AUTHOR'S NOTE: To celebrate the 50th chapter, here's a nice long chapter wherein Charlie and Ben discover that they really are siblings...and they also get into trouble together, as siblings do...there is spanking in this chapter, you have been warned!
I named Charlie after the quirky little song "Charlotte Anne", by Julian Cope. It was released in 1988, and after all this time I still have not been able to figure out what the lyrics mean! I hope you can find it and enjoy it!
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I woke up with my stomach growling with hunger. I rolled over and looked up- Daddy was sitting on the bed next to me, with Uncle Sam's laptop in his lap, wearing a pair of earbuds.
He saw that I was awake and pulled the earbuds out. "Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?"
"Starving," I said, and my voice still sounded hoarse.
He chuckled, and clicked a couple of keys on the laptop. "Let's go get you something to eat."
I sat up slowly and he watched me. "You dizzy again?"
"Uh-uh," I said. I got off the bed and he walked next to me, watching as we walked into the kitchen.
"What would you like?" he asked, "Scrambled eggs?"
"Uh, no, I'm tired of them, some cereal and toast please."
"All right," Daddy got out some bread and put it in the toaster, then set a tall glass of water in front of me.
I glanced at the clock and saw that it was the afternoon. "Oh no, Daddy, we missed PT!"
"It's all right, Charlie, I called them and Dr. Miriam. She said to let you sleep as long as you needed."
I sighed with relief. "Good."
The door opened and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came into the room. "-just saying, you could have presented it in a slightly...calmer...way..." Uncle Sam was saying. They saw us in the kitchen and both walked over to me.
"So glad you're awake, Charlie," Uncle Sam said, and he leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Grandpa John asked me, putting his hand on my cheek briefly.
"Uh, okay, just a little tired. And hungry."
They chuckled at that. "You've been asleep for almost 24 hours," Uncle Sam said. "So, we went to the pharmacy, and it turns out, they filled the prescription wrong. It was written for a child's dosage and the pharmacist mis-read it and put a higher dose of medicine in the bottle."
"Damn," Daddy said.
"Yeah, and I gave them a piece of my mind," Grandpa John growled.
Uncle Sam gave him a look. "Dad, you made all the cashiers cry. You didn't have to do that."
"Well, they screwed up, and that's not a good thing! Especially not with a child, the wrong medicine can have deadly consequences!" Grandpa John frowned at Uncle Sam. "I'm not going to spare anyone's feelings because they messed up! And ths is my grand-daughter we're talking about!" He leaned down and squeezed my shoulders.
Daddy looked at Uncle Sam. "I imagine he had the whole pharmacy department shaking in their shoes."
Uncle Sam sighed. "Yeah, you know how it is, I think everyone in the tri-state area heard John Winchester's dressing-down of the pharmacist."
"Oh, that's what that noise was was earlier," Daddy teased.
"Sure, make fun all you want, but that voice got a troop of men out of the jungles of Vietnam and trained your two sorry butts," Grandpa John said to Daddy and Uncle Sam. He looked down at me. "You sure you're okay now?" he asked me with concern.
I nodded.
"Dr. Miriam wants to check you out on Friday, and she'll do the rest of the testing. She was able to draw the blood, so you don't have to worry about that, all right?" Uncle Sam told me.
"Okay," I nodded again. Daddy put a plate of toast in front of me and I started eating.
"Well, I've got to keep working on my case," Grandpa John said, "I discovered that the same parcel of land has been passed between two families for almost 150 years in Nevada." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on my head.
"Sounds thrilling," Daddy said.
Uncle Sam had walked over to his laptop on the desk. He opened his bag and pulled out his notebook. "Hey, Dean, check this out," he said, and Daddy walked over to him. Uncle Sam tapped the keyboard and then started to talk to Daddy in a low voice. Daddy and Uncle Sam both looked at the computer screen as Uncle Sam scrolled down a page.
Daddy straightened up. "I'll go check the batteries on everything," he said.
"All right, she's supposed to let me know what night is best," Uncle Sam said.
Daddy took his keys off of the side table and went outside.
Uncle Sam came over to me. "Are you still hungry?" he asked.
I shook my head. "What were you and Daddy talking about?" I looked up at him. "That haunted house?"
Uncle Sam looked down at me. "First of all, don't make assumptions, and second of all, it's none of your business, understand?"
I sighed. "Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. Then I looked up at him. "Since I know things when I touch people, maybe I could know something about a ghost when I touch something old! I could help you and Daddy!"
Uncle Sam leaned down. "No, young lady, and I don't want you trying it either."
"But it could be-"
"Charlotte. I said no. It's- that's dangerous, and you'd better not ever try anything like that." Uncle Sam's face was serious and his voice was stern.
Daddy walked into the room carrying a small device in his hands. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Uncle Sam straightened up and looked at him. "Little Miss Charlie here wants to try to help us by touching something old and seeing if she can tell something about a ghost."
Daddy looked at me with the same serious look on his face. "Absolutely not, little girl," he said in a stony voice, "Don't you ever do anything like that, you hear me?"
I gulped at how stern he sounded. "Uh, yes, Daddy," I agreed.
"And if I find out that you tried something like that- and I will find out- you will be in serious trouble, do you understand?" Daddy's voice had dropped lower.
"Y-yes, Daddy," I repeated.
He looked at Uncle Sam. "I forgot, this is the one that always jams. We forgot to get Ash to look at it last time we were out there. I'm going to ask Dad if he's got one we can use." Daddy went into the other bedroom.
"Are you ready to get started on your school work, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked me.
"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. I threw away my crusts and put my plate in the sink.
We sat down at the desk together and he turned on the touchpad.
It was hard work today because I had a lot of Math to do. I had learned about mulitplying at the end of last year, so now Uncle Sam was teaching me dividing, which was like multiplying, but backwards. Some of the bigger numbers were hard to do. I could do math and was good at it, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as reading. I got tired of multiplying and dividing a lot quicker, too.
Uncle Sam was looking something up on his laptop and he told me, "I'll be right back, Charlie."
He took his laptop into the other room where Daddy and Grandpa John were. He was in there for a few minutes. I rested my elbow on the desk, putting my chin in my hand, and stared off into space, daydreaming.
"Sorry," Uncle Sam walked back over to me and set his laptop down on the coffee table. "Did you get that page done?"
"Uhhhh...no," I looked down at my lap, feeling my face get red. Uncle Sam picked up the tablet. "And why not?" he scrolled through. "Charlie, you only did the first 4 problems. What happened?"
"I—I- I'm tired of doing math now! I just don't- I don't like it!"
"Well, like it or not, it still needs to get done."
"You didn't say I was on a timer," I said sourly.
"No, I didn't, but I gave you an assignment and I expect you to do it," he set the tablet down and looked at me.
"Well, when I was in school, I could skip sometimes," I told him, raising my chin.
"What do you mean?" he frowned.
"I always had good grades, so sometimes I'd skip doin' a 'signment if I didn't feel like it, and just get a 'F'. And it wouldn't affect anything 'cause I'd always make it up later with extra credit."
"Well, young lady, that's not happening here," Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips. "You cannot 'skip doing something because you don't feel like it'. Do you remember what I told you before? I'm your teacher, and I give you assignments and tell you what to do and you do it. You don't get to decide that you're 'not in the mood' or that you 'don't feel like it'. You can do the work I give you, or you can refuse, and then do the work I give you with a sore butt. But you will do your work," he raised his eyebrows and gave me a look, "So which is it, Charlotte Anne? Are you going to finish your math assignment with or without a sore butt today?"
I looked up at him- he looked totally serious- and gulped. "Uh, without, Uncle Sam," I did not want his humongous hand spanking my bottom anytime soon!
"Then get back to it," he said, and he walked over and sat down to start looking at his laptop again. I sighed and picked up the tablet.
I managed to get through the math assignment, and by the time I was finished it was time for dinner. Uncle Sam got a phone call while we were eating and I heard him saying, "We wanted to ask you some questions about the house, is there a time we could get together?" as he got up and walked into the other room.
He came back in a few minutes. "Dean, do you want to go talk to the woman tonight about the house?"
"Sure," Daddy said.
Uncle Sam pressed a button on his phone. "That's fine," he said, "We'll see you then." He disconnected the call and pocketed his phone, sitting down at the table again.
"Eight o'clock," he told Daddy.
"Is that the haunted house? Can I go?" I looked at both of them. "Pleeeeease?"
Daddy frowned at me. "Charlotte Anne, if you ask one more time I'm going to turn you over my knee," he told me, "I'm tired of you bugging me about it. The answer is, and will always be, no, so stop asking. You got it?"
I felt my face get red. I wanted to protest, but I didn't want to get spanked, so I said, "Yes, Daddy." I looked down at my plate and then up at him again. "Eight o'clock? Who's going to put me to bed?"
"Grandpa John will be here," Daddy said.
"That's fine," Grandpa John smiled at me.
After dinner I read one of my library books. Daddy came over to me, with a duffle slung over his shoulder. "We're leaving now," he told me, leaning down to me. I put my book down and reached up to hug him.
"Be good for your Gramps," Daddy said, kissing the side on my head. Uncle Sam came over and hugged me too, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
Grandpa John sat down next to me and turned on the t.v. looking for a baseball game.
"Fifteen minutes and then you have to get ready for bed," he told me.
"Okay," I agreed, moving next to him and scooting under his elbow. He moved so that his arm was behind me on the back of the sofa and I curled into his side.
I looked over at his arm. He was wearing a short-sleeved olive green t-shirt that said "USMC" on it.
"What's that?" I pointed to the mark on his upper arm, partially hidden by the sleeve of his shirt.
"Oh, that's my military tattoo," he told me, "All of the guys in the battalion got one before we shipped out."
"You were really in a real war?" I asked curiously.
He looked down at me, and I couldn't really read his expression.
"Yes, I was," he said.
"Was it scary? Were you scared?"
He shifted on the sofa. "Well, yes, it was scary, and there were times that I was scared, but in a situation like that, you've learned to not let that fear come to the surface. I was only focused on fighting the enemy and leading my men. That's what you have to do, in order to get through it. And we did make it through and most of us came home safely."
"I'm glad you came home," I slid my arm around his chest and hugged him.
He moved his arm down and hugged me. "Me too, little one, me too," he said quietly.
After several minutes had gone by, he patted my shoulder. "Go get ready for bed now," he told me, "Do you need help with anything?"
"No, I got it," I closed my book and set it on the table, then stood up. When I had finished with my bedtime routine I came to the door of the bedroom. "I'm ready," I told Grandpa John.
As he came into the room I jumped onto the end of the bed and bounced a couple of times before crawling up to the head of the bed. He smiled at me, but he had a faraway look in his eyes.
"What?" I asked him.
"I was just thinking of your Dad and Sam, when they were little, getting them ready for bed. Two little boys-" he shook his head, "there was always rough-housing and goofing around going on...and I wasn't always as patient with them as I should have been."
"They were bad?" I asked.
"No, not bad, just being typical silly little boys. And after...after their mother passed, I wasn't able to...deal with them as well as I had. It changed when they got a little older."
He sighed, and leaned down to hug me. "Good night, little one," he said quietly, kissing my forehead. I laid down and he pulled the covers up.
I woke up later, hearing the door of the hotel open. I heard keys being set down and expected Daddy to come into the room, but he didn't. I opened my eyes a little bit just in time to see Uncle Sam standing in the doorway of the bedroom for a moment, then he walked away and I heard him open the door to his bedroom. Then I thought I heard the sound of Baby's engine driving away again.
I woke up again in the early morning- it was just starting to get light in the room. I heard keys hitting a table, and then soft footsteps. I opened my eyes again and saw Daddy coming into the bedroom. His shirt was untucked and unbuttoned, and he went straight into the bathroom and then I heard the shower turn on. I wanted to ask him where he had been, but I fell asleep.
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"Here's the beer," Daddy set a case on the counter.
"Great," Lisa said, her eyes shining. "The grill is almost ready for the steaks," she turned and picked something up, and looked at all of us.
"Having a dinner to celebrate my promotion was just an excuse to get you over here," she said, handing Daddy a paper. "Congratulations, Dad!" she said with a big smile.
Daddy's eyes flicked down the paper. "Is this... it's... it IS!" he looked up at Lisa and gave her a huge smile back. "Oh, my... WOW!" he grabbed her up in a hug.
"What is it, Mom?" Ben asked.
Daddy and Lisa hugged for a long moment, and when they pulled back, they kissed.
Then they let go of each other and Lisa turned to Ben. "I got the test results back, and Dean is your Dad, Ben!" she said happily. Both her eyes and Daddy's eyes were shiny with tears.
"Well, how about that," Uncle Sam said, and he and Grandpa John smiled. Daddy passed the paper to them and they each looked at it.
"C'mere, Ben," Daddy said. He leaned down and hugged Ben, picking him up off the floor for a second. Then he pulled back and look at him, still smiling.
"So...you're my Dad?" Ben asked slowly, "Do I have to call you that?"
"You can call me Dean or Dad, whatever you're comfortable with," Daddy told him. He came over to me and picked me up, hugging me too. "You have a brother, Charlie!" he said. "What do you think?"
"I already knew that, Daddy," I said, and everyone laughed.
"Who's going to be the grillmaster?" Lisa asked.
"Uh, I've only done burgers on the grill- Dad, how are you with steak?" Daddy asked.
"Sure, I'll do it," Grandpa John said.
We went out back and Uncle Sam helped Lisa bring food out to the table on the back deck. Daddy started to throw a football with Ben.
"Hey, can I play too?" I asked.
"Sure," Ben said, tossing it to me. The next time he threw it, he threw it harder, and it landed right on my stomach.
"Oof!" I said as I caught it.
"Ben, watch it," Daddy said.
"I'm okay," I said, and I tried to throw the ball hard at Ben. It went right into the ground.
"What was that?" Ben laughed as he ran towards it.
"Lemme try again!" I exclaimed, running to the ball.
We both dove for the ball and our heads bonked together- it hurt! I sat down on my butt hard and burst into tears. Ben was sitting next to me with a dazed look on his face.
Daddy knelt down next to me. "Charlie! Are you okay?" he looked over at Ben. "You okay, buddy?" he asked.
Lisa came hurrying over to us. "Oh geez, are you both hurt?" she asked with concern.
Ben and I sat on the deck holding ice packs to our foreheads until dinner was cooked and served. By that time my head had stopped hurting. We both had a bump, although Ben's was more noticeable, since my bangs covered mine.
After we ate, Lisa opened a bottle of wine and they brought out the case of beer that Daddy had brought. They all moved over from the table, to the comfortable chairs that were on the other side of the deck, and sat around talking.
Ben motioned me inside with his head, and I followed him to the living room.
He looked out the front window. "Hey, Tyler's in his yard, let's go tell him," Ben said.
"Shouldn't we ask our parents if we can go?" I asked.
"Nah, they're all gonna be sitting around talking forever like grown-ups do. We're only going to be gone for a minute, they won't even notice," Ben said confidently.
We walked outside and crossed the street. I noticed that Ben didn't look both ways. I tried to hold his hand but he was hurrying, so I couldn't.
"Hey, Ty!" Ben greeted him.
Tyler was tossing a Nerf football in the air. "S'up, dude?" he asked.
"Guess what, Charlie's my sister for real," Ben said, "And that guy Dean is my Dad!"
"Cool," Tyler said, looking at me, "Are you gonna be one of those okay little sisters who's cool with everything, or are you one of those who's gonna tattle and rat Ben out all the time?"
"Nah, she's cool," Ben said.
"Dean looks like he could be kinda, y' know, like one of those guys who yells all the time and all. Real serious," Tyler said, and both he and Ben looked at me expectantly.
"Uh, he can be, but he's nice too," I told them, "He takes me to mini-golf and stuff."
"He is kinda serious," Ben agreed, "But it's 'cause of what he does- look at this!" he pulled something out of his pockets. He had the EMF meter and the Ambient Temperature Meter.
I was shocked. "Ben, where did you get them?"
"Dean left them on the counter the other night," he said, handing me the Ambient Temperature Meter.
"You- you shouldn't have taken them!" I told him.
"I told you, Charlie, s' okay. They took the case of beer onto the deck, they'll be sitting out there all night."
"Oh, yeah, once the grownups get into the beer or the box of wine, they're not gettin' up for anything," Tyler agreed, "What does that stuff do?"
"Checks for energy fluctuations!" Ben said.
"Say what now?" Tyler frowned.
"To see if there's ghosts!" Ben said excitedly, "C'mon, let's go check somewhere!"
"Ooh, I know," Tyler's eyes lit up, "We can go down the street to that house that's been vacant for the past 6 months, 'member the guy that just disappeared? Some people say that he died in the house and the government came and took the body out in the middle of the night!"
"All right, this is gonna be freakin' cool!" Ben exclaimed, and they started walking.
I trotted behind them, hurrying to keep up. "Guys, come on, we're not allowed to have these, and didn't your mom say we weren't s'posed to go into any empty houses?" I asked Ben's back.
The boys stopped. "It's fiiiine," Tyler said exaggeratedly, "Lemme see that."
He grabbed the Ambient Temperature Meter out of my hand and turned the knob on the side.
"Wait," I said, "That's not how you do it-"
The screen lit up briefly and Tyler twisted the dial under the screen. It popped off into his hand. "Oh crap," he said. "Here, take this," he shoved it at Ben and Ben stuffed it into his pocket.
We were at the end of a sidewalk. I followed the boys up to the front porch, where the bushes were so overgrown that you could barely see off of the porch.
"I'm not sure how this works-" Ben said, fiddling with the EMF meter.
I took it from him. "I watched Daddy testing it," I told him, "You gotta press the button on the side to turn it on," I did so, and after a moment, the device lit up. "Then you set the dial, what direction you're walking in, and hold it out like this-" I turned the top dial and then held it out in front of me. The machine made a little chirping sound and the lights blinked. Ben took it back from me and held it out in front of him.
"Awesome! I get to use it first!" Tyler said, "Ready?"
He stepped up to the door and turned the doorknob."Brian said you have to jiggle it—just-right-" he said, tilting his head.
Then the door opened inward, and a gust of stale, warm air puffed out over us from inside the house. The three of us looked at each other.
Tyler stepped into the house and turned to look at us. "Well?" he said.
Ben took a step toward the door, and then I could hear murmured voices behind us, on the street.
"Ben! Charlie!" Lisa and Daddy called.
I looked at Ben and my mouth went dry. He looked at me with a nervous look on his face.
Then they must have seen us, because they were there at the end of the sidewalk, and I heard, "Benjamin Isaac Braeden!" and "Charlotte Anne Winchester!" at the same time.
I turned to see Daddy and Lisa stalking up the walkway. They both looked mad. I saw Daddy's eyes widen. "Ben, what the hell is in your hand?" he growled, seeing that Ben had his EMF meter.
Daddy saw that Tyler was standing inside the doorway of the house. "All right, kid, come outta there," he snapped his fingers and pointed at the sidewalk, "Let's go."
Daddy took my hand as we walked back to Tyler's house. Ben and I had to wait on the front porch while Lisa and Daddy went inside and talked to Tyler's parents. We heard raised voices every once in a while.
When they came out onto the porch, Daddy said, "Ben, empty your pockets."
Ben gulped and pulled the other device out, handing Daddy the dial that had come off.
"You're lucky that this dial always comes off, boy," Daddy growled at him. We crossed the street, me holding Daddy's hand and Lisa holding Ben's shoulder.
When we got into the living room, Daddy said,"Sit," and pointed to the sofa.
Ben walked over and sat down, and I sat next to him. I put my hands in between my knees and swallowed nervously.
Daddy and Lisa stood there together, their faces still angry. Daddy had that line in between his brows and his jaw was tense.
"Benjamin, I've told you more than once- more than once-- not to go into any of the empty houses in the neighborhood, AND you know you're not to just go running off to your friend's house without asking me first-"
"But Mom, it was only gonna be for a sec-" Ben whined.
Lisa put her hand up. "Ah-ah, I don't want to hear that. You know that excuse does not fly with me, buddy," she said, "Not only did you do both of those things, you took Charlie along with you, and you cannot do that!" She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "You have to think about her safety as well as your own now, Ben, she's your little sister and you need to take care of her!"
Ben glanced at me, and then looked down at his lap. "Oh, yeah," he said.
"And then, Ben, you took expensive equipment that wasn't yours and took it to show off to someone and they broke it!" Lisa said.
Daddy held up the EMF device. "Where did this come from, Ben?" he asked.
"Uh, you, uh, you left your stuff here the other night when you and Sam stopped by," Ben said, blushing, "I, uh, I wanted to show Tyler, I thought he'd think it was cool, y' know?" He glanced at me again.
Lisa huffed angrily and shook her head. Ben seemed to shrink in on himself.
Daddy set the EMF meter on the coffee table. "The equipment is off limits," he said sternly, "Completely and totally, Ben. Charlie already knows this. You do not go into the trunk of my car, and you do not ever mess with any equipment or weapons of any kind. Ever. You got it?"
"Uh, yeah," Ben said, still looking down at his lap.
"Now, you need to start thinking like a big brother," Daddy told him, "You need to keep an eye on Charlie and watch out for her, and not do things that put her in danger. Both of you need to watch out for each other, but you're the older brother now, so it's your job to keep her safe and make sure she doesn't get hurt."
"When we realized you were gone, the first thing I thought of was- was when you were gone earlier in the summer, and I thought it had happened again-" Lisa got tears in her eyes.
Daddy put his hand on her arm. "It's all right, Lis," he said comfortingly.
He turned his head to look at us. "I'm disappointed in both of you," he said, "What were you thinking? You scared the crap out of both of us, because we thought of when you both disappeared and Charlie got taken. Do NOT do anything like that ever again."
"I'm going to spank you this time, Ben, but if you mess with any of Dean's stuff again, you're all his," Lisa said sternly.
"Uh-" Ben looked up, panic in his face, looking from Daddy to Lisa.
"Go to your room, young man," she said.
Ben stood up and trudged out of the room, head down. Lisa followed him.
Daddy crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, little girl, let's talk about you," he said, frowning at me, "What in the world were you thinking?"
"I- I- it happened so fast, I told Ben that we should ask you guys to go see his friend and he said we didn't have to, and we left, and then he had brought the 'quipment with him, and, and he and Tyler just decided to go down the street, and Tyler took the thing outta my hand-"
Daddy interrupted my nervous babble. "Well, Charlie, at any point during all of this, did it occur to you to leave? To tell Ben that you were coming back here? Or take the equipment back and tell Ben no?"
I felt my face getting red. "Uh, no."
"Charlie, you broke rules, more than one. You know you are not to go wandering off, and you're not supposed to be fooling with the equipment! Tyler said you were the one who turned on the EMF and showed them how to use it!" He glared at me and I felt myself cringing a little bit. "And I'm especially upset with you because you ran off again without a thought of how that would affect any of us, after what happened to you before!"
"I'm sorry, Daddy," I whispered.
He walked over and sat next to me. "You're getting a spanking too."
"But- but Daddyyyy, they'll all know!" I whined.
"Little girl, the automatic assumption when we discovered that the two of you had left again was that if you were okay, you were both going to end up getting your butts warmed tonight," he patted his thigh, "Let's get this over with."
"Wait, I-" I put my hand up. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "Daddy, I—can't- you- I don't-"
He shook his head. "No, Charlie, come on," he said, and he tilted me forward over his lap and began to spank me.
I burst into tears right after the first swat fell, I was feeling all jumbled up inside, scared because I had disobeyed, guilt because I had worried them, and nervous because I'd been bad and I knew it, and we'd gotten caught, and a little unsure of how I felt about Ben now.
I tried not to make any noise because I knew that Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were around somewhere, and Ben and Lisa were upstairs, and who knew what they could hear. But as Daddy's hand continued to fall and as the sting built up I couldn't help but cry out, "Daddy pleeeeeeeaase I'm sorry!"
"Don't you ever go somewhere without asking me ever again," he said suddenly, and his voice was hard, "And don't you ever mess with the equipment ever again," all of a sudden the swats were falling harder and faster and I was struggling and kicking my feet. "You are not going to be a hunter or be in the life at all, do you understand me?" he said, and his voice was loud and stern and scary.
"Yes, Daddy, I'm sorry! I'm sorryyyy!" I howled, trying to get away from his falling palm. I tried to roll off of his lap and shrieked when he smacked the side of my bottom. "No, little girl, be still," he said sternly. He pulled me closer to his hip, holding me down over his knees.
Then he stopped for a moment. "I will not lose you," he said hoarsely, "Not to hunting, not to anything. And you will not do things to put yourself in harm's way any more, you go it?" He tilted me forward and I wrapped my arm around his leg. His hand fell a few times on the lowest part of my bottom as I wailed wordlessly.
He pulled me up into his arms and hugged me tightly, pressing my face to his chest. "I love you, Charlie, and I'm going to keep you safe and make sure you stay safe too," he told me. He stroked my hair back from my face until I had calmed down.
"M' sorry, Daddy," I whispered again. "I love you too."
He leaned over and pulled a tissue out of the box on the table. He held it up in front of my face and said, "Blow."
I took it out of his hand. "I'm not a baby, ya know," I said, and I wiped my cheeks and blew my nose.
"Yes you are, you're my baby," he said, "You're still my girl, Charlie." He smoothed my hair back from my face. "Things are going to be a little different with Ben around, and you need to learn to trust your instincts, and do the right thing. Don't just go along with him because he's older and he's your brother. I want you two to look out for each other, but if he's doing something wrong and he's not listening to you, then you have to come find an adult on your own. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Daddy," I agreed. He kissed my cheek.
"Lisa's got strawberry shortcake for dessert and you can put vanilla pudding on it too, if you want. Let's go get you some."
I stood up and followed Daddy out to the back deck. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were sitting there, and they both looked at us.
"Don't you scare us like that again, little girl," Grandpa John said in a stern voice. He leaned over and took my wrist, pulling me to him, and I got nervous that he was going to spank me too. He put his arms around me and hugged me. "Don't want to lose you, sweetheart," he said gruffly.
"'M' sorry," I said, leaning my head against him.
"Come sit, Charlie," Daddy served me some dessert and set it on the table.
I sat down as Ben and Lisa came out onto the deck. Ben came and sat next to me, sniffling, and Daddy served him too.
"I'm going to start putting the food away," Lisa said.
"I'll go check that the grill's completely out," Grandpa John got up and walked down to the yard.
Daddy and Uncle Sam started to help Lisa carry empty bottles and plates into the kitchen.
I looked at Ben. "You okay?" I asked.
His eyes were red and his lashes stuck together with tears. "Yeah," he swiped the back of his hand across his face, "Wow, Mom really busted my butt good this time. Most times it doesn't really hurt, y' know?"
"Really?" my eyes widened in surprise. I couldn't imagine getting a spanking that didn't hurt!
"Yeah," Ben shrugged, "Mom thinks she's all tough but she's really not, sometimes."
My mouth dropped open.
Ben gave me a worried look. "Why, do Dean's hurt?"
I nodded hard, "A lot, Daddy's spankings always make me cry," I told him.
A concerned grimace crossed Ben's face. "Dang," he said.
We started to eat our dessert, shifting every once in a while to try and find a comfortable spot on the hard wood bench.
The door to the deck opened. "Finish up and bring your plates in," Lisa told us. "Ben, you've got an early game tomorrow, so no staying up late tonight."
"Aw Mom!" Ben protested, getting up. "I'm s'posed to get online with my friends at 9:30!" he complained.
"Well, that's too bad," she said, "The game is more important than the computer."
"I can stay up late and still be fine tomorrow," he grumbled, glaring at her.
Lisa put her hand on her hip. "Excuse me? Do I need to send you back upstairs for another round, little boy?"
Ben glanced at me and blushed. "No," he said sullenly. As he walked by her into the kitchen she swatted his butt again.
I followed Ben and took my plate over to the sink. Uncle Sam was standing there, and he took it from me and rinsed it, loading it into the dishwasher.
"Thanks, Sam," Lisa said. We all stood around looking at each other.
"Well, Ben, say goodnight to your sister and Dad and Uncle and Grandfather," Lisa said, smiling at us, "I didn't think when Dean came back into my life that Ben was going to get an instant family."
"Well, they're your family too," Daddy hugged Lisa, and kissed her cheek.
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John hugged Lisa too, and then I hugged her.
"I'm glad that you're Ben's sister," she said to me, "I think the two of you are going to have a lot of fun together."
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
"Charlie," Uncle Sam called to me. I ran over to him.
"Aww, do we have to go already?" I asked.
"No, Grandpa John and I are leaving, we're going to go to the library and do some research." Uncle Sam leaned down and hugged me.
Grandpa John came over and ruffled my hair. "Be good," he said.
"I will, see ya!" I turned and ran back towards Ben and his team-mates.
Ben's team had won the game, and everyone had gone to the playground afterwards. It was a very hot day and everyone was sweaty.
The coach brought over a cooler full of drinks, and I walked over with Ben.
"Can my sister have one?" Ben asked.
His coach nodded at me.
Ben's team-mate Ian grabbed another bottle and opened it, dumping it on one of the other boys. I ran over to the side of the playground as a bunch of the boys started throwing ice and dumping their drinks on each other. A few of the parents ran over and started to scold them.
"Why did you have to dump the red drink on him, red is going to be so hard to get out of that white uniform!" Ian's mom yelled.
Lisa and Daddy had come over too. "Benjamin! You know better than that!" she scolded.
"Aww Mom, alls I did was throw some ice," he complained.
Lisa continued, "And once again, you just join in without thinking. Didn't we talk about this? Using your head and thinking before you just jump into a situation?"
Ben glared at her. "I don't need a lecture right now, Mom!" he yelled.
"Ben! You do not raise your voice to your mother!" Daddy snapped, "Apologize to her right now!"
Ben threw a sulky look at Daddy. "Sorry," he muttered.
Lisa took Ben's upper arm. "Oh, you're going to be plenty sorry when I get done with you, young man," she said tightly, "Let's go. Dean, Charlie, I'll see you later."
Daddy turned to me. "All right, kiddo, we might as well go too."
"But Daddy, I don't wanna, I want to stay." I said.
"No, it's getting really hot, and the sun is right overhead, and you're getting red. I didn't think we'd be out here for this long, and I didn't bring your sunscreen. Come on."
"Not fair!" I pouted.
He turned and started to walk to the car. He stopped when he noticed I wasn't walking with him. He turned back to me. "Charlie, let's go."
I looked at him. "It's not fair that I gotta leave 'cause of your dumb mistake!" I yelled.
"Excuse me?" he said, and his face got mad, "You do not talk to me like that, little girl. Come on, let's go," He pointed to the ground in front of him. "NOW," he said sternly.
I stomped over to him.
"You keep this up, and Ben's not the only one who will be getting a spanking later," Daddy said.
I grumbled as I got into the back seat of the car.
Daddy turned to me after he got in. "What did you say?" he asked me.
"I said it's not fair I had to leave the playground and sit in a freakin' hot car!"
His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together.
"One more thing, Charlie, and you will be taking a trip across my knee," he said, "You got it?"
"Yes," I snapped, turning to look out the window.
When we got into the hotel room, we went to the kitchen, and Daddy said, "I'm going to make lunch for us, and then I want you to lay down and rest."
I stomped my foot. "Whyyyy?" I whined.
"Because of your attitude. You're very cranky, and I think you're tired. A nap won't hurt anything."
"I don't wanna take a nap!" I grumped, frowning at him.
"Well, you're going to," he told me, "Is peanut butter and jelly okay today?"
I glared at him. "No! I'm tired of sandwiches, they're gross and yucky, and I'm not gonna eat any ever again, and I'm not taking a damn nap like a damn baby!" I clenched my fists and stomped my feet over and over.
Daddy's eyes got big, and his jaw twitched. "What did I tell you?" he asked, "What did I tell you before, Charlie?" he repeated in a stronger voice.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't want a spankin' either!"
"No, little girl, quite some time ago. I told you one more bad word and I was going to wash your mouth out with soap," he said sternly.
I started to feel a little bit nervous. "Uh—no, you—you can't!"
"Excuse me?" he said, raising his eyebrows, "You don't tell me what I can and can't do," he said, pulling the chair out from the kitchen table. "Get over here," he said, sitting down.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I told you to! Because you've been behaving horribly all morning, and now you're going to get a spanking!" he yelled, "Now—come here."
I dragged my feet over to him. "Daaaaaddyyyy-" I started to whine.
"I don't want to hear it," he said in an angry voice. "You are getting a spanking, and then you're getting your mouth washed out."
"What?" I asked in a panic, as he turned me over his lap. I fought him, and he put his leg over top of mine and held me against his side.
"Enough with the sassing, enough with the attitude, enough with the nastiness, enough with the tantrums," he lectured as his hand landed several stinging swats on my bottom. I started to cry and kick my feet.
"And no—more—bad-language!" Each word was punctuated by a swat right on the lowest part of my bottom where you sit, and I wailed loudly.
Then he was letting me up and standing me in front of him. He pointed to the bathroom. "Get your butt in there, little girl."
I stared up at him, fear twisting my tummy. He couldn't! He wouldn't!
"I-I-" I stuttered nervously.
He swatted my butt again and I stumbled forward a step.
"GO. NOW."