Charlotte's Diary: Entry 2

The party that Elizabeth and Mom threw for our return home was nice. We definitely managed to surprise Dad and Peter, which was amazingly fun. I really don't see how Peter and Dad didn't pick up on the signs that the women in their lives were up to mischief, but nevertheless they didn't.

I think Dad broke a couple ribs when he hugged me, though. It was just like when he had seen me for the first time since he had gone to prison. As Mom puts it, Dad has become especially overprotective of me since he missed out on a good chunk of my life. She says that this means that he's going to want to be a bigger part of it now that he's working for the FBI and that she and Dad are back together. I don't mind though. I've wanted to have my parents together since the day that Dad introduced me to Kate.

As I told Declan, I liked Kate. I really had no reason not to like her. She was smart, beautiful and fun to be with. I had fun with her on the times that I did hang out with her and Dad and was sad when I heard that she had died. I hadn't been too thrilled when I heard that Dad was about to run away with her when she was killed, but that's a whole other issue.

The secret meetings with Dad were actually quite exhilarating, especially since I was in middle school at the time they took place. Before he was arrested, Dad would sometimes appear at school towards the end of the day when all of the parents were picking up their kids just so he could see me and I would wave to him from across the parking lot. Sure, some may think that this behavior is creepy, but I didn't mind it. Once in a while, he would even bring Kate and Mozzie with him. One day, Mom was late picking me up and I actually went up to Dad to talk to him. During the time it took for Mom to get to school to pick me up, we came up with the perfect plan so that we could see each other.

AKA: I pulled a con on my mother.

I told her that I was joining an after school club (something simple like book club or something like that) when in reality Dad would pick me up and take me to his and Kate's apartment. I would spend about two hours at the apartment with Dad and Kate and sometimes Mozzie doing whatever we felt like doing. After the two hours, Dad would take me back to school and I would wait for Mom with all the other kids that had stayed after school for sports or whatever. It was a perfect scenario.

Mom eventually found out about it though. What can I say? She's a smart woman. After Dad was arrested, I was grounded for a month for my little lie.

I know for a fact that my father loves me. He tells me so every day and I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me and all that jazz. But, the fact that he was about to run away with Kate – without telling me – still bothers me to this day. Can you blame me, though? How would you feel if you found out that your father was about to run away with his girlfriend and not tell you he was going to do so?

Kate always seemed to make my father do things that he otherwise wouldn't. For example, running away with her without letting his only beloved daughter know or when he took off his anklet and tracked down Garrett Fowler and then went on to pull a gun on him. My father hates guns. Hates them.

Need I say more?

Since my parents may be together but aren't living together, I bounce back and forth between staying at Mom's and staying at Dad's. It's sort of a weird arrangement for a person of my age, but it's the best way for me to spend an equal amount of time with both of my parents. And, on top of that, I see both of my parents on a daily basis, so even if I'm not sleeping under their roof, I'm still seeing them.

Declan and I were both able to get summer jobs at the local Museum of World History. It's the perfect job for us. Not only is it interesting to work with all kinds of cool artifacts and old documents, but we are both European History majors at the local university. We both love the Renaissance, but I especially love the Tudor period in England. Declan likes Renaissance in general and claims he has no specific Renaissance time frame that he likes the best. I tend to disagree. I know that he loves reading about when the Borgias ruled Italy. That, to me, is his specific Renaissance concentration.

But, who am I to say anything?

"Can we just discuss the fact that your closet is way bigger than mine and I am a girl?"

Neal smiled and shook his head as he heard his daughter's voice coming from the huge walk-in closet that he had in his apartment. "I didn't choose the size" he replied "It came with the house"

"I realize that" Charlotte said, walking into the kitchen "I just wanted to point out how weird that was"

"I am sharing it with you, you know"

"And, I appreciate your generosity" Charlotte replied, patting Neal on the shoulder "I'm just more surprised at the amount of 'fancier' clothes you actually have. Seriously, do you have any jeans in there?"

Neal gave his daughter a look. "You know that I do"

Charlotte shrugged. "You should wear them more often, like when you have a day off" she said "Not that I dislike seeing you in a suit, you see. It's just that it's better to do things outside in jeans"

"And what, may I ask, am I going to be doing outside?"

Charlotte shrugged again. "I haven't decided yet"

Neal chuckled as the door to his apartment opened. Charlotte's face brightened. "Mozzie!"

Mozzie smiled when he heard Charlotte's voice. "Charlotte" he said, as Charlotte went over to give him a hug "I trust you and Suit, Jr. had fun on your trip?"

Charlotte laughed as she gave Mozzie a hug. "When are you going to stop calling him that?"

"I can't" Mozzie said "His parents are Suit and Mrs. Suit. I can't possibly call him by his real name if I don't do that for his parents"

"You know him, CC" Neal said, turning to look at his daughter and friend "He has to stay consistent"

"Well, I guess I should be glad that I don't have a weird nickname" Charlotte replied, as she and Mozzie both started walking towards the table

"Or do you?" Mozzie replied

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him and tried not to smile. Mozzie simply crossed his arms and turned away from the almost 20-year-old. Charlotte looked to Neal, who merely shrugged.

"So, Charlotte, I hear that you and Suit, Jr. are working at the Museum of World History this summer"

"You want a private tour or something?" Charlotte asked

Mozzie pretended to look pathetic. "Oh, I don't know" he said, as Neal and Charlotte looked at each other, smiled, and then looked back at Mozzie "I don't want to burden you…"

Charlotte sighed. "If I take you to the museum" she said, as Mozzie looked at her and she pointed at him "You promise to not touch anything?"

"Agreed"

"And!" Charlotte said "If I find that something has been taken, I will come after you, Mozzie. Remember that"

Mozzie looked to Neal, who was trying desperately to hide his amusement at the fact that Charlotte pretty much just told Mozzie "Steal something and I will hurt you". Mozzie looked back at Charlotte. "Agreed"

"Good" Charlotte said, with a smile "Then, you tell me when you want to go and we can set up a tour"

Mozzie nodded as Neal stood to get himself and Mozzie a couple glasses of wine and Charlotte some soda. "Thank you, Charlotte" he said "You are most kind"

"You're welcome, Mozzie" Charlotte replied, as Neal came back to the table with the drinks

"So, CC" Neal said "Your birthday's coming up. Got anything you want to do in particular?"

Charlotte shrugged as she put her soda down on the table. "I thought my trip was my birthday present"

"Well, yeah, but you've got to want to do something on your birthday" Neal said "We're not just going to sit around and do nothing. We did stuff for Declan's birthday even though he was going on the trip"

"I'll have to think about it then" Charlotte said

"Ah, the beauty of summer birthdays" Mozzie said "So many possibilities"

"And, no school" Charlotte said, taking another sip of her soda "That's the best part"

"I've already got the perfect present planned for you" Neal said, with a smile, as he took a sip of his wine

"Why did you have to go and tell me that?" Charlotte asked "Now, I'm going to have to start harassing you as to what it is"

"Torture" Neal replied, as he smiled at Mozzie and then at his daughter "Pure birthday torture"

"Believe it or not, Mom, I've actually missed your cooking"

Elizabeth laughed as she looked at her son and they ate their lunch. "Do you usually think my cooking is bad?"

"No, no!" Declan replied "It's just that after a month of fast food and very little fruits and veggies, coming home to a meal that won't give me a heart attack is quite nice"

Elizabeth smiled as she shook her head. "Well, you're welcome for the meal and thank you for the compliment"

Declan smiled. "Thank you for letting me go on a trip with Charlotte" he said "It was a lot of fun"

"I'm glad that you and Charlotte enjoyed yourselves" Elizabeth said "But, I know that you still wish that you were here instead"

Declan couldn't lie. "Oh yeah" he said "When Charlotte and I heard what had happened, we both were wishing we had stuck around. It would have been awesome to have been here for that takedown"

"Life is exciting around here, isn't it?" Elizabeth said, taking a bite of her sandwich

"I wouldn't have it any other way" Declan replied

"Wouldn't have what any other way?"

Elizabeth and Declan turned when they heard Peter's voice. "The level of excitement in our lives" Elizabeth replied "Declan likes it"

"Happy to oblige" Peter replied, sitting towards the right of Elizabeth and across from Declan as he took his deviled ham sandwich in his hands and took a bite

"How did Neal fare throughout it all?" Declan asked

"I think he was just happy to finally know who killed Kate" Peter replied, after swallowing the bite of his sandwich "Now, he can move on and focus on his relationship with Sara"

"You think they'll stay together this time?" Declan asked

"Hard to say" Elizabeth replied "I mean they will always be connected because of Charlotte. They can't be completely out of each other's lives because of her. But, Neal really seems to love her and vice versa. I think this time it'll work"

"Charlotte definitely seems excited" Peter said "She has been waiting for this for a long time."

"Sara's a better match for Neal, anyways" Elizabeth said "He can trust her. Though he doesn't want to admit it, he really couldn't trust Kate"

"That's obvious" Declan said "I wouldn't trust her. I'm sure she was a perfectly nice person, but I wouldn't trust her"

"Neal won't lose Sara again unless he does something stupid" Peter said "We just have to hope that he doesn't do anything stupid"

"It's Neal we're talking about, Dad" Declan replied

Peter nodded once as he picked up his sandwich once more and Elizabeth smiled "We have to pray that he doesn't do anything stupid"

"Charlotte, you must resist all urges and not touch the swords"

Charlotte looked from the swords that were in a protective glass case to Declan and back again. They were down in the archives at the Museum of World History, exploring at the orders of their boss, who wanted them to be as familiar with the archive area as possible. "But, they are so cool!"

"Resist" Declan said, sounding a lot like Peter "We don't need you breaking them or hurting yourself"

"I wouldn't break them or hurt myself" Charlotte said, following Declan further into the archives "I just might not want to give them back"

Declan let out a chuckle and shook his head. "I'm not surprised" he said "You've loved swords for as long as I can remember"

"And, I always will"

"Look at all these paintings!" Declan said, as he and Charlotte looked at the walls "They're amazing"

"They're so beautiful" Charlotte agreed

Declan looked at his friend. "Could you do something like this?"

Charlotte looked away from the painting and at Declan's eyes. She arched an eyebrow and Declan nodded. "Right" he said "Forgot for a second"

"It's alright" Charlotte said, turning back to the paintings "I've been trying to for a long time"

"Why?" Declan said "You've practiced for years"

Charlotte shook her head and crossed her arms. "That's just it, Dec" she said, looking at him again "I haven't"

Declan sighed as Charlotte turned and walked back towards the swords. He should have known better than to ask that question. "Hey, we better get back upstairs" he said, walking towards his friend "We can come back down later"

Charlotte smiled a little and nodded as Declan walked passed her and towards the exit of the archives. When he was out of sight, Charlotte turned back to all the paintings and artifacts and sighed. After a few moments, she turned and followed Declan back up to the main museum.

Here's the second chapter! I promise that Charlotte's thoughts will be conveyed in the next chapter.

I hope that the characters aren't too OOC (if they are at all). If they are, I apologize. I've been trying really hard to make sure that they are as in character as possible.

Hope that you like this new chapter!

Please Read and Review!