Julie's pov

Mike, at least I think it was Mike, decided it would be a good idea for the six of us to have dinner with Tristan so we could get to know him better. Why he thought this after witnessing what happened when Shane tried this with Kimberly is definitely an unsolved mystery.

So here we are sitting in uncomfortable silence at the restaurant until I get the conversation started.

"Suzanne and I and some of our friends were hoping to go to her Uncle's lakehouse next weekend. Can I go?" I ask, hoping for a positive response as I stare at my plate while mindlessly pushing my green beans back and forth.

"Are you speaking to your green beans or one of us, Julie? I couldn't tell since you weren't making eye contact," Mike replied, rather snidely in my opinion.

"I was speaking to the adults at the table but I'm thinking now I have a better chance with the haricots verts." I knew this was a long shot from the beginning.

"Several teenagers unsupervised at a lakehouse?" Shane questioned. "I don't think any part of that scenario is a good idea, Julie, but your French is coming along nicely." Shane winked at me and smirked.

"Absolutely not, Julie. You're not going," Mike stated firmly.

"Thanks so much for giving it careful consideration," I unwisely replied quite sarcastically, earning a scowl from both my guardians.

"I'm sure the topic would be open for more discussion at home," Tristan chimed in, a breezy lilt to his voice.

Upon hearing this Mike immediately dropped his knife and fork. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, exhaled loudly, and placed his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of him.

"I said no and that is final." Mike spoke sternly with unmistakable authority. He first looked to me then turned his attention to his fiance.

"Yes sir," I responded immediately. Challenging Mike when he was all alpha male was a grave mistake, one I wasn't about to repeat.

Mike narrowed his gaze and without taking his eyes off me, said, "Tristan, I'd like a word with you in private please."

I swallowed hard hearing Mike's harsh tone, feeling quite sorry for Tristan at this moment. Seemingly oblivious to his faux pas of contradicting Mike, Tristan smiled, stood up and said, "Sure."

Mike stood slowly, continuing to glare at me before he led Tristan out of the restaurant.

"I think your best bet with a legume would be to ask Mr. Peanut." Stacey is apparently unaware she's thinking out loud, or she's just unconcerned.

Recognizing the what Hell are you talking about look she's getting from everyone at the table, she tries to clarify her previous ramblings.

"You know, 'cause of the monocle and top hat. It makes him seem worldly and wise..." her voice trails off at the end as she notices all the blank stares from her table mates. "No? Nothing? Nevermind," Stacey says dejectedly, as she looks down at her plate and resumes eating.

Shane just shakes his head and chuckles. He's still amused by the ridiculous things we come up with at times.

Approximately five minutes later, Mike and Tristan return to our table taking their seats, Tristan looking quite embarrassed as his cheeks flush a telling red hue.

"I apologize for interrupting everyone's meal," he timidly speaks his clearly scripted apology.

Trying to alleviate the tension and lighten the mood at the table, Shane responds, "No worries, mate."

Letting my imagination run wild, I can't help but envision the conversation that took place between the newly engaged couple in the parking lot. Oh to be a fly on that wall (or car in this case) to be privileged enough to eavesdrop on that very one-sided, I'm guessing, discussion.

"So then we can revisit the possibility of me going away next weekend when we get home?" I figure now's as good a time as any to press my luck.

"If you mean can my belt discuss it with your backside, then by all means yes, we can have that conversation when we get home, Julie." It's nice Mike can be so accommodating at times.

"Not exactly what I had in mind," I reply flatly.

"You do see what you're marrying into, right?" Lisa tries to warn Tristan since she thinks he's a nice guy and shouldn't be subjected to our dysfunctional family dynamic.

"I certainly do." Tristan places his hand on top of Mike's and squeezes it gently, smiling broadly and gazing lovingly into his fiance's beautiful cobalt blue eyes.

Mike places his other hand on top of Tristan's and gives him a wink and a smile.

"Seriously, what's the big deal about us hangin' out at the lakehouse? I mean, soon we'll be on our own at college and you won't have any idea what we're doing anyway. So what's the difference?"

I continue to push the envelope, foolishly assuming Tristan's presence here as a guest offers me immunity from prosecution.

"Young lady, if you utter one more word about going to that lakehouse, I won't hesitate to correct your behavior in the parking lot, much like I did that night outside the movie theater. Am I clear?" Mike did not come to play.

"Crystal, sir." I can feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment as I recall the all too public punishment I received that night.

"Watch your tone, Julie," Shane warns, knowing I'm dangerously close to pushing Mike too far.

Rather loudly, I state, "I'm gonna get some fresh air," as I stand, knocking my chair back forcefully onto the floor, making a scene due to the noise.

I see Mike immediately rise to his feet but I take off for the exit, not looking back.

Shane puts his hand on Mike's shoulder as he says, "I've got this," following me out of the restaurant.

Mike sits down and says, "I apologize for my daughter's rude outburst, Tristan." Mike is fuming. Julie is extremely fortunate Shane stepped in when he did.

In the parking lot

Julie's pov

"Want to tell me what brought on that little display?" Shane confronts me outside the restaurant, sounding more concerned than upset.

"It's just not fair, Shane." I start venting, "Mike won't even listen to me. He just immediately forbids it and that's it, no discussion." I'm getting louder and my face is turning redder as I throw my hands up in defeat, disgusted by this perceived injustice. "He never let's me do anything. Why can't he trust me?"

Shane sighs, "Come here, luv." He pulls me into his arms upon seeing my frustration with Mike's rigidity.

"It's just not fair," I mumble into Shane's shoulder, as he tries to calm me down.

Holding me close, he responds, "Mike loves you and he just wants to protect you."

"From what? Having fun?" I sass.

In spite of himself, Shane chuckles.

Holding me at arm's length, he says, "No, sweetheart, not from having fun, from getting hurt." He lifts my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes before continuing. "I don't think you and your sisters realize how hard this is for us, watching you grow up into young adults who soon won't need us anymore."

I'm honestly surprised by Shane's revelation. Of course we'll still need them. How could he and Mike think that we possibly wouldn't?

"He just wants to keep you safe while he still can. We both do." Shane cups my face in his hands. The sincerity of his words and the sadness in his eyes coupled with my frustration, brings me to tears.

"How can you think we won't need you anymore? We'll always need you and Mike," I say sadly. I never really thought about it until this moment that when we go to college we'll be leaving them. I mean, I always knew we'd be going away but I never realized that we were essentially abandoning them. Just walking away after all these years. They spent all this time raising us so we could leave them behind as we start our own lives as adults.

Shane brushes a tear from my cheek.

"Who am I going to call when I need to brew a proper cup of tea or when I'm playing Pictionary and need to draw a giraffe?" I smile at Shane and shake my head. "Won't need you anymore?" I repeat his words in disbelief. "Girl please!"

Shane laughs and gives me another hug.

"You know there's still no way you're going to the lakehouse, right?"

"I know," I say, feeling somewhat dejected.

"What do you need to do when we go back inside?" Shane questions, holding my head against his shoulder with one hand as he rubs my back with the other.

I roll my eyes and sigh. He still treats me like a little kid sometimes.

"Owwww!!" I respond, to the harsh slap just delivered to my behind.

"Don't roll your eyes at me again," Shane warns.

How the Hell he knew I rolled my eyes since he can't possibly see my face, is something I'll never understand. I huff indignantly in response, earning me another firm smack.

"Owwww!!" I rub my now stinging butt cheeks.

Shane breaks our embrace saying, "Answer my question, Julie."

"I need to apologize to Mike and Tristan for my immature and disrespectful behavior," I whine begrudgingly.

"Yes, but not with that tone. OK?"

"How 'bout if I use an awful British accent?"

Shane just shakes his head and points towards the door.

Returning to our table and taking a seat, I'm about to apologize when I see Tristan lean over and whisper something in Mike's ear.

So I wait a minute before saying, "I'm sorry you're being completely unreasonable, Mike, which caused me to be disrespectful."

Mike shakes his head derisively.

"Oh you are determined to end up over my knee before night's end, aren't you?" he threatens sternly.

"MIKE!" Tristan says, blushing and hiding his face in embarrassment.

"I was speaking to my daughter," Mike states flatly.

Oh, please tell me someone else picked up on that, I think to myself as I stifle a laugh. Stacey chokes on the mouthful of ice tea she just swallowed and Lisa covers her mouth with her hand as she looks away. Thank God they heard that. We'll dish on that later.

"JULIE ELIZABETH! You had better offer up an appropriate apology in the next thirty seconds or I can GUARANTEE you'll find yourself over my knee tonight." Shane was not amused by my passive aggressive words of repentance.

It's really difficult to look Mike and Tristan in the eyes right now so I focus on a spot above them on the wall.

"I apologize for my earlier inappropriate behavior." It was so freakin' hard not to laugh, especially since I could see my cousin out of the corner of my eye, trying desperately not to bust a gut.

"I'll address your behavior when we get home..." Mike turned and looked directly at his fiance as he finished his sentence, "...Julie. Is that clear?"

Tristan looked down, presumably ashamed of his earlier erroneous assumption.

Sealing my fate by ensuring I'd be sleeping on my stomach tonight, I replied snottily, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me? I wasn't sure since you weren't making eye contact."

My cousin and Mike both lost it at the same time but for very different reasons. Stacey excused herself from the table, no longer able to contain her laughter at the inappropriate innuendos deduced from Tristan's and Mike's earlier exchange. Mike's eyes became dangerously dark, indicating he'd reached his limit of tolerance for my insolence.

"I'm sorry we have to cut this evening short, Tristan, but my daughter is in desperate need of my correction." Mike's nostrils flared as he spoke through his tightly clenched jaw, trying desperately to keep his anger at bay.

"It's okay, I completely understand," Tristan replied sweetly.

"I'll call you a cab, babe," Mike tells Tristan, as they head out.

"Girls, I'll bring the car around. Be out in five," Shane calls after us.

We ride home in silence, the tension in the car so thick it's suffocating.

When we arrive back at the NJC, Mike and Shane say goodnight to my cousin and sisters.

"Straight to my room," is all Mike says to me.

Shane tells me goodnight as he retires to his room, leaving me alone with Mike.

Mike slams his bedroom door, turns to me and asks, "Do I even need to lecture you, Julie, about why you're receiving this punishment!?"

"Please don't," I reply, in an annoyed tone. I'm already going to get my butt beat so what's one more disrespectful remark going to hurt?

"When I tell you no, Julie, I expect you to listen and accept my answer without whining, complaining, or arguing. Is that understood?" Mike has already started to unbuckle his belt.

"So much for skipping the lecture, eh doctor?" Why I continue to poke the bear, I'll never know.

Mike strips his belt through his pant loops quickly.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Seeing him clutch his belt tightly in his hand, I wait for Mike to direct me over his bed but instead, he instructs me to stand with my hands on the wall. I reluctantly assume the unfamiliar position.

Mike reaches around my waist and unbuttons my jeans. Unzipping them, he tugs them to my knees.

"You need to learn to curb your mouth, young lady." Holding his right hand on my back, Mike draws his belt back before striking it firmly against my left thigh. "Let this be your first lesson."

I bite the inside of my lip to keep from vocalizing just how painful each punishing stroke of the belt Mike lays down truly is. My eyes well with tears after stroke six or seven. I'm trying desperately to resist the urge to reach back or beg him to stop. I pound my right fist against the wall when he strikes my left sit spot four times in rapid succession.

"Are you ready to apologize now, Julie?" Mike slapped his belt across my bottom hard, causing me to hiss in pain. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, he repeated the stroke on the same spot but with more force this time.

"Yes, yes, alright." I inhaled sharply and laid my head against my forearm. The burning sensation radiating from beneath my baby blue bikini briefs, too intense to ignore any longer.

Mike slapped the crease between my buttocks and thighs swiftly with his open hand, causing tears to leak from my eyes.

"Yes what?" he questioned sternly.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry I disrespected you, Mike. Please stop, please," I plead, through labored breaths.

Mike smacked my bottom hard again and again with his hand. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down hard on my tongue, just praying for the pain to cease.

"I'm sick and tired of having to continually address your smart mouth, Julie. We've had this conversation way too many times for my liking." Mike continued to spank as he lectured, adding insult to injury.

I continued to cry into my arm, pressing it harder against the wall with every agonizing slap. I don't ever remember Mike going so hard on me but this time his discipline was unrelenting.

"I already apologized. What more do you want?" I cried out in desperation, the throbbing and aching pain on my buttocks nearly unbearable. "Why are you being so hard on me?"

Recognizing a bit of truth in my objection, Mike finally stopped the spanking. I tentatively breathed a sigh of relief hearing him buckle his belt. He took a few deep calming breaths and ran his fingers through his hair.

Putting his hands on his hips, he said, "Julie, turn and look at me."

Not wanting to risk further assault on my ass, I did as he asked. Mike swallowed hard, the suffering evident on my face.

"I need you to truly comprehend the repercussions of your insolence and disrespect. I'm not always going to be there to remind you or correct you when you're away at college or when you enter the workforce, Julie."

Mike looked up, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"Despite what you might think, I just want what's best for you. That's why I'm so hard on you because I know what you're capable of. How much you'll be able to accomplish and how successful you'll be, if you don't let your smart mouth and disrespectful attitude hinder you."

Wanting inexplicably to put Mike out of his misery despite him being the cause of mine, I smiled slightly and said, "Oh the places I'll go," making reference to the Dr. Seuss book Mike read to me umpteen times as a bedtime story. It was one of our favorite books and though unknown to me now, would one day become one of my most cherished childhood memories of my time with Mike.

"Exactly." Mike pulled me into his arms but not before I saw a tear escape his eye. He hugged me tightly as I cried and reciprocated his warm embrace, breathing in the familiar and comforting scent of his cologne, relishing the protection of his strong arms from the outside world. "You'll never know how much I love you, baby girl," Mike whispered softly, kissing the top of my head, rubbing my back, and gently patting my sore backside. "Kid, you'll move mountains."