AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all, I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've been dealing with migraines and health issues and seasonal depression. This time of year is always difficult for me, and recently it's been even more so with all the assault accusations coming out about prominent men in Hollywood and politics. I was sexually abused by a family member during my childhood, so reading about the things that other women have experienced has brought up a lot of old, painful memories and issues for me. I do love my stories and writing but I just haven't been motivated. I'm going to try and keep at it though, because it does make me happy, and I know it makes all of you happy to read my updates! Take care of yourselves right now, physically and mentally, I know winter and the upcoming holidays are rough for a lot of people. I hope you enjoy this chapter. XXXOOO
CONTENT WARNING: Charlie does get paddled, so do not read if this will bother or offend you.
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"Missouri, that was wonderful, I haven't had a pot roast in years," Grandpa John sat back and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"I think the last time you tried to cook one, I was still in high school," Daddy grinned, "and it was like trying to eat shoe leather!"
Grandpa John grimaced. "Your mother was the one with the cooking skills, I learned just enough to get by as a bachelor and then whatever we could cook over a campfire in the jungle."
"A jungle? When were you in a jungle?" I asked with a laugh.
"When I was in the war, parts of it, we were tracking and fighting the enemy through the jungle," Grandpa John explained.
"Oh," I looked at the table, "Sorry."
"That's okay, you didn't know," Grandpa John patted my shoulder, smiling at me.
I looked up at Daddy. "Daddy, Missouri makes the best food, you should marry her so that we can eat good food all the time instead of always eating at diners!"
For some reason that made all of them laugh.
"Oh child..." Missouri wiped her eyes after a moment, "Your Daddy's a little too young for me!"
"Then...you could marry Grandpa John!" I grinned at her.
"Hmm, now that I could do," she winked at Grandpa John, "But I'm afraid my time for getting' married is past. And your grand-daddy's heart is still with his wife," she reached over and put her hand on his for a moment and squeezed it.
I yawned just then, and Uncle Sam glanced at his watch. "It's getting late, and we still need to find a motel," he said.
"Let's get the table cleared off and we can go," Daddy moved his chair back and stood up. All of us helped load the dishwasher and put away the leftover food, and then I went upstairs to get my backpack.
They were all standing by the door when I came down.
"I got a couple clients in the morning but everything should be done by early afternoon," Missouri was saying, "I'll call you when I'm finished."
Daddy glanced around. "Where'd the wing-man get off to?"
Missouri waved her hand, "Oh, he comes and goes, he'll be around."
"Has he started using the front door like I told him?"
She made a scoffing sound. "Not yet."
Daddy rolled his eyes. "Great."
"Be nice to him, Daddy, he's my Uncle Cas!" I told him.
"What the he- what's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"We went to the grocery store and a friend of Missouri's started to talk to her and asked who he was, so I said he was my Uncle Cas!" I giggled.
"Well, what's one more weirdo in this strange little family," Daddy said.
"I am not a weirdo, Dean Winchester," Castiel appeared behind Daddy, "I am an angel. I do not know why this is so difficult for you to comprehend."
Daddy jumped, and we all did.
"For crap's sake, would you stop doing that?" Daddy snapped, "Use the front door from now on!"
"Yes, doors, I am trying to remember when it is required to use them," Castiel said, "Are you leaving?" he looked around at us.
"Yeah, it's late, and we need to get some rooms," Uncle Sam told him.
"I will meet you and ascertain if it is safe, and then I will stay and watch over you," Castiel said.
"Uh, no thanks, we've got it covered," Daddy said, taking my backpack, "Come on, Charlie."
I turned to Missouri and hugged her. "Bye, Missouri, thanks for everything."
"Bye, sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow," she hugged me back.
I went over to Castiel and hugged him. "Bye, Castiel," I looked up at him before he could comment on it, "Yeah, we hug when we say good-bye too."
"Humans spend an inordinate amount of time hugging each other and finding other ways to touch," he said with a confused frown, "I do not understand."
"We'll explain it later," Daddy said.
Grandpa John hugged Missouri too, and then we left.
We had to drive to two different motels because the first one had no vacancies. The second one, Grandpa John was able to get what was called a suite. There was a main room, with an area for sleeping, a living room area, and a tiny kitchen, and then there was a room off of the living room area that just had a set of beds and another bathroom in it. Daddy and I took the main room and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John took the smaller bedroom.
I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, then took the brush over to Uncle Sam. He was sitting at the kitchen table looking at his laptop. He turned slightly and I stood in the V of his legs, handing him the brush.
"I've missed this," he told me quietly as he started to brush my hair.
"Me too," I replied, leaning on his leg and putting my hand on his knee.
"When you weren't feeling well, you just laid around for a couple of days and didn't brush your hair or anything. I was getting worried. Done."
I turned around to take the brush, and he pulled me onto his lap and hugged me. I put my arms around him and leaned on his chest. We sat for a few minutes, just snuggling.
"Thanks, Uncle Sam," I said, "I'm sorry for all the times I was, y'know, bad an' sassy with you an' all."
He gave me a squeeze. "It's all right, you don't have to apologize again," he told me, "but thank you."
"I love you, Uncle Sammy," I said quietly.
He chuckled, "I love you too, honey. Sleep well," I felt him kiss the side of my head.
I climbed off of his lap and walked over to the sofa where Daddy and Grandpa John were sitting, watching a baseball game.
"I'm ready for bed," I told them.
Grandpa John sat forward, and reached out to take my wrist and pull me to him. He put his arms around me. "I'm so glad that you're safe," he said softly, "I'm so glad nothing happened to you," he hugged me tightly and dropped a kiss on top of my head, "Good night, little one."
"G'night," I said, yawning again.
Daddy stood up and we walked over to the bed together. He pulled the covers down and I got in bed.
"Will you sit with me until I fall asleep?" I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.
"Of course I will," he said, sitting down against the headboard. I curled up against his side and put my arm across his chest, and he put his arm around me.
"I missed you, Daddy," I said.
He tightened his arm. "I missed you too...you have no idea how much. I had no idea...I mean I've been in love before, and you know, that's different...I just had no idea how much a person could love their kid."
He put his other arm around me and pulled me to him, so that my torso was laying on his chest. "I love you so much, Charlie," he murmured, and tears came to my eyes again.
"I love you too, Daddy," I told him.
He stroked my hair. "I'm so glad to hear you say that...I was still so worried...I thought maybe you wouldn't forgive me for what I'd said," he sniffed, and I looked up at him. He had tears in his eyes.
"Don't cry, Daddy," I tightened my arms around him, "I wouldn't be like that."
"Well, you are a Winchester, and we're known for being stubborn," he chuckled.
He kept stroking my hair back from my face, and eventually I fell asleep.
I woke up all tucked in bed. I got up and went to the bathroom, then ran over and bounced on Daddy's bed, saying, "Good morning!"
He woke up with a start and propped himself up on his elbow. "Morning," he said hoarsely. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm tired, I haven't really been sleeping well the past couple of nights. I've been...worried about things."
I moved over to hug him. He put his arms around me and hugged me for a moment, then he let me go and pulled back.
"You want to go out for breakfast this morning?" he asked, looking at me.
"Yeah, I want pancakes," I said.
The door that connected the rooms was open, and I could hear quiet talking. I got off the bed and ran over to the door. Grandpa John was standing by one of the beds and Uncle Sam was next to a dresser, buttoning up his flannel.
"Good morning!" I said to them.
"Well there she is!" Grandpa John smiled at me. I ran to him and he opened his arms and hugged me. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart," he said warmly.
He let me go and I went over to Uncle Sam, who swung me up in the air so that I shrieked. He set me on his hip and hugged me, then said, "I bet you want pancakes for breakfast!"
"Yeah!" I agreed.
"Good. You better go get dressed, then," he set me down on the floor and sent me off with a pat on the bottom.
I went back to the other room and got some clothes out of my backpack. Daddy came out of the bathroom carrying his pajamas and put them in his duffle as I got dressed.
"Can I get chocolate chip pancakes?" I asked. We were sitting in the local diner.
"Sure," Daddy agreed.
"I want sausage and a muffin too."
"You should have some eggs," Uncle Sam said.
"I'm tired of eggs, I don't want any," I told him.
He gave me a look. "Then I want you to make sure you have some protein later that isn't fried meat. And you're going to eat some of my fruit plate."
"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said.
The waitress brought coffee for them and a glass of apple juice for me.
"Can I have some coffee?" I asked hopefully, giving Uncle Sam my best puppy-dog eyes. Daddy saw me and laughed. "Have you always done that, or did you learn that from Sammy?"
I blushed a little. "I used to do it when I was real little, my mom called it my 'sad puppy face'."
All three of them laughed at that.
"What?" I asked.
"Sam's always done the puppy dog eyes to get his way too, I guess it's something that runs in the family," Daddy said with a chuckle.
"No coffee," Uncle Sam said, and I pouted for a moment.
"What are we going to do now?" I asked, "Are we going back to the cabin, or to where Lisa and Ben live?"
Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "No, uh, we can't do that for a while yet...we're probably going to go to Bobby's."
"I thought you said we were going to find a place to live."
"Well, we will, but right now we're still working on something."
"Hunting that demon-guy?" I asked.
Daddy leaned forward. "Shh!" he hissed, his green eyes intent, "Charlie, you never talk about that stuff in public, you hear me?" his voice was pitched low and intense.
I looked across the table- Grandpa John was frowning and Uncle Sam had a serious look on his face.
"Uh- s-sorry," I said.
"And never, and I mean never, talk about any of that with anyone except someone that's in the life or who knows about it, like Missouri. Understand?" Grandpa John asked sternly.
I gulped nervously at his stern-ness. "Yes, Grandpa John."
The waitress brought our plates over, setting them on the table, and we started to eat. Uncle Sam put some grapes and strawberries on my plate and I ate them without fussing.
I had eaten my sausage and most of my pancakes and my muffin, and I noticed that Grandpa John still had bacon on his plate. He liked to get the meals that had a little bit of everything.
They were all talking about some friends of theirs at that point and not really paying attention. I reached over and snuck the bacon off of Grandpa John's plate.
"Hey now," he growled, and I looked up at him. He grinned at me and winked, so I took the bacon and ate it.
Uncle Sam looked over at us and shook his head.
"That's okay," Grandpa John looked over at Sam, "you want anything else off my plate, darlin'?"
"She needs to finish what's on her own plate, Dad," Daddy said.
"She's my grand-daughter, I can spoil her if I want to," Grandpa John retorted, "You want some more bacon?" he asked me.
"Dad, no, come on, she already had sausage," Uncle Sam said.
"Tomorrow, we'll share a big plate of bacon, okay?" Grandpa John reached across the table and tweaked my nose.
"Okay!" I grinned back at him.
I ate a couple more bites of my pancakes, and then said, "I'm full."
Daddy ate a couple of pieces of my pancakes. "I'm not a fan of sweet stuff at breakfast, but that's not bad."
Uncle Sam called the waitress over for the bill. As we were leaving, Grandpa John said he was going to go to the library to do some research and then get some newspapers.
Daddy drove us back to the motel. After we went into the room, he looked at Uncle Sam, and they did their 'talking without words' thing, and then he said, "Sit down, Charlie, we need to have a talk."
My mouth went dry as I looked at him and Uncle Sam, who now had serious looks on their faces.
"Umm, about...what?" I asked, sitting on the sofa.
Uncle Sam brought a chair over and sat facing me and Daddy stood next to him and crossed his arms.
"About you running away and all that," Daddy said.
I gulped and slid my hands under my thighs. "M' sorry," I said quietly, looking down at my lap.
"What are you sorry for?" Uncle Sam asked, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees.
I glanced up at them. "Uh, for not listening, and being mean, and, and, y'know, running away and all'a that."
"No," Daddy shook his head, "That's not why you're in trouble."
I looked up at him. "Huh?"
"I agree with what Sam said, I let your behavior go on for too long before you ran away, and so that's on me, that's not your fault. However, you did go outside again after I had told you not to. You put yourself in danger, and you ran away."
I looked down again, feeling guilty. "I know I did the wrong thing...Missouri and I talked about it."
"I'm glad you and she had a talk, but what did I tell you was going to happen the next time you went off by yourself without telling me?"
I blushed, remembering when we had been at Big Bear Cabins, and Daddy had said, "...the next time you wander off without telling anyone, or sneak off like you did, I will paddle you."
I glanced up at him. "You said, uh, you'd p-paddle me."
"Do you understand why you're in trouble for this?"
"'Cause I broke a rule, and I put myself in danger."
"I need to explain something to you," Daddy shifted and glanced over at Uncle Sam, "Sam ran away once. He was gone for two weeks. It was...it was hell. We didn't know where he was, if he was dead or alive... even though Dad is a damn good tracker, it was hard to find Sam. Dad was pissed as hell at me, because I didn't call him right away, I tried to find Sam on my own at first. And we were both scared and pissed at Sam."
"Did Uncle Sam get in trouble?" I looked at Daddy.
"You bet he did, big trouble, and he got it from both of us," Daddy said.
"Charlie, when we finally realized you were gone...I've faced down ghouls and vampires and demons, but I've never been as scared as I was when Dean pulled those covers back and we saw your pillows on the bed," Uncle Sam's face looked upset.
I immediately felt horrible for scaring him so badly.
"We had no idea how long you'd been gone or even where to start looking...it's one thing to try and track a person and it's another thing entirely to try and track a person when it's a member of your family that you love and are terrified for," and now it looked like tears were in Uncle Sam's eyes. Daddy put a hand on Uncle Sam's shoulder for a moment.
"When you were gone, when you had been taken by the changeling...those were the scariest couple of days of my life, not knowing what had happened, or if you were okay... or if... if I'd ever see you again," Daddy paused and closed his eyes a moment, and then opened them, "I never wanted to go through that again," Daddy said, and now his eyes looked shiny, "and then to have it happen again, where you were just gone..."
His face got red and he looked upset, and I got off the couch and went over to him. He sat down on the coffee table and hugged me tightly.
I threw my arms around his neck and started to cry a little. "I'm sorry, Daddy!"
"Shh, I know," he soothed me. He let me go and I turned to Uncle Sam and hugged him too. Daddy wiped his eyes with his hand.
When Uncle Sam let me go, Daddy pulled me back over to him and set me on his thigh. He put his arms around me and looked down at me. "That's why I'm so serious about you not wandering off and all that. Do you get that?"
"Yes, I do," I felt myself blushing a little bit. I had always felt like Daddy was just making those rules to be annoying, because I wasn't used to having rules like that, I was used to being able ot do whatever I wanted. He had said these things to me before, but I hadn't really understood how important the rules were until now.
"You knew not to go outside, and you knew how dangerous it is, and you did it anyway," Daddy's face got stern.
"I am sorry!" I burst out.
"I'm glad you're sorry, but there still needs to be a consequence," Daddy said, "This is very serious, Charlie, you could have been hurt or—or you could have—have died." He swallowed uneasily and his face went pale for a moment. "Uncle Sam is going to give you a spanking, with the paddle at the end."
"Uncle Sam? But why?" I asked, looking from Daddy to Uncle Sam.
"Well, I think...our relationship...I said something that hurt you a lot, I made that mistake, and that started this whole ball rolling. And then you ran away which really scared and hurt me, and so, we're both hurting right now, and we need to work on just healing. And I think if I spanked you, it wouldn't help with that. Do you understand?"
I thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Uh...kinda?"
"Do you want to get this over with, or wait until bedtime?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Uh..." I didn't want a spanking right then but I also didn't want to wait all day, that would be awful. "Uh, I don't want to wait-"
"Then let's get this dealt with," Uncle Sam stood up and went over to one of the duffles.
Daddy set me on the floor and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower," he said, going over to his duffle. He got some stuff out, and then went into the bathroom and closed the door.
Uncle Sam walked over to the bed and sat down on the end, putting the paddle next to his leg. "Come here, Charlie," he said.
"Uncle Sam, wait," I said quickly, "Can't we, uh, I mean, we already talked about things an' I know what I did wrong and all-"
"Yes, we talked, and the time for talking is over now. Come on," he beckoned me with his hand.
I felt like I couldn't move, I was nervous.
"Charlotte Anne. Come. HERE." his voice was hard now, and he pointed at the floor in front of him.
"Do I need to add more swats with the paddle for not obeying me?"
"No!" I scurried over just then, and he took my arm and guided me over to his side, and then lifted me over his lap. I whimpered as he put his hand on my back, and then his giant paw smacked my bottom. I flinched and cried out, and then burst into tears as his hand covered my bottom with stinging swats. He paused for a moment.
"You will not lie to us, Charlotte Anne. We thought you were in bed for almost a half an hour- that's 30 minutes that you were out there in the woods without us realizing it. That's 30 minutes in which something bad could have happened, an animal could have—gone after you, or—or- a supernatural creature could have taken you!" his voice was hard again, and low.
He pulled my pants down, and then my underpants, and I sobbed aloud as he adjusted me on his lap. He peppered my bare bottom with more sharp swats and I wailed and kicked my feet. He landed several more smacks right in the spot where my butt turns into my thighs, and I wailed again and squirmed on his lap. He paused for a moment, and pulled me closer to him, putting his arm over my lower back. Then he leaned over, and I knew he was picking up the paddle.
"Pl—pleeease Uncle Saaaam, M'sorrrryyyy," I whined.
"You were told not to leave the house or go anywhere without telling one of us," he said in a severe voice, "and yet you did it again. Do you have ANY idea how dangerous that was? You will NEVER put yourself in danger again, young lady, and you will NEVER run away again, is that clear?" Uncle Sam's voice got louder and scarier, and I cringed from how stern it sounded.
The paddle crashed down on my butt and I shrieked and kicked my feet some more. My face was full of tears and snot as I buried my head in the bed cover and sobbed. The paddle fell right below the first swat, and then again below that, and then quickly, onetwothree on the lowest part of my bottom, and I was howling.
I felt Uncle Sam lean over again, and then he was pulling my panties up. My pants had been kicked off of my legs. He picked me up and cradled me in his arms and I sobbed into his flannel as he hugged me.
"Never again, Charlotte Anne, you hear me?" he said sternly.
"N-no, Uncle S-sam, I p-promise," I heaved out.
He kissed my forehead and I felt him stroking my hair away from my face. He held me until I had calmed down, and then he sat me on his lap. I leaned against his chest and put my arms around him. I could hear Daddy's electric razor going in the bathroom.
In a couple of minutes, the door opened and he came into the room.
He walked over to us and sat down next to Uncle Sam. I crawled from Uncle Sam's lap onto Daddy's, and snuggled into his chest.
Daddy put his arms around me. "I want you to stay right with us for now, Charlie. When we're out somewhere, no running ahead in the library or going a couple feet down the aisle in a store to look at food. You stay right next to whoever you're with, at all times, or it's a spanking. You got it?"
"Yes, Daddy," my chest hitched.
He kissed the top of my head. "I want to know where you are at all times also. Don't just go off on your own and do something."
"Okay, Daddy," I agreed.
"Now, let's try and put this behind us. We're family, and no one is getting left behind or sent away, no matter what. Remember that, Charlie, and come talk to one of us if you start feeling insecure. All right?" Daddy looked down at me and brushed my hair off my face.
"Yeah," I said quietly.
Uncle Sam's phone rang and it was Grandpa John. He stood up and went over to his laptop, turning it on and looking something up to help Grandpa John.
"Daddy, can I ask you something?" I asked him hesitantly.
"Sure, what is it?"
I looked down at my lap, feeling a little embarrassed. "Well, you haven't—I mean, ever since you said- I mean, after I got mad-" I huffed because I didn't know how to say it. "You stopped saying baby and sweetheart to me," and I felt tears come to my eyes. I swiped my hand across my face. "Is it 'cause you were, y'know, tired of taking care of me and all?" I felt a lump in my throat like I might start crying hard and tried to swallow. I hadn't realized that it had upset me this much.
"I—I didn't try to do it consciously, I guess I was trying to do things to make you less upset with me. I—I didn't want you to keep being angry at me. And I know sometimes you get irritated when I call you baby, and you say you're not a baby," Daddy explained.
"I—I miss it," I whispered, putting my head down so he wouldn't see the tears that had come back.
He tightened his arms around me. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would upset you. You'll always be my baby, Charlie," he kissed me again and I snuggled into him.
Uncle Sam closed his laptop. "Dad's got a line on something, there's a lot of weather disturbances in Utah that look...familiar. He wants to get on the road."
"All right," Daddy said. He patted my back. "Get up, Charlie, so we can pack our things."
"But—I thought we were going to Missouri's today!" I protested.
Uncle Sam stood up. "We need to leave as soon as possible."
"Okaaay," I said, sliding off of Daddy's lap, "I'm already packed up."
"Good," Daddy smiled at me.
I put my pants back on and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Grandpa John was there. He and Uncle Sam finished packing up while Daddy checked out, and then we got back on the road.