STORY

[Theodore Luccidello]

The low chants seemed to illuminate the car as he made his way down the street. His phone made a small bulky image in the side of his pants, the antenna sticking up and beneath the hem of his shirt. Underneath the black shirt was his vest, the bullet-resistant vest that he wore at all times unless he was sleeping. On the opposite side of his phone lay his wallet within his pocket. Within the pocket was the normal cash, credit cards, of which would undoubtedly be used upon a gift for his daughter, of whose photos sat in the fold next to the cash itself. There were three photos one of his favorites being of when she was just over eight years old. It was at the Zoo, and they had come upon the bears. Teddy had been named so because of his daughter when she was much younger and it seemed whenever they visited the zoo together, or at least when he had the time, she got excited over the bears. The picture had been taken by a woman, of whose name he had not gotten, the woman had a child of her own. It was high noon, he remembered because of the sun caught in a picture not long after that one was taken. Stephania had been in his arms, her hair tossled by the days events. There had been bright smiles on both their faces. The others held less memory, for him at least. One was from the Prom, while the other was sent by Stephania herself. They were all pictures of his beautiful daughter, and for everything he had on him, those pictures meant the most to him. Guru Jamyang had explained that the love of a father and his child could not be broken unless one took steps to do so. It had been these words that had hit him hard, just as hard as his Guru had intended he was sure.

To reach his Nirvana, and to a point of reincarnation after his death he would have to first make sacrifices and change, and his daughter did not need to be one of these. He had left her the message shortly after checking with his men, making sure that they were where they were supposed to be. He trusted that they knew not to lie to him. There would be hell to pay if they decided to do so. He pulled into the driveway, leaving his Guru's home with the snacks the man had made just for Stephania. Though, he wasn't sure how Stephania would react to the sweetened tofu squares, he would hope she'd at least try them. His Guru sometimes forgot to remember that the rest of the world didn't understand the beauty of such things. Meaning, food that was natural wasn't always seen as he saw them. He drove into her parking area and shifted into neutral, putting on his emergency brake. He quickly grasped the bag of goodies for his daughter, including a few gifts he had for her and the tofu in question. He knocked on her door, his hand patting the phone in his pocket. Part of him dared it to ring, or shake, he didn't want to be bothered right now unless it was pertinent to his attention. His boys had been told this and he hoped they would obligue.

[Stephania Luccidello]

One thing that Stephania always grew up with, and was slightly overshadowed with, was that she was the child of a single parent. A lot of people, if not everyone, knew of what happened to her mother and how her family was, which consisted of her and her father. As time went on, the sweet memories of teddy bears and family outings was never forgotten, but rather happened much less. Stephania involved herself in school, student body activities, and dance and cheer classes. She kept busy, just as her father did. But perhaps one thing she wouldn’t admit was that she kept busy because there was no one to generally come home too. And not even in her twenties.

It wasn’t like Stephania had a boyfriend, or a marriage including children, to come home with. So when she received the text from her father, mentioning him taking the time, the day, to come over, she was excited. She was quick to suddenly make arrangements to cancelling all of her plans. Only to realize, she had no date to cancel! She was put in a glum mood since then, but tried to just focus more so on her father. The last time, the very last time, she had seen him was after the ball with him taking her home. So, it was a welcome surprise that he would be stopping by now. Stephania just hoped that it wasn’t his way in checking in on her, by claiming the visit was just to see her and hang out with her, rather than making sure the place wasn’t burnt down, she didn’t have ten guys here with her, and she checked out just fine. She loved her father, and her father was doing just that…being a father. But, he was a little too much sometimes to Stephania.

She was simply lounging around for the day, doing nothing in particular and wondering if she should go out tonight with her friends or not. When she heard the knock on her door, she knew it was one person and one person only. She wished that sometimes prince charming could just…drop in, sweep her off her feet, and they would live happily ever after. Every time she wished that, every time she pictured that, she just had to sigh. This was the real world and those fairy tales just never worked. Never. Getting up, she approached the door, going to putting on her happy face from her gloomy one in one point two seconds. Opening the door, she smiled brightly, extending her arms out for a hug. “Daddy!” she happily exclaimed.

[Theodore Luccidello]

There was always a warmth that came forward every moment you saw a loved one after a long break from one another. This moment would not bring any less of a feeling to him. He had missed his beautiful Stephania, of course, and though he should have felt bad for not being around as much as he was when she was a young child, he did not. Guilt was a waste of emotion, or so he felt. If he did something wrong he could only do his best to make up for it. This was no different from that belief. The greeting from his daughter only made his heart warm even more so, as she came towards him in an expecting embrace. The smile on his face broadened as he stepped into the building wrapping his arms around his little girl. His head leaned down, kissing her upon the head cheek before pulling from the quick, but tight embrace.

The bag in his arm, he closed the door behind him. He stepped into her house, placing the bag on a small table. It was something he had gotten from Tibet. It had a few carved symbols, made by his own had that stood for protection, and on the front lay her name in fine stencil work. It was one of the first gifts he had gotten for her when she moved out of his place. It had been a big day for the both of them. Trying to let her go, that was the hard part. Even now the question of a boyfriend lingered on his tongue. He would ask, of course, but he would first have to make sure she was doing well. He pulled the tofu treats from the top of the bag, passing them towards her with a grin.

“Jimyang sends his regards. He hopes you'll enjoy these.”

He had his doubts that she would actually eat them, since she hadn't been into the religious aspects of their life as he was, but nonetheless she didn't think she'd simply toss them off as if they hadn't been made in thoughts of her. She was a good kid. He couldn't have asked for a better daughter. Pulling the bag out, he too passed it towards her. Inside lay the teddy bear, of which he had gotten her name sewed into the chest of, next to bracelet in a black box. A platinum bracelet with a small baggie inside containing a simple diamond charm.

“I thought I'd buy you charms for that every once a while.” His pocket itching, a small baggie next to his wallet where the rest of her gift lay. He'd wait to talk to her about another visit for father and daughter. The zoo seemed like a decent idea. At least he thought so.

[Stephania Luccidello]

She beamed when her father returned the hug and accompanied it with a kiss on the cheek, not that she had expected any different. When the hug broke, she stepped back as he closed her door. She eyed the bag that he set down on the table, sure that there was something in there that he had gotten for her. While Stephania really didn’t mind the gifts he gave her, didn’t he realize that she didn’t always need them? But, of course, she knew how her father was, and he made up things by his actions; vis a vis, buying things. She sighed a bit, moving her curled hair from her face a bit. She had been concerned straighten it and leaving it that way for a bit. Who knew, maybe it would help her with guys…

Stephania watched him pull out food, as it seemed, as she graciously took it. She eyed it a bit, wondering what it was. It looked like…well, something other than food. She grinned, little out a nervous chuckle a bit. Her father didn’t push his beliefs or habits or anything onto her, but sometimes it was a bit too much for her at times. “Well, tell him I said thank you,” she replied politely, setting the ‘treats’ on the dining table behind her. She never did use the dining room. Not even for her parties.

When she turned back around, he had the bag out dangling in front of him and her, readily for her to accept. She eyed her father before taking the bag, looking inside. Setting the bag itself down, she opened and reached in to take the first thing her hands could grab. It was…fluffy. She pulled out a teddy bear, with her name on the chest of it. Unique handwork, naturally. She smiled thoughtfully, not aiming to think about the dozens of stuff animals she did have. When would her father realize she wasn’t a little girl anymore? She set the beat aside, not saying anything just yet, before reaching in for another little gift of his. A black box, suitable for jewelry. She held her breath a little, opening it, to see a beautiful, and rather expensive looking, bracelet. “Oh, Daddy,” she gasped. Of course, it wasn’t anything like the ball material, but she could think of the many outfits she had to go along with this.

Turning back towards him, she smiled sweetly as he spoke. Sometimes she had to wonder just how things would be if her mother were here, alive. Or, how he was with her. She didn’t imagine that he was any different, of course. Her father was one of the most charming, lovable, and loyal men that she knew. While not thinking any nasty or obscene thoughts, she wondered why she couldn’t marry a man like her father. Much less one that would ever get his approval. “This is lovely,” Stephania replied, hugging him once more, placing a kiss on his cheek just as well, before stepping back. “Let me just put this in my jewelry box,” she told him quickly, stepping aside and into her rather large bedroom, the master bedroom, and setting the bracelet safely away before rejoining her father outside in the main foyer. “Shall we sit?” Stephania asked, pointing to the lovely family room set comprised of the couch, love seat, and a few matching recliners.

[Theodore Luccidello]

There had always been something that had hurt to much to see his little girl grow up. Though, he had found himself a protective father, like he had suspected he would become before he even had children, it was this overprotective-ness that made his fear as a father more prominent. This fear a tinge of pain he felt seeing her flock off into her own place. Though he was already seeing less of her than he would have liked, he saw even less of his child. She got boyfriends, and she got popular. He found a fear that he didn't like. Fear itself is a general feeling that no one liked, but he had to learn to let go. Or so his Guru said. But, it always felt much better to just see her. Not that he'd speak that verbally, but being with his daughter was like a log of worry lifted from his shoulders. And as simple as words were, Daddy, felt like she was a child again. Where he could more easily protect her from the harshness of the world.

“I thought it would be nice to get you pendents for that every once in a while...”

He was often called a sap, rather verbally or mentally on his own end. He gladly took the seat next to her, his arm laying against the back of the couch, his body slightly leaning towards his daughter. She seemed to like his gifts, which he was quite glad about. Though, he doubted she would have said anything even if she hadn't liked it. She wasn't the type, unless it was something wearable. Of which he rarely took the chance to buy. He wouldn't get anything he didn't agree with and she more than likely wouldn't accept what he liked. So, he let her buy the dresses herself when that time came around. In that, he didn't have his wife's taste in fashion. Then again, he didn't feel the need to worry about such redundant items. Though, he wished he could have made his daughter happy by understanding it a bit more. He knew she didn't like when he got nit-picky about such things and he tried to watch himself.

But as it were, he had to play the part as her father, since that's exactly what he was. Smiling lightly, he looked at her.

“Any guys I haven't heard about yet?” He asked. He was curious, though he doubted she had any man in her life that he didn't know about. The luck of having your daughter living in a compound of the place you worked, and headed the security of had it's advantages, after all. Though, he let the grin on his face come about, knowingly joking. If she had a man in her life, he wanted to be happy for her. Unless... well. He didn't need to think about it. His eyes moved back towards his wallet. Pulling it out, he fumbled with a little baggy in his hand. He lifted the last little pendent for her to see.

“It's been a while, but I wanted to take you to the zoo sometime soon...”

It really had been a while. He hadn't taken his little girl to the zoo since she was a child and he had more time. But he was willing to take time out of his day to visit the zoo. He needed this, and he needed to start building up his relationship with his daughter.