{"id":9252,"date":"2017-01-25T22:50:31","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T04:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?page_id=9252"},"modified":"2026-02-22T23:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:30:22","slug":"like-will-to-like","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/oubliette\/like-will-to-like\/","title":{"rendered":"Like Will to Like"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OCTOBER 1996<\/p>\n

Sevilla, Spain<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

EMILIO SLID VICTORIA a glance as they walked hand-in-hand through the hotel lobby. She seemed surprisingly calm, but then, she loved giving presentations. He wasn\u2019t particularly prone to butterflies before he performed, either, so the fact that she wasn\u2019t really was no surprise.<\/p>\n

He barked a laugh and she looked at him. \u201cThe introvert and the extrovert, both born performers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled, but her smile was tight.<\/p>\n

Ah. \u201cYou\u2019re angry,\u201d Emilio said softly, stopping and pulling her gently into his arms.<\/p>\n

She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. \u201cI don\u2019t understand them,\u201d she said thinly. \u201cI don\u2019t understand what they want from me. Some days it\u2019s this. Some days it\u2019s that. Some days it\u2019s something completely different. It\u2019s like they\u2019re speaking another language. I could never have predicted they would refuse an invitation to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you upset because they turned down the invitation or why they turned it down?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m upset because it confuses me on everything else they\u2019ve ever done or said they wanted from me. Emilio,\u201d she whispered plaintively, \u201cI don\u2019t know those people. I never have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s their fault, not yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s totally consistent with everybody else in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody else in the world didn\u2019t bear and rear you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sighed and he stroked her back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI propose we allow them to speak first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Emilio. They\u2019ll call you all sorts of names.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVictoria, I\u2019ve been on their side of the fight. I understand and I don\u2019t blame them for thinking of me as they do because whatever they know or think is probably mild by comparison to the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if I\u2014\u201d She huffed. \u201cNever mind. You aren\u2019t the issue. My idiocy is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was true, so Emilio didn\u2019t address that. \u201cI\u2019ll translate for you if you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The door to Sebastian\u2019s suite was open. Victoria\u2019s parents were already there. Sebastian seemed to be working and Victoria\u2019s father was reading a French newspaper. Her mother was embroidering and watching TV.<\/p>\n

They all looked up when Emilio led Victoria in. Yves glared at Emilio, but his face softened a little when he looked at Victoria.<\/p>\n

As Emilio suspected. A loving father who had no idea who this child was.<\/p>\n

Her mother wouldn\u2019t meet Emilio\u2019s eyes nor Victoria\u2019s, but she was fidgeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cHrmph,\u201d was the only thing Sebastian said.<\/p>\n

Emilio pulled Victoria across the room and offered his hand to Yves, who refused it with a contemptuous sniff.<\/p>\n

\u201cPapa!\u201d Victoria barked, startling all of them. \u201cStop being such a clich\u00e9. I do not care how much you hate Emilio, you will respect him because he\u2019s the man I chose to marry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father looked at her funny. \u201cClich\u00e9?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRude Frenchman,\u201d she snapped. \u201cAnd people wonder where I get it.\u201d She turned to her mother. \u201cTell me that story again? The one where Grandpa questioned your judgment in marrying Papa? And believed he joined the church because he just wanted to get you in bed? And wouldn\u2019t let you have a temple recommend because of it? And so you moved into another stake so he wouldn\u2019t have authority over you? And then almost didn\u2019t come to your wedding because you went around him? And then threatened to castrate him if he took you back to France to live? But he did anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yves\u2019s mouth tightened. Harriet heaved a sigh. Sebastian drawled, \u201cOh, yeah. I forgot about all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t seem as if Emilio would be needed to translate after all. He found a chair, sank into it, and relaxed with a smirk. He looked at Sebastian. \u201cYour grandfather was a stake president?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian nodded with a chuckle.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me something, Papa,\u201d she demanded. \u201cWere you a virgin when you married Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio choked. So did everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictoria!\u201d her mother gasped.<\/p>\n

Victoria looked at her mother with an expression of shock. \u201cMother!\u201d she said, laying a hand against her chest. \u201cYou\u2019re here because of Emilio\u2019s indiscretions, are you not? The same way<\/em> Grandpa questioned Papa\u2019s? You feel free to question my husband\u2019s sexual history, so I feel free to question yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio was watching Yves\u2019s face, which was pale with fury. <\/p>\n

\u201cVictoria,\u201d he growled. \u201cThat was washed clean when I was baptized, as you well know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Grandpa didn\u2019t see it that way, did he? No. Grandpa got Grandma pregnant to win a bet\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio gaped between Yves and Sebastian, who both looked as shocked as Emilio felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know that?\u201d Harriet croaked.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandma told me. After I came home from my mission, all dreamy over a matador I\u2019d seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio smirked at Sebastian\u2019s incredulous glance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know why she told me the story because it had nothing<\/em> to do with what I was talking about\u2014or maybe it did and I just didn\u2019t know it yet\u2014but she was practically floating through the whole thing.\u201d She rounded on her father again. \u201cSo if Grandpa, a bastard who would do this horrible<\/em> thing, would object to you<\/em>, it meant he knew a bastard when he saw one!\u201d <\/p>\n

It was obvious to Emilio that she\u2019d already worked this through, probably long ago, and hadn\u2019t cared until she was forced to. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now you\u2019re doing the exact same thing he did, not even giving you a chance, except I already know Emilio\u2019s a promiscuous bastard, which is more than I can say for Grandma! I\u2019m not asking for my health. I really want to know how many women you slept with before you noticed Mama and if Mama knew you were a bastard when she married you.\u201d<\/p>\n

As entertaining as Emilio was finding this, he couldn\u2019t let it go on. She would never understand the consequences of pursuing this\u2014not for her, but in her parents\u2019 marriage, because Harriet looked a little too stricken for his comfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama, you\u2019re happy with Papa. Grandma was happy with Grandpa. Everybody was happy no matter how they got there. Why can\u2019t you let me have my<\/em> chance to be happy with a bastard, especially when I got the one I already knew I wanted?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s a fair point,\u201d Sebastian muttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell?\u201d Victoria insisted of her mother. \u201cDo you know how many women Papa slept with before he married you? Did he trick you the way Grandpa tricked Grandma?\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sebastian spoke before Emilio could. \u201cThat\u2019s enough, Vic. Stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

She rounded on Sebastian, her mouth open, but when Sebastian\u2019s eyebrow shot into his hairline, she shut her mouth with a sharp click.<\/p>\n

Emilio would have to remember that trick and find out why it worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, so now we\u2019ve got all that aired out,\u201d Sebastian drawled, \u201clet\u2019s talk about why nobody but Emilio showed up at Vic\u2019s keynote. Vic, siddown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone was silent, but Victoria was looking to Harriet for her explanation.<\/p>\n

Harriet took a deep, shuddering breath. \u201cArs\u00e8ne had decided she wanted to participate in the ward talent show and we didn\u2019t have time to get here and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio watched Victoria\u2019s face because he didn\u2019t know why that would be significant. He couldn\u2019t tell what she was thinking, but her fingers curled into the arm of the chair.<\/p>\n

Then she said simply, \u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hairs on the back of Emilio\u2019s neck suddenly started to tingle. He wanted to ask questions, but he didn\u2019t know where to start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me that instead of saying a \u2018church commitment\u2019?\u201d Victoria asked quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you were inviting us to be polite and that you would be happier if we didn\u2019t come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not polite!<\/em>\u201d she roared, bolting out of her chair to stand over her father, who rose with the same bluster. Victoria and Yves were the same height. \u201cI have needed your support exactly twice in my life: When I graduated from college. When I was granted my doctorate. You didn\u2019t come to either<\/em> of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t ask us to!\u201d her father yelled back.<\/p>\n

Emilio\u2019s mouth fell on the floor and it was Sebastian\u2019s turn to gasp. It didn\u2019t seem to surprise Victoria, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would she have<\/em> to ask?!\u201d Sebastian demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now,\u201d she said quietly, \u201cI know you wouldn\u2019t have even if I\u2019d asked. Why? What is it about me that you hate that much?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was when Yves cracked. \u201cHate you?\u201d he whispered as if heartbroken. \u201cI don\u2019t hate<\/em> you. I don\u2019t understand<\/em> you.\u201d<\/p>\n

That much was clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou understand \u00c9tienne!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo I don\u2019t!<\/em>\u201d he bellowed, flinging his hands into the air.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Victoria was shocked. Her face fell into confusion. \u201cThen why do you lavish so much attention on him and not me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00c9TIENNE DOES WHAT HE\u2019S TOLD! I DON\u2019T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HIM!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio and Sebastian traded looks.<\/p>\n

But Victoria looked even more confused. \u201cBut Felix doesn\u2019t do what he\u2019s told. He\u2019s constantly in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFelix isn\u2019t a genius,\u201d Yves snapped. \u201cHe\u2019s idealistic and passionate about serving the poor and he hates authority, but he\u2019s not<\/em> a genius. His needs are simple, his heart is pure, and his motives are easy to understand. What could I have done, Victoria?\u201d he demanded. \u201cWhat could I have done that would have fulfilled you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake me into the workshop with \u00c9tienne and Felix!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI DID!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He took a step toward Victoria and pointed at her. She stepped back, her confusion now mixed with wariness. Emilio clutched the arms of his chair, prepared to go after Yves if he got violent, but caught the shake of Sebastian\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me you don\u2019t remember,\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYves, she was only four,\u201d Harriet said softly.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s head snapped to her mother. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never<\/em> did what you were told in the workshop. It was dangerous, tools and chemicals everywhere. You wouldn\u2019t sit still. You wouldn\u2019t keep your hands out of anything. You figured out the combinations of all my locks and wouldn\u2019t stay out of them. You wouldn\u2019t stop talking!<\/em> I wouldn\u2019t have minded if you were asking questions about what I was trying to teach you, but you couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t keep a single thought in your head long enough to get your curiosity satisfied. Halfway through any explanation I gave you, you were asking about something completely different and you didn\u2019t hear the answer to the previous question. And you wouldn\u2019t stay away from the chemicals and tools!\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio groaned and put his face in his palm because he knew from experience that children and labs don\u2019t mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, well, there then! Your husband seems to understand this. I couldn\u2019t teach you alone because you refused to be taught. I couldn\u2019t teach the three of you together because you wouldn\u2019t stay out of anything and you refused to stop talking. I put you out of the workshop the day you almost killed all four of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria looked like she was about to fall over, but Emilio was quicker. He caught her and pressed her toward a sofa so she could take refuge against him.<\/p>\n

Yves watched this with some detachment and waited until she was settled before continuing. It was short and sweet. \u201cYou put bleach in a cup of ammonia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio almost had a heart attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know \u2026 \u201d Victoria whimpered.<\/p>\n

\u201cYOU KNEW!<\/em>\u201d he roared. \u201cI told you repeatedly what those were and what would happen if you mixed them. I had them stored apart, in locked metal cabinets. You did it because you thought I was stupid<\/em> and you were going to show me<\/em> that you knew better!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the minute I turned my back on you, you walked away from us in Paris when we were in no position to be able to chase after you. You looked back and waved!<\/em> Then you disappeared in the crowd. No idea where you\u2019d go because you\u2019d spoken of several places you wanted to go that day. You got a map, read it, plotted out your entire dream itinerary and made sure we knew about it! And to hell<\/em> with what anybody else wanted to do. NO, WE DIDN\u2019T THINK YOU\u2019D GONE HOME BECAUSE IT WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU WANTED TO BE!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s shoulders were beginning to tremble and she bowed her head to put her face in her hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have done,\u201d he growled, \u201cexactly what you wanted to do since you were born. And you are exactly<\/em> like Julien, who pulled the exact<\/em> same types of stunts for the exact<\/em> same reason\u2014because you knew<\/em> better. You<\/em> were chasing after a ball, I know. Yours was an accident. But Julien didn\u2019t get hit by a car. He wanted to try that stunt in Indiana Jones where he crawls underneath a speeding truck! I told him how the stunt was done and that it wouldn\u2019t work in real life\u2014no, I showed<\/em> him how it was done. But he thought he knew better than I and he was going to show me<\/em> that I was wrong. He died<\/em> because he was arrogant and willful, not because he was careless!\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria bent over double to sob.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are<\/em> Julien! We weren\u2019t trying to bury you because we thought you were too stupid to survive on your own. We were trying to keep your hubris and willfulness under control before it killed you the way Julien\u2019s killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio rubbed her back, but didn\u2019t attempt to keep Yves from piling on. He needed to say it and Victoria needed to hear it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd her escapades around town?\u201d Sebastian asked quietly, apparently having come to the same conclusion Emilio had. \u201cYou weren\u2019t paying attention to her at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yves sneered at him. \u201cBetween Felix\u2019s antics and Ars\u00e8ne\u2019s health problems and our two youngest daughters, we lost track of her and \u00c9tienne. We assumed they\u2019d be together and \u00c9tienne would forestall some of her impulses. Our error was in assuming \u00c9tienne would be with her at all.\u201d Yves\u2019s attention snapped to Emilio and his eyes narrowed. \u201cIt is true,\u201d he snarled, \u201cthat Victoria kept \u00c9tienne\u2019s brain. But \u00c9tienne kept Victoria out of trouble\u2014because he did what he was told<\/em> and he was the only person she would listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio inclined his head a little to acknowledge the correction, no matter how nastily delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wondered how \u00c9tienne lost track of you, but I realized when he and Felix helped you go on your mission that he doesn\u2019t see danger any better than you do. Of course Felix would encourage you to rebel. But \u00c9tienne apparently had better things to do than protect his sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you know \u00c9tienne got on a plane the second I told him she was dating a matador?\u201d Sebastian asked quietly.<\/p>\n

Yves and Harriet, surprised, looked at Sebastian and shook their heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would\u2019ve intervened if he thought she was getting in over her head with Emilio. He never neglected her. He trusted her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly there was silence in the room except for Victoria\u2019s sobs and Harriet\u2019s quiet weeping.<\/p>\n

Yves sat heavily into his chair and rubbed his face. \u201cWe knew,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cabout your sneaking out on your companion to see a bullfight. Your mission president called us and asked us to come get you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria groaned through her sobs and even Emilio was surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said we\u2019d come right away, but he had to put us on hold. When he came back he said that wasn\u2019t necessary after all. We said we\u2019d come anyway, and he said he\u2019d just realized that you were there independent of us. Then you came home wanting a graduate degree in English. That would be like going to kindergarten for you, so it made us suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why didn\u2019t you go to her graduations?\u201d Sebastian asked as if he were a little hurt, too. Then Emilio remembered: His father had refused to go to Sebastian\u2019s graduation from Harvard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always regretted that,\u201d Harriet murmured. \u201cAs for your keynote\u2014 If Ars\u00e8ne hadn\u2019t had her program\u2014\u201d She looked up at Sebastian. \u201cYou know Ars\u00e8ne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian nodded and looked at Emilio. \u201cShe\u2019s almost impossible to live with under the best of circumstances. If they\u2019d missed her concert, I can\u2019t even imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s reaction made a bit more sense. \u201cAh.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t think it didn\u2019t keep us up at night,\u201d her mother muttered. \u201cWe didn\u2019t come to save you from yourself and got here too late. We came as soon as we could arrange to be away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time we get a call in the middle of the night,\u201d Yves said low after a pause, \u201cevery letter you ignore, every visit we see your car and the shape it\u2019s in, we worry. You accused us of living life in fear for you and yes, we do. You\u2019ve given us ample reason to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian made a noise of impatience. \u201cWhen she was four?<\/em>\u201d he demanded. \u201cAnd six?<\/em> She was doing what kids do. Why can\u2019t you see she hasn\u2019t screwed up since and get off her back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yves\u2019s mouth tightened. \u201cAnd now she\u2019s thirty-two and married a man she\u2019s known for three months, who plays with chemicals and dares bulls to kill him twice a week and likely has a few dozen as-yet-unidentified sexually transmitted diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio barked a laugh.<\/p>\n

That reaction surprised Yves, who looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. \u201cHrmph. Half a dozen, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone,\u201d Emilio drawled with amusement.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but did she give it any thought whatsoever?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe asked me up front.\u201d <\/p>\n

That clearly surprised Yves. \u201cDid she ask for proof?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe took your word for it,\u201d he said flatly. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilio\u2019s eyebrow rose. \u201cPlease remember she is my wife before you insult her again. I understand your perspective, but I have come to the end of my patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He harrumphed. \u201cI do not like that she is your wife. \u00c9tienne finds you useful, so I consider his opinion of you to be irrelevant. But Sebastian has told us how this \u2026 relationship developed. He believes you do have some honor and that you genuinely love her and you understand her. I have my doubts about that, but I suppose I will have to take his word for it, as he is generally a good judge of character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh praise,\u201d Emilio murmured, impressed in spite of himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t get it from his father, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian growled a little, but said nothing.<\/p>\n

The room grew quiet again and Emilio simply stroked Victoria\u2019s back, letting her cry herself out.<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

20260222<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OCTOBER 1996 Sevilla, Spain EMILIO SLID VICTORIA a glance as they walked hand-in-hand through the hotel lobby. She seemed surprisingly calm, but then, she loved giving presentations. He wasn\u2019t particularly prone to butterflies before he performed, either, so the fact that she wasn\u2019t really was no surprise. He barked a laugh and she looked at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9255,"menu_order":4511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9252","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9252"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23532,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9252\/revisions\/23532"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}