Work of Art

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐭

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓 - 𝟎𝟑:𝟐𝟖 𝐀𝐌

Cries could be heard from the next room, this woke a frail Jessica, pale and gaunt who couldn't quite muster enough energy to see to her daughter. After multiple failed attempts of rising from the bed and her breath coming shallower and shallower, her bones becoming more brittle by the minute she had to give in and wake up her husband Art. She nudged him a few times before a muffled groan escaped his lips with his head buried in the pillow.

" Babe it's Jules, She's awake. Can you go see if she's okay ? I just tried and I can't get u- "

Art stroked her forehead and interrupted her by whispering in her ear . " I got it." He made a slight groan as he groggily rose from the bed and crept into his daughters room, not wishing to disturb his wife anymore.

He picked up the infant and began lightly bouncing her on his hip, quietly shushing her back to sleep. Her short strands of chestnut hair were wild as her head rested peacefully on his chest and after a while, Art began to hear muffled breathing and soft snores. He turned her mobile above her crib back on, tiny tennis balls and rackets spinning in a clockwise motion as quiet melodic music accompanied the turning objects.

He treasured these moments of peace, when he was awake as the world around him slept and stood still. These treasured moments he had with his mini me, his best friend, the most amazing thing that ever happened to him. His Jules.

He wasn't sure what he would do when it was time for his wife's illness to overcome her and she leaves them as two instead three. Would he be a good father as she grows up? I was inevitable that Jessica didn't have long left and she most definitely would not get the chance to see her daughter grow up. Start school, riding a bike, going to prom , learning to drive. Art didn't know if he could do it alone. As negative thoughts began to occupy his mind, he lovingly placed a soft kiss on his baby's head and laid her back in her crib. After watching her steady breaths for a moment, he retreated back to his bedroom. He climbed back into bed, kissed his once again sleeping wife's cheek and turned over as his dreams began to consume his thoughts once more.

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔

By the summer of 2006, Jessica had become bedbound, unable to even sit up for too long before her eyes would roll into the back of her head, dizziness and nausea taking over, and the would be out unconscious once again. Art was finding it difficult managing work, taking care of Juliette and also monitoring Jessica, making she had everything she could possibly need at all times. He knew that his wife's time was as precious as sand in hourglass. He would take Juliette upstairs right before her bath time to see her mother. Jules would babble on about endless nonsense, just content to be spending time with the most important woman in her life. Jessica would tire quickly during these interactions and tell Art that a migraine would be coming on, so he would close their bedroom curtains to leave her to rest in the dark whilst he bathed their daughter and put her to bed.

Tragedy struck in the October. Jess had finally passed, leaving Art as a widower and Jules motherless. Grief was an emotion that Art had never experienced before and he would never bestow it upon his worst enemy. But he knew he couldn't mope around forever, he had a daughter to take care of. He vowed to his wife before she passed that he would be present for every important moment and milestone that would occur in Jules's life, and that he would enjoy it twice as much as if it was both of them experiencing it with their daughter. He promised himself, as he took one last look at his wife's tombstone on the day of her funeral, that he would be the best father a little girl could ask for.

And that he was.

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 - 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲

The chauffer drove up the gravely path to the Donaldson household. He braked and the backdoor swung open. He helped the slender girl out of the car as she looked up at her estate. She was finally home. She could see the tall figure of her father leaning on the door frame on the front porch waiting for the arrival of his daughter.

Jules had been studying at Stanford where she boarded and came home on holidays and breaks. Spring break happened to be her favourite as the weather is always at it's peak. Up until the age of 12, she was home schooled and privately tutored by the best that money could buy. Art didn't like the idea of her going to school and her being away from him , because since Jessica's death the pair had been inseparable. Their bond was stronger any other father and daughter relationship they had seen before. Jules looked up to her dad immensely. And Art was so proud of how Jules had grown her personality equal parts him, her mother and uniquely herself. 

She was independent and ambitious with a drive to achieve greatness. You could argue that this was inherited from Art. But he would look at his daughter and study the way she acts sometimes and see someone that transports him back in time. Tashi Duncan

Jules smile widened as she ran to the front porch where she was met face to face with her father.
"Hey dad"
"Hey kiddo" Art said smiling, engulfing his little girl into a hug. Jules wasn't his little girl anymore she was almost 18 and had grown into a gorgeous young woman. Unbeknownst to Art but whilst she's at college, Jules attracts a lot of attention from guys due to her striking appearance. Hair with mixed shades of honey, like her fathers hair when he was her age, and chestnut like her mother. Cat like hazel eyes, sharp facial features, freckles scattered across her face and upper body, and a tall, lanky build.

She intimidated the girls and she aroused the guys. But Jules wasn't interested in achieving either effect, she wasn't interested in any of them. Except one.

Lucas Zweig