The horizon and the balcony

Chapter forty-two

October 8th
It was definitely quiet uptown. It was anything but what Lafayette expected. They always thought of Manhattan as unnecessary hustle and bustle but you turn down one different road and suddenly you're in suburbia. Big houses with plots of land spread out, not a single sky scraper in sight. The weather had taken another drastic change and it was bordering on 90 degrees outside. Kids were running around in the streets playing with water guns, multiple people were hosting cookouts. Lafayette had never seen so many children in their life and their aunt had fifteen kids. They wanted to question where the hell all these children came from but they decided against it. They had more pressing matters to attend to.

"More tea Monsieur Lafayette?"Amelia asked in her poshest voice. Lafayette smiled kindly and held out their tea cup.

"s'il vous plaît, Mademoiselle Amelia"They responded. She pondered for a few moments racking over the phrase.

"s'il vous plaît"she repeated. Lafayette cheered and raised their cup in a toast. She giggled and did the same clinking their glasses together.

"Très bien mon cher, you'll be speaking French better than me soon"They said.

Amelia squealed and shook her head rapidly the papillote curling tissue flying askew.

"Nu uh!"she cried out. Angelica sauntered from the from the patio to the backyard where the two were playing.

"Now I know tea is the drink of choice for your party but let's be real it's too hot for that, how about some lemonade?"she asked. Amelia stood up and cheered.

"Okay okay! Can you grab some napkins from inside sweetheart?"She asked.

"Yes mama!"Amelia called over her shoulder, she was already racing towards the door. Angelica took a seat next to laf and placed the pitcher on the table.

"How is her French doing?"she asked anxiously. Lafayette had convinced her that sending Amelia to a bilingual school would help her later on.

"Ange calm down you're stressing too much, she's four years old"They said offhandedly.

"That's not what I asked"she snapped.

"Fine, she's doing great. I was thinking we should ask her preschool teacher to send her some work packets to use for reference"They suggested. We. It sounded so domestic. Lafayette had practically taken over as the second primary caregiver in this house. Charlotte was having familial issues and had taken the first plane to the U.K.

"That's a good idea Laf, when would you suggest starting the reading and writing portion of it?"She asked.

"I got it mama!"Amelia yelled running back outside. Lafayette smiled, she had somehow lost both shoes on her way back out.

"They'll teach her all of that in immersion school. Let's just give her a chance to be a child, yeah?"They suggested. Angelica took a look towards her to see the joyous girl jumping on the trampoline completely abandoning the tea party.

"Yeah Laf...that sounds like a great idea"she said.

"Mama! Mama! The sprinklers are on can we go!"She asked running back up to them. Angelica looked at the neat little barbecue she was planning and sighed.

"Ah what the hell, let's go!"She cheered. Amelia squealed and grabbed Lafayette dragging them out of the backyard into the front where the Main Street was. Everyone in the neighborhood had their sprinklers on which created an almost biblical flood of cool water. Lafayette was a bit hesitant but Angelica and Amelia ran right in their clothes getting immediately soaked. Maybe this was a sign, stop thinking so much and just enjoy.