Part Two: L’amour
“You didn’t get her number?” Amelia huffed. “Bloody hell, Em, I thought you like this girl.”
“Uh, well— I didn’t say that,” Emery answered sheepishly.
Amelia shook her head but was smiling. “You like her.”
“I don’t know,” Emery sighed. “She was just being friendly… Doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”
“Not with that attitude,” Amelia scoffed. “You said she goes to the nectary a lot, yeah?”
Emery nodded.
“Then I guess you’ll just have’ta go back a few times,” Amelia smiled. “You’re sure to run into her again.”
Emery returned to the hostel after class, still thinking about Amelia’s suggestion. She wished she’d had more time (and courage) to ask Amelia more questions. Like, how do you know when someone’s interested in you? Or if they’re flirting? Can you learn and practice flirting, or does it need to be with someone and in the moment? She imagined Amelia would laugh at that one and say something like, ‘Well of course you can practice, but you’ll look like a twit.’ Emery sighed and changed into her pajamas. She wished she had Amelia’s self-assurance. She looked out the window, over the trees and buildings and fields between her and the Eiffel Tower. She wondered if the windows on the other side of the hall had a view of the nectary.
-----
The next time Emery went to the nectary she had an awkward conversation with the sommelier Gaston Dutiel and felt obligated to buy a bottle of nectar for taking up his time. Colette wasn’t there, and Emery didn’t think to ask Gaston about her or her contact information. Maybe Amelia could have found a polite, unassuming way to get Colette’s number from Gaston, but Emery was uncomfortable asking him, especially since they worked together.
Luckily, no further awkward encounters were necessary; on her third trip to the nectary, Colette was leaving as Emery walked towards the building.
“Mais je rêve,” Colette said softly. “Emery – bonjour ma belle.”
“Salut,” Emery smiled widely. “It’s nice to see you again, Colette.”
“You as well,” she said, looking into Emery’s eyes. “I was ‘oping to run into you.”
“Oh?” Emery blushed.
“I thought I might have been – ‘ow do you say? – reading signals ‘zat were not ‘zere, so I did not ask for your number,” Colette admitted. “But ‘zen Gaston told me you were ‘ere and didn’t seem so interested in ‘ze nectar...”
Emery felt her cheeks burning up more and more as Colette continued. Had she been that obvious?!
Colette laughed softly. “Don’t be so embarrassed,” she said. “I was very ‘appy to ‘ear you came back.”
Emery’s mouth was dry. She swallowed and tried to think of something to say. ‘Just ask her!!’ she heard Amelia’s voice shout in her head.
“Would you, um – would you like to go out sometime? For coffee, or..?” Emery finally managed to say. Her heart pounded in her chest.
“I’d love to take you somewhere,” Colette answered with a grin. “‘ave you been to the museum yet?”
Emery shook her head ‘no.’
“Bon,” Colette said as she pulled a small paper from her pocket. “‘Zis is my number… we’ll go on Saturday?”
Emery hurriedly sputtered out a response – “Saturday works, I mean, that sounds great,” – and cursed herself for being so awkward. She swallowed and took a breath. “I’ll see you then.”
Colette smiled, “It’s a date.”
-----
Emery thought she might be less distracted after getting Colette’s number and scheduling a date, but she had no such luck. Her mind was racing about what to say, what to wear, and – for some reason – she was suddenly self-conscious about whether it was stalker-ish to have gone to the nectary solely in hopes of running into Colette. She was very grateful she had Amelia as a friend to reassure and encourage her.
The brisk morning air signalled that autumn was setting in as Emery walked to class on the Thursday before her first date. She was chilly even on her short walk from the hostel, but observed that many of the locals were still wearing skirts. She made a mental note to ask Amelia her opinion about whether Emery should wear a skirt on her date even if it was a bit cold out.
Amelia and another student, a young girl named Mei, were already in the classroom when Emery arrived. She was somewhat relieved that they were also both wearing sweaters – she wasn’t the only one dressing practically for the cooler temperatures.
“Good morning,” Emery greeted them.
“Morning,” they quietly replied, neither of them looking up from their drawings.
Emery sat at the drafting table next to Amelia’s. Already blushing, she simply announced, “Saturday.”
Amelia looked up with glee. “You asked her out?!” she asked excitedly.
Emery nodded, her cheeks even more flushed.
“Babe! I’m so proud of you,” Amelia smiled. After a moment, she added, “Well?! Details!!”
“We’re going to the museum,” Emery explained. “I ran into her at the nectary, like you said, and got her number and now we’re going on a date.”
Amelia chuckled. “You’re cute,” she said, turning back to her work.
“What? What did I say?”
Amelia shook her head as she added shading to a line on her page. “Your summary sounded like a book report.”
Emery frowned and began her own drawing, starting with a large tree in the foreground. Today she wanted to practice depicting light in pencil sketches.
“I’m so bad at talking to people,” Emery finally muttered in a defeated tone. “She’s not going to like me after a whole afternoon of my stumbling over words.”
Amelia looked at her with some concern. “That’s enough of that,” she scolded. “Colette’s already taken an interest, mate, you don’t have’ta worry about that. And even if she changes her mind by the end of the date, better to have tried and failed than never tried at all, yeah?”
Emery shrugged, still tracing out the trunk and branches of her tree. Amelia sighed.
“Well what do I say? What do I wear? How do I know if she wants to kiss me or something?” Emery asked quietly.
“Don’t worry so much. Be yourself, wear something you feel confidently attractive in, and as for the kissin’, you’ll know,” Amelia answered with a wink.
To Emery’s relief, Amelia patiently helped her with many more questions and talked through some of her concerns. She still wasn’t exactly confident, but she felt like she’d learned a lot that would have been difficult to learn from a book or the internet. She was even more grateful for Amelia’s friendship than before, and told her so.
“Yer’ sweet,” Amelia smiled. “And a good friend to me, too,” she added.
-----
Emery deliberated over her outfit and tried a few on that Friday night. She eventually decided on an outfit she’d first tried for a Christmas dinner a while back when she was trying to impress Rukiya: a black long-sleeved dress with a colorful block print crop top over it and dark green tights. It was form-fitting and very flattering on her, if she did say so herself. It was one of the few outfits that made her feel confident in her appearance. She hadn’t really struggled with body image issues; she just never really gave it much thought. She wasn’t overly self-conscious about her body, but not overly confident in it either. But in this outfit – one that was not an obvious ensemble from the separate pieces but somehow worked well together – she felt showed off not only her body, but her creative expression.
The next morning, she put the outfit back on and headed to the Simçais language class at the bookstore. As she walked up to the door, she was startled by a whistle. She turned to see Amelia walking up behind her.
“Good choice,” Amelia said simply, looking Emery up and down.
Emery blushed. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”
After class, they had tea at the café and Amelia gave her a bit of a pep talk. Emery breathed deeply and tried to convince herself this was a no-pressure thing, but the butterflies in her stomach seemed relentless. Nonetheless, she left the café, hailed a taxi, and went up to the museum.
Directly translated, La Gallerie d'Art means ‘Art Gallery,’ but Emery had gathered that it was, in fact, more of a museum than a space for painting collections and other art exhibitions. It housed foreign collections of sculptures, furniture and other objects of note from far-off places such as China and Egypt, with little works from local or famous artists. Emery looked up at the gorgeous sprawling château-like building and its grounds. A large pond and medium-sized fountain were central features, surrounded in trees and flowered bushes. The yellow brick building surrounded the fountain on three sides, while the fourth opened invitingly to the road. Emery walked along a flagstone path up to the museum’s large wooden doors and opened them.
Colette was already there and turned back towards the doors as Emery entered. She was wearing a wine-colored translucent blouse over a matching tank top and a dark brown leather skirt. She smiled brightly and Emery felt as though she may melt.
“Ma belle,” Colette greeted her warmly.
Emery returned the smile and leaned in to exchange a ‘la bise’ dual-cheek kiss.
“Regardes-toi!” she exclaimed, motioning to Emery’s outfit. “J’adore!”
“You look stunning,” Emery managed to reply.
Colette waved a hand dismissively but seemed flattered. “We simply must take a photo,” she said, gently pulling Emery next to her and positioning her phone to take a selfie. Emery slipped a hand onto Colette’s back and smiled easily for the camera.
‘Maybe this ‘dating’ thing wouldn’t be so difficult after all,’ she thought.
As they smiled at the resulting photo of themselves, someone entered the museum behind them.
“Ah, Colette!” a man’s voice said. “Bonjour. Ça fait longtemps.”
The women turned to see a blonde man, rather formally dressed.
“Bonjour, André,” Colette smiled as he approached. As she had with Emery, she greeted him with la bise. “Emery, ‘zis is André Lefebvre, ‘e is ‘ze curator of ‘ze museum. André, c’est mon amie Emery, une étudiante d’ENSA.”
“Ravi de vous rencontrer,” André said to Emery. “I won’t keep you. Enjoy the museum.”
“Merci – et vous aussi,” Emery replied, then followed Colette into the first gallery.
The gallery was full of pieces from Asia, including gorgeous antique wood furniture and intimidating stone statues of dragons and other creatures. Colette explained that André had an easier time getting some of the foreign pieces than local artifacts since the latter were often featured in the more tourist-centric areas of nearby Paris. Most of the visitors to this museum were on day trips from there and other nearby towns who came to Champs Les Sims to visit the nectary and enjoy the town’s quaint charm. Some were French citizens who were more interested in foreign collections than local ones, while others were students or other longer-term tourists who visited more out of convenience than genuine interest in what might be on display.
Emery was impressed by the museum’s extensive collective of Egyptian pieces including numerous statues and a couple sarcophagi.
Colette chuckled. “It is like you ‘ave never seen ‘zis style before,” she commented. “André is a friend, and it is a good collection, but you don’t need to exaggerate for me.”
Emery could feel the heat rise in her cheeks again. “No, uh, I…” she thought of how to best explain. “I really haven’t seen any of this type of thing before… I mean, some pictures online maybe, but never in person.”
Colette gave her a quizzical look. “Don’t you ‘ave museums where you are from? Or visit any on school trips?”
The heat spread from Emery’s cheeks to her entire face. She shook her head ‘no.’ “My town is very small,” she admitted. “And I haven’t visited the nearest city yet… Haven’t really had a reason to, I guess.”
Colette’s eyes went wide. “‘Zat is why you are so cute?! Is Champs Les Sims the first place you ‘ave been?” Emery nodded timidly. “Zut alors, she is untainted by ‘ze world,” Colette laughed.
She didn’t know it was possible, but Emery blushed even more deeply. This time, though, it was because she was flattered.
Colette leaned closer. “Let me take you somewhere,” she said in a half whisper.
Colette gently touched Emery’s arm and guided her past some impressive jade statues of warriors and horses to a staircase at the end of the hall.
“Most do not know to come up ‘ere,” Colette told her as they walked up the stairs. “But it ‘as one of the most beautiful views in ‘ze town.”
Emery followed Colette to one of the windows. Side by side, they gazed out over the rolling green hills and the cluster of yellow brick buildings in the center of Champs Les Sims. There was a large château in the distance that Colette explained was, in fact, a castle – with a moat and everything. She also pointed out the old watchtower on the riverbank, Le Tour Tower.
“Doesn’t that translate to ‘The Tower Tower’?” Emery asked.
Colette giggled. “‘Ze round tower,” she corrected.
As they looked out in silence, Emery became increasingly aware of how close together they were standing. She felt her heartbeat getting a little faster.
“It really is an incredible view,” Emery said awkwardly to try to break the tension. “Really beautiful.”
“It iz not ‘ze only beautiful view I have,” Colette smirked, turning to Emery.
With a sudden burst of courage, Emery found herself leaning in to kiss Colette. She felt Colette relax and return her kiss, almost with a sigh of relief.
“Uh—Sorry, I just—” Emery sputtered after opening her eyes and realizing what she’d done.
But Colette silenced her by gently touching her arm. “You don’t ‘ave to be nervous,” she smiled, then admitted, “I would ‘ave kissed you much sooner but I wanted to wait until you were ready.”
Emery relaxed her shoulders as Colette’s hand moved onto her lower back. She moved her own hand up Colette’s arm and felt the warmth of her body as they embraced. How could a hug feel so much more intimate than any other she’d experienced before? ‘Stop overthinking it!’ she urged herself.
Colette leaned in and Emery’s heart began to race. When their lips touched, Emery had to consciously try to stay calm, but when their tongues touched, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed in the best way. Was there such a thing as a perfect kiss? If there was, then surely this was it.
-----
Emery was so giddy after her date with Colette that she almost felt embarrassed by her silliness. She genuinely had no idea if her art had benefitted or suffered since she met Colette; she felt distracted almost all the time, reminiscing about their date, wondering what Colette might be doing at that moment, and debating whether they were falling in love or if she was getting too attached too quickly. They had been on a few more dates, but Emery tended to overthink these things and wasn’t sure if there was a typical ‘waiting period’ of some kind before you could assume you were dating as ‘girlfriends’. Did one have to formally ask someone to be their girlfriend, or was it supposed to happen more naturally? Was it a date if they were just casually meeting up for a walk around the market or at the nectary for a quick chat and glass of nectar? Or did it only count when they had more traditional dates, like going out for a meal or sharing a vespa up to the museum? Maybe there was a specific number of dates before you were formally ‘dating’?
Despite that her mind was usually elsewhere, her art school professors seemed happy with her performance. Her Simçais class, on the other hand, was not going as well. She found it much more difficult to focus on studying. One night when Emery was trying to learn when to use future tense versus imperfect tense, Colette called.
“Bonne soirée, ma belle,” Colette said cheerfully.
“Bonne soirée,” Emery sighed.
“Qu’est-ce passe?”
“Nothing,” Emery laughed, defeated. “Really struggling with my Simçais lesson this week. Not making much progress.”
“Per’aps I can ‘elp,” Colette replied. “I’m calling to invite you over for lunch tomorrow. You can practice Simçais with my sister, Béatrice. ‘er Simlish isn’t very good.”
“You want me to meet Beatrice?” Emery smiled. Surely meeting someone’s family meant you were their girlfriend.
“Oui, and ‘zere is no need to be nervous,” Colette confirmed. “I will make lunch, we will talk, it will be nice. Okay? You can come around noon?”
“Sure,” Emery said. “I’ll see you then.”
-----
Emery made her way to 12 Lily Court just before noon the following day. To Emery it looked like a large country house, but she knew it was too small to be considered a ‘manor’ or ‘chateau.’ The architecture blended perfectly with the rest of Champs Les Sims with its old-world charm, from the carved stone railings to the wooden shutters flanking every window. The clay tiles were faded and the stucco was painted a pale yellow and edged with stone, lending to an overall muted but classic look. The house also had two towers with windows near the top, which reminded Emery of her first date with Colette when they looked out over the countryside together from the museum window.
Emery knocked lightly on the arched glass door and Colette welcomed her inside. The main floor was surprisingly open for such an old home. Béatrice had a clear view of the front door from where she stood in the kitchen-dining area.
“Béatrice, c’est ma petite amie, Emery,” Colette said as she passed her sister on her way back to the vegetables she was chopping in the kitchen. “And Emery, this is my sister, Béatrice,” she added over her shoulder.
Emery blushed, recognizing ‘petite amie’ as the translation of ‘girlfriend.’
“Enchanté,” Béatrice smiled. She had a thin face and pointed chin like her sister, but longer, bushier hair with short blunt bangs across her forehead, and wore glasses.
“Moi aussi,” Emery replied. “Your home is lovely! Oh – uh – Vous avez une belle maison.”
“Merci,” Béatrice thanked her. “Vous êtes une étudiante à l’ÉNSA?” she added, asking if Emery was a student at ENSA.
“Oui, mon année se terminera dans quelques semaines,” Emery replied, explaining her year would finish in a few weeks.
Colette finished up the salad and served it onto plates, passing one to each of them and encouraging them to sit down while she got some for herself.
Over lunch, the women got to know each other better. Béatrice told Emery she was a bit of an artist herself, though it was more of a hobby for her than a career. For Simoleons, she made nectar with Gaston and worked with Colette to sell their nectars to restaurants. The sisters reminisced about their parents, the garden they had growing up, and teasing each other about Béatrice’s clumsiness and how Colette was a nerdy bookworm. ‘Bookworm,’ however, was a tricky translation at first, since Simçais equivalent is ‘rat de bibliothèque’ which translates literally as ‘library rat’ and Emery didn’t make the connection right away. When she tried to literally translate the Simlish slang, she realized she didn’t know the Simçais word for ‘worm,’ and Colette didn’t seem to know the Simlish word, resulting in laughter all around while they tried to figure it out.
“A worm!” Emery said again, wiggling her finger trying to imitate a worm. “Like a bug that wiggles in the dirt and birds eat them!”
“Comme une insecte qui fait—” Colette translated through laughter and wiggling her finger in confusion. “Et les oiseaux les mangent?”
“Ah!” Béatrice exclaimed. “Un ver!”
“AHH,” Colette sighed with recognition. “En Simglais, on dit ‘un ver de livre’?” She laughed again, adding, “C’est dégueulasse!”
Emery laughed, too, “Oh no, what is dégueulasse?”
“‘zat one I know,” Colette smiled. “It means gross, like diz’gusting.”
“And ‘library rat’ is better?” Emery joked. “They are both gross!”
Time passed quickly and it was soon nearly dinner time. Béatrice and Colette told Emery she was welcome to stay for dinner, but she politely declined. Talking all afternoon and the anxiety of meeting Colette’s only close family member left her tired. She said her goodbyes and Béatrice even gave her a hug and insisted Emery come back so she could learn more about her. From what Emery could understand, Béatrice wanted to hear more about SimNation, since they had mainly talked about family. She promised to visit again soon and returned to the hostel, where she quickly changed for bed and fell asleep exhausted, but happy that the day had gone so well.
Emery fulfilled her promise and visited the Bonnet household a few more times. She was grateful that Béatrice was easy to get along with and seemed to like Emery as a girlfriend for Colette. Speaking to Béatrice also really helped Emery improve her Simçais, though she still had questions about her lessons that made her feel dumb sometimes. She always reserved those for Amelia or their teacher, for fear of embarrassing herself with Colette or her sister.
Before she knew it, Emery and her classmates had completed their theory exam and submitted their final portfolios. While the portfolios wouldn’t be graded, their professor Étienne was kind enough to offer feedback on them to any student who wanted it. Emery set up a meeting and was grateful for his constructive criticism, even making a few notes for herself on what to work on back home. He ended the meeting praising the “impressive progress” she’d made, and she left his office feeling very proud of herself.
Amelia didn’t have the same professor as Emery, but they had managed to schedule their respective meetings around the same time so they could get one last coffee together before they went home. They agreed to meet in the courtyard and walk to the café together, knowing they’d need the caffeine with all the packing they still had to do. Amelia’s flight back to England was the next day, while Emery’s to SimNation would be the day after.
She wandered through the school and down to the courtyard knowing it was likely the last time she would see any of it. She sat down and watched the sky turn pink as the sun set, wondering how likely it was that she and Amelia would keep in touch. She hoped they would stay friends, but knew Amelia probably had lots of friends back home who would keep her busy. She was far more worried about whether Colette would keep in touch – it was heartbreaking to think she may never see her again.
“Y’alright?” Amelia asked as she joined Emery in the courtyard.
“Yeah, just thinking I’ll miss this place,” Emery replied. “How was your meeting?”
“Fine,” Amelia shrugged. “Ready to go? We can talk about it on the way.”
They walked from ENSA to the café and ordered snacks and coffees, then took a table outside.
“I will miss it here,” Amelia said as she looked across the town square. “It really is pretty.”
“Not to mention the snacks,” Emery tried to lighten the mood.
“And the company,” she agreed. “We’ll keep in touch, though, yeah?”
“Of course,” Emery smiled.
They were silent for a moment and Amelia frowned down at her plate, absent-mindedly moving the last piece of her pastry around with her fork.
“I shouldn’t be sulkin’,” Amelia said with a sigh. “Can’t imagine how hard it’ll be for you to say g’bye t’ Colette.”
“We can both be sad,” Emery teased. “But yeah, I’m a bit worried I’ll cry like a baby.”
“Ah, young love,” Amelia smirked.
“Yeah,” Emery said softly, looking away. “We’re spending the day together tomorrow, that’s why I want to get the last of my packing done tonight. I even moved my flight back so it’s really late – I hope I can sleep on it, I’ve never had to before.”
“Even if you don’t, you can always catch up on sleep at home,” Amelia pointed out. “Our time here is limited, though, y’know?”
Emery nodded. “I miss it already.”
Amelia changed the subject and they talked about who they wanted to see and what they wanted to do first when they got back home. They both agreed they missed sleeping in their own beds. Amelia had scheduled her next tattoo and her friends were planning a big night out, which made Emery feel a bit boring in comparison. Emery was simply looking forward to seeing her family again and getting back to her garden, and she’d never been to a pub or bar. It wasn’t long before they had to say their goodbyes and were tearing up.
“Make sure you have long distance minutes on your phone plan,” Emery teased. “I expect you to call.”
“Yes, mum,” Amelia joked, giving Emery another hug. “I do gotta go pack, though,” she laughed. “I’ll let you know when I land tomorrow.”
-----
Exhausted after her night of packing, Emery pushed herself to get up early enough for brunch at Colette and Béatrice’s house. After enjoying perfectly cooked crepes, Colette brought Emery up to her room where they snuggled and talked on the bed. It felt very bittersweet; Emery wished she could spend every Saturday morning like this.
“You’re making me want to stay in bed all day,” Emery admitted.
“Just talking?” Colette smirked, propping herself up so she could look into Emery’s eyes. “I wonder what would ‘appen if I try to make you?”
Emery blushed. Even though she knew the answer, she asked coyly, “How would you do that?”
Colette leaned in to kiss her and slipped a hand under her blouse. As intoxicating as messing around with Colette was, Emery didn’t quite feel ready to go all the way. Not only was she unsure about the details of woohoo, but she wasn’t sure about what her relationship with Colette would be going forward. They’d be miles apart tomorrow.
“Are you alright?” Colette asked softly.
Emery nodded. “Sorry, I guess I’m a bit distracted.”
Colette smiled sympathetically. “Let’s go out and enjoy your last day, then, hm?”
Part of her wanted to stay in bed and forget that she had to leave, but another part wanted to avoid any embarrassment that might come from staying there with Colette, given Emery’s limited knowledge and even more limited experience.
“Sure,” she finally agreed. “Nectary first and then the museum?”
They spent the day enjoying each other’s company and reminiscing about their time together. Still, Emery couldn’t help but worry about what their relationship would look like going forward. She struggled all day to find the courage to ask Colette what she wanted. She tried to stay present and enjoy the moment, but the idea that she might be heartbroken in a few short hours persisted in the back of her mind.
After they walked through the museum one last time, Colette suggested they head to the Catania Café for one last meal together before Emery had to collect her bags from the hostel and go to the airport. Before they got to the café door, Emery reached out a hand and touched Colette’s arm. She stopped and turned to her.
“I’m going to miss you,” Emery said softly. “Thanks for today… well, and every other time these last few months. You’ve made my time in France so much better.”
“I wish you could stay,” Colette responded with a sad smile.
‘It’s now or never, Emery,’ she told herself. ‘Just ask her!’
“Maybe I can’t stay, but…” Emery began hesitantly. “Maybe things don’t have to change between us? I mean, obviously my location will, but we can still talk and—” “Oh,” Colette sighed.
“I assumed, once you were back ‘ome…” she added.
“Oh, well, if you don’t want to—” Emery began.
“Non—” Colette interrupted. “I mean I didn’t think you would want to try long distance. I thought per’aps I was a – hm – vacation romance?” “No,” Emery said shyly. “Not at all.”
Colette blushed. “I would like it very much,” she replied after a moment. “…to be your girlfriend, still.”
“Really?” Emery smiled and moved closer.
“Mais oui; of course!” Colette laughed. “Pardonnez-moi, I am just relieved.”
“Me too,” Emery admitted. “I’ve been wanting to ask you all day, but I was scared you’d say no and end our last day together early.”
Colette placed one hand on Emery’s shoulder and the other on her cheek.
“Ma belle,” she said softly. “I do not want you to worry. You know ‘ow we say, ‘au revoir’ en Simçais?”
Emery nodded, unsure of where Colette was going with this.
“It is not exactly ‘goodbye.’ ‘Revoir’ means ‘to see again,’” she continued. “‘Au revoir’ is more like ‘until we see each other again.’ So, tonight, I am glad we can say ‘au revoir’ and do not have to say ‘goodbye.’”
Emery’s eyes welled up with tears as she let go of all the worry she’d been carrying all day. She finally knew for certain that Colette felt the same way. She sank into her girlfriend’s arms and lost herself in her kiss. Even though they hadn’t said it yet, Emery thought it must be love.
-----
The journey home felt a lot longer than the way to France had. Emery was relieved as the taxi finally pulled up to her house, meaning her trip was over and she could get some sleep. She lugged her bags inside and up the stairs. She stretched and tooked around. The house seemed to be just as she left it, except for a small stack of mail that her family had collected from her mailbox and placed on the kitchen counter.
Emery called her mother to say she was back safely and thank her for keeping an eye on the house while she was away (not that she was worried anything would happen; it’s not like there were many neighbours to worry about). Next, she sent messages to Amelia and Colette to let them know she made it home. Now that all of that was out of the way, she wandered into her room, got some pajamas out of the dresser, and started getting ready for bed.
She was interrupted by the quiet ring of the doorbell and a knock on the door. ‘I told mom I need to sleep,’ Emery thought, irritated. She put her boots back on and went downstairs, but when she answered the door, it wasn’t one of her family members standing outside.
“Rukiya,” Emery said, stunned.
Adding to her surprise, Rukiya looked different; her face was a little fuller and she had dark circles under her eyes. It was when Emery looked at Rukiya’s dress that she noticed her stomach. She looked back up at Rukiya’s tired eyes, in utter disbelief. She was pregnant.
----- ----- -----
Author’s Notes: Simçais is my Sim world version of French, a play on Français in the same spirit of ‘Simlish’ as the Sim world equivalent of English. Since the game specifies that Champs Les Sims is in France, I kept the country name and the word 'French' for cultural descriptors.
Hopefully my French and translations are all correct and the chapter wasn’t too confusing for anyone with no knowledge of the language.
My apologies again for another long hiatus. These chapters have become very long and they take a while to put together, especially for cases like this where I need to stage most of the photos because you can’t actually attend art school in Champs Les Sims, and my gameplay was mainly getting Emery a higher Visa level. I lost my excitement about writing and needed to take a break until inspiration struck again. It took over a year – but here I am! Special thanks to Erica for her lovely comment on Archive of Our Own that prompted me to come back to this story.
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