The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Madeleines

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

 

Timotheos and Audrey were a bit shaken by what they had just witnessed, especially since they never expected someone like Barnim to show a darker side to himself. But given that he was accused of being a Nazi by a murderous hitman, who had no room to talk given how he tried to murder both Timotheos and Ambroise, the 2 teenagers agreed that he had it coming. Julien and Brielle were also concerned over Barnim and Miranda, especially since they were left alone with the mysterious Elio who seemed to be hiding something else. I just hope Miranda and Barnim are okay back there, Brielle thought to herself. I would hate to see either of them get hurt because of that man. As the group arrived at the Larue Residence, they quickly got out of the car and ran inside the house, with Ambroise in tow. Timotheos was amazed by how sleepy Ambroise was and how he didn't seem stirred by an sudden noise. But given that he was still a baby, and only 3 months old, so of course it would make sense that he would be sleepy and quite the heavy one too. I wish I could sleep through stuff like that, Timotheos thought to himself wryly as he watched the baby continue to snooze. The 2 teenagers sat on the living room sofa, with Julien sitting beside them on a smaller chair, while Brielle went to the kitchen to get some snacks and tea. As the group sat in the living room, they all remained quiet with the sound of Brielle making tea and getting the snacks being the only thing they had left.

"Well," Timotheos began in a shaky tone. "That was a rather.... exciting day today. Wasn't it, Audrey?"

"Y-Yeah, it was..." Audrey replied in an equally shaky tone. "I don't think I've ever experienced that much excitement in a single day. Isn't that right, papa?"

"Uh yes!" Julien agreed. "It was a VERY exciting day today! Full of action and gunshots and lots of... blood... yeah.... I don't know how else to describe this."

They all sat in silence again as the awkward atmosphere continued to emanate throughout the room. Timotheos didn't know how to bring up the events without sounding tense and scared while Audrey was too nervous to talk after what happened today. Julien himself was also at a loss for words as he wasn't used to the sight of blood due to his slight hemophobia. Brielle was too busy in the kitchen to contribute to the conversation and Ambroise was still asleep in his little seat. Overall, the mood was still tense and uncomfortable after today's events. As Timotheos sat uncomfortably in his seat, he felt something in his jacket and remembered that he had put Audrey's madeleines in it for safekeeping. Because everything was so hectic and tense, he didn't have time to eat them like he would and was feeling a bit hungry as he left before he could eat dinner.

"Hey, I just remembered, I kept these in my pocket so I could try it later," Timotheos said as he carefully pulled them out of his pocket while making sure not to accidentally crush them into bits. Audrey was surprised to see them as she completely forgot about them and blushed again as she had made them for Timotheos so it would be easier to confess to him. She prayed that he wouldn't ask her about what she was going to say to him before they got interrupted as her parents were there with her. Unfortunately, because her father recognized those madeleines as the ones his daughter made, he began to cough nervously and quickly got up despite his daughter's silent pleas to not leave her alone with Timotheos.

"Well, I should probably just stretch my legs as I've been sitting for almost the whole day. I'll be in the kitchen helping Brielle if you need anything okay? Au revoir!" he said as he quickly dashed to the kitchen. Though a small part of Audrey was silently fuming and internally screaming over how he bailed on her like that, she also knew that he was just giving her a little push. Should I do it now? She asked herself as she didn't know if now was the right time to confess. Then again, today was really tense and we need some kind of distraction before things get even more awkward.

"Audrey?" Timotheos asked, causing Audrey to flinch and snap out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes?" Audrey asked nervously hoping that he wouldn't notice out of it she was today.

"You want some?" he asked, offering her some of the madeleines that she gave him earlier.

"S-sure why not? Hehe..." Audrey replied as she accepted the madeleine that Timotheos gave her. As they both ate their madeleines, they couldn't help but smile and murmur over how delicious it was. Audrey was glad to see that she did well in baking them but was even more relieved to see that Timotheos enjoyed them as much as she did. The way he was happily savoring the taste made her remember why she fell in love with him as his happiness meant everything to her, even when they were kids. Sure they were only 15 but Audrey knew for sure that Timotheos was the man that she wanted to marry in the future but she needed to find the right time to confess and ensure that he returned her feelings. Noticing that Audrey was staring at him rather intently, Timotheos decided to break the silence.

"Audrey, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yes, yes I'm fine! No problems here, haha..."

Timotheos raised an eyebrow over this as he knew by now that whenever Audrey was laughing like that, there was something she wasn't telling him. While he usually didn't like to pry into other people's personal lives, he couldn't help but feel that Audrey was hiding something from him. Then again, he himself was hiding the fact that he had just developed feelings for her so he had no room to talk. However, he could tell that something was bothering her and he wanted to help with whatever was troubling her.

"Audrey, you know you could tell me anything right?" Timotheos began. "It's like you said earlier, nothing will change between us with whatever you're trying to tell me."

"Really?" Audrey asked hopefully.

"Really," he confirmed with a gentle smile.

Okay then. This is my best shot. She thought to herself as she took a deep breath and cleared her throat so this moment wouldn't be ruined. Hope this works this time.

"Timmy, you are my best friend and I care about you very much. But over the years, my feelings for you may have changed in a way that wasn't necessarily... platonic."

"Okay then. Where is this going exactly?" he asked with intrigue.

"The truth is I think-no! I'm tired of being in denial and I've stayed in doubt for too long! Timmy, I love-"

Suddenly, there was the sound of police sirens was heard from a small distance, causing everyone to look towards the front window. Timotheos and Audrey immediately got up and checked to see what was going on while Brielle and Julien walked into the living room to join them. All 4 of them saw the lights of police cars headed towards the area where the Blumenthal Residence was, making Timotheos very concerned.

"What do you think is happening to mom and grandpa?" Timotheos asked Julien, making the older man unsure.

"I... I don't know," Julien replied. "But I'm sure they're okay. Right, Brielle?"

"R-Right," Brielle replied despite not being sure of herself. Lord, please protect Miranda and Barnim from whoever is threatening them right now.

"Mama, what should we do? Shouldn't we call Miranda to make sure she and Barnim are alright?" Audrey asked in a worried tone.

"I don't think now is the right time," Brielle replied. "The police should be able to handle whatever is happening in there. Let's just wait for a while." Once she said that, she went to Ambroise to check if he was awake or not. She was somewhat surprised to see that Ambroise was slowly waking up, especially since he was fast asleep during Henri's interrogation. But given how loud the police sirens were, of course he was bound to wake up and start to whimper a bit before crying. Brielle quickly got him out his seat and held him in her arms as she tried to calm him down. As she continued to rock him back and forth in her arms, Audrey and Timotheos couldn't help but almost melt at the sight of him calming down and nonchalantly babbling in her arms.

However, that moment was short-lived when the kitchen phone rang.

"I'll get it," Julien said as he ran to the kitchen to pick up the phone. Once he arrived in the kitchen, he immediately took it off the handle and answered it.

"Bonjour. Who is this?" he asked.

"Julien, oh thank goodness! You need to bring the kids back here right now! It's an emergency!" Miranda cried on the other line.

"Wait what?!" Julien cried out in surprise. "Miranda, what happened back there?!"

"No time to explain just get the kids and Brielle here! NOW!" she shouted in desperation.