It went like that for a few weeks, Cosima would go to her place and pick up some clothes but would come back to spend the night at Delphine's. There was a night where Delphine's mom had babysat Elodie and Delphine had spent the night at Cosima's for a change.
And then, when Elodie went back to her mother's, Cosima was back at Delphine's place. They both attended their classes and whenever they went home, Elodie was always glad to have Cosima around.
For Elodie's fourth birthday, they had thrown a small party in the afternoon with Elodie's friends, a party Cosima couldn't attend because of classes. But later that evening, they had done a special dinner, just Elodie, Delphine and Cosima were Cosima had given the child her present. They had spent the night watching movies and playing the games Elodie had wanted to play.
It was on one of those mornings, after Cosima had spent the night, when Elodie had started being intrigued.
Cosima had woken up before Delphine and made her way out of the bedroom, dressed in Delphine's shirt and her shorts, an outfit she had the habit to wear in the mornings. Elodie was in her room, playing with a doll quietly, waiting for her mother or Cosima to wake up.
Cosima walked into the little girl's room and smiled, "Good morning."
"Hi!" Elodie exclaimed. She had been practicing her english, not only in daycare but with Cosima and it was improving a lot every day.
"You're hungry?" Cosima asked and Elodie nodded. "Come on, we'll let your mom sleep."
Elodie grabbed her teddy bear, a plush toy she carried everywhere with her, and they made their way to the kitchen.
"You know I'm not a very good cook like your mom." Cosima said. "But I can make you some cereals."
Elodie laughed, "You always make me cereals."
She sat down at the table and Cosima put the bowl in front of the child and sat on the opposite chair.
"Cosima?" Elodie asked, with her mouth full.
"Don't talk with your mouth full or else your mom will think I showed you bad manners." Cosima joked. It made Elodie laugh.
She swallowed her bite before speaking, "Cosima?" She repeated.
"Yes?"
"My friend in school, his name is Alexandre but we call him Alex." She began. Cosima listened carefully. "He says it's his… his…"
"Nickname?" Cosima continued for her. Elodie nodded. "Yes!"
"Why can't I have one?" She pouted, taking another bite.
Cosima smiled, "You want a nickname?"
"Oui." Elodie said.
"Well," Cosima thought. "How about…"
Elodie waited, "Ella?" Cosima suggested. Suddenly, the little girl's eyes brightened and she nodded.
"Yes!" She smiled. "I like it a lot."
"Alright then," Cosima clapped her hands together and then put one out in front of Elodie. "Nice to meet you Ella."
Elodie laughed and took Cosima's hand. "Enchantée."
Ella continued to eat her food and Cosima watched her, she could tell the little girl had something else to say but she didn't push it. Elodie finished her food and Cosima put the bowl in the dishwasher and followed the younger girl to the living room.
They were colouring some pictures when Ella asked, "Cosima?"
"Yes?"
Elodie frowned, thinking. "My friend, she has a maman and a papa. But me, I only have a maman."
Cosima bit her lip, fearing what would come next. "But then I told her that I had a maman and a Cosima."
Cosima smiled, maybe this conversation wasn't going the way she thought it would. Ella continued, "but she did not understand."
A smile crept up on Cosima's face, "Well Ella, sometimes it happens but it's okay if people don't understand."
Elodie shook her head, "I'm not finished."
"Sorry." Cosima chuckled.
"But then, if she has a maman and a papa is it okay for me to have two mommies?" Cosima was taken by surprise, she hadn't expected that, out of all things Elodie could have mentioned, this she did not expect. "Maddie has two daddies so maybe, because I can't have a papa, I can have a maman and a mommy?"
Cosima bit her lip and crooked her head, she was way out of her league here. She was dumbstruck and had no idea how to respond to that. She considered telling her a story, to try and better make her understand things but that wouldn't work. Cosima took a deep breath and tried to make it as simple as possible for the four years old, "Elodie, your mom and I, we're friends."
Elodie shook her head, "Non. I saw you kiss my maman."
Cosima didn't know how to respond to that either. "Alright, we'll you're way to wise for your age kid." Cosima put her hand on Ella's head. "But listen, you have a mom who loves you very much and she does an amazing job at making sure you're okay. You don't need two mommies or a mom and a dad to be happy. You have a mom and she's amazing, trust me."
Elodie smiled, "Do you love me too?"
"Of course Ella." Cosima smiled and Elodie hugged Cosima.
"I love my maman." She said and Cosima whispered back, "I love her too."
Delphine walked in moments later and Elodie ran to her, hugging her when her body collided with her mom's legs. Delphine picked her up and placed a kiss on her head. "Bon matin."
Delphine looked at Cosima, who was still sitting on the floor and gave her a sympathetic smile. That's when Cosima knew that Delphine had heard the whole exchange.
Elodie went off to play in her room, leaving the two adults be. Cosima got up and Delphine approached her slowly. "I'm so sorry about that. She can be pretty direct sometimes."
Cosima shrugged, "It's cool." She put her hands to her side and said, "So, you heard the whole thing?"
Delphine nodded, "Yeah, I came around the time she said she has a maman and a Cosima."
Cosima smiled, "That was adorable though."
Delphine agreed it had been cute. She didn't want to approach the other subject, they had been dating for almost a year now, surprising how time had gone so fast but Delphine wasn't ready to put Cosima through that commitment.
"Well, you handled it very well." Delphine told her.
"Thank you." Cosima did a small bow and laughed and pushed her glasses back up her nose.
Exams came around towards the end of their semester. They had both spent the weeks at their respective houses, thinking some time away might be good for them to study. They were out of school for some time and Delphine's mom had flown back to France for the month to visit family. Cosima was still at her house when she received a phone call from Delphine.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Cosima, I'm so sorry but I have a huge favour to ask."
"What is it?" Cosima asked, suddenly a little worried.
"I have my interview at the Dyad institute today and my mom's away and Daycare is closed and I have no one to watch Elodie-"
"Say no more, I'll be there in twenty."
"Thank you so much Cosima."
45 minutes later, Cosima made it to Delphine's house. "Kinda always late," She said as she made it through the front door.
"Cosima!" Elodie exclaimed, running down to greet her.
"Hey there." Delphine kissed Cosima on the cheek and thanked her.
"You are a lifesaver. Thank you so much."
Cosima shrugged, "It's no prob, really." She patted Elodie on the head, "we're gonna have so much fun."
"Thank you!" Delphine said. She gave her daughter a peck on the head and a peck on the lips for Cosima before making her way out the door.
Cosima turned towards mini-Delphine and smiled, "So, any ideas as to what we should do?"
Elodie shook her head and Cosima had a brilliant idea suddenly, "how about a museum?"
Elodie grinned and Cosima put her thumbs up, "looks like we've got a plan. Let's get you all dressed and ready to go and we'll go explore some museums."
It didn't take long for Ella to be ready and when she was, they made their way to the museum. Cosima made sure Ella was well tied in the back of her car and started the car.
The ended up visiting Minneapolis's Children's museum and Elodie had enjoyed looking at the exhibits. Running from one to another, asking a bunch of questions Cosima had tried to answer with her knowledge on different things. Sometimes, when she didn't have the answer, she would make up a story that would make Elodie's eyes go wide with interest and she would pitch in the story, adding facts she saw in the museum.
When they had gone around, they went out for some ice cream. "Can't believe you've never had eskimo pie before."
Ella shook her head, "Maman never gave me any."
"Well, this can be our little secret." Cosima laughed.
Ella smiled and nodded, "Thank you mommy."
It took Cosima by surprised, suddenly she could feel her cheeks turning red. It's not that she minded really, because she loved Elodie just as much as she would have loved her own child. She was half of Delphine, which was enough for Cosima to love her.
"I'm sorry." Elodie said suddenly. "I didn't mean to."
Cosima shook her head, "no it's fine. I don't mind, but maybe we should talk to your mom about that first, okay?"
"Okay." Elodie agreed. "But I like it if you are my mommy and maman is my maman."
Cosima smiled, "We'll see about that okay?"
Elodie nodded and continued to repeat the events of the day and what she had like most from the museum. She talked about how they should bring Delphine there and go there as one big family. It all made Cosima smile.
If someone would have told her that she'd be dating an amazing, gorgeous woman who had an intelligent little girl, who wanted to call her mommy, she would have called bullshit. Never would she have thought she'd be here right now yet here she was and she couldn't be happier.
That night, when Delphine had tucked her daughter in bed and the bedtime story had consisted of the tales of her day, Elodie, innocent little Elodie had asked her mother, "Maman, can you be my maman and Cosima can be my mommy?"
Delphine brushed a curl out of her daughter's face. She had always hesitated and dredged for this moment to come because she didn't know how to react. Sure, she wanted Cosima to be a part of their life forever but she feared that if things did go wrong, that Elodie would only be hurt more. But then, Delphine realized that even if Elodie called her mommy or not, it wouldn't change the fact that her little girl was already so attached to her girlfriend and there was nothing in the world that would make her be happier than for Cosima to be a part of their family.
"Yes, I can be your Maman and Cosima your mommy." Delphine smiled, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Happy tears.
"Je t'aime Maman. Gros comme l'univers." Elodie hugged her mom and Delphine put her hands to her little girl's head. "Je t'aime aussi mon amour."
Delphine closed the door slightly on her way out of Elodie's room and joined Cosima in the living room. She didn't say anything but just brushed her lips against the other woman's. Then, they both sat there in complete silence until Delphine said, "It looks like you're a mommy now."
Cosima bit her lip, smiled and let out a laugh before taking Delphine in her embrace. They hugged, Delphine's head resting on Cosima's shoulder. They could be a family now.
"Je t'aime Cosima."
"I love you too."
And that's how they made it to bed, hand in hand, Elodie joining them in the middle of the night and slipping in between her maman and her mommy.
Fin.
Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. It's been a great run. It's a miracle I've managed to complete a story in such a short period of time but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is the story I wanted to tell, the possibility of Cophine being a cute little family, it's just amazing and something I would definitely want to see on the show... I think. I have to admit, this ending does leave the door open for different possibilities, a sequel or short drabbles with Elodie and Cophine. I haven't decided yet.
Once again, thank you to everyone. If you're here, reading this, I love you.
Until next time.
