The smell of freshly baked brownies was wafting through Valencia's apartment as she painted on a fresh coat of polish on her toes. Music was softly playing from her speaker and the sun's rays shined through her windows. It was a lazy Thursday afternoon and she was home, the classes she had were earlier that morning, so she was free.
It had been a very stressful week for her. She had an exam on Monday, a paper due on Tuesday, a lab on Wednesday, and two accelerated classes that morning. Valencia needed to kickback, relax, and unwind, which she was currently doing to the sounds of Nina Simone.
"Why you wanna fly? Blackbird, you ain't never gonna fly." The brown eyed girl sung along with Nina, then blowing on her polished toes.
Valencia got up from her bed and waddled her way to the kitchen, being careful not to mess up her toe nails. She looked in the oven and saw her brownies were ready, so she grabbed two dish towels and got the pan out the oven. She sat the pan on the stove and turned off her oven.
In the living room, Valencia's cell phone started ringing. The brunette hurriedly waddled into the living room and checked her phone. It was her mother.
"Hello mother." Valencia said as she put her feet up to dry on her coffee table.
"Hello daughter. You didn't call me last night, I'm surprised no one killed you." Her mother dramatically exclaimed.
Valencia rolled her eyes, "No I wasn't killed, I just had a lab that took all day yesterday."
"Well whoopdie doo. That doesn't mean you don't call your mother. I worry!"
"Mom I'm fine, I'm just going to school, you know, the thing you forgot to do at my age." Valencia huffed.
Her mother snorted, "Oh to the contrary, I was saving the world at your age..."
"What exactly were you saving when you slept with that communist Cuban dignitary?"
"Valencia he was Russian! And I only slept with him to get information!"
Valencia snorted, "You said you had the wrong guy!"
"Oh shut up Valencia! You know that man could've been your father…" Her mother trailed off, laughing.
Valencia frowned, "That's not funny mother."
Her mom just laughed harder at her response. "It's very funny Lena!"
Valencia rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah Mom, the fact that you lied to me my whole life about my father is so hilarious."
"Well when you put it that way it makes me sound like a villain." Her mom said guiltily.
Valencia bit her lip before saying, "Well…"
"Valencia Renee!" Her mother exclaimed, making her daughter flinch. "I've told you time and time again I was a twenty seven year old spy pregnant by a forty year old rival spy. What the hell was I supposed to do, throw a fucking baby shower?"
Valencia sighed, "I know Momma," she said knowing it would make her mother melt, "It's just weird to know that I have a father out there in the world that I've never met. You can't be angry at me for wanting to know more about him."
Her mother sighed sadly, "Lena, I understand how you feel. I was an orphan remember? But baby, your life has been next to perfect without him. I think you can survive not knowing him now. As a matter of fact I know you can."
Valencia chewed on her lip, "You're right Mom. I'm sorry."
"It's alright Lena-bird." Her mother cooed into the phone, making Valencia smile at her childhood nickname.
"So," Valencia quickly changed the subject, "How's Daniel?"
Her mother sighed, "Being the love of my life like he always is. He misses you a lot Valencia, you really should call him."
Valencia flinched at her mother's words, "Everything's different now, Momma. I can't pretend to be his daughter anymore."
"Valencia he may not be your biological father, but he raised you." Her mother said sternly, then sighed, "Just call him sometimes, you owe him that much."
"I technically don't owe him anything." Valencia clarified. "But I will give him a call."
"Thank you, Lena. I have to go, Ron's on my case about this damn foreclosure."
Valencia laughed, "Okay Mom. Tell Ron I said hello."
Her mom snorted, "He'll ruin his slacks if I tell him my beautiful twin of a daughter acknowledged his existence." She laughed and added, "I can't wait. Bye baby."
"Bye Momma." Valencia hung up the phone.
By now her toes were dry and her brownies were cooled, so she walked into the kitchen to taste one of her chocolatey creations. She cut up her brownies and grabbed one, chewing on it on her way to her 'bedroom'. She pulled her sheet back and stepped inside her 'bedroom', popping the rest of her brownie in her mouth. She then opened her closet doors and reached in the back of her closet, pulling out her music box. She closed her closet doors and sat on her bed.
Valencia opened her music box and the familiar song began to play.
"Alas my love, you do me wrong, to cast me off discourteously." The dark brunette sung along with her box's music as she looked through the contents in the box for the umpteenth time. She pulled out the polaroid picture of her mom and her dad. She gazed at it for a couple minutes, trying to find any possible resemblance between herself and her father.
"Daddy where are you?" Valencia's voice cracked as her eyes started to water. She threw down the picture and looked away from her mother's letters. She began to cry as 'Greensleeves' was still playing in the background.
After an hour of self-loathing and sadness, Valencia gathered all of the contents of her music box and put them back, then she put the box back into her hiding place. After closing her closet doors she walked into her living room, absentmindedly turning on her television.
She stared at her tv, not really paying attention to what was on, her mind still focused on her father. She bit her lip in thought, then grabbed her laptop from her coffee table. She turned it on and went straight to google.
"Shield Nicholas Fury." She typed in. She got limited results. So she typed in, "Shield Headquarters Washington, D.C." from that she got an address. She quickly grabbed a notepad and wrote the address down.
It wasn't like she was going to go or anything, Valencia would never do that to her mother…she just needed to know she could if she wanted to.
Well that thought made Valencia feel guilty. Which made her close her laptop and pick up her phone. She dialled Daniel's work number.
"Hi kiddo!" He answered on the first two rings, "Long time no talk!"
Valencia laughed uneasily, "Hey, uh, Daniel. How have you been?"
"I've been great! How's school? You haven't been fighting any aliens have you?" Daniel joked, his mood unwavered by Valencia's tone.
Valencia chuckled, for real this time, and said, "No, Daniel, just exams."
"Aww that's great, kiddo! Your mother told me you got all A's last semester and I think that's really tops!"
"Tops? Dad, no one's said tops in, at least, forty years!" Valencia joked, not realizing her mistake.
"Well I just said it, kid! So does that mean it's forty years ago?" Daniel asked, laughter in his voice.
Valencia rolled her eyes, "No…"
"Okay then! I guess you're wrong! When are you going to visit home, we miss ya out here!"
Valencia bit her lip, "Soon. I promise."
"I'll hold you too that kiddo! I've got to go now, but call me back another time! I miss talking to my princess."
Valencia softly smiled, "I will Dad," that one was intentional, "Talk to you soon."
"Alright, Valley girl. Bye."
"Bye."
Well that made her feel a little better….and a little worse. How could she have forgotten how great a dad Daniel was? Sure they weren't blood but he made sure she had everything she ever wanted.
Except her biological father.
At eleven o'clock Friday morning, Valencia Smith was in her US History class chewing on her pen and listening to her professor ramble.
"Now class, I'm going to assign you a project-" The professor was interrupted by groans. "Come now, you're all adults. I want you all to do a project on an American staple. Be it apple pie or hot dogs or barbeques. Write an article, paper, or even an make a video on the subject, what it represents, and what makes it American. Include pictures if you are writing. Due next time we met. You're dismissed."
Valencia put her pen behind her ear and gathered her things. She stuffed her things in her messenger bag and began to walk to her bike. When she reached where she parked, her phone started to ring.
"Hello?" Valencia answered.
"How ya doin' Val?" Sam greeted her.
"Sam! Hey! I'm doing well, how about you?"
"I'm better now that I'm talking to a beautiful woman such as yourself."
Valencia sucked her teeth, "Calm down Casanova. What do you want?"
Sam laughed, "I was calling to see if you would meet me for coffee in an hour."
Valencia bit her lip, "Sam I actually just got this big assignment…"
He groaned, "Come on Val, you're breaking my heart!"
"Look not today. Can it wait 'till tomorrow?"
"Anything for you, Val. Is ten okay?"
"That's perfect. I'll text you the place later."
"Alright Val."
Valencia smiled, "Alright Sam." She put her phone away and climbed on her bike, heading home.
On the ride home, Valencia was trying to think of subjects for her project. She wanted to do something different, but she couldn't think of anything. Maybe if she went to a museum she could get some ideas. Valencia took a u-turn on her bike and headed to the Smithsonian American History museum.
Valencia arrived at the museum ten minutes later. She parked her bike and put her helmet away. She grabbed her messenger bag and walked into the museum. The brunette walked up to the front desk, grabbing pamphlet.
"What exhibits do you have open today?" She questioned one of the front desk attendants.
"Well, we have a really popular exhibit on Captain America." The attendant informed her.
Valencia chuckled a little, "And where is that located?"
"Second floor, to the right. Enjoy."
Valencia thanked the attendant and followed her instructions, heading to the second floor. She took the right she was instructed to take and found the exhibit. It was a dimly lit display that took up half of the second floor. It was crowded, kids on field trips and parents everywhere. At the start of the exhibit, to the left, was a black wall with white writing that said in bold 'Welcome Back, Cap.' The exhibit opened with a mantle that had a caricature of Captain America.
Valencia paused and took a picture of the mantle with her cell phone.
'CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE LIVING LEGEND AND SYMBOL OF COURAGE'
'What a way to hype a guy up.' Valencia thought. She walked into the exhibit and saw a mural painted on the wall of him in uniform.
"A symbol to the nation, a hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice." The sound of a voiceover resonated through the room. Valencia watch as a little boy saluted the mural and took a quick picture of the boy.
She walked up to a picture on the wall of Captain America pre-serum. "He was only 95 pounds," She muttered to herself, "But at 5'4 he was still an inch taller than me." She snapped a picture. The brunette then looked at Captain America after the serum. "6'2 and 240 pounds? That sounds familiar." She jokingly murmured and snapped a picture. Next to the pre and post serum pictures there was a graphic that showed the difference in the two. He had nearly doubled, like he had gained another person.
Standing next to the graphic was a little boy, staring in awe at something. Valencia looked at the boy with furrowed brows and turned in the direction he was staring. Standing across from them with a silencing finger to his mouth was Captain America himself.