This chapter took me four hours! A majority of the time was spent watching the type line thingy blinking.
I'm reminding you now, PLEASE REVIEW! I tried hard to make this chapter the longest I've ever written, it has over 2,000 words!
All the men of the house each had their job, so they ended up spending their hours out of the house, leaving Liesel alone. She despised it, and missed being set to work. She'd already done the weeks cleaning twice already, wiping down all the picture frames, dusting off the shelves, straightening the row of books and re-aligning the sofas and chairs.
Even with her small collection of books yet to be read, she couldn't find something to entertain herself. She'd made many failed attempts to knit, crochet and sew. Last week Rudy had already taken away her Embroidery kit to prevent her from taking out her frustration with it on Rudy yet again.
She didn't want to sit there for hours reading books, or taking naps. She was never a person to have a routine of napping, she must always be doing something, sleeping is for bedtime, and bedtime only.
She had no one to socialise with, as she hadn't gotten to know her community to well, and a neighbour across the road from her had already come to despise her, for being a refugee from Germany. She had to learn to hold her tongue from him, and even hold back her German comebacks, for she knew it wouldn't do her anymore good, for he worked at the local Police station.
It was a hot day, 36 degrees to be precise, so Liesel didn't find any reason to go out for a walk. Don't worry, it's been worse.
She longed to go to the creek to dip her feet into the cool water, and walk across the bridge to where it panned out to a river, and a waterfall into the low mountains of rock and granite. It was a commonly visited place by Liesel and Rudy. They'd stand behind the curtains of the waterfall, and would take turns swinging across the riverbank by the rope securely hanging down, occasionally letting go to land at the foaming water in the clear blue river. They'd listen to the crashing sound made and they'd rush out the water back to the river bank for another turn on the rope.
She stared out the window of her bedroom on the second floor, looking across the town, waiting to see Rudy and Max walking home, well that wouldn't be for another hour, and Alex wouldn't be home for another two. It was only 4:02, time to read again.
She walked out onto the balcony half an hour later, when she looked up from her reading place, and found that as the day was closing into the evening, that the weather had become much cooler, and the sun was beginning to take its place higher above the clouds. She took off downstairs and left the house after looking up, leaving the two of them alone.
She buttoned her cardigan as she walked down the footpath, and headed in direction of the markets. She smiled at the passing children, running through the streets and found Freda, the girl who took part as Liesel's Flower girl for her Wedding. She was just eight years old, and was shy but had a big heart.
She was trying her hardest to reach for an apple from the trolley, crouching lower each time to try getting a harder jump for the apple. Her grin widened for the girl, and so she lifted her for her to reach it.
"Thank you; oh, it's you Liesel!" She said returning the smile as she turned around.
Of all people she'd newly met in the last year, Liesel had a closer bonding to Freda the most. Freda too had a love for stories, and they'd spend Sunday afternoons together. Liesel was still a child at heart, so the two of them certainly got on well when it came to playing games and conversations.
Freda's mother worked at the market, and would have Freda help her on some days after school.
Liesel could recall a time when a man flirted with her at the grocery stand. He held a stem of wheat between his teeth and spoke words of the English language in an American accent. She laughed at his replied and gave him her best smile, just to annoy Rudy even more as pay back for the joke he'd pulled on her once before.
By the time Liesel had realised that she should be getting home, was when she caught sight of her husband signalling her to follow him out of the market, and back home.
"What were you doing walking to the market all alone?" Rudy said sternly to her.
"What has been up with you?" Max questioned Rudy. "You've been acting strange all day!"
Liesel ignored what Max said and replied, "What's so bad about that, a little fresh air wouldn't hurt."
"And what if you did get hurt; I still don't trust that neighbour, you don't know what he could do!" Rudy cried.
They were all walking in a hurry, for Liesel was trying to get a further distance from Rudy, where he was speeding up to throw more questions at her. Max was just trying to keep up to work out what was going on.
Rudy spoke again, when Liesel silenced him with, "Enough Rudy!"
The three of them walked the rest of the way in silence, clouded with confusion and frustration.
When Alex arrived home, Max mentioned to him how strange Rudy had been acting. Liesel had set dinner out for them, and they all spoke as if it were a normal day, for Liesel was great at hiding things, where as Rudy awkwardly sat, eating his food at a slow pace from his average, who ate like Ron Weasley.
When Liesel had finished her dinner, she excused herself to her shared bedroom Rudy, in which he soon followed after.
"I told you to stay inside." Rudy said.
"And you don't have control of me." Liesel protested.
"I just want to protect you. If anything did happen, how am I supposed to know where you are?"
Liesel huffed as she couldn't find an answer. "Well," She stammered as she looked around the room for words. "Can I get a job then, just part time or something?"
"What for?" He asked.
"Well you know me; I always have to be doing something!" She reasoned.
"And what about all those books you've collected over the years?"
"Each day it's just been cleaning, reading and staring out the window. It's almost enough to put me off books for life!"
He smiled. "No we can't have that can we," He replied grinning even wider at her. "What sort of job then?"
"I don't know, somewhere on the market?"
"It could work. Do you think you can manage?" He said taking her into his arms, and found his hands resting on her small bump in her middle.
"For now," She admitted. "It will help us financially as well."
"When are we going to tell them?" Rudy asked her.
"I'm thinking tomorrow."
"Well you are the actor of the house, how are we going to tell them?
It was Saturday, and so only Liesel and Alex were home. Since Alex worked later than Rudy and Max, it gave him the chance to have Saturdays off work.
Now Liesel's schedule for today was not much different from yesterday. She started the morning with walking down to the local newsagent for a newspaper, then proceeded back home to make breakfast. When Rudy and Max left to make it to their bus stop, it was a quick clean of the kitchen and a read of the newspaper.
She stopped at the advertisements for Father's Day coming in the next couple months. (AN: In Australia, Father's Day is always on the first week of September.) She thought about Rudy, and how he was soon to be a father. She searched though the pages of the sale, and thought it'd be a good time to buy Alex and Max something too, for they had done so much for her.
Now it was time to bake. She hadn't made a habit of doing it, as she found the work tiring, but each Saturday she'd make a treat for them to share in the evenings of the weekend. She settled on chocolate biscuits, since fruit wasn't in season at that time of the year.
And just since she didn't feel like another reading, she found her wardrobe needed some attention. From the box she pulled down, a book came from the shelf too, just missing her head. She bent down to pick it up, recovering an image of her brother that fell from it. 'The Gravediggers Handbook'. Her heart was suddenly drenched from the bucket of sorrow, as she looked back up at the shelf with a tear in her eye. She reached back for the shelf again to recover another of her most savoured books. 'Mein Kampf'.
The pages were cracking from the dry paint, but you could still make out the words she once wrote when she was just fourteen years old, just nine years ago.
She backed up onto the edge of her bed, sitting herself down, revising herself to the words titled on the pages.
She came back to reality by the yell of "Saumensch!", from outside, signalling that her husband and her brother had returned home at their early time.
"What sort of boy names do you favour?" Liesel asked the men on the opposite side of the table, as she set out her tray of tea and newly baked biscuits.
"Well I remember saying to Rudy's mother, that we should rename him long – distance-"
"Papa..." Rudy said.
"- because each time he he'd throw up, you know how he had reflux, he had such a good aim!"
Max and Liesel exchanged a laugh when Liesel continued, "And what about girl's names?"
Then it clicked, "Wait..." Max started with a frown.
When Alex realised what she meant, he sat there opening his mouth, but with no words coming out.
Their faces were all lost with smiles as Liesel began to cry with emotion, and they all stood from their chairs around the table to exchange hugs.
They had all seen how much Liesel loved children and how they'd look up to her and with that it had Alex and Max proud of them. Rudy was still living his childhood and it was about to grow into the greatest events of his life.
"I want to make a bet," Max said. "That it'll be a boy."
"What are you talking about, she'll be a girl?" Alex protested.
And here comes the bickering again. It hadn't scared Liesel to tell them, because she knew it's what they wanted.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! This means the story is coming to an end very soon!
Thank you all for the Favourites and Views!
Remember what to do now? Here's a clue, R***ew.
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