Normal POV
Aria tossed and turned for the millionth time tonight before she sat up in her bed. She had been trying to go the sleep for the longest but it evaded her every time. She tried counting sheep, singing lullabies, everything; she was wired from being in a new place with new people. She felt like a baby that needed a nap so they could absorb everything they had learned that day.
She felt stupid just laying in bed looking at the ceiling.
After four more minutes of sitting there, she threw back the heavenly soft sheets with groan. "Might as well go get something to eat", Aria decided, shuffling off onto the cold hard floor.
She pulled on her slippers and stepped out her suite to journey through the maze like halls of the castle. Somehow, by some miracle, Aria had found her way to the kitchen without getting lost. When it came to food; call her Indiana Scones.
Quietly, she pushed open the door before remembering it was passed midnight and no one was up. She felt around the large silver fridge until she found the handle and pulled it open.
"Feeling peckish?"
"Shit!", she practically jumped 5 feet in the air spinning around to see Frederick sitting at the far end of the table,"I mean, shoot", she corrected realizing she had cursed.
She didn't know how they felt about cursing, but she knew her mom would've killed her if she heard it. "Sorry I uh didn't know anyone was up.", she abandoned the fridge, making her way over to him. As she got closer, Aria couldn't help but note how tired he looked.
"Nope just me", he answered eating other "biscuit" cookie thing out the tray,"Jet lag?"
He nodded over to the seat across from him. "Oh uh yeah, never been on a plane for that long before, got here two days ago and still haven't adjusted", Aria shrugged it off,"What uh...what about you?", she doubted they were both awake right now for the same reason.
"I uh...I couldn't sleep, have a lot on my mind and didn't wanna wake Eleanora", he answered, looking back down at his glasses of milk. He couldn't handle how much she reminded him of her; she was the spitting image of Memphis.
Aria nodded in understanding,"It's been a real long day, I get it", she admitted, sitting across from him on the bench,"It's not everyday your long lost love child appears out of nowhere on your doorstep." She had only seen stuff like that on Hallmark or Lifetime TV.
"Thank you for understanding", he offered before silence took over for a long moment. Neither knew what to do, what to say; everything was so new to both of them, new and awkward.
Deciding to bit the bullet, the older man spoke up,"I've been meaning to ask you some...questions."
As casual as it sounded, Aria raised an eyebrow, pulling a face,"What kind of questions?"
Frederick glanced at her before looking away, scraping his spoon against the edge of his bowel,"Nothing crazy", he promised,"just to get to know one another", he offered her a small smile in an attempt to calm her nerves.
"Oh", she relaxed again,"okay, cool." She moved closer to him, picking up a cookie from the tray and taking a big bite,"Well my name is Aria Henry Blake", she started simply with the basic details.
She snickered at the face he made at hearing her full name, her middle name to be specific. "Yep Henry", she assured him, answering his silent questioning,"it's on my birth certificate and everything." She contemplated going to show it to him, but she felt like she was trying to hard; he probably already had people do a background check on her.
"Are you happy to be here?", he suddenly blurted out surprising her with his abruptness,"I mean, do you like that you are here with me is what I meant to ask", he frowned at the rephrasing,"Is there anything you've wanted to do when you met me? Curse me out? Give me a good talking to or anything?"
Aria stared at him as if he'd lost his mind for a moment before giggling,"I don't have daddy issues if that's what you're asking", she assured him, taking another cookie from the tray,"No resentment here."
He let out a sigh that sounded like one of relief? Atleast he knew how messed up people could be without a father in their lives. "Well thats uh good to know."
Aria nodded, going on to add,"Momma did her absolute best raising me, taught me everything I needed to know."
Frederick hummed in agreement, looking down at the crumbs on his plate and wiping them away. "How uh....how is she?", although they had just been on the phone, he didn't get to exactly catch up with his old lover. Was she happy? Did she finish law school? Had she moved on to someone else?
Aria pushed her hair back, looking up at him,"She's...she's doing good", she told him,"she works at the law firm in town and is partner there." She could see it in his eyes that he honestly wanted to know what she was doing.
"That's good", he responded, nodding his head in affirmation. Good for her; Memphis had always been about her business and it was nice to know that hadn't changed.
Aria finished off her cookie, wiping the crumbs away with her hand. She was about to go in for another but paused, a thought popping in her head,"So can I ask you a question now?", she questioned lightly, careful in her entry.
Frederick froze for a moment, but she missed his visible hesitance in the dark lighting,"I mean, it would only be fair to allow you to-"
"You can just say yes", she cut in, cutting his ramble short. She knew where this would go and wanted to save him the embarrassment.
Frederick took her words to heart, pressing his lips together,"Right, yes then; go on please."
She smiled at the authorization, giddy in her spot"Okay then", she sat up straighter, pushing a strand of hair out of her line on vision,"What happened to granddad?"
There was a sudden tension and she knew immediately she asked the wrong question. However, it was too late to take it back now; she bit her liip before continuing,"Mom always said he got sick so you guys came...back here", her words struggle to make a complete sentence, his crestfallen face making it difficult for her.
The lull in conversation was sudden and unmoving, the awkwardness making its home in their once light and casual late night chat.
She waited, not expecting a proper response but at least some form of acknowledgment. She hadn't seen any family photos of him and no one had said anything about him. Perhaps they preferred to not speak of him, but she wanted to know more about her father and her father's father.
This made her even more surprised when he began to respond,"His name was Henry Mordecai Leopold", he said with pride in his voice at carrying the same name. "He was a father and great political figure for his country", Aria smiled at the image; she could see him being a great man.
"He was indeed sick", he answered in a professional manner, shifted in he seat as well as the atmosphere,"Doctors did their best, but there wasn't much they could do in the end", he paused for a moment, wetting his lips before continuing,"He...died the following month. It was a deviating loss to the family. He was a great man", she could see the slight glaze in his eyes, the heavy weight of the event bearing down on his shoulders. His death clearly affected him significantly and in turn it effected her mother's and hers as well.
It was silent for a long time and Aria wanted to reach out to comfort him, but battled with herself about do so. When she finally decided to throw all caution to the wind it was too last.
"Well it's getting quite late I'd say", he suddenly stood up, leaving her seated at the table,"we should...we should head back to bed, got to be up bright and early in the morning", as he spoke, he avoided her gaze, his discomfort obvious yet subdued from years in the press.
Aria lowed her head,"Oh", she truly thought they had actually gotten somewhere, but here he was pushing her away. For a moment she thought that coming here was a mistake. Did he not want to bond with his long lost daughter? Nonetheless, she held her face, not allowing her disappointment to show.
Frederick adjusted the knot of his robe as he moved to the entryway, before looking back at her still seated,"Are you coming Aria?", he asked her casually as if nothing had just happened.
She snapped out of her daze at the question, looking up at him with blank eyes,"Uh n- no I don't think so", she answered, looking back down at the tray,"might just stay up a bit longer", she honestly didn't want to endure the painful silence as he guided her back to her room.
Although he looked like he wanted to ask if she was sure, he decided not to,"Alright then, well goodnight Aria", he offered her a smile and she felt obligated to return it.
"You too, Frederick", with that he left, leaving the young girl seated in the vacant kitchen.