tossed the ideas back and forth in my hand for the entire hour. I didn't want Jasper in charge of me, but it didn't seem to be my choice to make. The time for choices had passed. I'd chosen to insult Bella and now I was going to have to deal with the consequences.

Jasper wasn't my father, but he was the only member of my family who still had a plan. He was the only person who hadn't washed his hands of me. He was the only one who had an idea of how we could move forward. I didn't have a choice. I had only Jasper.

Carlisle had decided not to waste his time trying to teach me to behave anymore. That must mean that he was pretty close to giving up on me altogether and asking me to leave the family for good. Considering how much trouble I'd been to everyone lately, there probably wouldn't be many voices raised in protest. Much as I hated the idea of submitting to Jasper's discipline; at least it wasn't as bad as being thrown out of the family.

Maybe allowing Jasper to spank me whenever he thought that I'd misbehaved wasn't such a bad idea after all. At least he cared what I did. Jasper would help me to win back the trust of my family. He might even help me to win back Bella's trust.

When he returned, I was going to have to obey him.

When he returned, I was going to accept my punishment.

By the time Jasper came back, I was determined to please him. I kept very still, and absolutely silent, waiting for him to tell me what to do.

I think that worked, Jasper thought, the defiant look has gone.

"Alright, Edward," he said to me, "are you ready now?"

"Yes, sir," I said, "I'm sorry for defying you."

Jasper hauled me across the room and laid me over his lap. It was slightly scary how easily Jasper tossed me around. In his normal day-to-day actions he gave no hint of the stern soldier that he had been. When he was punishing me, though, he was strong and tough, and frightening. He tugged down my pants and my underpants.

"You will be sorry for defying me," he said, "I don't like repeating myself." He began swatting my thighs. I held still for as long as I could, but it was painful and my legs began drumming on the floor in an attempt to evade the pain. Jasper hissed quietly and wrapped his leg around me to hold my feet in place. Then he continued to beat me. Now that I couldn't move, my only outlet was my voice and I whimpered quietly.

"Next time you are ordered over my knee, you will obey instantly."

"Yes-s-s s-s-sir," it was pathetic to hear my childlike stammering. Only a few swats on my legs had me whimpering and stuttering.

"Alright, now this is intended to teach you to mind your manners." Then he began my proper spanking. He finally set to work on my backside, speeding up and spreading his hand to make sure that my whole bottom was covered. He spanked in a pattern, which almost made it worse, because I knew when the left was about to be struck and just as the pain on the right began to ease, I knew he was going to land another blow there. He kept to time, not speeding or slowing, just raining unstoppable, carefully measured spanks on my defenceless behind.

I could hardly understand what had happened to me. I knew how to be polite and I used to be in perfect control of myself. Ever since I left Bella, I have been having impulse control issues.

Now I was so badly behaved that Carlisle had given up on me. He'd asked Jasper for help in teaching me the proper way to behave.

"Ow! Plea-ease, s-s-sir!" I found myself crying out. I knew that I couldn't stop him. Jasper would give me the punishment that he thought I needed, no more and no less. But my lips moved anyway, and I cried out for a mercy that I knew I didn't deserve and wasn't going to get.

As I expected, Jasper didn't miss a beat, but he did answer me. "Remember why you're in this position, Edward."

I missed being the person who could be trusted. I missed the days when my family admired my self-control. I almost missed the days when it had been Jasper who had worried us. That wasn't kind, however. I was glad that Jasper had improved his control around Bella so much. I was truly pleased that Jasper could drive alone in a car with Bella. But, I wished that his control hadn't increased at the same time as mine had decreased.

Being the one who worried everyone was no fun at all. Being the youngest sibling, having fewer privileges and getting spanked, was quite unpleasant. I preferred being Carlisle's first and favourite son. Italy probably spelt the end of that relationship, however. Nobody was ever going to treat me like a grown-up again.

Insulting Bella this afternoon was stupid and I deserved to be punished for it. If anyone else had said such things to my Bella, I would have wanted to beat them myself. I knew that it was nearly over when Jasper slowed down and gave me ten final smacks, right in the centre of my backside, covering half of each cheek. I gasped a bit with each smack, and lay there breathing heavily, as if I'd just run a marathon, when he finished. Jasper stopped long before I would have done. He dealt enough blows for me to be in pain, but not enough to make me collapse into a sobbing mess.

"Bella will probably have something to add," Jasper said calmly.

Unbidden, the image of myself laid over Bella's lap rose up in my mind. It wasn't exactly an unwelcome image. If I was going to be laid over anyone's knee, half-naked, I would like it to be Bella's. I wouldn't mind the feel of her warm hand against my skin. I wouldn't even mind if she hit me hard enough for it to sting.

Hastily, I pushed the image away. I would crush Bella if I lay on her, and she would break her wrist if she attempted to strike me, even in play. That certainly wasn't what Jasper meant. But, what exactly did Jasper mean?

"Sir?" I asked, not really knowing what to ask him.

Jasper chuckled, "well, I don't mean that she's here now, or anything," he said, "I just mean that you insulted her and I'm sure that you won't get away scot-free. This punishment was from me. You'll have to square things with Bella on your own. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Edward," he spoke in a warning tone and I wondered what I'd done wrong now. I hadn't moved. I hadn't contradicted him. I had just said 'yes, sir' in a respectful tone. Of course, that was what he was annoyed by. It was just so natural to call him 'sir' when he was disciplining me. I ought to remember that he was my brother.

"Sorry, Jasper," I said.

"You may get up now" he relaxed as I stood and dressed myself. "The girls are out tonight," he reminded me, "will you come into the lounge and keep Emmett and me company?"

I wondered if I had any choice. Was Jasper going to order me to hang around with him and Emmett? "Um . . . must I?" I asked in a smaller voice than I would usually use to address my big brother.

"No," Jasper replied slowly and carefully, "I don't want to force you to stay with us. But, I really think that you'll be happier sooner if you stay downstairs. I would rather you didn't run away; but I won't demand that you stay."

As far as I was concerned, the only sensible thing to do after being spanked is to retreat to your own room, curl up in a ball and allow yourself to cry. Still, the girls would come home once Bella went to sleep, and then Emmett and Jasper would cease to be interested in my company. I could indulge myself in a proper session of guilt and misery later. Right now it was probably a bad idea to ignore Jasper's suggestions, however gently they were made.

"Alright," I said, "I'll come with you."

Jasper grinned at me, "great," he said, "you need a real distraction after all that drama."