An irish Lovestory - the summer of Life

In Court

"Carlotta Clarisse Katherine Kaichonski-Warren!" the call goes out from the courtroom. She gets up and goes to the door. Luke gives her another encouraging nod and briefly squeezes her hand. So she enters the room and goes to her seat in the front row with a stiff face. Her birth mother sits on the other side of the room, grinning triumphantly. June Warren thinks she has already won the battle for her daughter. But Carlotta does not give up so easily. Because if her mother were to win, she would have to go back to Ireland, where she has nothing against it, but all her friends and Luke are in Germany. So she wouldn't be able to bear being separated from them. She has already endured the last six months without her best friend Johanna and realised that she can hardly live without her. And since her new friend Helen is also staying in Germany, she wouldn't feel too comfortable at boarding school any more. Next to Carlotta sits a woman from the Youth Welfare Office who looks at her sternly. Six months ago she already tried to put Carlotta in a foster family in the south of Germany, but since the school exchange ended then, they postponed this legal battle until just before the summer holidays. Carlotta would much rather live with her boyfriend and his family, as she did during the six months she was in Germany from school. But Mara Harana won't let that happen.
"The child needs a normal family, imagine if she were to break up with her boyfriend, then she won't be happy in the family after all. I have found a potential foster family in Constance who would take her. The move is supposed to take place as early as next week!" Carlotta swallows hard. Constance is so far away, it would take her eight hours by train, if there are no delays, to visit Luke and Johanna. She would never be able to stand that. So she stands up and says, "Your Honour, I don't want to interrupt anyone, but I'll be eighteen in six months. Others have children and work at my age. And so slowly I get to decide where I'm going to live for the next six months. If I lived with my mother in Ireland I wouldn't be able to be with my friends, it's the same if I moved to Constance." She takes a breath and collects an angry look from Mara Harana. "I would very much like to stay here and I wouldn't be able to be happy anywhere else." It's lucky that she has acting skills, because it allows her to squeeze another tear from her eye before she makes a grand gesture of pulling a handkerchief from her handbag and blowing her nose. Ms Harana also wants to say something, but the judge takes pity on Carlotta and asks for silence in the courtroom. So she looks at June Warren and shakes her head. Immediately she whispers to her lawyer, but she can't do anything either. The judge rises and says: "As long as Carlotta is comfortable with the Giesma family and they can pay for her, she can stay with them, after that we would sit down again and discuss how things could go on. The meeting is over, I will talk to Carlotta and Giesmas again briefly. Have a good day!" Carlotta waits until the hall has emptied and it is just her and Mrs Harana in the room, while the judge goes to fetch Luke's parents
"There will be consequences young lady! You can count on it. You'll realise how well you would have done in Constance!" If the judge hadn't come in, Ms Harana would have continued, but she just gives a friendly nod to the Giesmas family and leaves the courtroom. Luke looks at Carlotta, beaming with joy. He is happy that she can continue to stay with him.

The judge looks at her with a smile and has to swallow at the thought of separating the two. "Perhaps you have already noticed, but Carlotta's strong acting performance means she can stay here. Would you be able to take her back in and perhaps even imagine adopting her?" Mrs Giesmas looks at Carlotta with a smile. "You know, we were already toying with the idea of adopting her and just had to wait a little while until she once again got her stubborn way. And while we're here, we might as well sign the adoption papers. That is, of course, if it's all right with you, Carlotta!" Luke grinned at her. It was his idea for his parents to welcome Carlotta into the family. Totally overjoyed, she nods and hugs Luke. She whispers a soft "Thank you" in his ear and gives him a kiss on the cheek.
That same afternoon, Carlotta is a member of the family and since the holidays have also started in Germany, they plan to celebrate with Luke's whole family at the weekend.
Luke and Carlotta spend the evening together in the garden. She puts her head on his shoulder and smiles. Luke watches her out of the corner of his eye. "What are you thinking about Carlotta?" "Not about you Luke." she replies cheekily. He doesn't take this lying down and pulls her closer to him. "Tell me, or should I ask my parents to send you to Constance after all?" Of course Carlotta knows that this is just an empty threat and puts her head back. "I've just been thinking through all of last year again. A year ago we met, but I couldn't see anything. And now I'm part of your family. In between, I lost my adoptive parents and almost died myself. Sometimes things happen a little too fast for me. But now I'm sitting here with you under the apple tree and I don't want to be anywhere else!" Luke pulls her a little closer and asks, "Do you regret that we can't go to Ireland after the holidays?" Carlotta turns to him. "No, I don't regret it. Of course it was nice there, but I couldn't live any longer without my best friend. Or without my weekly training. Yes, we went through some stuff, but isn't it the good days that are boring? It's the bad ones you never forget." Luke grins into her hair. Once again Carlotta is talking in quotes, but by now he doesn't care. Because he loves her for that. Sometimes she's a little bit out of it and she only remembers the unimportant things too, but she doesn't care how others think about her.
They sit on the little bench under the apple tree for a long time, enjoying the fresh night air, when suddenly it starts to beep. Carlotta rolls her eyes. Since she can't move her legs without help, these walking aids make romantic evenings a lot less attractive. Luke knows it's time to go inside now, because otherwise they'd have to spend the night outside, which wouldn't be a problem, but the neighbours would already be listening if they did naughty things again.
And Carlotta still has to tell Johanna about the lawsuit she won, so she would have to go upstairs to her room anyway. Luckily Johanna is also still awake and writes back immediately that they absolutely have to meet the next day so that they can exchange all the news. The last time they saw each other was on the day of their departure and then only briefly, because Carlotta had some problems with her walking aids. So they make an appointment for the next day at the lake and Carlotta goes to sleep.