AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I'm doing better with driving, I've managed to drive to a couple of places without falling apart afterwards. So now, I'm getting anxious and insecure about my writing, ARGH! It's like my brain needs something to feel anxious over! So I've been hesitant about publishing...thanks to all of you who have followed, favorited, and left reviews and comments. It means a lot, and I'm grateful for all of you! XXXOOO
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I laid on my bed pouting for a while, expecting someone to come upstairs and talk to me.
But then Daddy called up the stairs, "Charlie, come downstairs for dinner!"
I got up and opened the door, calling back, "I'm not hungry!"
"Come down to the table anyway," Daddy replied.
"I'm not hungry!" I repeated louder.
"Charlotte Anne, get your butt down here NOW!" Daddy yelled.
I went to the kitchen and stood in the doorway. All three of them turned their heads to look at me.
"We don't slam doors in this house," Grandpa John rumbled, frowning at me.
Daddy was standing by the fridge. He gestured at the table. "Sit."
I plunked into my seat with a huff. "I'm not hungry," I repeated stubbornly.
Daddy got a beer out of the fridge and twisted the lid off, sitting down at the table. "We need to have a talk."
I still felt annoyed. "About what?"
"About how things have been going the past couple of days. I know that going over to someone's house is new and different, but I want to remind you that just because your friends act differently, doesn't mean that things will be different here. We still expect you to act the same way you always do."
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
Uncle Sam set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table and sat down. "Your friends seem to be allowed to eat a lot of junk food, and we don't—agree with that," he explained, "But you need to realize that just because they do things differently, that it doesn't mean that their way is the right way. Every family does things differently."
"And I don't want to hear any more of this 'it's not fair' if we tell you not to do something that your friends do. I have my reasons for the rules that I make for you, and it doesn't have to be fair," Daddy said, giving me a serious look.
"I'm going to make a rule that you're not allowed to have soda at people's houses, unless you ask one of us first. I think part of the reason you've been so mouthy lately is because of the extra sugar and caffeine," Uncle Sam said.
"But what if that's what they give me?"
"Then you say, 'No thank you, could I please have water?' and leave it at that," Uncle Sam told me, "And I don't want you eating candy either. And if they offer you junk food like potato chips you only eat a little bit."
I crossed my arms and stared at the table. "So I can't eat anything?"
"I didn't say that, I said you can eat things like chips, but a reasonable amount, not so much that you end up feeling sick. Understand?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Parents shouldn't be limiting their kid's food!" I exclaimed hotly.
Daddy choked on a laugh. "Where'd you hear that?" he asked, "Parents have every right to limit their kid's food."
"That's not f-" I started, and then stopped when Daddy cleared his throat.
"Eat some dinner," Uncle Sam pushed a platter of meat towards me.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It's meatloaf," Daddy said, serving a slice onto my plate, "Do you want some gravy?"
"No. It looks gross."
"Young lady, that is rude! You're going to eat-" Grandpa John started, and I interrupted him.
"I don't gotta eat it if I don't want!" I shoved the plate, and it slid and bumped Grandpa John's mug and spilled some coffee on the table.
Uncle Sam said, "Charlie!" and Daddy said, "All right, go to your room. No, you're done, go get ready for bed."
"FINE!" I shoved my chair back and stomped up to my room. I changed into my Hello Kitty nightgown, throwing my clothes on the floor, and then went to the bathroom.
When I opened the door, Daddy was standing there with his arms crossed.
"What?" I snapped.
"You ready for bed? Teeth brushed and everything?"
"Yeeess," I tried to walk around him, but he caught my arm and pulled me back into the bathroom.
"What's this?" he pointed at the sink.
I looked up at him, confused.
He pulled my toothbrush out of the holder. "Your toothbrush is dry, Charlie. I noticed it the other night when I ran your bath. It was dry as a bone then, and it's still dry. Know what that means? It means that you haven't been brushing. Why have you not been brushing your teeth?"
I gulped. I hadn't thought that anyone would notice! "Lemme gooo," I whined.
"No, Charlie," he gave my arm a little shake, "Answer me. Every night I ask you if you're ready for bed and if you've brushed your teeth, and you've been telling me yes when you haven't been brushing. That's lying, little girl."
"No it's not!" I stomped my foot, but I ended up stomping on Daddy's foot accidentally.
"Son of a bitch!" he hollered, holding his foot up and rubbing it.
"S-sorry-"
I saw his jaw twitch, and he snapped, "I've had it with you!"
He reached for me, and all of a sudden I was looking at the tile floor of the bathroom, face down over Daddy's lap.
"I don't know where all this is coming from, but it's going to stop," he said in a hard voice, and he began to spank me.
I yelped and started to struggle. "Daddy stoooop! I said sorry!" I wailed.
"We've had more than one talk about attitude and sassing. This behavior is unacceptable, and I'm tired of going over it again and again."
"Okaaay!" I kicked my feet, tears coming to my eyes, and tried to push up on his thigh as the spanks continued to fall.
Daddy tilted one leg up slightly, which moved me forward a little, and then I felt him tucking the hem of my nightgown onto my lower back. He pulled my panties down and put his arm across my back.
"And NO—MORE- LYING!" he landed a hard swat after each word, and I burst into tears as his hand began to pepper my bare bottom.
Once my whole rear end was stinging, he stopped. "If this behavior of yours keeps up, I'm going to be a lot more strict with you. It'll be a bedtime spanking every night until you decide to stop smart-mouthing and throwing attitude. Is that what needs to happen?" his voice was still stern.
"N—no, p-please, Da-daddy," I whimpered.
He laid a set of smacks on the lowest part of my butt and then pulled my panties up and stood me in front of him.
"No lying, and you brush your teeth and do what you're supposed to do," he raised his eyebrows and gave me a look.
"Y-yes, Daddy," my chest hitched.
He put his arms around me and held me until I was only sniffling. Then he stood up from the closed toilet seat and picked up my toothbrush.
"Brush your teeth," he said, running it under the tap and putting toothpaste on it.
I wiped my eyes and blew my nose with some toilet paper, and then meekly brushed my teeth. I followed Daddy into my bedroom, and noticed Uncle Sam and Grandpa John in the hallway.
"We came to say good-night," Uncle Sam said.
"You owe your uncle and grandfather an apology, you were very rude to them at the table," Daddy said in a hard voice.
I started to cry again, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry!" I wailed again.
Uncle Sam came over and sat down on the bed. "You need to watch how you speak to people, all right?" he said gently, hugging me, "Get a good night's sleep, and do better tomorrow."
"Okay," I agreed.
Grandpa John kissed my forehead and hugged me. "Sleep well, darlin'," he said quietly.
Daddy sat down on the bed and looked at me.
"Sorry, Daddy," I whispered.
He pulled me into a tight hug for a long moment. "I'm sorry I lost my temper with you. Let's have a better day tomorrow, all right?"
He let me go and I laid down, and he pulled the covers up and tucked them around my shoulders.
My stomach growling with hunger woke me up. I got out of bed and padded downstairs. The t.v. was off in the living room, so I thought that maybe everyone was asleep, but then I heard a noise in the kitchen.
"-is new for all of us, not just Charlie," I heard Daddy say.
"She's testing things, to make sure that the boundaries that we set are still in place," Uncle Sam said.
"I don't ever remember feeling like I had to test Dad like this, the way she acts."
"Well, Dad was the king of firm boundaries, wasn't he? You always knew where you stood with John Winchester. Charlie's life has been through massive changes recently, and now she's seeing what other kid's lives are like, and she needs to know that things are not going to change. She needs constants in her life, rules and boundaries."
I didn't want them to start talking about more rules for me, so I walked into the kitchen, as Daddy was saying, "Man, I wish that- Charlie, what are you doing up?"
He and Uncle Sam were sitting at the kitchen table. There was a towel spread out and they each had a gun all taken apart and spread out in front of them.
"I—I'm hungry," I blushed and stared at my feet.
"Do you want some dinner? There's leftover meatloaf and potatoes," Uncle Sam said.
"Okay," I agreed.
"Let me put this together and I'll heat it up for you," he told me.
I stayed in the doorway, nervous about going near the table and the guns.
"You can sit down, just don't touch anything," Daddy said.
I walked over and sat down at the table, putting my hands in my lap.
Uncle Sam finished putting his gun together and set it on the table next to Daddy's elbow, then he got up and washed his hands.
"Meatloaf sandwich, Dean?" he asked as he leaned into the fridge.
"You know it," Daddy said with a grin.
Uncle Sam prepared a plate and put it in the microwave, then set a sandwich in front of Daddy. It looked like it was just a thick slab of meatloaf between two pieces of bread.
Daddy picked it up and took a bite.
"Is—is that cold?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Best there is."
"Ew!" I wrinkled my nose, and he laughed.
Uncle Sam put the plate in front of me and handed me a fork.
I looked up at him. "Thanks, Uncle Sam," I said gratefully. I felt lucky that he was so nice to me, that both of them were nice. They didn't send me back to bed with an empty stomach or yell at me.
I watched Daddy finish cleaning the gun and then put it back together.
"Am I gonna learn how to shoot a gun?" I asked.
Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he said firmly.
"But shouldn't I learn how, just in case?" I looked at Uncle Sam and then at Daddy.
"Well there's not ever gonna be a 'just in case', so put it out of your mind," Daddy gave me a look.
"But-"
"Charlie, NO," Daddy's voice was deeper now, and stern, "You arguing with me is not going to change my mind, so drop it. You're only going to end up getting yourself in trouble."
"Missouri said-"
"I don't care what she said, I'm your father, and I'm telling you NO! Now that is ENOUGH!" Daddy slammed his fist down on the table, and I jumped.
He leaned forward and pointed at me. "What did I tell you earlier about the smart-mouthing? Do I need to put that rule in place about a bedtime spanking for the rest of the week?"
"I—I wasn't sassing!" I protested.
"Arguing with me like that is close enough," he growled, frowning at me, "And I've had it, little girl. No more. Do you understand?"
"Okay—I mean, yes, Daddy," I said quickly. I didn't want him to keep being angry with me.
"What's going to happen if you keep on with the sassing and arguing?"
"Uh, a- a s-spanking at bedtime," I felt my face get a little red, and I looked down at my plate.
"Is that what you want?" he asked, still stern.
"N-no, Daddy," I said nervously.
"Good. Make sure it doesn't have to happen." He stood up and picked up the cleaning supplies, taking them into another room, and then he washed his hands. Uncle Sam picked up the guns and left the room with them. By the time they came back, I was finished eating.
"I'm done," I said, carrying my plate over to the sink, "Thanks for letting me have a snack." I said to Uncle Sam as he came over to me.
He leaned down to hug me. "You're welcome, sweetheart," he said, "Good night."
I walked over to Daddy. "Good ni—oh!" I exclaimed as he swung me up into his arms.
"Let's get you back in bed," he said, carrying me up to my room. I put my arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder as he walked up the stairs.
He put me in bed and tucked me in again. "Good night, kiddo, be good."
"Good night, Daddy," I yawned.
In the morning, Uncle Sam told me to go upstairs and brush my teeth after breakfast, and then he followed me to the bathroom. He leaned into my room while I was at the sink, and then when I was finished, he said, "You didn't make your bed, Charlie, and you didn't put your clothes in the hamper either."
"I—I just didn't get to it yet, gosh!" I grumbled.
"I noticed last night that your bed wasn't made either. You need to do everything that you're supposed to do, every day."
"Okaay!" I walked over to my bed and started to pull up the covers.
"Charlie," Uncle Sam sighed, "Don't start with the attitude, please."
We went downstairs to work on my school work for a while. It took us longer than usual and we ate a late lunch, then Grandpa John asked Uncle Sam to help him with his computer. Uncle Sam got my bike out so I could ride it.
As I was riding up the sidewalk, Macy and Cara came out of their house with their mom. Stella started to take the wreaths off of the front of the house.
"Hey, Charlie!" Macy waved to me, and I stopped my bike and went to talk to her.
"What didja get for Christmas?" Macy asked.
"Uh, I got this bike, and lots of books, and some figurines," I told her, "What did you get?"
"We got a big playhouse but it's over at my daddy's. We wented there for Christmas. An' I got a thing to do art on, what's it called, Mommy?" Macy looked over at her mom.
"An easel," Stella said.
"Yeah, that, an' some paints. Do you like to paint?"
"I do drawing," I said.
"May-May, fissys!" Cara demanded. She was holding a plastic bowl of Goldfish crackers.
"Okay, Cara. Do you wanna play 'quarium with us?" Macy asked me.
"What's that?"
Macy took a goldfish out of the bowl and said, "Here comes the fishy!" She moved it through the air like it was swimming, and Cara opened her mouth. Macy popped the cracker into Cara's mouth, and Cara giggled and started chewing.
"Me! Me do!" Cara said, picking up a fish. She waved the cracker around, and Macy opened her mouth.
"Fissy!" Cara put the cracker in Macy's mouth, and she ate it.
Macy took out another goldfish. "Fishy is swimmin'," she grinned, acting like she was going to put the cracker in Cara's mouth, but then at the last second she put it in her own mouth.
"Heeey! Fissy to me!" Cara exclaimed.
"I know, I was just teasin'," Macy picked up another cracker and made it swim into Cara's mouth.
Cara picked up two crackers this time.
"One fish two fish," said Macy.
"Weh fiss boo fiss," Cara said, and tried to throw the crackers into Macy's open mouth. Neither of them went in. That made Cara laugh loudly.
"You try!" Macy said to me.
I opened my mouth, and Macy tried to toss a goldfish into my mouth. It sailed over my shoulder. She and I started trying to throw goldfish in each other's mouths and into Cara's mouth. We were all laughing a lot, and then somehow Macy actually got a cracker into my mouth.
"Yaaay!" Cara cheered, clapping her hands.
"There you are," I heard someone say.
Uncle Sam was coming up the sidewalk. "What are you doing?"
"Playing aquarium!" I told him.
"Looks like a lot of fish have escaped," Uncle Sam said with a smile, looking at the crackers all over the sidewalk. "How are you?" he asked Stella.
"I've been all right, trying to get back on track after the holiday. The girls spent Christmas with their father, so we've been slowly getting back into our routine. You?" Stella placed a wreath in a large plastic bin.
"Same old same old," Uncle Sam said.
"Oh, there's going to be a New Year's Eve party over at the Williams' house, starting at 7 pm. They'll have movies in their basement for the kids, and if Charlie wants to crash down there she can. We do this every year, have a neighborhood party, so that families can get together, and not have to worry about driving home. There will be 'adult beverages' served closer to midnight."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know," Uncle Sam said.
"Girls, clean up the crackers, it's rest time in a few," Stella said.
"Noooo!" Cara whined, "No west!"
"Yes, Cara," Stella said.
Macy began to pick the goldfish up off the sidewalk and I helped her. We put them back into the bowl, which was almost empty.
"Thanks for the goldfish," I said, walking over to my bike.
"Seeya, Charlie," Macy waved. Cara was sitting on the ground with her arms crossed, sulking. As Uncle Sam and I walked over to our house, I heard Stella saying, "Come on, little girl, enough pouting. Let's go inside."
"The Williams are your friend's family, aren't they?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Yeah, I think so," I said, "Are we gonna go to the party?" I asked him.
"I don't know, I'll have to see what your dad wants to do," Uncle Sam said, "Let's work on dinner, I need you to cut up some peppers for me."
"Okay, Uncle Sam," I followed him into the kitchen. He kept me busy, helping him make meatballs. It took a while to make all of them, and then put them in the oven to bake, and I helped him with the pasta sauce. I had just put the spaghetti in to boil when Daddy came into the kitchen.
"Daddy!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around him.
He leaned down to hug me. "I didn't expect to see you here, I thought you'd be at your friend's house."
"Uncle Sam wanted me to help make dinner. We made a ton of meatballs!"
"A ton? Well, that's great, because I'm hungry!" Daddy tweaked my nose.
"The Williams' are having a New Year's Eve party at their house, we've been invited," Uncle Sam told him, "Apparently the whole neighborhood goes."
"Can we go, Daddy? I've never been to a New Year's Eve party!" I looked up at him.
"I don't get the point of celebrating, it's just another year," Daddy said.
"But I wanna stay up until midnight! All the grownups are s'posed to drink champagne an' kiss each other!" I told him.
He laughed. "Where did you hear that?"
"It's in lots of shows. Can we go?" I hung on to his arm.
"Well, I guess. You really think you can stay up until midnight?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna try. I'll drink lots of coffee and soda!"
Both of them laughed. "We'll see about that," Uncle Sam said, "Set the table, please, Charlie." He put the plates and silverware on the table and I set them out at each place.
"Oh, Sam, this Friday the guys I work with are going out to shoot some pool, you should come with," Daddy said.
"I'll think about it," Uncle Sam replied, pouring the hot water and pasta into the strainer that was in the sink.
"Who's gonna put me to bed then?" I asked.
"Grandpa John will be here, he'll do it," Daddy said.
"Grandpa John will do what?" he asked, coming into the kitchen.
"I'm going out to play pool with some of my co-workers this Friday, and I told Sam he should come along," Daddy got a couple of beer bottles out of the fridge, opened one, and handed it to Uncle Sam, and then opened the other one and took a drink.
"That's a great idea, Sam, you should go, and get out of the house," Grandpa John said, "I can hold down the fort here with this one," he grinned at me and ruffled my hair, then sat down. "Charlie, I was at the library today, and they have a home-schooling group that meets there and does crafts. I got a flyer for it," he took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on the table.
"I'll look at it. Would you like to go, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Uhh, I dunno...the last time we did a group at the library is where we met that Cole kid," I said sourly.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about all that," Daddy chuckled and shook his head.
"I didn't," I grumbled, "He was mean."
"He had...problems," Daddy said.
"It would be another chance to meet some women," Grandpa John said with another grin, "You know the majority of parents there are going to be moms."
"Then I don't wanna go," I sat down and crossed my arms.
"Why not?" Daddy asked.
The old fear I had felt before came back. " 'Cause- 'cause what if you meet someone an', an' you decide to marry them, an' they don't like me!"
Daddy chuckled. "Charlie, that's not-"
"Don't laugh!" I said loudly, and tears came to my eyes, "It's not funny!"
Daddy put his hand on mine. "Are you telling me that after all this time you're still worried about that?"
"I—I-I dunno!" I exclaimed.
"Well, that's not going to happen, all right? People don't just meet someone and get married and then decide to dump everyone else. That kind of stuff happens in movies, but not real life. And it's not going to happen with any of us." Daddy squeezed my hand.
Uncle Sam brought the pot of pasta sauce to the table, and then got a big loaf of crusty bread out of the oven. He cut thick slices of it and passed them out, and then set a bowl of salad on the table.
I served myself some salad and reached for the spaghetti.
"Take more salad than that," Uncle Sam told me.
"I'm eating some salad!" I protested.
"Yeah, like three leaves. Take a bigger serving," Uncle Sam insisted.
I opened my mouth to protest again, and Daddy gave me a look. "Arguing," he said pointedly.
I closed my mouth and put more salad on my plate.
While we ate, Grandpa John talked to Daddy and Uncle Sam about some hunters that they all knew. He said he was going to be helping Uncle Bobby with a project for a while.
We were just finishing up when the doorbell rang. Daddy got up and walked to the front door, opening it and looking out.
"Hi, is, um, Sam there? I'm sorry, I don't think we've been formally introduced, I'm Stella," we heard her voice.
"I'm Dean," Daddy said, then turned from the door, and called, "Sam, a friend is here for you!"
He grinned as Uncle Sam walked to the door. "Hey, Stella, what's up?" he asked.
"Hi, Sam, I didn't know who else to ask, I'm sorry- one of my friends has been in a car accident and she's at the hospital. She needs for me to give her a ride home. Do you think—could you stay with the girls until I get home?"
"Uh, sure," Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy.
"Oh, Macy wants to know if Charlie can come too," Stella said.
"That's fine," Uncle Sam turned to me, "Charlie, want to come with me?"
"Yeah," I got up from my chair. Uncle Sam looked relieved.
I put my shoes and my coat on, and we left the house. Stella had Cara on her hip and Macy walked next to her. "It'll be like a playdate!" she said excitedly.
When we got into their house, Macy dragged me to her bedroom. She had a lot of toys scattered all over the floor.
Stella came to the door and set Cara down. "All right, if I'm not back by bedtime, you get ready. Macy, help your sister, and then you can fall asleep watching a video. Sam knows the rules, so don't try to pull anything with him, okay?"
Macy got up and walked over to her. "Okay, Mommy, I'll be a helper."
"Good girl," Stella leaned down and kissed Macy and then Cara, "I'll be back soon."
Cara started to bring a bunch of her toys in from her room- a big bin of wooden blocks and little stuffed animals. Macy had a toy garage with little car and little figurines to put in the cars. She showed me how they made roads with the blocks and then made the cars drive on the roads. Macy had little plastic houses for some of the figures, and we set them up to make a little town. The stuffed animals lived there too.
Eventually Uncle Sam came to the door. "It's about time for you, uh, you girls to get ready for bed. Your mom said you could watch a video on the sofa after snack."
"Okay!" Macy stood up, "C'mon, Cara."
"She said she put Cara's pajamas on her bed. Does she need help?" Uncle Sam asked Macy. Cara was hiding behind her, not looking at Uncle Sam.
"No, I got it," Macy said confidently, "She's a'scared of you."
"Oh," Uncle Sam said with surprise, "Why is she scared of me?"
"'Cause you're so tall an' big!" Macy looked up at him.
Cara looked at me. "Taw-ee tome too!" she held her hand out to me.
I got up and followed them into Cara's room, which was smaller. She had a tiny bed that had wooden rails on the sides of it, and low furniture. Macy helped Cara take her clothes off, and then Cara had to put on a sleep diaper, which she stepped into like underpants. Cara put her nightgown on, and then we went back into Macy's room and she put a matching nightgown on.
We went out to the kitchen. Uncle Sam had cups of juice for us and bowls of grapes and crackers. We went into the living room and Macy picked out a DVD to watch. "We like the Barbie fairy tale movies," she told me.
"You can come in and sit down," Uncle Sam said to Cara, who was hovering in the doorway.
Cara ran over and climbed onto the end of the sofa. "May-May sit wif me!" she held her arms out.
"I'll sit next to you," Macy said.
"Taw-ee sit!" Cara patted the other cushion. So I sat on one side of her and Macy sat on the other, and Uncle Sam sat next to me.
I had never seen a Barbie movie before. Uncle Sam said that they made it on a computer, and that's why the cartoon looked different than regular cartoons. It had lots of songs in it, and Macy and Cara sang along to them. I didn't think I would fall asleep, but the next thing I knew, Uncle Sam was patting my back.
"Charlie, it's time to go," he said quietly.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I had been laying with my head on his thigh. Macy was on the other side, with her head on his other leg, and Cara was curled up next to her.
Stella leaned down and picked Cara up. "Thanks a lot, Sam," she said.
"You want me to get her?" Sam gestured to Macy.
"No, I'll come back and get her."
I stood up and stumbled, yawning, and Uncle Sam picked me up to carry me home. He helped me get ready for bed, and Daddy came into my room so they could both tuck me in.