Smiling, Huib and Margreet walked up the wooden stairs and came to the bedrooms. No less than three bedrooms, and a bathroom on one floor. This was clearly not a cottage, but just a lovely free-standing family home! Margreet opened the first door and saw a double bed, with a sheet and comforter in shades of lilac. The bed, too, had clearly been made by Huib himself.

"This is where your father must have given you advice, too? That it had to be a double one?" asked Margreet.

"No, haha, that was my own idea. You see, I like to lie across and in all directions. I like space, you know?"

"Oh yes, I get that, I'm not stupid," she grinned. "Then in due course I'll sleep in one of the other rooms, so you can continue to enjoy your space."

Seemingly indignant, Huib grabbed her, and before she realized, they were rolling around on the bed, wild and reckless. Margreet yawned in wild amusement.

When they ran out of breath, they lingered in each other's arms to unwind.

"This was very special," Margreet told, "because I have never been such a wild girl, I was always afraid I would fall and so on, so always careful, quiet, neat. And now this, a roller coaster on the bed, unbelievable, I enjoyed it!"

Huib laughed. "And do you see that we also have all the space together in this bed? All the room to sleep, roll around and make love."

"How graceful you say that, make love. I assume you just mean sex?"

Huib was silent for a moment, thinking....

"Margreet, I'll be honest with you, I don't have any experience with sex. I did kiss a girl once, cuddled a little, only I didn't experience anything with that, which left me with no desire to go further. Something in me had trouble with sex with just any girl, I wanted to wait until I met my girl. Rather no sex than with a girl I didn't love. So I don't have any experience, I don't know anything about sex except what I've seen on movies, and on the internet and what my father told me about it. When Erik talked about it, he called it making love. He said that was very different from having sex. You can do that with anyone, he said...which I wanted neither...but making love you only do with the one who is really your soulmate, the one you love very deeply. So I don't know how it's going to work, Dad didn't want to tell me that either, I would know from my heart when the time would come, he said. I remember exactly how I felt, super awkward! Just imagine... if the time came... I wouldn't know how to approach such a girl, such a woman! That's what I thought at the time and I said it too. Erik just laughed out loud! I just had to wait and see, I would find out, he had done that himself, without any effort. Well, here I am, with my good behavior and not knowing... and yet I have already grabbed you and rolled with you! The rest we'll have to wait and see. What about you? Have you been in a relationship before?"

"No, not really. Actually just like you, a fling I used to call it. Twice, and one of them really just wanted to cuddle and have sex, wanted to feel me on my skin, especially my breasts. I didn't want that, but he just did it, stroking and trying to provoke stimuli. In the end I abruptly broke off that relationship, deep down I had nothing with him. The other one was just a date and with him too I immediately felt that it was not much more than physical attraction, and I had no desire for that. So making love, whatever it may eventually entail, is new for both of us. Do you know that I actually find that very beautiful? It feels so pure. And I'm happy with that!"

"Me too, and now let's get to the next room quickly, because otherwise..."

Laughing, they rolled off the bed and walked to the room opposite. It was a rather small room, in which there was only a bed, clearly a second-hand one.

"I bought that one for the case that anyone ever wanted to stay. No idea who, but you never know. Maybe it will go back to the thrift store unused."

"Well, we'll see about that. If your father knew we were going to have children, and I hope he was right about that too, then this could be a children’s room just fine. You don't need a big room for a baby, it seems to me. And the one next door," she walked on to the next room, "that's a lot bigger, two children could sleep there. Well Huib, once I live here, there is work to be done! Make love a lot, so I'll get pregnant soon."

Margreet laughed at her own words, "This is so not like me! This is not how I know myself at all! Hahaha, imagine! I would never have said this to my parents! If they ever knew!"

Huib grinned: "But it is clearly your desire, despite everything this is what you are looking forward to, without you even realizing it."

"Yes, special, isn’t it? I really didn't know! Another peek into the bathroom... Oh wow, such a big bath! I do not like baths at all, not to lie in them, but imagine that the kids can bathe in there, so much space! And a toilet and wash basin there, very practical and also beautiful! Damn Huib, this house attracts me at least as much as you do!"

Huib laughed happily, "Isn't it wonderful to know you're going to end up in a house you like?"

Margreet nodded, lost in thought.

"Upstairs is an attic with a room and a landing, do you want to see those too? It's nothing special though, not furnished yet either."

"Another room? We are getting really busy..." Margreet chuckled, as they walked upstairs. She looked around on the landing.

"Where did you put your washing machine anyway?"

"Nowhere, I always wash my laundry at the guest house. If we're going to live here together, it's kind of convenient to have something to take care of ourselves. I love that separate laundry room and the drying room like at the guest house. Erik had already thought that we could build something like that behind the kitchen too. Would you like that?"

"Would you like that? I think it would be great! I'm used to grumbling about laundry, but the way I can handle it at the guest house, I love it! If you want to... make it a building plan soon, or a floor plan, no idea what you need for it."

Halfway up the stairs, Huib turned to her and grabbed her hands. "You don't know when yet, but from hearing you talk like this, it seems like your moving day is getting closer and closer. Is that right?"

"Yes, I can't imagine anything else than being yours, living with you in this wonderful house. It really feels like the house has been waiting for me, too."

"I guess it has," Huib said as they continued to walk downstairs. "Like my father knew it already, that's how this house was built. I had fun decorating the rooms where I would be regular myself, the living room and the bedroom. But honestly, I don't feel like it's finished yet. Like that too has been waiting for you. I hardly have anything hanging on the walls, and at the moment I don't miss it. But I wouldn't be surprised if, for example, for that wall over there, you start making something for it, a tapestry or something. And the kitchen, I've done very little with it. I did buy some pots and pans, and there's something in the fridge, but there's still a lot missing. I think that may be more your thing soon, or we may do it together. You liked those preserving jars so much right? Maybe that's something for our kitchen too. We'll see, there's no rush, is there? We always have the guest house as a back door, we can always eat there."

"I have a tendency to get started right away," Margreet remarked, "but that's something that belongs to the wounded Margreet, I think. A little deeper, I feel that I am allowed to take it easy, that we will come across the right stuff, or that we will get the right ideas for making something. That idea of a tapestry does lure me, though I have no idea how yet."

"Neither do I, but that too will come. Would you like some coffee or tea? Then we'll wander around the Internet to find the right gems."

"I would love some coffee. And those gems, I got an idea for that. I don't know if it's possible, but would it be something to make a knob on each drawer, a knob that you can pull the drawer open on, and make a cavity in that knob and glue a gemstone in there or otherwise attach it?"

Huib nodded, "That's a much better idea than what I first thought of spreading several across each front. Just one button with a gemstone on each drawer, simple but beautiful. Yes, that clicks! And that cabinet for the hobby room, that also sticks in my mind a bit. I wondered if it should only hold hobby stuff or also toys in due course. What do you think?"

"Rather a chest for the toys, especially for the first few years. Sturdy, but not too heavy, so it opens and closes easily. Maybe a hook that allows the lid to stay open, so it doesn't fall on the kids' fingers."

Huib chuckled, "I think you're going to be an incredibly fun mom! You have it in you, to just live with a bunch of kids around you."

To chapter 44. Movie 'Wonder Woman'

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