Petit Lapin

Chapter 11

Matthew woke up a few hours later. Having slept upright on his father's lap, he felt sore, but considered this nap to be a lot better than the sleepless night he had before. Francis noticed as Matthew began to wake up, petting his hair softly and smiling at his son.

"Good afternoon, mon petit lapin." He greeted his son.

Matthew rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked.

"It's twelve thirty. You woke up in time for lunch." Francis chuckled.

The two went down to the kitchen and had lunch before they continued with the rest of the day.

The evening came quickly and Francis found himself getting ready to go to Mrs. Vargas' house. He dressed in a white dress shirt and black dress pants with a grey suit jacket on top. Matthew watched as his father dressed up nicely, wondering why he was dressing up when he was just going to see Mrs. Vargas. Matthew wore jeans and a sweater when he saw Mrs. Vargas at school.

In fact, Matthew was wearing a maple leaf sweater with red trousers right at that moment.

It was around seventeen hours when the two left the house and head towards Mrs. Vargas's house. Unfortunately, it was also rush hour, which meant the metro would be packed full. Matthew was getting better at public transportation, not needing to be carried when there were little people. However, when the tube was packed full as it was right there and then, he found himself back in the arms of his father.

Francis held onto the straphanger with one hand and held Matthew with his other arm. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or concerned that Matthew was still light enough to be carried with one arm.

They had reached Mrs. Vargas' house after a couple of minutes, as she seemed to live nearby. Francis looked at the quaint Parisian house and rang the doorbell. No one answered for a good two minutes, so he rang again. He could hear shouting on the other side of the door.

"Luddy, can you get that for me? I'm cooking the pasta sauce!" Mrs. Vargas shouted.

"I'm upstairs, though!" A deep voice with a German accent shouted back.

"But I can't leave the sauce! Pleaseeeee get the door?" Mrs. Vargas pleaded.

The voice seemed to have relented. "Fine fine! I'm getting the door!"

Soon enough, the door opened for Francis to come face to face with a tall, muscular man with blonde hair that was slicked back. His blue eyes pierced through Francis' and overall, he was quite intimidating.

"Come in," he beckoned. Francis looked down at Matthew, who did not seem intimidated by the huge man before them. The pair entered the house and the blonde shut the door behind them. He led the two of them to the dining table and had them sit down before leaving to help Mrs. Vargas with something.

Francis and Matthew sat there with the bear in Matthew's lap for a few minutes before Mrs. Vargas came into the dining room with a large pot of pasta, a plate of garlic bread and a pot of butter squash soup. She sat down along with the blonde man on the other side of the table before she told everyone to say their prayers before eating.

Once they began eating, Mrs. Vargas left the table again and returned with a bottle of wine. She grinned at Francis and the other man. "It's Italian." she declared with a large grin on her face before pouring the wine into several wine glasses.

Francis found himself enjoying the food, as well as Matthew, it seemed. Francis talked with Mrs. Vargas and the Ludwig (he soon learnt the blonde man's name is Ludwig and that he and Mrs. Vargas were engaged) during the meal. Matthew had finished earlier than the rest of the adults and had turned down the offer for more food when Mrs. Vargas beckoned. However, he couldn't stop staring at the glass of wine in his father's hands as the Frenchman sipped. Francis seemed to notice this and pet the top of Matthew's head.