The Canterfiction Tales

A French Apology

(Sorry for typos)

‟Ica! What did you do?! I had all this planned out. It took me hours yesterday Why did you mess with it?" Said her husband frustrated.

"I..I'm sorry, I just wanted to help. I thought if maybe I put everything away for you, that you wouldn't have so much to do when you got home." Explains his wife. Claude puts his hand over his face, exasperated.

"Yes, but I told you I would do it because it has to go in a certain spot. Now I can't find anything. Sometimes you can't leave well enough alone can you." He huffs out a deep breath. "I'm going to take a walk, I need some time to think.

"But Claude, you just got here-"
"Ica, I just need to clear my head, okay?" He said more gently.
"Okay." She said softly.

Claude puts back on his shoes, and walks out the front door, leaving Ica wishing she should have just left well enough alone like he said. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉  𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒕. She thinks to herself. She hears foot steps coming down the stairs.

"Hey, was that dad? Is he back? I need his help with something."
"Yeah...he just left again. Went for a 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌." Said Ica her voice thick with remorse.
"Mum? What's wrong? What happened?" Said Zephyr coming to sit down next to her.
"I made dad mad."
"What'd you do?"

"I wanted to help him with his office, and I...may have moved some things around." Zephyr gives a big sigh and like his father puts his hand over his face.

"Mum, you know how dad gets. His OCD takes over sometimes. He's like nanny. Remember when you came back from watching the fur dibbuns  and you moved her things around...or you didn't put stuff back..er something like that. She had a meltdown."

"I know...but he never get mad at me. But Zeph, you should have seen him. The look on his face." She says looking down at her lap. Zephyr bends his head down to peer at his mother's face.

"Look, when he gets home just apologise to him. Like you said he never gets mad...maybe he just had a bad day."

"Okay."
"You gonna be alright?"
"Yeah I guess." Zephyr gives a slight laugh.
"Um what's so funny...I don't find anything very funny right now."
"𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 you are kind of acting like a pouty little kid."
"You know how I get." Huffs Ica.

"I do...at least you're not crying." Ica doesn't say anything. "Mum...just talk to him when he gets back okay? I'm going t go back upstairs and finish m movie." Ica smiles and nods. Then Zephyr bounds upstairs.

As Ica sits thinking Irish pads into the room and gives a curious ‟𝒎𝒓𝒐𝒘‟ She jumps up on Ica's lap nestled down and purred. She strokes her and her purring becomes louder. "I know girl. I messed up, I made papa mad." She looks up at Ica her lime  green eyes bright and her whiskers twitching. "We'll, when he gets back I'll apologise."

After about half an hour Claude gets back home and waits did him to come inside so she can talk to him. But instead of coming in the house. He takes a seat on the porch with his face in his hands. 𝑶𝒉 𝒏𝒐, 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕-𝒊𝒍𝒌 𝒎𝒂𝒅? Ica's heart plummets. Not wanting to go outside, for fear of making him even more angry she goes up to her son's room. He smiled at her.

"Are things good between you and dad now?"
"𝑵𝒐 he didn't even come inside. Zephie bears he must be 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 mad at me."
"Did you go outside to speak with him?" Ica shakes her head. Zephyr looks thoughtful.
"Why don't you apologise to him in 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉."
"Zephyr, I don't 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 any French."
"But 𝑰 do. I'll teach you." Ica gives her son a quizzical look but agrees.
"Okay. I have nothing to loose."
"Awesome! I get to give my first French lesson!" Ica chuckles.
"I hope I'm a good student."

"Okay I will break it down for you, but first tell me what you want to say to dad." Ica thinks a moment.

"How 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒖𝒕...oh how about this. I'm really sorry for messing with your office. I know that you have things a certain way, and it was wrong for me to move things without asking. Will you please forgive me? It breaks my heart when you're mad at me. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect. So I'm French it will sound like this." Zephyr rattled off what his mother wants to say with ease. "Je suis vraiment désolé d'avoir joué avec votre bureau. Je sais que vous avez les choses d'une certaine façon, et c'était mal pour moi de déplacer les choses sans demander. Voulez-vous s'il vous plaît me pardonner? Ça me brise le cœur quand tu es en colère contre moi." His mother stares at him dumbfounded. "Mum, don't worry I'll break it down for you." Repeat after me.

"Je suis vraiment désolé d'avoir joué avec votre bureau." Said Zephyr slowly.
"Je suis vraiment désolé d'avoir joué avec votre bureau?" Ica repeats the words the best she can.

"Good! Now here is the next part.Je sais que vous avez les choses d'une certaine façon, et c'était mal pour moi de déplacer les choses sans demander." Ica tries the next sentence.

"Je sais que vous avez les choses d'une certaine façon, et..et..oooh Zephyr I can't!" She says defeated.

"Yes you can. Come on mum try again."

"Oh alright. Je sais que vous avez les choses d'une certaine façon, et c'était mal pour moi de dép..errr

"déplacer" Zephyr gently corrects his mother.
"déplacer les choses sans demander?"

"Good mum! Okay last part. Voulez-vous s'il vous plaît me pardonner? Ça me brise le cœur quand tu es en colère contre moi. Ica does her best to finish her sentence.

"Voulez-vous s'il vous plaît me pardonner? Ça me brise le cœur quand tu es en colère contre moi?"
"Yes! See I knew you could do it. Now let's practice a couple of times, then go talk to dad, okay?
"Okay."

Zephyr and his mother run through the French apology until she is comfortable with it. "Do you think you can go talk to dad now?"

"Yes I think so. Thank you Zephie bears. I love you."
"J'aime trop maman." He winks.
"I can guess what that means." She chuckles.

When she goes onto the porch, Claude is still there, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Claude?" She says softly. He looks at her but he doesn't smile. "Can we talk?"
"Sure."

She looks into his dark gray eyes and apologises just like her and Zephyr rehearsed. "Je suis vraiment désolé d'avoir joué avec votre bureau. Je sais que vous avez les choses d'une certaine façon, et c'était mal pour moi de déplacer les choses sans demander. Voulez-vous s'il vous plaît me pardonner? Ça me brise le cœur quand tu es en colère contre moi."

She looks down at her feet not knowing how he would react. There's a look of surprise on his face. "Did you learn all of that..just to apologise to me. She nods.

"Zephyr taught me." She says meekly. Claude looks at her. He still has a slight look of frustration on his face, but his eyes are soft. Ica leans in so close to him that he can feel her warm breath on his lips. Her eyes hazel eyes pleading. "Oh you wily old man. You can't stay mad at me forever." She said softly.

Claude realise that she's right. He can't resist the look in her eyes and the fact that this woman loved him when no one else did. "Ica...Je te pardonne." He breathes. No longer able to hold back and he kisses her slowly. She savours the moments happy that he is no longer cross with her.