AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm baaaack! Feeling a lot better, and my muse has finally woken up again and is cooperating! A HUGE thanks to Happygoddess2003 for all the advice and encouragement!
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
I didn't sleep well that night, I kept waking up. The three of them sat at the table talking, and their laughing woke me up once. Then I woke up suddenly and realized the room was quiet. I couldn't hear any talking or even movement. I sat up and looked around- I was alone! I got out of bed and walked around the divider.
"Dean?" I said hesitantly. "Uncle Sam?" I walked over to the bathroom door, which was open. No-one was in there either. Then I noticed that the room door wasn't closed all the way. I felt nervous- had something happened? I walked over to the door and opened it. They were standing outside the room, and Dean and Uncle Sam were leaning on the car. They all had bottles of beer in their hands, and they looked at me when I opened the door.
"I woke up alone!" I exclaimed, looking at Dean. "I didn't know where you were, I thought something happened!" And then I burst into tears, and felt embarrassed. Dean walked over to me and picked me up, carrying me inside and closing the door.
"I'm sorry." he said. "We moved outside so that we didn't bother you, you were very restless and we didn't want to keep waking you up."
He put me down on the bed and sat on the edge.
"It scared me!" I said, scooting closer to him.
"I'm sorry." he repeated. "You're safe, and it's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. Lay down."
I clung to his chest. "I don't want to go back to sleep." I whined. "I keep having bad dreams and waking up."
"Well, you need to try and sleep, Charlie." he said. "If you get scared in the middle of the night, come get me, okay?" He tried to move away from me.
"Nooo!" I whined, grabbing onto his arms.
"Charlie-" he sighed, sounding annoyed. "Let go."
"But I'm scared now!"
"There's nothing to be scared of."
"Please stay with me again? Pleeeeease?" I begged.
He sighed again. "All right. Lay down."
"No, can I—can I sit with you?" I asked hesitantly. I climbed into his lap before he answered and slid my arms around his middle. He sighed again and then leaned down to put his bottle on the floor. Then he sat up and put his arms around me, and started rubbing my back again. I eventually drifted off back to sleep.
I was in the tent, in my sleeping bag. Mom was laying next to me and Dean was on the other side of her. I started to hear growling and crashing sounds outside the tent, and then suddenly the tent was ripped open and a huge wolf came in, and grabbed my Mom in its mouth. There was red blood everywhere and I heard crunching sounds as the wolf chewed her bones. Then it turned to Dean and jumped on him, and I could hear screaming-
"Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed. I opened my eyes and Dean was right there, holding me. "The wolf ate you!" I sobbed, grabbing on to his t-shirt.
"Shh, I'm right here," Dean said soothingly. "You're safe, nothing's going to hurt you." He picked me up and carried me over to his bed, and then sat down with me in his lap. I was clinging to him like a monkey. The dream had seemed so real.
I turned my head and rested it on his chest, and he started humming something softly. He kept stroking my hair back from my face and humming, and after a long time, I fell asleep again.
I woke up hearing the shower running. I was still in Dean's bed, alone. I sat up and stretched, and then I flopped back down onto the bed. I felt tired. I heard the shower go off. A couple minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Uncle Sam came out. He looked over and saw that I was awake.
"Good morning." he said. "Your dad went to get some breakfast."
"I'm in the mood for pancakes." I said.
"Well, I don't think that's what he's getting. Did you sleep okay?"
"No, I kept waking up." I sighed.
"You should get dressed."
"I don't want to." I said.
Uncle Sam shrugged. "Suit yourself."
I rolled over and started dozing, waking up again when I heard the hotel room door open.
Dean came in with a paper bag and a drink carrier. He set everything down on the table and looked over at me. "You awake, Charlie?"
"Yeah." I mumbled. I got up and went over to the table.
"I got bagels this morning." he said.
"I wanted pancakes." I sat down next to him.
"Maybe tomorrow." Dean said. "I've got to go talk to the lawyer today. Do you want to come with me, or stay here with Uncle Sam?"
"I want to go with you." I said.
"Do you want cream cheese on your bagel?" Dean asked me.
"Uh, yeah." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and yawning.
He spread some cream cheese on a bagel and put it in front of me on a napkin.
"Thanks!" I said, and smiled at him. I wasn't used to somebody else fixing my breakfast for me. Usually I got myself a bowl of cereal or made some toast.
"Our Dad is coming to help us, he'll be here in a couple of days, so you'll get to meet him." Dean told me.
"Oh." I said. I didn't want to say anything about having overheard his conversation last night.
"That's all you have to say is, oh?" Dean looked at me.
"What if he doesn't like me?" I said uncertainly.
"I'm sure he'll like you." Dean said. "Don't be nervous." He crumpled up his napkin. "Go get dressed now."
I got up and walked over to my suitcase, and got out the shirt and shorts I had been wearing for the past couple of days.
"Bring me your hairbrush, and I'll brush your hair." Uncle Sam said to me from across the room.
"Okay." I said, as I pulled off my pajama top. I picked up the t-shirt, and Uncle Sam came over to me.
"Charlie, you've worn that same shirt every day since we picked you up. It's dirty, you should wear something else."
I grabbed the shirt and held it to my chest. "No!" I said resolutely.
"Why not?" Uncle Sam asked. "What's so special about this shirt?"
"It- it's the one I was wearing at the campsite, and it smells like the wood fire, and it makes me think of being happy there. Before- you know..." I explained, and tears filled my eyes.
"Oh, honey." Uncle Sam said gently, and he put his arm around my shoulder. "You can't keep wearing the same thing over and over."
"But I want to!" I whined, pulling away from him.
"Why don't we put the shirt in a plastic bag, and that way it will keep the smell, and you can have it that way." he suggested.
"It will?" I looked up at him.
He nodded. "I'll take your clothes and put them in a bag for you to save."
"Okay." I said, wiping my eyes. I handed him the shirt and shorts, and then picked out a different outfit- a big shirt with Hello Kitty riding a bike on it, and matching bike shorts. I got dressed, and then went to the bathroom to get my brush. I walked over to Uncle Sam and handed it to him, and then turned around.
"Your hair gets tangled easily." he said as he eased the brush through my hair.
"Yeah, Mommy always said that mice came and made a nest in my hair every night." I said, smiling at the memory.
After a couple of minutes, Uncle Sam handed me the brush back. "All done."
"You ready to go?" Dean asked me.
"I just need to get my shoes on." I said. I bent down and started to pull them on, then said, "Uh oh."
"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked, coming over to me.
I held my foot up. My big toe was now poking through a hole in the toe of my tennis shoe!
"We can go out and get you some new shoes later." Dean said easily.
"Good, 'cause these are too small anyways." I said.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.
"With Mom being sick, she couldn't take me out shopping, and Aunt Janice was too busy to come over a lot and take me out." I said. "My toes are crunched, but it doesn't hurt too bad."
"Are all of your shoes too small?" Dean looked at me.
"Yeah, pretty much." I shrugged.
"Okay, we'll buy you some shoes that fit after we go to the lawyer's, and then we can get some lunch, how's that?"
"Okay!" I smiled up at him.
As we walked to the car, I took his hand, and he opened the back door for me and then closed it once I was in the back.
I walked with Dean into a big tall building, and we rode an elevator up several floors. The elevator opened onto a long, shiny hallway with lots of doors and lots of big paintings of stern-looking men wearing long black robes.
We walked a long ways down the hallway and Dean opened one of the doors. We were in an office.
"Dean Winchester to see Eric Llewellan." Dean told the lady at the front desk.
"Have a seat please." she told him. I followed Dean over to some chairs and we sat down. I swung my feet and looked around, then I got up and walked over to a table that had a bunch of magazines on it. They were magazines for things like golf and fishing. "Bor-ing!" I said quietly.
"Come over here," Dean said to me. "Sit down."
"They don't have anything for kids to do." I said.
"Well, they probably don't get a lot of kids in here." Dean said. "Be patient."
A door opened and a man in a suit came out and Dean stood up. They shook hands, and then the man ushered us into an office with a long table. I sat next to Dean in a chair that moved, and I started spinning in it.
Dean put his hand on the arm of the chair. "No." he said, looking at me. "Sit still, would you?"
"Would you like some water?" the man asked me. He got a bottle of water out of a small fridge, and handed it to me.
"Thank you." I said. I tried to open it, and I couldn't.
I tapped Dean's arm. "Could you open this please?" I asked him. He took it from me and opened it, then handed it back to me and turned back to the lawyer.
I looked around the room as the man opened up a folder and spread some papers out on the table. Dean leaned forward and they both started talking about things like "estate taxes". I hadn't brought my 3DS or anything to do, and I started to get bored. I pushed on the table leg with my foot, turning the chair back and forth.
Dean glanced over at me. "I told you to sit still!" he whispered, frowning at me.
"Sorry." I ducked my head and tried my best to sit quietly. I drank some more water.
I moved closer to Dean and leaned my head on his arm. He looked down at me at first, but he let me keep my head there for a while. Then he moved his arm and patted my head. "I've got to sign some papers, you need to sit up." he told me.
I looked around at the ugly brown paneled walls. There was a calendar with a photograph of a waterfall on it on one wall, and a painting of a beach and ocean on another wall. I tried to imagine what it would be like at the beach, and then Dean turned to look at me with a stern look on his face.
"Stop kicking the table." he whispered. I realized I had been kicking the table leg and hadn't even noticed that I was doing it.
I leaned over and put my head down on the table for a while, and then Dean touched my shoulder.
"I need for you to wait outside for a few minutes while I talk to the lawyer." he said. I got up and followed him out to the waiting room. He pointed at the chair I had been sitting in before.
"Sit down right here and wait for me." he told me. Then he went back into the office and the door closed. I swung my legs again, then I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I got up and walked over to the receptionist.
"Scuse me, do you have a bathroom?" I asked timidly.
"No, sorry. Go out to the hallway, it's the last door on the right." she said.
"Okay. Can you tell De- my Dad that I went to the bathroom when he comes out?" I asked her.
"Sure." She smiled at me.
I went out into the hallway and found the bathroom. Drinking water always makes me have to pee a lot. The bathroom was very fancy and had a little dish of potpourri on the counter next to the sink. I dried my hands off and walked back down the hallway.
The hallway was so long, and so shiny, I got an idea. I took my shoes off and ran down the hall, and then used my socks to slide on the linoleum at the end. When Aunt Janice had taken me to church with her, some of the kids there had shown me how to do this with the hallway in the basement of the church.
I ran and slid again, and ran and slid. It was fun!
The door to the office opened, and Dean came out, carrying a folder.
"Charlie!" he called up the hall.
"Watch, Dean!" I ran towards him and slid the last several feet.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. "What the hell, little girl?" he growled. He looked annoyed.
"Why are you out here!" He gave my arm a shake.
"I hadda go to the bathroom!"I protested. "I told the lady at the desk to tell you!"
"Well, she wasn't there when I came out, and neither were you!"
"Sor-ry!" I said. He let go of my arm.
"Excuse me?" he glared down at me. "You want to try that again?"
I blushed, and looked down at my feet. "Sorry." I muttered.
He looked at me for a long moment, rubbing his chin, then he said decisively, "You're going to bed early tonight."
"What?" I yelped. " Why?"
"You disobeyed me, little girl. And that's your consequence. You broke a rule too, no going off on your own."
"But- I don't want to go to bed early!" I stomped my foot.
"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to go off and do your own thing."
"That's not fair! I had to go pee!" I protested.
"And then you had to go running up and down the hallway in your sock feet? Instead of coming to let me know you were going to the restroom, and then coming right back in?"
I blushed again. I had nothing to say to that, so I said, "You're mean!"
He leaned down to me. "You don't get to do what you want, kid. You need to do what I tell you to do. Now put your shoes on and let's go."
I glared up at him and huffed.
He took my hand after I slipped my shoes onto my feet.
We walked back to the car, and then he asked, "Are you hungry now, or do you want to go buy shoes first?"
I bounced on the seat, excited to go shopping. "Shoes first!" I said. I hoped that we could find some Hello Kitty tennis shoes.
Unfortunately, they were out of my size. The store had Hello Kitty tennis shoes and slip ons, but they were all too small. As it turns out, my feet had grown two sizes since I had last gotten shoes.
"Here, try these on." Dean held up a pair of sparkly pink tennis shoes.
"I don't want them, I wanted the Hello Kitty ones!" I said forlornly.
"I know, but they don't have them in your size. Try these."
"O—kay..." I said dejectedly. I sat down and put them on.
"How is that?" he asked.
"Fine." I said, standing up. He bent down and pressed my toe. "Is there room for your toes now, they're not squished?"
"No, it's okay." I said. "Can I get some sandals too?"
"All right." Dean rubbed his hand over his face. "Which ones are you looking at?"
I pulled a pair off of the rack that had sparkly flowers on them.
"That's not your size." Dean told me. "You need 7s. It doens't look like they have any."
I sat down heavily on the floor. "That's not faaaair!" I whined. "They don't have anything that I like!" I kicked my feet against the floor. I felt like crying in frustration.
Dean sighed. "Well, what do you want to do?"
"I want to get the ones that I want!" I said angrily.
Dean turned and walked away from me suddenly, and stood at the end of the aisle, facing away from me. I saw him sigh heavily again, and then he came back over to me and squatted down in front of me.
"All right, look," he said patiently. "Let's get the tennis shoes that you like, and we can get some other shoes later. You're tired, and we need to eat lunch."
"I'm not tired!" I snapped, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
"You're cranky, and I'm guessing it's because you didn't sleep well last night." He stood up and offered me his hand. "Come on, get up."
I let him pull me up. "I'm not tired!" I insisted. "Or cranky!"
"Okay, fine, I'm not going to argue." he said. He bent down and picked up the box with the shoes. "Come on."
I walked with him to the checkout line. His phone rang, and it was Uncle Sam. "Hey, Sam, what's up? We're at the store buying shoes now... I'm drowing in paperwork, we went over all these documents and I've got more to fill out and bring back to the guy. This legal shi- stuff is never ending, man! We've got beer in the room, right? 'Cause I'm going to need a couple tonight. Do you need me to bring you back some lunch? Okay, see you later."
Dean hung up his phone and put it in his pocket, then rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. He looked down at me and smiled. "At least you found one pair that fits, right?"
We stopped at a deli on the way back and got sandwiches to take to the room. Dean said that Uncle Sam was out with Uncle Bobby.
I sat at the table and watched as Dean opened the folder that he had brought from the lawyer's office. He glanced at the top paper, and then closed the folder.
"Nope," he said. "I'm taking a break. No more paperwork right now. I'm going to enjoy my lunch." He pushed the folder to the side and pulled his sub in front of him.
I ate most of my sub and chips, and then looked at him. "Can I be done? I want to go play on the playground."
He leaned over and looked at my food. "You sure you're not still hungry? Wrap that up and you can finish it later then."
I wrapped the rest of the sub up. "Can I go to the playground now?"
"I want you to take a nap, Charlie." Dean said.
"I don't want to!" I whined, folding my arms on my chest. "I'm not a little kid that needs a nap!"
"Well, like I said, you were very restless last night and didn't sleep well, and you're cranky today because of that."
"I am not!" I frowned at him.
"Yes, you are." Dean leaned towards me, looking at me intently.
"No I'm not!" I kicked the rungs of my chair.
"Look, we're not going to do this. I want you to go lay down on your bed for a while, even if you don't sleep."
"Can I read?"
"No, lay there with your eyes closed."
"I don't WANT to!" I shouted. I stood up and clenched my fists. "This is dumb! I don't want to be in a hotel room any more with you! I want to go home!"
"Charlie..." Dean said. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment.
"I want to go home, and I want to be with my mom!" Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I missed her. I missed being in our apartment. I missed being able to do what I wanted.
"Charlie, you know that can't happen." Dean said, with regret on his face. "You're tired-"
"I AM NOT!" I screamed, stomping my feet. "Well, I'm tired of you, always telling me what to do!" I ran towards him and pushed his chest. It didn't do anything, he barely moved. I forgot what a brick wall Dean was.
Dean took my hands. "Charlie, stop it." he said in a warning tone. "I'm not going to let you raise your voice to me or push me like that."
I tried to pull away from him, but he held on to me. "Get off!" I snapped. "I hate you!" I tried to kick his shin.
He pulled me close to him and leaned down to me. "Stop. It. Right. Now." he said in a slow, hard voice. "I know you're tired and you're upset, but that doesn't mean you can be nasty to people. And I'm about two seconds from hauling you over my knee."
"Lemme go!" I jerked away from him and he wasn't expecting it, and I got one hand free. He grabbed for me again, and stood up quickly, pushing his chair back. He picked me up around the waist and carried me over to my bed, then plunked me down on it.
I started to get off of the bed and he took my arm. "No, little girl." he said. "Lay down."
"Noooo!" I whined. I pulled my arm, but he wouldn't let go. He tried to make me lay down, and I resisted.
"Charlie, enough." he said loudly. "You need to lay down now." He let go of my arm and stood up. "Listen to me and do what I tell you." He sounded frustrated.
I got off of the bed again, and he grabbed my arms, and sat me on the bed.
"Do you want a spanking?" he asked in a hard voice. "Because that's what's going to happen if you get off of this bed again!" We glared at each other for a long moment, and then I dropped my eyes. I did not want him to spank me, so I laid down. He leaned over and pulled my covers up.
"Close your eyes." he said. "Rest."
I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, sure I wasn't going to fall asleep... and then someone was shaking my arm.
Dean was sitting on the edge of my bed. "Charlie, it's almost dinner time, you need to wake up." he said. "And I want to talk to you."
I sat up and looked at him, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"I know you were tired and grumpy before, but you can't keep saying things like you hate me. It's a hurtful thing to say, and I don't think you want to be hurtful, do you?"
I looked down at my hands and blushed. I hadn't thought of it that way.
"No." I said quietly.
"And the hitting and pushing and kicking needs to stop." he said firmly.
I felt guilty then. I didn't even realize I was doing those things, I just did them.
"Sorry." I whispered.
"One more thing. When I tell you to do something, you need to do it, understand? No more of this fighting and screaming. I'm not going to keep giving you as many chances as I have been, because you should know better. And if it keeps up, I'm going to get more strict with you."
"How?" I glanced up at him.
"I'll tell you to do something once and that's it. And if you don't do it, you'll get a consequence."
"Okay." I said. "I'm sorry." I said sincerely.
"Come here." he said, and pulled me into a hug. "I know this is hard for you, and I'm sorry. We have to be in this hotel for now because of the legal stuff that's happening with your mother's estate. I have to wait until it's finished."
"When will that be?" I asked.
"I don't know." he sighed. "Maybe in a week?"
The hotel room door opened and Uncle Sam came in.
"How did it go today?" he asked, coming over to the bed.
"We found one pair of shoes." Dean told him. "Apparently her feet grew two sizes since she last bought shoes!"
"Wow." Uncle Sam said. He was holding a bag, and he reached in and pulled a book out. He held it out to me.
"I know you said that you had only read the first four Harry Potter books, so I got the fifth one. I thought we could read it out loud together at bed time."
I took the book and looked at it. "Cool! Thanks, Uncle Sam!" I got off the bed and hugged him, and he hugged me and patted my back. Then I turned to Dean.
"Thanks for taking me to get shoes. Sorry I got fussy."
"You're welcome, kiddo." Dean said, smiling at me. He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed them.
At 7:30, Dean said to me, "It's time for you to get ready for bed."
"What?!" I exclaimed.
"Remember, I told you that you were going to bed early." he said, giving me a look.
"But you said my bedtime is at 8:30!"
"Get ready now, so that you can go to bed at 8 o'clock."
I folded my arms. "But one of my shows is on tonight!" I complained. "You said I could watch my shows that I watched with Mom!"
"What show is it?" Dean asked me.
"It's called College Town."
"College Town?" Uncle Sam said, looking at Dean.
"Yeah, it's about a bunch of college students living in a house together." I explained.
"I've heard of it, it's one of those reality tv shows." Uncle Sam said. "You shouldn't be watching it."
"Why not? Mommy let me watch it!" I stomped my foot and stuck my tongue out at his back.
"For one thing, it's on really late. For another, it's not appropriate."
"You're not 'propriate!" I retorted, glaring at him. "What does that mean anyways?"
"It means that it's a show for grown-ups, with grown-up things happening, and kids shouldn't be watching it." Uncle Sam said in a firm voice. "And you need to watch your mouth." He looked at me sternly. "It's on pretty late at night, didn't you say that your mother usually fell asleep early in the evening?"
Dean turned to look at me. They both were watching me, and I squirmed, because they had caught me in a lie.
"Some- sometimes she would watch it with me, if she was awake..." I said quietly, looking down at the floor.
"You're not telling the truth, are you?" Dean came over to me and leaned down to look me in the face. "She was asleep when you were watching it, wasn't she?"
I stared at my feet and traced the pattern in the rug with the toe of my shoe.
"Answer me." Dean said in a hard voice.
"Uh, yeah." I whispered.
"And she probably wouldn't have let you watch it if she knew, would she?" He straightened up and put his hands on his hips. "So you were lying. That is a big no-no, little girl." He looked over at Uncle Sam. "We need to have a talk about consequences for lying, later."
"Okay." Uncle Sam said to him.
"You're not watching it." Dean said flatly, pointing to my bed. "Go get ready for bed."
"But- but—I'm used to watching the show!" I protested, tears coming to my eyes.
"Well, not any more." Dean said. "If Sam says it's not appropriate, then that's good enough for me."
I was embarrassed that they had caught me in a lie, and I was frustrated too! "You're meeeeaaan!" I wailed, and I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. I pushed the button in the doorknob to lock it and sat down on the edge of the tub.
A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Charlie, what are you doing? Are you actually going to the bathroom?" Dean asked.
"Go away!" I called. If they weren't going to let me watch my show, I was just going to stay in here until my actual bedtime. The door was locked, they could not get me out of here!
"If you're in there sulking, you need to come out now."
"Go AWAY!" I called louder.
"No, Charlie, you need to come out and get ready for bed." Dean said. I saw the doorknob jiggle. "Little girl, unlock this door right now!" he said angrily.
"NO!" I shouted. "Leave me alone!"
"If I have to unlock this door, you're going to be in a lot of trouble." he said.
"You can't unlock it, you don't have a key!" I said.
"Last chance, Charlie." Dean said. "Give it to me, Sam." I saw the doorknob jiggling again, and then it turned with a pop, and the door swung open. I stood up and got into the tub.
Dean stood in the doorway with a little tool in his hand. "I know how to pick locks, so I can unlock the door. Get out of there."
I just glared at him. He put the tool in his pocket, and then walked towards me and grabbed me up. He turned and carried me out of the bathroom, and I balled up my fists and hit his arms and kicked my feet.
He sat down on the end of his bed and stood me in front of him, holding on to my upper arms. "What did I say earlier, Charlie? I told you no more hitting and kicking. I told you no more fighting and screaming at me when I tell you to do something. Why do you think it's okay to keep doing those things?"
I tried to pull away from him. "Stoooop!" I whined. "Lemme go!" I turned my head to look at the floor.
"No, little girl. You don't get to run away and hide just because you don't like something. You have to follow the rules now."
"I hate your rules!" I tried to twist out of his grasp.
He pulled me close to him. "Charlotte Anne Winchester, look at me." he said in a deep, angry voice. He let go of my arm and took my chin in his hand and made me look at him.
"You will not say that again, do you hear me? I already talked to you about that today too. Did everything I said earlier just go in one ear and out the other?"
"I don't like having all these rules and you telling me what to do!" I yelled.
"You still have to follow them and do what I say."
"No I don't!" He had relaxed his hold on me, and I jerked away from him, and got my arm free. I turned and made a dash for the door, and had opened it and started to run down the sidewalk, when large arms circled my waist and picked me up effortlessly.
It was Uncle Sam, of course. "Get it together, young lady, this is unacceptable behavior!" he scolded.
"No!" I shrieked, hitting and kicking him. "Put me dooooowwwnn!"
He carried me back into the room, kicking the door shut with his foot. He walked over to Dean, who was still sitting on the end of the bed, and put me down on the floor in front of him again. Then Uncle Sam walked over to the door and put the chain on, watching me.
Dean took ahold of my shoulders and shook me.
"That is ENOUGH!" His voice raised to a yell, and I flinched, my eyes going wide. I hadn't heard him raise his voice like that before.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me. His face was stern, but his eyes looked tired.
"I am too damned frustrated and worn out to deal with this crap tonight." he muttered, almost to himself. He let go of one arm, turned me to the side, and then landed a series of hard swats on my rear.
"Ow, Dean, ow, stop, OW!" I cried out, trying to hop away as his hand fell on my butt. Tears came to my eyes as he gave me a couple of harder swats, and then he released my arm. I stumbled backwards, reaching back to rub the sting out of my sore butt.
"Go get ready for bed." he said, and his voice was tired-sounding. I turned and trudged to the bathroom, not looking at myself in the mirror as I did my nightly routine. I was crying a little, and I felt bad for all the misbehaving I had done.
When I came out of the bathroom, Dean was standing over by the kitchen area, and he was drinking an amber liquid out of a glass. I walked around the room divider to what I thought of as "my area" and changed into my pjs.
Dean came over to me as I was starting to walk back around the divider.
"I'm sorry, Dean! I'm sorry I was bad!" I said, and I started to cry. He bent down and picked me up and hugged me, then sat down on my bed. I threw my arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay. You're all right. I'm sorry too. It was a rough day for both of us today." he said quietly, rubbing the back of my head. He gave me a squeeze, and then set me on the bed. Uncle Sam came over and leaned down to hug me.
"Tomorrow is a new day." he said. "Good night."
Dean stood up and I reached my hand up and grabbed his hand. "Dean?"
"Yeah?" he leaned down to me again.
"Can I practice calling you Dad sometimes?"
He smiled at me, and brushed my hair back from my forehead. "Sure." he said. "I'd like that."
"Okay." I turned on my side. "Good night, Dad." I said, and he leaned down and kissed my forehead.
"Good night." he said as he stood up, pulling the covers up. I closed my eyes and he walked around the divider.
I had started to doze when I heard the little refrigerator door slam shut, and it woke me up. Sam and Dean were sitting at the table talking.
"Sam, I don't know if I can do this." I heard Dean say in a low voice. "It was really hard today...I almost lost it. Between dealing with all the legal stuff, and then her being bored, and cranky... she can't help it, she's a kid, but I...I just don't have any experience. I feel like I'm in over my head."
"Well, it's new for all of us." Uncle Sam said quietly. "We knew there were going to be bumps in the road. "
"I tried to be more lenient today, I felt bad after I spanked her yesterday, but I don't know if I did the right thing." Dean sighed heavily. "And then she just kept pushing and pushing, and I ended up swatting her ass anyway."
"She needs boundaries and rules, she had nothing like that. It will take some time to figure out what works for her. Why don't you take a break. Go out and shoot some pool, have a couple drinks, I'll stay here." Sam said reassuringly.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
The bathroom door closed for a few minutes, and then I heard it open again. Then I heard the sound of the hotel door being opened. I sat up and looked over, just in time to see Dean leaving. I sprang off of the bed and ran to the door, yanking it open, as the Impala drove away. "Dean!" I called. "Dad!"
I felt a hand turning me around, and Uncle Sam was behind me. "Charlie, what are you doing?" His face was serious, but not angry.
"Where is Dean going?" I asked, tears coming to my eyes. "He didn't say goodbye to me!"
"You're supposed to be asleep, young lady." Uncle Sam said sternly. "Dean went out for a little while, he needs a break."
"When is he coming back?" I looked up at Uncle Sam, and he saw that I had tears in my eyes.
"Why are you upset?" he leaned down and picked me up.
"Did he leave because of me?" I asked quietly.
"No," Uncle Sam said. "No, honey, don't think that." He carried me back over to me bed and put me down. "Lay down and I'll rub your back. Get some sleep."
I woke up suddenly to a cell phone ringing. I heard Dean's voice, hoarse from sleep, talking. "Yeah? Hey. Oh really? Okay...yeah, I'll tell him. Okay, see you in a few."
I heard him say, "Sam, wake up. Hey Sam...there's been another attack. Bobby's coming over in a few minutes."
I heard Uncle Sam mumbling something. I got out of bed and walked around the divider. "What happened?" I asked.
Dean and Uncle Sam were sitting on the edges of their beds, facing each other. Dean turned to me.
"Go back to bed, Charlie." he said. "Don't worry about it."
I got back into my bed, but I didn't lay down. I could hear them talking in low voices. Then they got up and started to move around the room. There was a knock on the door, and Uncle Sam opened it, then I heard Uncle Bobby's gruff voice.
"I figure if we head out now, we can maybe get there before the official crew does."
"Dean's going to go with you." Uncle Sam said.
I jumped off of my bed and ran over to them. Dean came out of the bathroom just then.
"Where are you going? I want to go too!" I said to him.
"No, Charlie. There was another attack at a different campsite, and we're going to go investigate. It's not safe for you to be there." Dean told me, buttoning the cuffs of his plaid shirt.
"Please let me go with you!" I threw my arms around his waist. "What if you get hurt?"
He put his arms around my shoulders. "You can't go with me." he said. "You're going to stay here with Uncle Sam today."
"I don't want to, I want to be with you!" Tears came to my eyes.
"We can go get pancakes for breakfast, how's that?" Uncle Sam came over and stood next to us, looking down at me.
Dean took my arms away from his middle and walked over to the bed to put his boots on. "You'll be fine." he said to me.
"Don't leave!" I pleaded, starting to cry. He stood up again and I hugged him. He leaned down and hugged me tightly for a moment.
"Okay, we have to go. Charlie, let go." he said.
I felt hands pulling me away, and then Uncle Sam picked me up. Dean and Uncle Bobby turned to leave.
"I'll call you later, Sam." Dean said. "Bye, Charlie, be good." He smiled at me, and then they left the room.
I put my head on Uncle Sam's shoulder and sobbed.
"Why are you so upset, hmm?" he asked.
"I'm scared he'll get hurt!" I said.
"They're just going to look things over, and he knows what he's doing. He and Uncle Bobby will watch each other's backs. You should try and go back to sleep for a while."
"I don't want to!" I whined. Uncle Sam walked us over to his bed and sat down, putting me in his lap. I leaned against him and he stroked my hair back from my face slowly, and I felt myself getting sleepy.
I woke up later in his bed. He was at the table, clicking away on his laptop. I sat up and looked over at him.
"Good morning." he said, smiling at me. "You still in the mood to get pancakes?"
"I'm always in the mood for pancakes!" I said, and he laughed.
"Get dressed then, and we can go and get breakfast."