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“Hey, Rose, what’s up,” Luka asked, wedging his phone between his ear and shoulder so he could continue searching through the heaps of paper on his desk. “Everything okay?”
“You always ask that,” Rose giggled. “Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just—well, I guess Angie’s been missing you.”
“Missing me?” Luka echoed. “I was just there this weekend.”
“I know,” Rose sighed, and Luka could almost hear her rolling her eyes. “But she’s asking for you. She really wants you to be the one to take her to the library this week. I don’t know why she wants you for that— ”
“Hey!” Luka grinned. “I read.”
“Of course you do,” Rose said soothingly, and Luka snorted a laugh. “Anyway, she was so insistent that I told her I’d ask, but if you’re busy I’ll tell her so.”
“When is it?” Luka asked, setting the sheet music down and taking his phone back in his hand. He switched Rose to speaker and opened his calendar.
“Tomorrow at ten.”
Luka considered for a moment, then sighed. “I’m not playing a gig tonight and I don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow, so I can make that work.”
“Are you sure?” Rose teased. “I know it’s early for you.”
Luka grinned. “I can handle going to bed at a normal human hour tonight if it makes Angie happy. Tell her I’ll be there.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her you can take her.” There was a familiar, slightly shrill cheer in the background, and Luka chuckled. “What, honey?” Rose said, and Luka waited, with an eyebrow raised. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell him.” There was amusement in Rose’s voice. “She says wear something nice. One of grandpa’s shirts, but no holes.”
Luka burst out laughing. “I’ll do my best.”
He did manage to find one of the Jagged Stone t-shirts his father was constantly sending him stuffed in a drawer somewhere. He hung it in the bathroom while he showered and decided the steam had gotten out enough wrinkles to make it acceptable for his picky little niece. It fit him well, at least; Jagged’s t-shirts had gone sharply up in quality over the last few years. Luka’s jeans were pretty much all ripped at the knees but he at least found a pair that wasn’t shredded at the hems. He made sure to shave and gave his hair a little more attention than usual, and then headed for his sisters’ apartment.
“Am I presentable?” he asked, when Angie opened the door for him. Angie stepped back and laid a finger alongside her face in a gesture that was so like Rose, Luka had to hold back a laugh. Angie frowned at the holes at his knees, but sighed and nodded.
“You look very nice,” Luka told her as he stepped inside and closed the door. He crouched in front of her. She had dressed to match him, it seemed, in black leggings and a cowl neck blue shirt with scalloped lace at the hem and short sleeves. “What’s the occasion?”
Angie ignored the question, but came into the arms he held out for her, putting her own around his neck. “I don’t want to be late,” she said, even as she hugged him tightly and pressed her cheek against his. “Can we go?”
“Okay,” Luka laughed, giving her one more squeeze before he straightened up.
“Thanks for taking her,” Juleka said, and Luka looked up to see her leaning on the wall of the hallway. “I know it was last minute.”
Luka shrugged. “No big deal. We’ll probably grab lunch after. Text me if you need her home for some reason.”
Juleka waved and blew Angie a kiss, which Angie mirrored, and then Angie tucked her hand in Luka’s and tugged him out of the door.
“You know if you wanted an uncle date you could have just told me,” Luka teased as they walked to the metro. “I would have made time. We don’t have to do the library if—”
“No, you have to come to the library with me,” Angie pouted, pulling on his hand. “I want to go to storytime.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” Luka shrugged, shaking his head. Angie was as impulsive as Rose and as determined as Juleka, so it was easier just to go along with whatever weird little plan was fermenting in her five year old brain.
Angie took charge as soon as they got to the library, nearly dragging Luka past shelves and around corners.
“No need to rush, Angie, we’ve got plenty of time,” Luka protested mildly. Angie gave him a look that she definitely learned from Juleka and kept walking. Luka gave up and let her lead him to the children’s area of the library.
As soon as they were through the doors, Angie stopped dead and Luka nearly stepped on her. Before he could say anything, her face lit up.
“Miss Marinette! Miss Marinette!” Angie stood on her toes, waving frantically as she pulled Luka behind her. “Hi!”
A small, dark-haired woman leaning over the checkout desk straightened and turned. When she saw them, she came over and put her hands on her thighs, leaning down to Angie’s level. “Hi Angie,” she said, pink lips curving up in a sweet smile. “Oh my goodness, you look so nice today! Did your maman do your hair?”
“Yes,” Angie beamed, and let go of Luka’s hand for a moment to do a little twirl. Luka’s lips twitched and he tried not to laugh. Vain little thing. Then Angie turned towards him, and the woman she was talking to straightened and met his gaze, and Luka forgot how to breathe.
“This is my Uncle Luka,” Angie said proudly, bouncing a little as she looked up at Luka. “He’s the best uncle in the world!”
“Well, that’s a ringing endorsement,” Marinette laughed, offering her hand to Luka. “It’s nice to meet you, Luka.”
His hand moved to meet hers automatically, which was fortunate because he was pretty sure his brain had just completely stopped functioning. Angie elbowed his leg, pouting. “Be polite!” she hissed in a very audible whisper.
“Nice to meet you too,” he managed. “Marinette, right?”
Marinette nodded, and those plush lips parted to say something else, but Angie interrupted.
“Isn’t she pretty?” Angie said, grinning up at him, and on some level Luka was mortified, but as Marinette’s beautiful eyes widened and her lips formed a laughing oh , he tried to play it as cool as he could.
“Very pretty,” Luka agreed as lightly as he could. He could only hope the smile he felt widening his face wouldn’t give him away. He squeezed her hand gently and let go. “I hear you’re quite the storyteller,” he said, though he hadn’t really heard any such thing, just assumed it. “Angie was really excited to come today.” That much was true, at least. Ugh, what was wrong with him? Juleka would be laughing her ass off if she were here.
I’m in love , he thought the next moment, as Marinette tilted her head and smiled at him, seeming genuinely pleased. “I always love having Angie here for storytime, she’s such a good listener.” Marinette beamed down at Angie, who puffed up proudly.
“Uncle Luka makes music,” she told Marinette.
“Really?” Marinette said with a gasp that Luka knew was exaggerated for Angie’s benefit, but he felt himself blushing anyway. Angie was nodding vigorously.
Angie leaned forward and whispered, “He has songs on the radio. But he uses another name, so it’s a secret.”
“Angie,” Luka sighed, exasperated, putting one hand over his burning face. “That’s not how you keep a secret.”
“That’s right,” Marinette said solemnly. “Secrets are important. You shouldn’t tell Uncle Luka’s secrets.”
“Oh,” Angie frowned. “But you won’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” Marinette agreed. “But if Uncle Luka wanted me to know that, he would have told me. It’s his secret, not Angie’s secret, right? We don’t give away things that don’t belong to us.”
“Oh,” Angie said again, her shoulders hunching. “I guess not.” She looked up at Luka with a face that would have melted a heart of stone. “Sorry Uncle Luka.” He leaned down and hugged her.
“It’s okay, Angie. Just remember what Miss Marinette said for next time, okay?” He kissed her temple as she nodded. “I know you’re a good girl.”
He straightened, feeling a little awkward as he glanced at Marinette and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I’m sure Miss Marinette has to get ready for storytime, right? So why don’t you and I go pick out some books for you to take home until it’s time.”
“I can look for books,” Angie declared. “Maybe you should help Miss Marinette. She’s always dropping stuff!”
Marinette blushed and Luka had to cover a smile. “Well, I’d be happy to help. But stay where I can see you, okay?”
Angie nodded and ran off to the nearest shelf, picking up a book and opening it. Instead of looking at the book, though, she kept looking at them.
Luka suddenly got the weirdest feeling that his little niece was setting him up. She was Rose’s daughter, after all.
When Marinette smiled up at him again, though, he suddenly thought that maybe he didn’t mind this time.
“Well, can I help you, since I’ve been voluntold?” he joked, and Marinette winced a little.
“I’m really sorry,” she said quickly. “You don’t really have to help me. I can manage it, even if I drop a few things.”
“No, really, I don’t mind,” Luka hastened to reassure her, and felt his own face warming. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t want to. Please let me give you a hand with setting up whatever you need.”
“Well…if you’re sure, I mean.” Marinette gestured awkwardly to the side. “Follow me, I guess.”
Anywhere . Luka trailed after her, trying not to check her out too blatantly, all too aware of the parents and children around them. Marinette led him to a large, overflowing plastic bin full of…he wasn’t sure what. He could see felt and fabric and some paper pieces? And a couple of books. It didn’t look heavy, but it was awkwardly large for someone as small as Marinette. He could see how she would have trouble with it, especially the way the contents mounded up over the top and threatened to topple free at any moment. Marinette gathered up some of the items from the top of the bin so it was no longer so overloaded, and then Luka carried it to the room she pointed out.
Marinette quickly began setting out things from the bin, clearly in a specific order, on a table that also held a CD player. There was a chair beside the table and a feltboard on an easel on the other side of the chair.
“Anything else I can do?” Luka asked, and Marinette flashed another breathtaking smile at him.
“No, thank you, but I really appreciate you carrying that in for me. You can just go check on Angie and we’ll open the doors for storytime in—” she checked her watch “—about five minutes.”
“Right,” Luka said, realizing with a start that he’d better get back to Angie. She hadn’t followed them into the room and he didn’t like having her out of sight.
He found Angie playing at a table piled with plastic horses, a small mountain of books beside her. “You’ve been busy,” he said, sitting down beside her and flipping through her stack of books. “Don’t you have this one already?” he asked, holding up a book with a pink-maned unicorn on the cover.
Angie pouted, handing him a brown plastic horse with white spots on it. “Can’t find it. Here, you be the horsey that’s lost and my horsey will come find you.”
Luka chuckled. “Okay.” He played there with Angie until Marinette opened the doors of the storytime room and called for the kids to come on in.
Angie seized Luka’s hand and dragged him to a place on the carpet right at the front, near the chair Marinette sat in. Luka managed to coax her a little off to one side at least, so he wouldn’t block the view too much for any kids who came in behind him.
The CD player was on, and Marinette had the kids stand up and led them in some activity songs. Luka followed the moves along with Angie, and thought he saw Marinette’s eyes flick towards him a couple times. He hoped he didn’t look too stupid.
Finally they sat down and Marinette picked up the first book, holding it up and showing it in an arc so everyone could see the cover as she announced the title and author. Then she set the book in her lap. Marinette picked up a big pair of glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached to it and put it on her face, peering at the kids with narrowed eyes through the oversized lenses. Luka coughed to cover a laugh and those blue eyes darted to him again. Marinette’s cheeks pinked, but then she made a quick face at him that conveyed It’s okay, I know it’s silly, but it’s for the kids . Luka’s grin widened.
He thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the storytime, and he thought the kids did too. A couple of mothers were giving Luka sidelong glances and giggling, and one patted him on the shoulder with a conspiratorial wink that made him blush. Was he so obvious? By the way Angie was beaming up at him, probably so.
Even if he was, he couldn’t take his eyes off Marinette. She was magnetic, exuding a bubbly, charismatic energy that he found oddly captivating. It was obvious she put her whole self into everything she did—even if it meant getting silly in front of an audience. He admired that. He wondered what kind of music she liked. He wondered if she liked coffee or tea. He wondered what her lips tasted like.
Rein it in, Couffaine.
He wondered if the way her eyes kept finding him or the pink tint to her cheeks meant anything, or if he was just embarrassing her by staring like an idiot. God, she was gorgeous. And funny . And clever, the way she used her props and seemed to identify the kids who were shy or scared and coax them out of their shell with her puppets and dolls.
“Isn’t she great?” Angie whispered loudly, and Luka had to agree. He was as sorry as Angie when storytime ended. Marinette went to say goodbye to parents and kids as they filed out of the door. Luka and Angie lingered a bit, while she pointed to some of Marinette’s props and told him about other storytimes they had been used for. They were the last ones to trail out of the room.
“What do you say, Angie?” Luka prompted as they approached.
“Thank you Miss Marinette!” Angie dutifully recited.
“You are so welcome,” Marinette said, bending down a little to offer Angie a high five. Then she straightened and looked at Luka. “It was nice to meet you, Luka. Um, I hope you’ll come by again sometime.” Her eyes flicked away and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then smiled at him.
She was so fucking cute he wanted to die. Somehow he managed to say goodbye, and propel Angie out of the doors without melting down on the spot. Visibly, anyway. He hoped.
“What do you want for lunch?” he asked Angie automatically, his mind on Marinette, and he was so distracted that when Angie answered, “Ice cream!” he agreed without thinking.
He couldn’t help thinking, as the two of them sat at a table in a small cafe and dug their spoons into their sundaes, that Juleka was going to kill him for feeding Angie ice cream for lunch. At the same time, he couldn’t make himself care much, his mind full of gorgeous eyes and a stunning smile. It took him a moment to realize Angie was speaking to him.
“How many weeks until you and Miss Marinette can get married?” Angie asked thoughtfully.
Luka nearly choked on his ice cream. “What? Why do you think we’ll get married?”
Angie frowned. “Why wouldn’t you marry her? She’s super pretty and super nice and she reads the stories so good! And I want an auntie.”
Luka could only manage to say, “What?”
Angie pouted. “I just have uncles. So many uncles. I like you guys but I want an auntie and Mom says I will only have an auntie if you marry a girl. If you marry Miss Marinette I get to have an auntie!” She paused, and then patted his arm. “I still love you. I just think having Miss Marinette for an auntie would be so awesome! She makes such cool things. She made a bunch of superhero puppets for the last storytime and they were amazing! ” Angie sighed happily. “She’ll be a perfect auntie, she’ll make me pretty things and teach me to make pretty things, and she knows all the good stories—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Ange,” Luka laughed. “I know the books Maman reads you make it sound like falling in love happens really fast, but real life isn’t like that. Usually,” he was forced to amend, so that he wouldn’t be a complete liar. “Even if two people like each other, it takes a long time to know each other well enough to get married. Marriage is serious, and you shouldn’t rush into it. So please do me a favor and don’t go telling Miss Marinette I want to marry her or anything like that, okay?”
“I won’t tell her,” Angie promised, and Luka felt immediately suspicious about her quick agreement. For a moment, the little girl just ate her ice cream, looking as innocent as the angel she was named for. “So what happens next?” she asked. “When you want to marry someone. You met her, so now what?”
“Wait, when did I—” Luka cut himself off and sighed. There was no point arguing with her. “Well, first you just spend time together for a while. Then if you’re having fun, and you want to see them more, you ask them on a date.”
Angie took that in, her little brow creased. “I guess you need to take me to library time for the next few weeks,” she concluded solemnly. “That way you can spend more time with Miss Marinette.”
Luka’s face burned and he found he had no idea what to say.
“Well?” Angie said, poking his arm.
Luka sighed. “Angelique, I love you more than anything but you are just as much of a pest as your mother.”
Angie pouted at him, and he grinned, swiping a spoonful of her ice cream. “We’ll see,” he muttered, unable to meet his niece's gaze.
He glared at Juleka when he dropped Angie off, and she looked back at him with raised eyebrows. “What?”
“When I told you to make Rose stop setting me up, I didn’t think she’d recruit Angie,” Luka told her, folding his arms and leaning on the doorframe.
“Apparently she’s decided that I need to marry her favorite librarian. Because she wants an auntie.”
Juleka stared at him in silence for almost a full minute, and then burst into laughter. Luka rolled his eyes.
“S-so,” Juleka said, trying to catch her breath, laughter still bubbling under the words, “are you picking her up for library next week?”
Luka’s face must have turned red again, because Juleka’s next burst of laughter drowned out his answer.
“What was that?” Juleka snickered.
“I said, I’ll see you next Tuesday.”