Valentine Hearts
258
One of the Valentine stories. Slightly more French than in the last one, but I ain't changing it. And I also added some Spanish… why yes, it's multilingual. New Continent family in an AU-ish sort of setting.
Disclaimer: Where's the pause button?
Valentine Hearts
Francis Bonnefoy was a very busy man around this time of year. His business was swarming with customers on this particular day and that meant that he had to stay at work later. The fourteenth day of the second month of the year was the one day of the year where he would run out of every imaginable cake and pastry that was made in his bakery store. But he loved his job, it made good money (of course, it helped when one was a culinary genius and well renowned) and he didn't mind being the owner of the place and the chef.
The drawback, however, was that on his extremely busy days, he couldn't spend quality time with his lover or their children. Today happened to be one of those days. Arthur had gone off to work early that morning and he himself had left somewhere around three AM. Luckily, these situations didn't happen too often and he had good friends to rely on to babysit.
At first, Antonio and Arthur hadn't seen eye to eye, but eventually, the two had come to terms. It had been a good thing, because it was the Spaniard who was currently watching the kids. Francis fished out his keys from his jacket and unlocked the door.
The moment he walked in, he got tackled by two rambunctious little tykes. Francis dropped his bag to the floor before scooping up Alfred with one arm and Matthew with the other.
"Papa!" The boys cheered.
"Vous allez bien, mes garçons?"/ "How are you, boys?" He asked as he walked towards the kitchen where he found his friend putting the last of the dishes away.
"Yes Papa." They said at the same time. The Frenchman put them down before going to greet his friend.
"J'espère qu'ils n'ont pas causé trop de trouble pour toi, Antonio."/ "I hope they didn't cause too much trouble for you, Antonio." He asked the Spaniard after greeting him. Antonio smiled warmly.
"Ah, it was nothing, mi amigo. Tus niños were little angels."/ "…my friend. Your kids…"
"Merci énormément. Veux-tu rester à souper?"/ "Thank you very much. Would you like to stay for supper?"
"Actually Francisco, the boys were hungry so I made them supper. Perdona me if you had plans." Antonio looked genuinely sorry, but Francis wasn't bothered in the least.
"Ne t'inquiètes pas pour ça. Tu peux retourner à la maison maintenant. Je vais m'occuper du reste."/ "Don't worry about it. You can go home now. I'll take care of the rest." Francis walked his friend to the closet and handed him his jacket. Alfred and Matthew said their goodbyes and then returned to the game they had started. The Parisian then thanked his friend once more and bid him goodbye. He looked at the time, after that, and saw that it was already nine fifteen. It was getting quite late.
"Allez les enfants, c'est l'heure du bain."/ "Come on kids, it's bath time." The only protest he got was a yawn from Alfred. Francis chuckled to himself and picked up his sons.
~-
After having bathed both boys, Francis read them a bed time story (one of Arthur's classics), tucked them in and then returned to the kitchen. When he saw the time, he realized that his companion would be on his way home from work and that he should start on the dinner preparations for the two of them.
Because it was Valentine's Day and because Francis liked to pride himself with the fact that he knew much about love, he decided to add a little something special to lighten the atmosphere. So, he took out one of their finest of table cloths, the nice set of dishes, he uncorked one of his best bottles of wine and he added some roses in a vase. He kept the food simple yet still sophisticated since it was already late into the night.
By the time he was halfway through the preparations for his main dish, Francis heard the door being unlocked and Arthur walked in. He would have gone to greet him, but at that particular moment, the stove required more attention from him. When he heard Arthur enter the kitchen, he turned around for a second.
"Bon soir, mon coeur."/ "Good evening, my love." Francis gave him a quick kiss before refocusing his attention on the meal.
"Hey yourself. What's with the fancy getup?" Arthur asked upon seeing the table.
"Juste un petit quelque chose pour toi et moi."/ "Just a little something for you and me."
"You didn't have to go through all that trouble. You've had a long day." Arthur took his seat at the table and watched as Francis continued to cook.
"Mais c'est la St-Valentin. Il fallait bien que je fasse de quoi romantique, non?"/ "But it's Valentine's Day. I had to do something romantic, no?" Arthur didn't pursue the conversation and left it at that.
"The boys are in bed?" He asked after a moment of silence. Francis nodded and explained that Antonio had made them supper and that he himself had put them to bed. The Englishman nodded and chewed on a breadstick from the basket that had been placed on the table. Francis finished cooking and brought the food to the table.
At some point during the meal, Arthur put his hand on the table top and Francis took it in his slightly larger one. The Frenchman brought it to his lips and gave it a loving kiss. Arthur blushed crimson at the gesture, but he didn't pull away. Their hands remained linked together until the end of the meal.
When Francis had finished clearing the dishes, he returned to the table with dessert in hand, only to find a small wrapped box next to his wine glass. He gave it a questioning look, but said nothing as he took his seat again. He picked up the box and brought it closer to his face. Francis immediately recognized Arthur's impeccable craftsmanship and smiled.
"Pour moi?"/ "For me?"
"Who else, you git?" Francis chuckled as Arthur's cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red. He removed the delicate ribbon and opened the box. Inside, he found a small golden rose attached to a short golden chain to hold a tie. Francis hadn't been expecting something like this and was pleasantly surprised.
"Merci Arthur, elle est adorable."/ "Thank you Arthur, it's adorable." He gave a warm squeeze to Arthur's hand and the Briton managed a small smile through all his blushing. Francis put the chain back in the box and then pulled out a box of his own from his pocket. He looked at it for a moment and then placed it in Arthur's hand.
Arthur gave him an inquisitive look before slowly opening the box. He had no idea what could be in the box and he wanted to play it safe. Who knew what Francis could do. When the lid was lifted, he found a small white gold necklace charm in the shape of a horseshoe. On one end, there was a small ruby and on the other end, there was an equally sized diamond. They were their birthstones and for some reason, it made him smile. He pulled out the chain that he wore around his neck and tried to add the charm to it, but it was proving to be difficult.
"Viens ici et je vais te l'ajuster."/ "Come here and I'll adjust it." Francis offered. Arthur got up from his seat, walked to the other side of the table and sat down on the Frenchman's lap. He bent his head at an angle and let Francis fix the chain. Once it was done, Arthur turned around to face him. He raised his hand to Francis' cheek and caressed it tenderly.
"Thank you." He murmured before kissing him. Francis was slightly shocked by the bold gesture of affection, but he wasn't going to complain about it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the Briton's shoulders and pulled him closer. Francis was about to suggest that they skip dessert and move upstairs when they heard a soft gasp followed by a giggle.
The couple broke away from their embrace in order to turn around in the direction of the noise. The disturbance came in the form of two young children who were standing in the kitchen entrance. Alfred looked shocked and slightly disgusted by what his parents had been doing wherein Matthew found his brother's reaction quite comical. Arthur stood up and then crouched down on the floor before opening up his arms. The boys ran to their father and latched on to him.
"How are my two favourite boys?"
"Good." They answered together.
"And what are you doing out of bed?" He tried to be stern with them, but the effect was lost when he smiled warmly.
"Alfred woke up and he heard Papa cooking so he wanted some food." Matthew told him. The older brother glared at his cadet, called him a tattletale and lightly pinched his arm. The younger brother simply stuck out his tongue.
"Dans ce cas, pourquoi ne pas manger le dessert avec daddy et moi? C'est ma spécialité; une mousse au chocolat et framboises."/ "In that case, why not eat dessert with daddy and me? It's my specialty; a chocolate and raspberry mousse." Everyone eagerly tucked in around the table and waited for their share. Francis smiled to himself. He had done well to save this one from the store.
~-
Once the dessert was done, Francis cleared the dishes and Arthur went to tuck the boys back in after they had brushed their teeth. Francis came to join him just as Arthur was pulling the covers on Matthew.
"Good night, boys." Arthur told them from the door.
"'Night." The Englishman closed the door halfway before heading for his room to take a shower. By the time he was done, he had just one thought in mind and that was to sleep. As he snuggled in his blankets, Francis went to wash up. Just as he was about to fall asleep for good however, he felt Francis pull him in his arms.
"Je t'aime Arthur. Bonne nuit et joyeuse St-Valentin, mon cœur."/ "I love you, Arthur. Good night and happy Valentine's day, my love." He kissed him tenderly before getting comfortable in the bed.
"And here's to many more with you, love." He replied and that was that.
OWARI
And that is the end.
Started writing: February 4th 2010, 12:41am
Finished writing: February 6th 2010, 1:01am
Started typing: February 6th 2010, 1:13pm
Finished typing: February 6th 2010, 2:13pm