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Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
 
 
 

Ennui de Famille - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Paws
Last updated: 01/26/2007 02:19:59 AM

Chapter 5

When he awoke the next morning he spent a moment in sheer confusion before all the memories came tumbling back. He was in his uncle’s house. He had an uncle. A wealthy uncle. It was more the kind of thing that you expected to wake up from and have it all be just a weird pipe dream.

He sat up in bed, the fine linens cool against his mostly bare skin. He’d become used to simply sleeping nude with Talia, even at the commune, but had decided to keep a pair of boxers on for modesty’s sake here.

Talia. Dieu he missed her. A large part of him had wanted to bring her, but he hadn’t known what he was walking into. It would have been doubly confusing to have her with him. She was still pissed at him for not coming back right away to the school, and she hadn’t been impressed that he was taking off to parts unknown again so soon. All the reasoning did nothing to hold off his loneliness though, nor hers, he suspected.

His stomach growled loudly and he looked at the bedside clock. 8:12. Merde – he was late for breakfast! Quickly pulling some clothes on, he ran a brush through his hair and slipped his shades on, hurrying downstairs. His uncle was right, you could smell the coffee and warm homey smells of sausages and bread from far off.

Locating the dining room he wasn’t surprised to find everyone already gathered there, but felt a little out of place and lingered for a moment in the doorway.

“Remy!” Mercy looked up from her plate and smiled, beckoning him in. “We thought we’d leave you to sleep in, but you’ve made it before the food even had a chance to get cold. Come in. Sit.”

His uncle and Henri had looked up from their papers that they held in their hands at the exchange, and both folded them and smiled in welcome as well. Remy couldn’t help but grin back. While his uncle and cousin didn’t have a lot of striking physical similarities their smiles were exactly the same. The same as his he realized.

He took the chair where the extra plate was set – nearer to the center the large table, and looked at the variety of covered dishes set out on the table. Unsure where to start he jumped slightly in surprise as Mercy pressed cool fingertips to his arm.

“Would you like some coffee?” She waved a hand indicating the carafe that was set to his left. “There is some eggs Hussarde, sausages, pain perdu, bacon and couche couche.” She indicated the covered trays as she mentioned each item. “Or the cook can prepare anything that you would like.”

He muttered a brief thanks and selected a few items, placing them on his plate and filling his cup with the rich smelling coffee. He picked up his fork and took a mouthful, before realizing that he was being rude. John had said many things to him, but the one that stuck out foremost at the moment was that eating with everyone at the table while still wearing his sunglasses was inappropriate. He certainly didn’t want to offend these people, with their impeccable table manners and social graces.

Sliding shades off, he folded them and placed them carefully beside his plate, catching his uncle’s slight smile and nod of approval. He must have told Mercy and Henri about his eyes, because other than a quick interested glance each, they made no additional comments or overt stares.

“So did y’ sleep alright?” his uncle asked conversationally, while he picked at his breakfast.

“Oui, merci – it was very comfortable.” Remy nearly sighed in bliss at the well spiced food. Whoever the cook was, they certainly knew their job.

Mercy smiled at his small noise of enjoyment. “Papa tells us that you’ve been in New York lately.”

Remy attacked the food more determinedly. “Oui, goin’ t’ school up dere.” He waved a fork at his eggs. “Good cookin’ up dere an’ all, but nothin’ like dis.”

Henri chucked at that, and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table which Mercy just rolled her eyes and shook her head affectionately at him. “So, what are y’ goin’ for den? Have y’ thought what y’d like to major in?”

He paused in mid chew at the unexpected question. He’d never really considered what he was learning…he just did it. It wasn’t like they chose classes to attend. He hadn’t really thought about what his future would be like in that sense – having a career and all. He’d just pictured the rest of his life being pretty much like it was now. “Non, haven’t quite figured dat out yet.”

“Well y’ still ‘ave plenty of time.” His uncle said, sipping at his coffee. “Y’re just wrappin’ up your first year, neh? All y’ have t’ do is keep y’re grades up, an’ y’ can choose a direction next year.”

He found himself squirming a bit at the ‘grades’ comment. Not to mention the fact that he was pretty sure that he’d blown this past semester to hell, seeming as he had left for most of it. He’s never really thought of the school in a ‘career planning’ way – it was a way to bid his time and enjoy himself. This family of course would put a higher value on education.

“So did it snow lots this year?” Mercy had noticed his discomfort and tried to steer the topic back into neutral territory. He smiled at her in gratitude.

“Oui. Remy nearly froze his ass off.” He winced realizing that his language was a bit raw, but the three of them just laughed at his off the cuff comment.

“I’ve been t’ New York several times in d’ winter an’ y’re right Remy. It’s too cold for dis southerner.” His uncle said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Can’t believe d’ amount of snow dat can fall in one day dere.”

They continued to chat about incidental things the rest of the meal, Mercy and Henri discussing an upcoming party of some sort. Remy just let the conversation wash over him, enjoying the peace and warmth of the moment. It was hard to believe that he was all a part of this.

“Well papa, I have a meetin’ in a bit, so I must be off.” He nodded to Remy and stood, crossing to around the room to his wife, whispering something in her ear that left her smiling and blushing.

Mercy sighed, and placed her napkin on her plate. “I should be getting some things done as well. It was good seeing you again Remy. Papa.” She nodded to the older man, and left – leaving just him and his Uncle at the table.

“D’ y’ need t’ do anythin’ today? If y’ got t’ go t’ work or anythin’ Remy can go run around d’ city an’ keep hisself occupied.” What the hell did his uncle do anyway? He’d never thought to ask.

Jean-Luc just made a dismissive noise. “Non, y’re not goin’ anywhere. I had a meetin’ today but it’s already been rescheduled. Would much rather spend some more time with y’.” Remy felt himself flushing a bit at the compliment and hoped his uncle wouldn’t notice. What the hell was it about this man that made him feel like such a little kid again?

“So what d’ y’ do anyway?”

His uncle looked at him, considering. “Investments mainly. Play d’ stock market, back businesses that I think are gonna do well, dat sort of thing. Most d’ meetin’s I go t’ are for other things though. Clubs, charity stuff – all the things dat my pere did an more.”

“Y’re pere…” his grandpere he realized. His uncle kept referring to this as the family home, and everything to do with it like it was old news. “Did he buy dis place den?”

“Non…dis house has been in d’ family for generations. D’ LeBeau’s have always been a force t’ be reckoned with. We’re one of d’ oldest families in dis city.” Jean-Luc gave him a savvy look. “Y’re wonderin’ about y’re Papa?”

“Oui.” He actually didn’t know if he wanted to know…but it was another piece of the puzzle. If he was going to try and fit into it, he had to know what the picture looked like.

Jean-Luc nodded. “Y’ should know. I’ll answer any questions dat y’ have for me. But maybe we should go somewhere more comfortable so breakfast can get cleared away? Want t’ go out on d’ patio?”

Remy nodded. He was dying for a smoke. He followed his uncle through the odd twists and turns in the house out through some big French doors onto a large area set with flagstones. Like everything else about this house the area screamed of good taste and money. The grass extending out from the stones was neatly mowed, and there was an abundance of shrubberies and flower beds that still left large open areas. Large old growth trees provided shade in areas and it was to a bench under one that his uncle led him too.

“So y’re pere.” He watched Remy as he lit his cigarette with his fingertip. “Guess it’s good for more dan blowin’ stuff up, neh?” he chuckled a bit. “Bastien was my little brother. An’ Dieu he was a firecracker. Always into somthin’. Papa used t’ get on his case all d’ time, but nothin’ much worked. Bastien was a stubborn one, an’ Papa an’ him would but heads somethin’ fierce.”

Remy took a deep drag off his cigarette and blew it out, relaxing more as the nicotine reached his system. “So…he gave y’re pere grief den?”

“Oh Dieu…Bastien gave everyone trouble. He fell into the wrong crowd an’ it just went down from dere.” He looked at Remy with a twist to his mouth. “Don’t want y’ t’ think dat y’re Pere was all bad…he wasn’t. Its just dat he made some pretty bad choices, an’ kept on makin’ dem. When he was about nineteen papa had enough of him stealin’ and lyin’ and givin’ the family a bad name an’ so he kicked him out.”

Remy could see his Pere doing that – it fit the bill. His Pere hadn’t ever seemed to make any good choices from what he could remember. Most of his memories of the man mainly were of him being drunk or high. Other than that, he left him pretty much alone.

“I’ve always felt bad about dat. Didn’t seem fair dat I got all d’ inheritance an’ Bastien was cut out of it entirely, but d’ way Papa saw it was dat dere wouldn’t be any inheritance left if Bastein was around. When Papa disowned him dere was a real fuss about it, an’ we lost touch with him for a while. But den, about a year after Papa died, he popped up again, askin’ for money an’ help with dis or dat.”

His uncle sighed and leaned heavily on the back of the bench, making it creak a bit. “I couldn’t say no, even though I knew dat he was usin’ it t’ buy drugs an’ stuff. Den one day he shows up with y’re Mere…an’ tells me he’s gonna be a Papa.” He smiled at Remy. “Coulda knocked me over with a feather, but y’ just have t’ make d’ best of things. Rose an’ him seemed really determined t’ make a good try of it. They straightened up a bit, an’ I got dem set up in a house an’ everythin’. Bastien even managed t’ keep a job for a couple of months.”

Remy frowned. “But thought y’ said dat dey didn’t tell y’ about Remy?”

Jean-Luc looked at him sadly at that. “Well, knew dat Rose was pregnant an’ all. But den one day Bastien came an’ told me dat dey needed more money…an’ when I asked about if d’ baby had been born yet, he said dat Rose had a still birth. When I asked if we could bury d’ bebe in d’ family crypt Bastein said dat dey’d already done it…an’ for me t’ keep my nose out of it. Bastien an’ me got in a big fight about dat, I was plenty sore over it. He just said dat he wasn’t part of d’ family no more so his child didn’t need t’ be buried dere.”

All of this was answering some of the questions that he had, while replacing each of them with a dozen more. “So dat’s where dey got d’ money? Could never figure out where dey got it from – thought dat dey just stole it like Remy did.”

“Non…I gave dem money. Knew dat dey were buyin’ drugs with it – dat kind of money shoulda had dem livin’ comfortabally, but Bastien an’ Rose always looked run down an’ all…but what could I do? I couldn’t live in dis kind of lifestyle an’ not help dem out.”

He leaned forward and looked intently at Remy. “But I swear – if I hadn’t thought y’ t’ be dead I would have never left y’ t’ dat. I should have checked…I just never thought dat dey would lie t’ me about that. I can’t say how sorry I am for dat Remy. I can’t ever give y’ those years back.”

Remy swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. There was no doubting the man’s sincerity. But what was he supposed to say? Thank you for wanting to help me? Did it make a difference?

As he smoked the last of his cigarette to the butt his uncle just sat quietly beside him and let him think. Remy picked at a thumbnail. He’d never really understood the whole story behind his parents…he’d known that they had made mistakes and all, but the idea of his father being a disowned son of a family of this wealth would have never crossed his mind.

It wasn’t the money that he gave a shit about; in fact if anything it made it harder for him to accept his uncle’s advances. He didn’t want his uncle to think he was just another lowlife come to mooch off of him.

When he finally got to the root of his thinking, the revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. He wanted a family. It had been hard watching Talia with hers…not because of John so much as it was because it took that ‘dream’ family that he thought only existed on television or in books and placed it right in his lap. But he was still on the outside looking in at it. It wasn’t something that he was a part of.

But this? This was his family. And he was desperately afraid that he was going to fuck this up.

******************

Jean-Luc watched Remy fidget on the opposite end of the bench. He knew that it must have been hard for the boy to hear him talk about his parents like that, and he wished he could make it easier on him. Mostly he was filled with regret. He should have been there from day one, checking on him and making sure that he was cared for. This boy was his family and he failed him in the worst way possible.

He didn’t know if he’d lost the chance to reach out to this young man years ago either. What had he had to deal with through all those years? The idea of how Remy must have lived growing up on the streets of New Orleans had kept him awake until the sky started to lighten. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all until he promised himself that he would do everything in his power to try and make it up to the troubled youth that sat beside him.

The funny thing is that in a weird way it made him proud of him. While Remy undoubtedly had issues, he was also an extremely charismatic strong young man. He had found his path, and while Jean-Luc knew that it wasn’t one that was lily-scented, Remy hadn’t made the choices that his parents had, despite having the deck stacked against him.

“So what now?” The voice was quiet, but it was what he’d been waiting for.

“Well dat is up t’ y’ Remy. I’ve screwed dis up royally, an’ dere is nothin’ dat I can ever do t’ fix dat. But I would love t’ try.” Jean-Luc blinked rapidly and sucked in a big breath. “Will y’ stay? Maybe for a few days or a week if y’ can manage it? We’d all love t’ get t’ know y’ a bit better.”

Remy had the most bewildered look on his face. It made him look so young. “If y’ want, suppose dat Remy could stay for a bit.”

Jean-Luc had always been an affectionate man. His father had never been much of one, keeping a respectable distance between himself and his sons. It was part of the reason that Jean-Luc figured that Bastein had fallen in with the group that he had – some unmet need to feel like he belonged. So Jean-Luc had lavished affection on his son, and later on the daughter that his son had brought to him.

He knew Remy hadn’t had that – the kid had barely had parents for that matter. Hoping not to startle him too much he leaned forward and folded his arms around the young man’s shoulders, pulling him into a gentle hug. Remy stiffened in shock for a minute, but then his body relaxed into his grip and Jean-Luc felt him hesitantly reach his own arms up to return the hug.

“We’ll find a way, petit. We’ll work dis out.”

 

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