Chapter 6
Michael pov
I look at the timer again and see it's at 15 minutes, it feels like 15 hours and I'm about ready to throw the phone at the kitchen wall, I'm not a violent person but this is driving me crazy, I hate putting my kids on the naughty step, it feels so cruel, I get up and pour myself a drink and sip it slowly to try and pass the time, I finish the drink and wash the glass and put it away again, I walk to the table and just as I'm about to lift my phone to look at it the alarm goes off, I breath a sigh of relief, it feels like its been 20 years instead of minutes, I press the stop button and walk into the hall, I see Paris sitting there with her head resting on her hands looking very bored.
"Hey sweetie your times up you can come off the step now" I say.
She stands up and walks towards the kitchen, she walks past me without saying a word, looks like I'm in the doghouse, she normally gives me hug once I tell her the time is up but she hasn't, this is how I know she's upset with me, I can't blame her, I did give her extra time for something I have no proof that she did, I follow her into the kitchen to see her standing on a chair to reach the cupboard, I have a funny feeling my little girl is deliberately challenging me because I have told her not to do this in case she falls.
"Little lady what do you think you're doing" I asks her.
"Getting breakfast" she answers coldly.
"Why can't you wait for me or Kai to get it for you, you know I don't like you doing that in case you fall" I tell her.
"Well I figured since you gave me extra time for something I didn't do I would make up for that to make it fair" she says cheekily.
"Paris I may not have proof that you lied to me but you also can't prove that you didn't, I couldn't not punish you in case you did" I try to explain, I notice the chair it wobbling, I know she's taking forever to pick on purpose because the only cereal she eats is lucky charms, the other two boxes are for the boys.
"Paris you only eat lucky charms it's a little obvious your deliberately taking forever" I voice my thoughts.
"That's kinda the point" she say's sarcastically.
I nearly fall of the chair when I hear this, none of my children have ever tried to deliberately push my buttons before and the fact that the first one to do is Paris when she normally won't even say a bad word to anyone, I know she's trying to get a reaction so instead I ignore her, If she wants to make the extra minutes fair then let her, I'll just keep a subtle eye on her to make sure she doesn't go to far.
I look at the clock to see it's half past ten, Kai is normally here by now and has breakfast ready, I wander where she is, since I'm starving and can't wait any longer I get up and walk to the cupboard where Paris is still standing on the chair looking at the cereal boxes, I reach up and grab the only box of granola since I'm the only one who eats it, I place it on the worktop and grab a bowl from a different cupboard and a spoon from the drawer, I pour the cereal into the bowl and put it back in the cupboard still ignoring Paris, I can tell she's watching me wandering why I haven't told her to get down yet, I go to the fridge and grabbing the milk I pour it into the bowl and over the cereal, taking the spoon I sit on the other side of the table so I'm facing Paris, she's looking at me obviously trying to see Id she's going to get in trouble, so I keep my eyes on the bowl and ignore her, I start eating and she soon turns back to the cupboard allowing me to look at her so I can keep an eye on her.
She still pretends to look for a cereal and I'm hoping the boys won't get up, for once I will gladly let them sleep as long as they want, if they see their sister acting up they will probably copy her and I can't handle the three of them misbehaving at the same time, she finally picks up the box of lucky charms, instead of lowering herself to the floor, she decides to jump of the chair, my heart is in my mouth and I tense up, she lands on her feet without hurting herself and I let myself relax, this child will be the death of me.
Leaving the chair where it is she starts to pour her cereal, I've always taught my kids to clean up after their selves but today since she's pushing my buttons Paris leaves the cereal box on the worktop, leaves the fridge open and also leaves the milk out, she sits down opposite me everything left out and eats her breakfast, once she's finished she gets up and walks out, I take that as a hint and get up to clean up after her, I know I shouldn't but if I don't the milk will go off, so I put it in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard then I wash both our dishes and put them away, once the kitchens clean I leave the room and go in search of Paris, if she's acting up I need to stay close so I can stop her if she goes too far, I look everywhere downstairs and can't find her so I head upstairs to look in her room, she isn't in there either or the library, while I'm up here I check on the boys I find Blankets room empty, I go to Princes room to find them both sitting on the floor playing a video game.
"Boys when did you get up" I ask them surprised.
"About half an hour ago" they say not taking their eyes off the screen.
"Why didn't you come downstairs" I ask them.
"We didn't realise anyone was up because it's so quiet" they answer.
"Ok, well why don't you both come and get some breakfast then you can come back up and play some more of your game" I suggest to them because I want them to eat something, they agree and go running down the stairs.
Daddy where's Paris" Blanket asks.
"I don't know son I need to look for her after I give you guys your breakfast" I say.
I prepare the boys cereal and chuckle at their shocked expressions, I can understand their reaction, they've gotten used to Paris not being far away from me, if you can't find Paris find me because most of the time she's with me, except now, I give the boys their cereal and they start to eat it.
"Now boys can I trust you to behave while I go and look for your sister" I ask them.
"Yes daddy" they say.
"Remember your grandmothers here, so don't go causing mischief" I warn them playfully.
They giggle at me and I leave the room, since Paris doesn't seem to be in the house I go outside to search the grounds, I head towards the stables first thinking she might be checking on Casper. But when I reach the stables I notice that neither Paris nor Casper is there, I see one of the workers and call her name.
"Paige" I call and she turns.
"Where's Casper" I ask her.
"Paris told me she was meeting you so I let her take him out, she said you'd told her to run ahead" she says and I can hear the panic in her voice obviously guessing Pars lied since I'm there.
"Do you know which way she went" I ask her.
"She said you were going to walk him round the grounds" Paige says.
"Ok I'll see if I can find her, if she comes back before me try and keep her here until I get back" I say and run out, I'm getting worried now because if Casper gets spooked by something he might hurt her, I follow the path around the grounds and at first I don't find them but when I get a good bit away from the house where the rest of the grounds is bare with only the path to walk along and enjoy the air I see Casper's white coat in the distance, I pick up the pace and run after them, when I get close I slow down and come up beside them, I grab Casper's halter to stop them from walking, Paris jumps in surprise and Casper spooks slightly, I reassure him and stroke his neck to calm him.
"Paris you know you shouldn't walk with horses on your own, if he spooks you won't be able to hold him and he could run off do you want that" I ask her but she doesn't answer and that angers me slightly.
"Come on we're going back to the house, lets go" I say and turning Casper around I start to walk back in the direction of the stables, when I don't hear her footsteps I look back to see she's not following, I turn back and lifting her I place her on the horse's back, it's a long walk back to the house anyway.
I stop by the stables first to hand Casper over to Paige, I lift Paris off his back and Paige puts the horse back in in his stall, I thank her and start to walk back to the house, after a few seconds I turn round to see that Paris yet again Is refusing to follow me, I'm just about to shout on her to follow me or it's back on the step, when she goes a mixture of deathly white and a sickly green colour, she runs past me sprinting towards the house, I start running after her but by the time I get to the house she has already disappeared because she was a good bit ahead of me, I run upstairs and can hear heavy breathing coming from the bathroom, I run down the hall and see the doors wide open, I take that as a sign she's decent and enter the room, she kneeling on the floor with her head over the toilet bowl, I have my hair in a ponytail so I grab my own hair tie and pulling it from my head so my hair comes loos I kneel down behind her and scooping her hair into my hand I put it in a ponytail so if she is sick her hair will be out of the way and it will stay clean.
"Have you been sick yet sweetheart" I ask her softly.
"No daddy" she answers and I can hear the sobs in her voice, she hates being sick, then again who doesn't hate it.
"Are you sure you're going to be, you might just feel like it" I ask her.
Before she can even answer she gags and the contents of her stomach are emptied into the bowl.
"Well I guess that answers question are you ok" I ask her.
She shakes her head and I can see she's shaking from silent sobs, I move to the sink and grabbing a wash cloth I soak under warm water, ring it out then hand it to her, she wipes her mouth with it.
"Do you think there's anymore to come up" I ask her.
"I don't think so, I didn't eat much yesterday" she says.
"Ok, do you want to try lying in bed and having a sleep" I ask her and she nods her head and start to slowly stand.
"Just take it slow good girl" I say and she moves to the sink and grabbing her toothbrush starts cleaning her teeth, once she's done we walk to her bedroom.
"Since you might fall asleep do you want to put some pyjamas on" I ask her, she nods her head.
"Ok I'll go downstairs to get you some water while you change" I tell her.
I leave her room closing the door behind me so she has the privacy, and walk down stairs, I hear a female voice coming from the kitchen and upon entry I see Kai standing talking to the boys.
Kai, you're here I didn't think you were coming in today" I tell her.
"I'm so sorry Mr Jackson, I've been a bit unwell the past few days and didn't get much sleep last night so I slept very late this morning" she hurries to explain.
"It's ok Kai, you can't help it if you're in poor health, if you need to you can take the day off, Paris isn't well so I'm not going to the studio or anything, I'll have the time to cook for us all so I have to insist you take today off and go home and rest" I say.
"Mr Jackson I don't know if that's a good idea" she says.
"Kai please, I would feel horrible if you took really ill by not resting please go home so you can feel better soon" I tell her.
"Ok if you insist, there's some chicken soup in the microwave that Paris can have and there's plenty of things in the cupboards for you to use for dinner and snacks for lunch" she says, I thank her and she leaves the house.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and go back upstairs to check on Paris.