A/N: Finally finished this chapter. I've been writing it for almost five days and the reason I'm so slow is because my eyes are sore. I probably won't update this week anymore, since I promised to put up a chapter for Blue Brown Eyes and I'm slow. But now, enjoy this chapter and your weekend!
RebaForever15 - I keep seeing really weird dreams and I can extract a great deal of little scenes like that from those dreams.
mollyweasleyforever - I agree with you and that is obviously why I write about them. They will probably make an appearance in the next chapter.
Guest - Yes, the problem is solved and I have a plan for at least the next two chapters.
Lele - Welcome to the story! Yes, Louella is indeed a Bond and toddler of course, which I think makes her quite a case. At least in my mind. I hope you continue to read.
Chapter Ten – Missing Piece
The new week started off rainy. It poured all Monday and most of Tuesday. When the rain stopped for a few short hours James and Louella went to the park, only to find it packed with people who were trying to get some fresh air. But it did not last too long and the entire evening and night were filled with the ripple of the rain. On Wednesday James was starting to get fed up with the rain.
"Daddy?" Louell pulled on his shirt "Paingk?"
It took him a moment to realize what she meant. "You want to paint?" he asked frowning.
"Uh-huh" Louella bobbed her her up and down to emphasize her answer.
"Okay, lets paint."
James covered the kitchen table with newspaper before putting a large paper in front of Louella's highchair. Then he opened the finger paint set, setting it next to the paper.
"Ready?" He asked lifting Louella into the chair. She made a squealing noise and dipped her fingers into the green paint box.
James watched the gleeful girl, smiling at how much she was enjoying herself. Louella did her very best to create a masterpiece with only her clumsy little hands. At some point she decided painting his hand would be fun. He smiled as she drew her soggy paint covered finger over the back of his hand, creating different colored stripes and waves.
Fifteen minutes later she was done with the painting. He carefully washed both their hands and cleaned up the kitchen. James looked at the painting his daughter had made. She had clearly tried to draw something specific, he could tell by the way there were a few distinct areas and shapes.
While Louella was taking a nap, James was occupied with washing some laundry. He hadn't washed done it in quite a while, all his suits he sent to the dry cleaners and he used so little other clothes, that whatever he did use he just sent there too. Of course he was often obligated to get new suits and shirts, since they got ripped and stained with blood or a huge amount of dirt on his missions. It was strange, but he had to admit he did not completely hate it. The texture of the wet clothes felt awful, but James liked the rows of Louella's tiny shirts and pants. He looked at the little colony of dinky light pink socks next to his big black ones.
James tried to keep the house orderly, but he had to admit that he smiled whenever he found a toy completely out of place in the strangest of places. When he'd first gotten Louella, she was of course his daughter, but more an obligation than a choice. But as the days had passed, even though he was still clumsy and insecure, it had after all only been twelve days. But those twelve days had made him realize that beside his job he didn't actually have anything. There was no girlfriend or wife, no family, no friends, no pets, not even a proper home. It hadn't bothered him, until now when he realized he actually liked not being alone.
He'd still go back to work, though. The job had always been there and would continue to do so. Of course M would select only shorter missions, but that didn't matter. A James Bond who didn't hunt criminals and save the day for England simply wasn't James Bond anymore.
Just then Louella called out for him. James went to fetch her, noticing her looking somber after glancing out the window.
"Don't like the rain, huh?"
She shook her head no.
"Yeah, I don't like it either." James brushed some hair off of her face, "What do you want to do?"
"Visit?" Louella looked at him slightly insecure if she'd gotten it right.
"You want to visit someone? Who do you want to visit?"
She crumpled her face, thinking hard of the few people she knew. "Emma." She finally said, relieved to have found an answer that pleased her.
James was a little surprised, but then again, Louella didn't know many people and she had liked M the previous times they'd met.
"Allright, but we'll have to call her first. Do you want to ask her?"
She nodded, even though she wasn't sure if she could formulate a proper sentence. James dialed the number and put in on speaker.
"Remember to say hi." He told her while the phone rang.
"Hello?" M's voice came from the phone.
"Hello!" Louella said cheerily, "I and Daddy visit?".
"Bond is this you?" M asked suspiciously.
"Huh?" The little girl looked at her father confused of what the answer was.
"I didn't know your hearing is so bad that you can't distinguish a two year olds voice from a grown man's."
He heard her scoff on the other end.
"You also might have overheard said toddlers request. And before you jump to any conclusions, it was her idea. "
A loud sigh emanated from the speaker, "Alright, but you'll have to bring some juice and something for tea."
"Great."
She hung up the phone.
"We go?" Louella asked, still not understanding what was going on.
"Yes, we're going. Now let's get your coat."
M watched James park his car form her window. It was still raining, like it had for the past three days. She was never sure how she felt about rain. In general it was depressing and she always got her feet wet, but then on the other hand, working a long day seemed far more pleasant when it rained. When the sun shone and she was stuck in her office, it made her feel like she had no life outside of work. Must be because she didn't. Her kids were all grown up and her husband was dead.
James picked up a white plastic bag from the passengers seat and Louella from the back seat before he jogged to her door.
She opened it the second they stepped on her porch.
"Thanks." He stepped in and set Louella down.
"Emma!" Louella was happy to have arrived at the womans home. She found the lady with the cast quite nice and trustworthy. "We get dem cake." She informed, continuing to blabber incoherently about their trip to the supermarket.
James deposited the apple pie and juice bottle on the kitchen counter. Louella was obviously glad to be out of the house and do something exciting. She kept talking about what they had done that day. M tried her best to understand what the little girl was saying, but because she still lacked a lot of words that was rather hard.
"What did you paint?" M asked the Louella after grasping the fact that she'd been painting earlier.
"Twee. Dem wif the pwetty wed-" she thought hard of to find a word "twee flowew?"
She looked to her father for help or approval.
"Do you mean leaf?" he asked after a moment.
"Uh-huh. Leef." She repeated the newly learnt word.
"Well that sounds like a lot of fun."
James placed two cups of lemon tea, a mug of pear juice and tree plates with a slice of pie on the table. Again he had Louella sit in his lap, James hadn't forgotten about the last time. She seemed perfectly content, exploring the sweet food in front of her, eating it slowly.
To James' great astonishment M had quite a range of children's movies. Of course she had grandkids, but he never thought she'd be the type to let them just watch movies instead of going out. Louella was very pleased and proceeded to pick out The Tigger Movie.
After an hour she was getting sleepy. In no time Louella was snuggled up against her fathers chest and soundly asleep.
James moved his head slightly to the left to confirm that she had indeed dozed off. He sighed knowing how grumpy she would get if he'd wake her up.
M turned her head towards the two, due to James' cordial sigh.
"Grumpy when woken?" M was all too familiar with this phenomenon. Her youngest son had been impossible if he was woken at night. First he would refuse to sleep and then it would exaggerate to the point where he would be screaming and throwing things around.
"Yeah."
"You can lay her down in the guest bedroom."
James did as he was told, setting Louella down on the bed. The bed was neatly made and the only telling signs that it was in fact her (temporary) bedroom was the small pile of cushions and the few personal items on the nightstand. He covered his daughter with the felt that lied next to the cushions.
A minute later he sat in the living room with M. They eyed each other in silence for some time. Words weren't always necessary with them. Some days she would come home to find him leaning against the window or sitting on the couch, drinking her scotch. It didn't even shock her anymore these days. But when she found him she didn't always get mad. Sometimes M poured herself a glass too and they would drink, until eventually one of them broke the silence.
"How are you really feeling?" M asked him straight forward with a no nonsense tone. Like any other person he could always answer that question with 'fine', but lying wasn't what they did.
James sighed again, running his hand over his face. "It's just so odd. All I do all day is prepare food, take her to the bathroom, bathe her, bring her out and play with her. My hole life has boiled down to that."
"That is the definition of kids. Your life becomes insignificant compared to theirs. It's a hard thing to adapt to. Usually parents start off with the most needy creature, a newborn and from there on the amount of care decreases slowly."
He looked M straight in the eyes, wondering if he should tell her about his recent discovery of feelings for his daughter. She was in a sense his only friend, a person who he could rely on. She was of course his boss and that made the subject touchy. Even though he hadn't exactly respected her privacy in the past, she hadn't ever snooped on him. M simply knew a lot, because she had to as a part of her job.
After the whole mess at Skyfall with Silva things had changed a lot. Whenever he decided to help himself to her liquor cabinet they would eventually have some sort of conversation, usually a very honest one.
M had worked with the man in front of her for fourteen years. He looked a bit older than he actually was, the job wearing him out both mentally and physically. She knew she was some sort of mother figure to him and she had in fact learned a few things about him over these years. One of them was the fact that he would speak when he felt comfortable and sure about it. Usually a bit of alcohol helped, but that wasn't an option.
"It's just-" He stopped for a moment, trying to figure out what he wanted to say, "I've just realized how empty my life has been. There's been nothing besides the job."
Hearing these words from James Bond, her best agent was not something she expected to happen.
"You know, you're the last person I thought would ever come to me with this issue. It happens everyday, but you?"
He shrugged, understanding her point. "Can't miss what you don't know. But this doesn't mean I quit, if that's what you're after." James leaned back on the couch, taking a long sip of the scotch, "We both will have to go eventually, but I'm working at MI6 as long as you are."
The double 0 agent had thought about his job often enough and he had more then once reached that exact conclusion. If Mallory, or anyone else for that matter, would replace M, he would probably not be able to handle it. She let him break the rules, as long as he did the job properly and obeyed her every command while on a mission. No one else would put up with that.