AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all! No, I haven't abandoned Charlie, or any of my other fics. Anxiety and depression have been kicking my butt, and my muse's butt as well! Health-wise, I've had several tests done over the past few months trying to figure out what's going on with me, and if y'all could send me good vibes I'd appreciate it- I'm having surgery this week to remove and biopsy a lymph node. It's an outpatient surgery, but I hate going under anesthesia, it scares me. So any positive thoughts you can send my way would be great!
To answer the guest who asked if I wrote other fics, yes, I have. Click on my name and that will take you to my page, where you will see everything I've written listed. I write primarily sisfics and daughterfics.
In other news, Charlie's fic has hit over 200K views- 200,040 at this time! I am just gobsmacked that people like this story so much that they come back again and again to read it! I never imagined it would go on for this long, or be this popular, so I'm very gratified to see the numbers. And it helps me, because another side effect of depression and anxiety is insecurity about my writing, and I've been having issues with that as well. So THANK YOU to all of you who read this fic and follow it and comment (you know I love reviews)...and thanks for staying with me! And thanks to my betas, Crzed-Panda and Edge-of-Clairvoyance for all their help!
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
"It's okay," I told Macy.
On the other side of me, Cara opened her eyes and sat up. She looked over and saw Macy crying, and looked confused.
"M' gonna be in trouble!" Macy exclaimed.
"Why? It was a accident, right?" I said.
Her face was red, I wasn't sure if she was blushing, and she looked shame-faced. "Daddy was mad when I peed the bed when we was at his 'partment at Christmas time," she whispered.
"Hey, what's going on?" Daddy stood at the doorway.
Macy scrunched up into a ball. "M'sorry, I peed the bed, it was a acc'dent, I didn't mean to, m'sorry!" she wailed.
Daddy walked over to the bed. "It's okay, kiddo," he said kindly.
"She's scared she's gonna be in trouble," I told him.
"No, you're not in trouble," Daddy's voice was calm. He walked around to the side of the bed she was on and bent down, putting his hands on his knees. "Macy, can you look at me? You're not in any trouble, all right? I promise. We're all friends here, and no-one is gonna be upset with you."
Macy glanced up at him as he talked, and then put her legs down. "But I messed up the bed," she whispered.
Daddy stood up and shrugged. "So we wash the sheets and let the bed air-dry, it'll be fine."
Uncle Sam came to the door. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"May-May pee-pee inna bed!" Cara said, pointing at Macy. "She bad!"
"Shut up, Cara!" Macy shrieked, reaching over me to push Cara's shoulder.
"No, she's not bad," Daddy said. "Let's not put our hands on each other."
"Unca, up!" Cara held her arms up to Uncle Sam as he came over.
Daddy looked at Uncle Sam. "Well, uh, I'll get the bed stripped...uh, should we give Macy a bath?"
"The doctor said her stitches can't get wet," Uncle Sam said, leaning down to pick Cara up. "Oh, your diaper appears to be...full." He looked a little nervous.
"Mommy just wipes Cara down in the mornings with a wipe an' she gives me a couple too, when I have a acc'dent." Macy explained.
"Oh, okay," Daddy looked relieved.
The smell of coffee drifted up the stairs, and then Grandpa John came in, holding a mug. "I heard voices," he said, "How is everyone this morning?"
"Gwampa!" Cara shrieked, holding her arms out to him.
He chuckled, and walked over to set the mug on my dresser. He took her into his arms, and Uncle Sam laughed and said, "I guess we're all chopped liver when you're around, Dad."
"Someone needs a diaper change," Grandpa John said, looking at Cara. Then he looked up at Uncle Sam. "You want to learn how to change a diaper, Sammy?"
"Uhh, I kinda learned when Jess was watching her niece, I watched her do it, but...that's okay, you go ahead." Uncle Sam said.
"Chicken," Daddy smirked, and make chicken noises.
Uncle Sam made a face at Daddy. "I'll put the sheets in the wash, how about that?"
Macy got off the bed, and then I did. We walked over to her backpack, and she got out the baby wipes.
"My leg got wet, can I have one?" I asked her.
"Okay," she looked embarrassed again.
Grandpa John laid Cara on the sleeping bag and removed her diaper and wiped her off. He turned to rummage in the backpack for clothes. In a flash, Cara was up and running out the door.
"What the—what's she doing?" Uncle Sam turned to watch her go.
Macy rolled her eyes. "She does this all the time, Mommy has to chase her, she loves to be naked."
Grandpa John stood up, holding some clothes, and shook his head. He got a little smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes. "I remember some little boys who were the same way," he said.
I looked up at him. "Who?"
He nodded over at Daddy, grinning now.
"Daddy did?" I was astonished.
"Both of them."
"Daddy and Uncle Sam liked to run around with no clothes on?"
"I'd just get one of 'em dressed and the other one would be stripping down. At that age, Sam copied everything that Dean did, wanted to be just like his big brother."
I laughed.
Uncle Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes, and Daddy laughed too. "Aww, Sammy, I've always influenced you, but you'll never be as cool as your big brother!"
"Keep dreaming, Dean," Uncle Sam said.
I took our dirty clothes and gave them to Uncle Sam. Grandpa John grabbed his coffee and followed Uncle Sam out of the room.
I heard Uncle Sam call, "She's hiding behind the sofa!" and then a high-pitched shrieking giggle.
Macy and I got dressed and threw the wipes away in the trash. She walked over and picked up the bunny, the blanket, and the bear.
"The mattress isn't too wet, it should dry in no time at all," Daddy said reassuringly.
When we went downstairs, Grandpa John had Cara on the sofa and was helping her put pants on. She was giggling, "I a nakey baby!"
He set her on the floor, and she said, "Where Bun-Bun and banky?"
"Here, Cara," Macy handed them to her.
"Fank 'oo," Cara said, tucking the bunny under her arm. She rubbed the blanket on her face.
"What do you girls eat for breakfast?" Daddy asked.
"Umm...cereal, an' eggs, an' toast," Macy said.
"How about some scrambled eggs?" Daddy went into the kitchen and we followed him. "I can make pancakes too."
"YAY!" Cara yelled happily, going up to him and hugging his legs.
"You like that, huh?" Daddy laughed. "Pancakes are Charlie's favorite too."
Cara held her arms up. "Pick me up, Taw-ee Daddy! Hugs!"
Daddy laughed again. "I can't hold you right now, kiddo, I've got to cook." He leaned down and picked her up, carrying her over to the table and setting her in a chair.
Daddy got stuff out and started mixing pancake batter, and Uncle Sam scrambled the eggs for him while the pans heated.
Grandpa John poured juice for all three of us after Macy and I sat down. She looked over at her sister, and said, "What should we sing?"
"ABCs!" Cara chirped.
"We sing in the mornings while Mommy's making breakfast." Macy explained. They sang the ABC song, and then a song about all the colors, in Spanish.
Daddy served the eggs first. "Let them cool for a moment," he said.
"Didja wike da songs?" Cara asked him.
"Yes, I did, you did a good job."
"You sit wif me?" Cara looked up at Daddy with puppy-dog eyes.
"I'm still cooking," Daddy told her. He smiled at her, and suddenly I felt a pang of jealousy.
Grandpa John and Uncle Sam got some coffee and leaned against the counters drinking while we ate.
Macy looked sad, and then she got tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"I- I—miss Mommy!" she wailed, and the tears started pouring down her face.
Uncle Sam went over and put his arm around her shoulders and patted her. "We can call her soon, and find out what's happening with her. I'm sure she'll be home soon."
"Can I talk to her when you call?" Macy sniffled.
"Of course you can, I can put the call on speakerphone so both of you can hear it, okay?" Uncle Sam handed her a napkin.
Daddy turned, holding a pancake on the spatula. He placed it on Macy's plate first, and the second one went on Cara's plate. Uncle Sam cut Cara's up for her, and then poured syrup over it.
Daddy stepped over to me and set a pancake on my plate. "There you go, baby girl," he touched the back of my head and smiled at me.
Cara frowned. "Taw-ee not a baby!"
"No, she's not, but she's my baby girl. That's just what I call her," Daddy explained.
"I a baby," Cara put her hand on her chest.
"No you're not, you're a big girl, 'member? Who wears big girl underpanties?" Macy said.
"I wike bein' a baby!" Cara frowned at Macy. "I c'n be a baby if I want!"
"Then you can't play with my fairy playhouse set."
"Yes I can!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-huh!" Cara's voice was getting louder, and she frowned harder.
"No you can't!"
"YES!" Cara shrieked, kicking her chair legs.
"Girls!" Grandpa John's voice boomed out, and we all startled. I looked over at him, but he wasn't mad. The corners of his lips twitched. "Let's all settle down and not argue. Finish eating your breakfast."
" 'Kay," Macy said agreeably. Cara stared up at Grandpa John for a long moment, and he winked at her. She started to eat the rest of her pancake.
Once we finished eating, Uncle Sam called the hospital. He talked in the other room for a few minutes, and then came in to the kitchen and set the phone down in the table. "You're on speaker," he said.
"Girls?" Miss Stella's voice sounded wobbly.
"Hi Mommy!" Cara bounced in her chair, smiling, but Macy's eyes filled with tears.
"I m-miss you!" Macy blurted, and then she started sobbing.
"Aw, I miss you too, sweetie." Miss Stella said.
Uncle Sam put his hand on Macy's shoulder, and she turned around. He picked her up off the chair and set her on his hip. "Wh-when are y-you coming h-home?" Macy asked.
"I'll be home later today, and guess what?"
"What?" Cara asked loudly.
"Gram-Gram is coming to pick me up, and we're going to stay with her for a while!"
"Yay!" Cara clapped her hands excitedly.
"We're gonna stay at Gram-Gram's? Why?" Macy asked, wiping her face.
"Well, I have something called a concussion, where my brain is hurt, and I need a lot of rest and quiet. And my arm is broken too, so I can't get around very well. Gram-Gram is going to help me, and take care of you girls while I'm resting." Miss Stella explained.
"We ated pan-tays, an', an' May-May peed inna bed!" Cara reported.
Macy blushed, and frowned at Cara. "Shut up, Cara!".
"What happened?" Miss Stella asked.
"Macy had a little accident overnight, but it was fine. We've got everything in the wash," Daddy said.
"Did you get upset, sweetie? We talked about that, remember? That sometimes you might have accidents? It's okay," Miss Stella said reassuringly. We heard another voice talking in the background. "Listen, I've got to go, the nurse is here to draw some blood. I'll see you later today, all right? Be good, girls, and I love you."
"Bye Mommy! Love you too!" Macy called.
"Bye! Wove you!" Cara chimed in, and then her chin started to wobble and she began to cry. She stood up in her chair and held her arms out to Daddy. "I want my Mommyyyyy!" she wailed.
Daddy picked her up off the chair and hugged her. "I'm sure you miss her," he patted her back, "She'll be home soon, all right?"
Cara grabbed ahold of Daddy's shirt and buried her face into it. She cried for a couple of minutes, and then calmed down.
"What do you girls want to do?" Uncle Sam looked down at Macy.
"Want to go play in my room?" I asked.
Cara looked up. "Yeah, pay wif Kitty!"
Daddy wiped her face off with a napkin and had her blow her nose, then he set her down.
"We'll clean up here, you girls go on," Uncle Sam set Macy down. I got off my chair. "C'mon," I led them up to my room, and we got out all my figurines again. Cara immediately took a bunch of the Hello Kitty figurines and began to play with them.
We had pizza for lunch, and then we watched some little kid shows that the girls liked to watch. Cara started to fall asleep on the sofa, and Macy's eyes were drooping too, when the doorbell rang. Uncle Sam went to answer it, and let an older lady with short graying hair into the room.
"I'm Loretta, Stella's mother," she was saying. "I got her set up on the sofa next door, she's taking pain meds so she's a little out of it right now." She walked over to the sofa and leaned down. "Girls, it's time to go."
Macy opened her eyes and looked up. "Gram-Gram!" she exclaimed, smiling up at her grandmother. She leaned over and poked Cara. "Cara, wake up! Wake up, Mommy's home now!"
Cara sat up, blinking, and muttered, "Mommy home?" She rubbed her eyes and then looked up. "Gam-Gam!" she crowed, jumping up to stand on the sofa. She held her arms out and her grandmother went over and picked her up.
Daddy came into the room carrying the backpacks and duffle. "Everything's all packed up."
"Let me carry those over for you," Uncle Sam said, and he took the backpacks. Macy held her Grandmother's hand, and I followed behind Uncle Sam.
Miss Stella was sitting on the sofa with her feet up, and her arm in a sling, propped up on a pile of pillows. The girls ran to her. Macy started to cry, and Stella sat up and gave her a one-armed hug. Cara tried to grab onto Stella's sling, and she said, "No, Cara, be careful, this is a big owie. Okay, Macy, let go so I can hug your sister." Macy stepped back and let Cara hug her mom, and then Miss Stella stood up.
She wobbled a little bit and then fell forward, and Uncle Sam reached out to catch her. She righted herself, but kept her hand on his arm where she'd grabbed onto him. "Thank you so much for- well, for all your help. I really had no idea what to do when he started to get angry, I didn't have my phone with me, and I wasn't expecting things—to go the way they did." She smiled up at him, clutching his arm.
"I'm glad that we were there to help," Uncle Sam replied.
"Well, thank you again...and thank your father and brother too, for watching the girls." Stella was looking intently at Uncle Sam, and she leaned forward, looking like she wanted to say something else. She bit her lip and then her face got red. "Thank you, Sam." She suddenly put her arm around him.
"You're welcome," Uncle Sam looked a little embarrassed as he hugged her back.
"All right, Stella, sit back down before you lose your balance," her mother said, taking her elbow.
"Don't forget, we're having Charlie's birthday party at the Chuck E. Cheese that's on Route 15." Uncle Sam reminded them.
"Oh, that's right," Miss Stella smiled at me. "I don't know if I'll be there, but my mother may bring the girls."
"You have our numbers, so call if you need anything else," Uncle Sam said, "We'll keep an eye on things here, your house and all."
"Thank you," Stella said gratefully.
"I'm going to pack up some clothes, and then we'll be going to my house tonight, I live a little over an hour away," Stella's mom said to Uncle Sam.
"We go to Gam-Gam's!" Cara clapped her hands and grinned.
"That's good," Uncle Sam smiled at her.
"Tell Sam thank you for taking care of you," Miss Stella said to Macy.
"Bye Unca! Fank you!" Cara ran over and hugged Uncle Sam's leg, and Macy hugged his other leg. "Thank you, Unca."
Uncle Sam blushed as he smiled, and then took my hand as we walked back to our house.
It seemed more quiet and still now that the girls were gone. Daddy was in the kitchen cooking hamburgers. He turned when we came in. "Everything all set over there?"
Uncle Sam nodded. "I told her we'd keep an eye on things here."
Daddy nodded too. "Sounds good. If anything happens, we'll be ready."
I looked at both of them. "What do you mean? What could happen?"
Daddy looked at me. "Well...Stella's ex could come around, try to get into the house or something. You tell one of us if you happen to be outside and notice someone trying to get into her house, or walking around it, all right?"
"Yes sir," I agreed. "I thought he was gonna be in jail though."
Daddy looked at Uncle Sam and they did their talking without words thing. "Well...it's a little complicated, depends on a couple of things. And even if he goes to jail, he may get out soon."
"That's not fair! He's mean, and he hurts people!"
Uncle Sam put his hands on my shoulders. "I know, it's wrong. Hopefully all the right things will happen for Stella and he won't bother her anymore. We'll be there to help- I told Lynn that we were okay with going to court if need be."
Daddy shook his head and sighed. "I don't know how Dad's gonna feel about that, us getting- involved in that, and I don't know how I feel about Charlie getting involved either."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now Stella needs to heal and get back on her feet. She told me last night she's going to get herself and the kids back into therapy." Uncle Sam said.
"That's probably for the best," Daddy agreed. He put the spatula down and turned to me. "I'm proud of the way you handled yourself, Charlie, you were good with the girls, and you let them play with your toys, and were nice to them."
I stared at the floor, feeling embarrassed. "Thanks." Suddenly tears filled my eyes.
Daddy put his hand under my chin and lifted my head. "What's wrong?"
"I-I-it was scary yesterday, I didn't know what was gonna happen!" I had been scared yesterday, but I hadn't let myself feel it, I had tried to help Cara and Macy. That was how I had gotten through my mommy's sickness too, just taking care of her and not thinking about myself.
"You did a good job yesterday," Uncle Sam put his hand on my back, "When things were happening, I saw you letting Cara hold your hand and sitting with Macy."
"Cara grabbed me and didn't let go. I wanted to h-help her," I wiped my eyes.
"You were a good helper," Uncle Sam agreed, "You did what you were told, and you supported the girls. I'm proud of you too."
Daddy picked me up. "You're a good girl, Charlie." He put his arm around me and hugged me, and Uncle Sam came over and hugged me too. "You did well, you are a good girl."
I stared at the floor, feeling embarrassed. "Thanks."
Daddy wiped my cheek with his thumb and kissed me. "You ready for some burgers?"
I nodded, and he put me down.
"I'll go check on Dad, he said he was going to rest, I think the girls tired him out," Uncle Sam grinned and left the room.
There was a marathon of my favorite cooking show on that night, so after we ate, we all sat down to watch together. I was sitting between Daddy and Uncle Sam.
Grandpa John brought in two bowls of popcorn and handed one to Uncle Sam, and then sat down on the other side of Daddy.
Daddy took some popcorn and held a kernel up to my mouth, but when I opened my mouth, he popped it into his own mouth. "Hey, no fair!" I exclaimed. He grinned at me and fed me some popcorn. I climbed onto his lap and snuggled into him after we finished the popcorn.
I woke up later, all stretched out. My feet were in Uncle Sam's lap, and I was still on Daddy's lap, but laying down, and my head was on Grandpa John's thigh. He was stroking my hair, and I moved my head and looked up at him.
"You awake now?" Grandpa John asked quietly.
"Yeah," I rubbed my eye and yawned. The tv was showing a late-night talk show. I shifted and looked up at Daddy. "How come you didn't put me to bed?"
"We were all enjoying having you here," Daddy explained. "But it is pretty late now. C'mon, I'll carry you up to bed."
I sat up and leaned over to hug Uncle Sam. He dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "Good night, Charlie, sleep well."
"Good night, Uncle Sam." I turned and hugged Grandpa John, and he squeezed me extra tight. "Good night, little one, you did well today and yesterday." He kissed my cheek, and then Daddy picked me up and carried me up to my room. He helped me get ready for bed and then tucked me under the covers.
"G'night, Daddy, I love you," I yawned.
He kissed my cheek. "Love you too, baby girl, good night."