Have to start with yet another thank you to all the reviewers. You all blow me away. I never expected such lovely words (yes, I'm a perfectionist, so my work is never good enough). And I'm so glad this story is received well. The first flames will probably come with the first spanking, but hey...I did put a warning on the story.

Do want to say one small thing about something a guest reviewer said about Guthrie's rebellious side. I personally never saw it as rebellion, but more a 12-year-old (an almost teen) trying to assert himself, to earn his place in the family. And yes, like another guest pointed out: a boy wanting to be like Adam. Having said that, however, I promise you I won't write him as a complete angel, a compliant little boy. I do think that him being 8 in this story makes a bit of a difference.

Chapter 7

"Damn it!" Another shirt landed on the bed. "How difficult can this be? I do it every day for crying out loud."

Adam was glad his door was closed because he could only imagine the ribbing he'd get from his brothers. It really shouldn't be that difficult to get dressed. He did it every day. He usually just grabbed the first shirt in the closet along with a pair of jeans and he was done. Why would tonight be any different? Okay, so he hadn't been on a date in a while. Make that in a couple of years. Okay, about 6 years. Goodness, had it really been that long ago? He had to admit it had. He'd been 18 on his last date. Just 18. And he hadn't taken half an hour to find the right clothes, that's for sure. Although, if he was completely honest to himself, he had taken more time to get ready than Brian was going to let him forget. He'd known what he'd wear, but had taken the time to do his hair just right and to shave, use his favorite cologne. Now, he had no idea. He didn't even know what cologne he used. He supposed it was the brand that happened to be on sale. Brian was always looking for a good deal. Crane had trained them well when it came to spending money wisely. They even used coupons.

He was about to pull another shirt out of the closet when he heard yelling outside. Groaning he looked out the window, trying to stay out of sight in case anyone looked up. It looked like Evan wasn't keen on bedding down Diablo and heading inside. Brian's body language didn't promise much good for the 13-year-old if he didn't stop his protests soon. Adam was about to open the window when he stopped himself and decided to let Brian handle it. "Serves him right too."

The dark-haired ladies man wasn't exactly his favorite person at the moment. Some of the curse words he'd uttered in the past half hour had been directed at his brother Brian. How dare he set him up like that, put him on the spot! But there was no way out now. He might as well get it over with. And if he didn't leave in about 10 minutes he would be late and his mother had taught him a gentleman never kept a lady waiting. Never.

"Oooohhh Adam's going on a da-ate…" Ford's teasing song was accompanied by Brian's whistle and Adam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, you can all stop now," Adam's rough reaction didn't fool a single McFadden.

Brian was leaning against the wall, not even trying to hide the grin on his face. "A tad nervous, big brother?"

Adam had to restrain himself. He would have loved to wipe that smirk off Brian's face. "Why should I be nervous? Just going to listen to a band. In the company of another adult. It'll be nice to have another adult to talk to for a change."

"Sure…" Brian's tone implied he didn't believe a single word of it.

"You don't like us no more, Adam?"

"No, Guthrie," Daniel answered before Adam could say anything, "He doesn't like us anymore."

"Daniel!"

"I was just correcting Guthrie's grammar, Brian."

"Somehow I doubt that." Brian's voice had turned to ice.

In the meantime Adam had gone over to Guthrie and had lifted the boy up in his arms. Guthrie immediately wrapped his legs around Adam's waist, just like he'd done when he was a little younger. "I will always like you, buddy, always. Nothing can ever change that. Nothing that happens, nothing that I do, nothing that you do. Okay?"

"Okay, Adam…" The youngest brother was usually easily reassured, especially by Adam. "Bring me back something?"

"I'm only going to be out for a few hours. You'll be asleep by the time I get back."

"Who knows…you might get lucky tonight and then you won't be back until tomorrow….or the day after…" A hand on his bicep stopped the flow of words that was coming out of Daniel's mouth.

"Upstairs."

"Why?" Despite Brian's hand on his arm the teenager wasn't ready to give in.

"You know exactly why and if you don't I'll explain…but for now…you're going to your room and you'll stay there until I say otherwise."

"That's not fair, Brian! I didn't do anything wrong…"

"One…"

"Geesh." The boy just managed to refrain from stomping his foot. "You'll hafta let go of my arm first."

Brian did let go, but only to land a hard swat on Daniel's backside. "Two…"

"Ow!" Daniel made the decision not to push Brian any further and quickly, albeit not quietly, made his way up the stairs.

"Adam, what's getting lucky mean?"

"Never you mind, Guthrie. And don't you go repeating it. It's why Daniel's in trouble now. That and his sass," Adam had learned that whatever the kids threw at them wasn't meant personal but he still couldn't help feeling just slightly hurt. It was hard not to take it personal.

"Oh…"

Putting his own feelings aside, Adam placed the young boy on his feet again, "Goodness, you're getting heavy, Guthrie. Won't be long and you'll be too big for me to lift."

"Really, Adam?"

"Really! And you won't want me to anyway."

That sounded ludicrous to the youngest, "No way…"

"You'd better get going, bro, if you don't want to be late," Brian put his hands on Guthrie's shoulders, "We'll be fine. I'll deal with Daniel's mood."

"Thanks, bud…" As Adam went through the door he nearly bumped into Evan who just got back from the barn. "Whoah…"

"Sorry," Evan offered.

"No worried. You be good for Brian now."

"Yes, sir."

The word 'sir' and Evan's countenance caught Adam 's attention, but he decided it was between Evan and Brian. It was nice not to have to worry about all this for a night. Yes, a night off, that's what this was. And as he got into the Jeep he decided to enjoy it to the fullest.

"Brian?" Evan waited until he heard the Jeep drive off, but remained in the doorway.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"I know you are, kiddo, it's okay. You did what you were told to do."

"Yeah, but I could have been nicer about it."

"Yes, you could have." Brian wondered how often his own behavior had caused his parents to think the same thing. More often than he'd like to remember, probably.

"Are you…are you still mad?"

It was amazing how these teenagers could go from being belligerent and thinking they were 23 instead of 13, to sounding younger than Guthrie. "No, I'm not mad," Brian watched relief wash over Evan's face.

"You should be."

"Oh?" Brian couldn't completely hide the smile, "how so?"

"Well, I…I acted like a fool. You told me exactly how long I had and then I had to come inside. And when you reminded me I should have just done that."

"That would have been nice, I have to admit."

Guthrie and Ford were playing a game, but neither boy could hide the fact they found the conversation much more interesting.

"I don't know why I didn't."

"Well, I think you felt you had to try. You were probably hoping I would be more of a pushover than Adam and give you a few extra minutes."

Evan's head shot up, "No, I don't think you're a pushover. Really." Silently, Brian was glad to hear those sincere words. That thought had killed him. "It's just…I don't know…it's like I have to push..."

Brian nodded thoughtfully, "I remember that, believe it or not."

"You were right to yell and I wouldn't blame you if you were still mad…"

"Hmm are you asking me to punish you?"

"NO!" The panic in Evan's eyes was almost comical. "No, I just feel…I…"

Brian walked over to the boy and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pushed the door close with his foot, and walked Evan into the room. "I tell you what…you plant your backside on that sofa and don't you dare move or look away from the television. It's Ford's turn to choose tonight."

"Yes, sir."

Brian grinned as he watched as realization dawned on the teen. Ford and Evan both liked to watch the same show on Saturday nights, in fact, they all did. So it wasn't a punishment at all. "Kiddo, you know we don't hold grudges in this family. Once I'm done yelling I'm done yelling. I yelled at you, you did what you had to do. So that was it. Over and done. So who wants popcorn?"

Adam had been sitting in the Jeep outside number three for 5 whole minutes before he finally worked up the courage to get out. And he'd only gotten out when he realized she could probably see him through the window and would wonder why on earth he didn't ring. Maybe she'd worry he was thinking of reasons to back out. And a McFadden never stood a girl up. Not if he could help it.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. But as soon as he'd knocked he noticed there was a bell too and so he pulled it. The door opened and he looked into the amused eyes of Emily.

"Goodness, one moment I think you'll never get out of your car and the next you can't get me to open the door soon enough."

He blushed, but couldn't help a small chuckle, "I was more at ease with this at 18 and that says a lot."

"So far you're doing well…you got out of the car and you knocked…and rang the bell," She couldn't help teasing him a little. He sure looked nice when he blushed a little.

"That was the easy part. Saying something when you look as nice as you do…that is the hard part."

"Ah…and that's the next step. You've checked the compliment-box."

"This would be the moment to give you flowers," Adam looked at his empty hands.

"Good thing you didn't. I can't see the joy in taking a living thing and putting it in a vase to watch it slowly die."

Adam stared at her for a few moments, lost for words and suddenly overwhelmed with emotions.

"Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry if I've offended you."

"No…it's just," Adam tried to pull himself together, "It's what my mother always said. She loved flowers, but never in a vase. I remember when Brian and I were still very little and we'd been typical little boys, horrid and loud." At the time neither boy had known their mom was pregnant and even if they had, they wouldn't have known that their new baby brother was tiring their mother out. "To make up for our behavior we picked her some wild flowers and when we brought them to her, she told us exactly that. She was very kind about it and she did put the flowers in a jar, just this once. Then she helped us plant more flowers in the garden. Anyway…I've never heard anyone else say that. You took me by surprise a little."

"I'm sorry…," She could tell Adam didn't talk about his mother very often. But the emotions were in those deep eyes.

"No need to be, honest…," Then he laughed, "There I go saying 'honest' when I never believe the kids when they use that word. But I do mean it. There's no reason to be sorry. It's a good memory." But even 6 years later, it also hurt to think about her and Emily saw that. "Well, if we want good seats we'd better get going. It doesn't start till 8, but Brian says they attract quite the crowd."

"Almost bedtime, Guthrie."

"Aw please, Brian, can't I finish watching this?" Guthrie was snuggled up against Brian and looked up with pleading puppy eyes.

"It's only 10 more minutes, Bri," Ford came to Guthrie's aid.

"10 more minutes, but then I don't want any dawdling or pleading. Straight up to brush your teeth and off to bed."

"Yes, sir," Guthrie beamed. He knew he'd end up sleeping next to Brian at some point anyway. Brian had started to sleep on the pull out sofa downstairs and when Guthrie had been really little he slept next to him. But as soon as he'd started school they had made him sleep upstairs because they didn't want him staying up too late. The boy had gotten used to sleeping next to his big brother, though, and very often, when he woke up at night, he found his way downstairs to sleep on the sofa as well. Brian grumbled, but always wrapped an arm around him and let him snuggle in. If he was there, that is. Sometimes Brian was on a date. Guthrie didn't like those nights.

"And I can stay up another half hour, right?" Ford tried.

"Nice try, buddy, 15 minutes. You know exactly what you're bedtime is. Evan 15 minutes later."

Evan looked at the clock. He knew on a Saturday night his bedtime was a quarter to 9 pm. If you asked the 13-year-old he would tell you that not only was it ridiculously early, but it also made no sense. Why not round it up to 9? What difference did those 15 minutes make? Adam's standard answer to that was always that if 15 minutes didn't matter, they could always make it 8:30 pm. That usually shut Evan up pretty quickly. He couldn't wait till he was 14, like Daniel, and could stay up till 9. He also didn't think it was fair that Guthrie got to stay up till 8, and even 8:30 now. No matter how he did the math, that never added up. 'Life's not fair', was Brian's answer. Fact was, the older brothers had stuck to the bedtimes they themselves had had at those ages. If it was good enough for their parents, it was good enough for them.

Suddenly Evan had another thought, "You're 22, right, Brian?"

"Yes, I am."

"That makes you 8 years older than Daniel."

"I see your math lessons are paying off."

"Don't tease me, Brian!" Evan wasn't really insulted, because he was working up to his big revelation. "So if you get an extra 15 minutes for every year older, and Daniel's bedtime is 9…..that means yours is 11."

Brian laughed, "Well, usually I am in bed long before that, buddy. Morning comes…"

"Early on a ranch." The chorus made it clear this was yet another thing the boys had heard all their lives.

"Still, when you're out you're never home before 11, Brian!" Evan persisted.

"Hmm interesting that you should know that when it's a time you should be long asleep," Brian gave his younger brother a hard look. "Are you up when you shouldn't be?"

Of course there were times one of the boys woke up when the 22-year-old made it home, but in this case Evan had a better answer, "Adam said so himself. When you're 'sleeping it off' on the sofa he rants at breakfast how you never made it home till long past midnight. It's not healthy to put in a long work day after that."

"Hmm, well, it's not good if it happens a lot. But the good part about being 22 is that as long as you do your job well no one can complain about you losing a bit of sleep but you yourself. I don't have a curfew or a bedtime anymore."

"Evan's just being silly, Brian," Ford piped up, "He's just looking for ways to stay up longer."

Evan kicked his brother, "Shut up!"

"Hey!" Brian was quick to put an end to it. "There's no kicking and no telling your brother to shut up."

"He's trying to get me in trouble," Evan protested.

"Am not!"

"I think I know the difference between tattling and just telling it how it is, buddy," Brian kept his eyes locked on Evan's. "And you are just looking for a reasoning to extend your own bedtime or curfew. Not gonna happen."

"Dang, I thought I was on to something there."

Evan's forlorn look made Brian laugh again, "Well, it was a dang good try, I'll give you that…."

"It made no sense anyway," Ford grinned at Evan, "Cause when Crane went out he had to be home by midnight. So at some point the whole 15 minutes extra per year changes again."

Brian tousled Ford's hair, "That's right, kiddo. It changes when you turn 16. Then the weekend curfew and bedtimes get a little different. We'll talk again when we get there. Okay…show's over, Guth…bedtime for you."

"You guys talked all through it," Guthrie complained. "I never got to hear anything."

"Should have said so at the time, kiddo, too late now. And you did promise no dawdling or pleading….." He let those words hang in the air and watched Guthrie nod.

"Yes, sir…night Ford. Night Evan. Night Brian…" He gave Brian a hug and whispered, "Are you coming up to tug in me in?"

"Of course….and then I'll have a talk with Daniel." Brian figured the moody teenager had stewed long enough. He looked at the other two. "You get to bed on time. Even though I may not be back downstairs in time to tell you to, I will hear and I will know. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," the two chorused.

"Good."

Daniel didn't acknowledge the knock on his door. He kept on banging the wall with his right fist every few seconds. He didn't stop when the door opened, but grumbled, "Why do you even bother knocking when you come in anyway?"

"Well, I see your mood hasn't improved much," Not that Brian had expected it to. Daniel usual got in a worse mood when he was allowed to stew on his thoughts and feelings. But he had felt it was important to remove the teen from the situation at the time and then didn't want to spoil the evening for the other boys by dealing with the one who was clearly misbehaving and disrespectful. That wasn't how things worked. "And what did the wall do to you?"

"Nothing."

Brian walked over to Daniel's bed and sat down next to the boy. "Let me see your hand."

"Why?" Another bang.

"Because I say so should be reason enough," Brian kept his voice calm, but although he wasn't as quick to act as Adam was, he still lacked Crane's unending patience. "I want to see if you've hurt yourself."

"You're so stunned."

"Hey!" The tap at Daniel's hip was a clear warning. "That's what you're here for, remember? Disrespect." Daniel shrugged, but held out his hand anyway.

There wasn't much to see, no scratches and Brian didn't think the hand would bruise. "Well, I guess the wall will survive considering your hand is fine."

"Told you."

"You did, but I'm responsible for you so I have to make sure," Brian let go of Daniel's hand and the boy immediately went back to banging the wall. "Hmm I do get the impression the wall did something to you. Either that, or you're really trying to hurt yourself."

"That's stupid."

"Yes, it would be."

"I'm just banging."

"Does it help?"

"No."

"Then why continue?"

"Cause it gets to you."

"Hmm do you think it's smart to tick off the guy who's come up to discuss the consequences of your earlier misbehavior?"

Daniel shrugged.

"Well, you bang all you want. As long as you don't hurt yourself and don't knock a hole in the wall, I'm perfectly fine with it. It's kinda rhythmic. Sorta soothing."

That stopped the boy. "Geesh, do ya hafta ruin everything?"

Hiding a smile Brian got up and carried the desk chair over to the bed, turned it around and sat on it backwards, leaning his arms on top of the back of it. "Sit up, Danny. I want to have a talk with you and I want your attention for it." When Daniel didn't move right away he continued, "It's not a suggestion. Every bit of disobedience or disrespect you add now will be added to your punishment as well."

It got Daniel to sit up but the glare he shot at Brian could have killed the man on the spot, if looks could kill, that is. "Why do I hafta be punished at all? Or any more than you already did? You sent me to my room and I didn't get to watch television at all. And it's Saturday night! We always watch television and have popcorn. Bet you had popcorn without me."

The pout made him look like he was 10 years younger than he really was and Brian had to hide a grin again, "Yes we did. You needed time to think, not time to distract yourself. Saturday night with popcorn is a treat. Do you think you deserved a treat?"

"Why not? I behaved all day. Even at the store."

"Yes, you were a good help at the store, aside from the whole grocery list thing." He raised his eyebrows when he noticed Daniel was about to roll his eyes, "Uh uh…remember what I said." It did stop the eye roll and Brian continued, "and you were fine at the restaurant. But ever since we had lunch you've been moody. You've been picking fights with just about everyone. It's like you're looking for someone to have it out with, someone to give you the chance to have a real fight. If that's what you want…all you have to do is come to me and say you want a boxing match. I'm perfectly willing to give you some more lessons."

"I don't need more lessons."

"Okay, fine, but when you go around picking fights without being honest about wanting a fight, don't be mad when things don't exactly go your way."

"That makes no sense whatsoever."

"Makes perfect sense. You wanted to lash out…." Brian, too, had had time to think about the reason for Daniel's mood. "I think you're upset Adam's on a date. Now, either you begrudge your brother a bit of fun in his life or it's about the person he's on a date with."

Brian didn't get a verbal reaction, but the way Daniel's body suddenly slacked, like a deflated balloon, told him he'd hit the nail on its head. Now it was a matter of deciding which of the two it was. In fact, it wasn't too difficult. "I'm thinking you're not the kind of person to be angry that your older brother goes on a date for the first time in 6 years. The same older brother who would do anything for you boys. No, you're a good person. You'd never begrudge him that."

"Of course not," Daniel's mumble was hard to hear, but Brian did.

"Of course not," He nodded, "So it's the fact that he's dating your teaching. Or rather, is on a date with your teacher, to be precisely."

"Brian, it's embarrassing!" Figuring he'd said enough Brian waited now, hoping the boy would finally let it all out. "You bet everyone's gonna know. And they're gonna let me know it. They'll say she'll give me better grades so my brother likes her better and they're gonna call me teacher's pet. But in fact, it's gonna mean that everything I do is gonna get back to him. I'm gonna be in trouble all," the dragged out the word 'all', "the time. And to avoid being accused of favoritism she's gonna be tougher on me. It's not fair!"

"That's a whole lot of assumptions, don't you think? And very premature at that. I mean, this is a first date. They may not even like each other enough to go on a second one. And even if they do, she only teaches you one class, there are many more with many other teachers."

"Still."

"Still, it could happen. I'm not saying it couldn't…"

"You're not?" Daniel looked stunned.

"No, I'm not. It could happen. And if it does, it would be something to talk about."

Daniel was quiet now, clearly thinking it over.

"But yelling or picking fights with your brothers, or being disrespectful isn't going to win you points in a grown up discussion, do you think?"

"I guess not…"

"No, I guess not. The wise thing would be to go to Adam and tell him what you're concerned about. And I know he'll be fair and he'll listen. And he'll also try to find solutions if anything you're concerned about now would really happen. But when you do it in a way you've been doing today…kiddo, you know Adam. That kind of behavior only gets you in trouble. And for some reason it completely shuts down his hearing."

Daniel laughed a little, "Yeah, it sure does."

"So, wait it out. No sense worrying over something that hasn't happened yet."

"Okay." Daniel really meant it and his tone showed it.

"So…that leaves something else to discuss, doesn't it?"

Daniel's face fell and he suddenly felt his palms get a little sweaty. "I guess."

"Oh I don't guess, kiddo. That display downstairs…really? What were you trying to do?"

"Correct Guthrie's grammar?" It was a halfhearted attempt. Daniel knew he'd done more than that.

"Let's try the truth."

Studying the floor Daniel conceded, "I was trying to rile Adam."

"By worrying your baby brother."

"I didn't think about that."

"You should, kiddo. You're a lot older than Guthrie is. He's only 8 and he looks up to you. When you tell him something, he'll believe you. And even if you had really been trying to correct his grammar, that other part showed your real intentions. You were trying to embarrass Adam."

With a blush Daniel nodded. "Yeah."

"And it worked. You even hurt him."

"I did?"

"You did. He doesn't show it, but you did."

"Oh." The thought that he could actually hurt Adam was an odd one. It should have made him feel powerful, but it didn't. In fact, it made him uncomfortable.

"Do you know how nervous he was when he came downstairs?"

"But you teased him about that."

"Yeah, I did, but there's a difference between gentle, brotherly teasing and what you did. And as long as you don't know the difference, you have to be careful." Brian took Daniel's chin in his hand and held his gaze. "He was nervous. It's his first date in years and he is worried. His last date didn't go so well."

"I didn't know that."

"Of course not. You were only 8 at the time. But believe me when I say he was nervous tonight. In fact, I'd say he was terrified. Part of him wanted to back out. But he's too much of a gentleman to do that."

"But why my teacher, Brian? Of all the women he could date, why my teacher?"

"They clicked." Brian wasn't about to explain the clear physical attraction. "It was crystal clear. So I gave them a little push." He decided to steer the discussion back to Daniel's behavior. "So instead of being honest with Adam about your concerns, or be supportive of him when he was nervous to begin with, you decided to lash out at him, not only hurting him, but Guthrie as well."

"I'm sorry…" Daniel knew words were weak, but he hoped they could be a start.

"Now you are, but you never think about what your words cause when you do it, do you?"

Daniel shrugged again, "It's hard, Brian, to think when I feel like that. Then later…"

"Later you feel sorry, but then it's hard to back down. I know. Now, earlier you implied you didn't know you said something bad, something Guthrie shouldn't repeat. Getting lucky. Do you really need an explanation?" He had let go of Daniel's chin, but now took it again, firmly. "And honesty please."

Daniel swallowed, "I don't need an explanation."

"Then explain it to me."

"Aw Brian…"

"No, I want to make sure you do."

"Cause…cause it's about…" Daniel tried to turn his face away, but Brian had a good grip. There was no way to hide the blush that was creeping up, or the awkwardness of having to look into his brother's eyes when he said the word, "sex."

"Well, in a way, but sex isn't a bad word."

"Neither are the words getting lucky. You get lucky when you win the lottery, or when you didn't study for a test and the teacher is sick."

"Yeah, you'd be really lucky in that case, but don't count on stuff like that, kiddo."

"Of course not." But in fact, all kids did at times.

"So it's not the word sex, it's not about the literal words getting lucky. So why is it something I consider inappropriate?"

Daniel tried to find the words. He knew, but he didn't. And he didn't know how to explain either. Finally Brian put him out of his misery. "It's the context, kiddo. When you say it in the context of a guy going on a date, it relates to sex. And not in a nice way."

"But isn't that what you always…"

"Don't you go any further, buddy." Brian held up one hand to stop Daniel. "I am not telling you how my dates go. And I'm not sitting here allowing you to imply I treat girls badly."

"I…" Daniel stammered, "That's not…that's not what I meant…"

Brian sighed as he realized he'd been right and Daniel hadn't truly understood what he'd said. In a way he had, but he'd missed the real implication of the words. Brian wasn't one to skirt around topics, not even if that topic was sex. "I'm glad to hear that, kid, but it is kinda what you implied. You could say worse things and no, I'm not teaching you those. But this is bad enough." He let go of Daniel's chin and leaned on his arms again. "Let me see how I can explain this. For starters, Adam is going on a first date. So if he 'got lucky' as you call it, they would have sex on their first date." He had to almost grin as he watched Daniel's face go a little green at that. Brian had to admit he didn't like thinking about the fact that their parents had sex at least 7 times, because that was just…an uncomfortable thought. So Daniel probably felt the same about Adam. But the older brother had a lesson to teach here, "Daniel, nice girls usually don't have sex on their first date. Girls that do end up with their numbers on the walls in restrooms. So you saying he might 'get lucky', implied that your teacher isn't a decent girl, that anyone can just call her for a night of fun and 'getting lucky'. And what goes for girls also goes for guys. They, too, have a reputation to uphold. So not only did you say your teacher wasn't a nice girl, but neither is Adam."

Brian could tell his words were having an effect. "See how you hurt and embarrassed Adam? He was hurt you'd think that about him. And embarrassed that you'd say something like that about your teacher and himself."

"I'm sorry…" And Daniel truly was.

Brian figured it was enough of a lecture for now. He didn't want to get into the whole difference between sex and making love and how the words getting lucky related more to the former than the latter, because he'd feel even more of a hypocrite than he already did. In his own case, it was usually sex. Sure, he liked the girls, but they were seldom special. Not that it happened as often as Adam seemed to think. In fact, the opposite. Still, he'd only met one girl once that was special and she'd gone off to college while he stayed here with the family. Not that he regretted staying, but he had missed her for a long time. He forced his thoughts back to the conversation, "Now that you understand, will you ever say it again?"

"No sir!" Daniel didn't often call Brian sir when he didn't have to and so Brian knew it was very sincere.

"Good. And since you didn't fully understand what you were saying, I'll leave it at that. But if you ever disrespect a girl or woman, or your brother, like that again there will be consequences. Understood?"

"I understand, Brian. Honest…and I do mean honest," Daniel added knowing how his brothers felt about that particular word.

"I already explained to Guthrie that he shouldn't repeat it and why, although he got a slightly different explanation than you did."

"No kidding."

Brian reached over and cuffed him lightly, "Yeah, no kidding."

"So we good now?"

"We're good. But Daniel…" Daniel looked up in trepidation, "this attitude of yours needs to stop. This is not the first time this week it got you in trouble. So far the penalty was a loss of freedom. The next time you'll lose a little more. Clear?"

Daniel swallowed hard. Brian wasn't specific, but that made it worse. The teen would rather know exactly what he was facing. Usually Adam was the creative one when it came to punishments, not Brian. But when Brian did get creative, he was much, much worse than Adam. Still, the threat could also mean a more physical punishment (he couldn't allow himself to even think the word spanking) and that might be worse. Realizing Brian was waiting for an answer the teen nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, go brush your teeth and get ready for bed. I need to check if your brothers are in bed and then I'll come check on you."

"You don't have to, you know. I mean, Guthrie still likes to be tucked in, but I'm 14, I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Aww…you're telling me you don't want a bedtime story? I'm hurt!" Brian laughed as he put the chair back in its usual spot at the desk, "I know I don't have to. But I want to. Sometimes I think Adam still checks on me! Can you imagine?" He winked at Daniel and then gave the boy a quick hug, "Now, off you go."

With a tap on the backside he sent the dark haired teenager off and then went to check on Evan and Ford. He was very pleased to find them in bed already. He couldn't resist pulling up the blanket a little higher on Ford, basically tucking him in. "Night, buddy." But Ford was barely awake enough to hear or feel the kiss on the top of his head.

Evan was still awake and lying on his side watching Brian. "Time to go to sleep, buddy," he told the boy as he walked over to Evan as well. When there were others around Evan pretended he was too old for hugs, but when he was in bed he still liked to be fussed over just a little and Brian was only happy to oblige. He fussed a little with the blanket and ruffled his hair, "You worked well with Diablo today, kiddo. I'm real proud of you for that."

It made the boy smile. "Thanks, Brian. He's so great though. He doesn't even need me."

"Oh he does…you two make a great team." Unable to resist Brian leaned over and kissed Evan on the top of his head just like he'd done Ford. Evan pulled a face, but didn't protest, just snuggled under the blankets a bit more. "Night, kiddo."

"Night, Brian."

"I had a really good time," Adam pulled over in front of Emily's house. He was almost sad to see the evening end.

"You sound surprised," Emily teased, willing to postpone the minute of getting out of the car for a few more moments.

"Well, I will admit I was a bit nervous. I told you it had been a while since I was on a date."

"Well, that's not so strange all things considered."

"Yeah, too busy and…," Adam hesitated, "My life had changed so much that I found it hard to relate to girls my age. You're different."

Emily smiled, "I should hope so! I'd hate to think I'm like the school girls you dated."

"Oh you're far from a school girl, more like a schoolmarm," It was Adam's turn to tease and he was rewarded with a playful punch against his arm.

"You keep it up and I'll show you how mean a schoolmarm can be."

"Sounds…interesting," Adam grinned. "But seriously, I'd like to go out with you again some time, if you'd like."

"Well, of course I'd have to check my agenda and check with my people, might have to wash my hair."

"And I might have to sort out my sock drawer."

"See? We are very busy people…"

"Absolutely."

"I guess it all depends…"

"On what?" Adam wondered what she was up to.

"Well, on whether you're gentleman enough to walk me to my door, which I think you will, considering the fact you've been a real gentleman all evening, and…on how well you kiss when we reach the porch and you kiss me."

"I guess I've got a test to pass then."