Part II. Chapter-20

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ANGELOS POV.

   I brought the box into my office, growing more apprehensive about opening it.

It can't be that bad, can it?

Sighing, I opened it.

There was nothing but three show boxes in it.

"What the hell?" I muttered to myself as I picked up the first one.

    "0-5"

This can't be a game score, so what the hell am I about to look at?

I wasn't expecting for there to be so much inside of that one little shoebox.

    And I definitely wasn't expecting a pregnancy test to be the first thing I took out.

"12/4/04" it was dated.

The second thing I took out was a small stack of sonograms.

    "It's a girl!"

I felt a small smile grow across my face as I looked at the pictures.

It's hard to believe she was ever that small.


     The next thing to come out of that box was a small pink hat, followed by a picture of a baby actually wearing it.

    Holy shit.

I missed this?

   She was probably the most perfect looking baby I had ever seen.

   I took my time looking through that damn box.

   Through the finger painted pictures and the posted notes that read things like 'Her first swear word: Holy shit, it's cold! I told her that wasn't a nice word, and she said that it wasn't supposed to be nice because she hates the cold.' Her father would be proud.'


      The next shoebox was titled "School".


"To the parent of Mercury Dubois,

Your daughter is incredibly advanced for a six year old. I suggest she be moved from the first grade to the third or possibly the fourth.

I'm afraid her teachers have had enough of her correcting their answers.

Best wishes,

Principal Jones."



The note was followed by different types of graded papers.

   There was nothing below a ninety eight.

Her high school diploma even had a picture of a very, very short girl amongst eighteen year olds clipped to it.

    The next box had an interesting expression written on it.

   "To Angelo"


"Oh god, what now?" I mumbled.

Inside of it was nothing but a stack of letters, tied up in string.

"To Angelo,

Today, I found out I'm carrying a girl. At first, I wanted to name her something like Emily, or Addison.

And then I remembered what family she had come from. She deserves a name that can change a life.

If it were a boy, I would've named him Angelo.  Maybe Angela? No, I think that should be her middle name.

What about Mercury?

She kicked!

I think she likes that one.

I hope one day that you'll meet her.

Mercury Angela. Our daughter.

It has a nice ring to it."

I don't know how long I read over the letters.

Some only once, some twice, some even three times.

    I read over her first steps, her first words,  the first time she cooked.

    By the time I was finished, it was already dark out.

Fuck.

    "Angelo, you in there?" Gino knocked on the door to my office before opening it.

  "What the hell is all of this?" He asked as he grabbed a stack of photos.

   "She read her first book at three." I said in a sort of dazed state.

I felt exactly how I did when I found out she was mine.

Overwhelmed and guilty.

"What? Really?"

I nodded. "Her IQ is sky fucking high. She got suspended for doing other people's homework so she could help Adaline pay the bills."

"Wow." He looked down.

"And I missed literally all of it." I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair.

    "Look at it this way," he took on a happier tone. "Sure you missed a lot, but you're her favorite. For some reason." He shrugged.

    Great.

"Her favorite person is a serial killer. That's perfect."

"You know what you need? A night out!"

Oh god.

"Absolutely not." I began to make my way out of the office.


     "Oh come on. When's the last time you and I had a few drinks out?" He followed me down the stairs.

    "Thankfully, a long, long time."

"Mercury!" Gino yelled as we walked into the kitchen.

   Why is she always in here?

"Tell your father to live a little."

"Father, live a little." She looked at me.

"No."

"We haven't had a night out in ages." My brother groaned. "Remember when you were in high school and you used to take me to those  parties after you won a game? That's a night out."

    "That's because I was too high to care-,"

   Shit. I shouldn't have-

"Woah. Angelo, you're a stoner. Cool." Mercury laughed.

   "No. No. I was a stoner. I don't do that anymore." I attempted to clarify. "And forget about what you just heard."

  It's my own damn fault for letting that slip in front of her.

"If you don't go out tonight, I'll tell her more about your childhood experiences." Gino smirked before crossing his arms.

   "Hell no you-,"

"He was thirteen when he first-,"

"Shut up! Fine, I'll go."

What I was doing at around her age is the last thing she needs to know.

   "Angelo go out and have fun for once. Pretend like you don't have to worry about anyone else."

  "I really don't-,"

"As your daughter, I'm kicking you out for a bit. Go live it up with Gino. If it makes you feel better, call me after a couple of hours and I'll give you an excuse to come home. Deal?" She stuck her hand out.

I still can't tell who's raising who here.

"Deal."






MERCURYS POV.

Three hours after they left, I still hadn't gotten a call from Angelo.

So I took that as 'go ahead and go to bed.'

   But I was woken up at four in the morning.

Just a few more hours and it would've been somewhat reasonable.

   "What the hell?" I groaned as the sound of another thing being knocked over came from downstairs.

I should probably make sure they don't set the house on fire.

    I yawned as I made my way down the stairs, still half asleep.

   There was laughter coming from the living room.

It's not often I hear Angelo laugh.

Much less with Gino.

"Holy shit!" Angelo had a wide smile on his face once he saw me walk in. "Gino it's my daughter!"

    "What?! You have a daughter?" Gino stumbled a bit before catching himself on a chair.

   "Oh my god look how precious she is." Angelo wrapped his arms around me.

  "Definitely didn't take you as a happy drunk."

"You look like your mother, but it's ok because you act like me. It's balanced out."

"Angelo, you're the only one who thinks I look like her." I tried to remind him.

   Drunk Angelo is awesome.

"That's because I hate her and gods punishing me." He slumped down to the couch.

    "That stupid bitch." Gino chimed in the background.

   I began with to smell something that reminded me of a hospital.

  Is that an antibacterial or something?

"Where the hell did you guys go?" I asked as I tried to help Gino off of the floor and onto the couch.

"The bar."

Obviously.

"Anywhere else?"

"Oh my gosh guess what!" Ginos eyes widened. "I got attacked by a guy with a needle. Wanna see?" He began to unbutton his shirt. 

    "Gino, what are you-," My sentence finished itself once I saw his ribs.

Oh god.

"You got a tattoo?"

I can't technically be blamed, can I?

"Fear no pain, hate no soul." I read aloud. "It could definitely be worse." I muttered before looking at Angelo.

     "You're already covered, I don't think you have enough space for anymore coloring."

  "I got one too." He whispered quietly. "Don't tell Mercury."

Oh no.

I did a quick scan over his hands, thinking that he had the most empty space on them.


"Those ones have always been-,"

I caught a glimpse of a spot behind his ear.

Penelope's going to be pissed.

Though it was red, it was easy to tell this was probably the most delicate tattoo he had on him.

  It was an M.

That was it. No colors, no pictures, no other letters.

Just an M.

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