AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's been a while, so I figured I'd better put a Content Warning in: Charlie gets spanked in this chapter, DO NOT READ if this will bother or offend you. And DO NOT leave a review complaining about it!
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
Uncle Sam walked over and stood in front of the t.v. "Come on, Charlie, it's time for you to go to bed."
"Uncle Saaaam, you're in the way!" I frowned at him.
He put his hands on his hips and frowned back at me.
"I want to watch this with Daddy!" I whined.
"C'mon, Sam, it's a half-hour show," Daddy said.
Uncle Sam sighed. "Dean, you know how Charlie gets when she doesn't get enough sleep, and she's been more tired since she's been doing the extra program at PT. She really shouldn't be staying up late."
"Geez, Sam-"
"I'm not going to bed yet, and I'm gonna stay up and watch!" I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.
Uncle Sam came over to me and reached down to me.
"Nooooo, stooooop, get oooooofff!" I whined loudly as Uncle Sam tried to put his hands on me. I grabbed ahold of Daddy and clung to him.
"Charlie, stop it!" Uncle Sam said in a louder voice, and Daddy sat up and yelled back at him, "Sam, quit trying to grab her!"
"Dean, help me out here, would you?" Uncle Sam's voice was an angry yell over Daddy's and my protests.
Grandpa John came striding over to us quickly. "HEY!" he said loudly. "Quiet down, you three, I can hear you in my room! I'm on the phone!" He had his hand cupped over his phone. He snapped his fingers at me. "Charlie, quit all that fussing and hit the rack," he said sternly.
I sat up. "But I-"
Grandpa John frowned at me. "Bed, little girl," he growled, "Dean, put your kid to bed."
He turned and stalked out of the room, and I heard the phone beep. "I'm sorry about that," he said into the phone, and then he closed the door.
"Well, John Winchester has spoken," Daddy said. "C'mon, kiddo, let's get you to bed."
"But Daddy-" I whined.
"Nope, when Dad gets that tone in his voice it's best to do what he says. And I'm not so sure he's not going to come back in here and kick all three of our as- I mean butts." Daddy picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. I put my pajamas on and brushed my teeth and then got into bed. Uncle Sam came into the bedroom.
"Charlie, it's important for you to get a good night's sleep," he said.
"Okayokay," I grumped.
"Hey," he said, taking my chin in his hand. "Watch the attitude."
"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. He leaned down and hugged me, kissing my forehead before he straightened up.
Daddy came over and sat down. He hugged me and then kissed my cheek, and I laid down. He pulled the covers up. "We'll just have to DVR the show and then have a marathon when grumpy Uncle Sam isn't around," he told me, and I giggled.
"Good night, Daddy," I said.
" 'Night, baby," he replied, and he stood up and left the room.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
M-W-F/ T- Th
9-9:30 travel / 9-11 school work
9:30-11 PT / 11-12 exercise
11-11:30 travel / 12-1: 00 rest
Rest until 1:00
1- 1:30 lunch
1:30- 4:00 schoolwork with break
4-5 free time/computer
5-6 dinner
6-7 playground/free time
7-8 bath/reading/ ready for bed
8:00 bed
This week I had a new schedule- at PT they had added me to an exercise group with other kids where we did things together like play with a parachute and tossing a beach ball around together. I was so tired afterwards that I fell asleep in the car on the way back and slept for at least an hour after that, so Uncle Sam had adjusted my schedule. It was easier for me to do my work in the afternoon too, I wasn't a morning person.
Grandpa John was still helping Uncle Bobby out with something and had to do research on the laptop a lot and go to the library sometimes. Uncle Sam was helping him and left me to do my work on my own, since he said I'd gotten the hang of it. A couple of times either Daddy or Uncle Sam had left to take Grandpa John to a different library in the next town over or to a building where they stored public records and they would be gone for a long time. I liked it better when Daddy was with me because he didn't hover like Uncle Sam and he would let me watch t.v. with him and didn't insist that I finish all my work. If I said I wanted a break he let me have one, even if I'd already had one a short time ago. Uncle Sam wasn't too happy about this, and he put me in time out once when he caught me taking a break shortly after I'd just taken one with him. He had also taken all my electronics away for the evening, twice, because I hadn't done all my work.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
I was almost to the next level in my game, when all of a sudden Uncle Sam was there, and he took the tablet out of my hands.
"Hey!" I protested, reaching for it. "Give it back, I need to finish that level!"
He stood there frowning at me. "Why are you playing a game? Did you finish your work?" He tapped on the screen, and I watched him moving his finger, probably scrolling through my work. Then he looked at me.
"Young lady, what did I tell you before?" his voice was stern.
"Uh-" I gulped. "Which, uh, which thing?"
"What are the rules? Are you allowed to play games whenever you want?"
"Uh, no," I ducked my head guiltily.
"Are you supposed to be playing games if your work isn't finished?"
"Uh, no," I said again, staring at my hands in my lap.
"We've already talked about this, Charlie. In fact, I told you that I need to check your work over before you get to play any games, and yet here you are sneaking again!" His jaw was tight and I knew he was angry at me.
He started to tap the screen again. "I'm taking the games off of the tablet for now," he told me, "When you've shown me that you can be responsible and do your work, then I'll put them back on."
I reached up and tried to grab the touchpad. "No, you can't do that!" I exclaimed. "I'll lose all my points in my racing game! And I'll have to start over for all of them!"
"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to disobey me again," he said.
I jumped up on the couch and tried to grab the tablet again. "Give it!" I cried out. "You big giant meany!"
"Charlie, stop it. This is the consequence for your misbehavior." He put his hand on my wrist and looked me in the eyes. "Do you want a spanking as well? Because with all of your attitude and sass lately, and this, I'm about ready to put you over my knee."
I gulped again. "N-no, Uncle Sam," I said quickly.
"Then let go and sit down," he said in a hard voice. I sat down and watched as he tapped the screen, and I felt tears come to my eyes.
"It's not faaaaaairr," I whined. "I'm gonna lose everything I've done on all of them!"
Daddy walked into the room. "What's wrong? Why is Charlie upset?"
Uncle Sam looked at Daddy. "I've already talked to Charlie about making sure her work is finished before she plays games on the tablet, and she decided to sneak again and play a game, even though she had barely done any work, so I'm taking the games off of it for now."
Daddy looked at me. "Charlie, you need to do your schoolwork," he said.
"I know that!" I yelled, and I got up and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door. I threw myself on the bed and burst into tears.
I heard the door open after a few minutes and then the bed dipped as someone sat down on it. I turned my head to look, and it was Daddy. He put his hand on my back.
"I know you're upset, Charlie, but Sam's in the right here. Your work needs to get done before you play anything."
"But I need breaks," I sat up, sniffling.
"I know, baby, but maybe you should do something different during a break like read a book. Those games on your touchpad are for after your work is done."
"That's a dumb rule that Uncle Sam made," I huffed.
"I know, but it's his rule, and it's how he wants it, so you have to follow it," He put his arms around me and hugged me.
That evening we went to watch Ben's practice, and afterwards we walked over to a playground that was at the park. A lot of kids who had had practice were running around playing and there were parents grouped around the edges of the area talking.
I used my walker over to the playground because I was getting tired. I left it with Daddy and Uncle Sam and followed Ben over to a huge structure that had large tubes to run through that were connected with ladders and bridges.
"We pretend that this is our spaceship," Ben told me, "That tube over there is the main control room."
"Wait, she's gonna play too?" a tall boy with red hair said. "Why'd she use that thing to walk over here, is she a retard?"
"No, Ian, she's not a retard, gosh," Ben said. "She's my sister."
"Since when'd you get a sister?" a shorter boy with blond curly hair asked.
"We, uh, we just met, her and my, uh, my Dad," Ben said.
"What's wrong with her?" Ian asked, looking at me.
"She was sick and it made her have trouble moving," Ben said. "Not that it's any of your business. Are we gonna play or are we gonna stand around yapping?"
"Well, I just don't want to have to stop what we're doing to explain things to a 'tard," Ian said.
"You're rude!" I shouted. "I'm not retarded, and you're a big jerk!" I stepped towards Ian, clenching my fists.
"Okay, okay, geez," Ian said. "C'mon then."
I followed Ben into the tubes and he started telling me this story they had made up about being space explorers and the stuff they had done. I couldn't really follow the story he told me since a lot of it seemed like it was them running around in the tubes. I tried to follow them, but I started moving slower and slower. It seemed hot in the tubes, and I was getting sweaty.
"Quick, we need to re-start the engines!" Ian yelled, coming up behind me. "Move it, kid!" he snapped. He pushed my shoulder, and all of a sudden it was like my legs turned to spaghetti, weak and floppy. I fell down, and then I couldn't get back up.
"Ben!" I called. "Ben, come here!"
He appeared at the end of the tube. "What, Charlie?"
"I can't- my legs are weak, I can't get up."
He got a scared look on his face as he hurried over. "I'll help you," he leaned down and put his arm around my waist. "Didja fall down?"
"My legs were feeling all rubbery and then Ian pushed me to get by and I fell." I told him.
"Put your arm around my shoulder," he said, pulling me up. He managed to half-carry, half-drag me out of the tunnels, and then he called, "Dean! DEAN! Charlie needs help!"
"Daddy!" I called.
Daddy, Uncle Sam, and Lisa all came running over, and Daddy leaned down.
"What's wrong, Charlie?" he asked worriedly.
"My legs started to feel all weak and then I fell down." I told him.
"Anything else happen? How were you feeling before it happened?" Uncle Sam asked.
Ian came out of the tube. "Hey Ben, what're you doing? Come on!"
Ben ran over to him and shoved him, hard. "That's for pushing my sister, jerkface!"
"Hey!" Ian yelled, getting in Ben's face.
"You're a douchewad!" Ben yelled, shoving him again.
"Benjamin!" Lisa yelled. "What is going on here?" she walked over to the boys.
"Well first he, Ian called Charlie a retard and wanted to know why she used a walker! And then, in the tunnels, he pushed her and she fell over!"
A man with red hair who looked like a tall version of Ian had come over.
"Really?" he asked tightly. "Really, Ian? You're calling a child who uses a walker a retard? And putting your hands on them? What do you have to say for yourself, young man?"
"Sorry," Ian's face got red and he stared at the ground.
"Let's go," Ian's dad said. "We need to have a talk about you being rude to people." He nodded at Daddy as we walked by. "I'm sorry for my son's behavior, sir," he said, and Daddy nodded back.
Daddy looked at me. "Can you stand up?" he asked. He pulled me up, and let go, and I collapsed again. He picked me up. "Sam, grab the walker," he said. "I guess we need to go," he told Lisa.
"Has this happened before?" she asked.
"No, it's hasn't," Daddy said. "I'll call her doctor when we get home, Charlie's got PT tomorrow so maybe she'll want to see her then."
"All right, let me know how it goes," Lisa bent forward and kissed my cheek. "Take care, Charlie," she said kindly. "Come on, Ben, let's go."
"Thanks for helping Charlie, kiddo," Daddy said to Ben. "We'll see you soon."
"Hey Ben," I called. He turned to look at me.
"Thanks for protecting me," I said. He grinned at me, and I smiled back at him. Lisa ruffled his hair as they walked away.
Daddy put me in the back seat of the car and looked at me. "You okay?" he asked.
I nodded. He and Uncle Sam got into the car.
"That kid Ian was mean, he asked if I was retarded because I used a walker!" I said indignantly.
"Yeah, that kid was a punk," Daddy agreed. "Seems like his dad was gonna straighten him out, though."
"What's a douchewad?" I asked. I saw them glance at each other, and it sounded like Daddy chuckled and then turned it into a cough.
"It's, uh, it's a bad word, and I don't want to hear you say it," Daddy told me.
"Yeah, but what does douchewad mean?" I asked.
"It means...it's like a fancy way of saying jerk," Uncle Sam's lips were twitching. "Don't say it again, Charlie."
"Okaaay," I said.
Uncle Sam turned and started to ask me questions- what had I eaten today, had I had enough to drink, what had I done on the playground, how I was feeling right before I fell down, how I was feeling physically. He asked me all the way back to the hotel, and told Daddy to remember everything that I was saying.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
I woke up slowly, hearing familiar electronic beeping. It took me a second to remember- I opened my eyes and turned my head. Daddy was sitting next to the hospital bed.
"Hey, baby," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," I said. "Is it all done?"
"Yeah, it's done," he stood up. "Let me let the nurse know you're awake."
My legs had been weak all night and I hadn't been able to walk. Daddy had talked to Dr. Miriam, who had said that if I was still in the same condition the next day that I should come in for an exam and possibly an MRI. I had felt the same in the morning, so I hadn't been allowed to eat breakfast, so that they could put me to sleep for the MRI. They had also drawn blood while I was asleep.
Daddy came back into the room, followed by a nurse. "All right, the fluids are just about done, so I'll take out your IV and look you over, and then you can go."
She leaned over and took some stuff out of her pocket. "There will be a little pinch when I take out the needle," she told me.
Daddy took my other hand. "Look over here, Charlie," he said. "Keep breathing, and squeeze my hand, okay?"
I nodded, but then I burst into tears when I felt the pain in my arm.
"It's out, all done," the nurse said, taping a gauze pad to my arm. "Good job, sweetie."
"It's over, Charlie," Daddy rubbed my back. "You're okay."
The nurse took my blood pressure and listened to my heart, and then said that we could go. My legs were still really weak, so I was in the wheelchair again. We went back to the hotel and stopped at a drive-through for food since I was starving.
"So how did it go?" Uncle Sam met us at the door of the hotel.
"Charlie did fine, Dr. Miriam will call when the results come in," Daddy said. "Hey Dad, you hungry?" he called, seeing the other door open.
Grandpa John came to his door. "What did you get?" he asked.
"A whole bucket of fried chicken?" Uncle Sam said.
"Yeah, that's what Charlie wanted." Daddy told him.
"How are you feeling, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked. "You feel up to doing school work today?"
"No, I still feel all fuzzy-headed," I said.
"I figured," Uncle Sam smoothed my hair back from my face. "We can take a break today so that you can recover." He wheeled me into the kitchen and helped me sit in a chair. We sat around and ate fried chicken and they talked about the case that they were helping Uncle Bobby with.
Afterwards we sat together and watched a marathon of my favorite cooking contest show, and I fell asleep on the sofa. I woke up when Daddy's phone was ringing. My head was on his thigh and I was laying on my side covered with a blanket.
I listened to him talking to the doctor, and Uncle Sam came over and listened too. Daddy thanked her and then hung up. "She said that the MRI was normal. Your bloodwork showed low blood sugar and dehydration. She said that your muscles may get depleted of energy faster because your body is still recovering from the toxin, so you need to take extra good care of yourself and get plenty of rest and eat well."
"Did you eat lunch yesterday?" Uncle Sam asked me. "I noticed your sandwich in the trash."
I felt my face get red. "Uh, no," I admitted.
"Why not, Charlie?" Daddy asked.
"I'm tired of eating sandwiches!" I said, "I want something else for lunch!"
"Okay, but you need to tell us what you want, so we can get it for you," Daddy said. "Think about what you want to eat, all right?"
"It would probably be a good idea to make sure that Charlie is eating every couple of hours, and drinking." Uncle Sam said. "We'll have to get some healthy snacks for her." He looked at Daddy. "And you need to cut down on stuff like this," he held up a cup from the fast-food restaurant
"I know, Sam, that was a treat because she had the MRI today," Daddy said. "We don't eat junk that often."
"Make sure it stays that way," Uncle Sam said.
That night before bed, I sat down with Daddy and we made a list of food that I liked and things I would want to eat for meals and snacks. He said he would go shopping tomorrow for everything.
The next day was Saturday, and Ben had a game at 11:00. We drove to the park where the games were held and met him and Lisa there. I felt better, and was walking, but my legs felt a little shaky. I used my walker, and Daddy walked right next to me in case I felt weak. We set up chairs so we could all sit together and watch the game. I sat next to Grandpa John and he tried to explain the rules to me, but I had a hard time following what he was saying. Lots of people sitting around us were cheering loudly and talking.
"Ben's got great form," Grandpa John said to Lisa. "We had Dean in T-Ball when he was 4, and I wonder sometimes if he would have gone further than that."
"Why didn't he?" Lisa asked.
"My wife...passed away, and...things changed afterwards." Grandpa John said uncomfortably.
"That's right, I'm sorry," Lisa said softly. I saw her put her hand on Daddy's and squeeze it. Ben stepped up to the plate just then and we cheered him on.
Ben's team won, and Lisa told us that they often went to a restaurant that served pizza after their games, so Daddy said we would join them.
"How are you, Charlie, feeling okay?" he asked as we walked back to the car.
"I'm fine," I said. "All we did is sit around, I'm not tired."
When we got to the restaurant it was already crowded and noisy. Ben ran up to us.
"Hey, we grabbed a table and saved it!" he said, beckoning us to follow him.
"They have a couple of video games here!" he told me excitedly as we sat down.
"Do they have Galaga?" Daddy asked.
Ben looked at him. "How do you know about that?" he asked.
"Kid, that's old school, that's my game from when I was a kid," Daddy told him. "In fact, if they have it, I challenge you to a game."
Ben grinned at him. "You're on!"
"All right, let's decide what we want before you kids go running off to play video games," Lisa said.
"Can I play too?" I asked, feeling a little jealous. I put my hand on Daddy's arm and he looked at me.
"Remember when we played Galaga right after we met?" I asked quietly. It made me feel funny for a moment, so much had happened since then.
"You were calling me Dean back then," he said. He leaned down and put his forehead on mine. "I'm glad that you call me Daddy now," he said softly.
"Me too," I smiled at him.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "All three of us can play, we'll figure it out," he said.
Since there were so many kids there we had to wait a long time to play the game. Daddy and Ben and I stood behind the two kids playing Galaga, waiting for them to finish. It was two boys who kept elbowing each other. One of them pushed the other one and he tripped backwards and almost fell into me. I was standing there with my walker, and I tried to move out of the way and started to lose my balance.
Daddy jumped over and grabbed me, and Ben stepped up to them and said, "Hey, watch what you're doing."
One of the boys glanced behind him. "Get lost, Braeden." he said. The other one laughed, and said, "Yeah, get stuffed, dickhead."
Daddy stepped up behind them and loomed over them. "You two want to watch your mouths and yourselves? You almost knocked my daughter over." he said in a low, stern voice. Both boys turned and looked up at him. Daddy glowered at them, and I saw both of them gulp.
"Sorry," they both said, after looking at me. "Uh, we're done now." They glanced at each other and hurried away.
Ben was trying not to laugh. "Those two are such jerks," he said. "Thanks, Dean."
Our game was cut short because our food arrived at the table. When we sat down, Lisa was laughing and Uncle Sam was smirking.
Daddy looked back and forth at them. "What?" he asked. "What?"
"Dad was just telling Lisa tales of our misspent youth—well, tales of your misspent youth," Uncle Sam said.
"Oh, no, Dad, what did you tell her?" Daddy asked, rolling his eyes.
"I had no idea you were such a player in high school, Dean," Lisa said teasingly.
"Let's hope Ben doesn't follow in his footsteps in that regard," Grandpa John said with a grin.
"What footsteps? What regard?" Ben looked at Lisa.
"Well, with all of you here, I'm sure we can all manage to keep him on the straight-and-narrow," Lisa chuckled.
"What are you talking about, Mom!" Ben said with annoyance, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, Ben, watch how you talk to your Mom," Daddy said.
"Well, it's good to know that Charlie's not the only one with a lot of sass," Uncle Sam said.
"I have the feeling that Charlie and Ben are going to have the two of you beat in the sass department," Grandpa John said to Daddy and Uncle Sam.
"Only because you wouldn't allow it," Daddy replied. "We had a 'no sass allowed' rule when we were growing up," he told me and Ben.
"Well, I was training you, and respect is part of that," Grandpa John said. "I'm not sorry I did it that way, respect is a good thing."
"Sam's butt was sorry," Daddy retorted, and Ben and I laughed.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"Well, Uncle Sam was a stubborn kid, and always had to argue and have the last word. And nobody argues with John Winchester and wins. There were certain times when Sam was always getting his butt smacked because of his mouth," Daddy grinned at Uncle Sam. "See? I can tell embarrassing stories too."
"Thanks, jerk," Uncle Sam said.
"Yeah, whatever, bitch," Daddy mumbled.
"Why do you guys say that to each other?" I asked. "It's not nice to call each other names."
Daddy and Uncle Sam looked at each other and grinned.
"It's just something we've always said to each other since we were kids," Daddy said. "It's not really name calling because there's affection there, ya know?"
"You can be bitch and I'll be jerk!" Ben said to me.
"Uhh...no," Lisa shook her head. "I don't think so, young man."
"No, not a good idea, kiddo," Daddy chimed in. "No curse words or bad language from either of you." He gave me, and then Ben, a look.
"How come you guys got to call each other names?" Ben asked.
"Well...it was different back then," Daddy said.
"And we're telling you that you're not allowed to, and that should be enough," Lisa said to Ben.
"Okaaay," Ben said, sighing.
"Gee, where have I heard that tone before?" Uncle Sam said, and everyone laughed.
The waiter brought the check over at that point, and Daddy got out his wallet.
On the way home, Daddy told me that he was going to go grocery shopping, and Grandpa John said he would go with him. Once Uncle Sam and I got back to the room, he went to check his laptop for messages about the case that they were helping Uncle Bobby with. I took out the tablet and started to play on it.
"What are you doing?" Uncle Sam came over to me and took the tablet, staring at the screen with a frown. "Where did this game come from?" he looked up at me.
"I, uh-"
He looked at the screen again and I watched him tapping it. His eyebrows raised and he looked at me again. "Where did all these games come from, young lady?" his voice was stern.
I squirmed as he stared at me. "I, uh, there's some websites that have free games to download, an' I, uh, that's where I got them from."
"So you went on the internet on your own and found some sites and put these games on the tablet without asking me or saying anything to anyone."
"Uh, yeah."
"Dammit, Charlie!" he snapped, walking over to the desk. He put the tablet down, and came back over to me. "How many times do we have to go over this? You do not go to websites on your own and just download whatever you want. I need to check them out first! And once again, you're sneaking around behind my back, playing games without my knowledge. Well, this is the last time, young lady." he walked over and sat next to me, and then in one movement I was face down over his lap.
"Uncle Sam!" I yelped.
"Charlie, I've had enough of you not listening and disobeying. We've already talked about all of this more than once and the other consequences I've given you don't seem to have done anything. So maybe a spanking will get through to you."
"Noooo!" I howled as his hand fell on my bottom for the first time. He wrapped his arm around my waist and snugged me to his side because I was struggling so much. I tried to push my body up on the sofa and he moved so that I was hanging down and had to grab ahold of his leg.
"No more disobedience, no more attitude, no more sassing," Uncle Sam said as he spanked me. "You will do the work I give you in a timely fashion and not put it off. You will do good work and not be lazy about it. Is that clear?"
"Yeeeesss Uncle Saaaaaam!" I wailed, trying to squirm away from his falling palm.
After a few more swats he stopped. "Now, I need to address you going behind my back and downloading those games on your own. You'd better never do something like that again, young lady. That's a form of lying, and it's not safe, because you don't know anything about those websites. They could have viruses or inappropriate content on them. You have to follow the rules that I have made for you, and you do not lie to me." And then he pulled down my shorts and panties, and I squealed and tried to get off of his lap.
"You will follow the rules, and you will not lie to me, and you will not download anything without my permission again, is that clear?" His hand fell at intervals, emphasizing certain words, and then he laid several more stinging swats down on my bare bottom, and I howled again. I felt him pulling up my panties and then he helped me up to sit in his lap. He took my chin in his hand and made me look at him.
"I am very serious about this, Charlie. If you do this again, anything with downloading games or going on the internet unsupervised, I will paddle you. Is that clear?" His eyebrows were raised and his face was stern.
"Y-es, Uncle S-sam," my voice cracked, "M' sorry, Uncle S-sam," I sobbed, clutching his shirt.
"You're a smart girl, Charlie," Uncle Sam rubbed my back. "You need to do your work and do what I tell you."
"I w-will," I put my arms around him.
"And you need to do your work to the best of your ability. No more being lazy."
"Okay," I said, and then I buried my face in his chest and started to cry harder.
When Mommy had gotten sick I had slacked off a lot in school, and had started to get bad grades, but then she had been too sick to go to conferences, and so my Aunt Janice had talked to the teacher, and then scolded me about causing extra stress for Mommy. And then I had fallen behind on things and had trouble keeping up, but I had to hide it because Mommy was too sick to help me or even care. I had felt like no one cared if I got an A or a D on my tests or if I finished a project or brought home artwork. It was different now with Uncle Sam, he was going to be checking everything, and he wouldn't let me get away with what I did before, but it was because he cared about me. I snuggled into him and he put his arms around me and murmured soothingly until I had started to settle down.
The door opened and Daddy and Grandpa John walked in carrying plastic shopping bags.
Daddy walked quickly over to us. "What happened? What's wrong? Why is Charlie—did you spank her?"
"Yes, Dean, I did," Uncle Sam said calmly.
"What the hell, Sam?" Daddy yelled, suddenly angry.
"Dean, she went behind my back and downloaded games onto the tablet from all these different sites on the internet. She knows better than that and she chose to break my rules anyway. Plus she's been sassy and throwing attitude for days now. And the games were the last straw," Uncle Sam's voice was defensive.
"Come here, baby," Daddy said, and I got up and went to him. He put his arm around me and I put my arms around his waist and buried my face in his side.
"Well, you listen to me," Daddy said, in a stony voice. "Charlie is my daughter and I don't think she should be spanked right now. She's still- she's still recovering, and I don't-"
"Dean, she's recovering just fine," Uncle Sam interrupted him. "In fact, Imani said-"
"Sam, I'm telling you no! She's my daughter and it's my decision!" Daddy's voice was raised now.
"So, if I've already given her consequences and they haven't worked, what am I supposed to do then? Huh?"
"You talk to me about it, and I'll decide the consequence!"
Uncle Sam scoffed. "Yeah, like you'll do anything. You've been letting her get away with an awful lot ever since- well, since before she got out of the hospital!"
"She's been through a rough time, and she needs to take it easy, and we need to take it easy on her too!" Daddy said.
"Dean, there's a difference between taking it easy with her and letting her get away with bad behavior. And you have been letting her get away with a lot recently." Grandpa John spoke up.
Daddy turned on him. "What, you too, old man? I certainly don't need any advice from 'father of the year' John Winchester." Daddy's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Grandpa John stepped close to Daddy. "Excuse me? Did you forget who you're talking to, boy? You do not take that tone with me! Do we need to finish this conversation outside?" His voice was a low growl.
I looked up at his angry face and at Daddy, whose face was just as angry. I got scared and burst into tears. "Stop it!" I wailed. "Don't argue any more! I'm sorry I was bad! Don't yell any more!"
"Yeah, now you've gone and upset her even more, great," Daddy snapped. And he leaned down and scooped me up. He carried me into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, holding me in his lap.
"Daddy, I'm sorry," I said.
"Shh," he shushed me. "It's all right, Charlie."
I looked up at him. "But Daddy, I was bad."
"Well, Uncle Sam didn't have to spank you," he told me. "I'm not too happy with him about that."
The way Daddy was acting was a little confusing to me, because he was acting like I was still in the hospital and still hurt. But I didn't know what to say or how to say it to him. So I snuggled into him and we cuddled for a while until I started to fall asleep.