A New Life Chapter 12

A new life
Chapter Twelve; The family history

It was the second week of the newest year and Anita was lying on the couch. Her father was packing his stuff in his study, so Anita figured that she shouldn't disturb him.

When she was trying to get some sleep, someone walked into the house. Anita looked up and Victor walked into the living room, carrying a big box. "How are you doing, Anita?" he asked as he looked around him. "Where should I leave my stuff for now?"

"I'm doing fine and I shouldn't bring something upstairs while my father is still packing. You can leave it in the dinner room. "Victor placed the box away and he walked back to Anita. "How many boxes do you have?"

"I believe I have eight boxes. One for my comics, two for games and movies and the others for the rest." Victor started to think. "Is your father ready?" he asked.

"I have no idea; he is still upstairs, so I think he's still busy."

Victor smiled. "I'll see you right soon, Anita." he said and he walked upstairs. Arthur's office was at the attic, because every room at the second floor was occupied. There was one extra spare room and Anita's training room.
Victor looked into the room. Arthur was still packing things. "Can I help?"

Arthur looked up. "Well there are some things I still need to pack. So I think I could use some help."

Victor walked into the room. It was a pretty big office. It had a desk, a luxurious chair with a coffee table and a large bookcase. At the moment, Arthur was busy emptying his desk, so Victor figured that he could clean the bookcase. He carefully grabbed a few book and placed them into the boxes. Suddenly, he stopped. He found an old photo album and he looked to Arthur. "Can I ask what this is?"

Arthur looked up and he gave Victor a little smile. It was the first time since months that he smiled to Victor. "It is an album with pictures before our wedding. It even has some pictures of your parents in it." Arthur saw the doubt in his eyes and he nodded. "You can open it, Victor."

So Victor opened the album. The first picture he saw was a picture which had his parents and Anita's parents in it. "I can't believe my parents were young once." said Victor when he saw the picture. He had never seen an old picture of his parents together. Well, he did see their wedding picture, once. He wasn't really that interested in his parents' history, but it was nice to see them like that together.

"Your parents were really good friends and they were really sweet together." Arthur laughed. "Your mother and I were good partners, but we weren't great lovers. We argued about every little thing."

Victor looked at him. "So you two got hooked up once?"

"We've gone on a date once or twice, but we weren't in love." A silence fell and Arthur looked to Victor. It looked like the young man had a question, but was afraid to ask. "What is it?"

"How did you propose to Mary Lynn?"

Arthur's smile grew. "We went on a date to a beach, somewhere deserted. I had brought a picnic basket with me and we had a wonderful picnic together. That's when I asked her."

A silence fell and Victor looked to Arthur. "What did she…"

"She said that she wanted to tell me something." Arthur continued. "She walked to the sea and before I knew it, a Mary Lynn with a fishtail got out of the water. She told me that she was a mermaid, but had come ashore when she was sixteen. U.Z.Z. didn't know about it, nor anyone else. I told her that I didn't care if she was a mermaid or not, I still loved her. She said yes eventually."

"But you have been married for six years or so before Anita was born."

"Let me tell you something Mary told me when she was pregnant. There was a night that she couldn't sleep at all. It was a week or two before Anita was born and she was just standing at the window. When I asked her if there was something wrong, she told me that she was afraid that she would go back to the sea again. Because that is what mermaids do. They go ashore to mate. Once they had delivered their baby, they took the girl with them or they left the boy at an orphanage and went back to the sea. She was afraid that she would do such a thing."

"But she didn't, right?" said Victor. Anita told him that her mother was still with her when she was one years old, so she didn't go back to the sea.

Arthur nodded. "The few mermaids who got married, they stayed ashore and never went back to the sea. And Mary Lynn was one of them. If I only knew what had happened to her."
Victor thought of something. If Mary Lynn was a mermaid, she could easily be somewhere in one of the many oceans or seas on earth. When Arthur heard the plan, he disagreed. "Trust me, my boy. I have searched every ocean and every sea for her when I got the time to do so. U.Z.Z. was happy to help me, but nobody has ever found her. So I don't know where she is today and if she will ever come back."

Victor decided to rest the subject and he placed the book into the box. "I know she will come back, just like my father." Victor looked to Arthur. "Do you need some more help or…?"

Arthur smiled. "I'm almost done. Only those books are left and then it's time to move out." Arthur shook his head. He had always figured that he would stay in his own house together with Mary Lynn, but this was better for everyone. His daughter would be staying at their house where she had lived alone for some time now. And that was the way Arthur liked to see it.

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While Victor and Arthur placed the last things into the boxes, Anita finally managed to get some sleep. Even though she was pregnant, she still didn't like it to sleep during the day.
And now, when she finally got some sleep, someone disturbed her. Anita sat up and she saw Mildred walking into the room. "What are you doing here, Mildred?"

Mildred chuckled. "It is moving day, so I figured you should have something for teatime."

"Did you make something, then?" asked Anita and she looked to Mildred. If Mildred did make something, she really wasn't in the mood to eat it. She was still recovering from her mustard-cake.

Mildred showed Anita the bag. "Don't worry, I didn't make it. I just got something from the bakery. I have been with Victor this morning to make sure that he wouldn't forget something and he dropped me off at the bakery. I walked the last part to your place." Mildred walked towards the kitchen and Anita heard her sigh. "Was there really no other place to place the boxes?"

Anita chuckled. "Apparently not, Mildred." she said and she stood up. There was no way that she would get some sleep now. "I'll help you." Anita walked to the kitchen where Mildred was standing and she grabbed some plates from the cupboard, while Mildred placed the box onto the ground.

"I guess you still need to get used to the fact that Victor is going to move in with you, don't you?"
Mildred looked to Anita. She remembered how wonderful it was to start to live together with the person you love the most.

Anita nodded. It was strange, but it felt comfortable too. "It will be wonderful." she whispered.

Mildred smiled and she took the box with treats with her while she and Anita walked back to the living room. They placed everything onto the coffee table and Mildred walked towards the stairs. "Gentlemen, there is tea down here! Are you coming?"

There wasn't an immediate response, but she heard some noise coming from the upper floors. Mildred figured that they would be alright and she went back to her chair. Anita was back on the couch again. It was her favourite seat. "Are they coming?" she asked when Mildred sat down.

"I hope so for them, otherwise they won't have any tea or any treat." Mildred opened the box and she got all the treats out. There were of course scones, lemon bars, almond bites and Anita's favourite treat.

"Mildred! You shouldn't have…" Anita looked to the table as the men walked into the room.

"You didn't make it, did you Mildred?" asked Arthur as he walked passed Mildred.

"You better watch it, Arthur; I can make the rest of your Granddaddy live miserable." said Mildred and she looked to her old friend.

Arthur laughed and both Anita and Mildred looked to each other. They hadn't heard Arthur laughing for a while. "You know I didn't mean it like that, Granny." he said and he gave Mildred a kiss on her cheek. He had never felt so marvellous before.

Victor sat down next to Anita. "What did you do with him?" whispered Anita to him and Victor just smiled.

"Don't you worry." Victor looked to all the treats and smiled when Anita grabbed her favourite. "You can have mine Viennese whirl too, Anita." he said to her. "You need to eat for two now."

"Very funny, Victor." said Anita as she took a bite.

Victor pulled her closer to him. "I love you, Anita." he whispered and he looked at her. There was no reason why he should say that, but, did love need a reason for anything?

Anita gave him a little smile back. "I love you too." A kiss followed. It was the first kiss they shared in front of anybody. And it felt wonderful. From that day on, they would be sharing their lives together. And they loved it already.