Adopted by Stromae

vingt-trois

Maelle and Paul sat at the kitchen table, a laptop in front of them, for research purposes. Coralie was busy in her office working on items for her clothing line.

Maelle had never asked about the clothing line, nor about what either of her foster parents did for a living. The only thing she knew about the line was that it existed and that they were able to pay the bills.

"Have you ever thought about it?" Paul asked her, resting his face on his palm.

Maelle shook her head slowly, "I always just kept telling myself 'you'll be fine, you have plenty of time to worry about that'." She sighed, "It turns out that I do not have plenty of time to worry about that,"

Maelle was truly impressed with Paul's patience regarding Maelle's lack of plans for the future. He just sat with her as she thought about something she had never felt the need to think about.

She wasn't the best at anything, but she did hold an interest in certain things. With time and effort, she knew she could excel, she just didn't have the motivation to do it without an end goal in sight. Still, she was left clueless to what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

When Paul had asked her what her plans were, where she dreamed of going to school - if school was her dream - she was left at a loss. Her parents had always told her to focus on the present, which, looking back, was a little ridiculous. How was she supposed to give the present her full effort if she didn't know what she wanted for a future?

So, Paul sat her down at the kitchen table in front of a laptop. He told her that they would brainstorm until they thought of something, then they would research it and schools that offered it. She truly believed that Paul thought himself invincible with a pencil and a notebook in his hands and a computer in front of them. She had to agree.

"After my mother died," She began, taking a deep breath, "I was considering becoming either a psychologist or a social worker. I wanted to help people, just like the social worker had helped me, but I also wanted to help people through something, like a psychologist would do. I just want to help," She admitted, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Paul looked at her with a smile, "Why do you look so embarrassed? It's a great thing to do! Plus, now we can put all of our research materials to good use," He told her, before beginning to type quickly on the keyboard.

+

"Maelle!" Coralie yelled from downstairs, causing Maelle to jump from her bed and sprint down the stairs, anticipating the worst.

"What's wrong?" Maelle asked breathlessly, having reached the bottom of the stairs. She couldn't see Coralie, since she didn't know which side of the house she was on.

Maelle ran towards her office, anticipating that she was possibly in the same place as she was that morning. Thankfully, she was correct.

"I need help," Coralie said, pouting from her office chair, which she was spinning around in.

"What?" Maelle asked, shocked to see that there seemed to be nothing wrong with her. Physically, at least. Mentally, she wasn't so sure.

"I'm all out of inspiration," Coralie complained, making hand gestures as she spun around the room on her wheely-chair, "I need a fresh set of eyes,"

Maelle closed her eyes momentarily, calming her breathing. She had even surprised herself at how panicked she was at the thought of something happening to Coralie. Maelle hadn't even known her very long, yet she felt a strong emotional connection towards the maternal figure.

Slowly, Maelle walked over to where Coralie was fabricating ideas and designs. Everything seemed out of the ordinary, which Maelle liked.

Maelle sat down on the other office chair and worked with Coralie for what seemed like hours. They created things out of nothing, which Maelle found incredibly amazing. They sat there, talking and laughing, until Paul called them out to the dining room for dinner.

As they sat across from each other, Coralie and Maelle shared inside jokes that they had come up with during their shared time.

Paul watched the two girls laughing, smiling. Happiness was the only emotion that filled the room. He couldn't imagine a more perfect dinner.

The three of them were glad to have found each other, for, with one another, they were their best selves together. Smiles and jokes were exchanged upon the group, and they could all imagine themselves being together forever, just like a true family.

Along with Max, of course.

+

a/n: sorry this is so short ( and all the last chapters have been so short ) we're nearing the end of the story!!

-danz [again]