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Jean-Luc stared at the face of his eldest child on the screen, tears were running down her face and she had lapsed into rapid French. Through her sobbing, he could barely understand a word she was saying.
“Ah, ma petite fille. Ralentissez, s'il vous plaît. Votre vieux papa ne peut pas vous comprendre. Es-tu blessé? Pourquoi êtes-vous tellement bouleversé? Avez-vous besoin de parler à Maman?”
At the word Maman, Yvette’s sobs got worse. Jean-Luc was baffled by his 30-yr-old daughter. This wasn’t like her at all. “Picard to Picard.” Both Beverly and Wesley responded. “Sorry, Wesley. I need your mother...no, actually, could both of you please report to my ready room?” “Aye, Sir,” came Wesley’s voice. Beverly, sensing the stress in her husband’s voice responded “Of course, Jean-Luc. I’ll be right there.”
The chime sounded outside his ready room. “Come!” The doors swished open and both Beverly and Wesley hurried in. They could hear the faint sobbing coming out of the computer.
“Jean-Luc, what’s wrong?” Jean-Luc motioned to the monitor where Yvette was sobbing. “Yvette won’t stop crying to tell me. I asked her if she wanted to speak with you and she started to cry harder.” Beverly and Wesley joined Jean-Luc behind his desk so all three would be visible by Yvette.
“Yvette, chérie. Qu'est-ce qui vous dérange?” Beverly asked in halting French. She wasn’t nearly as fluent as Jean-Luc or Yvette. French was no longer an official language within the Federation, but Jean-Luc’s father had insisted both he and Robert only spoke French in the house growing up, and Robert had continued the tradition with Yvette and Rene, so Beverly had been determined to learn French. Wesley managed a “Bonjour sœur”.
Yvette cracked a smile at her brother’s attempt. “Maman, quelque chose de terrible s'est produit. Maman et papa étaient dans la grange avec René. Ilyavaitunincendie.Ilabrûléa sol.Reneestvivant, maismamane papasontmorts!” She started speaking faster and faster until all that came out was one long word in French.
“Yeah..I got nothing. Sorry, Dad.” Wesley shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.
Beverly concentrated. “Something...terrible.....barn....fire!! Jean-Luc, did she say there was a fire? Mort.....dead? Who’s dead?! Not my Rene...” Beverly buried her head in Jean-Luc’s chest and reached a hand out to Wesley.
“Rene est d'accord?”
“Oiu. Rene est à l'hôpital” Jean-Luc let out a deep sigh. “Beverly, she said Rene is alright.” Beverly looked up at her daughter’s image and asked, “Yvette...who is dead?”
“maman et papa”. Beverly gasped. Jean-Luc sat down hard in his chair. “Sacrebleu!” was all he could say. Beverly placed her hands on Jean-Luc’s shoulder. “Robert and Marie?” she tentatively asked.
“Oui.”
“Oh, my sweet baby girl. Don’t worry. We’re on our way. Picard out.” The screen went blank. Wesley straightened up and tugged on the bottom of his tunic. Beverly gave a slight smile. He’s so much like his father. “Mom, I’m going to go pack. Do you need me to pack for you and Dad?” Beverly looked over at Jean-Luc. His head was still in his hands and he was still muttering in French. “I think that would be best. Contact Command and tell them we are all on bereavement leave effective immediately. We’ll meet you in the Captain’s Yacht in...an hour?” Wesley nodded as he spun to leave.
###
The journey to Earth was going to take 16 hours. Jean-Luc made arrangements to set down just outside of La Barre and told Wesley he had the controls as he stood up and made his way over to the lounge area. He collapsed onto the sofa next to Beverly. “I can’t believe it....Robert and Marie....dead. I....I’ve spoken with the family lawyer. Obviously, Rene defaults into our care and we now own the vineyard outright. I’ll have to speak to Jacques.....I don’t know how to run a vineyard. ...and how are we going to tell Rene? How can we just burst in and tell him we’re his actual parents?” Beverly made soft soothing noises and pulled Jean-Luc’s head down to her shoulder. She began to stroke his head as she spoke.
“It will be ok. Rene will have Yvette and he’s always thought of Wesley as his brother. Now it will just be real. Remember how he always used to ask if he could come live with you on the Enterprise?”
“Yes, but not under these circumstances! The boy will have just lost the people he thinks are his parents, and we’re going to just whisk him away onto a starship and give him an instant family? A new older brother, plus two younger siblings?” Jean-Luc glanced back towards where the two-year-old twins were napping in their cots. Simone and Rupert had come as such a surprise, but Jean-Luc loved them fiercely. Jean-Luc loved all of his children and only regretted not being able to be there for all of them from birth.
###
Jean-Luc slowly walked up the short flight of steps outside his family home in La Barre, Simone sleeping against his shoulder and stared at the door. Do I knock? I guess this is my house now... He tentatively pushed open the door. The house felt cold and empty. Jean-Luc shivered as he motioned for Beverly, holding Rupert’s hand, and Wesley to join him. Jean-Luc passed the sleeping Simone to Wesley. “Wesley, could you take Rupert and Simone upstairs? Your mother and I need.....well, we need to find out where Yvette and Rene are first.” Wesley nodded and reached out for Rupert’s hand. “Come on, Rup. I think some of Rene’s old toys might be upstairs.”
Beverly noticed the communications console was the only modern piece of technology in the kitchen. “No replicator?”
“Ah. Papa wouldn’t let us have one....Robert decided to keep up the tradition.” Beverly frowned. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy cooking, but cooking for 4 adults and 3 children would be a challenge.
Jean-Luc kissed Beverly’s forehead. “I’ll have one installed if we plan on staying here.”
A small light was blinking on the console indicating a message. It was a written message from Yvette with information on Rene. He had been badly burned and was still in hospital, where they expected him to stay for at least another week. Beverly frowned hearing this. “Jean-Luc, that doesn’t make any sense. Surely they will release him into our care. I’m sure I can heal his burns in a few minutes from the infirmary on the yacht.”
###
Rene refused to speak. He allowed Beverly to gather him into his arms and hold him close while he sobbed, but he wouldn’t...he couldn’t...speak. Healing his burns was easy, but it would be a long time before his heart would be healed, if ever. Beverly spoke with Deanna over subspace, and she agreed to give Rene counselling first via subspace, and then once they were back on the Enterprise. Naturally, Jean-Luc and Beverly hadn’t yet figured out a way to tell Rene they were his parents. They both were afraid that it would draw him into himself even more than he already was.
When they introduced Rene to Simone and Rupert, they were careful not to call them his siblings or cousins, only referring to them as “our youngest children”. Wesley was bunking in with Rene and kept trying to engage Rene in conversation before bed, but Rene wouldn’t talk back. He just would roll over and stare at the wall until he fell asleep.
The day of the funeral dawned grey and dreary. Jean-Luc couldn’t help but think how appropriate it was. Jean-Luc, Beverly, Wesley, and Yvette eschewed their dress blues, and instead all wore funeral black. The rest of the senior staff on the Enterprise and the crew of Yvette’s ship, the USS Agamemnon, would be representing the federation.
Jean-Luc did his best to keep Rene within his sight, but they inevitably became separated. Wesley found Rene an hour after everyone except for the Starfleet officers had left in a treehouse Jean-Luc remembered building with Robert when they were young. Wesley gingerly climbed up the rickety ladder and sat cross-legged across from Rene.
“You know....you can talk to me. I remember what it was like when Jack....when my dad died.”
“Ils n'étaient pas ma mère et mon père.“ Rene said matter of factly. “Ils ont menti. tu es mon frère. Oncle Jean-Luc est mon père. Tante Beverly est ma mère” Wesley gaped at him and desperately wished he had paid better attention to his French lessons. Did Rene just tell me he knows?
“Rene? Can you speak Standard, S'il vous plait? My français is ne pas very....bien.”
Rene laughed. “I’m sorry. Papa..No, I guess Oncle Robert waned me to speak French at home, and I only spoke Standard at school. Will I come live on the Enterprise with you or will I live with Yvette on the Agamemnon?”
“Errr....I guess you’ll live with Mom and Dad? And Rupert and Simone of course. Say...how did you figure it out?”
“I found my certificat de naissance last year. The real one.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Both brothers remained silent, each lost in their own thoughts. The sky was getting dark, and stars were starting to come out. Wesley leaned back and looked up at them. “You know, it would be kind of cool to sleep out here under the stars. Want me to go get us some sleeping bags?” Rene nodded. Wesley easily scaled the ladder and told his brother he would be back in a few minutes. Bonding with his brother was just what he needed.