Bastard (Part 5)
*slams fists on table*
IT. IS. DONE.
Valentin paced restlessly through the apartment. “Babe, you’re gonna walk right through the floor. Just come over here and sit down.” “How am I supposed to sit still at a time like this?” “At the very least, please stop chewing on your thumb nail. You’ll make it bleed.” Val looked down at his thumb, grumbling a little at himself. Guess I’ve got one short nail again…
Hannah was due to arrive any moment, and Valentin wasn’t sure if he wanted to run or get violently sick. He was tempted to stick his head out of the front window, but didn’t want to risk actually puking on someone below. “I think I’ll go in the art room a bit. Call me when she’s here?” Noell nodded. “Behave while you’re in there.” Valentin nodded quickly, nearly running into the other room.
“Behave?” Beverly questioned. “Does he usually do questionable things in there when he’s nervous?” Noell smiled a little. “No, but he does have a tantalus in there. He isn’t much of a drinker, but I didn’t want him getting any ideas. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t lock himself in there for good.” Beverly nodded, concern in her eyes. She looked up at Bernard, who simply smiled at her. “Tell us more about Valentin,” he asked, leaning against the chaise. “His personality, hobbies, etc.” “Anything specific in mind?” she inquired. Bernard shook his head. “Let me see…” she said, as she looked out the window. “Generally, he’s always in a fair mood. Easily excited, impulsive at times. Tends to struggle with staying on task. Sometimes he gets so hyperfocused on his art that you have to physically pull him away from it!” Noell giggled, making Beverly smile slightly. “As for any hobbies...well, one you already know of. The other is collecting pens, curiously enough.” “Pens? Seems a rather odd thing to collect.” Noell grinned, shrugging her shoulders. “To each their own, I suppose. And he really likes hairless cats, for some reason. Also, if he had his way, he’d eat panna cotta all the time. I don’t know why he loves it so much, but it’s practically all he eats some days. I’ve had to sit him down in front of actual food once or twice. He doesn’t fuss too much about it, thankfully.” Bernard nodded, a look is contemplation on his face. “He seems like a handful. How long have you two been married?” “He can be a challenge sometimes, yes. And we've been married for a year now.”
Their conversion was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Oh! Hello again, Miss Noell!” Hannah beamed, skipping through the front door. Another woman followed behind her; she seemed to be in her forties, and judging by Hannah’s familiarity with her, she could have been either her nanny or her chaperone. Noell wasn’t keen on the way she seemed to look down her upright little nose at her surroundings. “I apologize, Edith, for asking you to bring her here on such short notice.” So that’s the stiff’s name. “Yes, thank you for bringing her. By the way,” Noell started to ask, getting down on her knees to meet Hannah at eye level, “did you bring your little art book?” She nodded. “Yes...it’s nothing special though...just little drawings…” “May I look at them?” “Ummm…” she mumbled, holding her small portfolio closer to her chest. Beverly’s eyebrows knit together. “Is there something you don’t want us to see, darling?” No answer. “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t we go show Mister Valentin? I’m sure he’d love to see your other drawings!” Hannah looked around at her parents before returning her gaze to the floor. After a second, she looked up at Noell, giving her a nod. “Okay! He’s just in that room over there. Why don’t you go knock on the door and see if he’s not busy?”
Valentin jumped a little at the quiet knock on his door. “One moment!” he called, setting down the piece of charcoal he was using. He looked down at his pants, grumbling at himself once more. Dammit, I got charcoal all over my pant leg again…He checked his shirt in the nearby mirror to make sure at least that looked decent. He let himself get so absorbed in his artwork again that he’d forgotten to grab a rag for his leg; he was so used to just simply wiping his hands off on his pants, anyhow. Walking over to the door, he stopped as he grabbed the handle, taking a deep breath. Well...here we go. “Well, hello Hannah!” She giggled. “Hi again, Mister Valentin!” He scrunched his nose up. “Oh, please, don’t call me ‘Mister’.” He leaned closer to her to whisper. “Makes me feel old, and such.” She grinned, partially hiding her face behind her little portfolio. Valentin pointed at it. “Is this yours?” “Uh-huh!” “Wow, you’re very own portfolio! Must be some important stuff in there, madam.” A nod. “May I look?” She opened her mouth to answer, but closed it. She shook her head a little. “Well, that’s alright,” he commented, stepping aside. “You want to come in? I can show you mine.” She immediately looked up. I see that caught her interest. “What kind of stuff are you doing right now?” “Not stuff for your eyes,” he answered, chuckling a little. “Well, not unless one of your parents says otherwise.” “And what reason would they have to say yes?” replied a different voice. She seemed a bit uptight and full of herself. Nothing Val wasn’t used to by now, when it came to the subject of his questionable art. “My mother was...an entertainer, of sorts, and rather than be repulsed by her work, I was intrigued. I was curious as to what attracted the human mind, so she spoke with some of her ‘coworkers’ and they sat for me.” “Good gracious. And how old were you?” “Oh lord, younger than her. Eight, I believe.” Val kept from chuckling at her surprised gasp. “My mother wasn’t wholly concerned with it...affecting me, I suppose. She was just grateful that I seemed to pick up a hobby. I had been drawing since I was seven, but never any specific subject. I believe she was doing what she thought was best. I’m thankful for that.” “And she believed that nudity was an acceptable hobby?” “Ma’am, if you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not exactly what one would consider ‘normal’. I didn’t have many friends thanks to my questionable birth, and I didn’t really have any hobbies to speak of, so when I picked up drawing and chose to draw from life...she made a choice to encourage me. That is what matters.” She gave him a disgusted little scoff. “Mr. Easton, please, this indulgence has gone too far.” “If only it were indulgence,” he muttered, stifling his annoyance as best he could. “Do you have anything that’s a little more age appropriate, Mr. Fischer?” “That I do! Just give me one moment, okay?” he asked over his shoulder. He flung a sheet over the easel he was just at, covering the current drawing. Walking over to a bookshelf across the room, he motioned for Hannah to come in. He clicked his tongue a little as he pondered which folder to give her. “Ah! This one!” He took it off the shelf, blowing on the cover a little. He handed it to her, holding out his hand to take her portfolio. “I won’t open it, don’t worry.” She paused for a moment before handing it over. As she opened it, her face changed from mildly curious to wonderment. Val couldn’t help but smile. “The drawings you’re looking at are ones I did when I was your age. A good portion of them are people, but just different parts and coverings.” He pointed at the page she currently had open. “See, this one is just a bust, but I had her wear only a shawl.” “Why just a shawl?” “Fabric tension,” he answered, a playful scowl on his face at the look Beverly gave him. “It was a silk shawl, and I’d never worked with said fabric before.” And she wasn’t nude, anyway… “And what about these?” Hannah asked, pointing at a new page. “These are all eyes and noses.” “Yes they are. Most of them are comparison drawings of parents and their children.”
Suddenly, it dawned on the whole room. Hannah looked up at him, an almost guilty curiosity painted on her face. “Of...parents and their children…?” Valentine nodded. He crouched down in front of her. “See...I didn’t know who my father was. My mother had a photograph, one photograph, of him. I used to spend hours sitting in front of that mirror,” he pointed at the mirror on the opposite wall, “drawing out the different similarities between the two of us. The way our hair sat against our brow, how his lip curved when he smirked...our eyes,” he said, emphasizing the last one. He held out her portfolio, hoping that she would open it herself. She set his down, taking hers back. Staring at it for a bit, she finally spoke. “I...don’t understand.” “Because I was just like you. I didn’t know who he was for a very long time...but, unlike you...I never met the man until a few years ago. I only had that picture. What do you have…?”
Another pause. Hesitantly, she opened the portfolio. Inside were two pictures. One of herself, and the other of him from 10 years ago...and a lot of small comparison sketches.
“Mama never told me...and I didn’t ask her. If we hadn’t both been at the park…” “You would have never known…” Beverly finished, sadness and shame in her words. Valentin looked up at her. “You don’t need to feel guilty about that, Bev. I wouldn’t have blamed you.” “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to say, exactly...I just wasn’t sure how I would…Oh, I feel like a fool.” “I don’t think there’s a need for that.” Bernard commented, stepping into the room now. He also crouched by Hannah. “Darling, where did you find that photo of your mother? You aren’t in trouble, don’t worry.” “Um...I found it in an old trunk. It had a box full of different pictures. This is the only one of its kind.” Bernard looked at Val. “No, that would make sense. I have them all, save for the one. I had wondered where it went.”
An idea popped into his head. “Wait! Let me grab something for you!” He got up, walking quickly to his room to grab his own box of photos. When he came back, he was rummaging through the box, until… “There!” He handed Hannah the picture in question. Her little jaw dropped. “Is...is this you?” He smiled. “Yes, that’s me. When I was 10. Pretty incredible, if you ask me.” “You look like me! And why is your hair long?” Valentin laughed. “I, uh, didn’t care too much about the length of my hair then. I didn’t cut it until the year after, and only at my mother’s request.” Hannah looked at the photo warmly, like she’d just discovered a piece to herself. “May I...may I have this? For a little while? For practice is all.” “Oh, of course. For practice.” She giggled, sticking the picture in her portfolio. Now Bernard was smiling as well. “Actually, about that...I want to ask you something, if you don’t mind. In private.” Valentin raised an eyebrow, giving Beverly a questioning look. She shrugged, looking confused herself. “Should I leave the room, or…?” “No, Beverly, this involves you as well. And Noell, if that’s alright.” “Oh. Of course. Um, Abby, would you mind entertaining for a bit?” Abigail shook her head. “Not a problem.”
About two hours went by before the art room door opened up again. Tony watched as Valentin was the first to step out, excitement radiating off of him. “Well? Is everything okay?” he asked. Valentin grinned. “Yes, but I need to ask Hannah something first!” He strode over to his daughter, sitting down next to her on the sofa. “Hey! So, your mother and I were talking about something.” “Okay…? What about?” He tapped her nose. “You!” “What about me?” “If you’d like to stay here with me for a little while.” Hannah’s face went blank for a moment as she looked over at her mother. Tony saw the smile and the nod. Hannah’s face split with a huge grin. “Really?! I get to stay?!” When all parties involved nodded, she squealed. “Yes! Yes yes yes! I’d love to!” She threw her little arms around Valentin, hugging him tight. He returned the hug, laughing at her antics. Tony wasn’t sure who was happier, Valentin or Hannah! “Well, now that we’ve settled that...why don’t we go find you some things for your room?”
“Yes, please!”
