Subject: New Beginnings (A Maggie & Twin Story) Part 7
From: SamPast@aol.com
Date: 99-05-19 21:17:19 EDT

This is one part of a long story, with many spankings (M/f, F/f, and some M/F). It starts shortly after the end of _Change of Scenery_ and involves the same characters. It was written with a co-author, who has not made her name public.

This story contains spanking of (fictional) children . If this is not your thing, then don't read it.

This story is a work of fiction. Do not copy or distribute this story without written permission from SamPast.

This story is distributed in multiple parts. See part 1 for complete disclaimers and warnings..

Send any comments to SamPast@aol.com

It was New Year's Day. Heather and Bob had their own way of welcoming in the New Year. Maggie woke up feeling much better. She wanted to go out and do stuff. But after checking her temperature, Bob found that she still had a slight fever of 99.2? and informed Maggie that she would be spending another day inside.

"But we have to go out and get my new school supplies!" Maggie cried. "I have to go to school tomorrow. And I want all new notebooks and stuff!"

"First of all, you are still sick. You are not going anywhere, young lady!" Heather informed her.

"Second of all, you have plenty of school supplies from your last school!"

"No, Mommy! I want all new things. I want to start fresh!" Maggie said, stamping her foot.

Bob came in on the foot stamping and frowned at Maggie. "Speaking of fresh. . ." He let his sentence trail off.

"But Daddy! I want to get all new school stuff for my new school!" she whined. "It's not fair!" Maggie crossed her arms and pouted.

Bob went over to Maggie and picked her up. He sat himself on the couch and pulled her into his lap. "Sounds like someone is feeling better. Hmm, if you're feeling well enough to scream, pout, and stamp your foot, then you'll probably feel well enough to get a spanking."

At that, he turned her over his knee and started to lightly pat her behind.

"Daddy! NO! I'm sorrrrrrrrrrry!" Maggie cried.

Bob didn't spank her too hard or for too long, just enough to send the message home: that they will not tolerate such behavior, whether she's sick or not. Bob said this while he spanked her.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" Maggie said calmly.

Bob pulled her to her feet and stood her in front of him. "Young lady, this type of behavior is a definite no-no. And you know better!"

"Yes, sir," she said quietly.

"Now, when you go to school, I'm sure the teacher will give you a list of supplies. And if there's anything you are missing, we will get it for you. Understand?" Bob asked.

"Yes, sir," Maggie repeated. "But I wanted all new notebooks and stuff," Maggie said under her breath.

"What did you say?" Heather asked.

"Nothing, forget it," Maggie said.

Bob frowned. Then he said, "How 'bout some breakfast? You said your tummy was feeling better, right? I'll make you some scrambled eggs and toast."

"Okay, Daddy," Maggie said sadly. Then added, "I will get to go to school tomorrow, won't I?"

Bob looked at Heather. She shook her head no. "I don't think so, honey. I think we'd like to keep you home an extra day," said Bob.

Maggie looked up at her daddy. "But why? I feel better."

Heather came and sat with Maggie on the couch. "Well, honey, you do still have a slight fever. It's always best to stay home an extra day and make sure you're okay."

Bob went to the kitchen to start Maggie's breakfast. Maggie pouted.

"Tell me what you're thinking, Maggs," Heather declared.

Maggie spoke, "It's just that it's gonna be hard enough starting a new school, and to not go in on the first day back. Well, it's gonna be hard."

Heather hugged her daughter, and reassured her, "It's going to be fine, sweetie. You'll see. You're going to make all new friends. And I've already met your teacher, Mrs. Smith. She seems very nice."

"Smith! That's original!" Bob commented.

Both Heather and Maggie laughed.

"Yeah, her first name is probably Mary and her husband's John," Heather blurted out.

They all laughed again.

Then Maggie got in on the game. "Yeah, and she probably has a dog named Spot, or Rover."

The ice was broken. Maggie was cheered up. She went into the kitchen to have her breakfast.

The rest of the day was quiet. Heather and Bob played lots of board games with Maggie, read books to her, and they all took afternoon naps. Before dinner, Mrs. Warner came up. Maggie asked the older woman if she would play checkers with her.

"Aren't you tired of checkers, Maggs? We played a million games of it today," Heather stated.

"I know, that's why I want to beat Mrs. Warner," Maggie replied.

All the adults laughed.

Mrs. Warner said, "Why don't you two take a nice walk, while your daughter beats the pants off me?"

Bob said, "Okay, why not? Come on, hon."

He took Heather's hand and they took a nice romantic walk before dinner. Upon returning, Maggie and Mrs. Warner were into their fourth game. Maggie had won three of them.

"I think I'm being snookered," Mrs. Warner expressed.

They invited Mrs. Warner to dinner. It was very nice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Maggie again tried to convince her daddy that she was well enough to go to school.

"No, Maggs, I'm sorry, we've talked about this. You're taking this extra day to rest and make sure it's all out of your system," Bob explained.

"But Daddy, you said I have no temperature. Please?" she tried again.

"No, Magpie, I'm sorry. Now, I'm going out to get the paper, and when I come back, I want you in bed resting," he said sternly.

But Maggie was insistent she was well. She went to her room and got dressed. She found her old notebook from Merrick and slipped it into her schoolbag. She peeked into her parents' bedroom and saw that Heather was still asleep. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a handful of cookies and put them in her coat pocket.

She looked around. No one saw her. She tiptoed to the front door. As she opened it, she gasped as she saw Bob on the other side. In his hand was a newspaper and a paper bag from the deli.

Maggie's mouth opened wide in surprise. "Oh, hi, Daddy!"

Bob turned Maggie around and with a stinging slap to her behind, sent her back into the house. "Where do you think you're going, Ms. Margaret Anne?"

"Um, to school, Daddy," Maggie said, rubbing her bottom.

"I don't think so. I think we talked about this already, Maggie," Bob said sternly. He reached up and pulled her backpack off her back. Then as he grabbed her coat from her, the cookies fell on to the floor.

"Cookies for breakfast?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Um, no, Daddy, that was gonna be for snack later!" Maggie lied.

Bob swung Maggie around and gave her five rapid spanks to her bottom. "Don't lie to me, young lady! You are already in enough trouble. Now, I want you to go to your room and put your pajamas back on. Then when I've had a chance to calm down, I'm going to come in, and we're going to talk. NOW GO!"

Bob took several deep breaths. He was so angry. He knew not to punish Maggie while he was this angry. Also, giving her some thinking time would be good for her. Bob sat down at the kitchen counter, drank his coffee and began to read the newspaper.

After reading the first section of the New York Times, Bob felt calm enough to speak to Maggie. He carefully folded the paper, and brought his plate to the sink. He threw his empty coffee cup into the garbage. He sighed and then went to Maggie's room. He knew she needed love, and caring, and discipline and he would make sure that she got it.

Bob knocked quietly on Maggie's door and heard a quiet, "Come in."

He went in and sat down on the edge of Maggie's bed. She had her face turned toward the wall. "Honey, look at me," he said softly. Maggie didn't move. "Sweetheart, we need to talk. I need you to turn around."

When Maggie still didn't move, Bob physically turned his daughter around. "Now sit up so we can talk." Maggie sat up and said, "I'm sorry, Daddy."

Bob frowned. "What are you sorry for, Maggie?" he asked sternly.

She began to cry. "I, I, I'm sorry that I got dressed and tried to leave for school. That was bad!" she sobbed.

Bob looked right into Maggie's face. "That was a very naughty thing to do, Maggie."

"I know," she cried.

"Well, think about it. Why would you do such a thing? I had already told you, you couldn't go to school. What made you get dressed and try to sneak out?" Bob asked.

"I don't know," Maggie said.

"That is not an acceptable answer, Maggie. Come on, you do know. Now tell me," Bob uttered.

"I wanted to go to school, Daddy," Maggie replied.

"But I told you that you couldn't. Why would you disobey me, Maggie?" Bob asked gently.

"Just spank me and get it over with, Daddy," Maggie declared.

"I want to talk about it, first. Now tell me why you disobeyed me," Bob ordered.

"I thought you were wrong, and I wanted to prove that I was all right. I shouldn't have," Maggie admitted.

"No, you shouldn't have. And you are going to be punished. And don't ever try to sneak out again. Do you understand?" Bob asked sternly.

"Yes, Daddy," Maggie replied.

"We'll talk later about how dangerous that would have been. Right now, you need to come stand in front of me," Bob told her.

Maggie obeyed. Once in front of her daddy, Bob reached down and pulled Maggie's pajama bottoms and panties down. He pulled her up over his lap, and began to spank. Over and over, he alternated cheeks as he spanked. Since he had already lectured her, he didn't do it again. Bob kept the spanks hard until Maggie's bottom had turned from white to pink to a dark red.

Maggie cried and cried while Bob spanked and spanked. He made this a hard lesson, as he didn't want a repeat performance. Finally, Maggie laid limp over his knee, crying softly. He knew it was time to stop. After the last smack, Bob began to lightly rub Maggie's backside.

Then he pulled her to her feet and raised her panties and pajama bottoms. He picked her up and laid her back into her bed. Bob leaned down and kissed Maggie on the tip of her nose. "I love you, Magpie, and I always want to know you are safe. Please, don't ever do anything like that again."

"I won't, Daddy. I won't. I love you, too," Maggie sobbed.

"Okay, now, I want you to take a nap. When you wake up, I will give you a proper breakfast. No cookies. Okay?" Bob inquired.

"Yes, sir," Maggie said, her eyelids already closing. Soon she was fast asleep. Bob tiptoed out and went to check on Heather.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7b~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie woke up about an hour later. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and rubbing her still sore bottom, she walked out to the kitchen. Heather was there drinking coffee, and making some lists of things that needed to get done. Heather looked up and saw Maggie standing in the doorway.

"Hi Maggs, how do you feel?" she asked.

"I guess I feel okay. I'm not really sure yet. Where's Daddy?"

"He had some stuff to do at the college, hon. He'll be home later. Did you want to talk to him?" Heather wondered.

"I just, well, I , Mommy, I really am sorry about what I tried to do. I know it was wrong, but how come Daddy spanks sooooo hard?" Maggie asked, a fresh wave of tears overcoming her.

"Come here, baby," Heather said, and patted her lap. Maggie climbed into her mom's lap and Heather comforted her, and hugged her, and then pushed her back a bit so she could see her face.

"Maggs, do you remember what it was like before we met Bob? Well, even before we met Uncle Charlie and Aunt Lisa?" Heather asked her.

"Well, sure, Mom," Maggie answered honestly.

"Did you feel as loved then as you do now?"

"Umm, No, I really didn't."

Heather nodded and continued, "Daddy doesn't spank you because he is angry at you. He does it because he really, truly loves you, and wants you to grow up to be a really great person, who knows right from wrong. Now, tell me, what did you THINK would happen, when Daddy got back, checked on you, and found out you weren't in the house?"

Maggie replied, "But Mom, I just wanted to go to school today. Why was that SOOOOO wrong?"

"Well, think about it. If you knew it was sooooo right, would you have snuck out?" Heather inquired.

"Well, no, but I did that because you guys were being sooo unreasonable. I am fine. And, if I am fine enough to take that kind of a spanking, aren't I fine enough to go to school?" Maggie asked.

Now, whereas Bob would have frowned, Heather laughed. She told her, "Hon, I get the point, but one thing we BOTH are going to learn, is when dad says NO, he means NO."

Maggie was surprised. "What do you mean we BOTH have to learn?"

"Well, Daddy and I are really getting to know each other too, and we both have done things differently from each other in the past, so marriage, and especially newlyweds, like we are, have to spend time getting to know one another, what is right for each, what makes them happy, and so on. And, because we are a family, that means ALL of us, you , me and daddy.

But you are still evading the question, young lady. Now, how would Daddy and I have felt, if we found you were gone?"

"I didn't think of that," Maggie supplied. I figured, you would figure I went to school."

"And, how would we know to figure that?" Heather asked, amused.

"Come on, Mom, you know you would have," Maggie said fliply.

"Okay, let's agree that we would have. Would you have preferred that Daddy go to the school, and have you taken out of class?" Heather asked.

Maggie sighed. "Why can't Daddy trust MY judgement? Why does it have to be all HIS way?"

"Hey, now remember, I said NO too. Parents get to make some of the decisions because we are adults, and because it is our job to take care of children like you. I know that for a lot of years, you got to make a lot of decisions for yourself, and I am sorry I wasn't a better parent then for you sweetheart, but things are going to be different, and I think they are going to be for the better, don't you?" Heather queried.

Maggie nodded. "Well, I do love having a daddy. I just wish he didn't spank me sooooo much."

Heather started to laugh at her expression, and Maggie did too. "Well, how about towing the line for a bit, and then your poor bottom MIGHT get a rest! What do you think of THAT idea?"

"Hmmm, guess I gotta think about it," Maggie said, smiling.

"Oh yeah?" Heather started tickling her and they were chasing each other around the house until Heather finally called a halt. "How about we make some lunch, and then we can watch a movie together until Daddy gets home?"

"Sounds nice, Mom. Thanks." Maggie turned and gave Heather a big hug. Both of Bob's girls were feeling pretty happy, and lucky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Maggie was able to go to school, for real. She was very nervous, but managed to swallow a few bites of cereal. Heather put her coat on and they both kissed Bob goodbye.

"Have a good day, sweetheart!" Bob called after Maggie.

"I'll see you in a few, hon!" Heather told Bob.

After Heather dropped Maggie off in front, Maggie went to the main office.

"Can I help you?" a nice woman asked from behind the counter.

Maggie was nervous. She wished she hadn't insisted to her mom that she could do this herself. Finally she found the nerve to speak. "I, I was supposed to start school yesterday. I'm in Mrs. Smith's class."

The woman smiled. "Oh, right, you're Margaret Carlton, right?"

Maggie nodded. The woman said, "I'm Mrs. Loftin, one of the school secretaries. Hold on one second, honey. Just take a seat right there!"

Maggie looked to see where Mrs. Loftin pointed. She sat down and waited.

Finally, another woman came out of the inner office. "Hi, Margaret, I'm Mrs. Haley, the school principal."

Maggie was shocked. She had never seen a woman principal before. "Good morning, Mrs. Haley. Nice to meet you," she said in her most polite voice.

"Margaret," Mrs. Haley said, then looked around. "Are your parents here?"

"No, I told my mom I was a big girl and could start on my own," Maggie said proudly.

Mrs. Haley chuckled. "And you are a big girl. Well, Margaret, you were supposed to be in Mrs. Smith's class, but Mrs. Smith took a fall over vacation."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Maggie whispered.

"Yes, well, we didn't want to put you in a class with a substitute, not your first time here, and all. So, we've placed you in Ms. Brennan's class. She is very nice, and I know you will be happy there. Come, I'll take you there myself and introduce you," Mrs. Haley announced.

Maggie took the principal's hand and they slowly walked up to the third floor where Mrs. Haley explained all the fourth grade classes were. They went to Room 36, which would be Maggie's new classroom. Maggie started having butterflies in her stomach again. She hoped her new teacher would be nice, like Mrs. Haley had said.

Maggie was introduced to the class and the teacher. Ms. Brennan was very young, and beautiful. Maggie thought she'd be very happy there. Ms. Brennan had Maggie introduce herself to the class.

"My name is Margaret Clemente, but everybody calls me Maggie," she began. She went on to explain how she used to live in Monticello but then moved to Merrick, and then to Brookville. She told the class what sports she liked to play, and about her hobbies.

Finally she stopped. Ms. Brennan spoke, "Maggie, it says here your last name is Carlton."

"Yeah, that's my old last name. My mom got remarried, and they still haven't changed my records," she explained. She made it sound like it had been that way for a long time, instead of only a few weeks.

"Oh, okay, then I'll just change it in my book. Okay, you can take that seat, right there." Ms. Brennan pointed to a seat in the third row.

The morning went well. Maggie spoke with several of the girls in her class. She didn't pay much attention to the boys. At lunch, she sat with her new friends. It was only on the playground, that Maggie got into trouble for the first time that day.

She and some of the girls were talking by this tree out on the yard. Some boys came over and started teasing them for no reason.

"Why don't you leave them alone?" Maggie accused.

"What are you gonna do about it, if I don't, new girl!" a boy named Frankie said.

"Frankie! That's a baby name, anyway," Maggie said, and shrugged.

"Who you callin' a baby?" Frankie asked.

Maggie went right into Frankie's face, and said, "YOU!"

"Oooh, tough girl!" James yelled.

"Look at the tough new girl!" Brian shouted.

Soon, a large crowd formed around them. Maggie turned and looked at everyone. She said in a mean voice, "I wouldn't mess with me, if I were you, Frankie baby!"

This made Frankie very angry. "Quit calling me that. I ain't never hit a girl before, but if you keep saying that, I'm gonna!"

"Why shouldn't we mess with ya?" James asked.

"Cause in my last school, I used to clean the ground with the boys in my class. After a while, they learned the hard way not to mess with me," Maggie replied.

Frankie just smiled. "Ahh, I don't need this nonsense. Come on, boys, let's get up a game of soccer."

The boys turned, laughing, and walked away. "CHICKENS!" Maggie called after them.

Maggie had all the girls crowding around her now. She had gotten some respect already. She had made the boys afraid of her, so she thought, and made the girls feel protected around her. Everyone wanted to be her best friend.

When she got home that day, Bob and Heather wanted to know all about her first day.

"Well, my teacher, Ms. Brennan, is really nice. She's young, and beautiful, and . . ."

Bob cut her off. "Wait a minute, I thought Mrs. Smith was your teacher."

"Yea, what happened?" Heather asked.

"OH, Mrs. Smith got hurt, so they changed me. But I'm glad. I've made a lot of new friends already." Maggie smiled.

Bob and Heather were so glad to see their daughter smiling. Bob took Heather aside and whispered, "See, you worried all day for nothing."

Heather smiled up at her husband. She had been a wreck the whole day, worrying over Maggie.

Bob picked Maggie up and spun her around. "What do you say we go get you those new school supplies, Magpie?"

Maggie squealed with delight as her daddy spun her 'round and 'round. "Daddy, stop, I'm getting dizzy," she laughed. "Okay, but Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie," Heather said.

"I want to put my name on all my stuff myself," Maggie declared.

Heather thought this was Maggie's way of telling her that she was more grown up now. "Okay, honey, whatever you say."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday afternoon, Heather picked Maggie up from school, as usual. She and Bob had spent the day looking over the college catalogs. They chose two classes for Heather to start with, and had gone to register her. She was nervous about it, but Bob assured her she would be fine.

Maggie came out to the car. "Hi, Mommy. Can we go right to Robin and Jennifer's now?" Maggie had been invited to sleep over with the twins.

"No, you need to pack, silly. Besides, Daddy and I want to talk to you about some things," Heather explained.

"Okay," Maggie said. She assumed they wanted to go over rules about sleeping over at the twins' place. As usual, there were always so many rules.

"Hi, honey, have a good day at school?" Bob asked, kissing and hugging Maggie.

"Yea, it was fine. We have a vocabulary test on Tuesday, and . . ." Maggie stopped. She realized her parents were staring at her. "What? What's the matter?" she asked.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell us, Maggie? About school?" Heather asked.

"No, what?" Maggie asked again.

Bob said, "Everything's been going okay, even on the playground?"

"Yeah, why?" Maggie said. She thought to herself, they can't know anything.

Bob continued, "Maggie, your teacher called us this afternoon. She's been getting some interesting phone calls from the girls' mothers in the class."

"The girls? I don't know what you mean, Daddy," Maggie insisted.

Bob went to sit down on the couch and motioned for Maggie and Heather to join him. "The girls have been going home the past few days and telling their mothers about how you've been fighting with the boys."

Maggie looked up at her parents. "Who told? Why, I'm gonna . . ." Maggie clenched her hands into tight fists. Bob reached over and unclenched her fists and gave her a dirty look.

"Now, now," he said.

"None of the boys' parents called. I guess they didn't want to admit a girl had hurt them. Maggie, since when do you fight with boys, every day?" Heather asked.

Maggie began to cry.

"Oh, no, don't even start that, Maggie. We need to talk about this," Bob warned.

"They were teasing me, Daddy. And all the girls. I was just standing up to them," Maggie confessed.

"You know you are not supposed to fight, Maggie," Heather reminded her.

"Remember what happened the last time you were caught fighting?" Bob inquired.

Maggie took a moment to think. Then she raised her head and said, "I got suspended?"

"Yes, you did. And we were not happy about that, were we?" Bob asked.

"No, sir, but this was different," Maggie tried to explain. She told her parents that the boys would come over and start teasing the girls for no reason.

"They even said bad things about you, Daddy."

"Well, I'm sorry those boys found it necessary to do that, Maggie. But you know better than to fight. What should you do if someone bothers you?" Bob asked.

"Tell the teacher," Maggie sneered. "Am I gonna get a spanking?"

"Mommy and I need to talk. Go into your room. We'll call you when we're done," Bob informed her.

Maggie grabbed her bookbag, and slowly walked toward her room. She thought of packing, but wondered whether she would even be allowed to go to Robin and Jenn's after all.

As soon as Maggie closed the door to her room, Heather turned to Bob and said, "Honey, why didn't you just spank her?"

"Well, Heather, I have a hard time justifying spanking her for hitting others. It seems to be a contradiction. We hit her because she hit others. I just don't know. Maybe we should think of something different this time. Like not letting her sleep over Robin and Jennifer's tonight," Bob tried.

"Oh, honey, she's been looking forward to that. Let's just spank her, and then we'll bring her there, and we'll have the whole place to ourselves tonight," Heather said, her eyes twinkling.

"Heather, no! Don't do that!" Bob blurted, pushing Heather's hand away from his.

Heather looked up at Bob with hurt eyes. Sighing, Bob hugged her, and apologized for pushing her away. "Hon, I want you as badly as you want me. I feel like our honeymoon was forever ago too, but right now, we have to sit and talk this thing through, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Heather agreed. "First of all, we don't know for sure that Maggie hit anyone. Fighting can mean different things. No one really said, she slugged anyone, did they?"

"Well, no, they didn't actually," Bob said.

"How about we call her back out and ask her exactly what is going on, before we decide to do anything?" Heather compromised.

Bob agreed. "You're right, hon. We really didn't give her much chance to explain."

Heather called Maggie and asked her to join them in the living room. Walking in, Maggie looked very defensive.

Bob started, "Magpie, Mommy and I realize that we didn't really give you much of a chance to explain things to us. Let's start from the beginning, okay?"

"What do you mean, Daddy? I already told you, that the boys there are mean, and they started picking on me from day one. They also picked on my friends," Maggie explained.

Bob asked, "Okay, so what did you DO about it?"

"Well, I told them they were mean, and I told them to STOP."

"Then what, sweetie?" Heather asked.

"Well, then he called me names, and I called him names, and then he and his friends went off to play soccer," said Maggie.

"Okay," Bob said, "then what?"

Maggie looked to make sure she had their attention before continuing. "Well, the next day, on the playground, this silly boy came over and started pushing us around."

Bob uttered, "Now, explain that. Pushing you physically?"

Maggie shook her head. "No, he said I was lucky I was a girl because he couldn't hit girls. So I told him, that HE was the lucky one, because I could finish whatever HE started. I didn't start all this, Daddy. I just stood up for my rights, and for my friends. I will NOT let people call me names!" Maggie shouted.

"Okay, hon, calm down, okay? Now, tell us, did you EVER hit him?" Bob asked.

Again, Maggie shook her head back and forth. "No, Daddy, I am just smarter than he is, and he got frustrated. I can talk him into a corner, and he is an idiot boy. He would LOVE to hit me, but he knows he can't, so we just fight verbally."

Bob stated, "I see. Well, let's talk about other ways of handling this, okay?"

"What do you mean, Daddy? I AM handling it," Maggie said defensively.

"Well, Magpie, when your mom and I get calls from the school, then you aren't handling it, now are you?" her daddy asked.

Maggie pushed the tears away that were starting to form in her eyes. "So, are you saying I should just LET him call me names and get away with it?"

Bob sighed. "No, we are saying that if that is a problem, then we need to go to school WITH you, and have this boy and HIS parents there too, and mediate this thing."

Now Maggie was confused. "What is mediate, Daddy?"

Bob explained, "It means we talk things through and find a better solution to this problem then slinging names back and forth every recess. This way, his parents will know what is going on, and maybe we can work it out."

Looking at her shoes, Maggie reluctantly agreed.

"Magpie, do you trust us? You don't have to do everything on your own anymore. Your mom and I are here to back you up. Do you have a question for us?" Bob asked gently.

Very quietly, Maggie asked, "Ummm, are you mad at me Daddy?"

"No hon, I am NOT mad at you. I do understand your point of view, and I can see how you felt doing what you did was okay. I just want you to know, that there are other, and better solutions to things, and you have to come to us and tell us about things so we can help you. We could have avoided this if you had," Bob expressed.

"How, Daddy?"

"Because, if you had told us what was going on, we would have gone to school sooner, and tried to work things out before they escalated," he answered.

"Oh, I think I understand. Am I in trouble?" she asked.

Bob picked Maggie up and put her in his lap. "No sweetie, you are NOT in trouble, but this isn't finished. We are going to work something out that will help you NOT fight with anyone on the playground, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy."

Snuggling on his shoulder, Maggie felt lighter and happier, knowing that she had him on her side. Standing her up, and looking into her eyes, he asked if there was ANYTHING else, she needed to tell them.

"Ummm, No, Daddy, should there be?" Maggie asked.

Bob said, "I don't know, Magpie, but if there is, I want you to know that it is ALWAYS better to tell us FIRST, before we hear it from anybody else. Okay?"

"Yes sir. Umm, I can't think of anything," she said. Maggie crossed her fingers behind her back as she lied to her dad, hoping he wouldn't find out about the big lie she told about her name.

"Okay, then are you packed for your weekend with the twins?" Bob asked her.

"You mean I can go? Really? I'm not grounded?" Maggie asked.

"No sweetie, you aren't."

"Wow, ohhh thanks, Daddy. You are the BEST!" Maggie remarked.

Running from the room, she was packed in a little under two minutes.

"Whoa there, are you sure you have everything?" Heather inquired.

"Sure Mom, and if I don't, I can always borrow something of Jenn's. We are the same size, you know," Maggie explained.

"Yes, I do know," said Heather, sighing. She took Maggie's bag, and said, "Okay troops, let's go!"

On the drive over, Maggie expected a lecture about "rules", but all Bob said to her was, "Magpie, you KNOW the rules, and you know what will happen if you don't follow them, right?"

"Yes, Daddy, Uncle Charlie will spank me," Maggie said verbatim, probably from repeating it so many times.

"Well, one more thing, Magpie. If Uncle Charlie has to spank you this weekend for being naughty, you can expect another spanking from ME when you get home. Is that clear, young lady?" Bob spoke sternly.

"Yes Sir. I will be good. I promise," Maggie agreed.

"Okay, just be sure you LISTEN. I would like to go a whole weekend without a problem, okay?" said Bob.

Maggie sighed. "Okay, Daddy. I really will be on my BEST behavior."

Laughing, Bob replied, "Can you do the best of your best, Magpie?"

"Ohhhh Daddy," Maggie laughed.

"Well," Heather chimed in, "you do seem to always get in trouble with the twins. So, how about we make it a nice, calm, spank-free weekend?"

"Can we pleaseeee change the subject?" Maggie asked politely.

Bob and Heather both laughed, and said, "Sure, why not?"

Before long they were at the twins' place. After going up the elevator, Maggie knocked on their door. She heard squeals of "They're here, they're here," from the twins, and opening the door, they all fell into each others arms.

All of the adults laughed, and Bob exclaimed, "Boy you'd think they had been apart for months, instead of a few days."

"I know," Lisa said, "the twins really do miss seeing Maggie every day."

"Well, Maggie misses them too," Heather declared.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" Lisa asked.

"Well," Bob said, "thanks for the invite, but I thought I would take my bride out to dinner tonight. If that is okay, of course."

Laughing, Charlie slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Sure bro, I do remember what those newlywed days were like. Go have a fun weekend. We will see you Sunday for dinner. The folks are coming over, so please, be on time, okay?"

"Yes, big brother, we will be," Bob chuckled.

Calling to Maggie and the twins to come out, they hugged them all around, and reminded Maggie to be good.

"Okay, okay, I got it already. I love you both, now go and have a good time," Maggie said.

"Okay, you too, sweetie."