She shrugged a shoulder. “You had your reasons, I had mine.” Being an ice queen for so long had jaded her towards any sexual or romantic advances. The past year had seen a complete thawing of her personality. “It all worked out for the best in the end.” She wasn't sure when it happened that she saw him as someone she wanted to be with; it happened so fast that it could've been overnight, for all she knew.
Much as it was unfortunate that he didn't have any male friends, it made sense, in a way. At least to her. French men were famous for wooing women. Or maybe she just wanted to justify it with the stereotype. “Good thing I'm not the jealous type, hmm?” Not usually, anyway. She had her moments, like any normal person. Her mouth twisted in amusement when he made the Stone joke. “I knew you were gonna say that,” she told him.
Dropping her gaze to the blankets for a few seconds, Leah let her smile widen. “I guess we have our name now.” It was funny; they'd put off discussing names for so long, and once they finally did, it was decided within one short conversation. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but their daughter had a name now. “Analeigh Julia Stone.”
Talk of the city as it used to be once again prodded at the idea in Leah's head of visiting her old apartment in Queens. It was only a seed of an idea, with stubby little roots. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about venturing back to NYC. “I miss... Long Island's beaches,” she said, then smirked, “And Hero sandwiches. And the yoga studio where I worked. And...” She raised her eyes to the ceiling, such was the strength of the image in her mind. “All the tall buildings.”
Leah quirked her head to one side, brows raised. “Depends on the abuse, Frenchie. You know I like things a little rough sometimes.” If she'd even gotten the slightest hint that Marigold was awake and listening in on the conversation, Leah wouldn't have dared make a joke like that.
“You don't have to avoid talking about him for my sake.” No, she hadn't been Zimmerman the Eldest's biggest fan, at least not in the beginning, but that didn't mean she was going to disrespect him, especially around Evan. She slid a little closer to him. “And you didn't ruin the mood. He deserves to still be thought of.” She dipped her head forward to make sure he saw her tiny, encouraging smile. “And I've never been that social either, so we're in that same boat, at least.”
Leah didn't want to say that maybe it was partially her fault that George didn't want to be around. George was still getting accustomed to Marigold, and she still wasn't completely on board with the whole pregnancy thing, so maybe that was why she was keeping her distance. “I'd suggest we invoke forced family nights for the Stones and the Marchands combined, but I'm not sure how well that would work out.”
The superhero joke had her putting a hand lightly over her mouth to smother some of her laughter. She walked over to join him at the counter. “That depends. I'll help if it means this gets done faster. What task are you gonna give to me, Chef Frenchie?”