The City of Love [Jessica]

Jessica enjoyed the travel itself, but she'd also been incredibly glad to finally set foot back on land and begin their adventure in Paris. They had found themselves a furnished little apartment, and already met a few interesting new friends, artists and thinkers and the like just like them and there promised to be many late nights over bottles of wine discussing anything and everything.

But for today, it was just them and she'd been excited to go out and see more of the city with him. She'd been a tourist here and spoke a fair amount of the language, but there was still so much she hadn't been able to see in just the matter of days she'd been here before.

Arm linked with his, she set up a lazy stroll looking all around as she did. "You know, for the time I have spent here, there's still so much I feel I haven't seen. Actually living in a place, it really is so much different than just visiting."

Mido had seen plenty of paintings and pictures of Paris, a bright gleaming beacon of wonder, a hub of the arts and all the people who thought beyond just what they knew. He felt at home here, and at peace, it was a feeling he'd never felt before during his years working as a cop. He still had no handle on the French language, so he was thankful for Jessica's fluency in it, translating for him both ways when they happened to encounter someone who didn't speak English.

He squeezed her close and grinned, "my first time here and it isn't even as a tourist..." He chuckled and let out a content sigh, "they tell you dreams don't come true...But this...This is all I could have ever wanted in life." He leaned in to steal a kiss against her cheek, "you are all I could have ever wanted in life." It wasn't the first time he'd felt an emotional lump since arriving, and he felt less pressured to bite down his feelings here, "you'll have to give me some French lessons though, I still can't even figure out how to ask where a bathroom is..."

She leaned against him, smiling brightly. It seemed she'd barely been able to stop smiling in days, still nearly giddy with excitement over how all of this was actually happening for them. "I'm happy we're here doing this together...that we decided to just go for it."

She paused, looking up at him for a moment. "Où se trouvent les toilettes." She said in answer to his question, then grinned again. "Don't worry, you'll pick it up quickly enough, when you're around it all the time and it's most of what you here. Immersion and all of that. Though if you wanted, I could start speaking to you only in French, and you'll be forced to figure it out even faster." She teased.

When he felt Jessica lean agaist his side, he slipped his arm from around her's to put it around her waist instead, squeezing her closer, "me too. I was nervous...I'll admit...Just striking out fresh..." He laughed and turned to nuzzle into the top of her head, "but we're here and everything is...Well it's perfect." He still had lingering guilt over the way he'd parted from his mother, but he knew he would get his chance to make things better, right now Jessica was his focus, and their new life together.

Mido laughed at that and ran his free hand over his hair, "man you make French sound extra attractive..." He nodded his agreement to her statement, chuckling softly, "no noo, I think I'll manage!" He could pick up some basic French books and maybe pick it up that way, "everything is beautiful here..." He chuckled and looked around, "much less cramped in and suffocating..." He gave her another squeeze closer to him, "we should get lunch at one of these little cafes...It's around that time I think!"

She grinned up at him. "You'll pick it up fast enough, I promise!"

She looked around. "Everything here is just...it's old...but in a good way. It's not all...it's not like Los Angeles, all glitz and..." She gestured around her, trying to put it to words. "it's almost like..it's magic..." She smiled a little.

At the mention of lunch she looked around, before pointing to one of the cafes and taking his hand, pulling him over to it. "Let's go to this one...I'm just choosing at random...but everything here is good, I"m sure!"

====

Ana had never been to Paris...come to think of it, there was a lot of traveling she'd never done, so drawn into her work. But after all these years, when the letter from her son came, inviting her out to come see them, to come see how his life was now she couldn't refuse.

His letter had been positive, although she wasn't sure what she would find when she got to the city and came face to face with him again. They never had talked again since the day she'd dismissed him from the force...not directly anyway, and she'd never forgiven herself for just dismissing his feelings and concerns as easily as she had that day, focused once again only on her work, at the expense of their relationship.

The cab pulled up in front of the address she'd been given and she stepped out, looking at the small, pretty house in front of her. It was small, but obviously well loved and cared for...it was the exact sort of place she could imagine him living. She took a breath, then opened the gate and headed towards the front door, knocking lightly once she reached it and waiting for him to answer.

There'd been several times within the months following their arrival to Paris that he'd wanted to send his mother a letter, but the timing had felt wrong, and the words hadn't come to him every time he tried. Their relationship then was still fairly new, and the wounds from the words shared between him and his mother were still raw and hurt to think about.

But the timing had felt right, they had a family now, leaving no doubt that they were together for the long run, and he felt that it was the right time to finally send that letter to his mother, inviting her to come to Paris to see them.

Today was the day when she was expected to arrive, and Mido had been a nervous wreck all morning, fidgeting and busily cleaning the house from top to bottom to make sure everything was perfect.

He gasped at the knock on the door, taking a few deep breaths before going to open it, utterly stunned into silence for a few moments upon seeing her standing there. After what felt like a long stretch of silence, he pulled her into a tight hug, unable to hide the shaking in his voice as he stuffed his face into her shoulder, "Mom...You're here...I..." He tried to breath but couldn't keep down a few tears, "I'm so sorry..."

She couldn't speak at first either, just looking up at him as though he might turn out to be some sort of illusion at any moment. Yet it certainly seemed like him, as tall and handsome as she'd remembered him, but at the same time different. His hair a little longer, the set of his jaw a little more relaxed, he looked...happier.

She let herself be drawn into the hug, holding him back just as tightly. "Shhhh, it's alright." She soothed him, just as she'd done when he was younger. "We both have things to be sorry for...I should have never been so harsh on you, and I am sorry."

She pulled him back enough to look up at him, smiling just a little. "Thank you. For asking me to come." She spoke quietly.

Mido smiled as he pulled back to look over her face, giving her an understanding shake of his head and chuckling, "no...I understand...I..." He laughed and ran a hand over his eyes to clear them of tears, "I understand why you did what you did..." He looked to the side, "I don't regret our choices...But I don't blame you." He chuckled, "I suppose it comes with the territory, eh?" He hadn't been a father terribly long, given that their twins were only a few months old, but he already felt like he would do absolutely anything to protect them.

He took her hands and tugged her into the house, laughing, "well you had to meet your grand kids, right? And...Well I missed you." He chuckled and shut the door behind her, "they've just woken up for their naps, so the twins should be bright eyed and bushy tailed for you!" He was eager to tug her towards the cozy livingroom, calling out to Jessica, "Hey Jess! Mom's here!"