Pyrokinetic Mom I

Turning the wheel to the left, the car left the road and drove along the wide, even dirt road that led into the trailer park. Along the sides of the road, fenced trailer homes sat comfortably surrounded by verdant green shrubs.

Children played around the place cheerfully, their laughter and shouting energizing and filling the air, while the grown-ups loitered around, some chatting on parked benches scattered all over the park.

As I carefully and slowly drove the car forward, some of the children stopped to point at the car with curious eyes. The elders or grown-ups just spared the car a glance and continued doing whatever they were doing.

By my side, Claire's eyes were busily roaming the place, noting and searching for something as she primarily focused on the addresses pasted or engraved on the surface of the trailer homes.

"B-12, that's it right ahead," Claire pointed at a brownish, fairly old-looking trailer home about five meters ahead of us.

"Yeah, I can see it," I nodded in agreement.

In about a minute, we reached about two meters away from it and pressed the brakes with my foot, bringing the car to a halt. Switching off the engine, we unbuckled our seatbelts and came out of the car.

"So this is it, huh?" Claire asked nervously as she closed her door with a muffled bang, walking to the front of the car. "My...mom is right there, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's right there," I closed my door and stepped to Claire's side, staring at the simple trailer park home ringed with beautiful flowers. "How are you feeling?"

"To be honest, I'm scared. What if she sees me and doesn't like me?" Claire said and asked lowly, her face and voice brimming with anxiety. "What if she can't do what I can do and gets freaked out when I show her? Will she still see me as her daughter then, or will she disown me?" She looked down.

A sigh came out of my mouth, and I shook my head with a helpless smile on my face.

"The woman has been in hiding ever since the fire, Claire. If she didn't care about you, she wouldn't have told you where to find her," I remarked, my tone thoughtful, and she looked up at me. "This is your real mother you're talking about, Claire. You've already come this far to meet her. You're not a coward, Claire, so don't let your fear rob you of possibly your only chance to ever see her."

She didn't speak for a few seconds, just staring at me, and then shifted her gaze to the trailer, her eyes now resolute. Exhaling sharply, she glanced at me and nodded with a serious face.

"You're right, Xander. Thank you," She thanked me with a small smile and then shifted her eyes back to the trailer. "I'm going in. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," I smiled at her, and nodding, she advanced towards the door of the trailer.

Leaning on the car, I folded my arms and watched as she climbed the staircase to the front door that had a circular glass window and knocked on it gently.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and a beautiful middle-aged woman came out. She had darkening bright blonde hair tied into a ponytail, light grey eyes, a heart-shaped face, small pink lips, and dark brown eyebrows.

She was dressed in a pink and blue blouse, jeans that brought out her slim figure, a pair of flip flops, a brownish-black necklace, with oval earrings hanging from her ears. She looked almost identical to Claire, the only difference being that her face and body were thinner.

She was Meredith Gordon, Claire's biological mother. A superhuman with the strong power of Pyrokinesis and also, a former Company Agent. The first person on my list...

The moment her eyes fell on Claire's face, they widened in surprise, and she covered her mouth with her palm.

From where I stood, I could only see Claire's back and couldn't even hear what her mother said after dropping her palm, only reading her lips. She muttered 'Claire.'

The next moment, they embraced each other deeply, and Meredith started getting teary-eyed as they practically squeezed each other, as if afraid one of them would disappear and never come back again. It was a very touching scene, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched it. It was a happy family reunion...

They separated after a few minutes, and smiling happily, her palms on Claire's cheek, she kissed Claire's forehead and held her hand, gesturing her to follow her as she took a step inside.

But before Claire followed her, she paused and said something to Meredith, turning her head to look at me with a broad smile and joyful eyes. Meredith shifted her eyes to me and smiled, nodding at Claire and entering inside the trailer.

Claire then looked at me and gestured for me to come with her head.

"You want me to come?" I mouthed, surprised, and reading my lips, she nodded.

I was flattered and touched at this. She had just met her real mother and was going to have a private catching up session with her, but she was inviting me to join her, sending a message that she considered me as family.

My lips stretched into a small warm smile at the thought of this but I shook my head at her in refusal. This was something personal and private for the both of them, and I wouldn't feel okay if I got in the way of that even if it was a little. This was their moment...

Seeing my response, she rose an eyebrow and her face fell, folding her arms beneath her chest as her eyes narrowed at me, giving me the death glare. As if warning me not to refuse.

Chuckling, I rose my hand up in defeat and began advancing towards her, a helpless smile growing on my face. If she insisted then I guess, I'd just have to do it. Maybe it would make my mission easier in the long run...

When I got to her, she flashed me a cocky, prideful smirk and stepped inside with me following behind her, a little amused.

A relatively spacious and simply decorated interior opened up to my eyes as I entered. There was a small round table surrounded by two small chairs in front of us in the living room area decorated with indigenous decor, and a furnished kitchenette on our right.

The place smelled nice, and it had an exotic homely air around it that gave a sense of comfort and satisfaction. All in all, it was a cool place.

As Claire and I observed the place, Meredith came out of the kitchenette with a glass jar filled with something that looked like milk and two cups, looking at us with a bright smile on her pretty face.

"Please have a seat. You guys must be awfully tired," She said calmly, her voice sweet and spiced with the usual Southern accent, gesturing to the two chairs in front of us with the jar, a bright smile on her pretty face.

We nodded politely and stepped to sit down on the seats provided. She moved to the last chair that faced us across the table and sat down on it, placing the jar and cups on the table.

"I know it's not much, but make yourselves at home," She remarked casually with a smile, looking at both of us, especially Claire

.

"Thanks," I said politely to her, and she nodded at me, shifting her eyes to stare at Claire, leaning forward a little.

Claire, who was sitting quietly by my side with a broad smile plastered on her face, had her gaze totally fixed on her mother, just staring into her eyes. Wordlessly, they started staring at each other, lost in each other's eyes that were brimming with warmth and love, ignoring me and everything else around them.

At first, it was interesting seeing them like this, and I didn't want to spoil the mood, but after it went on for almost five minutes, I was starting to feel uncomfortable so I interrupted.

"Ehem..." I cleared my throat loudly, and as if a spell had been broken, they immediately snapped out of it and looked at me. "...Sorry, something got stuck in my throat." I rubbed my throat with my hand and lied, faking a cough.

Both of them immediately giggled, and Meredith shook her head apologetically at me with a smile.

"No, don't worry. It's ou—my fault anyways," She said playfully to me and then turned to Claire, a sad smile growing on her face. "I just...don't know what to say. It's...just been so long since I've seen my da—your face that I'm afraid to say the wrong thing."

"I understand...mom. I'm going through the same thing." Claire smiled at her and said, sounding a little nervous.

Meredith's smile widened at the sound of this, and she took a deep breath.

"Let's start with the basics. Let's introduce ourselves officially," She suggested, pulling her chair forward a little, with a cheerful smile on her face. "I'll kick things off. I'm Meredith Gordon, your long-lost mother."

"...I guess I'll go next," Claire said, a little shyly as Meredith's gaze fell on her. "I'm Claire Bennet, your uh, long-lost daughter." She smiled nervously, looking at Meredith.

"...What about you, young man?" Meredith nodded at Claire affectionately with an endearing smile and turned to me. "What's your name?"

"Xander Andersen, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."