The Promise

Ethan undressed Tess and put on her nightgown, speaking softly to explain what he was doing. He grabbed the chamber pot and told her to pee, if she was sleeping or he was going to be spanking her, it was better to avoid accidents.

He then sat on the bed and put Tess in front of him between his knees.

"I love you very much Tess, but you never say" No" when I tell you something, never! You obey what I say and you don't stick out your tongue! It's disrespectful and downright rude!

You know the rules, Tess. They are no different for you even if you are small! Do you understand?"

Ethan spoke in a firm voice but tried to be gentle, it was hard! His baby, how could he scold her? She made him crack!

He sees Tess nod in agreement.

"I want an answer my heart, you speak normally now, a nod is no longer an answer when you have problems."

"Yes Papa."

"Well, do you understand what I'm explaining to you? What did you do wrong?"

"Yes Papa, sorry not to start again."

"Tell me why I scolded you and took you from the room."

"I told you" no "and I stuck out my tongue."

Ethan thought quickly, it was the first time she showed a challenge, a spanking seemed severe, she is only three years old, but must learn, what to do?

"You are going to put your nose in the corner" he says softly but firmly. "Tess, the rules of the corner are to stand with your nose against the wall and not to speak until I call you, do you understand?"

"Yes Papa"

Ethan took her hand gently and placed her facing the corner.

"I'm still in the room, with you, I'm not leaving, but you are being punished until I call you," he whispered in her ear to reassure her.

He returned to sit on the bed. Tess obeys and does not move. Ethan had roughly counted in his head what he thought was two minutes. "It was just punishment to teach her to obey him without spanking.

"You can come here now honey."

Tess appeared before him.

"I don't want you to challenge me like that anymore!" Like your brothers and sister, if you are punished, you go to bed early. If you start misbehaving again, it will be a spanking."

"Yes Papa." Said the child.

Ethan took her in his arms and hugged her tightly to his chest. "I love you my heart, I forgive you. Have you eaten enough since you threw your food away? Do you want a drink of milk or water before sleeping?"

"Yes Papa, milk if you want."

Ethan brought the child a glass of milk and laid her down, securing her with cushions, giving hugs and kisses.

"Good night Tess, I love you, see you tomorrow"

"Good night Papa, I love you".

Ethan returned to the table, the looks given him by the other children made him smile.

"I didn't spank your little sister!" He said, "I just put her in the corner and to sleep under the threat of a spanking if she started again."

"If it was us, you would have spanked us!" Said Joseph.

"You are older, you know better." Ethan replied.

"Tomorrow I finalize the purchase of the new house. I was thinking of organizing a Sunday picnic with our friends on our new property. How does that sound? We can start cleaning the new house on Friday after school, and work on Saturday as well. We will just clean the bottom floor for the moment, the upper floors will be prohibited for now as they are not safe yet. The city can pick up this cabin as soon as possible to start work on the new prison "

"Oh yes!" The children were delighted!

"We can go out and play all the time!" Said Ben.

"Not all the time, there will be chores and rules. A big farm means a lot of work for all of us, but yes, no street, no cart, and a lot of ground to play. You always need to stay where I can be a voice carrier at all times." Clarified Ethan.

"Yes Pa," they said.

"Even if we make a cabin outside the door, we still have fun," said Ben.

Ethan laughed! "I didn't say outside the door! A voice carrier means that if you hear me calling and you see the house, we will say that you can play there. You are to stay in sight where you can hear me."

"Will we have animals?" Asked George.

"Of course, the chickens, our horses that we will pick up on delivery, already will be the start. Maybe a cow so we will have milk and butter."

Claire suddenly started to cry.

"Claire? What is wrong?" asked Ethan, getting up to take her in his arms.

"It's wonderful Pa! I have always had a dream of being safe and having such happiness! We were so unhappy, often I did not eat, to feed the little ones, stealing, not getting to sleep ..."

"I know my heart, why are you thinking about that? That life is over, I'm taking care of you now, you know that don't you?

Ethan has made all the kids cry now! "Come with me," he said, sitting on the living room chair with all the children around him.

"You don't understand." said Claire.

"Explain it to me then. Why do you say that?"

"We cannot be happy like that, we have no right! An accident will inevitably happen to you and we will lose everything!" She cried even more.

"Claire, stop living in fear that something will happen to me! Your father was drinking and fighting in a bar, Lucy was sick, it has nothing to do with you! You have the right to happiness like everyone else!"

"I don't want you to be a sheriff, it's too dangerous!" Snapped Claire!

"Children, nothing will happen to me. It's late, we'll talk about it tomorrow, everyone in bed. Give me a hug and a kiss, I want to speak to Claire alone. Joseph you are in charge, will you put the little ones to bed, please? Then you can read until we arrive. Claire, take your shawl, let's walk for a moment in the moonlight."

The street was quiet, only a few passers-by were coming home. After having walked for a while, Ethan took Claire by the hand and walked towards a tree stump nearby, far from the street.

"Are you going to spank me?" She asks unsure.

"No Claire, of course not! Unless you ask me to in order to remove your fear." he teased, "Come sit down."

"Claire, I ask you to stop living in fear that something will happen to me! What you experienced was hard, yes, but it's life, there are ups and downs. This nonsense about you having no right to happiness, I don't want to hear that anymore! Do you hear?"

"Yes, but ..."

"No, Claire, I'm talking and you're listening! Please, you'll be able to speak when I'm done. You can't ask me not to be sheriff, that's what I like, this is my life. I want one job I love. Look, Mr. Lawson, Amelia's husband, he was a banker and he was killed! You can die crossing the street, falling on your head, ... we can't stop living because we are afraid. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," she replied.

"I know you love me Claire, more than anything. I'm your father, but you can't keep me safe without me moving in a drawer!"

"I understand, Pa"

"Well, I will tell you something else, just for you, the others do not need to know, they are too young. I asked for a clause in the contract that I sign with the bank for the house. I have insurance that I pay dearly but if something happens to me, you will no longer pay for the house. Everything I have, my accounts, my property, will belong to you because you are the eldest. It will be up to you to share later with your brothers and sister. I put your name with mine on my account so if something happened to me, you could withdraw as much as needed. You would have enough to live on until you are old. If you were still a minor, Amelia or Dakota would take care of you and they will find a nanny to help you at home or something like that. I trust them, they can find a solution. Claire? Look at me, I promised you in St Louis that I would make arrangements so that what you went through would not happen again, even if I am no longer there, do you remember?"

"Yes Pa, I remember that."

"Well, I'm a man of my word, I did it! Now do you need a spanking to get rid of that fear?"

"No Pa, I love you!" She said, throwing herself in his arms, "If you only knew how I love you!"

"Oh, I know! It's no longer just love, it's admiration! I'm just a regular man and I love you too my little girl!" He said hugging her tighter in his muscular arms.