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Post by arianette on May 14, 2009 17:25:58 GMT -5
<new day>
"Rebbecca...please don't do that." Ariannette sighed as she watched her small daughter play with her food. She was on her day off, her hair, makeup, clothing...everything was immaculate, as it always was.
Which was the exact opposite of her little daughter--or was so now. When they left the house Rebbecca had looked fine, but now, she had more than a little dirt on her, and crumbs...their trip to the park had meant digging for things, and then here..
Aria was not quite sure where her daughter got her love of dirt. It certainly wasn't from her. But..it was probably from her rotten, no good father. She was still struggling, trying to get a divorce. But it was hard to get a divorce from a man who had simply disappeared.
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Post by scaper on May 16, 2009 20:09:56 GMT -5
Clarence had been back in town for only a week. He'd been put back on his old patrol in Queens, which made him slightly nervous. He always feared he would run into people who wanted him dead, or worse, his wife.
Today, however, after unsuccessfully calling on Caprice Hall, he decided he needed a good cup of coffee. After walking into the dimly lit coffee house from the bright street outside, he was momentarily blinded.
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Post by arianette on May 16, 2009 21:34:57 GMT -5
"DADDY!" Rebbecca let out a loud squeal as she saw her father come in the door--she knew he hadn't abandoned her--mummy had been very stupid and very silly..it had been her fault, she knew it.
Scrambling from her chair, she toddled up to him, hugging his legs.
Ariannette looked up to the man in the doorway, her face crumbling in a mix of emotions before she steeled herself, squeezing her hands around her gloves as she stayed seated, unsure what to do, frozen.
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Post by scaper on May 17, 2009 8:40:48 GMT -5
His eyes had only seconds to adjust as he heard a child scream Daddy!, and a blonde blur latch onto his leg. When he looked down, his heart seemed to momentarily stop beating.
It was his Rebecca. And she had remembered him.
He thought he was dreaming, but he squatted down to her level with the biggest grin on his face.
"My sweet little Becca." Clarence wrapped his arms around his daughter and hugged her tightly. Kissing the crown of her head, he lifted her into the air.
"Oh how I've missed you!" he exclaimed.
As he held her even closer, he realized that wherever Rebecca was, Ariannette would be. When he looked up from his daughter he found her.
She was sitting by the window, still as beautiful as when he had last seen her.
His face had gone pale and he mouthed her name, as if he too was stunned by the sight of her. His feet seemed to involuntarily lead him to her.
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Post by arianette on May 17, 2009 16:34:14 GMT -5
Rebbecca screamed in happiness, hugging him with chubby arms, "Oh I knew mummy was wrong! I knew she had been mean and ran you away! But you'd come back--I knew it!" She kissed his cheek, very sure she wasn't going to let go.
Ariannette watched him move forward, and her head instinctively raised up, looking haughty and cold. She wasn't sure why he was back--but if he thought he could just waltz back into her life, after nearly destroying her...after leaving her leaving her open to the ridicule of the city...leaving her daughter open to that...he was very wrong.
It would just be too hard, to scary to let him back in...because she still loved him.
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Post by scaper on May 17, 2009 18:46:56 GMT -5
Her face turned from shock to a look of murder. Saying that she was glaring daggers would have been a large understatement on Clarence's part.
However, before he reached the table, he stopped. He imagined that Rebecca had been very mean to her mother while he was gone and he wanted to set her straight before he confronted Ariannette.
Whispering into her ear, he told her, "Listen Rebecca. It wasn't you and it wasn't Mommy that made Daddy have to go away. It was other big grown-up things. When you get older, I'll tell you more about it." He hoped that would suffice the young girl for now.
Clarence then turned his full attention back to Ariannette and closed the gap between himself and her table. Finding himself quite nervous, and with a small child clinging to his neck, he managed to stutter out a "H..Hello Aria."
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Post by arianette on May 18, 2009 17:34:32 GMT -5
Rebecca bit her lip, looking at him seriously with her large eyes, "..promise? You..you're gonna stay, right?" She put her small hand on his cheek, hoping she would get a good answer--she just wanted her Daddy to stay, for him to stay with Mummy...if Mummy would stop being so mean and let him back.
Rebbecca glanced between her two parents as Clarence approached the table.
Ariannette struggled to find her voice for a moment, trying to make sure that it wouldn't break, that it wouldn't sound weak. "...Hello Clarence. Finally decided to grace us with your presence? I'm surprised you aren't dead."
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Post by scaper on May 18, 2009 19:44:42 GMT -5
The gentleness of his daughter broke his heart. He whispered back " I'm not going anywhere, love. Not again, I promise."
He wasn't going out of her life, but he doubted that he would be back in her mother's life.
Ariannette's words cut him to the core. They were cold and vicious. He couldn't blame her though. He knew he had hurt her, and he knew he deserved whatever she would hurl at him. He would just absorb it, he wasn't going to fight her. Fighting would only make it worse, and that last thing he wanted to do was make this situation worse.
" No, not dead." He really wasn't sure what to say. For Rebecca's sake, he tried to keep the conversation light.
" It's nice to see you again." He sounded as if she was a friend he hadn't seen for a while.
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Post by arianette on May 19, 2009 22:35:40 GMT -5
"...is it?" Ariannette was trying not to cry. She wasn't going to cry. "..you..what are you doing back here, Clarence. You left us." She knew that she shouldn't be having this talk around Rebbecca, but it was just too much for her, too hard.
"Do you....." She set her jaw, the tears starting to form in her eyes, but she wiped them away angrily. She still loved him, damn it. She never had gotten over him--but how could he just..leave her? Leave Rebbecca?
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Post by scaper on May 20, 2009 17:36:01 GMT -5
Why was it that he always made the woman he loved cry? With Rebecca still in his arms, he tried to set down from her across the table.
"Aria, please. Please don't cry." He watched as she wiped away the beginnings of tears.
"I'll explain everything to you, honest. I never wanted to leave, but I had to." He stopped himself from saying more. Rebecca didn't need to know what had happened. His little girl had been watching them intently, and it began to make him nervous.
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