Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [112]
“So that’s it? We’re done?”
“The Death Bringer is dead, the crisis is averted… It would seem like we have triumphed once again.”
“Yay us,” Valkyrie said, and stretched. “I’m tired.”
“Fletcher’s hanging around inside. He could take you home.”
“I’d prefer the drive, actually.”
“Is it because of the scintillating conversation?”
“That must be it.”
“This wasn’t the ending we wanted,” Skulduggery said.
“No it wasn’t,” replied Valkyrie. “It was the ending we got, though.”
“Yes it was.”
Chapter 41
Home Sweet Home
aturday morning came and went, and Valkyrie slept through most of it. When she woke, she just lay there, looking up at the ceiling. She thought about Melancholia, and Wreath, and Moore, and about Fletcher and Caelan. All of it jumbled together this past week, becoming mixed up and messed up, one thing after another. She hadn’t had time to really dwell on recent events. That might have been a good thing.
She crawled out of bed, showered and dressed, went downstairs. Her parents were heading out that afternoon, but when she walked into the living room, her father was leaning over the basket, prodding Alice with his finger. “Hello, small person,” he said.
“Desmond,” her mum said from the couch, “don’t poke the baby.”
Her dad stopped, looked guilty, then leaned closer. “You may have won this round,” he whispered, “but I will have my—”
“And don’t threaten the baby, either.”
“I wasn’t,” he said, straightening up immediately.
“Just leave her alone. You’re annoying her.”
“I’m not annoying her. She doesn’t even know enough to be annoyed. She’s, what, a week old?”
“She’s three months.”
“She’s three months in our years, but how old is she in baby years?”
“Come away from her. Steph, could you pick her up? It’s time for her feed.”
Valkyrie went to the baby while her dad frowned.
“Why didn’t you ask me to pick her up? I was standing right there. Don’t you trust me? That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t trust me.”
“I do trust you,” her mum said. “I just don’t trust you a lot. Stephanie has safe hands.”
“You want to see safe hands?” her dad asked. He went to the fruit bowl on the side table, took two apples and proceeded to juggle them. “See? Safe as anything.”
Her mum frowned at him. “Are you proposing you juggle our new-born child?”
“Of course not,” he said. “I’d only be able to juggle her if you’d had twins. Otherwise it’s just throwing.”
“Steph,” her mum said, “give me my baby and never let your father near her.”
“Deal,” Valkyrie said, handing her sister over.
Her dad put the apples back in the bowl. “Everyone seems to forget that I’m not a complete novice at this. Don’t I already have one beautiful daughter, and she turned out OK, didn’t she? I didn’t drop her once.”
“You dropped her when we were at the zoo,” Valkyrie’s mum said.
Valkyrie spun her head to him. “You dropped me?”
“Ah,” he said, “I’d forgotten about that. In my defence, though, you were a very wriggly child. One moment you were there, the next you were, you know, on the ground in the penguin enclosure.”
She blinked. “You dropped me in the penguin enclosure?”
“I was leaning over the railing and you just plopped out of my grip. You weren’t hurt, or anything. And even if you had been, I’m sure the penguins would have taken you in, raised you as one of their own. It would have been a different life for you, but still a good one.”
“I can’t believe you dropped me.”
“Neither could the people around us. Some crazy woman stormed up and roared at me for five minutes about how I shouldn’t be putting my child in danger.”
“That was me,” Valkyrie’s mum muttered.
“Now it makes sense,” Valkyrie said, collapsing on to the couch. “My fear of zoos. My fear of penguins. My fear of being dropped in a zoo with the penguins. It’s all Dad’s fault.”
“Most things are,” he admitted sadly, and wandered over to his wife. “But I won’t make the same mistakes again, I promise. From this moment on, I will be the best father the world has ever seen. Wifey, may I please hold my child?”
“I’m feeding her.”
“Give me the child and the bottle. I’ll feed her.”
Valkyrie