In My Mother's Footsteps: Chapter Ten
Disclaimer.
I do not own Disney, and therefore do not own any of these characters.
Charlie
When I stepped into the station I had spared no thought for the other couple sitting in the waiting room. Instead I focused on Mrs. Nathan, who ran up to me immediately. She wrapped me in her arms, a safe cocoon that I gladly accepted. I had missed her so much. The stability of having a mother had been lost on Aunt Clair. She was nice, but acted as more of a room mate then a parent.
"I missed you so much." She said, squeezing me. Then she stepped back, taking me in. I winced as her eyes stuck on my protruding bulge. "Is this why you left?" she asked, fluttering her hand onto the top of the mass. I nodded, a tear escaping my left eye. She pulled me close again. We were so close that I could feel her heart beat and smell the comfort of her vanilla shampoo. "I'll be here for you, hunny." She assured me. "It'll all be okay." She rubbed my back for a moment before straightening up. Her hands fell to clasp mine and her eyes sparkled. "I have a surprise for you." She said.
"You'll never guess who showed up the day after you left." I didn't speak as she dropped one hand and dragged me forward by the other. In a second I caught up and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders instead. We came to face the other woman in the room. Instantly, I recognized her. Her face was shinning brightly from many cds in our house, both in her natural brown hair and her fake blonde. The lyrics – some peppy dance tunes, others soft ballads – had often bounced around our living the room as the younger kids laughed and danced. What was she doing here?
"Charlotte, this is Miley Stewart, your biological mom."
Miley.
I studied her. Her hair crinkled and curled in dancing brown strands, the color was my own but the texture must have been some hidden gene, because it wasn't one that her father or I displayed. Her eye color was his, a melting chocolate brown, but wider like my own. Her face shape was a mixture; she had his rounded chin but my rounder face. She smiled shyly, another one of his traits. It warmed her face and made her eyes dance against her skin tone, a couple shades darker than my natural one.
I couldn't stand without forcing her to move backwards, her stomach occupied the space that I would have, so I greeted her from my seat. "Hi, Charlotte." I said, motioning for her to come sit beside me. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
Charlie
"Me too." I agreed softly before lowering myself carefully into the chair beside hers. I remembered having so many questions for her. I had literally made a written list that was stuck at the bottom of my backpack. There were so many things that I wanted to know, but sitting here beside her I couldn't think of any of them.
Suddenly the man behind her caught my eye. It was Noah Moss, a famous actor. He had just come onto the scene a year ago, and his first movie with a lead role had come out just weeks ago. What could he be doing here?
Following my gaze, she added, "and this is my fiance, Noah."
"Hi," I whispered shyly, too softly for him to here me.
"Hello, Charlotte." He answered, shaking my hand across Miley and flashing me his dazzling smile that caught the hearts of teenage girls across the world. Was this man my father?
"So, Charlotte, is there anything you want to know about us?" Miley asked. "Anything, don't be shy. After all, we are family." She chuckled.
"Yeah." I said. "I mean yes, I have like a million questions." The words were rushed, I couldn't get them out fast enough. But just as I opened my backpack to dig for them Mrs. Nathan came back over.
"Why don't you ask them on the car ride home, Charlotte?" she suggested. "We can leave now." I nodded, zipped up my backpack, and followed her and Miley out the door, Noah following behind with my duffle. In the car Lisa and Noah took the front seats, leaving Miley and I in the middle.
"What do you want me to call you?" I asked her as soon as I was strapped in.
She seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. "Mom, but only if your comfortable with it. Otherwise, Miley's just fine." I blushed. I was uncomfortable calling her mom, of course, but I would feel rude using her first name.
"Do you have a nickname?" she asked, but I shook my head. "Really?" she asked, "I think I remember Natalie calling you Dots, or something like that?" I winced.
"Dottie." I corrected quietly. "But no one calls me that anymore."
"Oh," she seemed to understand. "Okay then."
"A lot of people call me Charlie." I offered, a peace offering.
"Alright, Charlie." She smiled, "you had some questions for me?"
"I wouldn't know where to begin." I confided pulling out my notebook. It was small, but almost all the pages were filled. She held out her hand and I gave her the book. She read the first page seriously.
"My favorite color? Is that really something you want to know?" she laughed, but not meanly.
I nodded. "I've always wondered if the stuff I choose as my favorites were things that you liked. Like is my love of watermelon from you? Or my allergy to cinnamon?"
"The cinnamon is me," she explained, "but it was your dad that liked watermelon. Any melon, really. And for your information, I like pink and teal a lot."
"Oh." My favorite color was purple, a combination of the two.
She turned to another question. "Do I have any pets?" she read out loud. "Yes, three horses, one cat, two dogs, and a couple of birds. What about you?"
I shook my head. "No, but I've always wanted a guinea pig."
She smiled, "well maybe I can help make that happen."
What did that mean? Was I coming to live with her?
"I hope so." I said, forcing a smile. But did I really?
Author's Note.
So…busy life. So much writer's block, but I'm getting passed it!