Chapter 47: Vol.1. Ch.47: Scones, coffee and a visitor for breakfast

I woke up in shock. This time not because of a nightmare, but because of the realization that I was going to be on national television. I was feeling really anxious. It was still way too early, so I decided to head into the kitchen, and prepare some scones for breakfast. I knew Emma was crazy about scones and I had to make up for not playing with her yesterday evening. The process of seeing all those ingredients turn into something delicious by my own hands calmed me down.

Mom walked into the room, clearly not yet 100% awake following the scent of the scones. She put the radio on for some background music, and then said: “If you also made coffee I am nominating you for the best daughter in the world award!”

I rolled my eyes at her joke. Of course, I had made coffee. I poured her a mug and she sat down.

She took a sip and I could slowly see all her systems starting up one by one. When she was fully booted, she said “We have a little problem concerning Emma this evening. I understand you have to be at the television station for work, but Frank took a day off yesterday, and Mari can't possibly handle the brasserie by herself. Yesterday you were there to help, but today that won’t be the case, so I was wondering if you could ask one of your friends to come over to babysit?”

That was a bit of a problem. My friendships have always been a bit shallow. I tried never to ask for these kinds of favors because they tend to come back to you, and that was a time sink for cooking. Well, in this case, if it was for Emma, I would do my best. It was not like Frank could have foreseen that I was gonna be out tonight, and I did originally promise to look after Emma. Maybe I could ask Mia, she is Emma’s family too, isn’t she? But before I could finish that line of thought mom said:

“Oh, and don’t think about asking Mia. I don’t want to give Elizabeth additional ammunition to attack Frank.” Was mom reading my mind? Well, she did have a point. It would just lead to another discussion of Frank not being able to take care of Emma…”

“I will message you after the lunch break to let you know if I found someone.”

If I could take some of the load off of my mom’s back, I would.

Then little Emma ran into the kitchen and jumped on me. “Auntie Claire!” I hugged the adorable little creature and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

We then proceeded to eat breakfast. Frank walked into the room, and also took a seat. Emma was clearly overjoyed to eat at the same table as her father, and Frank was actually really good with Emma, unlike what Elizabeth always claimed. It was a very dear sight to see them interact together. Frank was teaching her how to prepare her own sandwiches for school. He had created an entire game for it and made it seem like they were partners in crime. I guess she wasn't allowed to make her own when she was at Elizabeth's place. Well, it was safe to say, Emma was having the time of her life.

Then I suddenly heard my name being mentioned on the radio. It was the announcement of tonight's tv show. I was being presented as the Yuri Jeanne D'Arc, a lesbian activist that had become an internet celebrity really fast. Then they talked about Anna, my partner, who is the daughter of Kath Lyst.

I spat out my coffee. Okay, we are partners on the job, but if they word it like that, it sounded like I was in a lesbian relationship with Anna did it not?

I got a disapproving look from mom and Frank, and laughter from Emma.

“Auntie Claire is so silly!” She said while holding her belly with laughter.

The cute laughing Emma calmed me down a little. I'm sure they did not mean it like that and that I was just imagining things that weren't there. I was starting to become paranoid due to everything that had been happening lately.

While we were having a nice family breakfast, the doorbell rang. Mom went to open it, and came back, together with Anna.

Emma immediately ran toward Anna. “Auntie Anna! You need to come back to read me stories!”

Everyone started laughing at that one. Anna patted her head and said, “If you are good, I’ll come by again to read you a story.” Emma looked really happy at those words. I knew she would be asking me for Anna every night now.

“Sorry, am I that late?” I asked checking the time.

“No, I'm early. I woke up early because I'm a little nervous about tonight.”

It might be bad of me, but it was a bit reassuring to see that Anna felt a bit insecure too. Sometimes she just seemed undefeatable without any weak spots.

“Here Anna, have a seat. Here is a cup of coffee and some scones for breakfast, you can eat with us since you are here. Claire made more than enough.”Mom said. Mom looked clearly happy to be entertaining a guest at home. Well, it is true that that did not happen very often.

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Anna sat down at the breakfast table. I pondered on the fact that I was sharing a lot of meals with Anna lately. Even though her presence irritated me to no end last week, right now seeing Anna at our breakfast table felt kind of natural. I guess it was a bit like those American police series where the partner becomes something like a family member. I’m sure that’s the phenomenon I’m experiencing.

I finished my breakfast and hurried toward the bathroom to get myself ready. Anna was talking with mom and Frank and they were entertaining little Emma.

When I came back into the kitchen mom said “Be sure to go buy something nice to wear on television tonight. You should wear something new.” I looked apologetic to Anna. We shouldn't be doing this during working hours, but she looked rather happy and said “I am sure we can squeeze it in somewhere.”

“I’m counting on you. If I left it up to Claire, she would probably go in the same clothes she wears for school!”

Mom was embarrassing me in a way only mothers can. Even more so, because that was exactly what I was planning. “Mom! Stop embarrassing me!” 

“You see, she did not even deny it!” Frank added on top of that. I felt myself blush really hard.

Time to bail, before they started raking up childhood stories. I wanted to protect at least some dignity. “Look at the time. Anna, it’s high time for us to go!” I got up and got ready to leave. Anna quickly finished her scone and coffee, while mom and Frank were laughing at my expense. 

Anna and I then made our way to the car and drove to school. Our first stop would be Ms. Lourdes' office.

A few moments later, Anna and I were sitting in front of Ms. Lourdes explaining what had happened the night before, and how we would be on Ronna's talk show later that night. Ms. Lourdes had a worried look on her face.

“Be prepared for anything, that Ronna likes controversial twists so we have no idea where she will take it.”

Ms. Lourdes thought for a bit. She seemed to consider a few things and then said “Today, I want the two of you to make work of Eve and Therese's public apology. I want it done and on social media before the two of you go into that interview. That should provide you with some defense against our biggest weakness at this point.”

It was clear by her tone that with that order the subject was closed, and so she started a new one:

 “On another note, Cath has been testing a lot of new stuff and was really enthusiastic about the results on Frank's DNA. The way things are going, you can expect some fancy gadgets by this afternoon. Even though she can be a handful, she can deliver marvelous results... most of the time.”

Seems like Ms. Odes went to visit Frank already. She worked really fast. I was always under the impression that scientific research took ages to invent new stuff. I guess that depends on who is doing it. Ms. Odes sure seemed to be something else.

Ms. Lourdes then got up, and said while leading us to her door “I have asked Eve and Therese to wait for the two of you in the FBY office. When you are finished you can send them back here. I have plenty of work to keep them busy. I am not sending them back to class before Elsa and Tina have accepted their apology.

Anna and I made our way to the office where indeed Eve and Therese were waiting for us on the sofas. We explained to them that we were going to record their public apology today and that we would be visiting Tina and Elsa with them after school to apologize in person.

We then started working together on the apology. Making sure that the right point came across: Namely that they were the guilty party, and acted out of line because they did not understand the beauty that is yuri. Now that they have seen the light, their hearts have been filled with regret, and they can only feel admiration for the victims' courage to be so open about their relationship. Then we added a part on how they wished to make amends and hoped to become friends again.

Anna read over the text and a tear started rolling from her eye. “Indeed. Yuri is that beautiful. If only the whole world would understand that...”

That brought a smile to my face. Anna was being her silly self again.

We were going to wait until the long break at noon to do the actual recording. That way Gazette and Elodie could work their magic. So I sent Therese and Eve back to Ms. Lourdes' office in the meantime.