Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 30 (New Moon 19)

Bells decided to go to the movies out in Port Angeles with a few friends so I figured it would be as good a day as any to sit back, relax, and catch the game. With Bella being back in my life, more hikers than ever going missing, and the station playing host to a whole squad of hotshots from the city, I was actually beginning to miss the slow, solitary days that had been my life not just six or so months prior. Don't get me wrong; I was thrilled to have Bella back in my life, and I felt all the better for it; I was waking up easier, drinking less, eating a whole lot better... but it was nice, every so often, to order a pizza, crack a beer or three, turn on the game and really let everything else melt away for a few hours.

Bella got home a little sooner than expected, said a quick hello, and then awkwardly stood over by the landline.

"Movie over already?" I asked. The Canucks and Flames were tied heading into the third period, but I turned the volume down to chat with my daughter.

"Mike got sick," she explained. "Some kind of stomach flu."

"You okay?"

"I feel fine now," she said. I knew these kinds of illness could take a while to really hit, though, so I made a mental note to check in on Bells throughout the night.

She seemed okay to hang around in the kitchen, so I went back to watching the game. It wasn't 15 minutes later when I overheard her talking on the phone to none other than Billy Black.

"Billy, it's me, Bella—did Jake make it home yet? He left here about twenty minutes ago."

I could only hear her end of the conversation, but I could tell that she was worried that Jake might've caught whatever Mike had. As worried as I was for Bells, and Jake, and hell, even the Newton boy, I couldn't help but think back to just a month ago, when Bells' voice had no life in it, when all she did was stare out that damn window, when I thought I might actually have to ship her back off to Phoenix. There was no doubt about it; her time fostering a friendship with Jake had done wonders to get her back on her feet mentally.

"He was supposed to call me," I heard Bells say. "Let me know if you need any help."

She hung up the phone, looking crestfallen.

"I'm sure he'll be alright," I offered as she trudged her way up the stairs. It seemed as though she didn't hear me. Well, I'd rather an emotional teenager than a lifeless zombie, any day of the week.

Just as I'd expected, when I woke up extra early at 5 am the next morning, I found Bella laying facedown on the floor of the bathroom.

"Stomach flu?" I asked.

"Yes," she moaned.

"Do you need anything?"

"Call the Newtons for me, please," she instructed hoarsely. "Tell them I have what Mike has, and that I can't make it in today. Tell them I'm sorry."

"Sure, no problem," I assured her.

I left her a glass of water and some aspirin, and told her to give me a call if things got any worse. I'd never actually dealt with a sick kid as a parent—having only ever had Bells during the summers—but I'd had plenty of experience taking care of my ailing parents in their sunset years, and I knew that not making a fuss, just being there for her, was the best course of action. I called Newton to let him know, and he told me that Mike had had a tough night but was officially on the mend.

I decided to call it a half day at work. Even with the mountain of paperwork there was to do before heading into the woods the following week with Smith and his crew, I couldn't help but think of how Bella was doing. 

When I got home, she was still laying in the same spot on the bathroom floor. Her heartbeat was strong and her breathing was steady, at least, so I decided to pick her up and put her into bed. Her body felt noticeably lighter than it had the last time I'd carried her in my arms all those months ago. She subconsciously nuzzled her face into my chest, smearing snot and drool on my shirt just as she'd done as a newborn baby. She looked so small, so innocent, and while I was always baffled at how much she'd grown, at how much of an actual person she'd become, I couldn't help but see the shy little girl who'd spent her summers camping, and fishing, and hiking, and laughing with me.

Sure, she was 18 now, and while that was technically adulthood, girlhood was only a few years in the rearview. She'd moved states. Started a whole new life here. Gone through her first big breakup. There was a lot happening all at once for her, and as easy and comfortable as I was trying to make things for her at home, she was also going through the messy motion of becoming the adult she would eventually grow into. As I tucked her into bed, refilled her glass of water, and kissed her gently on the forehead, I truly realized for the first time that I didn't miss out on seeing my daughter grow up, as I'd shed so many tears dwelling on over the years; it was happening right before my eyes in that very moment. 

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