No opening notes this time because I don't care.


It was a snowy December evening. Riding in a little car was Marie Stevenson. Well, she supposed she was Marie Beaufort-Stevenson now. She was on her way to her first visit with her new stepfamily. Dad had married Gina (well, Stepmum now) last August, and now they were all going to spend Christmas weekend together.

They arrived and went inside. Step-Granny was very pleased to see Stepmum and Dad. "Salut, Gina, et Blaine. Et ceci c'est Marie, oui?" (Hi, Gina, and Blaine. And this is Marie, yes?)

"Yes it is. Lovely to see you again, Amélie," said Dad, shaking her head.

Marie looked at everyone in the room. She was still a little shy being around her stepfamily. They were still all so new to her.

"C'est correct, cherie," said Stepmum. (It's okay, darling.) She encouraged her to talk to her stepfamily members. Marie decided to approach the redhead with the toddler in his lap.

"Salut," he said. "Je suis ton oncle Joseph." He gestured to the tiny girl. "Et ceci est Katrina. Katrina, ceci c'est ta cousine Marie." (Hi. I'm your uncle Joseph. And this is Katrina. Katrina, this is your cousin Marie.)

"Hi," said Katrina in a small voice. Marie didn't feel quite so self-conscious knowing that she and Dad weren't the only family members who spoke English.

"Ramasser les enfants sur le sofa," said Step-Granny. "On va prendre une photo." (Gather the kids on the couch. We'll take a picture.)

Marie and Katrina were organized on the sofa in a "best cousins forever" sort of way, along with a tall teenager, who Marie guessed was also her cousin. Stepmum set up the camera and snapped a few pictures.

"Tu es du Royaume-Uni, correct?" (You're from the UK, right?) The teenager asked Marie, once the adults had gone downstairs for coffee and "grown-up talk".

"Yes," said Marie. "I was born in Manchester."

"Je suis allée une fois quand j'avais dix ans," she continued. "Oh, aussi, je suis Chloé." (I went there once when I was ten. Oh, by the way, I'm Chloé.)

"Are you my cousin too?" Marie asked.

"Techniquement, je suis ta deuxième cousine. Je suis la cousine de Joseph," said Chloé. "Sa mère et mon père sont frère et soeur." (Technically, I'm your second cousin. I'm Joseph's cousin. His mum and my dad are brother and sister.)

Since she could tell that the little kids were bored, Chloé decided to show them her favourite dancing program. She picked a simple routine to accommodate for her six and two year old cousins. Soon enough, the three were dancing and having fun. Wasn't Step-Granny ever pleased to come upstairs and see the three of them getting along!

"Oh, je sais que vous alliez être les meilleures amies!" Step-Granny cooed. (Oh, I knew that you were going to be best friends!)

Marie grinned and ran to Step-Granny to hug her. She knew that she was going to love Stepmum's family.


Just for clarification, Chloé is Gabby Jay's daughter, Gabby is Amélie's younger brother, and Gina (Stepmum) is Joe's older sister.