Mummy Dearest

Chapter 1

Meinhardis family needed to move once again. This time—Frau Käte smiled happily—father Meinhardis had been transferred to her hometown. The Lieutenant Colonel was over fifty, so supposedly, it was the last job-related move.

"We'll no longer be in need." Mum said to her children. "Of course, mostly when it comes to food. The rest will be as usual, I think."

"Yes!" Manuela exclaimed, jumping with excitement.

Now it was Frau Kate's turn to decide where to settle down inside the town. Out of all family members, she was the only one who knew the place to make a decision. Except central part of the town, there was no difference in prices for rent if compare districts to one another. It wasn't a surprise that her choice was the district closest to where in countryside she lived before the marriage. Grandmother was there like before, but now she was the only owner of the farm. Mum was going to visit her old home whenever she wanted; at least once a month.

Manuela had to go to a new school, and it was in the middle of a school year. Despite she was a new pupil, very soon, the girl had two best friends. One of them—named Edelgard—was a shy blonde and another—Ilse—a rule-breaking brunette with short hair. Compared to them, Manuela was in-between. Class teacher was Fräulein Elisabeth von Bernburg—strict, but kind, a brunette with hair hidden from view in the bottom of her head.

Despite it wasn't easy to switch from one curriculum to another, friends made Manuela feel included. Frau Käte helped her daughter as well, and everything was good so far. Although, the situation was more than just good. The girl knew from her classmates that "all the girls have a crush on Fräulein von Bernburg," but she didn't think about it as something special. She couldn't imagine how one can fall for a teacher. The girl was so, so wrong. It didn't take long before Manuela fell in love with the teacher, and it felt right. She had dear Mum at home, dearest teacher, and two best friends at school.

Not even once Manuela remembered her thoughts. She couldn't even imagine not loving her wonderful teacher.

During a few following years, when the teacher and pupil were alone accidentally, the girl got tender hugs. It was only a few times, but such actions made her feel that she was special for the teacher. She was, of course. Since the first day of the pupil at school, they had a bond that was becoming stronger and stronger month by month.

Despite the pupils weren't little, they had the same Fräulein von Bernburg as head teacher. Both—the class and the teacher—asked the Headmistress to not separate them.

For Frau Käte, the move and a lot of adjustments from a bigger home took a lot of energy and effort. She needed to do this and that including a lot of needlework. She became more tired month by month. Her thoughts were about the worst, but she accepted the most likely future. However, her husband and children didn't want to believe it. "She will be better," they hoped. For most of time, Mutti Meinhardis stayed in bed. She didn't even go for walks with Manuela as they used to.

One day, Frau Käte's daughter entered her bedroom and knelt near the top of the bed."Mutti, I love you so much."

"I love you too, liebling," she said in reply. Her voice was weak. "Whatever happens is right."

"No, it can't be like this. Mutti, no!" The girl took her Mother's cold hand in hers. "Please." Very quietly, Manuela was begging fate to not be cruel. (Note: Anna und Elisabeth reference, sorry not sorry. Plus, accidentally, real Mutti was Katharina Elisabeth.)

Only after more than ten minutes, she stood up. Her Mutti smiled weakly.

A week later, no one could believe what had happened. Frau Käte had no longer needed to spend hours in bed. She felt as before the move to the town.