章 39: Omake 7: A Little Bukharin (C)
"A daughter is a treasure and a cause of sleeplessness." – Ben Sirach
Something odd was happening.
The moment I realized that this was the first time in a long while since I found myself alone with Nora, I knew that this was indeed a rare event for me to be blessed with.
With Sienna being busy with her paperwork back in her office, and both Ren and Cinder having stuck around school for their own reasons, I was surprised that I was actually watching the TV with my step-daughter and… that she was being surprisingly quiet for some reason.
Do you think she is angry at someone?
[She seems more sad than angry.]
The girl was indeed quiet while watching the Weather Forecast that the screen was currently displaying, and I couldn't help but worry that something bad had happened at school and she wasn't telling me anything about it. I wondered for a while if I should've let this go without my intervention, if I was to let her handle the pace of this argument on her own…
But I was her dad, and so I decided to be a pest about it by giving her arm a soft nudge with my elbow. The girl blinked, tensing up and snapping her attention away from her distracted look as she glanced up at me.
"Uh?"
"Is everything alright at school, sweetie?" I asked quietly. "You're oddly quiet today."
An uneasy look swiftly appeared on her face, replacing the confused one. She seemed to think seriously about the topic, whenever speak up or allowed herself to keep quiet about it and delay what we both knew was inevitable. I would've learned of the truth one way or another. Directly or indirectly.
"It's a… I wanted to ask you something, dad. But I don't know if you are going to be… happy with it."
I blinked, feeling perplexed at that strange response.
"I mean, you can ask. It's not like I can exactly get angry for you asking me anything school-related, Nora."
Despite my assurance, Nora still looked fairly unsure if she could speak about it or not. This was now concerning me about her situation a lot. For the topic to be that much to bring her mood to this low, it had to be something incredibly unpleasant, or something she considered I would find unpleasant.
Still, much to my minor relief, the girl decided to speak up and give me a clear sight of what was the problem.
"The teacher gave us an assignment about family trees," The child finally explained. "And she wanted us to compile a simple drawing with our names, the ones of our siblings, parents and… grandparents."
…
Oh.
[While it's quite unpleasant, surely you wouldn't find it a reason to say no to her.]
"I wanted to ask you if you wanted to tell me more about them and… yeah," Nora deflated even more while saying that. "If you don't want, the teacher said Ren and I could've just skipped the assignment and… do something else."
But at this point, it wasn't just a matter of doing the assignment or not. It was about learning some more about the Bukharin family. And that was a rather confusing thought to be handling considering how protective I was about this sensitive information.
Still, since Nora was part of my family in all but blood, I couldn't certainly deny her the truth about the rest of 'us'. It was just a duty to make sure she knew who came before me… and who she was related to.
"I guess I can tell you about them," I muttered with a nod. "About your grandparents."
Her blue eyes lit up in full attention. Shifting closer she leaned onto my arm as I started to list out the two individuals.
"Your grandfather is… Frank Bukharin. He was a hard-working man that, albeit stuck in a mediocre job, still managed to be there for his family and instill a form of honesty that it's pretty much the core of our family," I started with my dad. He was eccentric, kind of insane at times, but he was still a nice fellow that kept around when he could.
"He sounds a lot nice."
"He would love to spend time around and play with you and Ren if he was there. He wasn't the best in handling me as a kid, but he seemed to get better when..." I paused, my chest squeezing unpleasantly as I remembered the bit I really didn't want to talk about. "When he helped around with my younger cousin."
The girl nodded, seemingly failing to notice the little diversion I had gone for.
"Next is… Tonia Bukharin. When I was born, your grandmother decided to leave her part-time job and become a full-time housewife. She was around the most during my childhood, mostly because your grandfather would have to leave for work for some hours early in the morning, only to return just before dinnertime," I continued with a small smile, remembering fondly of my mother and her loving manners. "She is a brilliant cook. And I learned much of what I can do from her."
"Can she make cakes and lots of them?" The child asked in wonder, almost salivating at that possibility.
I nodded. "She loved to bake lots of sweet things. And pancakes."
That got Nora to giggle and lean even more onto me. I ruffled some of her hair, making her giggle some more at the affectionate gesture.
Still, as I 'concluded' that introduction. I felt even more unhappy with the fact I was holding back a third and perhaps the most important member of that close family. I looked down on Nora, and I wondered if it would've been right if she ended up making that family tree without her in it.
…
"There is… also a third individual I believe you should know about, dearie," I muttered quietly, looking back at the TV's screen. "Someone that I don't believe I've mentioned to you until now."
That brief comment got a curious look out of the child, but instead of asking who I was talking about, she allowed me to elaborate on my own that development. Could she be feeling that I was having some trouble with it? Maybe. But I wasn't planning to stop now that I addressed this third member.
"Maria Bukharin. She is… your aunt, and my younger sister," I spoke up quietly. "She is cheeky, smart-assed and somewhat frustrating at times to handle. A little pest ever since she could walk and talk… but also someone that wouldn't mind helping the family when it needed assistance, and she would be rather sweet at times."
…
"She would be delighted by you if she was there. Perhaps lament that I didn't pamper you even more than I do."
…
"Dad, do you… miss them?"
…
"I do," I admitted calmly. "I always dream of having the chance of meeting them again. To let them know that I'm fine, that you and Ren are now part of the family. That Sienna is my girlfriend and… about other things."
The girl nodded, nuzzling onto my arm as I pulled her closer in a half-hug.
"I've thought about what would happen if I had the chance to go back, even now. But… the more I think about it, the more I realize I can't just exactly leave. Not when I would leave part of my family behind."
Blue eyes gleamed with a confused look as I lifted her up and held her in front of me. I gave her a small smile, trying to fight off the sadness of having decided to keep around to the very end, deciding against going back home if I was given the chance to as now I had too many responsibilities there to back out from my current problems.
"Look at you. A little Bukharin," I mused mirthfully. "My lovely daughter."
That was what the girl needed to hear to break off my little hold and slam herself onto my chest in a moment of emotional peak. Burrowing her head onto my shirt, she grasped around my waist in the tightest of hugs, prompting me to return the hug shortly after.
There were no tears, only hugging as we enjoyed the rest of the day in relative peace. Cooking, cleaning, playing around by the nearby park, and then spending some time with the others once they were done with their own things.
And while I thought this conversation would've had little impact on the pace of things, I was brought out of that illusion when Nora decided to irritate her teacher with a practice that left me as perplexed as unable to speak at first. Instead of using 'Valkyrie' as she used to have her last name listed as, the girl stubbornly decided that from that day onward she was a Bukharin.
Despite the incessant notifications from the teacher, I couldn't help but support that decision with a proud smile.
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