galvin g. gudgeon (galvinized) wrote in valesco,
@ 2011-05-19 13:49:00

Entry tags:

Victoria!
It had been a rough week. Last weekend a good friend of his and Victoria's, a former teammate actually from the Meteorites, had died in a broom crash with his family. Something about faulty breaks, the charms---It had been devastating, and the trip back to Moosejaw and then back to England still had him suffering from Portkey-Lag.

So when his lawyer called him in for an early morning meeting last night, Vinny was really not looking forward to it. He had no idea what it could be about, but was more than surprised to see his girlfriend waiting outside the offices.

"Hey," he leaned down to give Victoria a kiss, but was looking more than surprised at seeing her, "What are you doing here?" To have the both of them there made his insides start to twist; this couldn't be a good thing, could it? What if it was something that the papers had made up and they were questioning things?

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beavertails
2011-05-19 04:13 pm UTC (link)

While it had been good to get back home and visit with her family, the circumstances that had lead to her going back to Saskatchewan had been less than ideal. She knew it was particularly hard for Vinny to deal with even more death in his life -- and their teammmate's family, to boot. They'd been very good friends -- they'd known Victoria's brothers for longer than they'd known her, but they'd gotten on well.

And besides, the portkey-lag was even worse for those who didn't take portkeys very often - her head was still reeling from the trip.

She returned the kiss with a shrug. "I just do what Henry tells me to when it comes to meetings," she said with a shake of her head. "I think I have to meet with a lawyer." And she was guessing that Vinny had to do the same. Fortunately, she had no knowledge of the legal system and therefore no idea what this could mean.

"Maybe we can go in together?" She stood from her seat and looked to the door as it opened. Sure enough, they were both beckoned inside.

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galvinized
2011-05-19 04:58 pm UTC (link)

Vinny was feeling more and more nervous. His lawyer was someone he hadn't really talked to since Marlie's death, but it wasn't as if---He hadn't even thought of having to see one, but she'd left him everything, him and Milo and it was just---there weren't good memories of these offices.

"Galvin! Ms. Cadwallader, please, take a seat," Mr. Robards said with a smile so wide that Vinny was sure that this was going to be really, really bad. The smile was so fake and shiny---he'd also had that same grin when Robards told him he'd gotten half of his dead fiancee's estate, so what could this possibly be about?

"I'm fine," Vinny said, remaining standing by the side of the chair. "What's this all about?"

"Well," Robards said, taking a seat behind his ridiculously large desk. He smiled at Victoria and then looked back up at Vinny, "As you both know, you were chosen to be Ava Scott's godparents when she was born."

This...was not what Vinny had been expecting at all. He had been clinging to his former teammate's daughter the whole time he was in Moosejaw, but her elderly grandmother had taken her away. What was wrong with Ava? He'd thought that it would be the last time he'd see the little girl, "What's wrong with Ava?"

"Oh, no, she's perfectly fine, actually---" The door that had been left open behind them creaked a little further and Vinny turned to see Robards' secretary holding the baby. Vinny first felt elated to see his goddaughter, but then his stomach twisted when his thoughts began to put everything together.

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beavertails
2011-05-19 05:10 pm UTC (link)

Ms. Cadwallader was an awfully formal title - it reminded her of her mother, or even her grandmother. She stepped into the office and sat down even if Vinny apparently didn't want to. Sure, she was also nervous about speaking to the lawyer, but they hadn't done anything in the town except be sweet and polite to her teammates. Her mother had been thrilled to see how Vinny was taking to Ava, even if Victoria had insisted that it was going to be a long time before they had any children of their own.

She'd conveniently forgotten, at that point, that being a godmother to Ava meant that they could potentially become the girl's parents. Victoria suddenly felt much more nervous about the whole situation - and once she saw that Ava was in the room, that nervousness amplified.

Ava was a sweet girl, true - but Victoria wasn't sure she was ready to be a mother. That was a lot of responsibility for her to deal with after having next to none for much of her life in Saskatchewan. She supposed she was getting older, and being in England had helped her get her head on a little straighter, but...

She settled for wiggling her fingers at Ava with a smile. No need to freak out about anything until she was sure of things, after all.

"...of course we're glad to see that she's all right, but -- what is this all about?"

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galvinized
2011-05-19 06:53 pm UTC (link)

Oh, Christ on a cracker. Vinny blinked quickly as the secretary came closer with the baby, smiling weakly as the girl recognized him and reached out. Oh, crap. Oh, oh. Vinny couldn't not take her, she was his goddaughter. The goddaughter he hadn't actually spent much time with and had been slightly surprised that Adam had chosen him as godfather, but when you're teammates, you're teammates for life so---

"Heyyyy, baby," he cooed, quickly turning to Robards after he greeted Ava. "Why is she here? I thought her grandmother was taking her---"

"Her grandmother is actually her great-great grandmother," Robards said, and Vinny began to feel a bit weak so he sat down in the chair, "She's actually Mr. Scott's mother great-grandmother, and is in no condition to be raising a two years old. And, anyway, you two were named in the will as the guardians chosen for Ava."

"Aw shit," Vinny couldn't help but let out, and the little hands of the girl in his arms patted his mouth in a scolding manner.

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beavertails
2011-05-19 07:13 pm UTC (link)

Robards' words confirmed the sneaking suspicion that she'd been having -- they were Ava's guardians now. That meant they were suddenly parents, and they couldn't very well say no. That would be -- well, it would be disrespectful to their dead friends, and it would be horrible for this little girl to have to go and live with some strangers because they were too selfish to take her.

Victoria took a deep breath in.

"Well, the more the merrier!" She reached out to beep Ava's nose after a moment of tense consideration, laughing nervously and leaning in to whisper to Vinny, "It isn't like we can just -- say no. I mean, I'm from a big family...and her poor parents..." she was used to taking care of siblings, at least. Maybe this was going to be like that?

Except that the girl would be around all the time and when were they ever going to find time for sex ever again -- Vinny could probably see the panic rising behind her eyes, or at least notice that her chest was suddenly rising and falling a little faster than it had been in the moments before.

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galvinized
2011-05-19 07:29 pm UTC (link)

"The more the---" She was saying yes! Oh God, Victoria had just accepted this life long responsibility! Sure, sure Vinny had been finding himself jealous of Davy and his budding bundle of joy, and sure, he'd imagined he'd already have two kids by now if he and Marlie had gotten to live their lives but this was----unexpected and surprising and not----

He loved Victoria, he did. He was beyond happy with her and she made him feel alive but they weren't even living together! They were still new and exciting and how was he supposed to know after only dating for five, six months that he wanted to have a family with her?! They weren't married, would they have to get married? He didn't want to get married yet! Oh God, he felt like a terrible person for thinking these things, but it was true!

"I know, I just--" he tried to respond to Victoria, but his heart was racing too fast and he was in absolute and complete shock as to what to do. He needed time. He wanted to push the baby into Victoria's arms since--well she looked ready to panic too, but she was the only one capable of speaking at the moment so she was doing a better job than him. "It's too damn early for this."

The curse earned him another swat in the mouth and Vinny let out a nerve-filled laugh.

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beavertails
2011-05-19 07:35 pm UTC (link)

"I know it is." But thinking about little Ava standing outside of some terrifying orphanage clutching at the skirts of some stern looking headmistress was a bit too much for Victoria to handle. She was sure that she loved Vinny, and this didn't -- have to change things completely if he didn't want it to.

"We could always just," and she waved a hand in front of her, vaguely grasping at something right or logical that would calm them both down, "I mean, it doesn't have to change things all that much. We don't have to like, get married or something." It didn't count as having a child out of wedlock if they hadn't actually had the child themselves, right?

And this way they could just take turns at each others' houses for a while, and if things went completely pear-shaped it would just be like a divorced couple having to share a child. Either way things might go, she didn't want to just toss Ava out on her cute little behind.

She was suddenly glad they were on different Quidditch teams - glad that they had slightly different training schedules even if it made finding time for each other hard. It would be even harder now, but...

Victoria held her hands out for Ava, letting the toddler settle onto her lap. Holding on to the girl at least made the sensation of possibly passing out go away temporarily.

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