Mornings were hectic for the Anderson-Hummels. With three teenagers trying to get ready for school at the same time, things often got crazy. "Guys! You better hurry. You're going to be late." Blaine yelled upstairs. He was frantically slapping together sandwiches and shoving them into brown paper bags. Kurt had long gone to work...some kind of button emergency at Vogue. Caleb, their fifteen year old son, came down first.
"Dad, can I have twenty dollars?" he asked.
"What do you need twenty dollars for?" Blaine asked, still frantically making sandwiches.
"The science club is getting t-shirts and I really want one." the boy replied. Blaine, who was running out of time, whipped out his wallet and tossed it at his son.
"Here. Only twenty though." he replied.
"Thanks Dad." Caleb said, before going to the cabinet and grabbing a granola bar.
Blaine knew Caleb was a good kid. He was their low maintenance kid and didn't often ask for things. His sisters on the other hand...they were another story. Penny came down next. She was frantically writing on a folder, obviously still trying to finish her homework. She sat the folder down and immediately went to the coffee pot and poured it into her travel mug.
"Pen, coffee is not breakfast." Blaine scolded.
"I'm too nauseous." the teen replied. "I have a huge physics test today and I'm so going to fail it."
"Honey, you've studied for that test. You'll do just fine." Blaine told her as handed her a brown paper bag lunch. Penny had always been the overachiever. Her confidence level however didn't match her skill level. He and Kurt tried to encourage her as much as they could, but ultimately Penny was her own worst enemy.
"Where the hell is Charlie? She's going to make us late again!" Penny replied, as she fumbled through her backpack, looking for her car keys.
"Calm yourself down." Charlie replied as she came down the stairs. "I'm ready." Blaine took one look at his daughter and practically had a heartattack. She was wearing skin tight black jeans that had holes in the knees and a purple crop top that exposed a huge portion of her midriff. The worst thing however was the large diamond stud sticking out of her belly button.
"What on earth are you wearing?" Blaine asked, desperately trying to keep his cool.
"An outfit." the fifteen year old replied.
"You better get your butt upstairs and change into something that covers you up. And, you better take that stud out of your belly button before your father sees it and has an aneurysm."
"But Dad! This is cute and it's what my friends are wearing!" Charlie screeched.
"I don't give a damn what your friends are wearing. You are not going to school dressed like that. Now get your butt upstairs and change before you make yourself, and your brother and sister late for school."
"You suck! I hate you." Charlie yelled before stomping upstairs. When she got there, there was a loud slam that the other three Anderson-Hummels assumed was her bedroom door. Blaine let out a long sigh. Charlie was the reason why he was already finding gray hairs on his head.
"She's literally so dramatic. I'm surprised that she's not biologically related to Aunt Rachel." Caleb said quietly.
"And what's that supposed to mean? I'm biologically related to Aunt Rachel." Penny retorted.
"You know exactly what I mean. I don't know how but somehow you turned out okay." Caleb replied. Penny didn't know whether or not to consider her brother's comment a compliment or an insult. But right now, she didn't really care. She had a physics test to take. She walked over to the bottom of the stairs.
"Charlie! Hurry up! You're going to school not the Oscars!" Penny yelled.
"I'm coming." Charlie replied. "I would have been ready if someone wasn't so uptight." she added, looking directly at Blaine.
"You are working on my last nerve, Charlie. If you're not looking to get grounded, I would go and get in the car." Blaine replied, gritting his teeth. The teenager rolled her eyes and began walking towards the front door.
"Wait, is that my shirt?" Penny asked. "That is! Charlie what the hell?" She left the house while still continuing to yell at her sister.
"Well, this ought to be a fun car ride." Caleb muttered as he picked up his backpack and followed after his sisters. After all three of the kids left, Blaine took a seat in the living room and let out a deep breath.
"These children are going to be the death of me…" he said to no one.
Later that day, Blaine called Kurt from the house. He really needed a break from the piece of music he was writing for his latest musical.
"Hello?" came Kurt's voice. He sounded stressed.
"Hey honey," Blaine said.
"Oh Blaine, it's you." Kurt replied. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to check in. Did the button emergency get resolved?" he asked.
"Yeah, we figured it out." Kurt replied. "So how has your day been?"
"Great since the three monsters we call children left." Blaine told him. "Your daughter is going to give me a heart attack."
"Which one? And wait, why is she my daughter now that you're clearly upset with her?" Kurt asked.
"Charlie." Blaine replied. "She came downstairs dressed like a-a prostitute this morning. Also, did you know that she has her belly button pierced?"
"Her what?!" Kurt screeched. Clearly, he had no idea about the belly button piercing either. "I'm gonna kill her Blaine."
"Not if I kill her first." Blaine replied. "What are you thinking? 2 weeks grounding."
"Maybe 3." Kurt added.
"Well, you get to tell her. I got the brunt of her tantrum this morning." Blaine replied.
"Fine." Kurt agreed. "I'm sure it'll be the greatest part of my day." he added sarcastically. "Well, I really have to go, babe."
"Okay, I'll see you at home tonight." Blaine said. "Love you."
"Love you too." Kurt replied before hanging up the phone. Oh the joys of parenting…
Later that afternoon, all three kids got home from school. "Charlie, I wouldn't go far." Blaine said. "Papa's going to be home soon and we need to talk to you."
"Great, just what I wanted." Charlie replied. "A lecture...not like I get enough of those."
"Maybe if you'd stop acting like a tramp you'd stop getting them." Caleb told his sister.
"Oh shut up Caleb!" Charlie retorted. "Just because I'm not a goodie two shoes like you doesn't mean I'm a tramp." he yelled before running upstairs and once again slamming her door.
"What is going on with your sister?" Blaine asked. "She's always been...a bit of a diva, but she's gotten so out of hand."
"She's got these new friends. They're the cool girls at school and I don't think they're setting the best example for her." Caleb confessed.
"Are they bad kids?"
"Well their not good, Dad." Blaine sighed. Great, this was all that he needed. As if on cue, Kurt opened up the front door and walked into the living room.
"Caleb, can you go upstairs and tell your sister to come downstairs?" Blaine asked.
"Sure. To the dragon's lair I go." the boy added before heading upstairs.
"So, our plan is three weeks grounding?" Kurt asked.
"Sounds reasonable." Blaine replied. "Caleb said Charlie's got some new friends that aren't setting the best example for her."
"Well, that's interesting." Kurt replied. "This child...I just can't with her sometimes." A few minutes later, Charlie came downstairs and flopped down on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Well, say it. How many weeks am I grounded for?" Charlie asked, rolling her eyes.
"3 weeks. No going out after school and no internet, unless it's for school" kurt replied. "And you better get that attitude in check before I add another week. Also, you will take that jewelry out of your belly button and let it close. I don't want to see it again."
"Papa! I spent three months allowance on that." Charlie screamed.
"Well, next time, you'll think wiser about how you spend your money." Blaine chimed in.
"You guys are the worst. You;'re so lame and annoying."
"Keep pushing little girl." Kurt threatened. "We can dole out more punishments."
"You might as well. I can't do anything right anyway." Charlie replied before running back upstairs. Kurt and Blaine were at a loss at what to do with that child. No matter how much they tried to talk to her, she just wouldn't listen.
For the next few days, Charlie remained hostile and bitter towards them. However the breaking point came on Saturday night. Kurt and Blaine were both home cuddling on the couch watching a movie. All of a sudden, Blaine got a phone call. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Daddy…" came a terrified little voice.
"Charlie?"
"Daddy, I screwed up. I'm so sorry." she cried.
"Honey, slow down. Take a deep breath." Blaine coaxed as he sat up from Kurt's grasp on the edge of the couch. Kurt sat up too, anxious to hear what was wrong.
"I-I went to this party with these girls." Charlie cried. "I snuck out and I'm so sorry. There's people drinking and doing drugs and I-I don't want to be here. Daddy, please come get me. I'm so sorry!"
"Okay, hold on. Give me the address." Blaine said as he motioned for Kurt to get a piece of paper and a pen.
"Its 3456 West Boulevard in the Bronx." Blaine wrote furiously on the sheet of paper as his daughter talked.
"Jeez, okay. Honey, I'll be there soon." Blaine told her.
"Daddy, please hurry." Charlie cried and then the phone turned off.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked immediately.
"Charlie snuck out to a party with those great new friends of hers and she's scared and wants us to get her. The party is in the Bronx for god's sake." Blaine rambled off as he grabbed his coat and car keys.
"I'm coming with you." Kurt announced. Within minutes the two men were in the car and on their way to the Bronx to get their daughter. When they got to the address, there were people outside on the porch smoking what the two men assumed was weed and beer bottles littered the front lawn. Blaine sent Charlie a text and soon enough, she came running out of the house. She ran directly into Blaine's arms.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry." Charlie cried into her father's chest. Blaine held onto her tightly and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"It's okay. Get in the car and we'll talk about this at home okay." Charlie nodded and wiped her tears and got in the backseat. The ride home was completely silent. When they got home, Charlie sat down on the couch and Kurt and Blaine sat on either side of her.
"Honey, what were you thinking?" Kurt asked softly. This time, his voice wasn't angry, just very concerned.
"I-I just wanted them to like me."
"Who?" Blaine asked.
"These two girls, Tasha and Gwen. They're cool at school and they wanted to be friends with me. They told me the party would be okay. They didn't say that people would be drinking or that there would be drugs." Charlie confessed.
"Honey, no friendship is worth compromising what kind of person you are." Kurt told her. "Your Dad and I know that you're a good girl. You just need to make better choices."
"I know. You're right." Charlie admitted. "I'll be better. I promise." Kurt pressed a kiss to his daughter's head and Blaine gave her a hug. "I think I'm going to take a shower and head to bed."
"Okay honey." Kurt replied.
"Thanks for rescuing me." she added with a smile. "I guess you guys are pretty cool and pretty good examples for me."
"Thanks Charlie." Blaine replied. "You're still grounded though."
"4 weeks." Kurt added.
"Fair enough." Charlie replied before heading upstairs. After their daughter disappeared upstairs, Kurt and Blaine gave one another a smile. She might be dramatic and not make the best choices sometimes, but she was still their baby and they didn't know what they would do without her.