IF EVERYTHING HAD BEEN DIFFERENT – Chapter 4
Thanks to Lady Dog ,Claudia and Cris (Our translator)
"And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you."
Khalil Gibran – 'The Prophet'
"... but several times, living together is much more difficult that just surviving... Now changing subjects: the new inhabitant of the Treehouse, Tommy, was very calm this evening. I ask myself: had Veronica a big trouble to make him silent, or is him getting used to this new life? I couldn't decide which option is correct, and new questions just pop into my mind at each minute. I see and listen to so many things that all the others have to say about this delicate matter, and I feel confuse sometimes about who I can trust or whom I can believe into. Unfortunately I reach the insecurity level that is showed through my actions, especially to Veronica who plays the most strong and most weak part in my heart. I believe that some impartiality could help solving these small conflicts between us".
Malone closed his journals with a sad look in his eyes. He did not know what to do and was not sure if he could even talk about that subject with someone else. Veronica could listen to him completely, but she could not guide him or provide advice in this specific situation – even she was not sure about how to deal with that.
His perspective about this fact was so different that he was not sure about how to react to the others. Sometimes he just stared to the others during the dinner, and noticed that each one was observing the others, as if they were competing for something, and as if everybody was being guarded in a way that any weakness could win a game. He felt like a player in an infinite and continuous game.
"If you run, the raptor catches you. If you stay, t-rex eats you..." he thought trying to cheer up. But the only thing he managed to get was a new perspective to see this situation, and he was tired of that.
"Marguerite thinks I'm weak, Challenger feels I'm insecure, Roxton thinks I'm just a boy and I can't get closer to any of them to talk about serious subjects".
After Veronica had created her routine with Tommy, including the mid-afternoon tour, Malone always left the Treehouse to fish almost at the same time. He knew the river was close to the place where she and the boy usually spent some hours under the shadows of the trees. Veronica could deal with any danger, but he would prefer to be around in case any emergency would happen. And he was not comfortable knowing she was alone with the baby without anyone else with them. From the river he could see them, and so he paid attention to any sign of danger. In the beginning he invited Challenger or Summerlee to go with him, but since Challenger was always too busy, Summerlee became his buddy in every afternoon he spent fishing.
Even from the distance, he could always manage a way to glance at Veronica and the boy as long as he could to make sure they were really alright. He never remained observing for too long since he was sure that was a privacy moment between Veronica and the baby, something special that should never be interrupted.
In one of those several afternoons, Malone noticed that the boy was already able to sit without Veronica's help. And that even being very young, he was able to crawl on all fours behind his toys, and was becoming very fast. When he tried to run away, Veronica would catch him by one ankle and bring him back to closer to her while both of them kept laughing. The boy waited for her to continue playing, and then started crawling on all fours away from her again. "You are really smart.."
"What have you said, Malone?". Ned was so involved that he had not noticed he was thinking and speaking aloud.
"Nothing, professor..." He answered turning back to his friend. "...Let's go. The fishes are waiting for us...".
At the river banks, Summerlee talked again to Malone a little bit later: "Don't take me wrong, Malone, but would you allow me to ask you one question?".
"Of course... Any problem, professor?".
"We've been coming here for weeks just to bath the baits, since we all know this is the worst place to fish in all the course of this river...".
Malone glanced back quickly to the professor, almost guessing what was to come. "I see..." Ned just answered trying to just express puzzled curiosity.
"... so I ask you, young boy, why?" - Malone looked to Summerlee to assess if the wise professor already knew the answer.
"You already know, don't you?".
"I just wished to confirm..." Summerlee sat by the banks with Malone by his side.
"You love her, don't you, Ned?".
Ned hesitated for a while, but he knew the professor had already trusted him with secrets before.
"More than I could ever imagine, professor...".
"So, boy, don't loose your time – or hers. You know she needs you more than ever now, why don't you reveal yourself to her?"
"I was going to do that, professor..."
"You were going to do that... And aren't you going anymore?"
"I believe she's got other things to worry about and I wouldn't like to be a new problem in her puzzle."
"I think you would be a great help and support for her, Ned, even emotionally..."
"I think I caught one!" – Malone tried to change the course of the conversation and Summerlee just observed. "Come on, professor, help me, this one seems to be a big one!"
"Let it go, Malone. You don't need that now "
Malone left his fishing stick and lowered his face, knowing Summerlee was right.
"I love her, but I'm not so sure if I'm able to accept... Tommy..."
"You don't think you could accept this specific child, or do you think you could not accept any children in your relationship?"
"That's not the point, professor. In London we had that shows with aberrations in the circus... Tommy, descending from ape men, would not be either an aberration?... Forgive me for using this word, but I cannot get used to the idea of him being..."
"...different? I don't believe you are making such kind of comparisons, Ned. Tommy, as far as I know, is very far from being an aberration, he can even represent the evolution to the human race..."
"I'm not so sure if I'm ready to accept him... But listen to me, professor. At the same time when I see him with Veronica, and notice how he is growing up strong and healthy, and learning so fast, and how he is tender and lovely... For some seconds these ideas and contradictions just disappear from my mind, and I just can see a little boy growing up as any other child in his age..."
Summerlee could understand a little what was going on through his young reporter friend's mind. He could see both sides of the question and due to that he was cultivating conflicting ideas. He had learned to see the situation in a rational way, and, at the same time, in a very human way.
"As far as I've observed, Malone, Veronica is ready to accept you in her life and in Tommy's life. But you need to be careful. We may reach a time when you will be not welcome any longer in their lives. Don't wait for too long to take your decision, because I indeed pray for the happiness of you all..."
"This morning I've surprised myself thinking about the baby. I think this is really curious, and so I decided to write about it. I believe I dreamt about him, I'm not sure... I just know I woke up thinking about him. It's funny. Once again I had not listened to any crying this evening. It had been several weeks since his arrival, and the boy really seems to have got used to everything here. I thought he would get longer to get used, as we took several weeks in the beginning to start felling at easy around here, and even today I doubt if we are at all at easy with living in a home so far from home. Well, now I will have some coffee before I continue reading another of Veronica's parents' journals later".
Malone was sat in a chair by the common room, but he put the book he was reading aside when Veronica and Tommy arrived to the kitchen to start preparing dinner and to play. Since a long time they've had split the tasks in a way that in each day of the week one of them was entirely responsible for the groups' meals.
"I think I had not chosen the best time to read..."
Veronica put the boy on a chair that had been specially build for the baby, once again a gift from Lord John Roxton who revealed himself as a skilled joiner, and held him using the belt for safety. She went back to the stove and started preparing dinner. Every then and a while she would turn to check on the boy. And observed Ned either, who was exchanging glances between her and the baby.
Tommy reached a wooden-spoon over the table and started beating it on his chair.
"Hey, little boy, this is not a toy..." Veronica turned back when she listened to the noise, then she got closer and took the spoon away from the boy after a little effort. "You are becoming stronger, little boy, it's better to leave this with me. You are going to get hurt..."
But as soon as she turned her back to him, he started crying. He wanted the wooden-spoon back.
"No, Tommy, you can't!" She caught a colorful cube made of old cloths and gave it to him. "This is a toy". And the boy continued stretching his arms trying to reach the spoon, but Veronica remained firm. Tommy left the cube fall over the floor and started crying again.
Ned observed that curious "war". Nobody could deny that the boy could sometimes be as stubborn as Veronica. And, as a thunder lightening, Summerlee's words came back to his mind.
"Veronica... I would like to read and..."
"I know, Ned, I'm sorry..."
"No, not at all... You could give him the wooden-spoon so we both or, even better, we three will be happy"
"He can get hurt"
"I can take care of him..."
Veronica was a little surprised by those words, and even Ned was, since he just weighted what he had just said after he had already pronounced the words. But now it was all said and he would never come back.
"Are you sure?"
"I am... Yes, I can take care of... the wooden... of Tommy..."
Veronica thought this was strange, but decided to accept. "That's alright... If that's what you really want."
She turned back smiling to herself. He was managing to accomplish at least a good start about what he had talked with her before.
Ned brought his chair closer to the boy, who received the wooden-spoon with a smile playing over his lips. He gave a quick smile to the boy and re-started reading. While Tommy continued to beat the spoon end on the table and Ned tried to show him the right way to hold the spoon. The boy challenged him, holding again the spoon by the opposite side and continuing to beat it on the table. Ned tried once more, but the boy changed it again, and now, instead of continuing beating it on the table, just smiled to the reporter.
"Are you trying to irritate me, aren't you?" Malone asked, just pretending to be mad.
Tommy seemed to understand and suddenly was laughing. Malone laughed as he had not done in a long time. Veronica turned to them caught by surprise by the laughs. It took some time for her to believe that it was Ned and Tommy who were there laughing with so much mirth.
"You pay attention now, little boy" Malone continue, pointing a finger in front of the child's face and trying to keep a serious look on his face. Tommy took his hand and Malone noticed that was the first time since Veronica had took the boy that they had exchanged a single touch.
Malone felt a shiver through his spine. The boy continued to shake his finger, smiling at him. Veronica stopped observing Malone.
Ned looked to her between confusion and perplexity. Never ever before had his mind been in a so opposite side when comparing to his heart.
"Please, Veronica, don't take any early conclusions..." he thought to himself.
"Ned, the firewood is almost finishing. Could you please take some for me to finish cooking the dinner?"
"Oh... Of course...". He said. Slowly he pulled his hand from Tommy's reach, but experienced warmly each touch from the child, thinking about the odd sensations that situation had triggered on him.
And even if it seemed odd, Ned noticed he would enjoy staying a little longer with Veronica and the boy. But he decided to withdraw a little before he got still more confuse.
Then he put the spoon with the right side in Tommy's hand who this time left it in the right way. "You learned this, didn't you? Ned thought smiling before leaving.
Tommy looked to the spoon and once again held it by the wrong side. He beat it against the table and looked to see if Ned would come back to correct him. He beat it again, now faster, and started shrieking, while Veronica drove to him a severe look. "Tommy, no..." the boy stopped shrieking and beating, but he continued looking around to check on the man which whom he was playing before. He beat the spoon once more and looked to Veronica, who was getting closer, already trying to cool the porridge in his small plate. She took the spoon from him and started feeding the boy. Even while eating, the boy continued to insist looking for Ned who had already went down with the elevator. She listened to Ned going down, and lowered her head. Tommy looked to her as if asking: "Why has he left?"
"He already left!" – She said to the boy. And the boy tried to tell her something with a distressed expression of his young face.
Malone went to the ground and headed to the firewood. He knew there was plenty of firewood in the kitchen, and smiled to himself recalling that Veronica was a bad liar. Suddenly he stopped closing his eyes, caressing his own hand, still felling the tenderness the boy gifted him during that brief magic moment between them.
Roxton was sharpening some tools on the ground when he listened to someone yelling his name.
"Lord John Roxton" he turned back to see Marguerite, hands on hips, an annoyed expression over her beautiful face.
"Marguerite Krux." – He smiled cynically – "May I ask what brings you here and gives me the honor and the pleasure of a so soft voice calling my name?"
"You come with me" Roxton opened his mouth to protest, but seeing her angry expression staring at him he changed his mind and stopped. He knew the limits to play with the heiress, and decided not to take a chance with luck this time.
Marguerite went up quickly to her bedroom, being followed by a curious hunter.
After they've entered the bedroom, she ordered him: "Close the door, Roxton".
"Marguerite, although I love the idea, what the others would think about you trying to seduce me in open day light?"
"Shut up, dammit..." She lowered herself opening a trunk in front of her and taking off some clothes carefully folded and giving them to the man, who after appreciating the sight of Marguerite's movements quickly reassumed a correct attitude – "Ready, here they are"
Caught by surprise, Roxton opened one of the clothes very carefully.
"Who have you paid to do that?..." Roxton looked to the neatly done clothes, all delicately embroidered.
"You know you are simply rude, don't you?"
"I assure you there is someone who really enjoys it". He intentionally cocked his head and arched a brow, leaving her a little bit disconcerted.
He knew that Marguerite had made the clothes, but he could never imagine the result would be as neat and delicate as the clothes on his hands. She was impatient and was not looking into his eyes, and he smiled at her.
"Thank you, Marguerite... Tommy will appreciate..."
"... Ah, and I will appreciate either, especially because now I will not miss my coffee anymore..." she interrupted. But then she softened her expression and looked at him a little bit worried: "You are not going to tell them that I did it, are you?"
Roxton got closer to her, stopping with his face about two inches from hers, and she sighed involuntarily. Roxton loved to tease her, but getting too close from her always made him tests his own self-control.
"You did a wonderful job, Marguerite, and shall be rewarded. Tonight you will have the better and fresher coffee anyone could wish and I shall not tell anyone our little secret"
Her eyes gleamed and she smiled. "One of your most beautiful smiles" Roxton evaluated, still trying to pretend he was not interested, but that was really a test for his nerves. Quickly he inclined his head and kissed her lips softly.
Marguerite withdrew. "I hope you can keep this secret either..."
And without the others noticing, Roxton ran and left the clothes by Veronica's bedroom.
Everybody noticed that Tommy was using new clothes during dinner.
"Tommy is wearing a very well fit clothe tonight, Veronica" – Roxton said with a mischievous glance while Marguerite was kicking him under the table.
"Thank you, Roxton" Veronica answered in a smile. "It's really wonderful, isn't it?" She said, discreetly raising her glass as in a toast and driving a light smile towards Marguerite, who responded almost imperceptible under the intrigued glances of Summerlee, Challenger and Malone.
Although they remained together around the table, Veronica and the baby were always a little distant, keeping quiet.
"Malone, can you please hand me the salt?" – she asked. Ned took the salt cellar and stood up, but when passed through Tommy, he caught a spoon, held it by the wrong side and started beating the table, while smiling at Malone. Malone answered the smile, took the spoon, and put it again on Tommy's hand, but now by the right side. A simple gesture but very funny for them both.
They all looked to Ned, Veronica and to Tommy, and the three of them seemed to ignore the others.
Challenger shook his head and continued to eat, looking firmly to his plate. Roxton looked to Marguerite and finally they all continued the dinner. Summerlee remained there for still a long time, observing Ned restless turning the spoon in Tommy's hand while them both laughed.
After everybody left the table, Ned stayed there playing with Tommy. Summerlee was doing the dishes instead of Marguerite, since she had alleged she had a terrible headache and had left to her quarters.
"It's already time to go to bed..." Veronica smiled taking Tommy on her arms.
"It's early still..." Ned protested.
"No, it's not... It's almost 8PM and Tommy needs to rest, he had a full day today... Good night, Ned, good night, Summerlee...".
"Good night" both answered and Ned completed in a lower voice. "Good night, Tommy..." The boy smiled and Veronica took him with her to the bedroom.
Summerlee listened to this conversation smiling. "I believe they are finally reaching an understanding" Maybe his words were finally making some difference to his friends.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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