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“This is stupid.” Edward grumbled underneath his breath, his arms crossed. Why the hell they were out on the lake on a quiet, sunny afternoon going fishing, Edward had no clue.
Sure, in theory it sounded nice; but when you were Edward Cullen who wanted to spend some alone time with your wife rather than with your brothers and father, it wasn’t very nice. At all.
“C’mon, Ed! Look, I caught something!” Emmett exclaimed, reeling something in with his fishing pole. To his surprise (and slight disappointment), Emmett caught a tiny little fish. Edward lifted an eyebrow at the sight, causing Emmett to sheepishly chuckle.
“Well, it’s the thought that counts, right?” Emmett said, taking the fish off the hook and tossing it back into the water. “Be free, lil’ guy.” He said with a smile. “I reckon he’s got an exciting story to tell his lil’ fish family now.” Jasper joked, earning a chuckle from everyone. Well, everyone except for the resident grumpy Cullen, Edward, who scoffed.
“Well, I can’t say the same. All I’ll be able to tell our family when we get back is how boring and awful this random fishing trip is. Oh, and how funny these cookies smell. What flavor even is this?” Edward asked, taking a deep whiff of the disgusting treat.
He wouldn’t eat it, as they had no way of digesting food as vampires. The scent made him want to gag, though.
“…Umm, son?” Carlisle interrupted Edward’s grossed out smell test.
“Yeah?” Edward asked with a grimace. “Those are bait cookies. Alice made them for us to catch fish with.” Carlisle explained.
Edward groaned, setting the cookie back down in the bucket. “Oh, what the hell? Who makes bait cookies for fish?!?!” Edward exclaimed as his brothers cackled loudly.
Great, now his hands smelled like disgusting bait. His enhanced senses made it even worse.
“Well, it wouldn’t make sense to make bait cookies for people, now would it?” Emmett joked, making him and Jasper laugh even harder.
Alice enjoyed baking, even though they couldn’t eat what she baked. She’d sometimes make some for Leah and Seth, as they had grown closer since Leah had begun hanging out with Rosalie recently.
Nobody would’ve guessed that Rosalie would befriend a wolf, but the girls surprisingly had a lot in common.
Edward growled and glared daggers at his brothers, clenching his fists. He wanted to reach over and strangle them both, but he knew that Carlisle wouldn’t have it. So, he just turned his back on them and huffed.
“Boys, boys. That’s enough, leave your brother alone.” Carlisle said, grabbing one of the cookies and attaching it to his fishing hook.
He knew that Edward didn’t want to be there and would much rather be with Bella right now, but he wanted to include all of his boys on the trip.
After all these years, he hadn’t ever been on a proper fishing trip with all of his sons together. Normally, they’d go on hunting trips or play baseball, but fishing was something that Carlisle had only really done with Esme (who turned out to be a much better fisherwoman than he thought, often catching bigger fish than him), and Jasper, which had been many years ago.
So, after hearing Jasper and Emmett say that they’d want to go on one together, he decided to give it a try with all of his sons. His youngest son was currently not in a very good mood, though.
As a result, Carlisle wanted to make the trip as pleasant for Edward as he could. He just wanted them to all enjoy each other’s company.
As time went on, all of them, with the exception of Edward, had caught a few fish. Since they had no reason to eat food as a source of protein, they were only fishing for the sport of it.
After catching a fish, they’d set it free into the water. Edward envied those fish with a deep passion. Why couldn’t he be free?
Carlisle was no mind reader, but he could pick up on Edward’s thoughts pretty accurately. He knew the boy was miserable, so he tried to cheer him up.
“Hey, Edward. Why don’t you give it a try, hm?” Carlisle asked with a smile. Jasper and Emmett looked over at him with amusement and interest.
“No thanks, I’m good.” Edward stated dryly. Emmett playfully nudged him. “Oh, c’mon Ed! At least give it a shot!” He suggested. Jasper nodded, wanting to include his brother.
“Yeah, you got this. Show them’ fish how it’s done.” Jasper’s southern drawl said.
Carlisle smiled at Edward, giving him an encouraging nod. Edward let out a heavy sigh, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. ‘Just play along for a little while longer. It’ll be over soon.’ He thought to himself.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Edward said, grabbing one of the stupid bait cookies and attaching it to his hook.
“Toss it nice and far. No pressure, it’s all about having fun.” Carlisle smiled, happy to see his son participating in their family activity. Things were starting to look up, after all!
Edward held in a scoff before tossing his fishing line clean across the water. Jasper whistled and Jasper cheered, both of them impressed.
“Attaboy!” Jasper exclaimed. “Nice job, bro! That was really clean!” Emmett stated.
“Very good, son.” Carlisle complimented with a proud grin. Edward couldn’t help the little feeling of pride forming in his chest at all of the praise he was receiving, not at all expecting to be even slightly good at this.
Although he was a vampire and his survival skills were far superior to when he was human, Edward had always been an ‘indoorsy’ type.
Sure, he enjoyed nature and would definitely go on runs, as well as hunting of course. However, if he was given the choice, he’d pick playing piano in his room and snuggling with Bella on the couch near the fireplace any day. Emmett, on the other hand, loved being outside.
Jasper could adapt to either, but he leaned more towards being the outdoorsy type over Edward.
Suddenly, Edward felt something tug on his fishing line. “I think I got a bite?” He said. “Reel it in!” Emmett exclaimed, eager to see what his brother had caught. “Alright now, be diligent but steady.” Carlisle instructed patiently.
Edward began reeling the fish in, his eyes widening as he realized just how heavy it was on the other end. “Almost…have it…” Edward said, suddenly very focused and determined.
All was going well…that is, until the supernatural momentum caused the large fish to smack him right in the face, knocking him backwards onto the floor of the boat.
Emmett and Jasper laughed as their father quickly sped over to help their youngest brother up. The large fish flopped beside him, an annoying reminder of what had just happened.
Here Edward was, on a stupid fishing trip that he didn’t even want to be on, getting attacked by a randomly large fish, with his two idiot brothers laughing at him. His temper had finally had enough.
“Are you alright, Edward?” Carlisle asked, giving his other two boys a stern look that silenced their laughter before leaning down and offering him a hand.
Instead of taking it, Edward stood to his feet and grabbed the fish in his hands. Then, with all his might, he threw the fish across the lake. “FUCK THIS STUPID TRIP!” He furiously shouted out as he did.
They all watched in shock as the fish landed into the water with a splash, all eyes silently falling upon Edward now, who had taken it upon himself to shout violent obscenities at the sky. Jasper stepped closer, wanting to try mediating the situation.
“Edward, it’s alright. Just calm down.” Jasper tried, placing a gentle hand on Edward’s shoulder. Edward, however, was not in the mood to be comforted by him.
So, seeing nothing but red, Edward grabbed Jasper and began fighting with him on the same boat floor he had just been laying on mere moments prior.
Jasper wasn’t expecting this, but his combat training had kicked in. He used his skills to focus on disabling Edward, rather than trying to physically hurt him back. “Settle down, Eddie.” He said calmly, his voice unphased.
Carlisle narrowed his eyes down at the sight, clearly displeased with what had just transpired. When Edward didn’t yield, he used his authoritarian dad voice to bring Edward to his senses.
“Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, that is enough.” Carlisle demanded firmly. This was enough to effectively get Edward to stop, noting the older vampire’s serious tone.
Edward may have been irritated at being dragged on this dumb trip, but he knew better than to continue struggling when his father and coven leader demanded him to stand down.
Edward also had a feeling he was already in for a bad time once they got back, so he simply huffed and seized his struggling.
Once Jasper saw that he had calmed down, he got off of Edward and helped him to his feet. Edward shoved Jasper away from him, making Emmett step closer to stop him from falling backwards.
“That was very uncalled for, young man.” Carlisle chastised, looking down at his son in disappointment. “This was supposed to be a fun and relaxing trip so we can all bond, not a fighting match.” Carlisle said. Edward clenched his fists, his anger returning twofold.
“Well, I didn’t even want to go on this stupid shitty trip! Fishing sucks, this dumb boat sucks, and those two idiots definitely fucking suck! So, pardon me, Carlisle, if I frankly don't give two shits about your ridiculous trip being ruined! It was ruined the second you decided to plan it!!!” By the time Edward’s rant had finished, he was shouting up into Carlisle’s face.
Jasper and Emmett’s eyes had widened and their jaws had dropped, both of them quickly turning away and mumbling to each other about nonsense when Carlisle looked over at them. Carlisle silently studied Edward for a moment, not saying a word.
Then, he sent a pointed thought towards Edward. ‘You are in big trouble, young man.’ Carlisle thought, temporarily snapping Edward out of his bad mood.
Edward looked at Carlisle with nervous eyes, his mouth opening so he could say something, anything. However, it closed shut without another word as he moved to sit away from his brothers.
He stared down at the water, obviously not in the mood to speak to anyone or continue fishing. The rest of the trip didn’t last much longer after Edward’s outburst.
Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett had gone back to fishing for a little while, but the atmosphere had clearly changed. Soon, they were on their way back across the river and heading home.
All Edward could think about was how much he missed Bella, and how he wished he hadn’t gone on this disaster of a trip in the first place.
When they all got home, Jasper and Emmett went straight to Rosalie and Alice to chat, while Edward went straight to the kitchen to wash his hands.
When he came back out into the living room, he saw his lovely wife enjoying a nice novel on the couch.
She smiled as she saw him, setting the book aside and walking over to him. Edward wrapped his arms around Bella and held her as if he’d never see her again. Bella blinked, wrapping her arms around Edward as well.
“Hey, how did the fishing trip go?” Bella asked, obviously able to tell that something was up.
Edward didn’t respond, he simply buried his face against her shoulder and soaked up all of the comfort he could before his father got his hands on him.
“You okay?” Bella asked, gently stroking Edward’s hair. Then, the familiar sound of a throat being cleared was heard.
“Bella, pardon us, sweetheart. Edward and I have a few things to discuss. Come, son.” Carlisle held his hand out, his voice calm and patient as ever.
Edward knew his father, though, and he knew that despite his calm demeanor, he was in for quite the disciplinary intervention.
“I’ll see you later, Bella.” Edward said, giving Bella a gentle kiss before obediently walking over to his father.
Carlisle took Edward by the hand, making him feel much younger than he was, and led him straight to his bedroom.
Although they didn’t need beds, within the last few years of Edward and Bella being together, they had decided to get one. Bella was used to the comfort beds provided, and Edward enjoyed snuggling with her.
Unfortunately, this gave Carlisle yet another place to sit while tanning his hide. Lucky him.
Closing the door behind him, Carlisle sat his son on the bed as he stood before him with his arms crossed. “Edward, how you behaved was extremely uncalled for, and unacceptable.” He started.
Edward sighed, looking down at the floor. “Yeah, well nobody seems to care about how I feel.” He grumbled.
Carlisle frowned, lifting Edward’s chin to look him in the eye. “Son, I know that fishing is not your thing. We are all aware of that, especially after today.” He said.
This only made Edward more irritated, forcing his chin out of Carlisle’s gentle hold. “If you knew that, then why the hell did you make me go?!” He shouted.
Carlisle’s gentle demeanor turned stern. “Edward, this is your first and final warning to stop using profanity with me. I am your father, you will show me that respect. Or else we can add a mouthsoaping to your punishment. Do you understand me?” Carlisle demanded.
Edward pouted, but was smart enough to not test him. So, he nodded softly. “Yes, Carlisle.” He said.
So, Carlisle continued. “As I was saying, we all went fishing today because your brothers said they wanted to. The point was to have fun with my sons, and I didn’t feel right excluding you.” Carlisle explained.
Edward’s face didn’t soften, but he did feel a slight pang of guilt after Carlisle’s explanation. Truthfully, his father was right. If he hadn’t been asked to go with them, despite him hating fishing, he would have felt left out.
“I was fully intending on letting you pick what we do next time, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain that to you. Instead, you sulked the entire time, fought your brother who was only trying to help, and lost your temper.” Carlisle lectured, his tone remaining firm but calm.
Carlisle rarely raised his voice, and even when he did, it was never with malicious intent that made his kids feel unsafe or unloved. It was the same way when it came to him handling discipline; he was stern, but fair.
Many coven leaders could be ruthless if their followers stepped out of line or disrespected them, but never Carlisle. He wasn’t just their coven leader, he was their father, so he acted accordingly.
Carlisle let his words sink in, noticing Edward’s demeanor shift from stubbornness to slightly remorseful. Good, that meant he was getting through to him.
After a moment of silence, Carlisle took Edward by the hand yet again and stood him to his feet before switching places with him.
Sitting on his bed, he patted his lap and motioned for the younger vampire to move closer to him. “Come here, son.” He said. Edward took in a deep breath before obediently walking over.
Making quick work of undoing Edward’s trousers, he tugged them and his underwear to his knees before turning his son over his lap.
Resting a hand on Edward’s back both to steady him and remind him that he was there, he used the other to land a sharp smack to his pale backside.
Edward grimaced, knowing he had quite a few more to go. Carlisle was in for the long haul, swatting Edward’s behind in a pattern. Left, right, center, repeat. “I’m very disappointed in your behavior today.” Carlisle reiterated.
“I’m-ouch-sorry!” Edward said in a meek, quiet voice. Carlisle nodded, his palm never ceasing. “I’m glad to hear that, Ed.” Carlisle said affectionately, though he continued to light Edward’s bum on fire.
He was a firm believer in spanking until he believed the person over his lap would truly think twice before doing what they had done to earn a trip over his knee in the first place. Sometimes it didn’t take very long, other times it did. It depended on how stubborn they were.
Rosalie tended to spend the longest time over her parents’ laps, as she was the most stubborn Cullen. To be fair, Edward was a close second. Emmett had his moments, but he normally gave in a lot quicker. Jasper almost never tried to deny deserving a spanking, while Alice always tried to talk her way out of one.
As for Bella, well…she hadn’t had the displeasure of receiving very many spankings. The few times Carlisle had spanked her, she obediently laid there and took it, something most of her fellow vampire siblings and husband almost never did.
Bella was used to just accepting that a lot of things were out of her control, so she didn’t see the point in fighting her parents when they disciplined her for doing something wrong.
While the Cullens didn’t always use spanking as their go to disciplinary method, they certainly had experience with it. Edward gritted his teeth as he felt the smacks begin to add up.
His poor bottom was stinging something awful, and he wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take before he began sobbing.
Carlisle let them all cry as loudly as they wanted to. He even allowed some squirming and struggling, as long as it didn’t get too out of hand. If it did, he’d simply restrain them and continue to spank them. He had years and years of experience, at this point.
“Next time, you are going to be pleasant and respectful. Even if it’s an activity you do not think you are interested in doing, you might end up finding out that you actually like it.” Carlisle said, his loud smacks echoing throughout the room. Edward yelped, absentmindedly kicking a leg back in response.
“Oww!! Okay, I get it!” He exclaimed. Carlisle ignored this, continuing with the spanking. “That is what ended up happening today, isn’t it?” Carlisle asked, smacking Edward’s upper thighs as he wailed in response.
“You were enjoying it once you finally got the hang of it. Although it was brief, you did seem to be enjoying yourself when you realized you caught a fish.” He pointed out.
Edward knew he was right; had he kept on trying after the fishing disaster, he might’ve had more fun. There was certainly potential, and all things considered, he enjoyed himself more than he thought he would’ve before things went downhill.
“I’m-OUCH! OWW! Really sorry, dad! OUCH! AH!” Edward yipped, squirming over the man’s lap. Carlisle noticed that Edward’s bottom was a dark shade of pink now. “I know, son. We are almost through.” Carlisle responded,
Wanting to finish this up, he let his hand continue to do the talking. Loud, even swats landed all across Edward’s behind.
The placements were more random now as Carlisle’s large hand did its job of leaving a long lasting lesson across his behind. He had a feeling he’d be squirming whenever he sat down for a while after this…
Tearless sobs began to leave Edward’s throat as he cried, holding onto Carlisle’s leg for support.
Carlisle gently rubbed Edward’s back with his free hand. After making Edward’s bottom rosy red, he lifted his knee to get better access to his sensitive undercurve.
Bracing himself and his heart for the loud cries he knew were coming, Carlisle lifted his palm and began steadily landing it all across Edward’s unprotected sit spots. As expected, Edward hollered and shouted.
“OWW! AAAH! OWW OWW, OUCH! DADDY, I’M SORRY! I WON’T-OWWW-EVER DO IT AGAIN!! I SWEAR! OUCH! AAH! PLEASE-AAAH!” Edward cried out.
After his under curve and upper thighs matched the same shade of red as his bottom, Carlisle finally stopped the spanking.
Gently rubbing his son’s back, he shushed him. “Shhh, it’s okay, son. You’re alright, my sweet boy. You took that very well.” Carlisle whispered, immediately sitting Edward up in his lap.
Edward buried his face against his chest, bawling out all of his frustrations and guilt. Had vampires been able to produce tears, Carlisle knew his shirt would’ve been covered in Edwards.
Carlisle stroked Edward’s hair with one hand and rubbed his back with the other.
“Easy, now. You’re okay, honey. You’re alright. Shhh…it’s alright…” He cooed as he showered him with soft comfort.
Carlisle held Edward in his arms, making him feel safe and welcomed. Edward didn’t have to be embarrassed to be emotional in front of his father, he knew that he was allowed to be without any judgement whatsoever.
On the contrary, Carlisle felt honored to be trusted enough to have Edward feel vulnerable in front of him.
His poor little boy had clearly felt bad for how he had behaved, and Carlisle knew that things would be better the next time he and his sons spent some quality time together.
After a while of comfortable silence, Edward gingerly stood to his feet and fixed his pants with a grimace.
Carlisle stood to his feet as well, placing his hands on Edward’s shoulders and looking him in the eye.
“You are forgiven, Edward. The slate has been wiped clean, you have nothing to answer for anymore. Next time, you can pick what we do, and if your brothers behave the way you did today, they’ll get the same treatment.” Carlisle reminded him that he was a fair father.
Edward nodded sheepishly, feeling bad for how he had treated them. Especially Jasper…
“I’ll apologize to them.” Edward said. Carlisle smiled. “I know you will, son.” He said fondly, leaning down and placing a soft kiss to Edward’s forehead.
Edward groaned halfheartedly. “Daaad~” He said, feeling even younger than he did at that moment.
Carlisle chuckled, gently ruffling Edward’s hair. “What? I’ve earned the fatherly right to forehead kisses and comfort.” He teased, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading them out of the room.
When they went downstairs, Bella immediately looked up from the book she was reading (well, attempting to read while she heard her husband’s agonizing cries from upstairs) and sped over to them. She cupped Edward’s face, looking him over with concern.
“Are you alright?” Bella asked. Carlisle gave her an affectionately offended gasp. “Isabella Marie! How dare you imply that I’d really hurt my son! Shame on you, little lady.” Carlisle playfully kissed her cheek, earning a giggle.
Edward smiled, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m fine, love.” He confirmed. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” He said, looking towards the window.
“Do you know where Emmett and Jasper are by any chance?” Edward asked, wondering if they had headed outside after not hearing any signs of them in the living room or kitchen.
“They are in the backyard playing corn hole.” Bella responded, nodding towards the back door.
Both boys had recently gotten into it after Rosalie and Alice beat them in a game. The girls had an impressively sharp sense of precision, beating their mates with ease. Since then, Jasper and Emmett were hooked.
Snorting with a smirk, Edward made his way towards the backdoor.
When he got outside, he saw Jasper victoriously cheering as he tossed a beanbag into the hole. “I told you I’d win!” He exclaimed.
“Nice job, Jas.” Edward said, his hands in his pockets as he walked over. Emmett and Jasper both turned to look at him, their faces showing empathy.
“Hey, you okay, bro?” Emmett asked, walking over to him with Jasper. “Dad wasn’t too hard on you, was he?” Jasper asked.
Edward shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.” He said, looking at Jasper with remorseful eyes.
“I’m sorry for fighting you and being so negative today. I was just frustrated about the situation, and then things kept going wrong, and then I lost it. It won’t happen again.” He apologized. “I’m sorry to you too, Em, for ruining the trip.” Edward added.
Emmett and Jasper looked at each other before Emmett smiled and wrapped his brother into a big bear hug, lifting him off of his feet.
“Awww, it’s cool, Eddie!” He grinned, Jasper chuckling at Edward’s shocked expression at being picked up off the ground.
“It’s alright, Edward. We’ve dealt with worse.” Jasper said, chuckling when Emmett finally let him go.
“So, you guys up to get beaten in a game of corn hole, or…?” Edward trailed off with a smirk. Emmett and Jasper returned the mischievous smirk, both of them nodding.
“Ohh, you’re on!” Emmett exclaimed. So, for the rest of the afternoon, the brothers played corn hole together.
Not long afterwards, Carlisle had been convinced by them to play a game with them, which of course had turned into two, then three, and so forth until it was time to hunt for lunch.
Esme and Bella smiled as they watched them from the living room window.
“Those crazy boys…” Esme chuckled, shaking her head fondly as they all shouted over each other with playful excitement whenever they missed or made a goal. “Gotta love em’.” Bella smirked.
“We do it better, though!” Alice grinned, high-fiving Rosalie as they walked by.
“Duhhh.” Rosalie smirked. Bella had a feeling they’d all be playing corn hole together soon.