Jacob stepped into his house and waited until the front door closed behind him before expelling a deep breath.  The afternoon's meeting with one of his clients didn't go badly<em>per se</em>, but he couldn't help but feel a certain measure of irritation towards them.  By all means, the husband and wife eager to pursue their dream home had all the right in the world to change their minds about certain aspects of the design and Jacob was more than happy to accommodate their wishes.  What made this particular revision so frustrating was that it had been perfectly timed to be the most inconvenient upon the architect as possible.  He couldn't blame them for not knowing that even a relatively minor change in the right place can lead to hours, if not days, of extra work as a result of other necessary modifications cascade throughout the design in order to meet building codes and structural requirements.  This one in particular had set him back a whole two weeks.<br/><br/>Though he couldn't feel all bad about it, considering that just meant he would be making a little more off this project and if he was crafty enough he could selvedge previous work to cut the total time lost to within a week.  Still, it was always disheartening whenever so much work fails to bear fruit.<em>All part of the design process.</em><br/><br/>Loosening his tie a bit and unbuttoning the collar of his shirt, he made his way through the house into his office closing the french door behind him.  The room was eloquently decorated of hard woods with earthy colors which went well with the way the early evening daylight poured through the small clerestory over the tall bookshelves.  Off to one side of the room were two desks, one for drafting and the other for general work with dual computer monitors upon it.  There were a few chairs set throughout the room, a few reading chairs, a comfortable computer chair at his desk, and two in front of his work desk for other people to sit, presumably clients. He was well aware that their lifestyle prevented him from entertaining most clients save for a very few whom he had known personally beforehand or discovered their ability to accept their family dynamics through a very thorough and subtle process he had developed.  More often than not, it was used by his family members who wished to chat or otherwise needed a 'spotter' while he was working.<br/><br/>He had intentionally decorated his office to be a warm and soothing place to both inspire his muse as well as help ease him through a particularly rough day on the job.  As he placed the tube containing the most recent version of blueprints upon his desk, Jacob became acutely aware to the tension in his shoulders and back as a result of the day's stresses.  It would go away eventually, all he needed was a chance to relax for a little while.  The blinking light on the phone that rested upon his desk caught his attention so he pressed play before undoing his tie, allowing it to drape over his shoulders.<br/><br/><em>*Beep*<br/><br/> "One unplayed message."<br/><br/>"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher.  This is Principal LaPlante calling to inform you about the altercation Elizabeth had with another student this afternoon."</em>The effeminate voice of the school supervisor was an even tone, leaving out any sort of emotion as she delivered her report.  Jacob looked levelly at the machine, hoping his day wasn't about to get significantly worse.<em>"Just before last period, a teacher heard heated arguing outside of his classroom.  He had made it to his door in time to see the other girl start the physical altercation.  Before he could break it up, Elizabeth had gained the upper hand in the fight and inflicted several blows even as the one who instigated the fight had given up.  It wasn't until the teacher physically pulled Elizabeth off the other girl before she actually stopped.  While Elizabeth seemed to come out of it unscathed, the other girl was rather battered and bloodied; it turned out to look worse than it actually was and she will be fine.  Even though your daughter wasn't the one who started the fight, she still got involved and refused to stop until the staff intervened.  As such, I regret to inform you that she is going to be suspended for the next three days.  If you have any questions, please call me back during normal school operating hours.  Goodbye."<br/><br/>*Click*<br/><br/>"End of  message.  To delete message, press-"<br/><br/>*Beep*<br/><br/>"End of new messages."</em><br/><br/>Jacob grimaced, though was gracious at the same time.  No father relished the news of their child being suspended from school for whatever reason, but he was thankful that Eliza hadn't been the one to instigate things.  It was hardly the first time something like this had happened, he was pretty sure everybody in the household had found themselves in a similar confrontation at one time or another.  Their lifestyle wasn't known throughout their town, but he had no doubt that rumors about them had been circulating for some time now.  Jacob undid his belt, untucked his shirt, and freed all the buttons on his suit exposing a wide swath of his toned bare chest.  For a man in his forties he saw to it that he kept in shape, which helped make him look several years younger.  It was the sort of build that perpetually looked just a few reps shy of achieving 'sculpted from marble' status.  Normally this would be the part where he would lose the clothing all together; however when it came to his business suit, he would continue to wear it until he made it up to his room where he could properly hang it up.  Much of his business was assisted by a good personal image to his clients.  People with wrinkled suits rarely left a good first impression.<br/><br/>Leaving his office, he found himself grateful that he had the doors closed whenever he played the voice message.  He had seen to it that when the doors were closed, sound was all but blocked from passing through as a means of avoiding distractions while he was working.  Nobody would have been able to hear the message clearly without pressing their ear against the glass door, which would have been easy enough to notice.  Jacob may have established a 'no secrets' rule within the household, but this was not his secret to share.  The truth will be put out in the open when Elizabeth spent the next three days home from school, so he would leave it to his daughter to share the news on her own terms.  That was the tricky thing about the third rule; it was hard to establish such an open family without putting certain restrictions on personal freedoms.  It was for that reason Jacob remained flexible with enforcing the rules by turning a blind eye to minor infractions for the sake of making preserving the violator's happiness.<br/><br/>Every time he had to remind Elizabeth to open her door, or at least leave it unlocked, she had not been aware that her father had been aware of its status at least fifteen minutes before he involved himself in matters.  There had even been a time or two where he had awaken in the middle of the night to the sound of faint moans and sighs that he had no doubt was Elizabeth pleasing herself while everybody was asleep.  Again, he would simply roll over and go back to sleep without interrupting her.  Jacob would much rather have his daughter go to sleep sexually contented rather than upset for the sake of enforcing a rule that would only disturb any other people in the house.  Of course, there had been the occasional time where he walked in on her to follow the third rule; mainly whenever she was being particularly loud and to otherwise keep her on her toes and her ego in check.  While it would do their relationship no good to enforce the rules with an iron fist, it would also make things difficult to simply allow her to get away with whatever she wants just because she's being sneaky.<br/><br/>Jacob liked to think he walked a fine line between the two extremes, even if Elizabeth remained unaware and ungrateful for just how much slack he had been cutting her throughout her turbulent teen years.  He had done the same for Katharine and would likely do the same for the twins.  When it came to battling rampant hormones, it is quite amazing how much you can gain just by giving the slightest bit.  As long as they remain entirely unaware of that fact.<br/><br/>Walking up the stairs, he found a small congregation of his family.  An intrigued brow lifted as he wondered if there was any purpose to this gathering or if it was simply a conversation that drew passersby.  "Are we being voyeuristic or are we just hanging out?"  Jacob said in a playful greeting to everybody.  Just to be sure, he leaned sideways a bit causing half of his shirt to drape open further to expose even more of his bare chest as he peeked into Maria's room.  He instantly noticed the expressions upon the faces of the two that were upon the bed.  A wolfish smile spread across his face as he winked lightheartedly to her, "Hello sweetheart."<br/><br/>Returning to his upright position, he greeted his eldest daughter.  "Hello princess."  He said before placing a soft kiss upon Katharine's lips that was far too sensual to be appropriate for society's standards even though he refrained from involving his tongue.  It was his version of a peck on the cheek when expressing his love to his daughters.  It varied slightly between the three of them; Katharine usually got the more sensual kiss, Elizabeth usually got something closer to the quick peck that lingered just a little longer than usual to accommodate her unease with the lifestyle, and Maria usually got the harder, more exaggerated kiss to go with her playful nature.  Once done properly greeting Katherine, he then placed a kiss on Dan's forehead.  "Danno."  He punctuated the greeting with the more masculine nickname he had granted his son since he was old enough to walk.<br/><br/>Looking to his brother-in-law and nephew, he smiled politely but didn't move in for the hug he would normally give them in greeting.  "I owe you two a hug until I hang up my suit."  One thing he picked up real quick as a nudist was how risky it could be hugging a naked person, especially a male naked person, while in formal attire.  Especially one that happened to be black.  "If you'll excuse me, I'll go ahead and take care of that so I can pay off my debts."  Giving everybody a warm, genuine smile, he turned and continued onward to the master bedroom.<br/><br/>He had his jacket halfway off as he entered his room, pausing just inside the doorway.  "Oh."  He said rather surprised by the sight of his wife and his normally rebellious daughter in a rather intimate embrace.  "I hope I'm not interrupting.  Just need a moment to hang up my work attire and I'll be out of your hair."  Moving a little more briskly to allow the two of them to continue their mother-daughter moment, he moved to his closet and began shedding clothing.  He had shed everything but his pants and was halfway through his collared shirt when he spoke, his back facing the two upon the bed.  "There was a message on the answering machine from the school.  I had a rather stressful meeting with my clients, so I'm going to take some time to unwind and regain a level head."  By now the shirt was hung up and his pants were being folded to maintain the crisp seam as turned his head to look at Elizabeth out of his peripheries.  "But tonight we will sit down together and talk."  There was no menace or anger in his tone, he was simply stating a generalized fact with the same inflection he would have had in saying 'water is wet'.  It was the sort of attitude that implied that she was obligated to the meeting, but also that he intended to hear her side of the story without bias and would withhold making judgment until she had her chance to speak her peace.  If there was one aspect of his personality that Jacob cherished the most, it was his ability to keep his emotions in check and always deal with matters fairly from a neutral standpoint.<br/><br/>Having now removed all of his clothing he walked calmly to the bed and gave Elizabeth the greeting kiss specifically tailored for her.  "I love you, Lizzy."  Similar to the kiss, the inflection of those words were closer to how a typical father would speak them to her daughter, though it could be argued that Jacob's was more genuinely expressed in the way he said it.  "And of course, I love you, my love."  Jacob leaned down and placed a deep and intimate kiss upon his wife's lips.  Once the kiss came to its natural conclusion, his eyes looked back and forth between them before saying.  "Alright, I interrupted your moment long enough.  I'll see you two downstairs."  Turning on his heels, Jacob exited the room and closed the door behind him.  He would see to it that those two would have no further intrusions.  In truth, the sight of the two of them being so close warmed his heart and did wonders for relieving a significant portion of his stress.<br/>