About a month earlier, Joke was in her study working on her book and Anton was lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about his company, a fairly large company of hard-working people. Sorters and parcel post deliverers and all sorts of employees who made their contributions around that. They ran for him, they worked their asses off, especially the delivery people who wanted to uphold the company's name by delivering all parcels to the specified addresses as quickly as possible.

More than 20 years ago, he had started this business with a friend. In a substantial shed and with an old van. They had fun doing what they did and that had its effects on the people they delivered parcels to. Through mouth to mouth, their business grew and they had to hire people to help them. His friend, after years of growth, thought it was getting too big and eventually quit, went to find other work.

Anton shot up. His friend had said he thought it was getting too big. But why should that be a problem? After all, the size of the business shouldn't be a problem in itself, should it?

With a sigh, he laid back down. The company had continued to grow, to the extent that he had to honestly confess that he didn't know all the employees, definitely didn't really know them anymore. All he knew was that they worked hard, and did a good job. Their company was praised for their pace.

But the atmosphere had changed, deteriorated. He couldn't put his finger on it at first, but now suddenly, thinking back to his friend and co-founder, it was clear to him, that he didn't know all of his employees by far, and so there was something personal, something essential missing. After all, wasn't that precisely what his heart was about, the people themselves, who they were, what they liked, what problems they were struggling with?

He thought on... how could he fix this? What could he do about it? He called them in every year for a performance review. Again, that was purely business, had nothing to do with the person themselves, but with the work they were doing. He could change that. He could expand the performance review into something more personal. He thought about it, content-wise, how he wanted to do that. He didn't quite envision that yet, but at least he wanted to conduct those conversations differently.

He was startled by a thought that came up very strongly: I want to be a father to my employees!

He whispered it to himself: I want to be a father to my employees? Do I want to be a father to my employees? Would that be it? A father... Yes, I want to be a father to my employees. That's it!

Joke and Anton had never had children, so he had no experience of fatherhood in that respect. But he realised that at the Bloemenhof guesthouse, where they stayed a few times a year, he felt like a father to Huib and that he had also taken Margreet into his heart as such. Unnoticed, then, he had become a father after all....

For a moment, he considered making a list of questions he wanted to ask his employees, but quickly laughed the idea away: what father would come up with questionnaires? No, he would follow his heart, try to trust his inner voice, even in this part of his life.

He looked up as Joke entered the room. "Finished writing?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it faltered, I couldn't get on. And there are only two solutions to that: take a break with you or a cup of coffee. And then I thought it would be best to combine the two! It's a bit early, but do you feel like coffee yet?"

"Coffee from and with you? Always!" Anton stood up and embraced her, stroking her hair and kissing her softly on her mouth. "Your taste, and coffee as an aftertaste, not wrong at all!"

"Silly fellow, I love you, and your goofiness! I'm going to take care of that coffee quickly!"

Smiling, Anton lowered himself back into the sofa. He had a lovely wife, truly a sweetheart. He would ask her about her book later. Maybe they could get over the bump together.

He didn't get the chance to, because when Joke returned with the coffee, she immediately started talking about something completely different. "How would it be with Margreet? It's early July now, I think her belly is full round by now! Shall we book a week, just in consultation with Annerieke, a few weeks after the due date or so?"

Anton looked at her with a slightly furrowed brow and thought quickly. He decided to be open about the business. He told what he had just been thinking about and what impression he had gotten, to be like a father to his employees.

"I hold performance reviews with everyone every year, but it is always purely business-related. I don't know if I want to change the name of the conversation, but I want to at least expand the conversation itself. I want to make it more personal, but don't know exactly how yet. I suspect, that if the employees trust me and tell me some of their personal situations, that those conversations might go on a bit longer. And that there might also be follow-up conversations to really be a father to them. I don't yet know how that will work out, how that will work with my own working hours. So at the moment, I find it a bit difficult to take a week off then, you understand?"

"Of course I understand, then you just work your ass off, make double hours and crash. It couldn't be simpler!"

Anton looked at his wife open-mouthed. He didn't know her like that, almost cynically! But she was right. If he wanted to be there for his employees, he didn't have to rush over himself

"Joke, it's pretty new to me how you just reacted, I thought I knew you by now, but it turns out you have more sides! You're right dear, you call Annerieke and agree on a week. Maybe something like three weeks after the due date, so we don't come too early?"

"Hmm, maybe Annerieke and I should just follow our hearts, even in pinpointing the right week."

Anton's laughter roared through the house!

"You sure are on a roll, you just snatch me back with my own premise! Just call her and follow your hearts together and things will work out."

Joke didn't let herself say that twice, grabbed her mobile phone and walked to the kitchen to talk quietly, while Anton was still in the midst of his laughter.

A few minutes later she returned: "They only have a room for us in the first week of September! Well, never mind, at least the baby will be there by then. Are you taking it into account with your work too?"

"Will be fine dear! Hey, what are you going to do? Won't you stay cosy downstairs?"

"No, I already know how to get on. I guess I just had to go downstairs for you... see you later dear!"

To chapter 6. Anton and Joke to Bloemenhof

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