I walked down the hallway towards the study, where all discipline in the house was administered. Of course Rachel, my eldest daughter, was already stood to attention beside the door correctly attired in her uniform and standing to attention with her hands on her head waiting for me. She knew my expectations regarding punctuality, as indeed she knew my expectations on most things. At 21, she had now had enough time to learn that although I was only her step mother, I was still the authority figure of the household and had been ever since I married her father almost 2 years earlier. Rachel seemed to have eventually adapted well to my rules and regime in a way which her 19 year old younger sister, Isabelle, had not yet managed. She would be reporting to the study later on in the day - as the eldest, Rachel had the privilege of having her mandatory Sunday discipline administered first.