Where the love light gleams (completed 19/12/07)
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The CBB -> Ste Therese's House
#1: Where the love light gleams (completed 19/12/07) Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:20 am
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This is pure pre-Christmas soppiness - don't read it if you're looking for something with a proper storyline Embarassed Wink .

It wasn’t actually snowing outside the little church in Briesau as the last notes of the carol service died away and the congregation rose to applaud the singers and then began to head towards the door; but the snow that had fallen that morning and on the previous day was a good couple of inches deep on the ground, whilst a few yards away the Tiernsee lay covered by a thick layer of ice, shimmering under the starlit sky. It was still early, barely into the evening, but the days were short in late December and on this dry but bitterly cold Christmas Eve the sun had long set and thoughts were turning towards the holy night festivities to come.

“I take it you enjoyed that?” David Russell put his arm round his wife and smiled at her lovingly as they made their way out of the church into the winter wonderland that lay beyond. He was fond of music himself and had enjoyed every moment of the service, on this his first Christmas Eve in the Tyrol for over twenty years; but, above all, he’d enjoyed seeing the rapturous expression on Gretchen’s face as, sitting beside him with her hand in his, she’d listened to the carols both traditional and modern which the choir had sung so beautifully. Although he knew that she’d never admit it, he’d even seen her wiping a tear from her eye as they’d concluded the proceedings with Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, the carol which here in Austria was only ever sung on this one very special night of the year.

Gretchen Russell, until just after Easter of that year Gretchen Monier, gazed up at him and nodded, her eyes shining. “There’s something about Christmas carols … I’ve never been able to put a name to it but it’s a feeling that you just don’t get from any other music at any other time of year, not even if you’re listening to a world famous choir or orchestra in the grandest seats in the Wien State Opera House. There just seems to be a sort of magic in the air, a special Christmas magic. And maybe this year I feel it even more than I’ve done before, because, well …because.” She smiled, and squeezed his hand tightly. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that Baby Russell enjoyed it as well, you know. He or she was dancing away towards the end! Oh: here we go again! Quick, put your hand there. Can you feel that?”

David’s face lit up and he nodded slowly. “He or she definitely knows that it’s a special night,” he said softly. He grinned. “Well, either that or it’s football or rugby practice!” He kissed her cheek and put his arm protectively round her waist again, and they stood just there by the door for a few minutes, hardly noticing the many other people leaving the church, several of them related to Gretchen and almost all of them acquainted with her and her husband, smiling indulgently at them as they thought back over all that had happened over the past year and all their hopes for the year to come.

“Well, I suppose we’d better make a move,” David said eventually. “Lovely though everything looks from here!” For a moment he gazed out over the picture postcard scene which was Briesau village, then up at the stars shining brightly in the sky; and then he turned back to Gretchen and took her hands in his. “Oh my love, I’m so glad that we decided to spend this evening at home, just the two of us. It just feels so right. Although you will tell me if you feel tired and you just want to take things easy, won’t you? Because it’ll still be Christmas Eve, whatever we do – whether we have a big dinner and spend ages decorating the tree or whether I just knock us together a few sandwiches and then we curl up in front of the fire. What matters is that we’ll be together.” He smiled. “Our first Christmas as a married couple. In our own home.”

They’d been inundated with invitations from relatives and friends who lived nearby to join them for the festive meal and accompanying celebrations; but, warmed though they’d been by the kindness that they’d been shown, they’d decided that they wanted to spend the evening quietly at their own home and people had understood that. And they’d see plenty of them all tomorrow, when Gretchen’s grandmother and Aunt Luise would be preparing a meal at Wald Villa, Gretchen’s maternal grandparents’ home, for the many members of the large extended family in and around Briesau, followed by games and singing for all concerned and for the various friends who were expected to pop in during the course of the afternoon.

“Just you and me.” Gretchen looked up at him. “And I’m absolutely fine, really I am. Honestly, David. I don’t feel tired or anything at all, truly. I feel … wonderful, really. So much has happened this year … and it’s been a lot to take in, sometimes, but now, this evening … well, now I just feel calm, and peaceful, and so very grateful for everything. And I really do feel that everything’s going to work out, one way or another.” She smiled ruefully. “Am I making any sense at all?”

Last edited by Alison H on Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:04 am; edited 17 times in total
#2:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:22 am
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You must have been waiting for the board to get back up!

I was just wondering whether you would write another story soon
#3:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:29 am
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Thanks for the follow up. Glad the marriage is going well.
#4:  Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:01 pm
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Ahhh, lovely. Thanks Alison.
#5:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:11 pm
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That's lovely! Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#6:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:21 pm
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Ohh - that was lovely Alison - it made me all goosepimply
#7:  Author: bethany, Location: Liverpool (mostly) PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:24 pm
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It is nice to see them happily married. Thanks Alison!
#8:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:39 pm
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That was lovely. Thanks, Alison.
#9:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:10 pm
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I'm glad they're so happy!

Thanks Alison.
#10:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 5:29 pm
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Just what we need in the run up to Christmas! Thanks, Alison Laughing
#11:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:11 pm
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Awwww, that's lovely - and they didn;'t waste much time. did they? Wink


Thanks Alison.
#12:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:30 pm
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That's lovely, thanks Alison Very Happy
#13:  Author: Sal, Location: Walsall / Aberystwyth PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:35 am
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Awwwwww Smile
Thanks Alison
#14:  Author: Frogize, Location: Perth, Western Australia PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:56 am
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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

and this really is setting the mood! Thanks Alison!
#15:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:44 am
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“You’re making perfect sense; and I understand, really I do. It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? When I look back to last Christmas and think how much everything’s changed since then I sometimes wonder how we’ve coped with it all without exhausting ourselves! But we have done; and it’s been the best year of my life. And next year’s going to be even better. I know it will.”

This time last year, he’d still been living and working in Armishire, with Gretchen sending him long letters from Briesau about the wedding arrangements and her search for a home for them. They’d been married just after Easter on a joyful day that no-one who’d been present would ever forget, but then there’d been so much to get used to all at once. Living together. Their new house. His living in Austria for the first time since he’d been a young child, and meeting new people. His job in Spartz and the differences between being a doctor in Britain and being a doctor in Austria. And so many other things, some big and small, which their marriage had changed in their lives.

And it had still been very early in their married life when they’d realised that their first baby, expected in about twelve weeks’ time from now, was on the way. Much as it had been what they’d both wanted, they’d told each other so often that these things took time and that they mustn’t start worrying if it didn’t happen straight away that they’d both been rather stunned that it had happened so soon. It had been a lot to take in that there would shortly be so many more changes in their lives, however welcome. And he knew that Gretchen, happy and excited though she was about the baby, was anxious about what the future might hold for her in other ways.

When they’d married, she’d been determined that she wasn’t going to give up her job and be a full time housewife. Although she never said so, he knew that a small part of her still worried that there were people who thought that she’d married him, the son of the people in whose home she’d grown up as the daughter of the servants, so that he could support her in comfort. More importantly, she’d worked so very hard to get where she was - without any of the advantages that he’d been lucky enough to have had – and she didn’t want to give that up: she enjoyed her work and it was very important to her. But she could hardly take a baby to work with her – especially at a Sanatorium, of all places - every day: she wouldn’t dream of suggesting it any more than her employers would dream of agreeing to it if she did so. And she didn’t want to leave the baby every day either, certainly not whilst he or she was tiny.

What she was hoping instead was that they’d agree to her doing her bookkeeping and paperwork, or at least as much of it as she was able to, at home where she could care for the baby at the same time. They’d said that they saw no reason why the plan couldn’t be given a try, but she was worrying that they were just pretending to go along with the idea rather than upset an expectant mother and that soon enough they’d appoint someone to take her place and tell her that she wasn’t needed any more. They had to do what was most convenient for them, after all - she fully accepted that – and that would mean having someone on site. And he knew that she was fretting about it.

If he was right, her worries might be about to be at an end … but he didn’t know that for sure, and he certainly wasn’t going to say anything about just now, whilst she didn’t seem to be worrying unduly about anything and instead was smiling up at him and laughing at one of his suggestions. “And there is no way that we’re having sandwiches for our Christmas Eve dinner!” she informed him. “We’re doing things properly! I just hope it all turns out all right – I’ve never made Christmas Eve dinner before.”

“Judging from the wonderful smells that’ve been coming out of the kitchen all day it’ll be absolutely perfect,” he assured her. “And now I think we’d better start heading for home, before your grandparents and the rest of the family tell me off for letting you stand about in the cold! In fact,” – he glanced up at the sky again – “ I don’t pretend to be any sort of expert on the weather, but although it looks clear now I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it didn’t start snowing again before long. So will you take my arm, Mrs Russell, and allow me to escort you home? We’ve got a meal to eat, a tree to decorate, and presents to open!”
#16:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:21 am
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David's so caring and considerate.

Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#17:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:23 am
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Thanks Alison. It was very pleasant surprise to find a new drabble from this Universe!
#18:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:20 pm
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I'm loving this, thanks, Alison.
#19:  Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:05 pm
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Hurrah for pre-christmas soppiness!

Thanks Alison.
#20:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:35 pm
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Lovely, thanks Alison
#21:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:38 pm
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They make such a good couple. Can understand Gretchen being worried about work.


Thanks Alison.
#22:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:46 am
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“David, you look like a kid who’s walked through a magic door into some sort of enchanted fairy world.” Gretchen burst out laughing as the two of them made their way away from the church towards their house on Briesau’s outskirts. “The look on your face – anyone’d think you’d never seen a frozen lake or trees covered in snow before! You look like you’re expecting to see little elves start riding past on sleighs or something!”

“Well, it all just looks so pretty in the moonlight,” he insisted, starting to laugh as well. “And you can’t talk. You ran outside in your slippers when it started snowing this morning, you were so excited – and you’re used to white Christmastides. I’m not! We didn’t get any snow to speak of in Armiford at Christmas last year or the year before, and the year before that I was working in London all over the holidays and it definitely didn’t look anything like this there.” He leaned over and kissed her. “And even if it had done, it wouldn’t have been anything like as special because I wouldn’t have been with you.”

“You big soppy thing!” She kissed his cheek and snuggled closer to him as they continued their slow progress homewards, both calling out Christmas greetings to various neighbours who were also making their way back from the carol service. Then her expression changed for a moment and she looked at him earnestly. “David … you were just talking about Armiford and I’ve been meaning to ask you all evening - do you mind a lot about not going to Llan-y-Penllan for Christmas?

“Tell me if you do: don’t feel that you have to say no. I’ll understand. I know that you’ll be feeling sad about not seeing everyone there, and I am too; but … are you feeling homesick for Christmas in Britain as well? This must all seem so strange to you, having a special meal on Christmas Eve and everything else that we do differently here; and there isn’t even an Anglican service for you to go to. I know you’ve kept saying that you were really looking forward to spending Christmas in Briesau, but now that it’s here … David, do you mind terribly?”

She gazed at him anxiously. Their original plan, made this time last year before they’d been married, had been to travel to his parents’ home – her parents’ home too – in the Welsh mountains to spend the festive season there, but they’d decided some weeks ago that it really wouldn’t be advisable to make the long journey there and back with the baby due in less than three months’ time. Although David had been the one who’d first said that it would be silly to risk all that travelling, and although he’d kept saying how much he was looking forward to their first Christmas together as husband and wife, here at the Tiernsee where they were so happily settled, she couldn’t help worrying that he might be secretly wishing that he wasn’t spending this most special time of year in a foreign country and so far from the rest of his family.

“Is that what you’ve been thinking?” David shook his head. “You idiot!” he said gently. “How could I possibly wish that things were any way other than how they are?” He stroked her hair. “Really! Oh, I don’t say that I wouldn’t like to see Mum and Dad and Ailie and the boys on Christmas Day, and your mum and dad and brothers and sister as well; but we’ll still be thinking of them and we know that they’ll be thinking of us too. And we’ll be able to speak to them on the phone, remember. And as for anything seeming strange: Gretchen, come on, we both know that it isn’t when you have your dinner or open your presents – not that I’m not looking forward to both those things, I hasten to add! – that matters. It’s not even which service you go to. Mum and Auntie Joey told me often enough whilst I was growing up that different ways of worship were just different paths to God, and I believe that as much as they do.

“And it’s not where you are either. People end up all over the place. Think of Sybil and Josette and co, having Christmas in the sunshine with not a snowflake in sight – even if they do eat turkey and roast potatoes round the table at home rather than having a barbecue on the beach like I always used to imagine everyone in Australia did on Christmas Day!” He laughed at that, and was relieved to see her smiling as well. “Gretchen, seriously, though … all that matters to me is that I’m spending Christmas with you. And, do you know what? I really rather like the idea of it being just you and me on Christmas Eve.”

“Do you know what, Dr Russell?” She squeezed his hand. “Much as I’m looking forward to spending Christmas Day with the family, and anyone else who calls round, I really rather like the idea of it being just you and me on Christmas Eve too.”
#23:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:40 am
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Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!. This is wondrously beautiful, Alison.
#24:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:40 pm
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Aaawww!! That's lovely!

Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#25:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:32 pm
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So cute - thanks Alison.
#26:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:14 pm
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That's lovely, thanks Alison
#27:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:54 pm
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awwwww
#28:  Author: Sal, Location: Walsall / Aberystwyth PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:58 pm
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Awwwww David was perfect in that bit.
Thanks Alison
#29:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:38 am
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That is so sweet
#30:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:52 am
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Thanks for the comments Very Happy .

When they were back home and had, once out of the cold and inside the warmth of their cosy house, divested themselves of their coats, scarves, gloves and boots, Gretchen made straight for the kitchen. David followed her, sniffing appreciatively at the delicious aroma of the morning’s cooking and baking still pervading the air; and made a grab for one of the Christmas biscuits when he thought she wasn’t looking.

He didn’t succeed. She’d been looking the other way but she turned round just at the crucial moment. “David Russell, get your mitts off my Weihnachtsbaeckerei now this instant!” she squealed. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t catch you? Put it back! No cakes or biscuits until we’ve had our main course!”

David burst out laughing. “Are you quite sure I can’t get you to change your mind about that?” He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. “Are you absolutely certain?” he murmured. “There must be something I can do to persuade you. Now; let me see …”

“Stop it!” she giggled. “You’re distracting me. We won’t get any Christmas dinner at all at this rate: shoo! Out of the kitchen! I’ll get things done much quicker if you’re not here. Go and make yourself useful somewhere: there must be plenty of things that need doing.”

“All right, all right.” He headed for the kitchen door (minus the biscuit). “Tell you what, I’ll go and put the tree up, and I’ll get all everything that’s to go on it out ready. I promise faithfully that I won’t start actually decorating it without you, though! And I’ll even promise not to eat any of the edible decorations … well, not until later anyway! And I’ll get the little tables out ready to put the presents on as well … although a little table might not be big enough, now that I come to think of it.”

“What for?” She turned round and looked at him eagerly, and he laughed. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” he teased.

“David! Tell me!”

“Can’t do that, I’m afraid,” he said solemnly. “It’d spoil the surprise. In fact, I’ve got three surprises for you for later on … but you’re going to have to wait until it’s present-opening time, my love! Oh, and now that I come to think about it there’s something else I can be doing as well, which I need to be in the Saal for – but you’ll have to wait and see about that as well. All right, I am now officially leaving the kitchen!” He blew her a kiss, and grinned widely as he departed. “See you in a bit! Frohliche Weinachten!”

“Ooh!” Gretchen looked at the door in annoyance as he disappeared through it; but then she started to giggle. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that she had a husband, a baby on the way, a home to look after and – at least for the time being - a responsible job. At times like this, wondering what these mysterious Christmas presents were going to be, she still felt like a little girl. And, standing there in the kitchen of her own home, as she’d so often stood with her mother in the kitchens of David’s parents’ homes, she felt her mind drifting backwards to her earliest memories of Christmas Eve.
#31:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:22 am
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Ooohh!!! Surprises!!

*Tries to wait patiently to see what the surprises are!*

Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#32:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:11 pm
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I hope they have the most magical Christmas possible; thanks Alison, this is lovely. Very Happy
#33:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:19 pm
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Alison that was absolutely lovely!
#34:  Author: MaryR, Location: Cheshire PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:51 pm
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Am enjoying this, Alison. Thank you.
#35:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:16 pm
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Wonder what her earliest memories are then?


Thanks Alison
#36:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:24 pm
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Just come along after a busy (not like that Wink ) few days and found a whole new lot of David and Gretchen. I've been going awww all the way through.

Thanks Alison.
#37:  Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:43 pm
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This is lovely - and so right for the season! At this minute I'm looking out on snow which could be worthy of Tyrol at its best, but knowing this corner of Ontario, we could be looking at green grass again at Christmas itself!!

Love the exchanges between David and Gretchen.

Thanks, Alison
#38:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:30 am
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Hope they're good surprises Very Happy

Thanks Alison
#39:  Author: linda, Location: Leeds PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:44 am
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Alison, this is lovely.

I wonder what the surprises are?
#40:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:47 am
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And the soppiness continues ... Laughing

It had been just before her fourth birthday. She’d been allowed to stay up for Midnight Mass for the first time; and there she’d sat in the little church in Briesau, wrapped up warmly against the cold and surrounded by her dear parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, too overcome with the wonder of it all to fidget even for a second. She’d never forgotten a single moment of it - that last joyous Christmas with all the family, everybody so full of happiness and Christmas cheer, before the Nazis had marched into Austria and changed their lives for ever.

She sighed deeply. Those happy childhood days would never come again, but every Christmas was special and now she and David were going to make new Christmas memories together. Impulsively, she put down the dish that she’d just picked up and went into the Saal to her husband. When she got there, instead of going straight over to him and throwing her arms round him as she’d intended, she stopped short and gave a little cry of delight. He’d got a roaring fire blazing in the hearth, and he was roasting chestnuts over it.

“Oh David – is this what you meant when you said that you’d got something you needed to be in the Saal for? What a lovely idea! Where did you get the chestnuts from?”

“Got ‘em in Spartz the other day: someone was selling them and … well, I haven’t roasted chestnuts over a fire for years – I didn’t even have an open fire in Armiford – and I knew you’d like them. It’s all right: there aren’t that many, so they won’t spoil our appetites before dinner!”

He smiled a little bashfully. “I don’t know … we used to roast chestnuts over the fire at Christmas when I was a kid, and when I saw these for sale it just got me thinking. Christmas at the Sonnalpe; that second Christmas in Guernsey when our parents tried so hard to make it a happy time for us despite everything; that year at the Round House when we’d just found out that Uncle Jack was after all; the first few Christmases after the War when we were still short of things but we were just so grateful that it was all over; Christmas with the Maynards when Mum and Dad were in Canada; Christmas working in London; Christmas with the family at Llan-y-Penllan … all of it. But this year’s extra special. Some people say that Christmas loses its magic once you’re grown up, but they’re wrong. This is the happiest Christmas of my life. And it’s all because of you.” He paused. “Darling – I thought you wanted me to leave you in peace in the kitchen? Do you need something?”

“Only to see you,” she whispered. “That’s why I came in: to tell you how very, very happy I am that we’re together. It’s the happiest Christmas of my life as well, David. Frohliche Weinachten, liebchen. Merry Christmas.”
#41:  Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:49 am
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The more soppiness the better Laughing !

Thanks, Alison.
#42:  Author: Frogize, Location: Perth, Western Australia PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:26 am
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Elbee wrote:
The more soppiness the better Laughing !

Thanks, Alison.


And so say all of us!!!

This is just what we need to get us through the pre-Christmas hassles, Alison! It's perfect!
#43:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:23 am
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Yes Alison this is lovely, and the soppier the better!
#44:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:29 pm
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Awwww, that's so lovely.


Thanks Alison.
#45:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:42 pm
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Christmas is really coming on the Board and this is a lovely example of it.
#46:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:23 pm
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All David and Gretchen soppiness much appreciated.

Lovely snapshot of Gretchen's pre-exile life.

Thanks Alison.
#47:  Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:50 pm
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Wonderful memories of Christmases past from David, as well as Gretchen's memories of that last pre-Anschluss Christmas in Tyrol for her. And the present is a lovely portrait of two young people who have already overcome a number of social obstacles to get to this point, but are now happily married and so very much in love - that's not soppiness, that's romance!!! Very Happy Very Happy

Thanks, Alison
#48:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:09 am
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This is so lovely Alison

PS As Gretchen is "busy" can she please outdo Joey and have quads? Laughing
#49:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:54 am
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“See: I told you that it’d be perfect!” David sat back in his chair and let out a contented sigh as he finished his last mouthful of fried carp, the traditional Christmas Eve fare in Austria and many other parts of Central Europe. “That was absolutely delicious: it really was! Er - have we scoffed all the potatoes or are there any left?”

“There’s one more – go on, you have it,” Gretchen laughed. “And I hope you’ve still got room for the sweet stuff after all that. I know that I seem to’ve made rather a lot of fish but you didn’t have to have three helpings of it!”

“Oh, but I did!” David said with a grin. “I’ve definitely still got room for the sweet stuff, though! Here, I’ll bring the dishes through to the kitchen. How about we get all this lot cleared up now, then it’s done? I’ll wash and you dry – or I’ll do both if you’d prefer? A few minutes’ break before we start on the next course won’t do us any harm – although I really am looking forward to getting to taste the … what did you call those scrumptious-looking biscuits again?”

“Weihnachtsbaeckerei! Christmas Eve biscuits, if you prefer it in English. And we’ve got Sachertorte as well: neither of us ever says no to chocolate cake, and Grandma always makes it on Christmas Eve so I thought I would as well. Technically I’m not sure that we should be eating sweet things before Midnight Mass at all, seeing as this is supposed to be a fast day, but everyone does! There’s loads – I think I got a bit carried away – but we’ll take some of it round to Grandma’s tomorrow: I promised I’d bring something for later on. People always swear blind that they won’t be able to manage to eat a thing for Kaffee und Kuchen after one of Grandma’s Christmas lunches, but somehow they never have the slightest trouble getting through the cakes and biscuits when they’re actually put in front of them!

“And – David,” - she smiled up at him a little shyly as they both walked into the kitchen, David carefully carrying the serving dishes and she the empty plates - “I made mince pies as well. I thought you might be feeling a bit homesick and I know how much you like them, so I had a go. They’re here. Do you want to try one and let me know what you think?”

David took one from the plate she’d indicated and took a large bite out of it, then ate the rest of it at breakneck speed and helped himself to a second. “Mmm! Even better than your mum’s … don’t tell her I said that, though! And as for feeling homesick – how could I, when I am home? With you. And thank you: thank you for everything. I don’t just mean for dinner, lovely though it’s been: I mean for everything. If it weren’t for you I’d still be stuck in a flat on my own in London, or running the San in Wales and wishing all the time that I wasn’t … and instead here I am, with you, in our home, with Baby Russell due in the spring, and doing the job I want … thank you, my love: thank you, thank you.”

“You’d’ve found a way to tell your dad that you didn’t want to run the San,” she murmured, leaning against him and resting her head on his chest. “And I’m the one who should be saying thank you: I tried to tell myself that I didn’t want all this, that I was going to prove myself at work and that that’d be enough for me, but it wasn’t – and it took you coming back into my life to make me realise that. So thank you, David Russell. I love you very much and don’t you ever forget it.”

She snuggled into his arms. They stood like that for a long time, before reluctantly drawing apart on the grounds that the washing up wasn’t going to do itself. But it didn’t take long before all the dishes and cutlery from the main course were clean and back in their respective cupboards and drawers, and then David surveyed the cakes and biscuits and grinned. “Come on, then! Back to the Saal! We’ve got important business to see to. First as much of all this as we can eat, and then we’ve got to dress the tree!”
#50:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:00 am
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Awwww
#51:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:51 am
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Lovely! Very Happy
#52:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:15 am
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Alison H wrote:
They stood like that for a long time, before reluctantly drawing apart on the grounds that the washing up wasn’t going to do itself.



It never does, does it? I think we should put in a complaint about that! Laughing

Another lovely episode, Alison - so pleased that they are so happy - and that Gretchen is such a good cook!
#53:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:12 am
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If there's any food left over I think they should share it with us. I'm feeling really hungry now and all I'm going to have is Sugar Puffs.

Thanks Alison.
#54:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:13 pm
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Alison H wrote:
“David Russell, get your mitts off my Weihnachtsbaeckerei now this instant!”


Best line ever.

Thanks Alison, this is lovely!
#55:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 11:30 pm
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Just read this through and it's lovely. Joining in the 'awwwww's.

Thank you, Alison, it's made me feel all Christmassy!
#56:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:30 am
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Thanks Alison
#57:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:59 am
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Thanks for the comments Very Happy .

“Let’s hang this here, and that there, and … right, I think that’s it! Does it look all right?” David took a few steps backwards; and Gretchen stepped back with him and took his hand as they surveyed their Christmas tree. “It looks lovely!” she pronounced. They’d spent much longer than they’d expected positioning all the little ornaments, the garlands, the sweets, the chocolates and the biscuits – including some of the traditional Austrian Weihnachtsbaeckerei which David had declared to be every bit as nice as the mince pies – on the big fir tree standing in pride of place in their Saal; but they’d enjoyed every moment of it, and the finished article was well worth looking at even if she did say so herself! A big gold star shone brightly from its topmost point, and now all that remained was to light the candles carefully arranged around it in three brightly-coloured tiers.

She squeezed his hand happily. “Our first Christmas tree in our first home! Now we’ve just got to do the candles and see how it looks all lit up!”

“That’s next on the list! Now - will you go and wait in the kitchen for a few minutes, and not come back in here until I tell you to?”

“David!” she giggled. “It’s only children who’re supposed to go out of the room until the Christmas tree’s lit up. Next thing you’ll be telling me that the Christ Child’s going to bring my presents in!”

“Well, you did leave your list on the window sill for him to collect,” David pointed out. “Of course, he’ll only have brought your presents if he thinks you’ve been a good girl – ouch, don’t stand on my foot like that: it hurts! Seriously, though, I said I’d got three surprises for you and I have; and it’s time for me to bring the first one in. It’s not actually from me: it’s a present from your Uncle Hansi, for both of us really, but I thought I’d surprise you with it, and … well, let’s say that now’s the appropriate part of the evening for you to see it.”

Gretchen was intrigued; but David could be stubborn when he wanted to and she could see that he had absolutely no intention of telling her what the mysterious present was in advance. Anyway, as he often pointed out, she liked surprises – so long as they were nice ones! And so, giggling like a schoolgirl, she retreated to the kitchen and waited impatiently to be summoned back into the Saal by her husband - who, by the sounds of it, was bringing something in from the garden shed. She peeked out of the kitchen window eagerly, but it was too dark for her to be able to make out anything other than the shape of David carrying a large object which was completely hidden underneath a dark cloth. Now she was even more intrigued.

She heard him coming back into the house, pausing by the door to remove his boots and then heading back towards the Saal. And then she heard him shout, “All right - you can come back in now!” and in her eagerness to find out what the mysterious present was she went rushing out of the kitchen as fast as her present condition allowed her to. But, as she approached the doorway, David called out to her to stop. “Wait there a moment! No – don’t come in. Wait just there.”

“David! Now what …oh!” She looked up and saw the sprig of mistletoe that he’d affixed to the top of the doorway in her absence, blushed, giggled, and then gazed quietly up at him as he took her in his arms and kissed her. “Merry Christmas, darling,” he murmured. “I love you very much.” He patted her middle. “I love both of you very much!”
#58:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:12 am
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Have a feeling I know what the present is - and David is right - it is a very appropriate night for it.


Thanks Alison.
#59:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:30 am
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I have no idea what the present is (am I being dense??) but that was really nice, thanks Alison.
#60:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:24 pm
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Thanks, Alison.
#61:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:56 pm
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This is an absolutely beautiful Christmas. Thanks Alison.
#62:  Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 3:00 pm
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Just found this Alison and it's really lovely, thank you. I'm finally getting into the Christmas spirit now!
#63:  Author: linda, Location: Leeds PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:49 pm
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This is lovely Alison. I am really enjoying David and Gretchen's first Christmas together.
#64:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:52 pm
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I also have a guess as to what the present is, I'm waiting kind of patiently to find out.

Thanks Alison.
#65:  Author: Soph, Location: Peterborough PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:19 pm
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Fantastic story Alison.

Thank you
#66:  Author: Karry, Location: Stoke on Trent PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:33 pm
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I am guessing a cradle for the baby? this is lovely Alison!
#67:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:49 pm
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Karry wrote:
I am guessing a cradle for the baby? this is lovely Alison!


I was thinking the same!

It is the land of wooden cradles, either family or newly made. I wonder which.
#68:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:14 am
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Awwww.
Thank you, Alison.
#69:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:49 am
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The guesses were along the right lines but I'm trying to be Christmassy Laughing ! Hansi must have been an expert in woodwork seeing as he managed to mend chairs that'd had pieces sawn out of them after Maria Marani and whoever else it was (Ilonka Barkocz?) got stuck in them ... Rolling Eyes .

“I love you too. We love you too.” Gretchen looked at him intensely, marvelling for a moment that the little boy and girl they’d once been, playing and scrapping together in the nursery at Die Rosen all those years ago, had grown up into the people they were now, with a life and a home together and a child of their own to be born in the coming year. And then she took his hand and let him lead her further into the room, where she gasped as she saw, mounted on a table by the side of the Christmas tree which was now lit by a myriad of tiny sparkling bulbs, her uncle’s gift.

“Oh David!” She turned to him, her face lit up with joy. “A Christmas crib! It’s … it’s beautiful. It’s like a smaller version of the one we saw at the Innsbruck Christmas market, that everyone was crowding round. No it’s not: it’s better. Oh it must have taken Uncle Hansi ages: everyone’s so wonderful to us, David – we’re so lucky and we must never, ever forget it nor take any of it for granted. Oh, just look at it! It’s absolutely perfect.”

She leant down to inspect it more closely, marvelling at the intricacy of the carvings. Her second-eldest uncle, once the general handyman at the Chalet School in its earlier days, had always been gifted when it came to woodwork; but he’d outdone himself this time. When she’d been a young child living at the Sonnalpe he’d carved little toys for her sometimes, but this was something extra special: she could only imagine how much hard work he must have put into it, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Oh, David, I’ve never seen anything so lovely. Just look at the Holy Family, and the Three Wise Men, and the animals! It’s wonderful – and he did all this just for us?”

“I wish I was even a fraction as good as woodwork as he is!” David admitted. “It really is superb, isn’t it? And, yes, he did all this for us. He said that he wanted to give us something special for our first Christmas together, and when I asked if he’d mind me surprising you with it on Christmas Eve because I knew you’d love it so much he got quite emotional. And, what’s more, he’s offered to make a cradle, ready for when the time comes. To welcome Baby Russell into the family. Our baby’s going to have a lot of people to love him or her, Gretchen … hey, don’t cry!” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her, putting his other arm round her shoulders. “No tears on Christmas Eve, my love.”

“I can’t help it,” she sniffled. She dried her eyes and smiled ruefully. “I don’t half seem to be soppy these days: it must be the baby. But it really is exquisite: I must thank Uncle Hansi at Midnight Mass, and tell him that of course we’d love him to make our baby’s cradle for us and how lovely it is of him to offer.” She glanced at her watch. “Actually, speaking of Midnight Mass, we spent ages doing the tree and time’s getting on …”

“It is a bit,” David agreed. “Well, come on, then – let’s open the rest of the presents! That’s what comes next, isn’t it?”

He was thoroughly enjoying his Austrian Christmas Eve. Much as he was sorry not to be seeing his parents and siblings over the festive season, he’d see his mother and father and brothers, and hopefully Ailie too, when they came out to stay at Die Blumen at Easter. Andreas would be coming over to the Tiernsee with them: Marie would be arriving sooner, to be with Gretchen when the baby was born.

“Actually,” his wife said solemnly, “it’s not opening the presents that comes after the crib. You’ve missed something.”
#70:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:50 am
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Yeaaahh I was right! Lovely - though I'd totally forgotten that Hansi was related - makes perfect sense that he would do it.


Thanks Alison
#71:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:36 am
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What a lovely gift! Very Happy

Thanks, Alison!
#72:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:35 pm
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How lovely! Very Happy
#73:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:36 pm
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Lovely. Thanks, Alison.
#74:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:15 pm
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Thanks, Alison. This really is lovely!
#75:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:28 pm
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Lovely Very Happy Thanks Alison
#76:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:37 pm
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Lovely gift. Not surprised Gretchen is tearful - it's all so lovely.

Thanks Alison.
#77:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:48 pm
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Adds to all the 'lovely'-s - because it really is.
#78:  Author: Sal, Location: Walsall / Aberystwyth PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:47 am
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Tara wrote:
Adds to all the 'lovely'-s - because it really is.

Says it all really. Thanks Alison
#79:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:52 am
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And the soppiness continues ...

“Have I?” David asked. “Sorry! I have to say that it really is a very busy time in Austria, Christmas Eve! Er …go on, what does come next, then?”

“Well,” Gretchen informed him, “as the man of the house, you’re now supposed to read from the Bible.” She watched him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “David James Russell! Your face!”

David wasn’t entirely sure for a moment how serious she was being. She was so traditional in some ways and yet so unconventional in others that even now she still surprised him occasionally. But, as he looked at her, he got the feeling that, although she was laughing, it would actually make her very happy if he were to go ahead and do the traditional thing on this most traditional of nights. “Look … you took me by surprise a little there, but I’ll certainly read something out of the Bible if you want me to,” he said quietly. “Honestly. I will do. In fact, I want to.”

He turned to the bookshelves which ran along one wall of the room; and took down Gretchen’s Bible, which had been one of Marie and Andreas’s wedding gifts and which they’d presented to their daughter on the occasion of her First Communion. They’d hoped to buy her a new one but it had proved impossible to get a copy of any edition of a German language Bible in wartime Britain; but Gretchen hadn’t minded. She’d treasured this one then and she still treasured it now after more than twenty years, and she sat quietly as David read St Luke’s account of the Nativity story in his deep voice, first in German and the translated in his own words into English, and then sat down next to her and put his arms round her.

“Was that all right?”

She snuggled up close to him and nodded. “It was just right. David, thank you. It’s so easy to get carried away with the food and the tree and the presents and everything else and not to think enough about what today and tomorrow are really all about … thank you so much for doing that reading. It meant a lot. It was important.”

She looked at the two small tables set up in a corner of the room, one for him and one for her, both heaped with presents – from her relatives and from friends and colleagues here in Tyrol, from their families and old friends in Armishire and Wales, from David’s sisters and their husbands and children in Australia and from his aunts and uncles in Devon and Switzerland. And she looked at the many dozens of cards hanging from a piece of brightly coloured thread which they’d strung over the mantelpiece, and at the carefully-decorated tree with its bright lights, and at the roaring fire in the hearth; and she thought of the meal that they’d just eaten and the celebrations to be held at her grandparents’ house tomorrow. And then she felt the baby kicking again, and guided David’s hand gently to her abdomen so that he could feel it too.

“We’ve got so much, you and me,” she said quietly. “We’ve got each other, and the baby, and our families and friends, and … all this. We’re so lucky, David. Life’s been very good to us, and we must be very grateful for that and pray to God that it might always be so.”

David nodded. “I know. We’re very, very blessed; and don’t think that I don’t know it and that I don’t give thanks for it.”

He thought about the visit that they’d paid the previous weekend to the children’s home in Innsbruck which was the beneficiary of the some of the funds raised by his mother’s school and of some of the sewing done by its pupils. He’d been slightly uneasy about going, worrying that he might in some way seem to be playing some sort of “Lord Bountiful” role and inadvertently cause offence in doing so; but his mother had insisted that it would be silly for anyone to make the journey from the Gornetz Platz to Tyrol when he was there on the spot and so he’d gone, and Gretchen had accompanied him. They’d been touched by the warm welcome that they’d received and the way in which the gifts they’d brought from the School, and to which they’d added some of their own, had been received; and the visit had done much to remind them of how fortunate they were and what the meaning of Christmas truly was.
#80:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:18 pm
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Again, this is lovely, Alison.
#81:  Author: Karoline, Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:08 pm
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Just lovely Alison, thank you
#82:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:35 pm
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I'm glad the school never forgot the poor of Innsbruck.

Thanks Alison.
#83:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:09 pm
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A real "feel good" Christmas story.

Thanks, Alison.
#84:  Author: MaryR, Location: Cheshire PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:36 pm
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How lovely to see them remembering the real meaning of Christmas, in all its beauty, and realising just how very fortunate they are.

Thank you, Alison.
#85:  Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:03 pm
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Just found this Alison - really enjoying it Very Happy
#86:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:09 pm
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Thanks Alison - that was lovely.
#87:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:32 am
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They are a sensitive and thoughtful pair, and so well-matched.

Thank you, Alison.
#88:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:49 am
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Not that either of them really needed reminding. After all, he was a doctor and Gretchen worked at a sanatorium. He’d be on call both this evening and on Christmas Day itself – illness paid the festive season scant respect, and amongst his patients were a number of people for whom today and tomorrow would be a time of suffering despite all his very best efforts to the contrary - and Gretchen had been reduced to tears by the bravery of the young patients at the San for whom she’d been instrumental in organising the annual Christmas party.

And they’d both lived through the bittersweet Christmases of the war years, never knowing from one day to the next what the morrow would bring, Gretchen separated from her family in Austria without knowing even if they were alive or dead. But they’d both been luckier than most. So many of his schoolfriends and other people he knew had lost relatives and friends either in action or during the Blitz. And his mind turned at that moment to Herr Marani, a dear friend of his family and the father-in-law of Gottfried Mensch who was second-in-command at the Sonnalpe San and had given him so much advice on how the Austrian medical system worked, who’d lost his life in a concentration camp. “Peace on earth,” he murmured, shaking his head.

Gretchen looked up at him. She’d also been thinking about the children they’d seen in Innsbruck, and the people who’d be spending Christmas either on the wards of the San or else at home but under such terribly difficult circumstances. Now the words David had just spoken sent her mind too back to the war years. And to the hopes of peace that they’d had when the Allies had finally declared victory. Instead, although Austria was reunited Germany remained divided and looked likely to remain so permanently; and many of Austria’s neighbours, such a short distance away geographically, were in so many other respects cut off from it completely by the so-called Iron Curtain.

But for all that it was a better world that they lived in now, and there was always the hope of an even better tomorrow, especially on this night of all nights. She said so out loud and David nodded in agreement; and then they both fell silent again, thinking about so much that was and so much that had been, until eventually David stretched his arms and stood up. “We’re very blessed,” he said quietly. “But remembering that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy our Christmas Eve, Gretchen. It just means that we should appreciate it all that more. So what comes now, my love?”

“Carols,” she said with a smile. “So long as you don’t think that it’d be silly to sing carols with only the two of us here and not a whole crowd.”

“Gretchen Russell, you were warbling away in the kitchen all morning: how you can possibly say that it’d be silly to sing carols without a “whole crowd” of people is beyond me,” he laughed. “Anyway, with my singing voice it’s probably best that there’s no-one except you to hear me! What shall we start with? Silent Night?”

Gretchen shook her head. “Could we save that until last? It’s special: it’s the Christmas Eve carol: it ought to be sung last. Let’s start with something English. You choose.” She giggled. “No - I know! I remember that you always used to like this one and that Sybil used to go mad that there wasn’t a carol with her name in it! Come on, Dr Russell. Once in royal David’s city …”
#89:  Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:09 am
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Lovely, thanks Alison.
#90:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:05 am
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Thanks Alison
#91:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:13 am
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Alison H wrote:
I remember that you always used to like this one and that Sybil used to go mad that there wasn’t a carol with her name in it!

I can just imagine it! Laughing

Thanks, Alison! I really look forward to the next part of this each day. Very Happy
#92:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:43 pm
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Thanks, Alison. Thgis is a real feel-good drabble.
#93:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:02 pm
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Lovely Alison. Thank you. Very Happy
#94:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:58 pm
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Thanks, Alison Laughing .
#95:  Author: BethC, Location: Worcester, UK PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:37 pm
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Thank you, Alison! Smile
#96:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:13 pm
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I've just caught up on lots of this Alison and it's just so lovely - thankyou
#97:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:26 am
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Thanks Alison, this is so lovely and sweet
#98:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:53 am
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The last notes of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht died away; and then Gretchen went to the kitchen to make them both a cup of coffee. Normally she liked a glass or two of Gluhwein on Christmas Eve, but she wasn’t sure that it would be good for the baby so this year she’d restricted herself to a few sips out of David’s glass over dinner. Returning to the Saal, her attention was caught by a large package on her presents table. She was sure that it hadn’t been there before. Had David just put it there? He must have done: she couldn’t believe that she’d missed it. Putting the coffee down, she walked over to the table, touched the package curiously. “Is that for me? What is it?”

“Open it and find out!” David said. “I must tell you that I don’t know what it is either, though. It was given to me to give to you. But I do think I can hazard a pretty good guess, given where it came from.”

“Where it came from?” She looked up at him, her face puzzled. “What do you mean, where it came from? Who gave it to you? And you might be able to make a guess at what it is but I haven’t a clue. It’s a very weird shape, I know that! What on earth can it be?”

“I’ve told you: open it and you’ll find out! Go on! I put it at the front so that you could open it first, because if I’m right – and I’m fairly sure I am, from the feel of it – it’s something that you’re going to be very pleased about.”

Gretchen shook her head. “Not if it’s not from you.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m longing to find out what that is … but I want to open your present first.”

“My present to you isn’t actually here,” he informed her. “Well, when I say that it isn’t here, I mean that it isn’t actually here, inside the house … and, anyway, I’d rather that you opened this one first, because … well, you’ll see. It’ll all make sense in a minute or two.”

“David! Stop being so mysterious at once and tell me what you mean!”

“Wait and see! Now go on! Open that present! And it’s no good peering at it for clues: the card’s inside it.”

Gretchen giggled. “I feel like a little kid,” she said as she tore the wrapping paper off excitedly. “Oh … oh surely … I don’t understand … oh: it couldn’t be … oh it is!” She opened the little card attached to the parcel’s main contents and read it, and then read it again. “Oh oh OH! Oh … David, did you know about this?”

He shook his head. “I had a pretty good idea what it was, but I didn’t like to say anything in case I was wrong – which I’m absolutely delighted that I wasn’t. I’ve only had it since yesterday, in any case: Auntie Gisela dropped it off at the surgery, but she didn’t say what it was and I didn’t like to ask her because … well, it was for you, not for me. But, Gretchen, I honestly don’t think that anyone there realised for a moment how worried you’ve been or that you’ve been thinking that they’ve just been playing along with your suggestion without ever really intending to go along with it. They’ve been serious about it all along: it’s obvious. Come on then: share! What does the card say?”

She read it out loud. “Dear Gretchen. This typewriter’s for you to keep at your own home; but we very much hope that you’re going to be using it to do as much of the San’s work as you feel able after the arrival of Russell junior, because we don’t know how we’re going to manage otherwise. With very best wishes from everyone at the San for a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year.”

She put the card down. “Oh, David! I know they’ve kept saying that it’d be all right for me to do some work at home after the baby’s born, but I kept thinking that they were just saying that to because they didn’t want to upset me and that as soon as I finished they’d get someone else to take over all my work. I can’t believe this.” She burst into tears.

“They can’t have realised,” he said gently. “I’m sure of that now. They think the world of you there, Gretchen: doesn’t this prove it? I don’t think they never intended for a moment to let you go, unless it was what you wanted.” He took her in his arms. “I’m so proud of you, my darling,” he said tenderly. “And I’m so very glad that things have turned out the way you wanted them to.”

“And I’m so glad that you understand,” she whispered. “That I want to look after our baby and our home but that I need to do this too. I never thought I’d find a man who would … and there you were: the boy who’d been in my life since the day I was born.” She smiled tremulously. “Who would ever have thought it? You and me.”

“Celebrating our first Christmas as Dr and Mrs Russell,” he said with a smile. “Back here in Austria. And next year, all being well, we’ll be celebrating our first Christmas as Mummy and Daddy! And now, if you’d like to put your coat and boots on, would you care to accompany me outside for a moment?” Pulling his own coat and boots on, he opened the front door. “I hope you’re going to like this … oh!”

“Oh what?” Gretchen demanded.

“It’s started to snow again!”
#99:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:43 am
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This is so lovely Alison!
#100:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:18 am
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Thanks, Alison.
#101:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:30 pm
    —
I wonder what David's present is?

Love the idea of a typewriter as a present.
#102:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:04 pm
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I'm glad the San values Grechen's work that much. Thanks Alison.
#103:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:29 pm
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Wonderful that Gretchen's going to get the chance to be a mother and keep up her work.

Thanks, Alison. That was a lovely post. In fact, this whole story is lovely and it's just right for Christmas Very Happy !
#104:  Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:46 pm
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How relieved Gretchen must feel at this proof of how highly the people at the San regard her and her work.

This is so lovely, Alison - I'm continuing to enjoy the daily instalments. Thank you.
#105:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:48 pm
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So pleased the San want her - and the snow is a wonderful scene-setter.


Thanks Alison.
#106:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:47 pm
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I feel like a little kid, too, this is so Christmassy. Thrilled that the San people are serious about Gretchen continuing to work - and can't wait to see what David's present is! (I don't usually feel like that, but you've managed to excite me! Very Happy )
#107:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:56 am
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Thanks Alison. I'm glad Gretchen is getting her wish
#108:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:53 am
    —
This is the one part I've had trouble with,m so I'm just going to copy 'n' paste it and run - hope it's OK!

It was actually snowing quite heavily. David, concerned about the possibility of Gretchen slipping, was all for waiting in the house for a little while; but she insisted that she couldn’t possibly wait any longer to see what his third surprise was and so, with one arm wrapped protectively round her waist, he guided her down the path and just round the corner from the house. And there stood his gift for her, gleaming in the snow and with a ribbon wrapped round it and a big tag with “Happy Christmas Gretchen” attached to its windscreen.

“A car?” she gasped. “David … this is your Christmas present to me? You’ve bought me a car?”

David bit his lip. He’d thought long and hard before making his purchase, knowing that she might well misunderstand his reasons for it; but he’d wanted so much to get her something special and in the end he’d decided that she’d understand his thought process and take it the right way. Now he wasn’t so sure. “Have I done the wrong thing?” he asked anxiously.

“No!” she said hastily. “No … I was just surprised, but … David, it’s great: it’s wonderful: thank you so much.” Then she paused. “It’s just …are you sure that it isn’t a bit … extravagant? We did say that we weren’t going to buy each other anything very much, after all the work we’ve done to the house, and with the baby coming.” She looked at him awkwardly. “I’ve never had a present like this from anyone before. And I haven’t got anything like this for you.”

“Oh Gretchen: I wasn’t trying to make some kind of grand gesture, honestly. I was just … I mean …” He was falling over his words in his haste to try to explain himself, and he made himself stop and take a deep breath. “What I mean is … I know you’ve said that there’s no way that one couple need two cars, but … well, think about it. It won’t be easy, getting about everywhere with Baby Russell in his or her pram. And I’d leave you my car and go to Spartz and back on the train every day, but I can’t in case I’m called out to see a patient. And I really, truly don’t mean to sound patronising or over-protective, but what … what if there was a problem late at night, and I was out on call. I know we live close to a lot of your family but most people aren’t on the phone and … and I worry. And I know that you’re going to be working from home, but you’re going to need to go into the office sometimes and – well, imagine getting yourself and the baby and a load of boxes of paperwork to and from the San on the bus."

He took a deep breath. “Gretchen, I’m so sorry if I’ve done the wrong thing, but I want to look after you.” He smiled ruefully. “Even though you’re always telling me that you don’t need looking after! And as for saying that you haven’t got anything like this for me - Gretchen, you give me so very much, every single day. Oh, I do my best to help around the house but you’re the one who makes everything nice for us: you’re the one who makes this place a home. And you’ve never once complained when I’ve been home late, or been called out in the middle of the night because a patient’s needed me. And, God willing, you’re going to give us both the most precious gift of all come the end of March. Oh my love, there’s nothing I could possibly have got you that’d come even close to everything that you give me. If you don’t like the car then I’ll take it back … but won’t you please think about it? And take it, with all my love?”

He smiled tentatively. “Apart from anything else, I kind of hoped that you’d like it.

“I love it.”

“Pardon?”

“I love it, you idiot!” She flung herself into his arms. “Of course I love it. I’d’ve said so if you’d given me the chance! I was just worried that it was too much, that’s all. But … well, when you put it the way you just have done, especially with everything you said about after our baby’s born … it makes sense, and - David, thank you so very, very much. I know that I always say that I don’t need looking after; but don’t ever, ever think that I don’t need you, because I do. And Baby Russell might be going to be at home with me during the day whilst you’re at the surgery, but he or she’s going to need you as well. You know that: I know you do. And we’re both, me and our baby, so very lucky to have someone who cares about us so much … David, I don’t know how you can say that I give you anything more than you give me, but thank you all the same. Thank you for everything.”

She sniffled. “I think you’d better give me your hanky again!” He did, and she dried her eyes and then managed to smile. “Hand the keys for the car over, then! I want to drive it round the corner and park it next to yours.”

David reached into his pocket. “Here you go then … but promise me that you’ll go very slowly!” He looked up at the sky. “Because the snow’s showing no signs of stopping: in fact, I think it’s getting heavier. We’re going to have a very White Christmas indeed!”
#109:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:57 am
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David's so sweet and thoughtful!

Thanks Alison.
#110:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:33 am
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Aaahh. That's lovely.
#111:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:21 am
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What a wonderful present. Gretchen's very lucky!

Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#112:  Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:31 am
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Awww very nice..
#113:  Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:43 am
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Aww. While I tend to agree with Gretchen as a general rule about the 2 car thing, I think she really will need it!
#114:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:24 pm
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Yay! White Christmas! Hurrah!

Thanks Alison!
#115:  Author: Jay, Location: Aberdeen PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:21 pm
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Alison H wrote:
She sniffled. “I think you’d better give me your hanky again!”


I think I'd like to borrow his hanky too! Crying or Very sad (but in a good way)

Thank you Alison. This is just a lovely Christmassy/family/feel-good sortof story. They are lovely for each other and I think Baby Russell will be very lucky!
#116:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:03 pm
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What a great present. Gretchen is so lucky!
#117:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:16 pm
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Awwww, that is so cute.


Thanks Alison Laughing
#118:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:47 pm
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All the planning needed to make their life with the baby easier.

Well done David and the San staff.
#119:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:41 pm
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Really thoughtful of David, and I loved his uncertainty.

Thanks Alison.
#120:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:50 am
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Really lovely - again! They are so nice, and such a good mixture of practical sensibleness and romance.
#121:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:53 am
    —
Thanks for reading this Very Happy .

“Oh, wow! Oh that is perfect!” David looked at the big photograph frame that he’d just unwrapped and gave Gretchen a broad smile of pure pleasure. “That family group photo from our wedding’s one of my favourites – I’ll never know how the photographer got everyone smiling at once! And where’ve you been hiding these latest photos from Australia?” He kissed her warmly. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better!”

“I left that space in the middle empty ready for … well, ready for when there’ll hopefully be a very special new photo to fill it,” she said shyly.

“We’ll put Baby Russell’s very first photo in there,” he promised. “Oh Gretchen, thank you so much. This is absolutely lovely, it really is. And go on – your turn now. You open something.”

Gretchen opened her next parcel, and then David opened another of his, and so they went on until they’d opened every single one of their many presents - touched by the care and thought that had obviously gone into them, exclaiming with excitement at most of them and giggling at the odd one where the sender’s idea of what they’d like had fallen a little wide of the mark. Then, once they’d tidied up the large pile of wrapping paper and ribbons and put away the folding tables, they sat down to rest for a while; and Gretchen fell asleep with her head on David’s shoulder.

He was just glancing at the clock, and thinking that he’d have to wake her soon if they were to be in time for Midnight Mass, when she opened her eyes and smiled at him. And then, after a quick cup of coffee and another Christmas biscuit each, they got themselves ready to leave and set out, arm in arm, back towards the church.

It was snowing quite heavily now, and it wasn’t easy to see their way. Gretchen had wanted to take candles – people coming down from the mountains to attend church in the valley on Christmas Eve traditionally brought candles with them to light the way, she said sentimentally, and it’d be rather nice if they could do the same – but David, more practical, had pointed out that the chances of candles staying alight for long in this weather were remote to say the least and had insisted on taking a torch instead. She’d grumbled that torches weren’t very romantic and certainly weren’t in keeping with tradition, but with the snow falling all around them she did eventually concede that maybe he’d had a point. Most of their neighbours were also making their way to church, the majority of them carrying torches likewise; and as they approached the main part of the village the streets were more crowded than David had ever seen them before, with everyone heading in the same direction.

He cocked his head to one side. “Am I imagining things or can I hear music?” he asked. “It sounds for all the world like a brass band!”

“No, you aren’t imagining things,” Gretchen laughed. “It’s the Turmblasen! Like the band who were playing at the Innsbruck Christmas market, remember? They’re playing up in the church tower, to welcome us all to Midnight Mass. Oh look, there’s Uncle Hansi! Frohliche Weinachten, Uncle Hansi! Thank you so much for the crib. It’s absolutely wonderful: it must have taken you hours and hours to make it and we can’t thank you enough. And we would love you to make our baby’s cradle, and it’s so lovely of you to offer. And there are Auntie Luise and Uncle Johann! And Grandma and Grandpa are just behind them! Frohliche Weinachten, everybody!”

Christmas greetings were being cried out all around. “A “silent” night is one thing it definitely isn’t here,” David joked, as he and Gretchen exchanged the compliments of the season with all the many people who’d made them both so welcome here in Briesau whilst down from the church tower drifted the familiar, haunting strains of Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht.

“No, but it is a holy one,” Gretchen said quietly. She looked around at the crowd gathered outside the church as the sound of the favourite carol filled the air. So many people, from the older members of the community who’d lived through two world wars, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the difficult days of its aftermath and then the Nazi occupation and had survived it all to be here now in an Austria that might be a minor power on the world stage but was peaceful and prosperous despite everything, to those children considered old enough to stay up and attend the midnight service for the very first time, their faces alight with excitement; the snow falling on them all and the frozen Tiernsee glittering in the darkness. Next to her stood her beloved husband, inside her she could feel their baby moving, and all around them were so many of the other people she cared about most, here together in happiness and peace.

And tomorrow the bells would ring out for Christmas Day; and she and David would celebrate with all those of their family who were nearby and would speak to all those who weren’t. But before that came this most special of services; and so she took her husband’s arm and, together, they made their way into the church where they’d made their marriage vows to each other earlier in the year and where, God willing, their baby would be baptised in the year to come, to pray for all those in need and to give thanks for the gift of Christmas and, this year more than any other, for everything else that was good in their lives and in the lives of those they loved.

That’s the end of David and Gretchen’s Christmas Eve, but there’s a short second part to this involving them and also the characters from the first drabble in this universe Very Happy . Thanks again for reading this so far.
#122:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:13 am
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Awwww, that's really lovely - tears in my eyes here.



Thank you Alison
#123:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:56 am
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That has been so lovely and sweet. Thanks Alison
#124:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:44 pm
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A heartfelt thank you, Alison.
#125:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:15 pm
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They've had such a lovely Christmas eve.

Thank-you Alison.
#126:  Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:37 pm
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This has been lovely from start to finish - they are so much in love! I love the way that any doubts either David or Gretchen might have about the present or the future have been smoothed out in the most positive way. I will look forward to the second part in due course.

Thanks, Alison.
#127:  Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:57 pm
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Thanks Alison, it's been a lovely treat to re-visit David and Gretchen Very Happy !
#128:  Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:05 pm
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Thanks Alison, I've enjoyed this so much Very Happy
#129:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 5:56 pm
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Thank you Alison it was beautiful. Smile Smile Smile
#130:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:41 pm
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What a wonderful Christmas. So atmospheric, so loving. Thank you, Alison, I've loved this.
#131:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:18 am
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I wanted to bring in the characters from the first drabble in this "universe" as well ... I've got rather attached to them all ... Embarassed Laughing ... so this is the second part, only about 4 posts and set a few days after the first part.

“No skating for me this year,” Gretchen said ruefully. “And of course it would have had to be just this year that the powers that be decided to start holding the ice carnival again! Oh well, I suppose there’ll be another one next year.” She looked around at the crowds of people out skating on the ice, and at the many more who were either standing around the banks of the frozen Tiernsee watching the skaters or else queuing at the many brightly-lit food and drink stalls. She could see people buying Gluhwein, coffee, hot chocolate, lemonade, and a variety of food ranging from hot soup to bratwurst sausages to gingerbread, sugar-coated apples, roasted chestnuts, Christmas cookies and chocolate-coated Christmas fruit cake, and felt hungry just looking at it all!

“In fact, I’m sure there will!” she said decidedly. “There are certainly enough people here to make the few old miseries who said that it wouldn’t be a success eat their words, that’s for sure! And it used to be held pretty much every year, didn’t it, Auntie Karen?”

Karen nodded. “Certainly at one time, before things got difficult in the ‘30s. It used to be held on a Saturday evening in those days, so people would come over from most parts of Tyrol and some people would even travel down from Bavaria. Although back then there wouldn’t have been nearly so many people around the Tiernsee itself: the villages were smaller then, and most of the hotels used to close in the winter months. And usually it would be held in January - depending on the weather, of course. But I’m very glad indeed that it was decided to hold this one during the last week of December, because once it gets into the New Year everything’s so busy in Mayrhofen that we just wouldn’t have been able to come.”

She looked at the excited faces of her twin son and daughter and smiled. “There wasn’t so much for the little ones back then! None of all these sweets, and no firework display to be held at the end. None of these pretty electric lights, either: we just had the bonfires – even more than there are this year, because they had to light out way as well as providing heat - and people holding burning torches. Ah, it was wonderful, though. How we all looked forward to it! We had no televisions then, and very few people had wirelesses, but people made their own entertainment in those days and the ice carnival was always one of the highlights of the year for us.”

She laughed. “Of course, there were always a few people who frowned upon it, because, especially with it being a Saturday night and people not having to go to work the next day, a lot of drinking would go on and sometimes things would get a little … well, boisterous!” She turned to David. “That was why your mother insisted that it wouldn’t be suitable for the girls from her school to attend it, David – but you know the story of what happened the first winter that the school was open, I assume?”

David grinned. “Mum still brings that story up when Auntie Joey comes over all holier-than-thou and talks about the virtues of obedience!” He laughed: that tale always reminded him of some of the scrapes he’d got into in his own schooldays – although sadly there’d never been any ice carnivals in Winchester! He smiled at Gretchen. “You know that story as well, don’t you? How Auntie Joey and some of her pals sneaked out of school to go to the ice carnival when Mum’d expressly forbidden it. I know that it was totally out of order, but – well, I bet they were all good fun to know when they were that age!”

Karen smiled. “The Countess von und zu Wertheim was one of them, as I remember. And Frau von Ahlen – Herr Doktor Mensch’s youngest sister. And Margia Stevens, the famous pianist. Oh, what a long time ago it seems now!” She laughed again, but then she shook her head. “Ah, it seems amusing now; but how upset your poor mother was about it at the time, especially when your aunt got hurt.”

“Poor old Mum: I can imagine that she must’ve been frantic.” David smiled wryly. “Good job she never knew about some of the things that I got up to at school!” Then he tapped his foot thoughtfully. “Although … you know, I might not actually be here if they hadn’t all sneaked out like that. Gretchen neither. Nor any of our brothers and sisters. If Auntie Joey hadn’t been at the ice carnival, then Dad wouldn’t have fallen over her and had to carry her back to school, and then he might never have met Mum again, and Andreas and Marie might never have met at all.” He put his arm round Gretchen and laughed. “So maybe we’ve got that year’s ice carnival to thank for everything! All the more reason to enjoy ourselves this evening!”
#132:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:54 am
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I like David's thinking Laughing

I'm glad the plot bunnies kept attcking
#133:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:35 pm
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Hurrah for the PBs. Sending them some mince pies with brandy butter.
#134:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:44 pm
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Thanks, Alison. I'm glad the plot bunnies are keeping you busy Very Happy.
#135:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:33 pm
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Thank you for the follow-up.
#136:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:41 pm
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Love that logic! Laughing


Thanks Alison.
#137:  Author: MaryR, Location: Cheshire PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:39 pm
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Agrees with Lesley. Laughing

Thank you for writing this, Alison.
#138:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:54 am
    —
“I’m sure we all will do,” Karen said. “The ice carnivals were always such special occasions in the old days; and they will be again.” She smiled reminiscently. “I didn’t get chance to go that particular year, the year that your aunt and her friends went; but Rudi took me to the one the year before and we had the most wonderful, wonderful time. I’ve never forgotten it; never.” She squeezed her husband’s hand. “Oh, we were both so young then! And I was a lot slimmer back then – much more suited to skating than I am now! It was all just so perfect – the bonfires blazing, everyone having such fun, and the two of us out on the ice together!”

Rudi grinned. “As I remember it, you were actually very nervous of being out on the ice!” he teased her. “It was ages before you actually plucked up the courage to do any skating on your own!”

Karen blushed. “I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I made out: I just liked you having your arm round me and letting me cling on to you,” she confessed. “Actually, that was the one of the main reasons I enjoyed myself so much.”

“You shameless madam! And there was I being so careful because I thought you were genuinely frightened you’d fall over!” He burst out laughing and flung his arm round her and kissed her. “I enjoyed it too. And I’ve never forgotten it either. And you look every bit as lovely to me now as you did then – in fact, you look even lovelier.”

“You two are so embarrassing,” eight-year-old Alexander, standing close by alongside his sister – both of them clutching the skates which had been amongst their Christmas presents - informed them. He cast a longing glance at a stick of candyfloss and a bag of roasted chestnuts being carried by a boy just walking past them and then looked back at his parents. “Please may we go and get something to eat now?”

“You can’t be hungry again already!” Rudi said, pretending to sound exasperated. “Oh, very well! And I take it you want something as well, Anneliese?” The little girl beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically; and he gave a mock groan. “Right, right! Either one gingerbread man, one stick of candyfloss or one sugar apple each and that’s all for now, though: we’ve only just got here!” He turned to his wife. “Karen? Are you ready for a drink or a snack yet?”

Karen shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks. Just … remembering.” She sighed sentimentally, and Rudi put his arm round her again.

“Look, why don’t we take Anneliese and Alexander to get something to eat, and give you two chance to … er, reminisce!” Gretchen suggested. “I’m more than ready for a hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream, and I might even have some gingerbread - if I can’t skate then I’m entitled at least to enjoy the rest of what’s on offer - and I know David wants to try some of the spiced Gluhwein they’re selling at that stall at the end. And I’m sure he won’t say no to a piece of gingerbread either – don’t look at me like that, David Russell; I know you and gingerbread! We’ll see you back here in twenty minutes or so. If that’s all right with everyone?”

It was. And so the children headed off happily towards the nearest sweet stall with David and Gretchen just behind them; whilst Karen and Rudi sat down one of the wooden benches that had been put up for the occasion, lost in their memories.
#139:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:11 am
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Awwww, that's lovely - Karen's confession that she wasn't scared just wanted Rudi to hold her made me giggle. Laughing


Thanks Alison
#140:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:27 pm
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Thanks, Alison.
#141:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:58 pm
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It's great to see Karen, Rudi and the twins again! Thanks Alison!
#142:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:12 pm
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Thanks, Alison.

I have a real craving for some gingerbread now!
#143:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:41 pm
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It all sounds such fun (she said, wistfully). Thank you, Alison.
#144:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:57 am
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Lesley wrote:
Awwww, that's lovely - Karen's confession that she wasn't scared just wanted Rudi to hold her made me giggle. Laughing


Thanks Alison


I love her logic too.
#145:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:51 am
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This is the penultimate post before the bunnies go off to enjoy their Christmas party - thanks for reading Very Happy .

“Ten years ago I wouldn’t have dared even dream that there’d come a day when you and I’d be together again.” Rudi took Karen’s hand. “And yet here we are. Holding hands by the banks of the Tiernsee on the night of the ice carnival … just like we did all those years ago.”

Karen snuggled up to him. “What would you be doing now if you were still in America?”

“Working!” He pulled a horrendous face and made her laugh. “I’d be at the hotel in Boston, sorting things out ready for the New Year’s Eve parties. Then eating by myself in the hotel restaurant. And later on … well, I suppose I might be going round to see some friends, but more than likely I’d just be going back to my apartment and sitting in on my own. And wondering where you were, and what you were doing.” He kissed her cheek. “What would you be doing, if you were still in Switzerland? I can’t imagine them having ice carnivals at the Gornetz Platz!”

“There isn’t a lake at the Gornetz Platz, you idiot – you know very well that there isn’t!” she laughed. “But even if there was I don’t suppose that they’d ever have anything like this there. Nothing much ever happens there at all: the highlight of the year’s the Chalet School Sale! I’d be seeing to all the things that have to be done during the school holidays, I imagine. I might possibly be finding an excuse to get over to Freudesheim to see Anna, or having a quick sit down, but more than likely I’d be busy working as well. Making sure that everywhere got cleaned from top to bottom before the new term started. Clearing up after any builders or decorators who’d been in. Checking that we’d got plenty of canned and bottled food in, in case there was bad weather in January and it was difficult to get supplies up to the Platz. Making meals for any of the teaching staff who’d stayed on or come back early.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. “But, most of all, I’d be thinking about you. Because I always did, even when I tried not to. Always.” She touched his face gently. “Even now … just occasionally … part of me can’t help thinking that maybe you’re not really here; that we’re not really together; that I’ve imagined it all.”

“We’ve got two children: I’m not sure how we’d have managed that if I was just a figment of your imagination,” he said with a grin. Karen blushed, and he laughed and threw his arms round her. “I am definitely here, and we are definitely together … Karen, come on – come and skate with me. The children and David and Gretchen won’t be back for a while yet: we’ve got time. Let’s get our skates on – literally! – and go out on the ice: you and me, together. Will you?”

“Skate? With you?” She gazed up at him. “Of course I will. Just at this moment, I can’t think of anything that I’d like more.”

And so, laughing and holding on to each other just as they’d done over thirty years earlier, they made their way out on to the frozen Tiernsee. And there they skated, amid the crowds, by the combined light of the blazing bonfires that recalled the pre-war days and the twinkling electric bulbs that added a touch of modern-day sparkle; with the smell of Gluhwein and roasted chestnuts and gingerbread carrying across the ice from the stalls and everyone wrapped up so warmly and snugly that they didn’t even notice the cold. And they both knew that they’d never forget this ice carnival any more than they’d ever forgotten their last one. Only that this time their memories would only be joyful, not bittersweet, because this time they’d be able to look back on the evening together, and with their son and daughter.

Yes, tomorrow morning they’d go back to work, and they’d be rushed off their feet all through the winter sports season, Karen thought; but they wouldn’t care, they’d even enjoy it, because they’d have each other and they’d have their little ones and they’d have the memory of magic moments like this in their minds. Then she saw David and Gretchen walking back towards them with the twins, Alexander clutching a gingerbread man and Anneliese a sugared apple, Gretchen carrying a mug of hot chocolate, and David with a glass of Gluhwein in his right hand and his left arm protectively round his wife; and she smiled up at Rudi as they made their way back towards the side of the lake to join their adored children, her beloved goddaughter and the young man whom they both liked so much. And she clung to his hand exactly as she’d done so many years before.
#146:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:19 am
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That is so lovely - makes me feel all warm inside. (A good thing as I actually feel terrible!)



Thanks Alison.
#147:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:13 am
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Wonderful!

Thanks Alison.
#148:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:17 am
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Ooh Alison, you Christmassy legend! LOVING this!
#149:  Author: PaulineS, Location: West Midlands PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:02 pm
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Just what I needed to cheer me up this lunch time.
#150:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:35 pm
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That is so lovely Alison, thank you
#151:  Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:48 pm
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Lovely Alison - thanks again
#152:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:56 pm
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So, so nice. I feel all warm inside. Thanks, Alison.
#153:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:02 am
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Thanks for reading this!

“Oh, you’ve been out on the ice without us!” Anneliese cried accusingly.

“Just getting a bit of practice in, that’s all,” Rudi said, winking at Karen. “Didn’t want to be falling over and making fools of ourselves whilst we’re trying to show you the ropes, did we? Anyway, I think we’re back in the swing of it now - so, once you pair’ve eaten up, Mummy and I’ll help you to get your skates on and then we’ll all go out on the ice. How does that sound?”

“Brilliant,” Anneliese said happily; and Alexander nodded eagerly in agreement. They’d both been longing to try out their new skates ever since they’d unwrapped them on Christmas Eve, their eyes wide with joy and wonder at seeing all the presents that the Christ Child had brought them. And their faces shone with excitement when, a few minutes later, with the last mouthfuls of their treats eaten and their skates fastened safely on to their little feet, their parents guided them out on to the frozen lake for the first time. Anneliese, on finding that keeping her balance wasn’t nearly as easy as she’d expected, squealed loudly, but Karen was holding her securely and there was never any danger that she’d fall; and Alexander giggled at his sister as he held tightly to Rudi’s hands.

“They’re a lovely family, aren’t they?” David said to Gretchen with a smile.

Gretchen nodded. “They’re wonderful together. Auntie Karen always seemed a little bit sad, as if she always felt that there was something missing from her life … and I never knew what; until she met Rudi again and they got married and had the twins.” She squeezed David’s hand. “Can you see us like that in another few years? Out there skating with Baby Russell … and hopefully another Baby Russell or two in time?”

David put his arm round her and laughed. “I’ll have to get in a bit more practice first, or I can see that Baby Russell’ll be teaching me!”

“You’ll soon get the hang of it now that you’re living in Tyrol again,” Gretchen assured him. “Seriously, go and practise when you’ve finished your drink, if you want to. Don’t feel that because I can’t skate this year you can’t either. I’ll be fine here watching, honestly.”

He shook his head. “There’s no way that I’m not going out on the lake and leaving you here on your own. I don’t want to. I don’t want to be anywhere but here with you. And, yes, I can see us skating here in days to come, you and me and our children, just like Karen and Rudi and Anneliese and Alexander are doing now, and it’s the most wonderful picture; but don’t let’s wish the years away, Gretchen. We’ve got so much to come, if life’s good to us, so much to look forward to. Let’s enjoy all of it, every day at a time. Every moment.”

She nodded. “Our parents must have thought that when they were our age,” she said soberly. “And then the War came … but it will be different for us, won’t it, David? And for Anneliese and Alexander, and for our baby? It’s a new world now. But you’re so very right: we’ve got to enjoy every single bit of the good times, and not wish the time away. And I am enjoying them, David. I’ve enjoyed every moment since we’ve been married.” She smiled. “Well, maybe not quite every single moment; but even when we’ve had words it’s never been for very long. And I know that we’ll never have this time when it’s just the two of us again – well, not for a very long time, anyway – but, please God, it’ll be even more wonderful once there are three of us. And hopefully, in another few years’ time, four or five of us.”

She put her head on his shoulder. “D’you think that when we’re Auntie Karen and Rudi’s age we’ll still be as happy together as they are? God willing?”

“I’m sure of it,” David said with certainty. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

Gretchen looked around at the village which she’d had to wait so many years to come back to, at the festivities on the frozen lake which had, so curiously, played such a big part in bringing both her parents and David’s parents together; and then held her husband’s hand over her abdomen where their baby lay, and kissed his cheek. “I’m sure of it too,” she said softly.
#154:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:50 am
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I'm sure of it too - lovely Alison, a wonderful feel-good drabble.



Thank you.
#155:  Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:51 am
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*very happy sigh*

It has been so lovely to read such a heart-warming story. I've loved hearing about David & Gretchen again, but Karen & Rudi are just as lovely too Very Happy !

Thank you Alison, I hope we get given another glimpse of these favourites in the future Laughing
#156:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:57 am
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Thanks for that, Alison. It was absolutely wonderful.
#157:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:00 am
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Thanks, Alison. It was great to see David and Gretchen so happy together.
#158:  Author: Fiona Mc, Location: Bendigo, Australia PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:47 am
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Thanks Alison, that was so lovely
#159:  Author: Karoline, Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:26 pm
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Thanks Alison, that was lovely
#160:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:37 pm
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I've pestered you for sequels before, Alison, so this time I shall refrain...

...nope, can't do it...I want to know what they call their baby! Please write more!
#161:  Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:30 pm
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That was really lovely, Alison...Thanks

Sorry it's ended though Sad ...
*joins the pestering party for a sequel, but will wait 'patiently' - until next year - for it* Wink
#162:  Author: linda, Location: Leeds PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:38 pm
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Thank you, Alison, that was lovely. Very Happy Very Happy
#163:  Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:33 am
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Awwwww

Thankyou do much Alison, I have really enjoyed reading this (just like the previous drabbles in the series) and I'm looking forward to more too Wink
#164:  Author: Elder in Ontario, Location: Ontario, Canada PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:27 am
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This has been a lovely piece from beginning to end, and so much in the true spirit of Christmas.

Thanks, Alison/
#165:  Author: leahbelle, Location: Kilmarnock PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:21 pm
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Another lovely post. Thanks so much, Alison.
#166:  Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:35 pm
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Thank you for a most splendid and Christmassy drabble!
Or drabbles, really.
Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
#167:  Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:51 pm
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Thanks so much Alison, that was really lovely! Very Happy
#168:  Author: Soph, Location: Peterborough PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:19 pm
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Thanks Alison, I really enjoyed reading this.
#169:  Author: BethC, Location: Worcester, UK PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:55 pm
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That was lovely, Alison - thank you!
#170:  Author: Frogize, Location: Perth, Western Australia PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 4:44 am
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I've just finished reading this in one long read - again! - and I realized I forgot to thank you for it Alison!

It's lovely to catch up with David and Gretchen - now I'm hanging out for the new arrival! Are the bunnies taking bribes yet- or are they too full of Christmas goodies to consider more at the moment?

Once again , thanks for a fabulous introduction to Christmas, Alison!
#171:  Author: Vick, Location: Leeds, Yorkshire PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:58 pm
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That was lovely, thank you Alison Very Happy

*Joins the group patiently waiting for more of this next year* Laughing
#172:  Author: Lottie, Location: Humphrey's Corner PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:49 pm
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I've just had time to catch up with this after my holiday. That was a lovely wind-up, but we do still need to hear about the baby. I hope your plot bunnies have soemthing in hand for next year.

Thanks, Alison! Very Happy
#173:  Author: Rosy-Jess, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 7:40 pm
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That was gorgeous Alison. Am looking forward to reading about the new arrival in due course...
#174:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:43 pm
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Just read the second part, and feeling all Christmassy again. Bit early though Laughing

Thanks Alison (another one looking forward to meeting Baby Russell here)
#175:  Author: abbeybufo, Location: Romsey, Hampshire - UK PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:06 pm
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Um, Alison...










It's next year now hiding
#176:  Author: Frogize, Location: Perth, Western Australia PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:24 am
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In fact it's well and truly next year!
#177:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:34 am
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My plot bunnies don't seem to want to come back from their Christmas holidays! I've chosen a name for the baby but that's as far as I've got Rolling Eyes .
#178:  Author: Lizzie, Location: A little village on the Essex/Suffolk border PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:14 pm
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Alison H wrote:
My plot bunnies don't seem to want to come back from their Christmas holidays! I've chosen a name for the baby but that's as far as I've got Rolling Eyes .


You HAVE? Then it's true! Nagging DOES work!

If I guess it correctly, do I get a prize?
#179:  Author: Frogize, Location: Perth, Western Australia PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:06 am
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Will your bunnies be tempted by Easter eggs, Alison? They're in the shops already!! Along with the hot cross buns!!

(Don't you hate the way shops do that? Or does it only happen here?)
The CBB -> Ste Therese's House


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