Chapter 5: A Daughter's Advice

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

"Mom, hi," Charlie said.

"Charlie? I haven't heard from you in over two weeks, I was starting to get worried," Amelia said, relief in her voice.

"I know. I'm sorry; I've just been busy these last few weeks."

"Where are you?"

"Seattle."

"Seattle? Charlie, this is crazy. You've been chasing this UFO thing for months now. Now I understand your need for answers but, Charlie, don't you think it's about time you came home?"

"I am home mom. I have an apartment and a job teaching here in Seattle."

"R-really?" Amelia asked in shock.

"Yes."

"Well, that's good. That's good. How long are you going to stay?"

"Indefinitely."

Charlie could hear his mom hesitate before asking the next question. "What's in Seattle?"

'The woman I'm meant to be with and my daughter.'

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked innocently.

"What is it that's in Seattle that's making you stay?" Amelia clarified.

This was the part of the conversation that Charlie had dreaded. This was why he'd been putting off this phone call. He loved his mom and he hated having to hide things from her but he'd decided not to tell her about Allie quite yet. When he told her about Allie he wanted it to be in person so that his mom would have the chance to actually meet her granddaughter. Charlie had decided that after he'd had the chance to get settled in, he would invite his mom out to Seattle and that's when he'd give her the news that she had a 9 year old granddaughter.

In the meantime though, he had to hide the truth from his mom and Charlie hated having to do that. "I just got tired of being on the road and Seattle seemed as good a place as any to Seattle down."

"That's nice. Now what's the real reason?" Amelia knew her son well enough to know when he was lying to her.

"It's hard to explain right now mom," Charlie said honestly.

"You met someone, didn't you?"

This gave Charlie a moment's pause. He did technically meet someone, he met Lisa. Although it wasn't truly their first time meeting, in fact they already had a child together. He knew he didn't want to tell his mom about Allie yet, and right now he was debating on whether or not to tell her about Lisa.

Charlie was silent for too long though and this was all the confirmation Amelia needed. "Who is she?"

"Mom…."

"Just tell me something about her."

Charlie smiled as he thought of Lisa. "She's indescribable."

Amelia noticed the faraway, dreamy tone in her son's voice and knew that he was in love. She found it ridiculous sometimes how Charlie was 28 years old and had never had a serious relationship. Sure he'd dated and had brought home a few of his girlfriends, but she knew he was never serious about any of them. It always seemed to her as if Charlie was looking for something, and was continually disappointed when he couldn't find it in any of these girls. Amelia was just beginning to wonder if her son would be a bachelor forever.

"You should come out here sometime," Charlie said.

"Maybe I will sometime. Take care of yourself, Charlie. I love you."

"I love you too, mom."

Charlie put down the phone; he really wished he could tell his mom more about Lisa but now just wasn't the time. He smiled, thinking that maybe in a few months time he could introduce the three most important people in his life to one another.

He looked at his watch and sighed, class had ended barely an hour ago and Allie's soccer practice wasn't going to be over for another two hours. Two more hours to kill. Charlie tried to go back to checking papers but dropped his pen in frustration when memories from his and Lisa's "encounter" made its way into his mind. Ever since the day he went through hypno-regression, this memory had become increasingly clear to him. It was easy to distract himself from it during the day, when he was teaching or spending time with Allie. But the memories were clearest at night when he was lying in bed, staring out the window at the stars. He would remember the way it felt to hold Lisa in his arms, kissing her soft lips…..

A knock at the door startled Charlie out of his reverie. Allie opened the door and walked into the empty classroom.

"Hey," Charlie said in surprise. "How come you're not at soccer practice?"

"It's raining," Allie pointed out the window.

Charlie looked out the window and saw that it was, in fact, raining.

Allie pulled up a chair and sat across from her father. "What were you thinking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You had to be in pretty deep thought not to notice how hard it's raining outside."

"It's nothing," Charlie said, hoping Allie would drop it.

Allie looked at him carefully. She knew exactly what her dad was thinking about, it was just a matter of getting him to admit it.

"You should just tell her you know, that you like her."

"Who?"

"Mom."

It never seized to amaze Charlie how perceptive Allie could be for a 9 year old.

"It's not that simple."

Allie rolled her eyes. "That's what mom said. But I think it is that simple, it's just a matter of confronting whatever it is that scares you. I just don't want you and mom to throw away a good thing just because you're scared."