Daria: Winter Is Coming Three Daughters
Disclaimer: I do not own the property rights to either Daria or to the Game of Thrones. Characters, plot, background and details belong to their respective creators. This work is written for recreation and ego gratification, and the author neither expects nor deserves financial compensation for this work, although positive reviews would be nice. Those readers interested in finding out more about Daria and/or A Game of Thrones should seek out the creator's official books and videos.
Winter Is Coming*Winter Is Coming*Winter Is Coming
They left for the hospice an hour after breakfast. They took two cars: Jake, Melanie, Jade and Rikka rode in one car while Helen and Quinn rode in the other one: Daria remained behind: she decided that the itchy eyes and runny nose she'd worried about was turning into a full-blown cold.
They got there about twenty minutes later. Rikka, Melanie and Jade spent much of the ride catching up with each other: while Melanie had given Jade some of the broad outlines of what their adoptive sister had been doing since their Mom divorced Dad, they lacked Rikka's impressions and a lot of details. Jade was surprised and a little saddened that life in Las Vegas away from the Strip lacked the city's glamor and that Rikka and Ben had not had an easy time while they were there.
Jake smiled as he heard the girls catching up with each other. Rikka was a great kid and it seemed like the other two girls in Ben's life were great kids, too. The thought that someone would tear them away from each other made him angry: not angry enough to "leak," as Helen would put it, but angry enough that he had to stop more suddenly at the next traffic light than he wanted. They arrived safely despite his distraction. He pulled into the hospice parking lot and they all got out. Helen pulled in a short time later.
"It looks like a Southern mansion," Jade said as they were walking up the sidewalk.
"It does, doesn't it?" said Jake. Without the Colonel, the mint juleps, and pointed questions about how I'm supposed to support their daughter, he thought sourly.
They all walked in together and checked in at the reception desk. The receptionist looked at them in surprise. "I didn't know Ben had that big a family," she said.
"This is just some of us," said Jake. "My Mom and my sister might be coming later."
"Don't you have another daughter?" asked the receptionist. "The auburn-haired girl with the eye-glasses? I remember her from yesterday."
"She stayed behind," said Jake. "She wanted to be here but thinks she has a cold."
"That's a good place for her," said the receptionist. "That's very considerate of our other patients and visitors."
"Is my brother awake?" said Jake.
"I'll check," said the receptionist.
The receptionist called the nurse's desk and asked a couple of questions. She nodded her head a couple of times, said "Yes," and couple of times, and then said "OK, I'll tell them."
"Yes, he's awake," she said. "You can go and see him now."
Jake and Helen led the procession and Jake was the one who knocked on the door.
"Hey, Big Brother," he said.
An aide was sitting next to Ben, who had just finished a light breakfast. She nodded at Jake and Helen, picked up the breakfast tray and left.
"Hey, Jakey, Helen," said Ben.
"Good morning, Ben," said Helen. "I brought Quinn, but I'll have to cut my visit short this morning. I need to go run an errand at the court house."
Ben wondered if he should say something, that Helen ought to slow down at a time like this, then realized that she might have a very good reason to set off."
"Drive safe," said Ben.
"I will. I'll be back later," said Helen.
"We brought guests with us, Big Brother," said Jake. At that moment, Melanie knocked on the door frame and she and Jade and Rikka all walked into the room.
"Hi, Dad," said Melanie. "Jade decided that she wanted to see you. We took the same bus to Lawndale." Helen had the pleasure of seeing both Jade's and her ailing brother-in-law's reactions. Both of them had the biggest smiles she'd seen in years. It was absolutely heartwarming.
"Jade, you came," said Ben.
"I did," Jade replied.
-(((O-O)))—
Daria was back at the house feeling out of sorts and under the weather. She didn't like being sick in general and she didn't like being down with a cold, particularly now. Schloss Morgendorffer (Or should she call it the Morgendorffer Holdfast?) was overrun with visitors with the possibility of more coming in if Grandma Ruth and Aunt Evie made an appearance.
She put some water on to boil and make some green tea. The anti-oxidants were supposed to do something for her. I don't like being sick, she thought grumpily.
The water soon boiled and Daria made tea. She poured her concoction into a large coffee mug and went upstairs. She'd just set her mug on her desk when she sensed a presence out in the upstairs hallway.
She walked out of her room and was surprised that the ghost had come back. Not only that, he was talking, something he'd never done before. The first thing he did was to ask her a question. Daria recognized the language, but while the ghost spoke Andal, she didn't.
If she didn't understand him, she did recognize him: the yellow surcoat with the crowned stag was a big giveaway. The images of Westerosi coins she'd seen on-line were another big lead: no doubt about it, that was Robert Baratheon, First of His Name, King of the Seven Kingdoms—and in the friggin' upstairs hallway. The first thing Daria said to him was "I'm sorry, but I don't understand Andal," wishing that Rikka was there.
Rikka wasn't there: the Warrior Princess was at the hospice while she was back at the house with a cold.
Damnit!
She sighed. Since the ghost could see and hear her, it was clear that they could interact with each other. Since they couldn't converse in English or Andal, it looked like charades and finger-pointing. The first thing she did was to point at him and say "You King Robert Baratheon." The second thing she did was to point to herself and say "Me Daria Morgendorffer."
Communication was slow and awkward, but it had begun.
-(((O-O)))-
"Let me look at you," said Ben. It was the first time he'd seen his younger daughter-in-all-but-name since just after the divorce. Jade had been in her mid-teens then; she was now approaching college age and looked like someone who was leaving childhood behind them and was becoming an adult. "So tell me what you've been doing."
Jade told him. She'd entered her latest high school as a junior midway through her junior year. It was difficult at first. Most of the kids at the school had grown up together and had known each other since primary school while she was the new kid. Still, she'd managed to transition into her current school's curriculum with little trouble and had made new friends before the spring semester had ended.
Her new town was different. Some of her mother's New Age ideas remained with her, despite her resentment about her mother's controlling tendencies and having to move every couple of years, and Jade had learned that her beliefs were largely out of synch with her new schoolmates. She tried to adapt without compromising herself, but it wasn't easy. She did tell him that she was looking forward to graduating and leaving home.
Helen came back around 12:30. She apologized for having to leave, but looked at Ben, smiled, and said "It's done. The judge signed off on it."
"What's done?" said Jade.
"I'll tell you later," said Helen.
Despite his intention of staying awake and alert for the entire afternoon, Ben found himself worn out. He surreptitiously pushed the call button by his bed and a nurse came in and told them that he needed his rest.
The Morgendorffers left shortly afterwards and drove to the house on Glen Oaks. It was then that Helen made her announcement. "Jade, Melanie, I know that you aren't part of our immediate family, but I would like you to stick around for this family meeting."
Melanie's eyebrows raised. Ben's sister-in-law was acting melodramatic.
"Quinn, could you go upstairs and get Daria?" said Helen. "Wake her up if you have to, but I want her down here unless she's at Death's door."
Quinn quickly mounted the stairs and Jade and Melanie looked at each other. What was going on?
Daria came downstairs with a sniffle and wearing a disposable mask.
"Good," said Helen. "This will be a short meeting. It concerns Rikka and her place in our home. Ben and I and Jake got together and signed some legal paperwork and this morning I took it to one of the judges who handles family court here in Maryland. While we all wish no harm to Ben and would like to see him back on his feet and out of hospice, we decided that we aren't taking chances. As of noon, Jake and I have been given temporary legal custody of Myrcia Morgendorffer. Should Ben pass on, we intend to get permanent legal custody. She'll be living with us."
-(((O-O)))—
That night Melanie, Jade, and Rikka all slept in the upstairs guest room. For Rikka it was almost like old times when Dad was healthy and they were all living together, the difference being that their family had been torn apart and Dad was dying in the hospice. Still, having both Mel and Jade with her was pleasant and comforting. She quickly fell asleep, then started dreaming.
She dreamt that she was in a dark wood, the sort of wood she'd heard about but never seen: with thick trees and thorny bushes. It was a creepy place where she heard strange bird and animal calls. She wanted out, but the path was narrow. She started running towards what she thought was the edge of the forest and found herself in a grassy meadow.
There was a village beyond the meadow. It wasn't anyplace Rikka had ever seen, but it looked safe enough. The path ended at a dirt road. There was a sign there; it said "Welcome to Morgendorf." Morgendorf looked very old-fashioned by American standards, a place with white-washed half-timbered walls and thatched roofs. There were people there: they were all wearing those weird clothes like the ones she'd seen in a movie about a Swiss girl named Heidi. Still, they looked friendly enough to nod to her, tip their hats, and one or two of them said "Guten Tag," whatever that meant.
As she walked down the street she thought it was odd that there were were no houses, although there was an inn. It was called The Oaks and despite the fact that she was a kid and unaccompanied kids generally weren't allowed inside such places, she went in. The tap room was empty except for a woman with a mop and pail. The woman turned around and to Rikka's amazement it was her mother.
"Mother!" she said.
"Rikka!" her mother exclaimed, and they ran to embrace each other.
"I've missed you so much," said Rikka.
"Me, too, little one, me, too," said her mother. "So what's going on?"
"Well, Dad, I mean Ben, drove me across the country to a place called Lawndale. He's very sick and I'm afraid that he's going to die and leave me alone." Rikka started crying.
Her mother held her and let her sob. "Yes, I know about Ben. He's a good man and that Breeze woman was a fool to send him away. But Ben still loves you and he and his brother and his brother's wife will do the best they can to give you a new home. It's going to be hard in the coming months but I know you're strong."
"Really?" said Rikka.
"Really," said her Mother. "And Rikka?"
"What, Mother?" said Rikka.
Her mother put her hand on her chest. "I'll always love you and I'll always be with you."
"Always."