The Secret of Xavier

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

       One of the things I hated about being a dad was simply the fact that I could never nap during the day unless Xavier was napping, but even then I had to be in the same room was him and he snored quite loudly.

       Mom was at work and even though Xavier already had a nap, I was dead tired so I tried having a small nap on the couch.

       It didn't work.

       Xavier was having to much fun, attempting to sing at the top of his lungs as he ran around the house. And since he couldn't form full sentences yet, he was basically making up random sounds.

       I groaned and sat up from the couch, rubbing my eyes as I watched Xavier run around the house, still not even looking tired. Then again, he just had a nap, so he could do this for another few hours.

       Luckily, I knew one thing that could calm him down, so I stood up and walked over to my guitar stand. As soon as I picked up my guitar, Xavier ran over to the couch and sat down on it. I sat down beside him and Xavier smiled as I began singing his favorite song. I loved singing and the fact that I could bond through music with my son made it even better.

       I still wished I could have a small nap.

       Especially because Xavier kept wanting me to sing another song over and over again. At least it was keeping him distracted and not making him run around the house.

       There was a sudden knock on the door, so I had to stop mid-song. "Aw," Xavier said, his bottom lip curled into a pout. "I want song."

       "Hold on a second," I said, setting my guitar down before getting up from the couch. I opened the front door, seeing Nova standing there. "You know, I'm starting to think you can't get enough of me."

       "That's a possibility," she said with a smile. "Or, it could be the fact that I don't know what to do with the history homework so I was kind of hoping you would help me because you're a freaky genius."

       "I'm not really a freaky genius," I said.

       "Okay, but you are one of the smartest people in school and right now, you're the only one I can stand being around because I hate humans in general," Nova said.

       "You could have at least called before showing up," I said, hoping I didn't sound rude.

       "I know," Nova said. "I realized that it was probably rude of me while I was already on my way here. Can you please help me with the homework? I'm close to failing that class and if I want to keep my car, my parents say I can't fail a single class."

       I sighed. It would have been easier if Mom was here to keep an eye on Xavier.

       "You seem mad," she said.

       "What? Oh, no, I'm not, trust me," I said. "I'm just really tired and my mom is working, so I'm watching Xavier." As much as I didn't really want to help Nova right now, I somehow wasn't able to say no to her. She looked really hopeful. "Come on in, I'll help you out."

       Nova gave me a smile. "Thank you so much. I promise I'll make it up to you. Ooh, tomorrow, I'll buy you some of the cookies from the cafeteria."

       "Those cookies are good," I said. "You got yourself a deal." I let her in the house and while she was taking off her shoes, I went over to Xavier. "Xavier, how about you go draw a picture? I'll sing a song for you later, okay?"

       "Okay!" he said before going to the office to color. I was really hoping he would stay in there while Nova was in there.

       Nova walked over with her backpack, opening it up and taking her notebook and history textbook out. "I tried the first two questions, but I gave up because school sucks and I want to drop out."