The next morning, Christian greets his children in the kitchen. They are both sitting at the breakfast bar eating pancakes that Ana had prepared. Teddy is enjoying every bite and eating faster than he probably should, while Phoebe is picking at her breakfast.
"Morning kids" Christian says. He opens the refrigerator and pulls out the orange juice. After glancing over at his kids he grabs three glasses and pours the juice into each glass. He takes two of them and places them on the table in front of his kids. "Drink" he commands. "It's good for you." He walks back to the counter and starts to drink his juice.
Teddy obediently drinks his juice in whole, and then goes back to working on his pancakes. Phoebe continues to poke at her food with her fork. "What's the matter Phoebe, don't like your pancakes?" Christian asks.
Phoebe just looks up and glares at him, but Christian does not allow himself to be affected. "Eat" he commands. Ana joins them and gives her husband a kiss. She hands Natalie over to him so that she can make more pancakes for herself and her husband. Christian is on cloud nine when he holds Natalie, grinning from ear to ear. Phoebe notices and grows even more angry with him. Teddy looks up from his pancakes and notices Phoebe's cold glare at their father. She lowers her eyes after Christian leaves the room.
"Hey" he asks his sister. "What's eating you?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you mad at Dad?"
Phoebe looks down at her pancakes again and pokes at them. "It's none of your business."
"Phoebe" Ana addresses her as she makes her way over to the bar. "You didn't eat much. Aren't you hungry?"
"Not really"
"Well, you know how your father is about food. You need to eat a little more."
Phoebe grimaces when Ana mentions her father, and Teddy takes notice. "Seriously, what's going on with you?"
"Leave it alone" she says.
Christian comes back into the room after changing the baby. He still has a smile on his face as he stands next to his wife. He kisses her hair as she prepares the pancakes. Teddy looks over at them and is annoyed when he sees his father grow more passionate with his mother. "Jeez, get a room" he says to them.
Christian continues to smile as he keeps his mouth in Ana's hair. "Careful, we just might."
"Christian!" Ana scolds. She playfully pushes him off so she can make the pancakes. He leans in closer to her and whispers in her ear. The kids don't hear what he says but it makes Ana giggle. Phoebe is disgusted and makes it obvious when she slams her utensils onto her plate and leaves the room. Her family members decide not to follow her. Teddy has finished his breakfast, so he clears his and his sister's plates and leaves the room.
Christian puts the baby in the bouncy seat and walks back over to his wife, his mood has quickly changed from playful to frustrated. "I wish you would tell me where she was last night" he says to Ana.
"She will talk to you about it when she's ready, Christian. You know, you made it much worse for yourself by punishing her"
"I'm not going to apologize for that" he says. "She purposely defied us and she put herself at risk. It's the only way I know to protect her"
Ana stops cooking and faces her husband. "I know you want to protect her. But spanking her? You crossed the line"
"No, she crossed the line when she left this house yesterday fully intending to ditch the security team." Christian has raised his voice, but that doesn't affect Ana the way it used to. She has grown a lot more confident over the years and has been able to stand her ground when it comes to an angry Christian. She doesn't flinch. Instead she flicks some of the pancake batter at him. "What the, Ana!"
"Oops, accident" she says coyly. Christian becomes less angry as his playful side takes over. He grabs the bowl of batter and pulls his wife down to the ground. She laughs out loud. "Christian!" He is now on top of her and he holds a spoon of batter over her face.
"Tell me where our daughter was last night" he says, still being playful. Ana laughs, although she doesn't want pancake batter all over her face.
"Christian, stop it. You know it's not my place to say" Christian is about to pour some of the batter on her face, but he stops when he hears his son's voice.
"Ugh, again?" Teddy says in disgust. "You guys are so embarrassing sometimes"
Christian climbs off of his wife and helps her to her feet. "Sorry son. Listen, your Mom and I need to go out today, run a few errands. We need you to stay here and watch your sister."
"Natalie?" he asks, confused since he's never watched his infant sister alone. His parents feel he is too young for that.
"No, Phoebe. She will be staying in today and we need you to stay here and keep an eye on her" Christian clarifies. Phoebe has started walking into the kitchen and is annoyed at her father's decision.
"I don't need a babysitter"
"Yeah, I think you do. You've demonstrated that very well for us last night" he says to her. She crosses her arms and glares at him. "And you will stay in this house until you start talking to me about where you were last night" he adds. Phoebe huffs and walks away.
Ana sighs. She doesn't agree with her husband, but she decides not to undermine him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Christian and Ana are out running errands. They have Natalie with them and she is in a stroller. They are walking from one of the stores and Christian is carrying a few bags. Ana is annoyed at one of his purchases and immediately brings it up.
"You're not going to be able to buy her forgiveness, Christian"
"I'm not trying to buy her forgiveness. I've been meaning to buy one of these for her for a while now. She's going to need it if she's serious about this photography program." Christian has purchased one of the most expensive, top notched cameras for Phoebe to use in a photography program that she recently joined at school.
"I get that she'll need a camera, but did you have to get that camera? Nobody in this program is going to have a camera worth thousands of dollars. I thought we agreed we wouldn't spoil the kids this way" Ana shakes her head. Even after being married to this man for nineteen years, she still does not like the idea of spending a lot of money when it isn't warranted.
"Okay, maybe I am trying to get her to forgive me. She's mad at me, and I don't like when she's mad at me."
"She doesn't like what you did, Christian"
"And I don't like what she did" He says defensively. "I will not say that punishing her was wrong, but she thinks it was and I need to do something about that"
"Buying her things is not going to help matters, Christian" she says as she stops to look at her husband. She keeps her hands on the stroller. "Our daughter is smarter than that. You need to have a conversation with her, a calm conversation."
"You know I have a hard time with that" he says as he looks down.
"I know that more than anybody" she says softly. She reaches over and cups his chin, raising his head up to look at her. "But I know that when you manage to have a calm conversation, it really goes a long way. Because I know that it is difficult for you."
He continues to look at his wife after she releases his chin. "Why can't you tell me where she was last night?" he asks softly.
Ana sighs. "It's not my place to tell you"
"You keep saying that. God, Ana, just tell me already. You are driving me crazy"
"Christian, I need you to trust me and I need you to trust our daughter. When she is ready to talk to you, she will."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Christian and Ana arrive home to find Phoebe and Teddy in the main room. Phoebe is sitting with her arms crossed. Teddy stands and rushes over to his parents to help with the bags, while Phoebe stays put. She is sulking, which Christian hates, but he decides not to bring any attention to it. He walks over to her and sits down on the couch.
"Your mother and I got this for you" he says as he hands over the box with the camera. She observes it for a few seconds, and then she hands it back to him.
"No thanks" she crosses her arms again.
"What?" Christian asks. He doesn't understand. Phoebe stands up and walks over to the kitchen where Ana and Teddy are emptying the bags. Christian follows her. "Phoebe, your mother and I picked this up for you so you can use it for that photography program. Don't you want this?" He holds the box out for her again, but she doesn't take it.
"You can't just buy me things and expect everything to be okay" she says before she stomps off. Christian watches her and runs his hand through his hair.
"I hate to say I told you so" Ana says, earning her a glare from her husband.
"Careful" he says under his breath.