A/N: I do not own Good Luck Charlie, its characters or storylines. The middle portion of the story with the regular POV is my idea. Everything belongs to Disney Channel.
Teddy POV:
Everything was going according to plan. Spencer and I had gotten by my mom so that we could rehearse Franny Saves the Farm without any hitches.
That was until we were about to get to the important part of the rehearsal when an uninvited visitor came barging into the auditorium. At first I was surprised to see someone dressed in black like a robber complete with a black beanie cap. It only took me a second to realize it was my mother, my spotlight-loving, must-be-all-about-me mother.
"You're doing a show?" she squealed with a shocked look all over her face as she looked at everyone. "Without me?"
Oh crap, Mom, don't do this again! I said to myself. She does this all the time to all of us and the last thing I needed at this point was for her to embarrass me in any way. How was she able to track us down anyway?
My mom snapped out of her shock state and walked up on stage. "So this is what you've been doing? Rehearsing a musical behind my back? Teddy, when did you stop loving me?"
There was simply no need for her to overstate herself so dramatically like that in front of everyone. Frankly, it was absolutely ridiculous.
"Mom, I was hoping you wouldn't find out this way," I told her, slightly embarrassed despite myself. "Actually, I was just hoping you wouldn't find out."
She looked over my shoulder at the sign.
"And you're doing Franny Saves The Farm? That's my favorite musical of all time!"
Oh no, here we go, I thought. Honestly, in these circumstances, who's worse? Her or PJ?
"Not only that," one of my cast partners cheerfully chimed in, "she's playing Franny."
"Don't help me, Franklin." He didn't know her, so I had to step up.
Spencer, realizing that Mom and I were at odds in front of everyone, decided to spare me more embarrassment. "Hey, let's take five, everyone."
The cast and crew dispersed to go their separate ways and it was left to Mom and me to compromise. It wasn't easy as I felt a lump in my throat as I walked towards her
"Teddy, why would you keep this from me?" Mom asked in a calmer voice, having settled down a little. "I could have helped you, taught you, and mentored you."
I wasn't going to buy that act this time. "Yeah and those are three of the reasons I didn't tell you."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Mom, anytime I try to do something that has to do with performing, you get involved. And you don't just get involved; you take over." It wasn't easy for me to say that, but I felt like I had to tell it like it is.
"Well, I'm sorry, Teddy. I love the spotlight," she scoffed. "But in fairness, not as much as the spotlight loves me."
She looked skyward as if there was a spotlight shining on her. Enough was enough.
"Mom, I would like for you to not make this about you just this one time," I asked her, thinking this was totally a reasonable request. "Please, could you just be my mom? Moms bring flowers, they sit in the audience and they watch their kids." She started to protest, but I held firm. "Quietly."
"Well, I'm sorry I've been such a terrible mother." With that, she walked off-stage and went back home, leaving me on stage. My co-worker shone the light on her as she walked, as if trying to prove her point.
Regular POV:
Amy stormed into her house with a huff and forcefully put her jacket on the coat rack.
"Hey, honey," Bob greeted her from the couch. "How's your day been?"
"What kind of daughter have we raised?" she asked sitting next to him.
This unexpected show of emotion took Bob aback. He looked at Charlie who was playing with her toy blocks right in front of him.
"A very cute one who's well taken care of," he replied.
"I'm talking about Teddy," she answered. "Can you believe she snuck behind my back to do a play and not tell me about it?"
Bob didn't give her the kind of response she expected or wanted. "I can't say that I'm surprised."
Amy turned to her husband with an incredulous look. "Excuse me?"
"To be honest, honey, you do have issues when it comes to our children doing performances. It shouldn't always be about you."
Amy stood up and looked down at Bob with a look of disgust and disbelief. "Are you saying that I have problems, Bob Duncan? You know what Mama Bear can do if you don't take that back."
Normally, Bob probably would have gotten scared and backed down, but she needed to hear this for her own good and he stood up. "Honey, think about it. Remember when you and Charlie sang a song for her class?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You let the other moms get to your head for competition and you made the show-and-tell all about you by singing and making Charlie put the spotlight on you."
Amy still didn't comprehend what he was getting at.
"And you remember when Gabe was chosen to be in the Super Adventure Land commercial?"
Amy's face started to soften with regret. "Oh, boy,"
"Yeah, remember how that ended up because you tried to make it about you more than once?"
"Uh-huh. You had to go there."
"Look, the point is," he said, motioning for her to sit back down with him. "I don't think Teddy was out of line by asking you to stay out of her play. You do have a history of interjecting yourself into plays and performances they do. How do you think it makes them feel when you do that?"
Amy thought about this for a minute and realized that Bob was right. "I guess I wouldn't like it either. Yeah, you do have a point."
"And you think Teddy may have had a reason for trying to exclude you?"
"I guess I do," Amy answered with a sigh. "I guess I do have a problem with wanting to be the center of attention."
Bob leaned over and kissed his wife on the head. Then he stood up and headed up to bed since he had to be up early with Gabe to try to catch that snake. Amy stayed seated for a little bit and thought more about what her husband told her.
Teddy POV:
The play was going to start in a few minutes and I was waiting backstage for my cast mates to come so we could get ready. I heard footsteps, turned around and to my surprise, Mom and Charlie greeted me.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"This is a children's theater so I thought Charlie might like it," she answered. I smiled uneasily thinking she might use her as an ulterior motive. "And she has something for you."
Charlie handed me a little bouquet of flowers. I have the sweetest sister. "Charlie, thank you."
She and Mom turned around and headed for the audience. I felt bad about what I had said last night so I stopped her. "About what I said last night, I was out of line."
"And…"
"And I'm really sorry."
"And…"
Drama queen. I did feel bad about my candidness, but it was the truth. "That's all I got."
"Well, you may not have been entirely wrong. It maybe possible that I have a small problem with the spotlight." She repeated her look up at an imaginary spotlight. I guess adults never learn, do they?
"Mom, we're backstage. The lights are out front."
"That's what I hate about backstage. Anyways, this is your moment to shine, so as we say in theater, break a leg." And she gave me a hug. I felt relieved that she had finally learned.
Suddenly, Spencer came running up to me with an urgent look. "Terrible news. Franklin just broke his leg and he can't do the show."
"Well, what are we going to do?" I asked with a sudden shock of desperation zinging through my adrenaline.
"I've gotta find somebody to play Banker Jones, somebody who knows the part."
OK, who could be behind this? I sarcastically thought to myself. I turned right around to my mother, looking at her authoritatively.
"OK I swear, I had nothing to do with this," she innocently answered with a straight face. There was no time to question, so we thrust her into the role.
Fortunately, the show went on without incident and she stayed in character. Even Charlie had a cameo as a little duckie. But I was happy that for once, Mom didn't try to make the show about her even if I had likely pushed her into that direction.