Chapter 6
A couple of weeks later, they had gotten settled in the house, even if Santas and elves were still dominating the interior.
They had managed to pack down most little pigs, roosters, baskets of Lucia buns and ceramic Santas, and Emelie thought that she had counted eight boxes in the cellar just containing different Santas.
It was a lot. She and Linn had spent countless hours wiping away the dust that drifted up every time they unpacked one of the decorations.
Liv and Linnea loved everything about it.
They thought that they were living in a fairy-tale house in a Christmas story.
They had quickly found a couple of new friends next doors, and now they were bringing them over to show them, that they actually lived in a Christmas-themed museum.
When Emelie removed the different-sized Santas standing on the floor, they both protested loudly and wanted them in their rooms instead.
They were allowed to pick a couple, while the rest went straight to the cellar.
Emelie was standing in the kitchen writing a shopping list on her phone.
Linn was over at Andreas’ and it bothered her.
As often as Andreas came over without ringing the doorbell and behaving like the Christmas house was his, Linn was over at his in the guesthouse.
Emelie didn’t quite understand what Andreas, who was over thirty, saw in Linn who hadn’t even turned twenty yet.
Of course it wasn’t the first time that a grown man had taken an interest in a younger woman, but still.
She didn’t really want to admit to herself that it could be the case.
She sent a text message to Linn, saying that they were heading to the shop in the centre of town, and that she wanted her to come with and help carry the shopping.
“Give me a couple of minutes”
A couple minutes, what for? Emelie found two shopping bags with Christmas designs to carry the groceries in and called for the other kids on the first floor.
They immediately came running, but Linnea had a gigantic stain on her dress and Liv wasn’t wearing any trousers, so they had to go back up and change.
“Hurry up, we are going to the shop, and it doesn’t stay open as long as back in V?xjo, you know,” she said with a strict voice.
A couple of minutes later, Linn came through the front door.
“Have you heard the doorbell? You are going to hate it”, she said with anticipation.
“How fun”, Emilie muttered.
“Okay, listen now,” Linn said, reaching outside the door and pushing the little button on the outside of the house. The bell version of Jingle Bells echoed through the house. Emilie had to laugh.
“You are joking! It’s just bloody insane. However did I miss that?”
“I don’t knoooow, but I don’t really think anyone is using the doorbell, they usually knock, or they just step right in,” Linn laughed.
“Yes, like Andreas for example. You certainly spend a lot of time over at his place. He’s a bit old for you, don’t you think?”
Linn stuck her tongue out at her mother and Emelie snubbed her nose.
At least now she had said something. Liv and Linnea came bouncing down the stairs.
This time, Liv was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and Linnea had put on a clean dress.
Liv immediately ran over and pressed the doorbell, making the whole house resonate with the Christmas song again.
“Mum, it’s so funny!” she shouted, beaming with joy.
“Hilarious,” Emelie said. “Ok my little ones, let’s get going!”
Over at the shop, people from the mainland, referred to as ‘townsfolk’ by the locals, were bumping shoulders with islanders and boat-owners in navy blue polo shirts and loafers.
All of the female boat-owners seemed to have an arsenal of white shorts and wind jackets from some fancy sailing brand, while the men were wearing navy blue jackets and loafers.
The islanders were complaining about the invasion of the townsfolk, well-aware that the community wouldn’t have survived without the summer guests and the boat-owners.
The islanders muttered about the town people’s loudness, their littering and the way that they were invading the local restaurants.
But only quietly, just loud enough for them to feel satisfied with themselves.
Liv and Linnea were instructed by Emilie to go and find juice and toast while Emelie and Linn moved systematically through the store that they had gotten to know quite well by now.
Dairy was all the way at the back, next to a meat deli with a lovely, home-made potato salad and marinated fish skewers.
When they had found cheese, pesto, pasta, bacon and fresh fish they bumped into Liv and Linnea, who proudly showed them the bread and the cheese.
“Nice one, girls. How about pasta Puttanesca for dinner?”
Three faces lit up; it was a favourite dish.
“Okay, then I need capers and olives, can you find that? Linn, will you grab the tinned tomatoes over there?” Linn turned around and scanned her surroundings before finding the shelf with the tomato cans.
An older woman rounded a corner and stopped when she caught sight of Emelie and her three girls.
Emelie thought that the lady made a face, as if she had eaten something sour, but maybe it was just her imagination.
Maybe the old lady thought that they were townsfolk.
“Hello there,” Emelie said.
The lady put on a fake smile and looked at Liv and Linnea who were on their way to find the ingredients needed for tonight’s supper.
“Aren’t you the people living in Astrid’s house?”
Emelie nodded.
“Yes, exactly, but it is my house now, I have inherited it.”
The old lady was unable to hide her surprise.
“What? Are you planning on living there?”
Emelie chuckled and looked over at Linn who shrugged her shoulders
“We don’t know yet, at least over the summer, but the girls like it a lot so I guess we’ll find out,” she said cheerfully.
“Oh yes, the girls, but whose are they?”
Ah, it was that kind of old lady, Emelie knew them all too well.
Of course, she couldn’t fathom that blonde and blue-eyed Emilie could be the mother of three girls with brown skin and dark hair.
It wasn’t the first time that Emily had to explain it, and to be honest she was getting quite tired of it.
“They’re my girls, all three of them” she said, smiling.
Liv came over with a can of olives and put it in the basket.
“This is my youngest, Linnea, and this is Linn, the oldest girl. And over there is the middle one, Liv.”
The lady stared at Emilie with distrust and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“All right, but where are they from?”
“I’m from V?xjo” Liv said, smiling “Mum, do we need anything else?”
“Yes, you can fetch some mushrooms and tomatoes, we are all out”, Emelie said, turning towards the lady again.
“As Liv said, we’re all from V?xjo”, she said calmly.
She knew for a fact, that her answer wouldn’t satisfy the old lady, but she felt like teasing her a little. And just so, the lady was unable to let go of the subject. She again in a harsh voice:
“I didn’t mean where you used to live, but where you COME from?”
Now Emilie had had enough. She had no reason whatsoever to stand here explaining where her children were born or where their parents came from.
“They are all born in the maternity ward in V?xjo, dept. 10. Is it that difficult to understand? Perhaps your hearing isn’t the best?”
The old lady stared and her and Emilie stared back. Linn sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, stepping in:
“My dad is from Gambia, okay? Are you happy now?”
A small group of people had started to gather around the three of them standing in the middle of the store.
“Oh I dare say, so we have gotten three Africans in the village! Goodness me”, the old lady said, pushing the people that were standing closest to the side.
“Coming through!”, she shrieked to the by-standers making her way through the store.
Emily tiredly shook her head at her and smiled at the people around her.
“Show’s over, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, giving Linnea’s shoulder a little squeeze.
“Mum, what did the old lady say?” Linnea asked.
“Oh, you know, some people have no idea what it is they want, and when they get their answers, they aren’t happy with those either. Where’s Liv? Let’s go towards the till and we’ll probably find her on the way.”
There was a queue and Emilie waited patiently. She felt the stares of the people in the shop. She had already understood that her family was an exotic phenomenon on this island, but perhaps she hadn’t quite understood how bad it was. Suddenly Linn shoved up next to her with a big smile on her face.
“Where have you been?”
Her daughter was bursting with excitement and could hardly stand still.
“I’ve gotten a summer job!”
Right behind her was a boy her own age. He was wearing a red shirt with the name of the shop on his chest.
“This is Oskar, it’s his dad’s shop and they need new staff. So I’ve gotten a summer job, mum” she said happily.
The blonde boy behind her looked shyly at Emilie and shook her hand.
“Hello, I’m Oskar,” he said, smiling.
“Hello there, how fun! When do you start? Or perhaps I should ask you that”, she said, turning to Oskar who smiled and stared longingly at Linn. Jesus Christ, the boy is in love, Emilie thought to herself.
“It would be great if she started tomorrow. I want her as soon as possible.” He cleared his throat and stared down into the floor.
“I mean, the shop wants her, not just me,” he said, turning a shade of tomato red.
Linn giggled.
“When should I be here?”
Emily put her shopping on the belt while Linn and Oskar agreed on the details for her shift the following day.
On the way home Linn was bubbling with joy bout her new job, but all Emilie could think about was the old lady in the shop.
She was wondering if more people felt the same way, and all the way home she felt as if people where peeking through the curtains, secretly observing them.
But maybe it was all just in her imagination.
Back at home, they had started the big clean-out of the kitchen cupboards and parts of what had been inside them was standing on the kitchen table.
Cups, bowls, plates, cups for mulled wine, platters and glasses.
Everything was decorated with red garlands, elves, pigs and snowy meadows with red cottages.
They moved everything out to the living room floor so that Liv could set the table while Emilie was making her popular pasta.
“It’s so funny that it is Christmas on all the plates. I like this pig plate the most. Why did grandma Astrid have so many Christmas things?”
Emilie looked at Liv, who was holding a plate with a plump pig with a red bow tie around its neck.
“I don’t know, it’s a real mystery,” she said, smiling.
She gazed out the window and saw Andreas.
He was dragging big bags of dirt across the yard and sometimes he paused and stood still for a while, as if he was thinking about something.
Suddenly, he turned around and saw her, grinning and waving.
She waved back, then stared down into the pot where the tomato sauce was bubbling.
She felt embarrassed. What if he thought that she was standing there, looking at him?
Well, she had been, but not like that. But he was quite fit…
Oh, stop it! She shook the feeling and started putting olives in the sauce instead.
“Is Andreas eating with us?”
“No!”
She realised that she had answered Liv a bit too fast and added:
“He probably has his own supper. Can you bring out glasses as well?”
Liv nodded and climbed a stool to be able to reach the glasses. She took a glass in each hand, showing them to Emilie.
“Look, mum, pig glasses!”