Chapters 22 and 23 have been posted at the same time.
"It's beautiful," Mary breathes out as she returns to the living area of the villa. "Your mother owns all of this?"
"And a section of the beach," Francis replies with a smile. "So?"
Mary bites her lip, reaching to undo the tie of her dress. "I'd like a thorough tour of the bedroom."
Francis grins, lifting her into his arms as she yelps before he more or less hurries them into the main bedroom of the house, Mary's laughter and giggles following them.
She feels awful hours later when she's realised that the lovely staff had made them a lovely, delicious meal to sate their hunger when they first arrived but she turned the food away to work up a different type of appetite. She's the first one to appear in the kitchen, Francis feeling exhausted from their earlier events to which he swore wasn't down to his current situation, he was just jet-lagged and barely got any sleep from excitement at the idea of being away with his wife for two whole weeks.
"Senorita Maria?"
Mary turns to find the household manager with a blush. They'll be conversing in Italian and she knows some, not fluent at all as Francis and his siblings and mother are. "Hi, I can serve my-"
"We will be at your beck and call for these two weeks," the woman explains. "My name is Isadora. Carlos is your driver should you wish to travel anywhere and we also have my daughter, Clara."
"Right," she says, pointing to the covered meals. "I can sort myself out. You don't have to wait for our every call."
Isadora playfully rolls her eyes. "We know of Francesco's condition," she starts. "His mother said that he shouldn't exhaust himself even if he is recovering. I remember when he and his siblings would come to stay for the Easter break, their grandmother coming over to share the joy and celebrations... We will look after him, this holiday is meant to keep you both relaxed, not stressed out."
Mary's heart swells with fondness and she takes a seat as Isadora heats up her meal. "Tell me more about Francis and his siblings as children. You seem to know him on a very personal level."
"I taught him Italian," Isadora tells her, placing the plate in front of Mary. "He'd help me chop up vegetables that they were going to eat. He loved food, he was obsessed with the tastes and the smells and he was a proper, little chef by the time he went back home. He'd always want to stay even when it was time to go. Then when he turned thirteen, he stopped coming."
"Because of his leukaemia," Mary realises, with Isadora nodding as Mary starts eating.
"There was the one time he came along with the rest. He looked... gaunt," Isadora mumbles sadly then her eyes light up. "But now, he looks so strong. Like he's got something worth living for. You."
Mary smiles, her eyes watering. "I'm nothing special..."
"I saw the way he looked at you as you went off exploring," Isadora tells her fondly. "He's got it hard for you. No wonder he put a ring on it before any other man could. Your love is one for the ages and it will last. You are his greatest joy and I called him out on it, he admitted it as much."
Mary looks back in the direction of the bedroom she and Francis are staying in. "He's my greatest joy too..."
...
"I don't want to impose..."
"Don't be silly," Bash says as he pays the taxi driver and takes Amelia's buggy from the man before bringing their suitcases out as Kenna holds the car seat with Amelia inside. "If you really feel awkward, they won't be insulted if we decide to stay at a hotel but you're part of the family now."
Kenna blushes. "Okay... I wonder how Mary and Francis are getting along."
"Please don't ask that in front of Catherine. She's worrying enough about whether Francis will be okay with all the heatwaves," Bash mutters lightly. "But I made sure to pack at least five bottles of suncream for him so hopefully, he should be okay."
Kenna nods and heads up to the door which opens quickly, Hercule coming out to rush towards Bash. "Oh!"
"Bash! Bash! Bash!"
Bash drops everything, bending down to bring Hercule into his arms. "Hey, buddy! But can you not open the door without permission next time? Don't want anyone to steal you from Maman and Papa, right?"
Hercule scowls but nods earnestly. "Why would they steal me?"
"Because you're too adorable," Bash says, pressing a kiss on Hercule's forehead before letting the child run over to a surprised Kenna. "Hercule, be careful. You'll scare Amelia."
Hercule stops, looks up at Kenna's smiling face and he grins, pointing at Amelia. "Hello, Kenna."
"Hi, Hercule," Kenna replies, amused.
"Can I say 'hi' to Amelia, please?"
"You may," Kenna says. "But let's go inside before we let the flies in."
"Where is she?"
Bash and Kenna share a look. With one child not here to dote on, Catherine's eyes are set on her step-granddaughter and she comes to the foyer, lightly smacking Bash on the shoulder as a greeting before giving Kenna a quick smile and unstrapping Amelia from the car seat.
"Come to Meme," she mutters, Amelia gurgling. "We should get her started on solids. I've bought the most prestige baby food training set the world has to offer. And a cute bib to go with it! Oh, you'll be gaining a lot of weight by the time you go back to England, Amelia. What aren't your parents feeding you? You're too petite!"
Kenna chuckles softly. "She was a small baby..." She reminds Catherine as they head to the kitchen, Bash taking their luggage upstairs as Louis and Hercule help by dragging the buggy into the closet.
"When mine were starting off on solids, they would be so difficult, but there was one, they were fond of and that included Sebastian according to Henry," Catherine mutters, gesturing to the many bowls of baby food that she's spent the morning making for Amelia to try. She goes to the last one, a green substance. "Avocado."
Kenna's brows raise.
...
Mary breathes in the fresh air, her eyes closed, a smile on her face as she lays against Francis's chest. They're in the hammock in the decking area and everything feels so right, so beautiful and so serene.
"Thank you," she mumbles. "I really needed this after mocks."
Francis chuckles. "At least you're better off than I am regarding our studies. I'm sure I'm at 'C' level now..."
Mary pouts, looking up at him. "You've got excuses."
"Which the examiners won't give two shits about," Francis replies. "There goes my parents' dream of me going to a prestige university. As if they aren't still pissed off that Bash skipped university entirely."
Mary takes his hand. "Whatever happens, I'll be there for you," Mary promises, pressing a kiss on his hand. "Prestige university or not. A degree is still a degree."
"I don't even know what I want to do," he tells her. "I'm expected to take over the family business but now, my parents think that's unwise with my situation... So, I'm free I guess..."
"You have a choice," Mary tells him.
"It's scary," he admits softly. "Having a choice. I'm so used to my parents dictating what I'll do and when I'll do it. Everything from my early school years to my treatment, to now... Even my marriage and who I'd be married to but we're married so I've chosen that for myself at least."
Mary nods proudly. "You have and no matter what, I'll be right beside you in your decision." Then she remembers what Isadora told her. "You could be a chef..."
"Oh, I'm terrible! I was never good, I just attempted to learn but I never was good with it," he admits, blushing furiously. "Bash is better than me somewhat at the simpler stuff but Kenna's cooking is on a whole another level."
Mary giggles. "That is true," she admits. "We'll look for something for you to do soon. We've got a whole year off from education to think about it."
"We could just... travel for the rest of our lives," he tells her carefully. "Or until we're ready to settle down with kids. Who says going to university is the only option for us?"
Mary turns to him in surprise. "But..."
"But what?" He asks softly, cupping her cheek. "I mean it, we could explore, my immune system will be working far better by then and I can travel. Visit all the places we want to visit."
Mary smiles widely. "Well, we'll use the gap year as a trial. It is an option because I don't know if I'd like to go to university or not... I mean, I don't want to disappoint my mother-"
"You could never," he says. "I understand. But I'm glad she's approving of you taking the year off for me."
"Well, she knows how much I love you and that I'll always want to be with you," Mary tells him. "We should humour her with dinner soon. James will be coming."
"Yeah, it will be nice to see your brother," Francis replies.
"Enough about our families," Mary says cheekily, pressing a kiss on his chest. "I want to go for a swim."
She inelegantly gets off the hammock, stumbling onto the deck as Francis laughs at her expense. She flips him off, bursting into laughter herself before getting up and dusting her knees off to which she's relieved they aren't scraped.
She undoes her dress, undoing the silk tie and shrugging it off her shoulders to reveal a tan coloured bikini. She sees him resting his chin on his hand, watching her with one eyebrow raised in curiosity, lust and amusement.
Mary slowly backs down the steps to the deck, her feet meeting the plush sand and then she's running in the direction of the water, ignoring how cold it feels when it hits her skin as she fully delves into the liquid.
When she arises, she finds Francis dropping his shirt onto the deck floor before he makes his way over to her. She watches his every move, biting her bottom lip in anticipation as he takes his time, smirking to himself.
The coldness of the water doesn't affect him at all as he swims over, coming right in front of her. His hands cup her cheeks and she stares into his blue eyes, as blue as the water they are in right now and before she knows it, their lips meet.
She's drawn to him, her arms around his waist tightly as their tongues battled for dominance. His hands move to her thighs and he lifts her, her legs wrapping around his waist as her arms go around his neck.
Mary giggles against his lips when she feels her bikini loosen from her neck and the middle of her back and she warns him with a, "You better not lose that. I chose this pair for a reason."
He pulls away. "Then we should undress on the beach, shouldn't we?" He asks coyly.
When they're free of swimsuits, they continue kissing in the water and at one point, Francis splashes Mary. She gasps, letting go of him before swimming a bit away and returning the gesture.
"Mary!"
"You started it!" She cries out, laughing as she wipes her hair down.
Francis grins. "I'm not even mad," he says, swimming over to grab her into his arms and kiss her.
She laughs, kicking her legs a little so they're going around in circles. "You better not be. You started it first," she mutters, nipping at his neck.
They continue to swim and share kisses in between their little teasing. Eventually, they take things further.
...
Kenna doesn't think she's held her child more than ten times since they arrived in France for Easter. She's just relieved that her parents were fine with her and Amelia not coming over as they were going off to Hawaii with her younger siblings, her brothers going somewhere else together with their girlfriends.
She's lounging by the pool, lemonade in hand and sunglasses on. She watches as Catherine holds Amelia in her arms in the lounger beside hers before turning over to the pool where Bash is playing 'Marco, Polo' with his younger siblings.
Their eyes meet as he calls out "Polo" and gets tagged by Claude before she swims off to tag Charles. When he is out of the game, he lifts himself out from the edge and walks up to her, grabbing a towel from the end of her lounger.
"Having fun?" She asks.
"They're lucky they're little," he says. "Otherwise, I'd play to win."
"So competitive, your family is," Kenna replies before her eyes scan his chest. "I need help." She places her drink on the table beside her.
Bash dries himself off. "With what?"
"Something," she says, getting up and leading him into the house. She heads upstairs, passing Henry who heads down the stairs.
"Where are you guys off to?" He asks. "We're going to start up the barbeque."
"Just a minute, Dad," Bash tells his father, hurrying up after Kenna.
They end up in his room and Kenna slams the door shut before attacking Bash with kisses. He's stunned, chuckling when she presses him against the door.
"Seriously?" He asks as she trails kisses down his chest.
"Do you know how annoyed I've been to be constantly kicked off the bed by your little brother?" She asks him. "Why did you agree for him to sleep with us?"
Bash smiles wryly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd invite himself every night..." He trails off, accepting a soft kiss on his lips. "I'll make it up to you."
Kenna tilts her head to the side. "How?"
She's spun around so her back hits the door and he kisses her neck, pulling her bikini top off. "Just wait and see..." He purrs into her ear, making her sigh softly.
He lifts her, placing her on the bed. He kisses her once, pressing more kisses down her chest. Before he gets lower, the door opens and Kenna lets out a scream as she scrambles to cover herself up as Bash turns to face a surprised Hercule.
"Hercule!" He cries out before the boy runs off. "Shit."
"Oh, my God," Kenna mumbles, running a hand through her hair as she searches for something to wear.
Bash closes his door, resting his back against it. "I have no words. Do you think he saw anything?"
"We didn't get far and you were mostly covering me but..."
"He's five. Oh, mon Dieu," Bash mutters, covering his face. "We have to face him and explain that we were doing-"
"Nothing. I had a tummy ache and you had to make it all better with some kisses, yeah?" Kenna tells him as she pulls a dress on and pulls him off the door into her arms. "This isn't over."
Bash smirks, kissing her before nipping at her ear. "For sure," he says breathily before kissing her deeply.
She stops the kiss, pulling him downstairs where Hercule is quietly watching Henry put burgers onto the grill.
"Hey, buddy," Bash says, taking a seat beside Hercule's as Kenna takes the one on the other side of the boy.
"What were you doing?" Hercule asks them.
Kenna keeps her face neutral as she rubs her tummy pointedly. "I had a tummy ache. Must have been from all that lemonade I drank."
Bash nods. "So, I was kissing it all better for her."
"Are you better now?" Hercule asks kindly.
Kenna beams happily. "I am. Because your brother's kisses are very special and healing. Thank you, Bash."
"You're very welcome, Kenna," he replies, sending her a charming smile.
Playfully rolling her eyes, Kenna nudges Hercule lightly. "Hercule?"
"Yeah?"
"You see, Bash and I would like to sleep alone this night because we have a lot to talk about and we don't want to keep you up awake when we talk," she tells him.
"But I'm a deep sleep-"
"Hercule, you can stay with Maman and me tonight," Henry says, meeting the couple's eyes knowingly. "How about that?"
Hercule weighs up his options. Bash with Kenna or Maman and Papa? He decides with a, "Okay."
"Thank you," Bash says gratefully, more targetted at Henry than Hercule. "And can you knock before you come inside?"
"Okay," Hercule mumbles before picking at the napkins. "Can we play LEGOs now?"
Bash sighs, Kenna's eyes telling him to. They've just kicked him out of their room, the least he can do is play with him. "Okay, bud. Let's go play LEGOs," he says, standing up and picking Hercule into his arms as they head inside the house.
He can't help but wonder how they'd play the situation out with Amelia if she ever caught them. The thought brings a chuckle which confuses Hercule but has the boy giggling when Bash starts tickling him.
"You're so lucky that you're cute," Bash mutters lightly.
Got some cute Kennash and Frary moments in this chapter!