"Hey Sam...we're just finishing up a round of mini golf." Dean said into the phone. "Okay...that sounds good. Yeah, we should be done by then. Okay, see you." Dean disconnected the call and looked at me. "Uncle Sam said they're all awake, and going to shower, and then we'll go meet-"

His phone rang again. "Hello? This is he. Oh, hi. What's that? WHAT?!" His voice became loud and angry sounding. He turned and stalked away from me, and I followed him, feeling nervous.

"Can she do that? I thought that the will couldn't be challenged. And the company said that the trust was unbreakable." He sighed. "Jesus, she'll do anything to get money...all right. Tomorrow, what time? Yeah, that's fine. All right, thank you. See you then. Bye."

He hung up and then pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, closing his eyes and sighing again.

"What's wrong, Dean?" I asked timidly. "Who was that?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at me. "Nothing you need to worry about. Let's finish this game, huh?" He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

We had a couple holes left of mini-golf, but I could tell that Dean had lost interest. He kept looking off into the distance like he was thinking about something, and he started chewing his lip once. We finished the game, and went to put our clubs back.

"Do you need to hit the restroom before we go?" he asked.

"Yeah." I said. When I was washing my hands I noticed that my face looked a little red. I walked up to Dean, who was on his phone again. "-could find somebody to deal with this kind of thing." he was saying. He turned around and saw me. "Look, I gotta go. We can pick this up again later. Yeah, bye." he hung up and took my hand. "Ready to go?"

Dean and I had spent the day together while Uncle Sam, Uncle Bobby, and John slept. They had gotten back this morning from tracking, and since they had been up all night, they were exhausted. Dean and I went to see a movie in the morning, then went to get pizza for lunch. He had taken me to a playground near the restaurant for a while and then we had gone to play mini golf.

As we were driving to the restaurant I noticed that my face and arms were hurting. I looked down and saw that my arms were red. We had forgotten to buy sunscreen, and now I had a sunburn. I tried not to be upset, but as I took the seatbelt off, I gasped because it rubbed against my burned skin.

"What's wrong?" Dean turned around as he took the key out of the ignition.

"I—the seatbelt hurts my skin." I said.

He looked at me "Yeah, you got a little bit of sun today. Ready?"

We got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. The three men were sitting off to the side in a waiting area, and I ran over to them.

"Uncle Sam!" I cried happily. "I missed you!" He leaned down and picked me up, swinging me up in the air, and I shrieked a little.

"I missed you too." He said, smiling at me. He touched my face gently. "Geez, you really got some sun today, huh?" He put me on his hip and looked at Dean. "Dean, why didn't you get her some sunscreen?"

Dean was a couple feet away, talking to his Dad and Uncle Bobby. He turned, and his face looked angry. "What, Sam?"

"You forgot to buy sunscreen for Charlie?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, and?" Dean responded impatiently.

Sam gestured at me. "Well, look at her now! She's got a bad sunburn!"

Dean sighed and raked his hand through his hair. "Sam, I've got more pressing issues to deal with right now than a little bit of sunburn!" he snapped.

John and Uncle Bobby walked over and looked at me. Then John looked at Dean, frowning. "You were supposed to get sunscreen, and you forgot? Dean, you can't do crap like that!" John admonished. "She's got pale skin, this doesn't look good!"

Dean looked at his Dad and then at Uncle Sam. "Jesus Christ, gang up on me, why don't you? I forgot, okay? I screwed up!" he said loudly.

"Dean-" Uncle Bobby started, and Dean turned on him. "Don't you start too, old man!" He snapped, and then he turned and stalked out of the restaurant.

I started to cry, scared of Dean's anger. "I'm sorry!" I said.

Uncle Sam put his hand on my head. "Shh, Charlie, it's not your fault, you have nothing to be sorry about."

"Dean's upset because he got some—unpleasant news." John told Uncle Sam.

"I'll go talk to him, the idjit." Uncle Bobby said, and he left.

A man came over to us. "Your table is ready."

"Oh, uh, two of our group left for a moment, can you show them where we are?" Uncle Sam said.

"Certainly," the man smiled. "Follow me." I made myself stop crying as we walked.

He led us over to a booth that was in the shape of a half-circle. Uncle Sam set me down and then sat next to me, and John slid around on the other side so he was next to me on the other side. He turned to me and asked, "How's your eye doing?"

"It's okay, but if I touch it, it hurts." I told him, feeling shy.

"It may take a few days for the bruising to go away. It'll become some interesting colors!"

"You're going to have a rainbow eye!" Uncle Sam said, smiling at me.

John leaned back and looking at my back. "It looks like it's mostly on your front. You must have been facing the sun for a long time. Does your sunburn hurt? There's a pharmacy across the parking lot, I can go get some aloe vera lotion if you need it."

I shook my head. "I'm okay." I said.

Dean and Uncle Bobby walked up to the table just then.

"I'm sorry I yelled at everyone earlier." Dean said, looked a little ashamed. "I'm a little upset right now, and I took it out on you."

John looked up at him and said sternly, "You'd better not ever talk to Bobby or me like that again, boy! Did you apologize to him for being so disrespectful?"

Dean's face got red. "Yes sir, I did." he said, looking at Bobby.

"It's all good." Uncle Bobby clapped Dean on the back. "I think we all need to have a beer and relax."

Dean looked down at me. "You okay, Charlie?"

Tears came to my eyes. "Are you upset 'cause of me?" I asked.

"No, no, it's not you." Dean said. Uncle Sam got up so that Dean could sit next to me, and Dean took me in his arms and hugged me tightly for a moment. "It's not you at all, okay?"

"Ow!" I gasped, and he let go of me. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, it- it hurt when you hugged me, 'cause of my skin-" I said timidly.

"Shit." Dean said under his breath.

"All right, I'm going to go get some aloe." John said. He got out of the booth. "I'll be back in a few. Order me a beer, would you?"

"Where is he going?" Dean asked,

"There's a pharmacy in the parking lot, he's going to go get some aloe vera lotion for Charlie." Uncle Sam told him.

Dean looked at me."I'm sorry I forgot about the sunscreen." he said.

I smiled at him. "Its okay, Dean." I said.

A waitress came over to us. "Can I get y'all something to drink?"

"Can I get a Coke?" I asked Dean.

Uncle Sam looked over at me. "You should probably have water. Getting a sunburn can cause dehydration."

"I don't like water!" I whined.

"Charlie-" Dean sighed.

"We've got lemonade and apple juice, would you like one of those?" the waitress asked.

"Can I get lemonade please?" I asked,

"Go ahead." Dean said, rubbing his face. He looked tired all of a sudden.

The waitress handed menus out, and we opened them and looked through them.

"What do you want to get, Charlie?" Dean asked me.

"I dunno...I'm not that hungry."

As we waited, I started to shiver.

"What's the matter?" Dean asked, looked down at me.

"I'm cold." I said, and it came out as a whine, even though I didnt mean for it to.

Dean unbuttoned his flannel, and then helped me put it on. Uncle Sam leaned over and put his hand on my forehead. "She feels hot, but I don't know if that's from the sunburn or not." he said.

John came walking over with a bag. He took out a clear bottle filled with green gel. "Here's the aloe vera." he said. "I also got children's ibuprofen- what's wrong?" he looked at me. I was still shaking a little.

"She's complaining about being cold." Dean told him.

John leaned over and put his hand on my forehead. "She's running a fever. That can happen with a bad sunburn sometimes. We can give her some ibuprofen right now and that should help."

"Dammit." Dean said under his breath, shaking his head.

John opened the box and took out the bottle, removing the plastic wrapping and shaking it.

"How much do you weigh, darlin'?" he asked me. "Do you know?"

"Uh, I can't remember." I said.

"Well, we can give you the dose for your age- how old are you?" John looked at the side of the box.

"Eight." I said.

He opened the bottle and poured some liquid in the little cup, and handed it to me. I took it and looked at it. "What flavor is it?" I asked him.

"Oh, uh-" he looked at the box. "Strawberry. Does that really matter?"

"Yeah, it does." I retorted. " 'Cause I hate orange and I won't take it!"

"Charlie! Watch your tone!" Dean admonished, frowning at me.

"Sorry." I said, looking down at the table. The waitress brought our drinks just then. I swallowed the medicine, and then took a huge drink of my lemonade.

By the time the food came to the table, I was feeling bad. I could only eat a couple bites of my mac and cheese. I was still cold, so Uncle Sam took off his flannel shirt and Dean draped it over me. He slid over in the booth and I laid down with my head on his leg, closing my eyes.

"All right, Charlie, let's go." Dean patted my shoulder.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "Huh?"

"I'll take you back to the room, Sam'll bring our food in a little while. Come on."

Dean got up and John held the bottle of aloe vera gel out to him.

"Take it with you so you can put some on her, it might make her feel better." he said.

"Thanks, Dad." Dean said. "We'll see you in a few."

I was half- asleep when we got back to the hotel room. I flopped down on my bed as Dean looked through my suitcase.

"Here we go." he said, pulling out a nightgown. "Sit up, Charlie." He came over to me. "This is sleeveless, so the aloe won't get on it. Do you need help?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. He undressed me and put the nightgown on me, then picked up the bottle of gel.

"It's cold!" I said as he spread some on my arm.

"That's the idea, it will help cool your skin." he said. He put the aloe gel on my arms, chest, and face.

"Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed." Dean told me. I got up and went into the bathroom. When I came out, the men were there, and Dean was sitting at the table eating. Uncle Sam had put our meals in carry-out boxes and brought them to the room.

"Are you hungry, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.

I shook my head. "Uh-uh."

"Do all of your pajamas have Hello Kitty on them?" Uncle Sam grinned at me.

"That's a cat?" John asked, looking confused. He was sitting at the table next to Dean.

Uncle Sam and Dean laughed.

"How come you guys can't tell?" I asked with frustration.

"Well, we're not the target audience." Dean said. "Although I'm not sure how Sammy knows about Hello Kitty. Is there something you're not telling us?" he smirked at Uncle Sam.

"Shut up, Dean. Jess liked Hello Kitty since she was a kid, it's been around for a long time." Uncle Sam retorted.

John picked up a shopping bag and pulled out a blue bottle. "I got some sunscreen for Charlie too." he said.

Dean took it and looked at it. "Thanks, Dad." he said.

"Uh, I can't use that." I said timidly.

"What?" John asked. "Why not?" He frowned a little.

"Well, uh, I hafta use this special kind of sunscreen, cause I'm 'llergic."

"You're allergic to sunscreen?" Dean asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I got a itchy rash all over when Mommy put regular sunscreen on me before. She said my skin is sens'tive like hers."

"What kind do you use?" Uncle Sam asked. He walked over to his laptop, which was on the dresser.

"I can't remember what it was called, the bottle was pink and had a blue bunny on it." I told him.

Uncle Sam typed on his laptop for a couple of minutes, then said, "Huh." He turned the laptop so we could see it. "Beach Bunny Organic Sunscreen for kids." he read out loud. "Is this it, Charlie?" There was a photo on the screen of the sunscreen I used.

"Yeah, that's it!" I said. "She had to go to a special store to get it."

Dean sighed. "Great, where the hell are we going to find organic sunscreen around here?"

"I can look that up." Uncle Sam said. He turned his laptop back and typed on it for another couple of minutes.

"There's a health food store about 15 minutes away from here, they say they carry it. We can go by tomorrow and get some."

"Good." Dean sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I guess I can stop there after I go to the lawyer's." He looked at Uncle Bobby. "Have you thought about anyone who could help with this...situation?"

"I'll make some calls tomorrow." Uncle Bobby said.

"What situation?" I asked. "Why do you have to go back to the lawyer's?" I looked at Dean.

He looked uncomfortable. "It...has to do with the estate. Don't worry about it, Charlie."

"Why do you keep telling me that!" I clenched my fists, feeling frustrated.

Dean reached out to me and pulled me over to him, putting his arms around me for a hug. "Because it's not your job to think about this stuff, kiddo. This is adult stuff, for the adults to deal with. Not you." He let me go and looked at me. "You about ready for bed?"

"Yeah." I said.

"You want to read more Harry Potter?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Yeah, a little bit. I'm tired." I said.

"Let's put some more aloe on, and it can dry while Uncle Sam is reading to you." Dean got up and the three of us walked over to the sofa. He spread the gel on me while Uncle Sam got out the book, and then we sat on the sofa and Dean went back to finish his meal.

Uncle Sam had only read a couple of pages and I was yawning. He hugged me, and I walked over to my bed. Dean came over, and then John walked over too.

John leaned down and put his hand on my forehead. "Fever's down." he said. "That's good." He looked at me for a moment. " "Night, little one." he said, and he ruffled my hair and then walked back over to the table.

Dean hugged me, and as he bent to kiss my forehead, he whispered, "See, he likes you."

I looked at him. "I guess." I said. "He's kinda... scary sometimes."

He chuckled. "I used to think so too, when I was a kid. But he's a good guy, and he'll do anything for family. He's getting used to the changes."

I laid down and Dean pulled the covers up and tucked them around me. I rolled over and fell asleep quickly.

The next day was a blur of not feeling well. My skin was tight and painful, and they kept applying the gel every so often. Uncle Sam read that a cool bath or compresses could help too, so I took a bath, but then it made me feel too cold. The fever kept coming back, and I felt out of sorts and grumpy. I barely ate anything, and napped on and off throughout the day. Dean had to go to the lawyer's, so Uncle Sam stayed with me, and I laid on the couch with my head on his lap and we watched a couple of the Harry Potter movies together.

The morning after that I felt better. My sunburn had faded some, and the fever was gone. There had been another attack at night, further away, and Dean and Uncle Sam spent some time looking up information on Uncle Sam's laptop and talking about what to do. They were going to meet up with John and Uncle Bobby in a while.

I took my action figures out and crawled under my bed to play the game that I played with them, since my 3DS was charging.

"Charlie," Uncle Sam called, "Come here."

I slid out from under my bed and walked over to them, still holding my Hello Kitty figurines in my hands.

Dean and Uncle Sam were standing by the table, with the laptop open on it. I walked over and stood between them, looking up at Uncle Sam and then Dean.

"Yeah?" I asked.

Dean pointed to the laptop. I looked at it and there was a page up that said "HISTORY" and a list of websites. One of them was highlighted, and Uncle Sam leaned forward and clicked on it. The screen filled with the Math site I had played on.

I looked up at Uncle Sam again, feeling a pang of fear in my stomach. His lips were tight and his jaw was set.

"Well?" He said in a hard voice.

I gulped. "Uh-" I looked down at the floor, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment. They had caught me!

He hit the back button and pointed at the screen. "This shows that the website was accessed when I was with Dad and Bobby, and Dean remembers that it was when he was taking a shower."

"It- it can show that?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes, my laptop keeps a record of every keystroke, date and time that everything was entered." Uncle Sam told me. He folded his arms. "What are the rules for the laptop?" he asked.

"Uh—uh, you said I had to get permission to play on it."

"And did you?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Uh...no." I stared at the floor, tracing the pattern in the carpet with my toe.

"What else?"

"That you would check the websites I wanted to go on and make sure they were good."

"Obviously that didn't happen." Dean said dryly. "What else, little girl?"

"Uh—uh-you said I wasn't, um, 'llowed...right now."

"Allowed to what?" Uncle Sam's voice was hard again.

"To, uh, to get on your computer." I swallowed hard; my throat had gone dry and my stomach was twisting in a nervous knot. I clasped my hands together behind my back.

"You broke all three of those rules, young lady." Uncle Sam said. "After I'd talked to you about it more than once, and already given you a spanking for it. This shows that you have a total disregard for the rules I made. You don't care about anything except what you want."

"That's not true!" I protested.

"Then explain yourself. Why, after being told more than once about the laptop, did you decide it was okay to get on it again?" Dean said in an angry tone.

"And this time, you snuck and did it while no one was watching, which is like lying!" Uncle Sam chimed in.

I looked up at him. "I didn't lie!"

"You were told to not get on the laptop again and you did it anyway and then pretended that you hadn't. That is lying. And it shows a total lack of respect for Uncle Sam and for me." Dean folded his arms.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Uncle Sam asked.

"I—I-I'm sorry." I said lamely.

"You said that last time." Uncle Sam said, "And it doesn't mean anything if you do the exact same thing again!"

"I am sorry!" I cried out, and tears came to my eyes.

"We just had another talk about the rules and everything the other day." Dean said. "This is part of what I was saying- you keep acting like the rules don't apply to you. Well, they do, little girl. We make the rules and you follow them, and when you don't, you get into trouble. This is what your life is now, following the rules and making sure that you behave. Your life is doing what I say, and doing what Uncle Sam says, not what you want, and if you disobey, you're going to be punished. You got that?"

"Yes, Dean." I said, feeling ashamed.

"What did I say was going to happen if you got on the computer again?"

"Uh... a...a sp-spanking from both of you." I gulped again. I looked up again, from Dean to Uncle Sam. "But I am sorry!" I exclaimed." I didn't- I mean, I won't- "

"I don't believe you." Uncle Sam said flatly. "I don't believe you, and I'm disappointed that you lied to me and disobeyed me again, and I'm upset with you."

"Please-"

I saw them looking at each other, and they were doing that thing where it was like they were silently talking to each other. Dad held out his hand to me. "Give me the toys." he said. I handed him the figurines and he turned and walked over to the bed and then sat down on the end.

Uncle Sam pulled the chair away from the table, taking my hand as he sat down in it and guiding me over to his side. He looked down at me. "Over." was all he said, gesturing to his lap. I let out a dry sob and stepped forward, leaning over his thigh, and he put his hands around my waist and lifted me so that I lay face down across his lap.

He began the spanking slowly, allowing a second or two before laying the next swat down, so that I had time to feel the burn of each smack before the next one landed, and the pain slowly built up until I was wriggling and sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Sam, I'm sorry! Please, I won't, I mean I'll-" I dissolved into tears as his hard palm continued to descend on my bottom. I tried to slide off of his lap, but he tilted me further over and put his hand on my lower back to hold me in place. My head was lower now and I grabbed ahold of his calf and held on as he started spanking the lower part of my butt, and I knew I would feel it when I sat down. I squealed as his hand fell again and again and then moved to the tops of my thighs for a couple of harder swats. It was a few seconds before I realized he was finished. I was sobbing hard, and it took me a while to calm down. He stood me up in front of him, and I expected him to hug me, but he didn't. He took my elbow, and turned me around.

"Go see your father." he said.

Dean was still sitting on the end of the bed, looking at me with his elbows on his knees.

"Come here, Charlotte." he said sternly.

"But Dean-" I choked out. "Uncle Sam just- just-"

"Charlotte Anne Winchester. Get over here." he said, pointing to the floor in front of him.

I trudged over to him with my head down. He pulled me so that I was standing in the V of his legs, and held my upper arms.

"Look at me, little girl." he said.

I looked up at him, forcing myself to lift my head, and sniffled.

"You're getting a spanking from me now for the computer, and you'll be getting another spanking at bedtime for lying." His face was stern.

"But- but-" My hands flew back and covered my already sore bottom.

"I don't want to hear it." he said, frowning at me. "You have earned all of this punishment, because once again you didn't obey the rules and just did what you wanted. And I told you that I wasn't going to put up with misbehavior any longer, and that if things didn't change we were going to be right back here, and here we are again."

I squirmed, feeling embarrassed that he was scolding me again. I was learning that Dean always meant what he said. He didn't make a rule and then forget about it like my mom did. He didn't make a rule and then not enforce it just to be nice, like my mom. He didn't care about being nice, he cared about doing what he said he was going to do, even if it meant I ended up with a sore butt.

He turned me, and started to lift me over his leg. I tried to step backwards, getting scared, and he pulled me back towards him.

"Wait, it's Uncle Sam's computer, and he already spanked me!" I exclaimed. "Can't that be-"

"Well I am your father, and I make the rules, and the rule is if you get on his computer you get a spanking from both of us."

He lifted me and put me over his thigh, and I started to try to wiggle off. I didn't want another spanking, my bottom was still stinging!

"Noo!" I cried out. "Lemme gooo!"

"You're still thinking you can tell me what to do? When are you going to learn, little girl?" he growled. I felt his hand on my back, holding me there, and then the first swat fell. I burst into tears and wailed.

I counted each time his hand fell, thinking that if I concentrated on that it would make it hurt less, but it didn't. Ten painful smacks, and my butt felt like it was on fire.

Dean pulled me up onto his lap.

"No more computer, little girl." he said firmly. "At all. You got it?"

"Yes D-dean." I sobbed, my chest hitching. He pulled me to him and I slid my arms around him and buried my face in his shirt and cried. He held me until I had calmed down, and then I felt the bed dip as Uncle Sam sat next to Dean. I pulled away from Dean and looked at Uncle Sam. "I'm sorry I was bad and got on your computer again." I whispered.

"Come here, Charlie." Uncle Sam said. I crawled from Dean's lap onto his, and he put his arms around me and held me.

"Rules, young lady." Uncle Sam's voice was stern. "You need to remember them. And if you are tempted to get on my laptop again, I want you to think about how much your bottom hurts right now and if you want to go through this again."

"Y-yes, Uncle S-Sam." I whimpered. I put my arms around him- they didn't go very far around because he was so big- and snuggled into his chest.

"I've got to get changed." Uncle Sam said eventually. "I'm going out today to talk to the police and whatnot."

"Why don't I come too, there's going to be a lot of ground to cover because it was at two sites." Dean said.

"What are we going to do with Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.

"We'll bring her, Dad and Bobby will be there too, and between the four of us, someone will be able to watch her while the others are investigating."

I looked at Dean. "I want to stay with you, I don't want to be with your Dad or Uncle Bobby!" I protested.

"Let's see how it goes, kiddo." Dean said. "You should get dressed too. And clean up your toys."

I got off of Uncle Sam's lap. "Yes, Dean." I said, and walked over to my area. I scooted under the bed to gather up the toys that were scattered under there.

I heard Dean say something in a low voice.

"You know, I would have thought that having a daughter would be more, I don't know, dresses and nail polish and stuff..." Dean sighed heavily.

"Charlie's been through a lot, and she's kinda been on her own." Uncle Sam replied quietly. "She's practically begging us to give her boundaries. Kids like her need discipline and routine. And she's a smart kid too, so we need to be on our toes and be right there calling her out when she misbehaves. We can't let anything go, so that she knows where the lines are."

Dean sighed again. "Yeah, I guess...I just feel guilty sometimes."

Uncle Sam chuckled. "Who would have thought that with a kid, you'd be the potential softy and I'd be the one enforcing rules? You certainly enforced the rules with me."

"Well, you needed it, ya little punk."

"Shut up, jerk."

"Make me, bitch."