Chapter 13- Waking Up
Amanda Xavier felt herself come back to consciousness. The first thing that she felt was as if someone had glued her eyes shut. It took a great effort to force them open. She looked around, disappointed that the room was empty, save her. "Dad?" Amanda called out.
Amanda, I am in my office. You remember where it is. Get out of bed and come to my office, her father's voice said gently but firmly into her mind.
"I don't think I do, Dad," Amanda said as she opened the door.
You do, Sweets. You remember the way. You knew you were in your bedroom and your aunt Raven and uncle Erik. You remember where my office is, Charles said, his voice as gentle as the hugs she now remembered.
Amanda made her way down the hallways, her mind then going back to the last time she saw her home. Tears came to her eyes as she came to a door. Her father's office. she slid open the door and saw her father in his chair, surrounded by students with a book in his hand. "Well, good morning, love. Welcome. Children, this is my daughter, Amanda. She will join this class tomorrow," Charles said as he closed the book.
"Hello, I think?" Amanda asked as she looked around.
"Very good, everyone. Top marks and you are dismissed," Charles said and all the children got up and ran out the door.
"So, this really is a school?" Amanda asked as she went to her father and he pulled her onto his lap.
"Yes, it is, love. It really is. How do you feel?" Charles asked, stroking her face tenderly.
"Tired and a little sore. How long was I asleep?" Amanda said as Charles rubbed her forehead tenderly with his fingers.
"Almost two weeks. Now, I need to go into your mind, Just relax and let me in," Charles said, pressing his palms on both sides of her head and his fingers on her temples. The pain she had felt before when he had entered wasn't nearly as painful. Granted, it still hurt, but the pain was less.
The probing was gone soon and Charles leaned forward and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Well?" Amanda asked.
"The damage done by the drugs are breaking. I can still see a few spots, but other than that, you are almost back to normal," Charles said, twisting his fingers into her hair.
"Will it always hurt when you go into my mind, Daddy?" Amanda asked, burying her face into his shoulder.
"I don't think so. It hurt this time because of the drugs and you aren't used to having me in your head. But I promise that I will be as gentle as possible," Charles said, combing through her dark hair gently and kissing her through her hair. David and Moira just entered the office.
"How is she, Charles?" Moira asked, sitting on Charles other knee and stroking the back of Amanda's head.
"We have our girl almost back to normal. Right, love?" Charles asked.
"Right. So do we plan my class schedule now?" Amanda asked, raising her head from Charles's shoulder.
"Don't you want to eat first, baby?" Moira asked.
"I guess I do feel a little hungry. I could eat Carciofi Alla Giudia," Amanda said, feeling her stomach growl with hunger.
"What?" David asked, confused.
"Fried artichokes that have been fried in olive oil. We usually eat them at Yom Kippur to break fasting. It goes back to the 16th century when all the Jews in Rome were in a ghetto," Amanda said.
"Sounds disgusting," David said, making a face.
"Not really. I like artichokes. Ima never had a problem getting me to eat vegetables," Amanda said.
"Well, we will go to dinner and then me and you will come back here and plan your schedule. I hope you like roast beef and potatoes," Charles said.
"Depends on how you make it and what I am drinking with it. Usually with meat I have wine as milk is forbidden with meat or I can have a glass of coke or tea. I usually save the wine for Passover," Amanda said as they all went to the dining room.
Amanda followed Charles to his office and she sat down in the chair in front of his desk, folding her hands primly on her knees. Charles had to remind himself that this was a student as well as his daughter. She had accepted the return of her memories and seemed to accept his role and authority as her father. Charles reached out and squeezed her hands gently. "First question, I suppose is, what kind of things do you like to study, love?" Charles asked.
"Well, if Abba will give you my transcripts from the school in New London, I handled school pretty well. My favorite classes besides Polish was history, English Literature, and Reading. Math and Science is a little harder, but I normally can grasp it well enough not to fail at it," Amanda said, pushing a lock of her tangled dark hair behind her ear.
"All right. This is how we will handle your schedule, love. Twice a day you come to my office with the group you saw earlier. The first time is for lessons in how to control your powers, the second will be in the class you just walked in on; literature. I will give you the book we are currently reading in that class. I want you to read it and try to catch up," Charles said, handing her a copy of "King Arthur and His Knights."
Amanda looked at the cover and laid it on the desk. "All right. So what are my other courses?" Amanda asked.
"Your first class of the day will be Mathematics. Since you are fourteen it should be Algebra. The next class is mine on your powers. Your next class will be science with your uncle Hank. He also will be your algebra teacher. Ororo will teach you history after lunch, then your mother teaches home economics and then you come to me for your last class of the day," Charles said.
"What about foreign languages, Dad?" Amanda asked, furrowing her forehead.
"We don't really teach a lot of foreign languages, but we can get tapes and books for it, if you still wish to learn Polish. And that brings me to another thing, in the school hours I am the professor. After school hours you can be my daughter. During school hours I am going to treat you like any other student," Charles said, stroking her face tenderly.
"Okay. I'll remember that, Dad," Amanda said. Charles smiled briefly.
"See that you do, love. Now why don't you show me what your powers are so I can see what I'm dealing with," Charles said.
Amanda hesitated slightly. "Dad, eidetic memory is a little hard to show and I'd have to hurt myself to show you that power and the third power comes when I am asleep," Amanda said.
"What do you mean you have to hurt yourself?" Charles asked.
"I regenerate and can heal myself. Remember, I cut myself with a butcher knife making latkes and I healed in under five minutes," Amanda said.
"I see. No, I do not want you to hurt yourself and I can wait and check on you one morning while you are asleep to see that other power. Now, the eidetic memory, I can wait and see what happens with that. Now, let's go to the parlor. The whole school, not to mention your mother, has been wanting to see you," vharles said as he escorted her out of the office.