To make up for the slight delay in delivering this chapter I made it a little longer for you all ENJOY!
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Alice was slightly less alarmed to encounter the baby on her second visit, although seeing Matthew Lawson bouncing an infant on his good leg where he sat at the kitchen table was another sight entirely. Lucien had ushered her inside rather hurriedly before disappearing into his office, singing out for her to go make herself at home in the kitchen. And so she had, not expecting to see it already occupied.
It was a Saturday, so she assumed Charlie was out for the day. Jean was supposedly home, though her whereabouts were currently unknown. And then there was Matthew; the most unlikely of babysitters. Amelia was sucking happily on a cold rubber teething ring as he held her on his lap and read the paper, a pen in hand for the crossword.
"I would get up-" he said when he spotted Alice, indicating both the baby and his leg. She immediately waved him off with a generous smile, shaking her head to indicate he shouldn't even pretend to make the gesture.
"No, please" she said.
He smiled in return, and for a moment she was rooted in place, not quite inside the kitchen but also not standing in the hallway. She found him disarming, not least because he always approached her with the same manner as he did Lucien; efficient, professional, and never like she was an idiot. Most men – certainly most men of a certain age and rank – didn't even realise the disdain they directed to her. Thinly veiled comments or worse, insults they didn't even know they were making. By now she was immune to their effects, but it still annoyed her that otherwise charming men couldn't divorce her profession from her gender.
With Matthew there was none of that. If he was annoyed with her it was because of the work; if he was kind to her it was because he was a kind man and maybe even considered her a friend. At the very least they were colleagues who got along well. There was never a hint or a worry that his intentions were otherwise engaged or inappropriate, and she found that hard to deal with and confusing. Blatant sexism she could handle; polite indifference was another beast to battle.
Alice proceeded into the kitchen and took a seat on the opposite side of the table. She didn't have a file with her this time; Lucien had called her over to hear the latest from his experiment room, and being she had no other Saturday plans, she had agreed to the visit gladly. She eyed Amelia again, distinctly aware that Matthew was watching her from the corner of his eye.
"Is she teething?" asked Alice.
"Apparently. Been sucking on this thing all morning" he replied, pointing with the pen in his hand to the ring in Amelia's mouth.
"Yes, I've heard babies like the cold on their gums"
He only hummed in agreement and looked back down to his crossword. He wasn't deliberately ignoring her, she knew, he was just engrossed, and perhaps not in the mood to talk. Any other time he was a generous conversationalist, not overly verbose but open to chatting with her about all manner of things. Today she was content to sit in the quiet and wait; it was then she noticed the wireless was turned on down low in the other room, a soft jazz record playing. It all felt rather… nice.
She noticed Matthew tap the pen a couple of times, a frown on his face.
"Would you like some help?"
He looked up as though he had forgotten she was even there, and then looked back to his crossword. He hesitated, not sure if he should take her up on her offer, but Lucien was taking his time cleaning up and gathering himself together back in the study, and anyway, it was obvious he had several blank spaces.
"Sixteen across, nine letters, the clue is 'acceptance of others'"
"Tolerance" she answered immediately. That one seemed simple. He looked up, quirked his eyebrow in a way she couldn't quite figure out, and then wrote in the word. If it was anyone other than Matthew she would think he set her up, but she trusted that he wouldn't be so callous and so she let it be. He scanned the page again.
"Fifty across. Three lette- you know, these ones annoy me the most. You would think for three letters I would know the damn word"
She ignored his tone. "What's the clue?"
"Electrified atom" he said, huffing.
"Ion" she replied, and smirked a little with pride but didn't let it go to her head; it was just a crossword after all. And Matthew was a cop, not a scientist, there was no reason he should know such things, which was probably why he asked her in the first place. He was looking at her now in a way that seemed… conflicted. As though part of him wanted to be annoyed with her and her silly smirk, and another part wanted to keep asking her questions all day long. She felt strangely exposed under that look. Alice never did like being scrutinised.
"Alice, I do apologise"
Whatever mood had been between them was broken with Lucien's arrival in the kitchen.
"Not at all" she said with a smile. "I was just helping Matthew here with his puzzles"
Lucien made a curious face that had a story behind it.
"I'm surprised he let you near it" he said, arching a brow at Matthew for his part to play.
Alice felt out of place; obviously something was going on with these two that she didn't understand, and perhaps letting others interfere with his crossword was not Matthew's usual way but after all, how else would he have got the word 'ion'. Matthew just ignored the look, giving one back that dared them to challenge him. Alice thought it best to interfere before the boys got carried away.
"Did you get the results you were looking for?" she asked Lucien, conspiratorial and smiling, drawing him back to the point of her visit.
"No" he said, grinning. "Better"
"Oh?"
"I got completely unexpected and conflicting results that I can't explain. I can't wait to show you"
"I look forward to it"
They both started when Matthew groaned dramatically and stood from his seat. He had to use the table with one hand and hold the baby tightly with the other, but he managed it better than she'd seen from him lately, so that was a positive sign. She hated thinking he was invalid in any way, it seemed too sad. She stood too, and Lucien moved closer to Matthew's side.
"If you two are going to sit here doing… science-y things… I'm going to go join Jean in the garden"
Matthew handed Amelia off to Lucien as he collected his newspaper and his cane. Lucien immediately handed Amelia over to Alice without a second thought, intent on helping his friend walk the short distance to the back door and then outside. Matthew tried to shake him off, but Lucien wasn't having any of it, so the two of them made their way in a slow and limping fashion. Lucien was being extra cautious, noting that Matthew tended to cramp up after sitting so long, and there were a couple of half-steps and door jambs before the flat of the grass outside. He didn't want Matthew to trip, so escorted him most of the way out to the sunroom, leaving Alice alone with the baby.
Alice knew enough to hold her without dropping her, but still she was dumbfounded to be standing in the Blake kitchen with an infant. Amelia was thankfully not crying, and had managed to hold on to her teething ring despite the jostling and her still-uncoordinated grip. In fact she was eyeing Alice with a look far too scrutinising for a child her age, almost as if she was deciding if she liked her or not, which Alice found oddly charming; she respected people who were a little more discerning about the company they kept. A moment passed, and the baby didn't squawk. She just continued sucking on the teething ring, looking around the kitchen.
"You really do love that thing, don't you?" asked Alice softly, settling the baby close on her hip the way she'd seen Jean do. It didn't feel very natural, but she still felt better having her there than awkwardly held in front of herself.
After standing for a moment, Alice resumed her seat at the table and seated Amelia in front of her on the tabletop, holding under her arms to keep her steady. The teething ring dropped, landing on Alice's lap, and she found she wasn't as worried about the dribble on her dress as she might have expected to be. Amelia gave her a grin, exposing gums that looked speckled with bright pink and white; teeth very close to breaking, if she had to guess.
Alice picked up the teething ring and placed it back in the baby's mouth just as Lucien walked back through the door. He had clearly forgotten that he gave Alice the baby, because he started at the sight of the two of them in front of him, and then failed to hide a smile.
He sat in the seat nearest Alice, and leaned forward to run his bearded cheek over Amelia's; it was clearly a practiced game the two of them played. Amelia giggled at the contact and dropped the teething ring on Alice's lap again, slapping her hands up and down against herself. Alice watched, intrigued and once again taken by Lucien's gentle nature; he smiled and kissed the baby's chubby cheek before pulling away, looking slightly sheepish for being so demonstrative in front of his friend. Alice smiled at him in response, and then at the giggling baby as she gave her back the teething ring, a little more confident in herself the longer they got along. The baby lurched forward, and Alice caught her under her arms and placed her firmly on her lap instead. Lucien was giving her a look, but she dutifully ignored it.
"Still no regrets?" he teased her, no bite in his words. It was obvious that Alice was not a natural, as much as she was capable. Truthfully she only took to Amelia because of the people they had in common and the relationships it afforded them both, and if not for those people Alice would have no reason to interact with the baby at all. She certainly had no delusions about her own lost opportunities.
"Not a one" she quipped back, even bouncing her knees a little to make Amelia gurgle. "But I have to admit… she is quite cute"
"I knew you'd come around" he said with a soft smile, bumping her shoulder with his own.
