Stories From The Island
Job Search

Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for various MARVEL movies and television programs.

***

Phil yawned and burrowed deeper under his blanket. His eyes were gritty and felt like they had sand in them. He knew he had to get up... but he'd been running errands late with his best friend and had wound up sneaking back into his bedroom.

Paul had got up at the normal time, feeding the animals and mucking the stalls. He'd fully expected his younger brother to show up and help as normal...but he hadn't. It was getting close to time for breakfast and then school...and Phil still hadn't done the chores that he was personally responsible for. Paul really didn't want to get stuck doing them himself, although if his brother was sick, he'd do so without complaint. Walking upstairs, he banged on Phil's bedroom door. "Hey, runt! What happened? Your alarm not go off?" he shouted through the closed door.

Dragging his blanket over his head didn't actually succeed in blocking out his brother's voice. "Go away!" Phil meant it to come out an order... it actually came out as little more than a mumble. Maybe he could pretend to be sick? That would guarantee him time off school... but then he wouldn't be able to do any jobs to earn money.

Paul frowned. "I will not go way. You've still gotta feed the chickens before breakfast and school. I already did my chores and the chores you're s'posed to help me with! I'm not doing the ones you're s'posed to do on your own!" He wondered if he needed to call their mother or father up. If his kid brother was sick....but if he wasn't sick, Paul didn't want to get him in trouble.

"I'll do them in a while!" Phil retorted, trying to close his eyes and go back to sleep. Even if it was only for a few minutes... maybe he should ask Nick how he was dealing with it.

"You don't have a few minutes! You literally have thirty minutes to get up, get dressed, take care of your chores and eat breakfast before you miss your school bus!" Paul pushed the door open and glanced in. "Are you sick?" He moved closer, as if to feel his brother's forehead for fever.

Phil cringed away. "Yes. I'm sick," he said empathically... and coughed to give proof to that. With his eyes red from so little sleep, he didn't look like he was at full health... and his face was pale along with that.

Paul sighed, reaching over and feeling his brother's forehead. "Well, at least you aren't hot, so you aren't running a fever. I'll let Mama know you're not feeling well. She'll bring you up some juice, I imagine. I'll take care of the rest of your chores...." He gave his little brother a sympathetic smile. "Go back to sleep, runt...." Tucking the covers around his little brother a little more securely, Paul backed out of the room and closed the door gently, then went downstairs to let their parents know Phil wasn't feeling good; and to go finish the remainder of chores that Phil hadn't done.

Phil couldn't help feeling guilty for lying to his brother, but he was really too tired for the guilt to take full hold. He allowed his eyes to close, resolving to talk to Nick later about taking on less extra hours... no matter how much extra money they got.

***

Paul had just finished the last of Phil's chores and had gone back into the house to clean up, grab something quick to eat and head into town for his one and only class of the day when his mom stopped him at the door.

"Sweetie...I just received a call from your great Aunt Althea. She fell and broke her hip and needs me to come and take care of her for a few weeks. Your dad is going to drive me there. He won't be back until tomorrow night, though, so that means you are in charge. I know you have your class, but do you think you could skip it today so that you can stay with your brother? Normally, I wouldn't worry about him being alone for a few hours, but since he is sick...."

"Sure thing, mom. I can get notes from one of my classmates the next class..." Paul quickly agreed, wanting to ease his mother's worry. "Give Aunt Ally my love...."

Thirty minutes later, he was standing on the porch, watching his parents drive away.

***

After a couple of hours extra sleep, Phil woke up feeling more refreshed... although he figured he couldn't just have a 'miraculous' recovery and knew he was going to have to stay in bed... no matter how bored he got.

A few minutes later, Phil heard the sound of stones hitting the wall next to his window. By the time he slipped out of bed and crept over to it, his friend had climbed up and Phil was able to open the window so that Nick could climb in. "What are you doing here?" he whispered.

"You weren't in school." Nick shrugged and sat on the bed, making himself at home. "Thought something might be wrong."

***

Paul had let his brother rest, catching up on a few of the chores that he typically got out of because he was in class and his father had more urgent items to take care of. He thought it would be a nice surprise for his father, since he needed to stick close to home anyway. He'd checked on his brother at least once an hour, not wanting to disturb his sleep. He looked at his watch. He'd give Phil another thirty minutes and then he'd wake him up to eat some chicken soup and drink orange juice. Whistling softly, he worked on finishing the latest project he'd started.

***

"I'm not sick," Phil admitted quietly. "But I couldn't get up. I was too tired. So... I said I was sick."

Nick's eyes widened. "You lied...?"

"I..." Phil couldn't finish his sentence. He knew lying was wrong. He felt guilty enough.

***

It had taken Paul a bit longer than the thirty minutes he'd counted on, closer to an hour, but he'd finally finished the project. Going back into the house, he began to heat the soup for his brother.

***

Phil heard the unmistakable sound of his brother downstairs in the kitchen. "You need to leave before my brother comes up to check on me." He quickly began ushering Nick back towards the window.

It didn't take long for the soup to heat and Paul was shortly bringing a tray of it up, along with orange juice. "Wake up, sleepyhead. You need to get..." he announced, even as he opened the door to go in.

Phil froze, his best friend halfway out of the window. His eyes darted around, as he didn't know whether to close the door on his brother, or push Nick out the window.

Paul froze only momentarily, before continuing, "...Get Nick back inside the house before he falls and breaks his neck," he finished, as sternly as their father ever would have.

Nick was already climbing back in, a bit sheepishly... but Phil responded to his brother in the same way he would their father and quickly went to help his friend back in through the window.

Paul shook his head as he carefully set the tray of food on the nearby dresser. "So can someone please explain why Nick is coming in through a second story bedroom window, instead of through the front door like our parents expect?" His voice was firm and it was clear he expected an answer.

"Phil wasn't in school," Nick said. "I was worried about him." And he hadn't wanted to alert them to the fact he'd skipped school.

"So again I ask, why were you coming in through the window instead of the front door?" Paul asked, an eyebrow rising. He likely wouldn't have suspected anything if his brother and his brother by choice weren't acting so oddly; climbing in through the window was a large red flag.

"Because I'm meant to be in school?" Nick replied, a little sheepishly.

Phil swallowed, knowing that he probably didn't look ill at all. He didn't say anything, but suspected strongly it wouldn't take long for his big brother's questions to turn to him.

"You're right," Paul said. "But you're here now and adding taking reckless chances to skipping school isn't terribly wise, I'd think. Besides which, you could have called and I would have let you know how he was doing."

He glanced at Phil, noting that he looked perfectly healthy now. Crossing the room, he held a hand against his brother's head again. "Still no fever...and now you look perfectly normal and sound perfectly normal...you're lucky to have such a quick recovery...." His voice was conversational, but he was watching his brother closely.

Phil was tempted to continue lying... but now that he was completely wide awake, he couldn't bring himself to. He felt bad enough as it was. "I... got in late last night." The words came out a barely decipherable mumble.

"Ah...so you weren't really sick at all...." Paul said, again conversationally, but a tiny hint of disappointed irritation was underneath his tone. He'd skipped his own class to stay home and take care of his brother. A class that he was very interested in and wanted to do well in; wanted to get as much from as possible. Even though he could easily get the notes from his classmates and wouldn't suffer in his grade (as long as the teacher hadn't sprung a surprise test), actually going to the class would have given him the most benefit. He suspected his little brother was still a bit young to feel that way about his own schooling and wouldn't understand the frustration.

Phil cringed, able to hear the disappointment in his brother's voice. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. It wasn't often that he disappointed or upset his family... when he did, it always hit him hard.

"Yeah...so am, I kid." Paul sighed. "Just...you said you got in late last night. I know for a fact that mom and dad have a curfew for school nights...and I'm fairly certain you were in when mom checked on you...so how is that even possible? And where were you if you weren't in?" Paul didn't want to make accusations without proof...but he had suspicions. He turned toward Nick. "Do you want to call your parents and let them know where you are? Or do I need to do so?" He didn't give the younger boy any other choices. Not only had Nick skipped half a day of school, but he'd climbed into the house through the second story window...something Paul knew his parents wouldn't have been happy about.

"I'll call them," Nick replied, shooting his best friend a sympathetic look. "Just..." He hesitated. "It wasn't just Phil." While he didn't want to get into trouble with his own parents, he couldn't just let Phil be the only one Paul was upset with.

Phil looked at the floor, scuffing his foot. "I... might have placed one of the blankets strategically..."

"So you weren't really here, but made it so mom would think you were..." Paul's voice was softly disapproving. He remembered well doing the same thing when he was Phil's age; and his parents' reactions and words. Now he understood more where they were coming from. Swallowing, he turned toward Nick. "You knew what he was doing? He was with you?"

"We were..." Nick's voice trailed off and he looked uncertainly at Phil.

"We stayed out late, doing a job," Phil admitted, unable to look at his brother.

Paul sighed. "Phil..." His voice was sympathetic, if a little frustrated. He didn't like being lied to. Especially not when the lie had caused worry in the family for no good reason. Even so, he could understand where his brother was coming from only too well. "...You know that you are only allowed to work a certain amount of hours per week, including your chores. It's important that you have time to study and rest and be a kid in general...mom and dad are adamant about that. I know the job they approved you to do doesn't need to be done at night, let alone late at night. Just what type of job are you doing exactly?" This time, a hint of worry crept in. He couldn't imagine any job requiring late night hours- that wasn't questionable, at any rate- being offered to a 14 year old kid. Other than babysitting, perhaps; but most responsible parents wouldn't leave their child in the care of a fourteen year old late at night without making sure it was ok with the fourteen year-old's parents. At least, he didn't think so.... And if Phil had got permission from their mom and dad to be doing a job like that, he wouldn't have felt the need to pretend he was at home in bed when he wasn't.

"It was... we were delivering something." Phil was quick to add, "But not anything that would get us into legal trouble... I made sure of that. But the person was coming from a long way away and they wanted to drive back the same night..." His voice trailed off. He knew he could have said no... should have said no.

"Phil..." Paul could only look at his brother incredulously. "Did you know the person you were delivering the item for? That you were meeting so late at night? Because quite honestly, I can't imagine anyone that knows you or the family making such a request from you. And if you were meeting up with strangers late at night to deliver a package to another stranger....I think we have a lot more to talk about than just you sneaking out last night and lying this morning!" He looked at Nick. "And you were with him? You know darn well your parents would have never allowed you to do something like that either! Call them now, please."

Nick nodded quickly, shooting Phil a part-sympathetic, part-guilty look, before he quickly left the room to get the phone so he could call his parents.

Phil opened his mouth... but then closed it again. If he said anything else, he imagined he'd just be digging himself in deeper.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, and feeling chagrined to realize he was acting just like their father, Paul took a deep breath, then motioned Phil to follow him out of the room. "C'mon, kid. Let's go wait downstairs with Nick for his parents to arrive. And maybe you can explain to me, so I'll be able to understand, just how what you did wasn't a horribly bad idea."

Phil wasn't sure he could explain... at least not to his brother's satisfaction; maybe not even his own. His shoulders slumping, he followed his brother from the room, heading downstairs.

Paul was so tempted to call their parents and let them deal with the situation. The only problem was, they weren't due to arrive to his aunt's house for another four hours. And then, even if his father left immediately instead of waiting till the next day and getting some rest, it would still be half a day of waiting before he'd get home. Paul didn't want this hanging over Phil's head for that long; he knew he wouldn't want it hanging over his own head, so he didn't want to do that to his brother. His parents had given him permission to handle any situation that came up. Granted, they likely hadn't thought about this type of situation- Phil was normally not the type to get into trouble like this- but he didn't think they would be upset with him for taking care of matters if he chose to. The only question was, how would Phil react to him handling things? Maybe his brother would prefer to wait for their father's return. He was so deep in thought before he realized it they were already in the living room and he was motioning Phil to sit on the couch, even as he stood at the door to wait for Nick to finish on the phone.

Nick finished on the phone and took a seat next to his friend. "They're coming here," he said quietly.

Phil was looking anxious, wondering if his brother was going to call their parents... and also feeling guilty for having lied.

"When they get here, you can both explain to all of us what you did, where you did it...and why. I'm sure your parents will want to be certain that the people you both did business with aren't going to be a threat to you in the future, Nick....Since I feel that way about making sure the same thing for Phil." He glanced at his brother. "I can't call mom or dad yet; they are still driving to Aunt Ally's...we'll have to call them after dinner tonight, since that's the soonest we'd be able to reach them." He didn't say if he planned to handle it himself or wait for them; he wanted to talk with Phil first and find out how his brother felt before making such a decision- and he also didn't want to discuss it in front of Nick. Even though he suspected Nick was in almost as big trouble as Phil, he wouldn't discuss any of the punishment in front of him unless Phil himself brought it up.

Phil nodded, looking down at his hands in his lap. He wanted to apologise again... but even if his parents and Nick's had very similar ways of dealing with things, he didn't exactly want to discuss it with him. Or in front of him.

Nick voiced a quiet acknowledgement, mirroring his best friend's posture.

It took all of Paul's will power not to fidget as they waited for Nick's parents to arrive. Luckily, Nick's family didn't live that far from Phil's. Paul couldn't imagine they were happy, though; since Mr. Fury would have been at work and since they only had the one car, he would have had to take off of work in order to come get his son. When their car pulled into the driveway, Paul stood so that he could go let them in the house. "Wait here..." he said quietly, not expecting to be disobeyed on such a simple order.

Both Nick and Phil nodded, neither planning to disobey... since both thought they'd be in even bigger trouble if they did anything other than cooperate.

Paul met Nick's parents on the front porch. "Mr. and Mrs. Fury...the boys are in the living room...please come in..." He opened the door and stepped back to let the older couple in. "Would you like some water?" he asked quietly, feeling a bit uncertain about things now that actual parents were in the house. Would they think the situation was as bad as he thought it was? Maybe he was over-reacting.

Nick's parents stepped into the house, his father looking somewhat irritated as he shook his head.

Nick's mother smiled briefly at Paul. "We're fine... but Nick wasn't very clear about what had happened on the phone. Perhaps you can give us some more details about what happened... apart from him skipping school?" she asked.

Paul winced at the question. "They haven't given me a lot of detail, but it appears they both decided to do a 'job' last night that involved delivering something after their regular curfew. Phil assured me that they made sure it wasn't illegal... but considering they were taking the package from a total stranger and delivering it to another total stranger..." He swallowed, feeling slightly like he was about to get into trouble himself and he hadn't even done anything. "I thought it would be better to wait for further explanation until you arrived...in case you had questions I wouldn't think to ask..." he finished lamely, waiting for Nick's parents to either precede him into the living room, or tell him he was handling things all wrong. He didn't think he'd handled things wrong, but this was the first time he'd had to deal with his brother doing anything so major when his parents weren't around to step in.

Nick's father nodded. "Thank you for making sure Nick called us... I'm not sure there's anything else we need to know." He walked into the living room, where his son and Phil were sitting, looking like naughty children.

Nick's mother waited for Paul to precede her and followed him and her husband into the living room.

Paul swallowed in relief once Nick's parents' attention was no longer on him and followed them into the living room. "I've told your parents what you both told me. Is there anything you haven't told me yet that we should all know? Like how you actually got to the area where you picked up the package and then how you got to where you dropped it off? Other than you crawling out of your bedroom window, much like I caught Nick crawling in this afternoon..." He glanced at Nick, pretty certain the boy had left that bit of information out of what he'd told his parents.

"Nick..." His mother shot him a disappointed look.

"We took our bikes," Phil said, adding, in a much quieter voice, "After climbing out the window..."

"Ok. Is there anything else we should know?" Paul finally asked. As far as he could tell, his brother and Nick had confessed to everything, but there was no way for him to know for certain, unless they confessed to something he had no way of finding out unless they wanted to be honest.

Phil shook his head.

"That's everything..." Nick said.

His father sighed. "Then let's go home. Thank you again," he added to Paul, reaching out and drawing his son to his feet with a hand on his shoulder.

After a brief farewell, Nick and his parents left the house.

Paul waited until he heard their car pulling down the drive before he turned toward Phil. "Do I need to tell you how dangerous your actions were?" he asked quietly.

Phil shook his head, looking down. "No... I'm sorry," he said, his voice just as quiet and filled with shame.

Paul nodded, relieved he wouldn't have an argument with his brother about the danger he'd been in. At least Phil understood that much. "I can't call mom or dad for another four hours. And dad won't be home until tomorrow morning at the earliest, even if he left to come home immediately after dropping mom off. Do you want to wait for dad to handle things, or...or will you accept me taking charge?" he finally asked, even softer than before. It wasn't like he hadn't 'been in charge' before. But the most he'd ever had to do to correct his brother was to take away a privilege or two. He'd never had something so serious to handle. If it made him nervous and uncertain, he was positive Phil would feel anxious at the thought of him handling matters. He did his best to keep his own nerves under control, though, not wanting his brother to feel more anxiety than necessary.

Trying to imagine waiting for their father to come back to deal with it made Phil feel even worse than imagining his brother stepping in... even though Paul had never had to do this before. He swallowed, glancing at his brother's face and then away again. "I... don't like the idea of having to wait," he admitted quietly. It wasn't just his nerves... he felt too guilty and knew it would affect him worse than having his brother step in.

Paul nodded, not surprised at the answer. "Ok, runt. We'll take care of it between the two of us. We still are going to call mom and dad tonight and you are going to tell them what happened. But I'll tell them I've taken care of it, so they won't need to worry...and you won't have to have it hanging over your head for the next two days." He gave his little brother a gentle smile before carefully taking Phil by the arm and tugging him over his lap. Wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him in close and tight, once he was certain Phil was secure and wouldn't fall, he quickly bared the younger man. "I want you to know...this spanking isn't because you lied to me, although that wasn't a good thing to do and I know you know it, this is because you put yourself into danger...twice... and that is never acceptable. Do you understand?" His words were soft and sincere.

Even though it was quite a surreal feeling to be taken over his big brother's lap, Phil didn't fight... though he couldn't stop the slight whimper when he was bared. "Yes... but... I'm still sorry I lied to you..." he said quietly.

"I know," Paul responded quietly. "I already forgave you. Just don't do it again, yeah?" With that, he raised his hand and let it fall with what he thought was a hard swat. He then paused to gauge Phil's reaction, afraid he might have been too hard. He'd never spanked anyone before and didn't want to be too harsh. How in the world did his parents know how hard to smack? Was there some secret manual that parents and guardians were given when they became responsible for another person, or something?

Phil jumped, but for all his worry and nerves, his brother hadn't swatted any harder than their father would have. The distress he was feeling came more from the guilt and knowing what he'd done was wrong. So he tried his best to hold still and accept what he knew he deserved... what he knew was mild compared to what could have happened to him.

Paul, assured that he wasn't being too harsh, swatted a second time, then continued to swat in a random pattern, covering his little brother's backside from top to bottom. On the second circuit, he began to talk. "You know crawling out your second story bedroom window is dangerous. There are no trees nearby and the old trellis, I'm sure you used, is rusty and unstable. You and Nick both could have fallen and broken your necks! Meeting up with complete strangers and takings package you don't know the origins of? It goes without saying that was a bad idea!" He spoke softly but firmly, wanting his brother to understand his worry. He continued swatting as he spoke, to emphasize his words.

Phil whimpered as his brother began scolding him, unable to help but squirm... even though he tried to keep still. "I... know..." he managed to get out, in a broken tone. "I'm sorry..."

"I know. I want you to remember this next time you decide a job is more important than your safety!" Paul tilted his brother forward and began to target his sit spots.

Phil began to sob as his brother targeted his sit spots, going limp, not even squirming to escape the swats.

Paul couldn't continue. He'd been his little brother's protector from the moment his parents brought him home from the hospital, and while he believed it was necessary to take action and correct his brother he couldn't keep spanking him once he saw that he'd started crying and wasn't fighting or defending his actions. He could only believe Phil had got the lesson he was trying to teach. He quickly tugged Phil up into his arms, where he held onto him tightly. "It's ok...I've got you. You're forgiven...."

Phil immediately latched onto his brother, choking a bit on his sobs as he tried to calm down. Being held, it didn't take long and he shifted closer in the comforting embrace, sniffling softly.

Paul latched on just as tightly, the experience of having to be responsible for his brother having affected him more than he'd thought would be possible.

"Sorry..." Phil said, his voice very quiet. "I know it was wrong... I was wrong..."

Paul smiled sadly, kissing the top of his brother's head. "I'm glad you realize that...and I'm very glad nothing terrible happened." His voice grew thick at the thought of what could have happened. "C'mon, runt. I want you to eat. Then, depending on how you feel, you can either take a short nap, or you and I can go over all the jobs and responsibilities you have and try and schedule things in a way that doesn't destroy your health. If you need extra money that badly, we can come up with a safe and healthy way of you earning it and I'll be with you when you ask mom and dad about it. We'll call mom and dad after dinner tonight and you can tell them what you did...but since I've already handled it, I doubt you'll get much more than a scolding." He squeezed his brother a little more tightly, before loosening his grip so his brother could step away if he was ready. Of course, if he wasn't ready, Paul was prepared to hold on to him for as long as he needed.

Phil carefully slid off his brother's lap, replacing his clothing as he nodded. "I don't think I need a nap..." he said, a little guiltily, since he knew he'd taken the opportunity to sleep in.

Paul smiled. "That's good, then. We'll go over your schedule. See what can be moved around or changed. And you can tell me what jobs you were doing extra to earn money. Some of them, you may be allowed to keep, so it will be helpful to have a list for mom and dad to look at before they make their decision." Hugging his brother one last time, he began to lead him to the kitchen. "First, though, you eat lunch. Since you aren't really sick, how would you like me to whip up a couple of hamburgers?"

Phil nodded, following his brother. "I like the sound of hamburgers," he admitted. "Want me to help? I can cut up the salad."

"Sure thing! Gotta have our veggies with the meat..." Paul grinned, walking into the kitchen and beginning to get out ingredients. They were soon busy preparing their lunch.

***

"Uncle Paul actually...?" Bobbi blinked. Even though her uncle and father had hinted at the fact that they'd got into trouble when kids, she'd figured it was just with her grandfather and grandmother. Not that her father had got into trouble with her uncle. It wasn't exactly a secret that siblings 'took care' of each other in the family, when necessary. Still, she couldn't imagine Clint, Natasha, or Grant spanking her...so the idea of Uncle Paul spanking her father, even if he was still a kid at the time, was hard to wrap her head around. But then again, she had to admit it wasn't so much that Paul spanked her dad and more the fact that... "You actually got in trouble badly enough to be spanked?" She threw a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide, as she realized belatedly that maybe the question was impertinent. She gave her father an apologetic wince.

Coulson laughed and wrapped his arm around Bobbi's shoulders, squeezing her gently. "I wasn't born responsible. I had plenty of misadventures growing up. But your grandparents and Uncle Paul helped me become able to form my own family... with all of you." Even in the dim light from the fire, his fondness for all of them was obvious.

"Sounds like daddy wasn't born responsible, either..." Kara eyed her father impishly, even as she finally let go of Loki and scuttled back over to her father's side and snuggled up to him.

Fury wrapped his arm around his daughter, drawing her in close. "Of course, we'd both learned our lessons by the end of that day," he commented.

"At least well enough to teach the rest of us our own lessons..." Trip grinned affectionately toward his father and sister.

Bobbi slanted her head then gave her own impish grin. "I didn't even consider crawling out of the bedroom window...."

"Well, now that I know where your mind's gone, I'll make sure to have your bedroom window bolted," Coulson teased her.

Tony gave his cousin a wide-eyed and entirely too innocent look. "Considering all the family floors are seventy floors or more above the ground, bolting the window sounds like a good idea, Uncle Phil...." he said in all seriousness, though the twitching of his lip gave him away.

"What...I..." Bobbi blinked then threw her empty water bottle at her cousin’s head.

Tony easily ducked the empty missile.

"Maybe we should do the same for all the other family floors as well," Steve suggested, pretending to be serious. "I don't think Phil's children have a monopoly on running away." He nudged Tony gently.

Tony smiled sheepishly, not arguing his father's point.

"I wasn't even aware the windows of the tower could be opened. That is slightly...worrying..." Bucky smirked.

"Idothingthearbl..." Kara was yawning so widely, that her words couldn't have been translated by the most adept of linguists... or her father.

Fury hugged Kara against his side. "I think it might be time to start looking at going to bed," he commented, seeing his daughter wasn't the only one beginning to flag.

Tony, seeing that Harry looked weary...and so did several of the other younger members of the family… quickly began to gather all the trash closest to him. "Right you are, Uncle Nick...if everyone wants to gather their own trash to take back up and if Brucie can grab the cooler, I'll put out the fire..." He wasn't surprised when everyone quickly jumped in for cleanup and soon, they were back in the villa, everything put in its correct spot.

Pepper glanced around as they all stood in front of the doors to their suites. "Goodnight...see you all in the morning," she said with a smile, before heading into bed.

There were echoes of the sentiment from everyone else as they all went to brush teeth and wash faces before settling down in the family rooms.