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"Maman!" Rio ran over to Gabby, who was already waiting for her with open arms, kneeling down on the ground to match Rio's height. Her backpack bounced up and down with every step, curls tied back into two little puffs. Not far behind was Irène, who was talking animatedly to another girl in their class.
"Hello, mon cherie." Gabby smiled warmly, "How was your day?"
"Maman, no French! Remember? Mom said we need to practice our English more." Rio chided. The 6 year old was much too smart for her age, and had far too much energy for someone who spent 10 hours in daycare.
"Sorry, Rio. How was your day?" Gabby amended.
"Good! My teacher says I have good fine molar skills." Rio sounded out the last three words slowly, making Gabby giggle a little.
"Fine motor skills?" She guessed, and Rio nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! And Irène—" She glanced back to check on her friend—or really, sister—lowering her voice to a whisper, "Irène fell during recess, but she told me not to tell you or Mom because she was scared she'd get in trouble."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She pushed Leon, 'cause he called me some not nice things, and Michael saw and pushed her in return." Rio shook her head with wide eyes, "I told her you and Mom wouldn't be mad, because she was defending herself, but she still made me promise not to tell you, but she hurt her knee and I don't want her to die."
"She's not gonna die, baby." Gabby reassured her daughter. She really was Gabby's daughter. "Did any teachers see?"
"No. Well, Miss saw Irène fall, but she didn't see Michael push her, or hear what Leon said." Rio shook her head.
"Okay. I'll let Mom know when we get home, okay? Thank you for telling me. I won't mention that you told me." She kissed the top of Rio's head gently.
Irène ran over just then, and Gabby could see exactly what had happened: her knee was scraped pretty badly, tearing her black tights and dirtying her pristine white skirt. Gabby would need to wash that later.
"Irène! Ready to go home, kiddo?" Irène and Rio were 3 months apart, Rio being the older—and more fiercely protective—one.
"Hello Maman. Yes." Irène smiled softly.
"You two know the rules, then." Gabby stood up, extending one hand to either girl. Both of them took her hands, Rio gripping tight and Irène holding on gingerly.
"Maman, is Mom cooking dinner?" Rio asked while they were walking. She'd picked up several dead leaves that Gabby would eventually have to tell her to leave outside the house.
"If she didn't get holed up writing, yes. Otherwise, we can go to the new restaurant that opened." Gabby replied.
"She always gets holed up writing." Irène mumbled.
"You're the same with your drawings, Ren." Gabby teased, poking Irène's side, making the little girl giggle. "Plus, I'm sure you aren't complaining. You've been begging us to go there for days now."
They reached their house—a 2 story home with a backyard Gabby and Marine bought 2 years ago when they realised their two bedroom apartment was barely big enough for two of them, let alone all four. Gabby and Marine had fallen in love with the area rather early on, and the house had happened to go on sale around the same time—a true stroke of serendipity.
"In you two go." Gabby ushered the kids in, making sure they took their shoes off and wiped their feet, "Go take a shower, okay? I'll go talk to Mar." Both girls nodded dutifully, disappearing up the stairs with quick, stomping footsteps.
Gabby took her own shoes off and made a beeline for her and Marine's shared office. The room was split in half—two desks, both covered with piles of papers and a shared cabinet filled with paper and spare ink pots.
She knocked before opening the door, the hinges creaking. Marine didn't even look up, pen between her teeth as she stared at a piece of parchment paper while Gabby stood in the doorway, already unbuttoning her cardigan.
"You look stressed, Mar." Gabby murmured, walking over and caressing her shoulder gently.
"I am stressed." Marine replied, putting her pen down with a small sigh.
"What's wrong, huh?" Gabby prompted, kissing the top of Marine's head.
"Words." Marine groaned, frustrated, leaning back against Gabby. Gabby cooed softly, thumb rubbing gently at Marine's jaw.
"Take a break, Mar. Go out for dinner with us. I'll read your stuff latter, see if I can give you a hand, okay?" Gabby proposed.
"How's Rio and Irène?" Marine asked instead of answering, and Gabby sighed softly, but relented to Marine's wishes.
"Irène scraped her knee, doesn't want you to know, didn't even want me knowing. Rio told me, but even if she didn't it was pretty obvious."
"Why doesn't she want us knowing?" Marine frowned.
"Because she pushed another boy, who apparently said some not so nice things, and then a friend of that boy pushed her in retaliation." Gabby sighed, toying with the collar of Marine's shirt.
"I'll figure out a way to bring it up to her. Thanks for telling me." Marine turned and kissed Gabby's sternum, and Gabby sucked in a small breath, making Marine laugh at her.
"Go make sure the kids aren't drowning, will you? I'll go take a shower too." Marine asked.
"Kiss?" Gabby asked hopefully. Marine rolled her eyes but obliged, standing up and giving Gabby a slow, soft kiss.
"Ew!" Rio shrieked from the doorway, making a face before dissolving into giggles. Both Gabby and Marine jumped, Gabby immediately grinning.
"What are you doing here, huh? Go bathe or else the tickle monster's gonna pay you a visit!" Gabby threatened, and Rio shrieked again, disappearing back up the stairs.
"Menace, that one." Marine shook her head.
"That's 100% mine." Gabby said, sounding far too pleased with herself.
"Clearly. James is too sweet for that to be his." Marine laughed.
"I should probably write to him soon. He sent me a letter recently with a few photos of him and Robert—adorable, those two." Gabby hummed.
"When are they coming to visit?" Marine asked.
"Er…They said 12th October, so…2 weeks?"
"That'll be fun. The girls miss them, and they surely miss the girls too." Marine said.
"Totally—hey! You're supposed to go and shower!" Gabby poked Marine's chest accusatorially.
"Going, going!" Marine raised her hands in defence, walking out of the office.
"Rio, Irène, go change into your pyjamas now, okay?" Marine told the two girls, who were, thankfully, worn out and nodded resolutely.
"Go check on Irène about her knee, will you?" Gabby asked once the kids were out of earshot.
"Shit, almost forgot." Marine muttered, racing up the stairs.
"I'll be in the office!" Gabby called, voice sounding far away. Marine beelined for Irène's bedroom.
"Ren. It's me." Marine called softly, knocking twice before pushing the door open. When she walked in, Irène looked like a deer caught in headlights, frozen in place. Her knee was fully exposed.
"Oh, Ren, what happened, huh?" Marine asked, crossing over and kneeling down in front of her daughter. She took Irène's little hands in her own, squeezing gently.
"I jus' fell. 'S okay." Irène mumbled, refusing to meet Marine's gaze.
"Do I need to ask Rio?" Marine raised an eyebrow, seeing the flash of panic in Irène's eyes.
"…I didn't fall." Irène deflated slightly.
"So what happened, hm?" Marine asked again. Irène launched into her explanation, much more detailed than the one given to Gabby from Rio. Every detail—the exact words the boy had used, mocking his tone, exactly where she hit him—given to Marine at once.
"…Are you mad?" Irène asked when she finished, twirling her thumbs, staring up at her mother with big, blue eyes.
"Never." Marine said firmly, "I believe you, and I know you. You were protecting your friend. Your sister. That's no small thing, Ren. You are so brave for standing up to him. But maybe next time, we tell the teacher, yeah?" Marine suggested with a small, almost teasing smile, and Irène nodded enthusiastically, leaning into Marine's tight embrace and squeezing her with all the strength her little arms could muster.
"Sleep, baby. I love you." Marine whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead.
"I love you too, maman."
"You missed a letter here." Gabby pointed at the parchment, and Marine squinted. It was a little after midnight, the lamp still burning brightly on Marine's desk.
"Oh, yeah. Write it in for me, will you?" Gabby grabbed a pencil, carefully adding the missing letter.
"You're stuck here, then?" Gabby put down the parchment, pointing at the empty space.
"Yeah. I know where I want it to go, but I don't know how to get it there." Marine stared at the parchment like the answer would leap out at her.
"I don't know…I mean, obviously these aren't my characters, but…Scarlet seems like she'd fight harder for it all."
"You think?" Marine mumbled, biting her nail.
"I dunno. Just feels like she wouldn't let Vedette leave so easy. She obviously cares a lot, it wouldn't make sense for her to just…let go. You know?" Gabby shrugged.
"Hmm. Maybe."
"Still, for a first English book, this is incredible, love." Gabby kissed Marine's temple.
"Thank you. Would be hard without you." Marine admitted.
"Flatterer."
"Yours."
8 months later
"So I did something." Marine walked up to Gabby, who was sitting in the living room, nursing a cup of coffee and flipping through a book. The girls were off at school, and Marine had been holed up in her office for the past three hours while Gabby was doing housework to the sound of the typewriter's clicking.
"Yeah?" Gabby looked up, smiling, placing the book to her side. Marine was holding a stack of loose papers, and she looked…nervous?
This is the draft that I'm sending over." Marine held up the sheets of paper, and Gabby took them gingerly. They were the same papers she'd seen about a hundred times over, with her own little corrections still there.
"I don't understand." Gabby shuffled through the papers, skimming the pages. All her annotations, originally done in pencil, hadn't been erased, even though she could've sworn that was what Marine was doing the whole day. She looked up at Marine.
"This story is yours too. I couldn't have done it without you." Marine explained, swallowing, "I wanted you to have your own trace in it, even if you won't technically get credited for it."
"Mari.." Gabby breathed, too stunned to say anything more. If she could, she would marry this woman. Right here, right now.
"I can remove it if you don't like it. I won't be offended or anything, 't was just an idea I had, and I figured I should show you si—" Gabby stood up, pressing a peck to Marine's lips.
"You're incredible." Gabby breathed, eyes shining like the brightest of stars.
"So you like it, then?" Marine checked again, radiating nerves. Gabby pressed another kiss to her lips, this time softer, longer.
"You're the most brilliant writer I know." Gabby barely finished her sentence before she was seeking out Marine's lips again, hands brushing blonde locks as they found home on Marine's shoulders, gripping and pulling her closer.
"So what were you doing in there all day, huh?" Gabby asked when they broke apart, still reeling from the kiss, her lips already missing Marine's.
"Started writing a letter to James and Robert. Trying not to freak out about all of this and what you'd think, sorting through the pages. Found out just how many annotations you left. Spoiler alert: it was a lot." Marine listed off. Gabby let out a small laugh.
"I just…have a lot to say, especially when it comes to you." Gabby shrugged. Marine softened, arms wrapping around Gabby's waist and pulling her closer. She pressed her mouth close to Gabby's ear and whispered a promise she'd never break.
"I'll listen to every word for as long as you'd like me to."