Feliciano and Romano didn't let her leave until she had told them everything she knew about Erik.
Much to their displeasure she didn't know exactly how much he earned or if he had a big house.

"So you're going after this DILF and you don't even know if he's rich?" Romano frowned. "Tch, you should do better research," he added.

"Oh please," Cécile brushed him off. "Did you not see how caring he was towards his son?"

"Not really. But I did notice he didn't pick the cheapest option on our menu," Romano scoffed.

"A good sign that," Feliciano piped up with as he wiped down the bar.
Everyone else had left, and it was just three three of them left – plus Antonio and Fernando working in the kitchen. Cécile could hear them arguing about something from time to time and then silence would fall over the restaurant once more.

"Well, either way," she huffed. "He's gorgeous, kind, caring and so far worth my time."

"He has a kid," Romano hissed.

"Who's the epitome of cute," Cécile replied coolly. "They're both made of faeries and sugar," she added and sent him a stern glare.

"Okay, okay," Romano held his hands up. "I'll take your word for it. But if he hurts you, well then…"

"You won't do anything. Because you can't," Cécile giggled. "But thank you for the offer. Sadly Erik wouldn't believe you if you tried to pull the whole 'we're Italian and therefore totally know the mafia', he's not that stupid,"

"It's worked on a lot of people before," Romano smiled.

"Sure it has, but enough about gossip about me. What about you two?" Cécile leant on the bar counter and smiled smugly at them both.

"I asked Ludwig out!" Feliciano proclaimed proudly.

"Oh well done. What did he do?" Cécile was eager to know where this went.

"He dropped his keys, let go of all the leashes for his dogs and went bright red. It was really cute," Feliciano smiled fondly at the memory.

"And his reply?" she giggled.

"He said yes! Then I had to help him catch his dogs. It was really fun."

"I can imagine," she chuckled. "And you Romano? How did your date with my cousin go?"

"It was fine, but her brother is really, really scary and I think he hates me," Romano frowned.

"Oh don't worry. Maarten just looks mean, he keeps bunnies as pets and spends his free time gardening. He's harmless," Cécile smiled and flicked her braid over her shoulder.

"Harmless to you. You and Anika are good friends too. So of course your big, scary and grumpy cousin will be nice to you," Romano huffed.

"Nonsense. He's still a nice guy with an unfortunate frown," Cécile stifled a laugh.

"Well that Erik guy looked a bit like that too," Romano mused. "Not very many smiles to be found on him."

"Erik's mostly just shy I think…" Cécile hummed softy to herself. "When he thinks no one else is looking he smiles a lot. Especially to his son. Halldór probably monopolises his happy smiles," Cécile laughed at the idea.

"I can't believe you're dating a guy who's got a kid… And not even a rich guy either!" Romano sighed theatrically.

"I think Cécile's grown out of the idea of marrying someone just to bleed them dry," Feliciano said with a smile as he elbowed his brother in the side.

"He's not poor, I know that much," Cécile huffed. "And Halldór is too cute not to like. Besides, I earn more than enough myself these days, so why should I need to bleed someone dry?"

"Extra money for shopping?" Romano suggested with a smirk.

"Nonsense. That's what you and Francis are for," she winked at them both.

"Hm, true," Feliciano giggled. "Romano keeps telling me he thinks you need new shoes."

"Well she does!" Romano gestured wildly towards her feet with a frown. "These are at least a year old!"

"Rude," Cécile huffed.

"If you're really going to woe that man you've gotta get some new footwear," Romano crossed his arms and glared.

"I think I can walk around in slippers. Erik wouldn't notice or care," Cécile laughed softly. "But if you insist…"

"I do," Romano grumbled.

"Lovely, I'll see you next week then," Cécile winked.

"Ten o'clock, sharp," Romano nodded in agreement. "We better be there when the best shops open."

"Noted," Cécile giggled. "Just don't over sleep."

"We won't," Feliciano interjected with a grin.

Cécile left he resultant with a smile that simply could not falter.
She was excited about so many things at the same time it was impossible to sleep.

She opted for reading a book for half an hour before she could even begin to think about crawling into bed.

Monday couldn't come soon enough.

The weekend passed too slowly in her mind. Sunday dragged on for what seemed like forever no matter how busy she kept herself.
She couldn't show up to this next meeting empty-handed, and after much consideration Cécile settled for a vintage red wine. If Erik liked this he was surely a keeper – and even Francis would have to agree.

However, much to her dismay, neither Erik not Halldór showed up on Monday.

At first she hoped they were just running late, although eventually she had to give up waiting and start the lesson without the young boy.

A little part of her felt rejected.
Of course she wasn't she tried to argue as she helped the young kids tidy up the room once the lesson was over.

Surely they were just busy.

Busy with something.

Cécile sighed deeply as she locked up the dance hall.

"Stupid," she muttered to herself.

Dejected, Cécile was just about to head home when a familiar car pulled into the parking lot.

"Hei," Erik said sheepishly as he stepped out of the car. "I'm really sorry," he added.
"I got very carried away. Halldór caught a bug and hasn't been well all weekend. Little food, next to no sleep and it's just been very stressful," Erik explained quietly.

"Oh," Cécile let out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry to hear he's unwell," she added, hoping Erik didn't think she wanted Halldór to be sick.

"I was going to phone you, but I hit a little problem when I realised I didn't actually have your number…" Erik ran a hand through his hair and Cécile could see the dark circles under his eyes – much more prominent than usual.

"I know I promised to help you…"

"Why don't we postpone it a little?" Cécile said. "We can just relax tonight. I think you need it," she smiled.

"Eh, well. That would be nice. But I have to be at home. Just in case Halldór wakes up and needs something."

"Of course," Cécile smiled and held the bottle of wine up for him to see. "But a bottle of wine can be drunk at home too," she added with a laugh.

"Oh, well in that case," Erik smiled ever so slightly and Cécile suppressed the temptation to smile triumphantly.
Instead she let herself into the car before Erik could protest, handbag and wine bottle in her lap as she waited patiently for Erik to scramble back into the car as well.

"The house isn't the cleanest, just as a warning," he said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't mind. Enough wine will make everything go away anyway," she replied and flashed him a smile.

"True," Erik chuckled.

His house was almost as she expected it to be.
Not too small, not too large. A perfect size for a small family in the quiet side of the city.

A swing-set in the garden, coupled with various flowers and a few trees that looked like they had been climbed a lot by a certain little boy.

"How cute," she said softly as Erik unlocked the door and gestured for her to step inside.

"Thanks," he replied. "Hang on. I'm sure I've got spare slippers somewhere…" he added with a mumble and rummaged through the bottom of the wardrobe in the hallway.

Cécile was somewhat amused by the pair he produced. They looked handmade and a little worn, but she had to admit that hey were very comfortable.
Clearly she was right. Erik really wouldn't care if she wore old slippers.

"You call this messy?" she mused out loud as Erik showed her to the living room. Sure; there were some toys strews about and some blankets looked like they should be folded up neatly instead of strewn across the floor and furniture – but it was hardly bad.

"Usually I keep it rather neat, all things considered given Halldór's age. But this weekend has been rather tough for him so I'm afraid cleaning went off the to-do-list very quickly," Erik explained as he bent down to pick up a teddy-bear from the floor.

"You just find two wineglasses and forget all about your responsibilities for a while," Cécile commanded him with a small smile. "You need to relax a little too."

"I'll try," Erik said with a sigh as he returned with two glasses, pleased to see Cécile had made herself comfortable on the sofa already.

"Try harder," Cécile said sternly and handed him the wine.

"Yes Ma'm," Erik said before making a low whistle.
"Are you sure we can drink this?" he pointed to the wine. "It's a very expensive one…"

"Of course. If you like red wine then it's perfect."

"I like all wine," Erik laughed as he opened the bottle and poured them both a glass.

"Cheers to that then," Cécile raised her glass.

"Yes. Cheers," Erik replied, clinking their glasses together before taking a careful sip.

Cécile watched as he raised his eyebrows and stared at the red wine in awe.
"Wow. That is good," he mumbled.

"I know," she giggled.

Half a bottle of wine each later, Erik was close to nodding off on the sofa despite his best attempts at staying awake.
Cécile nudged him a little and gave him a sweet smile.

"You need to sleep," she said sternly. "You can tell me the rest of your ideas tomorrow."

"Yeah. Just need to make the guest bed up for you first," Erik mumbled sleepily.

"Oh, no room in your bed for little me?" she asked and smiled.

"I…uh," Erik's cheeks went almost as red as the wine he'd drunk. "Well, if you don't mind then of course," he managed to utter hurriedly.

"Of course not," Cécile giggled as she rose from the sofa, dragging Erik up with her. "It's a cold night and you're a perfect oven," she added with a wink.

Erik led her upstairs, pausing only momentary as he clearly debated what to do next.

"Can I borrow a t-shirt?" she asked and gestured to his wardrobe.

Erik only nodded before he slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

Cécile rid herself of her clothes much faster than him and happily crawled into the bed, watching Erik frantically fumble with his buttons.

She stifled a giggle as he eventually got both his shirt and trousers off, climbing into bed in only boxers.

"Is this okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Cécile nodded and shuffled closer to him. "I certainly don't mind if you don't," she added.

"Not at all," Erik whispered softly.

"Good," Cécile sighed happily, resting her head against his chest. She could hear his heart racing, although it eventually slowed as the exhaustion took over all other emotions.

"Good night," she whispered softly and gave him a quick peck to his jawline.

"Night," Erik mumbled sleepily in return and wound his arm around her waist.

This, Cécile thought to herself, felt just perfect.

The sound of his breathing, coupled with the rise and fall of his chest and his steady heartbeat made for a great lullaby.

This she could get very used to she decided. Very, very used to.