Stormy Thoughts for Stormy Weather
Parties: Javan Floch and Henri Seznec
Location: J2 Bar and Restaurant
Summary: Javan dotes on Lola while Henri updates him on the new changesin his life
@henrixseznec
The stormy weather raged outside, rain coming down in sheets, and if he was sensible, Henri would have stayed home. Unfortunately, Lola had an appointment so he took her out and rather than head for home, he bolted for J2. It was quiet as he pushed through the door, most people apparently choosing to stay home. As he peeled off Lola's jacket, she let out a loud squeal. Glancing over his shoulder, he knew why. Javan. One of Lola's favourite humans on earth. Javan could say all he wanted that he wasn't inclined to children but Lola adored him completely and had since the day she arrived. "Hello. How are you today?" Henri asked as the infant tried to squirm out of his arms reaching for the other man.
With the rain pouring down, Javan wasn't surprised to see that their place was mostly empty. A couple of the die hard regulars were here, but the majority of their tourist business had clearly decided to hole up in their hotel rooms. He looked up on reflex as the door opened and then immediately grinned. Lola was one of his favorite people in existence. Signaling for the house manager to keep an eye on things, Javan walked over and immediately plucked the baby girl from Henri's arms. "Here's my best girl! Looking a bit like a drowned rat there, Henri, so I'd say I'm doing better than you so far."
Henri finished getting out of his soaked jacket and tucked the stroller out of the way. "You know she gets excited every time we pass this place. Ridiculous." Lola was squeaking and leaned in to bite at Javan's shoulder. "Ohh shit ... sorry. She's teething. She's a little bitey."
"Not my fault she has great taste and knows the best place to hang out." Javan let out a small surprised sound as Lola bit him before chuckling. "It's all good. I've had worse bites from less cute girls before. What's the best thing for her to chew on while she's teething cause I'm sure we ahve some of it around."
Henri laughed quietly at Javan's assurance that uglier girls had bitten him. "Well in her defence, she only has one tooth right now." He murmured as he laughed. "I just need to warm up her bottle, unless you wanna feed her?" he asked with a sly look, knowing damn well that Javan was a mushball for Lola.
"See? So no problems at all." Javan offered his finger to Lola so she could nibble on that while they came up with the better solution. He looked up right as he saw Henri's look and mock glared at him. "You're lucky I have an arm full of baby. But we're slow enough right now, I can feed her if you want to dry off or run upstairs to grab a nap or something."
Lola wrapped two chubby hands around that finger and pulled it to her mouth, gnawing on it contentedly as her small feet kicked. "I'll trade a nap for a great meal .... cause I have something I wanna talk to you about."
"We can make that happen. Pick a table to sit at and I'll have Andre put you together a plate so we can talk over whatever is on your mind. You know I've always got time for you." With Lola sitting on his arm, Javan quickly moved to talk to the house manager about going on his break for awhile. Andre was already starting to put together food for Henri so Javan knew he could trust him with the rest of it before rejoining his friend.
"Thanks Javan." Henri replied with a soft sigh. He watched as Lola without so much as a concerned glance at her Papa, disappeared with Javan. He settled into his seat and didn't bother looking at the menu, whatever he got here would be delicious. That much was certain. He set out the bottle on the table, knowing some hot water would be coming for him to set it into in order to warm it up for the baby. "Thanks again Javan. I appreciate your time. I know you are usually busy." Glancing around the ordinarily packed restaurant, "Although maybe not today."
Javan gave a careless shrug as he took a closer look at Henri. The man always looked tired these days, and he supposed that was what came with raising a child full time. But there seemed something extra there. "Like I said, always got time for family. But yeah, it does help that the rain is keeping all the tourists at home and the locals don't usually decide on Tuesday nights for date night out. Do you want food first or do you want to get whatever it is off your mind first?"February 26, 2020
Henri took a breath and let it out slowly, watching as Lola continued to happily gnaw on Javan’s finger without a care in the world. The words just blurred out of him without any further preamble. “Lola’s mom is back. Just out of the blue. Showed up. No call or anything.”
Javan stilled as the words burst out of Henri. "What does she want." The words were flat, but there was a watchfulness to his eyes as he let Lola continue to soothe her gums. Lola was a Maine baby by now, and she was going to stay that way no matter what this woman had to say. The fact that she had walked away from child and father so easily and hadn't looked back for months spoke louder than any possible words she could have.February 27, 2020
"Lola. I think. I mean. At least, to be with her and know her." Henri replied softly, almost unable to take his eyes off the redheaded baby. "She says she has been in the hospital over the last few months. She just got out and came back to Vannes."
"Easy enough to check. Especially since she still walked away in the first place." Javan wasn't sure if Henri was looking for comfort, but he didn't know that he had it in him to offer it to the man. He knew all too well what it was like to have disinterested parents who only showed attention when it served their own selfish interests. He didn't want that for Lola, and he didn't want that for Henri. Not when he was such a good man and a devoted father.March 1, 2020
"Yeah ... I ... umm ... talked to Ben. He's gonna help me hire an investigator to check it out." Henri explained quietly. "I'm letting her stay at mine so I can sort of .... supervise her with Lola. Make sure she ... I don't know ... can actually take care of her, is still clean ... isn't living in some dive. I don't know. I just feel like I have to do something, you know? I want Lola to have a maman, that would be good for her, rather than just me."
"Good." At least this meant he wasn't thinking completely with his dick or whatever had dictated this insane series of decisions. He was taking some practical steps. "And what's your plan for when he walks away again? How are you going to protect Lola and yourself?"March 2, 2020
"I ... I met with a lawyer. Earlier today. She ... she recommended I get a .." The word tasted like ashes in his mouth, "A paternity test. To confirm she is mine. I mean ... she is mine but you know ... biologically." He muttered, reluctantly. He didn't like thinking about the possibility that some other man could roll up and be more tied to her than he was. Alya had the privilege of having given birth. Her relationship was set in stone. Suddenly his felt shaky and he hated it. "She also said if Alya and I came to an agreement that she could draft up something. To make sure Lola stays in Vannes, no matter where Alya goes."
Javan could see how much each sentence was hurting Henri as he talked, and it made his stomach clench. While he was relieved to hear about the lawyer and the private detective, all the steps to make sure that both members of the Maine family would be protected. Alya wasn't included in that. "That's a lot of tough conversations. No wonder you're looking pretty rough. But all of this seems like a lot of good productive steps to take right after she turned your world upside down for the third time." As he spoke, one of the waiters came over with a bowl of hot water and a plate for Henri that Andre had put together. With a nod, Javan indicated where to place each item so that Henri didn't have to worry about anything.March 3, 2020
"This is shit, Javan. Pure shit. I finally felt like I knew what I was doing. I got through it ... all the early confusions. And then this ... what .... " He fell silent when Andre approached. He put the bottle into the hot water to heat up, knowing that Javan's presence would only distract his hungry daughter for so long. He took a sip of his drink and let out a breath, "I really don't want to do the paternity test. The lawyer recommends it though. What do you think I should do?"
Javan took the time to think through his answer and make sure that he was certain in it. Obviously he didn't have any previous experience to point to, but he knew Henri. "You said she's staying with you for now and she seems to want to get to know Lola. That means she's not pushing anything yet. If you don't want to do it yet, you can hold off. Lola's paternity isn't going to change if you test it now or test it later. But. If you do decide to get it done, you know you've got your family at your back and I can go with you."March 10, 2020
It was a relief to hear someone else say it. Henri nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly, "Yeah, there is always time for that.... if things take a turn." He picked up the bottle and screwed on the nipple before giving it a shake. "She's gonna start screaming in five. Here ... she wants to eat. We're working on cereal now. Soon she'll be able to experience the wonders of your menu."
Javan took hold of the bottle and offered it to Lola, smiling more naturally at the eager way the girl started to eat. "That is a relief. I'd hate to have to start coming up with gourmet baby food right as we stop needing it." Still, the levity didn't entirely distract him from the other half of the conversation and he couldn't hide his concern. "What do you want out of this Henri? Keeping her in the house and around Lola?"March 15, 2020
Lola gave a loud grunt as she accepted the bottle. "Gourmet baby food?" Henri had to laugh. "You really do spoil her." The smile faded but he answered honestly, "I want Lola to have a mother. I want to know she is safe with her maman." Then he paused, "Alya was someone to me. I don't ... someone important ..." He was stumbling over his words. "I want to figure out if I had it all wrong or if she was the person I thought I knew. I want to know if I'm the reason she left."
"Never to early to start them learning what good food tastes like. I'm fine with contributing to her eventual food snobbery." Despite his reservations, he listened to Henri as he spoke. He didn't agree with the logic. But he'd also been excruciatingly careful to make sure he never had a child or a someone. So he couldn't tell if Henri was being logical or emotional with this, or which one would be the more right either. He couldn't entirely hide the sigh. "Just...be careful. Of you. Last time you seemed too exhausted to pay attention to the heartbreak. If she does walk again and you don't have any shields up, I'm concerned it'll be much worse this time."
"Well I have no doubt that she will have a very well-educated palate. After all, her uncles are Floches and everyone knows the Floches know what they are about." He replied, laughing quietly. His laugh faded in the face of Javan's kindness. "Thank you but .... as long as my daughter stays where she is, I'll be okay. I know that now. More than I did before. She comes first. In everything."
Javan nodded, refocusing on Lola as she started to fuss a little bit in his arms. Henri might say that now, but Javan was going to keep an eye on things anyway. Lola and Henri were too important to him to take any risks with, and he wasn’t about to start.
