Full Circle - Day 15

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Day 15

No one seemed to notice that the sun was beginning to rise. No one thought of anything . other than the events that took place four years ago. Ivan did not allow himself to succumb to the exhaustion he now felt nor to the nagging ache in the back of his throat He had to bring closure for his family… for Camille.

Viola too, ignored her own fatigue but was unable to watch Ivan try to go on as exhausted as he was. He had been standing for hours now, deep in thought, lost somewhere in that tragic night. “Ivan,” she said softly, grasping his hand in her own, “sit down. I’ll make us some tea. We really don’t have to do all of this right now, you know. You need to get some rest. We all do.”

Ivan smiled weakly and shook his head. “Viola, it’s been long enough. I don’t want to carry this secret to bed with me another night. I want it finished.”

Viola nodded. She knew her husband would not be persuaded to do otherwise. Giving in, she gently led him over to the bed. “At least sit,” she encouraged.

Ivan gave her hand a gentle squeeze and sat down on the bed. Viola sat next to him. He looked across the room at his daughters. He could see that they were both extremely exhausted but equally determined to know all that had taken place that night. “Well,” he began slowly, allowing himself to again be transported back in time, “that locket was very old and very, very special. The locket used to be yours Victoria.”

Victoria looked astonished, but remained silent.

“Your grandmother Olivia, my mother gave it to you when you were just about a month old,” Ivan said, remembering the beautiful silver locket that was etched in gold. It had meant a lot to his mother when she was just a child and it had meant so much to him when she had decided to pass it on to one of his daughters. He smiled. He had been so proud; the locket held such a very powerful symbolic meaning. “You simply adored that locket,” he said, looking directly at Victoria now. “When you were about four years old, you absolutely refused to take it off. You wore it everywhere and showed it to everyone.”

Victoria laughed softly, for a moment forgetting what this whole forum was really about. “The locket,” she said, dragging out each syllable as if hearing the word for the first time. “That means there was probably something inside of it. What was it, Father?” She wasn’t sure if she had simply forgotten, or that she had ever even known the contents of the locket. But no one other than Ivan had ever known. They had been unable to open it and had just assumed that it was due to the age of the locket.

Ivan thought for a moment. But he didn’t really need to. He could never forget what was inside of that locket… nor the inscription it held. “A picture,” he said, finally. “There was a picture inside.” Would that be enough for them? He knew it wouldn’t be.

A picture of whom, Father?” Victoria asked solemnly.

Ivan frowned. Now things would certainly begin to get complicated. “The picture,” he paused, “the picture was of your grandmother… and her twin sister.”

The revelation of this was so dramatic, it was almost tangible. The girls had no idea that their grandmother had had a twin sister.

Viola had not even been aware of this. Her eyes widened with disbelief and betrayal. “Ivan,” she said, her words thick with raw emotion. “I… we had no idea. Who was she? Why was this such a secret to be kept from your very own family? From me?” she added, her throat suddenly tight with pain.

Ivan could not face her. Until now he had not allowed himself to feel any degree of guilt for keeping any of this from his wife.

“Ivan.” Viola whispered, her eyes pleading with him to finally grant her entrance into his secret world. “Please tell me why you would have to keep your aunt’s existence a secret from us… from me?”

Ivan looked at her, eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t tell you. Mother wouldn’t allow it. I couldn’t tell you for a million other reasons as well. But I wanted to. So many times I tried to find the right words, despite the consequences. But then when Camille was born…” he paused. “just like her…” his words trailed off. What else could he say?

Countdown to the exciting conclusion.
Be sure to look for the continuation of this story in about 3 days.