He gently set her down, crossing his arms once he stood straight again. He looked over at Poppy. "How dare you give her that idea?" he asked jokingly.
Poppy came over to him and slid her arm around his back. "When it comes to Bee," she said, "by that time, people are generally offering. I just figured you would join the ranks."
He chuckled, his shoulders shaking with the actions. "Maybe she'll rule the world one day. You never know."
"Probably," she said, nodding. "And I for one would be happy about it." Ed spoke up from the table where he was folding napkins. "So Francis, what exactly do you do?"
Francis tilted his head slightly. "I'm a government agent, although Poppy and I are currently acting more like ambassadors right now," he said thoughtfully, rubbing the back of neck. (I already forgot he sprained his wrist woops)
(lol. Just say that Phos' medicine worked better than expected or something. That reminds me, I want to get a loopy Poppy sometime in the future. I think it'd be hilarious.) "Oh? Is it dangerous?" Ed asked, a concerned look on his face.
(YES.) "Well, it's not supposed to be, but it has been... Only once, though, and nobody expected it," he said uncertainly.
Poppy took Francis hand and squeezed it. "It won't happen again," she told Ed sternly. "We have overseers now that allow us to focus on our work without fear." Ed frowned, brushing back his hair. "If you say so," he said. Clara quickly spoke up, sensing the undercurrent of stress in the area from years of being the peacemaker in sibling arguments. "Pops, Bee and Em really want to go to the lake tomorrow. You guys should go too."
"A little deeper in the woods," Poppy said. "It's actually really lovely." Clara nodded as Lewis came back around the corner wth another man, slightly tanned with dark brown hair. "Bee seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Francis, and I know Emma would like to spend some time with the two of you." The man came over to Clara, and kissed her lightly before setting down a tray of cinnamon rolls. "Francis, this is my husband Kellen," Clara said. "Kellen, this is Poppy's boyfriend Francis."
Poppy nudged him playfully, a small glint in her eye. "It gets less scary," Kellen said cheerfully, pulling off his oven mitts. "Ed gets less disapproving, and Lewis gets more talkative." Ed frowned up at him, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I am not disapproving." Eve, who had remained mostly quiet until that moment, kissed his cheek lightly. "You are a little terse, Ed," she said, taking his hand. "I love you dearly, but you can be a little intimidating." Ed frowned over at her, but there was amusement in his eyes, an expression that would seem quite familiar to Francis. "Anyway," Clara interjected, picking up Bee. "Would you two be interested? With the lake, I mean. It's perfectly fine to say no. Em can take Bee by herself."
(This is such a nice happy family! I love it! Also, did Kellen shake Francis' hand with the oven mitts on? Because that would be hilarious.) Francis smiled kindly, putting his arm around Poppy. "I would love to go to the lake. It's been awhile since I've done something like that."
(LOL. Yeah, I suppose so. Didn't even think about that. Also, I think the family is really going to like Francis. He's almost the exact opposite of Evan, and they were not fond of him.) Poppy rested her head on his shoulder affectionately. "Oh, great," Clara said, smiling. She had a pretty smile, although it seemed like it wasn't as instinctual for her as it was for Poppy. She set the last fork on the table, and put Bee in her chair, pushing back a few of the child's stray curls. "Have you guys eaten at all, by the way?"
(At one point, I feel like the fact that Francis beat up Evan will come up, haha) "I got something on the train, but Poppy only had tea," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully, before turning to her. "So you should probably eat something."
(I'm actually not sure how they'd all react. It'd be interesting.) "Sit down, you two," Kellen said, cutting into the rolls that released a delicious cinnamon scent into the air. The rest of the group gradually joined the table, with Lewis sitting at the head.
Francis brushed back his hair, taking a seat next to Poppy. This whole experience was new to him, what with being around such a friendly family. He remained polite, though, mostly speaking only to answer questions.
