Chapter 7:
Bella could almost feel waves of hot anger emanating from Jacob. She placed a calming hand on his firm chest.
"Jake...go calm down for a minute. I'll take care of the clean up for now." He made no attempt to move.
"I'm serious, Jacob. You need a minute to process." He seemed to see Bella for the first time and gave a curt nod before he turned to close himelf in their room.
She then turned to her daughter.
"Sienna Marie, come over here."
The little girl walked slowly to her mother, not really understanding why her voice sounded so serious.
"I made a picture, Mommy. See?" She motioned toward the markings around the room. Bella tried not to smile. Sienna was so genuinely proud of her artwork, it was hard to remain stern.
"Yes, I see your drawing. And it makes me upset that you colored all over the walls and the tv. That's a no-no Sienna. Do you remember me telling you that you're only supposed to draw on paper?"
"But I don't want paper." She said in a defiant voice.
"Well I don't really care. I never want you drawing on the walls again, young lady. Now go to your room and Daddy and I'll come talk to you in a minute. You're in big trouble."
"No."
Sienna crossed her arms and planted her feet firmly on the floor. Bella was too much of a pro to let this stance bother her.
"Do I need to count to three, Sienna?" She said threateningly. Up until this point, counting to three had not meant much to the almost three year old. But Sienna didn't want to test the situation any further. She stomped off to her room in a huff and slammed it as hard as she could.
Bella then jogged to to the kitchen to grab her strongest all-purpose cleaner. The drawings faded from the wall, but didn't disappear. The ink was too strong. Too permanent. They would have to paint the walls. As for the plasma screen...there wasn't much hope. At least they had paid for the extra warranty. She wasn't sure "toddler creativity" was covered, but it was a shot. After she had done all she could, she met with Jacob in their room. He was channel surfing, although she could tell that his mind was still sufficiently preoccupied. He had stopped on a fashion channel, one that Bella knew he would never be caught dead watching if his mindset had been normal.
"How're you doing, Babe?" She asked him carefully.
"I think I'm ok for now. Were you able to salvage anything?"
"I think we might need to find the warranty for the plasma. I tried...but the marker won't budge."
He let out a long, heavy sigh. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well, it is just a tv. We'll figure it out." She shrugged.
"No, I'm talking about Sienna. I know what she did was wrong, and she needs discipline. But I don't want to be too hard on her."
"Of course you don't want to be hard on her. She's your little princess, right? But realistically we have to teach her now that she can't control everything in this house."
"So what do you think...should I spank her?" There was a note of sadness in his question that only a parent could understand. Or maybe only a daddy when referring to his little girl.
Bella looked in his eyes. "I think you know the answer to that already."
When his only reply was another heart-wrenching sigh, she continued.
"The sad part is, its not completely her fault. I mean, yes she drew all over the place after we've told her plenty of times not to do that. But we did leave her alone in the family room for quite a while."
"Hey, you were the one that said she'd be fine watching that stupid princess movie."
"Well, I thought she would be."
Jacob grinned. "So since this is your fault, maybe I should spank you instead of her..."
"Yeah right, buddy. If you ever even tried a stunt like that, I'd kick you so fast, you wouldn't even see my foot coming. And you wouldn't like where I chose to plant that kick." She tried to sound threatening.
He laughed. "I'm not worried, Bells. Even if you did land a kick, I probably wouldn't even feel it."
She glared at him. She fought off the urge to flip him off, then settled on smacking him repeatedly over the head with a pillow.
"Hey! Ok, ok...I get the hint! No corporal punishment for the wife!" He was still laughing as she put the pillow back. It was quiet again for a minute. Then Bella broke the silence.
"Don't you think we should go talk to Sienna now?" She asked, bringing the tension back into his shoulders.
"I guess so." He got up and helped her to her feet. Then they headed into the smallest room in the house, which was painted a bright pink.
Sienna sat on the floor, playing with her tea set, pouring a glass for an imaginary play mate. Jacob pulled a small chair over, then sat as gently as he could so as not to crush the chair under his weight.
"Sienna, I need to talk to you." She looked up intently with her large brown eyes.
"Do you know why you're in trouble?"
She nodded yes.
"Tell me why, then."
"I don't know." She answered honestly.
"Its because you colored all over the walls and on the new tv. That tv cost a lot of money, Baby. We have to treat it nicely. Your mommy and I have told you repeatedly to only color on paper and you didn't listen. Now I'm gonna have to spank you."
She looked at him with a hint of fear. She had never been spanked before, but she had seen it happen to her brothers and she didn't want any part of it.
"I'm sowwy, Daddy. Pwease don't spank me."
Jacob thought he would die at those words. He looked pleadingly at Bella, but she only shook her head. She knew Sienna was just toying with him.
"Go ahead, Jacob. If you don't do it, I will."
He nodded and thought of the ruined plasma screen in the other room. That was the deciding factor. He pulled Sienna first into a hug.
"I love you, Baby. But you have to learn how to obey Mommy and Daddy."
He gently turned her over on his lap. She was squirming, but she was so little that it felt as if she wasn't moving against him at all. He took a deep breath and thought to himself, Just two little swats. That's all she needs.
He steeled himself, then brought his hand down firmly on her backside.
SWAT. SWAT.
Her cry was devastating to him. He brought her back up to a sitting position and kissed the top of her head. They sat quietly for a few moments, the only sound in the room was that of her crying. Bella stood up and murmured something about checking on the boys. She knew Jacob needed time with his little princess. He needed time to remember that she still loved him. He was still her hero.
Jacob rocked Sienna back and forth in his huge arms. "Are you alright, little one?"
She nodded her assent. After a few more quiet, bonding moments she looked up at him and said "I'm hungwy. Can we eat dinner?"
He laughed, then squeezed her one last time. "Sure, Baby. Let's go."
She grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. And all was right in the Black household again.
The End...For Now
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I'm not completely done with this story yet, but I think when I write again, it'll take place farther in the future with Sienna as a teenager. We'll see how it goes!
