3rd POV
Charlie Swan sat outside his house on the back porch gazing at the forest with a heartbroken and empty expression on his face.
His parents died this morning only three days after Renee left and took their daughter with her. They were married for five years and had their beautiful 3 year old daughter together, but it wasn't enough for Renee. The town of Forks was too boring and depressing for her with its small town charm and cloudy/rainy weather.
Charlie had always found it to be peaceful and comforting as if the clouds were shielding the from the horrors of the world.
Renee said that they would start visitation when Bella was 8 and Charlie had to agree because he couldn't afford a lawyer after his parents medical bills, and Renee was expecting child support next month. He'd have to send her $5,000 monthly if he wanted to see his daughter again.
Charlie sighed and sipped his beer only to freeze when he caught sight of a breath taking woman. She had silvery platinum hair with sparkly eyes that he could see even in the distance. Her deep olive skin glimmered faintly in the moonlight and she wore a black toga dress with bits of magenta, blue, and green poking out of the skirt. Her feet were bare and her neck held seven silver necklaces with the bottom one being a crescent moon and the others were stars.
Charlie was in awe of her for a brief moment before scrambling upwards and dropping his beer on the ground in his haste to help the woman who seemed so lost "Hey! Are you okay?!" He asked rushing over. When he finally made it to her side he hovered his hands around her, but didn't dare touch her.
She smiled at him and let out a musical laugh that was so deep and beautiful that Charlie froze once more in awe. The woman reached out and cupped Charlie's cheek, gently running her thumb underneath his eye. The gesture was so sweet that Charlie melted and leaned into her touch making the woman smirk "Yes.....you'll do quite nicely, pet."
Confused Charlie opened his eyes and asked "What?" The woman shook her head and said "Just do as I say and everything that you're feeling right now will disappear" Charlie was confused and hesitant, but decided to trust this mysterious woman so he nodded making her smirk once more "Good boy."
~~~timeskip~~~
Charlie woke up the next morning feeling different. The heartbreak of Renee's leaving was gone.
Last night....he felt things that he never felt with her. That woman.....Kaia he was told to call her, had somehow healed his aching heart in their brief time together. Charlie thought about their late night activities and flushed in embarrassment before shaking his head and turning to look at the other side of the bed where Kaia was supposed to be sleeping only to find an empty bed with a note on the pillow.
Frowning he reached over and opened it;
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. I will see you soon, my pet, this will never be goodbye- Kaia.
That did make Charlie smile at the thought of seeing her again. The man tumbled out of bed, really feeling his jellied legs, from the previous night's rendezvous. He stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the shower with plans to get ready for the day. As he showered Charlie thought about last night and the past five years.
Charlie truly did live Renee in the beginning but after two years of marriage Renee became selfish and cruel. She demanded that Charlie abandon his very sick parents in a nursing home and come travel with her. She demanded that Charlie quit his job and give up his dreams to become a homeless wanderer with no real plans except to never stay in one place for long. Something that Charlie couldn't get behind.
If Charlie was being honest, before Bella was born Charlie had considered divorcing Renee, but then Renee became pregnant and he couldn't abandon his child. Family is important.
It didn't help their marriage since Renee assumed that now that a baby was in the picture that Charlie would do whatever she wanted him to, but that wasn't true. He wasn't going to allow Renee to give birth on the side of the road, nor raise their daughter that way. Living on the road was hard, but raising a child in a environment like that? It was nearly impossible.
Kaia, on the other hand was so different. She understood and respected Charlie's values and was even a sentimental person herself. She put family first above everyone. Kaia was kind and quiet and made Charlie feel different things than Renee, his first.....well everything.
Charlie froze as he realized that he was comparing these two women when the truth of the matter is.....Renee could never compare to Kaia.
Charlie finished his shower and went about his day.
~~~later~~~
Every night Kaia would visit Charlie which was odd, but Charlie took whatever attention and affection he could get from the woman who stole his heart after just one night.
They'd mostly talk and share their lives, Kaia had eventually told Charlie the truth about herself and revealed a part of her true form as proof. Khaos, was her real name and she was the first entity to ever exist in the universe.
She was the dark void that created everything that was here today, but she was so beautiful that Charlie couldn't help but love her even more than before.
Then she disappeared for five months. Charlie feared that one of her children had found them out and banished her back into the darkness. A place that was her home, and her prison.
Then one day when he got home from work only to hear a familiar humming coming from the kitchen. He rushed in to see Kaia holding a dark bundle and singing their song in her hauntingly beautiful voice;
"You go down just like Holy Mary. Mary on a, Mary on a cross. Not just another Bloody Mary Mary on a, Mary on a. You go down just like Holy Mary. Mary on a, Mary on a cross. Your beauty never ever scared me. Mary on a, Mary on a cross..."
She then caught sight of Charlie and tearfully smiled at him "Please, pet, don't be cross...." She said as Charlie approached the slightly shorter woman and peered down at the bundle in her arms. There, nestled in dark throw blankets was a baby that was no doubt theirs.
The child's moonlight colored skin with tufts of Charlie's dark brown almost black hair peeking out. The baby was sleeping but the color of the eyes didn't matter, not when Charlie could easily isolate his and Kaia's facial features in them. His heart shaped face with his pointed ears and Kaia's Roman/button nose and heart shaped lips.
"Charlie...?" Kaia asked growing worried with his silence. Charlie looked up and asked "What's their name?" She smiled and said "Tristezza, we can call her Tezza for short" Charlie nodded and slightly reached out for her "Can I hold her?" Kaia nodded and gently handed her to Charlie who embraced his youngest daughter.
Kaia smiled and asked "Would you like to pick out the middle name?" Charlie glanced over at her before looking back at Tezza and saying "Helen, after my mother" Kaia smiled and nodded.
She vanished that night and never returned. Charlie was left to raise Tezza all on his own, he had written letters to Bella over the years attempting to explain his situation with his new daughter but Bella never wrote back or sent a card to Tezza on her birthday or even acknowledged that she had a sister whenever she was here.
He knew that it was because of Renee. He hadn't realized it before but his relationship with Renee was toxic. She was a narcissist that constantly gaslit him and manipulated him into marrying her and then tried to baby trap him. Bella was a blessing though because she was the first thing that made him realize that their relationship wasn't like his parents or his and Kaia's.
Renee was furious when she found out that Charlie had a child with someone else, and told Charlie that she didn't want her near Bella. So when she came to stay during two weeks during the summer, Tezza would go stay with either the Clearwaters or the Blacks.
Tezza hadn't minded it as she saw it as one on one time with dad. Despite being 3 and a half years younger than Bella, Tezza was incredibly mature and was actually in her senior year of high school having skipped three years. So she knew how to share her dad with her sister.
Unfortunately Bella had stopped coming over at age 14. Charlie was disheartened, but was relieved that he got to spend a whole summer with his youngest.
Last summer Charlie had given Tezza the green light to redecorate the house. The pastel green and yellow walls were repainted and the tacky beach memorabilia and furniture were replaced. Tezza redecorated their bedrooms as well but left Bella's unscathed out of respect.
She had even done the outside of the house. Keeping it the pristine white color (with better paint for their climate).
She moved onto the living room.
Then migrated towards the kitchen/dining room.
Before doing the bathrooms.
She had restyled the bathroom in hopes to make room for whenever Kaia returned. A hope that both Charlie and Tezza shared.
Tezza then redid the bedrooms and when she finished Charlie was glad that he allowed her to completely gut and redecorate their home.
(Master)
(Tezza's)