sweet instigator

five. (*)

"So, photosynthesis." Madeleine breathed.

She sat next to Theodora on a Friday evening. Even if the sun was nice and warm and Madeleine ached to start her weekend, she had made the silent promise to Cameron to keep Theodora company while he finished up working for the day on the sixth floor.

Theodora's curls were in two little buns as she sat hunched over her textbook with a thick frown on her forehead, "Yeah, I don't get it."

"It's - uh... wait, let me see." Maddie chuckled, pulling the book a bit closer to get a better look.

"Okay, so... are you sure this is what you want to end your Friday with?" She teased. Theodora drank her hot cocoa and chuckled, "Yes."

Madeleine scooted her chair a bit closer, "Okay, photosynthesis is basically a process, carried out by plants." She began, reflecting on her own knowledge from all those years ago when she learned this exact same thing in school, "Plants need sunlight, and plants capture the energy from the sun. So they take light energy and turn it into chemical energy."

Theodora lifted her head with a frown, "Why?"

"To grow." Madeleine shrugged, "So they take light energy and use it to convert water, carbon dioxide and minerals into oxygen. It takes a long series of chemical reactions but the gist is that... carbon dioxide, water and light go in, and glucose, water and oxygen come out."

Theodora tightly nibbled her lip as she held the pencil up in her hand and stared at the textbook. Madeleine tapped the nail of her finger on one of the drawn steps in the textbook, "See? They explain it here."

"It says here they create sugar." Theodora sounded lost and Madeleine tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, "Mhm. Sugar molecules and oxygen. The plants use the sugars as energy or food."

Theodora scrunched up her nose, "Food? Plants eat?"

Madeleine snickered at Theodora's question and opened her mouth to respond before they got interrupted, "Theo, you ready?" Cameron sounded a bit breathless and Madeleine glanced at him over her shoulder.

He was chewing gum and wearing the same overalls as he had all week, only with a different shirt. This one also had a rip by his shoulder. He held up a variety of supplies in his hands, covered in paint stains and the backwards cap on his head held his hair at bay.

"Dad." Theodora exhaled, "Can you explain photosynthesis to me?"

Cameron's brows shot up and he shortly flicked his eyes to Madeleine, who bit her lip to hide the amusement in her face. Cameron cleared his throat, "Honey, I really can't." He honestly responded.

Theodora rolled her eyes, "I thought adults were supposed to be smart." She grumbled.

"Hey, hey, c'mon." Cam chuckled, shaking his head, "None of that. We'll go over it this weekend. Give me some time to refresh my brain." He cooed. Madeleine fought her smile and also found it adoring, imagining Cameron late at night studying the textbook just so he could explain it to Theo the day after.

Theodora packed up her books, "Yeah, I'm not going to spend my weekend looking at my biology textbook, dad." Sarcasm laced her tone and he raised his brows again, not very impressed with her attitude. He shifted his gaze back to Madeleine, "Did you teach her that?" He teased.

Maddie huffed out a chuckle as she also got up and smoothed her palms over her dress. It reached down to the middle of her thighs on this particularly warm day, her legs tan and endless.

Cameron's ears turned a slight pink when he had to keep himself from drooling. No matter how badly he fucked up with Maddie and how much she despised him - she was hot as hell. The sunny days made freckles appear on the bridge of her nose and now more so than the first few times he saw her - he could see a sparkle in her eyes.