I don't really like this chapter so if it sucks, I'm saying sorry in advance.

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Chapter 4: Remembering

Lisa watched from the kitchen table as Charlie and Allie talked animatedly about the book they were reading together. It had been two weeks since Charlie had first come into their lives, and he just seemed to fit in like a missing piece of the puzzle. He'd found an apartment not too far away and had just recently gotten a job as a fourth grade teacher at Allie's school. He would take Allie home from school everyday and help her with her homework when she needed it or they would read a book together. Lisa would bring her to school every morning, and then she'd go straight to band practice. And in the afternoons she'd attend the support group meetings. It was a routine they had gotten used to. Charlie only came to the group every once in a while now when his schedule allowed it.

Although she would never admit it to anyone but herself, Lisa actually enjoyed having a man around the house. Someone to share the responsibilities of parenthood with. But, at times when Lisa was being completely honest with herself, she could admit that Allie wasn't the only reason she liked having Charlie around. Over the past two weeks she had gotten the chance to get to know him better and the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. Lately, the memories from their "encounter" on the spaceship have been finding its way into Lisa's mind more and more often. Especially at night, long after Allie had fallen asleep, Lisa would lie in bed, stare out the window and up at the stars and the memories which were once almost nonexistent were suddenly clear as day. She could remember the way it felt to be wrapped up in his arms, the arms of a complete stranger yet somehow she felt like she had known him for a lifetime. Lisa had just begun to let herself fantasize about how it would feel to be able to kiss Charlie in the here and now…..

"Mom…." Allie waved a hand in front of Lisa's face. "Mom!"

"Huh…." Lisa snapped out of her daydream. "What?"

Lisa looked up and blushed when she saw Charlie staring back at her from halfway across the room.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lisa felt her cheeks burning and quickly averted her eyes. Allie was standing in front of her with an amused expression on her face. "Are you guys done?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go," Charlie answered as he gathered his stuff.

"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"

"I'd like to but I still have a huge pile of papers to grade."

"Oh, okay," Lisa got up and walked Charlie to the door. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," Charlie whispered to Lisa as he stood at the door.

"Good night," Lisa whispered back. Standing here looking into Charlie's eyes, she found herself desperately wishing he would kiss her. And for a moment, just for a moment, she thought that she could feel that he wanted to.

Allie stood watching this from the kitchen table and suddenly she felt as if she were intruding. The electricity they were exuding was so palpable that Allie could feel it from all the way across the room.

Allie cleared her throat and grinned broadly when her parents jumped apart.

"Night Allie," Charlie said.

"Night," Allie called back, as her dad left.

"What were you thinking about?" Allie asked as soon as Lisa had closed the door.

"Nothing," Lisa said innocently.

"Ri-ght," Allie said doubtfully.

"Set the table, we're gonna eat."

Allie had a feeling she knew exactly what her mother was thinking about and she was not about to let the subject drop that easily. "You were thinking about Charlie weren't you?"

Lisa froze. Sometimes, she really hated how damn perceptive Allie was. It was one of her most endearing qualities yet at the same time it was also one of the most annoying.

"I was not," Lisa said lamely.

Allie grinned triumphantly. "You were!"

"Allie set the table," Lisa told her again as she took the lasagna out of the oven.

Allie finally did so and Lisa was relieved when she didn't say anything more about the subject.

They ate their dinner in silence for a few minutes until Allie spoke up again. "He thinks about you too, you know."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I doubt he told you that."

"He didn't have to, I just know."

Lisa adopted a look of indifference on her face but inside she was dancing for joy. Maybe there was hope that Charlie didn't just see her as friend and the mother of his child, after all. Then Lisa admonished herself for allowing herself to think that way. Yes, she was attracted to Charlie and she could admit that her feelings for him were more than friendly. But there was no way that Lisa would allow herself to act upon her attraction and feelings. She and Charlie were just better off as friends.

"Mom, what was going on earlier?" Allie asked suddenly, startling Lisa out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Lisa asked innocently.

"You know what I mean."

Lisa sighed. "We're not talking about this Allie."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Why don't you and Charlie just get together already? It's obvious you like each other."

"It's not that simple."

"It doesn't have to be so complicated either," Allie argued.

Lisa rubbed her forehead wearily. "Please, Allie, can we not talk about this right now?"

Allie sighed and went back to eating. She decided to give her mom a break and let the subject drop, for now.

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A lot of teachers hate checking papers. In fact, some teachers hate it so much that they get other people to do it for them, students or teacher's assistants. But Charlie had always found checking papers, especially test papers, to be relaxing somehow. The monotony of putting checks and exes on paper after paper allowed him to tune out the rest of the world and just focus on the task at hand. He had to put his concentration into it because if he made a mistake, it could cause a student's grade to suffer. Granted, the scribble of fourth-graders wasn't always easy to read, much less correct but it did offer a good focal point for his thoughts.

Today, though, checking papers provided Charlie with no escape from his thoughts. As much as he tried to get himself into the rhythm of checking, he always found his thoughts drifting somewhere else. And they were drifting to one person in particular, Lisa. He'd been thinking about her a lot lately, actually he'd been thinking about her non-stop. He'd been spending a lot of time with Allie and Lisa these past two weeks and had found it amazing how they had welcomed him into their family. Especially Lisa, Charlie knew it wasn't easy for her to share her daughter with someone she barely knew. But she made the effort to get to know him and gave him plenty of time with Allie so that they could get to know each other as well.

As a picture of Lisa's smiling face floated through his mind, Charlie finally put his pen down and gave up trying to check papers. He rubbed his eyes wearily and looked at the cell phone lying on his desk. There was a phone call he needed to make and he'd been putting it off for about a week now.

Charlie picked up the phone and dialed. 'Might as well get it over with', he thought.

"Hello," a female voice answered on the other line.