AUTHOR'S NOTE: tamilyn313, MariaKata, fanclaire, wandamarie, sueturpen, Tumblr-Tidbits, Lexie Lou, ladydainara, BBfanfiction, Guest, Claire, and Krista Wansbroug, thank you so much for leaving reviews! I truly appreciate that you take the time to leave comments for me-and they make The Muse happy too! Krista, I'm glad my fic helps you escape from your migraines, I know what it's like to need distraction from chronic pain, and I'm sorry you live with that.
Since the beginning of the new year, I've had over 10 people start following Charlie's fic, welcome to the family BlackBear1234, MKbed56, Wellthatsjustrude, Sunshinehurricane, Flicka147000, Catherine2503, LauWhisperer, TooLateForGoodbye, Son-princess, Gooddaddy59, PurplePanther2666, Beckini, and Princess of the Fae! I'm so excited that my stories are being read by people all over the world. I'd love to hear from you all as well!
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"What?!" Grandpa John sounded shocked. "Why did you get fired?"
Daddy rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Because of all the time I've taken off recently, they feel that I've become...unreliable." He sighed heavily.
"That's ridiculous." Grandpa John said. "I thought you said you talked to your boss about things and he was okay with you taking time off."
"Yeah, the big boss, Mr. Flores. But he's not here right now, and the acting manager, Steve, is the one who fired me."
"Can he do that?" Grandpa John asked.
"Yeah, he can." Daddy shrugged. "I can try talking to Mr. Flores when he comes back."
"I mean, it's not like you've been slacking, you had a legitimate reason to take time off, because of your sick child."
"Wait-" I looked from Grandpa John to Daddy as the realization dawned on me. "You got fired-'cause of me? 'Cause I was in the hospital and you were taking care of me? That's not fair!" I hurried over to Daddy and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Daddy."
He hugged me back. "Thanks, kiddo. And don't blame yourself, all right? It's not your fault."
It didn't make me feel better that Daddy wasn't blaming me- ever since I had come to live with Daddy, my life had been a series of wild events that I couldn't have imagined happening. And some of them were my fault, or because of my powers.
"But it is 'cause of me!" I said, starting to cry. "What's gonna happen now, since you don't have a job? Will you be able to pay the bills? Are we gonna have to move?" Just thinking about being left with no money, and the possibility of having to move, made my tummy clench up.
Daddy took my chin and tilted my head back to look me in the eye. "You don't need to worry about that, kid-"
"Yes I do!" I exclaimed. "When Mommy got real sick and couldn't work, she was scared for a while about not bein' able to pay the bills and she said- we might- lose everything an' hafta-hafta live in her c-car!" I started crying harder. My head began to pound.
Daddy pulled me into a hug again. "Shh, no, baby, that's not going to happen with us, all right? We're all good as far as money is concerned."
"B-but h-how? If you d-don't have a j-job, w-we won't have any m-money."
He smoothed his hand over my head. "We don't pay rent on this place, and we've got savings to dip into, but it's not your job to think about that. You hear me?"
"O-okay." I sniffled, and then put my hand up to my head. "M' head hurts."
"Let's get you up to bed, then."
I clutched at him. "No, I don't wanna be alone, I wanna be with you!"
He sighed. "Charlie-all right, go sit on the sofa, I'll get you some water. Are you hungry?"
"Uh-uh."
He disappeared into the kitchen and I sat on the sofa. He returned carrying a bag of potato chips, a bottle of beer, and a glass of water. He pulled the bottle of ibuprofen out of his pocket. "There's only a little bit left, might as well drink it from the bottle." He handed it to me.
"Dean-is there anything I can do?" Grandpa John asked.
"No, I just-I just need some time. I'm gonna sit with Charlie for a while and think."
"All right." Grandpa John patted Daddy's shoulder, and then asked me, "You gonna be okay, darlin'?"
"I guess." I sniffled.
Daddy let me curl up in his lap with my eyes closed. He turned the TV on and watched it with the sound off, feeding me the occasional potato chip.
~ ~ spn ~ ~
My headache didn't go away. Grandpa John tacked some blankets up over my bedroom windows to make it dark in the room, and I laid in bed for a while. Being in the dark seemed to help.
I went downstairs when the doorbell rang. Grandpa John was holding a flat pizza box and a white paper bag when I came into the living room. "Got black olive pizza for you, Charlie." He told me.
I followed him into the kitchen. Daddy was sitting at the table, a glass in his hand. There was a bottle of Jim Beam on the table. Daddy drained his glass and set it down, then filled it halfway full from the bottle.
"Don't you think you should slow down, Dean?" Grandpa John set the food down on the counter.
"M'fine." Daddy's voice sounded husky.
Grandpa John set the bag in front of him. Daddy dug into the bag and pulled out a foil-wrapped sandwich, peeling back the foil and looking at it. "Damn it, they forgot the cheese again!"
"We've probably got some cheese in the fridge." Grandpa John said. He set a plate with 2 slices of pizza in front of me.
"It's not the same, their cheese is better quality." Daddy complained. He pulled out a cardboard container of french fries.
"Can I have some?" I asked.
"Hmm...only if you share your pizza with me." Daddy grinned at me.
"Okay!" I offered him one of the slices of pizza, and he leaned over and took a huge bite. "Daddy!" I protested, giggling at his stuffed cheeks. I took a couple of french fries and ate them.
Grandpa John sat on the other side of me and opened his sub. "Hmm, they forgot my cheese too. Oh well."
Daddy pulled out his phone. "Should I call and complain?"
"No, it's okay." Grandpa John took a bite of his sub. "I don't think you should be calling anyone, with how much you've had to drink."
"M'fine." Daddy said again. "How's the head, kiddo?"
"Only hurts a little." I said.
"Let's hope it stays that way."
After dinner, Daddy and I watched an episode of my favorite cooking contest show. My head was hurting when it was over, so Daddy sent me upstairs to my room. Grandpa John had brought a lamp from his room that had a dimmer switch on it, and when it was at the lowest setting, it didn't bother me. I was happy to play with my dollhouse and my figurines in the low light. When it was time for bed, Daddy read some of the first Harry Potter book to me as I was falling asleep.
The next day was Saturday. Grandpa John was gone by the time I woke up, Daddy said he had gone out to help Uncle Bobby. I wondered if they were doing stuff related to the hospital investigation, but I didn't want to ask and risk getting scolded.
Daddy and I went to the grocery store, and it made my head hurt a lot, so when we came home I went to lay down in my room. It took a while, but I fell asleep.
When I came downstairs to the living room, the sun was setting. Daddy was laying on the sofa watching TV. He sat up as I came over. "Hey, kiddo." His phone chimed with a text notification.
There were a few empty beer bottles scattered across the coffee table. He had a bag of Doritos in his lap. "Been watchin' the Doctor Sexy marathon." His phone chimed again.
I sat next to him. "Can I have some?"
He turned the bag so I could reach in, and I grabbed a couple of chips. "Are you gonna check your texts?"
He sat forward and glanced at his phone, then put it back on the table, face down. "I'll deal with it later." He put his hand on my forehead. "How's the head?"
"It doesn't hurt right now." I told him, eating another chip.
"Good. You hungry? You slept through lunch again."
"Yeah." I reached for the bag.
"You wanna order Chinese tonight? I dunno when your Grandpa's comin' back."
"Okay! Can I have dumplings and egg rolls?"
"Along with your usual, or instead of it?"
"Instead of it, I don't want the chicken tonight."
"Sure." He placed the order for delivery, and then we watched another episode.
The two-hour season three finale was halfway through when the doorbell rang. Daddy got up to answer it. I heard him say, "Yeah, that's the order. You okay, man?"
"Sorry, man, I'm not sick or nothin', I got a migraine and the boss won't let me take off. Just tryin' to power through it, ya know?" I heard the man reply.
Daddy sounded sympathetic. "I know how that is, my daughter gets bad headaches sometimes. Sorry to hear that, I hope your night goes easy. Keep the change."
"Thanks, man!" I heard his footsteps walk off the porch.
Daddy brought the bag over and set it down on the coffee table. "You get the food out and I'll bring the plates and silverware."
He went to the kitchen and also brought out another beer for himself and a glass of water for me.
We were finishing up when Grandpa John came home. He was wearing a gray suit with a blue button down shirt and a blue and gray tie.
"Hey, lookin' sharp, Dad." Daddy said.
"How are you feeling, Charlie?" Grandpa John asked me.
"M'okay. I had a headache earlier, we went to the grocery store and the lights were bothering me, but I took a long nap and I feel mostly better."
"That's good." Grandpa John loosened his tie. "Did you get a chance to go over the emails?" He asked Daddy.
"What emails?" Daddy frowned.
"Did you get my texts?" Grandpa John frowned back. As I watched, his aura developed a dull red around it. What did that mean?
"Uh, no." Daddy ran his hand through his hair. "Been takin' it easy most of today."
Grandpa John looked at the table, raising his eyebrows. "I can see that. Did you get any Chinese food for me?"
"Uh, no, I figured you'd grab something while you were out with Bobby." Daddy seemed embarrassed.
"Thanks, Dean." Grandpa John said sarcastically.
Daddy held up his container. "You want the rest of my Kung Pao?"
Grandpa John huffed with annoyance. "No, I'll get myself something in a little bit, I need to change and go over my notes while they're still fresh in my mind." He went down the hallway to his room.
Daddy looked over at me and made a face. "Guess he's not happy with me."
I leaned over to hug him. "I'm happy with you."
He put his arm around my shoulder and hugged it. "I'm glad to hear that." I snuggled into his side and we sat together like that for a while.
The next day, I felt out of sorts. Even though I'd had a quiet evening, I had woken up in the middle of the night with a bad headache. A storm had come through, and the day was grey and drizzly. It seemed like I couldn't get rid of my headache, no matter what. Daddy let me lay on the sofa with my head in his lap again, and he held an icepack on the back of my head, which seemed to help. I dozed on and off while Daddy sat and drank beer and watched TV with the sound off and the subtitles on.
Grandpa John was out for most of the day again, but when he came home this time, Daddy went out. He said he wanted to "blow off some steam" after having been home for two days, so Grandpa John said he would stay with me. I helped him make grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner with tomato soup, and then I played in my room in the evening. I didn't mind being by myself, because it was quiet and calm and my head eventually stopped aching.
When I came downstairs the next morning, Uncle Sam was in the kitchen. His aura was mostly green. I ran over to him and threw my arms around him.
"Hey, Charlie!" He picked me up, swinging me up in the air so that I shrieked, and then he hugged me.
"I missed you!" I told him.
"I missed you too." He set me on the floor.
"How's Imani?"
"About as good as she can be, she's handing in her paperwork today, so we'll see. You want some eggs?"
"Yes please." I sat down at the table.
Grandpa John came into the kitchen. "Hey, Sam, how have you been? How's Imani?" He put his hand on Uncle Sam's shoulder.
"I'm fine, I helped her do some cleaning and stocked her pantry. She's got to work this week but hopefully it'll be her last week." Uncle Sam told him. "Scrambled eggs?"
"Uh, sure, I'll have some." Grandpa John walked over to the coffee maker and began to make a fresh pot. "I have the feeling we're gonna need a whole pot today, your brother was out late last night."
Uncle Sam glanced at him as he cracked eggs into a bowl. "Oh really? I thought he was...helping you."
Grandpa John grimaced. "He's supposed to be. He's been taking care of Charlie, her headaches were bad this weekend."
Uncle Sam turned to look at me. "Oh, no! How are you feeling now?"
"M'okay. Grandpa John put blankets on my windows to block out the sunlight and that helps a lot 'cause the light bothers my eyes."
"Do you think you can try some school work today? If you're not up to it, we don't have to." Uncle Sam began to stir the eggs.
"I guess."
Grandpa John made toast and I helped him butter it, and the three of us sat down to eat. Daddy didn't come downstairs until Grandpa John was washing the breakfast dishes and Uncle Sam was reading out loud to me.
"Daddy!" I turned in my chair and held my arms out. He came over to me and leaned down to hug me, his stubbly chin scratching my cheek. He was wearing the same clothes he'd worn yesterday and his aura had a grayish tinge. "Morning, kiddo."
"Hey, Dean." Uncle Sam said.
"Heya, Sammy." Daddy scrubbed his hand over his face and his messy hair."We got any coffee?"
"Made it about 45 minutes ago," Grandpa John called.
Daddy went into the kitchen. I hear the squeak of cabinet hinges and the clatter of the coffee carafe.
"What are your plans for today, Dean? We could use your help." Grandpa John said.
"Sure, lemme just wake up some." I heard the scrape of a chair and Daddy groaned as he sat down. "I think I pulled a muscle in my back playin' pool last night, but I won some money."
"You're not getting any younger, that's for sure."
"Focus, Charlie." Uncle Sam tapped my shoulder. "Which words are the adjectives in this sentence- 'She ate a large plate of spaghetti with spicy meatballs for dinner.'?"
"Umm-large and spicy?"
"Right, good."
"Can we have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?"
He chuckled. "If we have the ground beef and spaghetti noodles, sure."
I was able to do all of the language arts problems about adjectives with Uncle Sam reading aloud to me, and then he said I should take a break.
I went into the kitchen. Daddy was sitting at the table, his head on his folded arms. One hand was around his mug.
I went over and put my arm around his back, and he sat up with a jerk. "What th- oh, Charlie."
"Were you asleep?" I asked.
"Just resting my eyes." He took a big swallow of coffee and got up. "I need more."
Grandpa John came into the kitchen. "Dean, can you come take a look at the documents now?"
Daddy poured himself more coffee. "Sure, Dad." He ruffled my hair as he passed by me, following Grandpa John back to his room.
Uncle Sam came into the kitchen. "Do you want a drink?"
I shook my head.
"How's your head feeling?"
"It hurts a little."
"Let's take a break from your school work for a while, then. What did you do over the weekend?"
"I watched a little bit of TV and slept and played in my room."
"I don't think TV is a good idea right now. Maybe being in your room would help."
"Do I have to take a nap?" I tried not to whine.
"No, unless your head starts to hurt worse. Come get one of us if you need some medicine, all right?"
"Okay." I went up to my room and played with my figurines for a while.
A short time later Daddy called up the stairs to me. "Charlie, come give me a hug."
I hurried downstairs. "Why? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm meeting a couple of the guys from work for lunch, they wanted to talk to me."
"Oh. Are you gonna be gone long?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno, Charlie." He leaned down to hug me. "Don't overdo it today."
"I won't, Daddy."
Grandpa John and Uncle Sam had come into the hallway. "We still need your help, Dean."
"I know, Dad." Daddy said with annoyance, getting out his keys. I followed him to the living room and hugged him before he left. He seemed distracted.
After he left. Uncle Sam said, "He seems to be taking things as well as possible. And by that, I mean, not well at all. Has he talked to you?"
Grandpa John grimaced. "Of course not, you know how he is. I hope he gets this out of his system soon."
I looked back and forth at both of them. "What? What do you mean?"
"Your Dad...isn't real big on talking about his problems, he tends to bottle things up." Grandpa John told me.
"But he's always telling me to talk to him!"
"Yeah, he wants to change things with you, which is good. But he still backs off from talking about his own stuff." Uncle Sam said. "Do you want to try some more school work, Charlie?"
I sighed. "Okay."
I was able to read a little, so I was working on a Social Studies assignment when I heard Uncle Sam's phone. He was in the kitchen with Grandpa John. "Hey, how are you? How did it go at work?" He listened for a minute. "Oh. I'm sorry-you are? Okay. Listen, I'll meet you there and make you dinner tonight, so you can rest, all right? What time are you leaving? Okay, I'll be there around the same time. All right, be careful. Bye." I heard the beep as he ended his call. "Imani's not feeling well, she's leaving work early, so I'm going to go over to her place and take care of her. "
"That's too bad. When are you leaving?"
"In about an hour." Uncle Sam came into the dining room. His aura had changed to a brighter shade of green with blue mixed in. What did all these colors mean? "Did you hear that, Charlie? I'm going to be leaving soon to go over to Imani's."
"I'll miss you!" I whined.
"I'll be back soon. I just don't want her there by herself, she gets really tired really easily, so I want to help her out." He came over and looked at my notebook. "How's the work going?"
"It's okay, my head isn't hurting right now."
He smiled at me. "That's good. You should still take a break after this assignment."
"Okay, Uncle Sam."
He glanced at his watch. "Dad, I can keep working on the research for a while longer."
"Thanks. You going to be here for lunch?"
"I can stay for that." Uncle Sam went back to Grandpa John's bedroom.
My head was starting to hurt by the time we had lunch. I rested in my room for a while, and then when I got up, Grandpa John said we needed to go to the grocery store. There were a lot of people in the store, and all the noise plus the fluorescent lights made my head hurt again. I laid down in my room when we got home, grateful for the dark, quiet space.
When I woke up I could smell meat cooking.
Grandpa John was at the stove, holding a spatula. He turned when I came in. "There she is!" He smiled at me. "How's your head?"
"It still...it doesn't hurt, it feels...sensitive?"
"I was going to get you up to help me make meatballs, but I figured I'd let you rest. Do you want some medicine?"
I shook my head. "When's Daddy coming home?"
His mouth tightened. "I'm...not sure. He's not returning my calls or texts."
"Do you think he's okay?" I asked worriedly.
"I'm sure he is. I'll keep trying him."
I worried about Daddy for the rest of the night, which made my head start hurting again. After dinner, Grandpa John said we should go for a walk so that I could get some fresh air. I wore the sunglasses and my Hello Kitty cap that he had gotten me. I went to bed early, even though Daddy hadn't called and I was still worried about him.
I was almost asleep when I heard Baby's tell-tale rumble out front. I climbed out of bed and started to hurry downstairs, but stopped when I heard raised voices. I made my way quietly into the living room.
I heard Grandpa John's voice coming from the kitchen, loud and angry. "- relying on you to go through the case files that Bobby sent while we do the boots on the ground work. I know you've never liked research, but we all need to do our part!"
"I know, Dad, I meant to get to it, but Charlie wasn't feeling well, and I didn't want to get up and get the laptop while she was resting. You know how she likes to snuggle when she's feeling bad."
"Really, Dean? You're going to use your daughter as your excuse for not getting the work done?" Grandpa John's voice was like a stone.
"Dad-" Daddy said weakly.
"You know the rule is, no drinking during a hunt. You've been hitting the bottle pretty hard these past couple of days. I understand you're upset about getting fired, but you've got people relying on you."
"I know, it's just that it's been hard-"
"Bullshit!" Grandpa John's voice cracked like a whip. "No more excuses. You've had your pity party, now you need to straighten up and get your shit together. You're out of practice, so you've gotta look sharp. No more drinking."
I heard a heavy sigh. "You're right. You're right, I've been screwing around." Daddy said. I heard a chair scrape the floor. "Man, things were a lot simpler when I was younger and you could just kick my ass when I fucked things up."
"You're a little too old for a trip over my knee, Dean."
"M'sorry, Dad. I've just been feeling- I dunno, a little lost- I just feel like...I can't even take care of my kid right, she's always getting hurt, work says I'm unreliable, I'm not cut out for this apple pie life...I'm only good at hunting… and now I'm screwing that up too."
"You know that's not true. You were fired for taking care of your child and putting her first, and that's admirable. And you're a damn fine hunter, you know that. Stop beating yourself up and concentrate on the case for now."
"All right. How's Charlie?"
"She's had headaches on and off, but nothing so bad as the other night. I think resting in her room helps a lot."
I decided to go into the kitchen at that point.
"Daddy, you're home!" I rubbed my eyes sleepily so that they'd think I had just come downstairs.
He scooted his chair back. "Hey, kiddo." He lifted me up to sit in his lap when I came over to him.
He smelled strongly of alcohol. I looked up at him after we hugged. His aura had gray all around it. "Where were you, Daddy? I was worried about you!"
He looked embarrassed. "I met the guys at this sports bar for lunch and a pitcher of beer ended up being a couple...we started watching the game, and then when it was over, we shot some pool. But I'm done with that for now." He kissed my forehead. "Let's get you back to bed."
"Will you sit with me?"
"Sure, kiddo. C'mon." He set me on the floor and we walked to my room together. He sat up against the headboard of my bed and I curled into his side and fell asleep with him stroking my hair.