Just another family member?

{3}

"Shirley, baby. I'll be back in two minutes. Please go to sleep" I kissed her cheek.
It didn't work, of course, cause she started screaming, but I had to get to Ava, before she breaks down the house.

"Ava, come here this minute" I yelled, as I closed the door to Shirley's room.

"Mommy, daddy's being mean" Ava cried.

"I'm not buying your stories, darling. I heard everything. And you hear this? Hear Shirley crying? Know why? Cause you had to throw a tantrum. What was that for? I'm sorry, but you ruined your chance for today. You're going to bed, now!"

"But mommy" she cried.

"Don't but mommy me. You don't just throw stuff around the house. Especially not at dad. I'm sorry sweetie, but you crossed a line"
I took her hand and led her to her room. I opened the door.

"Kids, you can continue playing downstairs. Avallyn had to go to sleep" I said, just as Sean came into the room.

"Come on, kids. You can play in the living room" he said.

"But I wanna play with Ava" Kaden said.

"I'm sorry, Kaden, but Ava misbehaved and what happens when you do that?" I asked.

"You go to bed early" he said.

"Exactly. So if you don't want that to happen to you, you better listen to uncle Sean and go downstairs now" I said.

"Okay, aunt Demi. I'm sorry" he said.

"That's fine, honey. I'm not mad" I kissed his forehead, as he left the room with Derek and Ashley.

"You lied" Ava cried.

"Why?"

"You said you're not mad, but you are"

"I'm not mad. I'm upset. And not with Kaden, but with you. So please put on your pajamas and I'll come tuck you in when you've brushed your teeth. I'm gonna try to get Shirley to stop crying and fall asleep and I expect you not to get into more trouble. When you're all done for me to come back, call me" I said and left her to do her stuff.

"Shhh, baby. I'm here now. Nothing happened" I stroked Shirley's hair, as she started to calm down a little.

"Mommy, I'm done" I heard Ava yell after five minutes.
Shirley was still awake.
I stood up and walked to the door quietly.

"Sean, please come upstairs. Emergency" I yelled, hoping Shirley didn't realized I left the room, yet.
Sean came up.

"Can you please stay with Shirley? I'm gonna put Ava to bed"

"Sure. But don't baby her. She really went too far today"

"Don't worry. I won't"

He was the stricter parent. When the kids misbehaved he would show them the whole day, that he was not happy about it.
I, on the other hand, would start babying them. Especially if they were crying. I know it's not good, but I can't help myself. I always feel so bad for getting mad at them.

"Are you ready?" I asked, as I entered Ava's room.
She was already in her bed.
I sat down next to her.

"Do you know why you're in bed so early?"

She nodded.

"Do you know that it was wrong to do what you did?"

She nodded again.

"Do you feel bad about it?"

She nodded again.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment?" I chuckled.
She always does that when she's mad and gets punished.

She shrugged her shoulders.
Then she burst out crying, burying her head in her pillow.

"Why are you crying, now?" I asked, as I rubbed her back.

"Daddy doesn't love me"

"Of course he loves you. If I heard it correctly, it was you who yelled that you hate him" I said.

"I don't hate him. I love him. But if he doesn't love me, I have to pretend I don't love him either"

"Why do you think he doesn't love you?"

"He always gets mad at me"

"But Ava, if we make a rule that you can't come into our room tonight and you start throwing a tantrum and start trashing the house, we have to get mad at you. You woke up Shirley and could've woken up Jack. If you don't like the rules mommy and daddy make, you can talk about it. There's no screaming and throwing in this house and you know that"

"But it's not fair. I wanted to show Kaden how high I can go"

"You can show him another time. Jack's not feeling well. When he sleeps, we can't wake him up. And if you cross the line, we have to get mad and punish you. That doesn't mean we don't love you"

"You love Shirley more"

"Why would I love Shirley more?"

"Cause you got mad at me for waking her up"

"Babygirl, you're my daughter. Shirley's my nice. Of course I love her, but not more then you. But it's hard to get her to sleep, when she finally does, I don't want you to wake her up. That has nothing to do with loving her more. Why are you so scared that we don't love you anymore?"

"Cause a girl in the park today said that she lives with her daddy only, cause her mommy doesn't love her anymore"

"That's very sad for her. But me and daddy are always gonna love you, Avallyn. You just have to behave and then we don't have to get mad. Now, you have to go to sleep"

"Sing to me?"

"Not today"

"Why not?"

"Cause you're being punished for misbehaving" I gave her a kiss on her head and turned off the lights.

"Good night, babygirl"

"Good night, momma" she whispered.

I left her room and went downstairs. Sean was already there.

"She sleeping?" I asked.

"Yep, how about Ava?"

"She's in bed. Ashley had to go now, too. It's getting late" I said, as I turned to the kids.

"Ash, it's time for bed" I said.

"Few more minutes?"

"Nope. It's already late. You can play with Derek tomorrow and with Kaden when he comes back from school. To bed, now" I took her hand and went upstairs with her.

Putting her in bed, is very easy. She always falls asleep, as soon as her head hits the pillow.
I just had to fight with her to get her diaper on. Derek doesn't wear a diaper at night, so now she also doesn't want to. She agreed in the end, though.
Ava was still up when we came in, but she was clearly tired, so didn't say a word.
Once Ashley was in bed, I went back downstairs.

"Four done, two to go" I sighed, as I sat down next to Sean on the couch.

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Next update: Thursday

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