Shane's pov

Mike and I are both needed on short notice in Africa next week to do some work with Neil at one of his largest clinics. Neither of us feel comfortable leaving the girls unsupervised and Rick is unavailable so when my father informed me again for the umpteenth time he wanted to come from England for a visit, I decided, despite my better judgment, to let him watch them. I'm hoping he'll get to know the girls better in the process.

My father'd been quite persistent about wanting to make the trip out for some months now but I kept putting him off, afraid of what might happen. He'd never been too thrilled about the choice I made to raise the girls with Mike, never understanding how I would want to devote my life to kids who weren't even, "mine." I believe his exact words were, "What in the world do you want to do that for? Kids just get in the way."

I asked Neil if they could stay at his lakeside cottage since the girls were on break from school and I felt my father would be more comfortable there. As an added bonus, Mike and I would be able to join them upon our return from Africa for a few days of relaxation.

I voiced my concerns to Mike about leaving the girls under my father's care but we both decided in the end he was our best and honestly, only option. To say my father is a bit rigid and rough around the edges is like saying fire is a bit hot. We never had the best relationship to begin with but after the accident that killed my brother it became incredibly strained. To be honest, I was quite surprised when my father started requesting so insistently to visit as we barely ever even spoke to each other, aside from an occasional call on holidays.

Dr. Evans has been encouraging me for years to mend the relationship with my father. "It's an important part of the healing process," she always claimed. "You've been craving your father's approval and forgiveness ever since your brother's death. You'll never truly forgive yourself for what happened until you mend that fence." Damn her spot on psychological analysis, I thought to myself. I know she's right and now's as good a time as any to repair my relationship with my dad.

Once all the arrangements were made, my father rented a car at the airport and we drove separately up to the cottage so my dad would have a car available if needed. Mike didn't join us as he flew to Africa a few days prior. On the drive up, I made it clear to the girls to be on their best behaviour as my father would be allowed to punish them. I also tried to encourage them to do their best to be patient and accommodating, letting them know he hasn't been around teenagers in quite some time.

"Relax, Shane, you and Mike worry too much. Your dad will be fine," Stacey reassured me.

"It's the four of you I'm worried about," I mumbled softly, so they couldn't hear me.

When we arrived at the cottage, we all sat down together and I reiterated my expectations for the girls.

"How would you like the girls to address you, Father?" I asked.

"As Mr. Donovan of course," my father replied.

Of course, I shouldn't have expected any different, I thought. It broke my heart a little to leave my girls alone with him but they assured me they would be fine and I didn't need to worry about them. They were actually looking forward to getting to know my dad. After kissing and hugging them goodbye, I drove home thinking they really are great kids.

Nine days later

Shane's pov

I opened the door to Neil's cottage and heard Carrie ask, "Granddad, what time is Shane supposed to be here?"

"Should be any second now, luv," I replied, grinning broadly as I set my suitcase down.

"Shane, you're back!" Carrie squealed, running into my arms for a welcoming hug.

Looking at my father, I asked, "What happened to Mr. Donovan?" as I smiled and gave my dad a hug.

"People can change, Shane. Even people as set in their ways as your old man," he replied.

After giving all my girls a hug and kiss, I sent them to the beach for a swim so I could speak privately with my father.

"So how were the girls?" I asked. "I see they're all accounted for, so that's a good thing."

"Pretty good," my dad said casually, before continuing. "I only had to wash Julie's and Stacey's mouths out with soap once before they cleaned up their language." My father spoke as if this was a routine everyday occurrence, hardly even worth mentioning.

"Father, that's not how we punish the girls," I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Well, it certainly kept your smart mouth in check for several years," he retorted. "And besides, you said I could discipline the girls if necessary and believe me, it certainly was necessary. You and Mike have let them run herd on you for far too long."

"You're correct, Father, I should have been more specific as to what disciplinary measures were permissible." I chose to ignore his comment accusing Mike and I of being lax in administering correction to our girls.

I poured him a scotch on the rocks as we sat down at Neil's kitchen table.

"Did you have any other problems with the girls while we were gone, Father?" I asked, hoping desperately to hear a simple no in response but fearing that wouldn't be the case.

"No, not really. After I spanked Lisa and stood her in the corner for forty minutes, the others fell in line nicely." Again, my father spoke as if this was nothing short of ordinary.

God help me I prayed silently, needing divine intervention to keep from unleashing on my father and irreparably damaging our all too fragile relationship. I have to keep reminding myself that he means well but just doesn't know any better as that's how he was raised and how he raised my brother and I as well.

Sighing again, I said, "Father, we don't use corner time either."

"Well, if your mother, God bless her soul, was still alive, she would have certainly agreed with me that a little humiliation from standing with your hands on your head and your red bum on display never hurt anyone. In fact, she always claimed you and your brother were never sweeter than after a good bout of corner time."

"Yes, that was Mom's favorite add-on after a punishment. Wasn't it?" I poured myself a scotch neat as I refilled my father's glass.

"You know, I never did understand why you gave up your entire life for four strangers, Shane, but now after spending a week with your daughters, my granddaughters, I finally get it," my father said warmly.

My heart swelled hearing him refer to the girls as my daughters and his granddaughters. He had never done that before.

My dad continued, "I can't imagine what would have happened to those girls if you and Mike hadn't given them a home..." In a rare show of affection, my dad patted my hand before continuing, "...a family too. They're amazing girls, the lot of 'em. I see a little piece of you in each of them, son, and it makes me proud. You done good, soldier." He patted me on the back. "I understand now, Shane. You didn't give up your life for them, they gave you a reason to live."

Edward Donovan thought to himself, those girls gave me my son back and for that I'll be eternally grateful.

After dinner

Shane's pov

I decided to sit the cousins down first to discuss the punishment they received while we were away.

"So, girls, care to tell me what earned you both a mouthful of soap?"

"Oh, Granddad told you huh?" Stacey asked.

"Yes, he certainly did. I should spank you both for misbehaving while we were away but if you tell me what happened, I may be willing to forego additional consequences." I stood arms crossed and one eyebrow raised, indicating this truly wasn't a negotiation.

"Do you want to do the honors, cuz, or should I?" Stacey looked to Julie who motioned for her to continue.

"Neither one of you should feel honoured right now." I Frowned at my two oldest girls. "Go ahead, Stacey."

Stacey's pov

Flashback

Granddad walked in when Julie and I were talking but we didn't see him come in so we kept spillin' the tea.

"I heard that bitch Lauren bragging about getting Lisa suspended," Julie said, as she spilled some tea.

I said, "No fuckin' way!" in response to her tea.

Then Granddad yelled, "GIRLS! WHAT DID I JUST HEAR COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS?"

So we turned around but we didn't want to repeat what we said so we just looked down.

"BATHROOM NOW!" Granddad shouted, while pointing. Julie and I looked at each other kinda confused but we followed him into the bathroom anyway.

"SIT!" he commanded, pointing to the side of the tub. "I know my son doesn't allow you to use that kind of language and neither will I."

Granddad looked through the closet in the bathroom and pulled out two new bars of soap. I looked at Julie and she was as frightened as I was. He opened both bars and ran them under some warm water to lather them up.

"Open your mouths and bite down, girls. You're going to hold the soap for five minutes. If it falls out, I start the timer over. Understand?"

"Yes sir," we both responded, too scared to tell your dad no. We did as he asked and he put the soap in our mouths.

Almost immediately, Julie spit hers out complaining, "Granddad, this is disgusting."

"Not as disgusting as the filthy language I heard come out of your mouths a few minutes ago, now bite down!" Granddad restarted the timer.

Our eyes started watering as the nasty foam dripped into our open mouths. Our tongues were quickly coated with the disgusting soapy film. I bit harder into the bar as my jaw started to ache. I watched the timer countdown on his phone, just praying that this horrid, mountain scented block of evil wouldn't permanently damage my taste buds.

We looked at Granddad, begging him silently with our eyes to end this cruel form of cleansing torture but he stood firm and shook his head no as he pointed at the timer.

After the five minutes were up he removed the soap bars from our mouths and said, "Two minutes until you can rinse, girls," as he reset the timer.

Julie and I gagged as our saliva mixed with the sulfates and pine scent, creating a forest of gross, soapy bubble trees on our tongues. We each coughed and sputtered as the foam ran down our chins. As soon as the timer dinged, we fought for the faucet, quickly realizing however, that water just made it worse by foaming up the film coating on our tongues.

We tried in vain for several minutes to get the horrid taste out of our mouths as we scraped our tongues and rinsed repeatedly. Finally giving up and resigning ourselves to be piney fresh for the remainder of the evening, we wiped our cheeks, lips, and chins clean of the lather and our tears.

"Am I going to hear any more foul language come out of your mouths, girls?" Granddad asked, as he loomed over us.

"No sir," we echoed in tandem, both secretly thinking he wouldn't hear it come out of our mouths but we would still say it. Then, Granddad swatted our butts and told us to go read quietly in our rooms for an hour.

Shane's pov

I shook my head and tried to suppress a knowing grin as Stacey finished recounting the story.

"Alright, girls, it sounds like you suffered enough so I won't punish you any further. Go outside and help my father with the campfire and send Lisa in for me please," I told the cousins.

When Lisa entered, I directed her to take a seat on the couch.

"Care to explain what you did to warrant a spanking and corner time from my father, young lady?" I asked sternly.

Knowing answering wasn't optional, Lisa replied, "I'm really sorry, Shane. I didn't mean to make Granddad mad." She looked down at her hands as she wrung them nervously.

"That's not an answer to my question, Lisa Michelle, now start talking." I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms, both my posture and tone making it very clear what I expected.

Lisa's pov

Flashback

Granddad gave us each chores on Tuesday and mine was to clean the kitchen. I had to do all the dishes, clean the counters, and scrub the floor before I would be able to sit at the campfire and have Smores that night. Anyway, I kinda put it off all day so I didn't get started on any of it until after dinner. I started washing the dishes but I kept getting distracted by hearing everyone laughing outside around the fire as Granddad told them more stories about you from childhood so I went outside to join them.

When Granddad asked me if I had finished cleaning the kitchen, I lied and said yes so he wouldn't make me go back inside.

I heard Shane inhale sharply.

"Continue, Lisa," he said, through gritted teeth.

Granddad went inside about thirty minutes later to get more graham crackers and saw the kitchen wasn't anywhere near clean.

I heard him yell through the open kitchen window, "LISA MICHELLE, GET YOUR SOON TO BE SORRY BEHIND IN HERE RIGHT THIS MINUTE!"

"Coming, Granddad," I said, as I ran inside. "You know my middle name?" I asked, shocked.

"Of course I know my granddaughters middle names. Now what's the meaning of this, young lady?" he asked, pointing at the dishes piled in the sink and the juice spills on the counters and floor.

"I'm sorry, Granddad. Everyone was just having so much fun outside, I didn't want to miss out. I'll start cleaning right away."

"You lied to me, Lisa, and you neglected your chores all day. Where I come from, that earns you a good old fashioned over the knee, bare bottom spanking, corner time included," Granddad said sternly.

He walked into the living room, sat on the couch and beckoned me over.

"Stalling only earns you extras, luv. Come on, let's get this overwith. You still have corner time and a kitchen to clean before bed."

I swallowed hard and walked over to stand in front of him, closing my eyes while he yanked down my shorts and underwear in one quick motion.

"Over you go," he said, patting his lap.

Wanting to get this finished quickly, I draped myself over his long legs.

"Tell me why you deserve this spanking, Lisa." Granddad tapped the back of my thighs as he spoke.

"Because I lied to you and didn't finish my chores, Granddad." I bit my lip in anticipation of the first swat from your extremely intimidating father.

Thankfully, he doesn't spank as hard as you, Shane, but his spanking still hurt a lot.

Granddad slapped his hard, calloused hand repeatedly against my pale naked butt, reddening it quite rapidly. I wiggled on his lap trying to lessen the impact of his blows but it didn't go unnoticed.

"Hold still, Lisa, or I'll start this spanking over from the beginning. Clear?" Granddad asked, as he continued to spank me.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry, it just stings so much," I whined.

"It's meant to hurt, luv, so you think twice before repeating the behaviour that landed you here in the first place," Granddad explained, as if I were a three-year old receiving my first spanking. He peppered all areas of my sore, red inflamed backside with several more spanks, bringing tears to my eyes.

Patting my red cheeks, feeling the warmth they radiated on his stinging hand, he said, "Last five, Lisa. I want you to count them for me." Granddad paused before delivering the next swat.

Even though I knew these last five would be harder than the previous ones, the intensity still caught me off guard.

"One sir. I'm sorry I lied and didn't finish my chores," I spoke through tears.

"I see my son has taught you well. Only four to go, luv," Granddad said, before finishing my spanking.

When he lifted me off his lap, I reached back to rub my stinging bottom but Granddad slapped my hand away.

"Ahh ahh, no rubbing." He slapped my thigh as a warning not to do it again.

"Sorry, Granddad," I sniffled, and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"The first twenty minutes, you'll stand in that corner, hands on head, spanked bottom on display..." he pointed to the corner closest to the tv, "... the last twenty, will be spent on your knees." He slapped my bottom firmly and said, "Now go!"

I did as Granddad asked but I hated standing in the corner and kneeling was even worse. I felt like a naughty little toddler in time out. My arms ached so bad from trying to hold them on my head. I let them drop a few times and I know Granddad saw but thankfully he let it slide. I was really embarrassed when my sisters came in and walked right by me on the way to their rooms.

After what I'm pretty sure was less than forty minutes (I think Granddad stopped the timer early because he took pity on me), he told me to stand and pull up my panties and shorts.

I apologized to Granddad again and he said, "You're forgiven, luv, now get to work on that kitchen or you'll find yourself right back over my knee, young lady."

I gave Granddad a hug.

"I love you, Granddad," I said, before I hurried into the kitchen to finish cleaning.

"I love you too, sweetheart," I heard Granddad call after me.

Shane's pov

Hmmm, Shane wondered when his dad turned into such a softie.

"You know I'm not happy you not only disobeyed my father but lied to him as well," I stated sternly, while holding Lisa's chin and looking her dead in the eyes.

Lisa still managed to avoid looking at me, despite me holding her chin, when she responded.

"I know and I'm sorry, Shane."

I slapped her right buttcheek and by the way she grimaced and jerked forward, I knew my father didn't go easy on her.

"Why do I need to remind you to look me in the eyes when speaking to me, young lady?"

"Sorry, Shane," Lisa replied, making eye contact this time.

"Alright, sweetheart, I think Granddad's punishment was sufficient so you're off the hook with me." I smiled at Lisa, gave her a hug, and sent her to get ready for bed.

After the girls and my dad retired for the night, I sat by the fire and read for awhile as my nocturnal clock hadn't quite reset itself to the current time zone. Long about 1:30am, Julie walked in looking very sleepy as she rubbed her eyes.

"What are you doing up, sweetheart? Did I wake you?" I asked.

Julie shook her head no.

"I don't know, I just woke up for some reason and couldn't go back to sleep. Can I sit with you, Shane, until I fall asleep?" she asked, yawning.

"It's may you and of course you may, luv." I patted the seat next to me on the couch.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the occasional quiet crackling coming from the fireplace, before Julie said, "I'm glad Granddad came to stay with us, Shane. He's a pretty cool guy and he tells really funny, embarrassing stories about you. Plus the two of you are a lot alike."

I chuckled.

"Is that so?"

Julie nodded sleepily as she yawned and snuggled into my side.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" I asked.

"It's good..." she said smiling, "... but I'm kinda worried about him."

"Oh, why's that, sweetheart?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know, I guess it's 'cause he barely ate or slept all week. I mean, it's probably 'cause he coughs a lot at night and I think I heard him throwing up in the bathroom more than once." Julie yawned sleepily before continuing. "He told me not to worry about him though 'cause he's tough and he's too stubborn for God or the Devil. I didn't know what that meant but I thought it was funny." Julie closed her eyes as I rubbed her back and soon she was fast asleep, her head on my thigh as she stretched out on the couch.