Rosie woke up the next day with a text. It was from Mr. Fuller asking if he could babysit Connor that night. She got up and went and found Aaron.
"Um. I figured after last nights conversation I should ask. Any reason you don't think I would be safe babysitting Connor tonight?" Rosie asked
"Nope. That's fine. I'm sure its not what you think it is. I'm sure there is an explanation. You can babysit." Aaron said
"Okay." Rosie said.
She texted back 'Yes. What time do you need me?' and got a response of 7pm and would probably only be a couple hours.
Rosie told Aaron that and he said okay.
Rosie spent the day playing with Jack and after dinner she went to the Fuller house and knocked on the door.
Connor opened it. "Hi!" He said
"Hey Connor." Rosie said
Mr. Fuller came into the room. "Hi Rosie, thanks for coming on short notice."
"Not a problem." Rosie said
"Connor do you have something you need to say to Rosie?" Mr. Fuller asked
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry I convinced Jack to climb on the monkey bars…" Connor said
Rosie smiled and ruffled his hair. "Forgiven."
"So I will only be a couple hours at most." Mr. Fuller said
"Okay." Rosie said with a smile.
Mr. Fuller left.
Rosie and Connor went to the living room to play video games which they did till Rosie got a text about 9pm.
'Hey Sorry. Any chance you could stay a couple more hours?' Mr. Fuller asked
Rosie texted back that it was fine and texted Aaron to let him know and Aaron said it was fine.
"Okay. Well seems like your dad is held up. And its getting close to your bedtime so why don't you go shower and get ready." Rosie said
"Aawe. Come on just a little longer." Connor begged.
"Nope. Not tonight." Rosie said
Connor sighed but went and when he was ready Rosie read to him from a chapter book they had been reading together. Once Connor was asleep Rosie left the room closing the door quietly.
She took a breath, and she was going to figure out what was going on. She knew it was a bad idea. Both her heart and brain were telling her that this was a bad idea but for whatever reason she still went to Mr. Fuller's bedroom and to his bathroom and started to look through his medicine cabinet. She found just the typical stuff basic painkillers and stuff for colds. She went to his room and into his night table and hit the jack pot. She found a dozens pill bottles and needles, but they looked like prescriptions. She started to take pictures of the names of them to google later what they were for. She was so distracted she hadn't heard the front door open.
"There for cancer." Mr. Fuller said from the door of his bedroom.
Rosie dropped the bottle in her hand in surprise and froze.
Mr. Fuller went over to his bedside table and closed it.
"I-I." Rosie said trying to find the words that could give any sort of acceptable answer to what she was doing.
Mr. Fuller let out a breath. "Were looking out for Connor?"
Rosie nodded.
"You know where I just was?" He asked
Rosie shook her head she hadn't dared to look him in the eyes.
"Talking to your Uncle. He called me and invited me to get coffee. After what Jack saw and your very intuitive nature clueing into something being wrong he wanted to check in." Mr. Fuller said
"Oh." Rosie said. Why the hell hadn't Uncle Aaron told her that was what he was doing?
"Lets go talk." Mr. Fuller said
Rosie went with him, and they went to the living room and sat down. Rosie put her head in her hands. She knew that she was in so much trouble right now.
"I understand that you were looking out for Connor. And I appreciate that. It shows me what I have known from pretty early on. You would protect Connor. Tonight you did that to possibly your own downfall." He said
"I'm so sorry Mr. Fuller." Rosie said not looking up.
"I get you probably didn't want to just ask for fear of me over reacting if I truly had been on some illicit drugs or because you didn't want to ask me a personal question. But what you did was invade my privacy far more than simply asking me what was going on. Wouldn't you agree?" Mr. Fuller asked
"Yes Sir." Rosie said swallowing hard "I understand I wont be babysitting Connor anymore."
"Never said that. I know your intentions were good. Your execution needed work, but I think that getting caught and the fallout from telling your Uncle and your dads will be far more of a consequence than me not letting you babysit Connor anymore. I know you didn't do this to be malicious. You did it to protect my kid and I appreciate that." Mr. Fuller said
Rosie let out a small noise of worry. "Yeah. I knew that would happen. Um. Yes I am going to be possibly in more trouble than I ever have with my dads and definitely more trouble than I have been in with my uncle. But I would be pretty devastated if I couldn't babysit Connor anymore."
Mr. Fuller nodded.
"C-can I ask you something?" Rosie asked
"About the cancer?" Mr. Fuller asked
Rosie nodded.
"Go ahead." He said
"How bad?" Rosie asked
"Stage two. Prostate." He said
Rosie nodded
"Treatment been working?" Rosie asked
"Very well." Mr. Fuller said
Rosie nodded. "Good. I'd hate for Connor to lose his only parent."
Mr. Connor nodded.
"I'm going to go." Rosie said
"Hang on. I owe you pay." Mr. Fuller said
Rosie shook her head. "No. I cant take your money after that."
Mr. Fuller smiled abit. "Please let me."
"Thank you. But I do not deserve the pay." Rosie said
"Okay. If you're sure." Mr. Fuller said. "I will be calling your Uncle tomorrow if I don't hear from him about him knowing."
Rosie let out a breath and nodded. She went and sat in her car for half an hour before she drove back to Aaron's. She sat in her car outside there for awhile too. She couldn't bring herself to go inside. She knew that the second her Uncle saw her he would know something was wrong.
She was just about to work up the courage when there was a knock on her passenger side of the car. She looked and saw it was Aaron. She unlocked the car and Aaron got in and sat down.
"I'm guessing since you have been sitting out here for over twenty minutes Mr. Fuller talked to you about what is really going on?" Aaron asked
"Yes. He did." Rosie said
"He is going to be fine. Treatment is working." Aaron said
Rosie nodded. "Yes. He mentioned and that's fantastic. I'm glad."
"Than why don't you seem it?" Aaron asked
"Because I did. Probably the stupidest thing I have ever done tonight. And I'm without a doubt in more trouble that I have ever been with you. And possibly more trouble than I have ever been in with my dad." Rosie said
Aaron let out a breath. "You were at Mr. Fuller's you didn't leave the kid alone? Or have Nolan over when you shouldn't have right?"
"No. Worse." Rosie said "Well. Maybe not worse than leaving a kid alone. I don't know. Its not the same." Rosie said
"Okay." Aaron said, "than you got to tell me because I don't have any idea."
"I didn't think that you would be talking to him so quickly. I didn't know what your plans were tonight. Not that its an excuse for what I did. But I-I was worried, and I wanted to see if I could figure what was going on out myself. So once Connor was in bed. I went snooping…. Um. I found the medications and was taking pictures of the names to google later to see what they were for. Mr. Fuller came home sooner than expected and caught me." Rosie said
Aaron was at a loss for words. And that was not a common occurrence for him. So the two of them sat in silence for what felt like hours to Rosie but was more like five minutes.
"What did he say?" Aaron finally asked
"He told me they were for cancer. He came over and closed his night stand and um. We went to the living room. He and I talked. Bit of a lecture told me that I needed to tell you. I told him that I understood that I would never be babysitting Connor anymore and he told me that wasn't the case that he understood my intentions were to protect Connor but that my execution needed work. I asked if I could ask him about the cancer and he told me it was stage two prostate, and that the treatment was working well. He tried to pay me. I didn't take his money after what I pulled. I also apologized." Rosie said
Aaron nodded. "I'm at a loss for what to say. I know you have done things that teetered on the line of right. And while yes your motive was honorable. What you did is inexcusable. Even if I wasn't planning on doing anything with the information you gave me you had no right."
"Yes sir." She said.
"You are a very intelligent young lady. But what you did was beyond stupid. And disrespectful. And just wrong." Aaron said
"Yes sir." She said "I have no excuses. I will not try and make any."
"Go inside and to your room." Aaron said
Rosie got out and so did Aaron. She locked her car doors and went inside and to the room she was staying in. She paced. She was beyond nervous.
Aaron went inside and found Emily and told her what had happened.
"What do I do?" Aaron asked. "Do I handle this myself? Do I let Dave when he gets home? And if I do, obviously spank her but to what extent? She has been so abused but she messed up so badly."
Emily nodded "It is a hard line when there is abuse in the past. If there hadn't been abuse what would you be doing?"
"I'd be using my belt. But she has trauma associated with the belt. Dave has told me before." Aaron said
Emily nodded. "Yeah. She recently brought that up with Hunter."
"Yeah. You and Hunter are like best friends aren't you?" Aaron said with a smile
"Yup. He and I got to become best friends so quickly." Emily said with a smile.
"It's a good thing." Aaron said
Emily smiled "I agree."
"And I can not call Dave on his honeymoon to ask him about this." Aaron said, "But I don't know what to do."
"I think. That Rosie knows you love her. That you would never abuse her. But you need to have an open conversation with her about if you using your belt would cause her more trauma or cause her to have a PTDS response." Emily said, "Maybe we can talk to her together about it?"
"I don't want her to feel like she is being ganged up on…." Aaron said
"If it was Dave and Hunter dealing with this they would be talking about it with her together. I don't think she will see it that way." Emily said
Aaron nodded. "Okay. Well its not fair to keep her waiting. She lets guilt eat at her."
Emily nodded. "Yeah. I know."
They both went and knocked on the bedroom door.
"Yes?" Rosie said softly
Aaron and Emily went in, and both sat on the end of the bed that Rosie was siting on. It was clear she had been crying.
Aaron kicked Sascha out the room for this conversation.
"We want to make sure that you know we love you very much. And that has not changed." Emily said
Rosie nodded. "I know. I love you both too. That's part of why I feel so shitty. I know you are both so disappointed in me and my dad and papa are going to be so disappointed." She said wiping at her eyes.
"Its hard when we disappoint the people who mean the most to us." Aaron said he lifted her chin gently, so she was looking at him. "But we are going to figure out how to handle this and it will be forgiven."
Rosie nodded.
"But I want to make sure what I do doesn't cause a PTSD response." Aaron said
Rosie took a breath. "I don't think -you could do that. I'm guessing you will be handing me my ass."
"You are getting spanked yes." Aaron said
"So I don't know what you think you could do with that in a way I would think I was being abused or something." Rosie
"If I use my belt?" Aaron asked
Rosie took a breath and shifted abit.
"I don't ever want you to feel unsafe in my home. Or with me. And I can see you reaction tells me that it might be the case." Aaron said
"The abuse with the belt. Wasn't limited to spanking my butt…" Rosie said "I know you have all seen the scars on the back of my legs when I wear shorts. Or my back when I wear a bathing suit." Rosie said
"We have." Emily said.
"The belt and switch. But I know that even with the belt you wouldn't be abusing me." Rosie said
"Well to be very clear never with the switch. I have experienced that. Never. In no way is that an acceptable way to discipline a child." Aaron said
Rosie looked up at him
"My father was very abusive." Aaron said
"Okay. Did you ever have someone outside of your father discipline you?" Rosie asked
"Yes." Aaron said
"And did you ever think they would abuse you?" Rosie asked
"No." Aaron said with a smile
"So why would I think that -you or anyone who is allowed to spank me would ever abuse me?" Rosie asked
"We just want to make sure." Emily said
"I think. That I." Rosie said
"You what?" Aaron asked
"I think I might have let people think that the belt would be an issue because I… I didn't want to end up having to deal with it because…" Rosie said
"Its going to hurt?" Emily offered.
"Yes…" Rosie said "I'm not sure if I was really lying or just I don't know. But I trust you. Both of you for the record. That regardless of what you use. I wont be abused."
Aaron nodded. "Okay."
"I will tell my dad and papa all this. Oh and Mr. Fuller wants to know I told you." Rosie said
Aaron nodded. "I will text him and let him know I know." Aaron said
"I'm going to leave you two to deal with this." Emily said getting up and leaving the room.
Aaron took a breath. "Okay. Up." He said
Rosie got up.
Aaron took her arm and gently and stood her in front of him. "Look at me." He said
Rosie looked at him
"I don't think I need to lecture you anymore. You know what you did. Right?" Aaron said
"Yes sir. I invaded someone privacy who trusts me with the most valuable thing he has. His child." Rosie said
Aaron nodded. "I'm not going to use the belt for the full punishment. But you will be get that at the end okay?"
Rosie nodded
Aaron helped her over his lap.
He started to spank.
Rosie started to cry right away. And when she started to sob he stopped with his hand. "Okay I need you to stand up and bend over the bed." Aaron said
Rosie stood up and did so calming a little.
"Need you to realize that there are consequences for your actions. And that you are damn lucky that Mr. Fuller is an understanding person because someone else might press charges for what you did." Aaron said.
"Yes sir." She said softly burying her face in her arms.
Aaron took a breath and steeled his heart for this.
He brought the belt down on her butt. Rosie whimpered and kicked her feet a little
He brought it down again and she broke down sobbing again.
He brought it down a third time and she squirmed trying to move out of his reach.
Aaron threw the belt on the bed. Rosie didn't squirm when she was being punished. She always was very still so squirming meant he was done. He helped her stand up and wrapped her in tight hug.
Rosie sobbed into his shirt.
Aaron moved to sitting on her bed and held her in his lap.
She sobbed and sobbed clinging to his shirt.
"Its all over. Its forgiven." He said softly
Rosie eventually calmed down.
"Are you okay?" he asked
"Yes." Rosie said softly
"You sure?" Aaron asked
"Yes." Rosie said wiping at her eyes abit as she stood up.
Aaron wiped at her cheeks a little.
Rosie smiled abit.
"Okay. Well its late. Are you okay if I leave you alone?" Aaron asked
"Yes." Rosie said
Aaron kissed her head "Okay. Good night."
"Night." Rosie said
Aaron opened the door and Sascha rushed in and started to sniff Rosie all over.
"Think he hates me?" Aaron said
Rosie chuckled "No. Because I don't."
Aaron smiled abit and left closing the door. Rosie got ready for bed and climbed in.