CHAPTER 3
Xanathia Swan, Age 9
Xany knew she wasn't a normal child. What normal child would have memories of another life? Different parent, different sibling, but most of all different environments. In this life, she had a loving father instead of a mother, and she was perfectly fine with that. No need to replace the mom she had, may she rest in peace. Of course, that didn't keep dad from worrying over her self esteem issues in regards to being "the child left behind". Maybe one day he would understand. But until then she was stuck on a plane going towards Phoenix, Arizona. God how she hated the heat.
The following weeks after Renee had left, dad had filed a report, divorce papers, and gotten almost full custody for Xany. Until that is Renee had called Charlie demanding for custody as well. In the end, Charlie got 70 percent custody of Xany and 30 percent custody for Bella. Renee likewise for Bella 70 percent custody and 30 percent custody for Xanathia. Charlie never could get over the fact that Renee had left Xany alone for hours until he got home.
Xany still remembers when Aunt Sarah would come over almost daily to teach Charlie how to cook. She could never forget the look on Charlie's face when Sarah pulled out his apron. The horror at seeing the hot pink and frills had tears running down her eyes. The first week he had refused to wear it until he had finally had enough food explode in his face. No matter what he did food just wouldn't cooperate with him. After he accepted his fate however his food was amazing. The thing about Charlie's cooking was that it was a hit or miss. No in-between. Dad had ended up joining a mommy and me blog to try out different recipes. All the while Xany would read out the steps for him to follow.
Her first day in kindergarten had been a hard one. Not for her, of course, she had known what to expect, but for Charlie, it had been a different story. He couldn't believe his baby girl was growing up so fast! He remembered being the first one to hold her, her first words, first steps, and finally her first class. It was safe to say that the waterworks were in full gear. When helping her but her backpack on by the door his throat had closed up. If he took his eyes off of her, he was sure he would be handing her over to her future husband. Children grow up so fast, why couldn't they just stay tiny forever? Stay Daddy's girl forever?
Charlie had specifically asked for the day off. If they thought he would just be leaving after dropping her off they had another thing coming. As they had lined up to walk into class, some of the other children had already started crying. So like any normal father, he turned and waited to see if Xany would start crying. Only to find her watching him and waiting just like him. This only drove home that his baby was growing to fast. Maybe he should have her be homeschooled. He could cut his hours at work, after all, the money his parents had left him was still untouched.
Before he could make up his mind the teacher had called out catching the attention of all the parents. The children were to go in first while the parents were to wait at the back of the class. If they wanted they could stay until noon when they would be asked to leave until class ended at 2. Charlie was only one of 3 parents to stay until noon, for the last two hours he waited in the car. Not daring to move in case he was called in for an emergency. Never in his life had he felt so emotional in his life. One moment he would start sniffing and crying, and the next he would be gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles would turn white.
By the time they finally reached home, he had convinced himself to become a stay at home dad. That is until he asked Xany if she would like to stay home the following day. She had looked up at him with those big blue and brown eyes and told him she was happy to have made a friend in another little girl called Angela. Just like that, with a simple sentence, all his plans dissolved. After all, how could he keep her from making lifelong friends?
Before Xany knew it the plane was landing and their pilot was thanking them for choosing to fly with them on Delta Airlines. Not that she had wanted to fly in the first place. But that was neither here or there. Renee and Isabella were probably waiting for her at the gate. As she waited for everyone to leave the plane a stewardess had come to help her with her luggage. Walking towards to correct gate number she spotted Renee long before she came to view.
Who could miss such a hideous yellow dress? And were those orange cats along the bottom? How she wished she could turn around and fly back home. A home where everything was green and where the sun hardly showed its face. God how she hated the heat.