Woohoo! It took me only two days to write this chapter, and the next one is nearly finished, too!

Have fun! :-)

It was late afternoon when Maddie came back from a long hunt with Emmett and Rose. The day before had been hard for her, and therefore she had really needed to feed. Well, her eyes had not turned dark yet, but today would bring more ... unpleasantness and so Rose decided to get her sister fed. Maddie tended to develop quite a temper when hungry and that's why they tried to prevent that from happening so she wouldn't add to her impending punishment.

Satisfied and with blood-stained clothes, she entered her room and went straight for the closet. She was a messy eater, so a shower and a change of clothes was next on her to-do-list. Not that she minded wearing dirty clothes, but neither Alice, Esme nor Rose would let her. The entire house was mostly white and cream-colored on the inside, and blood and dirt would probably leave stains.

Maddie enjoyed her shower, but realised all too soon that she wouldn't enjoy anything else much for the rest of the day. There was still the second smacking for ripping the stupid books. Luckily she had picked up all the shreds of paper last night out of sheer boredom, or otherwise she'd be in even bigger trouble now.

But why would it be bare again? That was so not fair! They were just books after all, she did not kill anyone.

Showered and dressed again, Maddie decided to spend some time in her room listening to music.

Wait a minute - why was her door ajar? She stopped in the hallway and peeked into her room.

Seriously?

There, in the middle of her desk, lay two brand-new school books with a red bow on top.

What kind of a sick joke was that? !

She huffed and stormed into her room to take a closer look.

"Do you like them?" came from someone standing by the door, startling her. She turned around and there he was - Carlisle. Yaaaay.

"They're ... great, Dad," she said through gritted teeth and then put on a fake smile.

"Tut-tut, do not be angered. You knew I would purchase new ones for you."

"I know, but honestly .. I didn't think it would be that soon," she said while eyeing them with distaste.

"I did not want to leave you without something to do. You can complete your homework today, sounds good?"

Okay, seriously, the way he was teasing her did nothing to lift her mood right now. So she just looked at him without saying a word. Talking during situations like these usually got her into more trouble, so she had learnt to remain silent. Yes, her parents weren't exactly fond of swearwords.

Carlisle closed the door behind himself, then approached his daughter.

"I am sorry to say this, but we cannot delay your punishment any longer. Let's get it over with."

Now, if you put it that way ... maybe talking about homework wasn't such a bad idea.

"Madeline, stop just standing there and come here," he ordered quietly while sitting down on her bed.

But she remained standing, with a protrudent bottom lip and big puppy-dog eyes.

"Honey, don't look at me like that. Do you remember what happened yesterday? I cannot let it slide."

"Well, you could try," she suggested with a little half-smile.

"No. Now tell me, why am I going to discipline you?"

But Maddie clearly did not want to answer, because she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmm?" he prompted.

She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at her father. "I destroyed my books which let to ... stuff that happened yesterday." As if he didn't know what happened. She hated these stupid questions.

"Stuff? Elaborate, Madeline. And let me advise you to stop this disrespectful behaviour. Preferably now," Carlisle said.

"Fine ... it let to me using my ability on you and Mom and Edward catching me in the process," Maddie answered while unfolding her arms.

"Precisely. Why was using your gift wrong?"

"Because it was disrespectful and selfish." She knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

"What did you learn from all of this?" Carlisle queried.

That you are having my ass if I ever do it again? That I can indeed use my ability on two people at the same time? That you are a big, old meanie? "I should think before I act."

"Very good, Maddie. Try to keep that in mind, will you?"

"I'll try, Dad."

"Good sweetie, now come."

Maddie slowly stepped closer to her father, who grabbed her wrist when she was in arm's reach and guided her over his knees.

Huh? Alice said it was going to be bare! Shouldn't she pull down her trousers or something?

In order to quicken things up, she tried to lift her hips for her dad to remove her jeans, but he just tightened his grip on her waist. "Lie still," he ordered and let his right hand crack down onto her jean-clad behind.

She yelped, because that smack had just caught her off-guard. And it stung.

What is going on here?

A dozen hard smacks later and Carlisle started rubbing his daughter's back in a comforting manner.

That was it? No ... that can't be.

But when Carlisle helped Maddie up and sat her on his lap, she realised that that was indeed all.

"You changed your mind," she whispered with a frown on her face. "Why did you change your mind?"

"I beg your pardon? What are you talking about, honey?" Carlisle replied and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She sniffed; even a short spanking hurt like hell. But thank God she decided to wear loose-fitting jeans today and not a stupid summerskirt; skirts did not offer much protection, she knew from experience. "You were so mad yesterday, and I asked Alice -"

"Oh Maddie." Carlisle chuckled. "The future constantly changes, you know that. And again, I am truly sorry for letting my anger show like that, it won't happen again in the future."

"It's all right. But what made you change your mind, Daddy?"

"Your Mom did," Carlisle answered and placed a kiss on the girl's forehead, making her smile.

Maybe it wasn't too bad to be her baby if it saved her ass...

"But Madeline, do not make us regret being lenient this time," Carlisle reminded her.

"I won't." She shook her head, then still and glanced at him, a flicker of fear in her eyes. "But you and Mom didn't argue, right, Dad?"

"No, we did not, no need to worry."

"Okay," she said and let her head rest in the crook of his neck, glad that it was over and she got off lightly for a change.

The rest of the day went by quietly; Maddie indeed did her homework and finished it soon enough for her and Emmett to watch a new splatter movie. The two only had to endure Rosalie's constant huffing and eye-rolling until she finally left the room ... she and Alice were of the opinion that a girl night with chick flicks would be better suited for a fourteen-year-old girl, instead of watching blood and monsters with the boys. But Maddie liked these movies better - and spending time with Emmett was awesome, because he was funny as hell.

"He had really put a bow on top? Like a birthday present?" Emmett was laughing so hard, he fell off the couch with a loud 'thud' and even snorted a couple of times.

"Yes! And he put it right in the middle of my fucking desk!" Maddie still couldn't believe it.

"Lucky for him that you found it there - be honest, have you ever used your desk?" Em poked her in the side while getting up from the white, fluffy rug.

"Phh, of course I have! Where else would I be putting my dirty laundry?" She shrugged her shoulders, then started cackling like a little witch. They had a blast, just like they always had.

"Is the old man done whoopin' you now or is more heading your way?"

"No, thank goodness it's over! Another one and my butt would fall off, for sure." She shuddered at the thought.

"We're vampires, he would just pick it up and stick it back on for the next round." Emmett grunted and made his sister laugh out loud.

After two more movies and a lot of laughing fits later, Esme came downstairs and told them to calm down a bit before school and to get changed. Well, that was mostly valid for Maddie, since she had to change into a school uniform.

After Maddie had put on the dreadful clothing, she walked down the stairs and into the living room to watch the morning news with her family. Watching the news was like a collective morning ritual before they headed off to school or to work. Oh, and Maddie had to try keeping Alice from doing her hair - that was something that took place every morning as well. Sometimes she would give in and let Alice have her fun, but mostly she did not feel like being her sister's doll. Her hair looked fine the way it was, she did not need a fancy hairdo, thank you very much.

"Alice, you can do her hair after school, we need to leave now," Carlisle said and grabbed his car keys from the counter in the kitchen.

"No, she can't!" Maddie angrily shouted from the top of the stairs, then shrieked and yelled, "Stay away from me!"

"Girls! It is late, get down here now!" Esme called in a voice that brooked no argument. Every morning the same with these two.

Another minute passed. Then, finally, Alice came down the stairs with a triumphant smile plastered on her face, followed by her little sister who now had her hair up in a high ponytail and a big scowl on her face. So they had at least come to a compromise.

"Ready?" Carlisle asked, when Maddie entered the kitchen with her backpack hanging over her left shoulder.

She nodded, got a hug and a "Be good!" from Esme and made her way over to the door that led to the garage. Carlisle kissed his wife goodbye, then put his hand on his daughter's back to guide her through the door and into the garage, where his black Mercedes was parked.

A typical Monday morning.

TBC...

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