Huib and Margreet were both pleasantly surprised that they had slept so well. "I didn't even have a nightmare!" Margreet gloated.

While she fixed her hair with a few hairpins, so it was nice and airy, Huib made some coffee.

Enjoying this Margreet said: "I can't imagine that this will ever become normal, starting the day like this with a mug of coffee, nice and quiet."

"I've always done it this way, only without you. It was really 'me and my coffee, my coffee and me'. I didn't even need my cell phone or internet. Just coffee and some staring out the window. Only one thing has changed now: my view. Now I stare at you, and honestly… I have to say I like it!"

Margreet chuckled: "Lovely sweet joker! I love that silly humor of yours, it makes life not so all-powerful serious anymore. Anyway, for a large part I have already lost the feeling that I am walking on eggshells and tiptoeing. Only through the presence of my parents I do feel again how that always was. But it feels more like a memory now, less like a feeling of now. Okay, a little bit, but it's doable. And Friday, thankfully, they're getting out of here. Hopefully to never see them again!"

Huib looked at her seriously: "Think about that, whether you indeed never want to see them again, whether you want to break off contact completely. Or whether you want to keep it open, and how open you want to keep it. We have blocked their mail and phone for now, so they can only make contact by writing a letter or coming here. If you want to and think you can handle it, we can unblock it again sometime, but if you'd rather not, that's okay too. Take the time in the coming days to listen to yourself, to feel what is good for you. Shall we make a deal like that? Then by the end of the week we'll see if we need to take any action toward them, and how we can do that."

Margreet nodded thoughtfully. "Anyway, if it’s possible for you, I would like to go to their house on Thursday afternoon to pick up my things. Then, if all goes well, they'll still be here and we'll have more peace to pack. I really have no idea what all I want to take home, but we'll figure that out together."

"Clever idea, then they won't get in your way over there! Come on, let's have a nice breakfast!"

"Yes, certainly nice! It never gets boring huh, those meals of your mother! She has so much choice, I think I'll go for yoghurt with crunchy muesli today."

"Put a scoop of jam in it, that's homemade, from the strawberries and raspberries from our own garden. Too delicious!"

"Sounds good, I will definitely do that!"

"Ha Lisa, slept well?" they greeted her at the kitchen door.

"Well, actually not really no, suffered from nightmares. About my parents, about their behavior and stuff, and what that did to me. Pretty intense!"

"I can imagine that," Margreet agreed, "and the trigger is easy to guess..."

"True," Lisa said, "but remember that you can't do anything about it!"

"Indeed," Huib intervened, "and apart from that it's good for you Lisa, really not nice, probably pretty lousy, but it's your old pain that is touched in those dreams, and that too brings healing, step by step..."

"Oh, that’s yummy! Anyway, for the sake of the good cause I won't make a big deal out of it then."

"If it makes you tired, you just take some extra rest. Nice book, you know, from our Nora!" Margreet suggested.

"Oh really, you call that writer 'our Nora'? Hahaha comical! She writes really wonderfully huh, I have trouble stopping once I get into it."

"Me too, and that's a good sign," Margreet thought.

They had gone into the kitchen while talking, where Sjaak was already sitting at the table. Annerieke smiled at them. "Our Nora, yes, really, she is! I've read almost all of her novels already, so I already feel completely entwined with her!"

"Is everything ready in the dining room, Mom?" Margreet asked, surprising herself at the ease with which she called Annerieke like that.

"Yes, just the cool foods later, but let's eat ourselves first. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did!"

"And so did I," followed Huib

"I didn't very well, nightmares about my parents, pretty intense," Lisa told him.

"Ow girl, that sure is intense! And I don't have to ask you who triggered that... Now that's one of those things I hope the guests don't have to deal with."

"Dear Mommy," Huib responded, "it would be nice if everyone only dreamt of roses and moonlight, but on the other hand we would like everyone continues to heal, and our soul also uses nasty dreams for that... I think we should just try to let it go. And if there should be any guests upset about it, there are plenty of people around to help."

"Ah yes, that's right," Annerieke said. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"Yes," Margreet began, "the guest rooms and the laundry, and..."

Annerieke laughed, "You're already getting as silly as Huib! Are you going to do anything fun this afternoon?"

Margreet grinned: "Yes, this afternoon Huib and I are going to a village down the road. There is a store where they sell precious gemstones. We're going to pick some for the drawers of our desk."

"For your desk," Huib corrected grumbling as he sat chewing tastefully on his sandwich.

"Oh yes, my desk, and what's mine is yours, so it doesn't matter that much," Margreet agreed. "Anyway for those drawers, how many are there actually? Ten in all?"

Huib nodded with his mouth full.

"So then we need ten gems. It's that same store where you bought my ring, isn't it Huib?"

"Yes, the same one. That saleswoman has it all worked out beautifully, not only does she make the jewelry herself, she can also 'plane' the gemstones for you so that they fit where you want them. I've already taken the liberty of making a knob for the drawers, so we can choose the right size stones to go with them."

He took the knob out of his pocket and showed it.

"Nice," said Margreet, "so simple, then the gemstone that goes in shows up even better."

"You get it! That was exactly my idea..."

Annerieke smiled, "Beautiful couple you are!"

"Really, isn't it? You're lucky Annerieke, to have a daughter-in-law like that!" Lisa said smiling.

"Hey lady, not only with her daughter-in-law, also with her son, she's lucky with that too!"

"Slime ball!" Lisa scolded teasingly. "No way, you're right Huib, she's lucky with you too!"

"And you and I are lucky to witness this, don't you think?" asked Sjaak to Lisa.

"Yeah..." sighed Lisa enjoyably, "really great to live here and belong to you guys!"

"You're an asset to us, Liesel," Huib teased her.

"A dear friend to me!" responded Margreet happily.

"What more do you want Lisa?" asked Sjaak.

Lisa looked at him smiling: "A lot more, but this is the perfect start!"

"Tell us, Lisa, what more do you want then?" asked Huib her.

Lisa looked at him dreamily: "A lot of things, especially becoming completely who I am, healing completely, healing emotionally, and being free, knowing what I really want. And... future dream... a relationship like yours. Yes, you are such a couple, which makes me dare to dream about a relationship again anyway. The way it was, I never want it again. But like you, yes, I would like that very much in the future. To be loved like that, the way I feel how Margreet is loved. Pfff, first let's get through the mess of the divorce! This afternoon I can see a lawyer. Martin, the policeman we spoke with yesterday, put a card of that lawyer in my hands. I already called her yesterday, Ellen Hendriks is her name. I had a click with her right away, so I think it's a good fit."

"We know Ellen too," Huib said, "Fine woman! And we also know Martin and his wife Elly. Elly was a friend of yours, wasn't she, Mom?"

"Yes, that's right Huib," said Annerieke, "we just don't have much contact anymore the last few years. I don't really know why, it just grew that way."

"Elly is coming to visit Lisa and me tomorrow. We met her at the thrift store. See if you feel like stopping by too."

"Oh really? How nice! Maybe I will, I'll see..." Annerieke hesitated, wondering if Elly would like it, also because she didn't know why their friendship had become so cool.

"Oops, I still have to take the cool foods to the dining room!"

"I'll help you." Margreet was already standing up and taking the first plates from her. Together they brought everything to the dining room, where Joke immediately reacted to the way Margreet had fixed her hair: "Looks nice Margreet, your hair like that, did you do it yourself?"

"Like a whore," Margreet heard her mother say, but she pretended not to have heard and nodded to Joke. "Yes I did, just tried something different for a change, I was in the mood!"

Joke smiled at her, "Good job girl!"

"Thank you Joke, enjoy your meal everyone!" and Margreet left quickly, with Annerieke in her wake.

In the kitchen Annerieke pulled her into her arms, "My girl, my daughter, I am so proud of you!"

"Thank you mom, it stung pretty bad, I'm glad I didn't react to it!"

Huib looked at them frowning: "What was the big deal this time?"

"Joke praised me for how I had done my hair, but through that I heard my mother say 'like a whore'. Bah, I really feel bad for the other guests. I saw some of them look up startled."

"Just let them look," Huib growled, "Anton and Joke will take care of that if necessary."

"Certainly," confirmed Annerieke, "they're good at that, and indeed, that's what they've stayed for this extra week! But still it is horrible, and incomprehensible. I really don't understand how a mother can speak about her own daughter like that."

"About such a wonderful daughter," Lisa added. "Considering how you took care of me... those people really have no idea who their daughter is!"

"I totally agree," said Huib, "they've missed out on a life, and they don't even realize it. Other topic please, I'm having trouble holding back of not getting into a fistfight with that bitch. Sorry, Margreet, for talking about your mother like that, but really, I could do something very bad to her!"

Annerieke released Margreet so she could go to Huib. She grabbed him by his chin with both hands and tilted his head back to give him a kiss on his forehead. "Don't do that, it won't be any cozier! But I do understand you, and I think it's a nice nickname for her, actually way too nice!"

To chapter 73. Joke and Anton as back support

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