Little Girl Don't Grow Up Too Fast

Let It Happen

After a mother-daughter movie marathon and lots of junk food eaten throughout the night, Charlotte was finally in a better mood and in a better frame of mind, despite her father's decisions. It truly amazed Carrie how incredibly intelligent and mature her daughter was for her age and she admired that so much.

It was around 10:30 when Charlotte and Carrie walked up to Charlotte's house. Mike was already home and the girl was gone for the night. He immediately let the two blondes in, unsure of what to expect.

Charlotte made her way to the living room as Mike followed suite. Carrie stayed behind, not wanting to stay too long in her ex's house, especially after not knowing exactly happened on his date. The thought made her uncomfortable, and the thought that she actually cared made her even more uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna head home for the night," Carrie waved before turning away.

"Mom, no," Charlotte stopped her. "Can you stay just for a few minutes?"

"Um..." Carrie mumbled hesitantly. Charlotte gave a begging look, then her eyes diverted to Mike's who's were warm and welcoming. "Okay."

The three sat in the living room on the long and fluffy couch, Charlotte sitting between her mom and dad. She waited until they were situated to start speaking. "Dad, I'm really sorry about how I treated that girl tonight. I'm just-I'm not used to you dating. It's been a while, and I think with all that's happened ever since Mom's come back into my life, it's not something I'm ready for yet."

"You should have told me that before, Charlie. I wouldn't have gone out in the first place if you weren't comfortable."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't go out on dates," Charlotte shook her head. "What I'm saying is I'm not ready to meet them quite just yet...and that leads me to my next thing."

"And that is..." Mike wondered.

"Mom's going to be really busy soon and I'm probably not going to get to see her as much when she's on tour, and you need to finally get some sort of life that doesn't involve looking after a teenage daughter. So I was thinking, if it's okay with the both of you, if I stay at Mom's so I can get as much time with her as I can?"

There was a pause in the room as both parents made eye contact with each other, both with surprised looks on their faces. In no way could they have seen this coming. Carrie had started out being Charlotte's friend before moving into an adult figure role, she was just now starting to step into the shoes as her mother. She still felt so new to it. If Charlotte lived with her, she would be becoming a full-time parent, and that scared both Carrie and Mike to death.

"Charlotte, how about you go up to your room for a little bit," Mike suggested before giving any kind of answer, Charlotte immediately following his suggestion. She didn't want to ruin getting what she wanted.

When their daughter was out of earshot, the parents immediately started to freak out. Mike spoke up first, "Did you put her up to this?!"

"Mike, I am way more surprised than you are!"

"Is she mad at me just from bringing this one girl home to meet her?"

"I talked to her and she's finally calmed down about it," she answered him. "I think she's still hung up on the thought of us getting back together. It'll pass eventually though."

The was a tinge of awkwardness that crept into the room at that point before Mike finally asked, "What do you think about all of this? I mean this is kind of a big deal if she moved in with you for the next month."

"I'm not gonna lie, it's a huge step and it's a lot to take on and I'm scared to death," Carrie admitted. "But if this is what she wants and this is what is going to make her happiest then I'm more than willing to do it. But you have to be okay with it and you have to trust me."