Chapter 80: Chistmas Chapter Part 1

(For Aefener)

 

"Have you packed everything?" Peter stood in Julia's room and looked at her skeptically. "You're still in your pajamas!"

"And you're wearing a dress!" Julia stuck out her tongue at her brother. "I already packed yesterday. I just need to get dressed quickly!"

Peter, who was wearing a dark blue knitted dress with black leggings, shook his head. "At least hop into the shower quickly. Not that my car smells like an unwashed teenager! Hop, hop little skunk! Under the shower with you!"

"I don't stink!" Julia rolled her eyes and disappeared towards the bathroom. She passed the terrarium of her two lizards. Fiete crept under the heat lamp and Joseph looked at her invitingly. He loved to be petted.  And she couldn't help but comply before scurrying into the shower.

She had been living with her brother for a year now. Her parents had divorced two years ago because her mother had found out that her father had a second family in Cologne, with which he now lived. Julia couldn't stand it in the villa, alone with her mother. Agathe was just complaining about her. She wanted Julia, just like her mother, to become a politician...  To achieve this goal, she should write top grades at school and volunteer at her mother's party. Julia was a mediocre student and preferred to advocate for human rights with online videos rather than accompany her mother to her dusty party, where she would only copy documents, send mail, and serve coffee.  No. Julia wanted to make a difference. Now!

Luckily, Peter had rescued her and taken her into his small, expensive loft in Berlin. Peter was an artist. A successful artist with his own prestigious art gallery. Julia was proud of him.

When Julia was washed and dressed, Peter was already shooing her to his small car. One of his friends would take care of Fiete and Josef over Christmas. He had already loaded the luggage into the trunk.  Peter loved luxury, but when it came to cars, he always bought cheap used cars, which he decorated with crazy stickers. (Unicorns, elves, ducks, and pugs. A strange combination.)  His dog, a small pug named Hercules, was enthroned in the passenger seat as usual.

All Peter was interested in cars was that they had four wheels and a roof.

"Hercules refuses to sit in the back", Peter said apologetically. "I tried. Honestly!  But he would bark and howl the whole ride."

"That's ok. So? Where are we going? Over Christmas? All you've told me is that it's going to be a sibling meeting!"  Amused, she sat at the back and buckled up while her brother started the car.

"Unfortunately without Paul and Valentina. The journey is too long for Amaury. He is only two months old and they live in the Black Forest. And to my great joy, without Mom. She is on a cruise with her friends. Champagne and seasickness Ahoy!"

Julia laughed. "And where are we going?"

"You'll see."

The journey took a long time. Especially since they had to put in a long extra break because of a puking Hercules.  Julia stood with the whimpering pug next to the car at the small rest stop, while her brother was slightly hysterical and tried to clean his car.

When they were finally able to continue, Julia fell asleep.

"Wake up, little sister! We're here!" Peter stroked her hair.

Julia yawned and blinked. The air smelled of salt. "Where are we?"

"At our large holiday home on Rügen. With a small private beach, which we have to share with the residents of the other holiday homes!", Peter solemnly announced. Hercules barked as if to confirm.

The holiday home was not a house, it was a villa. A villa that should be their home over Christmas. Julia got out of the car, an ice-cold wind blew in her face and she looked at the sand-colored building. "Wow. That's awesome!"

In addition to the villa, she saw two other large holiday homes. Through one of the windows of the left villa, she saw several people talking in a kitchen. The windows of the right villa were decorated with rainbow flags and loud music and laughter could be heard through one of the open windows.

"And we have neighbors too!" Peter nodded. "It's going to be fun."

The door of their own villa was opened and Lea came running towards them.  She was wearing a silly Christmas sweater and freezing in the cold air.  "There you are at last. Everyone else is already here! Charlotte and Cleo try to cook dinner. I fear terrible things."  Lea was an independent tax consultant and still lived in Cologne. She was the only one who hadn't moved away.  Cleo, a professional soldier, had married a few months ago and moved to a small village with her wife.  Julia liked Charlotte. She was very funny, which was not surprising. She worked as a hospital clown. However, neither Charlotte nor Cleo could cook.

"Is there a pizza service?", asked Julia.

"I haven't figured that out yet", Lea replied. "Let's go inside. It's freezing!"

The moment she said this, one of the windows of the rainbow flag house was opened and a half-naked Santa Claus with an inflatable unicorn sang a Christmas carol loud and crooked, waving wildly at them.  Lea smiled and pushed Julia into the cottage, while Peter clapped laughing and demanded an encore.  Hercules howled indignantly and ran after Julia.

"Santa Claus is here too! Will he bring us presents?", said Peter as he followed them into the house in a very good mood. Lea led them into the kitchen where the rest of the family was. Fritz and his wife Paula were emptying a bottle of red wine and greeted the newcomers with screaming 'Cheers!'.

"Julia! Peter!" Cleo walked up to them and hugged the two stormily, while her wife burned the food, whatever it should be. "Nice to see you!", called Charlotte to them blithely.

"Charlotte? The pan is smoking", was Peter's reply. In fact, dark smoke rose from the pan.

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"It doesn't matter. We put ketchup over it, then you don't taste it!" Charlotte pulled the pan aside. "You come just at the right time! The food is ready."

"More red wine!", grumbled Paula dryly. She was a nurse on the ward where Fritz worked as chief physician. The two had met there three years ago and married two years ago.  Cleo had met Charlotte at the same hospital.

"When are Ingried and Adam coming?", asked Julia. "Or are they not coming?"

"They won't come until tomorrow. Suitable for Christmas Eve! Ingried has a difficult case and is still in her law firm today. "

"Then let's look for rooms, come to Julia! We also have to get the luggage out of the trunk!", reminded Peter. Meanwhile, Hercules demanded cuddles from Fritz.

"I'll help you!" Cleo accompanied them to the car and carried some of the luggage while she showed them the rooms that were still available. Shortly afterward they sat at a large dining table and ate indefinable, burnt vegetables with ketchup, salty rice, and a lumpy sauce.

There was a pizza service, but it was on Christmas break and therefore did not deliver. Lea poked dissatisfied in her rice and looked at Julia. "Christmas break", Lea murmured softly. "Why?"

Julia replied with a shrug.

"Paul sent us a photo of little Amaury as a Christmas greeting! It arrived this morning", Lea. said. She had already arrived four days ago and now passed around a festive family photo. Paul grinned and put his arm around his wife's shoulders.  Valentina held a tiny baby in her arms, who was screaming angrily. The small family stood in front of a colorfully decorated Christmas tree.  "Amaury comes after Paul.  He always yelled when Dad wanted to take a picture of him!"  Then she read the short Christmas card. Paul and Valentina wished them a happy feast and regretted not being able to come.

"Cheers!", shouted Fritz and opened the second bottle of red wine.

"I hope you won’t be hanging over the toilet bowl tomorrow!", grumbled Lea.

After dinner, the adults went into the spacious living room. They wanted to watch a Christmas movie and drink hot cocoa. Julia put on her thick jacket and went to the beach with her cocoa. It was dark, but thanks to the brightly lit windows of the cottages, she could still see something. Three boys were on the beach, waving curiously at her.

"Hello neighbor!", shouted one. He had dark, frizzy curls, as far as Julia could tell. The other boys waved at her cheerfully.

"Hello", Julia greeted them when she arrived. "Do you live in the house next door? My name is Julia."

"I'm Marko!" said the boy with the dark curls. "And that is Finn and Leopold."

Finn was smaller than Marko and Leopold. Leopold was the tallest of them. He wore a  Christmas hat equipped with glowing LEDs.  A few bright curls peeked out from under the hat.

"We live there!" Finn pointed to the house where Julia had seen the people in the kitchen. "We are here every year. Our mothers are childhood friends. They were also here as children!"

"You don't have to tell her everything!", protested Leopold. "But don't go to the other house, Julia! The one with the flags! The people there are weird!"

"Hey!", Marko and Finn scolded immediately. Marko had put his arm around the smaller boy. "That's rude!"

"Yesterday they ran naked into the sea!", Leopold said, defending his statement. "That's strange!"

"But we had something to watch!" Marko grinned.

"You, maybe!" Leopold snorted.

Finn laughed and leaned against Marko. "And you? Is this your first time here? Julia?"

"Yes. With my siblings. Over Christmas." She pulled the hood over her head. It was terribly cold. “Someone did go swimming in that weather?"

"No. They were just in the water with their feet, screaming wildly, and then went back into the house!" Marko was clearly amused. "They all had water wings, and Christmas hats on!"

Julia had to laugh and clutched her cocoa. "I'll go back in. It's cold. It was nice to meet you!"

"Maybe we'll see each other again!" Leopold smiled.

 

To be continued.

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