Chapter 14

** beware of mild parental discipline in this chapter **

Nothing harsh, nothing terrible, but there are about three smacks to a minor's bum in here somewhere… you've been warned!

On their way over to Stars Hollow Elementary, Zach found himself busily trying to think things through, without really paying attention to either how fast he was walking or to the fact that Kwan was almost beside himself with nervousness.

He really didn't know what to expect from Dad today - he wasn't normally like this. Sure, he'd gotten angry a few times before, he'd even given him and his brother a swat or two when they were really naughty, but he'd never been so calm and.. cold. Not ever! He didn't even want to talk to him!

At least that was how Kwan interpreted his Dad's demeanour at that precise moment; he didn't know that Zach was actually thinking what to make of his son's recently developed interest in playing pranks. It was something new for him entirely - Kwan had always been the more active and even the naughtier twin boy of the two, but he'd never caused any real trouble or hurt somebody else willingly. But those pranks he played.. only last week, he'd put glue into one of his classmate's lunch box. Then he'd put a dead bird into the teacher's desk drawer. Or he'd 'accidently' spilled honey on his appointed table in the school's cafeteria. Or made one of the girls in his class cry by convincing her that her stuffed bear was deadly ill. Zach had tried to wave it all off as boyish silliness, but the incident today - something he still needed to find out about - combined with all the others was just too much to let slide.

He really needed to make his son stop - but before he could do that, he was going to need to make him see reason, otherwise he'd just do it behind his parent's back, like he himself used to do as a little boy.

No, he'd have to talk to Kwan first, then punish him. But what was the right way of punishing in a situation like this?

When they had almost arrived at the school, Zach still hadn't spoken a single word since they'd left Luke's and Kwan was getting more nervous by the minute while his Dad was still contemplating what to do.

Kwan, on the other hand, was now almost desperately trying to find out how angry his Dad was exactly by timidly asking him: "Daddy?"

When he didn't get an answer, he stayed silent for the rest of the walk and fell back a few steps. This however, got Zach's attention.

"Come on", he told him, somewhat annoyed, holding his right hand out for the boy to take. "Hurry up a little. We need to pick up your brother and then it's time for you and me to talk. No stalling now, Kwan, I'm not in the mood."

Kwan gulped noisily and took Zach's offered hand when he closed the gap between them.

Steve was already waiting for his Dad at the front gate and happily ran over when he caught sight of him and his brother.

"Dad! Guess what?", he yelled, almost bumping into Zach, who bent down and hugged the little boy.

"Hey, there, bud! No, what? Something good happen at school?"

"So cool! I get to play Peter Pan in our play!"

Zach hoisted Steve up and onto his hip. "That's awesome, bud!"

"I know! Did ya hear, Kay? I'm gonna play Peter!", Steve replied, glancing down at his twin and immediately losing some of his cheer when he saw the frown on his face.

"Yeah. Peter Pan. How cool", Kwan answered moodily and Zach sighed. He felt like he had to reprimand Kwan for spoiling his brother's good news, but somehow he just couldn't bring himself to it. He knew that his current bad mood had a lot to do with his being in trouble and he also knew that he was going to have to issue some punishment for that later anyway.

He put Steve down onto his feet and threw one arm over each of the boys' shoulders, not wanting to discuss those matters now, for all the world of suburbia to see and hear.

"Let's go home, boys. It's getting late", he said, steering them in the direction of their house. "Stevie, how would you feel about choosing dinner for tomorrow night? You can pick whatever you want for getting the major role on the play. How does that sound?"

Steve nodded enthusiastically and smiled at his Dad.

"I'm going to pick roasted chicken and potato salad, so Kay can have his favourite side dish!", he replied, glancing anxiously at his brother for his reaction. He couldn't quite understand what the matter was. Just yesterday, Kwan seemed eager to help his brother with studying the text for the play and even promised him to help him with the costume. What had happened? Why was he so moody suddenly?

Zach smiled when he saw a small smile tugging at Kwan's lips at the mention of potato salad and he gave Steve a squeeze.

"That's mightily nice of you, Steve. I'm proud of you."

Kwan's face immediately lost all traces of a smile at his brother's praise.

Normally, the prospect of Lane's yummy potato salad with finely sliced spring onions and herbs made Kwan more than happy, but the fact that his always perfectly behaving brother offered it and had made himself look even better before their Dad angered him. Not to mention that Dad had said he was proud of him.

When was the last time Dad had said that to him? Not once in the last couple of weeks, not that he could remember, anyway. In fact, both Zach and Lane had had only eyes for his brother as of late. Steve didn't get in trouble, so they must love him better than him, he was suddenly sure of it. And it probably had something to do about Steve being the older one as well, even though they had been born only minutes apart from each other. Their parents just liked him better because he was older and less trouble. That was so mean! He didn't want to get in trouble, not really. It just happened sometimes.

He could feel anger and sadness fighting each other in the pit of his stomach - eventually, anger got the better of him.

"I don't care what you pick! You're just stupid and I hate you!", Kwan yelled, then took off in the direction of their home.

"Hey! Kwan Gil Van Gerbig, you get yourself back here and apologize to your brother!", Zach, completely taken aback, called, but to no avail. The little boy ran up the few steps leading to their front door, opened it in one fierce motion and continued inside.

He sighed when he looked down at his other son and saw thick tears sliding down his cheeks.

"Oh, Stevie", he murmured, picking the little boy up again and cuddling him close. "Please don't cry, buddy. He didn't mean what he said. He doesn't hate you, he loves you very much."

"But, but, but..", the little boy stuttered, crushed. One would probably never be able to fully comprehend the love the two of them shared - it was more than just the love of two brothers, it was the love of twins. They shared everything, their room, their toys and favourite meals, even their clothes and their birthday - and if the school's rules weren't so adamant about the subject, they would still share a desk at Stars Hollow Elementary. The headmaster had deemed it necessary that they interact with other children as well, so he had split them up and put them in two different classrooms. Something that Kwan and Steve had thought (and audibly voiced) as particularly unfair - ever since their first separated day at school, Kwan had been acting up. But it was going to take a little more talking and listening on Zach's part before he would be able to link those two pictures together - of their boy's separation in class and Kwan's ongoing troubles at school.

To Steve, it felt like his heart was going to break when his Kay had shouted at him that he hated him.

"No buts, little snip", Zach replied not unkindly and using his special nickname for Steve. He'd picked it up soon after the boys were born and it was obvious that Steve was a tad bit smaller than his brother. Maybe he'd eventually catch up, but until this day, it was still the case.

"Kwan loves you. He didn't mean what he said, he was just angry and cranky. Sometimes, it's the easiest way of dealing with those feelings, to hurt someone we love very much by telling them hurtful names and things. But that doesn't change how much he loves you. Not one bit. Okay?"

Steve nodded weakly and rested his head on his Dad's strong shoulder, just clinging to him and breathing in his Dad's well-known scent.

"Can you please give me a verbal answer, so I know that you have understood what Daddy just told you?", Zach urged, knowing he had to be a little firm with Stevie over a matter just like this one, otherwise he was likely to simply not believe him.

Steve sniffled a little, not really wanting to talk right now, but he gave in in the end.

"Yes, Daddy. He was just angry, that's why he was mean to me. He doesn't mean it, not really..?", he whispered, voicing the last bit as a question.

"Exactly, bud", Zach told him, patting his back and making his way to the house with Steve still in his arms. "And he's going to apologize to you later. But first, I have to go and talk to him. Thing is, he's in trouble today, because he played a prank on one of his teachers at school. So I need you to stay here in the kitchen and get started on your homework. As soon as I'm done talking to Kay, we can finish both your homework together and then do something fun, all three of us."

He helped Steve slipping his coat and shoes off and his school books out of his backpack.

"Okay, Daddy", Steve said, not really liking the sound of the first part. He didn't really like when Kay got in trouble, he probably liked that less than when he was the one in trouble.

"Good man", Zach ruffled his hair affectionately and dropped a kiss on the boy's black, curly hair. "I'm upstairs if you need anything."

And with that, he made his way upstairs to the boys' shared bedroom.

He knocked on the doorframe but didn't wait for his son's invitation to come in - he figured that at Kwan's current angry state he wasn't likely to get one anyway.

Sure enough, when he entered the room, he could see the little boy turning around on his bed in a huff and refusing to look at his father, yet alone acknowledge his presence at all.

Zach sighed inwardly. Trust the stubbornness that his son had inherited from both his parents to show itself at the worst moment possible.

He could feel his own anger building up at Kwan's behaviour, but he tried not to show it.

Instead, he went over to his boy's bed and sat beside him.

"Kwan", he started in a serious tone, not sure where he was going from there. "Please look at me." That was a start.

Kwan seemed to be a little concerned about how stern his Dad sounded, so he obeyed and looked up at him. Zach sighed and laid one hand on top of the boy's dark head.

"What's up, pal? Why are you behaving like this?", he asked him, the concern evident in his voice. "And you really need to tell me what you did at school today."

A look of pure annoyance crossed over the boy's face and he ducked out of Zach's reach.

"Go away, Dad, I don't want to talk to you! You're just going to yell at me and be mean!"

"I'm sorry, but that's not an option here. From where I'm sitting, it looks like you've been really naughty at school, talking back a lot at your Mom and me lately and now we can also add being mean to your brother for no reason to the list. I want to know why you're behaving like this, because this isn't like you, buddy. I know that you can do a lot better than this."

"I don't want to! I don't want to!", Kwan all but shouted, repeatedly. "I don't want toooo!"

"Son, you know very well that we don't shout in this house", Zach scolded lamely, even while the little boy was shouting. When that didn't make him stop, Zach grabbed the boy's right bicep and, carefully not to hurt him, pulled him up and made him stand before him. Then, he looked him in the eye sternly and Kwan stopped his shouting.

"Thank you. That's a lot better", Zach said, wondering himself where his sudden renewed patience had come from. Which didn't mean that he was exactly pleased with Kwan's not so forthcoming responses. Maybe he needed a little more tough love at the moment.

Zach took both of Kwan's little hands in his own and looked at him calmly. When he spoke again, his tone was definite and stern, but not angry. Kwan didn't particularly like it, anyway.

"Now you are going to tell me what stunt you pulled at school, then you're going to explain to me what made you be all snappy at your Mom and me lately and why you yelled at your brother earlier."

Zach watched Kwan's face closely and nearly sighed when the little boy frowned deeply, shook his head vehemently and opened his mouth to probably loudly protest - but before he could do so, he silenced him by giving his hands a little squeeze.

"I'm warning you, Kwan. If you can't talk to Daddy in a polite way, maybe you need to spend some time in your room on your own."

This time, Kwan's face not only changed into a frown - a look of pure anger crossed his features and he screamed: "No, I'm not going to! You can't make me!"

It was just all too much. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to feel so sad and left out and he certainly didn't want to be by his own self in his boring old room for the rest of the day.

It was hard enough that he had to play by his geography teacher's rules - she'd always pick on him and telling him that he wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. And that was embarrassing. And because of her, he was now in big trouble with his Dad and his Mom and his brother would very likely never play with him or be his best friend again.

He wriggled free of his Dad's gentle grasp and threw himself onto the floor, kicking and screaming.

Zach was at a loss. He figured that the little boy probably needed to let go of his frustrations and energy for some minutes, so he let him carry on with his temper tantrum until he was finally done, having exhausted himself.

He still wasn't crying, though, which Zach found very odd. Temper tantrums weren't completely uncommon for Kwan and Steve, although they didn't happen anywhere as frequent as when they were two or three years old. They still happened from time to time, but normally, both of them would dissolve into tears when they were all done.

Zach watched Kwan as he sat up and turned around to face him, a fierce scowl on his little face - he nearly winced. Time for round two.

"Are you done?", Zach inquired in a what he hoped was a neutral tone. "If that's the case, you can come over here and talk to me nicely now."

"Are you done?", Kwan mimicked and poked his tongue out at his father.

"Kwan Gil Van Gerbig, you stop that right now or you won't like what happens."

Again, Kwan repeated what his Dad had said tauntingly, making sure his voice sounded as silly as possible and saying his Dad's name instead of his.

This time, Zach allowed himself the luxury of sighing openly. Then, having made up his mind, he quickly stood and with two steps, was by his son's side. He pulled the surprised looking boy to his feet, turned him around and gave him three sharp swats to the seat of his jeans.

Then he turned him around to face him again.

"Alright. This behaviour is not okay and I've had it by now, Kwan. If you can't behave and be respectful to the people around you, including your teachers, your brother and your Mom and me, you're going to be one sorry little boy. I don't like punishing you, but if you keep that up, I'm going to have to try something different, since grounding you to your room doesn't seem to to work."

He paused, taking a deep breath and hating himself for how strict he sounded, all the while watching Kwan's face closely. The little boy seemingly was a lot more willing to listen now, but he still had that mulish look plastered all over his features.

"That means if you don't start behaving, Daddy is going to have to spank you, Kwan. For real, this time", Zach patiently explained, trying very hard not to lose his cool. "If you don't behave and carry on with your tantrum, I'm going to put you over my lap and give you ten smacks on your bare butt. You better not test me on that, sonny boy, because I mean it."

That certainly got a response. Kwan's eyes widened rather comically.

He'd never been spanked by his father before - he'd given him or Steve one or two smacks on the bum for being completely out of line, but he'd only received one true spanking in his life, which had come from his Grandmother for deliberately playing with a few little glass figures in her shop. Kwan and Steve both had been spanked at that time, because Grandmother had told them both to stop fooling around with the figures and that they weren't for little boys to play with. When Steve had ended up breaking one of them because neither him nor Kwan had truly payed any attention to what Grandmother had told them, she'd followed through with her threat.

So Kwan wasn't particularly eager to experience something like that again, not with Grandmother and certainly not with his Dad! Those three smacks he'd gotten from his Dad hadn't really hurt, but he was sure that a 'real' spanking was something else entirely, not to mention quite embarrassing.

"But.. Daddy!", Kwan whined, not really sure what he wanted to say. Zach looked him in the eye again and asked: "Are you going to behave? Or do I need to do something about your attitude?"

"I'm going to behave now!", Kwan eagerly replied, then he let himself be lead back over to the bed and be seated. He watched carefully as Zach took a seat as well, thinking hard about what to do next.

"Okay. I'm glad to hear that. Let's have a talk then", Zach stated after some time. "You can start telling me what happened at school today. The full story, please."

"You're just going to get mad at me", Kwan accused.

"I'm going to get mad if you don't start using your words properly and do what I asked you to do", Zach replied sternly, then sighed when he saw Kwan wince, so he softened his tone considerately. "You know you can tell both your Mom and me if something is bothering you. We just want to know what's wrong, Kwan. You haven't been behaving very well lately and I would very much like to know why."

"It isn't even my fault", Kwan grumbled, eyeing his Dad warily.

"What isn't your fault? Tell me."

Kwan sighed dramatically and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at his sock-covered feet. Zach silently willed himself to not get annoyed further at Kwan's suddenly again bratty demeanour.

He knew that his little boy wasn't behaving himself and that he had to do something about that, but first and foremost, he wanted to find out what the real problem was.

He suddenly had a distinct feeling that there was more to Kwan's attitude and naughty behaviour than just childish pranks and back talking to him and Lane.

So he took a steadying breath, leaned forward a little and grabbed the little boy up and pulled him into his lap - Kwan resisted a little, but he didn't fight it.

He wanted to be held alright - he'd had a bunch of pretty tough days both at school and sometimes at home, getting in trouble with his teachers and his parents and he just wanted to cuddle with Daddy and pretend that everything was okay.

They sat together for a few minutes in more or less comfortable silence, until Zach decided that he really needed to make the next move. He wanted Kwan to talk to him, but it seemed that he wouldn't do that without a little coaxing - clearly, demanding answers wasn't the right way of getting them tonight. His little boy was hurting.

"Can you do me a favour, baby boy?", Zach asked quietly after some time, surprising Kwan. He'd been expecting another lecture or being put in time-out. Or worse, getting spanked for acting up earlier.

"Okay", he whispered and again, tears threatened to make their way down his already damp cheeks.

"I really want to know what's going on. Like, really. I love you and I'm very concerned about you, Kwan, and I don't like seeing you this sad and confused at all", Zach told him, hugging him even closer when he felt the little boy's breath quickening and his body tensing.

"So I need you to tell me what's been happening at school - all of it. I know that we've had some talks about your pranks before, but I cannot help but think that there's more to it than just you wanting to prank your teachers or classmates."

When Kwan didn't respond, Zach started to carefully rub the boy's back while he talked.

"Kwan, Daddy doesn't like it when you do stuff like that at school, but I like it even less when something's troubling my little boy and when he's as sad as he's right now. If you don't tell me or Mommy what's wrong, how are we supposed to help you? Please, bud, just tell Daddy. I promise that I'm going to be here for you and hear you out and I also promise that whatever it is, we'll be able to fix it together."

"Stevie hates me now", Kwan suddenly blurted out and Zach could hear that he'd started to cry. He pulled away from their hug a little to look at his boy and immediately hugged him again close when he caught sight of the tears.

"Oh, baby boy", he cooed, kissing him on top of his dark head. "He doesn't hate you, he was just sad and confused about you yellin' at him. But I'm sure that if you apologize to him, he'll forgive you - if he hasn't already."

"Do you think so?", Kwan asked, hiccupping and continuing to sob.

"You bet. I'd never lie to you, Kay."

Kwan seemed to accept that and he just let his father cuddle him for another few minutes before he spoke up again.

"Daddy?", he asked, voice not more than a whisper.

"Yeah?", Zach almost involuntarily held his breath in anticipation.

"I don't like being on my own in class. I want to sit with Stevie. It's not fair that he's in a different class now. I don't like it", Kwan stated sadly and before Zach could voice his surprise, he went on: "I always feel so lon'ly and the teachers are mean to me. And that girl.. I.. I, I told her that her stuffed bear is sick because she told me that I was in the new class because Steve doesn't like me no more. And that was mean! I didn't mean to make her cry, I just wanted her to leave me 'lone. I'm sorry for being bad, Daddy."

For a few seconds, Zach was speechless. And for the seconds and minutes that came after that, he felt like kicking himself for not realising earlier that Kwan was hurting because of him being apart from his older brother. That's why he'd been acting up. That's why he'd been a little brat both at school and at home. He missed Steve while they were at school! Oh, when he got hold of that idiotic headmaster...

"That stupid, good for nothing..", Zach grumbled, not realising that he was talking out loud until he felt Kwan tensing and trying to wiggle away from his Dad.

"I'm sorry!", he cried, trying hard to pull away. "I'm sorry for the pranks, Daddy. And for making Stevie cry. I didn't mean to!"

Zach was now mentally kicking himself for his running mouth, but he recovered quickly and gently tugged the little boy back into his arms.

"Oh, Kwan", he said. "Daddy is sorry for not checking with you sooner if you were okay with being in a different classroom than Steve. I'm sorry that you felt lonely and sad for so long and I'm also sorry for not knowing what the problem was."

"You're angry with me.. Always angry", Kwan let himself be hugged again, but he still hadn't stopped crying.

"I know, baby boy. I'm sorry for that as well. Both Mommy and I are sorry for not listening to you and not trying to get the full story", Zach replied, rubbing Kwan's back who started to relax.

"We're not going to be angry anymore. We're going to fix the classroom problem at school, I promise you that. And we're going to listen to you and your brother better from now on."

It took about half an hour of snuggling and telling Kwan how much both Lane and he loved him, but in the end, Zach managed to calm him down.

Kwan had told him what had happened at school this day, including the prank he played on his geography teacher (which was throwing some self-made little paper planes at her during lesson and refusing to sit still and behave when she told him to) and he'd told him all about how he'd been feeling the last couple of days. Afterwards, they just sat together, Kwan practically curled up on his Dad's lap and Zach rocking both of them while humming 'Mockingbird' for his little boy.

"Daddy?", Kwan asked after a while, sounding tired and exhausted.

"Yes, Kay?"

"Am I still in trouble for the prank and for being.. cheeky?"

Zach sighed, pulled away a little and made eye contact with the little boy. He then pulled out a handkerchief and helped Kwan to clean his face a little, before looking at him again.

"You know, if you'd come and told me or Mommy or both of us sooner what the problem was, we could have helped you before you thought it a good idea to start pranking everyone around you. But I can understand that you didn't know how and that you were a little scared of admitting all that", Zach explained, thinking hard on how to proceed. "You have to promise me, Kay, that you're going to talk to us if something bothers you like that ever again, okay?"

Zach knew that it was kind of wishful thinking that Kwan was going to be absolutely truthful about everything he felt with his parents from now on, but he just wanted him to know that he and Lane would always be there for him.

"Yes, Dad", Kwan answered meekly and sniffled a little. Now that his Dad knew about everything, he was a little worried about punishment.

"That's what's going to happen: you're going to write an apology letter to your geography teacher and you're going to apologize to your Mom and brother for how you've been acting. And you're grounded for the rest of the weekend from having friends over or going outside to play."

"And what about school?", the little boy asked, sounding unsure.

"Mom and I are going to talk to your teachers and headmaster and we're going to solve that problem", Zach assured him, then added with just a hint of sternness in his voice: "But you have to promise that you're going to behave in class from now on, son. No more pranks and no more backtalk - otherwise you and I are going to have a serious talk. Clear?"

Kwan nodded eagerly.

"No spanking?", Kwan whispered.

Zach smiled at him and shook his head. "No. No spanking this time. You've been very brave by telling me all of that and I'm sure it wasn't easy for you. And I've only promised you a spanking for throwing another fit and being cheeky, but you stopped yourself just in time."

Kwan nodded slowly - he'd wanted his Dad to promise him that he wasn't going to spank him EVER, but he knew he wasn't going to get such an answer. He gave Zach a smile - the first smile in days - and let himself be hugged and kissed again.

Zach thought about issuing some 'spanking-rules' for the future, but he decided against it - he wanted to talk with his wife first and then sit both his boys down for that kind of talk.

If it should ever be an issue again in the future, he wanted both children to know what they could expect.

"Are you feeling better now, short stuff?", Zach asked him then, tickling his ribcage a little and earning himself some giggles.

"Yes, Dad. Much better", Kwan answered honestly and Zach chose that moment to put the boy on his own feet and stood up himself.

"Well, now that we've sorted everything out, I think it's time for you to start on your homework, bud", he said kindly and surprisingly, Kwan just nodded and went to gather his backpack. "Do you need help with anything?"

Kwan shook his head and smiled. "No, math is easy. But can I go and do it with Stevie at the kitchen table? I wanna say that I'm sorry..."

"Sure, that's an awesome idea!"

Zach threw one arm over Kwan's shoulders and gave him a light squeeze before making his way together with his son into their kitchen, where Steve already anxiously awaited his little brother's return.

After an apology from Kwan, both boys even hugged each other and they finished their homework together, while Zach ordered Chinese food for tonight's dinner. When they were done, Zach played on the guitar for his sons and they all waited for Lane to come home.