Sincerely, Charli Day

Chapter 6

Haisley chucks a blueberry at me, hitting my nose. Leo laughs as my face scrunches in distaste.

"Hey." I cry out, taking the spoon out of my mouth.

"Booo, or share." Haisley holds her hand out, wiggling her fingers. I pout, handing her the jar.

"Be nice, ladies." Mom teases, popping a blueberry into her mouth.

I can't remember a time when Mom didn't treat both Haisley and I as her daughters. I asked her once and she said it was like second nature the moment she met Haisley. It was so easy to fall in love with her, and she knew the moment we became best friends.

Which I never got since Haisley was basically a hellion when I met her.

The year that Haisley's parents filed a divorce that never went through, during the summer after our freshman year, that's when she started coming around the most. Mom tried her best to keep up and take her in, but she was also struggling with new meds.

It took a huge toll on her.

Although, I think it was hard for Haisley at first; she always felt guilty, like she was taking my Mom away from me. With maybe the little time I had left.

But I had realized during that time that if my Mom was still able to love me with Leo around, why not add another to the stack?

"Shopping. Groceries." Mom orders, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Me?" I lean against the fridge, stabbing the pancake on my plate.

"Yes, you. Who else would I be talking to?" Mom places her hands on her hips, before turning back to a pancake I'm pretty sure is burned. I should remind Leo and Haisley to check both sides before eating.

"Jeez I don't know, your two other children?" I point out sarcastically.

"Ah, see I only gave birth to one of those two, and he is currently too young to drive."

"No, I remember the day you came out of the delivery room with Haisley." I dramatically hug her from behind, reaching for Haisley's hand across the counter.

"The story of beautiful Haisley: the baby Mrs. D stole from another family because frankly I look nothing like y'all." Haisley motions to her pale skin and bright blonde hair. When Leo agrees, she ruffles his hair.

He swats her hand away from him, shifting in his seat. Mom and I chuckle as Haisley continues to eat innocently. I swear that girl could eat an entire horse, and she'd loose pounds.

"Not steal, Hales. You probably hopped out of your crib and ran to Mom. You were a free spirit even back then."

Haisley nods in agreement, waving her fork around.

"I don't want to go to school tomorrow." Leo whines.

I stop mid bite to give him a high five. Finally my brother says something smart and relatable.

Mom shakes her head. "Children, school is important."

"I'm not saying you're wrong Mrs.D, because frankly I'm scared to see where'd that land me, but there's a big difference between being the badass who gets to yell at children, and the children being yelled at by a scary badass." Haisley counters.

"Language." Mom warns.

"That made zero sense." I comment, after thinking for a second. Or maybe I'm just too tired.

Regardless of what Haisley makes it out to sound like, Mom used to be a good high school principal before she was diagnosed. Kids loved her, and she knew what she was doing. She loved her job, and loved telling Haisley and I weird stories.