Homecoming

Chapter 11

The next morning, while the boys were still asleep, I finally found the courage to call my sister. It was shortly after seven, but Caroline picked up the call right after the first ring. Surely she was upstairs, preparing breakfast for the children.

"Am I disturbing you?" I asked her.

"You?" she laughed. "Never."

"Ha, you only say that out of decency," I joked.

"You guessed it," she teased me as well. "What can I do for you?"

"Well," I cleared my throat. "Do you have anything planned for today?"

"No, and it's spilled. I don't like it when you walk around hot porridge, "straight as always.

"You know I need you to watch my boys for a few hours."

"Wait a minute," I heard excitement in her voice. "The boys?"

"Yes," I rolled my eyes.

"Just don't tell me he invited you to dinner," she whimpered. "That's great."

"No," I shouted this time. "He had a match yesterday and is out of town. He won't be back until this afternoon, but I have to be at work in the afternoon. "

"Did they sleep with you?" apparently she only heard this part of the sentence. "So how is it between the two of you?"

I sighed. "It simply came to our notice then. She was just a little friendly maid. "

"You know that," she laughed out loud. "It always starts with a little maid, a beggar and ends with a ring."

"You're lucky you're not standing next to me," I sighed.

"Why?" she closed in disbelief. "Would you strangle me?" you picked me up.

"If only. I would quarter you. "

"It would not be reasonable. Then who would pull you out of the slime you got into? " she tossed before my eyes with a laugh in her voice.

"You're amazing," I added.

"However?" she replied proudly. "Take them easy."

"Well," I said. "I thought it might be better if you came to us. I don't want to stress them out that I leave them with strangers and also in a strange house. And there's Max. I don't know exactly when he will be picked up. "

"You're right," she agreed. I'll be around ten and have more than just coffee with you. "

"Thank you," I was relieved.

The boys didn't receive the news that I had to go to work twice enthusiastically, until I started to doubt my decision to leave them with my sister. But even the idea of sitting in one of the corner boxes all afternoon didn't seem reasonable to me.

Fortunately, the sister also brought Thea and Alessia and bags full of toys. To this day, I haven't even thought about how few children need happiness. Since they got to know each other a bit, Theo immediately joined the boys and started building a lego tower with them. It took Alessia a little time to gather the courage to sit with them, but she also overcame her shyness. After half an hour, it looked like a playground in my living room. It relieved me, because even though I didn't want to admit it, the fear of them lay like a heavy boulder in my stomach. Finally, I could take a deep breath and it was easier for me to get to work.

It was quite busy at work and I was still on the move. It was a pleasantly warm weekend that took people to the streets and so our large terrace was not only full of local but also foreign tourists. I flew between the tables, took orders, poured beer, or mixed various drinks and drinks, but even so, I found time almost every half hour to call or at least write Caroline a text message.