"The Night of the Father/Daughter Bonding"
Based on "The Wild, Wild West"
James West and Artemus Gordon were just starting dinner when 16-year-old Italia West came bursting into the Wanderer.
"Italia!" Jim said "Where were you? You know that you were supposed to be back a half an hour ago!"
"I know" Italia said, out of breath "But, I got caught up in a baseball game that some boys were playing in town"
Jim and Artie noticed that Italia was holding her right hand rather awkwardly. She tried to walk past the table, towards the hall, when Jim stopped her and grabbed her hand, so he could see what was wrong with it. The whole side of her hand was cut and bloody.
He looked up at Italia as if to say "What the hell happened?"
"Ok, so I also started playing with the boys and I accidentally fell on a rock, while running to first base" Italia said "But, they were horrible! I had to show them what to do!"
"Since when did you play baseball?" Artie asked
"I used to play when I went to school, before my Mom died" Italia replied "I was the only girl that the boys would play with because I wasn't afraid of the ball"
"Tal, go, clean your cut, bandage it, and then wash up for dinner" Jim said "After dinner, I want to talk to you"
Italia took a quick glance at Artie, who had gone back to eating his dinner, not wanting to get involved in the first fight between Jim and Italia. She knew that she was in a lot of trouble. She could tell by the look in Jim's eyes.
She was in for it now!
W3W3W3W3
"Rules are rules, Italia" Jim said "And I expect you to obey them!"
"Dad, it was just one slip up!" Italia said, sitting down on her bed "One slip up since I met you! What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that you could have been hurt or kidnapped or dead, and I would not have known" Jim said
"Kidnapped?" Italia said "That happened one time! And it's not like it was my fault or anything. You're the one who wouldn't let me come into that saloon with you!"
"That's not the point, Italia" Jim said "The point is that you have to be extra careful"
"Why?" Italia asked "Why can't I be like other kids, who just come home whenever and their parents are alright with it?"
"Because!" exclaimed Jim "You live in a different environment! You have a different life! You are not like other kids!"
"Why?" Italia exclaimed, not satisfied with the answer Jim gave her
"Because…" Jim said "Because…"
"Because I'm your daughter" Italia interrupted.
Jim looked his daughter right in the eyes, not liking the way that she said that "What do you mean by that?"
"You are the great James West!" Italia said, getting up off of her bed and walking to stand in front of Jim "The great Secret Service agent who has saved the country from danger, alongside Artie, many times. You must have a lot of enemies"
Jim was silent.
"I can't be normal because I am your daughter!" Italia said "I can't live a normal life because I have to worry about being kidnapped or killed by some insane criminal who wants revenge for what you did to them however many years before!"
Italia paused, looking into Jim's eyes. He could tell that she upset him. But, she wasn't done.
"Were you planning on getting married?" she asked "Were you planning on having kids?"
Jim looked at Italia. "Yes" he said "But…"
"But, after you retired from the service" Italia said, finishing Jim's sentence "After you had settled down and had gotten married, you were planning on having a perfect family. Maybe settling down on a farm or in a nice big house in the city!"
Jim could tell that Italia was very upset. And, it wasn't about coming home late or the fact that Jim had just yelled at her. It was about the circumstances under which she was born, and the family she was born into.
"Tal, listen to me" Jim said "If I had known about you, I would have never taken the job with the government. I would have married your mother and we would have had the perfect life. Maybe even by now, you would have had brothers and sisters"
Italia looked at Jim, and quickly brushed some tears away.
"But, I can't change what happened" Jim continued "I can't change the past. And, I can't change the fact that you are my daughter and I am your father"
"Didn't you think of what the consequences could be when you did what you did 16 years ago?" Italia shot back "Or, did you think that something like this couldn't possibly happen to you?"
Jim was silent again. He didn't mean to do what he did 16 years before. He didn't mean for anything to happen that night. He thought that he was just going to walk Elena home from their date. He didn't know that she was going to invite him inside and that her parents weren't home.
"Look, Tal…" Jim began
"Save it!" Italia said "I don't want to hear it!"
She walked past him, out of her room, and down the hall.
"Tal!" Jim yelled, following her "Tal! Get back here! We have to talk about this!"
"We've talked enough!" Italia shot back "I am done talking to you!"
"Italia…! Italia…!" Jim said, pausing after he had said her name
"See!" Italia said, knowing what Jim was trying to say "You don't even know my middle name!"
She opened the door and slammed it behind her. Jim let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair.
W3W3W3W3
Artie came into the parlor car a moment later.
"What happened, Jim?" he asked
"She doesn't want me to be her father" Jim said, sitting down on the couch "She blames me for her not being a normal kid, who can just come and go as they please"
"Doesn't she know that that's not necessarily true?"
"I don't know" Jim said "Maybe that's how her mother raised her, to come and go as she pleased"
"Did you talk about what happened between you and her mother?"
"I wanted to but she stormed out of here, not wanting to talk to me anymore"
Artie was silent. He knew that Jim needed to get his feelings out.
"Maybe things would be different between us if I didn't just happen to stumble upon her one day" Jim said "Maybe, if we had somehow met in a different way, things would be different"
"Even if she had been brought to an orphanage and then you were contacted it wouldn't have changed anything" Artie said "Jim, she's 16. Practically an adult! I'm sure, that when she's an adult and is made an official Secret Service agent, things will change between you two"
"Do you realize that I am 32 years old and have a 16 year old daughter?" Jim asked, turning to Artie "Do you realize that when she is 20 years old, I will only be 36 years old? Think of the disgrace she will have to live with. I'm not surprised that she doesn't want me to be her father"
"She didn't say that, did she?" Artie asked
"No" Jim replied "But, I could tell that that's what she was thinking"
"Jim, deep down, she's proud of you" Artie said "Deep down, she's proud of who you are, and who she is. She is proud to be your daughter"
"Artie, I don't even know my daughter's middle name!" Jim said, standing up "What kind of father doesn't know their daughter's middle name?!"
"Well, it's not like it's come up in conversation" Artie said "It's not like she told you or you got a copy of her birth certificate or something"
"Still" Jim said "A father should know these things about his daughter"
"Jim, I can tell you if you want me to" Artie said
"You know her middle name?" Jim said "How do you know her middle name?"
"Earlier this morning, when you were in here and Tal was in town, I thought I heard something fall in Tal's room" Artie explained "So, I went in to investigate. It turned out that one of Tal's books had fallen off of her dresser. When I picked it up to put it back on the dresser, I noticed that she had written her name on the inside cover"
"What is it, Artie?" Jim asked "Tell me"
"Nicolina" Artie said "Her full name is Italia Nicolina West"
"Nicolina" Jim said, sitting back down "That was her mother's middle name. Her mother had always wanted to switch her name to Nicolina. She hated the name Elena."
Jim smiled at the memory.
"Artie, I'm going to go and get Tal" Jim said, getting up again, grabbing his hat
"You don't have to look too far" Artie said, looking out the window "She's just outside the train, sitting on the ground, playing with a piece of grass"
Jim smiled and left the train.
W3W3W3W3
Jim walked around the train and saw Italia sitting up against a nearby tree. He smiled and walked over to her.
"I told you, I don't want to talk to you!" Italia said
"Then don't" Jim replied, sitting down next to her "Just listen"
He could see Italia roll her eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry that you are so unhappy here" he said "I'm sorry that I am not the father you deserve. I sorry that I can't make you happier"
Italia turned to look at Jim.
"But," Jim said "I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world. If anything were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do. I want you to know that"
"Really?" Italia asked "You're not just saying that?"
"Of course not!" Jim said "You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. You have changed my life for the better!"
Italia smiled. "I'm sorry, Dad" she said "I guess that I just…I just didn't realize that my life is probably better than some of those boys that I played baseball with today. I mean, some of those boys probably have to go home to fathers who are drunks and out of work…"
Italia looked into Jim's eyes and continued "And I get to come home to a father who saves the country for a living"
Jim smiled and the two hugged. Jim kissed the top of Italia's head and Italia smiled.
"I love you, Italia Nicolina" Jim said. Italia smiled at the sound of her middle name.
"How did you figure that out?" Italia asked, pulling away from Jim
"Artie told me" Jim said
"How did Artie know?"
"I guess that you had written it in a book that you have" Jim said "He was picking the book up off of the floor when he saw it"
"Oh" Italia said
They were silent for a moment.
"Dad," Italia said "I want you to know something too"
"What's that, Tal?" Jim asked
"Well, its two things actually" Italia said "One: I wanted to let you know that Mom never stopped thinking about you. She missed you terribly. Of course, she would never tell me anything about you, not until the night that she died. But I could tell that, when she looked off into the distance or looked sad, I knew that she missed you"
Jim smiled a small smile and looked at the ground. He had missed Elena as well.
"Two:" Italia said, smiling "I love you and I absolutely love being your daughter!"
Jim smiled a big smile and hugged Italia again. "Good, Tal" he said "Because, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not!"
Italia smiled and she and Jim got up and headed back to the Wanderer. Jim had his arm around her shoulders and started asking her about the baseball game that she had played in earlier that morning.
W3W3W3W3
Back on the Wanderer, Artie watched as Jim and Italia talked, hugged, and headed back to the Wanderer. He smiled and walked away from the window.
"Congratulations, James" he said "You've gotten over hurdle number one! Only about a million more to go"
The End
2008
To be continued…
Considering the fact that I am still on vacation, I have had a lot of time to write stories! So, here's another one for you guys! LOL!!
I know that this was probably really corny, but, it was just an idea that I had. Like when I wrote a Psych story with the same storyline, I felt that Italia and Jim needed to talk about what had happened between Jim and Italia's mother, Elena.
So, I hoped that you liked this one-shot.
Please Read and Review!!