Chapter Two
Mia
“Ugh! I don't wanna wear a dress, mama!” At eleven years old, Mia was a tomboy through and through. Trying to get her to stop climbing trees, or heaven forbid, wear a dress, was like pulling teeth. She fought it tooth and nail.
“Mia Anaise, you will wear a dress and dat's final,” Eliza said to her daughter.
“But mama,” Mia whined.
“But mama, no'ting,” Eliza countered. “Dis is a special occasion and it calls for dressin' up.”
Mia crossed her arms and grumbled. “But it's just Constance's christenin',” she grumbled. “No one's gonna care 'bout what I'm wearin'.”
“I care. You'll wear a dress or I'll go get me a switch and tan your hide,” Eliza said in frustration.
Mia looked down at her feet. “Sorry, mama,” she mumbled. She knew her mama didn't like to take a switch to them so if she was threatening to do so, she was serious. Mia slipped the dress on and tugged at it. She wasn't comfortable in it, but if it would make her mama not be so unhappy, she'd wear it.
“Dere, don't you look pretty?” Eliza said. She brushed Mia's hair out and put it back in the pigtail braids her daughter loved so much. “Thank you for wearing da dress,” she added.
“Welcome, mama,” she mumbled. When it was time to head out of the house she kept her head down. What if one of the other kids saw her? She'd never hear the end of it.
Gage
Any time there was a christening all of the Pard attended. Today's christening was that of Constance Lafluer. As of right now she was the youngest of the Lafluer brood, behind Beau, the oldest, Mia and her twin brother, Julius, and the second set of Lafluer twins, Adele and Auguste, but Mrs. Lafluer was already expecting another baby. Sometimes Gage felt a little envious of his friends for having such a big family when it was just him and Remy. Then he'd think about having to share a bathroom with that many people and be glad his parents didn't have any more kids.
He was following behind his parents and brother when he stopped in his tracks. There, just outside the Pard's church, stood the Lafluer clan. That wasn't why he stared though. No, he stared because Mia Lafluer stood there in a dress. It was the first time since the summer, three years ago, when he'd let her join in their game of tag, that he'd seen her in a dress.
He was really starting to hit puberty, hard, and he couldn't deny that seeing Mia in a dress made him feel funny. She was so pretty and the dress made her look even prettier, like a flower opening it's petals. He shook his head and took a breath to get his teenage hormones under control before he approached. “Hi, Mia.”
Mia was mortified when Gage spoke. Of all the boys to see her in a dress, he was the worst. She didn't want him thinking she was all girly all of a sudden. “Hi, Gage.” She gave him one of her warm, albeit a little shy, smiles.
That smile warmed him on the inside. “You look nice. What'd your mama have to say to get you to wear a dress?” he asked in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Mama was gonna get a switch and tan my hide,” she whispered back.
He blanched. “Ow. Good idea to just wear it and get it over wit', I say.”
“Yeah, me too. You like nice too,” she said. He'd cleaned up and was even wearing a nice button-down shirt instead of a t-shirt.
“Thanks, Mia. Guess I better git inside,” he said and followed his family. He glanced back one last time and met her smile with one of his own. She really was a pretty girl.
He didn't really understand why he found himself wanting to steal glances at her all throughout the ceremony. What was it about Mia Anaise Lafluer that was so darn distracting? Maybe he needed to ask his papa about it. It'd be too embarrassing to ask his mama.
When the christening was over there was a party to celebrate it. Gage could tell Mia was itching to change clothes but her mama wasn't letting her out of her sight. Gage grabbed two glasses of lemonade and moved to her side. “Want some lemonade? How long is your mama gonna make you stay in da dress?” he asked after he handed the glass to her.
“Thanks. Til da party's over,” she grumbled. She took a sip of the cool, refreshing drink and sighed. “At least she didn't make me curl my hair or someting.” Her younger sister, Adele, loved getting her hair curled but Mia couldn't sit still long enough for that. She had to get outside and run or climb trees. Something.
“It might look pretty curled.” Gage wasn't sure where that came from. What in the world was wrong with him? “I mean, not that it's not pretty anyway. It's kinda like da sunset.” Now he really sounded stupid. “Anyway, sorry your mama's makin' you stay dressed up. We're supposed to play some baseball tomorrow, you gonna play wit' us?” he asked to change the subject before things got awkward.
“A'course, as long as mama doesn't make me do chores all day.” Mia hated doing chores but with the baby coming there was a lot that needed to be done.
“Well if you get to play, you'll be on my team.” He flashed a grin. He'd learned the hard way to not have her on the opposing team. She was a hell of a ball player.
Mia giggled. “You just don't want your team to lose.”
“Nope and if you're on my team we won't.”
Julius stomped over to where Gage and Mia were talking. “Mia, mama needs you to help wit' Adele and Auguste while she puts Constance down for a nap.”
Mia groaned. “Okay. Bye, Gage,” she said with a wave before she went to keep an eye on the twins.
“Bye.” Gage watched her go and felt a pang in his chest that confused him. He really needed to talk to his papa about why he felt so funny around her.
“Papa? Can I talk to you a minute?” Gage tried to not fidget as he waited for his papa to respond. He'd been standing there near the small group of men his papa was talking with for about ten minutes before there was a lull long enough for him to speak up.
Landry Delacroix looked down at his youngest and nodded. “Sure. “S'cuse me,” he told the others and moved away from the group. “What's on dat mind of yours, son?”
Gage took a deep breath. “It's...I dunno, it's kinda strange. Ever'time I get around Mia Lafluer I feel funny. Like at da christenin', I couldn't even pay attention cuz I kept lookin' at her. Why is dat?”
A hearty laugh escaped Landry. “Son, dat's just you growin' up. You'll be noticin' dat more and more when you're around a pretty girl. It's just your hormones going all crazy like, you'll get used to it. Just don't go lettin' dem control you because it could make controllin' your leopard harder.”
“Oh.” He felt stupid for not realizing that was all it was. “Thanks, papa.”
“Go on now and enjoy da celebration,” Landry urged his son before he returned to his conversation.
Gage kept an eye out for Mia the rest of the evening but he didn't see her again. By the time he followed his parents and brother home he wondered if he'd embarrassed her when he said her hair would look pretty curled and she was avoiding him. It would serve him right for being such an idiot in front of her.
Mia
Mia kept wanting to get back to the party but Constance was fussing so much that her mama wasn't able to put her down. As a result Mia spent the rest of the evening minding her younger siblings. She kept thinking about what Gage said, that her hair might look pretty curled, and wondered why he said it. Did he think her hair looked ugly braided? She didn't understand why that thought bothered her so much. She pushed the thought away and focused on getting the twins to bed so she could try to get some homework done. Just because it was Saturday didn't mean she could ignore her math homework. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
Mia's plans of joining the ball game just so she could hang around Gage for a while were thwarted when her mama went into early labor. The Lafluer household was in a frenzy as they prepared for the newest member of the family. An early birth could be dangerous, especially since her mama couldn't go to the hospital, so they had to hope the baby was strong enough to survive. She'd half expected Jules and Beau to slink away but they both surprised her by staying and helping to keep the younger kids calm and as quiet as possible while their mama brought their newest baby brother or sister into the world. A celebration wouldn't take place until they knew for sure the baby was going to survive.
By the time her baby brother, Dempsey, was strong enough for them to celebrate his birth, a week had passed and any awkwardness between her and Gage from Constance's christening seemed to have faded. Mia stuck close to her mama in case she was needed but she watched the boys play their game of tag with a bit of longing in her heart. Every time she saw Gage it felt like her heart skipped a beat and it made her want to run out of the house and join their game but she just shook her head and told herself she was being silly. Her mama needed her right now so playing games had to wait.
Caine
Caine wasn't sure how much longer he could wait before he challenged Zachary. He'd pushed himself to get out of school a year ahead of his peers and as soon as he'd graduated he'd started working. He'd looked into the different options out there for decent income and a year after he started working a minimum wage job he got into investment banking. He was starting with small investments. That way, if things didn't work out, he wouldn't be out a large sum of money. How many eighteen year old's were worried about losing a large sum of money via investing it? Not many, he was sure.
He wasn't ready to challenge Zachary, but already he was taking over some responsibilities. It was his money from his investments that provided the food and drink for the party that followed Constance Lafluer's christening. Few were aware that he was the one who paid for it though. Zachary had said there 'wasn't enough' money for there to be a proper celebration and Caine just wasn't going to let that happen.
He stayed in the background while everyone talked, ate, drank, and generally had a grand time. He didn't need the recognition, he didn't need the praise or compliments from the rest of the Pard. He was happy just knowing the party went smoothly.
As the night wore on and people began to return to their homes, he stayed to make sure the bonfire was put out and the area was cleaned up before he finally headed home himself. He had to be up early to check on some of his investments.