Anton didn't waste any time. The next day, right after breakfast, he called his employee, presented her with the proposal to work at Bloemenhof in housekeeping. At Annerieke's request, he invited her over coffee, then she could get to know the family and ask questions as much as she liked.

Bianca Overeem was genuinely surprised and decided to accept the invitation. By ten o'clock, she parked her car in the car park next to the guesthouse, where she was met by Anton, who greeted her warmly.

"Isn't it strange that you are piloting your own employee to another?" she asked him.

"Maybe in other circumstances it would be, but after all, I now know what you need? I know the people at this guest house well, they are friends of mine to say the least. And I think you will feel more at home here than in the situation you have been in lately. You know, Bianca, I have a business, but I don't want to be all about business. I feel for people, I want to be there for them. And so I want to be there for you too. Your story was clear enough, you have chosen for your little son, but have to twist and turn to get through the days a bit. Then I think you will have a much better time here. But you'll have to judge for yourself later. Shall I take the baby car seat?"

Without waiting for her answer, Anton opened the door on the other side of the car and unbuckled the car seat. He closed the car door and took little Julian to the front door.

"So Julian," he said to the awake little fellow, "shall we see if you like this house?"

Bianca followed them with a nappy bag and her shoulder bag, surprised by the fatherly way her chef treated her little son.

Anton looked back and encouraged her: "Come along, I think the coffee is almost ready!"

He opened the kitchen door and led her ahead as he introduced her, "Dear people, this lady here is Bianca Overeem and this young man in this baby car seat is her little son Julian." He did not need to say more as everyone stood up to greet Bianca and introduce themselves.

"Can I take Julian on my lap?" asked Simon, looking at Bianca almost pleadingly. She nodded, a little perplexed by all the cordiality. As Simon fished Julian out of his seat, Anton handed Bianca a chair. He saw how she looked around the circle a little uncertainly.

"Feel free to ask questions, but you may also enjoy your coffee and get used to the group here a bit first. Do whatever you feel comfortable with," he whispered to her.

She nodded and watched Simon talking quietly to Julian. In the corner of the kitchen, she discovered a playpen, where another baby was sleeping. Margreet saw her looking and beckoned her over. Bianca got up, took her coffee and went over to Margreet.

"Is that your baby?" she asked Margreet.

Margreet nodded and told her her name was Gloria and was barely two weeks old.

"Julian is almost a month now. I was supposed to go back to work as a parcel deliverer in a few months, but I can't get it done organisationally. Oh yes, I can put Julian anywhere, one day here, the next day there, but it just doesn't feel right, like I'm dumping him. I chose to give birth to him when his father wanted nothing to do with him, but already I can't manage to do what's right for him. That feels awful!"

"I can imagine that. Then soon you won't work well either. If you wanted to work here, it would be totally different. Then Julian could just be around here with you. What has Anton already told you?"

Bianca chuckled: "Actually not much, only that it was housework in a guesthouse. To be honest, I immediately got nasty visions about that, about guests breathing down your neck and an owner hounding you, but on the other hand, I think I can trust Anton. And the atmosphere here seems pretty relaxed."

"It is," Margreet replied. "These people here live like a family with each other, and in the most positive sense of the word. They stand for each other, help each other, just love each other."

"That's nice, but of course I come in here as a stranger. Not that that's a bad thing, I just come here to work. Do you have any idea where I could possibly live?"

Margreet put her hand on Bianca's arm: "Bianca, I came in here last November, as a total stranger, insecure and scared, with a negative self-image. I was welcomed here as a family member, I completely blossomed. I came home here. I lived here in the attic for the first time. The attic runs the whole length and width of the guest house, so it's really very big. A very big room, and a spacious landing. As long as you don't have a cottage of your own, it could be a great location for you. Make some adjustments, put up stair gates, whatever is needed. Everything can be discussed here, and that's not an empty phrase, I really mean it. I'd say, fire your questions at us, test us!"

Bianca nodded thoughtfully, clearly not finding it as simple as Margreet suggested to her. She walked back to her chair, where Annerieke poured her mug once more and Simon confided to her with a pleased smile that she had raised Julian well. He had not revealed any personal secrets to him, but had remained very friendly. "No kidding, Bianca, you have a beautiful little guy!"

Bianca nodded and asked him about the composition of the company, "Who belongs to whom, I don't need to ask, that seems obvious. But what I was wondering is to what extent you, as couples, are related."

Simon shifted his chair slightly towards her and explained, "Huib over there is Annerieke's son. His father crashed last year and I am so lucky that, in a way, I get to take his place now. So I live with Annerieke. Other than that, there are no blood ties, but we experience a very strong soul connection that is better than any blood tie. Annerieke and I live some distance away, on the right side of the estate. Walking past our house, you come to Huib's work shed. He is a true artist with wood. And a little further on is Huib and Margreet's house. Sjaak is the gardener of this estate and lives with Lisa in a house more to the left of the estate. And if you walk past their house, you come to a group of four cottages, connected in the middle by a large living room. There live four women who escaped sexual assault. If you want to know more about that in the future, just ask Lisa about it. In the past, I built this guesthouse together with Erik, Annerieke's first husband, so Huib's father, and therefore I know that it has a wonderfully spacious attic floor. If you want to come and work here, you can live here in the attic for as long as you want. Room enough, at most some adjustments will have to be arranged because of this sweet little man. Oh well, look at him, he has given up the fight against sleep. Well, let him be fine!"

"Don't you think he's getting too heavy? Otherwise I can put him in his car seat, you know."

"Well no, he's fine here. Secretly I do enjoy it, I don't have children of my own. So I like to enjoy other people's children along, at least if you don't mind!"

"No, oh no," Bianca hurried to assure him, "I just don't want to be a burden to anyone and so I don't want Julian to be a burden to anyone either."

Simon looked straight at her, with a gentle smile on his face. "You are not a burden to anyone here, just try to remember that. And if you decide to come and work here, your beautiful little guy will be an asset to us along with you."

Bianca looked at him frowning: "Are you serious?"

Anton, who had been following the conversation a bit, nudged her: "They love craziness in this place, but this kind of thing here is always completely serious! Just try to receive it, and if you can't, that's no problem, it will come later."

Bianca looked at her chef, with tears in her eyes. She sighed deeply and promised to try.

"Fine, that's the best start, Bianca!" Anton winked and looked at Simon. "Did you give that sweet little fellow a sleeping potion, Simon?"

Simon chuckled, "Well yeah, do you rough! I suspect I'm sleepy enough myself!"

Bianca looked from one to the other, not quite knowing what to make of their words.

"That's what I mean, Bianca, they like craziness here. Me too, but I didn't know it, I was way too serious, but these guys loosened me up quite a bit. So feel free to take these kind of silly comments with a big grain of salt!"

Bianca sighed deeply and smiled. "It's quite an exploration. You are quite different from my family, but I suspect I will be able to get used to this. It feels pretty good, even if I can't chat along in such a way yet."

"You say that well, 'not yet', just wait once you've been here a few weeks, that will work itself out!" thought Simon. "But on a different note, would you be interested in coming here to keep things in order?"

Bianca nodded: "It's not that housekeeping is my hobby, but I know I can do it, and it would give me peace of mind in my care for Julian. And the atmosphere feels pretty good here, still a bit uncomfortable, but that's more down to me, I think."

"Great, I'd love it if you'd join our club!" Simon turned to the rest of those present, "May I interrupt your conversations for a moment? I think we would do well to tell this young lady what this guesthouse needs, but more importantly, what we have to offer her. How do we approach that? Annerieke, can you tell her what her job would be if she decides to come?"

"Yes, I can, but I think I'd better pass that turn on to Margreet, because Bianca would come and take over her task."

Margreet nodded and explained what her duties had been so far. "I have no problem working you in as long as you need it. And if you have your own questions about tasks, or want to change things, we are always open to that. For example, at the thrift shop, a shop you really must have seen, I bought vases for all the rooms where the guests come. Their bedrooms, and down here the dining room and living room. The garden here is big and, in consultation with Sjaak, you can always pick or cut flowers here. Yah, I'm looking forward to showing you around here!"

A happy smile appeared on Bianca's face, before she responded, "I think I'm up for it. Only I wonder how we'll cope with the babies, there will soon be three of them!"

"All together in the playpen!" laughed Simon.

Huib looked at Margreet and said to Bianca: "I haven't talked to Margreet about it yet, but I think the time has come for us to eat in our own house from now on. To kick off the habit, though, I'd like to stay here for coffee. Then we can also keep the little ones on our laps, which I find more difficult when eating. What do you think about that, Margreet?"

"I totally agree with you! Then we'll finally get to really dedicate our kitchen. And our dining area, not to forget. Really Bianca, we have a beautiful dining area, but we never eat there. When I was pregnant, I thought about it before. It's nice that there is a box here, but to keep dragging Gloria back and forth... It would be more relaxing for our little family if we stayed home for meals. Honestly, even if you wouldn't have been there. Gloria is an easy baby but I don't really like having to fish her out of her crib all the time. It's all double, somewhere I want to be here, with all of you, but..."

"Both you and Gloria need more rest too," Simon complemented. "You're all doing fine, but I also saw your doubt last night, just as Anton saw it. He was ahead of me, otherwise I would have gone to you. I am happy with you, Margreet, you know that, and I think it's great that you are choosing for yourself and your family. They come first, just as for Bianca caring about Julian and herself may come first and she is looking for other opportunities for that reason. It's good mothers!"

Margreet and Bianca smiled with relief at each other. They had both felt a little like they would get in each other's way. And Bianca had been struggling with the idea of Margreet withdrawing herself because of her, and because of Julian. But now it felt right, it seemed to be best for everyone.

"You see it's right, Bianca," Margreet said, "everything is negotiable here!"

"I see yes, I'm almost jealous of you for being part of this family. I feel so much love here, such a deep belonging. This is completely new to me!"

Joke, who had kept quiet until then, jumped on that, "Bianca, I hereby assure you that when you start living and working here, you will experience that you will become one with these people. They just take you in, you belong, it's that simple here!"

"Okay," said Bianca with a deep sigh, "I'll take the plunge, I'll come and work and live here if that's really not a problem for any of you."

"A problem?" asked Annerieke. "If it were a problem at all, it is a delightful challenge to start solving that problem. Shall I show you around the guesthouse?" She stood up and Bianca followed her example, but looked at Simon questioningly.

"Go on Bianca, I'll enjoy your little guy a little longer." He nodded at her kindly.

"He will be safe with Simon for sure," Annerieke promised, "you see, complete rest for both of them."

Bianca swallowed away her emotions, nodded to Annerieke and followed her into the corridor. Annerieke showed her the ground floor and then took her upstairs to the floor for guests. She opened the door of one of the bathrooms and said, "In this bathroom and the one next door there is a bath with shower, in the other one on the other side of the floor there is only a shower cabin in the bathrooms. So guests can choose. How are you used to showering or bathing Julian?"

"I live with my parents in the attic. They have a bathtub like the one here. Sometimes I bathe with him, but I always find it quite a hassle with drying off and getting dressed. I also have a baby bath on a stand, which I find easier."

Annerieke looked outside the door for a moment and pointed to an open space next to the work cupboard. "Now if you would put that bathtub there, no one will be bothered by it and you can just grab it when you want to bathe him. Take him here in the baby car seat or something, put him in the bath, wrap him in a towel, empty the bath and put it back in place, take the little guy upstairs, and then dress him quietly there. Or else, just as you like."

"I think I can do something with how you just described it." Bianca looked around, saw the open cupboard with towels. Annerieke saw her looking, "you can just use those towels and put the used ones there in the laundry basket. Every morning the used towels and kitchen towels go into the washing machine. You can add your own laundry there or wash your own laundry separately, just how you find it convenient. Margreet had bought a laundry basket at the thrift store, but you could also buy one at Action nearby. You know, these are really things that are easiest to discuss with Margreet or Lisa. They know their way around, having both lived up here. I'm sure they would love to go to the village with you, if you want. Let's have a look in the attic."

Bianca was surprised by the enormous space. "What an incredibly large room! I can easily live here with Julian for the time being, it's much more spacious than where I'm currently staying. Boy, overwhelming..."

"If you move here, please consult with Sjaak and Huib. I'm sure they will be happy to help you with lugging. We have a pick-up with an open cargo box, with a big tarpaulin to protect stuff from rain, and a big net for dry weather."

"I saw another sink on the landing, can I use that too?"

"Yes, of course. Look, Margreet had bought rods for towels. She no longer needed them, left them hanging for a possible next occupant. Just arrange things as you like, and if you want to know anything or need help, you can always ask us."

"OK... and when do you want me to start? I'm still officially on maternity leave, but I'm feeling pretty good. The work here doesn't seem as hard as delivering parcels, either."

"Margreet and Lisa are doing the work together now, if the three of you start, you'll get to know each other and the work and settle in peacefully. And the moment you want to continue doing it alone, you can just indicate it."

"You guys are really easygoing, so..."

"Just human," Annerieke complemented. "We like to live from our heart, our soul, and just do what is necessary, or what our soul tells us."

"Yes but, surely there are rules too, I mean, business-wise. So how do you deal with that?"

"We deal with those only when there is no other way. Other than that, we keep an eye on ourselves and each other, try to sense what we all need. For instance, you shouldn't work your ass off right now. As Margreet already told you, you do have fairly fixed working hours, but if that doesn't work out with Julian, we will find a solution together. You were right in what you told Anton, Julian should not suffer because of your work. You need the peace to live and work together. So just let us know what you need, or what you might be up against. Don't go fighting with yourself alone, Bianca, that's really not necessary! Deal?"

She looked at Bianca, saw that tears were running down her cheeks and that she was making a passionate effort to swallow them away. Annerieke spread her arms wide, asked "May I?" and embraced Bianca when she nodded.

"Let your tears go, I suspect you've had to keep them in for too long."

That was enough to get the flow going well...

To chapter 10. Bianca found her way around

Or to the Table of contents