RP:]] St Luke's Reform School For Young Gentlemen

I grab his arm, "I've already dealt with it. I mean, it's probably not quite dealt with yet but she knows how pissed off I am about this. She doesn't need you to reopen the argument."

I pull him back into the garage, into my arms so he can't get away and try to pack her off to a convent. Granted I would love to do the same thing but I could at least be sneaky about it.

"What are we going to do, Zee? If this is what she's doing now, who knows what she's going to be like when she's 16 or 17 or... 18 and legal."

"OK. So, you tell me not to do anything about this and then you say something like that?! Are you trying to give me a heart attack here Matt?!" I ask him in a raised voice before pulling out of his grip.

"Why can't she be more like her brother? And blush whenever some guy in a film says boobs or dick or... fuck!" I yell before turning around and running my hand through my hair.

"OK. So, how exactly did you deal with this? Tell her not to do it again, she said you wouldn't and you left her to it? Because if that's what you did, so help me God Matt, you are too damn soft for your own fucking good."

I hate being mad at Matt like this. But when he won't let me be mad at my own kids, someone has to bare the brunt of my anger.

"Well... she did promise. And I figure we can knock the child lock back on the internet, make sure she can only go on Nickelodeon or some such shit." I offer, with a half smile, "I'm not good at staying angry with her, you've seen me angry, no-one takes me seriously."

I probably shouldn't have told Zacky this in the garage, I'm going to get attacked with his wrenches.

"Zacky, it'll be okay. We can check her mail, check her e-mails, pay Chris to keep an eye on her in school."

"But, it's, sh, MATT!" I yell before clenching my fists and staring at him angrily.

"You do realise she is probably on there right now? She promised us a few weeks ago that she'd... gah!"

I am so angry right now that I can't even process rational thoughts.

"Just... what are we going to do? If she took the child-lock off once, she can do it again."

[[Sorry that was random, gotta go!!!]]

"Then we take the computer out of her room? Like they suggest on all those websites about child safety. Take it from her room, keep it in a family room where we can watch her every move?" I suggest, "I mean, you'll have to stop me from caving in because you know how much I hate denying her things. I think our bank balance is proof of that."

I am such a soft touch with my kids, especially Courtney. It's not good parenting at all, if Zacky wasn't such a hard ass, I'd probably have Paris Hilton Mk. II on my hands.

"We can solve this without murder, although to be honest I've been contemplating it myself."

"Matt, we can't do that. Chris has a laptop, if we take her computer away, we'll have to take his laptop away to. And then we have someone else that's out for murder in this house."

I sigh and rub my forehead again with my hand.

"Look. I say we both go and talk to her now about all this. I mean, you say you already have but she doesn't know my thoughts on this," I turn back to Matt.

"What do you say?"

"Doesn't really look like we've got much choice, have we?" I say.

Another sigh escapes me. I've been sighing far too much these days. It's a wonder I've got any kind of lung capacity left anymore.

"Just try not to embarrass her, right? That's the last thing we need."

"Embarrass her? Matt, do you actually realise the situation here? Our little girl is... sexually active. Embarrassment is not what we have to worry about here. But STI's, pregnancies and broken hearts. Yeah, those are all the important things."

I walk past Matt as I throw the rag down on the side.

"Now come on, we will get through to her if we stand on a united front," I nod before pulling on Matt's arm and pulling him out of the garage into the living room.

"I'm just saying, that may be the case but the least we can do is try and make this a little less uncomfortable for her. She's more likely to be honest then." I offer, trying to prove I can be a tough dad too sometimes.

I sit in one of the large chairs in the front room, "We bringing her down here or going up there or... because you are not sitting on any of this furniture with your oily clothes."

I can't believe I'm complaining about Zacky's oily clothes, normally I'd be just admiring the way it made his clothes cling to him. Not that I'm not doing that as well or anything.

I place my hands on my hips before glaring at Matt and making my way out of the living room towards the stairs. How can he joke at a time like this? Our little girl is putting herself in danger and he's worried about the furniture and my oily clothes! I can't believe him.

I march up the stairs and walk straight up to Courtney's room, to see the door is shut. That doesn't surprise me. And then I look at Chris's door, it's wide open and all I can hear inside is the faint sound of soft music and him singing along lightly. What happened to my little girl?

I sigh before knocking on the wood and putting a stern look on my face.

"Courtney? Open this door right now. We need to talk."

I look up from the computer screen and mentally start shitting myself.

Why did I think that Dad M wasn't going to tell Dad Z about this? Why did I think he might actually take pity on me and actually just keep it to himself? What can I say, I have amazing parents that share everything. Damn it.

I close down all the pages on the internet, cursing as myspace loads slowly as I leap onto the bed with a biology book. Such a bad choice but all my other school books are in my locker at school. Double damn it.

"It's open Dad," I say as if there is nothing wrong before looking down at the first open page in my book.

I thank God that I opened it on the chapter about rocks and the environment.

I roll my eyes. He's being even more overdramatic than me right now. I'm just trying to calm him down so he doesn't explode on Courtney and freak her out. I get up from the chair and jog through the house up the stairs.

At least Zacky hasn't just stormed into her room screaming and shouting. That's the last thing I need right now. She'll try and play us off against each other.

I rest my hand on Zacky's shoulder, "Please try and stay calm? You're not going to get through to her if you're screaing and pissed off."

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises," I say quietly before pulling open the door and walking into Courtney's room slowly.

I watch her as she's sat on the bed, smiling up at me with a book on her lap. I look over to the computer to notice that there's nothing on the screen.

"Baby, your Dad told me about your... how can I say this, secret sexual romance? That you have got with this boy. I have seen the pictures," I tell her and she nods at me.

"So, do you want to tell me what the hell was going through your head when you asked for these pictures?"

"Erm, I'm sure Dad M told you everything you'd want to know Dad," I say with a smile before closing the book on my lap and putting it down next to me.

The look on his face tells me I better start talking a little more rather than brushing him off or I'm going to be in some serious fucking trouble, "Nothing much just, that he thought I was hot so..."

I shrug before looking over at my other Dad for any sign of help at all, but he just looks down at his shoes.

"And I was drunk," I mumble, hoping that will get me off the hook a little bit, since I know what Dad Z used to be like with drinking and drugs back when he was in high school.

"You were WHAT?!" I yell as if I didn't hear what she said, but oh boy did I ever hear it.

"For fuck sake Courtney," I say before running my hand through my hair and looking down at the floor before looking back up at her again, "what the hell is wrong with you?"

I look at her and I can see that I have upset her now. But I need to get through to her somehow. But I really didn't mean to upset my baby.

It seems like this is going to be good Dad/bad Dad now. I sigh and sit on her computer chair.

"You shouldn't be getting drunk at your age, sweetheart." I say, half-smiling, "It'll mess up your liver, ruin your perception on things. We speak from experience."

I look across to Zacky, a pleading look on my face. Please try to be a little more gentle with her.

I take a deep breath while pinching the bridge on my nose.

"Courtney, what is going on? Why can't you just talk to us about this?" I ask her before looking back at Matt on the chair.

"Because this is what happens," I say before I can even stop myself, "you get angry, Dad M gets mad at you for yelling at me, and then it turns into something between you two. Nothing to do with me."

I sigh before looking down at my hands again, "I just can't talk to you Dad. You get so pissed off at me, obviously wishing that I was more like Chris because you have no problems with him. But I'm just not him," I look up at him.

"I'm just being a teenager, a little earlier than what you want me too. Girls develop before boys in all prospects. Just because Chris isn't out drinking at parties and trying to get with the opposite sex, doesn't mean I can't. I'm just trying to grow up, I'm just sorry you don't want me to."

I look between the pair. I feel almost like I shouldn't be here. She's never admitted this to us before. I feel kinda guilty for not noticing this before. I shift uncomfortably on the seat, tapping my fingers on my knees.

"Honey, it's not that we don't want you to grow up. We just want you to be careful and you're not really being very careful with these boys. Or by drinking yourself into a foolish stupor." I offer, trying to be the voice of reason, "We've done it, your dad was pretty wild back in school. He knows what boys your age are like."

I look across to Zacky, "Right?"

I nod to what Matt said before walking over to Courtney and getting down onto my knees in front of her. I sigh and get her to look at me.

"Baby, I had no idea, I am so sorry," I say to her just to get that across so I don't completely make her hate me straight away.

"But you've gotta try and understand, I'm your Dad Baby, I just want you to be safe and that you have the best life possible. I don't want you throwing your life away for some guy that doesn't care. I do know what guys are like, hell I was one of the worst ones of them all. I'm just trying to protect you from everything. It's what Dad's do," I say before giving her a small smile.

"Do you forgive me? For being a crazy, angry Dad?"

I smile at him, "yeah, I forgive you."

"I'm sorry for making you upset Dad, I didn't mean to. I mean, I didn't mean for you guys to actually find out, as you've probably guessed," I say before looking between both of my Dad's again.

"So, do you think we can forget all of this now?" I ask hopefully.

I look across to Zacky, "What do you think, Dad Z?"

I hope he does decide to drop this. I don't really want them to be arguing for the next week, leading me and Chris to be in the middle. Or hiding like we did when they were mad at each other when Courtney was 9. Me and Chris camped in the garden over the weekend to get away from the crazy shouting.

"I mean, she does seem very sorry." I say, half smiling, "And it's not like she'll be able to do this again. Because I'm sure she's aware all mail will be subject to inspection."

"Ooooh yeah, I'm sure she knows that. Like she also knows that I will be doing a complete computer sweep of her INTERNET history tomorrow," I say with a slight smirk.

I stand up as Courtney sighs at me in protest, "don't sigh sweetie. Just be glad that me and your Dad don't believe in punishment," I grin before pinching Courtney's cheek and turning around to walk out of the room.

"Come on Matt, we can leave Courtney to get rid of any websites that might embarrass her if I was to find them," I say before looking back at Courtney to see her matching my smirk.

"Evil little girl," I laugh as I point to her, she points back at me.

Awww, just like when she was a baby.

I smile at the little exchange between the pair. They're so alike, it's quite frightening sometimes. I've had nightmares about her admitting she's been sleeping with Chris before. I'm guessing that kind of thing doesn't run in the family.

I get up from the seat, "I recommend getting rid of those special story sites too. We've read them ourselves, we know what slash means sweetheart."

I head across to Zacky, "Have fun, Courtney."

"Ooooh burn," I say to Matt in a girlish voice before extending my finger to him for him to put his to mine.

I laugh before looking back at Courtney who is now as red as a beetroot, "Love you Sweetie."

I laugh again before walking out of the room with Matt and shutting her door behind me.

"I think we handled that maturely," I say with a nod before laughing again and making my way down the hallway.

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