Snatched

Part 30 - Antoine and Maddies house in France

Antoine opened the front door to his house and stepped inside. As soon as he walked in, his two sons ran up to him and pulled at his trouser legs.
'Mama!' Louis called out.
'Papas home!' Jace followed. Antoine picked up each of his children one by one and kissed them each on the cheek, before putting them down.
'Hey honey!' Maddie said as she appeared in the hallway. Antoine walked up to his wife and gave her a peck on the cheek.
'Salut mon amour' he said. Maddie blushed at this, she loved it when he spoke French to her. As Antoine walked into the living room, he saw that Odette was sat on the sofa, with Daniel sat on her knee and a glass of red wine in her hand.
'Oh, bonjour Odette' Antoine said.
'Bonjour' Odette replied back, 'ca va?'
'Ca va bien, Merci'.
'I hope you don't mind but Odette and Daniel popped over for a glass or two of wine' Maddie said.
'Oui, tres bien' Antoine replied, 'as long as there's some for me'. Maddie walked over to the table, leaned forward and poured her husband a glass of wine.
'Merci, mon amour' Antoine said, as he took the glass from his wife, 'I was actually going to call Amelie and see how she is, I haven't heard from her in a while'.
'Yeah, I was thinking the same thing this afternoon actually' Maddie replied 'give her a call'. Antoine said down in a seat and dialed his sisters number.

'Bonjour!' Antoine shouted loudly, as his sister picked up the phone.
'Bonjour indeed mon frere, ca va?' Amelie replied.
'Tres bien, tres bien' Antoine said back .
'Cetait fantastique!' came Amelies reply.
'Hey Amelie!' Maddie shouted down the phone.
'Hey!!' Amelie called back.
'Odette is her as well' Maddie shouted .
'Oh hi Odette' Amelie replied.
'Hi' Odette said politely back.
'Anyway' Antoine finally managed to get in, 'how are you? What have you been up to?'
'I've been great thanks' Amelie replied, 'I've just started teaching my Women in Journalism class at Yale'.
'And how was it?' Antoine asked.
'Oh great actually' said Amelie, 'I've actually got some really enthusiastic students this time around. I've also got a new teaching assistant that I just hired. I don't know if you've heard of her, she's actually quite a famous author. I think her books have reached France. Her names Rory Gilmore.'

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of glass smashing on the tiles and Odettes squeal as her wine spilled across the floor. Daniel jumped up screaming, as he stared down at the crimson stain on his creme shorts.
'There's no need to worry sweetie, whatever is the matter' Maddie said, attempting to calm her friend. Antoine walked over and scooped the now wailing Daniel up in his arms.
'What's happened?' Amelie asked down the phone.
'Oh it's nothing' Antoine replied 'Odette just spilled a glass of wine'.
'Oh that's nothing to squeal over' he heard Amelie whisper back. At that moment, Odette collapsed on the floor, put her face in her hands and was in floods of tears.
'Ma mere!' Daniel squirmed to get out of Antoines arms and ran over to his mother, who pulled him closer to her. Now was the perfect time for Antoine to hang up the phone to his sister.
'I'm sorry Amelie' he said, 'I've got to go and help Maddie, I'll speak to to you soon au revoir'
'Ok sweetie, au revoir' Amelie replied and she hung up the phone.
By this point Maddie had already flung her arms around Odette and Daniel and was making ssshhing noises. Antoine paced over to the kitchen, to get something to clean up the mess, pushing past the twins, who stood open mouthed at the living room entrance. When he reached the kitchen, Antoine paused and thought to himself. Why on earth had this woman, whom he and his family had come to know and love made such a scene over spilling a glass of wine?