Chapter 37: France
December 20th 2010.
He'd been home for two days. His family and friends had come to greet him at the airport, to his surprise. He had gained an inch while he was away and had a nice tan going on, which contrasted heavily with the others' pale skins and he had been unable to hold back a laugh.
Lou had stuck to him like glue the whole way home, gushing about school, Scamp and her friends. Helen had looked on in amusement, but it was clear to all watching that she was as happy as her daughter at his coming back.
Lee… had been the same as usual, enigmatic to a fault. Jay had spent yesterday at the hairdresser, and his hair was white again, to the grief of his mother.
Today, he had woken up as usual and when he was back from his morning training, he found his mom in the kitchen, readying breakfast.
"Ooh, waffles! Nice." he commented, scooping a fingerful of gooey raw dough from his mom's bowl, prompting her to slap his hands.
"Eat it when it's cooked." she chided and he obediently sat down and waited with Lou and Lee who hadn't wasted anytime in joining him.
When all of them had eaten to their satisfaction, Helen opened, "So, we're visiting your grandparents for Christmas."
Jay wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked, "Which ones?"
Bad decision, if the silence that ensued was any indicator.
He quickly realized his mistake, however, and did his best to correct it, "Right, so we're going to France?"
It was clumsily orchestrated, but it did manage to alleviate the tension.
Lee visibly relaxed, and picked his coffee cup up for another gulp.
"Yes," Helen continued, "My parents really want to see you. They actually wanted to visit you when you were in Switzerland but I put a stop to that, I wasn't sure it would've been a good idea."
And it wouldn't have been, Jay thought. He was glad that had been nipped in the bud.
He had barely gotten his bearings after coming back to Boston, meeting his grandparents in Switzerland would've been a major disaster.
"When are we leaving?" he asked.
"Tomorrow, so you better start packing." his mom paused before adding, "Pack warm, it's very cold where they live."
***
December 21st 2010.
Jay had bid Em and Leah, as well as Kasim farewell. Tiny was spending his holidays in Puerto Rico and had already left. All of them had made plans through text messages and had agreed on a New Year's Eve get-together.
Lee, Helen, Jay and Lou got into the family's SUV and drove towards Logan International Airport with their luggage in tow. They had a small layover at JFK, before they boarded another plane that would take them straight to Paris.
They were traveling first class, Helen was seated next to Lee, while Lou had taken the window seat next to Jay. Scamp had been left to their mom's assistant to take care of. Since the woman already had a dog, it made it easier.
"So," Jay said after they had taken off, "Are you excited?"
"Mmh hmm! We're gonna see grandma and grandpa!" she paused and started counting with her fingers, "And Aunt Marie, and Uncle François… Also Pauline, Juliette and Chloé!"
François was his aunt Marie's husband, he was a 46 year old civil engineer with a bald spot and an uncanny love for Pinot.
Pauline was the cadet of his aunt's children, and was eight, Juliette was thirteen and Chloé had recently turned twenty.
Jay only remembered Chloé and Juliette, he hadn't had the chance to meet Pauline in the past. Lou liked her a lot though, she couldn't stop raving about her.
"What about Uncle Jean?" he asked.
Lou cutely shrugged, "We never see Uncle Jean anymore. I heard grandpa say that… um… it's because he's important but doesn't want people to know."
Jay raised an eyebrow in confusion, "He's important?"
"Um…" the little girl pondered about it and added, "Ah, no, grandpa said impotent! He said he was impotent I remember."
Jay awkwardly cleared his throat when the flight attendant gave them a curious glance.
"Ahem, I see. Err, sweetie, it's best you don't repeat that, I don't think Uncle Jean would appreciate us meddling in his affairs."
Lou nodded although she didn't really understand.
***
December 22nd 2010.
They had boarded the JFK flight at 7:20pm New York time, and it was 8:35am Paris standard time when they landed.
He was glad he had dressed warmly, it was even colder than NYC, -1 degree Celsius, which was 30.4 in Fahrenheit.
Helen was afraid Lou would catch a cold so the little girl had been wrapped up like a burrito, and it was hilarious.
They went to the train station with their luggage, and waited. The train to Nancy arrived a few minutes later and they boarded it.
By the time they arrived, it was 11:10am, and everyone was starving. They unboarded at Nancy Gare and the first thing Jay saw was an Irish bearded giant. The man was at least 6'6" and towered over everyone else, to his mother's amusement.
"Papy! Mamie!" he heard Lou exclaim before she let go of his hand and made a run for them.
Grandpa O'Malley heartily laughed and picked the little girl up, "Aye, little Lou has grown again!"
Lou giggled, "Papy, ta barbe chatouille!" (Grandpa, your beard tickles!)
Freja eyed her with love, and opened her arms wide, "Viens voir mamie, ma chérie." (Come to grandma, sweetie.)
Lou beamed and wriggled out of Sean's embrace and into his wife's.
By this time, Helen, Lee and Jay had arrived near them. Helen went to greet and hug her mom and dad, with Lee in tow.
The two seniors then turned to Jay, observing him carefully. He was now 6'1", his white hair was peaking out of his beanie and his beard had been cleanly shaved. He was wearing black jeans, a white Irish wool sweater, leather gloves and a navy-colored cotton jacket.
Freja was the first to approach him. She hesitantly reached a hand to his face, before hugging him tightly, "Mon lapin, bienvenue à la maison." (Welcome back home, sweetheart)
Jay thought she was gonna cry, but he was wrong. The crying came from another direction.
"Ayyye, me grandson!" said the Irish bear before taking the breath out of Jay with his hug.
His grandpa's tears were running like a waterfall, and it bewildered him.
"Papa, you're going to kill him if you don't let go." Helen came to her son's rescue and Lou giggled.
"Jay, papy is a hugger!" the little girl stated.
Her big brother would've appreciated being reminded of that a little earlier.
***
They jumped in the old married couple's car and drove to their home.
Their house was located between a bridge and a forest. It was quiet and the air was fresh and tinged with the smell of dirt and pine trees.
Jay turned to his grandmother, "You guys got a new house?"
She nodded and smiled, "We did, the other one felt cramped whenever your aunt and cousins came to visit."
They went inside and the fire in the fireplace was still being fueled. Jay reckoned they must be using either oak or maple wood to maintain it for so long. Pine tended to burn much faster.
It was very spacious inside, and very rustic. It reminded him of those hunter's cabins he had once seen in a documentary, there were even deer antlers above the left-side wall.
Freja brought them up to the second floor, "Helen, Lee, your room is the same. Lou, you'll be in the one at the end of the hallway, Pau will be in the same one."
"Is Pau here?" the little girl eagerly inquired.
Sean chuckled, "No, they're still in Lyon. They'll be 'ere t'morrow."
Lou nodded before turning to her grandma again, "Then, mamie, where does Jay sleep?"
Freja smiled, "Downstairs, we finished refurbishing the underground."
She led them down again, and they stopped in front a huge wooden door. Grandma O'Malley opened it and they went down the newly appeared set of stairs that opened on a huge wide space with a couch, and rows upon rows of books.
Jay ran his fingers on the wooden shelves, awed, "You installed a library?"
"Sweet, aye?" Sean grinned.
"You bet!" he blurted and the others laughed.
His grandmother continued a little further south and two new doors appeared. She opened the one on the right, "This is your room, the other is Chloé's"
They went inside and it was warm and cozy. There was a bed in the middle, night tables on each sides, a huge closet, and a giant fluffy rug. He found himself wondering if his mom's love for the floor carpets had something to do with his grandmother.
"This is great, thank you. It's really warm in here." he observed.
"Floor heating. Otherwise it would be uninhabitable down there." Lee asserted, with a hand on the ground.
Freja nodded, "It was François' idea, he was very helpful."
Everyone went back to get their luggage from the entryway and went back to their rooms.
Jay helped Lou put away hers before getting down to his room and putting away his.
He put Shadow next to a wall, still in its guitar case, and plopped down on his bed when he was done. He hadn't seen any TV or computer since coming, he even wondered if his grandparents had internet.
He went out and grabbed a few books from the library, went back to his room and started reading. He was halfway through "The Three Musketeers" when Lou came to fetch him for dinner.
When he came to the living room, the table had already been set and the smell of fresh lasagna made him salivate.
They all sat down and ate with gusto, talking about this and that. When they got to Jay's singing and acting, Freja lit up.
"Your mom told me! Oh dear, you need to sing something for us later." she insisted.
"I will." Jay chuckled, "I brought my guitar. By the way, do you have internet?"
Lee muffled a laugh and his grandpa shook his head, "We don't, we only have the phone."
Lou giggled, "It's silly! We can't even video call! Papy, mamie, you're like dinosaurs!" she commented and Jay almost choked on his mouthful of pasta.
"Lou!" Helen indignantly blurted.
"But it's true, even Pau said it…" she mumbled in a wronged way.
Sean heartily laughed, "Aye, yer grandma and I don't know how to use it anyways!" he turned to Jay and asked, "Yer father brought ye huntin' yet?"
Jay got taken aback, "Err… no? Why would he?"
"Papa! First of all, Lee doesn't hunt. And second, you are not taking my son hunting!" Helen stated.
"What? Why not?" Sean questioned.
"Because, he's too young to hold any kind of firearms. Besides, you know how I feel about you killing animals that way." she retorted.
"Blarney! I was huntin' with me father when I was younger than the lad! And he's a man, what's wrong with huntin' bloody animals? Yer not a vegetarian, why do ye care?" Sean snorted.
"I said no, papa. That's final." she challenged him to contradict her, eyebrow raised and all.
Jay gulped and his grandpa grunted. His grandmother was the one to break the tension.
"Oh alright you too, it hasn't been a day yet and you're already arguing. Sean, let's talk about this again later. All of you eat, I didn't spend two hours in the kitchen so that my meal could be scorned and left to rot in the cold." Freja said in a tone that brook no argument.
Lou eyed her plate before eating another mouthful and smiling, "It's really good mamie! I like it."
It was miraculous how an innocent comment could fix everything. Everyone went back to eating heartily, the hunting matter filed out for another day.
***
After dinner, they chatted a bit while eating ice cream, before his grandparents got tired and retired to their room.
His parents followed, but not before warning Jay to not let Lou stay up too long. Advice that he had followed to the letter.
"Let's go, I'll tuck you in." he smiled at his sister once she was done eating her ice cream.
The little girl nodded and went up with him. She jumped on her bed and got inside the covers before peeking her head out at him.
"Can you tell me the story of Jack and the Beanstalk?" she asked and Jay smiled, "Again?"
She eagerly nodded and he chuckled before sitting down next to her, "Sure."
He cleared his throat, he had told her that story so many times he could recite it verbatim. "There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning, which they carried to the market and sold. But one morning, Milky-white gave no milk, and they didn't know what to do…"
"'Fee-fi-fo-fum!' exclaimed the giant, 'I smell the blood of an Englishman, be he alive, or be he dead, I'll have his bones to grind my bread.'"
Before he could go further, he realized Lou had fallen asleep. He smiled and kissed her forehead before turning off the lights and leaving.
He went back to his room and fell asleep. Today had been a long day.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Elawn
Elawn Chapter of the day ~
Meet the grandparents! Well, the maternal ones at least.
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