Chapter 2 – Standing Pat

Bella barely managed to get upstairs without Charlie realizing that she had been crying. She didn't feel comfortable sharing this with him. I felt honored that she would lean on me for support instead.

Once she got to her bed, she seemed to be struggling to hold it together. I knew that she couldn't tell Charlie because he would be in danger of knowing too much about us. That didn't change the fact that Bella was still very emotional over the constant arguing with Edward. She wasn't going to last. She was going to break down.

I couldn't stand seeing her this way. Like my son had done so many times before, I climbed up to her window and knocked softly, pushing it open so that she knew who was calling on her. She let me in, and I comforted her until she fell asleep.

As I held her, I remembered that she had nearly called me dad. My heart swelled at the thought. She was my cherished daughter, and I longed to hear her call me dad for real. I didn't bring it up because I assumed that she felt conflicted about it. I didn't want her to feel that I was minimizing Charlie's role as her father. He truly loved and treasured her. He had a hard time showing it, but he did care very much for her. I also realized that though she loved him very much, she was emotionally distancing herself from him because very soon, she was going to have to cut all ties with him so that she could be with Edward forever.

I feel like my daughter knew what she was giving up to become like us, to some degree anyway. At the same time, she knew that she wanted forever with Edward, to become like him, like us. It gave me great fatherly pleasure to know that she trusted us to keep her from harming anyone during her newborn phase, and that she trusted me personally enough to not kill her while I changed her. Yes, I knew that she really wanted Edward to do it, and I could hardly blame her for that. She was insecure, and I didn't blame her for that either. Edward had broken her so completely when he left her in the forest, that now she constantly questioned whether or not he really wanted her.

That brings me to the last time I had to discipline him. I was infuriated that he would say such things to the love of his existence. How could he break her like that? In the vampire world, that was a nearly unspeakable offense. It isn't one that you could get killed for, but it is definitely something that could get him ostracized for all of eternity. Denying one's beloved was akin to blasphemy, and Aro could have punished him very harshly for that. Had Bella been a vampire already, he probably would have, but Aro sees humans as second class citizens, and probably didn't consider Bella's feelings worth a punishment.

I, on the other hand, did not agree with Aro in that regard, and Edward spent a good portion of an evening over my lap receiving discipline for his blatant disrespect of his beloved. Yes, I spanked him for attempting to end his life as well, but the crux of his disobedience came down to the fact he made catastrophic decisions that affected many people without taking their opinion or feelings into account. He felt that his ability to hear thoughts gave him a higher wisdom that enabled him to make superior decisions. He failed to take into account that his ability gave him no discernment or experience, and he would do well to defer to others with more of both.

This brings me to our current situation. Edward hadn't learned his lesson previously, and I needed time to consider how to get through to him. He was and is without a doubt, the most stubborn person I knew. He was about as flexible as a bowling ball, and I wasn't entirely sure he would learn his lesson this time either. I wished that I did know how to make him see wisdom, if not for his own sake, for Bella's. She was the one who was being hurt in this whole scenario, and Edward seemed to think that anything that helped keep her safe was worth it, up to and including breaking her heart.

I finally slipped out of Bella's arms and made my way back home. I found Edward pacing in his room, probably trying to figure out a way out of this.

"Sit." I ordered, and he immediately complied.

"Carlisle, I…" He started to explain to me.

"Stop." I held up my hand. "I've already heard your side, Edward. I do not wish to hear it again."

"But you're being unreasonable." He argued. "It is very dangerous."

"You really want to do this again?" I asked in frustration, not expecting an answer. "You are getting a spanking today. Let me tell you why."

I took a deep breath before I recounted my list of grievances. "First, you know how I feel about the way you dismiss Bella's wishes when you disagree. You were told not to do that. I made very clear the consequences of that behavior after your return from Italy, did I not?"

Edward stubbornly looked at the ground and refused to answer me.

"It was not a rhetorical question, Edward." I growled at him.

"You did." He huffed.

"And disconnecting Bella's battery, knowing she couldn't put it back together was most decidedly dismissing her wishes." I told him.

"But she won't listen to me. She dismisses my wishes." Edward argued.

"I doubt that very much." I frowned at him. "She probably hates having to go against you wishes. She probably gives your wishes a lot of consideration before she decides. She is a very selfless person, Edward. It's killing her that she has to sneak around you to do what she feels is right. And believe me; she wouldn't be trying to see Jacob if she didn't feel that it's the right thing to do."

"It isn't right. I don't want her to see him." He told me angrily.

"I never said that you had to want her to see him." I replied as calmly as possible. My young son was grating on my nerves with his selfishness.

"Selfishness?" I he stood indignantly, responding to my thoughts. "Is it selfish for me to want to keep her safe?"

"Sit." I repeated calmly.

He stood defiantly for a few moments until I narrowed my eyes at him, and he complied.

"It is selfish to assume you are right all of the time." I explained. "That is what bothers me."

"But I am right!" He shouted at me. "If she considered her safety for a single second…"

"She wouldn't be with you." I interrupted him. "Part of what you love about her is the fact that she looks beyond the danger and into the heart of a person. She sees the good in you despite the danger."

"But I'm in control. He's not." Edward argued.

"You don't know him well enough to determine that." I reasoned with him. "Bella does."

"No!" He gritted his teeth, stubbornly refusing my wisdom. "Alice can't see them, and I can't go with her! She can't go!"

"Enough!" I yelled, finished with this argument. "I don't really care if you agree with me, Edward. You will not force her to stay away from Jacob."

"I don't agree!" He stood once again and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I will do what is necessary to keep her safe!"

I could see Bella's frustration with him. He simply would not let this go. He was determined to win this argument or at the very least get his way, and she was determined to do the right thing.

"This is not a request, Edward." I walked forward to him and pushed his shoulder reminding him that he was supposed to be sitting. He resisted until he saw in my mind that I was about to spin him around and give him a few reminder swats. When he flopped back down onto his bottom, I continued. "You will not do anything to keep Bella from seeing Jacob. If I find out you disobeyed, we will have a much less pleasant repeat of the lesson you are about to receive. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Edward told me very defiantly.

"We are finally getting to my second reason for your spanking." I ignored the fact that we were probably going to end up having this discussion again. "I'm well aware that you and Alice both knew that what you were doing was wrong because both of you were ashamed to tell me what was going on."

"That's only because I knew you'd act this way." Edward told me petulantly. "Her safety is more important than anything, Carlisle, but I wasn't particularly excited about getting…"

"You knew that I would be displeased with your behavior, yet you did it anyway?" I asked him.

"Yes." He nodded curtly. "I said that I was willing to endure anything to keep her safe. That includes your discipline."

"Then there's nothing more for me to say about it, Edward." I told him, shaking my head. "But heed my warning. If you continue down this path, you are going to lose her."

"You said that she wasn't going to leave me." He reminded me bitterly.

"I said that I didn't think she was going to leave you, but that's not entirely what I was talking about." I sighed. "Although she could decide that she can't handle your overbearing personality, it's more likely that she will change and lose all of the uniqueness that you cherish about her."

"It's just until she's out of danger." Edward resolved causing me to sigh in despair.

Bella was in for a lot more heartache at Edward's hand. All I could do was damage control. I hoped that today's spanking would cause him to pause when he considers being a selfish jackass.

"Let's not delay this any longer, Edward." I would have been crying for my daughter if I could have been. "Follow me to my office."

Edward rolled his eyes and rose from the bed where he was seated. He clearly thought that this was an unnecessary evil that he must endure to keep Bella safe. I was saddened that I hadn't gotten through to him. Maybe with time…

"I wouldn't count on it, Carlisle." Edward commented on my thoughts.

"Drop your pants and bend over the desk." I told him.

Edward preferred this position, and I indulged him as long as he was not fighting me. This was also the preferred position for all of my children, except for Alice. Her height made it hard to be positioned correctly over the desk. She actually preferred to stand in the middle of the room and touch her toes. It was a strange experience for me, but it worked. Sometimes, my children were not cooperative in their punishments, and they would have to be over my lap and pinned between my legs. If this happened, they were not allowed the modesty and protection of their undergarments. Other times, I have had them over my lap with their undergarments down if I feel I need to make a specific point, as I had with Edward when he attempted suicide in Italy. I hoped that I had made clear how I felt about suicide.

"I think you made that abundantly clear, Carlisle." He responded to my thoughts dryly as he undid his belt.

"Yet… you failed to catch the other points I was making," I responded firmly as he sighed and dropped his trousers and leaned over the desk, "that your point of view is not always the correct one, and shouldn't impose your will on Bella merely because she lacks the resources to stop you. Since I failed to covey this message the last time we were here, I plan on making it clear today."

I tried to let that seep into his mind before I let fly the first smack. He grunted a bit at the impact, not expecting me to start so harshly, as I usually built up to this point. He failed to take into account that I didn't respond mercifully to those who purposefully and calculatingly break rules and hope to ask for forgiveness. In my family, it was not better to ask forgiveness than permission. I would indeed forgive him, but I would make damn sure he thought about it before he repeated this disobedience.

I continued to rain down rather powerful swats, increasing the intensity as I went along. I covered all of his bottom and upper thighs systematically as I showed him my displeasure with his disregard of Bella's wishes.

Normally, I would spank until I felt my point was made, but tonight with Edward, I had no idea if I was making any impact whatsoever. It still felt as if he was being rather insubordinate. Instead of my usual pattern, I determined to spank him for twice as long as I felt that I would have, had he been more repentant, trying to let him know that I didn't appreciate repeating lessons that I had already had to teach.

"Damn it, Carlisle!" he yelled at me, "that's not fair!"

Before I responded to that outburst, I placed five extremely hard smacks on his upper thighs, and he yelped out.

"I want you to consider what you're risking before you try this again, son." I explained my reason for the prolonged punishment calmly. "And I would also like to remind you to keep your temper in check if you wish to keep your last layer of protection. Am I clear?"

He knew that I expected an answer, but he didn't give me one. In response, I gave another blistering to his thighs again, letting him know with my mind that I intended to continue this assault until he answered.

"Yes, sir!" He nearly screamed after seven swats.

"Wonderful." I told him as I resumed my previous rhythm, determining now, that I might as well extend this a little bit more, seeing as Edward clearly hadn't gotten the message yet.

"Please, Carlisle!" He cried out. "I'm sorry!"

I continued thrashing his backside as I addressed him. "You're sorry for…?" I questioned him, not believing that it was for his complete disrespect for Bella.

"Yes, Carlisle!" He choked out. "I'm sorry for that! I won't do it again!"

"If you are lying to me…" I slowed down but intensified the blows. "We will have this same discussion again, over my lap. Do you understand me?"

"I'm not lying! I promise to do better!" He begged me.

"You promise what, Edward?" I questioned him while I focused on his sit spots. "You have yet to actually say what you are apologizing for and promising to do."

He whimpered as he thought about how to word his response.

This, as they say, was not my first rodeo. I had been down this road before with Emmett who gave me a vague promise and later told me I couldn't hold him accountable because he didn't actually promise anything specifically. After an extended spanking, Emmett found out that I didn't mess around with semantics. I expected discipline to produce noticeable results.

Edward was struggling with forming words, so I decided to tell him exactly what he was promising, not knowing if he could form a rational sentence.

"I understand your promise to mean that you will not blatantly disregard Bella's wishes when they differ from yours, and if you use your abilities to force her to conform to your wishes, you will be back in this very room over my knees. Furthermore, you will not disrespect her by keeping secrets from her or treating her like a child. That's what I will assume you are promising whether you actually say the words or not." I told him as I finished spanking him.

"Yes sir." He cried as he collapsed down onto the desk.