Both Sides of the Story - The Conclusion

The next day, Charlie called Robin and Jennifer into the living room for another family meeting.

"Girls, Mommy and I have heard both your sides of the story. And we still have no idea who copied from who," Charlie stated.

Both girls held their breaths. Maybe they were off the hook.

"So, we've decided that you're both grounded for a month!" he explained.

"What?" Robin said.

"Daddy, no!" Jenn remarked.

Their dad was nodding. "Yes, I'm afraid that's what we've decided. No t.v., no phone calls, no friends."

"And you'll do your homework separately from now on," Lisa added.

Their dad frowned, "You see, I can't tell what happened here. And I can't pursue the issue anymore. I'm very unhappy about it, too. You know, girls, I love you as much as ever, but I think I trust you both a little less now."

Lisa agreed. "Yes, one of you lied to us. Maybe both. It's a shame that you couldn't just come clean and tell us the truth."

"You know," Charlie began.

"Uh-oh," Robin thought. "Nothing good ever comes after Daddy says, 'you know'. Here it comes!"

"I can understand the temptation to cheat. Here you both were, doing the same report, using the same books, everything all under one roof. But, you should know, nothing good can come out of cheating and lying. This whole thing resulted in making the whole family suspicious and unhappy," Charlie concluded.

Both Robin and Jennifer stared down at the floor. They both felt miserable. They both felt guilty.

"Go to your room. You're to stay there the rest of the day. I want you to think about why you're being punished, for a whole month, yet," Charlie commanded.

Neither girl moved.

"NOW!" he roared. "You should be grateful you're both not getting spankings.

Robin and Jennifer ran upstairs. Robin flopped down on her bed, and began to cry. Jennifer laid on her bed, looking forlorn.

Downstairs, Charlie turned to Lisa and said, "Well, what do you think?"

"I think one of them is sure to confess, even if it isn't true," Lisa laughed. "Neither of them wants to be grounded for a month. You are a genius, honey!" Lisa gushed.

Back upstairs, Robin was finding it difficult to read her book for English class. She turned to her sister, who was filing her nails. "Hey, Jenn, this sucks! Why don't you just confess that you copied from me? You'll get a spanking and then we won't be punished anymore!" Robin exclaimed.

"Me, confess? Why don't YOU confess?" Jenn screeched. "I certainly didn't do anything wrong."

"Well, it wasn't me!" Robin shrieked.

Next thing anyone knew, Robin and Jennifer were rolling around on the floor, screaming, and trying to pull each other's hair. Charlie and Lisa heard the screaming and thumping on the floor above them, and came running.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE? STOP IT, THIS INSTANT, YOUNG LADIES!" he yelled.

Robin and Jennifer stopped the minute their father started screaming. They just looked at each other with venom.

Lisa was shocked. "I am very surprised at you two!" she said, disapprovingly.

"Get over here," Charlie called to both girls. He had sat down on the edge of Robin's bed. "What, may I ask, is going on?"

Jennifer pointed at Robin. "She started it, Daddy!" she whined.

"I did not. You did!" Robin said, jabbing her finger in her sister's direction.

"You know what, I don't care who started it! You two know better than to fight. You're both getting spanked!" he uttered.

"Daddy, no!" Jenn shrieked.

"Please, Daddy, I'm sorry!" Robin pleaded.

"Jennifer, go lay on your bed. Robin, get over here," Charlie said as he pulled Robin to stand in between his legs. He put his finger in the waistband of her pajama bottoms and with her underwear, pulled them down to her ankles. He then laid her over his lap and began to spank her.

Charlie spanked and spanked while Jenn and Lisa watched. Robin was more upset about her sister watching her, then the fact she was getting the spanking in the first place.

When Robin's bottom was the color of a fire hydrant, Charlie stopped. Robin was crying hysterically. Charlie stood her up and pulled up her panties and pajama bottoms.

"Here, lay on your bed, and cry it out," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

Then he went over to Jennifer's bed. He motioned for Jenn to lay across his lap. He pulled her pajama bottoms and panties down to her ankles as well. Then he began to spank, first one cheek, and then the other. He continued, alternating cheeks as he went. Jenn's bottom turned as red as her sister's and that's when he stopped.

Charlie stood Jennifer up, and told her to step out of her panties and pajamas. He laid her down on her bed. Lisa came over and slipped a pair of pantsies underneath her. Charlie kissed Jenn on the cheek and said to both girls, "I love you, girls, I just want you to remember that."

Charlie and Lisa went downstairs. "Well, I didn't think I'd be doing that until I got a confession out of them."

"I don't understand, hon. Those two never seem to learn," Lisa said, shaking her head.

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

After a week of being grounded, Robin couldn't stand it anymore. She hated not being able to watch t.v. or talk to her friends on the phone. But worst of all, she couldn't stand being stuck up in her room, stuck with Jennifer, who was just as miserable as she was. The two of them hadn't spoken since their daddy had spanked them for fighting.

One night, after dinner, Robin went downstairs to where her parents were sitting in the living room.

"Mommy? Daddy?" she asked.

Charlie and Lisa looked up from what they were doing. "Yes, sweetie, what is it?" Lisa asked.

"Um, I need to tell you something," Robin responded.

"Go on," Charlie encouraged.

"It was me. I copied from Jenn," she said.

You could have knocked Charlie over with a feather, he was so surprised. "What did you just say, honey?" he asked.

"I said, it was me. I copied from Jennifer. But Daddy, it wasn't the whole paper. I only looked at a little bit of it. Honest!" Robin uttered.

"Honest? You're being honest, now?" Lisa asked, laughing.

"Sit down, honey," Charlie said, indicating the couch opposite their chairs. "Please explain."

"Well," Robin began, "it went like this. I was all done with my paper. And I was really proud of it. I even bragged to Jenn how great my paper was. But she didn't care. She said hers was really good, too. That made me jealous. So when she was at her friend's house, I took a peek at it. I just wanted to see if it was as good as mine."

"And it was-really good. Jenn had some parts in hers that I hadn't put in mine. I thought, Wow, this is great! I should have this in mine. So I copied it. Just a little bit of it. I didn't think I was doing such a bad thing. I mean, I know it's wrong to copy, but, I don't know, I just couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry, Mommy, Daddy. I really am. I know I should have told you sooner. But I was afraid," Robin concluded.

Charlie frowned. He knew he should be glad that he finally knew the truth, but he wasn't. He was miserable. He guessed he couldn't believe that his angel, Robin, would do something like this.

"Mommy and I need to talk. Go back to your room. We'll call you later when we've discussed this issue," Charlie said.

Robin stood up. She started to walk out of the room.

"Robin!" her dad called. She turned around. "I'm very disappointed in you, young lady."

"I know, Daddy, and I'm sorry," she said quietly, before turning to go for real.

Later that day, Jenn watched as Robin lay sleeping in her bed. She was angry at herself for still being grounded. Her best friend was having a party that night, and she wasn't allowed to go. She stared at her sister. If it wasn't for her, they wouldn't be in this mess.

After all, if she didn't have a twin sister who was doing a report on the same person as she, she never would have had the impulse to look at her paper. It wasn't her fault that Robin's was so much better than hers. And she couldn't help it, she had only copied a little bit of it.

"I guess I should tell Mommy and Daddy," Jenn thought.

Reluctantly, Jenn climbed down the flight of stairs. She found her parents in the kitchen making dinner.

"Mommy, Daddy, I have something to tell you," Jenn began.

Twenty minutes later, Jenn was sent up to her room. Charlie looked at Lisa, "What do you make of this, Lisa?"

"I don't know, hon. Both of them? They both confessed to copying each other. It seems unbelievable!" Lisa shrieked.

"Well, I don't know if I buy it, now. They both seemed to be telling the truth, but. Hmmm, what if this is just a ploy to get out of being grounded?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, hon, I think you're stretching here, don't you?" Lisa declared.

"Yeah, maybe you're right!" Charlie exclaimed. "Well, I guess they both have to be punished, then."

Upstairs, Jenn leaned over Robin and whispered, "Robin? You up?"

Robin opened her eyes. "Oh, you're talking to me now, huh?"

"Yeah, listen Robin. I think we'll both be off the hook soon, with this grounding thing. I went down and I confessed to Mommy and Daddy. I told them I was the one who copied from you," Jenn explained.

Robin's eyes got wide. "You did?"

"Yeah, I figured one week was bad enough. I couldn't go another three weeks being grounded. The spanking won't last very long," Jenn remarked.

"But Jenn," Robin began.

"What?" Jennifer asked. "It was easy. And they believed me. So, don't worry!"

"You don't understand, Jenn. I confessed, too," Robin admitted.

"What do you mean, you confessed!?" Jenn asked.

Robin was shaking her head violently. "Yeah, I did. I went downstairs earlier and told Mommy and Daddy that I was the one who copied from you. Daddy even said he was disappointed in me."

"Oh, my god! Robin, why didn't you tell me? This is just great! Now they're gonna think we both lied to get out of being grounded. Hey, wait a minute. Hey, this isn't so bad," Jenn thought aloud.

"What? I don't like this, Jenn. Every time your wheels spin, we both get into trouble. Tell me!" Robin pleaded.

"Yep," Jenn laughed, "this is just perfect."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after Charlie and Lisa left, Robin and Jennifer lay crying on their beds. Both of them had very sore bottoms. But it was worth it. They were still going to be grounded for the next few weeks, but at least their parents didn't know the truth.

"Do you think cousin Maggie has a paper on Harriet Tubman? Black history month is coming up next month!" Jennifer announced.

"Jennifer, don't even think about it," Robin responded.