Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Human Names
Angelique - Seychelles
Viane - Monaco
Angelique was only three when her mother passed, so she didn't much have any memory of her. Being so young, she only vaguely could grasp at the feel of being picked up and held by a woman who smelled like summer flowers and freshly baked bread. She knew, of course, what her mother looked and sounded like, she could find that in pictures and home videos… her family told her stories about her, about her cheery personality and gentle touch, but they weren't Angelique's memories.
Her first memories of gentleness came from her papa. Her father who tucked her in, and her brother who let her sleep with him when she got scared at night, and her sister who played dolls with her and helped her with her homework when Papa was too busy for it.
The other kids at school pitied her for it. They told her how weird it was she didn't have a mommy, and always asked why she didn't have one, why didn't she get a new one. One of the boys in class said that when his mommy left, his daddy got a new girlfriend and she was just as good as his mommy had been, so shouldn't Angelique have a new one by now?
But she didn't want a mommy. She didn't feel like she needed one. Viane helped her with all the girly stuff Papa didn't know quite how to do, and her Papa really didn't seem to need much help, anyway. She didn't feel like she was missing out. Not when she was so happy with her family as it was. With or without a mommy involved.
They had things just right, adding someone new would just ruin it. What if Papa liked the new woman more than he liked her or Viane or Mattie? What if that new mommy was like the new mommies in all the movies and stories, mean and cruel as soon as Papa looked away, and only sweet and nice when he was right there? What if they were horrible and pulled her hair too much when they brushed it like Viane did sometimes, or didn't know how to cook or tell stories? What if they yelled a lot?
No, Angelique thought her family was just fine. They didn't need a mommy.
She liked Papa's cooking, and Viane doing her hair. She liked when Mattie told her stories from his story books, and she liked when they all did things together, like going to the park or watching movies or even just staying home and doing nothing.
It was good like it was, and at the age of six, she didn't want it to change. So, after spring break, when all the kids went back to school for that short stretch before summer break, when a little girl with long red hair told Angelique she needed a mommy or her family wasn't complete, Angelique pulled her hair so hard she cried, and the teacher had to put her in time out, but no one in class mentioned it again, and that red haired girl was moved to a seat on the other side of the room, and Angelique felt rather proud of herself until Papa scolded her for hurting someone else.
She wouldn't say what she'd done, and she didn't get dessert at dinner that night because of it- but that was okay, because she didn't much like chocolate ice cream. And the next time she went to school she apologized to the other girl for pulling her hair, so the grownups would be happy, but they both knew she didn't mean it, and that she'd do it again if they all kept picking on her.