3 Chapter 2

It had been merely a year since I was fully reborn into this body. This tiny, frail, annoying body.

I have wondered time and time again if I should have made myself a higher being to be able to explore in. Although I do not think I would trade anything for my family, weaknesses aside. During the year I have been here I have learned to love my mother and stepfather. Yes, they are sometimes annoying and overreact to the smallest things, but they are kind.

My stepfather has started teaching me recipes for simple cooking dishes. He has taught me about different types of ingredients and their uses in contributing to the flavor of a dish. My mother works long hours as a doctor but after she got home each day she still made time for my stepfather and I. Speaking of my stepfather, he works as a psychologist but is currently only working online so he can be there to take care of me.

Both my parents are caring, they are like the parents I never had. Well technically they are my only parents since I never had parents to begin with and being in an eternal dreamless sleep for the past few eons does not exactly make one the most mature of beings.

Either way, I am starting this "preschool" soon. Mother and Stepfather say that after I pass "preschool" I'll be able to go to "elementary school". Both words I have no idea of what they mean. I know this "school" is a place to learn new things, but I am perfectly fine learning at home. I have already started reading chapter books with ease after all.

Speaking of books, one of the ones I found was in another language that I was somehow able to read better than English. I brought it to my stepfather who was confused on how I could read it. He mentioned it to my mother later that night and after dinner they got up and started speaking in hushed tones. They finally reconvened back at the table and my mother got a serious look on her face and told me that my stepfather wasn't my real father and my father was the reason I could read that book.

I did find it a bit odd that my mother was called "mother" but my stepfather had "step" in front of "father". Either way, my stepfather was my real father to me. Some random human that had left us five years ago wasn't worth being called my father, I knew that much. The linguistics is what confused me though. Perhaps humans had the ability to pass on languages? Then why was I having to learn English by myself? There was no use pondering on these things, I assumed I would figure them out eventually. If not, they were not things that interested me.

I stopped my train of thought and looked at my parents, who were awaiting my reaction after my mother told me that I had another father. I pointed at my stepfather and said, "father".

My stepf— no my father laughed at my reaction. My mother looked as if she knew I wouldn't be able to understand. However, my father knew I understood, since he spent much more time with me. I sensed that look in his eye.

My mother changed the topic. She seemed to think it was useless trying to explain further, thus she gave up. "Y'know Charlie, since you're starting preschool tomorrow I'm going to take a day off of work to be able to see you off."

I gained an excited look in my eyes, happy to spend time with my mother. She was barely around and though my father was fun, it gets boring being with the same person all the time. "Thank you!" I simply said, and she beamed at me.

After our family discussion after dinner, my mother and father tucked me into bed upstairs. My room was decorated plainly but it had lots of toys, stuffed animals, and books. Lots of books. There were two bookshelves on the wall left of the door. My bed was up against the right wall which left a lot of space in the middle of the room, which had a thick and fluffy carpet on the floor in the center.

My mother turned on the light I had on my nightstand. It was blue and projected a bunch of tiny stars on the ceiling. "Goodnight," she said softly and ran her fingers through my hair.

I quietly muttered a soft "'Night," in reply as she and my father walked out of the room.

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The next morning I woke up a bit later in the day. About 10:00 to be precise, which is much later than usual for me. My schooling did not start until noon so I had two hours to be able to get ready and eat breakfast.

I went to the bathroom by myself and started getting ready. It was a very simple task since my hair was fairly short, reaching a bit past my neck. I liked the length, but growing it out in the future might be fun, just to see how it feels.

I headed downstairs where my mother and father were already at the kitchen table. It was a rare occurrence to see her here in the morning due to how she always left early for work.

I helped my father make scrambled eggs while he fried bacon. My mother chuckled slightly at our show of teamwork.

We both sat down after we finished making food for ourselves and my mother and started eating. Father made sure to keep a close eye on me while I was cooking, I think I am capable of making food myself now though.

We left at about 11:30 after breakfast so we could be there early. I was rather excited and nervous as I had no idea what to expect. We arrived at a moderate sized building with a sign that read "Little Creek Preschool". There were small children everywhere with their parents walking into the building.

I wiggled myself out of my car seat quickly and opened the door to take a better look at the building. "So this is where you'll be going to preschool for the next year." My father said this while patting my back softly. It was not what I expected but I don't think it was bad either. Hopefully I will be able to learn more while there though, that is all that matters to me.

With that thought in mind, I walked towards the building with my parents, hopeful for the future.