With Julian on his shoulders, Karel walked towards the guesthouse. Every now and then, he would make a jump and Julian would shriek with joy.

So Bianca, sitting on the veranda next to the guesthouse's drying room, watched them approach. She heard her son's happy laughter, and saw the beaming face of that unknown man with his black curls and beautiful brown eyes. A smile appeared on her face, which disappeared when Karel knelt on one knee in front of her and said, " Beautiful lady of the house, I hereby invite you and this wonderful little fellow to a delicious meal at my place in the garden. For there is something, which we must sort out together."

"What then?" she asked worriedly.

"We need to find out what this click, which we had right away when we only saw each other, means. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in love with you, I think you're a nice woman to see and I think your little son is great... I'm already in love with him, I feel, but that aside... Bianca, I want to know what's going on, what's between you and me. I'll tell you more about it tonight at the wok, it's a special day today! Can I pick you up at five o'clock? Then I'll go to the village in a minute to get groceries and prepare some things in advance. Is five o'clock okay for you?"

"I... I have to work, I... and we don't know each other at all. I can't just do that!" stammered Bianca.

Karel put a hand on her knee. "Bianca, I don't blame you, I can imagine that too. I have this idea for you: go and talk to Huib and Margreet, ask them about me, they can gossip about me all they want, I have no problem with that. And the work, until what time does it last?"

"Until five-thirty," Bianca replied.

"At Annerieke's?"

Bianca nodded.

"Consult with her if you can leave half an hour earlier for once."

Karel took his card holder from his pocket and handed it to her. "Do you want to take out a card yourself? Then I'll see if I can free Julian from my forest of curls..."

Bianca felt overwhelmed, but to her surprise not in a nasty way. This Karel was taking charge, pretty much deciding about her evening and somewhere there was something in her that almost made her like it. She suspected it was because of the wonderful experience she had had the first moment she saw him, and because of his way with Julian. And actually also by his way of taking charge. She wondered what made her feel immediately that it was not tyrannical, but rather beautiful.

She looked at the card, closed the cardholder and handed it back to Karel. He had meanwhile put Julian on the ground, who ran off laughing. Bianca already wanted to get up to get him back, but Karel stopped her with a broad smile.

"Let him be, I'll fetch him in a minute," he said, watching Julian. He plopped down next to her in the grass and looked up at her with his hand over his eyes because of the sun. "Julian is great," he sighed, "what a comedian! I just said I'm not in love with you, but you know what's crazy? I'll just be honest about what I feel... I'd rather put my head on your lap or sit with my back against your legs. So special, it feels so very different from anything I've ever imagined in a relationship with a woman, with infatuation or love. But just being quiet with you, sitting against you, being one together, just being so in silence... gosh, it's time for me to go home. My inner self is pretty upset, and I don't want to take you along in that, because then you won't dare come to dinner with me later. I'm going to pick up Julian!"

Karel jumped up, and ran after Julian. By now Julian had almost reached Sjaak and Lisa's house. Lisa was already coming down the porch to catch him, but almost collided with Karel as a result.

"Hey! Did you come to pick up Julian?" she asked in surprise.

"Yep, that guy stole my heart, and I thought I wanted it back, but I changed my mind, he can keep my heart, as long as I get him then."

"That sounds cryptic! Does that have to do with Bianca?" asked Lisa curiously.

"Yes, I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I think I should go all out to win her heart."

"Be patient, Karel, cherish her as you told Katja and Maureen, they were deeply impressed by your words and actions!"

"Nice to hear, but I have to go back now, take little guy to his mother's and do some shopping! See you again, I hope to visit the estate here more often!" he said with a cheerful face.

"You are most welcome!" cried Lisa.

" Thankie!!!"

.

"So, little guy back with mummy, and this guy is really going shopping now! Bianca, you have my phone number. If I don't hear from you, I'll pick you up at five, agreed?" Karel put Julian on her lap, and looked deep into her eyes for a moment. "Just consult Huib and Margreet, or Lisa, they know more about me, they can almost certainly reassure you..."

He pressed a kiss to her hair and walked down the estate, towards the village, where he went to the supermarket to get some meat and vegetables, and bottle of red wine. At the last minute, he thought of dessert. He took a tray of vanilla ice cream, hoping she liked it.

At home, he put the ice cream in the freezer. He grinned, his unexpected purchase of this house about a year ago was not so crazy. Giving himself a moment to dream, he walked through the house. Downstairs, apart from a spacious living room with an open kitchen, there was a second room. He had put a desk in one corner, a wooden desk made by Huib. And he had put some big plants next to it, creating his own little corner. It had looked so strange, that desk and the one cabinet for his private administration, in a corner of this big room. But with those plants alongside it, it had become a cosy corner. As a matter of fact, his corner was not just for his private administration or for work he occasionally took home. He had made it his gaming corner. His VR glasses were on his desk next to the computer. He loved to play a game in the evening, or watch a 3D movie. Yes, he was quite happy with his own corner.

Only the rest of the room... it had remained empty. He smiled as he turned to it. In his mind, he saw Julian playing, a cupboard in front of him along the wall, with his toys. And Bianca, he still had no idea what she liked, what she did in her spare time. He would definitely ask her about it tonight!

He walked back to the kitchen, started making a marinade like the one he himself loved for chicken breast. He cut the chicken breast into pieces and put them in the marinade, stirring it briefly so that all the pieces could enjoy it. Then, whistling, he started washing the lettuce and cutting it into narrow strips. He chuckled, this was his mother's method, which he had spontaneously adopted: grabbing a few leaves of lettuce together and then cutting very narrow strips of it. He made a sauce in a bowl, from mayonnaise, self-selected lettuce herbs and some spices, which he kept mixed in a small preserving jar, and a very small amount of sea salt. This too was a favourite recipe! He stirred the ingredients together and mixed in a small can of corn kernels. He cut off half the cucumber, sliced it lengthwise a few times and then cut small slices of it. He halved the red paprika and cut that too into small pieces. That was when he wondered if Julian would also like salad. He decided to take the gamble. He would probably like the corn kernels, so he would pick those out. Finally, he clipped fresh chives from his herb garden in the windowsill, and snipped that over it. He stirred it again so that the flavours would soak into the sauce well. 

He set the wok on a gas cylinder outside on the terrace. A large canvas against the sun was hung at an angle between the house and a few posts further down the garden as standard. If it once rained, the water would run right off in the middle, at the end. And because it always splashed on the ground at one point, he had put a large cement tub at the end of the cloth to catch most of the water. He would then use that later to water the plants. And if the wind was very strong or a heavy rain shower seemed to be coming, he could easily detach the canvas and put it in the garden shed for so long.

Karel looked around for a moment. He pictured it, how Julian could play delightfully under the canvas here, without getting burnt. He also realised that the cement tub, if it held quite a bit of water, could be a danger to him. He decided in advance, that he would make a sturdy net around it, so that he could never drown. He would take that off only when Julian was in bed, only then would he fill his watering can in it and water the plants with it.

He allowed himself to dream on for a while. In his mind, he saw Julian playing here, with a smaller brother who, with his black curls and brown eyes, looked suspiciously like himself. He turned to the terrace and saw Bianca in front of him, with their little daughter on her lap. He saw Bianca reflected in her....

Karel called himself to order. He walked back to the kitchen to make sure he had everything ready, set out plates and cutlery on the dining table, wine glasses and the bottle of wine there. He briefly wondered if he shouldn't have prepared the meat in advance, but he always enjoyed wokking outside so much himself. This time it was just for the chicken breast pieces, so the wok would only be used for a short while. And actually, given that Julian would be there, that was convenient. Maybe later they could wok more together, wok longer... later... yep, first let's see if he could win this woman's heart!

.

It was ten to five when he decided he would walk to the guesthouse. The weather was nice; it didn't look like it would rain. If Bianca didn't have a buggy or something, he would take Julian back on his shoulders.

That was how Bianca saw him coming. No car? She was puzzled. Well, they could take her own car.

Karel greeted her warmly, explained why he had come walking.

"Is that okay for you? I mean, maybe you're too tired from work or something..."

"No, no way, no problem, although I was a bit surprised to see you arrive walking."

Karel had already grabbed Julian, or rather the other way around, Julian was grabbing at Karel's clothes. Karel eagerly took advantage of his enthusiasm, placing him back on his shoulders. "Shall we, then? Isn't that bag too heavy?"

"Oh no, there's not much in there. I just tucked my little shoulder bag in, so I had everything in one. Shall we bring the buggy in case Julian gets tired? Yes, let me just do that, he always sleeps easily in it."

"Fine ya, just do what you find convenient, you know him best!"

As they walked quietly towards Karel's house, Bianca candidly mentioned that she had talked to Lisa about him. "She told how you had treated Katja and Maureen... that touched me! That touched me more than I can put into words."

Karel looked at her for a moment, past Julian's leg and confessed: "I asked Huib this afternoon where you lived with your family. He explained to me in a few words, that you were alone with Julian, that his father had forced himself on you and that you had decided to keep your baby. The moment he said that, I felt two very contradictory things. A huge anger at the guy who did that to you, and then I felt tremendously proud of you for having made such a loving decision. And beyond that, I can tell, you are fond of Julian. A real mother hen," he added teasingly, then immediately turned serious again, "Do you feel an urge within yourself to be a perfect mother, to prove that you made the right choice?"

"Ouch," she said, smiling shyly. "You could be right about that. I have had quite a few nasty reactions, that I shouldn't get involved, that I was throwing my life away by giving birth to that guy's child."

Julian, in his own way, began to regurgitate a whole story and started laughing.

Karel roared with laughter, "Imagine, you would have missed this! No, I totally agree with your choice you know. And I'm glad you got the opportunities at Bloemenhof, to work and live there. You can hardly imagine a better place to start as a single mother!"

"You're absolutely right about that, I have a sea of space in that attic, and the atmosphere among us is great. I was afraid I would remain an outsider, couldn't imagine that what they said was true, that I would be included in their circle right away, and so would Julian. But they totally lived up to it! They all adore Julian, and I really belong there too."

"You're beaming..." said Karel, looking at her lovingly.

"It's also so beautiful, so special!" said Bianca, as she effortlessly dared to look into his eyes. She felt something overflow from him to her, a warmth, a strength, filling her. She experienced it as good, but it also confused her. She felt her body blocking the feeling.

Karel silently wondered why her appearance suddenly changed so much, but he focused on his house, which he caught sight of a little further down the street.

"What a wonderfully quiet street this is," Bianca said. "So nice isn't it, when you live here, you are wonderfully on your own, yet you have everything you need nearby."

"That was the first reason I was attracted to the house I got for sale, down there, that house with all that wood. The peace and quiet, my own place, and having the ability to leave your car and walk to the village. What initially stopped me from buying was the size of the house. It is more than a full-fledged family home. Downstairs, two big rooms, really big rooms. And upstairs four good-sized bedrooms, and a spacious attic where you could also possibly make two more bedrooms. A fantastically large garden, a nice terrace. The house had been built a few years before, but the couple who lived there, divorced, and they both left our village. So the house came up for sale. I tended to call myself crazy, but felt such an urge to buy it. I have been living there for about a year now, and I have never regretted it. It really is my home!"

They had now arrived at the house. Bianca enjoyed how the house looked, both from the outside and a little later from the inside.

She sighed, "I can totally imagine your feeling of coming home..."

Karel had to restrain himself from asking if it could also be her home. He watched silently as she looked around, taking it all in, as if she wanted to become one with it. She stroked the countertop and looked around in amazement.

"What a space, even in the kitchen. A dining area in the kitchen, how ideal... Do you like cooking?"

"Yes, I learnt the basics from my mother, and I think she had a pretty broad base. I learnt to love all kinds of food, from all kinds of countries. That's why I have so many jars of herbs and spices, then I can make my own sauces, or sprinkle it through vegetables or over meat, the way I like it, or how a new recipe suggests. For tonight, I kept it simple, a salad, and pieces of chicken in marinade. I like to wok outside in this weather, and even with colder weather, but I decided not to wok vegetables, because we have Julian with us and I don't know how long we can keep him away from the hot wok."

Bianca smiled, "Thank you for taking that into account. I also have no idea how he will handle it. He does like to explore everything..."

"Very healthy," Karel responded, "but when it comes to dangerous things, we have to take that into account."

He preceded her to the room next door, going through his knees a little at the door while looking diagonally behind him, to make sure Julian wouldn't bump his head. Bianca followed him, feeling warmed by his concern for her little son.

"This room is way too big for what I do in it. That's why I screened off a corner here with plants. I like gaming with these VR glasses, all kinds of games, as long as it has action in it."

"I really can't imagine anything with that, but at least you have good space for it," he says.

"For many games you need that space too, otherwise you keep banging into everything," Karel laughed. "What do you prefer to do in your spare time?"

"Sewing... I don't sew clothes for myself, nor for Julian, maybe one day I will, but for now I indulge in extravagant clothes for dolls. Currently for regular dolls, but I've also considered trying it on a mannequin. I don't use standard designs, I make up my own, I don't know, I just get a picture in front of me, and as I'm working, I see more and more details."

She fished her mobile out of her pocket and clicked on the gallery's site. "Huib had me added on their digital gallery, do you know that website?"

"I know it's there, but haven't looked around on it lately."

He took a step towards her so he could look over her shoulder. He smelt a lovely scent of lilacs or something similar, and couldn't help but sniff it deeply for a moment.

Bianca looked at him in surprise: "What are you doing?"

"Enjoying your lovely scent... lilacs or something?"

Bianca nodded shyly: "Yes, I have a perfume with lilac scent, and even shampoo and shower gel with lilac scent. I really enjoy that every day."

"I can totally imagine that," said Karel, sniffing the scent again. Julian used his movement to lean over to his mother and grab her in her hair.

"Julian, you shouldn't do that like that," Karel said, "come, let go, little man."

As Karel freed Bianca's hair from Julian's grip, he felt Bianca stiffen. He made sure Julian couldn't grab her hair again and said, "Look, Julian, that's how you should do it, be nice to your mother, little fellow!" and he showed him how to stroke his mother's hair.

Julian crowed and wanted to grab again, but Karel grabbed his wrist. "Stroking, Julian, ay ay ay, that's nice for mummy."

Julian looked at him in surprise for a moment, but then let himself be guided by Karel's big hand. He no longer grabbed but caressed, as he parotted Karel: "Ay ay ay... yeah...."

"Good boy, is mummy sweet?"

"Ay ay ay," Julian repeated, stroking Bianca's hair without Karel's help. Bianca looked up at him and caught a wet kiss from her son somewhere on her cheek.

"Okay, so I have to demonstrate that to him too," Karel said with a mischievous grin at Bianca. "But I think we'll save that for another time mister. Shall we eat? Oh no, your photos, you were looking for your photos. Let's see!"

He bent slightly towards her mobile, where she showed the dresses she had now made.

"Girl, this is genius! I really have nothing to do with dolls, but these dresses touch me. You know how to turn an ordinary doll into something special. That dance dress... you should make something like that for yourself, then we'll sway together in the garden."

Bianca looked at him nervously. "Yeah yeah..." she only said.

Karel tapped her cheek gently for a moment. "Shall we have dinner after all?"

A sigh of relief escaped her. "Yes, let's do that. Is there anything else I can help with?"

"You can take over this darling for a while, and sit down on the terrace. Then I'll bring everything out," Karel replied.

Bianca grabbed Julian from Karel's shoulders and walked out with him. Karel walked behind her, feeling a tremendous glow rise within him, an intense love for the woman he actually did not yet know at all, but already felt so much his own. He skipped off to the kitchen, picked up the salad bowl and the plates on which he had laid out the cutlery, and brought them to the garden table. The garden table was large and oval and a bench had been made around it in the same shape, by none other than Huib. Bianca had picked up the nappy bag on the way out and put it under the table and had walked a little further and sat down.

"Even this, this corner, is big and spacious. Do you have visitors often?"

"No, just once in a while, my parents come for a weekend sometimes. They live in a small village by the sea, in North Holland. When they come here, they actually always do it on Friday and then they stay until Sunday after dinner. It's easily a three-hour drive up here."

"How do they feel about you living here alone, in such a big house?" asked Bianca.

"Just a minute, I'll still get the bowl of chicken breast."

A moment later he returned, also carrying a long lighter, with which he lit the gas. Julian looked wide-eyed from his mother's lap and crowed, "Beau Beau!"

"Yes, beautiful huh, that's fire... fire, Julian, fire... and fire is very hot, hurts."

"Au!" he concluded.

"Yes, that hurts very au," said Bianca, "Karel has to be very careful or it will hurt him."

"Au! Kade au!"

"Yes, then Karel gets au..."

"Great..." Karel smiled. "To return to your question about my parents. My mother in particular felt immediately that this was my place, my home. And when my father asked what to do with so many empty spaces, she nudged him and said, "She's nearby, she's nearby, just wait!" My father believed her, because she actually always senses things so well, but I myself found it difficult this time. I felt like I had to go looking. I can still feel her gaze on me when she said, "Don't you dare go looking for her, you'd still pick the wrong woman! Just live, she'll come your way spontaneously, and you'll know, deep down." Well, that's what she said... And then something else, I'll tell you right away then," he said as he slipped the pieces of chicken breast with the marinade into the wok and started stirring. "I was at the discovery centre this morning, talking to Jan. Do you know him?"

Bianca nodded: "The second discoverer, the little man from the vegetable garden."

Karel chuckled: "Exactly, that little farmer. He talked briefly about Joke staying at the Bloemenhof, thought she was a lovely woman. Then he asked if I also had a sweet wife. I said no, and that I lived alone. And then, in a very distinctive, convincing way, he said, "She'll come around," and when I asked him if he was sure, he looked at me and said something like, "Hell yes!" I felt he wasn't just making something up, he was saying it with the power from his soul. And after my visit there, I felt an urge to check on Huib, and there I met you, and it felt like we had known each other for ages. And I was immediately reminded of Jan's words! And now we are sitting here, waiting for the chicken breast to be cooked!" he ended his story in a light-hearted manner.

"How did you experience it all from this afternoon?" he then asked very directly.

Bianca took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Crazy... beautiful... apart... heartwarming... scary... funny... all mixed together, and above all special! Can you relate to that?"

Karel laughed, a beautiful low laugh that sounded like it was rolling through the mountains.

"I'm glad I heard 'beautiful' and 'heartwarming' among other things. I remembered you asking if we knew each other from somewhere. So you also had that feeling that we had met before?"

"Yes, I thought about that later. I didn't recognise your appearance at all, but the way you walked, the way you looked and talked... that was so familiar, so familiar. Yes, that was what I recognised as if maybe we had grown up together in our childhood. Did you also grow up on the coast, where your parents live now?"

"Yes, I was a beach and dune kid. I loved going to the dunes, sitting there in the sand and staring at the sea, running both my hands through the marram grass. I got to know animals of all kinds, insects, birds, Scottish highlanders, Koniks, which are Polish horses, and ponies. I took pictures of them and looked up which animals they were on the internet at home. I had the same kind of education as Rosalie and Jan, wonderfully free, only not in a centre, but at home. And where did you grow up?"

"I've lived all my life in Limburg, a long way away. How did you get the idea to move to Limburg? Pretty far away from your parental home..."

"Yes, it was quite difficult in the beginning, because I had a good time with my parents, especially with my mother. She feels me very clearly, has also very consciously encouraged me to feel, to take my impressions and intuition seriously. My father also lives like that, but he is a bit more on his own. Despite that, I also have a good relationship with him, yes, a really nice relationship."

Bianca smiled: "I can see it in you, the way you put it. I didn't have a lousy childhood myself, but not that free. Just went to school, and always felt pretty bound in everything that had to be done, and in how things had to be done. But it wasn't that my parents were acting mean, I was never afraid of them or anything, but they just taught me how things should be. As an adolescent I could still cope reasonably well with that, but after my choice against abortion... and the reactions to it... I became wayward. And that didn't make it easy for them, nor for me. Actually, there was no one who really understood my choice. Anton was the first, he was my superior then. And he made sure I ended up at Bloemenhof. Oh, but wait, now you haven't been able to answer my question about why you moved here... sorry!"

"No problem," Karel smiled, "that's how conversations run sometimes. I had my degree in real estate for some time, and was quietly looking for a place to start. Even then, I was doing pretty much automatically what my mother had taught me, feeling what I had a click with. And the moment I read the ad from here, that the real estate agent was retiring and looking for a successor, I knew with enormous certainty that this was going to be my place." He chuckled. "I was in the habit of depositing the ads I passed with my mother. She never responded to anything, felt it wasn't that either. And then I gave her that ad from here... she sighed very deeply and said, "That's awfully far away, your home is awfully far away from us! This is it huh?" Her words have come to my mind time and again whenever I have had a hard time here, so without them. But looking back, I am content, happy, I feel in place, in my work and here in this house. And now..." he hesitated for a moment, "... now also with you, I feel at home with you. The way you sit here with Julian, it seems like it's always been like this."

To his delight, he saw that she nodded, with tears in her eyes.

"That's how it feels to me too, Karel," Bianca whispered, "at home with you and at home in this house. But... I don't know if I dare. Yes, somewhere yes, but I'm also afraid I won't make it easy for you..."

"In what sense would you not make it easy for me?"

"Intimacy... and Julian... no, Julian actually not so much... I've thought so many times about the possibility that one day I might still meet the man of my dreams, but that a relationship would backfire on the fact that I have a child... but when I see you with Julian..."

"If we decide to continue together, it will definitely be as a threesome! Not a hair on my head that would shut him out!"

"Yes, somewhere I already knew that, but just as well that leaves the issue of intimacy. I know you think a man should cherish a woman, and that touched me when Lisa told me, but still... I can't imagine what that means in practice, what that would be like."

"Because it's totally unknown to you?"

"Yes, totally unknown, yes, I think that's it. In retrospect, I realise that my father didn't treat my mother that way either. He loves her, but doesn't cherish her, I think. Funnily enough, that seems to be able to coexist."

"He loves her, probably that is the image of 'loving' he has been taught in the world. I don't blame him for that, he won't know any better, won't know it can be different. My father showed me. Even though he is quieter, I always noticed that he cherished my mother. That is why she could bloom so well, really, she is like a bouquet of many kinds of flowers. And that is partly because my father cherishes her, loves her deeply. His focus is on her. He lives not for himself, but for her, and at the time, for me too. And if anything were bothering me now, he would immediately be there for me again. Next weekend they are coming. I would love for you to get to know them then, so you can experience it for yourself."

Karel turned off the gas tap.

"Julian, do you want pieces of chicken meat too?" asked Karel.

"Chick chick chick yeah!" Julian laughed.

"Wow, how good you can say chick, you almost bite that chicken's throat off!" grinned Karel.

Bianca shot into laughter, which completely relaxed her for a moment. She nodded at Karel: "Yeah right, he likes chicken, and salad too hey?"

She scooped salad onto his plate.

"Con!" he said, picking out a corn kernel.

"Delicious, corn kernels in salad!" responded Bianca.

Meanwhile, Karel divided the pieces of chicken breast.

"So enough for Julian? Or shall I add some more?" he asked Bianca

"No, sure, this is more than enough. He will like it all, but his stomach is not used to that."

Karel smiled, enjoying her presence, her care for Julian.

For a moment, Bianca was preoccupied with Julian's food. She helped him to scoop with an ice cream scoop, which Karel had suspected was the easiest way for him to eat.

Karel got up, walked inside for a moment and returned with a bath towel. He put it over Julian's legs and covered his belly with it. He draped the bath sheet around him, trying to wedge it between Julian and Bianca, causing his hands to briefly stroke along her belly. He noticed her holding her breath, but decided not to say anything about it.

"So, now he's well wrapped up. Would he like to eat it himself? Try it himself?"

"He already does, just watch, he picks out the corn."

Bianca noticed that she found it exciting. In the guesthouse kitchen, she had always tried to help him so he would make as little mess as possible. She decided to give him the ice cream scoop. Julian beamed as he took it, effortlessly bringing a bite to his mouth. He did it a few times in a row, but got frustrated because so little stayed on his spoon. He grabbed a piece of chicken with his fingers and put it in his mouth. As he chewed it, he was busy using his fingers to get more of the salad onto his spoon.

Karel put his hand on Bianca's arm, gently shaking no when he saw that she wanted to help him. She found it awkward, used to eating had to be done neatly, but over time she calmed down and could even take a little pleasure in it, noticing that Karel was enjoying it so much. This, she realised, this was a piece of freedom that Karel had had and she had not. And as she observed Julian, she realised how wonderful this was for him. It surely wouldn't be easy, but she decided that he just had to be given that chance in the guesthouse too. Then just wash a bit more, or wrap a towel around him like now.

As they ate, Karel noted, he had forgotten the wine. Bianca nodded at his question if she also wanted red wine. He poured the wine into their glasses and wondered aloud what Julian would like to drink.

"Water, he prefers to drink water."

Karel picked up a glass of water.

"Fortunately, I have several of these thick glasses. There's no way he'll be able to bite those off."

It was another one of those little things, Bianca thought, another piece of Karel's care for Julian. She began to relax more and more. How that intimacy would work, how that cherishing would be, she still had no idea, but she tried to let go. Karel seemed to know what it was like and sensed her very well.

.

"And who fancies ice cream?" asked Karel when they had finished the salad and chicken.

"Ice! Ice! Yeah!" cried Julian, "ice Banka!"

"What are you saying?" asked Bianca bewildered. "Ice..."

"Ice Banka! Banka you!" he prodded with his sticky little finger in her mouth.

"Banka? Am I Banka?"

Bianca became so moved that she hid her face in Julian's hair. A sob escaped her throat. She sat up straight again, with tears in her eyes, but with a beaming face.

She pointed to herself: "I am Bianca."

Julian beamed: "Banka"

She pointed at Julian: "And you are Julian."

"Juja!"

"Yes, Julian!"

She pointed to Karel: "And that's Karel... Karel."

"Kade! Kade!"

"How nice that you know our names, you smartass!" Bianca praised him.

Karel walked in quickly to hide his own emotion. Bianca seemed to have done it unconsciously, but by teaching Julian his name too, she had included him, with Julian and herself. At least that's how it felt to him. In the kitchen, he scooped some ice cream into bowls and sprinkled some sprinkles on top. He put the bowls on a tray, with ice-cream scoops attached, and went back to the terrace. Julian almost jumped off Bianca's lap when he saw the ice cream.

"Ice! Ice! Ice!" he cheered.

Smiling, Karel put the bowls on the table.

Julian looked at him beaming: "Kade! Thankie Kade ice!"

"Thankie? Thank you? You mean thank you? Glad you're so hungry for ice cream, enjoy eating it!"

Bianca looked at Karel. "I don't know what hit me, he suddenly starts talking more clearly!"

Karel winked at her. "He's moving fast all of a sudden, he thinks the waffling has gone on long enough!"

.

After the meal, he urged Bianca to stay seated.

"I'll put things in the kitchen for a while, I'll wash it off later. Now that you're here, I'd rather sit with you on the sofa!"

He walked up and down a few times, making coffee meanwhile, and also took Julian's bath towel again. He whipped it out over the grass, "for the birds, Julian!" and took it inside. He came back with two mugs of coffee.

"Julian, would you like another drink of water?"

"No tate, no!"

"No water, no..." Bianca translated in a whisper. "Genius guy!"

"Me? Yes, quite!" said Karel grinning as he came to sit next to her, closer than during the meal. "Bianca, it's still a week away, but would you mind thinking about coming here at the weekend too?"

"Staying over? Do you mean staying over the weekend?" asked Bianca in despair.

"I didn't mean that, but if you want to, you're welcome to. Rooms plenty upstairs, with beds! The room my parents use has a double bed, the room next door has a one-person bed, you're welcome to use that. Camp bed for Julian there..."

"I don't have that."

"Then we'll buy that! A camp bed is a must, you can also use it as a playpen outside here."

" Gosh, what an idea, never thought of it!"

Karel chuckled. "Me neither, just came to mind."

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