Living Happily After

80: Doubt

Violet woke up without Gilbert's warmth beside her, she got up and thought that Gilbert had already went to work. As she was about to go to Robert's room, she noticed a note on the desk.

She took it in her hands and immediately noticed Gilbert's name signed at the bottom. It had read:

"Violet,
I went out for a stroll, I'm going to clear my mind for a bit. I'll be back to make breakfast, so don't fret a second.

Gilbert"

Violet chuckled at the short note, 'He needn't write a note.' She put it back on the desk and headed to the nursery. 'But...' She smiled.

She walked through the door and saw that Robert was already awake and was looking around.

This is set one month later.

"Hey there, my love."

Honestly, she didn't know when she started calling him that, but she did. And it felt right. Yes, Violet loves Gilbert dearly, very much so. Robert gave her joy like no other, she didn't know how to explain it, but the nickname just came out.

It was quite embarrassing the first time she heard it from herself.

She picked up Robert from his crib and carried him out the room.

A woman came in from the front door.

"Good morning, Elena."

It was Elena, the maid whom Gilbert recommended was hired a few weeks ago.

"Good morning, Violet. How are you today?" Elena said, removing her shoes and closing the door behind her.

Elena is a year younger than Violet, not that it opposes any problem. Violet deemed Elena a very responsible and trust-worthy person, so she asked Elena if she would like to become a caregiver to Robert, as well as a maid.

With good intentions, Elena said yes, saying she would be more than happy working under a much smaller home compared to the Bougainvillea Mansion.

"Very well, can you take Robert for me, please? I have to get ready." Violet said, sitting Robert in Elena's arms.

"Of course, Ma'am Violet." Elena said, smiling.

Violet smiled and headed upstairs. "I told you to call me Violet, Elena."

The every so often slip of 'Ma'am' and 'Miss' was placed before Violet's name. Elena had the habit of it, and had quite the fun of teasing her with it.

"Alright, miss." Elena said, holding Robert and heading to the couch. "How are you today little Robert?" She spoke with a baby talk tone.

"Bah-" Robert babbled.

Since Violet came back from medical leave (finally), she had trusted Elena to do simple household chores while looking after Robert. At first, she had opposed to Elena doing the chores, but she reassured Violet that she was a maid and still is, it is simply her job to do so.

"I have to leave now." Violet said, putting on her shoes. "I'll be back at 4 pm most likely." She said, standing up.

"Alright, good luck at work." Elena said, holding Robert up to Violet.

Violet kissed Robert's cheek and said, "Good luck at your work too." She chuckled, then she closed the door and left.

Violet was walking then she realized Gilbert was expecting to see her home. Well, she guessed she forgot to tell him she has work early. She'll have to apologize for that later. Maybe she'll visit his station and eat lunch with him.

"Morning."

"Good morning." Violet replied.

Meanwhile...

"Agh- it's freezing." Ben exclaimed.

"Why didn't you wear a jacket or coat then?" Aren asked.

"I'm afraid that the master sergeant will get mad."

"For wearing a jacket?" Johann commented.

"I mean, yeah, he's quite strict and intimidating, isn't he?" Ben commented.

Lucas walked in on the officers having a conversation.

"He isn't strict, he can be a bit intimidating, but only if you did something wrong." Lucas commented, putting his back down.

"See, even Lucas is wearing a jacket." Aren said, or Ben's uncle.

"Hey, why do you guys not call me sergeant?" Lucas asked.

"Uh, because you're not like the master sergeant?" Ben said.

"Well, 'the master sergeant' has a name you know. You can call him Sir or Mister, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Lucas said, cleaning his desk. "Look, the guy is not going to shout at you for wearing a jacket or saying his name."

"Yeah, that's true, Sir Bougainvillea is really nice, he gave me his lunch when he saw I didn't have mine." Buddy said.

"I don't know, with that scar of his, he still has this menacing aura around him. Plus, he always has this straight face." Ben still argued.

"Well, he didn't wear that face when he introduced his wife and kid to us." Buddy said.

"That is because it's his wife and kid, I'm telling you he has some sort of past or something, he can't have gotten that scar from a accident." Ben said, convinced that the man was some sort of ex-con or gangster.

Then, Gilbert walked in.

"You have something to tell me?" Gilbert asked.

"No...sir." He said, testing what Lucas said.

"Okay, now get inside so we can start attendance. I apologize for being late."Gilbert said, walking past the officers and inside the main room.

"You aren't actually late Gilbert, it's still 8." Lucas said, passing him some papers.

"Right." Gilbert nodded. "Since everyone is here I'd like to announce is tomorrow is a national holiday. Meaning work for us. There will be festival all over the city, and lots of crowds from morning til night. We're cooperating with the other stations, we'll get you partnered up by teams and surround areas in the festivals and shops."

He said, distributing some papers. "These are the paired up teams, you'll be meeting them tomorrow if you don't know them already. There are also areas where you'll be looking around at. Be on look out for any suspicious behavior, any lost kids, and uncontrolled fights. Don't pick fights, calm people down. If you can't handle it, you can take them to see me. That's all. You're free to go home early later if you want, since you'll be working full day tomorrow."

All the officers nodded.

"Also, Officer Damer." Gilbert called.

"Yes?" Ben answered.

"Let's talk in private."

"What is it, sir?" Ben asked.

"It's about your juvenile records." Gilbert handed him the papers of proof from his desk. "Are these real?"