Okay, so this is kind of an experiment, so please bear with me... We're following Charlie and Joey, literally from really early childhood into adulthood and the narrative will change accordingly as they mature. It is very hard to write! I'm getting in touch with my inner child, later I will be rediscovering my former teenage self and wondering if gosh, did I ever really grow up! We'll see. I'll only continue if people want me to. If not, I'll delete the fic and no more of it shall be spoken! I've written several chapters ahead and personally, I'll admit to quite liking exploring teenage Charlie and Joey (and I've thrown in a few other characters as well) so I hope you like it too. It's really just an experiment to see how we go but the premise is that the Buckton and the Collins families are age old friends and Charlie and Joey grow up together from the year dot. Here goes...
Chapter One
January 1985
Charlie Buckton was happy with her life. Her Mummy was kind and gave the best hugs in the world. Auntie Clara was funny and she had a new baby in her tummy who was going to be Charlie's new playmate. They were going to grow up and be best friends like Mummy and Auntie Clara were. For now, Charlie played with Brett, which was fun but he was a smelly boy who always came home dirty. Daddy never seemed to come home hardly at all.
June 1988
Charlie felt like a very adult five year-old. Since Joey had been born, she'd taken it upon herself to take care of her and ensure her safety. Now Joey was almost three and followed Charlie round wherever she went. The girls were inseparable and their mothers never stopped commenting on how cute it was.
One typical Friday evening, the Buckton and Collins family prepared to share a meal together. Ross was of course still at the station and Paul Collins was due home from a day at work on his fishing trawler any minute now. Brett, Charlie and Joey were watching children's television in the Buckton's living room. Brett laughed at Scooby Doo's unfortunate accident. Charlie giggled lightly and continued brushing Joey's hair. All three children turned when they heard male voices in the kitchen. Both fathers were back. Brett leapt up and so did Charlie, taking Joey by the hand and leading her to the adults.
Seated round the table, everyone enjoyed the dinner that Elsie and Clara had prepared together in the Bucktons' large kitchen. Elsie and Clara had been friends since high school. It had been natural progression for them, when they'd got married to Ross and Paul, to get houses close by to each other. Even though Ross and Paul came from very different worlds, they got along well enough and Ross was grateful to have a professional fisherman as a friend. Paul took him out on the water at weekends. It was nice to get away and relax.
"So, how was your day, Ross?" Elsie asked.
"We're working on a horrible murder case right now," Ross replied conversationally.
Charlie looked alarmed. Brett looked intrigued.
"Ross!" Elsie scolded.
"Well don't ask then!"
Charlie gathered her sensibilities.
"I want to be a police officer when I'm older," she suddenly declared.
Brett stared at her, wondering where that little gem had come from. She had never mentioned it before. Elsie eyed her daughter suspiciously. Ross looked impressed. She beamed at him.
"Really, Charlie?" he asked.
"Yes!" she nodded. "I want to be just like you!"
Ross smiled, feeling honoured.
Joey looked from Charlie to Ross and then back to Charlie before she started playing with her food again.
One week later, Charlie launched into a full blown tantrum. She didn't want to go to playschool. She didn't want to spend time with other boys and girls. She didn't want to be a big girl. She didn't want things to change. All she wanted was to stay home with Joey. Elsie sighed and persisted with her plan, dreading the day Charlie had to go full time at proper school.
Joey felt sad when Charlie started going to playschool for part of the day but she reluctantly got used to it. She supposed it wasn't that bad really. Life wasn't so awful. She spent the mornings with Mummy and usually Aunt Elsie was around and in the afternoons, they would go and collect Charlie who would whisk Joey away to play with her and tell her about everything she had done that day. Later that day, Brett would come home from school and join them. The three of them would have a nice time playing. They would often go outside as long as they promised to stay confined to the garden. Brett always wanted to climb trees but Charlie always said no because Joey was too small to join in and she said it wasn't fair. The only thing Joey longed for was more cuddles from her Daddy. Mostly he would walk past her instead of towards her but then, she got enough hugs from everyone else so perhaps she was just being greedy.
May 1993
"Do you think the new baby will replace me?" Charlie asked.
At ten years old she lay stretched out on Joey's bed, looking up at the ceiling. Nearly eight year-old Joey sat cross-legged at the head of the bed on the pillows, twisting her fingers.
"Of course the baby won't replace you, Charlie," she said kindly.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure! And anyway, this baby will be the luckiest baby in the world to have you as a sister," Joey added. "I still remember you looking after me when I was little."
Charlie smiled, recalling how she had carried Joey round with her wherever she went when they had been younger. She would like to do that with the new baby. It would be nice to have another infant around the place and now that she was that little bit older, Charlie was sure she could do an ever better job than before. She sat up and spun around to face Joey and smiled.
"I can help take care of the baby," she decided.
"Yes, you can," Joey agreed.
"It won't replace me," Charlie added.
"Well, duh!" Joey laughed.
Charlie giggled and pulled her friend into a hug.
"Dinner!" Clara called up the stairs.
Charlie and Joey sat giggling round the dinner table, ignoring the warning looks they kept receiving from Clara. Every time Brett spoke, his voice sounded strange and the girls found it highly entertaining.
"Would you just quit it?" Brett squeaked.
Charlie and Joey erupted into peals of laughter.
"Joey! Charlie!" Paul warned in a voice that silenced them.
They dared not look at each other for fear of cracking. Brett cleared his throat.
"Could you pass the salt please?" Brett asked, his voice suddenly deep.
Joey snorted with laughter. Charlie lost control.
"Can I eat upstairs please, Mum?" Brett asked desperately.
"Yes, Brett," Clara sighed.
Brett escaped upstairs. Charlie and Joey continued to laugh. They stopped when they realised that Paul was glaring at them.
"You're going to be so sorry when you reach his age and you start going through changes of your own," he warned.
Charlie and Joey glanced at each other nervously before bursting out laughing again.
When Charlie got home that evening, she told Elsie all about Brett's voice and how funny it had been. Elsie decided that perhaps it would soon be time to tell Charlie about the birds and the bees, although it wasn't a talk that she was looking forward to. Charlie had already been asking questions about exactly how the new baby had come into existence. She decided to discuss it with Clara first. If she was going to talk about it with Charlie, then she figured they would both have to discuss with Charlie and Joey. The girls told each other everything. They had to make sure the time was right for both of them.
Several days later, Charlie and Joey were holed up in Charlie's bedroom feeling like their heads were spinning. Elsie and Clara had explained 'the facts of life' to them and they felt like their heads were going to explode. There had even been diagrams! Joey leant forward and peered at The Body Book they had used to illustrate the point they had been trying to make.
"That really happens?" she asked for the millionth time, although Charlie had heard it all for the first time too, as she had.
Charlie stood up and walked to her full length mirror and looked at herself. She lifted her t-shirt.
"These are really going to grow?" she asked, pulling a face.
She pulled the t-shirt back down and flung herself back onto the bed.
"And I'm going to bleed?"
She shuddered in alarm.
"What if I don't want to?" she asked. "I don't want to!"
"Is this punishment for laughing at Brett?" Joey wondered. "Because I take it back."
"I don't want to grow up," Charlie complained.
"Me neither."
"I'm going to go downstairs and convince them to reward us with some chocolate," Charlie said, climbing off the bed. "I'll be right back."
Downstairs, Clara and Elsie were still talking at the kitchen table. Charlie hovered out of sight, not wanting to interrupt, feeling guilty for listening to their conversation.
"Hey, do you remember the first time your parents ever told you about this kind of thing?" Clara asked.
"My parents?" Elsie asked. "They didn't tell me anything!"
"Nothing?"
"I didn't even know what a period was! Let alone sex!"
Elsie gently reached a hand across the table and touched Clara's fingers.
"Do you ever think there'll come a day when parents educate their kids on anything but heterosexual sex?" she asked.
"I hope so," Clara said.
Charlie furrowed her brow in confusion. What other kind was there? Elsie drew her hand away.
"Do you want another cup of tea before you take Joey home?" she asked.
Charlie took the movement as an indication that it was okay to enter the room.
"Mum, can we have some chocolate after our trauma?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.