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"I know you want to be friends with your mom. It's obvious, Charlie."
"And how do you know that?" She didn't look at her father as she laced up her shoes.
"Because...you guys almost have a good relationship and then she does something you think is wrong, and you snap and get angry and scream."
"Maybe I have a good reason..."
"And that would be?" Chad looked sternly at his daughter.
"...Give me a few seconds to come up with one."
"Charlie!"
"I just...I'm scared to let her in too much."
"But why? She's your mother, Charlie. You shouldn't hesitate to let her in."
"I don't...after the miscarriage I felt like she...abandoned me or something." Charlie looked at the ground.
"Charlie," he sighed, "Your mother is a bit...complicated."
"I noticed."
He gave her another stern look before continuing. "She had a rough point back then. And I don't think it's fair to her, or you, that she's still trying to bounce back from that rough point almost 14 years later."
Charlie didn't repsond, but continued to stare at the ground.
"How about you two just hang out an entire weekend?"
"An entire weekend? With Mom? By myself?"
Chad laughed a little. "Yes."
"...I guess it couldn't hurt, right?"
"Of course it won't hurt. She's your mother, Charlie. Not some hideous, repulsive, abusive, stupid, drunkass, homeless person."
"...That was a lot of adjectives, Iz."
"I know. I sound smart, don't I?"
"Why do you have to sound smar-- Ohhhh," Charlie said as she saw Izzie gazing at Travis.
"Oh what? What was that 'oh' for?" Izzie snapped out of her thoughts.
"...Nothing."
"Better be nothing." She slunk back in her seat.
"So...did you fail your Chemistry quiz?" Charlie smirked.
"Pfft no. But I got a fake one and...I can't believe I fell for that one."
"Me neither." Charlie laughed.
"HEY, CHARLOTTE."
Charlie whipped her head around to find, none other than, Landon. Her face fell. "What?"
"So did you have fun last night?" He wriggled his eyebrows.
She glared, but thought quickly of how to get him back. "Oh yeah. Totally. We need to that again sometime." She winked.
"Ohhhhhhhh," the team rang out together.
"Oh, but next time, Landon? Be a doll and get that nasty rash taken care of."
Landon's jaw dropped and his team behind him burst into laughter.
She grinned and winked again before turning back to Izzie and finishing her gossiping.
"Charlie." Landon grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner in the hallway.
"Landon, back off."
"What was with that crap in the cafeteria today?"
"That crap was my self-defense technique against your perverted bullying."
"Perverted bullying? Oh please..."
"Just back off, Landon. I don't know what the hell I've done to offend you, but just back off." Charlie started to walk away from him.
"Charlie,wait..."
"What?!" she snapped.
He sighed. "Nothing." And with that, he walked off; leaving Charlie in a confused silence.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Yeah, are you sure?" Charlie echoed her mother's question.
"Yes. I'm sure," Chad answered sternly.
"But, baby..." Emily began quietly.
"Em, everything will be fine. This is your daughter, not some stranger," her husband answered her in the same low tone.
Emily bit her lip, but nodded. "You and Nate be careful, okay?"
"Mom, we're just going up to see Uncle Troy. It's not like we're flying to the moon or climbing a mountain."
Emily laughed softly. "Still, be careful." She kissed Nate's forehead before he could protest.
"Don't be nervous," Chad said, again in the low tone.
"What if I make things worse?"
"Just...don't mention the other stuff. Just talk about your mom. Trust me, I think she'll see eye to eye with you on it."
Emily looked down.
"I didn't mean it like that, baby. Look, it'll all work out." He lifted her chin and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
"Have fun."
"It's Troy. Do you really think I'm going to be bored?" Chad laughed softly.
"Just go." Emily laughed and shoved him playfully towards the door.
"I'll call you when we get there."
"Okay." Emily smiled somewhat sadly.
"Oh, and Emster?"
Emily rolled her eyes at that name now, "What?" she replied with a hint of impatience.
"I love you." Chad grinned.
"I love you, too. Now go." Emily laughed softly.
"So when is Dad coming back home?"
Emily sighed. "Sunday."
"And it's...?"
"Friday night."
"Dangit," Charlie muttered.
Emily glanced at her daughter. A lot of Chad was staring back at her. Her curly brown hair was definitely from Chad, but her golden green eyes were all Emily's.
"Charlotte, I think we need to talk," she said rather abruptly.
"Mom, call me Charlie. Everyone else does," Charlie said, obviously annoyed.
Emily bit her lip. "Okay...Charlie. I still think we should talk."
"About what exactly?" Charlie snapped at her.
"I...I was sorta hoping we could get closer. You know...not be snappy at each other."
Charlotte studied her for a moment. "I don't know if I can do that."
"Why not?" Hurt had filled her mother's eyes, and for once, Charlie felt guilty about how she had treated her mother all these years.
"You'll just shut yourself up again. Like you did when I was 3."
"That's not true, Charlot-- Charlie."
"How can you know that it won't happen again? That's the only reason I'm scared to let you in!"
Emily got up and sat next to Charlie on the couch. "I know that I was wrong for that, and I'm sorry. I didn't know what an impact it would have on you. I was very upset, and I probably shouldn't have been."
"Why were you so upset?"
"Well, I lost a child. It's not an easy thing, Charlie. And I know, we had you. And I probably should have been so thankful for that instead of focusing on the negativity, but after my high school years, staying positive is hard for me."
"Well what happened?! Everyone keeps telling me that, but no one gives me any details!"
Emily wrapped an arm around Charlie. "There's some things...that I don't think that you should know about at your age. But, I'll tell you one thing. I hated my mother."
"You hated Grandmother?"
Emily nodded. "And I don't mean that 'Think-You-Hate-Them-But-You-Really-Love-Them' sort of hate, either."
"Well...what'd she do?" Charlie looked at Emily with curious eyes.
"She took this job, when I was rather young, that kept her gone...a lot. I knew it was just work, and I was okay with that...until she cheated on Dad."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. So Grandma cheated on Grandad Bolton...at her work?"
Emily nodded sadly. "When she came home...I didn't know who she was. She was...stuck-up and acted like she didn't do anything wrong!" Emily sighed. "I was angry. I was angry that she abandoned our family just to get a new one. I was angry she hurt my dad that way and then left the burden of two children on his shoulders. And so...I yelled. A lot."
"...Wow."
"Your dad was always telling me to give her another chance. But...I just didn't think moms deserved a second chance. But now I realize...moms need their daughters and daughters need their moms."
Charlotte smiled. "Hey, Mom?"
"Hmm?"
"...Can we talk about that second chance?"
Emily smiled happily. "I'm so sorry, Charlie. I would never hurt you on purpose. You know that, right?"
"Now I do."
"Good." She kissed Charlie's forehead. "Now get some sleep. It's getting late."
"Awww, Mommmm."
Emily laughed. "Bed."
"Chad, you're really bringing down my happy meter."
"Troy, you really need to shut up."
"You miss her, huh?"
"I guess we're still not used to being separated yet." Chad shrugged.
"So sad, isn't it?" Troy smirked.
"So shut up, will you?" Chad mocked his friend.
"OW OW OW. UNCLE TROY, COULD YOU TELL YOUR SON TO STOP SITTING ON ME?!" Nate's voice bellowed into the living room where the two men were sitting.
"ANDREW. DO NOT SIT ON YOUR COUSIN," Troy answered.
Chad chuckled softly. "Rough, much?"
"He's trying to convince me to let him join the wrestling team."
"Wrestling?" Chad cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't. Ask. Me."
Chad laughed again.
"OH EMILYYYYYYYY." Chad closed the door.
Chad heard giggling upstairs. He looked at his son.
"Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on." Nate shrugged.
The two boys trudged up the stairs, and opened Chad and Emily's bedroom door, but not before hearing another burst of laughter from it.
"No, he really did wear three watches. I never understood why though. It always drove me up the wall," Emily said to Charlie. The pair were sitting on the floor flipping through the old box of things Emily and Chad had collected from their high school years.
"I remember he loved to aggravate me with it," Emily said while containing giggles. "He'd always go..."
"Hey, Emster. Wanna know what time it is in Los Angeles?" Chad finished the sentence.
Emily looked up and smiled. "No. Not really."
Charlie giggled harder. "Dad, you didn't tell me you were such a dork in high school."
"Because I wasn't!"
"First stage: Denial," mother and daughter stated in unison.
"I'm never leaving you two alone again."
Emily laughed softly. "You two go ahead and get ready for dinner."
Nate and Charlie left the room, leaving Chad and Emily to themselves.
"I missed you," Chad said, poking out his bottom lip.
"Awww, poor baby." Emily patted his cheek and smirked.
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Chad leaned down and gave Emily a soft kiss on the lips. "So you two worked everything out."
"Yes." Emily smiled. "And we've had so much fun. You need to leave more often."
"Uh, no. Don't think so."
"Ugh, why?"
"I love you too much to leave you."
Emily smiled softly. "Awww. What do you want?"
"Heh, heh, heh."
"Perv." Emily shoved him playfully before going downstairs and starting dinner.
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