Chapter 11
In the evening Lila stood in the garage shoving a bunch of clothes into the washing machine, then closed the door of it. Lila looked at the digital screen on the machine, which showed the various options it had.
„Which option was it again?" Questioned Lila looking at the six available states listed on the first line. Lila hovered her finger over the 40 option, then pressed it and waited for a moment. The door made a locking noise, then Lila got up with a smile after seeing she had succeeded at that task, then moved towards the table beside the lavatory to put there the laundry basket and looked at the detergent, then widened her eyes remembering, that she didn't put them into the machine.
„I knew it seemed a little too easy," Commented Lila taking down a bottle, then opened the drawer of the machine to put in a little bit and returned it to the frame. „Okay, I've forgotten something. The doctor said it's normal to forget something once in a while," Lila got out of the garage into the corridor of the house and got into the kitchen to see Nathalie show her father the homework of the French lessons.
„It's good so far," Said Nathaniel earning a nod from the daughter. „You know already, what you're going to do next week at the school?"
„No," Responded Nathalie making Nathaniel nod.
„Okay, perhaps the same. You're all meant to get used to reading and writing," Said Nathaniel making his daughter nod. „What do you think, tomorrow you could practice a little on your reading as you did before with mom?"
„Will she want to listen to me at the moment?" Questioned the daughter making Nathaniel shrug his shoulders.
„I could instead if you want," Offered Nathaniel, then watched Lila come along to look at the two.
„I have only made one mishap at the refill of the washing machine. I forgot to add first the detergent," Stated Lila making Nathaniel nod.
„That's going well, then," Spoke Nathaniel making Lila nod, which took a book, she had lying next to the fridge to write down, what she had experienced.
„What is she writing?" Questioned Nathalie looking up at her father.
„During her healing process she has to make notes from what she has done today, so she can on her next appointment show it to the doctor and we all can keep up with her to know what she's done for now," Explained Nathaniel.
„Notes like you do for your comics?" Questioned Nathalie curious.
„Well my notes are quite different, to be honest," Added Nathaniel, thereafter a smartphone began to ring calling everyone's attention and Lila turned to look at her husband.
„Is that yours?" Questioned Lila making Nathaniel shake his head.
„Yours, actually," Commented Nathaniel watching Lila step out into the corridor to go to the living room to look at the coffee table, where she had her own smartphone lying and she grabbed the smartphone to see the number of a certain Séraphin.
„Uh did I know before someone named Séraphin?" Questioned Lila returning to the door of the living room to see Nathaniel stay in the arc of the kitchen.
„Séraphin Ladentelle is your agent," Responded Nathaniel. „He's the one, who looks leads you through your actress career since you started the new show in Italy…..oh…..wait I didn't clear you about that yet," Mentioned Nathaniel placing his hand in front of his forehead. „I'm sorry,"
„It's Okay, what shall we do?" Questioned Lila. „Shall we attend and put it on loud?"
„Perhaps, that. Soon or later he needs to talk with you. Myléne already made sure he knew about the accident," Said Nathaniel pressing the green button, then activated the voice function.
„Hi Séraphin, do you remember me?"
„Nathaniel Kurtzberg, of course, I remember you. How are you?"
„I'm good thanks. Look uhm I probably should have called you before or anything, but I've been busy with our girl and with the integration of Lila into the house. I didn't think about making a call yet,"
„You had caught a bad timing I see there. I wanted to call her and see how she was doing?"
„So far, she's good. She has just got a little problem with remembering things. I don't know exactly what sort of amnesia the doctor has it called, but with time she will get her memory back and remember. I made a list and all, so we could work on her healing process. From now on, she's got no idea, who you are or what happened in the past years,"
„Sounds rough. Not even her own family she remembers?"
„Well, me she recognized a little as an old classmate of hers and that's it. Her mother she hasn't seen yet and we didn't even receive any message since the day she was delivered at the hospital,"
„ Okay, so she will be for a month or two off the work?" Questioned Séraphin making Nathaniel shrug his shoulders.
„Calculated around that number. It depends on the healing process. If she remembers you or the work in that time and how to work, it probably won't be a problem,"
„Sure. The first three months we're at the moment focusing on the other characters of the show. We're making the backstory and POV of each of the characters before we return to Lila's role. Otherwise, we will look for a plan B and see what else we can do,"
„Great. Eventually, I can show Lila in a few days the show to her, so she can see, what she had been working on before. It could as well trigger her memories, who knows,"
„That would be nice….by the way, if she's interested in giving it a try. The GAZ studio is looking for potential voice actors for the upcoming movie Elemental Titans. They're looking for someone to do the voice of a supervillain,"
„Wow I would have no idea if I would do good as a supervillain voice actress," Mentioned Lila making the agent laugh.
„Oh, you're there Lila! Good to hear your voice,"
„Thanks….uh,"
„Séraphin"
„Séraphin, right. I'm not sure for now. I'm still a little unsure about everything. Perhaps I'll wait for a bit,"
„No stress Mademoiselle Kurtzberg. Perhaps this role isn't quite right for you now. You'll sure have in the future other roles in dubbing. Don't worry. I'm glad to have heard your voice after a while. If you or your husband need anything, I'm a call away,"
„Thanks for your call, Séraphin," Said Nathaniel.
„Bye!" Said Lila followed by Nathaniel pressing the red button watching Lila place it back on the kitchen table, where Nathalie had been sitting looking at the adults.
„Why does everyone call me Kurtzberg by my last name?" Questioned Lila making Nathaniel look down at the daughter, which shrugged his shoulders.
„Uh that's the name you accepted years ago at the registry office," Commented Nathaniel making Lila furrow her left eyebrow.
„For real? I did that?" Asked Lila, afterward, someone rang on the doorbell and she looked at the door along with her husband. „But why would I have your last name?"
„I fear giving you a answer to that question," Admitted Nathaniel walking at the door to open it and see Rose standing on the outside with a large book next to Juleka and their adopted girl Eireen.
„Hey Nath," Greeted Rose, then looked past him to see Lila stand in the middle of the corridor looking at the three females. „Hello Lila!" Greeted Rose, then Nathaniel stepped aside to let the women in. „How are you?"
„I'm good, thanks," Responded Lila, then looked at Rose's book curious. „What's with the book?"
„This isn't just a book, that's my photoalbum of my life from the time I got into Miss Bustier's class. Well you will notice the first four years you're absent, because you were before in Italy or somewhere else at the school. Also there are some faces you have never seen before, but the ones you saw were Chloé, Sabrina, Juleka, Nathaniel, Max, me and Marinette…..oh and Kim here too,"
„Alright and when exactly did I come to your class?" Questioned Lila, then Rose moved forward a couple of pages to show the page of the 9th grade, where now Lila was present on the image along with Kagami Tsurugi, which both stood on the middle one behind the other.
„You're standing behind Kagami, because you were taller than her on that time," Explained Rose making Lila nod, then Rose pressed the book against Lila's hands. „Here you can take a look at it during the day or night, whenever you can. You might figure out with the time, how your life was before,"
„Thank you, Rose," Said the raven-haired woman, then Nathalie got into the corridor to see the two women and Eireen.
„Hey Nathalie, how are you doing?" Asked Rose getting down on her knees waiting for Nathalie to approach the adult for a short hug. „Also had a good school week?"
„So far it's good," Commented Nathalie, then looked at Eireen and waved at her.
„Now, that you're here, we haven't started to make dinner yet. Would you love to stay with us?" Offered Nathaniel, then Rose looked at Juleka, which nodded.
„We could eventually get to know each other again," Stated Juleka.
„Sweet," Sang Rose, then looked down at the two girls. „Is that okay, Eireen?"
„Yes, I'm good," Commented Eireen, then Nathalie nudged the friend on the arm.
„Are you interested in to coming into my room and play?" Offered Nathalie, then Eireen looked up at her mothers.
„Can I go play with Nathalie?" Asked Eireen making the women nod.
„What are we going to do for dinner?" Asked Lila looking at Nathaniel, which looked into the kitchen, then looked at a box, where they contained potatoes in it.
„What about Gratin with potatoes?" Questioned Nathaniel. „The Italian style?"
„Okay, I think that's good," Responded Lila. „Are you going to make it,"
„If you want," Responded Nathaniel. „Or do you feel secure enough to follow a receipt for the patient booklet of yours?"
„Well…..actually I could work on that," Commented Lila making Rose give her thumbs up.
„Practice makes you better," Commented Rose.
Meanwhile both children walked stairs up, going together to the bedroom of Nathalie, afterward she opened the door and switched on the light to reveal the bedroom to the Danish girl.
„This is my bedroom," Showed Nathalie the girl, which looked astonished at the size of the bedroom. „I've got currently only those toys over there at the wall. The box there is also where I contain most of my dolls and a few cars," Said Nathalie walking towards the box to open it, then took out a white SUV car and showed under it Elliot's name written on it. „Elliot and Cody gave me a car, when they or another boy would want to play,"
„Okay," Responded Eireen, then encountered an action figure of the superheroine Honey Bee. „Are those action figures?"
„Yes. My father has bought them all for me. I have there also a few Simulation dolls. The main ones I have there at the dollhouse," Spoke Nathalie taking out a dark-skinned woman with blonde hair making Eireen look curious at the girl.
„Who's that?" Questioned Eireen curious at the unique appeareance of the doll.
„Dina Brasa," Responded Nathalie, then digged inside the box again to take a redheaded doll out. „This is Mina, her twin sister,"
„Cool," Said Eireen, then Nathalie reached the blonde doll to the friend. „Do you want to play with this one?" Questioned the double-citizen girl making Eireen nod and grab the doll, while the brunette kept the redhead. „Let's go to the dollhouse,"
„Okay!" Responded Eireen following the girl to the dollhouse, then sat down along with the girl on the carpet in front of the house, then watched Nathalie adjust the dollhouse, so both could reach equally to both open sides of the house.
Down at the kitchen, Juleka sat in front of the table watching Rose and Nathaniel stand far away from Lila at the oven watching her move on the herd the button up on the higher stage.
„What have you read on the recipe you'd need to do?" Asked Rose looking at Lila, which looked at the fridge behind Nathaniel, then walked at the fridge to look into it, then took out three tomatos and looked at Nathaniel, which stood behind her watching her.
„Can you hold them for a sec?" Asked Lila putting the tomatoes on Nathaniel's hands, which watched his wife search the vegetable box for more and took out three bell peppers, then gave them to Nathaniel again and searched the other drawer for more vegetables to found only apples and pears. „Okay, they're sufficient enough," Said Lila watching Nathaniel place them on the counter. „Where is the cutting board again?" Asked the raven-haired woman watching Nathaniel open a vertically-shaped drawer, where they contained several kitchen liquids and had the board stuck between the wall and the bottles, then handed it out to Lila, which by herself went to pick out a small knife and placed it on the board. She picked one of the tomatoes, then before she cut them open she remembered something she forgot.
„I gotta wash this before," Mentioned Lila opening the water tap to pass the vegetables under it and took them back to the board, then began to cut the tomato in slices.
„Is it okay, if I take out the following ingredients in the recipe….the onion, garlic and a bunch of other spices I see," Nathaniel mentioned looking at the recipe book.
„Okay, but I'm the one adding them into it,"
„Sure, don't worry," Said Nathaniel taking a look at the book again to see, what came next. „What does drizzle over it mean?" Questioned Nathaniel making Rose giggle.
„Sprinkling over," Added Rose while Juleka nodded.
„You know, despite this here being a school cookbook, it gives me sometimes more questions than answers. If you knew the many times I have to use the internet to search for the meaning of some words, you'd be frustrated,"
„Last time I made apple pie with Juleka and one of the recipes was wrong. It said I needed 1dl of the juice made by the additional recipe of the pie and in the end it should have been like 5, cause it barely filled the tin of the pie,"Explained Rose making Juleka nod.
„The good thing is, the pie turned out very delicious," Commented Juleka. „Luka ate half of it on his own,"
„Wasn't this soon before we joined the 8th grade or something?" Asked Nathaniel looking back at the woman, which shrugged their shoulders.
„I think it's a possibility. Lila and Kagami weren't around on that time," Rose reminded the group. Nathaniel shrugged, then glimpsed back at Lila, which had pushed aside the first cut tomato, then moved to the next one and Nathaniel moved to the booklet of Lila to open it, then notice down, what he had observed in this short time.
„She's doing good I find," Mentioned Juleka making Nathaniel nod.
„She's more confident it seems," Nathaniel mentioned. „Before she was just like me, not quite confident about it,"
„Oh cooking class was hilarious. I remember Nathaniel being set up with me in a group along with Kim and Nino. We were the most catastrophic group to have ever worked together. Our task was to make crepes filled with spicy quark. Kim and Nathaniel had never cooked before in their lives, not even in the class and burnt the dough a couple of times. Nino took the white pepper instead of the black one and added cheyenne pepper into the quark and I'm not sure, if there was anything more on it or if he exagerated on it, but the filling tasted so hot I had a sore tongue for the half of the day,"
„Consider yourself lucky, I sat in the toilet for the rest of the day," Added Nathaniel making Lila snort.
„This happened to Adrien Agreste last year at a Mexican dinner we've been on," Mentioned Lila making Nathaniel chuckle, then he widened his eyes at that comment. Lila widened her eyes at the comment, then looked at the friends around her
„I said Adrien Agreste, right?" Questioned Lila making Nathaniel nod. „I know who he is. I was in the same class with him. He sat in front of the class in the first row,"
„Oh cool, you remembered Adrien," Commented Rose. „Do you also remember, who organized that evening?"
„I don't know it," Mentioned Lila looking at Nathaniel, which held her notebook.
„I have noticed, that you remembered Adrien," Commented Nathaniel. „Can you tell anything more about him?"
„He's blonde, he's got green eyes I think and...oh his mother is missing," Added Lila making Nathaniel nod.
„She has been found already, but that's going good so far," Rose stated making Nathaniel nod.
„She sure will remember more with the time she looks into our book," Mentioned Juleka making Rose nod.
„Do I have to cut the pepper bells in slices or in cubes?" Questioned Lila looking at the trio.
„I think it doesn't matter," Commented Nathaniel. „Do it the way you're more comfortable with,"
„Okay,"
„Where will you make the gratin? Inside a tin?" Questioned Rose watching Nathaniel take from a closet above the counter a tin and placed it on the table, then took from the fridge out a package of parmesan along with a package filled with mozzarella.
„Have you checked the potatoes?" Asked Juleka getting up to look at the potatoes, then watched Nathaniel move his hand up demanding the friend to wait five more minutes.
At the Agreste household, the whole family sat together for dinner, and Gabriel as the head of the family noticed his grandson excitedly chat together with Hope about the evening.
„I have heard, that you went out at the park together with Elliot," Gabriel mentioned looking at Adrien, which had shoved the cruet with the salt towards the Japanese woman.
„Yes father, we did," Commented Adrien. „It felt good to be out with him. Right, champ?" Asked Adrien earning the attention of his son, which nodded.
„He spun me and a few kids around on a carousel, then we both have fallen off it," Commented Elliot making Gabriel furrow his eyebrows confused. „It didn't hurt, it was so funny. The carousel went around so fast. Faster than a helicopter," Explained Elliot making Kagami grin amused at the son's story.
„About that, you probably have noticed. We have only three puppies with us now. Our last female puppy has been sold to a retirement home as a therapy dog," Foretold Kagami making her father-in-law nod.
„That's good for now. Next time, Adrien I think if you felt like the job you had with Shirjoku before wasn't really good for you, you could have said anything and someone else would have gone in your place," Mentioned Gabriel looking at his son, which grinned at the father embarrassed.
„I know father. I felt a little bad for him and skipped it," Commented Adrien, then Kagami moved her hand above the table making her husband smile a little and put his over hers.
„That's understandable, how you felt," Spoke Gabriel, then looked back at his grandson again. „Did you and your father do anything more besides playing on that carousel you spoke about?"
„I found one of my classmates there along with her father. The one we call Debby," Said Elliot. „She plays very good basketball,"
„Ah the girl from the Langeraks, right?"
„Uh I guess so," Responded Elliot unsure, then Emilie shook her head.
„That's actually Ruby, darling," Corrected the wife making Gabriel nod.
„I wasn't aware of it," Stated Gabriel watching Kagami take out her smartphone to open up the phone number list of Elliot's class.
„Deborah Lake," Read Kagami, then furrowed her eyebrows at looking at the list of the class. „Wouldn't a Facestargram group chat make more sense for upcoming information for us parents?" Asked Kagami showing Emilie the plan making the woman shrug her shoulders.
„Adrien has been homeschooled before. Miss Bustier would only have mailed us or given a call in case of something, depending on the case,"
„She would according to Nathalie and Maria," Commented Gabriel, then Emilie exchanged with her son a neutral look at remembering the name of their former assistant. Elliot shove the fork into his mouth, then noticed the awkward silence, that came between the adults on the table, then looked up at his mother.
„Mom, was this Nathalie another one?" Questioned Elliot earning Kagami's attention, which nodded and placed her hand on Elliot's shoulder.
„She used to work for us here at the house when your father and I were together at the school," Stated Kagami making Adrien nod.
„What happened to her?" Asked Elliot, then Adrien moved his hand up to avoid Elliot questioning about her.
„At the moment this conversation isn't appropriate for dinner and for you as well,"
„Why not?" Questioned Elliot, then Kagami moved her hand up at Elliot's cheek.
„It's a very delicate topic and you wouldn't at this age be able to understand. When you're older we can talk to you about it,"
„Fine," Sighed Elliot, then felt his mother adjust his bangs to uncover his eyes and pressed her lips on his forehead.
„If you'd like to have at least a minor information about her, she saved your father's life by giving up her own," Commented Emilie. „You wouldn't be here without your father if it wasn't for her,"
„Cool," Commented Elliot, making Adrien nod.
„Has anyone got something planned for tomorrow?" Questioned Adrien watching all on the table shake their heads. „I thought about if we could do a picnic together somewhere,"
„Sounds like a good idea to me," Commented Gabriel. „Where exactly are you thinking about going to?"
„That's a good question. During the weekend, there are many people going out," Mentioned Adrien. „You have a plan, where we could go and have any space to be together?"
„I would need to look," Commented Gabriel making Emilie nod.
„We sure will find something adequate for us,"
„Perhaps near a playground or something alike. So Elliot and Hope could play with some of us," Added Kagami.
„What about near a basketball field or anything alike?" Questioned Adrien. „We could as well play in one of them together?"
„I don't know about one. Only the one from yesterday" Commented Kagami. „Eventually, if there's no chance for us to hang out at the field after lunch, we could do something else. For example, go to the cinema for a movie," Suggested Kagami making Adrien smile.
„I could take Elliot to see Sonic the Platypus," Adrien added. „He's definitely going to love it,"
„Who's Sonic the Platypus?" Questioned Elliot.
„A red-colored platypus, who can run super fast. I have several video games of him, I used to play when I was younger. If you want, I can show you them," Explained Adrien making Elliot nod.
„You two are going after dinner, right?" Questioned Gabriel about their conversation making Adrien nod.
„Of course, don't worry," Promised Adrien. „I want to finish dinner slowly. Give myself some rest from all the activities of today,"
„I would say after the exam you could use some sleep as well. I'm surprised how you're still awake after waking up twice at night because of the puppies,"
„I had coffee at midday and after school before I left. Perhaps even too much," Confessed the blonde making his son chuckle. „I'm sure it's gone in two or three hours. I promise," Commented Adrien making his life partner nod.
Luka and his son Rouven stood together in front of the entrance of the cinema waiting as a few people stood in line to buy tickets for the upcoming movie at the cinema.
„Why is mom taking so long?" Asked Rouven looking up at the father impatiently, while Luka remained chilled at the waiting of his wife.
„She's on her way, don't worry, buddy," Said Luka placing his hand on Rouven' shoulder. „She had to go to an interview along with a few work pals of her after they were done,"
„Is Alya doing the interview with her?" Questioned Rouven making his father shrug his shoulders.
„I don't know it exactly. I just know it's today," Commented Luka making Rouven nod, which looked at the road at the passing vehicles. Luka's smartphone received a message, then he took it out to see it was from his friend Nathaniel and he opened it to read it.
„Lila made it to remember Adrien for a little bit and something about Gabriel inviting her for model business or something. I have no idea about the latter one, but the first part is fine for now,"
Luka smiled, then wrote down a message back to his friend as a suggestion.
„Have you thought about showing Lila around Paris to see, if her memory would get triggered by something and make her remember anything?" Luka sent to his friend, then stored his smartphone back to look at the road and see on his side a brown vehicle come along and flash the raven-haired with his lights to stop in front of him. Luka recognized Marinette sitting inside on the co-driver seat, while across her sat Alya Lahiffe driving and lifted her hand to greet the musician.
„Look who's here," Said Luka watching Rouven grab the door handle trying to open it, then growled as he couldn't manage to open it up making Luka chuckle, then pull the son aside, so Marinette could get out and embrace her son.
„Hey Rouven," Greeted Marinette, then got up to peck her husband on his lips. „Hey baby,"
„Our son was getting slightly impatient with waiting," Commented Luka making Marinette chuckle, then looked back at Alya, which had heard the comment as well.
„We're sorry for being so late. We had to make sure your mother and the others would look good in front of our camera as well," Commented Alya with a wink.
„Did you make the interview?" Questioned Rouven making Alya nod.
„Lucky for your mother today it was my job to take care of the interview. Later on, you can watch it on repeat along with your parents if you want to see it," Stated Alya making Rouven nod.
„Where's Nino?" Questioned Luka noticing his absence.
„He took Chantal to see his parents and he would return around the 9 or 10 he said," Alya responded. „I'll greet him from you all,"
„Cool," Commented Luka, then Marinette closed the door and the Couffaine's waved at Alya, which mirrored them back, and drove off.
„What have you boys picked out to see?" Questioned Marinette looking at the two raven heads, then Luka looked down at Rouven, which walked towards the digital posters on the side of the theatre and pointed at an image, that showed a trio of kids from different descendants with the title under them.
„Nani?" Read Luka curious.
„What's it all about?" Questioned Marinette looking at her son.
„It's about three friends, that have to solve a mysterium together at a school," Explained Rouven making Marinette nod. „Is this okay?"
„I'm fine with it. Come, we better get in the queue before the tickets get sold out," Mentioned Marinette guiding Rouven along with Luka behind the line.
„I don't think, this happens so fast," Commented Luka, then Marinette bumped him with her butt.
„Who said last may Superfamily 2 wasn't getting a full house by the end of the month?" Questioned Marinette playfully, which made Luka cackle.
„Okay, I should have guessed the happening. But hey, we had a great time with Ivan and Nath's family back there," Explained Luka moving one step forward as the queue progressed forward and people started to show up and line behind them as well.