Assassin's Creed (c) Ubisoft
Haytham knew he shouldn't be doing this, but the conversation he had with Jenny had gotten his curiosity piqued. He pushed the sliding door of his father's closet open, clicked the flashlight on and began to look at everything squirrel away in the closet. The cardboard boxes had labels like Navy shit and shit from home and misc. shit, though there were two boxes labeled Caroline's stuff and Tessa's stuff. There was also a salt stained green bag tucked away in the back. "Cool," Haytham said, "hey Jenny! Jenny c'mere! Come look at this!" Haytham heard his sister get off the couch.
"Just because we were talking about Dad doesn't mean we can go snooping through his things," Jenny said.
"He's not home, as long as we put everything back it'll be fine," Haytham said. "There's boxes with our mothers' names on them."
"Oh." Jenny stared at the box with her mother's name on it. "Alright, I'm sure one little peek won't hurt. So long as we put everything back."
"Exactly," Haytham agreed, before grabbing the salt-stained sea-bag and hauling it into the living room. Jenny eased the box with her mother's name on it down, setting it on the floor before getting the box with Tessa's name on it down. Haytham trotted back into the room. "We should pull out the miscellaneous box and the one with stuff from home," Haytham added. "Who knows what we may find in there."
"Or we can just ask him," Jenny grumbled, feeling oddly uncomfortable about snooping through their father's things. "Don't you feel… bad for doing this?"
"Not really," Haytham said, "I mean, I'll never go in here on my own, but I've always been curious. I would never have the courage to ask though. Why?"
"I just feel… wrong, about doing this. I remember once when I was eleven, I snooped through my mother's things and she got mad at me."
"Father won't. He might… at first, but I don't think he'll stay mad for long," Haytham said, "I mean, it took him six years for him to tell me about Mother."
"How did your mother die? If you don't mind me asking?" Jenny asked, as she helped get the other boxes down and into the living room. Haytham shrugged.
"I don't know, Father says it was a freak accident, but what sort of accident he won't say," Haytham muttered. "Did he ever come and visit you?"
"No," Jenny said, "I mean… he tried. I think. Why?"
"Because this box has your name on it," Haytham said, turning the miscellaneous box around. Scrawled in Edward's sloppy handwriting was Jenny's things. "Maybe he bought you stuff."
"Why?" Jenny asked, opening the box. It smelled musty and like old cardboard, but there were dolls and pictures. "He left when I was two… the only memory I have of him was this time at a courthouse."
"A courthouse? What were you doing there?" Haytham asked, picking up a pink ribbon. There were so many girly things on top, but as he dug deeper, he saw the random odds and ends his father had kept over the years.
"So, Dad and Mom got a divorce when I was two, but Dad could still visit me and he was obligated to pay child-support. Well, apparently, the divorce was really messy. Mom and Dad loathed each other in the way only two people that love each other can. Dad never paid the child-support so my mom tried to get the money from him. Long story short, there was big court battle, and it didn't end until I was five." Jenny said, picking up a doll, if she titled it the eyes would open or close. She dropped it back into the box.
"What happened?" Haytham asked.
"He stopped calling to talk to me," Jenny said. "I saw him at the courthouse when the judge made his decision. He hugged me and told me he'd always love me. I never saw him after that."
Haytham didn't know what to say, instead he hugged his sister. "It's okay… he's here now right? That's all that matters."
"I guess…" Jenny muttered.
"Clearly Father regrets, otherwise he'd never keep all this stuff, right?" Haytham pointed out. "He loves you."
"Do you think I'm stupid for coming here?" Jenny asked, reaching back into the box for the stuffed rabbit. "I mean, I was really nervous and scared about coming all the way to Boston on my own to see a man that I barely even know."
"Why would that be stupid?" Haytham asked. "If I knew my mom was still alive somewhere I'd do everything I could to find her."
"If she was still alive and you had the chance to meet her… would you?" Jenny asked. Haytham frowned. On one hand he would love to meet his mother, hear her voice and talk to her and feel her hugs and kisses yet on the other hand if she was alive and never bothered to talk to him then he could resent her.
"I think so," he whispered, unsure about such a heavily weighted question on his small seven-year-old shoulders. "I hope I would still… want to and not hate her so much for abandoning me."
Jenny smiled, leaning forward and kissing Haytham on the forehead. "Thanks," she whispered.
"For what?" he looked at her confused, his hand twitched once with the want to wipe the kiss from his forehead.
"For saying that. I finally feel like I did the right thing in coming here," Jenny said. "Now, I'm going to make some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, then afterwards we can finish going through these boxes."
"Okay," Haytham agreed, a big grin on his face.
Edward sighed, parking the car in the driveway, Jenny's car was in the house's garage. Work had been long and exhausting and all he wanted to do was watch Disney movies with his kids and eat pizza. He scooped up the delicious smelling pizzas, in their cardboard boxes, got out of the car and headed inside.
"Father!" Haytham cried, throwing himself onto the back of the couch, a huge grin on his face. "I want to learn how to swordfight."
"What?" Edward arched a brow, completely taken off guard.
"Swordfight!" Haytham repeated, pointing to the TV where an old video was playing, the date emblazoned in the lower left hand corner.
"Next up, Edward Kenway, sophomore, from Jackdaw High School!" the video said. "Versus, Wood Rodgers, junior, from Whetstone Galley Private Preparatory School!"
"Jaysus, Haytham… where did you find those?" Edward asked, staring at the TV. He closed the door and handed the pizza boxes to Jenny, giving her a hastily muttered hello.
"Jenny and I went looking through your closet," Haytham muttered, a sheepish blush covering his cheeks, "I hope it's okay."
Edward chuckled. "Why you little rascal," he said, ruffling Haytham's hair. "You did put everything back though?"
"Yep! Well, we kept the videos out," Haytham said, glancing quickly at the TV.
"I think I won that match," Edward said, coming around to sit on the couch. Jenny walked in with three plates of pizza. "Wood Rodgers is a—"
"Pompous preppy bitch?" Jenny supplied, handing her father and brother their plates. She sat down next to Haytham, tucking her feet beneath her.
"I wouldn't have said that, but yet," Edward agreed, "he is. Oddly enough, your mother said the same thing."
"Really?" Jenny asked, biting into her pizza.
"What happened to him?" Haytham asked, pulling off a greasy pepperoni slice.
"Don't know, don't care." Edward shrugged. He continued to make little comments about the match. His memory of the match was correct; he did beat Wood Rogers. Haytham and Jenny watched as the teenage image of their father removed his helmet, blond hair clinging to his sweaty forehead as he raised his sword up in victory. A pretty teenage girl came up to Edward, strawberry blond tresses bouncing as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Whoa," Jenny paused the film, freezing the image of Edward and the girl, both grinning like love-struck fools. "Is that… is that my mother?"
"Sure is," Edward said, "damn, she's beautiful."
"You two met in high school?"
"Uh-huh. We were high school sweethearts. Her father didn't like me much though," Edward sighed, "my parents adored her. Caroline came to every one of my matches. I was trying to go to the Olympics, but then my father died and I… couldn't continue fencing anymore."
"Mom never told me how you two met," Jenny whispered.
"I punched some guy in the face because he was bothering her," Edward chuckled. "I was a scrawny little freshmen and she was a junior."
"I wanna learn how to fence!" Haytham interjected, feeling ignored. "Can I get lessons? Please, please, please!"
"Lessons are expensive…" Edward mumbled.
"I'll keep up with my homework! And we already have swords that I can use!" Haytham said, "I really, really want to learn how to fence. Please, Father, please!"
"Alright, alright," Edward sighed, "I'll see what I can do sea urchin. I make no promises."
"Yes!" Haytham cheered, bouncing in his seat. Edward chuckled, pulling his son close, thinking about how he'd find a fencing team for his son. Edward began looking around the next day and as luck would have it, the school had one for a decent price and students could rent the gear needed for a modest fee. He signed Haytham up, and happily informed his son he'd start fencing lessons after the first week of school was complete. "Awesome! I'm gonna tell Shay and Charles… and Ziio! I have to tell her! She'll be so excited!" Haytham shouted before running off to play with his friends and inform them of his new after school activity.
Edward watched his son sprint off to join his friends, who were waiting for him at the end of the block, and whispered, "Haytham… please stop growing up so fast. I'm not ready to let you go yet… please, remain my little boy for a bit longer."
Alrighty, I thought I'd be able to leave the Year Seven behind but alas, I couldn't. I felt this chapter was needed for development and to bridge the next part of the story together. Why did Haytham suddenly want to learn fencing? Did Jenny and Haytham still maintain a good relationship? What exactly is in Edward's closest (even though it never came up before. Hahah)? Thus, this chapter.
Now, I feel confident and comfortable in moving on to the next. Enjoy.
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Nemo
PS: Whetstone Galley is one of the ships' owned by the historical Wood Rodgers. Also I beat ACIV Friday... I bawled like a baby at the end.