Charlie woke with a start. Wrong room. Bailey's soft snores. Then he remembered: Will came the house to report that Bailey had spent the evening drinking at a bar, had fought Will when he tried to stop him driving drunk, and had driven drunk.
The 24-year-old groaned aloud, feeling somewhat hungover himself. His anger had made him ready to deal with his younger brother the night before. But now he would have to brace himself for what needed to be done.
It was 6:22 am. The house was quiet. Charlie moved from room to room, looking in on his siblings. Claudia's hand rested on her violin case, while Julia was cocooned tightly in her blankets. To Charlie's great relief, Owen only wiggled but did not wake up when the door opened.
Charlie made his way downstairs and brewed a pot of coffee. He then loaded the clothes dryer with Bailey's sheets and clothes. By the time he'd had his first cup of coffee, he could hear someone moving around upstairs.
Kirsten entered the kitchen and greeted Charlie with a kiss and a warm "Good morning!" She poured herself a cup of coffee, and said, "I found you sleeping in Bailey's room last night. Is everything okay?"
"Definitely not. I didn't want to wake you since you'd been feeling so badly all day, but last night was rough."
"What? What happened?" Kirsten asked, looking worried.
"Will came over to tell me that he and Bailey had gone to a club. Bailey'd gotten drunk. When Will tried to stop him from driving, Bailey clocked him, took the keys, and drove off."
"Oh my God! Is he okay?"
Charlie sighed, "Will has a nasty black eye, and Bailey, of course, was pretty sick. Threw up everywhere."
"But the important thing is that he is safe."
"Sure. …For now."
"What are you going to do about it, Charlie? This is really serious."
"I know it!" Charlie exclaimed. "My dad would have beaten my ass. Hell, I've never even driven drunk. I get that he's upset about Jill, but that's no excuse. After all we've been through…. That selfish bastard."
Kirsten jumped as Charlie slammed down he coffee mug.
"Whoa, what's with you? Who's a bastard?" Julia said, as she hurried into the kitchen fully dressed.
"Sorry…. Morning, Jules. Why are you dressed already?" Charlie questioned.
"I'm going to some classical music festival at the Legion of Honor."
"By yourself?"
"No, Claudia is going too. It was her idea, actually. I want to see Avery Baltus. Ever heard of him?"
"No, should I have?" Charlie said, looking at her strangely.
"Probably not." Julia walked to the staircase and called up, "Hurry up, Claudia!"
"Geez, Julia! You're going to wake Owen!" Charlie snapped.
"He's up already. I can hear him playing in his crib." After a long stern look from her big brother, she added, "I'll go change him and bring him down."
"Thank you."
Moments later, Claudia rushed in and grabbed a banana. With a big bite in her mouth, she said, "Dudzheleebyet?"
"What on Earth did you say? No, no, no. Chew and swallow first," Kirsten said smiling.
"I said, 'Did she leave yet?'"
"No, Julia's upstairs getting Owen. Are you excited about this music festival?"
"Yes, Ross is playing. It's gonna be great! And Julia said she'd take me to lunch at that place mom used to take us to."
Charlie nodded and rubbed his stomach. "Burma Superstar. Such good food!"
"Jealous!" Kirsten blurted out. "I love the Tea Leaf Salad."
"Yeah," said Claudia skeptically, "I'll probably just get the noodle stuff I like." Then, without warning, she hollered, "Julia! Come o—"
"Claudia!" Charlie and Kirsten said at once.
"I'm here, Claud. Chill out!" Julia walked in and handed Owen to Kirsten. "Ok, let's go."
"Breakfast?" asked Charlie.
"We'll get something on the way. Bye, Charlie! Bye, Kirsten," called the teenager as she headed out the door with Claudia on her heels.
"Have fun!" called Kirsten.
"Well. That solves one problem," declared Charlie.
Kirsten raised her eyebrows in wonder and waited.
"I didn't want the girls around when I punish Bailey. Too awkward to think about."
"How so?"
"He's getting a damn good hiding. But I'm not trying to humiliate him."
Kirsten gaped at her boyfriend. She'd heard his stories of well-earned spankings from his father, but she'd never imagined Charlie as the spanking-type of parent. Of course, if anyone had ever deserved spanking, it was Bailey.
She nodded sharply. "Okay. I understand. You do what you have to do. After I feed Owen and get dressed, he and I will get out of your hair too."
"Please don't rush," whined Charlie. "I'm in no hurry…believe me."
Kirsten chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I'm sure you're not, but that's your job now."
"I just never thought I'd have to. They're all such good kids. I thought I got all the bad genes in the family."
Kirsten giggled again and said, "Here, you feed Owen and I'll feed us. Scrambled eggs and bacon sound good?"
"Yes, thank you! Way better than this baby cereal looks!"
After breakfast was served, they sat and chatted while Owen played with some pans on the floor. Soon an upstairs shower could be heard running.
"Well, that's my cue," said Kirsten briskly. She picked up Owen, then her purse and his diaper bag, and bent down to give Charlie another kiss. "Good luck!"
"Ugh" was Charlie's only response.
