Amelie was rushing around excitedly, tidying up the last bits of things and dashing back to the kitchen as the oven timer went off to pull out chocolate filled croissants. “Felix did you put more coffee on?” She kissed him quickly as she passed him and then called out “Kids! Tante Lisette will be here any minute! Is everyone awake?” Life with teenagers and a tween meant hours were varied. She was wearing a fitted navy blue Winnipeg Jets tshirt and a short summer jean skirt. Her hair was up in it’s messy bun, partly because she was warm from baking with the new stove. Rene, Felix and Sasha had installed it after Rene burnt the old one with his pizza mishap. It felt good to have something normal today, a visit from her sister, not a lawyer or any of the other awful reminders of the last little while.
Cath was walking down the stairs in a pair of light blue jeans overall shorts and a white Winnipeg Jets t-shirt. Her hair was in low pigtails “I’m awake Maman. Is she here? Ooooh croissants!” Taffy was at her heels the whole way.
Sasha was for one in the room he shared with Rene. He had come back sometime in the early morning but was currently out cold as if he hadn’t slept in days. He was dressed though in baggy black sweat shorts and an old orange faded t-shirt with Louis Riel on the front.
Felix was standing in the kitchen, but as out of the way as possible. He grinned watching Amelie bustling about and accepted the kiss with a turning head, as she hadn’t actually stopped moving to kiss him. “Of course the coffee is on.” he told her, watching her move in the short skirt. Life was definitely improving.
Rene ran down the stairs in jean shorts and a Jets tshirt. He stopped short seeing his mother kiss his father. They’d been all kinds of lovey dovey lately and it really made him happy, especially after the last 2 weeks. He poked at Cath and oinked before going into the living room to throw himself on the couch. Good times or bad, when his mother was bustling in the kitchen it was better not to get in her way. She seemed happy with the new stove and he was just glad they weren’t still mad that he burned the old one.
Gen had heard Cath tear out of the bedroom. She turned her head and looked at the digital clock. Almost one o’clock! She quickly got out of bed and took off her tshirt and pajama bottoms, trading them for a bra and a denim skirt and the first tshirt her hand touched. She grabbed her phone off of the charger and sent Dante a good morning text;
Morning sunshine or it would be if I did not sleep till just now. My aunt is coming by but maybe I can see you tonight. Love you!
She added three heart emojis and ran downstairs. What she has not realized is that the tshirt she grabbed was a v-neck and her tattoo, hidden before now, partially showed.
Amelie heard Cath “Ne touche pas! (don’t touch). When Tante Lisette gets here. Rene, she is not a pig…” She chides. Then she calls up the stairs without looking “Sasha?” She was aware Gen had passed by and casually said “Good morning sherie.” Amelie was not much of a yeller though so it was a soft call. She arranged the croissants on a big plate and put them on the dining room table.
Cath rolled her eyes “I can wait…..I am NOT a pig!” She snipped at Rene. “Get him Taffy!”
The little puppy ran adorably at Rene on the couch wagging his tail so hard his entire body went side to side. He couldn’t jump all the way up but he went up on his hind legs and tried to slobber over Rene’s face if he could get to it.
Then Cath turned around and saw Gen walk down and noticed her v-neck and tried to signal her by tapping her own hand to her upper chest. Gen was probably half asleep and she had had a really tough time of it lately but she sure didn’t need to out her tattoo today.
Amelie walked back in from the dining room and ended up facing Gen at the exact same time as Cath was tapping and did a double take “Gen, are you wearing two shirts...what is that?” Then she peered closer and her jaw dropped.
Sasha rolled over and mumbled “ Five more minutes…..” And then was fast asleep in less than one again.
Dante was already awake and outside on the deck watching the younger kids on the trampoline when Gen’s text came in. He replied to her immediately:
I know your morning times. Good morning beautiful. I’m all yours when you’re free. I love you too.
Cath froze and winced, looking between her mother and her sister.
Felix heard the kids coming downstairs. "Good morning, my children." he turns and sees Gen's chest. "Genevieve Therese Beaulieu..." his voice is a bit confused at what he's seeing. He realizes right away it is not a second shirt but … could it be ....
Rene helps Taffy onto the couch and begins to laugh, playing like he is being mauled. He'd seen his sisters tattoo and kept quiet about it, just as Cath had. Now ... moment of truth. With everything happening, he was a little surprised they hadn’t noticed it at all during the quarantine.
Gen stops on the bottom stair as her mother first says she has two shirts on at the same time she sees Cath tapping her upper chest. She glances down and notices she's put on a vneck. Then she looks up at her parents. "Oh ... um .. I .. sort of ... um ... got a tattoo..." she announces as if it were yesterday and not almost a month ago. She steps off the final stair and will try and breese into the living room as if this is nothing.
Lisette walks up the stairs to the house, still happy and euphoric about the charge she’d left at the Reinhardts. She reaches out and rings the bell, smiling.
Amelie hears the doorbell and closes her mouth. She holds up a finger at Gen “We’re not done here.” Her tone is a little elevated but not in full freak out. It’s almost a warning? “We can’t leave Lisette on the porch…” She blows out a breath and goes to the door and looks happy to see Lisette but preoccupied with what’s just been discovered. Nonetheless she hugs Lisette “Hello. You’ve caught us at an interesting moment. But I’m glad you’re here. Come in…..” She looks over at Felix and then to her children “Genevieve has just revealed to us she’s gotten a tattoo….” Amelie is no longer making nice when things are tense. She’s been dropping that but she’s also not turning her anger on Gen after everything her daughter has been through either..
Cath nudges Rene to scootch so she can sit with him, like the couch is their safe island in case Gen is swirling in a storm across the room. “Hi Tante Lisette.” She says with a weak smile.
Taffy jumps down from Rene and runs to sniff the new person in the house covering feet, legs and jumping up to knees. He’s very thorough and the tail is going again.
Felix is still looking at Gen when Amelie heads for the door. Felix follows her and once she steps in will kiss her on the cheek as Amelie just outs with it. He can't help but smile in pride at her. Happy or not happy, she isn't freaking out or pretending nothing is happening. "Oui .. welcome to our lives. Never a dull moment." And in comparison to the last couple of weeks, this almost qualifies as ‘nothing’.
Rene moves over and lets Cath on the couch just as he is abandoned by Taffy. "Hi Tante Lisette." he half grins, knowing that right now ... is not the time ... for anything, probably.
Gen swallows and, almost defiantly, pulls her shirt up to expose the large chest piece. Her bra keeps it relatively modest but ... still. She pulls her shirt back down. "I designed it and Dante did the work. His first time working with a tattoo gun." she tries to play it cool. After all, they couldn't make her get rid of it. "I love it. It's an Everlasting Cross ... Dante means everlasting."
Lisette accepts the kiss and greetings and then blinks as Gen shows her a large chest tattoo. Absently petting the puppy, she opens, then closes her mouth and, without a word, goes to the couch to sit with Rene and Cath. "So how has your summer been, you two?" she asks.
Amelie can’t help but give a little gasp at the sheer size of the tattoo and then look at Felix before walking over to her daughter “Genevieve, why didn’t you tell us you were doing this?” She looks at the part she can see again from the neckline of the v-neck top “Dante did this…..he did a good job and it’s nice...I just would have liked to have known…..I don’t want any more secrets in this family. You know we love you, and we even love Dante, especially now. Please just talk to us Genevieve.” She frowns a bit but then looks at her daughter with love and understanding.
Cath watches her parents and Gen and then moves over a bit to make room for her aunt. What could she possibly tell her that would be as interesting as what Gen was up to? “Not too busy….mostly just Taffy. He’s pooping outside now mostly. Some of my friends have his sibling puppies and he likes to play. Aislin has Toffee, a girl, and Mabel has Dipper, another boy….” She watches the show again to see what happens with the tattoo fall out before looking back at Lisette “I’m sorry about Uncle Brendan.” She didn’t even really know him but she imagined how sad it would be for her aunt.
Felix is a bit surprised at his daughter's boldness, the sheer size of the tattoo and barely noticed Lisette move away. "I agree with your mother. It just would have been nice to know. How long ago was this? It looks healed." he looks at Amelie and reaches for her hand. "Again I am with your mother on this. Secrets nearly tore us apart. As a coupe and as your parents .. tore the whole family apart. No more. Please."
Gen sighs softly. "I got it the weekend after Canada Day. The fifth." she admits. "And things were so ... messed up still. I didn't want to tell either of you." she moves her eyes between them. "Papa was sleeping in the garage and Maman you were just so .. I don't know. I just wanted to be surrounded by love and Dante loves me ..." she sniffs and begins to cry a little bit. “And then … the rest happened … so I just .. didn't say anything.”
Rene shrugs. “Not much just hanging out with friends. You know. Virtually. And stuff.” he can hear his parents and his sister and his heart goes out. It had been a rough month. “Yea .. and all of that, too.” he motions vaguely in Gens direction.
Lisette smiles and listens to her youngest nephew and niece tell her in vague terms about their summer. Then she heard Felix and Amele with Gen. Turning, she faces them. “So can we forgive each other and love again? Or do I have to call in MC?” she narrows her eyes and tries to look threatening.
Amelie squeezes Felix’s hand as he takes hold of hers but when she hears Gen talk about how she was so affected by their rift she feels her whole being ache, and that with what Brett had tried to do to Gen was just agony for her heart “Genevieve…” She reaches to try to hug her “I’m sorry. I know it was hard. I know Dante loves you...we love you too though.” Then she smiles and almost mock snarls at her sister “Don’t you dare Lisette. Or I’ll have to get a tattoo and let her fret about my skirt length.” Felix’s solidarity gave her so much strength. But it wasn’t him cushioning her anymore, they were meeting things as a team, as equals.
Cath winces at the memory of their parents being so upset with each other and everything around it as well as all the terrible things that had happened to Gen after and Dante and Sasha being arrested.. She hears Rene give a half answer Rene has a whole group of friends his age already.” He’s always been more social than her as far as she sees it. She gasps about MC “She’s not coming here is she?”
Taffy found a corner of the carpet and circled and circled down until he was napping in an adorable curled up heap of puppy.
Felix hugs both of his girls because he has the superior wingspan. "If you do it again ... just tell us. We trust you, Gen but we're too old for this." he looks at his sister-in-law. "Not before I let her complain about MY skirt length. So you think she'd go away if I had a mini skirt?"
Gen hugs her mother and feels the hug from her father. Backing away, her father continues and she shudders. "Papa. No! Please! No mini skirts." it sounds like a threat to her and she's taking it as one.
Rene pulls back. "Papa! Mon Dieu!" he then looks at Cath. "So do you." he almost accuses, as if having friends was like having acne. Then he realizes Cath has asked something relevant and his eyes go wide. "Is she?" he looks ready to pack and run.
Lisette watches the family healthily deal with the tattoo and she is proud of her sister. Then she laughs. “Mon Dieu, non. I want to know if she comes to the island so I can go someplace more peaceful. Like … Yemen…”
Amelie can’t help but giggle as Felix offers to wear a mini skirt “Oh Gen, I think he had very nice legs.” She winks at Felix as she pulls away from the group hug but it was by far the best dealing with teen parenting they’d done so far. She looks now to the two younger of her clan “You’re both making friends. It’s wonderful.” She holds up a hand “I have not invited MC and have no plans to. Gaetan, Nicole, Etienne and JP….speaking of Etienne…..Rene, go wake up Sasha….” She chuckles at Lisette “Yemen? How was your journey here with the child? It was Seamus’s daughter right? Sorry he’s Sasha’s best friend so he told us.”
Cath laughs about the idea of her father wearing a skirt to make MC mad. “Papa if she comes here you have to do it now. But She scares me so I don’t want to invite her.” Then Cath almost falls off the couch “Seamus has a daughter?! No one told me! You guys said no more secrets!” She looks scandalized and miffed. “How old is she?”
Felix looks vindicated by his wife's words. "Merci, mon amour." he kisses her softly on the lips. He loves this teamwork parenting thing. "How can our children not have friends." he states dramatically. "Every parent in town will want their guidance for their children. We should rent them out. Make some extra money." he grins. "No MC. We have a happy family now and it's going to stay that way." he proclaims and grins. "Yes. We know about his daughter."
Gen pulls out of the hug and grins when his father jokes. “It’s not easy with younger kids. The speaking moistly song sort of works, but it is for washing hands, not brushing teeth, Papa.” she looks at Cath. “She is only a baby. Three years old or something like that.” she looks at her sister. “That’s babysitting money if you can get Sasha to recommend you.”
Rene laughs. “Mrs Reinhardt said something like that. So I will ask for payment in advance the next time I spend the night.” and then his mother tells him to wake Sasha and he jumps from the couch. “Oui, Maman.” he says obediently, and runs up the stairs to the room he shares with his brother. Taking his pillow from the bed, he begins to beat his brother about the head and shoulders. “Wake up, lazy butt!” he calls. “Tante Lisette is here! Wake up!” and he will continue to beat his older brother without mercy.
Lisette also looks relieved that MC had not even been invited. Then she laughs. “Then I am not breaking any confidentiality, am I? I am sure Colleen will introduce you sooner or later …” she looks at Cath. “And you might be a good babysitter, if you can be patient…”
Sasha feels the pillow coming down on him over and over “Fuuuuuuuck Rene!” He yells loud enough for the downstairs to hear too. “OK ok!” He sits up and grabs his own pillow now attacking him back with a vengeance but then stopping and looking like being awake is painful. He’s not normally the sleepy one of his siblings but he and Paige only saw each other for the first time when the quarantine broke last night and sleep was not a priority.
Amelie had kissed Felix back sweetly “Yes I think we finally figured out the parenting thing a little...after 17 years…” She laughs.”The kids had to help us. Oh Sasha’s awake, thanks to Rene…..not like him to sleep this late.” She smiles at Gen “Good idea. I bet Seamus’s girl would like Taffy. And yes Colleen is a dear friend.” She sighs at Lisette “So you met one of the nicest families coming into the town to live.
Cath looks conflicted “Babysit for Seamus….hmm….that's just weird. Oh Sasha sounds cranky…..Rene must be really hitting him hard.”
Felix glances up when he heard his oldest cry out at his brother. He is tempted to say nothing about Sasha's sleeping, but that is an old habit. "I think he was out late last night." he replies simply. Not a lie and not detailed.
Gen glances up and laughs at Sasha's protest. She knew for a fact that Sasha had come home late ... or rather, early. Cath says babysitting for Seamus would be weird. "But he'd be so grateful."
Rene falls dramatically to the ground. "Fuck! Stop killing me!" he cries. "I'm only following Maman's orders." which is true in the most technical of ways. “Come on. I can’t trust you alone not to go back to sleep.” he smirks and lowers his voice. “I heard you come in last night.” he murmurs. “The sky was just getting light.” he smirks, because brother teasing might become a sport one day and he wanted to be ready when it did.
Lisette grins at the protesting. “Oh that is the wounds of siblings. I remember having to wake you a time or two while you were in school.” she looks at Cath. “Weird? How?”
Felix grins in his youngest daughters direction. When did she develop a crush on ... anyone?
Gen shrugs. "Never say no to extra money." she advises. "But you have studying ... will he still be doing it with you?" now that he had a toddler, she thought it might be possible he'd have to stop tutoring her.
Sasha groans “OK I was out late. I tried to come in quietly at least.” He boots him good with the pillow again “Someday it’ll be you and there will be no little brother to beat you. We’re going to have to teach Cath to be tougher on you.”
Rene laughs softly. "You were quiet. I just don't sleep very deeply. Never have." he 'offs' when the pillow hits him again. "o way. When you finally move out I'm going to get a bunch of pet snakes and let them run free all over my room, telling Cath every last one is poisonous. Believe me ... it'll work like a charm!"
Lisette grins. "Well .. Gaetin doesn't wake up well, and fortunately JP is a lot stronger than he looks." she nods as Cath throws herself on the couch.
Cath blushes deeply at all the questions and comments “I dunno, just weird.” She thinks about what Gen says. Her crush was waning but it wasn’t gone. She sighs tiredly and flops onto the couch.
Amelie smiles and does a little eye roll “Yes i know he was.” She laughs at Lisette “But you didn’t beat me. You were quite nice. I was still probably rude to you as a teenager about it. Those two sound like Gaetan and JP. I always thought poor JP would get crushed.”
Felix grins in his youngest daughters direction. When did she develop a crush on ... anyone? . “Well Gaetan could crush anyone with his laugh alone.”He laughs
Gen shrugs. "Never say no to extra money." she advises. "But you have studying ... will he still be doing it with you?" now that he had a toddler, she thought it might be possible he'd have to stop tutoring her.
Lisette grins. "Well .. Gaetin doesn't wake up well, and fortunately JP is a lot stronger than he looks." she nods as Cath throws herself on the couch. “How is your schooling going, Cath?”
Cath turns her head on the couch to look at Gen “I dunno…” In truth she wasn’t getting any better at math staring at Seamus’s blue eyes instead of the page. She frowns a little at her aunt’s question “I hate school. Maybe this one will be better.”
Amelie nods at Felix “He could.” She chuckles about Gaetan. Then she looks between Gen and Cath and hears Cath say she hates school, again. “It will be better I’m sure. You have a new math teacher this year too. The school does actually. They’ve already started sending us emails about the classes and possible plans if they have to do partial online. Hopefully since it’s been pretty safe here the kids can just go be with their friends.”
Sasha snorts “So you’re going to turn our room into Narcisse so Cath won’t wake you up? That’s actually fucking epic. Although I’ve seen her pick up a garter snake. You may need something bigger. Probably won’t be able to get any girls to come into your room that way either,,,just saying..” He teases.
Felix listens to Cath and looks at her sympathetically. "I have faith in this place." he tells her, moving into the house. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
Gen sighs slightly. Seamus meant well, but her sister wasn't learning anything with him as her tutor. She made a mental note to speak to both men about it as soon as she could.
Rene moans slightly when his brother mentions Narcisse. "Mon dieu, I wish I could. I bet Maman would stop me at 5 and make me keep them in a tank. Maybe I should move on to gopher snakes..." Sasha mentions girls and Rene blinks. That's ... that's OK ..." and he blushes crimson, remembering his promise to Tristan. The quarantine had the whole family in the house all the time and he hadn't been able to talk to him alone yet.
Lisette smiles encouragingly at her niece. “Your parents are right. It will get easier. And this school has a good reputation. I checked before I moved.” she heads into the dining room. “Ameie .. fresh baked croissants …” she hovers over the plate, inhaling deeply and helping herself to one.
Sasha laughs about the snakes “I look forward to your reptilian lair.” Then he sees the blush and heard the stammering “Oh hey I’m kidding...I mean eventually. I wasn’t there with girls at 13…” He winces a bit admitting something to Rene “14...but that might have been a bad idea. I wasn’t really ready. So don’t rush that.”
Amelie nods “It’ll be a good year. Yes come have croissants. Those boys better hustle.” She looks at Lisette “Coffee? Felix made a fresh pot.”
Cath only has to hear permission for croissants once and she’s practically teleported herself to the table and gotten one in her hand. “Can I have coffee Maman and Papa?” She doesn’t always but she feels like it would be a grown up thing to do.
Felix grins. “No, let them chat or kill each other … more for us.” he moves into the kitchen,bringing down cups for coffee. He looks over his shoulder at his youngest child. “Amelie?” he asks, his hand hovering over one more cup.
Gen hustles to the table. “They’re fresh out of the oven.” she inhales. “Oh I wish I could cook as well as Maman.” she frets a bit.
Lisette grins and takes one. “She has a gift..” she admits and rips off a piece.
Rene shakes his head. “No .. it’s not that .. it’s …” he blows out a breath. “Sasha I need to talk to you. I know now is a bad time, but you’ve been hard to pin down… And with family here …” he shakes his head as if speaking on whatever subject it is with an aunt in the house was not happening.
Sasha looks worried “Hey Rene...you know you can tell me anything. I’m sorry I wasn’t home a lot before the quarantine and then the stress after Gen...and the arrest….….well everyone was home. Are you ok?” Now he’s worried. His brother has never gotten this serious before and clearly he really wanted to talk alone or it would have come up in the last few weeks. He looks in the direction of the stairs “We could go for a walk or something?”
Amelie blushes a bit “You are all too kind. Cath can have coffee yes.” She looks between Gen and Lisette “It was my thing. I had to fight my way into the kitchen with Grandmere…..but once I got into baking she would just let me have quiet time in there. I practiced and practiced. Lisette the first croissants i made went to the dog. Maman wouldn’t even serve them to family. If you want to learn Gen I’ll teach you, and then I’ll step away and just let you because that’s how you really get it down.”
Cath looks excited for coffee and then blurts out “I want to learn to make tartiflette!”
Felix gets the extra cup out and brings them all to the table, then goes back for the creamer and sweetner and once again back to pour all the coffee for them.
Gen takes her cup and adds sugar. She gins at Cath, finally eager to learn and she suspects that Cath will learn what she wanted to. She and her mother were closer than ever, but she still felt a slight … divide.
Lisette is halfway through her croissant when she gets her coffee. “Merci, Felix.” she sips and watches Cath, grinning. These kids were growing up so fast.
Rene bites his lip and looks in the direction of the stairs. “Oui…” he whispers. “A walk…” he looks quite nervous now that the time her near.
Sasha looks concerned still “Today? We’ll go put in an appearance…..and do I smell,,,,oh fuck it’s croissants!” He smiles “And eat….but then I wanna know what’s up ok?” He gives Rene’s shoulder a squeeze if he can.
Amelie looks between her girls “Yes, both of those. Just tell me when and we’ll make it happen.” She settles in with her own coffee and croissant “Lisette, you must be exhausted from driving for days with a small child. How was she on the road?”
Cath puts cream in her coffee and way too much sugar because each time she thinks she has enough it still tastes like coffee after all. But she smiles happily about her mother agreeing to teach her tartiflette and Gen croissants.
Felix sips at his coffee, just enjoying his family He chuckles. "If she is three then it's a bathroom break every hundred meters no matter what." he remembers. "Or car sickness. Or yammering at you. Or wanting to show you stuff anyplace but the red light. Pick a kid."
Gen blinked at her mother. “Really?” she sounds amazed. “Thank you, Maman.” she absolutely beams at her mother.
Lisette chuckles. “Actually she was a perfect angel.” she reports. “Which child was which of those, Amelie?” she demands to know.
Rene nods and then blinks. “Oh yea .. croissants.” he then nods. “Sure … that’s fine.” it gave him time to talk himself out of this madness.
Amelie laughs at Felix “Oh yes…..we were crazy trying to drive anywhere with 4. Probably why we didn't take them out of Manitoba until now.” She smiles lovingly at Gen, feeling her beam and so grateful for the moment. Then she sees the boys arriving to join them and starts pointing at their children “Hello Sasha….he’s our talk nonstop when he gets an idea in his head. And Rene….look Maman, look Papa….” She grins “We’re talking about traveling. And Gen needs to have her drinks rationed or she’ll never stop needing to pee. And Cath…” She breaks off looking at Cath.
Cath says her own “I have a highly developed gag reflex. And I get motion sick even going from St, Pierre to St, Malo. Gravol helps sometimes. But really it’s just better to puke.”
Sasha grins “Hi Tante Lisette. Welcome to Alexandra. I’ll try not to talk your ear off about it…” He shoots his mother a cheeky look and snatches up a croissant.
Gen sniffs, indignantly. “Women have smaller bladders than men. That's science, people!" she protests.
Rene laughs, looking perfectly at ease as he comes down to hear his part in the car put on the table. He reaches for a croissant. "Look Maman." and then he takes another. "Look Papa." and he puts them bottoms together and takes a big bite out of the ends.
Felix laughs as his children all gather and are called out for each or their car habits, then proceed to accept their lots in life. He smirks at Amelie and pulls her close. “But soon the car will be empty. Then what will we do.” and he will nuzzle at her neck, playfully.
Lisette laughs at her family, realizing how long it's been since she felt this good for this long. “Oh I have missed you ALL.” She watches Amelie and Felix and is happy to see them together. They weren’t this open and loving that she’d ever seen.
Amelie leans into the nuzzling and laughs at the kids defences and examples of their own behaviour. “We have missed you too Lisette. I’m so glad you moved here.” She looks around at her kids and her sister and the sleeping puppy and happily sighs She knew they had a hard road, especially with Gen, Dante and Sasha and all they had to do after that awful young man tried to rape Gen and Dante and Sasha stopped him, with Dante really really stopping him. They could face all the trials to come together. This island was home now, more and more each day. They would make it stay that way.
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