Two weeks after Lisa's arrival

Mike's pov

Maybe Neil was right. Maybe someday I'll thank him for doubling my trouble in one month's time.

After all, my greatest fear about Lisa arriving never materialized. I was so worried the girls would team up in two against one situations. Namely, that Stacey and Julie would unite against Lisa. What I didn't anticipate, however, was what turned out to be my biggest challenge with three kids vs two.

Stacey and Julie now had an often unwitting and sometimes unwilling accomplice. The two of them were constantly dragging Lisa into their hairbrained schemes, resulting in her getting punished right along with them. You do the crime, you do the time. The sentence doesn't get reduced because it wasn't your idea. Yesterday was a perfect example.

The bedtime routine begins at 7pm, 6:45pm if you count bath time. Next steps are pajamas, brushing teeth, and bedtime stories. Lights out is 7:30pm, in hopes everyone's asleep by 8pm. The girls know there are consequences for not being in bed on time and violating lights out. If I check on them after 7:30pm and the lights are on or they're out of bed, they get their one and only warning. If they leave their room, there's no warning. We go straight to consequences. As with every rule, there are exceptions of course, like nightmares or illness etc. Any further violations post-warning result in punishment, which may include one or more of the following: spanking (my go to), loss of privileges, or an earlier bedtime on subsequent days.

Yesterday at 7:45pm, I checked on the girls and their lights were off. Lisa was silently lying in her bed, but Julie was sitting on Stacey's bed and the two of them were talking and giggling.

"In bed now! No more talking," I said sternly, arms crossed standing in the doorway. Julie scrambled back to her bed and Stacey jumped under her covers.

At 8:45pm, I get a text from Rick who's one of the guardians down the hall.

Did u know ur girls r in common room?

I text back, very funny, thinking he's got to be screwing with me.

serious as a heart attack dude

omw, I text back.

Fuming, I head over to the common room. Sure enough, all three of my girls are there. Stacey and Julie are playing Crossfire, a game where you shoot metal pellets at your opponent's puck trying to push it into their goal. Not a great pre-bedtime game. It's noisy with fast gameplay and the competition really gets your blood pumping. Lisa is sitting quietly on the couch next to Rick watching cartoons. Rick, God bless him, is a great guy but he definitely subscribes to a more chill parenting style than my own.

"What are the three of you doing out of bed?" I shout angrily.

Startled, they look at me wide eyed, knowing they're busted.

"Go to your room RIGHT NOW and wait for me."

Knowing I mean business, all three take off running down the hall to their room.

Rick laments, "Shit, remind me never to piss you off man."

I shake my head and smile, joining Rick on the couch.

"I swear they're gonna be the death of me," I say, exhaling slowly. "How have you not lost your mind doing this for the past nine years?"

"Who says I haven't?" Rick smiles. "Besides, I get by with a little help from my friends, Johnny Walker, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels.. ."

"I hear that," I say, chuckling.

"Seriously, Mike, I embrace the Marines motto, improvise, adapt, and overcome, when it comes to parenting. Every age brings new challenges. You live and you learn."

"I don't know, Rick. Sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing."

"That's how you know you're doing it right."

I shake my head and sigh, "I guess."

"I've seen you with the girls, Mike. You're doing a great job. Don't doubt yourself for a minute."

"Thanks, Rick. I really needed a little validation."

"Anytime." Rick stands up ready to leave. "Oh, when I asked the girls what they were doing in here so late, Stacey and Julie said you knew and were okay with it. Lisa didn't say anything though. I kinda got the feeling she was just along for the ride."

"Unbelievable!" I cannot believe they lied, I thought. They know how I feel about dishonesty.

Heading out the door Rick says, "That's something you have to look forward to. Like a fine wine, they get better with age, at lying that is. Later man."

"Later." I get up to head to the girls room, to lay down the law.