Post by kris1907 on Aug 22, 2006 16:18:37 GMT -5
Chapter 8
“So how is mom doing?” She senses her father’s confusion, “You can read her better than anyone. She seems to be adjusting okay, but is she really?”
“Um…” John rubs the back of his neck and moves to walk around a fallen tree, “She’s doing okay right now. I don’t know what may happen or what set-backs are in front of us, but it will be okay.”
“Dad, I’m not a little girl okay, I realize, now more than ever before, that life is never truly okay. You just have to be happy no matter what happens.”
John stops and stares at his daughter in awe, “You are so grown-up Izzy B. I sometimes forget that.”
“I’ll always be your little girl dad. But now you have another little one to look out for.”
He watches as she passes him. Belle hooks her arm around a tree and spins around to face him as he replies, “Claire is one beautiful little baby. Looks just like you.”
“I can see Shawn in her. I think I always could… I just didn’t want to.”
Grabbing her hand, he pulls her along the path, “I did the same with you. I helped bring you into this world, I was the first to hold you and I never wanted to let you go. I felt that you were mine, but I convinced myself… your mom convinced me too, that it was just wishful thinking. I wanted your mom, I wanted you. I was able to come to grips with the fact that you were Roman’s, but I could see myself in how you looked, how you slept… I was a part of you. I just knew it.”
“It’s always weird to think that I had another father for the first few months of my life. Just can’t image it and now, I’ve done it to my own daughter.”
“Watch your step.” They move over unsteady ground. “Want to climb up or go around?”
“What is it that we are looking for?”
“Huh?”
Belle looks up at her father and walks over to the hill before them and uses a fallen tree branch to help pull herself up the first step. Leaning forward, she takes a few more steps and laughs happily as she slips back about one and a half. Belle secures her footing and looks over her shoulder, “Coming?” She watches as he quickly fills in the gap between her and him, “Stop.” Blocking his way, “What is it that we are trying to find here?”
“What makes you think that we are trying to find anything?”
“Well, your lip just twitched there and that is always a dead give-away for mom and me.” He nods, but lets her continue, “And we aren’t just hiking here, you have been pretty set on our path and direction here, so what’s up?”
He rubs the back of his neck and gestures for them to continue, “Come on.” John moves besides his daughter and moves slowly, keeping one eye on the ground below him and one on his daughter’s progress. “Looking for a Ranger’s cabin. Just a little curious if its still around here.”
“Ranger’s cabin?”
“Yeah. Remember all those adventure stories I told you about when you were little?”
“About the prince and princess?” Not waiting for his confirmation, “God, I loved those stories. Made you tell them to me every night… that was probably my favorite part of the times that we all lived together, easier to get you to tell them.”
He laughs and can’t help but picture his daughter young, with blonde hair all wavy from being taken out of her braid, and thumb in mouth wanting her story. “And you figured out that they were about your mom and me.”
“Of course dad.”
“Well, this is the Black Forest and we are now searching for the Cabin of Secrets. Just figured since we are here, I might as well see what has been done with it.”
Belle grabs onto her father’s arm to help pull herself up over a steep portion of he climb, “Oo help please.”
John steps over a fallen log, turns and pulls Belle up and over it herself, before putting her in front of him and giving her a boost up the last portion of the climb. Standing, she turns and offers a helpful hand to her father, “Got it.”
She brushes off her hands and turns to look around at the new scenery. Looking out over the open meadow, she can smell water nearby. “Oh! Are we near the Emperor’s stream?”
“Um, we must be.” John looks around and attempts to recall images that he has tried never to forget. “Yeah, it’s got to be over there.”
Barely paying attention, Belle takes off over the meadow, yelling “Come on then!” John responds quickly and takes after his daughter.
Finally catching up, “God, I’ve forgotten how fast you can be when you’re excited. Oh wow… look at that. Come on.” Together, they carefully climb down the rocks and step towards the water. “Careful… not warm enough out here to get wet. Have a seat.”
Belle looks around and finds a semi flat and semi dry rock to sit upon. “So this is where you washed up?”
“Um, no that was down further. Probably a good hundred yards down that way… if you listen, I think we can hear the rapids hitting the rocks. What a ride that was.”
“Scared you didn’t it?” Belle watches her father. She sees a different man staring out from his blue eyes. A man that once was and has been long forgotten by some.
“The whole thing scared me. Was an adrenaline rush, but then your mom got hurt and…”
“It’s why you would never take Brady and I… why you were so mad when Brady went with Billy and Chris.”
“Yeah,” He shrugs at her and turns to look in the other direction, “old feelings and worries die hard. Right about here… perhaps a little ways down there…” He continues to talk to himself and he moves slowly down the rocky beach. “Yeah…” He laughs, as Belle continues to watch him closely, “This is where we had our first kiss. Well, actually, we had our first one up there somewhere in the meadow and then she slapped me.” Rubbing his cheek in memory, “She hit good.”
“The story says that that was the moment the prince and princess finally admitted that they loved each other.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. But things were so confusing and so very wrong.”
Moving towards her father, she wraps her arms around him, “But it shows just how you two are meant to be together. She loved you even when she thought you were Stefano, her worse enemy. That’s powerful.”
“But then I lost her.”
“But you got her back.”
“Is that all that matters?”
Belle squeezes him a little tighter, “Yeah, it is. My story says so and there is nothing more truer than my story. Pure and powerful love. The wise King tells the prince that everything happens for a reason, we just have to learn the lessons being taught and grow from it. Find the happiness within it.”
“It’s very good advice.” Turning, he cups Belle’s cheeks and kisses her forehead, “And you my dear, should listen to it as well. I’m kind of hoping that this little trip, however inconvenient it may be, will help both of my girls. Hopefully you and your mom can talk honestly about everything and help each.”
“We’ve always managed before… but you need to talk with her too.”
“And you need to talk to both Shawn and Philip.” She looks down at his pointed stare, but she nods. “Take time, figure out what you want and don’t be scared to go after it like I was. I’ll let you in on a secret.” He waits for her to look up at him before continuing, “I should have fought harder. Should have fought harder when your mom first came back to me and should have fought a hell of a lot harder when you were born. Don’t make the same mistake. If you want Philip, make him forgive you. If you want Shawn, then get him.”
Belle lets out a soft, but serious laugh, “How caveman of you.”
“Sometimes you need to be.” Smirking at his daughter, he leans over and picks up a flat rock and flips it between his fingers, “I’ve used it once or twice… always worked for me.”
Belle blushes, groans, cringes, and smiles all in the same action as she looks anywhere but at her father, “Unnecessary information.”
Laughing loudly, “I’ll never fully understand you sweetie. You are our strongest supporter and love the stories of our adventures and love, but then-“
Interrupting him, “Love the love story, like the details of adventure and defeats, just don’t need all the mushy… well sex stuff. Edit those parts out for me, and” She points a finger at her father, “and especially for Claire.” Covering her face, “I can’t believe I am having this conversation with you!”
“You have it with your mother all the time.”
“Yeah well… well that’s mom and it’s different. Sorry, but it is. You’re my daddy.”
He smiles at her and nods his head, as he throws the rock and watches it skip across the stream. Another soon follows and as he winds up for another one, he asks, “How are you handling this all?”
“Fine. Have some stuff to figure out, of course.”
“Fine? Your mother forgets who you are, your daughter almost dies, and then you find out that Shawn is her father and you are fine?”
With a deep sigh, “Dad…”
“No Belle, this all has hit you hard and I would like to know how you are handling this. Is it all too much? Am I asking too much of you?”
She looks up at him and sees him looking straight at her, causing her to look away, “With all that has happened, I am doing okay. I had it easy. Mom still wanted me around. It was all so hard, very stressful and the fear…” wiping at a tear, Belle continues, “The fear of losing my baby girl was just too much. At times I thought I was going insane. I couldn’t lose you guys and my baby, I honestly didn’t know how to handle all of that. But…” A deep breath is taken in and she rubs her wet cheeks with both of her hands, “But Claire got better and mom started to remember and now we’re here. It is all working out. I’m tired dad, but I have a little bit more in me to help you. Honest.”
“Honest?”
“I want to help. And in the end, I may be helped more than mom. You know how good she is at that.” She stands up and moves towards her father. Pulling at his arm, she wraps herself around him. Looking up from his chest, she asks, “Have I ever lied to you?”
“Since you were five? No.”
“Okay, then trust me now.”
“I will. I am. You are so much like your mom.”
Laughing and holding him tighter, “Funny… mom always says that I am you with her good looks.”
He laughs right along with her, “Come on. Let’s get walking.”
“So how is mom doing?” She senses her father’s confusion, “You can read her better than anyone. She seems to be adjusting okay, but is she really?”
“Um…” John rubs the back of his neck and moves to walk around a fallen tree, “She’s doing okay right now. I don’t know what may happen or what set-backs are in front of us, but it will be okay.”
“Dad, I’m not a little girl okay, I realize, now more than ever before, that life is never truly okay. You just have to be happy no matter what happens.”
John stops and stares at his daughter in awe, “You are so grown-up Izzy B. I sometimes forget that.”
“I’ll always be your little girl dad. But now you have another little one to look out for.”
He watches as she passes him. Belle hooks her arm around a tree and spins around to face him as he replies, “Claire is one beautiful little baby. Looks just like you.”
“I can see Shawn in her. I think I always could… I just didn’t want to.”
Grabbing her hand, he pulls her along the path, “I did the same with you. I helped bring you into this world, I was the first to hold you and I never wanted to let you go. I felt that you were mine, but I convinced myself… your mom convinced me too, that it was just wishful thinking. I wanted your mom, I wanted you. I was able to come to grips with the fact that you were Roman’s, but I could see myself in how you looked, how you slept… I was a part of you. I just knew it.”
“It’s always weird to think that I had another father for the first few months of my life. Just can’t image it and now, I’ve done it to my own daughter.”
“Watch your step.” They move over unsteady ground. “Want to climb up or go around?”
“What is it that we are looking for?”
“Huh?”
Belle looks up at her father and walks over to the hill before them and uses a fallen tree branch to help pull herself up the first step. Leaning forward, she takes a few more steps and laughs happily as she slips back about one and a half. Belle secures her footing and looks over her shoulder, “Coming?” She watches as he quickly fills in the gap between her and him, “Stop.” Blocking his way, “What is it that we are trying to find here?”
“What makes you think that we are trying to find anything?”
“Well, your lip just twitched there and that is always a dead give-away for mom and me.” He nods, but lets her continue, “And we aren’t just hiking here, you have been pretty set on our path and direction here, so what’s up?”
He rubs the back of his neck and gestures for them to continue, “Come on.” John moves besides his daughter and moves slowly, keeping one eye on the ground below him and one on his daughter’s progress. “Looking for a Ranger’s cabin. Just a little curious if its still around here.”
“Ranger’s cabin?”
“Yeah. Remember all those adventure stories I told you about when you were little?”
“About the prince and princess?” Not waiting for his confirmation, “God, I loved those stories. Made you tell them to me every night… that was probably my favorite part of the times that we all lived together, easier to get you to tell them.”
He laughs and can’t help but picture his daughter young, with blonde hair all wavy from being taken out of her braid, and thumb in mouth wanting her story. “And you figured out that they were about your mom and me.”
“Of course dad.”
“Well, this is the Black Forest and we are now searching for the Cabin of Secrets. Just figured since we are here, I might as well see what has been done with it.”
Belle grabs onto her father’s arm to help pull herself up over a steep portion of he climb, “Oo help please.”
John steps over a fallen log, turns and pulls Belle up and over it herself, before putting her in front of him and giving her a boost up the last portion of the climb. Standing, she turns and offers a helpful hand to her father, “Got it.”
She brushes off her hands and turns to look around at the new scenery. Looking out over the open meadow, she can smell water nearby. “Oh! Are we near the Emperor’s stream?”
“Um, we must be.” John looks around and attempts to recall images that he has tried never to forget. “Yeah, it’s got to be over there.”
Barely paying attention, Belle takes off over the meadow, yelling “Come on then!” John responds quickly and takes after his daughter.
Finally catching up, “God, I’ve forgotten how fast you can be when you’re excited. Oh wow… look at that. Come on.” Together, they carefully climb down the rocks and step towards the water. “Careful… not warm enough out here to get wet. Have a seat.”
Belle looks around and finds a semi flat and semi dry rock to sit upon. “So this is where you washed up?”
“Um, no that was down further. Probably a good hundred yards down that way… if you listen, I think we can hear the rapids hitting the rocks. What a ride that was.”
“Scared you didn’t it?” Belle watches her father. She sees a different man staring out from his blue eyes. A man that once was and has been long forgotten by some.
“The whole thing scared me. Was an adrenaline rush, but then your mom got hurt and…”
“It’s why you would never take Brady and I… why you were so mad when Brady went with Billy and Chris.”
“Yeah,” He shrugs at her and turns to look in the other direction, “old feelings and worries die hard. Right about here… perhaps a little ways down there…” He continues to talk to himself and he moves slowly down the rocky beach. “Yeah…” He laughs, as Belle continues to watch him closely, “This is where we had our first kiss. Well, actually, we had our first one up there somewhere in the meadow and then she slapped me.” Rubbing his cheek in memory, “She hit good.”
“The story says that that was the moment the prince and princess finally admitted that they loved each other.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. But things were so confusing and so very wrong.”
Moving towards her father, she wraps her arms around him, “But it shows just how you two are meant to be together. She loved you even when she thought you were Stefano, her worse enemy. That’s powerful.”
“But then I lost her.”
“But you got her back.”
“Is that all that matters?”
Belle squeezes him a little tighter, “Yeah, it is. My story says so and there is nothing more truer than my story. Pure and powerful love. The wise King tells the prince that everything happens for a reason, we just have to learn the lessons being taught and grow from it. Find the happiness within it.”
“It’s very good advice.” Turning, he cups Belle’s cheeks and kisses her forehead, “And you my dear, should listen to it as well. I’m kind of hoping that this little trip, however inconvenient it may be, will help both of my girls. Hopefully you and your mom can talk honestly about everything and help each.”
“We’ve always managed before… but you need to talk with her too.”
“And you need to talk to both Shawn and Philip.” She looks down at his pointed stare, but she nods. “Take time, figure out what you want and don’t be scared to go after it like I was. I’ll let you in on a secret.” He waits for her to look up at him before continuing, “I should have fought harder. Should have fought harder when your mom first came back to me and should have fought a hell of a lot harder when you were born. Don’t make the same mistake. If you want Philip, make him forgive you. If you want Shawn, then get him.”
Belle lets out a soft, but serious laugh, “How caveman of you.”
“Sometimes you need to be.” Smirking at his daughter, he leans over and picks up a flat rock and flips it between his fingers, “I’ve used it once or twice… always worked for me.”
Belle blushes, groans, cringes, and smiles all in the same action as she looks anywhere but at her father, “Unnecessary information.”
Laughing loudly, “I’ll never fully understand you sweetie. You are our strongest supporter and love the stories of our adventures and love, but then-“
Interrupting him, “Love the love story, like the details of adventure and defeats, just don’t need all the mushy… well sex stuff. Edit those parts out for me, and” She points a finger at her father, “and especially for Claire.” Covering her face, “I can’t believe I am having this conversation with you!”
“You have it with your mother all the time.”
“Yeah well… well that’s mom and it’s different. Sorry, but it is. You’re my daddy.”
He smiles at her and nods his head, as he throws the rock and watches it skip across the stream. Another soon follows and as he winds up for another one, he asks, “How are you handling this all?”
“Fine. Have some stuff to figure out, of course.”
“Fine? Your mother forgets who you are, your daughter almost dies, and then you find out that Shawn is her father and you are fine?”
With a deep sigh, “Dad…”
“No Belle, this all has hit you hard and I would like to know how you are handling this. Is it all too much? Am I asking too much of you?”
She looks up at him and sees him looking straight at her, causing her to look away, “With all that has happened, I am doing okay. I had it easy. Mom still wanted me around. It was all so hard, very stressful and the fear…” wiping at a tear, Belle continues, “The fear of losing my baby girl was just too much. At times I thought I was going insane. I couldn’t lose you guys and my baby, I honestly didn’t know how to handle all of that. But…” A deep breath is taken in and she rubs her wet cheeks with both of her hands, “But Claire got better and mom started to remember and now we’re here. It is all working out. I’m tired dad, but I have a little bit more in me to help you. Honest.”
“Honest?”
“I want to help. And in the end, I may be helped more than mom. You know how good she is at that.” She stands up and moves towards her father. Pulling at his arm, she wraps herself around him. Looking up from his chest, she asks, “Have I ever lied to you?”
“Since you were five? No.”
“Okay, then trust me now.”
“I will. I am. You are so much like your mom.”
Laughing and holding him tighter, “Funny… mom always says that I am you with her good looks.”
He laughs right along with her, “Come on. Let’s get walking.”