Chapter 3: The Duncan Family
The Duncan House
"Hi Charlie, look at you — only nine months old, how adorable!"
A blonde girl of about fourteen or fifteen was filming a baby girl with a camcorder. The baby looked confused but clapped her hands politely. After all, this was the older sister who took care of her most of the time — she couldn't afford to make an enemy of her.
"Look how cute I am!"
Teddy was at the age where she was obsessed with how she looked. Even though her little sister's clapping was genuinely adorable, she immediately swung the camera around and pointed it at herself, taking a little video selfie.
"I'm your big sister Teddy. I'm making a video diary to help you figure out our — well, special — family! These are Daddy and Mommy!"
Teddy pointed the camera at a middle-aged couple. The man was tall and broad-shouldered but noticeably bald, and the woman had blonde hair and a warm, motherly face. Both of them had clearly made an effort to dress up.
"Teddy, are you sure you've got this?"
Mom Amy Duncan looked uncertain. "Maybe we shouldn't go, Bob?"
"Teddy?"
Dad Bob looked at his oldest daughter, waiting.
"I've got it!" Teddy insisted. "You two can't even remember the last time you went on a date by yourselves. Go have fun tonight — doesn't matter how late you get back! And there's PJ too, right? Ha, speak of the devil!"
Adam pushed open the front door and walked in.
Teddy hurried over to him, pointing the camcorder at his face. "Charlie, this is your big brother PJ—"
"Call me Adam."
Adam cut her off, smiling at the camera. "Charlie, I'm your big brother Adam."
Using a video diary to document his little sister's life and capture the everyday moments of the family was a sweet idea, and Adam was fully on board with it. He wasn't camera shy — he'd never had any reason to be.
"Okay, so it seems like big brother really does hate the name Grandpa picked out for him."
Teddy shrugged and laughed. "Honestly, fair enough. If Grandpa had named me something ridiculous, I'd have lost it too. It's impressive Adam has put up with it this long."
"Thank you for understanding!"
Adam raised both hands.
"Hey, someone's in a good mood!"
Mom immediately picked up on his energy and narrowed her eyes. "You didn't get back together with that Dunne girl, did you? Because I want you to know, none of us like her — right, Bob?"
"Heh."
Bob laughed but stayed out of it, shooting Adam a sympathetic "good luck" look.
"Teddy?"
Amy glared at Bob, then turned to Teddy. "Charlie, ask your brother what's going on."
Teddy ignored her completely and redirected the camera at the baby, making silly faces.
She wasn't a fan of Amy Dunne either, honestly. But she wasn't about to side with Mom out loud — she was planning to start dating soon herself. If Mom thought she had permission to drag the whole family into everyone's relationships, that was going to be a nightmare. This was not a precedent she was willing to set.
"You two are ungrateful!"
Mom muttered.
"Come on, Mom — I'm the one who talked you into going out tonight so you could relax!"
Teddy grinned innocently.
"Alright, alright."
Adam stepped in. "You two go have a good time. Charlie's got me and Teddy, so don't worry. And Mom — don't read into my mood. Amy and I are completely done. She's already on her way to New York. I'm just — I've made peace with it. That's all."
"Oh thank goodness!"
Mom clapped her hands together. "Adam — I didn't misjudge you. That Amy Dunne was never right for you. Who treats a boyfriend like he's some kind of prop? I was genuinely worried about you. But she's gone now. Let her go be someone else's problem. Thank God!"
Adam's performance had been good enough to stress his own mother out for months. He'd feel worse about that if it hadn't been completely necessary.
Teddy caught his eye and gave him a look.
Adam returned a small, composed smile. He'd dated plenty of girls and had been forced into more drama than anyone should have to deal with — but he was, underneath all of it, a genuinely decent person.
"Honey, we should get going."
Dad Bob tapped his watch and held it up for Mom to see. They had a dinner reservation.
"Go on, have fun!"
Teddy, holding Charlie on her hip, walked their parents to the door, then looked down at her baby sister and added as an afterthought, "But don't get too carried away — we've already got plenty of kids around here."
"Ha!"
Both Amy and Bob laughed. Amy leaned in to make faces at baby Charlie, then headed out. Bob was right behind her when Teddy stopped him.
"I'm serious."
Teddy said it completely straight-faced.
Bob's smile disappeared. He knew exactly what she meant.
"Bob?"
Amy called from outside.
"Coming!"
Bob smiled awkwardly and slipped out the door.
"Okay, so — equal babysitting shifts?"
Teddy turned back around, Charlie still on her hip. "We each take an hour. Who's up first — Adam? Gabe?"
"Oh, NOW you remember me!"
A boy of about ten was sitting on the living room couch with his arms crossed, scowling. "I thought you forgot I existed."
"Are you kidding? I saved the best for last. Important people always get the big finale."
Teddy was a little embarrassed — she actually had forgotten about him — but she wasn't going to admit it. She quickly passed Charlie over to Adam and pointed the camcorder at her younger brother. "Charlie, this is your other big brother Gabe! Gabe, what do you want to say to Charlie?"
"You ruined my life."
Gabe said it flatly, straight into the camera.
"Okay, so Gabe just needs a little more time to warm up to you."
Teddy added quickly for the camera. "Because your arrival was sort of... a surprise."
"I thought surprises were supposed to be good!"
Gabe shot back.
"Alright, Teddy — it's just the two of us taking shifts with Charlie."
Adam laughed, bouncing Charlie gently in his arms. "One hour each. You're not seriously going to let Gabe babysit, are you?"
"You're welcome to try."
Gabe grinned in a way that was not reassuring.
"Yeah, no."
Teddy immediately dropped the idea, remembering Gabe's track record. She was not going to be responsible for a family disaster tonight.
"Since Gabe doesn't count, can we do two hours each? You go first. I have a study thing later and one hour isn't going to be enough—"
"A study thing?"
Adam raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Perfect timing, actually. I just started working through eighth grade material. We can study together. Charlie can sit here and play — she's good, she won't bother us. Right, Charlie?"
"Ha!"
Charlie laughed and clapped as Adam swayed her back and forth.
Teddy stared at him.
She had convinced her parents to go out. She had planned the whole evening. She had even remembered lip balm and breath spray. And somehow she was ending up babysitting her little sister while doing homework next to her brother.
This was not how tonight was supposed to go.
End of Chapter 3
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