The Sins of the Father
by Amanda Rohrssen
Chapter Seven
Something thick with wetness and smooth to the touch ran over Jacob’s cheek, leaving behind a gooey trail that chilled his feathers in the morning breeze. He smiled lazily in his sleep.
“Gail, you animal…” He turned his face toward the source of the moisture and was met with a rude awakening. The most foul odor he’d ever smelled in his life flooded over his face and invaded his nostrils like a poisonous cloud. Immediately he screwed up his bill and breathed through his mouth in a vain attempt to thwart the offending smell. “Whew! When did you last shower?” Then the sly smile returned as an idea came to mind. “How about we take one together…?”
His eyelids parted slightly and as soon as the world came into focus the smile evaporated from his beak. He was face to face with a scruffy but extremely friendly looking Saint Bernard, its tongue lolling out of its muzzle with a gelatinous stream of drool waggling precariously from its tip.
“What the -- !” he yelped, flailing backward against the trash heap that had been his bed. “Hmph,” he grunted as soon as he realized the situation. Folding his arms, he regarded the pooch with a playfully stern expression. “Sorry Muttley, but my heart belongs to someone else.”
With a groan he forced himself to his feet and stretched his stiff, malodorous body from bill to webbed toes. His head was pounding like a jackhammer on overdrive and the backs of his eyeballs throbbed mercilessly, but he ignored it as best he could and straightened out his wrinkled suit jacket. He had a mission to complete.
It didn’t take long for him to find her, but she was surrounded by a group of girlfriends who were all fussing over her as she made some final adjustments to her wedding plans. Normally women in gangs didn’t bother him; in fact, he quite enjoyed it that way, but for some reason he felt uncomfortable approaching Gail with them around.
Come on, Mallard, he reproached himself, get a hold of yourself. You had the Nubian Princess and the Empress of Thailand at your feet! You brought the underground drug mobs of Russia to their knees! The world is your oyster, and you can’t get up the nerve to talk to a third grade teacher?
He struck himself across the face a couple of times, hoping to dispel the nervous feeling that was new to him. In addition, he acquired a few raised eyebrows from the passersby.
She had been sitting at a café, but now she and her friends were rising and beginning to walk away down the sidewalk. In a moment of panic, also new to him, Jacob took off across the street without looking and was nearly hit by a car in the process. The angry driver laid on his horn, but Jacob kept running as if he hadn’t even noticed. All of his attention was centered on the dark blonde curls up ahead, bouncing gently with each step she took.
He was a mere five feet away when he dared go no further.
“Gail!” he called guardedly, and stiffened when every single girl’s head turned to stare back at him. He thought he caught a glimpse of brightness in her hazel eyes, but it was gone before he could be certain.
“Yes?” she responded with an unreadable expression. The rest of her friends glared at him as if he were the lowest scum of the earth.
He ignored them for the time being. “Gail, I need to talk to you. What I did – I’m sorry if I came on too strongly, but this is so right. You can’t marry him; I can give you anything he could – better! I know I didn’t treat you as well as you deserved before, but I promise you it’ll be different this time! Just give me a chance to prove it to you before you decide!”
“You’ve already had plenty of chances, Jacob Mallard!” one of Gail’s snooty friends piped up, and he vaguely recognized her.
“Yeah! She’s through with you, just like the rest of us! We know all about your tricks, and it’s not going to work this time! She’s getting married tomorrow to a much better man than you’ll ever be!”
He looked past the snarling women to the only one whose opinion mattered to him, but she was staring back at him emotionlessly, and for once he couldn’t read what a woman was thinking or feeling. She was a mystery to him, and it drove him even wilder.
“Gail, please – “ he started, but her friends cut him off.
“Why don’t you crawl back into the hole you came out of and leave her alone? She’s happy for once instead of pining over you. Besides, we all know you only want her because she never slept with you – ow!”
The girl behind the one who had been talking had smacked her on the arm.
“What?” she protested. “It’s true.”
Now Jacob realized why he recognized them. All of them, every single one of them, he had dated at some point in time. And every single one of them he had left just when they had started to grow attached, promising to call them at some point. His black eyes traveled over the sour faces somberly, dejectedly, until they reached Gail’s. Hers was still unreadable, a blank page, and he could only assume that her friends had gotten to her, and that it was too late for him to have a chance with the one woman he had even remotely felt anything for in his life.
“You’re right,” he said slowly, their words sinking into his brain like the Titanic. “She does deserve better than me…better than what I have to offer…better than the kind of man I’ve let myself become.”
Emotions swelled inside of him that he hadn’t felt since childhood. Emotions he had sworn to himself that no one could ever make him feel again. Humiliation, guilt, shame, regret, longing…hurt. He’d been so busy trying to keep everyone out, so busy trying to keep his emotions in check and using them as tools rather than really experiencing them that he hadn’t noticed at what point Gail had managed to worm her way into his heart. And now that she was ingrained there, now that she had a place there that seemed as natural to him as breath, she was going to belong to another man. Though it cut through him like a rusted saw blade, he found he couldn’t fight anymore if that was the future she desired.
He had suffered through a two week isolation in training, a poisoning in Israel, a near-death beating in Russia, more bullet wounds than he had fingers and toes, and had defeated more ruthless criminal masterminds single-handedly in his two year solo trek than any other agent in SHUSH history…only to be bested by a woman.
“I…hope you’re happy together,” he finished lamely, turning away from all of the haughty glares he was receiving. Feeling their judging eyes on his back, Jacob put his hands in his pockets and walked away, concentrating on the dull thunk his dress shoes made against the concrete, and forced himself not to look over his shoulder.
“Jacob, are you sure you’re okay? That’s the second frame you’ve completely botched.”
“Hmm?” Jacob looked up from his thoughts, his glazed eyes barely focusing on his diminutive gander friend. “Oh, is it my turn again? Sorry John.” He stood up to retrieve his bowling ball from the line, but J. Gander stood in his way.
“No, no, stop,” he said earnestly. “Does this have something to do with that girl in the newspaper?”
Now he had Jacob’s attention.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jacob, you never miss pins when we bowl. In fact, you always beat me by quite a few points.”
“So?” Jacob snapped, a little more heatedly than he’d intended.
“Look at the score.” J. Gander handed Jacob the sheet of paper he’d been tallying the scores with. After looking it over for a few moments, Jacob tossed the sheet aside.
“That doesn’t mean anything. I’m just having an off day. You can’t be good at bowling all of the time.”
“But that’s just it, Jacob. You’re always good at everything all of the time. Something’s not right.” J. Gander shifted his own bowling ball into his other arm, a look of concern crossing his usually serious face.
“It’s nothing; I’m fine,” Jacob insisted. “Can we just get back to playing the game?” He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he was getting so upset, especially at J. Gander, who hadn’t done anything wrong.
Though he could tell John wanted to press the issue, he was thankful when his friend instead gave a shrug and consented. They bowled the rest of the game and then parted ways, and as Jacob started home it began to rain.
“Figures,” he muttered.
Jacob Mallard could never remember feeling so low. Usually he was able to bounce right back from minor setbacks, but he seemed to be inept at talking himself out of this one. As the warm rain soaked through his white dress shirt and grey slacks, he contemplated visiting Pintail Grove, the shady part of town, and getting completely shit-faced. Might as well make the outside match the inside. Then maybe he could find a couple of hookers to top off his miserable evening.
A taxi braked just in front of him, and the rear passenger door opened. He moved to walk around it when he heard a voice calling to him above the steady patter of rain.
“Hello stranger. Need a lift?”
His feet suddenly suctioned themselves to the soaked sidewalk, and he turned his sodden face toward the sound in disbelief. There was no expression there for a few minutes as he stared at her, as if he wanted to make doubly sure he wasn’t seeing things in his thoroughly melancholy, self-loathing state of mind.
But there she was, standing beside the cab, the rain plastering her dark blonde curls against her head and her dress suit clinging to her petite body. She smiled at him encouragingly, which jumpstarted his spirits like lightening. He mirrored her expression uncertainly and walked toward her, still not quite convinced that she was really there.
“Gail?” he said loudly, tentatively, through the buckets of water crashing over them. “What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering him, she threw herself forward and had her arms around his neck before he could even react. Her beak eagerly searched out his, and it wasn’t long before she was kissing him fiercely, clinging to him in an ardent embrace.
“I came to find you, silly,” she replied as soon as she pulled away, as if the fact were obvious. There was that playful tone in her voice that he couldn’t help but be enchanted by.
“How did you find me?”
“I didn’t. Your friend John told me where you’d be.”
“But…what about your…?”
“I gave him back his ring,” she said, watching him intently with her arms still around his neck.
He blinked, confused, and, understandably, shocked. “You mean you…?”
“I called off the wedding.”
All he seemed to be able to do was stare at her. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to return her tender embrace. There was no longer any doubt that she was really physically there, but had she gone crazy?
She gave a little laugh and her arms fell away from his shoulders. “Well say something.”
It wasn’t until he looked into her earnest hazel eyes that he finally understood exactly what was happening. It wasn’t how he’d imagined it would be; he felt…unworthy. It was another new feeling to add to the list. And he knew now without hesitation that he’d chosen the right woman. She was too good for him.
“…Jacob?” Her voice had grown uncertain.
“Why?” was all he could think to say.
That beautiful, perfect smile returned to her bill. “Unless you were lying earlier today, I think you know why…” Then, briefly, the smile fell. “I didn’t love him. Not really… it just made sense more than anything, and my parents liked him. In fact, I think they liked him more than I ever did.”
“And what do you think they’ll say about me?” Jacob asked, rain streaming off of his long bill.
She smirked. “Let’s just cross that bridge when we come to it.”
He moved toward her and slowly gathered her into his arms, as if he was afraid if he moved too quickly she’d evaporate. Even though it was only for a few passing moments, to Jacob it felt like an eternity. A perfect, complete, serene eternity, and for once, he was content to be still.
All too soon she pulled her head back and looked up at him, and the slight twinge of fear was transparent in her eyes.
“Please tell me I’m not just another one of your bar girls,” she whispered as the rain began to dissipate around them. “Tell me this is for real, that this isn’t another of your games…Tell me that I’m not just one in a long line of –"
He didn’t let her finish. The tip of his bill found hers and he kissed her tenderly, passionately, just as the moonlight broke through the mess of clouds, bathing them in a pure silver glow.
“This isn’t a game,” he breathed between touching his lips to hers. “You’re not a bar girl…you’re the only girl. I meant what I said. Gail, I-"
The taxi driver must have grown impatient, because the horn beeped curtly behind them, making Gail nearly jump out of her feathers. She blushed, embarrassed, and Jacob couldn’t help but think how much more beautiful she looked that way.
“Lady, are you getting back in or what?” the driver called after rolling down the window.
Gail looked up at Jacob, opening her bill timidly, and he interjected on her behalf.
“We’re getting in, thank you,” he said, opening the door for her.
It wasn’t long before they found themselves in front of Gail’s apartment building, and neither one seemed to want to let the other go. The blush had stayed on her face the whole time, and her eyes had every so often flitted over to him as if to make sure he was still there. He, however, had watched her for the entire drive. It still hadn’t completely sunk in for him that she was there, that she was no longer getting married, and that she had called it off for him. This was the sort of thing that happened in movies, not in real life. And though Jacob had always played out his life like a Hollywood playboy, it was quite a different experience when the emotions were real.
Her hazel eyes were on him again shyly, and he felt his insides melt. No one had ever had such power over him before. He was surprised to find that he liked it.
“Do you…want to come up?” she asked, watching him carefully.
He smiled and shook his head. “Not tonight…” he replied softly. “Not unless…you want me to.”
She looked up at him shrewdly. “You know my answer to that.”
One of his hands came up and brushed the hair away from her face. Her consistent denial somehow gave him a sort of respect for her that would have otherwise turned him off on other women in the past. She was not easily won, and there were still a lot of things he didn’t know about her. Oddly enough, it was that mystery that was one of the reasons he was so attracted to her. He could spend the rest of his life discovering more about her.
“Let’s get married,” he said abruptly.
“What?” she said breathlessly, her eyes going wide in surprise.
“Marry me,” he said again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That little laugh of hers carried through the air again. “Do you hear yourself? You’re crazy! How could we get married?”
“Easy,” he replied smoothly, pulling her against him with a sensual smile. “You’ve already got a dress, and a church, and a minister…now all you need is a groom, and I know just the chap for the job. He can be a little cheeky at times, but I think you’ll be able to keep him in line. He also, ironically, has very good taste in jewelry.”
He watched her face go through a rapid shift in emotion. Shock, fear, uncertainty, contemplation, decisiveness, elation…
Suddenly her arms were around him again, and they were so close together Jacob could barely tell where she ended and he began.
“Yes…” she whispered, a slow grin spreading across her face. “Yes, I will!”
Her bill was pressed against his before he could even register her answer, and he knew he could kiss those lips and only those lips for all eternity. She was his. Jacob Mallard, Saint Canard playboy, SHUSH’s rising star agent, was getting married.
The next day was a complete blur to Jacob. He barely remembered the unintelligible conversation he'd had with John after leaving Gail the previous evening, but somehow his best friend had shown up to the ceremony and stood beside him as his best man. His bride was beyond words beautiful, and from the moment she was walking down the aisle to their first kiss as husband and wife, Jacob couldn't take his eyes off of her. Even now, at the extravagant reception in the basement of the church, he barely noticed anyone else was in the room.
Choosing her had been the easy part; he had felt it in every ounce of his being that she was the only woman who could complete parts of himself that he never even knew weren't whole. It was unlike anything he had ever felt for another person in his entire life. He would die for this woman; give up anything and everything for this woman. Whatever it would take to please her, he would do. He was the luckiest mallard in the world to have her on his arm. It completely blew him away each time he looked into her eyes that she had said yes -- that this radiant and perfect creature before him was his wife. She had chosen him to spend her life with. One thing he knew for certain was that he loved her, and he was not going to take his vows lightly. He had promised to love, honor, and cherish her, and he would be damned if anything got in the way of doing just that.
"Hey Jacob!" one of his old academy buddies called to him as he stumbled across the room with a wine glass clenched in his fist. His voice lowered conspiringly as he leaned in toward Jacob's ear with a mischievous expression. "I'll bet you can't wait for tonight, right? Huh, huh?" He elbowed Jacob in the ribs with a wink, then turned his head to admire Gail. "So, you think she's really a virgin? I mean, yeah, her dress is white, but these days you can never be sure, am I right? How many times you figure she's been around the block?"
He didn't seem to notice the way Jacob's face was swiftly darkening until he glanced back over his shoulder at his friend.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"That woman is the purest, most virtuous treasure in all the world. Any mallard could count himself lucky to be breathing the same air as her, let alone standing in her presence, and I will not have you speaking about my wife like a tramp."
His friend leaned back, his eyebrows twitching. He was clearly disturbed. “Hey, what’s your problem? We used to check out girls all the time in the bar together.”
“Exactly,” Jacob responded flatly. “Used to. This one’s different. She’s not a bargirl. She’s the one thing that’s going to go right for me.”
“You’re no fun anymore, Jacob,” the koala slurred firmly. “You’ve changed.”
“That may be,” he said, “but I don’t mind. She’s worth it to me.”
The marsupial scratched his head hesitantly, then nodded. “Well…congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Jacob said before his boyish smirk crept into his face. “And Farva? There’s no doubt in my mind that after tonight, I’ll have been the best and only man in that beautiful woman’s bed. Don’t you forget that.”
Farva smiled in response, seeing that not all traces of his old friend had vanished, and went off in search of more champagne.
A slender hand slipped into his. “Jacob?”
His head turned and the smirk he had been wearing broadened into a wide smile.
“Ah, there she is. Mrs. Jacob Mallard. How do you like the sound of that?”
“It will take some getting used to,” was all she replied with before taking a couple of steps to the side to reveal two mallards that had been standing in her wake. “Jacob… these are my parents, Kenneth and Illsa Patonita. Mom, Dad…this is Jacob…the mallard I was telling you about.”
“Indeed,” Gail’s mother replied with an upturn of her bill as she scrutinized Jacob with her beady dark blue eyes.
Jacob stuck out his hand toward the father, ignoring the look Illsa was giving him. “How do you do, Ken? Can I call you Ken?”
“No,” the elder mallard said immediately.
Jacob glanced down at his extended hand, still unshaken, and retracted it to try a different approach, this time on Illsa. “Well, I can certainly see where Gail gets her good looks from.” Without waiting for a response, he reached out and picked up Illsa’s hand to give the top of it a gentlemanly peck. “Madam.”
“What exactly do you do for a living, ‘Jacob’?” Illsa said with an undertone of disdain as she withdrew her hand from Jacob’s grasp.
“Mother!” Gail hissed in embarrassment.
“I work for SHUSH,” he said, letting the implication of Illsa’s question roll off his back. “I’m also in a rather high position for someone my age, and plan on working my way up to director someday. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your daughter’s well taken care of.” He smiled mischievously toward Gail and slipped an arm around her slightly pudgy waist. She gave him a pleading expression that he didn’t latch on to right away.
“I see,” Illsa continued, no longer hiding the dislike in her voice or on her face.
Gail’s father abruptly cleared his throat. “Dearheart, may we speak with you for a moment?” he said smoothly to his daughter, struggling to keep his judging gaze away from the mallard at her side. “Alone?”
His bride’s eyes panned over to him for a split second, and though he couldn’t quite read what was in her expression, he felt a flicker of compassion and almost didn’t want to let her go. But she was out of range in seconds and already in a quiet, heated discussion with her parents.
Not quite knowing what his role was supposed to be (rarely did he ever meet the parents of his girlfriends), he hesitantly headed toward the refreshment table and was soon lost in jovial conversation with a few of the guests.
It wasn’t until he heard the DJ announce that it was time for their first dance together that he remembered Gail. Her parents were nowhere in sight, and though his keen eyes panned through the crowd he couldn’t find the face of his sweetheart.
“Gail?” he said into the crowd with a raised eyebrow as he began searching through the waves of people – mostly her parents’ guests.
It wasn’t until he got to the farthest, loneliest corner of the room that he found her – a mass of white against the darkness. She was turned away from everyone, and her head was bent low at just the angle that made the beautiful curls spilling down her shoulders and back gleam like gold in the dim light.
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Gail?” he said softly before a light smirk crossed his bill. “It’s time for the newlywed dance.”
The half-smile dropped from his face the instant she turned around. Her mascara was running down her face in twin streams, mixing with the viscous tears that covered her porcelain cheeks, and her hazel eyes looked so empty and hopeless he felt his heart crumble.
“What is it?” he asked lowly, earnestly, wanting to eradicate whatever was upsetting her. “What’s the matter?”
“They don’t think you’re good enough for me,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“Who? Your parents?”
She nodded miserably. “And when I refused to get our marriage annulled, they…” Her gaze dropped to the floor, and he could tell that there would be worse news. He set his jaw and gently grasped her forearms in his hands comfortingly.
“What…?” he urged her quietly.
Her eyes rose slowly to meet his, full of cheerless despair. They were so unlike the eyes he had been entranced by.
“They made me choose between them or you…and I chose you.”
He felt a familiar fire rise in his chest. The fire of defiance. Normally he would have protested fervently the unfair decision she had been forced to make, he would have ranted and raved about the unfairness of it, and he would have done everything to find and argue with her parents about what they were insinuating of him and his relationship with their daughter. They hadn’t even given him a chance to prove himself.
But the look in her eyes made him hold his tongue, and he knew that no amount of rash anger would change the situation.
“I chose you,” she repeated, the tears welling up again in her lovely eyes.
“So where are those crazy kids, anyway?” the DJ’s voice blared in an overly-cheery tone over the loudspeakers. A swift murmur of confusion and worry fluttered through the crowd, and the shuffle of anxious feet against the wooden floor signaled to Jacob that they had better return to their duties as newlyweds.
“Hey…” he said gently, cupping her face in his hands and lifting her chin so that he could look at her. “Come on…let’s get out there. They’re waiting for us.” He smoothed her hair back away from her face and ran his thumbs across her cheeks until all traces of her tears had vanished.
He took her by the hand and led her out of the dark corner behind the stage.
“There they are!” the DJ announced with a cheesy grin. “Mr. and Mrs…” he paused to read the card in his hand, “Jacob Mallard share their first dance as husband and wife!”
Jacob put his arms around his wife tenderly and let her lean against him as they moved slowly across the dance floor. She kept her head buried in the crook of his neck and away from prying eyes. The dulcet melody of Connie Francis’ “My Happiness” filled the reception hall.
“This is our song,” Jacob said, his voice a low rumble against her ears and a gentle smile warming his face.
Evening shadows make me blue
When each weary day is through
How I long to be with you, my happiness…
“You’re the only family I have now,” she sobbed softly, sniffling every few seconds.
Every day I reminisce
Dreaming of your tender kiss
Always thinking how I miss my happiness…
“You’re my only family, too,” Jacob whispered, holding her closer against him as they moved in rhythm with the song.
She tilted her head back. “Jacob…why didn’t you want to invite your parents…?”
A millions years it seems
Have gone by since we shared our dreams
But I’ll hold you again
There’ll be no blue memories then…
“You know why,” he responded somberly, staring over her head with a distant expression. “I haven’t spoken to either of them since I was seventeen. They’ve probably killed each other by now, or drank themselves into oblivion.”
“Were they always so horrible?”
“No…” he replied quietly, “they weren’t.” He blinked out of the empty stare and looked down at her. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now. You’re the only one who knows. I haven’t even told John.”
Whether skies are gray or blue
Any place on earth will do
Just as long as I’m with you, my happiness…
She nestled her head back down against him and he rested his chin atop her head after placing a kiss there.
“What about your brother?”
“Nick? Oh, he and I don’t talk anymore, either. We fell out of touch after I got him out of there. Always blamed me for the family falling apart…” He cleared his throat. “You have any siblings?”
“No.”
Whether skies are gray or blue
Any place on earth will do
Just as long as I’m with you, my happiness…
They remained silent for a few long moments while the last chords of their song faded away. At the end all of the guests applauded them, but they neither stopped dancing nor pulled apart as the DJ began playing another song for everyone to dance to.
“We really are the only family we have…” Gail murmured. Jacob had to strain his ears just to hear her above the music.
He set his jaw again, a resolute expression settling into his usually devil-may-care visage, and he stopped the both of them only to embrace her more tightly, more reassuringly. He could feel her begin to cry again.
“I love you,” he rumbled. “We’re going to make our own family. We don’t need anyone else as long as we have each other. I’m going to take good care of you…okay?”
She nodded against him, her tears wetting the lapels of his black tuxedo, and kept her arms firmly locked around him. They were all each other had now, and Jacob was determined not to disappoint her.