That same morning when Ellen had called Johan, Huib registered on the site of the Chamber of Commerce. Then he went to work on the website. At the three personal pages he filled in the business email addresses they had thought up the previous evening, so that interested people could reach them with questions or orders. He incorporated the email addresses into a short story so it didn't look too boring.

He walked to the hobby room, where Margreet had just resumed working on her tapestry. She was working on a piece of fabric, trying to drape it in a certain way, but the fabric was rather stubborn and wouldn't stay put. She grabbed a few pins with which she secured the patch in a few places.

"So, that stubborn one sits!" she said to Huib, laughing. "Did you manage to register with the Chamber of Commerce?"

"Yes, that wasn't complicated. It looks like I can expect a message from them in a few days, that I can pick up my official registration papers. On the websites, I posted our new email addresses, in a short inviting story. Your page is otherwise empty, so I thought it might be a good idea to take a picture of what you have now, even if it's just a start. I saw you struggling with that stubborn piece of cloth. Do you still enjoy that?"

"Yes, to my surprise I do! I had rather expected it to irritate me, but it didn't. I was mumbling to him in my mind that he could do it best, that he could best stay down the way I wanted him to. Apparently he didn't agree, so I felt compelled to stick pins in his poor little body."

They both shot up in laughter. Huib hugged her for a moment, "What a delightful woman you are! It's that I still have a stack of assignments, but otherwise I'd be trying to seduce you to come upstairs with me right now!"

"Oh you cuddly bear! Tonight yeah, then you can seduce me again as much as you want! Wonderful, an evening together!"

"Happy prospect caressing me!" sang Huib dramatically.

"What is that song? Are you making that up on the spot?" Margreet looked at him dumbfounded.

"No, that's a psalm, or a hymn. I learned it at school once. I don't remember the rest of it, but for a while this phrase was pretty standard in my group of friends. We would reverberate that across the street. How we laughed during that time, and did crazy things! Yes, that group was fun, nice and crazy. And yet I always felt like a loner, even in that group. It didn't last long, then I finally left it, because I didn't feel quite at home in it. Then the bullying started. Anyway, that short period when we were acting so silly, that was really fun." Huib smiled at her: "Dear, dear Gretha, if I look at you very sweetly, may I take a picture of your work? Or maybe even of you while you're working on it?"

"You, dear curly-haired guy, you can take as many pictures of me and my work as you like, as long as you don't put everything on the Internet!"

Huib chuckled, grabbed his cell phone and took a series of pictures, while Margreet continued on again. She put a thread of knitting yarn over the edge of the patch and began to secure it with sewing thread. Then she did the same with another thread of a slightly lighter color. Huib took pictures of her busy hands. He selected a few pictures himself and showed that small series to her, "How do you like this? Shall I make a collage of these photos? A collage called, say, 'a good start is half the work', something like that?"

Margreet looked at her work on the photos and saw how the work seemed to grow a little. "That's a good idea, do that. I like seeing how it grows that way! If you take a picture every day or every few days, you can make another collage of how it's really growing. Right now it's just so pril, but if you take several pictures through the weeks... is that possible?"

"Of course, that's not so hard. Just pop in every once in a while, steal a hug and take a picture. Kid can do the laundry, Huib can make a collage!"

Margreet grabbed his neck laughing and pulled his head towards her. Nose to nose she looked at him mirthfully: "What a delicious fart you are!" She played with her fingers in his hair. "I'm looking forward to tonight, I can assure you."

"Shall we make a start now, then?" asked Huib mischievously.

"Oh no, then you're helping us into poverty, sir, get to work you!" Margreet tried to look stern, but because of Huib's mischievous snout, it didn't work.

"I can hear it, who here is the one who keeps the other under his thumb... well, I'm going already, to slave and to slave! No way honey, I think my job is the best job I could ever wish for, so I'm going to enjoy it."

He gave her a kiss and a pat on her cheek and with a "see you later for coffee" he left.

He quickly made another collage of the pictures he had just taken and put it on Margreet's page. Then he walked cheerfully to his work shed. The hobby cabinet for Margreet was up today. He had measured the wall earlier and thought of the best way to assemble the large cabinet in three identical parts, so that it would fit through the door. Humming, he went to work, sawing planks to size for the first closet. He worked quietly, watching the pile of planks he put against the wall grow steadily.

He was really enjoying it, and almost forgot about the coffee break because of it. He counted himself lucky that he had such a sweet wife, who came to get him especially for coffee.

To chapter 178. Lisa reports

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