**Edit**
Here is a link to the French to English translations I have compiled for your reading aid.
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html?m=0#.U4pawxZcMpA
Rose
Chapter 6
As the month changed, autumn
seemed to encompass Domfront.
Rose’s favorite spot had become even more beautiful as the pear trees
turned from a soft green to a vibrant red. With summer officially gone, the town seemed to settle into
life with a new spirit. The
atmosphere had evolved with the slight drop in temperature, creating an early
morning image of smoke rising from the rooftops against a pale backdrop of the
rising sun and people walking the streets, now bundled against the oncoming
cold.
Among them was Rose,
welcoming the autumn weather with her favorite blue and pink striped
scarf. She had a special grocery
list today, so she set out extra early in order to get all of her shopping done
in time to get the decorating done.
Tonight her family was coming to celebrate Vi’s 17th
birthday. Her birthday wasn’t
until the next day, but her parents were busy and Rose wanted to have the whole
family there for the celebration.
She had spent the past week making decorations, a banner, and two
presents. She had even enlisted Remy
to make a fruit gâteau.
After collecting the
groceries for dinner, she dropped them off and headed back out to pick up le gâteau. Remy was, of course, excited to see her and show off his
creation. After a brief
conversation, she had to hurry and leave knowing how long Remy could keep her
trapped in there with his enthusiasm.
As she left, pushing open the
door with her back, she couldn’t hold back a smile at the reminder of her first
encounter with Phillippe. Last
week he had stopped by again, a picnic in tow. He had brought her a croque-monsieur,
her favorite sandwich although he didn’t know that at the time. He had also brought her beaucoup des fraises because he had
learned she liked them at the restaurant a few weeks earlier. She really enjoyed talking with him
about nothing important.
Trying to keep the mood
light, he would only discuss random topics, like which famous person she wanted
to meet, and what she would do if she only had 24 heures left to live.
She couldn’t even answer most of his questions because they caught her
off guard. She didn’t have a
favorite famous person, and she couldn’t think of anything to do if she knew
she was going to die so she said she wanted to go to Parc Disneyland. It
wasn’t that she didn’t really want to go there, because it seemed so magical
that she couldn’t help but want to go, but it was just so expensive that she
had a hard time believing she’d ever go there. Mentioning how magical it seemed to her brought up a new
question from him. “Do you believe
in magic?”
She had not been ready for
that question at all. It was
something she hadn’t thought about in a while. She explained that when she was a little kid, she thought
she had heard her aunts talking about magic, but she assumed she had
misunderstood. She wanted to
believe magic did exist so people could use it to help one another, but it
seemed like such a ludicrous idea that magic did exist yet no one had
proof. Phillippe’s response was
even stranger than the question that brought it about.
“When I was about 3 ans, I remember meeting a very dark
dangerous fairy who cursed people to die.
Although it might have been a nightmare that seemed so real as a kid I
convinced myself it was. When I
was older, I brought it up to my parents thinking it was a silly dream, but my
parents seemed genuinely frightened.
They did not find it funny like I thought it would be. My parents told me to forget about it
after recovering from fright.
Strange, right?”
She only responded by adding,
“I guess it makes sense that if good magic existed, then bad magic would exist
too. Power corrupts, so I can only
imagine the corruption that could come from power such as that.”
That visit from Phillippe had
definitely been strange, however he was such an odd character she figured that
a visit from him that wasn’t strange would be even weirder. Maybe strange wasn’t the correct term
for him. His antics were something
so foreign to her, yet she found herself carrying le gâteau up the stairs to la
cuisine anticipating his next visit and the new antics it would bring.
“Oh, Rose! You’re home!” Faline called out.
“Qu’est-ce qui se passe?”
Rose had walked in the middle of utter chaos. La cuisine was an
absolute mess. Faline looked
stressed and terrified, and she was covered in cream and garlic.
“Fleur was talking about how
hard you were working to set up Vi’s fête
tonight, so I thought I’d step in and help make her special dinner, but then I
got so confused because there are so many specific ingredients and
measurements, and now I’ve made such a huge mess. I think I ruined dinner...”
Rose couldn’t help but laugh
at how helpless her aunt looked standing there in the center of the
catastrophic disaster that was la cuisine. “Oh, Tante Faline, you look so funny. Merci pour l’aide,
but I’ve got it all under control.”
There was a reason Rose had been in charge of food since she was tall
enough to reach the stove. She
shooed Faline out of the kitchen before examining the remains of what was
supposed to be her own Domfront version of Moules
à la crème Normande. She had
once substituted in Domfront Perry
for the Normandy Cider because it was cheaper, and everyone thought it tasted
so delicious and unique that she had continued to make it that way. Salvaging the poor mussels would not be
easy, but it was doable so she tucked away the cake, put on her apron, and got
to work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many hours and lots of
decorations later, everything looked just as Rose had wanted it to be. When Vi came in, rose was so excited
she could barely contain her excitement.
Dai fed off Rose’s energy, but Vi maintained her typical mellow
spirit. They enjoyed the delicious
Moules à la Crème Domfront, as Rose
called them, but her favorite part was just sitting around the table with her
family. She felt whole.
Breaking the spell of contentment,
she relocated herself to the counter to slice and serve le gâteau. Vi joined
her at the counter. “Rose, I just
want to thank you for everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,
Vi. I wanted to throw this
party. You’re turning 17 ans demain, so go celebrate!”
“But what about our
argument? I want you to know that
you’re a part of our family.”
“Vi, don’t worry about me.”
“Seriously, Rose.” She grabbed her sister’s arm to get her
full attention. “I said some
things last time that were not nice.
Mama et Papa do keep some
things from you, but it’s all to protect you. We don’t want you to exclude you. We want you to come back home, but there are things out of
control that keep you here. Mama et Papa love you so much and they
hate not having you at home. We
all do. I didn’t mean to make you
feel like you aren’t a part of our family, because you are a huge part. We practically revolve around you. You mean so much to us. You mean so much to me.”
Rose was so stunned at the
words that tumbled out of Vi’s mouth that she couldn’t think of a
response. Instead of speaking, she
pulled her into a tight hug.
“Où est le gâteau?”
Stéfan interrupted their embrace.
“Ici, Papa!” Rose smiled encouragingly at Vi before
carrying slices of fruity dessert to the table.
“Joyeux anniversaire!”
Dai shouted before leading the family into song. After the song was don, they commenced
eating Remy’s delectable gâteau
before Vi opened her presents from Rose.
They had been wrapped very plainly since Rose had made them by hand
rather than spending money she didn’t have. The first present was a wood block painted red with a few
hooks for necklaces, and in black Rose had painted a quote from Le Petit Prince, Vi’s favorite
book. It read, “C’est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta Rose
qui fait ta Rose si importante”.
The other gift was a necklace with a short chain and a small wire rose
charm.
Rose felt self-conscious and
slightly embarrassed at her gift.
She felt they both appeared very homemade and were nothing
extraordinary, however Vi was absolutely adored them. “Last time you were in town I noticed you admiring all the
necklaces when we were shopping, but they all seemed so expensive so I found
some things laying around here and I made you these.” She felt her cheeks turned as red as the necklace hanger,
but Vi through her arms around her older sister and whispered, “Merci beaucoup, Rose. Merci.”
Just a short while later,
everyone was cleaning up so her family could head back home. Rose offered Vi the rest of le gâteau, but she refused on the
grounds that it probably wouldn’t survive the car trip home. As she carried it back up to la cuisine, she overheard her mother
speaking with her aunts in a hushed tone.
“I told you to give her money
to buy a present. She could have
bought Vi any necklace she wanted.”
Leah said.
“She didn’t ask for money at
all. When I asked her if she
wanted to go shopping for Vi’s present she told me it had all been taken care
of and for us not to worry about it.”
Fleur insisted.
“Do you need more money to
take care of her? She acts like
she’s never seen a Euro.”
“Oh, of course not,
chère. She’s doing just fine. That daughter of yours is a
bargainer. Every marché she buys groceries for way
cheaper than they are worth. She
knows how to save.” Faline added.
“You should ask her about
your expenses. She could save the
company with all the money she’s saved us. You certainly have a brilliant daughter.” Mystie included.
“Well that makes one of
them.” Leah sighed.
Before Rose heard anymore,
Dai called to her from the shop downstairs so she left le gâteau on the banister at the top of the stairs and quietly went
downstairs to meet her sisters, the conversation running through her mind.
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