Jess Mariano's Daughter

Open Houses and Visitors

AN//- Sorry this is late. Hope you like it.

Trounchen Books is having an open house today. Yesterday was filled with lots of cleaning. The apartment was somewhat cleaned so that the desks from downstairs could be hidden up there.

I had invited people, but I don't know who will actually show up. I bought Lory a dark grey dress to wear. The guys also thought it would be cute to buy her a little blazer

Her terrible twos are in full swing, so actually getting her dressed was a bit of a pain. She's good most of the time, but when she wants to be she can be a monster.

She definitely inherited my scowl, so that's fun. The event was currently in full swing. I spot Luke and walk up to him. He's looking at one of the paintings.

"So my eyes don't deceive me," I say, getting his attention.

"First things first. What the hell is that?" he asks, pointing at the painting.

"It's an abstract painting."

"But what is it supposed to be?"

"Check the title."

"I did. It's called Untitled,"

"There you go."

"I give up."

"So you got the invite."

"I got the invite."

"I guess, I didn't think you'd come."

"You guessed wrong, nephew."

"Cool. So you want the tour?"

"Give me a tour."

"Alright. Well, this is where we work, Truncheon Books. Uh, there's usually desks and crap piled everywhere, Lory even had her own, but we cleaned up for today. Those are the books we put out. We publish our zine once a month, except last August when my partner forgot to pay the printer. We let local artists hang their stuff up without ripping them off on commissions. We do performances over there, and a few of us live upstairs. That you don't want to see. It's a disaster zone."

"This is yours, right?" he says, holding up my book.

"Yeah."

"I wanted to get it, but I couldn't find it."

"Yeah, it's not exactly The Da Vinci Code."

"Well I will definitely get it today," he says.

"By the way, that is your cousin," Luke adds, pointing across the room.

"Right, Liz filled me in on all that, daddy," I joke.

"She just calls me Luke. Total brain," he relies.

"You confirm paternity?"

"Don't be a wiseass. Hey, April. I want you to meet somebody. Meet your cousin Jess. He's my sister's kid."

"Hi," she says.

"Hey," I reply.

"Men in this family aren't chatty."

"Sorry."

"I'm gonna go."

"Oh, wait. Lory," I call.

Matthew had sat down and was found by Lory, who put a smiley face sticker on his forehead. She slides off her chair, runs up to me and I pick her up.

"This is my little monster," I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Lore, this is my Uncle Luke, also your Uncle Luke. And this is his daughter April," I tell her.

"Hello," she says, waving.

April goes to explore and Lory goes with her.

"How are you adjusting to all that?" I ask Luke.

"Okay, I guess. I like her, and she just sort of tolerates me."

"Seems like it."

"Thanks for the perspective."

"That's why I'm here."

"Hey, how about you. How are you two doing?" he asks.

"We're going good. Hey, come on. I got some sculpture over here you're really gonna hate."

--

I walk away from talking to Matthew and I turn around to see Rory.

"Well isn't this a day of surprises," I say, and she gives me a smile.

"I didn't RSVP. Sorry," she says, walking it to me.

"Nah, this isn't an RSVP type thing. Showing up's cool," I tell her.

"Good thing. So this is Truncheon Books?"

"Yeah. This is Truncheon," I say scanning the room.

"I like it. It makes me feel like I instantly want to create something. Give me a pen, give me a brush. Luke," she says when she notices him.

"Yes. There's a definite Jess Mariano: This is Your Life, vibe here today," I say, as we walk up to him.

"Hey, Luke," I call.

"Bicycle?" he asks, still trying to guess what the art piece is.

"No," I reply.

"Rory, hi. What are you doing here?" Luke asks her.

"Same thing you're doing here," she replies.

"Your books are really easy to skim," April says.

"Thanks. That'll make a nice blurb," I reply.

"I was gonna take off, actually," Luke says.

"Uh, I gotta get something. Don't leave until I get back. I'll just be a minute."

"Okay." he replies.

I leave them and head upstairs.