The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The picnic

⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

1 Peter 5:8

 

It was another beautiful sunny day in Amable with clouds passing by without a care in the world along with the soft summer breeze flowing through the air. A perfect day to have a picnic in fact. Both the Blumenthals and the Larue Families ended up going to the nearby grassy area that was placed between the Forest of Shadows and the park that was close to the town’s fountain. Since it was a Friday, which allowed everyone to have the day off from work, they set up the picnic blanket and placed all of the food that they needed on it. There were technically 2 blankets, as the 2 families wouldn't be able to fit on a single blanket, but no one minded as long as they were set up properly. Other people were having picnics too, with some sitting at the tables that were already placed there in case, and noticed that both the Blumenthals and the Larues brought the baby with them. Similar to what happened at the fountain, many teens and even children went to see the baby due to how adorable he was. Timotheos and Audrey made sure to keep him from falling over while the adults talked in the background.

"Wow," Audrey began. "It seems like Ambroise is getting more popular than I expected."

"Well, that is what happens when you find a baby near your house and it spread throughout town," Timotheos replied to which Audrey responded by giggling.

 

"Well, you're not wrong."

As Audrey and Timotheos watched Ambroise play with the children along with some of the teenagers who wanted to see the baby, they were amused by how easily won over they were. Granted, Ambroise was cute as a button and it seemed as though nothing would stop him from being the lovable darling that almost everyone saw him as. While Timotheos continued to watch over the baby, Audrey herself was distracted by her thoughts as she debated on whether she should tell him about her feelings for him. She looked at Miranda who merely gave her a sly grin along with a wink to show her approval, making Audrey turn away and blush in embarrassment. This is ridiculous! She thought to herself. I shouldn't be this nervous in front of my best friend. But then again there are so many people around us so maybe today isn't the best day to do it. Audrey herself became conflicted over whether she should go for it or not. She had Miranda's blessing after all and Barnim seemed open to the idea as well...

 

Yesterday...

 

As Miranda and Audrey arrived at the Larue residence, the 2 women brought Ambroise inside while Brielle and Julien greeted them. Once she placed Ambroise in Brielle's hands (literally and metaphorically), she went straight to the kitchen with Audrey to bake some treats that she was planning to give to Timotheos. Their plan was to make some madeleine biscuits for Timotheos as he enjoyed eating some, which helped him get along with Brielle. As they made the batter and started placing them in the shell-shaped pan molds, Miranda decided to cut to the chase and asked Audrey about what exactly her intentions were.

"So Audrey, any plans on how you will confess to my son?" she asked, causing Audrey to become shocked and blush at her boldness.

"M-Miranda!" Audrey exclaimed. "Where did that come from?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious at this point. I mean you were blushing a lot around him when you helped babysit Ambroise a few weeks ago," she replied with a cheeky grin.

"She's got a point you know," Brielle responded from the living room while Julien nodded in agreement. Ambroise didn't seem to understand what was going on nor did he listen as he was busy sucking on his pacifier.

"Mom!" Audrey cried out in annoyance as she desperately tried concealing her blush to no avail. Miranda ended up laughing at the sight of seeing her red as an apple and decided to tone down the teasing.

"Okay, okay I was just teasing," Miranda said as she placed a hand on Audrey's shoulder to calm her down. "I know how much you care for Timotheos and I assure you that my father and I have no problem with you being with our son. I'm sure Jarem would have approved as well."

"Um, thanks I guess?" Audrey replied as she didn't know how to respond to such overwhelming support. However, she was still understandably miffed over how Miranda accidentally ruined their moment. "But it was still pretty mean of you to make light of the situation that day."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Miranda asked in confusion.

"That day, you came back from the garden playing that stupid song. It ruined the moment and my chance to confess to Timotheos. I was really upset that day and wished that there was another way to talk to him. And the fact that you made light of it didn't really make it any better..." she explained with a scowl on her face. Miranda became shocked and horrified when she realized what she had done while Brielle and Julien cringed in response to their daughter's somewhat angry response.

"Oh dear, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean any harm from it," Miranda said as she took her hand away and looked away in shame over her actions. Seeing her feel ashamed made Audrey feel bad over unintentionally taking her anger out on Miranda, especially since Miranda gave her blessing to Audrey.

"It's okay. I can't stay mad at you," Audrey said as she patted her back in an attempt to console her. "We should probably put these in the oven now."

"R-Right," Miranda said as the 2 women opened the oven and carefully placed the madeleine pans inside while making sure not to accidentally mess up the batter. "If you don't mind me asking, how and when do you plan on giving these to Timotheos?"

"I... I really don't know," Audrey admitted nervously. "To be honest I never really thought that far ahead."

"Well, we were planning to have a picnic near the park tomorrow," Brielle revealed to the 2 women. "Maybe if you and your family are interested you can accompany us and Audrey can give them to Timotheos there."

"Yeah! That could work!" Julien eagerly agreed while Audrey and Miranda beamed at the idea.

"Hey, that's actually a great idea!" Miranda stated as she faced Audrey to see how she felt about that. "What do you think about that, Audrey? You want to try that out?"

"Sure! That'll work!" Audrey replied as she came to like the idea. Ambroise cooed and giggled as if he overheard and also agreed, making everyone laugh.

"See, even little Ambroise agrees," Brielle said as she continued to fawn over him.

"Okay, then it's settled." Miranda said as she clapped her hands in affirmation. "We'll set up the picnic tomorrow. I should probably tell my father but then again, it would be funny to see how he'll react to the whole plan so I'm going to keep it a secret for now."

Everyone laughed at the idea and agreed to keep it a secret for tomorrow, hoping that it will go well.

"Yeah, it'll be a neat experience," Audrey said. "I can't wait to give these to him."

 

Present...

 

"Audrey you okay?" Timotheos asked her, making her remember where she was now.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm okay just thinking about stuff," Audrey replied nervously. "Say Timotheos, do you mind leaving Ambroise for a moment? I need to show you something special."

"Oh um sure," Timotheos responded. "But can't we do it here?"

"No, it's something really special and I feel that it's best if it's between the both of us," Audrey explained with determination. Seeing that she wasn't going to change her mind and it was indeed something special, Timotheos nodded.

"Okay then. Mom, grandpa, I need to talk with Audrey about something. Can you watch Ambroise for me please?"

"Of course, Timmy." Miranda replied as she held onto Ambroise after Timotheos handed him over to her before getting up and leaving with Audrey. While Timotheos wasn't looking, Audrey gave Miranda, her mother and her father a thumbs up to which they eagerly returned. Barnim was enamored with Ambroise to notice but Miranda made sure to tell him eventually.

As Timotheos and Audrey walked away from the park and got closer to the Shadow Forest, which made Timotheos a bit nervous.

"We're not actually going in there are we?" he asked nervously.

"Oh no, this spot should be fine," Audrey stated as she stopped under a large shadow that covered them from the blinding sun. While she didn't mind the sunlight, she felt that some shade would do better when it came to her confession. "The reason why I wanted you here was because... I wanted to give you this!"

Audrey quickly pulled out her homemade madeleines which were kept in a special plastic wrapping with a crimson ribbon tied at the top to prevent it from spilling out its contents. Timotheos stared wide-eyed at the package while Audrey blushed and turned her head away in embarrassment.

"Oh wow," he began. "These look delicious! Where did you get these?"

"I made them last night," Audrey explained. "It wasn't too hard considering that I knew the recipe and wanted to make these for a long time so I thought you might like some."

"Thanks, Audrey. That really means a lot to me. Was it for the picnic?" Timotheos asked.

"Well, yes and no," Audrey confessed, much to Timotheos' confusion. "The madeleines were to help me finally tell you something that I should have told a while ago."

"Okay," Timotheos stated out of curiosity and intrigue. "I'm listening."

"Timmy," Audrey began. "You and I have been friends for 15 years and I swear nothing will change between us even after I tell you this. I didn't want to tell you because I thought it was embarrassing and everyone kept teasing us about it. But now I can't hide it anymore." Timotheos stared at her with surprise but let her keep going as he was eager to hear what she was about to say, though he had an inkling as to what she was going to say. "Timotheos Blumenthal, I lo-"

Suddenly, a loud gunshot was heard which scared some birds and animals away while making Timotheos and Audrey flinch in shock. Timotheos almost dropped his madeleine package but was able to hold onto it. Screams of shock were heard coming from the picnic area, making the 2 teenagers worry.

"That noise," Audrey began. "It sounded like it was headed towards-"

"AMBROISE!" Timotheos shouted in horror as he and Audrey ran back to the picnic area, praying that everyone was alright.