* I'll Take Care Of You *

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

The big plastic shipping crates, just the right size for a strong man to carry, came the next morning before Urs had to leave for work. Maggie had been given strict orders not to be trying to fill them, but she had managed to avoid promising so felt no guilt as she slowly and carefully carted the appropriate parcels to the correct tubs and packed them solidly. She listened to the Christmas CD as she worked, humming along with the music, then played the Boney M Christmas CD right after, one of her favorites since their interpretations of the old classics were so upbeat.

Urs called just after noon and they chatted for a while, each trying in a thinly veiled way to find out what the other would really like for a gift, both coming up empty as the questions were evaded.

“So what have you been up to, Liebe?” he asked and she answered ‘just puttering’. He groaned and she could just barely hear the curse as he whispered it, obviously not alone.

“’Tami…You didn’t promise…I knew that was a mistake to leave without getting your promise!”

He was just too good at reading between the lines of what she said.

“Urs I’ve been taking it easy, nothing heavy, and I took a break twice for juice and to put my feet up…and Petra called and we talked for a good twenty minutes. She told me that David has a feeling that you guys are up to something and she asked all sorts of questions but I played innocent. He thinks that once he’s home in Denver he’ll be safe.”

Urs laughed, distracted, just as she had hoped.

“Little does he know that’s right were he’s in the most danger…no neighbors to annoy or hotel management to tick off. This is going to be so much fun.”

**

Work was done and it was time to play. All the gifts had been sent off with the exception of the personal ones hand delivered to their friends, with the warning that they were not, under any circumstance to be opened until Christmas, leaving the impression that now, at the airport would be their last meeting until the Yuletide. They milled about, each supposedly going to a different flight.

“We better be off,” Urs said giving David a last hug and rap on the shoulder, kissing Pet on the cheek and gently kissing a sleeping Paul on the brow. “Our flight is way down …it’s a long walk for my little waddling duck here.”


“I don’t waddle!” Maggie scolded as she hugged Pet and then David who had to lean way over to reach her. “At least not yet.”

Seb and Geena had already left them, supposedly to catch the commuter to Paris and Gerry and Carlos decided to go early to wait for their flight at gate 29 and walk down with Urs and Maggie.

The two couples headed down the crowded walkway until they were well out of sight then joined Seb and Geena to watch the planes through the window of a small café. When the flight to Denver began to be pushed out of the docking bay they whopped with pleasure, high fives abounded as this part of the plan was accomplished.

Luggage carefully trundling behind them they made their way back out of the departure area and entered the charter lounge where Simon waited with his gaze intent on the laptop open in front of him.

He looked up and grinned at their happy faces, knowing without asking that the plan was working…so far. He spoke into his phone briefly.

“Anton…let me know when you are ready for boarding…everyone is here now.”

He glanced at the group and zeroed in on Maggie. She fairly glowed with good humor and health, looking more like her mother daily, he thought. Being married and in a family way was good for her, and his Swiss tenor clearly idolized her, not in an un-masculine way at all, just real, honest caring and tenderness. He saw Urs insist, quietly, that she sit down and perched on the side of her chair with an arm about her shoulders, the smile that he gave her different, more intimate and loving than what he showed to his friends.

She had dressed in a burgundy pant suit and black matte jersey for the flight and braided her hair, pulling it forward so that it hung across her chest, diamond and silver ear rings swaying from her lobes, that Urs made a comment about with a laugh as he set one swinging with his long fingers. As he watched them Simon admitted to himself that being with Maggie was good for his tenor too. He still wore the same casual outfits of jeans and Harley tees, his beat up old leather jacket but somehow there was a contented air about him that had been missing before.

“Her doctor gave permission for this flight?” Simon asked him and received a laugh from Maggie.

“Simon I’m not sick…or contagious…he says I’m in great shape, so stop being an old lady. As if Urs would let me go if there was a problem. He’s even worse than you are.”

Urs smiled at Simon.

“Just ignore her…we’ll do what we have to in spite of her protests. Actually she has promised to nap for part of the flight.”

“Stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here, you two. Men!!”

They laughed at her and she pretended to sulk but couldn’t hold the pout and laughed instead.

Simon received word that the Sony jet was ready for them and within minutes of David and Petra’s flight taking off they boarded the faster, non stop flight to Denver.

**

Maggie wasn’t the only one to nap on the long flight. In preparation for what promised to be a very long and wakeful night at the Miller’s everyone dropped off in the comfortable lounge chairs after a meal served by the charming attendants.

When they woke again it was to find that the trans-ocean part of the flight was over and they were quickly jetting west towards their goal, the Mile High City of Denver Colorado.

“Where will David and Pet’s flight be now, Urs?” Maggie asked knowing without any doubts that he would know, almost to the mile.

He glanced at his watch and thought for a second then smiled.

“They should be in New York, putting in time until their connecting flight. They won’t arrive in Denver until after 23h, Denver time, perfect timing since we should touch down in about half an hour, 17h30. That gives us time to check in and meet up with everyone.”

Customs was accomplished with ease and soon they were in rented Jeep Cherokees, wending their way with the help of an on board computer to the Burnsley All Suite Hotel where they had reserved 4 rooms.

The suites were lovely, spacious and with more amenities than they would need for their short stay but Simon had insisted on the comfort, so they had splurged.

The concierge had a stack of messages waiting when they settled in to the suites, all congregating in Simon’s to read the news and laugh over the way things were coming together.

“By my count that means about 42 people other than us and the Millers… lots of noise and I’m sure some of them will have even more ideas of how to torture our friends,” Urs said with a huge grin. They were all to meet up in a private function room of the Burnsley at 20h30 and then head on out to the Miller place, a mere 20 minute drive from the Hotel.

“Urs, you will make sure that no one gets carried away, won’t you? I know there’s going to be drinking and I don’t want anyone getting hurt, especially Pet or David.” Maggie murmured softly to him so the others wouldn’t hear and he hugged her, promising that it would be fine.

“I won’t have more than one, maybe two and Mr. Miller has told me he will stay sober too…between us we’ll make sure that all the pranks are harmless.”

They met up with the other Chivaree participants, a group mostly around David’s age, a good number of them friends from school as well as neighbours who had known the family for years… somehow the crowd had swelled and the bus they had rented for the trip was full so some of the revelers had to travel in their own cars or with the Divos.

It was cold and clear, a fresh snow had fallen and the fields they passed sparkled under their white blankets. They traveled down hill most of the time, winding through the valley towards Mapston Lake and just outside of the small community they turned in at a lane with the Miller name on the mailbox.

As instructed the bus followed the drive which curled around behind the barn and parked out of sight, spewing the revelers out to scurry out of the cold night air into the barn. When the cars had all parked as well, also out of sight, the UK partiers ducked under the heavy tarp hanging over the large barn doors and laughed as they entered another world.

It was a storage barn, the lofts piled high with loose or baled hay and straw, large tarps over every opening to keep out the night wind and was strung with large bulb Christmas lights, blazing in a rainbow of colors. Bales had been placed around the outer edges of the huge space where tractors or other large equipment would usually stand, a mound of straw waited for the unlucky couple and beyond the bales long tables had been set up, some with dishes for the food that would come later, some with plastic glasses and a large selection of bottles and several kegs….the bar! A stereo with speakers attached to the huge beams of the loft was all ready and most important of all cases of pressurized cans with the whipping cream which would be a key component in embarrassing the young couple…..everything was ready pending the arrival.

The UK contingent circulated, trusting their Swiss time keeper to watch the clock, though it wasn’t necessary. Ever organized and logical he had worked out a signal with Susan Miller to let them know when the arrival was imminent.

Much sharing of the pranks that David had pulled on various people were told, in the year and a half that they had known David, the Divos having a good selection to talk about but his most outrageous ones had apparently been during high school…there was the disappearance of one of the teacher’s Volkswagon…it had been found hanging upside down in the gym from the metal roof supports…another time the toilet tissue in the girls lav had mysteriously been dusted with itching powder….the rather tame replacement of salt in the sugar canisters in the cafeteria kitchen…the goat that had somehow found it’s way into the principal’s office… that one was very popular with the students whose bad reports had been eaten.

It seemed that most of the people present had waited a long time for this night, this little bit of payback.

Maggie had laughed so much as she listened to all of the tales that her face actually ached. She found Urs leaning against one of the thick old timbers, chatting with a tall, good looking man who had gone on to study botany at University. Urs slipped his arm around her waist and waited for a break in their discussion to introduce her.

“Maggie, this is an old school buddy of David’s, Peter Trent. Peter is a Dr. of Botany, studying the flora of the Northern states but home now for the Holidays.”

“Mrs. Buhler…a pleasure to meet you. I’m pleasantly surprised at how knowledgeable your husband is about my passion. We’ve been discussing the flora of the region where you have your new home. I hope you don’t mind but I’ve been invited to visit next summer for a week or so.”

“Please, call me Maggie… How delightful!! It would be wonderful to get an expert’s opinion of what grows so freely on our land. I know considerably less than Urs and will need all the help I can get. I do hope that you can come and stay with us.”

“Tell me, have you noticed any Corydalis Lutea growing wild on your farm? It’s such a vigorous plant, requires next to no maintenance and should do well in a rocky terrain.”

Urs nodded and confirmed that he had noticed quite a bit.

“Is that the one you pointed out to me…the rather lacy foliage and lovely clusters of yellow flowers? I remember seeing some growing out of tiny cracks in the escarpment.”

“Well done, Maggie…so you aren’t just a pretty face,” Peter said and Urs grinned at her, proud that she had remembered.

“You have no idea what hidden talents my little wife has,” he admitted to Peter.

Peter’s current girlfriend wandered up to them and placed a proprietary hand on his shoulder, brushing his long, straight hair back and blatantly measuring the couple before her. Maggie she ignored the minute she noticed her bump but Urs was another matter and she smiled at him, pushing her chest out a bit by arching her back.

As soon as politely possible Urs excused them and they wound through the crowd to the refreshment table.

“Well that was an invitation if I ever saw one,” Maggie said with a smile. “I felt embarrassed for Peter that she would act that way.”

“I didn’t notice,” Urs lied with a smirk.

“Liar!...She practically stripped you with her eyes.”

He swung her into his arms and crushed her against his chest.

“Alright, I did notice…and you have a better rack, one I very much prefer, among other things.”

“Will you tell me later?”

“Maybe…if you’re very, very good.”

“I’ve heard a rumor that I’m always good,” she teased in a whisper.

He leaned his head down to nibble her ear and whispered ‘It’s not a rumor…it’s true.’

They had to remind themselves that they were in the midst of a crowd and just held hands as they joined another group to listen to more ‘David’ stories.

**

Little Paul was ecstatic to see Daniel again and the big man hugged and tickled the little boy when he met them at the Denver airport.

David was surprised that his mother hadn’t come since she loved to meet him every time he came in.

“We knew it would be after midnight by the time you got through customs and all. She’s got a house full of people…Your sisters have gone to do some stuff and left the kids with Mom and you know how she is…won’t leave them alone for a minute. As it is you and Petra will have to use the bunkhouse tonight and it might be a bit cool…have had a few problems with the electric lately …She put extra covers on the bed though, so you should be alright and we’ll see about getting it all running tomorrow.”

“No problem Dad…but can Paul stay in the big house with the other kids? I wouldn’t want him to catch cold.”

Daniel smiled inwardly, thinking how handy it was that David had asked…now he wouldn’t have to arrange it himself.

David sighed with relief. He was home and safe. The niggling feeling he had felt for the past few weeks would have no basis now, not with an ocean between him and the rest of Il Divo. He draped his arm over the seat to touch Petra’s knee and glanced at the car seat where Paul was dropping off to sleep, all the excitement and the long day having taken its toll on the little guy.

It was beautiful outside the roomy car, the fields reflecting the stars and the moon at the quarter, floating like a giant piece of Santa Claus melon in the star sprinkled sky. He had always liked it here in the winter, not just for the sports, which he loved, but for the quiet and pristine cleanliness of it, the vast open spaces, hemmed in by lofty mountains. He could see the reflection of Denver, rising like something out of a Sci Fi movie in the distance behind them, the houses and lights already up for Christmas, twinkling, seeming to dance, though he knew it was from the light wind and the movement of the car.

Daniel reached for his mobile on the dashboard and punched a button.

“Have to let your Mom know we’re almost home,” he said and when David glance outside again he saw that they were…another 5 minutes or so and they would pull in the long drive.

“Hello…” she spoke softly as if not wanting to wake up someone.

“Susan…I have you on speaker…We’re almost home…Paul is asleep and I think that the kids are about ready too. Pet looks half asleep already.”

“Well everyone here is already sleeping…I’ll put on my robe and come out to get Paul…you can drop Pet and Davey off at the bunkhouse.”

Daniel pulled into the driveway about 5 minutes later and true to her word Susan came out the back door, wearing her robe and her heavy winter boots.

“Oh you poor lambs…you do look tired. Here give me the little one and go tuck into bed. We’ll visit in the morning.”

She plucked Paul out of David’s hands and scuttled back into the house, all without waking the boy and Daniel drove a bit further to the bunkhouse. David and Pet got out. David reached for their bags but Daniel shook his head.

“Get them in the morning, son. Your Mom will want Paul’s things anyway.”

It was dark inside, just the moonlight showing them the way to the bedroom but David knew the place from long years of bunking out here when he had friends over and led Pet unerringly into the only large bedroom.

“I think I could sleep standing up,” Pet said with a sigh as she took off her boots and jacket, leaving them outside the bedroom door.

“Me too…if we’re lucky they’ll be busy in the main house in the morning and we can sleep in.”

David added his boots to hers and dropped his jacket on the floor.

“Yikes…it is chilly in here!” he said and began removing clothing a little quicker but Petra was faster, had hers off and was heading for the bed as he shed his jeans, catching sight of her bare bottom as she flipped the covers up and leapt in.

“Oh!!! Oh!! DAVID!!” she shrieked and he assumed it was because the sheets were icy cold. He held up the cover and joined her…..and felt something sticky and oozy, coating his skin, squishing between his fingers, spreading across his back and bottom, along his legs, even between his toes when he tried to push himself up and out of the bed.

The room was suddenly bathed in blinding light and voices he knew well filled the air, voices he knew all TOO well, voices that should have belonged to people thousands of miles away….”CHIVAREE!!!” “SURPRISE!!!” “IT’S PAYBACK TIME!!! CHIVAREE!!”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

At the prearranged signal from Susan Miller the sound in the barn as well as the lights, dimmed and all that could be heard was the muffled giggles and whispers of the crowd who listened for the sounds from the driveway and main house. Minutes ticked by, then they could clearly hear the crunch of the snow under tires as the car stopped at the house. David’s voice carried to them as he greeted his mother then they heard the car move on and stop again, briefly, before returning to the house and parking.

Carlos had been elected to be the look out and he came back under the tarp to inform them all in a loud whisper that ‘the targets have gone in the bed house’.

“Bunkhouse!”

A dozen voices whispered corrections at him and there was a swell of quiet, nervous laughter.

The Divos crept silently across the space between the barn and the bunkhouse, joined by Gerry, Geena, Simon and Maggie and grinned at the Millers, including David’s two sisters and their husbands, who waited at the door to the bunkhouse, and the Jansens, most of the other revelers following behind like silent shadows.

They didn’t have long to wait. The sounds of Petra’s shrieks as she felt the mushy coating on the sheets was the signal and Daniel swung the door open, allowing as many as could get inside to follow. He opened the bedroom door and clicked on the lights, which had after all been working once he threw the switch from the main at the house.

Videos whirred, cameras flashed and both David and Petra stared back in the blinding light, what little could be seen of their bodies covered in patches of marshmallow crème and chocolate syrup, strings of the sticky mess hanging from David’s hands as he tried to shield his eyes from the lights, tried to sit up but found it difficult since he kept sliding around. Pet just shrank back into the bedding, finding comfort in the ooze, even when she tried to bury her face against David and became even more liberally coated.

The noise was deafening…people banged pots with wooden spoons, tooted on an assortment of silly horns and whistles or just generally yelled and chanted.

Urs came to the edge of the bed, not too close since he knew how long a reach David had.

“Time to get up and party….. you two are the official dessert…we even brought you something to wear.”

He dropped two packages on the bed, one on each side and backed off, not willing to expose his back to David at the moment.

“You ‘ave 3 minutes to get up and dress…or we come back and ‘elp you!” Seb called out as the partiers gave them the last privacy they would have tonight and streamed into the main room.

It took more than half that time just to get out of the sundae topping in the bed, during which David had some severely impure thoughts about his parents. They must have helped…at the very least must have known what was going to happen.

He helped Pet get to her feet, heard Urs call out through the door ‘One minute left’ and the resulting cacophony of noise from everyone else…who were these people? Had his so called friends recruited total strangers into this evil plot?

The door was just opening when they finished dressing enough to be decently covered…more or less.

There was some assistance with the last items and then the couple was dragged into the main room to be put on display.

Both had been dressed in flannelette nightgowns, Pet’s reaching to mid calf and in a rather fetching shade of green…David’s a lurid, florescent pink that didn’t quite reach his knees. They each wore pink fuzzy slippers with large floppy bunny ears and hats, both baby bonnets, Pet’s all lacy like David’s though his was adorned with a large red, plastic cherry on the top.

David put a protective arm around Petra as they stood in the doorway. He saw that a corridor had been left amid the people, just wide enough for them to reach the door …and that on each side everyone was armed…with spray cans of whipping cream…following the dessert theme of course.

They both were grinning as they started toward where Daniel Miller and… BRYCE JANSEN…OMG, Pet’s family was in on it too…they stood in the doorway holding a large downy blanket stretched between them.

Passing the lines of people was not to go unscathed…cans were wielded, whipping cream sprayed, up under nightgowns, into the roomy sleeves, under the bonnets, in the slippers…every opening received a liberal, cold pouf of the topping…there was no avoiding it.

Bryce and Daniel quickly wrapped them, together in the blanket, covering everything except their laughing faces and hands made light work of the double bundle as they were lifted and carried out the door, like a rolled up rug, easily carted on shoulders towards the barn.

It was all lit up again, looking, and sounding, very unlike the place where he had played in the hay as a boy.

The rug was unrolled, much as Cleopatra had been before Caesar and Pet and David, still stuck together by the glue of Marshmallow crème, rolled out into a huge pile of straw, a great deal of which stuck to them.

“Petra, Querida…you have chosen to spend your life with the King of the Pranksters and are, by association, the new Queen. We have come to celebrate your marriage, in true Miller style. Let the party begin!!” Carlos grinned at them and waved his hands at the surrounding faces.

There were chants of ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ and David obliged, knowing that it wouldn’t be the last time in what promised to be a long, fun filled night.

**

He was right. They had to kiss to receive a drink from the well stocked bar, again for something to eat, a joke had to be told to earn the right to use the bathroom and dire threats of what would happen if they did more cleansing than washing of hands were voiced. The others danced but the King and Queen watched, happily since the toppings were beginning to dry and pull at body hair…Geena came to the rescue…sort of, deciding to end their misery by applying yet another coating of moist whipped cream, aided by Maggie and Susan, Jane Jansen laughing much to hard to participate.

It was warm in the barn, the body heat of so many people combined with the tarps and the large electric heater fans up in the rafters making the place quite cozy. And it was noisy, the stereo blared through the speakers, the sounds of laughter was constant, conversations abounded and people ate, danced, sat on the bales talking or singing along with the music, drifting over to the straw mound in small groups to talk with the laughing couple. David recognized most of the people now, friends, school mates, neighbors and of course his so called friends from Il Divo.

Even Simon had joined in the festivities, in fact was the chief instigator often, sipping on his brandy and wielding a spray can with loud chortles as David threatened him. He had danced several times with one of the single girls, an attractive redhead that David had gone to school with and knew had been divorced just last year.

Urs and Maggie went over and perched on a bale to see just how ticked off David was.

“So we finally got you…surprised?” he asked David with a grin.

“You are so going to be in trouble for this, Swiss Boy….it may take me years but I’ll get you, all of you.” The huge grin on David’s face made the threat less fearsome, though Urs knew there was a ring of truth in it, just as he had expected.

“It was worth ever second of whatever you come up with…and I have the video and pics to prove it….your faces when we burst into the bedroom….priceless!!!”

“So who’s idea was the marshmallow crème and chocolate sauce in the bed?”

“I’m not pointing any fingers…let’s just say that your parents were very co-operative.”

David groaned.

“Mom…I might have known…she’s worse than I am!”

Geena called for silence and the noise in the room died down, even the stereo which someone had the sense to adjust the volume on.

“This party tonight is being held for two reasons…one is obvious…PAYBACK for all the pranks that our tall friend here has dealt out over the years..The other is to help him understand his role as a husband. To that end we ladies have prepared a small list of Rules which we will now have our guest of honor read.” She handed David a printed sheet and every one chanted for him to stand and read them out.

The cameras and videos were active again as David in all his fine raiment and coating of straw stuck in the various sundae toppings, held the paper up and began reading in his best operatic voice.

“1. The Female makes all THE RULES and they can not be changed by the Male except with permission.

2. THE RULES are subject to change at any time at the whim of the Female.

3. No Male can possibly know all THE RULES

4. If The Female suspects that the Male knows all THE RULES, she must immediately change some of THE RULES

5. The Female is never wrong!”

The outcry from the men and laughter of the women was deafening and David was bent nearly double laughing but soldiered on, holding his hand up to quiet the crowd as he continued reading.

“Number 6. If it appears that the Female is wrong, it is because of a flagrant misunderstanding caused by something the Male did or said wrong.

7. If Rule number 6 applies, the Male must apologize immediately for causing the misunderstanding…even if he wasn’t the cause

8. The Female can change her mind at anytime without explanation

9. The Male must never change his mind without the express, written consent of the Female

10. The Male is expected to read the mind of the Female at all times”

Once again there was an outcry, yells of men agreeing with the behaviour of the women and claiming that it was true but totally unfair.

David waited until the noise abated somewhat and continued.

“11. At all times what is important is what the Female Meant, not what she Said

12..If the Female has PMS all THE RULES are null and void and he must cater to her every whim

These 12 Rules to live by are guaranteed to keep peace in the household…not much fun but a lot of peace.”

Geena laughed and sprayed David with her handy can of whipping cream.

“You cheated, David Miller!…that last bit wasn’t on the sheet!”

It was one spray too many and he scooped some off of his sticky nightie and smeared it across Geena’s face. Before many seconds had passed the place was filled with shrieks and laughter as every one sprayed whoever they could reach and the tormented couple huddled, laughing at the spectacle of their friends dodging and diving for cover in all out war.

Daniel had the presence of mind to turn the music back on and calm was soon restored but the party had taken on a rather bizarre look…. Almost everyone wore evidence of the Whipping Cream War, as the caption on the video read later, along with huge grins. It was a tasty treat for couples to lick off of each other, leading to some disappearances into the far recesses of the hay loft…and two pregnancies among them that the party was later given credit for.

David held his hands up for silence a few minutes later and announced that his bride needed to use the loo and had a joke ready. Pet had been overwhelmed by the sheer force of his personality for most of the night, enjoying herself and laughing until she cried but a bit on the shy side…until now. She stood and made a silly curtsey then proceeded in her biggest voice to tell them her joke.

“Seems this couple was getting married and his three best friends, a carpenter, an electrician and a dentist were deciding what pranks to play on the couple on their wedding night.

The carpenter figured sawing the slats of their bed would give them a chuckle or two.

The electrician decided to wire the bed - with alternating current, of course.

The dentist wouldn't commit himself, but wore a sly grin and promised it would be memorable.

The nuptials went as planned and a few days later, each of the grooms buddies received the following note:

DEAR FRIENDS, WE DIDN'T MIND THE BED SLATS BEING SAWED. THE ELECTRIC SHOCK WAS ONLY A MINOR SETBACK. BUT I SWEAR BY ALL THAT I HOLD DEAR, I'M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER PUT NOVOCAINE IN THE K-Y JELLY!"

It was an instant hit and Petra was carried to the bathroom on the shoulders of two of David’s friends, who almost dropped her from laughing so hard.

When she came out Maggie was waiting for her and gave her a sticky hug.

“Pet that was so funny. How are you holding up? This isn’t too much for you is it?”

Petra grinned at her. “It’s a bit daunting, coming from such a quiet life into his world but love it…and I can’t get over my parents…I’ve never seen Dad acting so crazy…and he’s actually dancing with Mam. Thank you for this night, Mags. It’s very special.”

All night the food had been plentiful on the long tables and now it was cleared away and breakfast foods began to appear, a collection of electric griddles and precooked sausages and bacon, just needing to be warmed, a large crock pot with lovely oatmeal, jugs of juice and milk, gallons of coffee, 6 slice toasters and jars of homemade jams, even a selection of biscuits, homefries, grits and a kettle of gravy for the southerners, all appearing as if by magic since none of the women took a permanent shift behind the table, but somehow it just got done.

Even Urs was amazed at how fast the night had gone…the sun was just beginning to color the mountains when he nipped out for some air. Maggie found him standing watching as it crept up on the far side, getting brighter moment by moment and she slipped her arms around his waist, leaning against his back to hug him.

“It’s been a good party, I think. Well done, Urs. You guys did a great job.”

He swung around and gathered her to him, watching the light playing on her hair as the world came back to life.

“Now we just have to wait and see what he comes up with to get us back…You still have whipping cream in your hair!” he laughed and rubbed at the blob with his sleeve.

“Tired?” he asked though she certainly didn’t look it.

“No…when we get to the Hotel, I’ll probably crash though, so don’t be thinking of waking our little friend up.”

“Little?”

“Alright…Resting…is that better?”

“Much…. We’ll see…there’s always the hayloft, now.”

“Right, me and my bump are going to quietly climb up into the hay on one of those rickety ladders…. You won’t even let me stand on a chair to change a light bulb,” she shook her head at him reminding him of the day he had exploded when he walked into the Lounge and found her on a chair changing a bulb in the chandelier. She was startled when he yelled at her, lost her balance and would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her.

“Hungry?”

“Always….let’s go eat before we freeze solid out here.”

Urs noticed that David and Petra were not to be seen when they went back inside…that too, was as they had planned. The torture was over and they had crept away to the bunkhouse to shower and dress in real clothing. Most everyone would leave after breakfast, some already had in a way, having curled up in the hay with handy blankets to sleep off the drinking.

They loaded plates with food and joined some of the new friends they had made, sitting on hay bales and going over the night, talking about all the fun and about plans for Christmas, winding down after a very successful party.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

The Millers had insisted that the Divos and Simon come out to the house again after having a good, recovering sleep. They had gone for dinner, another busy affair as all the children were underfoot but it was an early night this time and the last time that they would all be together until New Years. Carlos and Gerry would possibly be coming to Irgendwo for New Years Eve, it would depend on what his family in Madrid had planned but David and Seb had confirmed that they would be there.

They spent one more night in the Burnsley, then early the next morning boarded the Sony jet for the return to London. This time when they headed for boarding gates in the departure area they really were heading for their connecting flights to Paris, Madrid and Lucerne. Simon was heading for a few days rest on the estate and promised to try to come to Switzerland for New Years.

Jet lag really bothered Maggie this time and when they were in the Volvo heading home she dropped off to sleep immediately, leaning against Urs as he related the party to Kosta and they both tried not to laugh too hard and wake her.

She woke just as they pulled into the driveway, almost as if she subconsciously knew that they were home. Heidi had the lights on and the house looked lovely, glowing in welcome as they came to a stop.

Kosta took the luggage in and Urs scooped his tired wife up and carried her inside. It was late, after 11, and they bid Kosta good night, picked up some bottled water in the Kitchen and went hand in hand up the stairs to their suite.

“It’s good to be home,” Maggie said as they went down the hall and opened the door to the suite. “I had a good time but I feel so at peace here…and I missed talking to Mami every day.”

“Tomorrow, Luv…you can call her first thing, maybe ask them over for dinner. Right now, I have other plans for us.”

She turned to look at him as he lifted the luggage onto the counter in the dressing room and unzipped it to remove their bathroom supplies.

“Urs Buhler!!.... It was only a couple of hours ago that we joined the mile high club…again!!”

“Too fast…I was afraid Simon would catch us,” he said with a grin as he came back in and lifted his shirt up over his head, tossing it in the laundry hamper. His chest rippled with the movement and he walked towards her with that prowl like walk, leading with his shoulders and giving her ‘the Look’.

“You know I like to make love with you slowly, letting the passion build, savoring every touch, every sigh, every taste….” He reached out and ran his hands down her arms, taking her hands and placing them on his chest where her fingers unconsciously began to stroke his curls.

“Do you have any idea of what you do to me when you look at me like that? I can actually feel my heart begin to race and my blood warm.”

He was gentle and loving, almost as if they had never explored each other before, discarding her garments slowly, treasuring each new revelation, asking silently for her to remove his clothing until they both had no barriers left.

Strangely she became shy, covering herself modestly and she cupped his head with her hands as he dropped to one knee and lay his face against her bump.

“Urs… do I still…I mean, I’m so big now…I don’t even have a waist anymore….I see these other women, the way they look at you, young, beautiful, with curves and waists and…..”

“Stop!... You are the most sensuous, beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your body is the same, love, just stretching to protect our child…my Gawd, Maggie you’ve only gained 7 pounds and all of it is baby. Do you still make me hot? Yes, more than ever. I look at you and I feel like I did on the balcony that night, only now it’s more intense since I know how unbelievable making love with you is. You know I love you, Maggie and by now you must know that love isn’t just about sex…it’s building a future together because we want to be with one another, it’s creating a child to share our love for all time, it’s sharing a glance across the room, of being proud of the achievements of each other, it’s being kind when kindness isn’t deserved, it’s the welcome home when we’ve been apart, it’s trust and understanding…. It’s what I’ve longed for all my life and never found until I fell in love with you.”

He had risen to cradle her in his arms, speaking softly in that deep throaty voice that made her boneless, his accent heavier as he lost himself in her glistening eyes and leaned over her until his mouth was only a hairs breadth from hers.

“Yes, I see those women you spoke of, I’m not blind, just not interested. I see them and thank God I have you.”

**

They soon got back into the activities of the community and family. The bins had arrived from London and were dealt with gradually by setting up a sorting and wrapping area in the games room so they could work on the gifts a bit every day. Maggie went for her regular check up, accompanied by Urs and was told that she was in fact losing weight and must be extra careful of her own health. The baby would take what it needed for it’s development and leave her the rest…he/she was doing very well, it was herself that was becoming a bit anemic.

She was embarrassed at being scolded, even mildly and admitted something that Urs hadn’t been aware of, something that she knew he would have words to say to her later about.

“I…I have trouble most days keeping my meals down. I do try to be careful of what I eat but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Within a half hour, most days it comes back up and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Dr. Mandel sighed and shook his head at her downcast gaze, sympathizing when he saw Urs jaw clench. Obviously it was something the husband had not been made aware of.

“The first thing you should have done is called me….but that is done and we can go on from here. It isn’t common to have nausea like this but also nothing to worry about if precautions are taken.

“I would like you to consider eating more often, perhaps 6 times per day but small amounts each time. I hesitate to offer a prescription unless this continues. Keep track of what you eat and your reaction to items that make you nauseous…of course avoid them in the future. Continue to exercise mildly…you will need a great deal of strength and stamina for the delivery and a toned body will be helpful. Also exercise will keep your metabolism at peek performance so your body will require less calories to function properly. Now, I would like to see you again in a week to check your progress. If you could go with the nurse and provide a blood sample for testing, I believe we are done for the day.”

Maggie rose and went with the nurse who had appeared at a silent summons and as soon as her back was turned the doctor motioned for Urs to wait.

When the door closed he thanked Urs for waiting and got right to the point.

“I can tell from your reaction that you were unaware of the problem your wife has been trying to cope with. Obviously the initial reaction to this would be to berate her for not saying anything …but I would ask that you be circumspect. I don’t know you well, other than what I have seen and surmised here in my office, so my advice may be unnecessary… your wife is at a crucial point in the gestation at the moment and severely underweight for someone at this stage….I’m confident that the blood test will indicate anemia but it can be turned around. No stress is important so please do not become angry over what was probably a well intended omission… and see that she eats.”

Urs smiled grimly at the doctor, appreciating his candor.

“Maggie knows that in my work there are many women who come in contact with me, some lovely, some eager for …more… it sometimes makes her feel a bit insecure. She worries that her body is not as appealing to me now, when in fact the opposite is true. I have no interest in forming any kind of liaison with these other women and I find that I have to re-assure her often of this…and I do. I love my wife, Dr. Mandel and I want what is best for her. I’m home now until mid January and I can guarantee that she will receive nothing but encouragement and understanding from me.”

They shook hands and Urs went to the reception area to wait for Maggie.

He knew why she hadn’t told him, why she had quietly dealt with the problem , albeit not wisely, but by herself. She hadn’t wanted to worry him…and he would have worried, rightly so. He would likely have canceled the trip to the U.S., made her see the doctor, monitored her meals…in short, over reacted.

He sighed. They would deal with this…it wasn’t the end of the world, just a minor set back that could be corrected.

She came back and received a card from the nurse with her next appointment noted on it and wouldn’t meet his eyes when he put his arm around her back as they left the office.

“Maggie, wait a minute, Liebe,” he said as she scurried down the hall to the exit.

They stopped near the doors and he held her shoulder with one hand, the other gently moving her chin up so that she met his eyes.

“I may have to beat you for not telling me,” he teased with a smile that coaxed one from her.

“Like that makes me tremble. I know you would never hit me, Rock God…so what else you got?”

“You are such a stubborn little wench…I know you didn’t want to worry me…okay I can live with that, sort of…but no more, Okay? Promise me that you will tell me if there’s anything else and that you will get fat and sassy…I’ve been so looking forward to the duck waddle.”

She smiled at him, a real smile this time that lit up her eyes.

“So you aren’t angry with me?”

“A tiny bit, but mostly I just want to…” he leaned down to her ear and whispered something that made her blush then laugh.

She took his hand and they went out to the car, laughing. Above their heads Dr. Mandel watched them out the window, waiting for his next patient to be ready for him, wishing that all of his patients coped so well with their bumps in the road of life.

**

The six meals a day regimen worked and Maggie got her glow back as well as the few pounds she had lost. Within a few days her meals stayed down and she continued with small meals, more often. Urs relaxed a bit when he peered over her shoulder at the next weigh in and saw that she was up 10 pounds over all. He had been very careful not to nag but secretly timed her meals, watching for any sudden dashes to the loo and not commenting except to reassure her how much he loved her, and of course that wasn’t a chore for him at all, since he found her gestating body incredibly sensual.

The gifts were all done and the decorating of the house was the next project. Choir practice was more intense than usual with the run up to the Christmas services and on practice nights, Urs got in the habit of going to the pub to visit with friends, not repeating the performance of his first night out with the boys, never again, he swore though Maggie informed him that it was a promise she had no intention of seeing that he kept. If the mood struck him, he should feel free and there would be no back lash…or sympathy, she had added with a chuckle.

The studio was finished, the work all accomplished while they were in London and Denver and they played around, trying out the equipment. Franz and Shannon came over to man the board while Urs and Maggie recorded a very special CD for Inga and Nikolai, using a back up tape that the orchestra at the school had made for them, even including one track that Franz and Shannon were in on, a fun piece of an old 60’s rock tune.

Maggie kept the twins one day so that Urs, Franz and Shannon could go skiing, their first outing this year. They came back wind-burned and glowing to a hot meal that Franz swore his Mami cooked and she had to admit that it had been from the recipe box. They spent the night since the roads were heavy with snow and the wine had flowed a bit too freely.

Heidi and Kosta took advantage of Urs being home to go to Greece and visit some of his relatives, so Urs happily brought in wood for the fireplace, kept the drive cleared with the snow plow on the truck and helped Maggie keep the place as immaculate as Heidi always did. Not that it was hard. They were naturally tidy, the house seemed relatively dust free and with the built in vacs and no dust producing furnace, there was little to do.

On the 20th they couldn’t wait any longer and put the tree up. They had discussed at length whether to go for real or artificial, finally settling on a very expensive, large artificial tree since neither could stand the thought of every year taking down another of their precious trees for only a few days pleasure. And besides, with the size of the house, and the amount of decorations they had purchased they would put up several…a ten foot tall Fir near the French doors in the Lounge with gold bows and ribbons and hundreds of tiny white lights, a smaller one in the games room done in multi colored lights, candy canes, figurines in a Christmas theme and brilliant red bows, and in each bedroom a table top tree in a pot, decorated in appropriate colors for the rooms…the Kitchen even had a small tree on the end of the counter decorated entirely with candy and cookies which visitors were encouraged to eat so they could be replaced with a fresh batch.

Urs spent hours outside stringing lights in the trees closest to the building and along the railings of the terraces, hanging the wreaths that he and Maggie had constructed out of pepper berries and trimmings, from some of the antique items they had found in the old shed and on the doors. He came back in to a house redolent with the scents of baking and chocolate as Maggie baked sheet after sheet of goodies for their frequent guests and for the case of pretty tins they had purchased for take home treats.

He slid his cold fingers under her shirt to warm them, making her giggle from the cold, then sipped at a giant mug of hot chocolate as he sampled still warm cookies and eyed the rooms for more places to decorate.

“I’ve never done this before, you know. If I had known how much fun it is I’d have volunteered to help Mami. What are we going to do with the mantle in this room…any ideas?”

Maggie joined him, standing in front of the huge burl in the center and cocking her head on one side.

“Why not just keep it simple? Those little carved animals we got from the stall at the market mixed among the huge pine cones…and those little brass lantern with a nice red bow. We’ve got those hand made stockings to hang on each side of the burl.”

He laughed as he sorted through the boxes of decorations to find the items she had mentioned.

“Thank God it’s a big mantle….can you imagine 15 stockings hanging there in a few years?”

“Nineteen, Liebe…I don’t plan on ever getting too old to hang my stocking up and there’s yours and Heidi and Kosta’s.” She had gone back in the kitchen at the sound of the oven timer and he left the boxes to see what the latest batch contained.

“Ow! Hot!!”

“Serves you right for being greedy,” she teased but gave him a glass of water to soothe his burnt tongue.

The land line rang just as Urs finished the mantle. Maggie was cleaning up in the Kitchen, finished for the day and she glanced up at him as he wandered in with the phone held to his ear.

“Just a minute while I ask Maggie if she has anything planned,” he said and put his hand over the mouth piece to talk to her.

“Marc and Sonja…they want to know if we’d be interested in going out caroling with a group and then coming by here after for coffee…”

“I’d love it, but if you’ve had enough of outside for the day…”

“We would love to. Where is every one meeting?”

He listened for a minute and then promised to be on time and hung up.

“Marc has even arranged for a sleigh, so we get to do it in style.”

They heated up some stew and dumplings for dinner, took a very large tin of cookies for snacks and dressed warm for the night out.

Urs took one of their fluffy faux fur throws and stood for a minute looking up at the sky with Maggie cuddled against him and his arms around her. His words were soft against her hair and she reached up one gloved hand to caress his cheek.

“So many firsts for us…our first time caroling and riding on the big hay wagon, the first Christmas in our new home, our first child. I feel so blessed, Beloved, so very blessed.”

“Me too. Sometimes I can hardly believe how our lives have changed, how fortunate we are. I don’t want to ever lose this feeling of wonder.”

He kissed her cool cheek and they scooted to the car, not wanting to be late…which in itself would have been another first, but, for a Swiss, not the good kind.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

The big hay wagon was waiting with a team of four huge Percherons all decked out in fancy harnesses and collars with glistening bells. Many of the carolers were people from the choir, all milling about and eager to get underway but early and waiting for the last few members to arrive.

Urs and Maggie were greeted with waves and cheerful calls, some teasing as well, as people kidded that no one would be able to hear any of the singers with these two drowning them out.

Urs found them a good spot, halfway down the side of the wagon and fluffed the hay up a bit then lifted Maggie up to sit on their throw, levered himself up beside her and pulled the ends of the throw up around their legs.

It was a beautiful night for caroling, crisp and clear with a nearly full moon and the sky twinkling with millions of bright stars. Before long the last people arrived and everyone boarded, tucking blankets around legs to keep out the chill, the driver shook the reins and spoke to the horses, releasing the brake and they were off.

Someone had the foresight to bring a pitch pipe and as they wound their way through the downtown the singing started. They ran through the old favorites, Marc, as organizer, calling out the next piece each time and passing some printed sheets of lyrics around to everyone, just in case some had forgotten some of the seldom sung verses.

People still out on the snowy streets stopped to listen and wave as they passed by and moved into the residential streets. Here they paused several times as people came out on the front steps to listen, calling out their thanks and appreciation, wishing the Carolers a ‘Happy Christmas’ in English, French, German and Swiss German.

It was a happy crowd of singers…no one was a star or soloist, just everyone filled with the Holiday spirit and wanting to share… thermoses of hot drinks appeared, snacks, mostly sweets of some kind, were passed around and other than singing the most prevalent sound was laughter.

By just after 10 they had made a circuit of the town and headed into the countryside, still singing though there weren’t many houses around now and shortly pulled into the driveway to approach Irgendwo, the Volvo with one of the single boys proudly driving, following just behind. All of Urs hard work on the outdoor lighting paid off as the display had come on automatically at dusk and was lit up beautifully, judging by the ohhs and ahhs as the carolers caught sight of the glowing house with the tree in the front French doors and all the decorated trees in the yard.

Everyone piled off the wagon near the back terrace, including the driver who pulled heavy blankets over the backs of his horses before joining the mob that headed into the house through the doors leading from the summer kitchen into the roomy entry. Coats and boots were discarded and the majority went into the Lounge.

Maggie and Sonja went in the kitchen to make hot chocolate and coffee while everyone admired the tree and the mantle, settling in the chairs or on the sofa and chatting in front of the fire, warming hands that had become chilled.

Urs brought out a trolley with beer and steins and Marc was dispatched with a tray of cookies and squares which he put on the coffee table and announced that they could all help themselves or starve, this was his off-duty time.

“I love this kitchen, Maggie,” Sonja said as she opened a cupboard for another platter. “Everything is organized exactly where it needs to be. Marc is always at me because I’m not a very typical Swiss woman …I’m always a bit cluttered and it drives him wild.”

“I’m lucky…Urs and I are both kind of neat so we work well together. Anyway weren’t you raised in Finland? I seem to remember you saying something about your folks being in Helsinki…”

“Yes…I met Marc when I was here on holiday…never did go home.”

Urs came out to see how the ladies were doing and stole one of his favorite Florentines off the platter Maggie was arranging.

“Don’t fuss, Liebling…just bring a couple of tins and come get warmed up.”

He had put on some of the Christmas CD’s when they first came in and the mood was festive as occasionally someone would sing along to the music, sometimes joined by others, sometimes alone.

Ilia, the driver made room on a sofa for Maggie and Urs perched on the arm while they discussed his horses.

“We thought it might be nice to have some horses once we get settled in. It probably isn’t practical to have the big guys since we wouldn’t use them much but I do like them. There’s such a look of grace and power about them…like gentle giants.”

“Best natured creatures on four feet, Frau Buhler,” the pleased man said with a grin.

“Please, call me Maggie.”

He grinned and nodded.

“That’s not what they call you after services on Sundays…people have taken to calling you Klein Nachtigall.”

Maggie hadn’t heard that word before and looked to Urs for a translation.

“Little Nightingale,” he said with a grin, knowing it would make her blush …and she did.

Just after 11 everyone decided that it was time to leave, most of them having work or children to take care of in the morning.

They saw their friends off, standing together on the terrace to watch the wagon make it’s way down the drive, the lantern on the pole at the back waving with the motion of the horses, the brightly polished bells jingling.

As always there was next to nothing to clean up. Somehow everything managed to get put away and wiped down before the crowd left, just like it had been on moving day, even the beer steins had been put in the dishwasher and the cycle was running. It was actually a pleasure to have a house full of such thoughtful guests, guests who felt comfortable enough to make themselves at home.

They made their way upstairs and Urs hit the master switch in the bedroom to turn off the downstairs lights then joined Maggie in the bathroom ritual of washing faces and brushing teeth.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked as he brushed her hair, another nightly ritual for them.

“Yes…I really like our friends… they are such a mixed bag of people…Derek is a banker and his wife runs that little bakery…Dieter is in building and his wife is a stay at home mom…I can’t remember his name, the tall guy with almost no hair…Yves?...He apparently just got a job operating one of the ski lifts and his wife is a Urologist at the hospital… and then there’s us but everyone fits in and there’s no social standings, no false pride…it’s nice to be accepted for who you are as a person, not judged by how rich you are or are not …”

He put the brush back on the counter and leaned over to drop a kiss on top of her head.

“I think tomorrow we should go into Luzern and finish shopping. You aren’t going to tell me what you want, are you?”

“You mean right now or for Christmas?” she said with a grin, letting her robe fall open to expose a bit more cleavage.

“Wench!! Be careful or you’ll get a lump of coal in your stocking!”

“Wool and hooks.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want a selection of nice soft balls of wool and one of those cases with all the different sized crochet hooks. Mina, from the choir, is going to teach me how to crochet so I have something to do while you are on the tour…and I’m going to help her with some computer problems she’s been having.” She grinned at him and eluded his grasping hands to saunter into the bedroom, looking back over her shoulder as she let the robe fall off her shoulders and dropped it over the back of a chair.

Her birthmark wobbled as she knelt on the bed and crawled across to her side. She felt the bed move and looked back to find that he had followed her, very closely, in fact was about to bite her birthmark. They became entwined as she tried to move away but he caught her and proceeded with a Tickle Torture that had her screaming for mercy and laughing until the tears flowed.

“Now, young lady…I think you need to be punished for being just too damned sexy,” he said as he lay on her chest and stroked her hair back off her sweet face.

“Oh, please, Sir…be gentle with me,” she said with her best frightened imitation.

“You bet,” he whispered as he feathered kisses across her exposed neck, slowly making his way up to her waiting lips…and he was gentle for a long, long time.

**

“Urs will we be back in time for class? It’s the last one until the New Year and I really don’t want to miss it.”

She had called out to him as she came down the stairs, thinking he was in the kitchen making coffee.

He was just replacing the hand set in the cradle for the landline when she crossed the Lounge to the Kitchen.

“Sorry for yelling…I didn’t know you were on the phone.”

“No problem…coffees ready Luv…and the café is open for breakfast …what can I get you?”

“Have you already eaten? I must have changed my mind 4 times about what to wear today…that’s the problem with having more than tees and jeans in the closet…decisions, decisions, decisions.”

“Well I don’t know about the other outfits but that one is a winner. You look very… tasty. No, I waited for you…How about French toast? I won’t even complain when you put ketchup on it…I may shudder, but I won’t say anything.”

She laughed at the face he made.

“It’s the way my Da liked it and I kind of got in the habit. I think originally he did it just to gross my mother out and found he liked it. After all it is a fried egg and bread.”

“I’ll close my eyes…I was talking to Mami and asked her if she wanted to go with us, like you suggested but she has some friends coming over for a hair cutting session. They do each other, have done for years…I think Marta used to have a salon in Bern before she retired.”

He bustled about with a tea towel tucked into his jeans as an apron, whipping eggs in a bowl while the griddle area of the refurbished cooker warmed up.

Maggie liked to watch him work, his attention totally focused on what he was doing, his movements fluid and economical, of course well organized and efficient. His hair was wild and curly this morning, not tamed after his shower and kept falling forward until she rescued him and tied it back in a curly ponytail.

“Danke,” he said and took a second to lean toward her for a quick kiss.

“And the answer to your question earlier is Yes…we will be back for class…I don’t want to miss it either…I still hope that the timing works out so I can be here for you when the baby decides to make an appearance.”

They had been going to birthing class twice a week since returning from the U.S. and practicing what they learned nearly every day. Urs had helped her decide on what music she wanted played during delivery and they settled on some of his solo recordings as well as some classical piano pieces that Maggie found soothing.

By midmorning they were on the way to Luzern, another bright and clear day, traffic fairly heavy since most people were off work for the holidays, children were out of school and the outdoor markets were a big draw for people doing last minute shopping.

They parked centrally and wandered the stalls, opting to wait a bit for the farm produce, cheese and breads they wanted to buy since it would mean carrying heavy canvas bags all the way to the end of the stalls and then back. Maggie bought a few items at one of the handicraft booths, some finely woven place mats for the dining table, an antique copper bowl at another and managed to lose Urs long enough to buy a lovely old silver Harley belt buckle for his stocking….that, she tucked in a pocket so he wouldn’t be tempted to peek.

He rejoined her looking smug and she knew he had made his own secret purchase as well.

They snacked at one of the booths, sitting out on the edge of one of the Christmas displays, watching the happy people thronging along the wide street, stopping here and there to look or buy. A quartet of Carolers in costume made their way slowly along the street, serenading the shoppers, a juggler made his way along side a stilt walker…there was almost a Carnivale atmosphere to the day.

Eventually they made their way back, purchased the produce, cheese and bread they wanted and dropped their purchases off at the car before walking the short distance to the shopping district.

Here they separated, each wanting some private time and agreed to meet up at a handy café at 13h for lunch.

Maggie wandered a bit, just to be sure that Urs couldn’t see what store she was interested in, then darted into a jewelers that did custom work. She had been here with Inga even before the trip to London and the U.S. and was eager to see the piece she had asked to be made…the e.mail last week had informed it was ready and she so hoped that it would be as good as the sketch the young man had done.

Fifteen minutes later she was on the sidewalk again and heading to her next stop. By the third store her roomy canvas bag was full of wrapped gifts and she trekked back to the car to unload, keeping herself firmly in control when she saw that the boot now held elegantly wrapped packages…Urs had already been back and her fingers fairly itched to shake and squeeze…but she resisted and slammed the boot shut, checked her watch and realized that she still had half an hour before meeting him.

This time her stroll was leisurely, her goals already accomplished, though she did spot some last minute impulse gifts and after buying them had to walk faster to reach the café on time.

Early as always, Urs was waiting at a table for her and rose to give her a smile and a chaste kiss, helped her off with her coat and seated her, pouring her a mug of chocolate from the jug he had already ordered.

“They’re really busy so I ordered for us…Gerstensuppe since I know how you like it and a large chocolate Mousse to share for dessert…that okay?”

She smiled as she settled in her seat and sipped her chocolate.

“Perfect… you know me so well now…and I’m just a bit chilled so the suppe will be most welcome. How did your shopping go?”

He smirked a bit and said it had gone well.

“I saw the packages in the boot…and no, I didn’t touch, just shut the lid and came back… I’m pretty well done too, except…”

Their server interrupted with their soup, clearly disappointed that the handsome Swiss man now was accompanied by his lovely, and very pregnant, wife. She did however receive a Killer smile when he thanked her and went away happy.

“That’s evil, Urs…the poor young thing nearly fainted when you smiled at her.” Maggie shook her head at the devilish look her gave her as he pretended not to know what she was talking about.

“Except what?” he said changing the subject and reverting to her half finished conversation.

“Except?...oh yes…I keep thinking about that set of copper Raclette pots and how Mami would like them…Her old ones are getting kind of shabby and she said that they have hot spots now, that she really needs to replace them.”

“We can swing by there on our way back to the car. I think it’s an excellent idea, one Papa would appreciate too…you know how he loves Raclette.”

They finished their meal, making quick work of the delicious Mousse and stopped at the stall to purchase the pots for Mami, then headed home, mission accomplished, nothing too exciting, just sharing a nice day together, getting ready for their first Christmas.

CHAPTER EIGHTY

Christmas Eve!!! No matter how much work was done or how many times it seemed so far in the future, the magic night of Christmas Eve suddenly appeared, unheralded, here at last.

They had decided to stay at home for the evening and welcome the many friends and relatives who had indicated that they would be dropping by. Later they would be going to the church for the midnight service, meeting up with Inga and Nikolai, and in the morning would go to the old homestead to spend the day celebrating with family. Tonight they wanted to be home.

Maggie thought she could manage cross country skiing so they strapped on skis and Urs broke trail as they headed up the slope in the morning, wanting to check on the feed that Urs and Kosta had been providing for some of the wild life. He pulled a sled behind him on a long lead with bales of hay for the deer and suet balls for the birds.

It was lovely out, only a very light snow falling like tiny diamonds that sparkled in the bright sunlight. He paused often to check on Maggie’s progress and didn’t need to worry…her sense of balance was still pretty good and after all on this kind of terrain, cross country was like walking with a gliding shuffle. She grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up and they went on.

A tree had come down on the trail and Urs investigated it, saw that it had just been old age but it had disturbed a den where a marten had been hibernating. He slipped off his skis and distributed the hay bales, hooked the suet in the nearby tree branches and was ready to head back when Maggie caught up to him.

“We need to go back, Luv…that tree has woken a marten and he will likely be pretty grumpy. Best if we avoid meeting up with him.”

She looked where he had pointed and saw the tracks, fresh ones that hadn’t filled in with the new snow yet and nodded, trusting his knowledge of the forest far more than her own.

It was just as well that they turned back for her energy ran out about half way and Urs made her sit on the sled while he dragged it behind until the last hill when he took his skis off to join her, the skis tucked in beside their bodies as they slid down the last hill, laughing like children all the way to the terrace steps.

After lunch they spent some time in the Kitchen, fixing platters of sweets and preparing trays of appetizers to be heated later. Urs created some pleasing displays of condiments, pickles and olives, dips and crudités. He couldn’t remember ever having seen the china Maggie had set out for him and asked when they had bought it.

“We didn’t. Remember when I said that I was going to have some of the things my parents left me, shipped here. Well this is part of it. I left most of the furnishings on the farm but kept the silver and crystal, some old pieces that had special memories for me. Like that dessert stand…Mama used to bring that out whenever we had a special afternoon tea.”

He smiled at her, hoping to forestall any sad memories.

“She would have been very proud of the lovely woman you have become….and I think would have finally understood that you are not just a Lady but many women in one amazing person. I’m always proud of the chameleon-like way you have of adapting to your surroundings or the social setting, whether it’s crawling around through half finished construction sites, encouraging students in their pursuit of music. being an elegant, poised companion at stuffy social events or remaining calm and collected as you cover my back when someone is trying to shoot me.”

He had left the platters and wrapped her in his arms, inhaling the light fragrance of her and pulling her close to receive a good jab in his stomach from the baby who was practicing for the World Cup.

“Wow…that one was a goal, for sure.”

“Little blighter!!...he’s been really active the last few days and keeps kicking me in the bladder. I think I was up twice in the night to tinkle because of it,” she laughed and he responded.

“Three times… I always feel it when you abandon me.”

“According to the book,” they both began at the same time and broke into laughter. “…it’s a normal thing to happen and won’t last long…” Urs finished.

They had a light dinner and went upstairs to shower and change, deciding to get ready for the service now so they could spend more time with friends. Maggie chose a black matte jersey two piece, a calf length skirt with a long sleeved top that left her shoulders bare, her accessories her mother’s ruby earrings and a red rose bud spray that Urs had surprised her with at dinner…it would be suitable to wear with her choir robes later. Urs matched her, also in black, a Silk/cashmere blend turtle neck sweater with tailored trousers and for flash, an ornate belt buckle of silver and diamante clipped onto a snakeskin belt.

Both had subdued their hair, Urs’ pulled back and tied with a stretchy silk cord, Maggie’s in a twist at the nape of her neck.

He looked up as he finished pulling on his black snakeskin boots and caught her staring.

“What?” he asked with a grin as she shook her head and gave herself a little shake.

“It isn’t normal for a man to look so sexy just putting on a pair of boots. Maybe I should just turn off all the lights and hide you under the covers rather than sharing with all the not so fortunate other women.”

Urs laughed and came over to admire how she looked, spinning her around to get a view from all sides.

“And just what would we be doing with all that food we made then? You look lovely and elegant, little wife…Mein Gott but I have good taste in women!”

She swatted his shoulder playfully and they went down to open some wine to let it breathe. It was only a few minutes later that head lights swept over the front windows as their first guests arrived.

The fans came on automatically as Urs opened the French doors to watch the first arrivals park in the space he had plowed early in the day. The cold outside air was gently blown away from the open doors as Marc and Sonja came up the steps and received greetings from Maggie and Urs. They had both gone for dressy/casual tonight as well but it was evident that Marc had drawn the line at a tie as the end of it protruded from a coat pocket.

“It’s so nice to be out without the kids for a change,” Sonja said as she shrugged out of her long coat. “My Oma stayed with them, so I had to lock up all the sweets…she’s worse than the kids are.”

“Urs is like that…I have to watch him like a hawk…I find it really at odds with his ideas on a healthy lifestyle. Sonja I love that color on you and it’s very festive as well.” Indeed she did look very Christmasy with a bright green outfit that suited her coloring beautifully.

Urs took the coats to the library and came back to offer a choice of beverages. In the background a selection of Christmas music played, interspersed with classical pieces that everyone would be familiar with…though they had no idea that most of the piano and violin, as well as the harp music and some of the vocals were done by their hosts. in the studio.

They chatted for a few minutes before more company arrived and Urs went to meet them. Soon Dieter and his wife Chloe were sipping their white wine and laughing about some story that Marc had begun, Yanni had arrived, stag, and Franz arrived with Shannon, followed almost immediately by several others ….the Lounge was buzzing with conversations now as people drifted from one group to another, nibbling on the snacks that kept appearing as Maggie and some of the other ladies replenished from the prepared trays and platters in the pantry…Urs was in charge of the trays of appetizers and the piping hot morsels arrived in an endless stream without him being gone for more than a few moments now and then.

Marc asked him if he wanted a job in the café, since he seemed to be able to do the work magically, but Urs just smiled and claimed it was all in the organizing, and thanks, but he liked his current job.

No one did more than sip at their wine, slowly, since nearly all would be attending the services later and would need to drive back into town. The only exception was Enea who had just enough to come to Urs to apologize for his comments on that first ‘boys night out’. He told Maggie he was sorry as well, and though she didn’t know what for, she graciously asked that he not think of it again and assured him that she wouldn’t.

He went away happy and was actually pleasant to his rather plain and cowed wife as they circulated through the large room.

“Well done, my Lady…” Urs whispered in her ear.

“You aren’t going to explain are you?” she murmured, smiling back at one of the cousins across the room.

“Not in this lifetime,” he confirmed with a grin and sauntered off to see why Franz was waving at him.

Maggie went to the kitchen for a tray to do a sweep of the room for empty wine glasses but found that Mina had beat her to it and was just putting a load in the dishwasher.

“Mina, thank you so much…I have to ask you something….is this standard practice in Switzerland to help out at parties? This would never happen in the UK. Not that I’m complaining mind you…It’s great to be able to enjoy the party without working all the time.”

Mina laughed and gave her a hug.

“It’s common in Willisau among friends…and I think all of us like to feel that we are friends with you and Urs. Of course we’ve known the Bear forever, but you seemed to instantly fit in. If you were stuffy or snobby, then we would expect you to hire some of our local teens to do the work.”

Maggie blushed and thanked her for answering and for making her feel so welcome in the community.

“I have to admit though that I’ve contacted a couple of the kids who work for Marc and asked them to work the New Year’s Eve party…. Not because it will be all that posh but there will be more drinking and lots of food…and I hope even more people. You are coming aren’t you?”

Mina looked a bit disconcerted.

“I hadn’t decided…I don’t have a date and it’s not the sort of thing you want to go to alone.”

Maggie watched her as she finished with the dishwasher and wiped out the tray.

Mina was taller, maybe about 5 foot 6 or 7 but about the same age as Maggie. She had grown up in Willisau, married and in less than a year of the wedding had been widowed when her husband was killed in a plane crash. Still under 30, she kept busy, working as a lab technician at the hospital, working out at the local gym and belonged to the choir, which of course, is where they met. She was really quite attractive, with shoulder length dark brown hair worn in an old fashioned page-boy that suited her elfin features, and a nicely toned body from the gym and the hiking she loved to do. An inkling of an idea began to form in Maggie’s head and she smiled as she thought of it. After all, look at the success she had achieved with matchmaking for Seb and David.

**

With typical Swiss punctuality the party broke up just in time for the parents of older children to go home to pick up their broods and the others left a few minutes later, going straight to the little church.

Maggie and Urs separated at the steps as she went around the side to enter and don her robes and he joined his parents in their pew. He had been asked to contribute tonight as a guest soloist but declined, saying her preferred to just be one of the parishioners tonight and that it was his wife’s night to shine.

Taped music was playing softly as he went inside and sat down next to Mami, nodding hello to Papa and looking around at all the familiar faces. It felt so good to be here, in this place where before he began traveling so much with schooling and work, he had spent every Christmas Eve since he was around 8 years of age. He had let his practice of religion slide and he felt guilty…not that his beliefs had faded or changed but as he himself changed and grew older, life seemed to always interfere with the actual practice. He wondered, as he often had over the past year, why God was being so good to him? There were others that deserved to be happy and were not, others that had done more…

He dropped quietly to his knees on the cushioned ledge meant for just this purpose and rested his head against his clasped hands, opening his heart to his Maker in thanks for the blessings he had taken for granted over the past few years…and especially for the joys in his life since that day he had seen the amazing, blind woman who was now his wife, coaxing glorious sounds out of her students. He faintly heard the choir coming in as he finished and moved back into his seat, accepting the tissue Mami handed him unobtrusively and wiping his cheeks.

Unlike the usual Sunday service, tonight the choir came in through the main doors of the church and walked slowly down the center aisle, past the congregation who had come too late to find seats and were standing near the back and on the sides. They were singing ‘While Shepherds Watched’ to the accompaniment of the small chamber orchestra who had come in quietly and taken their places. Everyone stood as they entered, followed closely by the priest in his robes and his altar boys on each side.

Urs spotted Maggie immediately even though she was near the back of the choir and shorter than most of the members. She met his eyes and twinkled a smile at him but was busily singing counterpoint to the altos melody and trying to look professional. He thought she looked angelic in her white surplice, carrying a hymnal which he was sure she didn’t need but everyone else had one, so for symmetry she carried one too.

They filed in the tiers, the taller men filling the back first, at the last the soloist and sopranos filling the front. With perfect timing the song finished and the congregation sat, adjusting themselves in their seats with a little noise of shuffling. The priest was busy for a few minutes and the choir bowed their heads in prayer, sitting back at a signal from the choirmaster and beginning a medley of hymns: When a Child is born; What Child is this?; The first Noel.

Father Alberni stepped up to the pulpit as the choir quieted and smiled at the congregation.

“Tonight we come together to celebrate the birth of a child…the son of God, sent to offer eternal life to all who believe and come to him. There will be no sermon on this night, so those of you who were looking forward to a nap will have to wait until you are home again.” He waited for the laughter he knew would ripple through the pews then went on.

“Instead, on this blessed night, we celebrate in song and love the birth of our Saviour, re-newing our commitment through communion and raising our voices in love and gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon us.”

He stepped down and took a seat off to one side, flanked by his altar boys as the choir stood and began a rendition of ‘Zion’s Daughter’.

Urs could detect Maggie’s influence, the slightly up tempo beat a give away and refreshing to the staid classic. He smiled as Mami took his hand and squeezed, glanced at her and saw that she was smiling and tapping her foot to the tempo.

Most of the congregation joined in for the next song, ‘O Come All ye Faithful’, filling the candlelit building with joyous song but still he could pick Maggie’s voice out from the others as she sang a madrigal to the melody, harmonizing beautifully. He added his voice to the swell from the pews and saw her glance, briefly, at him.

Now the choir resumed their seats and the musicians began the intro for ‘O Holy Night’. Urs felt his stomach tighten. This was Maggie’s solo. He knew that she would do it justice but still he worried…she wasn’t used to performing solo…was she nervous? …would she make a mistake, forget her lines, hit a sour note? He gritted his teeth, more nervous than he was before a performance himself.

He saw her rise, almost in slow motion, and take in a breath, dropping her jaw slightly to open her throat and she began to sing. Every note was perfect, reaching to the closed door of the church, wrapping around the congregation, caressing their senses, soaring to impossible top notes, mellow in the lower ranges and then soaring again.

When the final notes died away he was able to breathe again. Maggie calmly resumed her seat as Father Alberni took his place in front of the altar and began the ritual for communion. First the choir received the wafer, wine and blessing, then the musicians and finally he came to the railing where some of the parishioners waited and began down the line of kneeling supplicants.

Softly at first, the choir, with Maggie as soloist again sang ‘Panis Angelicus’, then just as the last few, including Urs, received communion Maggie sang Gounod’s Ave Maria, accompanied only by the harp.

They followed with ‘Silent Night’ while the priest put away the chalice and some of his vestments. He returned to the pulpit to pronounce the Blessing and began slowly to walk back down the center aisle, pausing often to speak to the parishioners while the choir sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. As he reached the vestibule and stopped the choir began their opening hymn, While Shepherds Watched and filed out of the tiers, following the priest. They were just finishing up in the vestibule when the congregation filed out, shrugging into coats and talking quietly, happy, full of the Christmas spirit, hugging friends and relatives, promising to drop by over the next few days.

Maggie was gone with most of the others when the Buhlers made it to the entry and he bid them Good Night and waited for her to come around the side of the church. She appeared in a clutch of other singers, every one laughing, pleased with the way the night had gone.

Her face lit up when she saw him and once again he felt his heart lurch at the love he always saw on her face when she spotted him.

She said a hasty good night to the others and fairly flew into his arms.

“Don’t talk, just let me hold you,” he said as he buried his face in her hair.

After a moment the constriction in his throat eased and he murmured against her head.

“Tonight was so special for me…. I’m always proud of you, but never more so than tonight. Tonight I remembered to really thank the Lord for bringing you to me, for giving us the opportunity to have a lifetime of love. This is a very special Christmas for us, Beloved, in so many ways.”

She hugged him so hard he thought he might break in two, then looked up and smiled and his world tilted.

“Let’s go home,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to the car, both waving and calling out Merry Christmas to friends as above them the stars shone down on the little church and twinkled.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

She woke to the scent of roses, opening her eyes slowly and looking first at the dear face beside her. He was feigning sleep… she knew that face so well now that he couldn’t fool her. She turned her head and glanced around their suite….Yes!!! Brilliant red roses in a selection of crystal vases had been placed around the room, on the dresser, the table beside the small sofa, on the round table where they sometimes shared a late night snack, even on the vanity in the bathroom, the vase and contents just visible through the open door. One perfect rose-bud was in a lovely bud vase on her bedside stand and she reached out to touch it, inhaling the heady scent in the room and murmuring, just loud enough for him to hear… “My Lover must have brought these for me in the night…”

Warm, strong arms scooped her body up and pulled her back against a firm chest. In her ear she heard his husky voice and she nestled closer, turning to face him and resting her breasts and belly on his torso when he lay back in the bed.

“Your Lover had them hidden in the wine cellar and tiptoed from the room while you slept to fetch them. Merry Christmas, my own sweet wife.”

He gave her no chance to answer as his lips claimed hers in a gentle, yet passionate kiss, changing position yet again as he rolled them over and engulfed her with his body.

“Merry Christmas, my Beloved. Thank you for the roses…what a lovely…surprise….oh!! ….. OH, Urs!!...more please!!”

“Open your eyes, Liebe…I want to watch how they change while I love you.”

She opened her eyes, dark and heavy lidded with the emotion he was creating in her. The glow in his almond eyes swamped her, that sultry burn of desire, passion and undying love that made her pulse beat faster, made speech impossible. He raised his torso on his bent arms and leaned over her bump to taste her mouth again, her hands resting on his abs, savoring the movement of his muscles, clutching at him as he consumed her so totally that the rest of the world faded.

**

“Coffee first or presents?” he asked when they came out of a passion induced fog quite a while later.

They were sitting in the center of the tousled bed, still wrapped together with Maggie on his lap and her legs laying loosely now around his butt. He was breathing against her neck, making her tremble and she laughed before answering.

“If you don’t stop that we may never get out of this bed…anyway, does that mean more presents? You’ll have to go some to beat what you already gave me, Rock god.”

He chuckled and lifted her to the edge of the bed, hopping off, donning shorts and a tee shirt and holding her white wrap-around robe open.

She slipped into it and followed him down the stairs, into the kitchen to make coffee and tease him about being impatient.

“I want my stocking,” he whined in his little boy voice and she waved at him.

“Go get it then.”

“No, I want to wait for you…is that nearly ready?”

“It would be faster if you got the mugs out and a tray to carry everything on.”

Finally they made it into the Lounge and took their stockings from the mantle, poured coffee and Urs took one sip before starting to pull items out of his.

Candy of course, copious amounts, a little leather box from the Lucerne jewelers that, when opened, revealed a silver chain with a Harley on it and his name inscribed on the back, the newest Ozzy Osborne CD, and another which was simply labeled “Because I love You”. There were some frig magnets with joke sayings…’Being a Papa doesn’t stop with conception…Papa, also known as the Bank… If you aren’t grown up by 40, that means you never have to!’ And what looked to be a humorous book entitled, “Father hood or How to raise your own playmate”.

Urs took the CD she had made for him and put it in the player then returned to watch her dig everything out of her stocking, putting the chain with the Harley around his neck and admiring the pendant with a grin.

She found a tin of her favorite mints, the ones with the little green jelly in the center, a carefully wrapped, exquisitely carved crystal figurine of Mama and Papa Bear with a baby in the mother’s arms, a CD of Vladamir Ashkenazy playing Beethoven, a video of the kids from school at their last performance, and an envelope which contained an invitation to a breeder’s kennels to choose a great Pyrenees puppy.

“You got me a puppy!!” she shrieked and threw herself on him, nearly choking him and kissing his laughing face.

“So you like the idea then? Phew…I was worried about that one!”

“I know why, of course, but I’m over the terrible, brave way that Jessie died and now it’s time to move on. I miss having a dog to be my buddy…how did you know I’ve always wanted a Great Pyrenees but wouldn’t have one in the city?”

“Simon…he told me once about when you were a teen, how you had to be talked out of it because they need room to run…and the breeder says that they make great companions for children too, very protective when they are raised with them.”

He rose and went to the tree to bring back a large box wrapped in gold paper and set it in front of her.

She began taking the paper off, carefully until he groaned and threw his hands in the air.

“Rip it off…the suspense is killing me!”

Seconds later the wrapping was gone and inside the carton she found …wool, soft and cuddly, every color of the rainbow, plus skeins of black, a soft cloth bag that when opened had legs to stand beside a chair, and a leather folder with graduated sizes of crochet hooks, one side holding plastic hooks, the other metal. In the bottom of the box was a selection of books on crocheting and another bag of fine baby wool, all white.

“Mina suggested the colors…she said that the first thing new crafters usually make is these small squares in multi colors and then they put them together to make an afghan…like the one Mami has on her chair in the Lounge. I thought you might like some baby wool too since I know what a quick study you are.”

Maggie dragged him to the tree and nudged a rather large, heavy package toward him. Without much finesse Urs ripped the bright red foil wrap off and found a tool kit with the Triumph motorcycle logo on the side….it contained all the calibrated tools he had coveted for so long, making do with other less accurate tools in his efforts to re-furbish his antique bike. Now he would be able to do it easily when the tour was over.

He reached into the branches of the tree when he had thoroughly thanked Maggie until her lips were swollen and her head reeling, found the small silver wrapped package he wanted and came to sit cross legged beside her. The card read simply ‘To the woman I will love forever’.

The box inside was covered in dark brown velvet and when she opened it a piece of gold silk covered the jewels resting on a bed of gold satin. Maggie had never seen anything like it except in places like Cartiers or other fine London jewelers. The pendant and ring matched, each with a large center stone of flashing blue Aquamarine, each ringed first with a circle of fiery white diamonds and ringed again with the very rare chocolate diamonds, all set in white gold.

“The Aquamarine and white diamonds is because one or the other will be the Baby’s birthstone and the chocolate diamonds…well, that’s because you are both so precious to me.”

He took the ring out and placed it on her right hand…of course it fit perfectly and he helped her put the pendant around her neck, pleased that the jewel rested nicely just above her cleavage, as he had hoped.

Now it was his turn and Maggie gave him a small box…just a bit too big to be jewelry he thought as he opened it…but he was mistaken. There were in fact two boxes…the first one he opened containing a provenance of authenticity but Maggie insisted he open the second one before he read it or even moved that folded paper.

In the second box he found a silver ring resting gloriously against the black velvet lining, a man’s ring, large and fashioned of handcrafted silver, the setting for the large, Pigeon Blood ruby formed of bezels that held the stone up to the light.

“Mein gott…I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“It’s your birthstone, of course you knew that,” she said, a bit nervous since he really didn’t often wear much except Harley stuff. “Years ago, when Myanmar was still called Burma, my Da was in the Mogok Valley and he bought a large, raw Ruby stone from an old farmer who had found it when he removed some boulders in his field. He had always meant to have something done with it but didn’t get around to it and of course it passed on to me. It symbolizes passionate love, so I thought it would be appropriate for me to have it set and give it to you. The jeweler in Luzern nearly passed out when I showed it to him and he put the shards that were left over in the second box with the provenance ….oh and with a photo of the original stone.”

Urs looked in the box, lifting the provenance out and sure enough there was a photo and numerous pieces of rough stone in various sizes. He glanced at the paper and noticed with a gulp that the polished stone in the ring weighed 3.04 carats.

“I’m honored that you would share some of your Da with me in this way, Luv.” She took the ring and placed it on his right hand, then wiped the tears off her face and kissed his away.

“Aren’t we the silly ones…this is supposed to be a happy day,” she said, inching closer and he unfolded his legs to let her sit between them and lean back against his chest.

“That’s another thing you’ve taught me, my little Love…that sometimes it’s alright to cry for Happy….and I am.” He cocked his head on the side, listening to the track that was playing and looked down at her in surprise.

“When did you do this track? You sound like your heart is breaking.”

“It was…when you left for Dublin that time for the recording session…I thought I would die for a while, to ever be with you seemed so unlikely. When I finished the track I burst into tears and the kids didn’t know what was the matter with me.”

He got up and took her to one of their big comfortable chairs, then started the track again and came back to hold her close, snuggled on his lap.

To Love you More

‘Take me back into the arms I love
Need me like you did before
Touch me once again
And remember when
There was no one that you wanted more.
Don’t go, you know you will break my heart
She won’t love you like I will
I’m the one who’ll stay
When she walks away
And you know I’ll be standing here still

I’ll be waiting for you
Here inside my heart.
I’m the one who wants to love you more.
You will see I can give you
Everything you need
Let me be the one who loves you more.

See me, as if you never knew
Hold me, so you can’t let go
Just believe in me
I will make you see
All the things that your heart needs to know.

I’ll be waiting for you
Here inside my heart.
I’m the one who wants to love you more
You will see I can give you
Everything you need
Let me be the one to love you more.’

He kissed the top of her head as she rested against him.

“I’m sorry for putting you through that. I was so confused…you awakened feelings in me that scared me senseless….just looking at you made my body react and when I touched you, I felt on fire with need. I tried to convince myself that it was just sex, just forbidden fruit, that I had to be faithful to Celeste, that I loved her, but the feelings I had for her before I met you were so pale in comparison. When we came back and I found out that you felt the same way….I would have waited forever for you to give yourself to me.”

She laughed and looked up at his serious face.

“You nearly drove me crazy, romancing me and making me wait until after the Ball.”

“It’s too late now for regrets, Little Luv. You are well and truly mine.”

“My only regret is wasting all that time….. I do love you, Urs and I always will.”

“And I love you, now and forever.”

He carried her back up to the bedroom. Eventually they showered and dressed, then went back down to have breakfast and get the packages and food they were taking to Mami’s ready to go. Both put some dressier clothing in a small case for the dinner since they didn’t want to spend the day in fancy clothing…jeans were more appropriate for sitting on the floor with the children and helping get the big dinner ready.

The driveway was filled with vehicles already and they had to park on the main road and walk in. Urs had guessed that this would happen and came prepared with the sled and proceeded to pile everything they had brought onto it, bungeed it down securely and they made their way up to the house, admiring the decorated trees in the yard as they approached.

A group of children were playing on the gentle hills behind the house when they rounded the building, calling out greetings when they spotted Urs and Maggie, a couple of the boys actually sending snowballs in their direction until an older man came out and told them to stop.

“They’ve got food and presents…wait until we get that inside.”

Maggie recognized him but was hard to put to match up a name with the face until Urs shook hands with him.

“Onkel Oscar…I’m surprised to see you here so early.”

Oscar hugged Maggie and kissed her cheeks.

“That old woman of mine wouldn’t let me sleep…she gets bossier every year. Come let me give you a hand with that.”

The two men shooed Maggie inside and made two trips with the contents of the sled, then Urs took it out to the kids to use, pelting the older boys with snowballs and then running before they could score a good hit on him.

He went inside and shed his snowy jacket and boots, leaving them in the entry on the already full hooks and shelves. The first step into the Kitchen had memory filling his head as he breathed in the scents of cookies and pine, hot chocolate and baking ham with spices…all the scents from his childhood. He stopped for a moment and inhaled, remembering, then looked around at the faces he knew so well.

Maggie, Stasia, Stephanie and Inga were laughing over something in the Kitchen, Aunt Sophia was holding court at the counter with Emmie and a dark haired young man, probably Henri. He heard a baby crying in the Lounge and looked to see Papa taking the youngest of the arrivals from Astrid and cuddling the little girl while Franz looked on, Onkel Luc was involved in a silent chess match with 9 year old cousin Alain who kept looking to Tante Erica for help…the crying ceased instantly and he smiled. Papa always had a way with the babies. One of the preteen cousins was playing an etude on the piano while an even younger nephew tried to keep up on the violin, doing well but just a bit hard on the ears yet.

It was wonderful…it was Christmas, unchanged and as he remembered it.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

They were home late in the evening, still stuffed to the ears from the excellent family dinner and full of the glow of excitement that sharing gifts and food with family always incurred.

Everyone had admired their new jewelry, the presents they had made or bought were well received, in fact Mami insisted on playing the CD they had made several times, and the heart felt gifts they had been given by family had made Maggie cry, but ‘Happy tears’ at the thoughtfulness. She had never experienced a Christmas like it, not even at the school since most of the children went home for the holidays and she knew that for the next 12 months she would be looking forward to the next one.

Urs had burned off some of the lethargy from the heavy meal by going out with the children when they resumed their snowy activities. He came back in after an hour, completely drenched with snow, even inside his heavy jacket and down his boots, so much so that he had to change to some old clothing while his joined those of the other combatants in the tumble dryer.

Now they were home, showered and changed into robes and relaxing in front of the fireplace, talking about the day and easing into the planning for New Years Eve. Kostas and Heidi would be back from Greece the next day and they would have a delayed celebration and sharing of gifts with them, the invitations to the year end party had already been distributed, the staff hired, even some of the food prepared and frozen…now all that remained was insuring that the final touches fell into place…including Maggie’s current attempt at match making.

“Urs, has Yanni indicated if he will be bringing anyone with him for New Years Eve?” she asked, trying to keep her voice casual but he knew her too well.

He glanced down at her where she rested against him on the sofa and grinned.

“What are you up to? He told me he’ll be coming stag…he broke it off with that tart he was seeing, said that she couldn’t string more than six intelligent words together, so I think we can guess what the initial attraction was. You were thinking Mina, right?”

She sighed at being so obvious and hoped that Yanni wasn’t as perceptive as her husband.

“She’s pretty, intelligent, fun to be with…perfect for him in my humble opinion…she likes the outdoors and…”

“I agree…what can I do to help with your matchmaking?”

“Just like that? No arguments?”

“Just like that…after all, you have a great track record… and I like her….she’s a very caring person. I planned on asking Yanni, Franz and Marc over to play poker while you are at choir practice…why don’t you manage to get Mina to come in for a few minutes when you come home and we’ll see what happens.”

“And Kosta…Heidi wants to join the choir too, so she will be going along. Excellent idea, Mein Kupplerin…we make a good team.”

“Well done…that’s a new German word for you, isn’t it?”

She laughed and blushed a bit.

“I knew you would call me a matchmaker so I looked it up in that little German dictionary that Shannon gave me.”

“And what does this mean?” he asked and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh and blush.

“Could it have something to do with why I’m in this condition? I seem to recall hearing it a few times.”

“Let me refresh your memory, Mein SuBspeisen Man {my Sweet One},” he replied, tasting her neck and pushing her robe off her shoulders to leave a trail of kisses down her back. The fire that was never far under the surface, exploded in her at his touch and she moved his hands to quell the ache that he had caused. Without conscious thought, the lines from the song she had recorded came to her and she smiled thinking how true they were, for both of them.

‘You will see, I can give you
Everything you need…
Let me be the one to love you more.’

**

With perfect Swiss timing Urs wrapped up the poker game just as Maggie arrived back from choir practice. Mina hadn’t been difficult to convince that she should come in for a coffee, though she had been slightly nervous when she realized that Yanni was there. Maggie had learned, through some very adept, casual conversation that the pretty widow found him very attractive and had enjoyed being in his company the few times they had met, though it was always in the company of another woman and their conversations had been limited.

They were all still sitting at the cleared poker table when the girls came in and Urs rose to add two more chairs, placing one between Yanni and himself for Mina and one on his other side that he held out for Maggie.

Kosta excused himself, going home to the cottage when he learned that Heidi had gone directly there and shortly after, both Marc and Franz left, claiming an early work day in the morning.

Urs went to the kitchen for fresh coffee and Maggie suggested dessert, so she joined him. They were gone several minutes and came back to find their targets laughing over something, talking easily, completely engrossed in each other.

It wasn’t long before the coffee had been finished, the desserts consumed and Urs made a point of being observed glancing at his watch.

“Mina, did you drive out? No…Yanni, could I ask you to give Mina a ride back in to town? It would save me the trip and since you’re going in anyway…”

“My pleasure…Sorry…I didn’t realize how late it had become. Thanks for the nice evening, Urs…and for your money.” As the big winner of the friendly game, he was not above rubbing salt in the wounds over the way he could always read Urs’ face…bluffing, for Urs, was impossible.

They were both grinning about their machinations going so well as they tidied up and headed off to bed, hoping that all would go well…the ball, now, was definitely in Yanni’s court.

**

Sebastien, Geena, David, Petra and Paul all arrived within minutes of each other on the 29th and Urs met them at the airport in Luzern. Seb had decided to rent a car, so they spent a few minutes getting that paperwork done, then the two vehicles headed toward Willisau.

Urs glanced out of the side of his twinkling eye at David who sat beside him and smiled.

“Still mad, Stretch?” he asked and David grinned.

“You should know me better than that, Yodeler. I don’t get mad…I get even!”

“Just don’t spoil Maggie’s first big party….she’s put a lot into this do. It’s the first time for her…she’s been hostess at a few of Simon’s gatherings over the years but never had more to do before than to look beautiful.”

David sighed but promised to behave.

“Urs, are you sure you won’t be cramped with so many of us staying over?” Petra said from the back seat where she was amusing Paul in his car seat. “We could book into a hotel, if it’s more convenient.”

Urs chuckled. He had told his friends very little about the house, a bit of the details about the décor and special pieces but had shown them no photos or expanded on just how big it was.

“We have enough room, Pet…don’t forget, I’m Swiss and believe in preplanning…and we want a large family. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

They drove through Willisau and David pointed out some of the interesting spots he remembered from an earlier trip. Urs waved at a few friends who recognized the car and greeted him then suddenly they were outside of town on the road leading to the farm.

It was mid day but Maggie had turned on the decorated trees and terrace and the house glowed with welcome as they approached.

“WOW!! Urs this is awesome!” David said and from the back, Petra gasped and said it was like something out of a fairytale.

They parked out back near the terrace, Seb and Geena parking right beside the Volvo and Maggie came out to greet them, looking excited and swollen in her ‘work’ clothes of skinny jeans and a flowing red top that flared out over her bump.

There was a lot of hugging and laughing as they collected Paul and the men grabbed all the luggage involved in traveling with children and they made their way into the house.

Coats and boots were discarded in the entry and Paul was turned loose when Maggie ensured Pet that there was nothing he could hurt, including himself. They had been very careful to make the house ‘child friendly’ out of deference to their many relatives with children and their own plans.

Kosta appeared from where he had been stacking firewood in the niches on each side of the fireplace and offered to help with the luggage, so Urs, Seb and David helped take it upstairs while Maggie played hostess.

The kitchen was busy, Heidi and 3 teenage girls worked at creating appetizers to be put in the cold room of the pantry to be heated at the last minute on the night of the party.

“I put an urn of coffee and some platters of sweets in the games room, in case anyone wants a nibble,” she told Maggie, a gentle hint that she wanted no more people in the kitchen, so the ladies toured the spacious Lounge then went into the games room to look around.

“How many fireplaces do you have?” Geena asked when they entered and she spotted the crackling fire in the far wall.

“Five, but this one is the other side of the one in the Lounge. We don’t really need them for heat but…well they create a very romantic setting.”

She blushed and her friends laughed at her.

There was a seating arrangement in front of the fire, a fluffy deep brown rug on the floor in front and the marble topped, tree trunk based table handy to the sofa…beyond the sofa was a billiards table, off to the side was a large poker table which could be made bigger or smaller with fold out leaves, shelving of games, additional chairs and tables with chess boards and backgammon sets around the room, an ever running Stereo and a plasma TV behind a large painting over the mantle. As with the Lounge the room had been furnished with conversation areas, with the addition to the comfortable chairs of tables that could be used for board games or drinks. A long wooden slab, like the dining room table, bisected one end of the room and fronted a bar with all the usual stools and glasses, and racks for bottles, refrigeration neatly tucked into the wooden counters for beer and sodas…this was Urs domain, even though he wasn’t much of a drinker, he seemed to be skilled at organizing everything a person could want in a home bar…and more.

The guys joined them just as Maggie opened a cupboard and pulled out a basket crammed full of toys that Paul immediately began to pile on the floor. He looked up at her with a big grin, then went back to investigating absolutely everything, climbed in the empty basket and began making ‘Vroom’ noises as if he were driving.

She smiled as she joined Pet and Geena in one of the arrangements of chairs.

“They all do that…give them a box of toys and they prefer to play with the box,” she said with a shake of her head.

The men came back downstairs as the ladies were visiting, catching up on all the latest news and what they had done for Christmas. Kosta went off to finish the list of chores he had decided to do today while Urs followed the sounds of laughter and led Seb and David to the games room.

“Pet, you are just going to love our room…it’s done in your favorite colors, greens and Urs moved in a convertible crib for Paul…. We may never leave…this place is fantastic. Urs says there’s even a studio.”

Curiosity got the best of Geena and Petra so Maggie took them on a tour of the upstairs, offering a peek into all the rooms: Copper for Seb and Geena, Green for Petra, Paul and David with Paul’s convertible crib placed in the large dressing room to give them privacy if needed, Blue for Carlos and Gerry, plus the Yellow, Tangerine, Eggplant Rooms and the Nursery with the accompanying small rooms designed for a nanny if they ever decided to have one. There was a large space at the far end of the corridor that had been designed as a play area but so far had little in it, other than the overflow of stuffed animals that Urs seldom came back from shopping without purchasing an addition or 6.

“You two really are serious about having a large family aren’t you?” Geena said with a smile and accompanying head and eye roll.

“Well it will take a few years but, yes. We want to have a few the regular way and if the opportunity arises also adopt…until then, when Urs isn’t touring, we would like to have some students stay with us for private tutoring, so we need the rooms for that as well.”

They found the men all slouched in the comfy chairs, talking, nursing beers, the stereo on and playing Maggie’s CD present to Urs and she blushed when David said she should consider doing one for release.

“I don’t think so… I’m happy doing what I do and singing because I love to… I tend to sing most when I’m happy and lately that’s all the time.”

“We wondered if you guys would like to help dress the house a bit for New Years? You know, change some of the decorations for gold and silver things, more in keeping with a New Years celebration. I’m amazed at how much fun it was doing the Christmas stuff. We could do it tomorrow then I have to pick Gerry and Carlos up at the airport at just after 2100h.”

Urs looked around hopefully as he returned from the bar with glasses of red wine for the Ladies and parked his lean frame beside Maggie on the sofa.

Sebastien quietly watched his Swiss friend, seeing the subtle differences at once. Urs looked healthier than he had ever seen him before, less stressed, more open and content with his life. He was tanned more, too, as if he had been spending a fair amount of time out of doors, his mobile face quick to smile, the real, crinkled-up-eyes look that was not often seen when they had to make appearances. His arm was around Maggie, fingers playing in her hair, something that Seb thought Urs wasn’t even conscious of doing, and he had the habit of turning his head to smile at her often, following her movements when she left the room for a moment, aware instantly when she returned and holding his hand out to her to come back to him.

Seb smiled as he watched, thinking that anyone watching him would see a similarity…he felt and acted like that with Geena.

“So how fancy is this New Year’s Ball?” David asked, hoping for a no-tie look but willing if the others were.

“Dressy, casual,” Urs said, firmly adding “No ties unless it’s your thing. Cocktail outfits for the gals, as fancy as they like, just so long as they show a lot of cleavage…I’m really into cleavages lately.”

As he had expected this got a rise out of Maggie…her rapidly expanding chest had meant yet another trip to the lingerie store and was a rather sensitive subject with her. He did love to push her buttons about it.

“Looking is okay,” she said with a frown, “but touching is a definite NO!NO!”

David grinned and shook his head.

“Not to worry, Mags…the Swiss has always been into cleavages…it’s probably the first thing he noticed about you.”

“The second,” Urs murmured when the laughter died down.

“What was the first?” Sebastien was brave enough to ask, but Urs refused to answer though he was teased mercilessly.

He was saved further teasing by the arrival of Heidi who informed Maggie that the girls were done in the kitchen for the day and she was going to take them home in the Volvo. Dinner was in the oven and would be another half an hour and they were on their own …she was going straight to the cottage when she got back.

Urs helped Maggie get out of the soft chair and she hugged Heidi, thanking her for all her help today, promising to help out more herself tomorrow while the others decorated the house.

Dinner was simple that night and they laughed and talked throughout the meal of twice baked potatoes, leftover glazed ham that Mami had sent home with them, Tortiere that melted in the mouth, the crust was so tender, veggies done to perfection then sprinkled with herbs just before serving, Caprizzi salad with just the right amount of Balsamic dressing and a multitude of desserts that the diners could choose from…little two bite cheescakes with assorted toppings, petit fours that fairly oozed with icings, Tassies with nuts, with chocolate, with conserves, with mousse and baskets of cookies of nearly every shape and variety.

Urs was in heaven and complained that when they were gone he wouldn’t get fed this well, but he was ignored since he didn’t look in the least undernourished.

They cleaned up, putting the leftovers, what few there were, in the frigs and taking the last of the desserts with them to the games room to watch a movie and sip at yet more wine {juice for Maggie of course} or beer. Paul was sleeping on one of the sofas, dressed in his PJs and snuggled up with his favorite toy and David covered him with a throw before settling down to watch with Petra.

It was good to relax and just be with friends, no pressure of appearances or performances looming the next day, no responsibilities except to themselves. Life was good.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

“I have this sudden urge to dance with the most elegant, prettiest lady in the room,” a voice whispered in Maggie’s ear as she scanned the room, looking for anyone who looked unhappy or lonely or hungry or without a drink.

She jumped and turned her head to find Urs smiling at her, looking incredibly suave and happy.

“You don’t dance, remember?” she said with a cheeky grin even as she turned, her lacy white gown fluttering with the movement. She lay her hand, with the stunning Aguamarine and chocolate diamond ring flashing fire in the candle glow, against the silky softness of his silvery grey boat necked sweater, then along the darker grey of his form fitting Armani merino suit. Tonight he was wearing his ruby ring and it looked perfect on his long fingered, elegant hands.

“You look good enough to nibble on tonight, my Knight in shining Armani.”

“Just trying to keep up with my lovely wife….dance with me Maggie…it’s a slow one, so your feet are safe.”

It had been an amazing party so far. The decorating of the house had gone well, with their friends gaining more and more enthusiasm once they got started. Carlos and Gerry had arrived and been welcomed by the early arrivals, did the house tour and last night they had sat up for hours talking about Christmas, babies, the tour, the possibility of skiing, though Gerry wasn’t keen on that.

Today had been a surprisingly easy day. Everything was ready, Mina had called to tell Maggie that Yanni had asked her to accompany him to the party and everyone, even Carlos was ready in plenty of time for a pre-party drink.

Urs had arranged for Ilia and his sons to provide transport from Willisau so their guests wouldn’t have to worry about driving. The 4 large, ten person sleighs ran back and forth from the main square to Irgendwo every 15 minutes, ferrying people in comfort under thick woolen rugs, bells jingling and people laughing at the experience on the way and soon after the appointed time of 20h the house began to really fill up. It seemed that half of Willisau, and possibly some of the outlying areas of the Canton, had put on their best fancy duds and come to celebrate the New Year.

The food was well received and served perfectly by the cadre of teens that Maggie had provided, people were dancing, sitting around in groups visiting, a few of the men had decided on a game of billiards and the younger members of the guests had parked in front of the giant TV screen with stashes of snacks and sodas, watching some videos that hadn’t made it to the local rental stores yet. A friend of Franz and Urs had come out to DJ the music and was doing an excellent job of mixing the tracks, some for the older crowd, a few for the younger at heart. Some of the guests were staying right through until midnight or later, others had more parties to drop in on and stayed for an hour then left, reluctantly since they had been having a good time.

Urs held Maggie close, inhaling that scent he loved and sighed, happy to at last have a few moments to hold his wife in his arms. He saw David and Petra talking to Tante Sophia over by the fireplace, at a guess, from the way his hands were moving, telling her about the chivaree. As always the tall American wore his clothes well, even though the jacket was long gone but there was no mistaking the tailored fit of his Alexander Lloyd black Egyptian cotton shirt or the cut of his pleated front black trousers. Petra, also in black but a shimmering beaded outfit that skimmed her tall body to the knees, laughed and added something to the conversation, patting David on the arm in comfort.

Seb and Geena had disappeared somewhere but Carlos, in formal black but without a tie against his white silk shirt, and Gerry in a sweet silver number that showed off her petite figure perfectly, were in an earnest conversation over by the Christmas tree with Yanni and Mina. That had gone very well.

Several times during the evening he had seen the new couple, sitting together talking, sharing a plate of appetizers, dancing, at first very sedately then as the night progressed close contact improved until they had been spotted dancing as if bonded together. Yanni had that gob-smacked look of a man who has suddenly discovered a treasure right before his eyes and Mina looked sweetly happy enough to burst.

“Our little plan worked,” he whispered in Maggie’s ear as they swayed across the floor.

She smiled up at him.

“I know…I bumped into Mina in the lav and she nearly squeezed me to pieces…” she frowned and sighed and he asked why.

“I just wish that Simon could have come…I was really disappointed when he called to say he was going to be stuck in the U.S. Maybe next year.”

“I haven’t seen Seb and Geena in a while…do you suppose they decided to ring in the New Year another way?”

She chuckled.

“Geena wanted to see the stars so they grabbed coats and went out on the back terrace. Stop being such a mother hen, M’Lord. Everyone is having a good time.”

“It’s a wonderful party, Urs, Maggie.”

The familiar voice made Urs swing her around and he gaped, openmouthed at the sight of his Papa, dancing with his own best girl, Mami.

“I’ve never seen you dance before,” he stammered and Nikolai laughed.

“There’s a lot of things you’ve never seen me do, son…doesn’t mean I can’t.”

He swirled Inga away in a flutter of long black lace skirt and Urs watched as Nikolai showed off a bit with a romantic dip.

Geena and Seb appeared again, rosy cheeked from being out doors and pausing as they crossed the room to accept glasses of wine from the young man passing through the crowd with a tray. They were a matched set tonight, Seb looking very continental in a charcoal dinner suit with a smokey grey silk shirt and a square of deep purple in his jacket pocket, the exact shade of the strapless cocktail dress that flared out just above Geena’s knees.

Kosta caught Urs eyes as he scanned the room. He was standing near the laden counter that separated the kitchen from the Lounge, talking to the sleigh drivers who, as planned, had congregated at the farm now since it was nearing midnight and were indulging in their first drinks of the night, nice mulled wine to get the chill out of their bones. Even the quiet Greek man had dressed well for the night, almost as elegant in his soft black silk turtlenecked jumper as his wife in her sparkling black and silver lace top and pleated silk pants. He nodded at the bottles of champagne lined up on the counter and the trays of flutes waiting to be filled.

Urs checked his watch and nodded. Yes, it was time to get ready for the midnight toasting.

“Stay close, Beloved. I want the first kiss of the New Year.”

She gave him the head shake-eye roll look.

“All my real kisses are only for you, Luv, and I have a special one ready for the first second of the New Year.”

He chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder to make their way to the area where the DJ had set up his equipment. Obviously he had been watching the time too for he turned down the sound on the music and spoke to the crowd.

“Alright, let the countdown begin…30 seconds until the year 2006, folks, everyone grab a glass of bubbly from the servers passing among you…did someone take sodas to the youngsters in the other room?.. Yes…great!! Thanks for the terrific year end party goes to our hosts, Urs and Maggie Buhler… we all hope we can do it again next year.
…Get ready…10..9..8..7..”

Everyone was helping with the countdown, except for Urs and Maggie who were looking intently in each others eyes, thinking the same thoughts…so many wonderful things had happened to them in 2005, a few dreadful too, but they chose not to think of them…and ahead of them stretched years of adventure, love, commitment, joys they had yet to discover.

Urs drew her closer with each number shouted out as the countdown continued and at ‘1’ he bent his head to almost touch her lips with his, whispering ‘Happy New Year, Mein Liebe’ as she spoke the same words to him. He kissed her parted lips tenderly, stroking them with his warm, wet tongue, increasing the pressure of his arms when she melted against his body, delving into her mouth to suck on the taste of her, allowing her access, uncaring that they had a house full of people who could see the passion that they both just barely controlled.

They parted slowly, jostled by the revelry around them, only now aware of the boisterous sounds of toasting around them in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Swiss German and possibly even Greek.

One of the servers, with a partly full flute in one hand and a tray of properly filled flutes in the other, appeared and offered the champers they had forgotten to take and they toasted the New Year in with her. She smiled at Maggie and whispered ‘only one, Frau Buhler, just like we promised…and thank you’ and Maggie smiled, happy that she had given them permission to join in with the champagne toast.

The rounds of hugging and kissing cheeks began as everyone welcomed 2006, had more champagne, the music began again and a midnight buffet magically appeared on the long table in the dining room. At 1 the sleighs were ready once more for transport into Willisau, though few people left yet. The coffee urns began doing a brisk business, the sleepy children in the games room were rolled in blankets for the trip home and very gradually the momentum of the party slowed to quiet conversations, a few very slow, romantic dances and tired partiers, reluctant for this special night to end.

At 4h30 in the morning the last of the teens were ferried into Willisau to be dropped off at their homes and the only revelers left in the once again relatively tidy house, were the 3 Divos, their ladies and their hosts.

Maggie had kicked off her shoes after the teens left and was sitting on Urs lap in their favorite chair, her head on his shoulder, suddenly out of energy.

Petra had scooted upstairs to check on Paul and found both the sitter they had hired and Paul had slept through all the festivities. She sent the girl home with the teens, asking that the groggy young girl be escorted directly to her door and brought the baby monitor back down stairs with her. Now she was curled up on the sofa with her head on David’s thigh, trying to stay awake and losing the battle.

Carlos was already snoring, sitting on the floor with his head on Gerry’s leg and she bounced her knee now and then to stop the racket.

Seb and Geena were wide awake, but the first to say good night and head up the stairs, clearly not going to be sleeping for a while yet.

“Was there some talk about going skiing today?” Urs asked, his head leaning back on the chair and his eyes closed.

“Are you out of your mind?” David said as he raised his head and glanced at his friend. “Maybe in a day or two, some of us might recover enough to venture outside, but skiing…NOOOOOO, I don’t think so.”

Urs smiled.

“You young guys just can’t keep up with us older, real men can you?” he said, never one to miss an opportunity to wind David up about being the youngest of the group.

“I’m too tired to think of a snappy come-back to that…it was a great party Urs. I’m glad we decided to come…..but now, I for one want my bed…c’mon Sweetie…let’s go have our first snuggle of the year.”

“So long as all you expect tonight is a snuggle, David Miller,” Pet said as she struggled to her feet, came over to kiss Maggie and then Urs on the cheeks and trudged up the stairs, followed closely by David who actually had her attention enough to make her laugh before they disappeared down the upper hall.

Gerry woke Carlos and they went off as well and Urs sat a few minutes longer thinking about the night and how successful it had been, thinking that now, the house had really been christened with laughter and good times, thinking of how well Maggie had coped with a massive project that she had never before tackled…

He actually dropped off to sleep for a few minutes, so comfortable and content with his beloved cradled in his arms in the roomy chair but he woke with a start and laughed, chiding himself for not going up to their suite. He stood, still holding her and walked wearily up the stairs to place her gently on their bed. She stirred when he sat her up and helped a bit with her gown, leaning her head against him and rousing a bit when he slipped her arms into her robe.

Almost like a sleepwalker she brushed her teeth and sat quietly on the stool while he took off her jewelry, brushed her hair but only a few strokes tonight and lead her back to bed. She was half asleep when he had finished in the bathroom and slid into bed beside her, both sleeping naked as they usually did. He rolled her into his body, resting her head on his shoulder and her arm automatically went over his chest as she whispered ‘Eines gluckliches Neujar…Ich Liebe sie, Geliebt’ and relxed into deep sleep.

He knew she couldn’t hear him now but they never went to sleep without re-affirming their love and he kissed the top of her head gently and whispered the words, closed his eyes and joined her in sleep.

**

Urs couldn’t remember the last time he had stayed in bed until almost noon…sleeping that is. He half woke when Maggie left him and relaxed again when he heard the toilet flush and water running in the sink. A moment later she was back, sliding into her spot as if she had never left and he thought about going back to sleep…until her hand began to wander.

“I’ll give you two hours to stop doing that or I’m going to get angry with you….” he whispered against her head and chuckled when she giggled and kept right on exploring.

He opened one eye and peeked at her, found her face tilted to look up at him and smiled.

“Is there something you want? You seem to be searching for something.”

“Oh my…I think I found it!!”

He pounced on her, forcing her onto her back with a tiny shriek and laugh and loomed over her with a grin.

“Now look what you’ve done…I’m awake…ALL of me is awake….what do you plan on doing now?”

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, taking a tiny nibble while she was in the area and he whispered, ‘Naughty girl!!’ as his mouth descended to hers. He had a fleeting, irrational thought that if they ever were stranded somewhere without food he could live off of her sweet kisses but then all thoughts fled, only sensations remained as they created a music that only they could hear.

His warm palm cupped her sensitive breast, the nipples completely brown now because of her pregnancy and raised due to the passion that filled her. Mein gott but he loved her breasts, the soft firmness of them against his chest, the lush erotic feeling of the nipples enlarging when his mouth closed over the tip, sucking, lapping with his hot tongue, even the bounce of them when she was dressed and moving about… his body jerked, stiffening in response to their fused mouths and his thoughts and she moaned, reaching down to creep between them and fondle his rigid member.

She broke free of his mouth and gasped, trying to form words.

“Urs….Let me….OMG….Please!...”

Her hands pushed at his shoulders and he rolled to his back, holding his upper body off the bed with his arms as she knelt between his knees and bent her mouth to his shaft, gently laving the length along the side until she reached the head and sucking him into the warm recesses, one hand working the soft skin back and forth, her tongue making circles around his long, thick rod that gave them both so much joy. She purred as she enjoyed the musky taste of him, glancing up at his hooded eyes, the wet pink tongue that licked his suddenly dry lips, the way he threw his head back and moaned as her free hand touched his silken sacs and squeezed, lightly…..he was so close to losing himself, the muscles of his flat stomach and chest rippling with the effort of trying to prolong the pleasure.

She withdrew her mouth, slowly, grasping the base of his penis firmly in her small hand, just the way he had taught her to control the passion, moving her legs one at a time to straddle him and guiding him inside the yearning wetness at her groin.

His arms came around her, crushing her breasts into his chest and he braced his feet, rocking them gently, adjusting legs and hips for perfect friction, building, increasing, out of control…exploding and gliding back to earth slowly in spasms that seemed to never end.

**

Maggie was quiet as they lay spooned, basking in the after glow of loving so thoroughly, but after a few moments she moved his hand off her bump up to her mouth and kissed the palm, tucking her cheek into it and laying against his hand. He could feel the muscles in her face as she smiled and then asked the question that he felt she was itching to ask.

“What was the first thing? Will you tell me now, when we’re alone?”

He laughed at her tenacity. That had been the subject several days before and he thought she had forgotten about it.

“Well I saw you on the stage and you were playing the violin, putting a lot of body into it…and I suddenly realized that my jeans were much too tight…my body knew we belonged together before my heart convinced my head. Then of course, later when you ‘saw’ my face with those magic hands of yours…it was a close call…I nearly embarrassed myself. It was hard for me to accept that I had so little
control of my emotions when you touched me…me, Urs, the control freak, nearly undone by a little slip of a thing that I hadn’t so much as kissed. And then, later, you asked me to kiss you and I was lost, all these emotions consumed me, making me desire you as I had never wanted a woman before. I would have had to slit my throat before I could deny what we both wanted.”

She tilted her head to look back at him with a smug smile and he could tell by the flash of her emerald eyes and the way she wet her lips before she spoke what was coming.

“I looked up a couple of words in my new dictionary…just in case they would ever be needed.”

He wiggled a bit closer, just enough for her to tell that he was aware of what she wanted.

“And they are….?”

“Wieder…. Mehr, bitte.”

“My favorite words,” he said, more than willing to fulfill her request …after all she had said the magic words, ‘Again…. more, please’.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

They spent the day recovering from the party, making pick-up meals out of the tasty leftovers in the pantry, half heartedly playing some games and napping before the fire. Heidi and Kosta came to see what needed to be done but other than loading them up with a basket of goodies to take to the cottage, Urs and Maggie wouldn’t let them do any work today. They stayed to visit for a while but after the second time that Heidi was caught yawning, Kosta took her home to have some R & R of their own…Rest and Romance if the way he looked at his attractive wife was any indication.

It hadn’t snowed in the night so the drive didn’t need plowing and it wasn’t until late afternoon that Urs ventured out side, then only briefly to adjust a string of lights that had somehow come unplugged.

Tonight was an early night for everyone since the only person in the house with any energy was Paul and he was used to an early bedtime. By 11 everyone had been retired for nearly an hour, probably not sleeping but at least ready to sleep or to sate libidos that no one admitted they had time or energy for the previous night.

As soon as Maggie was deeply asleep, Urs went back down for just one more slice of the Black forest Cake, with maybe a side of that Hazelnut Cranberry Tart that he liked so much. The kitchen was dark and he found his way into the pantry without knocking anything over, clicked the light on and put a generous slice of each on a plate, turned out the light and padded barefoot back out to search for a fork and a glass for milk.

He could just faintly hear the sounds of the TV in the games room and headed in that direction, thankful that he had put on his boxers in deference to having guests in the house.

David was on the sofa, also with a glass of milk and a plate with cheesecake and truffles, a small bowl of Raspberry Trifle smothered in whipping cream next to it.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Urs said as he parked in the chair at the end of the coffee table and began on his cake.

“Had enough I think…I slept most of the afternoon and again for an hour when I put Paul to bed. Man, I haven’t eaten so much dessert since I was a kid, but everything is so damned good. That Heidi is one kick a** cook.”

“Maggie made a lot of them,” Urs said with pride. “It’s incredible how fast she picks things up. She had never cooked before she got her sight back and now she devours cookbooks. She actually reads them, cover to cover.”

David concentrated on his goodies for a minute then drained his milk and reached down for the bottle sitting on the floor to refill his glass.

“So are we still on for skiing tomorrow? You aren’t going to let Maggie go are you?”

Urs looked at him, raising one eyebrow and finished the cake, starting on the pie and waiting until his mouth was empty.

“It’s late, Stretch and I’m in a good mood so I’ll let that slide. I could order Maggie around and I know she would do what I tell her but I don’t, for the simple reason that she would do it to make me happy. I can’t take advantage of her like that. We don’t have that kind of one sided relationship. She won’t go, because she knows it wouldn’t be a good idea, not when she’s this far along. I think in the morning she’ll offer to keep Paul for the day and since Gerry doesn’t ski they can spend the day together. That way we can go to Engelberg, the hills there are awesome, more of a challenge than the ones closer to us. It’s a bit more of a drive but worth it.”

“Sorry, says the man with his big foot in his mouth, AGAIN! You two seem to gel so well together…do you ever fight?”

Urs choked a bit on his pie and then cleared his throat and laughed.

“You bet!! You don’t want to get her mad at you…she’s got a vicious temper…and a great right!”

David laughed then leaned forward looking serious.

“We’ve decided to try to make a baby. We’d like to have one soon, so Paul has a brother or sister close to his age. I love Paul, more than I had ever suspected but sometimes the responsibility scares the hell out of me. Do you ever have doubts about how good a father you will be, about all the things you are letting yourself in for?”

Urs looked at the sincerity in David’s face and smiled.

“Ja, it scares hell out of me…sometimes I think I’m being selfish, wanting this baby so much when I really don’t know how good a Papa I will be…I mean we’ll still be traveling a lot, to studios, for appearances, on tours…is that fair to the child? Other people manage, somehow and I hope I can do as well…I’m sure going to give it everything I have and that’s all I can do. I know Maggie will be a wonderful mother, there’s not even a hint of doubt there, but sometimes I doubt myself. If love is all it takes, then we’ll be fine.”

**

They were off early the next morning, Pet, David and Carlos piling into the Volvo with Urs while Geena and Seb took their rental, both vehicles with the ski racks full of equipment that Urs had borrowed from friends and family, plus his own of course. Their friends had come with the proper clothing and boots, looking like pros when they were all outfitted and ready to go, in an assortment of colors from Urs red and silver to David’s bright yellow.

Paul waved bye bye to his parents, happily perched on Maggie’s bump with his little hand clasped in her hair as the three of them stood on the terrace and waved them off.

It wasn’t all that far to Engelberg…40 K to Luzern another 20 on the motorway to the south then off on the side road that wound up the elevation for 20 K to the ski area. Urs stopped at the information booth to check on snow conditions and for the officials to check out the vehicles for the mandatory emergency equipment. He was just a bit concerned about the mild weather the past few days but was assured that the patrols had seen nothing to be alarmed about and so they went on.

“It is many years since I have skied much,” Carlos said when they arrived and parked, waiting for Sebastien to ease his rental into the next slot. “I think I will keep on the gentle slopes to begin and if I do not break anything then join you on the more advanced.”

David claimed to have been born on skiis, the area around Denver being known for the wonderful resorts. Pet decided to stay with Carlos until she saw just how much she remembered so the four good skiers headed immediately for one of the advanced hills, shoving boots into bindings, straps around wrists and showing their day passes they plonked onto the lifts and headed up…way up.

It was a glorious day, crisp and icy cold, the sky bright blue with a few whispy clouds, the view of the valley and the town improving, the higher they went. It was still early so most of the runs looked pristine, only the faintest ridge of snow from the skiers yesterday, the tracks more or less filled in with the gentle wind that almost always wafted over the mountain side.

They paused at the top to check their bindings, to look for the sign that would tell them how safe the conditions were…perfect, no problem. Urs pointed out a few tricky spots that he remembered from doing this trail other years, then one by one they pushed off and flew.

It was exhilarating, the icy wind against uncovered cheeks, the soft snow spraying up as they passed, cutting long lazy curves into the untouched snow, flying into the air off the top of moguls, using their poles for Christies, some even showing off a bit with airborne spins or spread eagles but the most amazing thing was the laughter. There was such a sense of freedom, of being able to defy gravity that it was impossible not to feel free spirited, to laugh with the sheer joy of being alive.

Urs caught up to Geena and she dropped into a racing crouch, clearly challenging him. Not to be outdone on his home ground, he veered left and flew off a big mogul, landing well ahead of her, fluttering the snow off of several small trees that he had just skimmed over. He was on a steep slope now and took half of it in a straight run, crouched for speed with his poles tucked, nearer the bottom straightening and applying pressure to his right ski to turn in a gentle curve, then his left as he slowed and finally stopped near the snowbank that protected the too speedy skiers from crashing into the lineups beginning to form for the lifts.

And so it went throughout the morning, one run after the other with a break at lunch time to sit on the terrace and enjoy a meal and hot drinks. Carlos had beaten them to the café, reserving a table and was a Diet coke ahead of them when they set their skis in the snowbank and came to join him. Pet had gone to look in the gift shop and returned a few moments later with a little skiing bear for Paul.

“I’m going to hate myself in the morning but today this feels great. I’d forgotten how much I love to ski,” Geena said and Seb reminded her that they would have lots of chances in France if they ever decided on where they would buy their home.

“I thought you two were leaning towards sunshine and beaches? Last I heard you were thinking about somewhere around Alsace-Lorraine or even Nice.” David said.

“We’ve decided to look for something in Europe as well,” Pet said. “Dan and Susan gave us an acre for a cottage on the lake…a hideaway so to speak and we thought maybe a large townhouse in London and a country place in Europe, not too big, somewhere were we can just unwind and maybe enjoy the sun.”

“Maggie already has half a dozen places, some huge, some more modest, spread all over the place…Canada, the US, the Canaries, even Myanmar… that’s why we decided on Irgendwo as a permanent base. That, and she wants our children to be Swiss nationals.”

Geena wasn’t surprised, having known Maggie for so long but Seb and David stared at Urs for a moment as he calmly continued to eat his Gurstensuppe.

David laughed. “I keep forgetting that she’s rich…she seems like such a normal person.”

“She is a normal person, Stretch,” Urs said with a grin. “She just happens to be a normal person who got left a lot of businesses and money. We sold a property in L.A. to pay for the farm, in fact we sold it to that actor, the guy from the Lord of the Rings movies. We still have a condo there.”

“How do you ever keep it all straight? It must be confusing.”

“Not at all. We each draw a fairly generous allowance for personal use every month, there’s an account for household expenses and everything else gets sent to our financial advisors or goes on credit cards which they pay monthly. Maggie mostly keeps track of it, but both of us can sign anything that comes up…there’s quite a bit of paperwork with all the businesses and charities, so we just read the financials and sign stuff every few months.” He looked up and saw the stunned looks on the faces of the three men and grinned. “We share everything, our bed, our lives, our homes, our money, our responsibilities…it might not work for everyone but it works for us.”

“Man, you’ve changed…you never would have confessed all that a year and a half ago.”

He raised an eyebrow as he pushed his empty bowl away and reached for his gluwein.

“Ah, but I’ve changed my outlook on life since those days…and I like to think I’m a better man for it.”

Geena held her hands up in the surrender sign and laughed.

“Alright you guys, this isn’t a ‘pry secrets out of Urs’ day…it’s a day to have some fun and exercise to burn off some of the meals we’ve eaten over the holidays. I’m going back out on the runs…anyone coming?”

They did run after run throughout the afternoon, Carlos and Pet sticking to the easy hills still and finally by late afternoon had burnt themselves out. One more hot drink to warm up and it was time to load up the cars and head home, happy, tired, eager to get back to the farm and the soft chairs in front of the big stone fireplace.

The first fluffy white flakes of snow drifted across the parking lot as Seb and Geena drove out ahead of them, giving a cheeky wave as he turned down hill onto the road that would take him to the motorway. Urs waited another minute, letting the motor warm up a bit. With typical Swiss efficiency he checked the gas gauge, switched the GPS on and clicked the CD player on with the volume low. He could still see the bright red of Seb’s vehicle ahead of him on the winding road as he eased out, testing the brakes to be sure they weren’t frozen and settled in for the drive home.

**

The snow grew heavier with alarming speed, driven by the winds as they went further down the mountain roads. Within minutes they experienced periodic white-outs, hardly able to see the bright red car ahead of them. Urs had to slow, then slow even further because of the spasmodic visibility and the silence in the vehicle told him that his passengers realized that conditions were fast becoming treacherous.

“Once we reach the valley it will improve…I think. There’s usually less wind on the other side of Luzern.” He wasn’t sure if he was saying it to reassure himself or the others but at least it broke the silence.

They passed through Grafenort, debated whether to stop at the small inn to spend the night but when the wind eased a bit decided to go on.

Seb was well ahead of them now, just the occasional flash of tail lights as he applied the brakes….obviously he hadn’t paused to consider the inn.

Urs heard it first, the roar like a train getting closer rapidly. and knew instinctively what was happening.

“Avalanche!” he shouted. “Brace yourselves…cover your heads!”

The leading edge caught the tires and he fought the wheel, knowing it was a losing battle but trying to keep all four wheels on the road. The motor roared as the car was lifted and he turned the key, shutting off the engine to lessen the risk of explosion, felt the car tilt, the airbags exploded, and the world turned upside down, rolling over and over, swept along with the power of the wave of snow that engulfed them, pushing them off the road, floating for a moment, then hitting the ground on the steep slope that slanted away into the deep valley below, pushed with increasing speed along inside a mountain of snow that cut off the light, leaving only the sensation of movement and pressure as air was forced from the vehicle.

The car was filled with screams and curses as the three men and Petra fought the airbags, tried to keep from banging their heads against the frame of the car, tried to understand up from down, dizzy, frightened beyond anything on any mission they had ever had to endure, wanting this roller coaster ride to end but afraid of what kind of ending it would be.

Suddenly it stopped and the silence was even more frightening, the only sounds now the creaking of the vehicle as it settled into a final resting place and the stressed metal pinged as it cooled in the enveloping snow. They had come to the bottom of their headlong tumble down the mountain.

**

Gerry and Maggie had enjoyed a great day, playing with Paul, freezing some of the leftover food that wouldn’t be used in the next couple of days, getting to know each other as they had never really had an opportunity before.

Gerry opened up to Maggie about her problems conceiving and they talked at length about adoption. The main problem for them at the moment was that they were not married and the agencies they had spoken to wouldn’t consider them as adoptive candidates.

“Carlos and I have discussed it a few times but I think he was worried before that marriage would put an end to the open relationship we have always enjoyed. I’m tired of sharing him, even though it is mostly flirting and he just didn’t understand before. I think seeing how happy Urs and David are now has made him re-think his views, so we shall see.”

Maggie couldn’t imagine that type of relationship for herself and Urs but wisely kept her counsel.

They bathed Paul and put him down for the night. Gerry sang to the little boy and rocked him until he fell asleep and Maggie felt her eyes well up at the tender scene. It was evident how much Gerry yearned to have a child of her own to cuddle and she hoped that sometime soon things would work out for their friends.

They had just returned to the Lounge with the Baby Monitor in case Paul woke, when headlights swept across the front windows and they both assumed that the skiers were home.

It was a surprise then to see Franz, Nikolai and Inga come in the back door. One look and she knew…she felt the room spin. Franz swept her into his arms before she could fall and carried her to a chair in the Lounge while Nikolai lead a frozen with fear Gerry to another.

“Where is he? Where is my Urs?” she whispered in all the voice she could muster, staring wide-eyed at Franz as he crouched in front of her…he couldn’t answer and it was Nikolai who had to tell her.

“There was an avalanche…Sebastien and Geena were ahead and are fine in Wolfenschiessen…… but the Volvo was swept over the side and fell into the gorge.”

Maggie heard someone screaming as the edges of her vision grew dark and she escaped into soothing oblivion.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

Maggie could hear soft voices speaking urgently as she swam back into conciousness. She was laying on the sofa, a throw tucked around her up to her shoulders, her head on one of the soft pillows…the rust colored one that Urs liked to use when he lay here to browse through his biking magazines…She drew in a breath, savoring the light residual scent of his after shave and found it calming as she tried to make sense out of what someone was saying.

“…by midnight, so they should be able to start the search then. It’s too dangerous for the rescue teams like it is right now.” That sounded like Franz talking she thought as sounds began to make sense to her.

“Dieter is on the Team and I talked to him…he says they are getting a good strong beep from the GPS but nothing when they try to reach anyone on a mobile. Someone must have been conscious enough to click the GPS to search mode.” Yanni…what was Yanni doing here?

“How is she?” That was Sonja and Maggie sat up pushing the throw off her body as she answered.

“’She’ is fine. Tell me what news you have.”

She was controlled now, trembling but trying hard to be rational and logical, as Urs would expect of her in a crisis.

Franz came over and sat beside her on the sofa, taking her hands in his.

“I talked to Seb. They were about half a mile ahead of the Volvo and when he heard the roar and saw the slide coming he sped up and managed to get past the leading edge in time…but he saw the Volvo get lifted and rolled, then it disappeared. He remembered passing through Wolfenschiessen on the way up there and knew that the best thing he could do was go there and try to get some help…the storm got worse and he had a hard time getting there, didn’t have his mobile with him, neither did Geena but they went directly to the police center and told them what had happened. Unfortunately the storm is too bad to attempt a rescue now…they have to wait for it to ease a bit.”

He could see her shaking with the effort to be brave and not break down as he talked but knew that if he physically comforted her it would be the last straw in her emotional defence, so just squeezed her hands.

“Urs is strong, Little One…strong and knowledgeable about survival methods. He always carries all the right gear in the car, you know that…if he’s able he WILL survive this and bring the others through too.”

She managed a small, tight smile.

“I know that, Franz. I just want this to be over and to have him home where I can see him and touch him…. And I want the others here, unhurt too. Where is Gerry? Is she alright?”

“Mina and Tante Inga took her upstairs. Dr. Mandel came out to make sure you are alright and gave her a shot to help. She’s very upset,” Yanni said.

“I don’t want any drugs!” she said with an edge of panic in her voice just as Dr. Mandel came down the stairs with Mami who came to Maggie, red eyed and visibly shaken but trying desperately to remain calm. Maggie cradled the woman she had come to love as a mother against her breasts and let her weep quietly for both of them.

“Good girl, since I wasn’t about to offer you any. I’m counting on you to have the sense to stay calm…we can’t have all the excellent work you’ve done with that baby come unraveled now.” He smiled but she could see a tinge of concern in his eyes.

“Urs is alive…I feel it, and he would expect me to take care of our baby before anything else. I’m not going to insist on going to the site since I wouldn’t be of much help. My place is here, with Gerry and our family, waiting for news and for him to come home….and he will. I may weaken and cry a bit, but I won’t do anything silly or lose it again.”

When Inga had wept herself out, Maggie excused herself and went upstairs to wash her face and tidy her mussed hair. The woman in the mirror stared back at her, red eyed, pale faced but calm, not giving a hint of the turmoil that she felt inside.

The scent of his body wash was on the towel that she used to pat her face dry and was almost her undoing but she straightened her shoulders and thought of some of the pleasant memories that they had stored up over the past year.

That was the secret to remaining outwardly calm, she thought…just think of Urs’ smile, the look of love that he sent her across the room when their eyes met, his laughter when she teased him, the pride he wasn’t able to conceal when they took possession of their home. She went back in the room and trailed her trembling hand over the cradle that he had made for their child, putting his skill and love into the crafting of it, then giving it to her shyly, hoping she would approve.

He was such a strong, yet gentle and caring man. She took a few deep cleansing breaths, unwilling to even consider the possibility that they would not be able to build any more memories together…with a tepid smile on her lips she went down the hall to see if Gerry was feeling better and offer what comfort she could.

**

It was a few seconds before the deafening silence was broken by David calling out for Petra. Moans came from the back seat. Urs struggled with the deployed airbag and managed to reach his seat belt. It had tightened upon the impact and he was sure would leave marks across his hips and chest but at the moment he didn’t care. Somehow all the tossing and tumbling had done something to his right leg and it hurt like sin but that was okay, too. Pain was good…pain meant there was still life and for a while during the wild ride he hadn’t been sure of continuing what he considered an unfinished one.

“Everyone alright?” he asked as he pushed at the airbag, trying to see where they were and what kind of shape everyone, and the car, were in.

“The roof is squished in but I’m Okay, I think…” Petras voice came to them and David sighed in relief. “I didn’t know there were side airbags.” Her voice sounded a bit squeaky, higher pitched, likely from nerves.

“Si, I am breathing again,” Carlos answered quietly. “I can not move this bag and I think a piece of the car has trapped my leg.”

Urs managed to put a hole in the airbag that was holding him in place and squeezed until it flattened. Surprisingly part of the broken windshield showed a glimmer of headlight reflecting off of snow as outside the storm raged around them. They weren’t buried…that was a major plus.

“David, can you move? There’s a Torch in the glove box and we need to see how bad the car is damaged. It may be our only shelter until Mountain Rescue can get to us.”

He felt the movement as David struggled and in the dim confines of the car could smell…pine. He reached out a hand and felt a branch between him and David then heard the click of the glove box and the torch shone through the branch of a tree limb that had crashed through the windshield and come to rest between the two men.

David’s hand came through the branches, holding the torch and Urs took it, played over the American as best he could with the branch in the way.

There was a scrape across his tall friend’s forehead and blood had gushed down his face in streaks.

Urs swore and then began speaking quickly in Swiss German, concerned for his friend when he saw the pallor below the blood and the way David had closed his eyes and slumped back against the seat.

“English, Urs…this is not the time for a language lesson,” David muttered and Urs sighed. At least his sense of humor was intact.

“Guys we have to be smart about this and take care of ourselves until help comes. We’re going to lose what little heat there is in the car very soon so I need to know just how bad off everyone is. Carlos?”

“My foot is stuck under the seat…perhaps if David moved it would release the pressure enough to get it out. Other than that, just bumps and bruising from the belt and buckle.”

“Petra?”

“I don’t think I’m bleeding anywhere but my wrist got bent under me…I think it’s sprained…and I’m scared.”

“We all are, Mother. I hurt my leg somehow and have some bumps but all told I think we’re a testament to the solid body made by Volvo. David got the worst of it I think,” he heard Petra moan at this statement but went on. “His head was well above the airbag and the roof caved a bit just over him. He’s got a gash from the branch that came through the windscreen and we need to keep him warm…I think he’s going shocky.”

It felt like the car was tilted nose down with the back end slightly in the air. Urs remembered to check the GPS, had somehow switched it to ‘Search’ without remembering doing it and as he inched around in his seat he saw the reassuring green light of the equipment beaming at him. H clicked the headlights off so the GPS could run longer off the battery.

He looked towards the back and felt a surge of relief…he could see snow and fading light through the broken back window, some swirling inside the wagon but that didn’t concern him, not now.

“Listen, trying to climb back to the road is out of the question…we would have to have special equipment in this loose snow and it’s just too steep in this area…. we need to get all together and conserve body heat…try to rip your airbags off the doors so we can use them to block up the back window and I’ll do the same with mine and David’s. The emergency kit in the back has blankets, water and chocolate for energy, plus a first aid kit and I think even a tarp and another torch. We’ll have to make a cave out of the back seat and all cram in, sharing body heat with the tarp and blankets over us to help keep out the snow.”

He left the light on, aiming the beam at the ceiling and periodically checking on David who was semiconscious but gamely trying not to cause a panic. The two airbags that had deployed against him came off fairly easily and he managed to get his arms through the branches to tug on David’s, finally managing to get them free. Very carefully he leaned David forward and Carlos managed to get his foot free, then he helped Petra with her airbag and crawled in the back to block up the broken window with both of them. While he was there he passed up the supplies in the luggage area, found their gloves and hats that they had discarded and brought them forward too.

The hardest task was getting David into the back seat when he could help them very little but they managed and Pet checked out his injuries, cleaning up his forehead wound and applying a plaster from the emergency kit. Carlos found a Swiss Army knife in the kit and used it to slash open the front seats and they pulled out as much stuffing as possible to line the floor of the back seat, then lay an Artic blanket over it in hopes of stopping the cold from seeping in.

Urs climbed in the now cramped back, though he had to bite his lip to keep from yelping from the pain in his leg. Everyone was swathed head to toe in a thick blanket, the three men on the seat, under a tarp that stretched from front to back and down the doors, and they lay Pet, also wrapped up, across their thighs, all sandwiched in tight with the water bottles between them to keep them from freezing and at last Urs turned the light off. The first few minutes after ‘lights out’ was eerie in the cooling darkness, the wind moaning outside, occasionally the sound came to them of snow settling, but there was no accompanying movement so they began to relax in their dark cave.

They had decided to take turns staying awake and listening for rescue, even though they all knew that it was too soon. Still they decided on an hour at a time, discussing it and deciding that in the old western movies it was always four hour shifts and sooner or later the one on watch fell asleep and disaster struck. One hour seemed more reasonable. They exempted David from duty since he didn’t seem able to stay awake more than long enough to understand that Pet was with him and alright and then he was gone again. No one said anything but they were all concerned for him and purposely placed him in the middle so he would keep warmer.

Urs glanced at the luminous dial of his watch when the others had all settled and he took the first watch. It had just gone 19h14, which meant they were very late getting home. They had left the resort at fifteen minutes to 16h, spent a few minutes in the café and headed out from the parking lot just after 16h30, in plenty of time to be home at 17h30 as he had told Maggie. He wondered if she knew yet and if she was keeping calm…the thought occurred to him that it was possible that Gerry and Sebastien had been caught in it too and he hoped not. It was not likely that either of them had ever been made aware of how to survive something like this, not like here in Switzerland where most people had a healthy respect for the snow and knew how to better their chances of surviving in it.

Again his thoughts went to Maggie. ‘Be strong, Luv. Think of our baby and don’t break down….I’ll get home to you, we all will.’

He sent her his silent thoughts, willing her his strength, picturing her smiling face, hearing her voice singing to him…and he snapped his head back, almost having allowed himself to sleep. Okay, no more pleasant day dreams, they were much too relaxing…instead he thought of creating an intricate harmony for a Bach piece that had plagued him back at the Academy, pausing to listen for sounds from outside as he worked it out. Only the sounds of the wind driving the steady snow fall met his ears and at the end of his hour, he lifted the corner of the tarp to refresh the air as they had discussed, shone the torch at the window to see that it was indeed still snowing, tucked the flap down again firmly and woke Carlos for his shift.

**

Urs woke with a fuzzy feeling that something was not right. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was not quite 1 in the morning and not yet his next shift but it was cold in the car and his violent shaking from the cold had woken him. He reached out to Petra and found her awake but dozing fitfully, too cold anymore to shiver and not as alert as she should have been. The tarp had come loose, he found when he took the torch from her nerveless fingers and shone it around inside their little cave. He knew there was something he should do but couldn’t think of it now, the lassitude that had control of his body craving sleep, aching for it and it was a battle to remember what to do.

“Pet…c’mon Pet, wake up…Carlos stay awake…we need to stay awake, guys…if we sleep now we’ll never wake up again…David, …David wake up…David, buddy wake up and help me wake them…” he wasn’t sure if he actually spoke to them or only wanted to…he was so cold, couldn’t feel his lips to tell if they were moving. With his last bit of coherent thought he forced a croaking sound out of his mouth, trying to yell at them and wake them up to the fact that they were slowly freezing to death.

He sank back into the icy coldness of the blanket, only a trickle of frosty air coming from his mouth as his breathing slowed, not aware that the snow had stopped or of the powerful lights that had found the protruding tailgate of the Volvo and the shouts of roped rescuers who carefully scaled down the sides of the gorge, hoping to reach them before it was too late.

**

Irgendwo blazed with light, waiting silently for the heart of the house and his friends to come home. Inside, only Paul was sleeping, tucked lovingly into his bed with the pure innocence of the young and unaware. On the main floor there were enough people to have yet another party but tonight the mood was somber, expectant, everyone waiting, drinking coffee and speaking softly, present to soothe their anxiety and to give support to the family that had been their friends for ever and the new friends they had made over the holidays.

Gerry and Maggie sat together on the sofa before the crackling fire, not speaking much after so many hours, holding hands now and then, looking away when the tears flowed quietly down pale cheeks. There was no way to ease the suffering other than what was being done…the clasp of hand on shoulder, the subtle passing of tissues, the steady supply of fresh coffee to combat the disturbed sleep that beckoned but would not have eased the torment.

Mami was in Urs favorite chair, one strong son sitting on the arm beside her, touching her hair gently as she leaned back and thought of the other one, reliving memories, occasionally brushing a tear from her ashen face.

Each time the phone rang, usually someone wanting news, absolute silence reigned until the person answering shook their head at the assemblage and solemnly spoke into the handset… ‘No news yet’.

Kosta and Nikolai were just putting another urn of coffee on the counter, using the time tested adage of keeping busy to cope with the tension, when the phone rang again and this time, Maggie knew that it was news. She rose as everyone else froze in place and waited to hear who had called and stared at Franz who had the handset to his ear.

“The Team is going down now…they see the tail of the car…it’s down about 400 yards…the front end is buried….it’s very steep, no way would they have been able to climb out….”

He kept up a running commentary with Dieter, on the other end, as the Rescue Team scaled down the slope. Maggie had come to within a few feet of him now and Nikolai moved behind her, wrapping his firm arms protectively around her and holding her back against his long, strong body. She felt Inga move to her side and Gerry clinging to her arm on the other side. She slipped her arm around Gerry’s waist and they waited, standing in a clump, comforting skin touching skin, each willing the news to be good but dreading that it might not be. The minutes stretched out, five, ten, fifteen, taking forever it seemed, as they waited for Franz report and their breathing grew shallow, not wanting to miss anything.

“…the first of the team is there…calling to them…. there’s no answer…digging…one of the smaller members is going in through the broken back window….”

He was silent now for so long that Maggie felt dizzy from holding her breath.

“Breathe, dearest…remember to breathe…” she heard Nikolai whisper in her ear, his voice so like Urs when he whispered to her that her heart lurched and she gasped in a breath of air.

Tears welled in Franz eyes as he lowered the handset and whispered, then shouted… “They’re alive…THEY ARE ALIVE!!! Dieter says they are all injured and hypothermic but they are all alive and the team is bringing them up!”

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

Petra feebly resisted the hands that pulled her out of her nest, distant voices speaking to her in Swiss German that she didn’t understand as she was lifted over the recumbent heads of her still friends. She opened her eyes a slit and closed them again as a dazzling light gave her a sharp, stabbing pain, managed to croak ‘Don’t’ faintly but was ignored and passed from hands to hands and placed on something both hard and soft, the hands that had been on her neck now replaced with a wide, soft collar before she was cocooned and felt movement as whatever she lay on began to smoothly move. She drifted, still in the thrall of cold that beckoned her into eternal sleep but now she felt warmth seeping into her body and struggled, at last aware that sleeping now was something she would never return from.

Movement stopped and she felt hands on her and a gentle voice, one she knew. A peek out into the world showed her Geena’s face bent over her, Sebastien just visible beyond her shoulder.

She tried to speak again and Geena bent closer trying to understand.

“David…head….careful…”

Geena smiled and stood to call out to someone and Petra slid back into the cold darkness that had no pain, no fear.

Carlos was in the basket stretcher and the Team was about to remove David from the car when word came down to them to be careful of his head. A brace and neck collar were passed inside and put on his stiff body and he was eased onto a back board then out of the back through the forced open door and onto another basket stretcher, his long legs still bent but strapped into place so he wouldn’t fall out on the slide up the side of the gorge.

One final trip inside to retrieve Urs, the only one of the four who made a sound as they moved his icy body out into the waiting hands of the Team. He moaned when his leg was gripped, and the members began cheering, an unusual reaction at such a time, but one they couldn’t contain. These unpaid, volunteers of Mountain Rescue, people he had gone to school with, had fought and played with as a youngster, had partied with, needed the release, even for a moment from their professionalism…he felt pain! Perhaps after all they were not too late.

The medics, as well as Geena as the only qualified doctor, quickly checked everyone, applied special oxygen masks with heated air and placed their patients in the waiting ambulances to be gently stripped of their cold clothing and placed in Bair Huggers, the padded cocoon/blankets that forced warm air over their cold bodies.

A check added a sense of urgency when it was found that Petra was the only one with a temperature of barely over 31…the others hovered around 30.5, with Carlos a scant 30.1.

Haste was needed now to treat the hypothermia, the cause of most deaths among avalanche victims, the silent, hidden killer that people underestimated…the physical wounds would heal but if the body temperature dropped too low and was not slowly and carefully returned to normal, so many things could go wrong.

The internal organs, robbed of life giving heat, would begin to shut down, creating a cascade effect that would become irreversible…heart attack was a possibility, merely hitting a bump in the road could be fatal, liver and kidney functions must be coaxed to begin functioning again, cold, shrunken lungs needed warmth to expand and fill the body with life-giving oxygen. Geena watched the efforts of the Rescue Team with admiration…even if the body temp of their friends had been lower, down to the 27C or 28C were it was usually deemed hopeless, the team would carefully and slowly work on the bodies until they were warm…the moto of Hypothermia teams world wide was gruesome, little known outside the medical world: Not Dead Until Warm and Dead!!

It was spooky to watch the vehicles speed carefully away on the plowed road, sirens off since the danger of provoking another slide was very real and being very careful not to hit any bumps. Road workers put up flashing beacons at the point where the cement abutments had been shattered by the impact of the Volvo and the powerful avalanche as the Rescue team packed up their vehicles and headed back down the mountain to their base beside the information booth.

Geena and Seb followed behind the brightly colored vans, still shaken and quiet.

“Are they going to be alright?” he asked, trying to keep the edge of panic out of his voice.

“I don’t know, Seb….they were down there a long time…and I didn’t want to take the time to thoroughly check them out. I don’t think the injuries are serious, but whether or not they will come out of the hypothermia unscathed…only time will tell.”

Ahead of them, in the third van of volunteers, Dieter was on the phone to Franz again and in Irgendwo he relayed the latest news to the waiting friends and family.

“He says they are being taken to hospital in Luzern. They survived by using the kits in the car and huddling in a little den they made in the back seat, sharing body heat…. He says they have a good chance but another hour or so and it would have been too late.”

“We’ll stay with the little boy,” Yanni said and Mina nodded her head in agreement.

Maggie had sat abruptly on the sofa, not trusting her legs to hold her up and Gerry was leaning on her shoulder sobbing quietly.

Franz turned to Kosta. “Can you take Mami and Papa in the truck and I’ll follow with Maggie and Gerry? If we leave now we should be there just after they arrive.”

Maggie didn’t remember putting on her coat and boots or being helped up onto the high seat of the truck. She stared blankly when Mami kissed her cheek and nodded her head when words of courage were murmured, felt Franz clip her seat belt and place Gerry next to her before going around to the driver’s side and starting the powerful engine.

The lights of Luzern were visible in the distance when she came back to reality and glanced at the grim, pale face of her brother inlaw. He had been such a rock of strength through the long hours of waiting, was still coiled like wire, suffering but determined to be there for his family in this terrible time.

She reached her gloved hand out to grasp his arm.

“Thank you Franz….Urs will be so proud of the way you have handled things tonight…..Thank you for keeping me from shattering into pieces.”

He spared her a quick glance but found his throat too constricted to answer and just nodded, taking one big hand off the wheel briefly to engulf hers in a hard squeeze.

**

Sebastien leapt to his feet when they found the waiting room and hugged Maggie and Geraldine, a long one for Mami, shook hands with Franz and Nikolai and told them that Geena had gone down the hall to see if she could get inside the theatres.

“She thought that they might let her in, as a courtesy since she is also a doctor.”

“Has there been any word? How did they look? The report said there were injuries…what injuries and to whom?” The questions tumbled out of Maggie and Gerry. The others just listened eagerly for the answers but Seb shook his head.

“Please…sit down and wait for Geena. I know so little. Petra was the only one able to talk and that was only a couple of words…Gee said it’s easier for women since they have more body fat but I don’t know much else…I did see something on David’s brow before they tucked him into the ambulance with some kind of special warmed oxygen thing and Gee mentioned that the Mountain Rescue was very well equipped, something about a Hugger but I don’t know what that is. They shut the doors and took off. I was glad to get away from there…it made me nervous, looking up at all the snow pack still on the mountain above us.”

They were sitting quietly talking when Geena came back down the hall and everyone stopped midsentence as she approached. She went straight to Gerry, saw the petite blond pale at this bad omen and brace herself for the news.

She sat on the edge of the sofa and took Gerry’s hands and smiled to ally her fears a bit.

“He has a good chance, Gerry but I won’t lie to you…it’s serious. Carlos core temperature dropped to under 30C, what they consider critical Hypothermia…he’s unconscious, doesn’t respond to pain, his pulse and breathing is slow and he has had several bouts of arrhythmia…that’s erratic heart beats. They have him on warmed oxygen to warm his internal organs and machines to help him breathe…he’s being monitored constantly and when his temp gets above 30 they will start external warming of his torso. It’s a slow process by necessity since too rapid a change could cause organ failure…but these people know what to do and they have some amazing equipment so he’s in good hands. Other than that he’s bruised and battered, they all are, black eyes and sprained wrists and ankles a few gashes. IF you promise to sit quietly and not interfere you can go in to be with him. You won’t be able to touch him since jostling is a bad thing at the moment.”

Gerry wiped the tears off her face and went away with the young nurse who had followed Geena down the hall.

“Maggie, Inga…Urs has moderate Hypothermia now…he had dropped to 30.6 when they found the car and was semiconscious, confused, almost like he was drunk but they put him in a Bair Hugger for the trip to Luzern and now he reads just over 31C. He too is on warmed oxygen, they all are, and his vitals are gradually improving. He isn’t out of the woods yet but the Doctors are hopeful, mostly due to him being in good physical condition. He is slightly hypoglycemic but that’s to be expected. Until he gets above 32C you have to stay back so he doesn’t get jarred, but you can see him if it won’t upset you too much.”

“Go dear,” Inga said. “You will be more at ease if you see him breathing.”

Maggie held her hand out to Inga, indicating that she wanted her to come too and they went down the hall with the nurse who had come back.

“And the others…David and Petra?” Seb asked and Geena sighed.

“Petra should be fine…she was suffering the least and her temp is rising nicely…they think she has a sprained wrist as well as the bruises…apparently she was on top of all three of the men and shared their body heat so she didn’t do too badly. David has a concussion and a gash across his brow but his temp is rising nicely…he was in the middle. They did well…made a little cave and cuddled under blankets and the tarp, blocked up the broken windows with the airbags and took turns listening for help to arrive. And the Volvo did well, though I’m afraid it’s toast now…the wheels were ripped off, the roof caved a bit, a tree went through the windshield and the hood vanished somewhere, along with the fenders…but the steel panels in the sides held and saved them from being crushed and the airbags helped keep the battering to a minimum.”

“How long will they be in hospital?” Nikolai asked and she told him a minimum of 48 hours, if every thing went well.

Dieter arrived with a huge thermos of hot chocolate, Marc shortly after from parking the truck, both heard the news and went outside to make phone calls. By the time they returned there were several more of the Mountain Rescue team that had gone off duty and decided to come by to check on their patients and Magda, Urs’ sister who lived in Luzern.

“We should wait until we have more encouraging news to call the Millers and the Jensens,” Franz suggested, more as a thought than a demand and Nikolai nodded in agreement.

Around them the early morning life of the hospital became busier as shifts changed and patients began to be prepped for surgeries…in the now crowded waiting room, once more they waited.

**

It was dim in the room except for the lights over the high bed and quiet except for the rhythmic beeping of the machines that monitored body functions of the man lying so still on the bed.

Maggie and Inga held hands as they approached, listening to the whispered orders of the nurses attending him to not touch him or bang against the bed.

His perfect face was ashen, no glow whatsoever, as if someone had scraped all his healthy tan off and the carved lines were marred by tubing from the nasal feed of the warmed oxygen. Deep dark circles under his eyes blended with the bruising but there was no swelling yet, since the chill had kept it down. His hair had dried in a tumble of curls that lay on his forehead, covered his ears and what they could see of his neck…the Hugger blanket that Geena had talked about cover his arms and torso down to his thighs, resembling nothing more than a large white downy ski jacket, one that pulsed as warm air was fed into it and caressed his skin, warming him gradually. Tubing and cords protruded from the Hugger and from under the thick blanket that lay over his legs and feet, tented a bit and elevated.

Yet for all the strangeness of the equipment and the location, it was Urs, cool and still but breathing, his heart beating steadily as the monitor showed, his temperature rising slowly, up point one even as they watched to nearly 31.9.

They stayed a few minutes then left the room, still holding hands, went back out in the hall and found a ladies room to share a good cry, then washed faces and hands in preparation for rejoining the others.

**

Waves of pain swept over him and he moaned, tried to get his scrambled thoughts into some sort of order, tried to move, tried to open his eyes, but his body was refusing to do what he demanded of it. Soft hands touched him, without much pressure holding him back against…that wasn’t the firm, cold seat of the car, it was soft and WARM!!

His eyes cracked open and he heard a voice apologizing when the brightness of the light was too much for him. He tried again , this time with more success…the light had been turned away, not shining directly in his face now.

He tried to speak but his throat was dry and the woman sensed this, offering a bent straw and a glass of warm liquid that he sucked on greedily, almost groaning at the pleasant feeling of it bathing his mouth and throat.

She was a nurse, he recognized the uniform now.

“We were rescued?” he asked in a hoarse whisper, not even recognizing his own raspy voice.

“Yes, and just in time…the others are doing well too, so you don’t need to ask….and if you look over near the window, there’s someone who has been waiting for hours to see your eyes open.”

He turned his head on the soft pillow and tried to focus, then the vision became clear and he knew it was Maggie.

“Shall I wake her?”

As if she sensed the disturbance in the air of the room or the quiet conversation penetrated her dreams, her eyes flew open and she struggled to get out of the chair. Successful at last she ran across the room but stopped just out of reach of the bed, glancing at the nurse for permission, conditioned through the long hours of waiting to the importance of not joustling the bed.

He tried to get his arm out but the thing he was in had him trapped until the nurse pulled the Velcro fastener open and he held his arm out to Maggie, needing to feel her to know without any doubts that this wasn’t another hallucination, that she was real and here and he was truly rescued.

“Oh Urs….” She took his hand, hers nearly hot to his sensitive skin but oh so welcome, and stepped closer to lay a trembling hand against his cheek. It felt tender, maybe bruised but he didn’t care, wanted more, wanted to have her face against his and she sensed his need and leaned over him to gently lay her wet cheek against his.

“Welcome back, my love,” she whispered and kissed his dry lips tenderly.

“…couldn’t leave you,” he managed to say but the effort cost him and he fell asleep, this time to the healing comfort of rest that would give him back the life that had almost been stolen from him..

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN

The staff at the hospital was happy to see the last of the Divos when, four days after their early morning arrival, they were sent home to Irgendwo.

The first day after they had all warmed up enough to be off the critical list had been fine, all of the patients sleeping a lot as their bodies coped with recovery, the second was not too bad at first as they became more or less mobile, by the end of the second day the whining and impatience of the three men was driving the nursing staff mad and for the entire third day the nurses were hoping for a relapse so they would get some peace.

None of them were easy patients…they were bored, they hated the mushy food, David wanted to see Paul and couldn’t be appeased even though the staff moved Petra into the same room in hopes of calming him down. Urs asked the same question each time someone came in his room… ‘when can I go home?’ and Carlos refused to use the call button as the others frequently did, instead, relying on his deep baritone voice to demand attention, not even once romancing the few pretty nurses on the staff.

The absence, even briefly, of Maggie and Geraldine was tolerated only for a short span before Urs and Carlos reverted to being little boys who needed constant and immediate attention. In exasperation Maggie made Urs take a good look at the wreck she was becoming and demanded time to at least brush her teeth. Once Gerry saw that it had worked with Urs she used the same ploy with Carlos and things did quiet down somewhat.

Still, when the doctor gave permission for them to be discharged there was a collective sigh of relief among the harried nursing staff and sympathetic looks at the women who would now have to cope with the invalids.

The walking wounded exited the two vans that had come to pick them up, borrowed from friends as the long gone skiing equipment had been, and were helped into the house.

Petra walked in with little aid, leaning a bit on Nikolai as he came to assist, her face colorful with bruising, a tensor bandage on her sprained wrist, the rest of the bruises to her body hidden by clothing but still painful.

Carlos leaned heavily on Geraldine and the carved cane that Mami had sent for him, both eyes blackened and one cheek swollen and a lovely shade of purple and black, wearing 3 large socks on his swollen foot and favoring a hip that had somehow collected a very large bruise.

David wore his usual big grin as Franz helped him, a plaster over the 9 stitches he had taken in his brow, both eyes blackened and just a bit foggy from the pain meds he was allowed now for his raging headache. He watched as Pet navigated the steps and went inside, eager to see their son.

Urs had his arm around Maggie’s shoulder and moved slowly, savoring the clean air of home, his entire body aching, only his left eye swollen and discolored, his free hand on the cane Tante Sophia had sent with Mami, trying to keep the pressure off his leg with the 13 stitches, a momento from part of the dashboard that had buckled inward and embedded itself in his leg.

In their absence friends and family had changed a few things in the Lounge in preparation for their return and recovery. An extra sofa had been placed near the fireplace and more soft pillows had been added so the invalids could lay back and relax. Large, soft foot-stools had been placed in front of the big padded chairs, with small tables in easy reach and extra throws that looked warm and cuddly were at hand…they would feel cold for some time yet, the body’s natural reaction to almost being frozen solid.

Once they had all been settled in the Lounge and Paul had greeted his parents with enthusiastic hugs and kisses, he went off with Heidi to have a snack and Maggie and Gerry faced off with the invalids while Sebastien, Franz, Nikolai and Inga watched with amused smiles.

“It’s wonderful to have you all back, alive, recovering and here where we can help you. But Gerry and I have talked about the way we can best help and there are some ground rules.”

Gerry grinned at Carlos then took up the conversation with her delicate hands placed on her hips.

“There will be no whinging and demanding constant attention. We will be ready and willing to help when you ask, POLITELY. No one in this house will put up with the disrespectful way you treated the nursing staff, who by the way, SAVED YOUR LIVES!!”

“You will take your medications when given to you, rest when it is time to, without complaint, eat the nutritious meals that Heidi will thoughtfully prepare to build up your strength, and allow your caregivers some time daily to replenish their own energy. We love you all but if you must act like children with Owies…then that is how you will be treated.” Maggie glared at them, defying any of the four to comment.

Urs was staring at her, biting his lip, trying not to laugh at her fierce stance and finally couldn’t keep it in any longer and burst into laughter, soon joined by the others. He reached out to capture her hand and tug her closer to his favorite chair, careful to avoid his leg that was stretched out on the footstool.

“It only took a near death experience and all of a sudden my loving little wife has turned into a Drill Sargeant. Of course we will behave, Luv…and I for one am looking forward to the meals here…. one more day of that swill they serve in the hospital and I think we all would have taken a turn for the worse. Were we really that awful?”

Gerry answered.

“No, not really…I’m sure the staff was used to having bedpans thrown at them…. dealing with big grown men throwing hissy fits when the poor nurses just wanted to give you a bed bath, is probably an every day occurrence for them…. It probably escaped your attention that Switzerland is a multi lingual country and swearing at the staff in languages other than English would still be understood, and I don’t think there is a woman alive who likes to be called a sadistic cow, even if it is in one of the romance languages…but I doubt that threatening to get your Glock and blow them all away is something they will soon forget though…rectal thermometers ARE much more accurate, you know.”

Urs cheeks colored a bit as he remembered but everyone else thought it was hilarious.

Maggie put her hand on his cheek and patted him, gently, on the non-colored side.

“I can promise to give that one a pass, Liebe. But I’ve never seen a nurse with quite that shade of grey skin before.”

“She sure could run fast,” he said with a grin.

They soon developed a routine and being home worked wonders for their recovery. Meals were consumed with gusto, naps were willingly taken, medications, so long as they weren’t in the form of needles were accepted and swallowed and the caregivers soon had rosey cheeks and sighed with relief that their ‘Patients’ seemed to have committed the ‘Rules’ to memory. Even the first night they all managed to get up the stairs to their bedrooms, nice and early, even managed showers but not much else except being tenderly held as they talked a while then fell into healing sleep.

“Do you think my head will be healed enough that the groomer can hide it with makeup when we go back to work?” David asked Petra as they got ready for bed.

“I think so, Stretch. You have three weeks so it should just be a thin red scar. It’s a nice tidy job. And the swelling around your eyes should be gone by then.”

She looked in the mirror and laughed at the sight they made. Both of them had huge bruises from the seat belts and from the banging around they had endured…their bodies were patchworks of purple and blue/green marks, some with yellowish tinges.

He slid his arms around her and gently squeezed, not sure how safe it was to apply pressure to any part of her yet.

“I’m almost afraid to hold you,” he said with a chuckle.

“Best you be afraid NOT to, Lover. It’s been long enough between hugs and passion….and likely will be longer before we can get back to wild and wonderful. I’m willing to be content with soft and cuddly for a couple more days, but then…”

He laughed and led her into the bedroom, then through to the roomy dressing room where Paul was sound asleep.

“I can do soft and cuddly, but that’s about all….”

They went to bed and discussed their family’s reactions to the news when they had called them earlier in the evening. Initally both sets of parents had wanted to come to Switzerland but were convinced not to… it wouldn’t be long until they returned to London and then just days later the US portion of the tour would start.

“I’m glad Franz didn’t call them until we were out of danger,” Pet said.

“I’m glad he didn’t have to call them with worse news,” David said and she snuggled closer to him, resting her uninjured hand against his chest.

“Me too…. I was so scared David… I tried not to show it but when I saw that nasty cut in your head…. It was strange though…Urs called me Mother and all of a sudden I felt the calm that comes on me when we do a mission….I wonder if he did that on purpose?”

David smiled and sighed.

“I don’t know Sweetie…I think maybe Maggie is the only one who comes close to knowing what goes on in that inscrutable Swiss brain.”

They settled into the soft bedding and drifted off to sleep.

**

Gerry was almost asleep, spooned carefully against Carlos, exhausted from the tension of the past few days but happy to at last be able to touch him, listen to his breathing, even his snoring would be a welcome sign of returning to normality.

“Querida?” His voice was deep and soft, tinged with the tiredness she knew he felt.

She turned her head on the pillow to listen to him.

“Si, Mijo?”

“When the tour is over will you marry me?”

Tears filled her eyes and her breath left her body for a moment, then she carefully turned over to face him.

“My love, I will marry you tonight, tomorrow, whenever you like…Yes I will marry you.”

He smiled and she could see the flash of his white teeth in the darknness before he leaned closer and kissed her tenderly.

When he drew away and smiled at her again she knew an explanation was coming.

“I thought that we would never be together again, that I would go to meet God without ever being the man you deserve…. I want to be your husband, Querida…no more open relationships, no more sharing of what should be only for us to share…. And once we are joined in the eyes of God and man we will see those agencies again and find some children to love. Si?”

She wept with happiness and he held her until they both fell into contented sleep.

**

Sebastien came up behind Geena as she sat on the small stool in the bathroom and brushed her hair, surprised to see tears on her face that she hastily wiped away before smiling at him.

“Cherie, what is it? We should be happy now, everyone is back and safe, mending.”

“It could have been us, Seb…it was just blind luck that we were far enough ahead of them to not be carried away. With that light little car and only two of us, two people who know nothing about survival in such instances…we would not have survived as well and when I think of it I begin to shake.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and massaged the stiffness away, bending over to kiss the top of her head.

“But we did get out of the way and brought them help….whether it was luck or fate or God, I do not know but at least all is well now and that is what we must focus on….that and our plan, but I do think that now, in light of all that has happened we should go ahead but without telling anyone. They all need as many days of rest as they can get before we have to go back to London. We should go on to Nice, meet Maman there and proceed. There will be time later to tell them what we have done and perhaps to have a party… for now, my little Irish Love, come run away with me and pledge your love to me forever, as I will pledge mine.”

Geena laughed and rested the top of her head against his chest, looking up at him with adoring eyes.

“You have such a romantic way with words, Froggie… but you are right. If they know they will want to come to Nice and they really shouldn’t…Yes, I will run away with you, tomorrow as we had planned…and I will love you forever…but tonight.. tonight I need to practice for the honeymoon.”

His eyes lit up with desire as she stood and let her robe fall to the floor, reaching out to hook the waistband of his shorts in her fingers.

“I am a singer, Mon Coeur…we love to practice.”

And so they practiced until they achieved perfection.

**

Urs lay with his head just below Maggie’s bump, waiting for the baby to stir again, while she ran her fingers through his still damp curls, letting them fall across his scalp in a cascade, then doing it again, fascinated with the tangled profusion.

“I’ll bet he has curly hair since both of us do,” she said idly and he raised his head to smile at her.

“There you go with ‘HE’ again. You’ve been listening to Mami’s predictions, haven’t you?”

“And Tante Sofia…actually it’s just easier than always saying he/she. Urs tomorrow will you give me a list of the people you borrowed equipment from so I can get it replaced? And the insurance guy will be out to find out what we want to do about replacing the Volvo. Thank God you had the sense to buy one…I don’t want to think what would have happened if it had been a lighter car.”

He inched his way up to lay on his stomach beside her, using her legs as a cushion for his injured one and propping his upper body up on his arms.

“No more dark what ifs, Luv or we’ll both be having nightmares. I’m home, right here and you are taking care of me, just like you promised. You were there in the car with me for all those cold dark hours…I could feel your love, your thoughts and the strength you willed me and I never was alone. Just the thought of you and the baby were enough to keep me alive and now, each minute that I look at you or hear your voice or feel your touch, it makes me stronger, more my self.”

He leaned over to kiss her, carefully, almost as if he was afraid to let himself lose control.

She lay quietly, processing all the little clues: he had insisted on showering alone, saying he just wanted a quick rinse off and came back out only after wrapping a large bath sheet around his hips. She had left him in the bathroom for a few minutes while she hunted up her new tube of body lotion and when she returned he was dried and wearing his boxers…in fact still had them on now, in bed, something he had seldom done since they became intimate…something was not right.

“Urs…is there something you aren’t telling me? Are you injured? Did the doctor forbid you to make love? My darling, after what you’ve been through I can understand how exhausted you must be, if that’s all that is bothering you.”

He was almost shy when he answered her and hung his head, concentrating intently on the folds he was making in the sheet.

“Extreme cold can have an effect on a man’s certain body parts…they withdraw into the body, seeking protection and warmth and it isn’t a good idea to make love until they descend again. He said it may take a few days but it’s nothing to worry about…easy for him to say…he’s such a sour man and his wife is probably like him…old and wrinkled and happy to only get romantic once every blue moon.”

She punched him in the only unbruised spot she could find and raised up on her elbows to glare at him.

“Oh for heavens sake….Urs I don’t just love you from your waist to your knees… Making love with you is earth shaking, glorious, wonderful, like a trip to the stars, but it isn’t the only reason I adore you and you know it. Just consider this practice for the 6 weeks we will have to abstain after the baby arrives or the time when we are apart while you are touriing. Now relax and let your little guys get back where they belong and get the rest of you where it belongs…here, beside me with your arms holding me close enough to hear your heart beating and our baby kicking you in the belly for being a silly a** sometimes.”

He grinned at her and crushed her in his arms, tucking her into place with her head on his shoulder and laughing softly.

“I love it when you get snippy at me like that…your eyes flash green fire and your lips tremble and it keeps me from thinking bad thoughts…Sorry…I guess that was a bit of self pity talking for a minute… since we’ve met I’ve never experienced a … ‘failure to respond’ but right now…”

“Shhhh….you fill me with love in so many other ways… we can wait, Urs. I love you, My Swiss.”

He reached over and clicked off the lights, pulled the cover up over their twined bodies and snuggled down into the pillows with his soul mate.

“Ich Liebe sie, Geliebt,”

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

All of the invalids looked much perkier in the morning at breakfast, still very colorful but the shadows under their eyes were a bit less visible and the strain wasn’t quite as obvious.

Maggie and Gerry looked better from having a good night’s sleep and of course Geraldine was bubbling with the secret she had decided to keep to herself and enjoy privately, just a bit longer.

Heidi had provided a starter of good old fashioned oatmeal this morning, accompanied by a raised brow and stare when it was met with groans from Carlos and Seb…they dropped their eyes to the bowls, added a generous portion of the thick cream that had come that morning and ate without another sound of protest.

It was a favorite of Urs’ so he cleaned his bowl out, ready to ask for more but was forestalled by the platter of fluffy scrambed eggs with slivers of colored peppers, generous golden brown sausages and a basket of, still hot from the oven, biscuits that were almost too hot for bare fingers, let alone tongues. Still, one must suffer to appease the cook and he did, taking 3 biscuits that he slathered with some of Maggie’s home made conserve and wolfed down, having to drink a full two glasses of milk to ease the burn in his mouth…

Maggie laughed at his greed but he gave her a conserve, biscuit, oatmeal flavored kiss and grinned.

“Worth every second of pain…that conserve is fabelhaft, Luv…Thank you.”

She had a questioning look on her face until he realized that he had given her another new word.

“Fabelhaft…wonderful,” he said with a grin as he helped himself to eggs and sausage.

“Does he always eat like this at home, Mags? Urs, it’s a wonder you don’t weigh 200 K with that kind of appetite.” Seb looked down at the meager portion he had taken and shook his head in dismay at Urs’ loaded plate.

“I have a very efficient metabolism, Frenchie…and I exercise the rest off…why do you think I spend so many hours in the gym?”

“So you can pop more buttons on your shirts,” David teased, an ongoing joke between them since the day the dome style buttons on Urs’ shirt had insisted on popping every time he took a deep breath.

Maggie tried ignoring the squabble and turned to ask Geena if they were still planning on leaving today.

“Yes…we need to meet up with Maman Izambard and see her off on her cruise. That was our present to her for Christmas…tickets for Maman and her sister, Anna-Lise, on a cruise of the Greek Isles. They are taking the Orient Express then meeting up with us for a day before sailing. It’s something she always wanted and now Seb was able to make her dream come true.”

There was more to it than that, Maggie could tell from her voice, but she looked deep in Geena’s eyes, saw the blush start on her cheeks and dropped the subject with a smile. When Gee was ready to talk about it, she would.

They left shortly after, loading their luggage into the rental, hugs and kisses all around with admonitions to behave to the patients and a very quiet…. ‘Thanks for not asking…I love you Mags’…from Geena when she squeezed her friend hard, and left.

The rest of the week they dealt with things as they came up: straightening out the insurance, ordering a new car and selling the little Peugot which had suddenly become the symbol, in this house at least, for a deathtrap…Urs ordered another Volvo, a slightly smaller, though just as safe model for Heidi and both vehicles were to be delivered by the weekend.

Franz and Kosta took care of replacing the skiis that had been pulverized into matchsticks by the avalanche. All four of the rescued skiers banded together to send flowers, chocolate and a donation to thank the nursing staff and the Mountain Rescue Teams. Maggie agreed that it was the right thing to do…she said nothing about the anonymous, sizable cash donations that she had already asked the office to send to both the Hypothermia Response Unit and Mountain Rescue in their names. Chocolates and flowers were a welcome token but she knew from her charity work that organizations like theirs were always cash poor and could do a lot of good with a fresh influx of real money. And after all, the money weighed little when balanced against the lives of those she cared for and, especially, to her, the life of her beloved Urs.

With perfect timing the cars arrived on the first day that the invalids ventured outside. They decided to take the new car for a test drive, only going the few K to Wolhausen to visit the breeder so that they could see the parents of the litter of puppies that soon would be arriving. Urs had been assured that both the bitch and the sire were exceptionally good natured, intelligent and that previous litters had produced puppies that were equally smart and child friendly. With Pyr’s it was always a good idea to get them early and raise them as you wanted them to continue…as herders or as family friends, He already knew that Maggie was good with dogs…now she could put her experience with Jessie to good use again.

She knew he was nervous, driving for the first time since the incident, but he made no comments about it and she merely smiled and rested her hand on his thigh, not shaming him by offering to drive.

They headed out slowly, breaking the car in, then picked up speed a bit as Urs confidence level rose and the nerves of those who had been on that mountain road with him, eased. This slightly newer model was an 8 passenger so the 7 of them fit in nicely with Pet in the back beside Paul in his car seat, David, Carlos and Gerry in the middle seat and Urs and Maggie in the front.

“I get to play with Paul on the way back,” David said getting his bid in early on the spot and Pet laughed at him.

“Sometimes, being married to you is like having two little boys to take care of,” she teased and he swiveled in the seat to grin at her.

“Flattery will get you almost anything…except that seat on the way back.”

Wolhausen was tiny, perhaps a bit smaller than Willisau but older, most of the houses of the tall stacked stone variety, slightly higher in elevation than Willisau as well. The directions they had been given were excellent and soon they were pulling into the fenced yard of the Alpine buildings that comprised the Kerstner Kennels.

They could see dogs running loose in the snow covered fields, at first appearing to be unattended until Maggie pointed out the small group of people leaning on the fence, watching as the animals deftly herded sheep into a tight huddle, dropping to lay stretched out on their stomach but with heads up and their black eyes following every move. They seemed to work as a team, one of the dogs watching for strays or escapees, another calmly walking at the back of the flock, the third watching the distance as a smaller, black and white dog approached.

There were no discernible signals, either from the peole watching or between the dogs but the group in the car saw that now the two Pyrs involved directly with the flock were now circling them, keeping them tightly confined, while the one watching the intruder rose to assume a defensive stance, head up, hackles raised, front legs extended slightly and hips dropped enough to give him a starting spring forward if necessary. A few more steps and the black and white dog stopped, dropped to the ground and exposed his belly, then sprang up and turned to race back over the crest of the hill.

All three of the Pyrs now went into semi relaxed mode, allowing their charges to continue down the field in a straggling line toward the half open shed.

One of the men at the fence approached the car and held his hand out.

“Anton Kerstner…you must be part of that group caught in the slide near the Engelberg. You’re looking good after what you went through.
Frau Buhler? Come to see about your puppy have you?”

Urs introduced everyone and they followed as quickly as Urs’ and Carlos’ canes would allow, around the side of the main house to an area with roomy caged enclosures that jutted out from the back of a long, low building. Several people had dogs out, working them on leads, taking them out to fields were sno mobiles were trekking back and forth racing their canine companions. Another building created an ell at the end of the first with more roomy caged areas, this time with a few gestating bitches that looked to be due at any time, their mates standing protectively when strangers approached, only one with puppies in it as well, looking to be about 5 weeks old.

“How many dogs do you have, Herr Kerstner?” Maggie asked as she watched the people around interacting with the canines, impressed at the cleanliness of the place and the quiet…only the occasional happy barking or yipping of puppies could be heard.

“We’re pretty full right now…all told about 38 plus puppies but some are here for training and go home at night. Leroy there…he was injured on a rescue last week in Chamonix and they sent him here to recover. I’m a licenced vet as well as a breeder. The twins in that pen, Rom and Reem…they’re young, not quite 2 and just finishing their training. They sleep most of the day since they’re being trained for night work….and I have two bitches ready to whelp late this month. Come and I’ll introduce you.”

“Why do you have those sheep in with the sleeping dogs?” Seb asked as he caught up with the group, having stopped to watch the 4 sheep that slept, unconcerned, beside the quiet, big dogs.

They kept walking while Anton explained.

“The Pyr is essentially a work dog, bred hundreds of years ago in the French Alps to guard sheep. They have an extra dew claw on their feet so they almost snowshoe through the drifts, their undercoat is incredibly dense so they don’t lose heat much through evaporation and can withstand extremely cold temperatures. It was discovered that they are incredibly loyal, attach themselves to people or other animals if they’re raised with them and have an amazing instinctive sense of how to keep their ‘flock’ safe. They will fight wolves to the death if necessary but are as gentle with a child as they are with a lamb. Sorry, I guess you can tell I’m pretty biased when it comes to this breed.

“Here we are…this is Lady Daphne and her consort Marmaduke…or Daffy and Marm as my daughters call them.”