Hello everyone! Holy crap, I glanced at the number of reviews before editing this and I don't think that I can thank you guys enough for the support. I'm absolutely thrilled with your reception of little Charlie. I do apologize for the long waits between updates. My living situation is impeding my writing. Boo on that. Enjoy our favorite little Doccutoddler!
"Hey Hale, have you seen Charlie?" Bo rounded the corner and walked into the Ash's speakeasy office at the Dal.
"Are you sure she came down here?" Lauren asked her wife as they both scanned the room for the man or their wayward daughter.
Bo looked over and spotted Hale's unmistakable hat on the table in a booth. He appeared to be sleeping, "Wake up, Hale!" Bo demanded as she clapped and marched forward.
Before the brunette could repeat herself, the fedora popped up off the table revealing the nose and mouth of the missing girl. Laughing at her in the over-sized hat, Lauren acknowledged, "Well there you are, Sweetheart. We couldn't find you anywhere."
"I think that's my Charlie," Bo speculated as she scratched her head, "but I can't quite see her pretty eyes."
The girl tilted her head back and peered under the brim, "Here are my eyes, Mommy!"
"There she is," Bo exclaimed. Stepping behind her wife, Bo wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and propped her chin on her shoulder. She said, "We found our girl under a hat like a rabbit."
Charlie lifted the hat a bit exposing her whole face and noted, "I'm not a rabbit."
"Then what are you doing under a hat?" Lauren teased. She pecked her wife on the cheek and joked, "What are we going to do with her?"
Deferring the question to Charlie, Bo asked, "What are we going to do with you, Lil Rabbit?"
The girl leaned back in the booth and tucked her hands behind her head with her elbows extended to the sides. In a smooth, relaxed voice, she replied, "I'm the Ash, Lil Mama."
Snickering, Bo asked, "Doesn't Hale call Kenzi that?"
Even Charlie knew Hale usually reserved that name for her aunt, but she defended herself, "Auntie Kenzi's not here." She cleared her throat, lowered her voice and motioned to her blonde mother, "Doctor Lewis."
Not in a hurry to return home to the Charlie toy storm that awaited them, Lauren replied, "Yes, Ash?"
Trying her best to sound official, the girl stated, "I need something. Can you do some tests on monster stuff?"
"Monster stuff?" The blonde did her utmost to maintain a professional composure while Bo giggled in her ear.
"Yes. Bad monster stuff. It's in the lab."
"Monsters in a lab?" Hale strolled in the room. "Should I know about this?"
Charlie waved and chirped as she slipped out of character, "Hey, Hale." She pointed to her head, "Look what I've got."
"Is that mine?" Hale crossed his arms playfully.
"It's the Ash's. I'm the Ash," Charlie declared.
"Duh," Bo added as she slid to the side of her wife with one hand still resting on her waist, "Did you miss the inauguration?"
"Must have," he laughed. "I was a little busy with two redheads. Girl, they were frea—"
"That's where I'm going to stop you," the brunette held up a hand with a not so amused look on her face.
Lauren added, "We already have Tamsin polluting her mind."
Hale pressed a fist to his mouth and blared with hilarity, "Oohhhh that's right! How'd you deal with the…" he paused to glance over at the toddler drumming on the top of his fedora. He continued, "Ya know. Kenzi told me about the other day." The completely blank stares from the women shut him up. Clearly, the s-e-x slip hadn't made its way back to her parents. Desperate to change the subject, he clapped his hands together and asked Charlie, "So, what's this about monsters?"
"Doctor Lewis needs to check," Charlie replied. The hat kept slipping down her forehead and over her eyes. Frustrated, a flailing hand knocked it off and it tumbled to the ground. She craned her neck over the edge, "Oops."
"It's alright, Lil C," Hale shrugged as he waltzed over to retrieve it.
Lauren sighed, "I wish you wouldn't call her that. You're very resourceful. Can you not think of something else?" If the blonde had her way, everyone would call her Charlotte. However, unless the girl was being reprimanded, even Bo neglected to use her full name. Of course, she adored the way her wife addressed their daughter. The first time Bo held the girl in her arms, a tear dripped down her cheek and she whispered, "Charlie, you are the most perfect thing I've ever seen." With that on her mind, she threaded her fingers through Bo's and squeezed.
"But I like it, Mama," Charlie declared in defense of Hale's nickname for her.
Bo planted a kiss on Lauren's cheek as she swung their hands between them. She said, "Yeah, she loves it, Babe."
With the thoughts of Bo's first words echoing in her head, she shot her an obviously forced look of frustration, "You are never any help."
"I'm super helpful!" Bo disagreed lightheartedly. She loved the twinkle in Lauren's eye when she tried to cling to irritation. Bo always managed to weasel herself back into her good graces with a cute remark and a kiss. Sometimes, she took the low road of heavy flirtation, "I can show you how helpful." She bit her bottom lip and stepped closer.
With Bo's hand now inching up the back of her shirt, Lauren chided, "That is not going to work."
Staring at the doctor's mouth, Bo purred, "What's not going to work?"
Around the time her moms inched closer, Charlie asked Hale, "Are they doing that thing?" Although the girl couldn't understand, she knew that when their hands wandered and their eyes locked, the rest of the world melted away.
"What thing?" Hale returned. He braced himself as he thought the 's' word was about to be thrown his way.
"Where they kiss and get happy."
He couldn't help but laugh at Charlie's interpretation of flirting. He acknowledged, "Yup, that's happening."
Charlie huffed, "I don't like it."
He slouched into the opposite side of the booth and asked, "Why not?"
The girl crossed her arms, dropped them on the table and plopped her chin on her wrists. She whined, "Cuz they don't pay attention to me."
"Dang girl, you have no shame." He snickered, "You must get that from Kenzi."
The girl sighed, "Yeah. We just get bored."
"You need to ditch that attitude. You'll do that someday with some hot dude."
"Or girl," she added.
"That's right. You'll get all kinds of happy." Realizing he was hinting at sex to a four year old, he quickly followed up, "So, monsters?"
With the topic revived, Charlie called out, "Doctor Lewis!"
As Bo and Lauren jerked around to face their daughter, heels clicked in the hall and a female voice thundered before a body came into view. "Almighty Ash who has managed to stay alive," the Morrigan strutted into the room, "for far longer than I expected."
Bo exhaled, "Perfect."
Charlie squirmed off the leather and jumped down onto the hardwood. The curly haired brunette continued, "And the Succubitch, her wench and Mini Wench."
As the woman spoke, the little girl snatched the hat from Hale and walked forward. With the brazen confidence of the Light Fae leader, Charlie situated the fedora on her head and said, "What do you want, Evony?"
Raising an eyebrow, the brunette noted, "Cheeky little chica aren't you?"
"Nope," Hale ambled forward and explained, "Just taking care of business."
As her gaze fell on the tiny and oddly assertive human, Evony sniggered, "Is the Light Fae so desperate that they're relying on the doctor's spawn?"
With an unimpressed tone, the little blonde replied, "Hilarious, Morrigan."
The woman pointed and asked, "Seriously, why am I being accosted by a child?"
Enjoying his little sidekick, the Ash responded, "Just delegating less important tasks."
Slightly worried about the unfolding events, Lauren stepped toward her daughter and recommended, "Why don't you let Hale handle her, Sweetie."
Charlotte turned to her mother and flashed a smile. With a wink, she answered, "I got this, Mama." Without even giving the Morrigan the courtesy of eye contact, she asked blandly, "What do you want?"
Instead of addressing Charlie directly, the Morrigan told Hale, "We've got a bit of a human problem."
"And that's my problem?" Charlie queried sarcastically as she removed the hat and attempted to spin in as Hale often did.
"My thoughts exactly," Hale agreed.
Evony fired back in frustration, "It will be when it spreads into Light Fae territory. And Honey, it's moving like a California wildfire."
Charlie glanced up at Hale and asked, "Is she trying to help us?"
"I don't know, Lil C. That's not usually her style."
The Morrigan flicked her fingers in the toddler's direction and said, "Succubus, would you remove your human offspring so I can hold an actual conversation with the Ash?"
"Rude!" Charlie blurted. She slammed the fedora on her head.
Bo whisked the girl into her arms and said, "I think I'd rather have you around Tamsin." She gently removed the hat and tossed it to Hale.
Initially, the little blonde struggled, but a soft kiss from her mother quelled her disappointment. She buried her face into Bo's shoulder and mumbled, "I love your kisses."
Her blonde mother patted the girl on the behind and said, "You have a room full of toys to clean up at home."
"We can race! I bet I can put away more toys that you!" Bo teased.
Charlie shook her head and grinned, "No way, Mommy. I'm faster."
"Ugh," Evony complained, "This is an absolute snore fest. Please go play house somewhere else."
With narrowed eyes, Charlie glanced back at Hale, "You got this?"
He flipped his hat a few times and replied, "I got this, Lil C." They both thrust their fists forward and bumped their knuckles together.
As the family scooted toward the doorway, Charlie locked eyes with the pompous woman and sneered, "Good to see you, Evony."
Before she could throw back a snippy response, the Ash asked, "You gonna tell me why I should help you?"
The toddler bounced in Bo's arms as they walked out of the Dal. She said, "I miss that hat."
"It looked so good on you," Lauren commented.
"Thanks, Mama! Oh," the toddler leaned back so she could see both of her mothers, "I have a question."
"Question away," Bo encouraged.
Tilting her head to the side, the words tumbled from her mouth, "What's sex?"
I thought it might amuse you to know that I actually get nervous when I post these... I feel like you guys have really high expectations :) I'd hate to disappoint. Also, trying to follow TamBum is scary in and of itself. That might be my favorite. Hale certainly isn't my strong point.
There was a question as to what I was going to do after I've finished all of the characters. I don't really have an answer to that yet, lol. I actually have a few random Doccufamily scenes swimming between my ears that I'd love to share with you, even though they don't involve any mimicking. Any opinions on that? I'm open to suggestions.
