It was hard to see the man she loved and the child she loved not get along, of course, Oscar did all that he could to get Alan to warm up to him, but no matter what he did he was unsuccessful.
Luckily, Malphus had only given them two days off, so Valerie only had to deal with it for two days. But, to her, it felt years. She had planned to go berry picking with them, and then have a picnic for the first day. The next day she wanted them to go fishing and swimming then come home to a wonderful dinner with the fish they caught.
Instead, the first day consisted of Valerie trying to get Alan to step of out his room, but he didn't want to and just kept saying 'not if Oscar's going'. She got frustrated and eventually gave up and instead ate the picnic she packed for them herself.
This time, she was determined to get something other than screaming and yelling done, plus she really wanted fish for dinner.
"Alan?" Valerie called.
"Yes, mommy?" A voice came from behind her.
"Do you want to go fishing with me?" Valerie asked.
"What's that? Is Oscar coming?" Alan crossed his arms and slanted his eyes.
"It where you throw a line to catch fish. No, he has something to do." Valerie lied as the little boy's eyes lit up.
"I want to go fishing mommy!" Alan said.
"Great, go get your swimwear that I packed," Valerie said and Alan ran down the hallway.
"Did he finally agree to do something with me?" Came a voice from behind her.
'Jeez, why is everyone sneaking up on me today?' Valerie thought.
"Actually, could you go to the village and buy some fish seasons? Don't buy fish though, and get the good one's not the cheap ones. You might have to look a bit for them." Valerie asked Oscar.
"So no? Alright, I'll see you later this evening." Oscar kissed Valerie on the forehead and left.
'I feel bad for lying to him, but I brought Alan to have fun. He'll be fine, after all, he get's to eat fish when we come home.' Valerie thought as she walked to her room to get her swimwear.
They got on a carriage and paid to be driven to the nearest lake, Valerie brought a couple of fishing rods and some bait with her. When they arrived at the lake, they rented a boat from one of the local fishermen and went out to sea. In truth Valerie only knew that you put the bait on the line and cast it, she didn't know if that was it or not but she tried. It worked and she was very proud of herself.
"Alright Alan, we have 10 fish, that is more than enough for us. Let's go swimming now." Valerie said and Alan immediately dropped his rod and jumped in the water.
"Alan!" Valerie screamed.
"Come on in mommy, the water's fine." Alan rose above the water and said. Valerie giggled and jumped right in. She made a big splash and almost drowned Alan.
They had a lot of fun swimming and fishing, before they caught a carriage home, they dried off with two towels Valerie brought with her. The coachmen almost denied them a ride, but they were able to bribe him with a little more money.
As soon as they got home, they took a bath to wash off all the dirty lake water, but not before putting the fish in the sink to soak. After they were all cleaned up, Valerie had Alan help her in fixing dinner. It was an hour after noon and Oscar would be home soon. She cut the head of the fish off before giving it to Alan to de-scale it.
She only cooked 3 out of the 10 fish though, she thought that Margret and Robert would be happy with the amount left she didn't cook. The Fin-Whips loved to eat fish, they use to have it every other Sunday.
By the time Oscar returned home, there was a hot steaming pile of fish on the table with a side of mashed potatoes and corn on the table waiting.
"Did someone invite the King over without telling me?" Oscar looking in awe at the food. His parents were away to visit a distant cousin who was sick, so he had been living on fruits and vegetables until Valerie came home.
"No, it's a small treat since we'll be leaving tomorrow. I wanted you to remember something from our little two-day visit." Valerie said.
"Well, how'd you make the fish without these fish seasonings?" Oscar asked.
"We had just enough to make this tiny banquet." Valerie bobbed Oscar on the nose, Alan merely looked away and pretended to be interested in nothing while listening in on the conversation.
"Whatever the case, I'm starving. let's dig in." Oscar picked up his fork and knife and started cutting into the biggest fish on the table.