SSRP: Maine and Leo's Home

[Presley Black]

This is for general RP between Leo Black and Maine LeBlanc and their friends and family.

It is a cozy but spacious home. Not too big as to be imposing, but big enough to hold small get togethers and not feel cramped.

Scene: Leo and Maine prepare for their upcoming wedding...(I hope this is what you meant?)
Approved Characters: Charmayne LeBlanc
Gabrielle LeBlanc
Leo Black
Presley Black

[laurange]

Maine was never one to delay getting home, nor was she one to take any long shifts. So by 6 in the evening, she was at the doorstep, bouquet of lisianthuses in her hand and a case file under her arm. Turning the doorknob, she pushed the door to open it and walked into the house. Pausing a moment to let the wards recognize her, she closed the door with her back foot and made for the kitchen.

Setting down the file onto the counter, she pulled a vase out of the cupboard. Filling it with water, she dropped the flowers into it and arranged them a little before setting them on the middle of the dining table.

Checking the clock, Maine's eyebrows furrowed. It was probably time to cook dinner. If only she could figure out what to make. Picking out a cookbook and setting it on the counter, she flipped through the pages of the meat section. Leo was probably sick of her vegetarian diet.

[Presley Black]

Leo was later than was usual. Usually he liked to come home with Maine, but the stupid meeting about the fake brooms had kept him later than he would have liked. His arms were full of disorganized, unfinished paperwork, so he settled for opening the door with his elbow. Which proved to be quite a feat, but once managed he stepped inside.

True to his nature the first thing he did was make for the kitchen. Having not been kept in a ridiculous and slightly accusatory meeting, Maine was already there, flipping through a cookbook. Leo noted with a grin that the white flower-things he'd dropped off earlier had gotten to her, as they were now in a vase on their dining table.

Leo leaned against the counter supporting himself with his forearms, and checked the page Maine was looking at. "What are you thinking?" he asked with interest. It was a common question coming from him. He liked to know what had gone on in her day, and what thoughts still lingered in her mind after the day was almost done.

He really looked at the page for a second, something that was rare for him. Though he could bake cookies better than some people, cooking wasn't really one of his strong suits. Every recipe on that page had some kind of meat in it. "Giving up vegetarianism?" he teased. Though he loved every bit of her, he just didn't understand how someone could simply not eat what was basically a human staple. "Or thinking about adapting a recipe?" he asked the other alternative that jumped to his head. He didn't know if recipes could be changed, but if they could, Maine certainly could do it he was sure.

[laurange]

Maine glanced nervously at the clock on the kitchen wall for the third time in the past ten minutes. Leo wasn't usually late. In fact, he was probably the most punctual person Maine knew. But given his job and the incident at Diagon Alley a few days ago, it had probably held him up. Sighing, she continued to flip though the pages of the cookbook, pausing briefly at a particularly interesting recipe.

Maine looked up as she heard the door swing open and turned towards the source of the sound. It was Leo. Seeing the stack of papers under his arm, she stifled a giggle and turned back towards the book. More beef and chicken recipes. She'd never really found meat all that fascinating, really. But making Leo suffer just because she couldn't eat any did seem rather unfair.

Turning to face her fiancee, Maine smiled and kissed his cheek. "Welcome home," she said as Leo leaned against the counter. "How was your day, love?" His job could be rather stressful, and although Maine had loved her time there, a desk job just didn't become her.

Laughing, Maine shook her head. "Never. But I was thinking that making you embrace vegetarianism would be unfair." Hence her flipping though the meat section of her cookbook. She could always just boil some pasta for herself if she was particularly hungry. Otherwise, she'd simply take a salad.

"Adapting a recipe would be fun," she shrugged. "But I don't think I know meat well enough to do that just yet." She might get Gabi to be her lab rat and test all her experiments and such. But not just yet. First, she needed to learn how to cook meat. Merlin only knew how her maman had survived this.

[Presley Black]

"A little useless, actually." he responded. "I guess there was a batch of fake brooms that looked like they'd come from us? I don't really know the details, but all Igot to do today was try to figure them out." He hadn't had anything to do with it, and that was the only thing he'd managed to figure out. "How was your day?" Exciting? Maine always had good stories.

Leo laughed. "I don't mind." Really, she was super sweet to think of that, but he didn't want her to cook something she was against eating. He could always just fry up some bacon or something. Except that the last time he'd fried bacon had ended with having to scrup grease out of every nook and cranny in the kitchen.

He nodded. He basically knew nothing about adapting recipes. She could tell him that to gain the power of recipe adapting you had to eat a glade of grass from every continent, and he would pretty much believe her. So if she said it was difficult, Leo believed it fully. He certainly couldn't do it. "I'm going to drop my work stuff in the office, and then I'll help you with dinner." He gathere up his huge stack of papers again, and made his way upstairs to the office.

It was pretty much a mess in there. Soon he would have to have an organizing day, and do nothing but clean up his crap. Because he never could find anything in there. He dropped his papers on an empy spot, and slid down the banister like a child back into the kitchen. "So what are we making?" He asked with a grin. He was excellent at following directions.

[laurange]

Maine smiled a little and shrugged. "I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it," she said before turning another page and stopping on it. Reading over the ingredients quickly she smiled. It seemed easy enough. Her day? "You've heard about the drooling disease going around the Ministry, right?" she asked. "Well, my division's been assigned the creation of a quarantine spell of sorts," she smiled. "I have a file full of work already done, but we've got a long way to go."

"I know you don't mind," she laughed. "But I can't make you cook your own meat. You'd make a mess of the kitchen, and I'd have to clean it." she joked, good-naturedly. Nodding as he went off to dump his mess of paperwork in his mess of an office, Maine laughed a little at the condition of it. Maybe she'd just clean it for him, since he didn't seem to want to be doing it soon.

While he was climbing up the stairs, Maine finally got up and pulled out the skillet and a few plates and bowls. Summoning the packet of flour and chicken slices, she set those on the table before checking the recipe again and summoning the other ingredients. Salt, pepper, lemons, parsley.

Setting down the final ingredient, she looked up just in time to see Leo sliding down the banister like a small child. Laughing, she pointed at the oven. "Could you preheat the oven to 200 degrees, Leo?" It was probably the safest thing to ask him to do. An exploding kitchen wouldn't be very convenient.

[Presley Black]

Apparently Leo had been quite oblivious, or maybe his department just hadn't been affected because he actually hadn't heard about the drooling. Thank Merlin, because drool was gross! That should prove a fun and interesting challenge.

Preheat the oven. Leo stepped over to the oven and spun the dail to read 200. That he could do. "I finally told my grandmother we're engaged." Leo said conversationally. With the wedding coming up in the early summer, it was about time he'd gotten around to it. Maine had been introduced to Leo's grandparents a few months ago, and had occasionally seen them since.

Of coursre they had seemed to like her, but Leo was always hesitant telling his overbearing grandmother about things and people he enjoyed. His maternal grandparents had known for a while now about the wedding, and had adored Maine and the idea. But it had taken a lot of that Gryffindor courage to tell Almira Mahulda Black.

[laurange]

Maine smiled as she heard the dial being turned and set the skillet onto the stove. Not bothering to light the fire beneath it, she turned towards the chicken. She'd gotten Gabi to season it for her earlier, so she pulled out a tray and poured some flour onto it.

Dropping the chicken fillet into the flour, she rolled it around a bit until the flour stuck to the meat before setting it aside and continuing with the other pieces. Then, pouring some vegetable oil into the skillet, she lit the fire and put two pieces of the chicken onto it.

Turning as she heard Leo's statement, Maine struggled to maintain a straight face. "What did she say?" she asked, before taking another glance at the recipe book. Sliding the chopping board towards him, Maine smiled. "Could you slice up half a lemon and mince the parsley, love?"

Sure he could. Maine wasn't giving him the difficult tasks. But the thoughts of her own grandmother were a little too terrifying to linger on. So she distracted herself by prodding at the chicken pieces with a pair of chopsticks ntil it was ready to be flipped over.

[Presley Black]

She was making fried chicken? Maine might just be Leo's favorite person in the entire world. Not that she wasn't before, but fried chicken was sooooo yummy. Leo grabbed the cutting board and a knife and set about slicing half a lemon while he talked. "Better than expected actually. She listed all of your faults, all of mine, told me why we would never work in a marriage..." Exactly what they knew would happen. "Loudly dissaproved...I told her that I loved you more than anything in the world and if it came down to it I would choose you over my family and my family name."

He slid the sliced lemon over to Maine, and began trying to remember what 'mince' meant he was supposed to do. Cut it up really really small? Probably. "Then she smiled and told me that you were going to be a great addition to the Black family, and she would love you like any granddaughter. Which doesn't say much," he cautioned. His grandmother had this strange variety of tough love where she basically hated you until you were perfect. "But I'd like you to know that for her, that was basically joyous."

He chopped the parsley until it was in teeny tiny shreds and passed it to Maine. "What next?" He enjoyed this, cooking with her. There wasn't much he was good for, but he liked to feel as if he was helping. And it was a great time to catch up on everything in their respective days.

[laurange]

Maine raised an eyebrow, stifling a giggle and nearly dropped the pair of chopsticks she held in her hand. His grandmother was a tough nut to crack, much like her own. But Maine had always assumed that his grandmother was more accepting. "My grandmother said the same." As in her grandmother had listed Maine's many transgressions and the fact that her fiance's heritage and wahatnot weren't up to her standards.

But at his next words, she actually did turn around with a look of surprise on her face. She hadn't been expecting it and she knew it didn't mean very much, but it was a start. "That's perfect, Leo," she smiled. What had happened with her own grandmother was a totally different story. "My grandmother didn't take it so well."

Next? Oh. Lifting the pieces of chicken out of the pan and onto a plate, she slid them towards him. "Could you try one of these for me and see if they're done?" she asked before starting to prepare the sauce. At least sauce was done easily enough. She'd only be about 10 minutes, with Leo there. Unless the kitchen exploded. That wouldn't be so good.

[Presley Black]

Maine's grandmother was a lot like Leo's grandmother. The difference being that mean and unnaccepting as she was, deep down Leo's grandmother would really do just about anything for her grandkids. And if it came down to loving a person she dissaproved of, or losing a grandson, she would choose the option where she kept her grandson. Maine's grandmother had forced her into a marriage that had been a terrible experience. Leo wasn't sure she loved her granddaughter at all.

Of course her grandmother hadn't taken it so well. They hadn't really expected her to. "Is she still planning on attending the wedding?" Leo asked impartially. He felt no kinship with the woman who would cause such emotional scars to the girl he adored.

Leo grabbed a fork and knife out of the drawer and cut off a bite of chicken, checked for pinkness, and tried a bite. "I think it's good." He nodded. Good as in it tasted awesome already.

As the thought he'd had earlier crossed his mind again, he continued speaking. "Oh, I was thinking that tommorrow we should go do something fun that we've never done before." Because tommorrow was after all, a Saturday, and Leo loved adventure. Not necisarily something neither of them had ever done in thier lives, but something fun they'd never done together. Like....skiing. It was still early in the spring, and in the Swiss Alps there were some ski resorts still open. They were both experienced enough to apparate that far...or anything else Maine considered fun.

[laurange]

Maine took the skillet off the flame before she summoned the saucepan and heated it. Then, she dropped the garlic into the pan and stirred it a little, just long enough for it to turn golden-brown and start emitting fragrance. Attending the wedding? Maine wiped her hands on her apron and turned around, trying very hard to keep her face straight.

"She essentially told me that no grandchild of hers would marry someone like you. I laughed and quite honestly told her that I wasn't very bothered by what she thought, especially after what happened with Alan." Shaking her head, Maine poured the vegetable broth into the saucepan before continuing. "Anyway. She won't be coming. She's made it clear that I am no longer her granddaughter." And quite honestly? Maine didn't even mind. Not a single bit.

"That's good, then," she smiled, eyeing the piece of chicken. "I've never really cooked meat before." And with that statement, she stirred in the lemon slices and waited a few minutes for the broth to reduce a little. Then, she added the lemon juice and capers and turned around to face her fiancé at his voice.

Maine's eyebrows raised as he mentioned something fun. "I sure hope we're not going bungee jumping again," she laughed. "Because as much fun as that was, I don't think my heart can take another one like that any time soon."

Turning around just in time to see the sauce thickened sufficiently, she dropped the glob of butter and swirled it around until it dissolved into the mixture. Mixing in the parsley, Maine poured the entire thing into a bowl.

The sauce was done.

[Presley Black]

Someone like him? Leo's family was very involved in the highest circles of society. What could she mean? Then it dawned on him, his mother, the muggle and apparent disgrace to the pureblooded line. Leo still half believed that his great grandfather had cursed her with cancer as his last dying vengeance. Unlikely, but it had been what he'd believed as a teenager. "I'm sorry," he said honestly. Leo had no love for the woman, but he knew how it would feel if his grandmother had disowned him.

"Really?" Leo asked with a hint of surprise. For never having cooked meat before, it was delicious. He could tell she was getting down to the last little bit of cooking, so he started setting the table.

Did they really need it set as formally as they were both used to if it was just the two of them? Leo didn't much care for all of the to do that his family placed on dinner, changing into classier clothing, a full place setting....whatever. He simply set out the utensils they needed for the meal prepared. It was homier that way.

He chuckled. "Fun as that was, I wouldn't put you through it again." Leo was more of a high adventurer than Maine was. "What would you like to do?" he asked. It was after all, her turn to choose. He'd chosen bungee jumping. The ball was now in her court.

He dropped a couple of hot pads onto the table, leaned against it and raised one eyebrow, waiting for her response.

[laurange]

Maine looked down, eyes firmly planted on the ground. She was ashamed of her family, that was for sure. By some stroke of luck, her parents had never bought into the pureblood supremacy thing and they'd passed that onto her and Gabi. But her grandmother and aunts and uncles were subject to this strange mentality. "It's not your fault," she whispered, eyeing the plating in an attempt not to make eye contact.

Maine smiled as she saw him setting down the cutlery, noting the fact that he only took out the things they'd need for the meal. He never tried to be overly formal, and Maine loved that about him. He did his absolute best not to remind her of her time in France, and she appreciated it. She really did.

Maine shrugged. She was rather boring, and she knew it. Leo was the exciting one in their relationship, and most of the time, Maine was only just learning to let go and have fun. Like bungee jumping. Even if that had scared the living daylights out of her. She'd thought she was going to die!

So, being the boring factor she was, she smiled and pointed at the picnic basket. "How does a moonlight picnic sound to you?" she asked, taking her own dinner out of the fridge and popping it into the microwave. Then, picking up the chicken, she made her way to the other side of the counter and took a seat next her fiancée.

[Presley Black]

Leo smiled, glancing at the basket as she suggested it. "That sounds wonderful." It was something they'd never done before at the very least. He pulled out Maine's chair before sitting down next to her. "I can't believe we're getting married in less than a week," he said thoughtfully. Maine had been married before, though Leo wasn't sure if you could call it a marriage. Leo had never been wed. This was going to be entirely new for the both of them.

Leo's whole family would be there, some of whom were even distantly related to his fiance. It was hard to not find a familial connection between any two people at least descended from pureblood lines. While his mother was a muggle, Leo's father was pure-blooded, and his genes were just as interconnected as Maine's were.

He took a bite of his chicken. "This is delicious," he nodded at Maine. She just looked so darn cute sitting there. Plans for tomorrows picnic started forming at top speed in Leo's head. If he got one of her friends to take her out for the afternoon, he could prepare the picnic and surprise her. It would be fun!

[laurange]

Maine groaned as she padded to the bathroom, clutching her middle. Kneeling next to the toilet bowl, she rested her head on the lid for a moment before lifting it and emptying the contents of her stomach into it. Granted, she hadn't had much for dinner but it'd been getting harder for her to keep food down in the past month or so.

She should tell Leo, and tell him soon but she was scared. Mostly scared that she wouldn't be strong enough or that she'd fall down another flight of stairs or that all the tests she'd taken were faulty. In reality, she was just afraid she'd make a bad mother.

Ending her heaving worship of the toilet bowl, Maine got up, flushed and headed over to the sink to brush her teeth.

This was going to be a new routine, she was sure of it.

[Presley Black]

Leo finished up that last email he had to send off, and heard what he was sure was throwing up from the bathroom. He shut his computer and hurried over there. "Maine?" he asked when he saw her brushing her teeth. "Are you sick, honey?" he stepped up beside her and felt her forehead. Her temperature felt normal to him. He wasn't an expert, but he knew how to feel for temperature. "Do you need to go see a healer?"

[laurange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presley Black

Leo finished up that last email he had to send off, and heard what he was sure was throwing up from the bathroom. He shut his computer and hurried over there. "Maine?" he asked when he saw her brushing her teeth. "Are you sick, honey?" he stepped up beside her and felt her forehead. Her temperature felt normal to him. He wasn't an expert, but he knew how to feel for temperature. "Do you need to go see a healer?"

Maine clenched her eyes, willing the next wave of nausea to just go away. Her stomach was empty and throwing up on an empty stomach was painful. Sure, any kind of throwing up was painful but doing it on an empty stomach was far worse. Hearing Leo shut his laptop, Maine rinsed her mouth.

Wiping it on her towel just before he felt her forehead, she smiled a little. It was nice to have a husband who cared. "I'm fine," she said, taking a deep breath to give her the courage she didn't have. "I just saw Gabi yesterday, anyway," she laughed.

"I... I just need to tell you something." Maine turned around to face him and staring into his eyes had to simply stop herself from just not telling him. "I just need you to promise me that you won't hate me or anything like that for it." And that he shouldn't get his hopes up just yet because lots of things could happen in 7 months.

[Presley Black]

Leo was about to tell her that as much as he adored her little sister, she was family, and family tended to not want to see when someone was sick. But she continued. Tell him something? Did she have cancer? His heart just about stopped.

"I could never hate you," he assured her. "What's going on?"
He hoped to Merlin that it wasn't cancer.

[laurange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presley Black

Leo was about to tell her that as much as he adored her little sister, she was family, and family tended to not want to see when someone was sick. But she continued. Tell him something? Did she have cancer? His heart just about stopped.

"I could never hate you," he assured her. "What's going on?"
He hoped to Merlin that it wasn't cancer.

The words rang though her mind, repeating themselves over and over again with each heartbeat, each breath she took. I could never hate you. She knew that, but somehow believing it was a different story altogether. Maine had been told that love was a trivial thing but she never paid it much heed. She always thought hate was a stronger thing then, but she was wrong.


"Leo," she whispered, holding onto the sink for support. "I'm pregnant." There, she'd said it. Very softly, but she'd said it. They'd only been married a half year now, though, and maybe he wasn't ready. Maine wasn't either, but noone was really ready, right?

These were the times that she just wished her mother was still alive.

[Presley Black]

Leo watched her nervousness, anxious to find out what was wrong. When she finally said the words he was so relieved. "Maine," he wrapped her in a hug. "We're going to have a baby," he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "How long have you known?" he asked excitedly. "We're going to have a baby!" more excited and jubilant now he picked Maine up and spun her in a circle. He was going to be a dad!

[laurange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presley Black

Leo watched her nervousness, anxious to find out what was wrong. When she finally said the words he was so relieved. "Maine," he wrapped her in a hug. "We're going to have a baby," he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "How long have you known?" he asked excitedly. "We're going to have a baby!" more excited and jubilant now he picked Maine up and spun her in a circle. He was going to be a dad!

Maine wrapped her arms around him, just relieved that he wasn't mad or anything like that. Nodding, she smiled. He was okay with it. Actually, he looked like it was more than okay with him. He was happy about it, and Maine was happy about that.

"Slightly over a month?" she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet for a bit. Giggling as he picked her up and spun her around, Maine realized how lucky she was. Not everyone got chances like this, chances to have a husband who cared as much as Leo did.

One Leo put her down, Maine reached up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "I love you." She did. More than anything in the world.

[Presley Black]

"I love you too," he grinned. His brain kicked into high gear. Pregnant people needed more care than others, right? He set her down. "Do you need anything? I could make something to eat? No, we should go out to celebrate!" Because they were having a baby. A perfect creation that was half Leo and half Maine. He remembered that she'd just thrown up, and backtracked. "If you're feeling well enough I mean. Or we could just stay in and watch a movie?" Movies had been a part of Leo's childhood, and therefore they of course had a TV, seldom used, but still there.

[laurange]

Maine shook her head as Leo began rattling off ideas like he did broom features. Well, the features he thought of at first usually needed a lot of fixing, but after a while he'd eventually hit the nail on the head. Same went for this scenario.

Considering the fact that she'd just thrown up and was probably really close to another bout of nausea, Maine smiled. "Or we could just stay here and watch a movie," she agreed, resting her head on his shoulder and letting him lead the way to the living room.

[Presley Black]

Leo was more than over the moon about this. His grandfather would probably tell him he was acting like a girl, but he didn't care. He led the way to the living room and scanned the stack of DVD's. What he meant to ask was 'What do you want to watch?' But what came out was "What do you want to name it?" Merlin, he was a girl. "I mean, what do you want to watch?" he corrected the sentence.

He tossed a blanket onto the couch and waited for the answer to both questions.