Francis kept as close as he could to Lafayette all through Friday, refusing to leave the Frenchman until he absolutely had to. They spent their time that day working at the table together on writing and reading English. Mary and the Major would write down sentences for them to read aloud and copy down onto paper of their own. Then, every so often, the couple would quiz the pair by speaking a sentence to them aloud for them to write down.
"Lafayette, this one is harder. Do you think you can handle it?" Major Huger asked with a small smile to the young man.
Lafayette smiled back at the major. "I can do my best, Monsieur Major."
"Your sentence is 'His hubris was his weakness'." The major said, repeating the sentence a bit slower for the younger man, the wheels rather obvious as the young man started to work out the words letter by letter on the page.
"His hubris was his weakness…" he said aloud as he worked on the sentence before passing the paper over to the major when he finally transcribed it.
The major took the paper and looked over the loopy penmanship. "Well, you misspelled the word 'weakness', but you got everything else right."
"How is weakness spelled?"
"It's W-E-A-K-N-E-S-S. You wrote W-E-E-C-K-N-I-S." the major explained to him easily.
"But, the I and the S in 'hubris' made the same sound. I thought you said that C and K make the K sound together."
"I did and they do, but not in this instance. English has a lot of different rules that it follows only about half the time."
Lafayette groaned and put his head down to the table in frustration. "Ma tête va exploser." He complained into the table.
"You'll get it with practice. Don't get too down on yourself." Mary hummed to the young man gently. "You two have been working hard. Why don't you go take a break?"
Francis nodded and happily moved to leave the table with Lafayette happily. "Lafayette, do you have anything of your family?" he asked curiously. "Like a portrait or something?"
"I do have a little portrait I brought with me. Come, I show you." Lafayette replied with a smile to the boy, leading him up to the guest room where he'd been staying. He then went through his trunk, pulling out the small, framed portrait from his trunk. "Here we are. This is me and my wife, Adrienne, and our little baby Henriette." He explained, handing the oil painting to Francis so he could see.
"Your wife is really pretty and your baby is cute." Francis said as he looked at the depiction of the young family.
"Thank you. I think so, too." Lafayette replied with a smile to Francis happily. "I respect artists a lot. To work with a baby is hard. Especially a wiggly one like Henriette."
Francis smiled a bit at that, imagining the scene as the young couple tried to keep their baby still and calm as they stayed in the same position for the patient artist.
"Do you miss them?" the boy asked as he handed the portrait back to Lafayette, watching the man look it over rather adoringly.
"Yes, I do; very, very much. Being an ocean away from your family is no easy thing." Lafayette replied, looking at the portrait a bit longer before moving to pack it away in his trunk carefully. He folded it into his clothing so it wouldn't be damaged while traveling the next morning.
"How did you meet your wife?" Francis asked curiously as he watched the older man curiously.
"We met when we were young. We kept showing up together in different places in Paris and thought it was fate. I courted her for a little over a year before asking her father for his blessing. We were married in her family's little chapel. She looked like an angel and I cried through the whole ceremony." Lafayette explained with a small smile up to Francis, moving to sit with the little boy on the bed in the room.
"That's nice. And now you have a little baby?" Francis asked with a small smile to the other man.
"Yes, now we have a little baby. We love each other and our baby very much. I intend to fight for America's freedom. Then, when it is won, I will go back to France and bring freedom to my people as well, so our little Henriette may grow up in a better world."
"You really think we're going to win?"
"Yes, I do. I have not met General Washington yet, but I am very excited to. With luck, I will meet him in a little over a week." Lafayette replied with a smile to Francis. "I will have to write down your address so I can write to you. I'll tell you all about the general."
Francis smiled at the idea of still having contact with the Frenchman after he'd left their home. "That sounds great! I can have Mommy and Daddy read them to me!"
Lafayette nodded and smiled softly to the little boy. "Yes. Every so often I might send you a gift or two. That's what I plan to do for my wife and little baby."
"I think I would like that." Francis replied with a bright smile, moving to crawl into the aristocrat's lap to sit there with him.
Lafayette wrapped his arms around the little boy, holding Francis close as he told the little boy stories from his childhood, telling him about his mother and his in-laws and answering every little question the little boy asked until it came time for his nap. Mary came up and helped him once again as they tucked the little boy into his bed. With that, the marquis walked down to the dining room table once again so he could continue practicing reading, writing, and speaking English.
He worked until it came time for dinner, working hard to try and learn as much as he could with the major until he'd have to leave the next day and find a new way to practice his English.
When it came time for dinner, the Major let him lead the evening prayer and allowed him to give it in French as a bit of a parting gift. Lafayette folded his hands and bowed his head, the family following suit before he started on a simple that gave thanks for the food as well as for leading him to little family that had helped him out so greatly.
They all started to eat and chat together when they finished, having one last happy dinner together.
"Lafayette, will you give me my bath after dinner?" Francis asked curiously, looking over at the Frenchman sitting next to him, who was sitting with his back as straight as a board and eating politely.
"A bath? I think I might be able to do my best. I might need help, though." Lafayette replied with a small smile to Francis and a nod.
"I can help you!" Francis said with a grin to Lafayette.
"Thank you, mon petit ami. I had better bathe, too, tonight." Lafayette said easily after swallowing everything in his mouth.
"That's a good idea. It might be almost a week until you can wash yourself again." Mary said with a small smile to the pair across the table from her and the major.
"Yes, really, especially if it's a group of men all together. Travelling is difficult on the senses." The Major agreed with a small smile across the table. "When are they going to be picking you up?"
"The carriage will be here at ten tomorrow morning." Lafayette replied to him easily.
"Alright. Well, we'll all have breakfast together and then we'll see you off." The Major replied with a small smile.
"I will make sure to write to you often. I told Francis I would tell him about General Washington." Lafayette promised them.
"What about the gift you said you had for me?" Francis asked rather eagerly.
"Francis!" Mary scolded with a small frown at her young son, part of her wishing her son would be more polite around their aristocratic guest.
"I will get it to you tomorrow morning, mon petit." Lafayette replied with a smile to Francis.
"Do you promise?" Francis asked, holding a pinky out to the Frenchman.
"Yes, I do." Lafayette replied, looking at the little boy's gesture confusedly before hesitantly extending his own pinky. He found himself getting even more confused when the little boy wrapped his smaller pinky around his, linking them together briefly. Lafayette was left staring at his hand in awe and confusion for a bit after Francis pulled his pinky away, feeling like a foreigner for the first time since he'd stepped on American soil.
"It's called a 'Pinky Swear'. It's basically the equivalent of swearing on the Bible." Mary explained with a small laugh at the quizzical look on the young man's rather expressive face.
"Ah, now I understand." Lafayette said with a small smile to her in thanks before they all went back to eating together and chatting every so often and just having a pleasant time together.
"I'm done! Lafayette, let's go take a bath now!" Francis said, grabbing the other's hand eagerly.
"Un moment, s'il vous plait, mon petit." Lafayette replied to the little boy as he finished eating his own meal. He drank the rest of the wine in his glass to wash everything down. "Thank you so much for the meal." He said to Mary and the Major easily. "If you will excuse me, I don't think he will wait long."
The Major smiled and laughed a bit. "You're excused. If you need any help with him, just call one of us."
Lafayette nodded and got up from the table to go with Francis to the upper level of the house. He watched as the boy ran into his room to get a fresh nightshirt before emerging again to go to the bathroom.
"Lafayette, is that your real hair?" Francis asked curiously, wondering if it was natural for European men to have white hair, no matter how young or old they were.
"Oh, no. This is a wig. They're very in fashion in France and England." Lafayette replied honestly to Francis. "I tend to wear mine everyday, because my hair is a bad color."
"What color is your hair? Is it purple or something?" Francis asked curiously, looking up the aristocrat. "Can I see it?"
Lafayette nodded and crouched down next to Francis, letting the boy gently pull out the pins that held the wig securely on his head, anchoring it on his natural hair. The boy then slipped the wig off easily, blinking in shock when he saw the man's ginger hair tied up on his head. Lafayette untied it, letting the loose waves and curls fall down to his shoulders so Francis could see his hair.
Francis looked at the red locks curiously, reaching over to gently run his small fingers through the other's hair. "Why is red a bad a color? I think it looks good on you."
"I don't know. In France red hair is just unattractive." Lafayette replied to the little boy easily as Francis felt at and admired his hair.
"Well, I think it's really pretty."
"Thank you, mon ami. Now, let's get your bath ready."
Francis nodded and helped Lafayette draw the bath for him easily before helping the little boy out of his dirty clothes. He then helped the boy into the tub, watching him sit down and get settled in the water.
Lafayette took off his coat and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. "Alright. Where shall we start?"
"My hair!" Francis replied happily, watching as Lafayette got the bottles of shampoo and conditioner, looking at the labels curiously.
"'Shampoo'… This one must be the shampooing and this one the après shampooing…" He said to himself as he examined the bottles. He then moved to help Francis wet down his hair before starting to lather in the shampoo.
Lafayette washed out Francis's hair, pausing every so often to poke the little boy's nose and say 'tut-tut' when he wasn't expecting it, listening to the boy giggle happily in response. When he'd rinsed out Francis's hair, Lafayette got up to get the soap to wash his body from the counter top.
Francis decided to take the opportunity and, when the Frenchman had his back turned, quickly got up and grabbed Lafayette around the waist from behind, pulling the other back into the bathtub with him.
Lafayette gasped when he felt the small arms around his waist, yelping a bit when he suddenly felt himself stumbling and falling backwards. The next thing he knew, he was completely drenched, sitting sideways in the tub his long legs over the edge of the tub, with Francis grinning and laughing delightedly beside him. Lafayette pushed his wet red hair back from his face and moved to splash the little boy lightly as Mary rushed into the room.
"I heard a yelp and a splash. Are you two alri- Oh. Francis, are you picking on our dear Lafayette?" Mary asked as she rushed into the room, sighing a bit at the scene before her.
"Well, he said he needed to bathe, too, Mama!" Francis said defensively.
"Yes, but you need to let people bathe on their own terms. I'm sorry, dear. I'll get you some warm, dry clothes." Mary said with a small sigh.
"It's alright. My Henriette will probably try to do the same thing when she's old enough to." Lafayette replied with a small sigh and a wave of his hand.
"Can you bathe with me, Lafayette? I mean, you're already wet…" Francis asked eagerly, grabbing onto the Frenchman's hand happily.
Lafayette sighed and looked over at Francis and said nothing before reaching down to take off his shoes and stockings, tossing them off to the side. "Excusez-moi, madame. It appears that I need to undress. I may be French, but I still don't feel right getting nude in front of a married woman. " He said to Mary who laughed a bit, nodded, and moved to leave the room so the man could have a bit of privacy as he stripped off his soaked shirt, pants, and undergarments.
Francis grinned happily as Lafayette humored him and got nude in the bath with him. "Yay! I want to wash your hair now!" he said happily, standing up behind Lafayette to tilt his head back.
Lafayette smiled gently up at Francis as the young boy poured water over his ginger hair and wetted it down before the boy started to lather shampoo into his scalp.
"You have lots of freckles." Francis said after a bit, looking down at all the little brown dots on Lafayette's shoulders that went down to his shoulder blades on his back, and down to his collarbones on his chest, then all the way down the young man's arms and legs.
"Yes, I know. I grew up in the countryside, so I'd play with the other children outside a lot." Lafayette replied with a small smile as the little boy washed his hair for him.
"You grew up in the country?" Francis asked, trying to imagine a little aristocrat playing outside in the grass and dirt and hay with a bunch of other little kids who lived on farms nearby.
"Yes. Chavaniac-Lafayette is a tiny little town in southern France where everyone recognizes everyone and all the children tend to play with each other." Lafayette replied easily with a happy smile up at Francis while the boy rinsed the shampoo out of his hair.
"Did you ever play with goats or something?" Francis asked curiously.
"No, but a few other kids convinced me to kiss a frog once. Maman wasn't too happy about that one." Lafayette replied with a small smile up at the younger man.
"That's gross, Lafayette. Frogs are gross."
"Maman said the same thing."
Francis smiled down at Lafayette and laughed a bit before lathering in the conditioner before rinsing it out for him.
"I can wash my own body, Francis." Lafayette said when the boy had finished with his hair.
Francis nodded and moved to hand Lafayette the bar of soap and a rag, watching as the other man started to wash off his own body with ease, listening as the other hummed contently all the while.
"I'm going to miss you, Lafayette." He said after a bit as the man moved to help him wash his smaller body.
"I'll miss you, too, mon petit." Lafayette replied, pressing a small kiss to the little boy's forehead gently as he washed the little boy's back and shoulders.
"Really?" Francis asked in awe as the man washed him down.
"Oui. I hope one day I might have a little boy just like you." Lafayette replied with a small smile, letting Francis wash himself below his belly button.
Francis smiled at that and let Lafayette help him out of the tub and get them both towels to dry off with. The Frenchman wrapped one towel around his waist rather quickly before going back over to Francis to help the younger man dry off.
Francis smiled as he let Lafayette gently pat him dry, bursting into a squeal and fit of giggles when the Frenchman blew a raspberry onto his belly. He watched as Lafayette helped him into his little nightshirt before donning his own that Mary had silently left for him.
With that, Lafayette walked Francis to his nursery and tucked him into his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and, upon request, told the little boy a bedtime story entirely in French, the sound of his voice and the foreign language lulling him to sleep.
"Bon nuit, mon petit." Lafayette said softly to sleeping child, kissing his forehead softly before moving to leave the room.
Lafayette spent the rest of his night writing one last letter to Adrienne, including the letter along with a package containing a new dress he thought would suit her and a little doll for Henriette.
After a while he headed to bed after bidding Mary and the Major a good night, falling asleep only to wake up when a smaller form crawled into his bed with him and snuggled up into him. Without saying a word, Lafayette wrapped his arms around Francis and fell back asleep with the little boy for the rest of the night.