Trouble in the 90's

The Parent Trap: Trapped in a World of Trouble

"NICKIE-EEEEEE!" Meredith screams, as she floats on a lake in her air-filled bed she had taken on the family's camping trip—since she could not dare bring herself to lay on such filthy ground.

Nicholas glares at his girls, who have now made it obvious by their guilty, shocked looks that it was definitely their doing. The girls try to hide their shame in the tent, but when their dad hollers at them to come out, they know they can't push their luck any farther.

It had started with Nick wanting Meredith, a snobbish woman of whom he'd hoped to marry, to come on a camping trip with his girls—as a "bonding" thing. 

Bonding, to him, meant fishing, roasting wieners over a campfire, and hiking in the woods.

To his girls, Annie and Hallie, bonding meant quite a different thing. Mostly pranks. Mean pranks like throwing a lizard on their soon-to-be evil step-mother "Cruella," as they had called her.  Not that Meredith hadn't deserved them, what with her spoiled brat attitude and rudeness since they'd met. Why should the girls respect her when she hadn't cared to respect them?

The girls are almost twelve. They are old enough to be respected.

And their dad Nicholas thinks they're old enough to learn respect, since they obviously don't have a clue what it really means.

This is the very first thing Annie and Hallie attempt to explain when lured out of their hiding place.

"Dad, she deserved-" Hallie begins.

"I don't care!" Nick shouts, interrupting the potential argument. "This is the last straw, girls. You know how much this means to me, to Meredith, for you to get to know her. If you can't even be civil, how can we manage to be a normal, healthy family?"

The girls have all but tuned him out as they continue to listen to Meredith's screams from out in the lake.

The man pretty much growls at them as he stomps away, deciding to deal with them later so he could help his dearest Meredith to shore.

When she finds dry land, with his help, her rage gets the better of her, and she storms off, basically telling him she wants nothing to do with him—or his girls—ever again.

And somehow, Nick finds relief in this. Maybe this is meant to be.

So he lets her go to cool off once he reminds her to be safe and stay on the trail, also making a mental note to himself to go search for her after having a "chat" with Hallie and Annie.

He hadn't used any form of physical punishment since, well, possibly ever, maybe once when Hallie was three and she did something outrageously dangerous, but other than that, never.

He can't believe that now, when his girls are both preteens, they've sunk so low for Nick to even consider spanking them.

Well, better now before Hallie and Annie grow up to be bank robbers.

When he reaches their campsite, he has to restrain himself from completely losing it.

With a steady, scary low voice, he commands, "Hallie. Annie. Get your butts over here. March."

Nicholas grows taller as he gestures for them to make their way toward their set up near the campfire, where conveniently there lays a log, perfect for the upcoming old fashioned hiding both kids have been silently clueing into.

Yes, neither girl has ever remembered a parent laying hands on them, however they know how a spanking works, considering a few of their friends have experienced it. It definitely sounds unpleasant.

Their dad gives them a look that screams "don't you dare try me," and instantly they sit, squirming nervously, both twins biting their finger nails—a bad habit they each were born with.