Title: Pater Noster
Summary: "Our Father". For those who feel as thrilled about Father's Day as the girls in the story. Angsty. Set after The Prophecy. Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own the Daughters of the Moon. D: I want to own Chris, though.
The sun was too bright. Vanessa, a big craver of the refreshing sunlight—especially on the first day of summer—suddenly realized how much she hated it at the moment. She sighed, closing her eyes and humming softly. Where was her mother? She was late, again. Her mother was always late for everything; Vanessa had been hoping for something different today...
She had been young when her father died, and it had been quite a few years. She barely remembered him, but she knew from her mother that he had been a really great father. There had never really been another man in her mother's life, so there had never been a real father figure for herself. All she had was this tombstone with her father's name: Vincent Cleveland, and this day: Father's Day.
It should rain to match my mood. Kneeling down, Vanessa pressed her hand to the warm stone, pretending the heat had not been caused by the sun, but by her father's love, reaching out for her on his day.
Happy Father's Day, Daddy.
"Vanessa!"
Her head swiveled to catch sight of her mother running up the path towards her. Vanessa raised her hand, waving at her mother. "Over here!"
"Sorry I'm late, baby." Mrs. Cleveland kneeled with Vanessa, dropping her purse to the ground as she finally reached the grave site.
"It's okay, Mom."
As her mother wrapped her arms around her tightly, Vanessa knew that it was always going to be okay, because her father would be watching out for her from above, and her mother would always be able to provide the fatherly support she'd need.
It was all prepared. All day, Serena had toiled in the kitchen, even though it was hot in there. That was okay. She could deal with it. Sweeping her hand across her forehead, she wiped the sweat from her skin. She then wiped her hands on the apron around her waist. Dinner was almost done, the cake was already in the oven, and she finally had a chance to relax a bit. The table was set. The gift was waiting on the table in her father's seat—whenever he was home to eat with her and Collin. She leaned back against a counting, bracing herself with her hands.
Her tongue ring rhythmically clucked against her teeth as she waited anxiously. He said he would be home tonight. He promised that he would be here. She glanced at the clock. It was already six o'clock, a half hour past the time he said he would be coming home. It was likely that he got caught in traffic, or he had to do one last thing before getting home. Mr. Killingsworth was such a hard worker. He took pride in his job. Even if that meant being an absent parent, if that meant staying away to keep from remembering her mother.
Dinner was ready. The cake had to be pulled out and frosted. Another forty-five minutes passed by, and still Serena waited, her foot tapping impatiently. Where was he?
With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and called his cell phone. "You have reached Paul Killingsworth's phone. I'm afraid that I am unavailable at the moment. Please leave your name, number, and purpose for calling, and I will get back to you when it is possible."
"This is your daughter, Dad. Remember Serena? You said you would be home tonight. Don't you know what today is?"
She refused to get so angry over it. It was just another day missed, another dinner forgotten, another family moment passed on. What difference did it make?
The back door opened, and with it, the smell of the ocean mixed with the scents of chocolate and chicken. She didn't need to look up to see who it was.
"Smells great, Serena!" Collin grinned at her, shutting the door behind him. "What's the special occasion?"
It took her a moment, but she knew how she could turn her wasted time around. Grabbing the wrapped gift from the table, she held it out to her older brother, smiling softly at him. He glanced at it in confusion.
Did I forget my birthday? She heard his confused thought and couldn't help but laugh.
"Happy Father's Day, Collin."
Catty lifted the boxes in the back of the store, carrying them to the front with ease. She had been at this same menial task for hours now, since she the morning practically. She would carry the box from storage to the front, open it with the boxcutter, and then start unpacking the supplies needed to be put on the shelf for Kendra's store. Normally, something so boring would have made her go crazy, but she just needed a break from her own thoughts.
What a disgusting day, so bright and happy, mocking her. Her father was an evil creature. He used people and destroyed lives with a laugh. An evil, empty laugh. A shiver ran through her body. She was thinking about it again. Why couldn't she have just forgotten about today and moved through it happily without the ugly reminder?
"How about a break, Catty?" Kendra asked her with a giant smile, holding up a carton of Chinese to entice her.
"A break sounds great, Kendra." Catty wiped her grimy hands on her jeans and took the offered carton and a plastic fork, hungrily digging into the food.
"I haven't been gone that long, and you've already gotten half the store re-stocked. Great!"
"Consider it your gift for Father's Day."
"You remembered," Kendra laughed, bumping her shoulder against Catty's happily.
When Tianna had called Jimena, Jimena hadn't realized at the time what day it was. To her, it was just another Sunday, a mark to the beginning of the new week. She wasn't aware of the importance of the day, other than it being the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. All she knew was that Tianna sounded a little upset, and Jimena hated it when her friends were sad.
"I would have thought you'd be hanging out with Derek today," Jimena confessed to Tianna when they met up at the park. "Don't you two usually do your whole skateboarding thing on Sundays?"
Tianna smiled beautifully and shrugged her shoulders, threading her arm through Jimena's and forcing the older girl to walk with her. "He's doing his family thing today, since it's Father's Day."
"Oh..." Jimena's mouth twisted into a wry smirk. She hadn't realized that today was that day, not that it really mattered. She never met her father, didn't even know his name. Her abuela and her brother were all she needed.
"I was feeling really lonely since..." Tianna's voice trailed off, and Jimena glanced at the gorgeous girl's sad face, feeling bad for her. Tianna's dad had been killed. In fact, now that Jimena thought about it, none of the Daughters had a real father figure. "I called the other girls, too, but they were all busy today."
"Busy doing what?"
"Vanessa sent a text about her being in the cemetery with her mom, Serena was having dinner, and Catty said Kendra was keeping her busy."
"Come on, chica." Jimena was now tugging Tianna along. "Let's get some ice cream and forget about not having fathers."
"Sounds like a plan."
Not having that paternal figure didn't bother Jimena at all, but now she wondered as she treated Tianna to the fattening sweets...What kind of man had her mother gotten involved with, anyway? Did she have anything in common with him? Did she look a little bit like him? If she had a dad, would Father's Day have more meaning to her other than it just being another Sunday to mark the beginning of the week?