Esme's eyes grew wide as the implications of Edward's words sank in. She felt a shudder run through her body at the thought of what could have happen to her babies due to their utter foolishness. It was a miracle that they have survived as long as they have if these are activities they considered safe forms of entertainment. A low growl of irritation came from her chest causing Rosalie to look at her in shock.
Carlisle, tilted his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes and glared at his son.
"Excuse me, Edward? What was that?"
"Um."
"So I did hear you correctly. You have indeed lost your mind, boy. What in the hell were the three of you thinking? Do you have any idea how we would have felt if something tragic had happened to you? Any of you?"
"In retrospect it does seem rather ignorant, papa, but at the time..."
"Jasper, I am completely dismayed with your lack of forethought." Carlisle turned on his wheaten haired son as his frustration continued to build. "You of all people should have known better. I expect more from you. I would have thought that being a solider would have given you more respect for what black powder can do. I realize that these are smaller amounts but the potential for serious harm is still there.
It was bad enough when I thought that you were just shooting them off for the display value but now to hear that you were actually shooting them at each other..."
Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose as he turned his back on his children to try to regain his precarious hold on his temper. A light touch on his arm found him looking into his wife's troubled eyes. Placing his hand on top of hers he patted her gently as he let out a breath that he hadn't been aware of holding.
"In light of this new information, I think it would be prudent to rethink our previous disciplinary plans. This needs to be addressed in such a way that they never even consider entertaining a thought like this again."
"I'm just as upset as you are, Carlisle. The plans stand. If I feel the effect isn't being felt as strongly as it needs be to bring about the proper results I will let you know so you can wade in. Does that seem reasonable to you?"
Carlisle ran his hands through his hair in frustration then nodded. "Yes, it's reasonable but don't hesitate to call on me. Don't try to protect them this time, Esme. I know that you will want to but we really need to nip this in the bud."
"I know and we will." She assured him gently as she gave him time to compose himself while she went back to questioning her babies who seemed to have developed a serious death wish.
"So, how did this ill conceived war lead to my greenhouse going up in a blaze?"
Emmett coughed to draw his mother's attention to himself and hopefully give his brothers a slight reprieve. "Mom, may I please be the one to answer that since it really was my fault."
Esme sighed but nodded while Jasper and Edward gratefully slunk back from the spotlight for a few moments.
"We were having fun with the rockets and I was the only one who had them kinda go off in my hand a couple of times since Jasper and Edward are way faster."
"Em, I don't think that is helping your case right now," Rose whispered evenly.
"Um, so anyway. I had just been getting ready to toss one but the fuse was short and it took off before I had it aimed right. Instead of heading out away from me it took off behind me. You know, mom, it was the damnest thing because if I had been aiming I would have never been able to hit it but the rocket must have shot in through the open roof panel because the next thing I knew all hell had broken loose and we had been dropped right in the middle of World War three, four and five.
Jasper ran his ass off to protect Alice and Edward and I couldn't do anything else but back off and watch. It was a sight to behold. Scary but still a sight. We wanted to stop it, really mom, we did, but there was just nothing that we could do. There was no getting close enough to do a thing."
"Emmett, I hate to have to state the obvious but a single bottle rocket is not going to be able to cause that amount of damage to a building."
He tucked his chin into his chest as he softly replied, "It can when it ignites about a ton of other fireworks that are stored in the building."
"Emmett." Esme found herself just as exasperated at her children as Carlisle was. "Are you really trying to tell me that you didn't know that it was a bad idea to be firing fireworks close to where you had your supply stored? Come on now, baby. I know that you are smarter than that."
"It was a complete accident, momma." Alice spoke up in what she hoped would be Emmett's defense. "They were playing around well on the other side of the yard but they got a little carried away with all the running around and they didn't realize how close they had gotten to the greenhouse. They were trying to be as safe about things as they could. I told them to stay away from the greenhouse and they really did try."
"So you warned them about what could happen but they didn't listen?" Carlisle's voice was carefully controlled but they all knew that he was still struggling with his temper.
"I didn't exactly tell them what I had seen. I just made them promise me that they would keep clear of the greenhouse but like I said, daddy, it was an accident. They couldn't help it."
"Alice, do you know how many people I see on a daily basis because of accidents that should have been able to be prevented but weren't?"
"No, sir but I have a pretty good idea." She let her head dip fearing that she may have made things worst instead of better.
Carlisle inhaled deeply holding the breath for a minute before slowly releasing it, sending a small amount of his built up agitation away along with the unneeded air.
"Do we have to tell you all that this is not acceptable behavior?"
He was answered by a chorus of "no, sir."
"Good. Then I believe we can move on from here." Carlisle looked to each of his children in turn noting that none were able to return his gaze. "You are all under restriction for the next month. You will have extra chores to keep you busy while you're house bound and no one hunts without supervision. Since you aren't allowed off the property without either your mother or I with you, there will be no need for driving.
Jasper and Emmett, this will extend your groundings by a month. You both will also receive sterner punishments since part of the conditions of your grounding is not to get in trouble again during it. I haven't decided how this will be handled so just consider yourselves warned for now."
"Why do I suddenly feel six instead of a hundred and sixty?" Jasper whispered to himself as he nervously spun his wedding ring around his finger while he mentally scolded himself for landing in a situation that he had recently sworn he would never be in again.
"Maybe because your actions were those of a child, son." Carlisle who had been pacing slowly before his children stopped in front of Jasper and place his hand lightly on his shoulder. "I am more then happy to treat you like the young man you are as long as your behavior reflects it."
"Yes, sir. Didn't mean to say that out loud, papa. I wasn't questioning your methods. Sorry if it came across that way."
Carlisle squeezed Jasper's shoulder before releasing it. "I didn't take it as a challenge, son. I just wanted to make sure that we were clear."
Jasper nodded and went back to studying his hands while Alice snuggled up against him.
"I'm sure that this comes as no surprise but just to be clear, because of the seriousness of your offenses you will all be receiving a hearty dose of physical punishment to impress your mother's and my displeasure upon your psyche. Hopefully that will keep you from straying down this path ever again."
"I don't know how impressed my psyche will be but I know my ass is going to be extremely unimpressed."
"Emmett, mind your word choice. You're in enough trouble." Esme gave him a stern look but smiled slightly at his comment as soon as he looked away. "Alright, up to your rooms. Your father and I will be joining you shortly."
As the children began to stir Carlisle raised his voice slightly to add to Esme's instructions. "Jasper, I would like you to forgo your room and wait in mine instead. Emmett, you will wait in the study. I am not going to deal with mate protectiveness driven aggression this evening so I want pairs separated. Got it?"
"Yes, sir." Jasper responded knowing that order was mostly directed towards him. He held tightly onto Alice's hand as they headed up stairs, wanting to squeeze out every second of comfort he could get from her presence while he could.
Carlisle and Esme listened to their children's footfalls until the sound of closing doors told them that their hooligans were beginning to settle in to await their executions.
"Last chance to change your mind, my heart. I'll gladly trade you an Alice for an Emmett."
"I can handle him."
"Then please let me make a suggestion. Handle Emmett first. He's going to be tougher to get through to but I don't see him putting up a fight. Rosalie stands to be harder to deal with in the long run since she can be a little more...boisterous. If she doesn't feel that she really deserves to be punished she will fight. Just talk to her. Generally she response well to being reasoned with. If the kitten continues to be obstinate and you get tired of fighting her either let it go until tomorrow since she tends to see things a bit differently once she has been able to "sleep on it" or my offer to turn her over to me still stands."
His wife nodded sadly. "Thank you for the helpful hints, love."
Carlisle thought for a few seconds as he struggled with another suggestion that he knew Esme wouldn't appreciate but felt needed saying just the same. "Esme, you might want to have Emmett turn his belt over to you." Her aghast expression solidified the correctness of his previous thought. "You don't have to. It's just a suggestion because that boy has a butt just as hard as his head. You are going to have to soften it up well to get the message through to him."
"My hand will do just fine, Carlisle." She spoke with such conviction that Carlisle wondered why he had questioned her ability in the first place. She looked at him curiously then asked, "Would you have used a belt on him?"
"If I wasn't getting the response I needed, possibly. I can't...we can't let him do something like this again. He needs to learn to weigh the consequences to his actions better. If blistering his behind with a belt stops him from doing something dangerous just once then it is worth it."
"He won't make the same mistake twice. I'll make sure of it."
A soft sigh came from Carlisle as he admitted defeat to his cherished wife. "I'm sure that you will. Momma always does know best." He placed a soft kiss on her brow then took her hand and started to lead her up the stairs but felt her balk slightly. Panic shone in her eyes as she swallowed hard. "The sooner started the sooner done and then the children have a clean slate. In a way it is a kindness."
"I know. It's just hard." She look up listening to the shuffling of nervous feet coming from what sounded like the study. "Does it get easier?"
Carlisle shook his head. "No, love, it doesn't but it ends up being in the children's and family's best interest so you do what you feel you have to. They got lucky this time and the only thing we lost was an outbuilding. If the entertainment value of their misadventure outweighs the negative effects of punishment they will do it again."
She nodded and took a deep breath before pulling her hand from Carlisle's and climbed the stairs to address her bear's behavior.
"Best of luck, son. You are about to be dealing with one very determined momma. I wouldn't want to be in your place right now." Carlisle took a quick mental inventory then made the decision to visit Edward's room first as he swiftly disappeared up the stairs.
AN: Alright guys, which one of the boys should be put out of his misery first? The instigator or the one who bears the least blame? Let me know what ya think.