The first part of this chapter is narrated by Giselle still, by the way. It'll switch to the heir later.
2.1 --- The Voice of the Second GenerationThere's a phrase. 'The Calm Before the Storm' If you ever notice right before a big storm outside, everything gets dim, there's a quiet wind blowing through the trees and everything is just very calm and serene. And then next you know...CRASH! Claps of thunder, bolts of lightning shooting from cloud to cloud and a seemingly unending downpour. All of it comes out of nowhere and you're caught in the middle of it.
Now look at the state of my life at this point in the story. See any similarities?
Antoine started dating old friend Sondra Pelly, daughter of Imogen who's Giselle's best friend. Antoine rolled the 'kiss Sondra' wish and that's what resulted. So there we go.
The storm was very suddenly upon us. And it was raging. Dakota's disappearance put Shawnee in an inconsolable state of sadness and anger. More often than not his confusion and frustration of Dakota disappearing manifested itself when he interacted with Antoine who was, at that point, the same age Dakota was when he left for Private school. I can't tell you the number of times he grounded (and I then had to go an un-ground) him for the smallest things. Staying out late is one thing, coming home 5 minutes late from his date with Sondra because the taxi driver got turned around was something else. And certainly not anything worth grounding for. I began to wonder, as the days went by and my husband grew sadder, if he was seeing anyone but Dakota at this point. I knew he loved his children, he proved that as he helped me raise them. But when you experience the loss of your own child...is it hard to try and not see them in every aspect of life? In the faces of your other children, in their old bedroom, at the table, in the living room, on the television. Grief was taking him over as he knew his son was walking towards his inevitable end: a confrontation with Isabelle.
It was a horribly sad evening. And we were all besides ourselves with grief. But what he said to me as the Reaper appeared did do something to calm me a bit. To make the passing a little less tragic.
"Don't cry for me" I remember him saying, little golden flickers of light floating around him as his life was being sucked away from him and into the Reaper's void, "After all the stupid mistakes I've made, I'm not worth it. I couldn't even keep my son from running away. But I'm proud of what I managed to leave behind--the kids I mean. I'll leave it up to you to finish this parenting thing off strong. We'll see each other again. I'll tell Watcher to make sure there's a spot in the After World for you right next to me."
"Tell Cheyenne I'm sorry." I said to him weakly, and he smiled and nodded, "After you say whatever you need to say to her first. I'm sure there's a lot."
"Yeah there's a lot." His laugh echoed as the solidity of his form was replaced a transparent version of that same form. That sight made my heart twinge painfully. For a moment, it didn't seem real that he was leaving. But the moment I was able to see through him, it really did settle in that he was dying, "I love you, Princess. Don't ever forget that."
The Reaper soon interjected, grumbling and pointing to the tombstone. And then it was over. The Reaper was gone and I was surrounded by weeping children and howling dogs. Though for a brief moment, all of it faded away and the sounds became muffled as I tried to adjust myself to the mindset that I was alone again. Raising children on my own.
And so this line marks the end of the voice of Giselle Anabella Delacour, Founder of the Delacour Family Line. From this point forward until their death, this story shall be told in the voice of the leader of the second Generation, Maxime Renee Delacour----------
Maxime Renee...what WAS mom thinking?! One day I'll change the order. Renee Maxime...nah, that doesn't sound right does it? My name is Maxime. And I am the second generation heir to the Delacour Legacy and it's my responsibility to bring in the third generation and make sure the family name stays strong.
Well...becomes strong. Delacour isn't a very popular name in Appaloosa Plains right now. Moving on!
Dad's death had a huge effect on mom. She tried her best to continue writing, both her books and this journal, but as time went on and she got older, she got slower in her motions and activity and she cried more than she could speak. And she kept resorting to breathing into that paper bag of her's. Always in the kitchen. Never anywhere else. I really don't think all of my mom's hinges were very tight.
Most of time, she laid in her pajamas in her bedroom and refused to come out. Not even for parties, and not even to see the few friends she had who wanted to make sure she was alright. And with there being still no word from Dakota or the police, I knew I had to make my first executive decision.
"We have to leave." I said simply to my sisters after school one late evening. Mom had since gone to bed and the boys were left to their own devices, "Dakota needed a scene change to get over Cheyenne's deeath. Now I think we need to take Mom away somewhere else so she can live out her life a little less miserably. I mean...think about it! Dad is all over the house. There's memories of him everywhere. And she shouldn't forget about him, but she at least needs to be able to move and function without being plagued by the thought of him and the fact that he's not with us anymore. So---we're leaving! The only thing is...well...where. Cuz heck if I know where to go! Some heir I am."
Camille broke away from the group and faced my old easle with a picture I never painted. When I realized she wasn't going to talk, I rolled my eyes and turned to Ally.
"Oh, Maxime, don't think of yourself as so useless an heir. Mom made a top-notch decision in selecting you. But on to matter at hand..." Allete adjusted her glasses, and I had to keep myself from laughing at the time. My sister was such a nerd. The only nerd in the world who I actually really cared about and would do anything for. Debate Club, Science Club, everything club. Perfect grades, teacher's loved her, and she picked up mom's knack for writing---though most of the books she said she was writing were instructional or educational, a.ka. nothing I was going to read. "According to my research, there is a swampy town known as
Twinbrook with several varying species of indigenous wildlife. They boast nature safaris and a beautiful view of the Simislaus Creek. It's also quite historical. It's an intellect's dream!"
She seemed very excited by the prospect. But a budding fashion designer such as myself was not interested in living in the bayou, "Ally, I'm not living in a swamp."
Allete shrugged, "Well that's where I'd like to go. And I think it'd be a nice scenery change for our dear mom. And there's quite a few...as you like to put it sometimes...'hopelessly unfashionable' people there for you to makeover."
"Most of the world is hopelessly unfashionable."
I reached out to try and remove that horrible headband she'd been wearing since she was 2 out of her head, but she smacked my hands away and I just sighed, "
Bridgeport could be nice! Glitz, glamor, night life! It'd be the perfect place for a young ingenue such as myself." I smiled, but it fell a bit, "Sadly, I don't think Mom would fit in there. And I don't want to drag her some place she wouldn't be comfortable."
Camille was staring at that half-finished portrait still. I blew out a heavy sigh that whipped up my bangs as I stared at it too. It was mean to be a picture of Dad, but somewhere along the way I got to sad and scrapped it and started something else. But then I felt bad about not finishing Dad's portrait and well...I guess that's when I stopped painting.
"Cammy, got any ideas? I'm not letting Allete drag us down to the bayou."
"You're the heir, Maxime." She snapped, "You decide."
"Well, I don't know!" I snapped back at her, my frustration building. Sibling rivalry would be an extreme understatement when it came to describing what mine and Camille's relationship became as we got older. I didn't hate my sister, not anymore. But she was so cold and passive and heartless most of the time that I found myself to be really...angry at her all the time! And when Mom announced me as the heir, that seemed to just make it wose., "I know you want nothing to do with me, Camille, but this isn't about me. This is about mom. If you think you know where we could go that would make her---"
"Isla Paradiso."
Her answer was so sudden and quiet that I almost didn't hear it over my own voice, "Isla what?"
Camille moved past me and over to the computer, then pulled up a web browser and found a colorful page advertising an island called 'Paradise', which seemed a little cliche and probably a bit of an overstatement. But from the pictures the girls and I spent looking at for roughly half an hour...it did seem rather nice.
"And there's also a way we can guaruntee some money." Camille said, click over to a page related to available real estate, "There's a house on the island---2 bedrooms, easily expanded into a third so all of us can live there. Mom can live with the boys on a houseboat near the stadium where Antoine would work. Marcel's an inventor already so he could do that. But for us? I think we should look into...well...." Camillle turned around in her seat, "Resort...ownership."
"Resort ownership?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow, "Like...buying a resort? We're not that rich, Cammy..."
"No, I know! I know, I know, but this one here. It's called uhh..." She glanced back at the screen, "Hobart's Hideaway. The owners haven't been able to do much with it and there sales are down and the real estate company took it from them and now it's up for grabs. For free, mind you, to anyone who can bump it up to a good resort. If we can pull that off, we'd be set."
Allete had a smile on her face, and I could see the cogs in her head turning. She'd man the finances, the budget, the research---and something told me she'd perfectly okay with that. Camille seemed passionate---and chatty. And somewhere in her growing up she'd become very charismatic, which meant she'd be good for word of mouth and getting people to come. And me? Well I had one heck of a fashion sense, couldn't that be translated into Design asthetic? And what better getaway for mom then an island?
Isla Paradiso, here we come!
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The family is off to Isla Paradiso! Most of the votes went in favor of Camille for heir, which honestly surprised me. But considering the direction I had decided on for Camille's personality, it wouldn't work. So Maxime took over.
It must look like I'm copying LivvieLove, but I'm not I swear. Not intentionally. I had this Isla Paradiso idea before Noten in her story became described as a 'beachy' boy and I was like 'Ahhhh!! XD'
