AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay in publishing this chapter, I was stuck and doing re-writes for a while. Add into the mix some chronic health issues, and the fact that school is out and it's now summer vacation for my kids. They are old enough that they don't need constant supervision, but I still get a lot of "Mom I'm hungry/the computer won't work/she's being mean to meeee"! Plus I've had two plot bunnies that needed to get written out...A big Thank You to Molli3 for all the help and advice!

ALSO, Charlie's 'Day of Reckoning' has arrived, and she gets spanked in this chapter. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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I stood next to Lisa awkwardly as she introduced me to her co-workers. I held my Hello Kitty purse tightly in my hands so that I didn't have to shake anyone's hands. We were at a day spa for the "Mother-Daughter Spa Event" that she had told me about.

A woman wearing a pink smock came to the door, looking down at a clipboard. "All right, I've got a schedule made up, I need Jones, Rossetti, and Siddal at the Pedicure station, Shelley, Byron, and Braeden for Manicures."

Lisa put her hand on my back and looked down at me. "Ready?" she asked. I nodded and followed her. The woman in the smock kept calling out names, directing people to go to the massage tables or the skin care lounge.

Lisa and I sat down at a small table next to each other. "Hi, I'm Dawn, and this is Jennie," said a woman wearing a pink smock. Dawn had blonde hair that was very styled and heavy eye makeup. Jennie had curly brown hair that was twisted up in the back and held in place with a couple of fancy hair clips, and long nails with bright polish and little sparkly gemstones on them.

"I'm Lisa, and this is Charlie," Lisa told them.

Jennie looked at me. "Must be nice, getting to take a day off of school to hang out with Mom at a spa," she said.

"Well, Charlie's not my daughter, per se, she's...it's a little complicated," Lisa said with a little laugh, "My son's father was not part of his life before, and he just...got in touch with me recently, and Charlie is his daughter."

"Wow, that's nice of you to bring her along with you," Dawn said to me, "You should stick with this lady! I had a step-father and a step-mother and neither of them ever did anything nice like this!"

"Here's the nail polish we're going to be using, pick what you want," Jennie set a huge tray of nail polish bottles on the table between us. Lisa and I sorted through and picked the ones we wanted to use.

"All right, have you had a manicure before?" Jennie asked me. I nodded. She picked up a nail file and then took my hand in hers to look at my nails. I tried really hard not to see, I didn't want to see anything, but the images came into my head anyway. I saw Jennie, standing in a partially darkened room, and there was a cash register, and she opened it and then quickly took money out and stuffed it into her pocket.

I took a deep breath and bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn't say anything. I didn't want to ruin this day, I didn't want people to look at me funny and get mad. I kept breathing slow, and gradually the urge to say something went away.

"You okay, Charlie?" Lisa asked me.

"Yeah, " I said faintly.

"Would you like a drink? We've got sodas and lemonade," Jennie said.

"I'll take a Coke, how about you Charlie?" Lisa asked.

"Um, a lemonade please," I said.

Jennie got up and left the room, and was back in a few minutes with two cans.

I listened as Lisa and Dawn chatted- Dawn had two boys, a 7-year-old and a 12-year-old, and she and Lisa were comparing stories about boys and laughing.

"I swear, they're brain dead," Dawn said with a chuckle, "You tell them not to do something and then they do it anyway, and when they get into trouble they have the nerve to look shocked!"

Lisa shook her head and laughed. "And then when you say, 'Go to your room and wait for me', you get the puppy-dog eyes and the 'Why, Mom?', like you didn't just tell them to not skateboard off the back deck!"

After we were finished having our nails done, we had to wait until another station was opened up. We went back to the lobby, where people were standing around waiting.

"Um, Lisa, I have something to tell you," I said quietly.

"What is it, Charlie?" she squatted down next to me.

"Well, when Jennie took my hand, I, uh, I saw something."

"Oh. You mean, you saw, like you do?"

I nodded.

"What did you see?" Lisa asked.

"I saw Jennie taking money out of a register and putting it in her pocket," I whispered.

All of a sudden I felt like crying. "But I didn't say anything, I didn't want to say it and ruin the day, so I was able to-to keep it inside."

Lisa put her hand on my head. "Oh, I'm sure that was uncomfortable. Are you okay?"

I nodded. "It...it goes away after a while if I hold it in."

"Okay. You let me know it you start feeling bad, all right?" she looked me in the eyes.

"Okay," I agreed, "what are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell someone?"

"I think I'll make a phone call to the manager after I get home, and just let then know they should keep an eye on her," Lisa told me. She stood up.

A woman came to the door. "Braeden and Winchester," she called out.

I looked up at Lisa. "What's that for?"

Lisa looked at me. "It's a little surprise for you, I remembered how upset you were in the hospital when they cut your hair. I made an appointment for you to have your hair styled, since they just chopped it off and didn't really do anything else to it. Is that all right?"

"Uh, sure," I said.

"And I'll be right next to you, getting a trim," she reassured me.

The lady who took us back to the hair salon led us over to a section with sinks that had chairs in front of them. Lisa and I sat in the chairs and had our hair washed by two women. It was very relaxing; I had never been in a salon or gotten this done before.

"All right, sweetie, my name is Patty, how would you like your hair? Are we doing a trim?" she asked me once I had sat in the big chair in front of a mirror.

"Uh, I dunno, I've never...I've never had a haircut in a salon before," I told her.

"Oh, you haven't?"

"No, my mom always just trimmed my hair herself."

"Okay, well do you want to do something different?" Patty tilted my head and looked at my hair in the mirror.

"No, I don't want to make it different," I said.

"Maybe just shape it a little, she was... in an accident and they had to cut her hair short," Lisa said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I see, it's kind of uneven on the side here and in the back. You want me to just even the ends? I can trim a little bit of bangs in the front too, if you want," Patty walked over to a small table and then brought over a book with photos of hairstyles. "Here, I can do this if you'd like," she turned the pages until she got to the section with kid's hair cuts.

"Let me see," Lisa leaned over and looked, "Oh, Charlie, that would look cute if you had some bangs cut," she smiled at me.

"You want to try it?" Patty asked.

"Um, okay, sure," I took a deep breath.

"It will always grow back," Patty told me.

"And your hair grows fast, Charlie, it's grown a lot since I first met you," Lisa said.

When Patty was finished trimming my hair, she blew it dry, and then everyone said how cute it looked. It curled under slightly at the bottom, and it was just past my shoulders, and I had a small fringe of bangs on my forehead.

After Lisa was finished we got to go into another room and make ice cream sundaes, and then it was time to leave. Daddy was going to meet us here because Lisa had to get Ben from school. We walked out to the parking lot, and I saw the Impala parked in the front. Daddy got out of the car as we walked over to him.

"Well, you look different," he said to me.

Lisa swatted his arm. "Dean, you're supposed to say she looks nice!"

"I was getting to that!" he said to her, "Your hair looks good like that, Charlie, and it is different...do you like it?"

"Yeah, I do," I said.

"Good, I do too." Daddy put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. "You look nice too, Lis," he said, "Thanks for doing this."

"Sure, we had fun, didn't we?" she said to me.

"Yeah. Thank you," I said. "Are you going to call?"

"Yes, I will," she assured me, "I've got to go, I'll talk to you two later."

"What was that about?" Daddy asked after we got in the car.

"Uh, when the lady was doing my nails she took my hand and I saw... her taking money out of the register. But I didn't say anything, I was able to keep it in."

"You kept it in and didn't blurt it out?" Daddy asked.

"Yeah, it was hard but I did it," I said.

"Well, good for you. I'm sorry it was hard for you," he said, "Want to go out tonight and play some mini-golf after we eat?"

"Yeah!" I said excitedly.

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Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had been gone on a hunt for a couple of days now, and it was just me and Daddy again. At first I had behaved myself, feeling a little worried that Grandpa John would spank me again if I misbehaved or sassed. But then when they left I realized that Daddy was still acting the same as before. He let me eat what I wanted and he let me stay up late. We went to see a movie one day, and another day he found an indoor arcade and we stayed there for a long time playing games.

He took me to PT and made sure I did my exercises. Uncle Sam had left a list of assignments for me to do, and Daddy checked them over. I did the work, the first couple of days, but then I got bored. I discovered that I could just fill in answers and it didn't matter if they were wrong. Daddy wasn't actually checking my work to see if it was right, he was just making sure that I had completed it. So I was able to sit there and daydream for a while and then fill in a bunch of numbers for my math work, and he didn't know that I hadn't really done what I was supposed to.

We also spent more time with Ben and Lisa. Ben's team had three practices this week instead of two, so we went to all of them. The first one, we met them beforehand for dinner, but the second one Lisa hadn't been able to meet us before, so she said we could spend some time on the playground after.

Ben and I were playing chase with his team-mates. I wasn't able to run that fast so I was one of the ones who got tagged out almost right away. I didn't care, though, it was fun to be running around on the playground.

"Ten minute warning, Ben!" Lisa called to him.

Ben stopped running. "Aw Mom, can't we stay for longer?"

"You've still got homework to do," she reminded him.

"Hey," Ben said to me in a low voice, "When she calls me, let's you and me run away and not go over there. I'll bet that neither of them will chase us."

"Okay," I agreed.

We kept running with the other boys, and then I noticed Daddy and Lisa standing up.

"Ben, it's time, buddy," she called.

"Ignore them," Ben said to me quietly. He started to walk across the playground quickly, away from them.

"Charlie, let's go," Daddy called.

We ducked under the big slides and walked the other way.

"Ben!" Lisa called, her voice getting louder. "Ben, come on!"

"Keep walking," Ben said.

"Benjamin!" Lisa had walked towards us, "I know you hear me! Let's go, young man!"

She started to come closer to us.

"Run! You go the other way!" Ben said, and he ran away.

"Charlie!" Daddy called to me, "Charlie, come on, it's time to go!" He was walking towards me quickly, and I didn't know what to do.

"Benjamin Isaac Braeden, get over here now! You have to the count of three! One..." Lisa yelled, her face angry.

"Charlotte Anne!" Daddy called louder.

I walked over to Daddy and Lisa and Ben hurried over with an embarrassed look on his face. "Aw Mom, you don't have to count, I'm not a little kid any more!" he whined sulkily. "Ow, what'd you have to do that for?" he reached back and rubbed his butt where she had swatted him.

"There's plenty more of that when we get home, young man, what were you thinking, you do not run away from me when I call you," Lisa scolded.,"Say good-night, we're leaving now."

"Bye, Charlie. Bye, Dean," Ben called forlornly.

Daddy took my hand as we walked back to the car. "What the hell was that, little girl?" Daddy asked me. He seemed annoyed but not angry.

"We didn't want to leave yet, why couldn't we stay for a while longer?" I whined.

"Because we said it was time to go," Daddy told me, "And you need to listen to us and do what we tell you."

He opened the back door of the Impala and swatted me as I climbed in, but it didn't really hurt. At first I felt nervous- Ben was going to get spanked when he got home and I wondered if Daddy was going to spank me too. On the way back to the room, Daddy told me that I was going to go to bed early and I felt relieved that I wasn't going to get a spanking. He forgot to tell me to get ready for bed, though, and called me over to the sofa to watch a cooking contest show with him. I was a little confused, but I wasn't going to bring it up to him, because what if he decided that I should be spanked like Ben? Both Ben and I had disobeyed, so we both deserved to be in trouble, but Daddy wasn't really giving me consequences. It made my tummy feel funny, because I knew I should be in trouble like Ben was, but I kept quiet and sat with him and watched t.v.

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"Charlie," Daddy said quietly, shaking my shoulder. "It's time to wake up, come on."

I rolled over and groaned. "Whyyyy?"

"You have PT, come on, get up now."

"I don't wannaaaa," I whined, "can't I stay here today?"

"No, you need to do PT, kiddo. C'mon, up and at 'em."

He shook me again, and I batted his hand away. "Stop it! Get offa me!" I snapped, curling up in a ball.

He stood up. "Well, I guess Uncle Sam was right, no more staying up late watching t.v. for you," he said, and he pulled the covers off of me.

"Heeeeyy!" I protested, reaching up to try and grab them. "Not fair!" I rolled onto my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. A second later I felt a sting on my butt as Daddy swatted me, and I sat up. "Hey!" I said again.

Daddy folded his arms. "Well, that got your attention," he said firmly, "No more messing around, it's time to get up. Let's eat breakfast and get on the road, and you can take a nap when you get home if you're still tired."

"I don't wannaaaa take a naaaap," I whined.

"Oh, you keep that up and you will definitely be taking one," he said, turning away from the bed.

I stuck my tongue out at him as he left the room, and got out of bed, sighing. I was tired from staying up late watching t.v. almost every night. I got dressed, slowly, and had to eat my waffles in the car because we were late.

When we came back to the hotel, Grandpa John's truck was in the parking space next to Daddy's. I had forgotten that they were coming back today! I scrambled out of the car and ran to the door, ignoring Daddy's shout to me.

"Hey! You wait at the car and don't go running off like that!" Daddy hurried up to me and took my arm, giving me a little shake.

"But Daddy, I was just going to the door of our room," I whined.

He 'hmph'ed at me as he unlocked the door, and then Uncle Sam caught me in his arms and swung me up high as he hugged me. I liked being with Daddy but I had missed Uncle Sam and Grandpa John. I spent time sitting with them both while they did things like unpacked their duffles and sorted their dirty clothes to do laundry and talked to Daddy about their hunt. Eventually I fell asleep snuggled on the sofa in Grandpa John's lap.

I woke up when there was a knock on the door. They had ordered pizza for dinner. I got up and went to the bathroom, and when I came back, they were all in the living room. Daddy and Grandpa John were sitting on the sofa with open bottles of beer in front of them, and Uncle Sam was sitting at the desk.

Daddy gave me a plate with some pizza on it and I sat between him and Grandpa John while I ate. Then I saw what Uncle Sam was doing- he was looking at stuff on the tablet. I was going to get found out!

"Charlie, come here," Uncle Sam said, turning his body in the chair. I got up and walked over to stand in front of him.

"Explain this," he turned the tablet around to show me the math page where I had just filled in numbers.

"Uh-" I said, taking a big bite of pizza to buy myself some time.

"What's wrong, Sam? She did the work," Daddy said.

"No, Dean, she didn't do the work, she just filled in a bunch of nonsense so that it looked like the work was done!" Uncle Sam said angrily.

"Charlie, is that true? Did you do that?" Daddy asked, and his voice was stern.

"Uh, just with... some of the math," I squirmed.

Daddy sighed. "Little girl, I'm disappointed in you- that's like lying."

He stood up and walked over to us, and took the tablet. He looked at the page and then handed it back to Uncle Sam, shaking his head. I stared down at my shoes.

Uncle Sam tapped the screen a couple of times, and then looked up at Daddy, frowning. "And, she didn't do everything I left for her, again! What, were you too busy with all of your movies and min-golf to make her do the work? I can't- I can't believe this. After the last talk we had, you said that you were on board with the home-schooling, and now, to come home and find that you haven't been enforcing things again-"

"Sam, she did most of the work, just not all of it!" Daddy crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Dean, I can't let this go anymore, this is her education. She'd be getting in trouble with her teacher big time for this, if she were in regular school. She's got to start getting consequences for her school work."

Daddy got an uncomfortable look on his face. "Well..." he said slowly.

I got mad. It wasn't fair that Uncle Sam was mad at Daddy for this, Uncle Sam was just a big giant meany! He never wanted to do anything fun, or let me have fun, it was always workworkwork with him!

"All you want me to do is work!" I said, "and that's just not fair! You're just a meany!" I stomped my foot at him.

"Excuse me, young lady, you will not talk to me that way any more," Uncle Sam said sternly. He looked at Daddy. "I know what you said before, Dean, and I've tried to abide by it, but I've had it with her sassing me, and if it doesn't stop, I will turn her over my knee."

"Sam-" Daddy said, and he looked even more uncomfortable.

I glared at Uncle Sam, and he glared back at me.

I scurried behind Daddy and peered around him at Uncle Sam. "I'd like to see you try, you big dumb moose, I don't care, and neither does Daddy, and, and he won't let you spank me anyways!" I jeered.

Uncle Sam's mouth dropped open. Grandpa John looked stunned.

"What did you just say to me?" Uncle Sam asked in a low voice.

I looked up at Daddy, knowing that he was going to defend me, and then I saw his face. His eyes were green ice, and he narrowed them as he looked down at me.

"Charlotte. Anne. Winchester," he said in a stony voice, and his jaw was tight. He reached for me, and I realized in that moment that I had pushed things too far, with him and with all of them.

I ran.

I bolted towards the door, and they weren't expecting it, so they didn't follow right away. I turned the deadbolt and yanked the doorknob, flinging the door back and running outside towards the Impala parked at the curb.

I heard someone call out behind me, "Charlie!"

I vaguely heard a car engine in the near distance, and then I was past Baby's bumper and suddenly a car was bearing down on me. Then the air was filled with brakes screeching and a horn blaring.

"Jesus, kid, get outta the road! I almost hit you!" a man's voice yelled.

My heart was pounding and my breath was coming in short gasps. I turned slightly, and saw Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John all standing at the door, and all three of them wore identical expressions- wide-eyed fear in pale white faces.

I broke out in a sweat, and as the car pulled slowly away it was so near to me that I felt a breeze as it drove past. I realized how close I had come to being hit by a car. I started to shake as Daddy stalked towards me.

I looked up at him as he came up to me, and his face was changing from scared to angry.

"Daddy I'm sorry, I broke a rule, I'm sorry-" I babbled, remembering the rule just then about not leaving the hotel room by myself. It seemed like that rule had been made years and years ago.

He didn't say anything, just leaned down and grabbed me up, but he didn't hug me. He carried me quickly into the bedroom and set me down on the end of the bed.

Our eyes met as he looked down at me and I opened my mouth to say, "Daddy-" but the word stuck in my throat. He had looked angry before I ran, and now he looked thunderous. I tried to swallow but my throat was dry. He turned and walked out of the room, closing the door hard behind him.

I put my hand up to brush my hair back from my face and my hand was shaking. I had almost gotten hit by a car. I remembered being very little and running out in the street and Mommy yanking me backwards as a yellow taxi drove towards us, and she yelled at me and actually did swat my bottom once, and then she cried which made me cry. And I had never run out into the street again.

I had broken the rule about not leaving the hotel room on my own. I had been breaking lots of rules recently and no one would do anything. At first, it was nice that Daddy let me get away with everything, but I didn't feel good now and my stomach twisted uncomfortably as I thought about how I'd been acting lately. When Daddy had yelled at Uncle Sam for spanking me, I was happy...but then Uncle Sam had tried to scold me about not doing my school work and they got mad at each other again, and I felt bad that they were arguing, because I was being bad. Daddy would let me get away with anything now, and I had liked that for a while, but now I didn't, I felt sad and wished I could take it all back. I hadn't liked it when Daddy made all those rules for me and that I got in trouble when I broke them, but with the screeching tires echoing in my head, I realized they were there to keep me safe. I wanted it to be like it had been before, when I had rules and had to follow them.

After what seemed like hours, Daddy came into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He walked over to me and stood in front of me. I stared at my feet, unable to meet his eyes.

"I've let things go for too long," he said, and his voice was quiet, but there was a hardness underneath. "Dad and Sam have been telling me this, and I didn't want to hear it. I've been letting your behavior go, thinking I was taking care of you and protecting you, when all it's been doing is letting you think that you can get away with more and more. It stops now," he shifted, "You could have gotten hit by a car, and seriously injured, or killed, little girl!" His voice had gotten louder, and I glanced up at him. He looked upset again, but not as angry as he had been. I still couldn't meet his eyes.

"The rules are back in place," he said firmly, "and you will follow them, or you will be punished. I'm not going to let things slide any more, do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, Daddy," I said, and for some reason I felt relief when he said that.

He put his finger under my chin and raised my head and made me look at him. His green eyes were very intense.

"You know that you deserve a spanking, don't you?"

Tears came to my eyes. "Y-yes, Daddy," I said again, and my voice shook. I didn't want a spanking, but I knew I deserved it. I deserved it for all the times I'd acted horrible and been naughty.

"I—I'm sorry, Daddy," I whispered.

"So am I, sweetheart," he said. "I'm sorry that I let it get to this point. I thought I was doing a good thing, and I wasn't."

He sat down on the bed next to me, and then he took my arm and guided me over his lap. I whimpered as he took a moment to adjust me, and then the first swat fell on my bottom. I burst into tears as his hand fell again and again, and I began to struggle and kick as the sting built up.

"Please, Daddy, I'm sorry!" I wailed.

His voice was severe as he continued to spank me, "You will never run out into the street like that again. You almost got—got hit by a car," his voice shook a little, "I almost lost you before, and I will not lose you. You need to follow the rules, and be safe. And I'm going to make sure you follow the rules."

I whimpered again as he pulled my shorts and panties down, and I wailed wordlessly as his hand spanked my bare bottom, making it sting even more.

"You will do as you're told," he lectured as he spanked, "and you will not be sassy or disrespectful. You will follow the rules, and you will do your schoolwork. You got it?"

"Yes, Daddy, yeeeeess!" I howled.

He continued to bring his hand down on my sore rear end, turning the stinging into a fire. "You will do all the work that Uncle Sam gives you, and you will do your exercises, and you will not lie about your assignments, or being tired, or needing a break. You will not lie about anything!"

He shifted me forward on his lap and the next set of swats fell right on the lowest part of my bottom, and I howled and kicked my feet again.

And then he stopped, and was pulling my panties and shorts back up. He pulled me up into his arms and held me, and I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his chest.

I felt him kissing the top of my head. "I love you, Charlie, and I'm not going to let you misbehave any more. You will follow the rules now, and you will do what you're told."

"Y-yes, D-daddy," I sobbed, "I love you t-too." I curled up on his lap, feeling calm and safe, and I realized that I hadn't felt that way for a while now. Even though my bottom was throbbing and my face was wet with tears, I felt better than I had since I had gotten out of the hospital. I was exhausted from crying, and in no time at all I could feel myself falling asleep in Daddy's arms.