Phew!

Since you all were that curious as to what would happen next, I tried to hurry a bit!

Yesterday I have updated my other story as well, and finished a whole new chapter for it which I will update tomorrow, so please check 'Better times will come', too!

Hope you like it!

"How do you do that? How do you land yourself in so much trouble?" Emmett asked with a smirk on his lips while steering the car in the direction of Fairholm where the pet shop Maddie had bought the rats from was situated.

"I don't know!" Maddie whined and curled a strand of her hair around her finger.

Edward shook his head. "Why didn't you listen to Carlisle and Esme? They told you countless times you weren't allowed to have pets."

"I just wanted one ... or two," she said feebly and pulled a sweatshirt of Emmett's over her head. Her shirt was all bloody from the hunt, after all, and this was the only piece of clothing he had in his car. Since Emmett was huge, and she was little, she looked like a dwarf in his sweater.

"Well, hopefully you wanted your impending thrashing, too," Edward then remarked.

"Huh?" That sounded pretty much worried.

Well, what else would Maddie be right now?

"It was very clear in Carlisle's head. And in addition, you shouldn't have lied to him and you certainly shouldn't have mouthed off to him just now."

"What am I supposed to do now?" she whined.

"Do as you're told," Edward and Emmett said in unison.

Maddie swayed to and fro in her seat, then asked in an angelic voice, "Em, can't you talk to them?"

"Tiny, if it would change anything, I would do it this instant. But I don't see anything that might help your situation right now."

"Oh ..." She hung her head.

"Madeline, I just can't understand why you don't behave yourself! You cannot just run around and do whatever you please!" Edward chided.

"Stop trying to pull a Jasper on me, okay?" she snapped.

Emmett laughed, while Edward turned around in his seat and looked at her.

"Do you even have the slightest idea why he admonishes you so much?"

"He's ... bored?" Maddie guessed.

"No." Edward smirked. "He is concerned you might stray from the straight and narrow."

"What?"

"Look, he has a hard time controlling his thirst. He doesn't want that to happen to you."

Maddie was taken aback by what Edward just said, because it seemed so weird to her that it made her frown. "But I have never even tried human blood."

"I am aware of that. Jasper assumes that as long as Esme and Carlisle keep strict discipline, you would learn more self-control, which would help you keep it that way."

"This is stupid. Just because he struggles doesn't mean I do, too." Then she added, "And pets have nothing to do with blood!"

"That was just one of the reasons, Maddie. And he doesn't know about your pets."

"Well, just so you know: I tried to take them back, but the store was closed."

Emmett spoke again. "Maddie, you did? You have to tell Carlisle, that might get you out of trouble!"

And Edward laughed. "No, it won't. He might think you just wanted to continue hiding this from them. Besides, the way you talked to them right now didn't show any remorse," Edward remarked.

Reaching the pet store after half an hour, they got out and Emmett took the box with the rats.

Edward held the entrance door for his two siblings and they stepped inside. The little bell rang.

"How can I help you?" The ugly guy said - the one Maddie had met at the beginning of the week. His voice was a little muffled, and his face looked slightly deformed - his cheeks were oddly swollen.

"What happened to you?" Maddie asked rudely while tilting her head to the side.

"Mad ...," Emmett quietly warned.

"You mean this, little one?" The guy pointed to his face. "I went to the dentist two days ago to get my teeth fixed."

Maddie looked at him in disbelief.

Huh.

So this fucking stupid store was closed because of ... her? Aw, hell.

"Remember: Always brush your teeth so this won't happen to you," the guy said to Maddie, trying to sound jokingly.

"Yeah, I'll keep it in mind," Maddie said with distaste. He was still gross, but at least not as much as before.

Edward cleared his throat. "We would like to ask you to take these rodents back. You sold them to our sister, even though our parents did not give their consent."

He looked confused. "I have never seen your sister in my life. And I wouldn't sell animals to children."

Emmett and Edward looked at Maddie, who just rolled her eyes.

She took a step forward, reached over the counter and touched the pet store owner's hand. "Zone out," she barked.

She didn't really want to touch him, but Emmett was with them and he didn't know she could do this without touching. Besides, this guy had followed through with her orders, so he was showered and was wearing clean clothes for a change.

"Madeline, was this really necessary?" Edward asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yes," she groaned and started to walk through the store to look at the animals.

"Looking for a new one already?"

"It's just not fair that I cannot have a pet," she replied while skimming her hand over the shelves holding the cages and terrariums.

"Didn't you have that discussion with Carlisle and Esme? They explained to you in great detail why it isn't possible. Besides, you were already starting to get bored with these ones."

"Back in my head?" she asked while turning on her heel to look at Edward, pushing her tongue against the inside of her cheek in annoyance.

"I can read your mind again, yes," Edward confirmed.

"Oh goodie ..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but could we put these back in the cage?" Emmett asked with raised eyebrows, still holding the box.

Maddie folded her arms, but then stalked over to the back of the store to show Emmett the rat cage.

"Are you sure we can't keep 'em? We could hide 'em somewhere or -"

Emmett interrupted her immediately. "Tiny. No, we cannot keep them."

"I never get to have anything. All I ever hear is 'No'."

Emmett rubbed her back comfortingly. "Come now, put them back."

After a moment, Maddie unfolded her arms and did as she was told.

She looked so sad.

Before they could leave the store, Edward said, "Madeline? I think you forgot something."

"Oops..." She uttered, but did not sound like she had indeed forgot. She walked back to the guy, touched him and said, "You have never seen us here, now come back."

They didn't wait for him to come around, but left the store and hopped into Emmett's jeep.

"Emmy? Can't you just take me somewhere else until Mom and Dad have calmed down?" Maddie whined in a very, very sad tone.

"Tiny, please don't ask this from me," Emmett replied with a pained expression on his face.

"But I'll get whacked, you have to help me," she whined again, sounding close to tears, even though she wasn't.

Edward butted in to prevent Maddie from manipulating Emmett. "Madeline, if I remember rightly, you willfully disobeyed their instructions. Don't you think you should be punished for that?"

She didn't answer his question.

"Mom was so mad. Do you know what she'll do?" Maddie already knew what to expect from Carlisle ... but Esme?

"No, she hadn't decided on anything before we left," Edward replied, his voice free of emotion.

Emmett parked his car in the garage right next to Rose's. He and Edward got out, but Maddie remained seated.

Edward sighed and opened her door. "We are home, get out."

But Maddie just pushed her bottom lip forward and looked at the floor.

"Sitting here pouting doesn't change anything, so stop it," he ordered.

Emmett pushed Edward lightly away with his shoulder. "Tiny, come," he said softly and held his hand out for Maddie to take.

She took her eyes away from the floor and instead looked at him with big, sad eyes.

"Aw, don't look at me like that ... come now."

She slowly got up and took Emmett's hand.

Edward walked ahead into the kitchen and Emmett and Maddie followed.

They were immediately greeted by Esme.

"Did she cause any trouble?" she asked and looked back and forth between Edward and Emmett.

"Nope, everything was fine," Emmett said quickly before Edward could utter a single word.

"I am glad to hear that," she replied, then looked at Maddie. "Follow me, I would like to talk to you."

But Maddie clutched Emmett's hand tighter and shook her head.

Esme sighed. "Madeline, you're not serious, are you?"

"I want Rose," Maddie said in a little voice.

Since Edward had already left the room, it was only Emmett and Esme who raised their eyebrows at Maddie's words.

"You wish to speak to Rose?" Esme asked her daughter.

Maddie nodded her head.

"All right, come find me when you two are done talking." She hadn't planned to postpone the talk, but when Maddie was like that, she didn't want to keep her from seeing Rosalie. They were very close, after all, and Maddie trusted Rosalie. It happened from time to time that Maddie was so upset that only her eldest sister could cheer her up again. So, just like now, letting Maddie see Rose would help her dealing with her emotions and in the end everyone would benefit from that.

"Okay, Mommy."

Emmett, who still held Maddie's hand, led her up the stairs to his and Rosalie's room.

"Rose?" he called before opening the door.

Rose walked out of her walk-in closet, holding up a dress on a hanger and looking at it. "Yes?" she asked without taking her eyes off the dress.

When he didn't answer, she looked up.

The way Emmett grimaced and Maddie looked all sad told her what was going on.

She draped the dress over an armchair and walked over to them.

"It's okay, don't worry," she told Emmett, who then let go of his little sister's hand and gave her shoulder a rub.

After sharing a little kiss with Rose, he left the room and closed the door to grant them some privacy.

"What is bothering you?" Rosalie asked and pulled Maddie along to sit on the bed with her.

Maddie played with the hem of the sweater she wore, so Rose immobilised her sister's hands with hers.

"You brought animals home, even though you were not allowed to have them, I know," she remarked after a moment because Maddie didn't say anything.

"It's just not fair," Maddie complained.

"Maddie," Rose said while tucking a strand of hair behind Maddie's ear, "it is not fair of you to keep animals when they are afraid of you. You let them suffer that way."

"I just wanted to have them to watch, I wasn't going to pet them," Maddie explained without looking up from the floor.

"That makes no difference, they sense your presence."

Maddie looked up then and asked in a distraught voice, "When does it get better?"

Rose stared at her sister, but then understood what she was saying.

"I know you don't like to hear it, but you are still too young to have the same liberties we have," she explained, still the same softness in her voice like before.

"But how much longer?"

"I cannot tell you, I don't know."

Maddie leaned against her older sister, who put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"We all had to go through this," Rosalie then tried to soothe her.

"But you were never in real trouble with Esme or Carlisle," Maddie whined.

Rosalie pulled away, confused. "What makes you think that?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, silly, silly Maddie. We were all quick-tempered and acted without thinking. Each and every one of us. Nobody is fond of strict rules, we weren't either," she explained while stroking her sister's hair.

"Really?"

Rose chuckled, then nodded her head. "Would you like to know what got Emmett in deep trouble with Esme once?"

"What did he do?" Maddie's eyes lit up.

"He told you that he got attacked by a bear before he got changed, didn't he? Well, ever since, he is a little obsessed with bears. He wanted to collect their heads as trophies every time he hunted one down," she said while making a disgusted face.

Maddie giggled. That story was bound to be good!

"But naturally, Esme didn't like having big, smelly bear heads in the house and forbid him from bringing them home."

Maddie nodded; she could imagine that her mother didn't like that.

"So Emmett seized the chance to do as he pleased when Carlisle and Esme were traveling to celebrate their anniversary. He skinned a dead bear that he had just fed on, and took its hide back home."

It sounded slightly disgusting, but still, Maddie listened intently. She liked yucky stories.

"He decided that since Esme hadn't said anything about a bear rug, he could bring one home and put it into the living room."

"Does he know how to tan properly?"

Rose smirked. "No."

"Uh-oh."

"Yes. Edward and I told him he would be in trouble, but he wouldn't listen. He thought he outsmarted Carlisle and Esme, because, his words: They weren't specific enough."

"What happened then?"

"Well, what do you think happened then? They came back home and were immediately hit by a foul smell, coming from the living room. Esme looked like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw the mauled bear skin lying on the wooden floor of her pristine living room."

"What did she do?"

"She was beside herself. She lectured Emmett for nearly an hour and then Carlisle took him to his office. Later that day, Emmett had to get rid of the bear hide and then scrub the floor every day for two weeks. It didn't help his situation to tell Esme that is was actually her fault, obviously."

"I don't wanna scrub the floor every day for two weeks," Maddie whined.

"Maddie, he had stained the floor, you didn't. So why would Esme make you scrub it?"

"I don't know, but she was mad."

"And can't you see why?" Rosalie asked her sister, then explained further. "Her home is her castle. It is the only place where we can be our normal selves without having to mind how we act like we do around humans. She is a perfectionist and wants to keep everything as neat as possible, so we all can relax and feel at home here. She does it for us."

"She has the cleaning bug," Maddie grumbled.

Rosalie shrugged, then laughed. "Yes, she does."

"What do I do now?"

"You will go find her and apologise," Rose stated matter-of-factly.

"But she and Carlisle will punish me."

"But you already knew that when you bought the rats, didn't you?"

When Maddie didn't say anything, Rose continued. "Come on, it'll be over with a lot quicker if you just face what is coming to you."

"I don't like getting smacked."

"I'd be very much concerned if you'd like it," she replied and nudged her sister in the side.

"Rosie, can't you talk to them?" Maddie queried, sulky-looking.

"No, I can't. They forbid you from having pets and you just got them anyways, even though you knew you'd be in trouble if they found out."

Maddie slowly slunk down the stairs after she had stayed with Rose for a while and she wasn't as nervous as before anymore. Talking to Rose had helped - what she had told her had helped. Now she knew that she wasn't the only one who got in trouble so much, all of them had been like her.

And she so had to ask Emmett to tell her the bear-story again, she was desperate to get his point of view on this. Her brother could tell awesome stories, even though she sometimes got the feeling that he added stuff that wasn't necessarily true ... but it was still funny as hell.

"Mom?" Maddie carefully asked when she had reached the foot of the stairs.

"I'm in the dining room, Madeline."

Maddie walked on and entered said room.

Esme sat at the table, legs crossed, and closed a magazine before pushing it away from herself and looking up at her daughter.

"Sit down, Madeline, I would like to talk to you," she said and gestured to a chair next to her.

Maddie hesitated for a short moment, then approached the table and sat down on the chair Esme had indicated.

"I am disappointed that you would betray our trust like that." Woah, Esme cut right to the chase of the matter.

Maddie bit her lip. She could deal with yelling, but not with them being all calm and saying things like she disappointed them.

"Madeline, we did not forbid you to have pets because we wanted to make you miserable. But if you keep animals, you make them miserable."

"Mom, I understand."

Esme frowned. "What do you understand, dear?"

"Rose explained it to me. I shouldn't have done it, it was a mistake. I'm really sorry about all that and that I upset you, but I swear they didn't touch the floor or anything, everything is still clean!" Maddie said with wide eyes.

Esme was still frowning, then cleared her throat. "Maddie ... what exactly did Rose tell you?"

"Well, she told me why I sometimes have trouble listening to you. She said everybody was struggling at my age. So please, Mom, don't be mad at me anymore. I didn't buy them to spite you."

"Oh, honey, I know you didn't," she cooed and hugged Maddie. She couldn't be angry with her for long, and was glad that she understood what she did wrong and didn't put up a fuss.

"But you have to understand that I cannot ignore the fact that you disobeyed us," Esme told her in a gentle voice.

Maddie nodded her head.

Esme took Maddie's hands in hers. "This is what is going to happen: I want you to do household chores for two weeks. When I tell you to do something, you do it immediately."

"Two whole weeks?"

"What else does two weeks mean, hm, honey?" Esme queried with raised eyebrows.

"Okay. But you are not mad at me anymore ... right, Mommy?"

Esme smiled at her. "No, baby, I'm not."

"What about Dad?"

"Well, I advise you to make an apology to your father. He is not impressed with your behaviour."

Maddie squirmed in her seat. "Will he ... you know?"

Esme sighed. "To be honest: Yes, but the way you behaved you were already expecting it, am I right?"

Maddie groaned, but nodded her head.

"Off you go then, he is waiting in his office for you."

Oh great, the office.

Maddie left the room after getting hugged by her Mom once more and ascended the stairs. The door to Carlisle's office was ajar, so Maddie came to a halt in the doorway and lightly knocked on the open door.

Carlisle looked up. "Madeline," he said, "did you take the rats back to the pet shop?"

Maddie nodded her head.

"Any trouble?"

"No, Sir."

"I am glad to hear that," he said and stood up from his seat. He approached his daughter, then told her to follow him.

They walked up the stairs and straight into Maddie's room.

Maddie hopped onto her bed, already knowing what was going to happen now.

Lecture, then smacking - she knew the drill.

"You already talked to your mother, I assume," he stated after seating himself on Maddie's desk chair which he had put in front of his daughter so he could face her.

"Yes, Sir."

"Do you understand why she punished you?" he queried.

"I do. I upset her by bringing animals home."

"What else, Maddie?" Carlisle asked.

"I disobeyed both of you by buying the pets in the first place," Maddie muttered.

"Yes, you did. You can expect a spanking for this."

"Yes, Sir." That wasn't exactly a surprise.

"Now. What else did you do?"

"I lied to you," Maddie admitted.

"What did you lie about?"

Maddie was that close to rolling her eyes - she hated that her father always cross-questioned her.

She let out a puff of air. "I lied about what I did at school and about leaving the school grounds."

"Why was that wrong?"

"Lying is always wrong?" she tried. That was a good answer, wasn't it?

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, it is. And we wish to know where you are at all times, please understand that. It is so very important in case something might happen. We need to be able to find you."

"I understand. Dad, I was just so fed up with all the rules! You're crushing me!" Maddie whined.

"Madeline, trust me when I say that I understand what you are going through. But we still have to inflict rules on you. You'll gain more freedom of choice over time, I promise."

Maddie would have complained and fussed now, but she still had Rose's words in mind. So she nodded her head and kept her mouth shut.

"I want you to remember your appalling behaviour earlier today. That will not go unpunished, either. You have been very disrespectful towards me and your mother, and I will not tolerate that. You know better."

"Yes, Sir," Maddie replied while hanging her head.

"This will add to your spanking that you'll receive today."

"Okay."

"So let us address your punishment for lying," Carlisle suggested.

"But I'm grounded, you grounded me for that," Maddie tried to reason with him.

"No no no, you know full well that I grounded you for cutting class. But you lied about that to me. Like you said, you left the school grounds and purchased animals that you were not allowed to have."

Maddie squirmed; she didn't like the sound of that. Another punishment? Hell, how much more?

"You know how your mother and I feel about lying. You leave me no choice but to give you a spanking for that."

Maddie's jaw dropped. "Two?"

"Yes, Madeline. Your behaviour warrants two separate corrections."

"But ... I have to do chores for two weeks!"

"I am quite aware of that," Carlisle commented.

"But ... I cannot take two s-sp .. two of that!" She definitely didn't like that word. And she didn't like two spankings ... been there, done that. It was horrible, even though she got off lightly the second time. But that wouldn't happen again, right?

"Yes, you can and you will. I will administer one today for going behind our backs and purchasing animals and for your disrespect, and one tomorrow for lying to my face."

"Can Emmett come up afterwards?" Maddie carefully asked. She didn't know if she was confined to her room when this was over.

"Of course, dear. The moment he and the others come back home."

Maddie nodded her head. There was nothing more to say now, except for ...

"Daddy? I'm sorry."

"I know, princess, so let's get this over with real quick, shall we?"

"Okay," Maddie said, even though she knew it wouldn't be over with real quick. She stood up from her bed.

Carlisle put Maddie's chair back under her desk, then walked to the bed and took Maddie's seat.

Maddie lightly pulled with her thumb and index finger at her sweatpants, looking questioningly at her Dad.

Carlisle nodded his head.

Hell.

So Maddie pushed them down a bit before being pulled over her Dad's knees.

What she had anticipated but still hoped wouldn't happen, happened.

She felt her panties being tugged down along her sweatpants - all the way down to her knees.

The next moments would suck so bad.

"Are you ready?" Carlisle asked while shifting her forward a bit, so she was more comfortable with her upper body resting on the bed and he could take accurate aim.

"Uh-huh." was all Maddie managed to utter.

And then she felt the first sharp smack landing on her bottom. More followed, and every time her father's hand cracked down on her bare butt, the pain got worse.

She couldn't help but squirm, trying to get off Carlisle's lap, but the hold he had on her waist kept her exactly where she was. After a dozen slaps she couldn't suppress the cries that were forming in her throat anymore and venom leaked from her eyes.

But Carlisle was far from done. He kept his steady rhythm of spanks on her buttocks, until he shifted her forward on the bed. Her eyes opened wide when she realised what was going to happen next. "No, no no! Daddy, please! I'm sorry!" she shouted in a feeble attempt to stop him.

"Almost done, Maddie, almost done," he said, trying to calm her. But the only thing that would help right now, would be to speed up a little and apply the last smacks aimed to her sit spots in quick succession.

He did so while she sobbed, then he immediately started rubbing circles on her back, glad that it was over.

There.

Maddie didn't even realise it was over with, until she slowly became aware of a hand rubbing her back comfortingly instead of cracking down on her behind.

She made to get up, so Carlisle pulled her panties and pants back up, which brought a fit of hissing, and then helped her stand.

She rubbed at her eyes; the thick venom tears that hadn't yet ceased to leak from her eyes stung.

"It's over, honey, shhh, it's over," Carlisle cooed and stroked her hair before embracing her in his arms.

She let her head rest against his chest; the feeling of her Dad rubbing her back calmed her gradually.

She pulled away a bit to look at him with her glossy eyes, sniffling once more. "Are you still mad at me?" she asked in a subdued voice.

"No, princess, you're forgiven. Don't think about it anymore."

Well easier said than done ... her butt hurt something awful and she still had another smacking coming, already scheduled for the next day. Ugh.

She tried to rub the sting away, but winced the moment her hand lightly touched her behind.

Ugh, that was definitely as bad as the last time she got two spankings.

"Do you want to lie down?"

"I will in a moment, I just need to ... change." Well, her sweatpants were fine ... but she wanted to get rid of her panties underneath. They were to tight on her butt right now and it hurt!

"I understand. Shall I come back in when you are done?"

"Can Emmett come in?"

He nodded. "I'll go looking for him. Are you all right with me leaving now?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said while grimacing.

Carlisle gave her a little smile and hugged her again. "I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, too," she replied and walked stiffly over to her closet.

Carlisle left the room and closed the door behind himself to go looking for Emmett just like he had promised her.

I just had to add some Rose in this one :) I think I couldn't have done the chapter without her.

Sooo ... happy with the result? REVIEW and tell me!