Since I am making up dates for these stories, I can say that a recent Friday was I and my wife's wedding anniversary. We decided that we wanted a nice quiet dinner together at home. After some discussion, we knew what we wanted to eat, but what about the kids? Paul and James had sports functions at school, so they were taken care of since they wouldn't be home until around 10:00 any way. John usually stuck around to watch Paul, so three were down, leaving Anna, Kate, Rachel, Sara, and Eric.
I left taking care of this group up to Anna. Anna was born about three weeks before our first wedding anniversary, so she was always there for this occasion. The others, on the other hand, were a problem. Kids always find ways to spoil it. They make noise, they fight, etc. I summoned Anna into my office after we all got home (yay! no evening classes!).
"You called, sir?"
"Anna, we have a problem."
"Continue."
"Your siblings: it is up to you to keep them in order while Mom and I enjoy ourselves in the kitchen."
"How do I do that?"
"However you wish, but do it and do it well!"
"I'm on it!"
Anna had plans that would sufficiently bind her siblings over until Mom and I were done. For her deed of darkness, Anna recruited Kate.
"Kate, I need your help with something."
"What with?"
"I need to make sure no disturbs Mom and Dad while they eat their anniversary dinner."
"So?"
"I need you to help me with that."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"I'm going to tie them up, of course," Anna said with a grin.
"I'll gladly help," Kate said.
First step was to feed their siblings and send them away. Anna and Kate then set up three chairs in the living room. They decided Rachel and Sara had to go first. Rachel and Anna made their way to their sisters' room.
"Hey you two, what's up?" Anna asked.
"Not much, just getting a jump on HW," Sarah said.
"Do you two have time to help us with something?"
"Sure, we're not in a rush."
"OK! Kate?"
"Let's do this!"
"What is it?" Sara asked.
"We want to make sure you don't Mom and Dad's dinner," Kate responded.
"So?" Rachel asked in reply.
"You're going out of circulation."
"We're in BIG trouble..." Sara said, wide-eyed.
"Go Kate!" Anna said, and they pounced.
Anna grabbed Sara and put a hand over her mouth while restraining her body while Kate did the same to Rachel. Both girls were kicking, squirming, and trying to escape. Both Anna and Kate brought their captives into the living, and sat down on the couch, using their legs to restrain Rachel and Sara while they reached into their bags.
They shoved socks in their sisters' mouths, and then cleave gagged them with red bandanas. Anna and Kate then wrapped 4 layers of tape around to ensure silence. Next, their wrists were tied behind their backs, and their elbows were tied. Rachel and Sara were then moved to the chairs.
Once on the chairs, their arms and torsos were fastened to the chair with a network of rope. Their ankles and knees were bound, and then more rope was used to fasten those to the chair. Rachel and Sara had little room to move, and they mmmphed into their gags.
Eric was just sitting around watching TV, and thus had a front-row seat to this. He started to worry about himself.
"Why are you doing this to them?" He asked.
"For mom and dad," Anna responded.
"Why?"
"So they can have a quiet dinner together," Kate said pointing to the other chair.
"Awwwwww! Will we at least get to watch something?"
"Yes," Anna responded.
"Pick on the little guy..." Eric said despondently.
Soon he was tied identically to his sisters, and then they gagged him with a sock, a green bandana, and tape. Anna was almost finished.
"Since it's just us now, and it's getting late, how about we change into our pajamas?" Anna asked Kate.
"Sure! Sounds fun!" Kate said.
They took about fifteen minutes upstairs changing before returning. Then Anna broke the ice.
"Well, three down, one to go!" Anna pointed out to Kate.
"What do you mean, 'one to go'?" Kate asked, "We got everybody already."
"Not everybody, Kate."
"What do you mean?"
"There's me, and there's you."
"You don't mean..."
"Sorry, Kate," Anna said before grabbing her sister and wrestling her sister onto the couch.
Anna was bigger, though, and soon got enough on Kate to tie her wrists behind her back. Anna folded up a brown bandana.
"Anna, why are you doing this?"
"So that I have the rest of the place to myself while Mom and Dad eat, of course!"
"That makes sense."
"Open up."
Anna pushed a sock into Kate's mouth, and cleave gagged her with the bandana. Anna then tied Kate's elbows, and tied her arms to her torso above and below the breasts and at the waist. Anna then had Kate sit cross-legged and tied her ankles together like that.
"There! Now you're tied up, but can sit up with ease!"
"Unh!"
"What did you say?"
"Unh!"
"That's what I thought. Are y'all comfortable?"
"Mmph!" "Unh!" "Mmmm!"
"Good, that's how I like it. Comfortable, but tight enough to be effective."
Anna flopped on the couch and turned on the TV. She wasn't that picky, and would find something.
As my wife and I sat down to eat our private little dinner, the silence was disturbing. It hadn't been this quiet in years. We savored the moment as we ate, reliving our lives from when we had our first anniversary, when it was just us and a cooing baby Anna. Anna's occasional giggling at her sibling's predicament was close enough.
For my wife and I, it was a special dinner, though. After we had cleaned up, we exchanged the best kiss in several years. After sufficient time together in the kitchen alone (about 75 minutes), we decided to reinvite mayhem to our lives and walked into the living room.
"Oh! Were they trouble?" my wife asked.
"Not at all. They were quite well-behaved."
"She's not as cute as she was on our first anniversary," I said. Anna made a frown worth a picture. I then walked around gave Eric, Sarah, and Rachel each enough slack to escape.
Kate gave eyes that said 'what about me?' and started squirming.
"Stop, it's only been 45 minutes for you!" Anna said as she took a white bandana and blindfolded Kate. "Stop asking for help; if we want to help, we don't want you making up our minds for us. So was it a good dinner?"
"Nah, I put too much milk in the spuds, and the..." I started to say, but I felt an elbow in my ribs.
"Stop bashing yourself, Alex! It's not healthy."
"Neither was that dinner but you didn't complain about that!"
"Well..."
"That's my line!"
This is the power of love; it holds, it binds, it severs, and it endures. Does man have the strength to endure that power surging through his body? Only time will tell, but life... has it's own ways. Poets, authors, and musicians have tried to grasp it's depth, but is its shallowness that makes it desirable?
We now return control of your computer screen to you until next week at this same time.
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