Disclaimer: I do not own MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, its characters or storylines. This story WILL CONTAIN SPANKING if that bothers you please do not read any further.

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support! The overwhelming response was to keep the story going so I am but I'm going to do it as a sequel. Hope you like it

CALEB AND SARAH BETH: A NEW FAMILY

It had been a little over a week since Chris had decided he wanted Caleb and Sarah Beth to stay permanently with him in Four Corners. Much to his relief the other members of the group, his other "family", were as happy about the children staying as the children seemed to be.

In the last few days the children had started to settle in some, and Chris had even seen them playing both with each other and with new friends they had made in town. He couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since either of them had really played or had fun just being a kid. It made him so happy to give them their childhood back. The kids had been dealt a bad hand when they lost their parents and had to grow up quick but Chris was determined to help them rediscover some of the fun that could be found in childhood. In fact, it was Chris' desire that Caleb begin acting like a kid again that led to one of the first real issues between him and his new children.

Chris knew that Caleb was used to being the one in charge of his sister and those habits didn't die easily. Truth be known he didn't want them to completely – he needed to know that if he was gone or away for a while Caleb could still take care of his sister, but he also needed Caleb to understand that he was the Pa now - and that was a fine line for the two of them to sort out.

There were a few times when he had given Sarah Beth permission to do something or told her not to do something only to realize that Caleb had done the opposite. The first time or two he thought there was perhaps a misunderstanding and gave each kid the benefit of the doubt but it didn't take Chris long to realize that sweet angel faced little girl he was quickly coming to think of as his daughter was playing the two of them against each other and it needed to stop.

Chris had been waiting for Sarah Beth to recover fully from the fire to speak to her about how the fire started and his thoughts about little girls playing with candles so he figured he would just wait and add this to the list for the discussion they would be having very soon…

By the end of the week Sarah Beth had stopped coughing and was pretty much laughing and playing all the time. Nathan gave her a clean bill of health when he looked in on her that morning so Chris figured today was as good a day as any for them to talk. Before he spoke to Sarah Beth though, he wanted to speak to Caleb. The boy had accepted his discipline that first night and even earned a swat or two during the week without much fight but he wasn't sure how he would react to the idea of Chris spanking Sarah Beth and he most definitely intended to spank her today. He didn't want to spank her, she was finally starting to really come alive again after all of the coughing from the fire but he couldn't let her get away with her part in the fire or her behavior this week – there was no doubt in Chris' mind the child knew she was playing her brother and Chris against each other and it was going to end today…

Searching for Caleb after breakfast he found him in the barn tending to the new horse Chris had given him and his sister. She was a beautiful jet black older horse who was extremely gentle named Daisy. Chris walked up to Caleb and smiled at the job he was doing – the kid had really taken to the horse and was doing a great job caring for her.

"Hey buddy, how's old Daisy doin' this morning?" Chris asked as he walked up beside Caleb

"She's good aren't ya girl?" Caleb said in almost baby talk nuzzling his face up against the horse's nose petting her gently.

Chris smiled at the sight of the two of them and then remembered why he had come looking for Caleb in the first place, "Come over here for a minute son I need to talk to you." Chris said as he started walking towards a hay bale.

Caleb blanched a little trying to remember if he'd done anything wrong – usually when his Pa had escorted him to a hay bale there wasn't much talking going to happen. Chris seemed to notice the kids nervousness and all of a sudden realized what he was thinking. Chuckling, he motioned for Caleb to come over "You aren't in trouble son, I just need to talk to ya'. That is unless you done somethin' I ain't heard about yet that might get ya in trouble?" Chris added, teasing him a little.

"No – No Sir. I ain't done nothin' I swear" Caleb mutter trying to sound convincing. He really couldn't think of anything he'd done but that didn't make him worry any less. Looking in Chris' eyes though he didn't see any anger so he relaxed some and moved to sit next to Chris.

"Caleb I need to talk to you about Sarah Beth. Me and her are gonna have to have us a talk today about her behavior but I wanted to talk to ya first."

"A talk or a talk?" Caleb questioned

"I'd say the second of those two based on your tone" Chris smiled but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes – he wasn't looking forward to that talk at all

"Why Chris, what'd she do? Ifn she's done somethin' wrong I'll take care of it I promise." Caleb said and Chris could see him start to change into his big brother role which is exactly why Chris wanted to have this talk first.

"Well, she has done something wrong – a couple a things actually – but I intend to handle them, not you. I know you're used to be the one that sees to her when she misbehaves but that's my job now. I want you to still look out for her just like the good big brother you are but you ain't responsible for correctin' her behavior anymore – me, or ifn I'm not around, then one of the other guys will make sure that we handle any correctin' that needs to be done, ok?"

Caleb sat there for a minute and didn't say anything. On one hand he loved the idea that he could just be her brother again – that he didn't have to be her Pa too but it was still his job to take care of her and in his mind taking care of her included correcting her behavior when need be.

It was as if Chris could read his thoughts though when he put his arm around Caleb "I'm not sayin' you sit back and let her do whatever she wants – there'll be times when none of us are around and she still needs to mind you and if she don't then I know you'll know how to handle the situation but for the most part when it comes to makin' rules or dolin' out punishments that's gonna be my job, do you understand?"

"Yes sir, but it's gonna take some gettin' used to I think" Caleb answered honestly

"I don't doubt that son, in fact that's one of the things that she's in trouble for. It seems that your sweet sister has figured out how to play the two of us to her advantage."

"Huh?"

"Do you remember when she asked you to walk her to the store for penny candy on Tuesday?" Chris asked Caleb

"Yes sir and I did walk her so she wasn't out by herself cause you said that first night she ain't supposed to go wanderin off by herself" Caleb answered a little defensively

"Um Hmm, I understand why you walked her but what she didn't tell you was that I had already told her she had had too much candy this week and had to wait until next week to buy more."

"WHAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME" Caleb yelled, not meaning to yell at Chris but shocked at his sister's deception

"First you need to lower your voice young man or Sarah Beth won't be the only one sportin' a sore backside at dinner tonight" Chris said sternly pinning him with a glare

"I'm sorry Chris, I just can't believe she would do that. Maybe she misunderstood"

"I thought that too son, which is why I didn't say anything to her but the next day I saw her outside playin when I knew her chores weren't done yet but when I asked her she said that you had finished them for her. Goin' inside to check I heard you tell Vin you were doin' her chores cause she was still havin' trouble with her breathing, which I know was true but she conned you into doin' those chores Caleb – if she was well enough to play, she was well enough to do chores. I was gonna spank her right then but then I heard her start coughing hard again so I decided to wait until Nathan said she was better and I figured it would give me time to watch and see if she was doin' this on purpose or not. After watchin' her for a few days I have no doubt she knows exactly what she's doin' Caleb and I intend to put a stop to it today now that Nathan has said she's better. There are at least four other times where she asked you to do something with her or for her that I had already given her an answer on – she just didn't like my answer so she went to you."

Chris waited for the boy to chew on this new information for a minute before he said anything else.

"I'm sure sorry Chris, I - I didn't know" Caleb said sadly.

"I know you didn't buddy and you ain't in trouble, this time - but now you do know and although I suspect that after our talk she will be mendin' this particular behavior I expect you to be mindful of her rules and whether or not you might be goin' against a rule or decision I have already made. Do you understand what I'm telling you Caleb"

"Yes sir I do and I won't be fooled so easy by her the next time, but I still think you ought to let me be the one who tans her – I'm the one she lied to and I still haven't spanked her for playing with that candle that started the fire – she knew she wasn't supposed to play with candles an she near got herself killed – I still owe her a lickin' for that but I was waiting for her to feel better too" Caleb stated firmly, hoping Chris would see his logic.

"I know it was you she wronged but it was me she disobeyed and she has to learn she can't ride roughshod over me – I won't put up with it. And I agree about the fire. I do think though that what happened scared her badly enough she won't touch another candle for a very long time but she still needs to understand the danger she put herself in. Her and I will be discussing that this afternoon too and I promise she will be finding you to apologize when its done. You're just gonna have to trust that I can make my point well enough for the both of us"

For the first time Caleb worried that maybe Chris would be too rough on his baby sister. Eyeing Chris with what he hoped was a somewhat intimidating glare, Caleb stood, crossed his arms over his chest and said "You ain't gonna beat her are ya, cause I won't stand for that neither." He really didn't think Chris would abuse Sarah Beth but he hadn't known the gunman that long and Sarah had managed to rack up a lot of bad behavior this week - he wanted to make sure he could trust this man with his sister.

Chris rose to his feet and put his hands on the boys shoulders, taking a deep breath. He was trying not to let himself get angry at the notion that he would ever beat Sarah Beth. He knew Caleb was just doing his job as big brother. "Son, I gave you a pretty good tannin' not more than a week ago – did you feel like I had beaten you?"

"No sir" Caleb answered quietly but honestly and that was the truth – he had felt like his butt was on fire and he might not ever sit comfortably again but he knew he had earned that spanking for the way he acted and making his sister cry – he knew Chris had been fair with him.

"Good cause what's gonna happen with Sarah Beth ain't gonna be any different. I intend to tan her butt good and she'll be spendin' the rest a the day in her room but she'll be sittin' fine by tomorrow and hopefully won't even think about playin' us against each other again for a very long time. Now you go on an finish your chores – I think it's time I find your sister."

Caleb nodded his head at Chris in acceptance and then watched him walk out of the barn.

QUESTION: Are there any role playing forums on FanFiction where we each get to be a character in a show or write different chapters to the stories? I couldn't find one so I was just curious – thought it might be fun :0)

Hope you like the new story!