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lil-gae-disaster · 2 months ago

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Christmas oneshot everyone :33

(all dialogue is in French btw)

@hamalicious-soup @papers-pamphlet @knowledge-paradox @almaprincess66 @imobsessedwiththeatre @rae-unbeloved @doodle-bug-nightmares

The snow was falling outside. It looked pretty from inside where Juliette Favre lived with the boy who she was tasked to take care of- no. Her son.

Jonathan was mere 7 years of age and he had grown to her like a son would have. The boys father rarely looked for him and if he did it was only briefly. She could almost delude herself into believing he was her own and that delighted her. She loved the boy as if he was her own flesh and blood, and she could tell he loved her like she was his mother.

His father disapproved of her raising his son in purely the language she was raised in, but what did he expect from a caretaker who barely understood the English language? He annoyed her greatly. The man never cared for his son like he needed to be cared about and yet he made those unreasonable demands instead of resigning his responsibility for the dear child who is so bright to her, too.

Said small boy was looking at her with those shining and curious eyes and a smile brighter than the sun could ever hope to be. "Mama, the snow is beautiful!" he told her with amazement shining in his bright and big eyes, filling them with life. He was such a gentle boy, she could not understand how his father could not care for him.

"It indeed is, my dear Jonathan." she supported his statement. And it was, it was like a white blanket of purity was thrown over the backyard of the family. Alfreds other son likely hadn't discovered it yet, as he is prone to destroying it. She did not understand this boy and how he and her dear son could share even a drop of blood. Jonathan always was respectful of nature while Darwin was prone to destroying it.

One good example was when both boys coincidentally simultaneously were in the yard in the spring, to simply enjoy the passing of winter. While Jonathan had been sitting in the grass with Juliette, the older woman answering her sons questions, a butterfly had landed in the boys hair, which was tied back in a simple braid. Darwin saw that and scared the butterfly, which also scared Jonathan. The butterfly left and he begun to chase it with his bare hands.

...looking back, this was not a particularly good example of Darwin being hostile to nature, the thousand slashed trees after his swordfight training would be better to showcase this, but it was still burned into her mind. Her son has looked so spooked and sad the butterfly had flown away, she felt genuinely sorry for the boy. Once they were inside, she gave him a book to read- a simple fairytale she took from her childhood home when she moved to Darlington. She then drew a simple butterfly for Jonathan, to cheer him up. And it worked really well, the boy was beside himself out of joy.

She looked at the drawing fondly while Jonathan occupied himself with a toy he got when Darwin was no longer interested in it. What would become of this boy when he was only fed new things and not taught how to appreciate what he already has? He was not her concern, but she could not help in her worry. Darwin was becoming a spoiled little boy who could not appreciate others, much less inanimate objects.

How many times has she observed the boy pushing away his meals because it was not what he requested, even though his requests would not taste good? How many times has she watched him destroy his toys and utensils because they were not complying with how he wanted them to, even though they do not have a consciousness to decide how they will behave? He was becoming greedy and not appreciative of what he already has. She was glad Jonathan was not like this, that he does not want what he does not need and that he appreciates what he does have, no matter if it is too little and he deserves much more.

Her sons laugh pulled her out of her musings. It seems while left unattended, he opened the window and a squirrel decided to explore it. And now it seems the little squirrel deemed Jonathans unruly hair a perfect place to sleep for a little. The little boy was obviously delighted and stayed still so that he would not scare the little thing.

Juliette wished she could hold this moment forever, but a boys hair is no place for a squirrel. "Jonathan", she called his attention from where she was sitting in an armchair, "a boys head is no place for a wild squirrel" she gently reminded him as she got up and gently picked the squirrel up to let it go outside again.

When she returned her gaze to her son after she saw the squirrel scurry off to the tree close by to continue its nap there, she saw him pouting. She had to laugh a little as she closed the window and led the young boy closer into the room.

"You should make yourself presentable, Mr. Smith awaits us for lunch in a little." She told him. Juliette never liked the man and could not understand how he became a husband, let alone a father. But even she had to admit it was gentle of him to invite them each year since Jonathan could talk to lunch, church and dinner with eventual presents on Christmas Eve.

The presents for Jonathan were rarely more than one, Alfreds care did not seem to extend so far as to get his younger son gifts. But it is not like Jonathan cared much for the number of gifts, he was content with the gift she always gave him.

Juliette had to smile at the memory of Jonathans big grin, from ear to ear, when he unpacked a blanket she hand stitched for a year during his archery lessons last year. He was overjoyed, even though she was not proud of it. The rest of the evening was spent of him tracing the embroidered corners in childlike wonder. She loved this boy as if he were her own.

The memory faded and she spotted Jonathan desperately searching his hair brush, his clothes put on disorderly. She made her way to him and fixed his clothing. Then she fetched everything she needed and begun braiding his hair. Alfred disapproved of Jonathans hair being longer than past his shoulders, but she could hardly cut it with Jonathans big brown eyes pleading her not to. She was a weak woman.

She decided to be a little more creative, seeing as it was Christmas eve, and braided a few strands before tying them simply together. It was not what Jonathan would usually wear, but he did not seem to oppose this.

Juliette got ready on her own, her curly black hair tied back as neatly as she could, in addition to her wearing her best dress, a simple and yet beautiful light blue dress her sister sent from France. Jonathan matched this with his own light blue clothing.

They made their way downstairs and got greeted with a diplomatic smile from Alfred Smith and a scoff from Darwin. Jonathan did not seem to mind, thought, as he looked at the richly filled table. They both took their seats together with father and son and after a prayer, they began to eat.

Alfred tried to strike up conversation with Jonathan, skillfully ignoring Juliette next to him, but the boy just started his studies in English. The man was talking too fast for him and Juliette could not help him since her English was not much better than that of her son.

After multiple failed attempts on Alfreds side, he let go of the mother and son duo and they continued their meal in silence until Jonathan started telling his mother of his new archery lessons and progress. Apparently Alfred caught up on Jonathans still lacking English, therefore he started speaking in French to the boy.

"How are your English studies progressing?" The man asked with faked interest. Jonathan looked for his mother for the answer of whether he should answer or not. She gave him a small smile and a nod, so he turned back to the man calling himself his father.

"It is hard but I am trying." he answered and this was true. Juliette saw him sit by himself sounding and trying the new words in his mouth, trying to understand the language. Alfred nodded in approval and then spoke with Darwin for the remainder of the lunch.

Church was interesting, to say the least. Juliette had to hold Jonathans hand from stopping him from squirming in his seat as the pastor talked in a language they both barely understood. She once spotted Alfred rolling his eye and Darwin giving them a glare. Why do they even bother when they do not enjoy their presence, she wondered bitterly.

The bitterness flew away when Jonathan started to lean against her, his eyes looking into her own light blue ones. She smiled and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer.

She never believed much in god, so the church visit did not mean as much to her as it perhaps did for Alfred. Jonathan was falling asleep by her side, surrounded by his mother and safe. But the pastor ended before he could fully drift off to the land of the dreams. He requested to be carried, and therefore she lifted him up into her arms. The small boy snuggled up to her and promptly dozed off again.

The church was only a short walk away, so she accompanied the head of the house and his son back to the mansion. Alfred seemed to wonder about something.

"Does this not spoil him? You are willing to comply with all his requests, this will only result in him being a spoiled little adult in the future." Alfred asked, nodding to the small sleeping child in the nannys arms. She chuckled a little before responding.

"I do not think so. I am willing to give him the affection a boy may need to grow properly, I am not bending at his will. And I teach him to also to listen to his heart above anything else. He is a good boy, you know?" She told her employer, annoyance bubbling up in her at the man's questions, but willing to answer them. She needed this roof over her head and she, admittedly, has grown quite attached to the boy.

Alfred made an 'O' shape with his mouth and then nodded in understanding. "I am sure he is. But he reminds me of my late wife..the grief is too much to properly care for him alongside my young Darwin." He told her, a trace of regret that could easily be seen as a show entered his face as his deeply green eyes laid on the sleeping boy.

Juliette would have loved to express her distain towards the man but she held herself together and simply smiled gently as she looked down at the boy sleeping in her arms, probably feeling safe, content and protected.

"He will grow up to be a bright young man, he's so very smart already." she told the man while a hand of hers began to roughly comb his hair with her fingers. It was soft and nice to the touch, a reflection of the boys character himself. She looked up to the man, whose eyes have gained a hardness behind them.

"He is no better than Darwin. He will not surpass my boy, who is way beyond boys his age already. Meanwhile Jonathan barely speaks English, as an Englishman." He told her, his eyes now not even glancing at mother and son.

Juliette dared to roll her eyes behind his back. "This deficit is not his fault, do not blame him for it." She argued, but her superior did not answer, so she sighed and continued the walk in silence.

Once back at the mansion, Alfred tasked her to look after both boys while he oversaw the preparations of dinner and the gifts being placed under the tree.

It was.. exhausting. Darwin refused to speak French, perhaps he did not know it, and resumed to reading one of his books without speaking to either of them while Jonathan woke up in the meantime and idly chatted with his mother about anything that came to his mind. Towards the end, Darwin slammed his book shut and started yelling at them, but neither could understand what he was speaking, their lack of understanding for the English language was at fault for that.

The boy seemed to notice he had no success in his yellings and returned to reading until another maid, a nice young girl with enough knowledge of French to communicate with Juliette, but originally from the Russian empire, fetched the French woman and the two boys for dinner.

Dinner was spent in silence besides the occasional remark from Alfred about Jonathans appearance or yet lacking English skills, Alfred chatting with Darwin or Jonathan sharing a thought he had with his mother. But any cross-interaction between those two family entities was minimal.

Afterwards, Juliette quickly had to abandon her son for s few minutes to fetch her gift for him this year. It was nothing much, but she hoped it would still bring him joy. The gifts were many in number and varying in sizes.. of course all of them labeled with Darwins name.

This made Juliette sad and glad at the same time. Sad for her dear son who faced this unjust treatment out of reason outside of his control and glad she did not raise him to look at the quantity of presents, more the quality and love shown through them.

She snuck her poorly wrapped gift with a little distance to Darwin's to not risk the boy assuming it is his too and tearing everything off, robbing Jonathan of his only gift he had this and every previous year.

First Darwin was allowed to open his presents. They were all new utensils and necessities he did not need in Juliettes opinion, he already had perfectly working ones. If Jonathan felt envy, he did not show it. He was genuinely excited and happy for Darwin and what he had gotten and even tried to hug him to show his sincerity, but he was rudely pushed off by the older boy, the push amplified by a glare and a subtle turn away from him.

Juliette, who caught her son, gently nudged him to unwrap the one gift for the younger boy, and he gasped and exclaimed a string of various expressions of gratitude. This made the older boy curious whether his younger brother had gotten something more valuable in money than his gifts, but he was disappointed and relieved when he found a mere scarf.

Jonathan was over the moon, though. He immediately moved on to inspect the piece of clothing and excitedly told his mother about all the small things he noticed. He also immediately found the note Juliette left for him folded into the scarf. It just read "Je t'aime*", but he was so joyous about this note he got up and hugged the woman he readily called his mother.

That laughter and joy was worth everything for her and even though she did not always give him what he deserved, he deserved a much better life than what he experienced here, she was grateful for those little moments.

* Je t'aime = I love you

#amrev oc #amrev #oneshot #oc oneshot #fanfiction #fanfic #oc fanfiction #Christmas #happy holidays #:D #from your local atheist

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