Fic: What Katerina likes.
Title: What Katerina likes
Verse: Alexander's Game Canon
Characters/pairing: Ricker/Jael, Katerina, others mentioned
Rating: G, shmoopy
Summary: What Katerina likes is not quite like the sound of music's version.
Disclaimer: Ricker, Lauren, Jacob, Eddie, Katerina and Luke belong to downloadstone she just lets me borrow them.
Katerina liked to sneak into her Daddy’s closet and steal his jacket. It was big, brown and warm, filled with wool and the buttons were nearly as big as her entire hand. She would put it on and sit on the couch, tugging her legs up and doing it up over them. Her Daddy would pretend he didn’t recognise her, looking high and low around the house for her, talking to her as if she was a cushion, asking the whereabouts of his daughter. Her Papa though, he would pick her up, jacket and all, and sling her over his shoulder, spinning her around until she laughed and clung to his neck in a desperate effort not to fall off. He’d kiss her cheek and pull the hood up and over her head, her Daddy’s smile wide and his gaze soft as he watched them. Papa was strong in the ways that Daddy wasn’t, but Daddy was the one who would tell her she was beautiful, the prettiest princess in all the world and Papa would make noises like he agreed and then look at the hole she’d cut in the paper with his eyebrows raised. It just made it easier to see his face, is all.
Katerina liked to wear her Papa’s shoes. They were hundreds of millions of sizes too big and she would have to shuffle rather than walk, but she would do them up very carefully, just the way Aunty Lauren had showed her. Lauren was nice, even if she made Papa a little uncomfortable sometimes. Lauren was Daddy’s ex-girlfriend, but Katerina pretended she didn’t know. She would bring her son around, and Jacob would boss her around like he was the oldest, even though she was by seven whole months. Her Uncle Eddie didn’t come over as often and he and Papa didn’t really talk when he did, but he was nice. He would let her hang onto his arm while he reached up for the coffee mugs, pretending not to smile.
Katerina liked to call her mama. She would talk to her in Russian, holding the phone cradled against her ear while her mama listened to her and asked her how her week had been. She called every Tuesday night, and Katerina would curl up in her Daddy’s lap, his arms warm and tight around her as she explained very carefully about how Jacob was not the boss of her, and neither was Luke, even though he was just a baby.
What Katerina liked the most was crawling into her parents bed on Sunday mornings. The sun would just be slanting in the window and her Papa would wrinkle his nose and roll onto his stomach, so she would sit on his back and play with his hair, telling her Daddy how after breakfast she wanted to go to the zoo, to see the eagles. They were the best birds, and much better than the otters and the lions and maybe not that much better than the elephants but they still were. Her Papa had bought her an eagle pendant for her birthday and it never came off, the outstretched wings reminding her of her Daddy’s hugs and her Papa’s slow, patient smile, and the way they would bundle her down and wrap her up and hug her at seven on Sunday, not once angry at being woken up early.
Verse: Alexander's Game Canon
Characters/pairing: Ricker/Jael, Katerina, others mentioned
Rating: G, shmoopy
Summary: What Katerina likes is not quite like the sound of music's version.
Disclaimer: Ricker, Lauren, Jacob, Eddie, Katerina and Luke belong to downloadstone she just lets me borrow them.
Katerina liked to sneak into her Daddy’s closet and steal his jacket. It was big, brown and warm, filled with wool and the buttons were nearly as big as her entire hand. She would put it on and sit on the couch, tugging her legs up and doing it up over them. Her Daddy would pretend he didn’t recognise her, looking high and low around the house for her, talking to her as if she was a cushion, asking the whereabouts of his daughter. Her Papa though, he would pick her up, jacket and all, and sling her over his shoulder, spinning her around until she laughed and clung to his neck in a desperate effort not to fall off. He’d kiss her cheek and pull the hood up and over her head, her Daddy’s smile wide and his gaze soft as he watched them. Papa was strong in the ways that Daddy wasn’t, but Daddy was the one who would tell her she was beautiful, the prettiest princess in all the world and Papa would make noises like he agreed and then look at the hole she’d cut in the paper with his eyebrows raised. It just made it easier to see his face, is all.
Katerina liked to wear her Papa’s shoes. They were hundreds of millions of sizes too big and she would have to shuffle rather than walk, but she would do them up very carefully, just the way Aunty Lauren had showed her. Lauren was nice, even if she made Papa a little uncomfortable sometimes. Lauren was Daddy’s ex-girlfriend, but Katerina pretended she didn’t know. She would bring her son around, and Jacob would boss her around like he was the oldest, even though she was by seven whole months. Her Uncle Eddie didn’t come over as often and he and Papa didn’t really talk when he did, but he was nice. He would let her hang onto his arm while he reached up for the coffee mugs, pretending not to smile.
Katerina liked to call her mama. She would talk to her in Russian, holding the phone cradled against her ear while her mama listened to her and asked her how her week had been. She called every Tuesday night, and Katerina would curl up in her Daddy’s lap, his arms warm and tight around her as she explained very carefully about how Jacob was not the boss of her, and neither was Luke, even though he was just a baby.
What Katerina liked the most was crawling into her parents bed on Sunday mornings. The sun would just be slanting in the window and her Papa would wrinkle his nose and roll onto his stomach, so she would sit on his back and play with his hair, telling her Daddy how after breakfast she wanted to go to the zoo, to see the eagles. They were the best birds, and much better than the otters and the lions and maybe not that much better than the elephants but they still were. Her Papa had bought her an eagle pendant for her birthday and it never came off, the outstretched wings reminding her of her Daddy’s hugs and her Papa’s slow, patient smile, and the way they would bundle her down and wrap her up and hug her at seven on Sunday, not once angry at being woken up early.