Hellooooooooo readers!
Finally I get to see some snow! Seriously, I wait all year just for a little snow ... and now we are having a full-blown snowstorm :-)
Enjoy the next chapter, my dear readers!
There'll be one more about Christmas and then I might take a little break to concentrate on a different story. All right with you?
No, no, this would stop right now, Carlisle decided.
He was not willing to watch Alice continue to play havoc with even more rooms in this house. And he couldn't imagine any good reason for her doing so in the first place.
So he hurried after her, taking three steps at a time until he reached the third floor.
Before his daughter could reach out and open the door to Edward's room, he seized her by the wrist and spun her around.
"Alice, it's enough! What do you think you are doinghere ?" he queried, his voice laced with indignation.
"I'm blind!" she exclaimed.
"What do you mean?"
"I cannot see anything, not even the tiniest glimpse!"
Carlisle waited for her to continue.
She looked distressed, confused even. "Nothing! They ruin Christmas, all of them! ... they have to be somewhere ...," she babbled, then reached out for the door handle to Edward's room again.
Carlisle did not let go of her wrist, so she tried harder to pull herself free from his grip.
Not knowing what got into her, but determined to find out, Carlisle needed to get her attention first.
Alice was a tiny girl, so he had no trouble pulling at her wrist, bending her to the side and smacking her bottom several times.
She yelped at the sting that blossomed on her behind, and Carlisle let go of her now because she was looking at him with wide open eyes.
Now they could talk.
Alice's hands shot back to rub the sting out, while she gaped at her Dad.
Truth be told, it had been forever since she had gotten spanked and she had never planned on finding herself in that position again. Her gift normally saved her from making bad decisions that could lead to trouble for her.
"Do I have your attention now?" he queried.
"Yes, Sir," Alice whispered, averting her eyes before suddenly looking him back in the eye. "Why did you spank me?" she asked and grimaced while still trying to rid her behind of the sting her Dad's hand had brought.
She was really asking why? "You were ignoring me. Besides, I saw you messing up your siblings' room and then you were heading for Edward's, so I assumed you wanted to repeat your actions."
"It's not my fault!" Alice replied indignantly.
Carlisle sighed.
"Come with me," he said and guided her down the stairs and into the living room.
Standing in the hallway was not how he planned on finding out why Alice had felt the need to make the house look like a dumpster.
She sighed when she let herself fall backwards onto the couch, while her father sat down in one of the armchairs.
Carlisle frowned. "What is upsetting you so, Alice? Never before have I seen you like this."
"I'm blind."
"Yes, you mentioned it before. Would you care to explain what that means, dear?"
"Maddie blocked my ability, I'm blind," She clarified, a little annoyed that he was so slow on the uptake.
"But your mother told me you gave your consent. It that not true?" he asked, sounding concerned.
If Maddie had lied to Esme about that, he would need to have a word with her. Alice seemed so helpless and confused, and he couldn't find anything amusing about it. So if Maddie had done it without her sister's consent, then she would find herself in deep trouble with him.
Alice hung her head. "Well, it was Jasper's idea and Maddie had been reluctant to do it. I gave my consent and then let her block me ... but I cannot handle being ordinary!"
"Being ordinary? Honey, you visions will come back to you. They are still there, you just cannot see them. It just takes a few days," he tried to calm her.
"But then it will be too late! Why has nobody bought presents yet?" she growled in irritation and narrowed her eyes at her father.
"Excuse me?" He didn't like the tone she was taking with him, and he certainly didn't understand what she was talking about now.
"You are ruining Christmas! All of you!" Alice accused, gesturing wildly.
He was taken aback. "Alice, what are you talking about?"
"No presents! I looked everywhere, but nothing whatsoever!" She seemed to be beside herself.
"I want you to calm yourself. There is no need for yelling at me, I can hear you just fine," he admonished.
Seeing that she was upsetting her father, she quickly said, "I apologise." She didn't know why she was having these mood swings right now. And she wasn't someone who took it out on others.
"Am I right in assuming that you entered my study and mine and your mother's bedroom and rummaged through the closets and drawers?"
And here we go ... time for a new mood swing!
"Well, where else would you be keeping our Christmas presents?" she queried in a Duh!-kind-of voice.
He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, before focussing back on his daughter.
"You know better than to disrespect our privacy like that! What do you have to say for yourself?"
She suddenly jumped up, her hands clenched to fists at her sides. "You are at fault for not having taken care of the Christmas shopping yet!" she screamed at him.
"Alice ...," Carlisle warned. These outbursts were so unlike Alice, never had he seen her behave in such a way. She wasn't herself right now, but still, he wouldn't listen to her disrespect much longer. Alice was old enough to at least try and keep her temper in check.
"This is going to be the worst Christmas ever!" she whined while slumping back onto the couch and slamming her fist down on the cushion next to herself, which got her an admonishing look from her father.
"Believe me when I say that Christmas is going to be beautiful. And I don't want you to worry about any presents. I cannot believe you would go through our drawers like that, invading our privacy, causing disorder and not even seem to care!"
She was close to tears now. Maybe out of sadness, maybe out of anger - Carlisle wasn't sure.
It might a little of both.
"I wanted to make it special for Maddie, I had so much planned ... but now you are ruining it!" She pulled at her hair in frustration, just like before. Carlisle had to admit that she showed a vague resemblance to Rumpelstiltskin right then.
"Do you need a moment to calm yourself?" he asked while running his fingers through his hair. It seemed like Alice wasn't even listening to him and that way they wouldn't get very far.
She gazed up at him, wide-eyed, like she didn't understand why she would need to calm down. She hadn't done anything wrong, after all.
A different approach was in order, Carlisle decided.
"Follow me," he ordered and waited for Alice to stand up - to make sure she would comply.
Ascending the stairs, he then waited by the door to his and Esme's bedroom. Alice stopped right next to him.
"Look," Carlisle said and pointed inside. Maybe seeing this mess again would pull her out of her irritation.
She took in the sight that presented itself in front of her.
When a gasp escaped her lips, he knew that she was finally realising what she had done.
Alice hadn't really noticed in which state she had left the rooms. She had been so focussed on finding presents, that she never stopped to think what she was actually doing.
The bedroom was a mess, just like the study and Rose and Emmett's room, that Carlisle showed her as well.
She squirmed a little under his penetrating look and waited for him to speak.
"Can we go downstairs and talk about what happened here? Preferably calm and collected?" he queried.
"I- I'm so sorry, Daddy, please don't be mad at me," she tried meekly.
Alice felt bad about what she had done. Really bad.
How could something like this ever happen to her? She was neither a crazy person nor was she acting without thinking. But the chaos in these rooms was undoubtedly her work.
She descended the stairs with her father and sat down on the couch in the living room once more.
"I was upset about not seeing anything and then I just wanted to check to make sure everything was going according to plan even without my help."
"Then why did you ever give your consent for having your ability blocked?" It didn't make sense to him that Alice would willingly give up her gift, especially since she was so dependent on it.
She sighed. "For Jasper. I do understand why he asked this of me, and everybody else thought it would be a good idea, too, so I was willing to try it. But I had no idea what it would feel like!"
She covered her face with her hands and exclaimed, "It's driving me insane!"
"Maddie will be home soon. You could ask her to lift her influence over you."
"No ... I want to do this," she answered and looked up at him.
It was so tough for her. But Edward had done this a couple of times already and said it wasn't too bad. It helped you to relax, to let your mind wander from time to time, like dreaming, he said.
Alice liked the idea of dreaming - like humans did every night in their sleep. She didn't remember her human life, she craved these memories that she had obviously forgotten about. But now that her ability was really blocked, it didn't feel relaxing or pleasant - it was horrible. She was on edge and moody, the thought of not knowing what would happen next distressed her.
"Good. Then let us talk about you invading not only your mother and I's privacy, but Rose and Emmett's as well," he said strictly.
"I'm really sorry... I'll clean up! And I won't ever do it again." She was deeply embarrassed by what she had done and hoped that by cleaning up she could remedy her mistake.
"I'm glad you see the wrongs of your doings."
Alice nodded, hoping that was it.
"You are grounded for two weeks."
That was a shock.
And what might follow a shock? Yes, a mood swing.
"What? ! I'm already blind and now you want to torment me further by keeping me home all day? And even for Christmas? !" She was outraged.
"Alice, I am being very lenient with you right now," he told her calmly.
"That is lenient?"
"I am taking into account that you aren't yourself right now due to the loss of your ability. Your siblings would have gotten a sound hiding."
Alice looked at the floor and thought it over.
"Daddy?" she asked softly and lifted her head. "Please don't ground me. I'd rather take the punishment the others would get."
His eyes widened in surprise, before he said, "Alice, I wouldn't feel comfortable-"
"Don't treat me differently just because I am handicapped right now," she begged.
It wasn't just that Alice was missing her ability and therefore was committing a blunder, but also that she was usually well behaved. Alice never acted up - except for frequently maxing out her credit cards, but that wasn't too bad and otherwise she was a perfect little angel. So cleaning up and being grounded would be punishment enough for her, no need to adopt drastic measures.
"Don't let me suffer for two weeks, Daddy, please. I want to get it over with now." Alice wanted closure, she didn't want to be reminded of her horrible behaviour every day for two whole weeks! And why would he treat her any different than her siblings? She was just as much his child as the others were.
"Are you sure?" He had his qualms about spanking Alice now, but could understand her reasoning.
It was just so hard for him, because Alice seemed so fragile right now. Would she really be all right with it, or would it do serious harm to her? He wasn't sure how she would deal with a spanking in her current state of mind.
How would she react?
Well, Edward normally sulked a little afterwards, Emmett cracked jokes the moment it was over with and Maddie brushed it off after wanting some time to herself. But they always learned from it, that's why it was an effective punishment.
Could Alice be held accountable for her actions? He was upset that she had disrespected their privacy and made a mess of their rooms but it came down to her being overchallenged by the abstinence of her visions. A grounding might help her think about how to keep a cool head in situations like these.
"Yes. Can you do it now? I cannot see when the others will be back home," she whispered.
He took a deep breath, thinking about it once more, before saying, "Come here, Alice."
She gulped, but did as she was told and walked to his right side without hesitating once.
Carlisle helped her over his lap, then gave her back a little rub.
"Are you -"
"Yes, I am sure. You can begin, Dad."
He nodded his head in response, even though his daughter wouldn't see it. Then he placed his left hand on her waist to hold her in place and raised his right one high in the air.
The first smack made Alice yelp, but then she pressed her lips together tightly - not wanting for her Dad to feel bad about spanking her.
Carlisle felt awful, so he gave Alice about a dozen swats in quick succession, wanting it to be over with.
It was hard for Alice to keep the squirming to a minimum, but she did succeed.
When she felt herself being lifted up and seated on her father's knee, she immediately hugged him around the neck, glad that it was over with but confused about the briefness of her punishment.
"Are you all right, sweetheart?"
She pulled away, frowning. Her eyes held unshed venom tears, he noticed, but otherwise she seemed relaxed.
"You went easy on me," she stated and leaned against him again, letting her head rest in the crook of his neck.
"I gave you what I felt would be adequate," he explained, but in reality - he did go easy on her.
"Right ... just because I am small doesn't mean that I cannot handle the same the others do."
He patted her head while chuckling. "Oh ... you want some more?" he queried and made to bend her back over his lap.
"No wait! That's not what I said!" she hastily said. Her butt hurt, so she had been punished. No need to add more, right?
He hugged her again.
"I know you went easy on me, but it's okay, I forgive you." Sitting on her Dad's lap, being hugged by him was so comforting and it made her feel safe. She almost completely forgot about her insecurities that came with her temporarily lost gift.
Carlisle enjoyed spending some time with her without interruptions from his other children. With a family as big as theirs it was a little difficult sometimes.
When he had the feeling that Alice was completely calm and not hurting anymore, he suggested, "Why don't we go upstairs and clean up? I don't think your mother would be awfully impressed to find three rooms upside down."
That made Alice avert her eyes. It had been a little more than just three rooms ...
She nervously pulled on the hem of her shirt, while saying, "Uhm ... Dad? I have also been to the basement ..."
He caught his breath.
"Alice, dear, does it look like-"
"Yes," she answered before he could say any more. "I'm sorry ..."
He sighed and stroked her messy hair. "Still, we should get started upstairs, don't you think?"
She nodded. "But you don't have to help me, I made the mess so I'll clean it up again."
"It'll be much quicker that way, sweetheart. And I am not sure if you know where everything belongs."
"True," she admitted.
It took them some time to tidy up.
Carlisle took care of his office himself, while Alice busied herself in her parent's bedroom and, of course, Rose and Emmett's.
But they made it in time before the rest of the family came back home about an hour later.
They were carrying so many bags and boxes that Carlisle thought they must have rented a truck to bring it all home.
Maddie immediately ran to her room, to hide the stuff she bought. She would wrap it up later, but firstly she needed to get it away from the rest of the family. She didn't want the surprises spoilt, after all.
They had split up to get the shopping done.
At first, Maddie went with Jasper and Esme, then with Rose and then with Edward and Emmett. It had been fun, even though the mall had been beyond busy. It had taken them forever to find a parking space and then they had to stand in queue to pay for the presents they had chosen. But Emmett and Edward let Maddie compel people so they could skip waiting in line. Hey, they didn't have all day, okay?
Hiding the presents in her closet, Maddie then made to walk back downstairs to greet her Dad when she heard Rose call for her.
So she skipped down the stairs and stopped in front of Rose and Emmett's room. Unfortunately Rosalie did not look happy.
"Have you been to this room?" She asked and pointed into her room.
Maddie knitted her brows. "When?"
"Just now."
"Nope," Maddie replied, shaking her head no.
"Someone has been going through my drawers," Rosalie stated matter-of-factly. She had wanted to hide a present in one of her drawers, but found that her stuff was completely disorganised.
"Oh thanks, so you immediately assume I did it." Maddie pouted and crossed her arms while leaning against the doorframe.
Rose sighed. "No, no. You know you are allowed in here and borrow my things, but I expect you to put everything back where it belongs."
"But I haven't been in there, I just went to my room."
"Maybe Emmett ...," Rose mused.
"I can explain," Alice said nervously.
They turned around and looked at her.
"Uhm ... I don't exactly know where to start ... but I went through your rooms."
"Why would you do that, Alice?" Esme queried. She was walking up the stairs with her husband, who carried several shopping bags for her. He had already briefed her a little of what he had witnessed after he had arrived back home from work.
"I'm not myself without my ability," she answered meekly. That was the only explanation Alice could come up with.
Now Edward and Emmett joined them, too.
"Did you wreck my room?" Maddie queried. She hadn't noticed anything out of order up there, but she hadn't checked her drawers yet.
"Your room, as well as Edward's room, is fine," Carlisle answered for Alice.
That made Maddie smile and she and Edward high-fived. Yup, he was way cooler without his gift - much more relaxed and even kind of fun to hang out with, actually.
What do you think? I couldn't blow my chance of getting Alice in trouble!
But then I had some qualms and felt bad for her :-( Oh well ...
I'm not sure if this chapter turned out the way I wanted it to, but the next one might be better again!
REVIEW!