Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 20 (Finding Family)

Charlotte was lying on the bed, hanging her upper body off the end and holding the camera towards her. She had a wide and silly grin on her face and her cheeks were still very rosy. "Hi Teddy, it's Aunt Charlotte. Guess what, I had my first date!" She squealed and kicked her legs on the bed with excitement. "Don't tell PJ, but I had my first kiss too! I can't stop smiling!" She giggled and flipped over on the bed. She already talked to Skyler about everything and even texted Dee and Regina the news, they were ecstatic. "Nothing's bringing me down."

Her own laptop was open and on the most popular social media site, which was still Facebook, after all these years. She'd announced already to the world of facebook, those who had specific permissions to see her wall, that the first date and first kiss were perfect. She hadn't told anyone it was with Mason, yet, so a bunch of people on her Facebook were asking who it was. Mason himself commented on the status, teasing that he might just have to pay the guy a visit.

Charlotte looked up to the laptop and quickly sat up on her bed. "Okay Teddy, so here's the deal. Once I can stop smiling so much. Ooh, Mason had the best idea ever! I talked to Skyler about it too, she said it was a great idea! I'm currently looking for my extended relatives on Facebook and adding them. Your mom says that since Mason and I had the idea, that I ought to be the one sending them invites, so I want to talk to everyone first and see if I can convince anyone to come." She rose from her bed and started squealing, that kiss was still fresh on her mind. "I can't stop thinking about my first kiss! Wish me good luck, Teddy."

She flipped off the camera and looked up just as Skyler opened the door, concern clear on her face. "Are you okay in here?" She stepped into the room and leaned against the wall, smirking teasingly. "You are so much like your sister, you know that?"

"No I'm not." She chuckled nervously, recalling her sister's video on her first date and kiss. Of course, the girl couldn't stop squealing at all. "Okay…maybe just a little bit." Skyler laughed and rubbed her shoulder.

"No throw up yet, I hope."

"None whatsoever."

"Good, now how's the Facebook thing going?" Charlotte grinned and hurried over to her computer desk. She took a seat and glanced over as Skyler moved towards her.

"All the relatives accepted my friend requests, I'm going to check if they're still online so I can talk to them."

"All right, I'll call them all tomorrow morning, just in case. I've talked to PJ, he seems to be fond of the idea." Charlotte checked her list of online friends and was pleased to see that all the relatives were online still, some of them had chat enabled. She clicked the names of each online relative, opening the chat box for them. In recent years, one of Facebook's upgrades enabled a multi-person chat, so she didn't have to copy and paste anything.

The relatives she had in the chat was Uncle Mel's daughter Juliet, Juliet's son and daughter, Chuck and Ginger, Chuck's daughter Grace, and Aunt Diane's daughter Taylor. Taylor's daughter Jennifer was born in 2017, so she didn't have a facebook. "I'm glad you all accepted my friend request!" Charlotte typed with sudden swiftness, she was an incredibly fast typist.

"I was thinking of trying to find you on facebook!" Grace replied. Charlotte's heart lifted and Skyler pat her shoulder. Already everything seemed to be going well. "Mom and Dad always talked about you guys. I'm glad to finally meet my cousin. Second cousins, right?"

"Close enough," was Chuck's response. Charlotte took a look at his profile picture, it was taken on a windy day in the mountains. His hair was blowing and he was laughing, even his small wire framed glasses seemed to be starting to blow off. His brown mustache framed his upper lip like a comb. He seemed like a very fun-loving guy. His daughter Grace had long red hair, like that of her mother's profile image, and deep brown eyes. Cousin Ginger's profile image of herself was in a very business-like suit, brown hair with a honey stripe, and a wide grin. She wondered why these people never got together with PJ.

"I'm so happy to meet my extended family." Juliet's response came next. She had grayish-blonde hair that feathered out just below her chin. A mildly wrinkled face and blue eyes just like that of her brother's, Bob Duncan. Her husband Randy's profile picture resembled Santa Claus, he had a large white beard, blue eyes, and a blue cap to cover his bald head.

"We're happy to meet you Charlotte, I'm sorry it's taken so long to hear from you. I feel horrible to use the 'we've been busy' excuse." She drew in a deep breath and waited, watching as her relatives all typed in their agreements and apologies, though she felt like it wasn't her they should have been apologizing to. It was PJ they abandoned. She wasn't mad at them, not at all, she understood it was difficult for everyone when the accident happened. "I don't know what we can say…"

"I'm sure we have all the time in the world these days" Taylor replied. She was probably on Facebook for a short time, as she was in Florida with her parents and grandmother. Judging by the status updates of Quincy, he was still in Colorado taking care of their six year old, Jennifer. "We should all start getting together, you know."

"I know!" Grace replied. Charlotte chuckled and looked up to Skyler, who was smirking triumphantly. The gears were already turning in her mind. "Quick Charlotte, what is your cell phone number?" The other relatives started typing requests for her number as well, it seemed so nice that they actually wanted to get to know her. As she typed her number in for them, she noticed all of them giving her their numbers. It was near overwhelming! Her eyes widened and her fingers hovered over the keys.

"Skyler, there are so many numbers!" Skyler laughed heartily, she already had all the numbers. When she talked to PJ, they got everyone on Diane's side of the family. Uncle Mel's had all been in their address books. From what they saw, the numbers were still the same.

"Put them in your phone, dear. I'm glad to see the majority of them are willing to get back in touch."

"Yeah." Pride filled in her as she copied all the phone numbers and pasted them in a word document. After taking a minute to put names next to them, she returned to Facebook. She wanted to add the numbers in her phone after she was done chatting with these guys. "So we're planning a get together next Saturday, now that you mention it. Skyler and PJ aren't sure what to do yet, but we're thinking about maybe hooking up at the park or something."

"The park does seem lovely," Juliet replied. "How is PJ, dear? All of you?" She was asking about them? Yes! She practically jumped for joy. She ran her fingers excitedly along the keys, practically scraping the letters off in her rush.

"Were all doing fine! PJ's a homicide detective now, you know. Skyler's a nurse, the hospital mom worked out keeps trying to get her to work there."

"Oh she should! St. Paul Medical Center is one of the best hospitals around." Charlotte smirked with pride at her Aunt's comment. She turned to Skyler and eyed her, as if to say, she really ought to take the job. Skyler chuckled and started walking from the room.

"I'll see you in a bit Charlotte."

"Cop out!" Skyler laughed and Charlotte's lips curved up. Man she loved this family. She returned to the computer, her eyes slightly misty from the whimsy emotions of reuniting with her family…Next Saturday would likely be a very emotional day. She wiped her left eye and continued writing some more. "I don't know if any of you know, because I know everyone's been kept out of touch, but PJ and Skyler have a baby."

"What!" Taylor's response displayed her shock and led the cavalry of responses by the other relatives, all shocked that they didn't know about the baby. Sure, they never picked up a phone, but neither did PJ. He probably felt they didn't want anything to do with him, but still, keeping a new birth in the family just wasn't right. "You mean to tell me I have a new cousin?"

"Yes, her name is Rebecca 'Teddy' Duncan, named after my older sister. Gets kind of confusing at first…I do have pictures of her on my Facebook, now that I've added you, you should be able to see them."

"Looking now!" She beamed and did a small cheer, though it made her chair nearly fall out from behind her. Once she caught her balance, she started noticing notifications on Teddy's baby picture. She clicked over to the photo and smiled as she read all of the relatives gushing over the baby. "Why do we have to wait till next Saturday?"

"Yeah, I want to see my cousin!" Grace replied.

Chuck's response was next. "We've been missing out on way too much!" His sister, Ginger, agreed wholeheartedly.

Maybe this was what it felt like to be close to family, but maybe she'd really see that next week, who knows. She did know one thing for sure, she was so looking forward to the get together. Twelve years has been too damn long. Skyler would talk to them about the monthly meets next weekend, so there was no stress there.

She typed slowly this time, keeping her tearful smile painted upon her lips. "So. Skyler's calling all the relatives tomorrow just to make sure. Do you think you're going to make it to the meet next Saturday? We're thinking about making a monthly meeting, whether it's just a day or a weekend, family trips or hanging around the house, we're trying to bring everyone together…"

"Oh we'll be there," Ginger typed out. Though it was hard to see who acknowledged the question first, as the majority of responses came within seconds of each other. Everyone approved, which was truly fantastic! "We wouldn't miss this for the world. Just…I think we should all agree that the next time anything big happens, we should never stop communicating. Family is about communication."

"I agree," Juliet replied. "Too much has happened, and quite frankly, I don't much care for not knowing what my own family is up to." Charlotte looked to her door and saw Skyler poking her head in, wondering how things were going. She gave her a thumbs up and breathed in deep.

"They all seem to approve of meeting up next week. I think they'll make it official when you call them tomorrow."

"That's great news, feel free to stay up and talk to them as long as you like. Just try to go to bed before one or two o'clock. I'm heading to bed myself. Teddy's in the crib and I'm exhausted."

"Okay." She rose up and moved to Skyler, giving her a big goodnight hug. Skyler hugged her back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight sweetie." Once Skyler walked out, Charlotte looked back to the computer and her heart jumped. This night, seriously, could not get any better. A great date with Mason, reuniting with the family, everything was starting to look up. She gazed up at the ceiling, almost looking past it, smiling cheerfully as she thought about her family in Heaven. Surely they were looking down on her right now. Hopefully, they were proud.

The family does seem nice, and just hesitation mixed with busy lives seems to have been what caused the lack of communication. So sad, but maybe now they'll all get together. The healing process begins. Can't truly heal from a tragedy without friends and family. Maybe now they won't all feel so alone