AMSL Ch: 2

Luke and Haillee descended the stairs hand in hand, neither too fast nor too slow, as they’d done countless times before. They did not need to rush. Both of them could sense their father's approach in their own ways and knew to speed up or slow down as needed.

They weren’t perfect by any means, as things they couldn’t control often happened. So, it was no surprise to either of them when they reached the bottom of the stairs only to find the front door was only just now opening. The two could feel the warm July air blow in from outside as the door slowly opened, revealing their father on the other side. It was lovely weather by Tacoma, Washington standards.

Raymond Walker stood an inch under six feet tall. His short brown hair was slightly disheveled from the long work day. The same could be said about his grey suit, which was now wrinkled and had the first signs of pit stains forming underneath his arms.  

While their mother was skinny, Luke’s father was slightly hefty, sporting your typical dad-bod. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t fit. He worked at a dock, and while his job was primarily administrative, he had to lift the occasional heavy item now and again.

Raymond’s dark green eyes were quick to focus on his children, and Luke had to give it to the man; no matter how tired he was, he always had energy for his kids.

“Luke! Hailee!” Raymond Walker shouted in delight as he spotted them, hurryingly closing the door behind him. Dropping his briefcase by the wayside, he bent down and opened his arms wide, smelling like the ocean.

Luke didn't hesitate to rush up and hug his dad. No matter how he felt or what problems they were facing, Luke would never pass up the chance to hug his dad. Speaking of which, Luke glanced at his sister, who was slightly slower in joining him in the group hug. Their father didn't notice it, but he could recognize his sister's hesitance and the sad look she was trying to hide as she shuffled into his waiting arms.

Hailee hid her pained expression by burying her face in their father’s chest and stayed like that as he closed his arms around them. Raymond briefly tried to pick them up but quickly gave up on that idea.

"Ugh, I'm either getting old, or you guys are getting heavier," he joked, rocking them back and forth a bit.

Finally, he let them go before grabbing his discarded suitcase and sniffing the air in exaggerated excitement. “Is that meatloaf I smell?” He called out as he kicked off his work shoes and headed towards the kitchen, leaving his kids behind in the entryway.

“You, Okay?” Luke asked his sister once their father was out of earshot.

“Yeah,” poor Hailee answered with little energy. “It’s even worse than this morning,” she informed her brother of their father’s diminishing emotional state.

“Put on a brave face. If they don’t say anything, I’ll talk to them tomorrow," Luke promised her.

“Really?” A hint of hope leaked into Hailee's voice. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Luke held up his pinky finger.

Hailee happily intertwined her pinky finger with her brother's, sealing their pinky promise, which was basically a binding pact between the two.

Promise made, the siblings followed their father into the kitchen, entering in time to catch the tail end of their parents whispering to each other. Seeing this, Hailee made a face like she tasted something sour, which the adults attributed to their closeness.

Okay, they weren't trying to hide it anymore; Luke mentally rolled his eyes.

“I’ll grab the plates,” Luke’s mother hurriedly offered, breaking away from Raymond before things got more awkward.

Yeah, not suspicious at all, Luke thought sarcastically.

Their mom rushed to grab four plates out of the cabinet and, as usual, started to dish the kids first. In addition to the meatloaf, there were fresh mashed potatoes with gravy and steamed mixed vegetables to round out the meal. She was quick and efficient, and in under three minutes, the kids were sitting at the dining room table with food in front of them.

The parents joined them at the table soon after, their mom with a glass of white wine and their father with a cold beer. The Walkers weren’t a religious bunch, but they did say grace before the four of them started to eat.

The first few minutes of dinner were quiet as everyone took their first few bites and settled in, but after that conversation started as usual. However, it didn’t take long for it to die out again.

“How was your day, Dear?” It was an innocent question directed at her husband, the same one Shannon asked almost daily.

Usually, that was Raymond's cue to vent about work, how his bosses were lazy, and how they refused to learn to use the new computer systems. He would complain about how the dock was always understaffed and how everybody needed to point it out to him rather than the head supervisor. That’s how dinner usually went—not tonight.

“It was okay,” Luke’s father shrugged his shoulders and said nothing further on the subject, seemingly more interested in poking at his food than making eye contact with any of them.

When he finally did look up, it was to make nervous eye contact with Luke's mom. What played out next was a silent conversation between two adults. Shanon tried coaxing Luke's father into saying something while he did his best to pretend he was oblivious. Luke and Hailee watched it all silently play out, more aware of what was going on than their parents realized as kids so often were.

The good news was that it didn't look like Luke would need to bother his parents tomorrow. With how they were acting, they were obviously trying to finally work up the courage to broach the subject that was bothering them. Luke might have even found their situation funny if their indecisiveness wasn't torturing his sister. Sadly, it was, so it wasn’t.

Finally, after no more could be conveyed through gestures and pointed looks alone, their mom addressed their father out loud. “Raymond, it’s time. We can’t put it off any longer, you know that,” she told her husband with a heavy look.

"I suppose so," he let out a long sigh resulting from more than just a long day at work.

“Is everything okay?” Luke asked, subtly inserting himself into the conversation before either of his parents could change their minds. “Did someone die?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” their father quickly answered when he saw Hailee's worried look. He rubbed his five o’clock shadow, eventually finding his voice, but his answer wasn’t what Luke expected.

“No one’s dead. I…. I was offered a job.” Luke noticed the tension bleed from his father's shoulders as if he had shed an invisible weight that was holding him down.

"That's it?" Luke deadpanned; out of the corner of his eye, he was happy to see his sister subtly relaxing in her seat as their parents’ emotions started to calm down. There was still a tightness in the air, but it wasn't as bad as a moment ago.

Over two weeks to say that? Luke didn't believe that that was the extent of the issue for a moment, or it wouldn't have been that hard for them to come clean.

“Well, it’s not everything,” their father awkwardly grinned before turning towards his wife. “Shannon, a little help, please?” He pleaded.

Out of pity, Luke's mom came to Raymond's rescue. "What your father is trying to say, kids, is that the job offer is far away. " She added another piece to the puzzle, and suddenly, things made sense to Luke. They were trying to tell them they were moving and worried about how they would react.

Due to his memories from his previous life, Luke didn't connect easily with kids his age, so moving wasn’t a big deal to him, but Hailee was a different story. She was a social butterfly and had spent years making friends with everybody in their school.

“I know this is a lot to ask, but this is a big opportunity for me—For us," their dad clarified, the barest gleam of hope in his eyes.

“I take it the pay is better?” Luke asked, allowing his father to explain further.

“A lot better, almost double my current salary,” he happily proclaimed, meeting his son's gaze.

Luke had to whistle at that. As an assistant manager for one of the largest docks in Washington State, his father was paid a pretty penny; for the offer to be that much more, he must have been offered a senior management position.

“Not only that, but they offered me a sizable relocation package," Raymond clarified further, obviously trying to sell his kids on the idea, but there was still one thing neither of Luke’s parents had mentioned yet.

"So, where are we talking?” Luke got down to the issue his parents had been skirting around. “California? Hawaii? Florida? Texas?” He named off a dozen states known for their large ports, but his father kept shaking his head.

“Oh,” Luke finally realized why this was so hard for his parents.

“Your father’s been offered an important job in London,” their mother said, thinking this was the perfect time to chime in, finally ripping the band-aid off.

“Where’s that?” Hailee asked in an eerily came voice.

“It’s in England, a country on the other side of the world,” Luke told his sister.

“Oh,” Hailee's eyes widened, finally understanding the big deal before her face became neutral again.

This time, their parents didn't miss Hailee's flat stare, exchanging nervous looks with each other.

When Hailee didn’t say anything further, their mother clarified what moving entailed as if they didn’t already know, keeping her eyes on Luke’s sister, gauging her response.

“You’ll have to make new friends. Change schools," she explained calmly, a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Still, Hailee didn’t say anything. Seeing that she wasn't getting her expected reaction, their mother turned her attention to Luke instead. “What about you, Honey? How do you feel about all this?”

“Me?” Luke awkwardly shoveled some meatloaf and mashed potatoes into his mouth to buy himself some time to think, not sure how he was supposed to respond.

How did Luke feel about moving? Unlike a typical ten-year-old, Luke didn't need help seeing the writing on the wall. His parents asked for his opinion, but he knew that wasn't the whole picture. Despite having his previous life's memories and acting mature for his age, Luke and his sister were still children in the end. Their parents had the final say, and they'd probably already made up their minds long ago.

This was a big deal for his father, a veritable once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Luke wanted to support his parent's decision to move, but he also understood his sister’s feelings. Moving out of the country was a big deal and would bring many challenges. Even with his extra memories, he'd never lived anywhere other than the U.S. before. For once, Luke's knowledge wouldn't be of any help to him.

“For how long?” Luke asked.

"The initial contract is for five years, with incentives to stay longer. So, probably longer than that," Raymond did his best to answer calmly, but his true feelings were easy to see based on his anxious glances at Hailee.

“They must really want you.”

That earned Luke a hearty laugh from his father, finally pulling his attention away from his sister. “It’s actually sort of thanks to you.”

Seeing his son’s confused expression, Raymond clarified, "The main reason I was scouted was my above-average computer skills compared to all the old-timers.”

“I still don’t see how that has anything to do with me?” Luke didn't see how that had anything to do with him.

“Son, who is it that got me into computer gaming? Who’s the one who always talks about the future of computers? Who’s the one that convinced me to invest in those computer companies and to learn about the new stuff always coming out?” Raymond counted off his fingers.

“I knew computers would be important, but you’re the one who got me interested in them, Son," Luke's father told him with a proud smile. "Thanks to you, your old man is a hot commodity," he chuckled mirthfully.

“I didn’t do all that,” Luke blushed. He hadn’t realized his dad attributed so much of his success to him.

"You're very mature for your age," Shannon added. We're so proud of everything you’ve done, but that’s why we want to hear what you think, too. Your sister would be giving up her friends, but you would give up all your hard work these past three years," she reminded him.

She was right; Luke hadn't thought of that. He hadn't been idle all this time. From the moment he regained his memories, other than practicing with his energy when he had the time, Luke had made plans to guarantee himself a promising future, and step one of that future was being financially independent.

Until age seven, Luke scrimped and saved every penny he could, whether from gifts or chores. Then, one day, three years ago, he went to his dad and asked if he could help him set up a brokerage account.

Of course, he didn't outright say that. What child would? No, Luke was intelligent about it. He started by asking how his dad supported the family before cleverly shifting topics until he got his dad talking about his retirement benefits. From there, the conversation moved to the stock market, where Luke patiently waited for his father to explain what he already knew.

Then, Luke just needed to act like an excited kid, which was an easy task for him. He laid it on thick, marveling how his money could grow all by itself. He begged his father daily until he let him invest his money, which he eventually did.

As a kid, he couldn't have it under his name, so instead, Luke’s father set up a college fund sort of deal that would become available to him once he turned eighteen. His dad had to place the orders, but other than that, Luke was free to invest his money how he saw fit after many warnings from his father and mother.

So, in February of 97, Luke invested 90% of all the money he’d saved into two little computer companies: Apple and Microsoft Corp. At the time, he’d invested roughly $215 into the two companies, practically a fortune by child standards.

Needless to say, his parents questioned his decision to no end. Still, after he insisted, they decided this would be a good learning opportunity for him, assuming he would likely lose some of his money before reinvesting it in something more reliable.

Luke had the last laugh, however, when not one but both of his stocks split later in the year—first Apple in June, then Microsoft in September. By the end of the year, his money had quadrupled, to the astonishment of his parents, and the rest was history.

Every year after that, Luke worked his tail off, earning more money to invest. He kept doing chores around the house before slowly branching out into the neighborhood. Over the weekends, he weeded gardens during the summer, raked leaves in the fall, and did other odd jobs in the winter, all the time using his telekinesis to make even the most demanding jobs trivial.

In 1998, he made a little over $220, most of which he invested in Disney stock, which was not his proudest moment.

In hindsight, he should've just stuck with Apple and Microsoft, but his parents had pushed him to diversify, saying it was smart. He knew the stock would do well eventually; it just didn't have the same explosive growth as his first two stocks.

After learning his lesson, Luke invested primarily in his big moneymakers. He managed to scrape together $300 over the following year, and in 89, you guessed it, he invested it back into the two companies.

Just a month ago, in June, Luke put a further $400 into the stock market. And after another split in Microsoft earlier in the year, he was now sitting pretty with 50 shares in Disney, 2,253 shares in Apple, and a nice 2,671 shares in Microsoft. Right now, everything was only worth around $4,000, but Luke figured that by the time he turned eighteen, that figure would have ballooned many times over. And this was just the beginning.

Luke was still working hard. He patiently awaited other notable companies like Amazon, Google, Tesla, and Facebook to go public. However, he was always on the lookout for other companies he vaguely recognized that he could get in on the ground floor of.

He wasn’t 100% sure how each stock would do individually, but that hardly mattered in the long run. Even if the worst should happen and everything fell through, he just had to wait until a particular cryptocurrency was born.

Either way, he wouldn't need to work again by the time he was forty. But that all hinged on him working hard now. Luke may only be able to invest a few hundred dollars yearly, but that was enough as long as he stuck with it. It was also why his parents were so proud of him; who could happily say their ten-year-old had four grand in the stock market?

Over the years, Luke proved his resourcefulness and work ethic by cultivating a list of clients in the neighborhood who used his services. If he left now, he'd need to rebuild his clientele all over again. But was that such a big deal?

Luke was confident he could find the same sort of people in England, and he had always wanted to travel. At the same time, he was vividly aware that his sister was watching him from across the table, waiting for him to voice his opinion.

Luke knew what he had to do.

“I think…. Moving could be fun,” Luke hesitantly replied, more to his sister than his parents. “It’ll be hard, but we’ll have each other," Luke reached across the table, offering his sister his hand, which she thankfully took.

Luke didn’t need to be an empath like his sister to see that his parents were relieved by his decision to support their move. Either way, they were going, but if the kids didn’t agree, life could get miserable for them, so they were understandably happy to have Luke’s support.

Across the table, Hailee was shifting her gaze between her brother and her parents, no doubt sensing their anxiety that she might say no and throw a tantrum, but Luke knew otherwise.

His sister’s inner flame had been churning wildly since the start of dinner. Luke couldn't sense specific emotions like she could, but he could tell she was worked up. He was so worried that he might need to cancel out an accidental discharge of energy like he used to do when she was little, but that fear was proven unfounded.

Her fire had spiked when their parents explained that they'd be moving out of the country but had long since settled back down.

After a tense silence, Hailee smiled, and Luke felt a pain in his chest as it wasn't her usual careless grin. He knew what that smile meant.

“I guess moving could be fun," Hailee faked cheerfulness to put their parents at ease.

“Oh, Sweety, trust us, you'll have a great time. We'll be able to go on all sorts of European vacations,” Their mother happily promised.

“It’ll be like heading to a different planet, just like in Star Wars,” their nerdy father equated, comparing their circumstance to his and Hailee’s favorite trilogy.

Hailee's smile grew slowly, but that didn't ease Luke's pain. She wasn't smiling more because she agreed with them; she was smiling because they were happy, and Hailee would do almost anything to make those around her happy.

At some point, when they were alone, Luke would have to sit down and talk to her and see how she really felt. It was easy for her emotions to be overshadowed by others, and he wanted to ensure Hailee could vent her frustrations without being overly influenced by their parents.

After all, Luke was the only one Hailee could be herself around. His flame helped shield him partially from her ability, even more so when he concentrated some of his energy in his head. He could never entirely block her out, but at least she wasn't under the full brunt of his emotions like she was with their parents.

“Hey,” Luke called out to get his sister’s attention. “We got this,” he assured her, briefly letting go of her hand before offering her his pinky for the second time today.

“We got this,” she echoed his words back at him as they sealed their pact.

“You’re such a good big brother, Luke,” Shannon cooed to his embarrassment.

Desperate to change the subject, Luke glanced away from his mother, who looked at him as if he were made of gold. His eyes briefly lingered on his sister before moving on to his father, who was beaming proudly at him.

“So, when are we going?” Luke asked, letting go of his sister’s hand and shrinking back into his chair. He heard his mom giggle at him, but he ignored it.

“Oh, right, I hadn’t gotten to that part yet!” Raymond slapped the table in embarrassment. “Silly me. Well, we already have our passports from that trip up to Canada last year, and I’ve already been approved for a work visa, so that’s taken care of. Mostly, we need to pack everything up and decide what we will take with us.”

“We’re not bringing all our stuff!?” Hailee looked visibly hurt by the idea.

"We can bring some things, but you must remember we're moving pretty far," their dad reminded Hailee. “All the furniture will be moved into a long-term storage facility along with everything we decide not to take. We won't be getting rid of anything, but we can't take it all with us."

“What about my bed? My stuffed animals?”

“You can bring some of your stuffed animals; as for your bed, we'll buy new furniture once we move in."

“You have a place picked out already!?” Luke asked, more than a little shocked. There was no way all this had happened in the last two weeks. His dad had to have been in discussion with his new employers for at least a few months if they already had a house waiting for them and a work visa approved.

“We do,” Raymond Walker smiled at his son. “It’s roughly an hour and a half away from my work in London, a quaint village named Little Winging. A handful of other people who work at the docks also live there because it’s cheaper than living in London. It's a slightly longer commute than I do now, but I get to carpool with them, so it evens out.”

Little Winging, why did that sound so familiar to Luke? He did his best to search his memories but came up with nothing. Luke felt he should know the name but didn't dwell on it long. He couldn’t expect himself to remember every name he’d ever read. Heck, he didn’t even know if the name was familiar to him because he heard it in this life or his last.

While Luke tried to remember why the name of a small British village was giving him so much trouble, his father kept talking. “We need to have everything settled by August third, that’s when our flight is. That gives us two and a half weeks.”

“That soon?” Hailee struggled to keep up her smile.

“I know it seems fast, but we need time to prepare the new house and enroll you in English school. From what I hear, they start in September, and I'm sure we’ll need a full month to get acclimated.”

"Joy," Hailee mumbled sarcastically as she finished her mashed potatoes.

Their father had the decency to look apologetic and didn’t comment on his daughters’ sass. "This Friday is my last day at the docks; until then, I will need you to help your mother start boxing things up.”

“What’s going to happen to the house?” Hailee asked, trying to work herself out of her funk.

“We are leaving it in the hands of a rental agency,” their mom answered in her husband's stead.

It was a wise decision on Luke's parents' part. They could sell it now, but the housing market was only increasing. The family would be gone for a long time, but they'd eventually come back, so they might as well wait and make some money in the meantime.

“How much of my stuff can I bring?” Hailee’s eyes narrowed like a cat, ready to make its displeasure known. She'd already agreed to the move; now, they were just negotiating.

“We each get five boxes,” their father winced, knowing how bad it sounded out loud.

“What!? That's nothing." Hailee looked like she was told she couldn't bring anything.

“They’re large boxes,” Raymond tried to placate her, but it wasn't working.

"This is a travesty," Hailee whined dramatically.

“Do you even know what travesty means?” Luke couldn’t help himself.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not,” Hailee puffed up her cheeks, looking like an adorable angry chipmunk.

“Fair enough,” Luke conceded before his sister shot lasers out of her eyes.

Their mother waited for them to stop bickering before she placed a hand on Hailee’s back and started to rub soothingly. "It isn't much, but you can have one of my boxes," she offered.

“Really?” Hailee perked up in excitement but quickly became pensive. "Is that okay? Don't you have things you want to bring?"

“Not as much as you might think,” Shannon assured her. “Other than most of my clothes, I'm just bringing the family scrapbooks and other things of sentimental value. The rest will go in storage until we get back.”

“Sentimental?”

“It means things that matter emotionally to you,” Luke Explained to his little sister. “Like our foam swords, they aren’t worth much but mean a lot to us."

“Oh!” Hailee nodded along.

“I can probably give you one of mine too,” their father offered good-naturedly.

"And I doubt I'll need many boxes," Luke didn't want to be left out. He had some toys, but most of the stuff in his room were collectibles that could just as easily be put into storage. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if he would need two boxes, let alone five, depending on how big they were.

"How's that, Sweety?" Shannon asked Hailee, hoping that would be enough to placate her daughter.

“Yeah, thank you,” Hailee smiled at each of them.

“It’s no problem, and I haven’t gotten to the best part yet,” their father added, grinning like he had all the answers to their problems. “Both of you get a thousand pounds to decorate your new rooms.”

"Can I get a bunk bed?" Hailee didn't know what a pound was worth, but that didn't stop her mood from immediately doing a 180 as she stood up from her chair in excitement.

“What do you need a bunkbed for?” Luke teased.

"One bed for me and one for my stuffed animals,” she stuck her tongue out at her brother, which he reciprocated.

“I’m sure we can find you a bunkbed,” their mother chuckled.

While Hailee celebrated her victory, Luke was already crunching the numbers in his head. You could buy a lot with that. Five hundred would go to furniture, but the rest could be used for clothes and other necessities. If that were the case, he wouldn't need that many boxes. His sister was going to luck out big time.

Luke was just happy she was smiling more naturally again. Their parents' joy was no doubt affecting her, but after talking it out, it looked like she wasn’t as opposed to the move as he initially thought. Though, that remained to be seen once it was time for her to say goodbye to her countless friends.

Luke himself was dreading the trip he would have to take around the neighborhood to explain to the many people he helped that he would no longer be available. That was going to suck, but for some reason, Luke didn’t care all that much, thinking of it primarily as a hassle.

Ultimately, the three people he cared about the most were sitting at the table with him; everyone else was just an acquaintance. More than that, he felt excited about leaving the country. Between his family and his growing powers, he was rarely bored per se, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was experiencing most of this for what felt like the second time. A trip to England would be something brand new for him.

This would be Luke's first real adventure, and he would do his best to enjoy every moment of it. Now, all they had to do was pack.

-X-X-X-

Author's Comments:

That's chapter two. It's not as long as the first one, but I'm not focusing on word count with this series. I have finished up to chapter 10, so I'll be slowly releasing those for you to go over and read.

Again, I appreciate your comments and thoughts. I do all my own editing, so make sure to point out any errors you might find.

What do you think of my characters so far? And did you catch the first HP reference?

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoy the series.