"Our first evening together," Karel whispered, as they bathed and put Julian to bed together. "If you feel like sewing, feel free to do it. Now you can, no little thumper around you."

"Yes, that's true, but don't you find that uncozy?"

"Nothing is cozier than being with a woman you love and who is doing what she enjoys."

" And what about you? What are you going to do?"

"Watching you make those tiny doll dresses. And maybe browse through those photo books for a while. They're really special hey. I might be able to do what Olivia did with my VR glasses too, never tried it, but it should be possible."

"If you feel like trying it out, you should just do it, right?"

"Yes, that might come one day, not yet, right now I just want to be with you."

Bianca smiled, "Like an adolescent in love..."

"If that's what it looks like... it's okay for me!" said Karel grinning.

Bianca grabbed the bag that stood next to her and started taking out the sewing she had been working on.

"I have a model this time that I had absolutely no idea beforehand what it was going to look like. This fabric, I don't know what it's called because until now I always buy from the thrift shop, feels like a kind of velvet. It's a bit thicker than I was used to with the other dresses, which is why I bought this bigger doll with it. I think it looks better on her than on a small doll."

"So how are you working on that? I mean, how do you know what to do?"

"I just figured out that I would take a piece of cloth of about five by five centimetres each time, and then I put it where I want it. So the patches overlap in different ways. And because it's plain, I'm considering using thin yarn of a slightly different shade to crochet a sort of shawl to go with it."

"Crochet? You can do that too?"

"Yes, that's also fun to do for variety. Knitting too, but I don't know if I'll ever do that for a doll. Maybe a jumper for myself one day, or for you," she said, smiling.

"I would enjoy that immensely, but only if you actually feel like it. What colour would look good on me, do you think?"

"I think anything would look good on you, but I would go for something like corn blue myself, I think, really a bright corn blue."

"My mother will gloat when she hears that! She has always said, that colour looks so good on me. Great!"

"Shall we go buy a nice corn blue yarn tomorrow?"

"No ya, you're just so nice with this!"

Bianca laughed a little internally, thinking hers. She considered what would look best on him, what model. She thought of a model that... no, not a jumper at all, better a cardigan. She had hardly thought it...

"If you really want to go for it, would you make a cardigan instead of a jumper?"

Bianca now laughed out loud: "I was just thinking that myself!"

"Yes, nice and easy in my office, coat off, cardigan on for a moment. Customers always come in with their coats on, so I never heat my office very much. Bianca, if you really feel like it, still tomorrow, we'll see if we can find knitting yarn. And I was also thinking about furniture for the room next door. A nice desk for you, and a cupboard for your things, and a cupboard for toys. Let's look around for those, shall we? Oh yes, one more thing, a sturdy net, something like a volleyball net. In fact, I use a cement tub to catch rainwater from that sunscreen, which I then put at the end, if it's not a severe weather, of course. But if that bin gets full, it's dangerous for Julian. That's why I want to stretch a net over it, that I can secure with a sturdy rope under the edge, and loosen it if I want to use it to water the plants, maybe a cable with a hook, that I can loosen it like that and hook it again."

Bianca said nothing, just looked at him with a slight smile.

"Do you understand what I mean?" asked Karel.

"Yes, I understand very well that you are doing everything to make it a great home here for me as well as for Julian. And I'm very happy about that!"

Bianca quietly continued sewing, while Karel went to look at Koos' photo book. Every now and then they would glance at each other, talking about a photo or how the dress was progressing. Karel marvelled at the ease with which she covered the doll's bodice piece by piece. After each patch, she put the dress on the doll, fitting the next square in such a way that the direction of the velvety fabric was slightly different and the sheen different from the patches around it. He did not understand how she could make this work, how it could actually be modelled, how it would really fit. But he did sense, though, that Bianca knew what she was doing, and he suspected it would work out just fine.

"I'm just thinking," he said suddenly," my desk next door was made by Huib. Wouldn't it be nice to have your desk and cupboard, and a toy cupboard made by him too?"

"Then it would all fit together nicely huh... but won't that be too expensive?"

"No, not too bad. He didn't do very much special to my desk, and it probably wouldn't be necessary for your desk either. Or would you like him to make decorations on it?"

"No, not really, it mainly needs to be practical, something like your desk, maybe a bit longer, and a low raised edge on two sides, so I don't knock my basket off."

Together they discussed the measurements, including both cabinets, after which Karel sent an e-mail with all the details to Ilse. She would pass it on to Huib, and then everything would be arranged.

.

"Do you know what I notice?" said Bianca by half past nine. "I notice that I feel so relaxed here, that the fatigue of recent times is coming out. I'll stop sewing for a while, it's getting too much for me."

Karel smilingly watched as she stored everything safely in her bag.

"Would you like another drink or shall we go straight to sleep?" he asked.

At once the tension was back, Bianca felt herself becoming alert, but she wanted to persevere, and chose to go to sleep.

"Then I'll take a shower first. Do you always do that at night too?"

"Anyway in the evening, and sometimes I go under again in the morning," Karel grinned. "You go ahead and take a shower, and I'll lock downstairs in the meantime and shower after you."

He gave her a gentle squeeze on her upper arm, nodding her encouragingly.

.

Bianca came out of the bathroom in her summer pyjamas. Karel looked at her smiling, got up and went to the bathroom. He returned a moment later wearing only pants.

"Do you always sleep alone in pants?" asked Bianca in surprise.

Karel nodded. "Yes, even in winter, even when it's freezing. I did always wear pyjamas as a child, but I felt trapped in them."

They each lay on their own half, looking at each other. Bianca burst out laughing.

"This does feel very silly..."

"... but it's not. I would love to join you, but as you know, I don't want to overwhelm you. You can be free, make your choices. Do you want to lie against me? Gladly! You don't want to yet? Fine too. We'll just take whatever time it takes."

Bianca crawled towards him, continuing to look at him closely. Her breathing deepened, she felt the warmth flowing towards her from his eyes, but did not yet manage to take further initiative herself.

Karel saw the longing in her eyes, and the struggle, the restlessness. He put his hand on her shoulder and started stroking her upper arm. She crawled a little closer to him still, hid her head under his jaw. Karel stroked her shoulder blades, her back, feeling her body shudder against him.

He felt that her back was not smooth; it looked like she had kept her bra on. When he asked about it, she looked up briefly.

"Yes, my nursing bra, my breasts still leak milk regularly, despite Julian not drinking with me very often anymore."

Karel nodded: "Aha, that is why..."

He stroked further, down her back and over her buttocks. He felt her body jolt for a moment and settle down again. He kissed her hair, caressed her face with his fingertips and thought about what Jan had said. She should always be able to feel that he loved her. Karel realised, though, that that did not depend on him alone. Precisely because of her woundedness, she was not yet able to really feel and receive everything from him, but he was already happy with every step she took in his direction.

.

The next morning they were awakened by Julian, who stood in his cot shouting, "Banka! Kade! Banka come!"

Karel chuckled: "Just stay put, I'll fetch him. A clean nappy first, right?"

"Yes, please!"

A few minutes later, Karel entered the bedroom with Julian. Julian was only wearing a nappy and a romper. Karel landed him on his feet on the bed, whereupon he flipped over towards Bianca. He tried to crawl under the duvet, and since he couldn't, Karel held the duvet up a bit. Only then did it dawn on him that Bianca had taken off her pyjamas. He wondered if she had done so to make it easier to feed Julian, or if she wanted to experience the same freedom without pyjamas.

Julian curled up against Bianca, also discovering that she was not wearing pyjamas. Pat his hand on her belly: "Tummy! Banka tummy!"

"Oh, really?" did Karel in surprise. With his foot he searched her leg, stroking her with his toes, causing her to look up in surprise.

"Bianca has bare legs too..." he said conspiratorially to Julian.

Julian dove under the duvet, stroking Bianca's thigh: "Banka leg... seet..."

Bianca looked at Karel smiling and shook her head.

"What am I supposed to do, with two men in bed..."

"Enjoying it to the full, that's the most convenient thing!" advised Karel.

" Yeah... Julian, do you want to drink already?"

Julian crawled back as quickly as he could, out from under the duvet. On his hands and knees, he looked at Bianca. She burst out laughing, sat up and opened her nursing bra. She wanted to take Julian in her arm, but he was already crawling up against her, staying on his knees, grabbing her breast and starting to drink.

A deep sigh escaped Karel's mouth. With the top of his fingers, he stroked Bianca's cheek. His eyes went down to the bulge of her breast that was very visible. His hand went to it, wanting to caress her breast as much as her cheek. He looked at Bianca, saw no fear, only slight arousal. Gently he caressed the bulge of her breast, while Julian continued to drink. Bianca's mouth fell open, she breathed shallowly and looked at him in surprise.

"What's happening, sweetheart, tell me, is it good or not?"

"Yes, it's... pfff... I don't know, all kinds of things are happening in my body. Tingling, longing, yearning for more. I told you about that man who was supposed to be my friend, about how he had taken me. It was clear to me that you wouldn't want it his way, but how? You talked about wanting to get me excited... is that something like this?"

"Yes, I think so, I would like to explore your whole body, caress it, until you know in every cell that you are the only one for me, the one and the real, the sweetest I can imagine. And that you will know that I will be there for you in everything. And I know these are beautiful words that could be straight out of a romance book, but I want this to be practice."

Julian let go of her breast, looked at her and pointed to the other one. "That one too!"

"Come on, just crawl over my belly."

She helped him a little by holding him under his arms.

She opened her nursing bra on her other breast and very deliberately left the first one open as well. She wanted to know, what Karel would do, and what it would be like. She longed for his caresses, and that desire began to grow stronger than her fear and uncertainty.

She looked at Karel, saw that he was looking straight into her eyes and then at her breast. Her breathing deepened again, making her chest move more than at rest. She nodded to him encouragingly, "Try it, I want to know, what it's like when you explore my body, caress me."

He smiled, "I won't go along your whole body now, because we have a spectator, but something, which is also visibly caressing for him..."

Karel bent down, started kissing Bianca on her cheek, very gentle kisses. He traced a trail along her jaw, her neck... her breath stopped... he continued, past her shoulder, to her breast. He explored the bulge with his mouth, the areola. He looked up at Julian, saw how he not only had the nipple in his mouth, and mimicked him. He took nipple and areola in his mouth, and sucked gently. He tasted a little sweet milk, and licked off her nipple with his tongue. He felt Bianca shudder and begin to squirm.

Julian looked up. "Kade dink too".

"Yes, Karel wants to drink too, he's going to taste."

" Kade! Yummy?"

" Yummy, Julian, really delicious! You're very lucky! A bit very sweet though," he chuckled to Bianca. "How did you experience it?"

"Great, but quite intense. Maybe better continue another time when it's just the two of us, in the early afternoon, or tonight..."

Karel nodded: "Seems better to me too."

But that didn't mean he stopped, he closed her nursing bra himself, but continued his gentle kisses, around her breast, over her belly.

"Banka sooo seet!" he heard Julian say softly. From the corner of his eye, Karel saw Julian lay his head on Bianca's collarbone, and heard him let out a fat burp. While kissing, he moved up, between her breasts and looked at Julian.

"What was that noise?"

"Bup!"

"Did you let out a loud burp?"

"Yeah" laughed Julian.

"You guys are a great couple!"

Karel kissed Bianca softly on her mouth. "I'm going to get dressed and prepare a delicious breakfast. What does our little man eat in the morning?"

"Settis sem!"

"Sandwich with jam? Really?"

Julian nodded vigorously, and Bianca enthusiastically joined him.

"Then I'm going to dress Julian and myself. Julian, are you coming with me? Then we'll go to your room, pick out clothes."

"I guess he needs clean clothes pretty much every day?"

"Yes, almost every day. It's only rarely that I find them still clean enough for a second day. Doesn't matter, that will change naturally. Or not..."

They shot into laughter together!

"Wonderfully nonchalant," Karel said, "It comes as it comes!"

.

After breakfast, they got ready to go shopping. They walked to the village, with Julian in the buggy. They came across several people who recognised Karel, and took in Bianca and Julian curiously.

"Isn't it nice that we get to be the cause of the villagers not being bored these days. They have plenty of conversation material again thanks to us."

Bianca looked at him: "Bah, I find that nasty, that they start chatting about us behind our backs."

"Yes, that's nasty too, it shouldn't be like that. Anyone who is really curious about you should just speak to us."

As if she had understood that, a young woman came walking straight towards them.

"Hey Bianca! Ha Julian! And a vaguely familiar gentleman... I'm Cynthia, I live in The Shelter. I think I've seen you around the village, you're a standout with your black curls."

Karel laughed: "I've heard that before, maybe I should get my hair cut short and dye it blonde. My name is Karel, by the way, and I have my work in the village centre, the estate agency."

"Aha, hence, I like to come to the centre. Bianca took me to the thrift shop and Action once. Two lovely shops! I don't want to be nosy, but of course I am... have you become a couple?"

"I think we have been for ages!" said Karel with a happy smile, "but in this century only since a few days."

"Super nice, that sounds like real, like it has been for centuries, that real connection, like the couples at Bloemenhof also have. By the way, I also have a new thing, I've been hired in the print shop, Bert and Annelies' Soul Print Shop! Bert is teaching me to work with those machines, and together with Annelies I will read and select books, see if they fit the vision of the print shop. We prefer to print only books written from the writer's inner self."

"Or like Koos and Olivia's, which I'm sure you've seen by then!" complemented Bianca.

"Oh yes, so cool! Koos came on my first day of work, and as a surprise he had also brought all those photos for a book by Olivia. She really didn't know anything about it! You should have seen her face when her pile came out yesterday. But I'll move on again, otherwise our day will be over before it has begun. Good luck together!"

"Thank you, and you have fun among all the books!"

"I will!" beamed Cynthia.

"So that's how it can be," said Karel, when they had walked a little further. "Just having a chat."

Bianca did not respond, struggling with her thoughts. Karel wanted to ask what was going on, but decided to let her go through it first. He suspected it was somehow related to Cynthia.

Only near the entrance of the thrift shop did he suddenly put his arm around her and pull her towards him. "You, Bianca, you alone are my everything! I love you!"

Stunned, Bianca stared at him. "How did you know...?"

"I noticed that you stayed quiet after Cynthia walked on and felt you were fiddling with something in your mind. I felt you had to go through it yourself first, and that now was the moment, that I could tell you my soul truth, that you are my everything, and that I love you, only you, and yes, Julian too, and my parents, but as a woman... you are the one, the true one, my everything!"

He kissed her on the tip of her nose and gently wiped away the tears escaping from her eyes with his thumbs. They continued to look at each other for a while, until Karel suggested they go inside.

To his surprise, he found a net as sturdy as a volleyball net, and separately, a cable of links and a hook at the end.

"Silly combination, but I think this should work!" said Karel, putting the items in the basket. "Anything else you want to look at? The craft corner?"

Bianca smiled, "Always, you never know what goodies have been brought in."

At the craft corner, an employee was just walking away. He saw Bianca and greeted her. "I just laid out some beautiful yarn, a whole batch of bright blue, just a bit thick, more for winter. See for yourself!"

Bianca laughed: "Thanks for the tip!"

And to Karel: "That man has such a heart for this business. Lisa told me, that when they went looking for stuff to furnish The Shelter, he had helped them with the mattresses. The way he had handled them had touched Lisa and Annerieke. He sought out the best of the best for those ladies who had already had a hard time. Beautiful isn't it? I feel like he's keeping an eye on us in a nice way so that he can help us with the right stuff. No, he's not watching us, he feels, that's it. And he has heart for us..."

Bianca looked at Karel. He didn't really respond... would he be suffering from the same thing as she had a moment ago? She said nothing, walked on to the craft corner. She saw that a bright blue thicker knitting yarn had indeed been brought. Not a little bit, but more than enough for a great cardigan. Bright blue, yes corn blue.

" Karel, is it true for you that this is just the right colour? Do you have a click with this knitting yarn?"

"Huh? Oh that one, yes, yes that is absolutely the colour we were looking for. How special!"

Bianca started putting all the bulbs that were there into her basket.

"There are too many, but I like the colour so much. Maybe I'll make another cardigan or sweater out of it for Julian."

Julian, who until then had only been looking around quietly, looked up. "Juja sette?"

"Do you like this one for a sweatshirt, Julian?" asked Bianca.

Julian beamed, grabbing a ball from her and hugging it to his cheek.

"Yeah Juja sette!"

"Good, then I'll take all the blue bulbs, a cardigan for Karel and a sweatshirt or cardigan for you!"

Suddenly, she put her basket on the floor and wrapped her arms around Karel's neck.

"You are my everything too, I love you, you are the only man I love, apart from you there can be no other!"

Karel lowered his forehead against her forehead with a deep sigh.

"You had me figured out, didn't you?" he said with a deep sigh. "I can't share you, darling, with no other man."

"You don't have to, you and I..."

"Kade seet! Banka seet!" cheered Julian.

Karel and Bianca shot into laughter.

"That's how we're setting the scene around here!" said Bianca.

"Better this way than with a lot of swearing and shouting!" thought Karel.

The same staff member approached with a beaming face. "Thanks for this real love, it's wonderful to see you together! And I see you can move forward for now. Make something beautiful out of it!"

.

"Gosh, I'm just embarrassed," Karel said as they walked outside again. "Being a bit jealous of that employee."

Bianca laughed. "We both suffered from it, within half an hour! We're just a genius couple!"

"Let's leave it at that then..." Karel laughed like he was suffering from a toothache.

.

Karel made things easy for Bianca. He gave her an old sweatshirt he liked to wear. "Now if you take that one for size, you only have to see for yourself how to do that with the front."

"Handy, thank you! And what kind of fastening would you prefer?"

"Honestly, I like wooden buttons best, but for the office a zip might be more convenient."

"I think nicer is more important than more convenient. It only saves you a few seconds."

"Yes, you're right about that too, okay, next time we'll look for buttons to go with it! I'm going to brew some coffee, and make a bottle of lemon water. Do you like that too?"

"No idea, but it seems quite tasty."

While Julian was dribbling around the room, commenting on everything in his way, Karel went into the kitchen, and Bianca started on a sampler. She decided to use the barred-grain stitch, as it made the cardigan a little thicker. After a few needles of the sampler, she had a fine idea about how many stitches she would need to set up. She took out the sampler and started to set up the number of stitches for the back.

They moved to the terrace as Karel finished the coffee and lemon water. While she was busy with her knitting, she watched Julian a little. Karel saw it and asked her to leave that to him, so she could enjoy focusing on her knitting.

She smiled at him: "Fine, thankie!"

Julian had already walked through half the garden, and now returned. He stood under the awning and began to tell a huge story, constantly interrupted by his own bursts of laughter.

"I once had the impression that he would become a cabaret performer. He didn't say a word then, just waffled whole stories together. Now when I hear him like this, it's already starting to look like that..."

.

After lunch, Julian was spinning on his little legs for tiredness. It was about time to go to sleep.

"What shall we do, Bianca, shall we put him here in the camp bed or upstairs in the cot," Karel asked.

Bianca understood that this question had to do with exploring and caressing her body further. Did she want that now? Did she dare?

Karel felt her tension rising, but deliberately said nothing. He left the choice to her. And Bianca chose: "I find it extremely exciting, but so will it be tonight and tomorrow. Let's put Julian upstairs, and then... then I'll surrender to your caresses!"

"Brave woman," Karel said, giving her a kiss on her hand. "But please don't be so brave that you go beyond your own limits. If it gets too crazy for you, please tell me. We'll go as far as we can and especially as far as you want, okay?"

.

"So, little man lies," Bianca whispered as she closed the door. Karel put his hands around her waist and kissed her. "Are you coming to the bedroom with me?"

Strangled, they walked towards it. Karel pushed the curtains closed. The light curtains kept any prying eyes at bay, but still let a lovely amount of light through. They would be able to see each other well, and above all, he would be able to see clearly in Bianca's eyes whether she was enjoying herself or whether fear was taking over.

He started stroking her, on her clothes, and a little later under her clothes. He asked her if he could take off her blouse, and a moment later her skirt. She nodded bravely each time, stepping over her fear.

His hands on her bare skin caused tremors throughout her body. Tremours, shudders and a strange kind of dizziness, as if she was starting to go into a trance.

Karel felt her growing limp, struggling to stand, and laid her gently on the bed.

Bianca chuckled, "You treat me like I'm fragile."

"You are, and that guy who claimed to be your friend didn't take that into account. As a result, you suffered all kinds of emotional bruises and fractures. I would like to help you heal those, by being gentle with you, watching how you react, whether you still like it, or not."

Bianca smiled and received him next to her on the bed as he continued stroking and kissing. This, this was so new to her, a man even kissing her feet, moving up along her legs with his mouth, continuously kissing or making circles on her skin while licking. It seemed like her whole nervous system came alive, really everything reacted. She was glad she was lying down, she would never be able to stand in this state, her whole body went haywire, reacting with tremors and shudders and jolts.

Karel had seen how the clasp of her nursing bra worked and opened one, flipped the flap down. He noticed how the fire in his body began to glow everywhere, how he longed for her more and more. He again made the decision to focus only on Bianca today, today and always!

Gently he closed his mouth on her breast, sucking tenderly as he ran his tongue over her nipple. Bianca squirmed and let out rapturous moans.

As he continued it more intensely, she grabbed his hair. "Oh, Karel!" she sighed. He opened the flap on her other breast, and sucked and licked there too. He felt her body begin to move, as if she wanted to receive him. He was well aware that the time was not yet right for that. He stimulated both her breasts, one with his tongue, the other with his finger. Her breathing went faster and faster, and the moment he felt she was nearing orgasm, he let his one hand slide over her belly, right into her panties. As he had expected, she spread her legs slightly so he could reach her vagina. She was almost there, so he didn't waste a second, moistened his finger with her warm fluid and moved forward, to her most sensitive spot, the little lump, which he only later wondered how he had got there, how he had known he could best stimulate her there. He was only just stroking it when her body tensed completely.

"Let go, Bianca, let go, let it come," he whispered.

With a horrified cry, she reached the peak, grabbing hold with her hands around her and shaking her whole body. Karel did not continue to stimulate her much longer, realising that what was happening now later, when she calmed down again, should feel to her like something wonderful, not frightening. Quietly he caressed her belly, kissed her on the cheek.

"My darling, I love you so much," he whispered.

She looked at him with dark hazy eyes. "What was this, for heaven's sake, what was this?"

Karel shot into laughter: "This was your body's reaction to my stroking, to my caresses. To be honest, I didn't expect you to cum so quickly. You are quite sensitive!"

"To cum? Can a woman cum even then?" she asked in bewilderment. "I thought that was only for men..."

"A lot of men seem to think that too, that women are just a thing to cum in themselves. But do you know what I think? They do their lady wrong with that, and I think also themselves. I don't know from experience, but I can so imagine, if I get inside you when you're as aroused as you were just now, it's a lot more festive for me too, than when I just have to pump a long way to cum myself."

Bianca shot into a liberating peal of laughter. "I can see it for myself," she hiccupped with laughter, "I don't mean literally, but I kind of get what you mean. When I'm as aroused as I just was, at the peak so to speak, that jerking of my body helps you too, sort of, is that right?"

"I think so, time will tell!" said Karel. He pulled her against him, rolling to the side so that she lay on top of him. He enjoyed her body, the weight, the warmth, her smell, how she felt. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pressed her close to him.

"Wow..." whispered Bianca, "this... this feels like we are even more strongly riveted together." She closed her eyes to feel it even better as their souls melted together...

To chapter 82. Jacqueline and Maurice Mulder

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