The Treehouse

The Treehouse...a “Missy” story (M/ff)

This story is dedicated to the person I based the character of Jasmine on. She is very sweet and deserves a lot more than she has gotten.

Disclaimer: This story contains the spankings of fictional children. If this is not your thing, then don't read it. This story is a work of fiction. The author in no way advocates the use of corporal discipline for real children.

Do not write other stories using these characters without permission from the author.

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I was so excited. Only one more day. I lay in bed and thought to myself how fun it was gonna be. Tomorrow was Saturday and Daddy and I were having a special day. Just me and him. All the other kids and even Mommy were gonna be somewheres else, and me and Daddy were gonna spend the whole day together.

It was late at night and everyone was asleep. I knew I should be too, but I was just too ‘cited to sleep. I didn’t get up, though. That would have been naughty, and I didn’t want to ruin the plans. I had been good for a whole week, and Daddy was rewarding me.

I lay back down, hugged my stuffed polar bear that Daddy got me at the ‘quarium tight and put my head on the pillow. I tried to think good thoughts as I fell back to sleep.

The next morning I was the last to wake up. I guess that’s what I get for being up half the night being ‘cited. I came downstairs and Joey and Billy were watching TV.

“You missed breakfast, sis, you lazy bum!” Billy said, teasingly.

“I can still eat,” I said.

“Yeah, cereal. But you missed bacon, your favorite!” Joey said.

“Joey, don’t tease your sister. Good morning, sweetie,” Daddy said, opening his arms to me.

I was still in my pajamas and my hair was all messy. I looked at Daddy and smiled, running into his arms.

“Mornin’, Daddy,” I said, happily, hugging him tight.

He picked me up and swung me around. “You ready for our big day together?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded. “Yep, that’s why I slept so late. I was so ‘cited during the night, I couldn’t sleep.”

“Okay, baby,” he said, settling me down at the dining room table. “I saved you some bacon.”

“You did? Thanks, Daddy.”

I had the best Daddy in the world. I smiled as he put the bacon on a plate and put it in front of me. I ate it up and even ate all my eggs without a fuss.

A horn outside beeped. “That’s for me!” Billy shouted, jumping up off the couch. “Bye, Daddy!” he called, starting to run for the door.

“Just a minute, Billy,” Daddy said.

“But I gotta go, Daddy, they’re waiting!” Billy said, impatiently.

Daddy walked over to Billy and whispered something in his ear. I watched Billy nod and say, “Yes, sir.” I could just imagine what Daddy told him.

“Bye, Billy, have fun!” Joey called. Billy waved and ran out the door. He was going to a special soccer camp for the day. He had been talking about it all week.

I finished my breakfast and brought my plate into the kitchen. Daddy was washing dishes. “Daddy? Did Mommy and the girls leave already?” I asked. I couldn’t have slept that long.

“Yes, sweetie. Mommy didn’t want to wake you. She didn’t want me to have a cranky girl today,” he said, smiling at me. I knew he was kidding.

“Oh,” I said.

Today was the picnic at Katie’s school. Mommy was in charge of the whole thing. Katie and Debbie had been looking forward to it for days. I had been invited, of course, but opted to spend the day with Daddy instead. And Joey was having a playdate at his friend, Sean’s, house. Me and Daddy were gonna drop him off there.

Daddy looked at me. “Missy, you need to go get dressed, baby, and brush your hair.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. I ran upstairs to get ready, stopping only to pet my black lab, Midnight.

I came down a bit later, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. We were having a very mild September, and it was great to still be able to wear shorts. I loved it. It was kinda like a continuation of summer.

Daddy looked at me and smiled. “Okay, give it to me,” he said.

I laughed and handed him my brush. I just couldn’t brush all the way down my back. My hair had gotten really long, and I found it almost impossible to do it myself.

I sat down and let Daddy brush my hair. Then I handed him a scrunchie and he expertly put one big pony-tail in my dark brown hair.

“Thanks, Daddy,” I said, standing up.

He handed me the brush and said, “Go put this away, get your shoes on, and we’ll go. We need to drop Joey off. He’s getting restless.”

Ten minutes later, we had dropped Joey at his friend’s house and were headed for my favorite playground. It wasn’t the one that was in walking distance of our house, neither. It was the one I called the wooden playground, ‘cuz everything there was made of wood and it was all connected. Not like the one near our house, which only had swings, a slide, a sandbox and some dumb old monkey bars.

This playground was super cool. It wasn’t far from us, but you had to drive there. I loved going there. I ran to play. At first, Daddy just sat on a bench and watched me. I did the parallel bars, and the Tarzan rope, and the trapeze wire. I climbed through the tunnel and pretended I was driving the car. It was so much fun.

After a bit, Daddy got up and started chasing me through the playground. Since everything was attached, you never had to put your feet on the ground. It was so much fun. We were both out of breath when Daddy finally quit; he couldn’t catch me.

We went back to the bench and collapsed. I was giggling and even Daddy was laughing. It was great. He looked over and ruffled my hair.

“I love when you behave, Missy. See how much fun we can have?”

I nodded. “Yes, Daddy. I like it, too.”

Daddy looked at his watch. “Oh, it’s late, almost 1:00. You hungry?”

I jumped up. “Yep,” I said.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. It was so good. I loved their pizza. And they had a placemat to color with crayons. And I didn’t even hafta share with no one. Then Daddy gave me two dollars and I got to spend it in the arcade. It was fun. I played lotsa games and won some little dinky prizes, which I loved.

I went over to Daddy, after picking out my prizes and hugged him tight. “I love you so much, Daddy. Thank you.”

Daddy smiled. “You are welcome, Missy. I like to be able to do fun things with you. I hope you and I can spend a fun day together again soon.”

“Just us, again, Daddy?” I asked.

Daddy nodded. He knew I loved my brothers and sisters, but with five of us, he often did not have time to spend with just me. Not that I didn’t love them, but I also appreciated some quiet time with just me and Daddy. It didn’t necessarily even have to be an outing.

“Come on, sweetie, let’s go. We need to stop at the hardware store on the way home.”

Daddy took my hand and I skipped to the car. I loved going places with Daddy. Even if it was just errands. We were going to the hardware store to pick out paint. Daddy had promised to re-decorate our playroom. Katie, Debbie, and I had agreed on purple walls, with silver and turquoise designs. It was gonna be awesome.

We bought the paint and Daddy bought some other tools and things he would need. We put everything in the back of the minivan and started home. I had had a wonderful day, and it wasn’t even over yet.

When we got home, Daddy told me to change into old clothes, and I met him in the playroom. He had changed, too, and he put down a drop cloth on the floor. All the toys had been moved out of the room, or in the center of the room, but they were covered, or in boxes.

Daddy showed me how to use the screwdriver to open the cans of paint. He watched me and told me to be very careful. “Now, you are not to do this without me, here, okay, Missy?” he asked.

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Good girl. Tools can be very dangerous if not used properly. And you are too little to use them without me there.”

I listened, and watched. Daddy also taught me how to put the roller in the pan and paint the walls. He even let me do some. When one wall was dry, Daddy let me use the silver paint to make swirls on the wall. It was so neat. Wait ‘til Katie and Debbie saw this.

We spent a couple of hours, and Daddy got two walls done. I wanted to finish, but Daddy said that was enough. He was tired, and needed to rest. Besides, the room really smelled and he didn’t want me in it too long.

He took one look at me and laughed. “Missy, you are covered from head to toe in paint. Come on, sweetie, let me give you a bath.”

I looked down at myself and smiled. I was covered in paint. If you had put me up against the wall, you wouldn’t have been able to find me.

Daddy ran my bath while I got ready. He even put bubbles in. I loved bubble baths. I stepped in and the temperature was just right. He let me play while he took the washcloth and cleaned me. I was old enough to do it myself, but I liked a little pampering now and then. Daddy pulled my scrunchie out and washed my hair. He didn’t even get the shampoo in my eyes. He was a pro.

When I got cold, Daddy wrapped a big towel around me and dried me completely. I ran to put on my shorts and t-shirt again. He brushed my hair again and put it back in the pony-tail.

“Sweetie, Daddy’s gonna go take a shower. You go downstairs and watch some TV. I’ll be down in a little bit.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

I went downstairs, and poured myself some apple juice. I brought it into the den and was watching TV when the phone rang. It was my friend, Jasmine, from down the block.

“Hi, Missy,” she said, “what’cha doing?”

“Nothing,” I answered, “just watching TV.” Then I went on to tell her about my day. We were on the phone for a while. We were best friends, and played together all the time. She lived down the block, and this year we were in the same class at school.

Daddy came in while I was still on the phone. “Who is it, Missy?” he asked.

“It’s Jasmine, Daddy.”

Daddy smiled and nodded. He went to the kitchen and came back with a soda for himself. He lay on the couch and picked up the remote.

“I don’t know,” I said into the phone. “Let me ask.”

I wasn’t sure if my day with Daddy was over or not. He looked tired, and could probably use a break from me. Even though I had been very good.

I covered the mouthpiece and said, “Daddy?”

Daddy opened his eyes. “Yes, Missy?”

“Can Jasmine come over?”

“Sure, baby,” Daddy said.

I relayed the good news to Jasmine. Within ten minutes, she was ringing our doorbell. I brought her into the den to say hi to Daddy. He could barely keep his eyes open.

“Hi, Mr. Ross,” Jasmine said, happily.

“Hello, Jasmine,” Daddy said. “Girls, why don’t you go play outside for a little bit? Missy, I need to rest.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said.

“But, Melissa, you stay in the yard.”

“I know. We will.”

We ran out of the den and out the back door. We did chalk for a while, and played on the swingset. But it was a baby swingset, not like the one at the park. The two of us just sat there swinging and talking.

“Hey, Jaz, wanna see the playroom? Me and Daddy painted it. Or started to, anyway.”

“You did? Yeah, let’s go.”

We went inside and I brought Jasmine up to the playroom. She was astounded at how beautiful it looked.

“Wow, it sure is nice, Missy. You’re lucky! I wish I could paint something,” Jasmine said.

“Yeah, it was fun. But Daddy said he was too tired to do anymore today. Too bad we couldn’t paint something else.”

Jasmine’s eyes lit up. “I know. Let’s redecorate your brothers’ treehouse. We can surprise them!”

I looked at her like she was crazy. My brothers would kill me if I messed with anything up there. They hated it when I went up there to play, even though Mommy and Daddy had said it was okay if they weren’t there.

“No, I’d get in trouble with them for sure.”

“Come on, Missy. We won’t do anything that bad. Just spice it up a little. You play there, too. You should be able to look at some nice things,” Jasmine said.

For some reason, Jasmine always had this way of talking me into things. I must have known deep down that it was really naughty to do it, but her ideas sounded so good. Suddenly I really wanted to paint the boys’ treehouse.

“Okay,” I said, “Let’s do it.”

We giggled as we put on old clothes. I let Jasmine borrow some of mine. At least we had the sense to change. Mommy woulda been real mad if I got paint on my good clothes.

Jasmine took the purple and I carried the silver. They were a little heavy, but not too bad. I was glad the boys had a pulley system for bringing stuff up to the treehouse. I think if we hadda carry that stuff up by hand on the rope ladder, I wouldn’t have done it.

We brought brushes up and the screwdriver, too. Jasmine found some material in Mommy’s sewing box and told me she knew how to make curtains. I was getting excited. I took up Mommy’s big scissors, even though I wasn’t supposed to touch them.

We put all the supplies out on the floor of the treehouse. “Okay,” she said, “let’s get to work.”

I smiled and showed her how to use the screwdriver to open the paints. I wasn’t even thinking of the promise I made to Daddy. I was just so proud of being able to do it and to show off to Jasmine.

We painted the walls purple, just like the playroom. But we hadn’t put a dropcloth down and got paint on the floors. When I pointed this out to Jasmine, she said, “Just watch, Missy.”

I watched in awe as Jasmine took the paint from the floor and made it look like there was a rug. She painted a big circle in the middle of the room. Then she took the silver paint and did spirals, so it looked like one of those braided rugs. It was so neat.

I really got into this designing of the treehouse. I made silver spirals on the walls just like I had in the playroom. Then I watched as Jasmine cut the fabric into curtains.

“Be careful with that scissor. It’s Mommy’s and it’s really sharp,” I warned her.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I always use a big scissor like this, Missy. Besides I’ve been seven for a while now.”

“Okay,” I said, watching. I was amazed at what Jasmine could do. She was an only child, so her mom had more time to show her things than my mom did.

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David was startled awake when the telephone rang. He reached for it and groggily said, “Hello?”

“Hi, Mr. Ross, this is Elisabeth, from Missy’s class. May I speak to her, please?”

If Daddy had not been so tired, he would have noticed what excellent phone manners Elisabeth had.

“Uh, sure, Elisabeth, hold on just one second.”

He stood up and tried to wake up, by running his hands over his face. He got up and called out, “Missy, telephone!”

No answer. “Melissa!” Still no answer. Then he remembered that Jasmine had come over and we had gone outside to play.

He got back on the phone, now almost fully awake. “Elisabeth? I think she’s outside. Can she call you back in a little while?”

“Uh, sure, Mr. Ross. I needed to ask her something about a school project.”

“Okay, sweetie, I’ll make sure she gets the message,” Daddy said, hanging up the phone.

Daddy stood up and went to the back window. He looked out but did not see me or Jasmine. He went upstairs and peeked into my room, but obviously I wasn’t there. Then he went to check out the playroom. It still smelled pretty bad, so he hooked up the air cleaner, and headed back downstairs. Probably if he hadn’t been half asleep, he would have noticed the missing paint cans.

He headed out back, figuring we were in the treehouse. He decided not to call out to us, but to surprise us by climbing up, instead.

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And boy were we surprised! We both jumped when Daddy peeked his head into the door of the treehouse. I dropped my paintbrush where I was adding a few more swirls, and Jasmine dropped Mommy’s scissors. I quickly slid them behind my back.

Daddy looked around. “WHAT ON EARTH!” he yelled.

“Uh, hi Daddy,” I said sheepishly. “Hi, Mr. Ross,” Jasmine said quietly.

We both knew the fun was over. We were in big trouble.

Daddy helped us get the supplies back out of the treehouse. He didn’t say a single word the whole time. I bet if I touched his ears, I would have felt the steam coming out of them.

And if you looked at us, you’d think we dipped ourselves in paint. Daddy gave us baths, but this time it was not the fun kind. This was a “get to the point” scrub-fest. Jasmine had slept over many times, and wasn’t embarrassed by Daddy giving her a bath. She was just sad, ‘cuz she knew he was mad at us.

I was getting scared. Daddy hadn’t said a word since he found us in the treehouse, except to tell us to go get dressed, or brush my hair, or what-not.

When we were fully dressed, Daddy looked at us. “I don’t know what to say, girls, except to say that I am very, very disappointed in you. Both of you. I think you knew better than to do what you did.”

We both looked down. I knew I had a spanking coming. But I had no idea what Daddy was gonna do with Jasmine. Sure, he had spanked her many times before. She didn’t get much discipline at her house. Being an only child, her parents spoiled her rotten.

“Jasmine, go down to the den and wait for me. I have to call your mother. I will be down in a little bit. I need to have a talk with Missy.”

“Yes, sir,” Jaz said. She and I both knew what kind of ‘talk’ Daddy had in mind. I watched Jasmine leave my room and just looked up at Daddy.

He sighed and sat down on my desk chair, facing me. “Melissa, I really don’t know what you were thinking. We had such a great day, and then you had to go and do something like this. I really don’t understand you at all. I’m very disappointed in you, young lady.”

I started to cry. I couldn’t help it. I knew I would be crying even more in a few minutes, but somehow that look of disappointment on Daddy’s face was too much to bear. I looked down and mumbled, “I’m disappointed in me, too, Daddy.”

Daddy put his finger under my chin and made me look at him.

“Now Melissa, what did you think you were doing back there?” he asked, quietly.

I sobbed. “We was just making the treehouse beautiful, Daddy!”

“And what did I tell you just today about using tools by yourself?”

“Not to, sir,” I said.

“That’s right. You could have been hurt. And I know Mommy does not let you use those big scissors, either, young lady.”

“I didn’t, Daddy, Jasmine did.”

“Melissa Erin, that’s not the point and you know it.”

I watched Daddy get up and get my hairbrush. I knew this time it was not to brush my hair. I watched as he put it on the floor next to him. I didn’t have to ask if I was in trouble, ‘cuz I knew I was, and I knew I was gonna get a spanking.

But I had to try to get out of it. “Daddy, please don’t spank me. We were just having fun!” I whined.

“Melissa, you know better than to beg out of a spanking. What you and Jasmine did was wrong, and you know it. Both of you are in big trouble. That treehouse was not yours to paint, even if you were allowed to touch those things. Is that clear?”

I nodded. “You gonna spank Jasmine, too, Daddy?” I asked.

“Probably. Although that’s not really your concern right now. Come here.”

I went to stand at Daddy’s right side. He reached down and undid my shorts, slipping them down to my ankles.

I don’t know what came over me, but I started to protest, which I can tell you, is not a good idea. I grabbed my shorts and said, “Noooooo!”

“MELISSA ERIN! Do you want two spankings?”

I cried and said, “No, sir.”

“All right, then,” Daddy said. I let go of my shorts. Then he reached over and slid my panties down and gently pulled me over his lap.

“Why are you getting a spanking, Melissa?” Daddy asked me.

“Cuz we used your things without asking and made a mess,” I stated in sobs.

“Yes, that’s right, and that was very naughty.”

Daddy raised his hand and started spanking my bare bottom.

{Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!}

“Owwwwww!” I cried. He was only using his hand and it hurt already. I hadn’t had a spanking in over a week, and had hoped to keep it that way. But of course, that hadn’t happened.

{Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!}

I was wiggling over Daddy’s lap and kicking my feet. “I'm sorrrrrry, Daddddy! Owwwwwwww, owwwwwwwwwwieeeeeee!” I yelled.

He held me on his lap firmly and continued to spank me.

{Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!}

“I know you’re sorry, Melissa, but we are not finished yet.”

I knew what was coming, even before Daddy reached for the hairbrush. I did another no-no and put my hand back to stop it.

“Move that hand, Melissa!” Daddy said.

“Nooooooo!” I cried. “Please, Daddddy!”

Daddy took his hand and smacked my sit spot hard.

{Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!} {Swat!}

“Move that hand, now, Melissa Erin,” Daddy scolded.

I knew I couldn’t win, and moved my hand. Daddy picked up the hairbrush and brought it down on my bottom.

{Crack!} {Crack!} {Crack!} {Crack!} {Crack!}

I screamed, “Owwwww, I’M SORRRRRRRRRRRY!”

Daddy must have realized I had learned my lesson and he put the hairbrush down. It had felt like a really bad spanking. It probably was worse ‘cuz I argued and put my hand back. I was sobbing.

Daddy stood me up and held me tight to him. “Okay, baby, your spanking is over.”

I cried, “That hurted!”

“It was meant to,” Daddy said. I nodded and sobbed over his shoulder. “But it’s all over now.”

Daddy cuddled me and I tried to regain my composure. “I s-s-sorry, Daddy.”

“I forgive you, baby, and I still love you, you know that.”

Daddy said that all the time. I knew it but I just loved hearing it.

After a few more minutes of cuddling, Daddy reached down and adjusted my panties and my shorts. He pulled me back into his lap and let me calm down some more.

“Daddy? Are Billy and Joey gonna be mad at me?” I asked.

“Well, you and Jasmine are going to clean it up.”

“But we can’t!” I whined.

Daddy turned to look at me. “Why not, sweetie?”

“Cuz we painted the walls and stuff. They’re gonna kill me.”

“It’s all right, we will fix it,” Daddy assured me.

I looked at Daddy. “You’ll help us, Daddy?”

“Yes, I will. Now, I want you to take a nap. I need to go talk to Jasmine.”

Daddy stood up and carried me over to my bed, where he settled me down into it. I’m seven, and don’t usually take naps, but I wasn’t gonna argue with Daddy. Besides, that spanking had taken a lot outta me, and I was tired.

I reached up and hugged Daddy. “I love you, Daddy. I sorry I was naughty.”

Daddy smiled and said, “I love you, too, baby, and I will always forgive you. You take a nice nap now. I will see you in a bit.”

“Okay,” I said, putting my head down on the pillow and closing my eyes.

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Daddy went downstairs and called Jasmine’s mother. She was at a loss as to what he should do. So he decided to just do what he normally did when one of us misbehaved. He shook his head, and wondered what kinds of things Jasmine got away with at home.

He went into the den and found her sitting on the edge of the couch, right where he had left her. She hadn’t moved, but when she saw him, tears slowly trickled down her face.

“I spoke to your mother, Jasmine,” he told her.

She looked up. “Um, yes, sir.”

“You know that I just gave Missy a spanking, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Ross,” Jasmine answered quietly.

“Okay, so you know what we’re about to do now, don’t you?”

Jasmine nodded. Daddy sighed. He went over and took her place on the couch and stood her in front of him.

“Tell me why I’m about to spank you, young lady.”

Jasmine took a deep breath and said, “Cuz I took your scissors and screwdriver and didn’t ask and painted the boys’ treehouse.......and I coulda gotten hurt.....but I’m sorrrryy, pleeeease don’t spank me!"

Jasmine never thought what she and I had done was all that bad, ‘til she actually said it out loud and suddenly it seemed like a lotta naughty things.

Daddy just looked at her. “That’s a lot, isn’t it, Jasmine?”

“Um, yes, sir.”

Daddy pulled Jasmine to his right side and looked directly at her. “You know, Jasmine, I like when you come here to play with my children, and you have been here many times. You know that there are rules to follow here. You broke them today, and you are going to be punished. Is that understood?”

Jasmine nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak at this point. Daddy pulled up her sundress, and brought down her panties. Then he lifted her over his lap as if she were one of his own children. He raised his hand and started to smack her bare bottom.

{SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!}!

Jasmine kicked and squirmed and cried out. But Daddy continued.

"Young lady, you can play over whenever you’d like, but you must follow our rules. {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir, I’m sorrry! Pleeeeease, I’ll be good!” she cried.

Jasmine was no stranger to being spanked by Daddy. We often got into lots of trouble together. But it was few and far between and she forgot each time how much it hurt. She cried and promised to be a good little girl if he just stopped.

But he wasn’t done yet. He picked up the hairbrush that he had brought from upstairs and landed about six smacks to her bottom with it.

{SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!} {SMACK!}

“Are you ready to be a good girl?” he asked.

“Yes, pleeeeease! I willll!” she cried.

Daddy looked down at her red bottom and decided she had learned her lesson. He pulled up her panties and adjusted her sundress. He cuddled her on his lap and let her cry. He stroked her hair and her back and let her sob into his chest.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Ross,” Jasmine cried.

“It’s okay, sweetie, it’s all over now. You’re forgiven.”

“Mr. Ross?” Jasmine asked after a few minutes.

“Yes, sweet pea?” he answered.

Jasmine smiled. “Sweet-pea” was a nickname Daddy had given Jasmine a long time ago when she and I first started playing together. She loved it and Daddy tried to use it whenever she was around.

“I feel like you love me more than my own parents, sometimes. They never punish me like you do,” she admitted. “I don’t think they care about me.”

Daddy turned Jasmine so that she was looking into his eyes. “Oh, that’s not true, sweet-pea. They love you. They just have different ways of showing it.”

“Okay, if you say so, Mr. Ross.” Then Jasmine was quiet for a few minutes. “Mr. Ross? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, sweet-pea, what is it?” Daddy asked.

“Can I call you Uncle Ross instead of Mr. Ross, even though you’re not my real uncle?” she asked quietly.

Daddy smiled down at Jasmine. “I would be honored if you did.”

“Really? Oh thank you, Mister, I mean, Uncle Ross.”

Jasmine gave Daddy a great big hug. He hugged her back just as tightly. Then he stood up and laid Jasmine down on the couch.

“I want you to rest for a while. Then we’ll see if you can stay for dinner. Okay?” Daddy stated.

Jasmine smiled. “Okay,” she said. She never took naps at home, but she didn’t care. She was going to listen to anything my daddy told her.

Just then, Billy raced into the den. “Daddy, I’m home!” he yelled. Daddy put up his hand to shush Billy. He hadn’t seen Jasmine on the couch. “Oh, sorry!” he said.

He started for the back door. “I just have to go put this away; I’ll be right back.”

Jasmine looked up at Daddy and neither of them had time to stop Billy. He ran out back and up into the treehouse. Daddy just waited by the back door ‘til Billy ran back in.

“DADDY! My treehouse is ruined!” he yelled.

Daddy put his arm around Billy’s shoulders, and led him out the back door. He wanted Jasmine to sleep. She didn’t want to; she wanted to hear this conversation, but knew much better than to get up after Uncle Ross had told her to lie down. She would just have to wait.

“Daddy! What happened?” Billy asked. “Did Jasmine and Missy do that?”

“Yes, and they have been properly punished. You and Joey and I will pick out some new colors and we’ll paint it over next weekend,” Daddy explained.

“NEXT WEEKEND? I can’t wait ‘til then. Daddy, it’s purple!” Billy cried.

“Billy, we will paint it next weekend. Now go upstairs and take a shower. Mommy will be home with the girls soon, and Joey will be home from his friend’s house. We’ll have a nice quiet family dinner.”

Billy sighed. “Oh, okay,” he said, walking quietly back into the house. He scowled a bit at Jasmine but she had fallen asleep. Daddy went into the kitchen to plan some dinner.

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I woke up from my nap and came downstairs. Soon after, Joey was dropped off and Mommy came home with Debbie and Katie. Jasmine woke up and the two of us hugged. We had been through so much together and today was no exception.

Mommy and the girls weren’t hungry because they had eaten all day, so Daddy decided to just throw some hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. We ate out back and everyone played. Not much was said about the purple treehouse, but I knew it would be a while before Billy and Joey forgave me.

Ahh, such is life in a big family, I suppose. There was never a dull moment, that’s for sure!

The end.