Chapter Text
Aline didn’t often venture out with the children, her busy schedule as head of the Painter’s council usually restricting her while she tried her best to be there for her three children. But thankfully, today is truly a fortunate day for her.
No meetings, no last minute preparations for meetings that she had not the slightest idea about, no unprompted dinners, nothing of the sort.
She decides to take her children to the park, a thing that they don’t often do as time restricts them. Finding herself seeing her children off in the morning and going home to them already in bed.
Aline watches as Renoir sits with their youngest, Alicia, holding her by the waist and she blows raspberries at him, him laughing and making faces back at her.
Aline eyes scan to the right of her, finding their eldest, Clea, staring at the statues in the park, her arms crossed as she focuses on them. Clea has always had a punch for statues, while being talented at everything she puts her mind to, Aline recognises that Clea has a real skill for sculpting, her biggest pride being in the sculptures that sit proudly in her own little art room.
Then she sees her middle born, Verso, sliding down one of the various slides at the park, his laughter filling her with joy. Verso has always been her little boy, her golden star. From a young age, Verso has always been a mothers boy. Clea opting for her father, but nevertheless, Aline couldn’t help but take some pleasure in knowing that Veeso is practically joint at the hip with her.
Feeling at ease knowing that her little brood and her dear husband are still in sight, she looks back down at her book and attends to it. A pleasure she doesn’t often get, as she has always loved reading, the adventures that her favourite authors go on, reminding of her the days when her and Renoir would venture into their canvas.
“My love”
Aline looks up, finding Renoir standing in front her, cradling their daughter Alicia in his arms.
“Looks like someone has out done herself today,” Renoir says, sitting down next to Aline. Aline looks down at Alicia, her red hair slipping out of the summer hat she had put her in this morning, her cheeks flushing red as she coos to herself, “Must be so hard being 6 months of age.”
Aline chuckles, making sure it is low so she doesn’t wake her sleeping baby. Aline puts her finger in the open of Alicia’s hand, her whole being instantly crumbling as Alicia instinctively wraps her tiny hand around it.
“It appears so,” Aline says, looking at Renoir who is now staring down at their little bundle, “What time is it, my heart?”
“A little after 5, we should definitely round up the troops and get going.”
Though Aline didn’t want the day to end, she knew it had to end sooner rather than later. Getting the children out of the door was already a task, Clea and Verso fighting before they had even made it through the door and only settling once they saw that the park was in their line of sight.
Renoir settles Alicia into her travel cot, while Aline starts packing up Alicia’s toys and the picnic food they had indulged in earlier.
“Maman!”
Aline turns, seeing Verso run over to her with a young boy whom she has never seen before. The boy is not much taller than Verso, brown curly locks and holding Verso’s hand as Verso drags them both over to her.
“Maman!! I’d like you to meet my friend, Gus!” Verso introduces Gus to her, like a prized possession. Aline can’t help but chuckle at her son's enthusiasm, “We pushed each other down the slide and played on the..uhh..-“
“Swing set.” Gus says, looking down at the ground as Verso nods his head at his mother.
Aline laughs, getting down on her knee to meet her son’s eyes, “Wow, that is amazing!”
Verso starts his rambles, explaining various stories and how much fun they had during their visit to the park. Gus looking at him and laughing, nodding his head and even interjecting at points to give an even more exaggerated story.
“Well that sounds just wonderful,” Aline addresses both boys, smiling. “But unfortunately for now, we need to go home to Verso. Alicia is due her night time, and you and Clea have classes in the morning.”
Aline watches as Verso’s expression changes from happiness to sadness in a second, her heart slightly breaking.
“It’s okay Verso!” Gus says, Verso turning to look at him. “We can always play together another time! After all, we are best friends now!”
Aline doesn’t even know how to describe the joy in her heart, her whole body when she watches Verso’s sadness turn back into happiness. Verso hugs Gus, both of their laughter filling the silence as Aline softly laughs to herself.
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When Aline had first said that she wouldn’t mind Verso inviting his friends over for a play date, she had thought it would be a breeze. One or two of Verso’s friends that he made during their outings in the park wouldn’t be hard. She is raising three children, one of them already near their double digits..However, she was proven greatly wrong by the first hour. Now, she watches the group of rowdy children argue with one another.
“Your powers can’t just be fire and ice!” Verso sighs loudly, slapping his hands on the table and staring at Lune with annoyance, “You need more than that!”
“Hey! It’s my power,” Lune glares, crossing her arms. “I don’t see why I can’t have Ice and Fire when you have Light and Darkness! So does Sciel!”
“Maybe we should just continue with the story.” Sciel suggests, playing with the end of her pony tail. “We are almost at Stone Wave Cliffs!”
Aline watches on as Verso continues to argue his point while Lune is still not having it. Glaring at him and shaking her head. Aline can’t help but hide a smile behind her hand.
“Maman!” Verso shouts, running over to her and grabbing her hand, pulling her towards the other three children sitting at the table. “Please tell Lune that her powers don’t make sense.”
“Verso,” Aline delicately says, kneeling down at the table and looking at her son who is now sitting back down next to Gustave who is currently coloring. “What did I say about being controlling?”
Verso shifts in his chair, huffing out a sigh as he crosses his arms.
“Ver,” Gustave says, pulling his chair beside the sulking Verso. “Why don’t we continue with the story, hm? The fastest we get through it, the quicker we can create another adventure!”
Aline watches as Verso goes from pouting his bottom lip out to having a beaming smile on his face, showing off his pearly whites as he rapidly nods his head.
Aline has noticed over the last few months that Verso and Gustave became friends and that Gustave is the only one that Verso can be himself around. The little boy that isn’t afraid to share his stories, show off his silly side and even let down some of those walls that he had put on himself.
“My love,” Renoir whispers, pulling Aline from keeping an eye on the children in front of her. “Alicia and Maelle are both sleeping, Clea and Emma are up in the green house.”
Aline had the delight of meeting Gustave’s family after another venture to the park. His older sister Emma, and his youngest sister Maelle. Aline couldn’t quite believe how similar their family were, Emma being the same age as Clea and Maelle being only born a few weeks after Alicia. Meeting Gustave's parents was also something that kindled inside of Aline. Having similar interests, Aline couldn’t wait to extend the invitation for their children and hers to spend time together.
“How are the girls?” Aline asks, shifting her focus into the group of rowdy children in front of her.
“Perfectly fine, Emma is quite interested in Clea’s art work. Even asking many questions which Clea, which I haven’t seen in a long time, seemed quite content with answering,” Renoir laughs softly, putting his hand on Aline’s thigh, giving a squeeze. “As for Alicia and Maelle, they were both enthralled by the music box. I only had to play a mere three minutes before they both fell asleep clutching Alicia’s blanket.”
Alicia looks over Renoir, putting her hand over his and giving it a squeeze. A cheeky glint in her eye as she winks at him. “Now don’t be getting any ideas, mon cher.”
“Oh, but why-“
“Verso! Stop taking my crackers-“
“You weren’t even eating them-“
“You two, please-“
“Maybe we should have saved our crackers til later..”
Aline clears her throat, giving a stern look at her husband who is staring at the group of now bickering children, an assumed grin on his lips.
“And that is my reason.”
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Aline couldn’t believe it. Verso is officially turning 13 years old. Her baby boy is no longer a baby. She can recall the day she officially brought him home, Clea sitting on Renior hip as she looks down at her new baby brother, not knowing what to do while Verso was cooing and moving slightly in her arms. Aline remembers those memories fondly, not knowing what she was going to handle her head of being the painters council and now a mother of two, but looking down at her little boy always made her forget, even for a second about any of the worries she had in that moment.
“Maman?”
Aline drags herself out of her thoughts, turning to find her little, not so little, boy standing at the opening of her bedroom door. Verso stood tall, his hair blacker than usual and his curls sitting loosely, the white streak in his hair being more noticeable than ever as he spent most of his time in his Canvas, making a world that she would never have expected of him. Wearing a suit fitted for his young frame, black with a navy blue tie and dress shoes that clicked as he walked towards her, a small smile on his face.
“Oh my,” Aline whispers, her vision slightly blurrying as she holds a hand over her chest, “Look at you.”
Verso shuffles slightly, his cheeky grin coming out as she walks towards his mother. Coming up to half her height now, but still having to look up at her.
“I think I dressed up very nicely, don’t you?” Verso cheekiness is out in full force, causing Aline to laugh softly as she wipes at her eyes.
“”You look wonderful, my dear. Is that..?” Aline starts off, pointing at the pin that Verso has on his tie.
“Yes, Gustave gave it to me as an early birthday present on Monday,” Verso looks down and takes it off his tie, holding it out in his hand as Aline examines it. “He made it himself. He’s always been quite tinker when it comes down to these things.”
Aline couldn’t deny that in the slightest, finding Gustave many times fixing things in the manor. Verso even offered Gustave’s services once, finding the old Grandfather clock that Aline had been given as a marriage gift broken in one of the spare rooms, Aline had said no at first, not finding any joy in exploiting a then 11 year old Gustave to fix something that was 74 years old, but Verso insisted so Aline did eventually give permission. Not even two hours later, Gustave exited the room, a big smile on his face and telling everyone he had fixed it. Now, the same Grandfather clock sits in her and Renior bedroom, ticking away like it did the night they got into marital bed for the first time.
“Look,” Verso points at the art engraved on it. “It’s the park where me and him first met.”
“Oh, I never thought Gustave was quite the artist!”
“Oh, he is not,” Verso laughs, shaking his head. “He had asked Clea to make the art for him. I don’t know how to convince her. But I trust it was something to do with Emma.”
Aline laughs, taking the pin from Verso and attaching it to his tie once again. Looking at him once again, her heart filled with pure love for him, his silver-blue eyes staring back at her as he smiles brightly at her.
“Happy birthday, my sweet.”
“Thank you, Maman.”
Aline leans down and places a soft kiss on his cheek, holding her hand on his other cheek as she rubs circles with her thumb onto it.
“Aline, we must make haste! We are going to be late for Verso’s celebrations and I can already see a special somebody arriving.”
Before Aline could even react to her husband shouting her down, Verso has already begun running off, shouting that Gustave is on his way inside the Manor. Aline chuckles, shaking her head as she looks at herself in the mirror, giving a quick wipe at her eyes before exiting the bedroom and making her way downstairs.
Balloons fill the entry way, banners with Verso's name and his age all over the place. Pictures and art of him when he was much younger had overtaken the artwork that the family had worked on many years ago. Renior stood at the bottom step, holding out his hand to Aline who happily took it, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You look beautiful.”
“You look handsome-“
“Maman!”
Before Aline could even finish her sentence, Alicia interrupts, her blue eyes looking up at her, tugging on Aline skirt with a cheeky glint in her eyes.
“When cake?”
Aline chuckles, bending down slightly and picking up Alicia, who is now a lot heavier than before and more brightly than ever. Holding her over her hip, Alicia begins to play with Aline hair.
“When Verso is ready to blow out all of his candles, which will be when his friends arrive.”
Alicia sighs, leaning her head onto Aline’s shoulder as she continues to play with Aline’s hair.
“Don’t worry Alicia,” Verso starts off, walking over to Aline and Alicia. “The first slice of cake is all yours.”
The door bell rings, Verso running back off to answer the door and finding Emma, Maelle, Gustave and Maria, the siblings mother at the door, holding party bags and cards in their hands.
“Gustave!”
“Verso!”
Both boys run into each other's arms, hugging on another tightly as Renoir invites the rest of them into the Manor.
“Aline,” Maria holds out her arms, Aline putting Alicia down, who is now running over to Maelle, babbling about cake. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Aline opens her arms open, moving and hugging Maria back.
“Thank you for coming today.”
“Please,” Maria chuckles, pulling away with a sly grin on her face. “I wouldn’t miss Verso’s birthday for the world. Not that Gustave would even let me.”
Aline couldn’t help but laugh. Ever since the day the boys had become friends. They were inseparable. Meaning, that Maria and herself had found comfort in each other's company while their boys played. Which, Aline felt was a blessing as she finally had someone who she could share the ups and down on raising children. Especially two older girls, two boys and their two youngest being girls made it even better.
“Come,” Renior interupts, “Let us wait for the rest of our guests in the front of the garden. It is a lovely day for it, is it not?”
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Aline sits down at the chair, hours have passed and Verso has been having the ‘best birthday ever’ as he keeps saying over and over again whenever Aline finally matches to catch up with her very popular baby boy.
Shortly after Gustave had arrived, so did Lune and Sciel, following shortly with Julie and Sophie. The front garden is quite filled with numerous people, people that Aline knew from her younger days, bringing their own children at a similar ages of her three children. Verso having made friends with anyone who he made even a slight bit of contact with at the park on their outings being there too.
“I cannot believe how popular our son is,” Aline sips from her tea, looking at Renoir who now has Alicia in his arms who has had way too much sugar and needed a power nap, “We’ve had quite the show today.”
Renoir chuckles, “Verso has always been a wonder. I swear that boy could stop someone from doing anything bad just by saying hello.”
Aline hums, looking at Verso who is standing by the tree now, talking with Gustave. Both of them engrossed in a conversation, laughing and smiling. Aline couldn’t help but feel her heart bloom at the sight. Finding happiness that Verso had found someone like Gustave, someone who has managed to help Verso get over his controlling antics, someone who managed to get Verso to concentrate more in his arts, whether that be going into his canvas or playing the piano that Gustave has at his own house. Gustave managed to bring out a side of Verso that Aline couldn’t quite put her finger on. Glancing over her shoulder, she finds Maria doing the same thing, watching on at the two young boys in their own world, a smile bright on her face but Aline senses something amiss with her.
“I’ll be just a moment,” Aline whispers to Renior, “Make sure Alicia doesn’t oversleep. I want to actually have a full night's rest tonight without Alicia demanding more cake.”
With that parting message, Aline gets up from her seat and walks over to Maria.
“Is everything alright?” Aline asks, wrapping Renoir's jacket around her that he had gracefully given her earlier.
Maria looks at Aline, her eyes red, almost as if she has been holding back tears.
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Maria lets out a wet soft laugh, wiping at her eyes. “I’m just admiring our boys. Look at them, so carefree, so..bright.”
Aline looks at the boys, now standing next to Maria and smiles.
“I think we did a good job with them.”
“Indeed,” Maria whispers, now turning to Aline. “I need to tell you something.”
“Of course, what is it?”
“I’m dying Aline.”
Aline feels the world stop around her, turning to Maria who has a soft smile on her lips.
“I found out yesterday morning, doctor says I have a few months to live, something incurable,” Maria begins, Aline taking in every word. Her heart beating fast in his chest, her brain trying to process every single world. “I haven’t confessed this to gather sympathy from you. Nor do I want that. I am at peace with what is to come, but I am sorry for telling you on this day. But I need to ask you, no, I need you to promise me something.”
“Oh my sweet Maria,” Aline trembles over her words, grabbing onto Maria's hand and giving it a quick squeeze. “I will do anything you ask of me.”
“Never let Verso and Gustave let go off each other,” Maria's words come out softly, “Never let Gustave give up on himself. Never let him give up on Verso. Let Gustave know whatever he decides, especially between himself and Verso, I will always accept it no matter what. Please..keep an eye on my girls too, Emma may act like she is the strongest but I know her heart is as fragile as mine is right now. Maelle may never understand what was wrong with me for a long time. But let her know that she was loved deeply by me. Let them all, even yours, know that Mar-Mar always held a deep place in heart for them all.”
Aline felt a tear drop from her cheek, wiping it away with the sleeve of Renior’s jacket. “Of course I will, I promise in my life I will do everything you need me to.”
“Oh and another thing. Please give this to Gustave when he turns 18,” Maria goes into her bag and pulls out a box with a note attached to it. “Lord knows I love my husband, but he will forget about this until he is the one who is on his death bed.”
Aline grabs the box, looking at the note that has Gustave on it and written in brackets below “when it’s time.”.
“Don’t worry, the girls also have notes too, but since they know my special hiding spots, I think they will find theirs before Gustave would even attempt to look either.”
“Maman!”
Aline looks up, finding everyone now standing at the table where Verso’s birthday cake is now lit up with 13 candles. She didn’t even see Renoir sneak off to do it.
“On our way!” Maria shouts back, smiling brightly.
“Don’t worry Aline,” Maria whispers, wrapping her arm around Aline’s and dragging her over to the table. “Everything will be okay. Let us enjoy what precious time we have with our loved ones, hm?”
Hiding the box in her skirt, Aline nods. Letting her arm go from Maria’s and standing in front of the table, opposite to her Verso and Gustave, with all of his friends behind him.
Renoir begins to sing Happy Birthday, everyone following in suit afterwards, Verso catching the eye of Gustave every time ‘you’ is mentioned.
“Make a wish, my boy!”
Verso stands still for a moment, then blows out his candle, the crowd of people celebrating as he does so. Aline looks at Verso, who is now smiling brightly while holding Gustave's hand. Both of them, talking to either people beside them but still holding onto each other.
“What did you wish for?” Clea asks once the chaos stops, crossing her arms as Emma stands beside her, giving a soft slap on the arm causing Clea to look over in shock while she rubs at her arm.
“If I tell, the wish will never come true.”
Aline watches as Maria goes over to Gustave and Verso, dragging them both into a hug..
Yeah, Aline thinks to herself, Our boys will be okay.