chapter thirty-seven. ( maybe we can stay the same. )
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2002
Winter in Gotham City was always hard. A deep and bone-biting cold had already settled in by the beginning of November, and snow had begun to fall from the sky before October had ended.
For an eight-year-old Yue Harlow, the cold meant taking every spare blanket out of the closet and sleeping in her mother's bed for extra warmth to make it through the night without freezing. It meant more criminals were making deals in the alley beneath their kitchen window, and that her mother was bolting all of the locks and moving the cabinet against the front door at night.
It meant her mother was picking up more and more shifts at Pauli's Diner, and she'd often spend every afternoon there because it was warmer than the apartment.
But it's a Saturday.
Her mother is buying last minute groceries with the left-over money after paying the bills, and Yue sits on the worn-out couch in their apartment's living room with her winter coat on and a blanket wrapped around her legs. Mrs. Johnson from the apartment across the hall sat at the small kitchen table, her eyes focused on the knitting project in her hands. She would often step in and watch over her if Kisumi had work and Victor wasn't home.
Safe to say, she was there a lot.
The front door creaked open, and Yue glanced away from the television, her lips curled into a grin. "Dad's here!" She called out happily, letting go of the blanket as she jumped to her feet and ran toward him.
The man in front of her was in his civvies, a winter coat and jeans, because he was home, and he wasn't just stopping by before another mission. At the age of eight, Yue could tell the differences between the days her father would stick around and the days he was merely a visitor in his own home.
She leaped at her father, and he caught her in his arms, the two of them spun for a moment as his arms wrapped around her. "Hey, sweetheart," he greeted her with a kiss to the side of her head. "Mom home yet?"
He set her back on her feet, and she shook her head back and forth. "Did you... Did you bring another souvenir?" She asked hopefully.
"Hm, I think I must've forgotten." He patted at the pockets of his coats playfully, his lips curled into a fake frown before he leant down to unzip his duffel bag. With a grin, he glanced back up at his daughter and held up a plush-Elephant, the type one would buy from a zoo.
Yue squealed in excitement, hugging the toy close to her chest.
"Victor." Mrs. Johnson rose to her feet, dryly greeting Yue's father as she packed her knitting into her handbag. She walked toward the door, then stopped to place a hand on her shoulder. "Let your mother know I'll keep some leftover Dumplings for her at dinner tonight. You can both come 'round to pick them up."
