We are standing in front of my mother's house. During the flight I didn't have any problems, but I'm starting to get a bit nervous now. "Afraid of your own mother? " asks Julia with a smile, as she takes my hand. I think she senses my nerves. I shake my head. "I just hope she doesn't embarrass me." Julia looks at me with a beautiful smile on her face. "You still have the chance to confess your actions yourself". I start laughing. "Dear darling, we don't have enough time for that right now. If I start now, I'll be busy next week." The moment I say that, my father opens the front door and steps inside. Followed by Silvia. I give Julia a quick kiss before we go inside too. My mother has already greeted my father and Silvia when Julia and I enter the living room. "Honey, I'm glad to see you again. Don't you dare be gone that long again. I missed you," my mother says as she hugs me tightly. "Sorry mom, I was busy. I missed you too ". She suddenly lets go of me. "Julia"? she says in amazement. "The one and only ". Julia responds with a beautiful smile on her face, but you can read from her face that this does quite a bit to her. My mother now hugs her tightly. "What a surprise. That is a long time ago. How glad I am to see you again". She lets go of Julia again. My mother looks at Julia in disbelief and with tears in her eyes. After a while she turns to my father. "Not that I mind, quite the contrary, but Rick couldn't you go without your assistant? ". My father has a big smile on his face and throws his hands in the air. "Julia is not my guest". My mother looks at me. I look at her with a smile. "Julia is my girlfriend". I see a big smile appear on my mother's face, which to be honest I didn't quite expect. "I can only give my approval for this. Not that you would care one bit about it. I've heard a lot about Julia from your father. I'm sure you can make each other happy. I never had that feeling with the other one". When she has said that, I let go of Julia's hand and give my mother a big hug. "Thank you mom. Your saying that means a lot to me."
Julia caught up with my mother and then went into the backyard. "Kimberly, are you coming with me to the kitchen?" I get a big smile on my face when my mother asks me that. We used to spend hours together in the kitchen. Baking apple pie was always our favorite activity, but we really baked everything together. I'm a bit surprised when my mother doesn't walk to the counter, but sits down at the dining table. "Have a seat. It's been way too long since we've had a conversation between mother and daughter." With some reluctance I take a seat at the dining table. She'll tell me now how she really feels about Julia and me. "You look good". I get a smile on my face when she says that. In recent years I have mainly been told that I should pay more attention to myself. "I also feel really good. I am really happy". That also brings a smile to my mother's face. "I just assume that Julia in particular is a reason for this". I nod. "If your brother had still been here, you would have had a real fight. As a little boy he was already completely in love with her". My mother says it with a beautiful smile on her face, but I can still see the pain in her. "I miss him," I say softly. My mother gets up and sits next to me. She puts an arm around me. "I still miss Vincent every day and that will never change. You just have to pick up your own life again, but it looks like you're finally doing that again". I hug my mother tightly. "For years I had no sense in life and no longer saw the point of it, but that has completely changed since I met Julia". My mother kisses my head. "Then I have to thank her even more for that". I look at her with a smile. "So you really have nothing against Julia being my girlfriend?". My mother shakes her head. "Of course not. Why would I have a problem with that?" I let go of my mother. "I thought you had a problem with me wanting to share my life with a woman." My mother looks at me in surprise. "Honey, how did you get to that?" I shrug. "Because you were always against my relationships". My mother shakes her head. "Kimberly it wasn't because they were girlfriends. You just had a knack for bringing girls who brought more trouble than good. I'm sorry I gave you the impression that I'm against you being into women. All I want is for you to be happy whether it's with a man or a woman, I don't care at all". I can't help but fall into my mother's arms again. I can't stop some tears from escaping. I always thought my mother didn't fully accept me for who I am.
"Why do I actually see boxes everywhere?" I ask when I notice that there are boxes piled up in the kitchen. "Because I'm moving." I look at her in disbelief. "No, that's not going to happen. Why didn't you tell me about that?" I feel my tears running down my cheeks. "You can't just sell the house. That makes Vincent disappear even more," I say softly. "Honey, I'm not selling anything." I don't get it. "Then why are you moving?" My mother looks at me with a smile. "Actually, we wanted to tell you together, but your father and I found out that we can't really do without each other, so I'm also coming to the Netherlands". I look at my mother with wide eyes. "What?". My mother starts laughing. "I'm going to live with your father again." I fly into my mother's arms. "I think you find it a nice surprise." I nod when she smiles. I have missed my mother enormously in recent years, but I have never let it show. "What will happen to the house?" I ask while I realize what she just said. "Jane will live here with her daughter and grandchildren". I get an even bigger smile on her face. "Where is Jane anyway?". Jane has been employed by my parents all my life. When my parents were at work, she took care of Vincent and me. After we were old enough and she no longer had to take care of us, Jane continued to work as my mother's personal help. If anyone's a lovely woman, it's Jane. "She is doing some shopping. You'll see her soon."
I spent at least an hour catching up with my mother. When we come back into the living room I only see my father and Silvia. "Is Julia still outside?" Silvia gives me a nod. "I'm going to check on her." Without waiting for an answer I walk to the backyard. There I see her sitting on the porch swing. "Are you alright?" I ask as I sit down next to her. She nods with a small smile on her face. "I've never actually been able to remember much of my life in London, but when I took the first step in the house, everything immediately came up. I also recognize the garden completely again. Vincent and I really played a lot here. It is a pity that the pond is no longer there. I always loved watching the fish." I start laughing when she says that. "Sorry that's my fault". Julia looks at me questioningly. "I never looked out when I was running around. After I fell into the pond for the umpteenth time, my parents had enough and closed it up". Julia shakes her head with a smile. "It is strange to think that you also ran around here as a little girl". I snuggle close to her. "Would you please tell me stories about you and Vincent". Julia wraps her arms around me and kisses my head. "I want to do everything for you Sunshine".
I really enjoyed the stories Julia told me. We also laughed a lot, but tears were also there. I can't even imagine what this must do to Julia. As she says herself, she actually didn't remember anything from that time, but now everything is coming up. Also memories of her parents. Of course that's beautiful, but I can also understand that it can be painful. We didn't go back in until we were called for dinner. As soon as we enter the kitchen I see Jane standing there. I walk straight to her. "It's good to see you again," I say as I give her a hug. "And I'm glad to finally see you again. It's been way too long. How's my troublemaker?" she asks laughing. I'm afraid I'll never get rid of that name. I really think she used to have her hands full with me. "It could not be better. I would really like to introduce you to someone". I turn to Julia. Who is looking at us with a smile on her face. "This is Julia, my girlfriend. Julia this is Jane, my support when I lived here". Jane walks up to Julia and holds out her hand. "Hello Jane. How nice and strange to meet you again," says Julia as she shakes Jane's hand. I see Jane looking at Julia. "Julia? You don't mean the Julia who has ones provided the kitchen floor with an egg layer?". Julia nods with a big smile on her face. "Sorry, I am guilty." Jane wraps her arms around Julia to give her a hug. "This day just gets better and better. You were already a beautiful child, but what a beautiful woman you have become". Jane releases Julia again and continues to look at her in disbelief. "Egg layer?". Julia looks at me with a big smile when I ask. "Your brother and I thought it would be smart to have an egg race in the kitchen with raw eggs. Jane was not very happy with us that day". Jane puts an arm over my shoulders. "Only Julia was an sweet girl that helped me on hands and knees to clean it. I also remember a girl from the past who probably only made it worse". I smile at Jane. "I wouldn't know which girl would do that."
I didn'tthink it would do me so good to be back in London. I've always found itdifficult to come back since Vincent's death, but this time it really felt likecoming home. It was so nice that we didn't even go into town. We spent thewhole evening catching up, reminiscing and playing games. Silvia did go intotown in the course of the evening. She had arranged to meet an old friend andspent the night in the hotel. I do have a suspicion of what happened there. OnSunday Julia and I slept in, in my old room. By the time Sem had also joinedus, the three of us went for a walk. During the walk, Julia and I brought backmany memories. We now really realized that we grew up in the same neighborhood,which was quite strange. It was also kind of funny that we had our own storiesabout places nearby. Best of all, Julia could show Sem where she was born andlived her first years. Which visibly did her good. Unfortunately it was time togo back to the Netherlands way too soon, but we agreed that we will go backsoon for a longer period of time.