Page 20 of Never Have We Ever
Chapter 6
Daniela was the most spoiled little heiress in Monaco, and that was a feat. Yet every time Valeska entered her daughter’s room, designed to look like a princess’s fantastical hideaway, she bemoaned what it was doing to the young child’s psyche.
It didn’t help that Valeska’s bulge made her resent not only her swollen feet, but also the fact she was bringing yet anotherchild into this deplorable situation.
“Daniela!” she called for her daughter, but it was Lena who appeared from around the corner. “Where is Daniela? Tell her she needs to get in here and clean her room. It’s a mess.”
Lena acted as if she knew where the child was, but Valeska could tell that the nanny didn’t have a clue. Barring a kidnapping, that meant only one other person could currentlyhave Daniela in her clutches.
“Amazing!” Marlene clapped when her granddaughter did another grand pirouette in the living room. “Absolutely fantastic! Out of all my granddaughters, you are the most talented ballerina, Daniela.”
She’s four.Daniela hopped around, still in her pink tutu from ballet class. She was supposed to be changed and fed a snack an hour ago. Who had dropped the ball? Lena?Marlene? Lena was responsible for the oversight, but it was probably Marlene’s fault, and the nanny wasnotabout to upset grandma.I’m upset. I’m the one pissed. My mother doesn’t even need to be here!Marlene parked herself in the residence of whatever daughter was pregnant again. Between Valeska and Hailey – whohadbeen pregnant with her fourth the last time she visited – Marlene rarely spenta whole month in Vienna anymore. From the way Marlene gabbed, it suited her fine. Vienna was cold, stuffy, and the home of her own husband.
“Ma!” Valeska gritted her teeth.I don’t remember my first pregnancy being this cumbersome.She waddled like a whale – if whales could walk. Daniela had been a relatively easy birth, even though she was Valeska’s first. This new baby, however, had the Monegasqueobstetricians staring at ultrasounds and shaking their heads in sympathy. They were all men. What sympathy was there to feel? They had no idea what it was like to give one’s body over to a watermelon that sucked up a woman’s nutrients like a parasite!
All right. She was a cranky. Frequently.
“What is it?” Marlene held her granddaughter in her lap. Daniela clung to Marlene as if she were a purerversion of Valeska.She certainly indulges you more than I do.Valeska hated being the “bad guy” in the home, and Daniela was definitely old enough to understand that role. Lena merely followed orders and shrugged at the little girl when told to do something that upset Daniela. Marlene was the grandmother who had nothing better to do than to spoil everyone around her, the younger the better.
And André? Whenever he was around, he was the king, the greatest person in his daughter’s eyes. Daniela knew when her father was coming home long before Valeska did. They shared French conversations that she never hoped to penetrate. André brought her home presents from all over the world: Japanese dolls, Chinese silk dresses, Australian hand-carved toys, Swedish snacks, American confections, Italianleather goods… her room was full of crap from around the world!
Yes, Valeska was definitely cranky. This baby in her body was probably going to kill her before she had the chance to go on a rampage, though.
“Daniela needs to clean her room.” Valeska grabbed the back of the couch and stretched her sore legs. “There are toys everywhere.” She looked her daughter square in the blue eyes. “Go cleanyour room, Daniela.” Valeska had never uttered such enunciated German in her life.
Her daughter shook her head. “I don’t understand!” she screamed in French.
That’s my line around here.Valeska hung her head in defeat. “Please go clean your room,” she tried in English.
“No!”
“Come on, dear.” Marlene waved her hand in front of her daughter’s face. “That’s the nanny’s job. Let the girl enjoyher childhood. She only gets one!”
“She’ll become spoiled and dependent if we clean up after her all the time. I don’t ask much of her around here. Cleaning her room is the bare minimum.”
“No!” Daniela continued to shout. “No, no, no!”
Lena put a hand on Valeska’s arm. “It’s fine. I will do it.”
“No you will not.” Valeska pointed to her daughter. “It is her responsibility. She’s old enoughfor responsibilities.”
“Papa wouldn’t make me!”
“Papa isn’t here, and believe it or not, your papa doesn’t have the ultimate authority.”I can’t believe I have to talk to my daughter in English.This whole family she created conspired against her.
“Gramma says he is the man of the house and king of the castle.”
Marlene blushed in embarrassment. “I said no such thing,” she insisted in German.
“You did too!”
“Since when do you understand German?”
It was a trap. Valeska had said it in her native tongue and caught her daughter swinging her head around to say, “I understand German! I just don’t care!”
“See?” Valeska threw her hands up. “This is worthless.”
“Meine Dame…”
