Chapter 18 -- Responsibilities
Have you ever felt totally overwhelmed? I mean, usually I'm confident and competent and energetic, but when Father handed over the management of the household to me, I was like whoa! I'm not ready for this. It didn't help that he reminded me that he'd handled a job and raising us as toddlers and mentoring his vampire offspring and working on skills while all I had to do was the cooking, the cleaning, and repairs plus some painting and collecting things. It didn't help that I was running on orange when I got the notification. And it really didn't help that Mother reminded me that today was J's, Gavin's, and Mitch's birthday and it would be nice if I made them a cake. I'm sorry, guys. The cake didn't happen. I was just too tired.
I felt better after a nap. Okay, still a little cranky because Nadia's off playing blicbloc while I'm fixing dinner for 6, but her turn will come, snicker, snicker. And I actually don't mind cooking -- it's something Father rarely did, so he doesn't have any advice to offer.
One task that Father had to deal with for only a short time was monitoring Balthazar (and Father for that matter). Because they're vampires they can't stay out in the sun long, and both of them have a bad habit of staying out front to chat when they get home from work and school. Neither Balthazar nor I like chess much (too many memories of Father pouncing with his queen and saying "meckchate!"), but it's the only way I know of to get him safely downstairs.
Lucky for me, once Father started playing the violin, Balthazar went to listen, and that kept them both occupied while I contacted my pen pals and asked for postcards. Here's what I wrote:
Hi!
My name's Gretchen, and I love sports. My favorite is basketball but I'm looking forward to when I can go bowling. I'd love to hear from you. Send a postcard to:
Gretchen Straud
Cacti Casa
Oasis SpringsBlech, right? But people actually responded. I have a back-and-forth thing going with someone from Dragon Valley (archery, I'm so envious) and Isla Paradiso (if I could swim in the ocean and
go diving that would be so cool, I'd just die).
Repairs -- first the virtual reality thing went and then the stove. Nadia reminded me that I could pick up handiness skill from repairing them -- assuming I didn't die -- but Balthazar said, why not call a repairman? We don't have to worry about points any more.
So that's what I did.
I was in a hurry to get moving because someone (Sofia Bjergsen) had told me that Paolo Rocca usually shows up at the Skye Fitness Gym a few hours before daybreak. Father wants me to marry Paolo and ordinarily I would object to that -- strongly -- except that Paolo is such a hunk that I can't say no. In fact, I usually can't say much around him because I have such a huge crush, but today things were going to be different.
Ugh. Instead of saying nothing, I gushed about what a great athlete I thought he was. "I'm still just a locker room attendant," he said. "Basketball?" I managed to squeak out before sinking into the floor. "Sure, why not?" he responded.
The sun was rising as we went up to the court, and a helicopter was taking off, which I'd never seen before. The whole scene was tailor-made for a romantic moment -- except that I was still a teen and Paolo would die in the sunlight if he stayed outside.
Even so, I couldn't help mentioning it. "Spectacular view," I said. "Yeah," he said absently, like he was thinking of something else.
I gave up trying to impress him with my sparkling wit and concentrated on making my shots. "You're not half-bad," he said, after we'd shot a few rounds. "I might have to stop missing on purpose."
"You did not!" I said indignantly.
"Yeah, I did -- the first couple times anyway. I know how much you hate to lose."
A dim recollection of a video game I'd lost, followed by some sulking, surfaced..."That was when I was a child," I said.
All of a sudden, the gym trainer came barreling in and not only dunked but hung on the basket. I was appalled, and Paolo did that hissy-scratchy thing that Father sometimes does when he's annoyed. We decided to leave, and I felt pretty bummed, but then Paolo said, "Want to come over to my house and play foosball? I promise I won't let you win."
He didn't let me win -- far from it, but then it
was my first time playing foosball. I was tempted to point that out, but kept my mouth shut. Then Paolo said, "You know that last shot you took? That would have totally gone in if Misty hadn't been in the way." "Yeah," I said. "Hey -- the sun was shining through the windows by the time we left -- how come you weren't affected?" "All the windows in Uptown have a special UV filter, and it's the UV rays that are harmful to vampires. So you could marry Diego if you wanted."
I made a gagging noise -- okay, totally juvenile -- but Paolo just laughed. "That was fun -- we'll have to do that again sometime." It was a definite dismissal, and the next thing I knew I was on my way home.
I spent the rest of the morning working on my last painting -- the one of Balthazar. And later that day, the mail came, completing my postcard collection. Since I had an A (which was why Father let me use vacation days to stay home from school) and since I'd reached the top of the babysitter career, I was now eligible to have my next birthday. I whipped up a cake and put candles on it before sticking it in the fridge. By that time, Nadia and Balthazar were home from school, so I dragged Balthazar in from outside and took a nap until it was dark.
Ah yes, gazing at the stars, a wonderful way to get to know someone, yes? No. After two minutes Paolo said, "I'm not good at making small talk when I've got other stuff on my mind. Plus, there's a cobblestone sticking into my shoulder blade. We'll talk about some things later, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. "I've got to go hang some pictures."
I put Father's portrait in the front parlor, taking down all the other pictures except the portrait of Great Great Grand Sire. I didn't even want to think about how many great greats there'd be if my descendants managed to complete the dynasty. Had Paolo said "some thing" or "some things?"
My postcard collection went next to Father's photographs in the cellar. If Paolo had said "some thing," that might mean he wanted to talk about this whole arranged marriage thing and why it was a bad idea.
I put the rest of the family portraits in the piano alcove. On the other hand, "some things" might refer to who we'd invite to the wedding and how many children we'd have and whether we'd put a bowling lane in the basement.
When I left the alcove, Paolo was sitting at the bar.
"I fixed you a drink," he said. "Don't get excited -- it's just apple juice. I know Vlad would kill me if I tried to ply you with alcohol. And he could do it, too. I'm no match for him, not yet."
"He likes you," I said.
"Yeah, I know he's got this idea that you should marry me," said Paolo.
All of a sudden, I didn't like the way this conversation was going. "I'm having my birthday tonight," I said brightly. "Come on, let's go get some cake."
"Pink?" Nadia queried.
"It's my favorite color," I said.
"And my least favorite," she countered.
"Hey, if you don't like it, you can fix your own cake." I blew out the candles.
Nadia stood up, and for a second I thought she was going to throw her salad at me, but it turned out she had a handful of confetti.
And then some more confetti came from the kitchen and I turned and saw Paolo grinning at me.
He came and sat down at the table with me. At that moment, the room that had been empty (except for Nadia) suddenly filled with people, including my mother in her baby doll pajamas and J going topless. It was only a matter of time before someone asked when the wedding was going to be and Paolo and I hadn't even flirted yet.
"Sun's coming up," I said. "Paolo, you'd better run."
"Run with me," he suggested.
Paolo was beginning to smoke by the time we got to Windenburg Estates. "There's some stuff we need to discuss," he said. "Inside," I said. "Now."
Well maybe that hadn't been the brightest idea. He introduced me to his housemate, Eva Cappadocia (or something like that).
Hostility oozed off her like embers off a burning vampire. And then, while her back was to him, Paolo positively leered at me, and I didn't know whether to laugh or blush. Or leer back, but I couldn't with Eva watching me. So I said "Bye," and left. To be continued? Yeah, I think definitely to be continued.
