Hey guys! I know I've been a bit...absent...lately but I'm going to try to be a little better. I've got serious block about the other two, so I thought I'd introduce one of my all time favorite OCs Katia Versoni.
I hope y'all love her as much as I do. REVIEW!
~Blue
The first thing I remember is the long plane ride from our home in Tuscany, Italy, to the tiny Caribbean island of San Marie. Mama was a chef, and she already had a job in one of the hotels, and Papa was marine biologist, there to study the marine life in the surrounding reef. It was just the five of us: me, Mama, Papa, my sister Nadia, and my brother Alexei. Not very Italian names, I know, but the three of us were adopted from Russia when the economy started to go downhill after the fall of the soviets.
But my favorite thing about my parents was that they we were linguists. Our parents were fluent in roughly 8 languages between them, and were determined to pass that on to us. By the time of the big move (we were still very little) we already spoke Italian, English, and our mother tongue, Russian.
Most parents would have given their children coloring books and snacks on a long plane ride, but we had French homework, Spanish flashcards, and long division on our tray tables.
Of course, Nadia was trying to speak to the young woman seated next to her in rapid-fire Russian, confusing the poor thing half to death. "Nravitsya li vam samolety? Eto moy pervyy raz. Eto moya sestra, Katya. I moy brat Aleksey. Mama povarom. Ty gotovish'? Papa uchenyy. My iz Italii. Otkuda vy?"
Papa wrapped a patient arm around her shoulders, ruffling her blonde hair. "Nadia, la lasciano in pace. Lei sta cercando di godere il suo volo, cara."
He turned to the woman. "Apologies,"
She looked shocked. "She speaks two languages?"
"Three!" Nadia announced proudly. She held out her French and Spanish work. "We're working on French and Spanish, too!"
I remember the woman looking absolutely beside herself with excitement. She reached out and pet Nadia's curls, and in a fit of jealousy, I grabbed Mama's hand and put it on my hair. Alexei smiled.
"Kat, I know what you're up to," I stuck my tongue out at him. He scooped me out of my seat and put me in his lap.
The last thing I remember about the flight was falling asleep in Alexei's arms.
When we landed in Guadalupe, I was very confused. This wasn't San Marie, and I expressed that very forcefully. Mama, ever the saint, just scooped me up and into her warm embrace. "Oh, cara, this is just the last stop before we are finally presso la nostra nuova casa." Satisfied, I let myself be carried to the dock, where we boarded the ferry to San Marie.
Mama let me down and Alexei and Nadia swooped in, taking my hands and leading me to the railing. We squealed as the spray wet our clothes and hair. My siblings and I were quite the mix match set...me with my scarlet ringlets and emerald green eyes, Alexei with his wild dirty blond mane and grey eyes, and Nadia with her golden locks and blue eyes. It was quite obvious we weren't real siblings at all, especially since our parents were dark haired and dark eyed and dark skinned. Whenever it came up, though, Mama and Papa just smiled and said we were family in every way that counted.
Soon, the island came into view, a vision of green and pink and yellow, and white sandy beaches. People in vibrant colored shirts went about their lives on the docks and around the market stalls. I stared, enthralled.
That, I think, was the moment I fell hopelessly in love with San Marie.
The Versoni Family moved into a large villa on the beach in the quaint town of Honoré. I was still too little to go to school, but Nadia and Alexei went, and still kept up the linguistics at home. They came home with friends one day, Fidel and Camille. They were natives and very, very close with the only two friends in my life. They were nice enough, though, and Fidel was very handsome.
Fidel and Alexei went outside to play football (proper football, not that American trash) and Camille and Nadia went upstairs to paint their nails and talk about boys. I just sat in the living room on the floor, apparently looking very torn, because Mama and Papa sat themselves down on the floor on either side of me. "Katia, cara, what's wrong?"
"Nadia and 'Lexei don't love me anymore." Frustrated, but unable to express it, I stabbed my toy stethoscope into the thick Persian carpet.
"Oh, no, Katia, that's not true...they just have other friends now." I frowned.
"I don't,"
Mama and Papa exchanged a worried look. After a moment of thinking, Mama got up with all the grace and beauty that came so easily to her. She came back with a thick book. "Maria," Papa frowned at her, "another language so soon? She's not even finished with French yet!"
Mama swatted him.
"No, this is a medical textbook. Katia, I want you to read this, and tell me what you think." I eagerly grabbed at the book, tearing through the pages.
I finished the first chapter with Mama's help by dinner, sitting on the dark wood counters as she cooked something straight from home - Tuscany.
The spices were vibrant and rich, the tomatoes bursting under her touch, everything falling perfectly into place, melding and joining by my mother's command. She used the wooden spoon with her initials branded into the handle. "Res-resper...Mama! What's this word?"
She leaned in.
"Respiratory. It's the system in your body that controls your breathing."
"That makes sense. Lungs, right?"
"Right," Mama looked surprised at me. "Katia, how far have you gotten in that book?"
I held up the book to show her my place. Frowning, she took it from me.
"Kat, what's the largest organ?"
"Skin,"
"What's in blood?"
"Red an' white blood cells,"
"Lucio! Viene qui! Katia leggere quasi l'intero capitolo già. Si può rispondere a tutte le mie domande." Papa came in, glasses askew on his nose, lab report in hand.
"Si può davvero?" Was he really questioning me?
"Yes!" I insisted. They exchanged a look, but said nothing more of the matter.
Ok! So, if you watch Death in Paradise on BBC, you'll notice a bunch of crossovers in this story but not enough to make it a real crossover, or affect the story all that much.
REVIEW!
~love, Blue
Guide:
Nravitsya li vam samolety? Eto moy pervyy raz. Eto moya sestra, Katya. I moy brat Aleksey. Mama povarom. Ty gotovish'? Papa uchenyy. My iz Italii. Otkuda vy? - Do you like airplanes? This is my first time. This is my sister, Katya. And my brother Alexei. Mom's a cook. Do you cook? Dad is a scientist. We are from Italy. Where are you from?
Nadia, la lasciano in pace. Lei sta cercando di godere il suo volo, cara. - Nadia, leave her alone. She is trying to enjoy her flight, dear.
presso la nostra nuova casa - at our new home
cara - dear
Lucio! Viene qui! Katia leggere quasi l'intero capitolo già. Si può rispondere a tutte le mie domande. - Lucio! Come here! Katia read almost the entire chapter already. She can answer all my questions.
Si può davvero? - Can you really?