1968

Chapter Six: June 16th 1968

Lorelei's point of view:

When my father and I arrived home, I was immediately greeted with a hug from my mother. Just to feel her was enough to make me happy again. My mother, the one who raised me with my father, was finally with me again. For a moment, during the blast, I was certain I wouldn't ever see them again.

"You're back! I'm so glad your safe!" My mother exclaimed. I nodded and left her embrace. The familiarity of home was overwhelming, but in a pleasant way.

"Thank Mihn. He was the one that ensured I was alive," I replied. She looked at me, our eyes levelled due to our height, with confusion. I reminded myself then that my mother had no idea who he was, my father had been the only other one to meet him.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"Remember that guard that saved me from the mine? He was at the bar at the same time Jacob and I were. His name is Mihn, and he saved me from the blast. He took me to his home, I stayed there for the night, and then he dropped me off to dad," I replied. My mother's green eyes went wide as I told her my story. She was about to say something when I looked to the staircase and saw Jacob there, looking sullen as he held a coffee cup in his hand.

"Lorelei," he said to me. My parents both turned to him. Jacob walked down the stairs slowly and approached me.

"Hi, Jacob," I retorted. There was a short silence between us before he wrapped his arms around me tightly. The way he sounded as he held me seemed to induce that he was about to cry.

"I'm so sorry I didn't find you," Jacob said to me. I left the hug and shook my head. None of this was his fault but somehow, I wasn't surprised that he blamed himself. He was in sole care of me, but it wasn't his fault that we were separated.

"Don't blame yourself. I'm fine, see? I took care of myself," I replied. People didn't seem to see that I was capable of caring for myself.

"Yes, but I was supposed to make sure you were home safe. I didn't do that, and for that I'm sorry," he replied. I shook my head again and waved it off. I wouldn't have ever said this to him, but I was a little glad that he and I were apart. If Jacob had saved me, then I wouldn't have become more familiar with Mihn. I wanted to see him again, and I would jump at any chance to be able to have him in my presence at least one more time.

"It doesn't matter. I want to let it go. Besides, Mihn saved me," I replied. It was clear I had no problem sharing my experiences with Mihn, how he saved me and took me to his home. I found it to be a rather inspirational series of events.

"Mihn? That officer that saved you?" He asked. I nodded and took a few steps back so I cold speak to him properly.

"When I went to thank him for the mine incident, he took me out of the blast. I stayed with him, and then he took me to a little café where dad came to get me," I explained again. I would tell the story a thousand times, I didn't care. Just the thought of Mihn, for some odd reason, gave me butterflies in my stomach.

"Well, he seems like a nice man. Why don't one of you go get him? We can have him for dinner," my mother said. I smiled and volunteered to go get him, but then my father objected to that.

"No, Lorelei isn't going anywhere. But I should thank him formally for saving my daughter---twice. Jacob and I will go get him and you two can get ready," my father said. My mother nodded, ignorant of the fact that I was desperate to see Mihn as much as I could.

"Fantastic. I'll let the cooks know we are having a guest over," my mother said excitedly. She used to be quite the German socialite back in World War Two and before. So, as one would expect, she liked having a few people over every once in a while. She hated having to entertain all those German officers and generals of the sort, but was she ever a good host because of it.