Author's Note: Any mistakes in Cassie's French should be thought of as part of her learning process in-universe. Any mistakes in Daniel's French should be thought of as me not doing my due diligence, and you are welcome to point them out.
This is intended to take place in a slightly AU version of Seasons 3-5—I have tweaked the timeline a smidge to serve my own ends.
Many thanks to an anonymous beta reader who helped me sort out a couple of issues with this!
"Janet est ma mère."
"Et ma femme," Daniel adds helpfully. "Je suis ton beau-père. Et Kasuf était mon beau-père."
Cassie gives him a weird look.
"Uh…beau-père…it's 'stepfather,' but it's also 'father-in-law.'"
She eyes him for another second, somehow unsatisfied, before turning back to her textbook.
"Le général est le grand-père de Tessa et de Kayla—elles sont sœurs. Sam est…" she flips to the glossary, "Sam est comme ma tante. Jack est…Jacques? Et tu," she says, eyes flicking pointedly towards him, "as tort."
Okay, apparently someone's been spending a little too much time with Jacques, because fourteen years old or not, that brand of blunt, brazen sass did not spring fully formed from Cassie's own head. He dons an expression of indignation.
"J'ai tort, Cassandre? Moi!?"
"Oui. Tu dis que tu es mon beau-père, et ce n'est pas vrai. Tu es mon père, Daniel."
The French inflect his name just like the Abydonians. His heart tugs—but not as much as it would have a year ago.
Or maybe just in a different direction.
Maneuvering around a meticulous spray of color-coded flashcards and ten (or twelve) Dixie cups full of espresso dregs and sodden ladyfinger tips, he reaches across the table and squeezes her hand.
"Pas un beau-père, Cassandre? Impugning my good looks now, huh?"