You guys are certifiably awesome! Thank you for the comments! The more you give, the more inspired I become to write. Okay… so few notes: I don't know where this story is going. I feel like right now we're tackling the tip of Rose's problems and I believe that she can't give advice or really help until she resolves some of those problems so stay tuned for that. Another thing going on is the visit back to the Academy. I really liked Alberta's character so the prospect of going back to the Academy is VERY real. It will take a lot of re-scheduling on Lissa's part. JThis day I think will be divided into three: talking to Janine, talking to Ina, and talking to Lissa. Enjoy! And p.s. read4ever didn't use her power to influence yet so he/she can still request for something royally wicked to happen.
Waking up was one of the most grueling things ever. Comrade wanted to run and I wanted to do so too… far, far away and never come back. I know that today I would have to tackle all my mommy issues but… I just don't want to. I know I'd have to at some point but that doesn't change the fact that I would rather stay in bed or keep Comrade in bed. Talking to my mom about my issues isn't exactly something I could prepare for anyway.
Reluctantly, I get up only to flop back on the bed. I guess he's been calling for me and waiting for me to get up for so long that Dimitri just decided to pick me up like a bag of potatoes and carry me over his shoulder. With me on him, he started running. I thank whatever deity exists that such a wonderful man cares for me enough to love me so much. We ran like that for about two miles until he unceremoniously dropped me in the middle of the road. That then caused me to run after him and I count that as exercise since we did work up quite a sweat during and well after the running when I pinned him on our bedroom floor.
Getting ready for the talk with my mom was weird. What do you wear for something like that? Least of my problems by the way. Lissa decided she was going to wish me luck and she dragged Christian with her. Liss kept trying to give me pep talks and Dimka kept smiling at me. I keep forgetting how threatening my mom is to everyone else too. Only Christian was remotely normal and that's only because he decided to cook instead of talk. Overall, I had a very weird sort of tense morning so it was unsurprising how I almost forgot my wallet on my way to the café.
What do I say to her? I hate you? Thank you? I'm a Hathaway and so far the one and only thing besides being a badass that I got from my mother was the art of not talking about my feelings. Now I asked for us to do exactly that. What the actual fuck? Am I actually developing as a person? Maybe this is Ina's fault. Maybe I just want to face some of the aftershock from our volcanic decisions. Nice. No more listening to formal people. I sound like a weird 19th century psycho or a Royal.
Anyway… back to my problem. What do I… oh screw it. I want donuts. So I march to the café with coffee and donuts in mind. It was on my second coffee and third donut that I realized that my mother isn't here yet. My mother is never late. Never. She'd rather stake anyone than be late. Okay, maybe not anyone but she really does not like tardiness. Fifteen minutes. I am so impressed. What could she be doing? It can't be something bad because Hans would've called Dimitri if he didn't think to call me and Dimitri would've called. I know for sure that the wards are strong because they had a session of doing that the other day. So what… oh. My dad said something about being in town. Can that… no… but… ew. There was absolutely no need for that mental picture. Ew.
I guess I still had that really grossed out look when my mom came because when she called my name she was definitely sounding cautious.
"Are you okay?" Yup, definitely cautious.
"I'm fine. Just going through all the possible reasons for you to not be here earlier than me."
"I believe in punctuality, Rose. It is not a race."
"Cite one time that you met someone and didn't try to get there first."
"Impressive."
"You know what else is impressive? The way you and dad think you're keeping whatever is going on between you a secret."
"It's not a secret. We just don't find the need to publicize."
"Meaning there is something going on."
"Rose. Let's start, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I want to know why you never told me who my dad is."
"Of all the things, that's what you want to know?"
"Well, yeah. I mean you eventually told me but I had to meet him first. You kinda gave the impression that you didn't know who my dad was… is."
"How did I do that? That was never my intention."
"Mom, you never talked about him. Even now that most of everyone knows, you still don't talk about him."
"I sometimes forget that you had to grow up judged in an academy."
"No worries, we'll get to that later. I just want to know why you didn't tell me about Abe earlier."
"I didn't tell you because there was no reason to."
"Seriously? Him being my dad wasn't a good enough reason?"
"No. Him being you father is exactly the reason why there was no need to tell you."
"Why? It's not like I brag about those things." Uh oh. That was hurt that just passed her face, wasn't it? Crap.
"Well, even without bragging how do you think others would've reacted to it?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did people treat you knowing I am your mother?"
"Like everyone else, I guess."
"You mean to say they didn't demand more from you? Think you can handle worse?"
"Well, I guess. I just always thought of it as an added bonus because of my awesomeness."
"Well, imagine how much more differently people would've treated you knowing that you're Ibrahim's daughter."
"I'm guessing I never would've gotten asked to any of the dances."
"Maybe. Your father has a bit of a reputation."
"Bit? Mom, they call him zmey as in snake. From what I've gathered, you don't get a relatively cool yet scary nickname without doing something seriously out there."
"And that reputation is part of the reason that we decided that it was in your best interest if the identity of your father was kept hidden."
"People misjudged you because of it."
"Nothing I couldn't handle in the name of your safety. Rose, your father… he made enemies—enemies whose handiworks make weaker people shudder. Exposing your true lineage placed you in great danger."
"You… you protected me."
"And paid for everything that you destroyed in the academy."
"All this time?"
"Of course. Mistress Kirova knew how to reach me if anything were to happen."
"Ina was right you were protecting me."
"Who?"
"Ina, Ekaterina Zeklos. The queen before Tatiana?"
"Queen Zeklos talked to you?"
"She talks to me. We're kind of having a talking session every day. It just started, really."
"If we had known that you would be capable of taking care of yourself and establishing yourself the way you did, maybe we wouldn't have kept so many things from you."
"Or maybe you were meant to. Because you left me in the academy, I found real friends who stuck with me through thick and thin."
"Rose…"
"I know, it was for my protection. I get it."
"I'm sorry if you felt like we… I abandoned you."
"I know. I can tell. And no, that is not sarcasm. It's just that no one ever really tried to talk to me about this stuff. In the academy you do what is required, you party, you try not to get caught and you do it all over again. No one ever talks about emotional stuff. Except Mason…"
"I…"
"But now Ina is talking to me about it and she's asking me to try and look at other possibilities and I kinda get it now."
"So… everything's okay?"
"No. I mean, I understand things better and I think a lot of my issues are just in my head but right now I think we're good. I don't understand why you never really became warm to me when I was at the academy though. Was that for my protection too?"
"I think it was more of my fault. I didn't want people to think I have a weakness. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Although I really don't get that. I mean, you're pretty badass and so is my zmey of a dad. Why didn't you guys see that I'd turn out pretty badass too?"
"I think it's simply a topic your father and I are rather unfamiliar to."
"That's acceptable, I guess. So are you moving here in Court?"
"What do you mean?"
"Mom, dad avoided this place unless absolutely necessary and now he's here all the time and so are you."
"That means nothing."
"Fine. What about the fact that you were late and your hair is a little messed up and you smell like sweat only you're not wearing workout clothes."
"I was helping your dad unpack."
"Not commenting on that. Okay, how about this: I'm not going to force you to admit anything so long as you promise to throw a family dinner when you finally make up your mind."
"And by family you mean…"
"You, me, zmey, Comrade, Liss, Christian, and whoever I find when you do admit it."
"So the entire court then?"
"Be serious mom, it's not like we like half of these people."
"Admit it."
"I admit nothing, but I do promise to throw a proper family dinner."
"Thanks mom. And don't worry about the cooking part because we can always eat out or you can recruit Dimitri or Christian, they are really good at that."
"Not you?"
"Mom."
"Okay. It's nice hearing you say that to me. I always thought that you'd come to consider Alberta in that position more than me."
"She's important to me but you're important too mom. And keep in mind: we still have issues but right now I don't really feel like talking about them yet."
"Fair enough. Shall we order?"
"Way ahead of you although I wouldn't mind more coffee and donuts."
"I don't know where you get your appetite from."
Okay… so here's the talk. I hope you guys like it. Thanks so much for the comments. Please give suggestions if you think this isn't enough for their talk and just suggestions in general. Also, please comment, comment, comment. They inspire me to write more. Ps I hope you guys like the fluf moment in the beginning. Lots of love, thea