Shamrock Ranch

Chapter 3: Rules and Cast

There will be talk of child abuse in this chapter. If this will trigger you, please do not read.

"Alright, then let's get started," he smiled. Penny leaned into Luke, feeling safe and warm, rules? She can do rules, hopefully. Noah, Austin and Cody were already sitting. Penny was sitting on Luke's lap after everyone was sitting, the TV was still on. Nick could see the movie she picked; he hadn't seen that one before yet. Though it looked good he liked the monster looking one. Penny was watching everyone, she found that sitting with Luke who was becoming like the rock she needed to keep calm, was a little easier to see everyone.

Though she looked at Holton his eyes were puffy, that made her a little anxious. She didn't realize she was drawing things on his hand and then looked down at the callouses tracing them. Luke watched her as she was playing with his hand. He moved it so she had more range with it. He smiled and cleared his throat. She looked up at him confused.

"Penny, I want you to listen closely, these rules your other brothers also follow, even as adults. Though as adults there are some rules they do not need to follow, like a bedtime rule, and such. So, understand because you are a part of this family you will abide by the rules, and if you don't there will be consequences. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good girl, alright, let's start then," he smiled, "We have the normal rules, No swearing, no disrespect, no dishonesty, No yelling, No slamming doors," he paused, watching her. Her blue eyes watched him not moving. Luke liked that he had her full attention. Penny was feeling a little worried she was going to forget something, but these rules were pretty basic, so she wasn't too concerned quite yet.

"You will be expected to keep your room clean, we do have maids who do help with the laundry, but you are expected to fold and put them away after they are washed. If it's not in your hamper it won't be washed so no leaving clothes on your floor. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"This is a ranch, we have machines here, I expect you to treat them as such. They are not toys," he said this while looking at the twins who just gave sheepish smiles and Holton scratched the back of his head. Then he turned his attention back to the little girl in his lap, "We will teach you how to use them as you get older, for now you are not to operate without one of us present, and if you don't know how to use something or do something, ask. There are no dumb questions here, we rather teach you and you do it right than you get hurt. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are to inform one of your brothers or Rhett of where you are going, for now I want you to stay around the house, and the big Barn, since we will be showing you that tomorrow, as time goes on, you'll be able to explore more. I don't mind you exploring, as long as you are within the boundaries which will be pointed out to you tomorrow and you are being safe. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Luke smiled at her, he was finding this to be easier than he thought it was going to be, "Your bedtime is at 8:30 on school nights and on non school nights it's 9:30. On school mornings you will be expected to wake up at 6 which is the latest, since we have to drive you to school which starts at 8am. Breakfast is from 4:30 to 6:30 in the morning, after that you will have to find something for yourself to eat. However, I don't want you using the stove or oven unsupervised, understand?"

Penny knew how to cook and use both though she wasn't very good at a few things. She played with her hands. She was biting her lip.

"B..but if I have to find something for myself, and I need to use the stove. Like making eggs"

"I don't want you burning yourself, it's a gas stove, I understand what you are wanting to say making yourself eggs or something, but I want an adult to be in there or even Holton or one of the twins. I'm not saying you can never use it, I am saying you need to be supervised which is normal for someone your age, the rule is there, and as you get older you won't need to be supervised, understood?"