All the Things You Are

Milan opened the massive carved oak door and took off his shoes, motioning for her to do the same. The foyer had a polished cream and black marble floor in a geometric design, a huge staircase leading up to the second floor and adjacent to a parlor decorated with fancy burgundy velvet Victorian-style furniture, looking as though it hadn't been touched in forever.

"The first floor is the parlor and we don't really use it, the kitchen and dining room are in the rear. Our living quarters are upstairs on the second floor and the third floor is for guests and the servants", explained Milan.

"Servants? This is medieval", she muttered.

"Americans don't have servants, for a house this big you need them", said Milan.

Jelena just shrugged as he handed her a pair of black slippers, putting them on her stocking feet and following him up the stairs. A long hallway carpeted with burgundy carpet and peach walls stretched from one end to the other, gilt-edged mirrors and framed pictures hanging on the walls. Milan stopped in front of a closed door and lightly knocked. "Come in", said a man's voice.

Milan gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand before opening the door. A tall, middle-aged man with short curly dark hair turning gray sat at a desk, his blue eyes looking intently at her. He exuded an air of dignity and aristocratic bearing, even if he was dressed casually in jeans and a plain black t-shirt which exposed his muscular arms as he finally smiled at her. "Dobry den, Jelena. I am your father", he said, his English flawless except for a slight accent.

Jelena was about to retort something about Darth Vader and Star Wars, but stopped when she got a closer look at his face. Even though there were a few wrinkles around his eyes and patches of gray in his hair, he still looked like the picture of the young man the lawyer had shown her, and the resemblance between them was clear.

"Uncle Jaromir, this is your daughter Jelena Novotna", said Milan.

"Dobry den, Jelena. I know this is a huge shock, but believe I am your father. You have the Jagr looks", he said.

Jelena was grateful there was a chair nearby as her legs felt rubbery and weak, a sudden lightheadedness making her slightly faint. "I didn't want to believe it at first, it sounded so crazy. But I am starting to believe it", she said quietly.

"Uncle, you have a lot of catching up to do. And I cannot wait to see how Vera takes it, this is going to be interesting", said Milan dryly.

"Vera ought to be here soon, she is visiting her mother", said Jaromir.

More like maxing out your credit card, Uncle Jaromir", thought Milan sourly.

"Who is Vera?", she asked.

"Vera is my girlfriend, we are getting married at the end of the summer and then we are flying to Dallas for the start of training camp, I got traded to the Stars", he explained.

"Okay, how long are you going to stay there for?", she asked.

"I signed a one-year contract, at my age teams don't like to give out more than that", he chuckled.

Just then, the door of the study opened as the family's butler Peter came in, smiling politely at the little group. "Miss Vera is downstairs", he said.

Jaromir's face lit up as Milan tried not to roll his eyes. "Come, I will introduce her to you", he said.

A young woman in her mid to late twenties was downstairs in the parlor as he gave her a kiss. She was tall and slim, exquisitely beautiful and looking like a model with her short honey blond hair perfectly styled and flawless makeup, her designer dress by Versace and Louboutins looking fresh and new. Her large jade-green eyes focused on Jelena as she gave the other woman a cool, polite little smile and extended a hand.

"Ahoj, ja tvuj otec pritelkyne", said Vera, a smug little smile on her face.

Jelena returned the smile and shook her hand. "Tesi me, jmenuju se Jelena Novotna. Ja uzivat Ceska Republika velmi dobre", she said in flawless Czech.

Vera was momentarily startled but quickly regained her composure. "Ja, I am glad you are enjoying your stay, Jelena", she said politely as Milan stifled a grin.

"That was awesome you put Vera in her place, she acts like she is the lady of the manor. Hopefully she never is", said Milan, handing her a bottle of Budvar and an opener.

Jelena opened the bottle and took a large swallow of the strong Czech beer, far stronger and flavorful than its weak American cousin. "Is my dad really dating her, he must be thinking with his dick", she said.

Milan nodded and took a sip of beer. "Ano, she used to be a model but she quit and lives off of him. But Deda really likes her, she's Czech and pretty", he said.

"Great, when am I going to meet the old man?", she retorted.

"Probably later in the week, Deda is in Karlovy Vary inspecting one of his hotels, he owns a lot of hotels. He is a very old-fashioned man, just beware", warned Milan.

"This is the 21st century, people have kids out of wedlock all the time and a lot of people in the states don't care. Hell, I knew quite a few kids at school who had single moms and I even went to class with a few of them", she retorted.

"Jelena, it's not like that here. Girls have that babies but no husband usually leave the child in an orphanage or a church, that is a big stigma here. And our family are aristocrats, as far as I know everyone in our family is Czech. Do you know anything about your mother?", he asked.

Jelena took several large swallows of beer before answering. "Lucky the lawyer had that info, she was an Irish chick from Pittsburgh named Susan Callahan. She didn't have a current number so I didn't contact her", she replied with a shrug.

"Maybe that's where you get your mouth", he teased.

"Hah, awesome. So what is there to do around here?", she asked.

"Kladno itself is not a very interesting place but we are close to Prague, so that's good. Uncle Jaromir is usually at the arena doing his workouts, since he owns the team he can go whenever he wants. Vera is usually out spending his money or whatever", he said cynically.

"He owns a team?", she asked in disbelief.

"Ano, he owns Rytiri Kladno. He also plays for them", said Milan, chuckling at the shocked look on her face.

"Damn, you learn something new every day", she said dryly.

"Tomorrow we can show you around, we'll go to the arena in the morning. I hope you can skate", he teased.

"Of course, it seems like my dad insisted on it", she retorted.

"This is going to be fun", he replied.