So Léon and I are still friends,
even though I have to be the big bad wolf and force him to do everything. And
that’s his fault, not mine. Time to eat, clean your room, take a shower (notice
I didn’t say bath), get into bed, go to the bathroom (I have to make him every
night or there are consequences the next morning). All Léon wants to do is draw
and color—like I mentioned, we are matched well.
Thursday, at the table, Léon kept
insisting on kissing me and professing that “we were married” and that I “was
his lover” and that I was his “spouse”. Liza only sat back and said “oh my”
with a grin in her eyes and watched us in an intent way that made me
uncomfortable. Luckily, I only gave Léon access to my cheek. I’m pretty sure he
was just trying to get out of eating his dinner, a time
when he always becomes especially amorous.
As for the girls, I’m definitely
forming a friendship with Jeanne, the ten-year-old. We have small conversations
that go beyond me telling her what to do in French. She is sweet, but very
spacey. I always startle her when she can’t seem to find me after school, or
choir practice or whatever. Jeanne loves
books, especially comics. She is always reading. On Wednesday this week she invited me to come
with her to Catechisme, a kind of Sunday school she has. It turned out to be a
small program and mass session. Near the end, she asked me if I partook of the
communion*. I told her that I was not Catholic. “Protestant?” She asked. “No,
Mormon.” Which she of course had never heard of. Walking back home afterwards, I could tell
that she was embarrassed that she had invited me to her Catholic activity, me
not being Catholic. I explained that it wasn’t a big deal and that I enjoyed
going. I invited here to come to my church sometime.
One thing I like about Jeanne is
that she is helping me learn French, unlike Léon who seems perfectly at-ease
with my poor use of grammar. Jeanne is great because she has begun to correct
me when I say something in the wrong way. All of the children are difficult to
understand because they speak very rapidly and somewhat quietly. Well, except
Léon.
Berenice, I have yet to form a
special bond. When I have a chance to tuck her in at night, I do get a kiss on
the cheek, but that is about the extent of what we have. I am looking to find my way in with her. This
girl is quite a little stallion. She physically provokes her siblings to fight and
she has a sneaky way about her. Her favorite activities include taking care of
the guinea pig, Misa, and making a Christmas Wishlist derived from a children’s
toy catalogue (Léon loves this too). She
is hard to discipline, as nothing quite seems to work. Luckily, the parents
have helped with that so far. As a fellow rebellious middle-child, however, I
feel a connection to her. I am hoping once I can better communicate, then I can
achieve the relationship I hope for.
In sum, I have mentally dubbed Léon
“the monkey,” Jeanne “the angel,” and Bérenice, well… I’m still deciding. I
think something along the lines of fox, weasel or badger.
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