Antonio runs over the stony path which leads to Alice's house. He has messed up. He's messed up BIG time and he knows that this time even Alice won't be able to handle his daughter's outburst as easily as the last one He is deeply grateful, the Englishwoman called him. Even if she only cursed him, thanks to the call he knows his daughter is in good hands.
"Lovina!" The Spaniard shouts and starts pressing the bell. –Without any effect. Desperately realising that the thing must have stopped working at the worst time, Antonio starts hammering against the door. "ALICE! Is Lovina in there?! PLEASE tell me she is! Por favour! Alice!" But nothing happens.
The Spanish man already starts worrying she might not even be at home when he realises the dirty footprints at the pathway. Too small to be his. And he doubts the tidy Englishwoman would leave her pathway looking like this.
Lovina is here. She definitively is.
But he can't go in there.
Antonio continues banging at the door, before he starts looking for another way to enter by walking around the house. But he finds nothing but closed curtains and doors; and even when shouting and knocking, all he gets in return is an irritated neighbour scolding him to shut up.
xxx
After the Git finally quietened down and stopped banging at her windows, piece returns to the living room. Lovina turned over to cuddle towards Alice and hide her face under her messy hair when she heard her father rampaging around the house and only relaxed when her neighbour cursed the Spaniard in her weird German dialect.
Alice makes a mental note to thank the grumpy Swiss later and maybe bring something over.
"…" Lovina grumbles a few words which the Englishwoman interprets as something along the lines of «noisy» and «Bastardo» At the later word however, the girl starts sobbing once more and Alice watches the suddenly frail body shake under her hand as if it were a different Lovina.
The girl always tries to act strong and bratty. But Alice knows better than anyone about the weakness some people tend to hide away under a strong façade. "It's ok. I won't let your father talk to you as long as you don't want to." She tries to display her best motherly tone to comfort the girl. The shaking suddenly stops and instead, Lovina starts to strongly shake her head in disapproval. Thinking she messed up trying to sound empathic, Alice listens to the next words the teen grumbles. The Englishwoman's eyes widen as all the puzzle pieces get put together.
"I WILL KILL HIM! Oh I will so KILL the damned GIT! Why wouldn't he tell you sooner?!" The Englishwoman jumps to her feet, leaving an irritated Lovina behind. Even though she knows the kid needs her to stay at her side now, Alice decides her next action will also have a satisfyingly calming effect on the girl. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!" She can NOT leave it at this! "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!" Alice rushes through her hallway and unlocks the door.
Slumping against her door on the doorstep, the WANKER barely manages to jump up before he falls backwards.
"Antonio you IDIOT!" Alice slaps her hand against his cheek as hard as she can. Leaving the puzzled man tripping and quickly struggling back up on his feet again, Alice lets him encounter the closing door with a loud slam.
Then the Englishwoman stomps back to the living room while still cursing under her breath, only managing to partly calm herself for the sake of the teenager still sitting in the same spot, unmoving. "Sorry…" Alice grumbles as she lets herself fall back on the couch with an angry huff. "I needed to let some of my aggressions out."
"Thanks…" Lovina mumbles and the adult can almost spot the teenager's mouth curl into a tiny, weak smile.
"Now. How about you tell me the whole story?" And the mood drops to unpleasantly heavy again. From sitting with her legs pulled to her chest, Lovina curls up into a more ball-like figure, biting her lower lip.
The teenager finally manages to repeat the fact which tore her world apart. "He's not my father." Once more they fall silent as Alice waits for Lovina to continue her story. "I don't know more than that though, because I ran away when he told me." Her voice barely a whisper, Alice wraps her arm around the girl once more and pats her hair.
It's less empathy towards the sad teenager than anger at the adult source of the problem making her thoughts run and her fists clench. It takes her a hard time to ignore the nagging anger and desire to dash outside and confront the Git with all of it.
She can do that later. And Alice knows she will!
Glaring at Lovina's red shirt without saying a word, the adult decides to slowly roast the wanker alive as soon as she finds a way to bend the law. She will find a way to make sure she won't be sued for taking an eye for another. An identity for an identity. A father's looks for his lies about his daughter's origin.
Tomorrow. She will think of ways to bend the law tomorrow.
Instead, the blonde tries to focus her thoughts on the girl shaking against her. Looking at the brown hair similar in appearance to his own curls, making it hard to believe they are not related. If the two women hadn't forced him to speak the truth, he might have kept it to himself and taken the secret to the grave.
"He's a fucking idiot for not telling you before." Alice grumbles and combs her fingers through the brown locks. Lovina nods against her hand. Still biting her lip, the girl tries her best to keep the tears back until Alice mutters a soft: "It's ok to be angry. It's ok to cry. It's ok, because you love him and he hurt you." Alice gently pulls the shaking girl towards her shoulder and listens to the desperate sniffles turning into suppressed sobs until she starts crying loudly.
Even though it's an awkward moment for thoughts like these, the Englishwoman is jealous how easily the teenager manages to show her emotions. Something she still has a hard time with, even in front of people she knew for decades.
xxx
Antonio stops his endless walking up and down in front of the door once more to stare at it. It has been quite some time since Alice smacked him without a warning. And a horribly long time since his cute daughter cursed him with any kind of swear word she knows and the neighbours were near to calling the police. The house from where his childhood friend's cursing echoed also quieted down a while ago.
The Spaniard takes a closer look at the door and it's near surroundings. Should he search for the spare key and let himself in? He glances around for any kind of suspicious-looking stone, flowerpot, garden gnome… Flower pot! Without thinking twice, he approaches the flowerpot placed on the windowsill and finds… Nothing. Except for a few lost slaters either rolling together or hurriedly shuffling away.
All disappointed, Antonio places the geranium back and stares at the small bunny-figurine sitting between the flower's green leaves. He almost didn't see it due to it also being some sort of green. Lovina might know the proper description of this light greenish-whitish colour but the man doesn't.
Uncertainty clenching his heart together, the (foster) parent decides to search until he manages to find a way to get to his baby girl. The brunette turns around again and searches the nearby bushes, bricks, just anything. –Without success though.
Antonio lets out a heavy sigh and sits down at the doorstep of Alice's house once more. Great. He looks around, not wanting to be damned to wait out here until Alice bursts out of this door again to beat him up once more. At least then he could catch a glimpse inside; maybe distract the blonde woman and enter the house like that.
But it has to be SOMEWHERE; that damned second key!
Standing up again and walking in circles in front of the door doesn't change anything about the fact that Antonio is more distraught now than he was before telling Lovina. He wants to see his baby girl and talk to her. Explain, if she lets him. And even if she doesn't… he still needs to try!
He goes hunting for the key once more. Checks the bricks, the stairs, the flowers once more but finds nothing but the green bunny. This time however, he takes the bunny to take a better look and chuckles as he discovers some small extra attached to the creature's back: Little wings decorate the bunny. Inspecting the weird creature closer, the Spaniard realises that it's big enough to hide a key. He turns it just to find his expectations met. Stuck to the bottom is a silver key.
With a triumphant grin, Antonio removes the key from its place and quietly unlocks the door, taking off his shoes before he enters. The man is greeted by a dark hallway. The house looks almost abandoned, the only sign of live a half-finished teacup in the dim kitchen.
Making sure his feet make no noise, he slowly continues his way towards the living room. Gently pushing the door open, the brunette sighs relieved when he realizes two silhouettes on the couch. Lovina sits curled up against Alice's shoulder. Antonio stops to burn the beautiful picture in his memory, for a short moment forgetting the reason that brought this situation to him. "Quit starring, Git." A hiss and an angry green glare interrupt the magic moment and Antonio approaches the two women. Alice sits on the couch like a queen staring at her subject, arm protectively wrapped around Lovina's shoulder.
"She fell asleep?"
"What does it look like, Arsehole." Alice grumbles with enough venom in her voice to make him shudder. Antonio whines apologetically and makes sure to keep a safe distance from the Englishwoman. The latter however frowns at him and commands him to bring a blanket from the other seat to cover Lovina.
He quickly does as told, and, against his desire to take the girl in his arms, draws back from her to stare at the slim hand which pushed him away.
"Who allowed you to touch her?!" Alice settles her hand back on Lovina's shoulder as the Spaniard's gaze wanders to meet the Englishwoman's. Her eyes give off the same protective vibes he got from her very figure once he entered.
Right now the distressed adult's only hope is Alice might allow him to stay at their side for the night. His eyes try to convey his plead but the Englishwoman only narrows hers, refusing. Then, she motions her head to turn his attention towards her right. "Take off my shoes, git." Alice stretches her right foot forward to emphasise her order and the Spaniard quickly does as he is told, helping her remove the slippers from her delicate feet.
"Alice…"
"Miss Kirkland." She demands and continues her snappy orders. "And bring a blanket for me too. You can go find it in the drawers over there." Alice elegantly points at it and he feels just how much she enjoys him following her every command. Yes, he messed up big time and the blonde will make sure he feels her displeasure. In her own way. At least as long as she can't move and kill him with her bare hands.
At first he enjoyed the sight of his two most important women cuddling against each other but right now he is simply glad Lovina leaning against Alice ensures his safety.
xxx
Alice glares at the Spaniard running around her house to fulfil her orders, clean the mess Lovina's shoes made and finish whatever odd job comes to her mind. After a while, the Englishwoman feels her need to boss the Git around as an outlet for her rage slowly fading. Finally being able to word her anger, she spits a: "You fucking KEPT it from her for over sixteen years, you Wanker!"
Freezing in his movements, the brown haired man in question opens and closes his mouth, searching for the right words while the blonde eagerly waits for his answer. She wants to hear how he justifies his doings. See whether he can explain his actions.
"I… I was afraid she would leave me if she knew I am not her father." Carriedo quickly tries to explain his point but gets shut off by Alice's growling voice.
"Excuse me?!" To her disappointment his answer displays nothing more than selfishness. Plain fear of showing weakness. Of being honest. Alice feels her blood boil. "This is NOT about you not being her real father, Git." Wednesday night Carriedo asked her to trust him. She considered it. But only two days later she learns the man himself hurt the trust of the very person he raised. For sixteen bloody years! "This is fucking about you BETRAYING her trust by NOT TELLING."
Carriedo looks like he knows he can be thankful Alice's ability to move is blocked by Lovina sleeping in her arms. At the hate-filled words, the girl shifts softly before she quiets down again, hearing the blonde's voice calming her: "Shush…" The Englishwoman's mood shortly changes and she gently caresses the girl's dark brown hair, remembering her distressed look when she stood at the blonde's doorstep.
"But I…" Alice's rage increases to unbearable again at the Spaniard's defending reaction and she glares at him, shutting him up mid-sentence. With each of his attempts to meet her eyes as if he wanted her to understand, her irritation grows. The Englishwoman feels how her focus changes from being angry the Spaniard lied to Lovina to being angry Carriedo tried to win Alice's favour while keeping her in the dark. Lying to his childhood rival just as he lied to his (adopted) daughter.
Then, her anger subsides to a familiar calmness as the realisation sinks in: Whyever the fuck she considered trusting him, his insincerity in this situation just saved her from making a big mistake. Coldness clouds her thoughts and coats her feelings as she shuts him out of her live again.
Not that he had ever been a part of it to begin with. Merely a hateful rival making nice moments turn worse, yet nowhere close to the worst moments in her live provided by a certain frog.
Someone she could easily kick out. Alice's eyes narrow as she rewords her thoughts. Knocking him out should be enough for the moment.
"Bring me the kettle." Alice orders him coldly and earns a questioning look. "Bring me the fucking kettle! Silver teapot. On the stove." The blonde repeats, her voice icy. If she could, she'd like it to freeze the air around them as well.
With a confused expression, Carriedo quietly disappears towards the kitchen and shortly after returns holding the kettle. "There you go." He brings the kitchen tool to her but Alice doesn't move a finger to take it. Instead, she waits for Carriedo to move closer and hold it right in front of her hands. With a quick hand movement, she tells him to lean in even closer.
"Thank you." Alice hums sweetly, not letting the innocent sound reach her eyes. Then she grabs the metal object and smacks it over the Spaniards head just strongly enough to make sure he gets a lovely hurtful bump but nothing more. Probably.
"What the…!" Antonio yelps and his dark green eyes flicker confusedly.
Alice doesn't care and hisses at him: "You fucking HURT her TRUST! Now go boil some water and bring me an Earl Grey, Arsehole. And think about how to regain your daughter's trust." She pushes the kettle back in his hands and turns to seemingly comfortably snuggle under the blankets.
"Yes Ma'am." The Spaniard blinks and turns to leave again. Watching him walk outside the room, Alice wraps the blanket closer around herself in a desperate attempt to warm her freezing feelings.
"Now leave my sight and don't you dare come within the distance of a thirty-minutes' drive unless I officially allow you to." Only waiting for as long as he needs to finish his last task, the divorced woman ensure the man will keep his distance as soon as the Spaniard appears with her teacup, holding a cold pack against his head.
xxx
It is warm. Something causes Lovina to blink and an angry voice interrupts her sleep just long enough to catch a:
"This is NOT about you not being her real father, git. This is fucking about you BETRAYING her trust by NOT TELLING."
The teenager recognizes Alice's voice and turns slightly towards the warmth sitting next to her. It's an uncomfortable sleeping position, but the calming "Shush" makes her relax into a gentle slumber again. Some muffled words she doesn't understand anymore when returning to the lands of dreams emit comfort and safety for her hurt soul.
xxx
Translations:
Spanish:
Por favour = Please
Italian:
Bastardo = Bastard
xxx
A/N
FINALLY lifting the cover over the story of Lovina's origin.
Loviiiii *cries* I'm sorry!
To the guest who wrote a review in Chapter 11: YES! You guessed that part right!
AND, dear Guest, I re-read my answer to your comment and I think it sounds really harsh. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. And thank you for your review again!
xxx
Supein no Bakaaaaa!:
Well, it's just 16 times "Idiot". Because the 31 "Baka!"'s are reserved for America ;)
xxx
Just me:
*super mild SPOILER ALLERT*
I hope I didn't disturb you too much with this revelation. (Was it much of a surprise? I dunno…)
Yet I need to warn you, you are not going to like the whole story of how Lovina came to live with Antonio. :( Makes me flinch every time I think about it, so I think it's fair to warn you chapters in advance.
Also: Check out the A/N in chapter 38!
That said I hope this week holds a bunch of good surprises for you; despite where this story might go!
-Himawari