Chapter 6: The First Few Weeks & Beyond
Although Louis is already a parent (to Coco) – Columbe did most of the parenting. He was always working at Masque Grand Magasin, and often did overtime. Columbe quit her university course a few months into pregnancy as she was often unwell – even apart from morning sickness.
Besides – he had ambitions to become manager- and this paid off. He was promoted quickly to assistant manager. And when the manager left to run an even larger store – Louis moved into his shoes. They certainly needed the high salary with twins – and child support payments for Coco. It was unlikely that Fi would be able to work until the twins are older and at school at least.
Her French was improving, but in any case unless they get married she’d be unable to work without a work permit. Fi is excited at being a new ‘maman’. She’s happy to be living in Paris with Louis.
She gave in her notice at Fitz Dolz soon after discovering she was pregnant.
She’s tired as the twins need feeding every few hours so her sleep is of course frequently interrupted. They have a baby alarm and at the slightest sound of crying she gets up.
Filou and Loufi are beautiful. “Je suis Maman”.
TODDLERS
Fi & Louis were mystified and rather concerned when the twins began to gradually change skin colour. They sought medical advice – tests revealed that both parents carry a rare gene. The condition is a Génétique Changement de la Peau (Genetic change of skin). The consultant tells the worried parents that the condition might eventually stabilise, but they might just have to get accustomed to their children’s changing appearance. They come away from the appointment with a booklet and leaflets. Loufi was very dark as a baby, and now he is much paler.
