A/N

I replaced the previous chapter as I found a song! And split it in two chapters. So this is the second half. If you've already red this far; just skim through it ;)

It's not much of a difference; but enjoy!

THANKS to Bee who helped me get an idea of what I was looking for ;)

xxx

"Gelato, gelato!" Lovina hums as she scoops some of the ice cream Signora Kirkland took out of the freezer into her bowl. Though the dinner she made wasn't half as bad as Lovina expected. But talking about gardening and having some gelato afterwards made her even forget she ever tried her cooking. "Not gonna leave any for you…" Lovina singsongs and takes another huge scoop but the Englishwoman only smiles. "What're you smiling for?" The teenager frowns irritated.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just amused about how easily you overtook my place and proclaimed it as yours…" Lovina grumps and looks at the pot in her hand. Did she? Well, wasn't it Signora Kirkland who invited Lovina over in the first place? So it's her own fault. The teen, content with her reasoning, backs away from the pot of ice cream and starts munching some of the cold dessert while taking a closer look at the gardening-magazines.

"Hey. Can I borrow these?"

"Go ahead. But make sure to remember to return them." Miss Kirkland winks at her and takes some ice for herself.

"Yeah, yeah…" the brunette starts flipping through the magazine when something catches her eye. She curiously eyes the objects encircled with a pen. "Flower pots with the American flag? An alien figure? Do you really plan to place these things in your garden? What a shame." To her surprise, her classmate's Mum sighs.

"I intended to motivate Amelia to get in touch with nature again. Once I even tried letting her eat hamburgers with salad I grew myself, but she didn't want to listen to the idea and especially brought some snails back home to place in my garden. It was a stupid prank for her, but I had a hella' problem getting these pests out of my garden again."

"Che scocciatura! We had that once too. They ruined all our tomatoes." Lovina still feels the disappointment from the moment when she discovered their harvest was ruined. "And that Bastard just went to the supermarket and bought tomatoes trying to cheer me up. Idiota! As if they would taste half as good as the ones we grew." She continues pouting and flips through the pages. Something else is encircled. "And what's with this polar-bear flowerpot and the… -which country's flag is that again on the watering can?"

Now the woman frowns and moves over to Lovina's place to take a look at what the girl is talking about. At first, Lovina thinks that she doesn't recognize the products but then she suddenly remembers:

"Oh, right. I just thought of Mattie when I saw these."

"Mattie?" The teenager wonders who that could be. Does the Englishwoman have a lover or something?

"Matthew." The blonde explains and Lovina shakes her head. Nope. No clue who she is talking about. "Matthew, as in Matthew, a freshman in your school." Lovina has to think for a while about who the Englishwoman means. But it still doesn't ring a bell. The Englishwoman sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "Matthew as in: the hockey-guy who loves pancakes with maple syrup?"

"Ah." Slowly, Lovina has a hint of an idea who they are talking about. Tall, wavy blonde hair. Easily overlooked… "And why would you buy a flowerpot for him?" At the small statement that she would because he is her son, Lovina blinks irritated. Son? Matthew?! "Wait… He's your son as in: he's Amelia's bother?"

"As in, yes. And as in: he's Francis Bonnefoy's son."

"Oh." Is all Lovina can say at that. Then she remembers how Miss Kirkland often mentioned his name when they were sharing stories about the three Bastards… "Now that you say it. He was also there in the past when we kids were actually allowed to attend one of the three Bastard's gatherings…" –Which, in Lovina's opinion, resulted in them being a gathering of five bastards. Because of the additional younger Potato Bastard and the Hotdog She-Bastard. Was the quiet blonde always there as well?

"Oh dear. I hated them. I didn't mind Francis and his friends meet up. But they should just leave the kids be."

"Yeah… I always thought the same." They grow silent, both following their own thoughts.

"I would have preferred to just hear the stories afterwards and make fun of them." The Signora grins mischievously and Lovina looks up with a reflecting grin.

"Oh yes!" She chuckles evilly. "I had so much fun reminding my brainless father of the stupid things he did all week long. –Whenever something happened, I knew a story to use against him!" Once more, the triumphant feeling rises in her and Lovina lifts her head proudly.

Just to feel her mood drop again: "But whenever I know the perfect story to make him feel embarrassed or whatever; or I think I finally found something I can use to shut him up… That Bastard just goes like «Ah, sí, we did something like that. That was fun.»" Lovina frowns at how much he can annoy her. "And whenever I would complain about that, he'd try to avoid the topic and go on about how cute I am…!"

xxx

"He's the very personification of a Spanish airhead…" The Englishwoman shakes her head. "Seriously. I know Carriedo since primary. Honestly speaking, meeting you now really makes me wonder what your mother was like…" It must be/ must have been quite a stunning woman in Carriedo's eyes, seeing how the Spaniard showers her child with love.

"Huh?" The teenager looks at her with a puzzled expression; confused by her rant about the «idiota» being interrupted like that. "Don't know." Alice frowns upon the fact that Lovina doesn't even know her other parent. Carriedo never mentioned anything; nor was he ever accompanied by a woman whenever he came over to Alice's and Francis' place. But she didn't really want to inquire about his second half. But what about Lovina?

"Don't you… kind of want to know?" Now Lovina tilts her head and Alice wonders if she is really considering it. Then the teenager shakes her head angrily.

"If she dared run away and leave the Tomato-Bastard to become a single parent or something like this, I'd rather not know." Amazed by the fact that the brunette did seriously think about it, Alice smiles. Lovina really loves her father way more than she would ever admit.

"Well, you have a point there…" Alice frowns. She wonders why, but she just continues to tell the brunette about the trouble she faced when she found herself in a similar situation: "Amelia was really displeased when she heard about me and Bonnefoy breaking up. She threw a huge fit and refused to speak with us for days, communicating her feelings with loud stomping and slamming doors. Matthew on the other hand just locked himself up for a week."

Lovina lowers her gaze to scratch the last bits of ice cream out of her bowl as if she couldn't dare look in Alice's eyes when speaking about a serious topic like this. However, realising there is no more ice left to find in the bowl, Lovina asks with a toneless voice:

"… Miss Kirkland…" The teenager seems to struggle with her choice of words, as if she is afraid of asking a question she shouldn't. But Alice feels like she could share some of her deeper thoughts with the teenager, so she decides to break the ice between them a bit more:

"Please, call me «Alice»."

"Alice…" The supporting request from the adult seems to help Lovina relax and put her troubles into words: "Why did you split up?" Alice shrugs her shoulders. But seeing the shadow in the teenager's eyes, she wants to answer the question as honest as she possibly could.

"It's hard to say why exactly. Francis and I… We weren't really compatible to start with. But you could also say that us being complete opposites, we complemented each other. However. As time went by, we changed. Or more like, what we expected of a relationship changed? I don't really know."

Alice sighs and turns to the stove to prepare some hot water. If they are really going to talk about this, she needs a cup of tea.

"Well. Francis was just being Francis and I was just being me. But even though we got used to fighting over time, I started wondering if this really was what I wanted: Our constant bickering. Whenever I got angry he tried to calm me down as quickly as possible, when I would have just needed some alone-time. The way he would still court me when I only wanted to be treated equally; and the way he would treat me like I was made of glass. I told him these things, but he continued to do things his way. I continued to do them my way… Both trying to force our ideas upon the other rather than understanding our partner's needs."

The blonde watches the water flow until the kettle is full. Then she turns it off and places the kettle on the stove. There are many things which started to bother her the longer she was with the blonde French. "And his constant flirting with whomever passed by…"

She turns the gas on and lights the blue flame, feeling an attentive stare in her back. Without looking at Lovina, she says: "Is it asking too much that your partner only looks at YOU?" Alice stares at the blue flames disappear under the silver metal kettle, mumbling thoughts she never dared put into words before: "Not at other women; and not at who he wants you to be. Only at you."

xxx

Antonio yawns and takes a sip of his coffee before he puts the cup on the car dashboard. The dark brown colour makes him remember his little girl and a wide smile appears on the Spaniard's face. Yes. Calling Alice the other week to take care of Lovina was a great idea.

The triumphant grin with which she greeted him when he took a seat next to her in the car last time confirmed it. A rare sight to see, but he always enjoyed it when Lovi thought she had some tricks up her sleeve to win against him. Though most of the time they were just cute attacks that wouldn't actually affect him. But yes, he loved to play along and «admit defeat»; knowing his little girl will be beaming with self-confidence for the next three days and reminding him of his loss for the next three years… No matter how much his friends laughed at him for being a silly «Daddy's girl»-kind of father, he would always do it again.

However, this time, the reason for Roma's grin actually shook him. Lovina and Alice seemed to have teamed up against him and put together the worst stories of his not-so-legal and neither boring teenage-days… Yes, he and his friends (mostly his friends) came up with so many funny things to do, pranks to play and ways to annoy people! It was great fun. Just living in the moment! But Antonio wouldn't have expected his daughter to be the one who makes sure he never forgets any of the folly from his youth days.

"Ah, Eres un cielto, Roma!" Antonio hums to himself as he recalls the radiant brown eyes of his daughter. Hearing her go on and on about the mishaps the three men experienced as if she was there and had great fun watching them makes his ever-present grin widen even more. -But, somehow, this would always end in Roma stopping in the middle of her story and complain about what it was he was laughing about. "Ah, I don't get how women work…" Once more he stops the car in front of Alice's house.

He looks at the Victorian house with the oriel windows and the small, green yard. He wasn't surprised to find her moving to such a cute, white-painted building with flowerpots on the window sill when she got divorced. The house was a match. And he would love to see what it looks like inside. Did she still decorate her house all over with embroidery? Antonio would bet she is still the same cute, stoic Alice. The same strong, wilful Alice he fell in love with as a child.

Antonio takes a closer look at the flower pots and wonders if this is where she hides her keys. Then the flowers themselves catch his attention. Small, blue and pink blossoms which she must be taking grate care off. Cute, stubborn Alice who loves gardening and craftwork. Short tempered and stubbornly stoic Alice who throws curses that makes mothers close their kid's ears... If there was a way to describe her cute way of acting all distant and pissed while she is actually just trying to hide her embarrassment… He would like to know that word.

With a sad smile Antonio remembers all the opportunities he had to witness her during their school days. Acting all bitchy just to show some cute attitude whenever she thought people didn't see. But these days went over fast. She married Francis. Though they're divorced now, it's still a fact that she was married to his best friend. Antonio shakes the thoughts off.

"Lovi, I'm here to take you home." He rings the bell and sees shadows behind a window move. His cute daughter's face appears behind the glass and she waves him to come inside. Surprised by the invitation, Antonio tries to open the door. He blinks as he feels the doorknob move under his hand and the house opens up in front of him.

Hesitating a bit, he still enters and makes sure to close the door properly behind him. He finds the key stuck in the keyhole. Antonio frowns. Very uncharacteristic for Alice to forget locking her door. "It's not save to keep your door unlocked at this time of day." Antonio follows the light and enters the kitchen. «What a match» is his first thought when he sees the light coloured and old fashioned furniture. Then his gaze meets the green eyes of the house's owner flashing with irritation.

"Who said you could come inside?" For a split second, Antonio meets her gaze and stares back with a dark glint in his eyes. Then he brushes the accusation off with a dashing smile:

"Good evening, Miss Kirkland." And the irritated frown doesn't escape him. Cute! Antonio turns to look to his daughter who comfortably curled up on a seat opposite of Alice "Oh, I see. So you just made coffee…" No wonder Lovi would refuse to leave just yet. His little coffee-addict would even ignore him if it meant she got a cup.

"I will not invite you to have some. Nor to have a seat." Alice glares at him. "And I'm still waiting for an apology for tricking me." –Now Antonio wonders if the door was actually unlocked because Alice was strongly taken by surprise when Roma turned up on her doorstep uninvited and therefore forgot to lock the door again. "Now it's YOU who owes ME, you understand? You owe me BIG time."

"Who owes who what?" Roma gives them a puzzled expression.

"Never mind." Alice grumps. "We can talk about that another time." Antonio is overwhelmed with the situation and doesn't know where to look. To his cute Roma sitting comfortably at the table of his first love while sipping coffee and looking up at him through her brown eyes; or the fiery glinting green-eyed refusing to accept him entering her territory. Yet, considering the presence of the intruder's daughter, Alice seems to be kind of ready for negotiations.

"I'd be happy to." Antonio decides to take on both opportunities. –Having to wait for his daughter in Alice's kitchen sitting at her table AND having an excuse to meet the later again. So he just invites himself to sit next to Alice who glares daggers at him. Knowing fully well how the blonde hates it whenever someone ignores her need for personal space or dares step into what she sees as her territory, he makes sure to take up as much space as possible. "Though I don't see a reason for you to act so hostile towards me." He smiles at the Englishwoman just long enough to catch the warning glint in her eyes before he turns to Lovina. "What did you have for dinner?" A content smile curls up on Lovina's face.

"Gelato!" Antonio raises an eyebrow, asking:

"¿El helado?" Then he looks at Alice: "You didn't really just eat ice cream for dinner, did you?" The blonde woman shakes her head while looking slightly confused at Lovina and back at him.

"No. We had stew before that." She looks back at Lovina again as if trying to figure something out. At hearing Alice's comment of what they ate, he realises something in Lovi's expression changing as well as if she just remembered something odd, making him wonders what the two were speaking about THIS time… Or it was just the stew's fault? Whichever it is, Lovi remains awfully quiet after that.

To Antonio's disappointment, Alice realises that the teenage girl takes the last sip of coffee and therefore gets ready to kick them out of her kitchen. "Well then, Lovina, as your father came to get you it seems like it's time for you to go." And she smiles at Lovi. SMILES! For the first time in his live Antonio is jealous of his daughter. When Alice turns towards him again, she wears her perfect expressionless face and just nods him a good-bye.

Then she leaves the kitchen to unlock the door for the two South Europeans. Antonio sighs and gets back on his feet, feeling Lovina quietly follow after him. The girl waves one more good-bye before they enter the car. Then, finally, the unfamiliar deafness of his daughter disappears as she immediately turns towards him.

"You were the guitarist of a band?!" Surprised by the new knowledge his daughter gained, he just laughs.

"So Alice told you?" Lovina frowns when he starts the car.

"Aren't you supposed to call her «Miss Kirkland»?" Lovi accuses him as if jealous of hearing him casually using the name. Antonio just shrugs again.

"Which is weird, because I got to know her before she could even properly pronounce the name. I guess it's because she doesn't want to be associated with Francis anymore. Kind of acting like their marriage never happened." – Whatever the reason; if it makes her slightly blush whenever he ignores the unwritten rule from time to time to call her «Alice», he even forgets to wonder where her wish to be called by her maiden name comes from.

But after this comment Antonio is greeted by a quiet Romana once more, he wonders what is occupying the kid's mind. "¿Que pasa? You're not usually this quiet. Anything bothering you?"

"That song…" Antonio gets taken by surprise when Lovina suddenly turns and leans over to him, eying him distrustfully. He struggles to keep his grip on the wheel. "The one you always played for me… I heard it today."

"Ah, sí?" Antonio tries to keep his eyes on the road even with Roma staring at him from up close. He has no idea which song Lovi is talking about…

"She uses it as a ringtone."

"You're talking in riddles, Roma. Which song? There are many songs I played for you and still love to play." The Spaniard searches her brown eyes and earns an annoyed:

"A fucking cover of some song. –Like I know the name!" And as she always loves to do, she throws her arms up to show her displeasure. "Fucking drums –intro that almost gave me a heart attack! Macero! Potato Bastard!"

"Lovi~ Watch your words… I don't like you calling my friend a potato. Even less to tell him to rot…"

"His own fucking fault. It should've been your intro…" At this grumbled comment, Antonio's lips curl into a grin. THAT song. Yes, after all it's one of the songs Alice loved to perform the most. But this seems to irritate Lovina again. "What are you grinning for?! I thought…" Lovina sinks back onto her own seat, folding her arms in front of her chest. Then she grumbles: "I always thought this song meant so much for you because… Well, I thought it had something to do with Mum!" She finally shouts at him. Antonio frowns. Judging by Lovina's troubled reaction he feels it's saver to stop the car. There is no-one else on the street anyways, so he takes his time to eye the troubled teenager.

"What makes you think that?"

"You… You would always play it for me…" Lovina stares out of the window to avoid his eyes. "Or whenever you are feeling down." She grumbles with pinkish cheeks and a deep frown.

"Lovi~ ¡Que lindo! Just how cute can you be?!" Aww, his heart clenches whenever his little girl actually admits she adores him. But said princess turns at him with a furious glint in her eyes.

"No «¡Que lindo!» this time!" Lovina jumps up from her seat once more, fire burning in her brown eyes. "I'm being serious! Has this song got anything to do with my Mama?! And WHY does Miss …, Ah vaffanculo! -Alice know it?!" Antonio rises his hands in surrender at the outburst of his daughter.

"¡Calla, Lovi! Calm down." The teen glares at him making it clear that he'd better come up with a good explanation if he wants her to calm down. "It's true that this song means a lot to me. But it's got nothing to do with your mother. Lo siento, I didn't realise I gave you that impression…"

Lovina doesn't reply anything but glares at him once more and then let's herself drop back on her seat angrily. For a while, neither of them says a word and Antonio slowly turns the key to start the engine again. Then, almost not hearable, he hears Lovina ask:

"Did Mama leave you?"

He'd rather not answer the question and the ones he knows would follow, so he just shakes his head. Lovina huffs angrily and turns once more to stare out of the window. Antonio would love to hold his baby-girl in his arms and assure her that both her parents deeply love her, but he knows he can't.

xxx

A/N

I hope I'll be able to update some more this weekend. I'll do my best!

Happy Easter!

Don't forget the reason we celebrate this day ;)