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 Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:13 pm
Breakfast was uneventful.
He got up (much earlier than Tepin seemed to want to wake up, and let her sleep in), showered, dressed, thumped down the stairs and took hold of the frying pan.
Eggs were in his future. Pancakes, too. Or maybe waffles.
Mm. Bacon. But even the smell of cooking meat couldn't dispel the unease settled in his stomach.
It was the first day. He glanced out the window, saw the streets and the people - no rainbow-colored hair, no obnoxious knocking. He flipped the pancake, sighing in discontent.
This was ridiculous. They'd argued before, fought before - he shouldn't be this anxious.
They hadn't been dating before.
He frowned at the pancake, smooshing it into the pan with his spatula vengefully. Stupid, skinny, overdramatic, immature, blonde--
Retrieving the milk carton from the fridge, he poured himself a glass, leaning against the counter and sipping from his cup. So what? Why should he care? Valeriu was right. Quinn was wrong. The little brat should come to him begging for forgiveness. Vale was perfectly fine. Valeriu was more than fine!
He was fine and dandy.
Scowling, he distractedly inspected the milk carton. Such a shame - another missing kid was always posted on these things--
He spit his milk out, choking and coughing and peering more closely at the carton.
There was Tepin, staring right up at him. His eyes glanced towards the stairs, setting the cup down and perusing the carton more thoroughly.
Katrina Harper. That was her name - everything was there. Where she lived, who her parents were, their phone number.
He frowned. As much as he wanted to keep her, he knew what was the right thing to do.
He picked up the phone, and dialed.
******
A few hours later found him in front of a house, staring nervously at the door.
A few minutes later had him just as nervously knocking on the door.
Tepin, Katrina, deserved parents.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:03 pm
The chair felt so rough against her back-- the TV seemed to drone on in the most horribly annoying voice-- the clock seemed as it stuck in some horrible limbo.
She had gotten the call hours ago, fidgeting with her hair in sheer nervousness. The caller sounded male, foreign, but more importantly, he said he had information on Katie.
Katie-- it’d only been three days, if that. Where could she have gone?! The woman couldn’t sit still-- she pulled herself up, clicked the television off, and paced the room. Three days, it had been three days. They had already called the police, and the “Have You Seen Me?” ads had been printed…
She didn’t know that three days could have turned her into as much as a wreck as it had.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like the quiet-- that was wonderful. Yet whenever she would stalk her home at night, waiting for anything-- the phone to ring, a knock on the door, her daughter to call from her bedroom-- she couldn’t stand it.
She would pass through the hall, and somehow, without planning to, her eye would catch her daughter’s room, and a new wave of worry would wash over her. She had closed the door-- but the sign on it, a small bunny with “Katie” written on it with simple letters would still watch her pacing, as if some strange foreman to her prison cell.
Her emotions were all over the place-- in those three days, she had started to ask for time off of work, there was no way that she could focus, not like this. Her mind couldn’t stay thinking of any one thing. It would somehow always find a way to feel-- thus leading her on a horrible roller coaster of emotions.
She hated that ride-- she never wanted to get on it in the first place.
So the call, the later meeting-- it seemed like a blessing. Some kind of reprieve from the life she had seen thrust into by the disappearance of her daughter.
She jumped when the knocking started-- she hadn’t been mentally prepared for that. But nevertheless, she rushed to the door in record time, opening it with a fierce fervor.
“Katie?!”
No. It wasn’t Katie. The man had come alone. He was--
Her worry had immediately intensified a thousand fold.
The man was a gene-splicer.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:18 pm
"Ah, good afternoon ma'am," he was trying not stutter. Not because of this tiny, unassuming woman. He noticed her look, recognized that look, and his ears folded back self-consciously, tail flipping nervously by his ankles. "Are you Katrina's mother?"
He was as polite as possible to this woman - this woman was Tepin's mother. He had to be as polite as possible. He was sheltering her child, after all.
He gave a short bow, not entirely confident that she'd be comfortable with a handshake with the way she was looking at him.
"My name ee's Valeriu. I am the one who called earlier, about your daughter. Ee't ee's nice to meet you," he added, just as respectfully.
He wasn't a punk. He wasn't. And the sooner she saw that, the easier this would be.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:48 pm
“G-Good afternoon…” She was stunned. Confused and stunned. Why was someone like this at her house? How did he find Katie? She never hung around those types of places. Did he kidnap her? Was he here for ransom money?
“Nice to meet you too, here, come in.” While she didn’t stutter, her voice wavered. She was nervous--terrified-- and she wished that Daniel had stayed home today.
“Can I get you anything…? Coffee…?” He was disarming-- why was he speaking so politely? Was this how they operated? Maybe he was into organized crime. Motioning towards her couch (Though it was just a suggestion! If he didn’t want to sit he didn’t have to!) she backed towards the kitchen-- there she would have a phone nearby in case of emergencies.
The hair on the back of her neck was stranding up strait-- she didn’t know why, but she was far more scared than if just a punk had entered her house.
Should she ask? Dare she? Of course she was worried… but she was also afraid. Everyone always said that in dangerous situations, you should just lay low and let them do what they wanted. There was the least chance of getting hurt, then.
But this man knew about her daughter!!
“Uhm… Valeriu, was it? Do you mind if I ask… Where is she?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:01 pm
"Ah, thank you," he took the invite, sitting down politely, folding his hands, and trying not to stare. She was nervous too - he didn't blame her. "No, that ee's alright, I don't need anything," he reassured, smiling as honestly and disarmingly as he could considering how nervous he himself was.
His ears pricked up at her question, and he smiled a bit more warmly.
"She ee's back at my home, v'ith my sister and the babysitter." Hesitantly, he dropped his gaze to his folded hands. "She does not...exactly know I am here."
How was he to broach this with her? He wondered, glancing back up at the woman unsuredly. He had to be honest. That's all he could do.
"She did not v'ant to come back yet," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I found her half-frozen ee'n the streets, and all she v'ould tell me v'as that her name v'as Tepin." No, every time he'd brought up her parents, or where she lived - she'd gotten upset. "I actually found out who she v'as v'ith a milk carton."
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:22 pm
It seemed that all of her worry and a good deal of her fear melted away when she heard the word ‘babysitter‘. But he continued, and a new wellspring of guilt erupted in Maddie’s stomach. Had Katie really said that? Did she really hate being home that much?
“Tepin…? Where would she hear that? ….Look,” She seated herself in the adjacent armchair, her face now heavy with guilt, “We have some problems… But we get by. Katie’s step dad, Dan, is distant with her. “ She laughed, a sad an ironic laugh in spite of herself, “He’s so glad that she’s gone missing, but he won’t say it.”
“I’m sorry. I know this has nothing to do with you. You don’t deserve this…” Her body leaned back, as if instinctively trying to distance herself from him, “I know she’s a problem child, and I know she’s more than a handful. I can come get her today, if you don’t mind the intrusion.”
Letting out a long sigh, she finally let herself finish, “I’m so sorry she did this to you.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:31 pm
"She ee's not," he interjected, mouth moving before his brain, "she ee's a sweet child. There ee's nothing to be sorry for - I have been glad to have her." He was fervent on this, leaning forward with his objection - closing that distance.
Hearing that - that the other parent was glad Tepin was gone - that made him angry. It was a slow burn, bordering on sparking a fire.
This woman! Did she really see Tepin, Katrina, like that? How could she not see what he saw?
"Ee't ee's not her fault," he defended. "She did not do anything."
He couldn't wrap his mind around it. He thought, surely, Tepin had to have misunderstood. Surely, the parents of such a kind girl would not be so cruel. So cruel as to think of such a wonderful little princess as a burden on the people around her.
It showed on his face - the offense, the confusion, the concern and the anger.
"V'hy -- no, how could you say such things?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:47 pm
She had remained silent during his rebuttal-- that was all she could do. How was she supposed to defend herself against something like that?
“You don’t get it,” She was trying-- damnit-- to not look like the worst mother ever! Clearly he had only heard things from Katie’s perspective. Of course Katie would lie, skewing the facts to make her look so sweet; painting her parents like the bad guys. “Katie is disabled. She doesn’t learn right-- she’s slow.”
Maddie was mad now-- that girl…!! She always made her look bad in public! This was just another one of her instances of her trying to garner sympathy for herself.
“She gets into fights with the kids at school because she gets jealous, and she terrorizes the neighbors when she goes out. It’s not her fault, because of her disability, but we understand how hard it is on those that deal with her.”
That’s right! She was an understanding woman. She knew how these things worked. She wasn’t a bad mother, like Katie might have implied.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:06 pm
"Slow?" he asked at length, looking at the woman with disappointment. More than disappointment - anger, and disdain, and shock. Outrage - the kind of outrage she should have had. Tepin was her child.
He was on his feet before he knew it, no longer willing to sit on the couch.
"I do not think she ee's the slow one, here. You are using some - some excuse to look down on her!" he growled, clenching his hands. No, he had to keep calm - "Ee'f she does not get something right, you call ee't slow. Ee'f she ee's being a brat, you call ee't slow. Ee's that how ee't ee's?"
"Maybe, maybe, she gets ee'nto fights because she ee's a lonely girl? Maybe she terrorizes the neighbors because she has no one to be there for her? To believe ee'n her?"
He was understanding all too well, now. There was no misunderstanding.
Frowning down at the woman, he forced himself to calm - to stop the pacing, to unclench his hands, though the thunderous look upon his face didn't lift.
"Ee'n the time she has been at my house, I have seen nothing but a lonely, kind, and caring girl." He couldn't - he couldn't keep her, he knew it, no matter how much he wanted to keep his newest little stray. To give her the care and attention that she didn't get here. But he wasn't her parent.
"I just v'ish you could see that too. As her mother, you should know ee't even better than I do."
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:17 pm
“You can paint it up with whatever pretty words you want, but my daughter is clinically retarded.” She was caught up in the heat of the moment-- the man had done nothing but make her look like a bad mother! She wasn’t going to stand for it.
“You can say all you want, but do you think it will last? Eventually the novelty will wear off--” She rose, walking across the room to distance herself even further, “They stop being cute when they start causing trouble-- It’s not just some sleepover you know!”
She was starting to get hysterical-- she never asked for a kid! She never wanted this! Ever since Katie was born, that had been her life-- Katie. She couldn’t have fun anymore, she couldn’t go out anymore, she had to watch her tongue. Everything for the sake of some child she didn’t even want!
“So maybe you’re right! Maybe she’s just some good, perfect ‘angel’ of a girl” She was mocking him now, near on hysterics-- She wasn’t going to be made a fool of. “Maybe you should just be her mother from now on!”
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:36 pm
"I know," he snapped - the shadows rippled, ruffled, and he dug his nails into his palms furiously. "I know better than you think, ma'am. I have a little sister I raise alone. I have never thought of ee't as a novelty. I have a job, I v'ork until I am dead v'hen I get home, I pay the bills - I don't have a partner, or family, and I have to learn everything on my own--"
Everything, from day one. He had been a younger parent than this lady could even know. He had been on his own, had been alone, from the very minute his parents had never walked back through that door.
"--so no, ee't ee's no sleepover. But I do ee't because I love my sister, and I v'ant to see her smile every day. That ee's enough for me." He settled down at that, the fury leaving him in a rush. Everything was for his sister.
And he didn't care. As long as she was happy. As long as he could keep her safe.
He wanted to see Tepin smile every day, too.
He narrowed his eyes at the woman, chin jerking up challengingly and back straightening.
"Maybe I v'ill!" he countered harshly, then voice softening thoughtfully. "Maybe I v'ill," he knew it. He could provide for her, he worked enough. If she wanted to stay with him and Sydni --
"Ee'f you don't v'ant her, I do."
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:58 pm
“Wait--” Her hand reached out, as if she could stop him, “Wait. No one said anything about that. Of course I want her. I love her!!”
His challenge, his retorts, everything he had said had crashed down on her, she had seen that she had gone too far.
This wasn’t how a mother was supposed to be. Everything she did was so utterly contrary to what she should be. Everything she did was for herself. That wasn’t how it was supposed to be… She was supposed to live for Katie.
She had given everything up because of the child, not for her. It had been as if she had taken some chore upon herself, rather than blessing the world with another life.
But really, could she up and change? She had always seen Katie has a blunder in her life, not a treasure. That couldn’t change over night.
Tears started welling up in her eyes, even if she could change, the situation could only get worse-- she was trapped in a marriage without love, with a child who must hate her. She had never worked herself to the bone, she had never had to deal with bills, or go at it alone--
“I just…. I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can be strong for her.”
She didn’t know if she deserved her.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:19 pm
At the first sign of tears, all his anger collapsed.
He'd gone too far. He didn't regret what he did - the woman had to be made to see. But he didn't want to make her cry. Girls, no matter what age - they should smile. His father taught him that, and he believed it.
He couldn't stand to see them cry.
Gently, he pulled her into a tentative hug. He understood.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you," he assured. "But...you have to be strong for her. V'e cannot do anything less, you know?"
It was pretty strange for a teen boy of fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, to be reassuring a mother, but there it was.
"I care for Katrina, and I think she really does need her mother," he added. "All children do. But, I know how hard ee't ee's." Pulling back, he frowned in that serious way of his. "Ee'f you are not ready, ee'f you need time...I am more than v'illing to take care of her until that day comes. She v'ants you ee'n her life, and I think you v'ant her too."
"So...just don't give up, da? She loves you, and you love her. Ee't v'ill v'ork out."
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:05 pm
Something had changed in those brief moments. His defiance and rage had turned into an unfathomably warm understanding. She couldn’t stop the silent tears that ran down her cheeks; she couldn’t stop herself from feeling relief.
She has glad that she wouldn’t need to take care of her daughter, and that sickened her.
“Thank you,” Her voice was strained and quiet, “You’re a stronger person than I am.”
She wanted to believe his words. God, she did. Yet the self-doubt and self-hatred in her gut were eating at her. How could she even call herself a mother, when a mere child had showed so much warmth and kindness?
“I think you can really make her happy.”
Her decision had been made.
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