~Skiing skills~
December 13
"THERE'S BREAKFAST!!" Julius's voice pierces through the house, waking me up from a deep sleep. I force myself to sit up in the massive bed, my eyes struggling to even stay open. My head pounds with a headache that's making me question my whole existence.
I guess that's the aftermath of having a snow fight at 2 am, leaving you with a total of 4 hours of sleep. I silently groan, as I step out of bed. Dealing with a 5 year old on 4 hours of sleep, might be the worst thing imaginable.
I put my curly hair into a messy ponytail, throwing a hoodie over my pyama panths. It's honestly embarrsing that the Leclerc family has to see me like this.
Quickly shaking my whole body in an attempt at waking myself up, I step out of my room, the smell immediately delighting me.
"Carolina honey!" Pascale exclaims with a smile, as she sees me approach the kitchen. Thankfully everyone else are in their pyjamas, but I'll bet good money on that I look at least twice as tired as them.
"I made pancakes" Pascale says, turning around to show me the platter of pancakes, the smell making my mouth run.
"It looks amazing Pascale" I tell her with a smile, bending down to give Julius, who is fighting my leg for attention, a good morning hug.
"Papa won't wake up!" Julius tells me, his brows furrowed as he looks towards Charles's bedroom. Guess I'm not the only one who got hit hard after last night.
"Your papa has had a rough couple of weeks Julius. He deserves some sleep" Pascale tells Julius from the dining table, showing off her breakfast to the others.
Julius lets out a scoff, clearly not appreciating the idea of letting Charles sleep. I pick him up, the fabric of his pyjamas, with small cars painted on, gliding under my fingers.
With Julius in my hold, I walk over to the dining table, where various breakfast meals are set up, the table making my mouth and stomach rise with happiness.
"Rough night?" Carla asks me in a whisper, as Pascale introduces her food to us all. "Couldn't sleep" I answer with a slight smile, great. Everyone can see I'm extremely sleep deprived.
"What about you?" I ask her in a whisper, the corners of my lips curving into a smug smile. Carla's cheeks grow pink, as she lightly slaps my arm.
I laugh at her, a smirk plastered over my lips. She feels like the little sister I've always wanted. And now I finally get to tease someone about their love life.
"But to answer your question. I actually slept very well" She answers with a smile in a quiet tone, as Lorenzo and Charlotte speak about something I'm not bothering to listen in on.
"Oh really?" I reply, shooting an eyebrow at her, as Arthur begins to hug her behind, softly kissing her neck. I smile at them, turning my head to give them, some kind of privacy.
Julius looks at them with pure disgust, which makes me laugh, as I set him down in his high chair. "Well should we get started?" Pascale asks us all, getting seated with a smile.
We all follow suit, the others sitting down in pairs, leaving me alone with the empty seat where Charles was supposed to sit.
The food gets passed around, every single platter of breakfast looking extremely delicious. "When are we heading out today?" Arthur asks from the other end of the table, stuffing himself with eggs.
Oh god, I still haven't told them. This sounds very stupid, but prior to this literal skiing trip, I kind of forget to mention that I've never learned to ski.
"As early as possible if it's up to me" Lorenzo replies with a chuckle, passing the fruit to me with a smile. I thank him, accepting the platter, as the girls jokingly scoff over his comment.
Hopefully they aren't big in on skiing, so I can just spend time with them.
"Good morning" Charles suddenly erupts, walking inside the room. His brown hair, is completely messed around, strands sticking up and others laying down his head.
But somehow he still manages to look annoyingly attractive...
He approaches the table with a tired expression, his eyes still not fully opened, indicating that he just woke up.
Shooting me a smug smile, that quickly disappears again, he sits down in the chair besides me. "Good morning honey" Pascale says, giving Charles a caring smile, as she sends all of the food his way.
"Are you up for hitting the black slopes today Charles?" Arthur asks, excitement covering his pancake-filled mouth.
"Wish I could" Charles replies, nodding down at the cast that covers his arm. It's obvious he's disappointed, a frustrated expression coating his face as he begins to eat.
"Fuck, sorry I forgot about that.." Arthur apologies, silence spreading over the dining table. Charles's crash is clearly still a very sensitive subject.
"I'll go with you don't worry" Lorenzo chimes in, sending a gentle smile towards Arthur. I don't even know what black slopes are...
"What about you girls?" Pascale asks, her gaze trailing over Charlotte, Carla and me. I stay quiet, regretting the decision of not letting them know about my lack of skiing skills.
"I promised Charlotte to take the red slopes this year, so if you're up for it Carolina, you can join us" Carla answers, shining a sweet smile at me. Please say the red slopes are the easiest.
"I can take care of Julius so you guys can have fun" I respond with a smile, trying to find an excuse to get myself out of a situation that could go very wrong.
"Oh don't worry darling, I'll take care of him" Pascale says, shutting down my one and only excuse I could come up with.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Charles studying my face before he suddenly opens his mouth.
"I actually thought you could join me on the smaller slopes, I wanna see if I can still ski" Charles says, catching me completely of guard. I smile at him, letting a relieved sigh leave my mouth. He just saved me from a disaster.
I can feel all eyes on us, as I agree to his idea. The small slopes have to be easy, right? Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Pascale smiling as she looks at us, an expression I can't quite read coating her face.
It looks like mixture of joy, relievement, and... sorrow? A smile is coating her lips, but her eyes look, almost hurt...
Pascale clears her throat, hiding the emotions she'd shown before, and breaking the silence I hadn't even realized had started.
"Did anybody hear screaming last night as well?" Pascale asks. Besides me Charles chokes on his juice, loudly coughing as he tries to play it off. We were both clearly caught of guard by her question.
"Yeah we did as well" Charlotte answers, holding in a laugh as she looks at the struggling Charles. Pascales gaze turns to me. Fuck.
"Uh, I didn't really hear anything" I answer, a stutter taking over my voice. I'm a horrible liar. Charles looks over at me, once his sudden outburst clams down, the classic smirk creeping up his lips.
--❄--
"Thanks for saving me earlier" I tell Charles, once we're alone in the house, everyone else having left to do their own thing. Charles smiles at me, as he puts on his beanie, passing mine, or the one I'm borrowing, to me.
"How did you know? I ask Charles, as I put on my shoes. Charles towers over me, already standing ready in skiing gear from head to toe.
"How did I know?" Charles repeats in question, furrowing his brows at me.
"How did you know that I can't ski?" I ask him, looking down at my shoes as I tie my shoelaces. Silence erupts making me look up at Charles.
Shock is written all over his face, his eyes widened as he looks at me. "You don't know how to ski?" He asks in shock, his eyes studying my face in question.
A nervous smile covers my lips. Shit.
--❄--
Next chapter is going to be fun!
And happy St. Lucia/Lucy if you celebrate in your country!🫶🏼