Chapter Text
Epilogue
He's talking to Victor when he sees her. He knew she'd be there, but seeing her gives him a little shock.
It's like she hasn't aged. Lucas knows he doesn't look really old either, he makes himself look older, it's not really the same. Lucas thinks he still looks like a teenager. His jaw's barely any bigger. The only thing that changes is his 3-day beard, which he takes care of almost religiously. Without it, he really feels like a baby.
She smiles when their eyes meet and waves a little hand, to which Lucas answers almost shyly. He doesn't have time to think about whether he should really go and greet her as she walks towards him. And as if he was doing it on purpose, Victor goes out to get a drink at the same time.
''Lucas. I'm so glad you're here. It's been a really long time."
Lucas smiles as she hugs him.
''Yeah. Considering we're celebrating 50 years of marriage, I feel like it's been 10 years, Lucille."
Lucille takes a big smile as she looks at Lucas.
''Ten years. It's gone by so fast. It's just unbelievable. I feel like it was in another life because it's so far away. I really was"
Lucas is waving him off. He doesn't want to talk about this again.
''Don't worry, Lucille. That was in another life. How are you doing?"
Lucille pulls a chair over to her and sits down and sighs.
''I'm okay. I can't wait to see the end. This little guy keeps fidgeting. Only two months left, and we'll finally get to see his little face. I can't wait to see him."
She strokes his already round belly and Lucas wonders how she can go another two months without exploding. He smiles, with a big smile, but doesn't say it.
"Isn't your husband here?"
Lucille turns around and shows a redheaded guy leaning against the beer machine laughing with Valentin.
''It's Malone. And if you're wondering, yes, he is Irish."
Lucas laughs, and Lucille laughs with him.
''And your husband, Lucas?''
Lucas shrugs his shoulders and looks around.
"I have no idea."
He looks around again, and that's when he sees him. With his blonde hair that he wanted Lucas to spike with gel, he looks like a little bleached hedgehog. Lucas waves his hand in a big gesture to get his attention. Lucas doesn't miss his blues eyes that marvel when he sees that Lucas beckons him to come and it always gives him this incredible feeling. He joins him right away and sneaks up behind Lucas as if he's hiding.
''Lucille, let me introduce you to our son, Alban.''
Lucas signs to Alban that Lucille was a friend of Daddy's that he hasn't seen in a long time and Alban steps forward to shake Lucille's hand with a smile.
Lucille looks at him smiling and Alban smiles back. This is the kind of situation he could never have imagined when he first met Lucille.
''He looks so tall !''
Lucas nods his head and smiles. Clearly, he'll probably be taller than him when he's older. Maybe even taller than Eliott. And frankly, it would make Lucas laugh if that happened. When they adopted him 2 years ago, he was already much taller than kids his age.
''He's 6 years old. '' said Eliott as he magically arrived, ''Hi, Lucille, how are you? Oh, my God, you're huge! you look like you're about to explode.''
Lucille laughed and so did Eliott as he hugged her.
"I'm so happy to see the three of you."
Eliott smiles as he puts his arm around Lucas' waist while Alban slides his hand into his free hand. Lucille turns her head when her husband puts his hand on her shoulder and she puts her hand on it.
''Malone, this is Eliott and Lucas, and their son Alban. Boys, this is my husband."
Eliott lets go of Alban's hand and shakes hands with Malone's hand.
''Nice to meet you, Eliott, I've heard good things about you.''
Eliott laughs and shakes his head.
''Then it must all be wrong.''
Lucas elbows him in the ribs as he says hello to Malone.
"Excuse my husband, he's impossible sometimes."
Malone keeps Lucas' hand in his and smiles.
''Yeah, I heard that, too. Lucille's too, sometimes. But when you love somebody, you take them for what they are, right?"
Lucas nods, and they're interrupted by Pierre giving a thank-you speech to all the guests and declaring once again how much he loves his wife. And who warns that the first game is set at the table.
They all sit around the tables and talk. The Demaury's table is starting to be full now. Valentin immediately comes and sits down next to Lucas while Eliott sits on his other side, Alban on his lap.
''So Valentin'' asks Patrice at the end of the table ''When are you bringing someone into the family? There's one chair free."
Lucas looks at Willem. He's sitting next to Victor with one arm around his shoulder and they're both smiling, as if they were in a bubble.
Valentin looks at them, moans and grins.
''Pfff. The honeymoon should be over by now, right? How long is it after the wedding?"
Victor shows his middle finger to his brother and Willem wraps his hand around it to stop him while laughing. Lucas looks at Julia talking to Marianne while holding Alban's hand. It's been almost a year since the family first met him, and it's as if she's always been part of the family.
Valentin grabs the game sheet in the middle of the table and smiles.
''Okay. Let's play. I think this table-by-table idea is really nice. Okay, you have to point to the person who best fits the description described."
Lucas is frowning.
''Like? I need an example here."
Valentin giggles.
''Like, who's the handsomest? And of course, then everyone's pointing at me."
Lucas looks up at the sky and laughs.
"First, Lucas is better looking than you," comes Eliott "and Victor looks exactly like you. So why would anyone choose you?"
Valentin smiles.
"Because I'm the good twin." The whole table laughs, even Victor. "Okay. Who's had the most years of schooling."
Not surprisingly, everyone points to Willem, since he's a doctor.
"Who's been in a relationship the longest?"
Still without surprise, everyone shows Pierre and Delphine.
''That's the problem with doing this as a family,'' says Eliott. ''There are no surprises, actually. We all know each other too well."
Lucas looks at the other tables laughing and showing several different people. It's true that at their table, no need to break the ice, there was never any ice to break.
Valentin goes through the list of questions with his eyes and then puts his finger on it.
''Oh! There's a good one. Who at this table is the bravest?"
Lucas hesitates, but he doesn't have time to choose if all the fingers at the table are pointing at him.
''What? Why?"
''Because you're putting up with me,'' says Eliott, laughing.
Lucas looks up to the sky.
"That's not courage, that's love."
"OK," admits Victor, lowering his hand, "I was showing you for the same thing."
"So anyone who thinks I'm brave for it can put their fingers down, there's no courage in that, just love."
Everybody puts their hand down and laughs except Valentin. Lucas looks at him and Valentin looks up.
''I always thought it took a lot of courage for you to kiss your roommate at 17, not knowing if he was into guys, not knowing if he loved you. I think about it every time I eat chocolate mousse and I think you're just"
''I didn't do it.'' Lucas' cut ''I never did that.''
The whole table turns to him gawking, except for Pierre who smiles and Delphine who seems imperturbable.
"What?" moans Valentin.
Lucas looks at Eliott who shakes his hand a little harder.
''It's a long story. It's even funny if you think about it... Actually, I..."
''I've got it, baby'' Eliott cut him ''We weren't dating when Lucas first came here. I asked him to be my fake boyfriend for the weekend and he did."
Patrice and Paul burst out laughing, followed immediately by Victor and Willem. Anton shakes his head and looks up to the sky with Marianne, and Julia looks at them with a sorry smile, while Delphine smiles at them.
''No! You're kidding! '' asks Valentin incredulous '' Why did you lie? Damn, we didn't see anything! You both looked so good. Nothing was true then? Tell me he's kidding, Lucas."
Eliott looked down in shame and Lucas felt like he was seeing him again when his dad found out.
''I'm sorry, but it's true.'' Lucas says softly, ''I never dared do it that night. So we were just roommates. I came in here pretending to be her fake boyfriend. But it only lasted 24 hours,actually,'cause we were really in love with each other and it just made us realize it. We even yelled at each other down the street, just over there, to tell each other we really loved each other."
Valentin looks at them and laughs.
''Oh, my God, this is such a better story! You two are two idiots!"
Eliott looks at his mother, who's always smiling and doesn't say anything.
"Mom? You don't say anything?''
Delphine raises her eyes to the sky and smiles.
''I already knew that, baby. I knew it the first night. I wanted to come see if you had everything you needed in your room, and I heard Lucas talking. So I figured it out. But I saw the way you were holding hands under the table. If you were faking it, you wouldn't have done it, no one could see it. I knew it was only a matter of time.''
''And you didn't tell me?'' Surprised Pierre.
Delphine looks at him frowning.
''I don't know how long you've known, but you knew too, honey. Your lack of reaction shows it for you. So shut up a little."
Pierre looks at Eliott and then Lucas and winks at them.
''He's got secrets between a father and his sons who only look at them.''
Eliott chuckles and leans over to Lucas to kiss him. Alban puts down his cutlery and looks at his grandfather, smiling before he signs.
''I've got a secret with my dads, too.''
Sometimes Lucas forgets that Alban can read lips really well now. He looks at Eliott smiling and they nod to Alban looking at them to see if he can tell. He looks proud and waits for everyone to look at him to sign.
''In June we're going to pick up my sister from the orphanage where I was little. But she might hear a little bit.''
This time, the whole table is stunned. Even Delphine. And the next moment, there's an outpouring of cries and joy. They make so much noise that all the tables turn towards them and Peter announces the good news to all, his grandson in his arms. And a thunderous applause fills the room.
Once calm has returned to their table and the meal is over, Lucas and Eliott both dance, as they did 10 years ago, but this time they look at Alban from time to time, who is asleep on his grandmother's lap.
''We finally did it in the end'' says Eliott softly, ''and I can't believe my mother knew it.''
Lucas looks at Eliott with a funny look on his face.
''I don't even see why you're surprised. It was so obvious that your mother knew that. I'm surprised we managed to surprise her tonight! She usually knows everything before we tell her.''
Eliott nods and kisses Lucas as he slips his hands behind his back. Lucas squeezes himself against him then gently pulls on Eliott's neck to force him to bend over and whisper in his ear.
''I'm really disappointed.''
Eliott looks surprised and slightly tilts his head back so he can look at Lucas with a frown. But all he can see is Lucas smiling, ready to say something just to tease Eliott.
''Why?''
Lucas tightens up on Eliott and tiptoes up to whisper.
''Technology is moving too fast. The more time goes by, the smaller the phones get. Soon they won't even be able to vibrate me."
Eliott laughs and half the room turns to them, but he doesn't care.
''That's not what you were saying last night. Damn it, Lucas Demaury, I'm sure you've been planning this joke for 10 years!"
Lucas looks Eliott in the eye with a big smile on his face.
''Maybe."
Eliott laughs out loud again before he kisses Lucas.
He can't even say why, but just for that alone, he's still... but truly, unquestionably in love with Lucas.