Author: Ren Kayashima
Rating: T
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me. They are from the extremely creative mind of Janet Evanovich.
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Chapter Six:
Cayden sat next to a tall man with curly black hair that added an extra two inches to his head. They were in the middle of a small symphony hall and watched Allegra pounding out a quick succession of notes on a grand piano.
Allegra came to a grand finish and looked over to the two men. She frowned obviously not satisfied with her performance.
The curly haired man cleared his throat. "Don't be disappointed Allegra. A month ago, you couldn't play Liszt's La Campanella without making a mistake every measure," he told her reassuringly.
"It didn't sound right," Allegra stated bitterly.
"You aren't hitting the notes hard enough," Cayden said. "Also, when you have to cross hands to reach the notes, you slow down just a fraction."
Allegra looked at the keys and placed her fingers on them once more. She started to place once more watch her fingers glide across the keys. She struck a chord wrong and stopped playing. She groaned and dropped her head onto the keys in front of her making the piano emit a mix of incompatible sounds.
"I can't do it," she said. "I really wanted to play this piece for mom, but it's too hard."
Cayden's facial feature's hardened. "Can't is not a word that is allowed in your vocabulary. It's a word that limits the mind, and if you say it one more time, you're grounded for a month."
Allegra's eye widened as she shot up in her seat. "Dad!" she yelped looking into the seat. "That's not fair."
Cayden looked at her. "Play it again," he ordered.
"Cayden," the curly hair man spoke. "She's been playing this piece for three hours; maybe we should let her take a break."
"Sorry Tony, Allie's not going to stop until she gets that 'I can't' attitude out of her system."
"You know I can hear you," she growled.
Cayden crossed his arms. "I don't practice these pieces with you at home, only to have you come here and give up. Play. It. Again."
Allegra sighed and started pounding on the keys in frustration. Tony winced slightly before Allie began playing the song from the beginning.
Five minutes later Allegra dropped her hands into her lap tiredly and frowned again when Cayden and Tony started clapping.
"Great job Allegra," Tony praised.
"I still was slow on the crossover," Allegra stated.
"It was hardly noticeable," Cayden said. "Ready to go home?"
Allegra stood up and gathered her music up. She slipped the sheets into a black folder and jumped off the tall stage. She hugged Tony and thanked him for his time.
"Your mother is going to love it when you play La Campanella for her," Tony told her. "When you get your violin back, we can start work on Shubert's Ave Maria."
Allie smiled and nodded. Ave Maria was her favorite violin piece to listen to and she was excited to start practice on it.
As Cayden and Allegra left the symphony hall, Allie looked at her father. "Thank you," she said. "I needed a good kick in the ass."
Cayden pulled her into a sideways hug. "Anytime," he laughed. "Don't doubt yourself so much, and you'll do just fine when you play a song."
"I hope James finishes the repairs on my violin soon," Allegra muttered. She was silent for a moment. "Hey dad?"
"What is it Allegra?" Cayden asked looking at the small bits of starlight in the sky.
"Can mom move in with us?" she asked.
Cayden thought about it. "You can ask her about it when she comes to dinner tomorrow," he told her. "I wouldn't mind having your mother around."
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Ranger stood looking at his seventh floor apartment and thought about the changes that needed to be made.
Julie's mom had called with a proposition. Since their daughter had been abducted, Julie had been extremely verbal about getting to know Ranger. The two parents decided that visits would be a great way for the father and daughter to bond. Julie would come up once a month to spend a weekend in Trenton. This meant he would have to turn his office into a bedroom.
He was going to talk to Stephanie about showing Julia around the city. Maybe she could take her to meet Allegra.
Stephanie opened his front door and smiled. "Tank said you would be up here," she said. She had her hair in a ponytail and she wore a jean jacket over a flannel button up and a pair of heavy blue jeans with her CAT boots. "Can you go somewhere with me?"
"Where?" Ranger asked. He would put Ella in charge of setting up Julie's room to suit the girl's likes and dislikes.
"Do you still want to know more about Allegra?" Stephanie asked with a smirk.
Ranger nodded. Stephanie smiled and grabbed the keys to the Turbo. Ranger followed her out of the apartment and into the empty elevator. He looked at Stephanie to find her gazing back at him.
"Julie's going to start coming to Trenton for visits once a month," he told her.
Stephanie eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked. "Are you happy about it?"
Ranger gave a small nod. "Could you show her around Trenton for her visit?"
"Will you be with her?" Stephanie asked. More than anything Ranger needed time to bond with Julie and it would probably be easier if Stephanie wasn't there. But if Allegra was with us, it would almost seem like a family, she thought.
Stephanie handed over the keys to the Turbo to Ranger. "You're going to 'The Pizza Shop' in Princeton. It's not as good as Pino's, but Allegra has an early dinner there with her friends every Tuesday night while Cayden teaches a later class."
"Pizza once a week?" Ranger asked slipping into the front seat. "How does she stay skinny?"
"Hungarian metabolism and a two mile jog with Cayden in the morning. She's much more motivated than I am."
A half hour later Ranger and Stephanie were seated at a small table in the popular pizza joint. Ranger quietly chewed a Cobb salad and looked around. He spotted a familiar geeky boy and looked at Stephanie.
"Is that a former skips kid?" he asked.
"Stephanie looked up from her Italian sausage and pepperoni pizza. She looked at the geeky teen with facial piercings up the wahzoo.
"What is Zook doing in Princeton," she asked more to herself than Ranger. She sat up a bit and looked at the teenager.
Zook walked over to a couple of equally geeky teen boys and began a complicated handshake. "Dude, I totally think I just did my best work."
Allegra entered the building laughing on the phone. She greeted the chef and walked over to a table that had been previously set up for six people.
"All right, I'll order for us." Allegra spoke into the phone. She was in a grey knit dress with black flannel leggings and knee high black boots. She wore a grey plaid scarf and a matching beret. She black rimmed glasses were lightly tinted grey.
Zook walked over nervously to Allegra. "Hey, I like your stripped hair," he said.
Allegra turned to look at him. "It's not stripped actually, but thank you," she said politely.
Zook looked at her and his face scrunched up in confusion. "But it's white," he said. He shook his head. "My name is Zook."
"Allegra," she waved slightly with a smiled.
Ranger looked at Stephanie whose face had taken on a slight grimace. "I could scare him off."
Zook shifted slightly. "What kind of name is Allegra?" he asked.
"Italian music term," Allie answered. "I wonder, where does Zook come from? Sounds like a name in a video game."
Another teen came in. He was Stephanie's height, with brown hair that was shaggy. His bangs fell lightly over his chocolate brown eyes. He held a violin case in one hand and an iPhone in the other. He was bobbing his head to some music. The teen wore a pair of loose fitting jeans and a black and white checkered flannel top.
The teen looked up and found Allegra. He held a hand up in a half assed wave.
"James!" Allegra exclaimed happily.
Zook frowned and headed back to his friends. Allegra looked at Zook confused. I thought we were having a decent conversation, she thought.
'James' walked over and held out the violin case to Allegra. "Polished, restrung, and I replaced your bridge," he told her.
Ranger looked at Stephanie and stabbed a piece of lettuce. "Who is that?" he asked.
"James Isles, his family is good friends with Cayden," Stephanie said taking a bite of her pizza. "James's dad fixes string instruments. James is learning, so Allie sends her violins to the family once every two years for a little TLC."
Ranger nodded. Yep, definitely a spoiled child, but at least it didn't go to her head. Stephanie's daughter seemed like a grounded teenager who knew exactly what she wanted.
"She actually had two strings snap off a week ago after playing them too hard. She had to give it to the Isles' to make sure the strings breaking hadn't caused internal damage to the violin."
"Is that bad?" Ranger asked. Classical instruments were not his forte. Ask him about guns and he could answer any and all questions.
"To a violinist?" Stephanie asked sitting up straighter. "Earth shattering. That violin," she gestured to the stringed instrument. "is over a hundred years old. It belonged to her great great grandfather. She only plays it at the symphony halls and for school concerts. She uses a brand new one at home to practice."
"Why is it so important?" Ranger asked watched as Allegra pulled James into a tight hug. James turned his head so that his face was buried in her hair and hugged her back.
Stephanie smiled watching her daughter. "They're not dating," she clarified. "As a violin ages, it develops a more refined and developed sound. It's why Stradivarius's are so valuable. It's not only the family that made them that's important. It's the sound it makes after a hundred years."
"You know a lot about violins," Ranger said. "Do you worry about her dating?" he asked thinking about Julie.
Stephanie shook her head. "My daughter isn't interested in relationships right now. We talked about it a couple days ago. School and practice take up her time. She has a check list for the ideal boyfriend for when she eventually decides that she's ready, but there has yet to be someone out there to change her mind."
"She's asexual?"
Stephanie leaned back in her seat and looked at Ranger. "By choice," she said. "She definitely has an interest in dating, but her desire to pass school and get the most out of her music trumps it. I don't mind. At least she isn't letting someone charm her into a situation she would later regret."
Ranger looked at Stephanie's soft smile and sad eyes. "Do you regret having sex with me?"
Stephanie looked at him curiously. "Absolutely not," she stated. She looked back to her daughter, who was running her soft hands over the polished wood of the old violin. "I worry about her Ranger," she said changing the topic.
"All parents worry," Ranger said remembering Julie's abduction.
"She doesn't get overly emotional. Cayden will tell me about these episodes of catatonia when she's really stressed out. She's silent when she's really upset."
"She doesn't really seem like the kind of person to do that," Ranger stated flashbacks of Allegra's visit in his office made him mentally smirk.
"She's sixteen Ranger. Talking back is practically a job requirement it comes so naturally." Stephanie turned her attention to Zook. "Hey Zook."
Zook looked up from a pinball machine. "What?" he asked.
"Does your mom know you're here?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah, she dropped me off so I could hang out with some people from Minionfire," Zook answered.
Stephanie shook her head. Of course. "Zook, don't worry about Allegra, she's not in a position to date right now," she explained.
Allegra looked over at her mother.
Zook walked over. "How do you know?"
"I'm her mother, and she isn't allowed to date," she explained.
"I didn't know you had a daughter," Zook said.
"She lives with her dad here in Princeton. She's a very busy girl," Stephanie said. She patted the teen on the shoulder. "You'll find someone."
Zook smiled and walked back over to his friends. More teens entered the restaurant and walked over to Allegra's table. She greeted everyone before walking over to her mom. "Hey, come to watch another segment of life of a Princeton teen?" she asked.
Stephanie grinned. "Watching from a distance. No interruptions, I promise."
Allegra laughed and hugged her mom. "Love you," she said quickly before skipping back over to her friends.
"Fashion plate?" Ranger asked. Allegra's clothes seemed to be made of cashmere and expensive fabrics.
Stephanie laughed. "I wish. No, she prefers jeans and a t-shirt most days like me. Cayden has her dress up once a week."
Ranger mentally sighed. There was still a lot to learn about Stephanie's teenage daughter. But by watching Allegra and listening to Stephanie, he knew more than he did the night before.
"Allie wants me to move in with here and Cayden," Stephanie said. "I'm going to do it. I'll still work at the bonds office, but I'll be living here in Princeton."
Ranger looked over at Allegra who rested a hand on James's shoulder. "You can always stay at my place when you get tired of teenagers and professors."
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Author's Note: Well here's the next chapter. It turns out that there's more to Stephanie's relationship with her daughter. Stephanie's shown a bit more of her smarts. Maybe we'll see more of the mother daughter bonding in the next chapter. I thought it would be nice to put this in there. See more of what makes Cayden and Allegra work as well as what could be a developing relationship between Ranger and Stephanie. Oh la la.
Forum news: There are some book threads up for people to look at, an introduction thread, a questions thread, and the movie thread. The movie thread has a couple of cool opinions on there, so you might want to check it out.
Ren
