Amelie had been determined to stick with therapy and work on herself as well as working to save her marriage. And she was doing it. It wasn’t pretty in the process. That Sunday Amelie had slept through church and missed it. It was a virtual service but she had been vigilant in her attendance since they moved. And as it was the church in St, Pierre two of her siblings had started texting her after asking where she was. Her older sister Marie-Claude (MC) sounded judgmental but worried she was sick and her younger brother Gaetan teased her saying she should have announced her day off so he could play hooky too without guilt. She told them both she was under the weather, which was true, but mentally and emotionally. That was only Sunday.
On Monday Dr. Henry had her talk through every detail of what happened to her when she was raped many years ago by her professor Dr. Neil Morris. She had almost called Felix to come walk her home after as she felt like she could barely stand up. When she did get home she just took off her shoes and walked up to her room and curled up on the bed and cried. Eventually, the family noticed she had not come down to the kitchen or maybe they were just hungry and Felix had peeked in on her from the door and seen her curled up and still a mess. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand asking how he could help. She told him what her appointment had been today and he was very compassionate. Then she begged him to just make dinner for the kids because she just couldn’t face it. He kissed her on the forehead and went to go cook. She had no idea what he might make. She hadn’t even planned anything to cook. Amelie cried herself into a small nap and when she awoke the house smelled delicious.
Amelie splashed some cold water on her face and smoothed her hair and then walked downstairs to Felix serving up some sort of gorgeous looking pasta dish and all of her children seated at the table like little angels. She gasped with her hand over her heart. Even the teenagers were home. “That looks and smells wonderful Felix.” She was truly impressed.
He just smiled and pulled out a chair for her and served her up a plate like he did this every night. She thanked him and then when they were all seated Rene said grace without her prompting him and everyone bowed their heads and then dug in after the word Amen. Amelie took one bite of the supper and started to cry. She couldn’t help herself. Felix looked worried she didn’t like the food. She tried to explain it was the opposite. She loved it. She loved that she could be away from all of this and they would just do it, he would just take care of things. All the kids looked worried for her. She knew she had been a wreck since she started therapy so she decided to tell them why she had to go to it. She left out the gory details and possibly watered the trauma down a bit for Cath but they all understood. And she also said it was why she had so many fears about them, and why she and their father were struggling in their marriage. She promised she was working to get through it now and get better. Everyone cried and hugged. It was a meal that shifted them all in their understanding. At the end of it, Amelie had offered an olive branch.
“I’ve been difficult with both of your new relationships and I’m so sorry. I can see how happy you are Sasha and Gen….can I have a do over? Invite them to dinner on Wednesday? I may switch my therapy to tomorrow so I’m not in danger of being a basket case again. I’ll make a nice big tartiflette, unless either of them are vegetarian?” Tartiflette was a family favourite. Basically it was scalloped potatoes au gratin with bacon and onions. It was everyone’s comfort food. The family, particularly the older teens were very touched by the dinner offer and texted invited to their significant others. Amelie felt good but tired out.
Now it was Wednesday and the giant tartiflette was in the oven. Amelie was doing better today and had come home early to tidy the house and cook. It felt good to fuss and entertain as it was one of her favorite things.
Rene volunteered to set the table. He’d been thinking about what their mother had told them since she had. He understood the concept of rape, and he hated the guy that had raped his mother before he was even born. But it did give him a lot of insight into not just his mother but his father too. He’d known his father loved their mother but his dad had claimed a rapists baby as his own and even now was still with his mother. At 13 he didn’t know much about love, but he knew that what his parents had was love. His father still slept in the garage, but he sort of understood that, too. His mother needed space and his father gave it to her. For this special dinner, he was dressed in his Sunday clothes. No zombies today but black slacks, a white button down shirt and a tie. On his feet were black socks. But if his mother wanted him to dress up, he’ dress up.
Paige walked down Third street with a paper bag in her hands. It contained to bottles of sparkling apple cider for the family to drink. She hadn’t been told to bring anything, but she considered it only polite. Sasha had told her what happened, and she ha supported all of the emotions that he had regarding it. For her part, the story horrified her. It could literally happen to any women … what happened to Sasha’s mother. Felix to her was like Superman, and she knew that his son … her lover would surely do the same if … she shook the thought out of her head. After all … she had been raped … after a fashion. She was still in some level of denial about that, she knew. But tonight was not the time to worry about any of that. Her thoughts so consumed her that she was at the Beaulieu house before she knew it. She climbed the steps and rang the door bell. Tonight she recessed in a long dark blue skirt and modest high necked blouse. On her feet were dark ballet slippers.
Gen was in the Alvin house helping Dante with his shirt and tie and giggling a little because he’d worn it now twice in less than a month and never once to court. Dante had been incredible when she came over upset and told him what had happened to her mother. It was the very first time they had just lay in the bed together without sex even coming up. They lay together and traded stories. Dante’s mother had been raped as a child. Gen’s mother had been raped as a college student. Gen and Dante had cried together and supported each other and it felt like they had somehow come out closer than ever. Her tattoo still itched, but she avoided scratching it. Once Dante was dressed, she told him the truth, that he looked very handsome. She was weaning her own church clothes. A black skirt that came below her knees and a white blouse with a simple collar. One she was sure they looked perfect and Dante had gotten in his shoes, they told Lydia they were going, and they did … coming through the back door hand in hand for the first time.
Amelie had kissed Rene for setting the table and then ran upstairs and back to change into a pretty peach flowered blouse and nicer slacks. She was just coming back to the kitchen to do a quick dessert prep when two things happened, the doorbell rang in one direction, and Gen and Dante walked in the back door holding hands. Rene was still setting the table and she shot him a look of love before smiling genuinely and with love at Gen and then even Dante. Her family had been amazing and she was full of love for them all, and who they loved. “Well not we know who’s at the front door. Hello Dante, welcome. Hello sweetheart.” She said to Gen. Then she called up to Sasha “Sasha, are you dressed yet? I think Paige is here!”
Sasha was still fighting with his tie. Since everyone else seemed to be dressing up he decided to try as well. Especially after the week their mother had had, hell the life their mother had had. He was broken by her story and kept hugging her every time he passed her in the house now. He had broken down with Paige and shared it with her as well. Now she was calling to say Paige was at the door and he bounded down the stairs, blue button up shirt untucked from his casual navy dress pants and his tie just in a state of scary knot. He skidded to the door and answered it and then tried to look totally casual “Hello Paige. You look beautiful, come on in.”
Cath was in her room looking at her dresses. She was having trouble deciding between two. In truth she was having trouble with the big emotions of the week and tonight. She was still wrapping her head around what sex was. The idea that rape was a violence of that was both upsetting and confusing. But she could see her mother’s pain. In fact when she thought hard about it she had seen it all her life. It was a lot of an 11 year old to process. So just for now, she took her time with the dresses. She could hear people talking downstairs though.
Rene smiles at his mother's kiss. She seemed so happy, he just couldn't help but to smile at her. Gen walks in the door with Dante, although he only knows he is Dante from seeing him from a distance. "Hi. Dante. I'm Rene." he offers his hand to shake, like adults would.
Paige looks at Sasha and walks in, slipping out of her shoes. Then she kisses him, putting her arms around his neck. After she breaks the kiss, her hands take his tie and does it up for him. "There now just tuck in your shirt, scruffy." she teases him.
Gen grins at her brother as he offers his hand to shake. He was growing up. This week they all had. She slips out of her shoes and leaves them by the back door, nodding for Dante to do the same.
Dante felt very touched to be included in this dinner, especially given what this family had been through, what Gen’s mom had been through. His heart went out to her and to Gen and to all of them. He knew it all too well from his mother’s life story. Now he was all spiffed up, thanks again to Gen and her little brother Rene was introducing himself. He smirked at the kid’s maturity and shook his hand “Hey Rene. Good to meet you.” He had taken off his shoes with Gen when she did and now he let go of Rene’s hand and stepped in a bit. The house had the same layout as the Alvin house. Their dining room had a more normal sized table but it looked like it had been extended with a leaf put in as well as nicely set. Amelie approached him and he wasn’t sure if she was going to shake his hand too but after everything he’d heard from Gen and all that it brought up for him, he just stepped in and reached out to hug her.
Amelie watched Rene be all grown up with introductions and she heard Sasha letting Paige in. She turned around at them and smiled but she was already ready to possibly shake Dante’s hand after Rene when suddenly Dante hugged her. She looked taken aback but then hugged him back like she would one of her kids. She figured out in that moment that Gen had told him and she was ok with it. “Oh goodness...come in and sit.” She swallowed an looked at Gen and gave her a quick little hug too, understanding her connection with this sweet boy she had fallen for. Then she let go “I still need to start dessert...but first..” She turned towards Paige and Sasha just as Paige was fixing up his tie. When she overheard tuck in your shirt scruffy she burst out laughing as she walked over to them.
Sasha had kissed Paige back and gratefully accepted help with his tie. Now he blushed a bit at both Paige and his mother laughing and quickly tucked in his shirt “Bloody hell the both of you…” He said, cracking up. He had seen Dante hug his mom and it made him like the guy even more. He took the cider bottles from Paige and slipped one out of the bag looking at it “Mmmm?”
Cath came downstairs now in a simple blue dress that went to her knees. She had a hairband in that was white and had a very Alice in Wonderland thing going on without meaning to. Her legs and feet were bare. She skirted around through the kitchen and over to Rene, observing their siblings with boyfriends and girlfriends from afar and sidling up to Rene “Is he nice?” She asked in a whisper. She had met Paige but she was currently in a conversation by the door still.
Rene smiled as his hand was shaken and then as his mother hugged Dante. When Cath comes up to him and whispers, he nods. "Hey Dante. This is Cath ... our little sister." he gives Cath a little nudge to go say hello.
Paige laughs. She sees Gen and Dante, and she moves past Sasha with a pat on his shoulder and moves to Dante, offering her hand. If he takes it she'll shake it, then shrug. "Oh what the hell." and pull him into a sisterly sort of hug.
Gen was a little surprised by the hug, but hugged her mother back warmly. It felt like they were closer now. Not so much tension ... she was accepting Dante in her life and that opened up a lot for Gen.
Cath walks towards Dante but Paige crosses the room faster and hugs him. She looks back at Rene and smiles as it puts her at ease. She already likes Paige. She waits her turn to say hello but then looks over at Gen and smiles while she does so.
Amelie had actually been walking to greet Paige but got momentarily distracted by what Sasha was looking at and Paige moved to greet Dante and hugged him. She laughed watching and then tapped at the cider bottles “You should put those in the fridge. Thank you Paige. And can you check how many cans of Paget syrup we have Sasha...I am about to make pouding chomeur.”
Dante sees both Cath and Paige coming his way and looks between them “Hi….hi..” Paige gets to him first and then she’s hugging him “Oh hello…” He laughs and hugs her back. He was good with being hugged, especially after years with Lydia as she was a hard core hugger. “Nice to meet you Paige.”
Sasha grins at the whole scene and Paige hugging Dante makes him grin at Gen “Family already, Excellent.” He winks at Rene and Cath but also does what his mother tells him and refrigerates the cider and then opens the cupboard and gasps “We are out of Paget syrup….” He digs around “Right out…”
Amelie’s hand flies to her mouth “Mon dieu (My god)….we are not!” she goes to look and sighs “We are…..do they even have maple syrup on this island? I’ve never looked…..” She walks back into the livingroom and looks around like the world has ended “There may be no dessert tonight...I am so sorry…” She sighs and waits to talk to Paige after Dante. If they finish greeting she will reach to hug Paige “Apparently we are hugging tonight and I didn’t get you yet.”
Dante has stepped back from Paige already and was about to talk to Cath when the syrup emergency seems to come to a head. “If you folks just need syrup I think we have some at our house...I dunno what is it like corn syrup?”
Rene hears his mother mention dessert and he does a little dance. This is a special occasion indeed. He looks a bit alarmed that they are out of syrup. Dante offers corn syrup, and he looks at him as if he's just grown a second head.
Paige smiles at Dante. "And you." she turns and beams at Sasha's words. Then he announces they are out of syrup and she can tell that it is a big deal. She hugs Amelie. "Oh there isn't an order for this, is there?" she giggles.
Gen smiles, genuinely happy to have Dante over for not just any dinner, but a special dinner. Then she hears they are out of syrup and Dante offers corn syrup. She winces. "No ... baby ... no .. just .. no .. thank you .. but .. no .. Mon dieu no ..." she holds his hand and squeezes it. he meant well.
Felix walks up to his house and through the door. He closes it behind him and turns, ready to greet his family. He is the last to arrive.
Cath looks stricken by the lack of syrup and the offer of corn syrup. She flies to her father as he arrives and tells him of the catastrophe “Papa...there’s no Paget syrup left…..at all….all these people know is corn syrup. There is no maple. Why have we moved here?” She hugs at his side and looks up at him.
Dante smiles sheepishly around seeing all the reactions to corn syrup including Gen’s “Ok sorry….Clueless Guatamalen dude here. Is this like a French thing?”
Sasha comes out of the kitchen “Ok Beaulieus take a breath…..I’m sure they have something. What time is it? I’ll jump on my bike and go check Thriftys? Hi Papa...” He greets but he’s in problem solving mode now.
Amelie comes out after him and smiles apologetically at Felix “I should have texted you….but yes Sasha ….go...ride like the wind. Just make sure it’s maple and we need about three cups.”
Sasha puts a hand on his heart and makes a pledge to the room “I will find whatever maple syrup this island has...or die trying.” And he pulls on his sneakers, grabs his bike helmet and scoots around his father to take off on the hunt.
Rene watches Cath fly to their father like someone has died. He's upset too, but ... He rolls his eyes and looks to Sasha. "Good idea." he praises. He wishes he could think of something.
Paige watches Sasha take off with a smile. She tries not to chuckle, but this family did take their syrup seriously.
Gen holds onto Dante's hand. "Oui. Definitely a French thing." but she chides him. "You are not clueless, either. Now you know ... never let your house run out of syrup."
Felix blinks at the news and reaches out to touch Amelie's shoulder. "Go, Sasha." he says even as Sasha is out the door. "No in case they don't sell it." he squeezes Amelie's shoulder to comfort her. "Where else might have it." he looks at Dante. "Maybe that bakery? Or the Breakfast Nook?" he looks at his watch. "Let's call around and ask if anyone has three cups of the good stuff." he jokes a bit.
Amelie looks between the two confused and amused partners of her teenagers as she puts her hand on top of Felix’s on her shoulder for a moment “You probably both think we’re very dramatic. And we are...I mean we are French.” She laughs a bit and walks into the room with them now “But no, my family in St. Pierre for generations now has run a cabin du sucre, a sugar shack. We tap and then process maple syrup. My parents and my grandparents before them, and now it’s my two brothers Gaetan and Jean-Paul….they run Paget Maple Syrup. It’s my maiden name.” She smiles and looks at Paige “In English, the same as yours. Small world. Anyhow Felix is right, we can come up with another dessert. Heck we could take a walk for ice cream. I was just trying to make some of our specialties tonight. We’ll see what Sasha finds. But for now come sit at the table. Paige brought some cider...is it alcohol or no? We have Coke and Rootbeer….tea...other things too.”
Dante appreciated the full explanation of the syrup. It makes total sense to him why a family that had a connection to making it would be picky. He looks to the table and then to Gen, following her lead on where they should sit. But before he takes a step Cath walks up to him and then looks shy as she alternates between looking like she’s going to shake hands or hug him like some of the others did.
Cath eventually puts out her hand to shake and blushes a bit. Hugging a big teenager that wasn’t one of her siblings was daunting to her. Dante just grins at her and shakes and then puts up his hand for a high five which makes her laugh as she slaps it. Then they do a low five and laugh again and Cath beams at Gen “Ok, he’s cool.” She goes to take her place at the table and settles in.
Rene listens to his mother tell the family story and straightens with pride. When his parents suggest another desert, he almost brightens. He watches Dante and Cath, followed by Cath's proclamation that Dante was cool. He thought so as well and goes to take his place at the table.
Paige looks amazed at the story o the family business. She giggles at the similarity of Amelie's last name to hers. "That's kind of neat, but does Amelie mean something to do with pages or whatever like mine? No? Well be Paige Page. And I don't have middle name. I shudder to think what it would have been. Paper?" she rolls her eyes dramatically. "Non alcoholic." she replies to the question. She watches Dante with Cath, still grinning.
Gen hears the story and relaxes. Her mother had been so excitable .. now she was thinking of alternatives. Opening her mind, even to dessert. Then Cath and Dante do a high five low five thing, and she beams. "Yes, he is." she agrees and leads him to the table to sit beside her
Felix listens to the story he knows by heart, but he notices one thing. Amelie isn't falling apart because they were out of Maple Sugar. She was looking at alternatives. He looks at her and takes in a deep breath or relief. For a moment, he considered putting Mary Henry up for sainthood.
Amelie steps into the kitchen and comes back to the table with cider and some glasses. “Good we can all have some then. I think I don’t have enough hands. Felix can you grab 4 more glasses please cherie?” Then she answers Paige “No middle name? What about your sisters? Catholics are very big on middle names. Some even have two. They get an extra at confirmation. Italians...Spanish..” She glances at Dante and he nods, concurring. “Amelie means hard worker. Boring I know. My middle name is Therese, so is Genevive’s. After the saint. And after my grandmere. Sasha is named after my oldest who died when we were kids, encephalitis. His middle name is Ettiene after my father. Then of course Genevive after my mother. Rene...well we both just liked the name Rene.” She smiles at Felix “And more recently I know why Felix liked the middle name Auguste. His brother.” She doesn’t explain more. Catherine looks up at her eagerly, knowing she’s next and Amelie ruffles her hair after opening the cider bottle “Catherine we also just liked but your middle name cherie is Lucille after Papa’s grandmother.” Now she starts pouring and hands around glasses but then looks at Dante “Middle name? Story of your names if you know?”
Dante listens to it all with interest and smiles at Gen “Therese...that’s pretty.” Then he gets put on the spot and laughs a bit “Dante Ramon Mendoza. The Ramon was my grandfather. He was a Mayan Indigenous rights activist, well known in Guatemala during the civil war….too well known for his family to stay safe. And Dante….my mother told me she chose that name after a singer in her village she had a crush on when she was young.” He laughs.
Cath looks curiously at Dante now “Can you sing?” As he takes a cup of cider she notices the tattooed words on his fingers too and stares a bit.
Dante shrugs and smiles “I can carry a tune.” He notices her staring at his fingers and smiles awkwardly.
Sasha bursts back in the door with a grocery bag in hand. He undoes his bike helmet and kicks off his shoes “Well I got something like maple syrup….it does contain some maple syrup in it..” He walks in and shows the gathering two bottles of something called Beaver Tree Maple Blend. He holds up a big tub of vanilla ice cream as if it’s a consolation for the syrup “I also bought this….we could have it with or instead if we hate the syrup.” He walks to put it in the freezer.
Amelie sets down the cider and takes a bottle from him and looks at the ingredients and laughs “It’s maple and corn….you know what? It’s fine. Let’s just use it.” She points threateningly at her kids “But we never speak of this to your oncles...or any of the Paget family. Never!” She takes the maple blend now and walks into the kitchen. She’s still in earshot “Someone else take over pouring cider please. I’m just going to get this batter done for the pouding chomeur. Thank you Sasha….the ice cream is good too.”
Rene smiles a bit at his middle name. He'd always liked the name, but now it felt even more important to him, since he now knows it was his uncles name. Sasha's return is somber. He raises his right hand. I" swear, Maman'"
Paige grins. "Well, my father didn't have a middle name and my parents ... named me after the page, but my sisters all have eye themed names." She again narrowly avoids a giggle at Sasha's return with the wrong sugar. "Ah Dante, we are privy to a deep family secret. Now they HAVE to keep us." she winks as she reaches for the cider and continues to pour.
Gen listens to the history of everyone's name, now understanding why Auguste was Rene's middle name. She is fascinated with Dante's family tree. Cath stares at his fingers, she remembers Sasha's positive thoughts on those words, which she had naturally shared with Dante and wondered if he would share it with Cath. She giggles at her mother and Paige. "That was the plan in the first place." she kids looking at Paige who she knows her brother is taken with.
Felix listens to the story which he knows well. Sasha returns with another brand of sugar and when Amelie just goes for it, he could get up and kiss her. Instead, he nods, seriously. "It is a somber day in the house. Your mother can work miracles with pouding chomeur, but yes ... this is a secret. A deep .. dark ... secret." he intones, looking as serious as it is possible for a French Canadian to look.
Amelie laughs about the secrecy swearing “Yes Paige we will keep you both I think. And a can of Paget syrup for each of you as hush money. That’s funny about the eye names. Greyson seems a bit silly in a good way. And Dante we will not make you sing to prove yourself.” She jokes. The oven timer goes off and she takes out the tartiflette to cool and slides in the pouding chomeur. The food smells in the house are divine. Then she tosses up a light simple green salad with a homemade vinaigrette. Amelie could cook all of these with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back. She sets out the salad and sees Rene already set out bowls like she asked. “Serve yourselves salad. I will be back with tartiflette.”
Sasha sits down beside Paige and puts his arm around her “Definitely keeping you.” He kisses her cheek. Then he watches his mother rushing around and doing everything and stands back up “Let me help Maman…” He takes plates from her as she serves them up in the kitchen and begins to pass. “Do we need to wait...for grace?” He asks as it’s their tradition.
Now Amelie looks conflicted with a serving spoon held in mid air “Well I don’t want to impose it on Paige and Dante if it’s not what they do. We know we are always thankful. You know what, you all decide. I will quietly say my own in my head...and live and let live if we don’t do it out loud.”
Cath stopped staring at Dante’s tattoos and turned to stare at her mother instead “Maman! Really?” She looked at her siblings and then her father with wide eyes.
Dante looked around the group and then at Amelie “I’m fine either way too. I’m not offended by grace if it’s something you do. My mother said it. Lydia does not….it’s all good. I am thankful though…” He takes Gen’s hand and squeezes it.
Rene listens with shock as his mother basically passes on grace. Looking at Cath, he shrugs, then he nods and bows his head, saying it in his head before lifting it and reaching for a little bit of salad.
Paige grins at the whole idea of being kept and then as Sasha helps his mother. They are both the oldest child in their families. She smiles at Amelie’s words about grace, but only reaches for some salad. Hers is not a grace saying family and it always made her feel strange, so she is glad to be able to pass on it.
Gen looks shocked at her mother and squeezes Dante's hand back, then reaches for the salad, not saying grace in her own home for the first time in her life.
Felix also looks shocked at Amelie’s decision. He is seated at his place at the head of the table. He smiles at her and then, possibly surprising her, bows his head. In his head he is thanking god for more than just this dinner, but for the slow return o the woman he loved decades ago. It is a long prayer, and when he lifts his head, he crosses himself and reaches for salad as if this were perfectly normal … but it is not.
Amelie comes to sit down finally with her own plate just as Felix crosses himself and tilts her head looking at him with a smile. Then she bows her own head quietly for a few moments and when she lifts it up again she wipes away a tear and quietly sniffs.
Sasha is sitting beside his mother and takes her hand “Are you ok?”
Amelie nods “Yes, I am very much more than ok today.” She squeezes his hand and then lets it go and takes the salad as it gets passed her way “Paige, Sasha tells me you’re quite skilled at sewing. Did you make what you’re wearing? It’s quite beautiful. I knit but sewing never called to me the same way.”
Dante waits on salad because the hot food in front of him already smells so good he can’t think of anything else. He starts eating it and goes quiet because it’s so amazing. When he finally stops eating long enough to speak he points his fork at it “What do you call this? I can’t stop eating it…”
Cath answers Dante “Tartiflette. It’s my favourite. Why do your hands say fuck life?” She asks precociously. She sees her mother give a warning look about her language.
Dante stammers a bit and then looks Cath square in the eyes “Because I was feeling that way when I did this to them. My mom died. I missed her. A lot. I don’t feel like that now. But your brother Sasha came up with a new way to look at it that I like better.” He looks down at Sasha.
Sasha grins “Ok pardon my English because I have to swear to explain it.” He gestures at his own hands and makes a upset face “Fuck Life…was the first way.” He holds up a finger “But what if now it is a marvelling at life…” He looks around in wonder “Fuck….Life…” And he smiles at Cath “Don’t repeat me or Maman will ground us both.”
Rene digs in and says nothing, because he'd have to stop eating.
Paige nods. "Yes, I make my own clothes. I wish I could knit, but it makes me feel like a chicken, elbows going .. I never could get the hang of it." she looks at Sasha as he explains the redefining of the words on Dante's knuckles and smiles.
Gen enjoys the dinner. It feels like it's been forever since they had this. When Cath asks and Sasha explains she is absolutely beaming.
Felix enjoys his meal and grins a bit as Cath gets caught swearing without meaning to. He smiles at Sasha's redefinition. "I like that. Life has so many ups and downs, Dante. Your hands cover the spectrum." he glances at Amelie and offers her a small smile.
Amelie smiles back lovingly at Felix. She watches everyone enjoy the food and it makes her happy. The good energy and conversation makes her happy, even the swearing. Eventually the timer goes off for the dessert and plates are being cleared by pretty much everyone chipping in. She opens a lower cupboard to grab the dish soap for later and out waddles the sleepy little puppy, Taffy. Amelie gasps “Have you been napping in here Taffy? I hope you didn’t pee…” She leans down and pats the cupboard bottom and frowns “Oh...you peed….but you were trapped….you poor thing. Hey we have to keep this cupboard ajar if Taffy is going in here. Cath, can you take him please….his belly needs a little wash and his legs too….oh baby you’re all stinky and wet…” She’s not mad, she just feels bad for the animal.
Cath runs to her puppy “Oh no Taffy! Oh goodness you really do stink...should I put him in the bathtub Maman?”
Dante chimes in “Garden hose...I’ll help you Cath. Bean is a garbage dog. We have to hose him down a lot.”
Cath carries the puppy under his front paws held out a bit to the back door and Dante opens it for her. They take the puppy out and wash him off.
Amelie grabs the paper towels and disinfectant “Rene, can you go get Dante and Cath an old towel for Taffy please?” She starts to clean up the pee “And can someone serve up dessert? We’re going to need some after this.” She laughs.
Sasha heads to grab the ice cream and looks at Paige “We can do it Maman….if that’s ok with you?” He asks Paige. He suspects she’ll agree and if she does he’ll grab a stack of small plates and forks and an ice cream scoop as well as a little knife and lifter for the pouding, which is really a cake like object soaked in syrup.
Rene helps with the dishes and feels sorry for poor Taffy. "Maybe I can fix that latch so it will stay closed, but Taffy can still get out." he considers. "Maybe a magnet..." then he nods. "Sure, Maman." and he rushes upstairs, returning a minute later with a couple of old towels. He takes them out to the patio, amused to watch the hosing of.f by people all dressed up.
Paige watches the family and the poor stinky Taffy. "That's fine by me." she agrees and joins Sasha in the kitchen. She lines up plates like in an assembly line and realizes that it seems Sasha has the same idea. "Eldest unite!" she cheers.
Gen smiles. "That's a good idea ... both of you." she says to both Rene and Dante. She watches as they head out to rinse off Taffy.
Felix sits back and watches the whole thing go down and be resolved without him stepping in at all. Amelie is handling the night like a boss. "Well, the dinner would have been boring if it had all gone perfectly."
Amelie deals with the dog mess and then washes her hands up to her elbows and comes back to the table, seeing dessert is well in hand and being served up. She grabs what’s left of the bottle of the Beaver Tree Maple blend syrup to bring to the table in case anyone really has a sweet tooth. She looks at the bottle and chuckles “We are not in St. Pierre anymore Felix.” She’s saying it like Dorothy from the wizard of Oz about Kansas.
Sasha beams as he and Paige have the exact same plan “YEEEESS!” He concurs. And as they get to the last serving he gives her a cheeky look and licks the ice cream scooper and then offers it to her while there’s still some on it.
The puppy returns now with Dante carrying it in a towel and Cath opening the door.
Dante sort of puppets the puppy’s paw at Rene “You will share all your scraps with me human.” Paw paw “Because they get big and they keep asking.”
Cath giggles and then squeals “Pouding!” She dashes towards her seat and her mother halts her.
“Hands! All of you who touched puppy pee!” Amelie demands in a mom bark that cannot be argued with.
Dante gulps and sets down the puppy after he sees the door close and goes and lines up at the sink with the Beaulieu younger siblings with a little smirk at Gen.
Cath lets Rene go first if he’s washing and then takes her turn.
Rene reenters the house and laughs as Dante relays Taffy's wishes. "Yes ... Yea Taffy. I will. Maybe even your own plate..." he pretends to be hypnotized.
Paige smirks at him and licks the scooper, defiantly. She laughs at the dog's demands.
Gen giggles when they return with a much cleaner Taffy. She catches Dante's look, and she winks at him, perfetly happy with the way he fit into her family.
Felix chuckles. "I'm ... actually alright with that, Amelie." this new place had brought them healing. He smirks as she barks orders to the kids, and they obey.
The dessert of course is delightful, even with the non Paget syrup. Everyone is happily eating when Amelie’s phone rings in her pocket. She takes it out and groans “Oh why straight to face time...just text.” With a sigh she answers “Salut (Hi) Gaetan. How are you?”
A loud male voice with a stronger French accent than either Amelie or Felix replies jovially “Oh, you are eating...should I call you back?”
Before she can reply Sasha answers excitedly “Oncle (Uncle) Gaetan!”
Cath practically jumps onto the table “Hi Oncle Gaetan!”
Dante keeps eating because it’s again too delicious not to but he looks amused by the happy reactions to this uncle, who he assumes is a brother of Amelie’s.
Rene finishes his desert fast but not fast enough to get his brain frozen from the ice cream. Then his mother takes a call, and he bounces in his chair. "Bonjour Oncle Gaetan!"
Paige enjoys the desert and is just sitting back when a relative calls. She looks amused. Clearly this is a beloved relative.
Gen is having an incredible dinner with her family. It is only enhanced by the call from her uncle. "Oncle!!
Felix can feel the happiness around him and it is like his prayers have been answered. Amelie's phone rings and it is Gaetan, Amelie's brother on the speaker phone. "Gaetan. How are you?"
Gaetan gasps in joy at the reception “Oh….all of you...fantastique! Amelie, pass me around. I need to see their faces. My beautiful Beaulieus….I miss you all. Nicole and Etienne too. They miss you.”
Amelie holds up a finger “Gaetan, we have two guests who you have not met yet. Try not to frighten them please. Sasha has a girlfriend named Paige and Gen has a boyfriend named Dante. This is my younger brother Gaetan….his wife is Nicole and his son is Etienne…” She squints at the screen “But that doesn’t look like your house. Unless you redid your kitchen in record time? Where are you Gaetan?”
“I am at Lisette’s….I’ll explain in a bit. She’s….uh….she’s talking with Nicole. But first, pass me!” He demands again with a giant child like grin. Gaetan is a burly French Canadian man. He has a beard that would have put most voyageurs to shame and a wild mop of dirty blonde hair. He wears a green button up shirt a little open at the top with some sprouting light brown chest hair. His cheeks are so pink he looks like he’s been pinched and he has an almost constant mischievous grin on. “I want to meet the girlfriend and boyfriend!” He gets passed to Sasha first and beams immediately at Paige “Ho ho ho...she’s is tres belle. Hallo!”
Sasha holds the phone up and can’t help but laugh and blush a bit “Well I think so too. Oncle Gaetan, this is Paige Page.”
Paige smiles and waves. “Hello Oncle Gaetan.” the word ar pronounced with the proper French inflections. “It is so nice to meet you.”
Gaetan gives a little seated hop “Oh….good accent there Paige.” then he calls out as if she’s far away “Amelie, i think your connection is shit...I heard Paige’s name twice….we’ve got interference…”
Amelie rubs at her ear on the side closest to ehr shouting brother “I’m right here….an no that is her name Gaetan. Paige Page.”
Gaetan ponders this and then winks at Sasha beside Paige “Well...double you pleasure then.” He chuckles to himself and looks sheepishly at Paige “I’m sorry I cannot help myself. You are lovely, name and all. Next victim!” He shouts again.
Sasha blushes and face palms and then with a little throat clear passes the phone to Gen “Good luck.” He mouths at her and Dante and then hugs Paige and whispers in her ear “I love you.”
Gen looks at Paige, who is a spectacular shade of red after her introduction to her uncle. She takes the phone from Sasha and smiles at Gaetan. “Bonjour, Oncle.” she hands the phone to Dante. “This is Dante Mendoza. My boyfriend…” and she begins, in her head, to pray.
Dante nervously takes the phone and smiles self consciously at the gregarious uncle. He looked at Paige’s blush and swallowed a bit “Very nice to meet you Gaetan?” In his nervousness he runs one hand roughly through the front of his hair.
Gaetan smiles at Gen broadly “Bonjour Genevieve.” And then he is passed right to the boyfriend “A Spaniard…..good name.” He squints a bit as the boy’s hand goes up to his hair “What’s on your hand Dante?” He still looks cheerful, just curious.
Dante grits his teeth and inwardly kicks himself “Uh….old tattoo….” He shakes his head trying to dismiss it “So you…. uh make maple syrup?”
Gaetan chortles “I have an old tattoo…..but I’ll spare you all my ass. It was a dare...Show me the fingers...or i might have to moon you all.” He cracks up but he’s serious about wanting to see them.
Dante cringes and then holds up his hands one at a time so the words are in order and he can still hold the phone. Then he looks helplessly at Gen.
Gaetan inhales almost like a gasp and then starts to laugh “Fuck Life? Ah….we all have those days. I’m having one today. But you….you just put em up. Fuck Life!” He yells “And the bastards…..the run away eh? Ho ho...Have a nice night Dante...and Paige….where is my buddy? Where is Felix? FELIX!” He hollars.
Dante can’t stop laughing now and he almost drops the phone handing it to Felix.
Felix is thoroughly amused by his brother-in-law's reaction to both Paige and Dante. He takes the phone from Dante and looks at Gaetan. “Mon dieu, Gaetan. We almost ha them married off! Now you have scared them away!” he laughs. “How are you, Gaetan? It’s been a while. I’m sorry. With the move and all…” he shrugs, opting against getting too personal about the troubles of Amelie and he.
Gaetan beams at felix through the phone screen “My favourite brother in law. We do not tell Julian..” He chuckles “You look well...thin but well. I have never been thin. But I am ok….we have a new batch going in the caban…..Nicole….ah Nicole is working too much. I am a lonely man sometimes. But I still count my blessings. Etienne graduated good marks.” He yells out “Congratulations to you too Sasha.” He looks at his surroundings a little more somberly “I have to talk with you and Amelie about something after but let me have Rene and Catherine first….bit more fun before the serious talks.” For Gaetan to look serious means something is very very wrong.
Amelie looks over at Felix gravely as she hears her brother and swallows, waiting for whatever news he’s holding onto.
Felix starts out smiling as Gaetan fills him in on his family. But things turn serious and he nods, slowly. “Of course…” he hands the phone to Rene.
Rene hears his uncle as he greets new members of the family and buries his face in his forearm to stifle his laughter. But then things turn serious, and he looks torn between a smile and a serious expression as he is handed the phone. “Oncle Gaetan, you should see the reptiles here!” he says first thing. “Not so many frogs, but lizards and snakes! Very cool!!”
Cath has a little frown after laughing herself almost out of her chair before. Gaetan was her silly oncle. Something sounded wrong today. But she still really wants to tell him about stuff because it’s Gaetan. Then she runs from the table and comes back holding Taffy “Forget about snakes! We got a puppy! This is Taffy. He’s a beagle and a shepherd together. He still pees a lot.”
Gaetan can’t help but grin again for his younger nephew and niece “Oh Rene...the frog man. You would have won in the follies this year..I am sure. You’re 13 now? Mon dieu...how many girlfriends?” He teases “They probably couldn’t all fit around the dinner table.” He beams at Cath “Oh what a nice new friend for you...Taffy? And he pees. Well we all pee Cath. You cannot blame him for it. He’s very cute. Does he bark a lot?”
Rene blinks when Cath mentions the puppy. “Oh yea … Taffy.” he beams. “I would have, but we will never know now.” he blushes. “No girlfriends or anything .. just … you know .. snakes and OH! I hear there are tarantulas in the forest here!” he looks suddenly at his mother, thinking she had just stopped worrying. No need to start her up again.
Cath just holds up the puppy front and centre, vying as she does for all the attention. Then she eeps “Tarantulas! Yikes!” She cuddles Taffy “They better not bite our puppy.”
Amelie looks like she’s skeptical about the tarantulas and shakes her head smiling at Rene. But in her eyes is worry, not for spiders.
Gaetan laughs loudly “You have quite the life there already. That’s wonderful. I miss you all.” He looks around the screen like he’s addressing the whole table “I love you all. I need to share some news. Amelie and Felix, maybe with you first alone…”
Amelie frowns and takes the phone from Rene “Gaetan, we don’t have secrets in this family and you’re scaring me. Is it one of our parents?” She’s looking increasingly stressed out thinking one of them has died.
Gaetan exhales “No no...they are fine. I’m sorry. Well your kids aren’t as close to her so this is more….Lisette’s husband Brendan has died. It sounds like maybe by ….” He looks around as if looking for Cath and Rene “By suicide.”
Amelie’s hand goes over her mouth “Oh god…..and you and Nicole are there...with Lisette….that’s good. Oh god how is she doing? Ah...stupid question..” She looks up at Felix now. Her sister and her husband had been fairly absent from the extended family but they had been closer as children.
Felix listens and his head snaps up when he hears of Brendan's suicide. He stands and moves to Amelie, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Paige is silent as the news comes out, and she takes Sasha’s hand in support.
Gen gasps and grabs Dante’s hand. This wasn’t someone she was all that close to but … she’d never known anyone who had committed suicide. And she only knew one person that did.
Rene’s eyes grow large at the word suicide. He knew what it was, but it had never touched his life before. He looks at his mother. Things had been going so well, and she’d been relaxing so much. Now … probably not.
Cath hugs Taffy to her and looks a bit scared by this news. It had been a lot this week.
Sasha holds Paige’s hand but with his other, reaches for his mother’s. He had barely known this aunt but when he had seen her he could see the connection she shared as a sister with his mom.
Dante closes his eyes tightly at the news. He feels Gen take his hand and squeezes hers back hard. He focussed on his breath and just listened but a hollow look came over him as he opened his eyes.
Amelie slides a hand up to Felix’s on her shoulder and feels Sasha hold her other hand. She had propped her phone up between her plate and her cup so she could still talk to Gaetan. “Gaetan, how do we help her? I mean we barely knew Brendan….and she’s drifted from us. Is she talking to you?”
Gaetan shook his head “No...to Nicole a bit more. They were…..she didn’t live here. I mean this was their house but they were estranged? Friends maybe? I don’t totally understand it Amelie. I guess they had problems. But in two days Nicole is back on shifts and I have to go do a batch or it will spoil. I can’t leave it all with JP. MC says she’ll come and stay. In fact she wants to come tomorrow…” He looks wary about the idea.
Now Amelie lets go of Sasha’s hand and slaps the table making the phone shake “No Gaetan, MC cannot go to Lisette. She bullies her. This is not what she needs right now.”
Gaetan throws up his hands “What do you want me to do….bar the door? Fight her? Because she will you know….and she is scary.”
Amelie gives her brother a stern look “Gaetan I love you...but seriously, grow a pair! Figure this out.”
Gaetan snorts “I have a pair...and they’re fabulous….but MC’s have always been bigger!”
At this Amelie looks momentarily shocked and then just starts laughing really hard “Gaetan….mon dieu!”
Paige keeps her hand in Sasha’s and follows the conversation. She bites her lip hen Amelie starts talking about balls. She had really just net the woman but that felt out of character
Gen holds and rubs at Dante’s hand. She can feel his tension, but has no idea what to do about it, so she only holds on, moving a little closer to hug his arm. When Gaetan says that MC’s balls were bigger, she is surprised into a scoff.
Rene blinks at the comment about the balls and gives a sort of laugh cough, before settling down again.
Felix bites his lip as the talk turns to MC. When Gaetan says her balls are bigger, he begins to massage Amelie’s shoulders, even as he begins to chuckle as well.
Cath frowns about MC being involved. She was always in trouble with that aunt no matter how polite and good she tried to be and then they start making jokes that sort of fly over her head a bit. Cath is a young 11 and her brain doesn’t go there yet. She sees Rene and her other siblings laugh and sort of fake laughs a long, trying to fit in.
Sasha laughs silently at the balls joke. It was a weird one for his mother to make but Gaeten’s reply is golden. His scary Aunt Marie-Claude, definitely had quite the pair. He knew about Dante’s mom and noticed Gen comforting him and sighed. Maybe his parents should have taken this part of the call up in their room. He caresses the back of Paige’s hand with his thumb affectionately.
Dante turns his head to kiss Gen’s cheek.He could tell she was trying to comfort him when it was her family that was dealing with a death. He loved her for it and leaned his face into the side of her head after. Then Amelie said something unexpected to her brother and Gaetan’s response was so funny he felt himself chuckle briefly. It sounded like MC was a mean sister they didn't like.
Amelie feels Felix’s massaging and leans her head back into it for a minute like she’s letting it help her figure something out “OK. I am coming to Winnipeg...somehow. I’ll call Lisette tonight. We’ve drifted but better me than MC. I’m sorry I was so rude...I was just kind of freaking out. And you were ruder.” She goes to lift up her phone and fumbles it, flipping it the wrong way for a second with a direct view of the Beaver Tree Syrup blend on the table. She doesn’t think about that fact as she rights it and picks it up.
Suddenly Gaeten is gasping like he’s hyperventilating “What….the ...fuck….is beaver tree syrup?!”
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