Aria POV
To say I was exhausted was once again, an understatement. Grandma Annissa had managed to stuff me with sweets in true grandmother fashion and for a second I thought she was trying to Hansel&Gretel me or something.
Frederick and the others had stayed behind in his office, talking about me no doubt. I really didn't mind though, it was nice to do something other than talk about how he knocked up my mom and abandoned her, never looking back.
Hard feelings aside, now she was escorting me to the bedroom that they had made for me.
The older woman stopped outside of two large white doors, taking the handles in her hands,"I do hope you find the room up to pare, if I had known you'd be here I'd have something special put together", as she said this, Grandma opened the doors to what I could only call heaven.
I was absolutely shook. Was this really my room?
I turned back to Annissa, my jaw still dropped,"Th- This...is my room."
She nodded, quietly stepping over to me,"Is everything alright? I can find a room closer to the front of the house if you prefer a view?"
I just looked at her in complete disbelief. All of this? Just for me? I couldn't stop myself, but throwing my arms around her and hugging her as tight as I could.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"You're uh welcome, dear", she squeaked out and I realized she probably couldn't breath.
"Sorry sorry", I said, loosening my hold,"guess I don't know my own strength."
"A little word of advice?", she told me pulled away from me, discomfort written across her face. She must not been used to touching. "We're British dear", she informed, taking a step back from me,"we only show affection to dogs and horses."
I dropped my hands back to my sides,"My bad", I apologized. 'Mental note: no hugs.', I told myself. I wondered if Frederick was the same way.
Grandma offered her hand and it took me a moment to realize what she wanted. I took her hand and shook it, careful not to hurt her. Her hands looked so dainty and doll like compared to mine.
"Well I'll leave you to unpack, dear", she told me before turning to make her exit,"when you're finished I'd like for you to meet me out back if you are able."
I nodded and she left, shutting the doors behind herself.
Once I was alone in my own personal place, I did what anyone would do. I flopped down on the large bed, staring up at the beautifully detailed ceiling. I wrapped my arms around myself; the worlds biggest smile on my face.
I can't believe I actually found my dad.
* * * * * *
Normal POV
"How could you let this happen?"
"Do you not know what this could mean for us, for everything?"
Frederick had been listening to the same questions back and forth for the past hour. He had intended to follow his mother and.....supposed daughter to the tea room, but it seemed he could not escape the interrogation so easily.
He carded his fingers through his hair, feeling a migraine coming on,"You act as if I knew this would happen, Eleanora."
"Well in a way you should've", she scolded, clearly frustrated.
Frederick was taken aback by her reaction,"Eleanora?", he went to touch her, but she pushed his hands away.
"This is a complete catastrophe Frederick!", she exploded, once again; it seemed to be the only thing she was capable of doing at the moment,"This could be some smear campaign, a publicity stunt for the press!?"
Once again they were back to this. "I doubt they would go so far as to find Memphis and create this entire scenario?", Frederick disagreed, shaking his head.
"Maybe it's not political? Maybe she wants something from you: money, attention, revenge!", she clapped her hands together loudly, making a sound of triumph.
Frederick shook his head at her outlandish ideas,"That's not like Memphis", he told her before pausing for a moment to reconsider his words,"I mean...if she wanted any of that, why would she wait til now? How would she know I'd be running for prime minister, nearly 20 years later?" The last thing they ever talked about was was his predisposition in politics let alone his actual future in it. She hadn't waited on him and just moved on with her life, but apparently the child had hope that she would meet him.
"Well -", she rambled on endlessly and he could hardly keep up with her nonsense.
"For Christ sake, she has my eyes!", he exclaimed, taking a sip of his tea.
"Merely a coincidence?", Eleanora suggested with a forced nonchalance.
Frederick lowered the cup from his lips, staring at his fiancée as if she had gone mad,"Are you saying that this girl, who happened to be born with a rare genetic trait only heredity to my bloodline is because of a coincidence?"
She went quiet for a moment before quickly following behind him into the hallway,"Well when you say it like that, it sounds silly darling", she replied, her laugh trailing off awkwardly. It was as if she was trying to make herself believe what she was saying.
Eleanora's face softened,"Darling?", she murmured, taking his hands in her own,"did you truly think about this?"
"Obviously not seeing as you have your "lovechild" upstairs", Evangeline cut in rudely, making air quotes around the word. She didn't like this girl one bit. Not only because of the situation, but also the complications that her existence let alone presence imposed on everything she had worked hard for. Frederick's child or not; Evangeline would be his only little girl, not her.
Frederick looked at his cup,"She's not technically a love child", he mumbled, immediately freezing after realizing what he said. However it was too late, Eleanora was off.
Although her face seemed calm, he could see the veins poking out of her neck and forehead,"What is that supposed to mean?", she said through a gritted tooth smile. He could practically see them grinding to dust.
He gulped, deciding to not only bite the bullet, but also swallow it as well,"We uh...we also got married", Frederick admitted slowly,"It was at one of the little white chapels in Vegas, one of those on a whim type of things", he sighed at the distant memory of that night.
Memphis had proposed to him while they were out on the strip, rambling on about how she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Although she was joking, Frederick had been ecstatic at the idea, dragging her to get a suit and dress and soon they were walking down the narrow aisles as Mr. and Mrs. Leopold.
Frederick shook the heartwrenching thoughts from his head, instead reading Eleanora for her reaction to the news. As expected, she did not disappoint.
She had gone sickly pale, even worse than usual, her pupils dilated,"Oh dear", she murmured,"I fear I am about to faint." She fanned herself with her hand frantically. Frederick knew she wouldn't actually faint but right now wasn't the time for him to call her on it.
Although she was speechless, her daughter was anything but,"Fantastic!", she spat in a mocking voice,"What else is there to tell us? Perhaps there's a full family on a farm in the countryside, we don't know about?", she ranted on, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a hard day.
Frederick put down his cup, having enough of her attitude,"Evangeline."
She cut off his scolding, stomping her foot angrily, before turning on her heels,"I can't believe we're being punished because he couldn't keep it in his pants!", she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind herself as well.
Frederick wasn't at all surprised when Eleanora followed after her, calling out to her with promises of a spa day to calm their nerves. He threw himself back into his chairs, facepalming,"Christ what a day", he mumbled to no one but himself.