Here's a new second-generation story! This takes place about ten years after "Aphrodite Urania." Hope you like it!
I opened the door to my parents' home and heard the rush of all the people inside burst toward the door.
"How did it go?" my mother asked me as she emerged from the parlor and embraced me. Her face displayed apprehension and eagerness.
My father and my youngest sister Victoire, the only one of my siblings still living at home, also stared at me waiting for a response.
"It went very well!" I said, beaming. "I knew all the questions the jury asked me; simple things about infection and anatomy really. I was surprised at how easy it all was."
"Easy for you maybe!" father said, coming forward and shaking my hand proudly. "When can we call you Doctor Pontmercy?"
"Not for a while I assume, until I get my results. I don't know that they've passed me." Though I know I had done well, I was suddenly frightened that I'd over estimated my strengths; what if I'd made a grave error?
"Oh, pooh!" Victoire scoffed, wrapped her arm in mine. "You'll be the best doctor there is, you're so kind and gentle. I don't know why anyone would ever hire anyone else."
"Because it's not all about being kind and gentle," I said to her. "I have to know a lot of important things—"
"Pooh, pooh," Victoire said in a singsong voice.
"Come, sit," mother said, leading us into the dining room. "Would you like a drink?"
"I'll have some brandy please, yes. Maman, is Courfeyrac coming?"
"No, he has some serious studying to do if he wants to pass his exams," my mother said, shaking her head.
"Which I am not entirely sure he does," father said.
I smiled. "Why give up the easy student lifestyle so quickly? He could have been a lawyer like you two years ago if he had buckled down, so I'm starting to think he just likes staying a student."
"I'm not starting to think that, I know it." My father grimaced; I know he and my mother spent many nights worrying over their most freewheeling son.
"He can take it from me, school gets rather boring after too many years of it. I've been in school since I was five- what's that, twenty-one years, now! I will be so relieved to be finished."
"Won't we all be relieved," maman said, sitting beside father.
"What time is Marie coming?" Victoire asked.
"They should all be here any minute," father said, just when the bell rang.
It was Sunday dinner, time for the Pontmercy family to come together. I lived in an apartment with a friend, Marie and Jacques had a house near the Luxembourg with their children, Leon was away at boarding school finishing his studies in law, Courfeyrac was too busy to emerge from his social engagements, and Isabelle had recently taken her vows to be a nun in the countryside. We scarcely ever saw her, but I have to admit that the quiet, thoughtful life suited her. She was always a bit weak-natured, perhaps from being a twin. She'd always been more interested in reading and thinking and praying than doing, so motherhood may not have suited her anyway.
"There they are!" I said, eager to see my nieces and nephew.
"Hello!" Jacques Fabre entered the room, his eyes bright and smiling as always, my eldest niece Lucia in tow, her bright blue eyes peaking out from beneath her curly dark hair, a perfect combination of her parents.
"There's my bon petit," I exclaimed, smiling and reaching out for her. She grinned and jumped into my arms and I spun her around. She laughed and her grin spread wider, exposing a gap where one of her front teeth used to be. "Wow! Look at that!"
She nodded proudly. "The front one came out this morning!"
"She tugged at it until it popped right out," Jacques said, almost as proud as she was.
"And then he almost fainted when it bled," Marie teased, her arms full with the newborn girl Violetta, their children named in favor of Marie's obsession with the Italian culture (one I do not fully understand).
"That's about it for your teeth there, eh Mademoiselle?" I asked the seven-year-old.
"I think so," Lucia said. "But they still have to grow in so I'm not done yet."
"I don't know, you're pretty much a grown-up now," I joked. "Nothing left to do with you now, you're old."
For some reason this excited her. "I know! I'm not a baby anymore I have all my adult teeth and I am the only one who gets to sleep in a big bed- my brother still can't and obviously Violetta is still in a basinet."
Jacques laughed as Patrizio, the middle child, came bounding in.
"Where have you been?" his father asked. "Did you get lost in the foyer?"
"I was playing with the cat," he said, before running and giving his grandmother a hug.
"That thing is Vicki's," Marius grumbled. "It's a dreadful little fellow."
She made a face at father before gesturing for her nephew to join her on the chaise. "Come here Pat, tell me what letters you've been learning."
We eventually all sat down and settled a bit, drinks passed about and news exchanged. I had to say I liked my family together, especially this grouping of them. If Leon were here it would be nice; he was shaping up to be a very decent fellow, but was away studying law like Courfeyrac (though promising to finish much quickly and with better marks). But it was always good to see Marie and Jacques and their little ones.
"No Courfeyrac tonight?" Marie asked doubtfully.
"Not unless his mistress cancels plans," I muttered to her and Jacques, who smirked. Unfortunately my father overheard my side comment.
"Jean!" he barked, eyeing Lucia pointedly, the only child old enough to be impressionable. "That's hardly acceptable talk."
"He's hardly acceptable at all," I joked, but quieted. I teased, but after my brush with the law ten years ago I never upset my parents too much.
Since my mistake with the Sons of Freedom alongside Jacques, I'd kept my head down and concentrated on my studies, switching from law to medicine. Father had been a bit taken aback; after all, he knew nothing about medicine. However, I devoted myself completely to my studies and was able to finish up my schooling in good time. Sometimes maman and papa worried I worked too hard, that I never enjoyed my life, but it was worth it when I was accepted into the Paris faculty of medicine. Hopefully the results from my exams today would provide me with my medical degree. Though not quite as lofty a position as law, I knew I wanted to help people. Who knows? Maybe I could save a life or two before I retire. My parents supported me and were glad I wanted to give back, even if it was in a way they did not expect from me.
"Mother, father," Jacques spoke up, referring to them as such out of their mutual fondness. For the first year or so of his marriage to Marie, their relations were a bit tight. Pleasant, but not intimate. However, in good time my parents came around and grew to liking him as much as I did. After all, he was a good man and he treated my sister very well, and their children were very well loved and cared for. Soon their relationship grew much warmer, and now we all got on smoothly. "Next weekend my cousins will be visiting Paris from Dijon. They are my uncle's children, Betrand and Liliane Fournier. I know you were planning on hosting a dinner that night and they would love to meet Marie's family."
"We've been to visit them, I've told you," Marie reminded mother. "Very nice people. Both children and their parents are very gracious and kind."
"Would you mind at all if they came to dinner with us? We were going to leave the children at home for the evening."
"Not at all," Marius said. "They are very welcome."
"We can send an invitation ourselves if you would like," Cosette said.
"That's not necessary," Marie said. "We'll bring them along once they are here."
"How long as they staying?" asked my mother.
"Two weeks."
"On holiday, or…?"
"Well they are coming to visit us, but Bertrand has some business. He is an accountant and manages many small business around Dijon, but his lawyer is here." Jacques winked.
Marie rolled her eyes.
"Oh yes my husband is very clever. Anyway, Bertrand has to report his accounts once a year to Jacques' firm and he's coming to do that."
"That's nice for them," mother said. "I believe dinner should be ready—I'll go check in with the cook but let's all make our way to the dining room, shall we?"
Thoughts? More coming soon!
