A/N: My first Good Luck Charlie fic. Prompt fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie or any of the characters therein. I am merely playing with them for a bit.
Warning: Blink and you miss it femslash. Don't let that turn you away, it's harmless (and awesome).
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BLUE BALLOON
It was a blue balloon that led Teddy back to Emma.
She'd been in the park, giving the now two year old Charlie some much needed fresh air and a place to scream where no one minded how loud she got.
There had been a clown selling balloons. While Charlie was building a sandcastle and learning the importance of sharing the bucket and shovel, Teddy had watched him offer his wares to mothers, fathers, boys and girls with varying levels of success. She'd seen several younger children fish for change in their pockets and crow in triumph upon finding the correct amount. She'd also seen children beg their parents for a balloon only to be disappointed when the request was refused.
The clown was nearly out of balloons when Charlie finally looked up and noticed the colorful suspended blobs of rubber.
"B'loon!" she'd shouted pointing and bending her knees in a manner that suggested she was jumping (Teddy knew Charlie wasn't yet coordinated enough to jump, but this approximated it closely enough). "Dedy, want b'loon!" Her enunciation could use some work, Teddy thought wryly.
"Well, alright little miss!" Teddy had said back to her, scooping her baby sister out of the sand and heading towards the clown. She managed to fish a dollar bill out of her jacket and lay claim to the blue balloon, Charlie's current favorite color, when a tiny boy ran up and yanked on the string now in Teddy's hand.
"Blue!" he screamed up at the bewildered teen. "Want blue! Gonn' scream! Blue! Mine!"
"I'm sorry, but this is my little sister's balloon and you can't have it," Teddy tried to reason with the little boy, who couldn't have been any older than Charlie. She knew it was a futile effort, you could never reason with a two year old, and she knew she'd made a mistake in telling him no when he went red and screwed up his face in preparation of a screaming fit. Teddy exchanged a look of horror with the clown, nothing good came of a face like the little boy's.
Teddy (and the clown) would forever thank providence that just before the boy let loose his older sister swept him up and presented him with a green balloon, the last of the clown's offerings. "Look, Toby. It's a green balloon," the blonde girl said bending down to show her brother, "The color of grass. Isn't that neat?"
The little boy considered for a moment then said softly, "Geen?"
"That's right," the teen said, "Green. Do you like green?"
Toby's face clouded, "Not blue," he said stubbornly.
"Nope," his sister said cheerfully, "Not blue. Green. I like green. Do you like green?" She asked this question while looking up at Teddy. Both girls were startled to recognize the other as their eyes met. They hadn't seen one another in over a year, when the baby siblings they were trying to placate had unwittingly been switched and Teddy and this girl, Emma, had managed to switch them back before their parents caught on.
"I sure do like green," Teddy answered thinking that was the color of Emma's eyes, "It's one of my favorite colors. In fact," she continued with a mischievous tone, "I may just want that balloon for myself since I like green so much."
"No!" Toby squealed, "Mine!" He hastily grabbed the balloon string and demanded with a gesture that Emma tie it to his wrist.
Emma winked up at Teddy, oblivious to the skipped beat of Teddy's heart and her hastily indrawn breath, and did as she was bid. "There you go, big guy. All set. Now, let's go check out that sandbox." She let her little brother lead and Teddy fell into step beside her.
"Hey, Emma," Teddy said with a grin, "Long time, no see."
Emma smiled over at the other teen, "Sure has been a while." She reached over and played with Charlie's hand, her warmth reaching Teddy as she leaned across her to speak to Charlie, "I see this little one has only gotten cuter since I last saw her."
And since Emma was already in both the Duncan girls' personal space Teddy asked, "Would you…" in a questioning tone and waggled the balloon string she still held in the direction of her sister's hand.
"Oh, sure," Emma took the string and managed to tie it off while they kept walking the remaining few feet to the sandbox.
"Thanks," Teddy said as Emma finished and Charlie squirmed to be let down.
Soon the toddlers were playing harmoniously in the sand their balloons bobbing above their heads completely forgotten.
Teddy looked at the two children who'd once traded places, "He's gotten so big," she said with some wonder.
Emma laughed, "So has she. I can't believe it's been over a year!"
"Yeah," Teddy smiled, "I thought for sure I'd be seeing more of you once P.J. got your number right. I was kind of looking forward to having another girl my age to commiserate with." She leaned over and bumped her shoulder with Emma's.
"You know," Emma chuckled a little, bumping back, "Your brother never did call. I always wondered why not."
Teddy snorted, "Probably because two days later he dropped his cell phone into the toilet and had to get it replaced."
"Oh my," Emma laughed again, covering her mouth with one hand while her eyes looked wide above it, "Really?"
"Yup," Teddy confirmed, nodding, "He spent the next two weeks taking Charlie to the park everyday hoping to run into you again, but obviously that didn't happen."
"He did? That's so sweet…and a little sad," Emma smiled at Teddy. She felt the need to explain her absence, "My family went on vacation right after the baby swap. That's why we were all at that restaurant. Our grandparents were sending us off in style."
Teddy's jaw dropped in amused incredulity, "Wow, bad luck for P.J."
"Yeah," Emma agreed. She looked through her lashes at Teddy and continued in a hesitant but hopeful voice, "I guess that means this time I should give my number to you."
Teddy raised her eyebrow and grinned at Emma, "Should I pass it on to P.J.?"
Emma grinned back changing her posture to meet Teddy's eyes full on, "Nah. Hopefully he's moved on by now. But you can call anytime. Maybe we could set up play dates for them" she dipped her head towards their respective siblings then met Teddy's eyes again and concluded, "and for us?"
Teddy smiled, her heart doing another funny little beat she didn't want to ponder the reason for, "I'd like that."
"Good."
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Later that night, after Teddy had gotten home and Charlie had proudly presented her balloon and sandy hands to the rest of the Duncan family, Teddy retreated to her bedroom (ostensibly to do homework) and took out her phone. She scrolled through the contacts until she found the newest addition, 'Emma'.
She debated about whether she should hit the call button or if she should actually start on the pages of pre-calculus homework spread before her. Just as she was about to hit 'send' her phone lit up. 'Emma,' the screen said.
Teddy grinned and answered, "Hey, you. Long time, no see."
THE END
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A/N: Like it? Hate it? I won't know unless you review, so please take a moment to do so.