My Name Is Callie Swan

Part two: Meeting Charlie

Charlie's POV
"Yes, Bells. I will tell her you said hi, and that you can't wait to see her next week."
I say to my 16 year old daughter.
I was sitting in the airport parking lot, waiting for the time to come for me to pick up my older daughter. I cannot believe that after 16 long years I was finally gonna get to meet her.
"Alright, dad. I gotta go. Phil and mom said they had to talk to me about something." I hear Bells say.
"Okay. I love you, Bell. I will email you later to tell you how it went."
"I love you too."
I hang up and jump out of the car and walk through the parking lot and to the pick up center.
People are holding up signs with names on them and I feel kind of stupid for not brining my own. What if she doesn't know what I look like? I am in the middle of the thought when I look up the escalator, at the very top stands a beautiful red headed girl. She is wearing a white dress that buttons up and has capped sleeves. I can tell she feels uncomfortable by the way she is frantically looking around.
Finally, she looks my way and I wave. I can see the confusion disappear from her face as she smiles softly and waves back, finally stepping off the escalator and making her way towards me.
"Charlie Swan?" She asks, looking a little unsure.
I smile and nod at her,
"Caroline?"
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Callie's POV
I shrink a little at the name Caroline, it's hard to get use to, but I nod.
" Actually, I prefer to go by Callie. I suppose you're Charlie?"
I ask, watching the middle-aged man smile grow wider.
"You would be right. It's great to meet ya, kid."
I can't help but smile at how nice he is. lt
He looks hesitant for a minute,
"Can I-" he starts, "Would it be okay if I hugged you?"
Before I can answer, think arms are around me. It takes me a moment, then I hug back.
I cannot be mad at him for what Lily did to keep us apart.
We stand there for a minute, hugging. After the moment, he lets me go and instantly grabs my trunk that I was dragging behind me.
"Should we go get something to eat? Maybe get to know one another a little more?"
I smile and nod as I follow him towards the exit of the Port Angeles airport.
We arrive at his vehicle, and I must admit, I am nervous. I have never ridden in a car before, and his seemed a bit eccentric, with big lights on the top. I wondered if a lot of people drove such silly looking cars.
"The door is unlocked, if you want to get in the front."
I hear Charlie instruct, as he pops open the back of the car and starts to shove my trunk in it.
I do as he says, and walk around to the other side of the car, opening the front door. I sit down, looking to see the back is caged off. Charlie finishes putting my things away and jumps into the other side.
"So, you ready to get something to eat? Do you have any preference or-"
"Charlie? What is this thing?"
I ask, curious.
"What? The car? Oh! I forgot! You've probably never seen one before! So this is like your brooms, but they roll on the ground. It's how we get around." He says with a smile.
I squint, trying to understand, but I nod.
"I want to try something American to eat. Can we do that?"
"I know the perfect place." He says with a smile.
We drive in silence for a moment. I play with my nails, and he watches the road. I can't believe how fast we are going, but I would take flying any day.
"So your school, what was it like?"
Charlie asks, breaking the silence.
It takes me a minute to figure out how I want to answer.
"Hogwarts was-" I gulp a little to stop tears from forming, "I mean is, home."
Charlie nods but doesn't add anything else.
Around 45 minutes later, we pull up to a small building.
A large sign has the word 'Diner' marked on in.
I raise an eyebrow and follow Charlie through the lot and into the building.
A girl in a light blue dress and a white apron smile at our arrival and waves to Charlie.
"Charlie! It's great to have you in!"
They hug each other briefly, and then she looks at me.
"Is this Caroline?" She asks, looking to Charlie.
I look down a little sheepish.
"It's actually Callie. It's very nice to meet you."
I say in a small voice.
She smiles at me, and holds out her hand for me. I take it, expecting her to shake it, but she pulls me into a hug.
I can't help but hug her back, wanting to make friends here in America.
"I'm Cora. I have been your old man's waitress for the last, has it been ten years Charlie?" Cora asks, looking to Charlie. He smiles and nods.
We are led to a table and given menus.
I'm not really sure what anything is, so I ask Charlie to order for me.
"I'll have a T-bone, medium rare. Callie will have a bacon cheese burger with a side of cheese fries."
Cora smirks and nods, taking our order back to the kitchen.
The rest of the time at the diner was spent getting to know more about each other.
Charlie asked questions ranging from my favorite color, to what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Honestly, I wasn't too sure about it. With the war that was about to be unleashed, I wasn't too concerned with the future.
"I mean, as of right now, I think it's good to just live in the moment. We never really know when it'll be out last. At least, that's what my friend Cedric says."
"That seems a little dark for a teenager to say."
Charlie says, staring at me.
"Well, we live in different worlds. Kids here are preparing to go to college at my age, but in my world, I'm being prepped to defend myself against evil forces."
Charlie's face contorted in worry.
"All done here?"
Cora asks, as both of our plates are clear.
Charlie was right about his choice of food. I loved it.
"Amazing as always, Cora."
Cora smiles and nods.
"Thank you very much." I say with a smile, as she walks back to the kitchen.
"Well, you ready to get going? Maybe we can get some unpacking done today."
I smile at Charlie and nod. He stands up and begins to walk towards the door, me following him out.