After several moments of vacant eyed staring, Mum regained her composer. She looked at Michel. He blinked a couple of times, and stared back into her eyes. He was so innocent looking. He'd make a great cartoon character; big doe eyes, and the works.
Rather than hurt his feelings, Mum tried shoving the key into the lock. It didn't fit.
I gently plucked the key-ring from my mother's fingers. The newest key glowed silver, and I tried it into the lock. A chorus of angels started singing, cymbals clashed, and a heavenly light shone down from the heavens. If you couldn't tell, none of that really happened. Well, except for the key fitting into the lock, and the heavenly light bit.
The light hanging above the entrance flicked on, sensing the motion from the front door opening. Mum jumped a bit, and I could feel Michel's heart speed up. The death-grip that Michel had on me tightened a little.
"Mum?" I said. She was gazing into the hallway, and I could tell that she was already comparing this house to our other one. "Mum?" I said again. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and walked into the house.
"It needs a little love, but it'll look as good as new soon." Mum forced a smile onto her face as she said this.
"I completely agree. It looks… great." I walked in behind her, and gave her a one armed hug. She smiled at me, a genuine happiness was in her eyes now.
"It is great, isn't it?" She paused for a second before continuing. "We can put a nice rug in this hallway, and when we finish unpacking we can find that nice picture of you and your brothers and hang it up. The wallpaper is awfully nice, but we might need to be changed, depending if Michel likes it." She was caught up in a whirlwind now. Her happiness was refreshing, and a little bit contagious. I bounced Michel a little on my hip. "Do you like the wallpaper, sweetie?" Mum asked. Michel looked around the hall, and examined the texture. "I guess it's okay." Michel said. He paused and thought for a moment. "It would be really nice if it had dinosaurs on it."
Mum examined the walls. "You know what Michel? You're completely right." Michel grinned, and reached out for Mum. I willingly handed him over into her open arms, glad to be rid of the extra weight.
"Michel, tell me more about what you want to do to the house!" Mum exclaimed, whisking him into the first room on the left; the living room. I could hear Michel's words through the walls, and I could almost imagine him pointing out to Mum what needed a Jurassic styled improvement.