Adam let his pen drop on the table, leaned back and rubbed his eyes. Tomorrow was the last exam of this semester. After that he would enjoy a few days of summer, before he had to go back to Mr. Graham's office. He looked at the clock and wondered where Frederic was so long. He also wanted to look into the books again. Adam was just wondering if he should make a fresh coffee when the door flung open and a hectic Frederic rushed into the house.

Adam's friend went silently cursing back and forth between living room and kitchen, Adam following him with his eyes. "Will you tell me what's the cause of the storm in your heart?"

Frederic stopped in front of Adam. His hair was disheveled and his voice cracked with stress. "Adam, this isn't a storm, that's an arrant hurricane!"

Frederic went back to the kitchen. Adam leaned forward. "I assume that Giovanna is expecting a baby."

His friend stopped abruptly. "How did you know?"

"There can be only two reasons why you're so upset. Either you've emptied your father's account or Giovanna's expecting a baby. As you still stand here and aren't with a clipper on the way to France, only the second reason comes into consideration."

Frederic looked at Adam angrily. "Can you please stop being so arrogant?"

Adam got up and went to his friend. "You needn't to be angry with me, because you've got a problem with which you don't seem to be happy about."

Frederic looked at Adam briefly, then went into the living room and dropped into a chair, only to get up again after a short time. "Adam, tell me please, what should I do now."

"Why should I do that? You haven't listened to what I told you in January."

"Yes, exactly Adam, that's exactly what I need right now! That you treat me like my father and give the moralizer."

Adam crossed his arms. "Frederic, I won't treat you like your father, but I told you that you have to be sure with Giovanna. That you mustn't use her, and as it looks like you didn't take my advice."

With one step Frederic was next to Adam and glared at him. "Stop it, Adam! I've known you for quite a long time, and I've seen more than once that you don't leave out any opportunity."

Motionless Adam stood in front of Frederic. "But I also know my limits."

"Of course, you've got everything under control." Frederic tapped his forehead. "That's nonsense! You can't tell me that you don't want to have your fun sometimes."

Adam took a deep breath. "Which I surely don't have with one of the girls with whom we were out. For this I look somewhere else, but this isn't the subject right now."

Frederic's gaze hadn't changed. "I doubt if you'll have fun doing it. Then you'd have to lose control at least some times."

„FREDERIC …!"

Frederic ran his fingers through his hair and went back into the living room. "Pardon me, Adam. I'm so sorry ... but I really don't know what to do."

Adam followed his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "Frederic, it's not quite clear to me why you have to ask? You're responsible for the consequences of your actions!"

Adam's friend put his hand over his eyes. "Why such a thing happens to me and not to you?"

"We already covered that topic …. Frederic, what are you afraid of?"

"Adam, you know that perfectly well. My father will be furious. He will throw me out of the house and disinherit me."

"I just wonder, what's more important. Your father or Giovanna? I've assumed that your feelings for her are real. Or did you play a game with her?"

Frederic sat down on the chair. "Yes ... I mean, no ... well ..." He took a deep breath. "Yes, I love her. I haven't played with her feelings, but I would have liked to prepare my father slowly and then marry Giovanna after our graduation. I still don't know how he will react. If he throws me out, would it have been best if I had sought employment elsewhere?" He looked at Adam directly. "If I tell him now, he will throw me out and I'm left with nothing."

Adam leaned on the chair, opposite to Frederic. "You've got two options. Either you solve your problem as most of your friends would do and bid Giovanna enough money so she disappears of your life. Or you grow up and begin to live your own life, without your father." Adam paused. "But one thing I'll tell you. If you choose the first option, then you will be thrown out of MY house, and I'll forget that you're my friend."

Frederic looked at him with horror in his eyes. "I won't offer her no money, of course. But I don't know how to make ends meet for us without my father."

"Frederic, there is a solution for every problem. If you don't see any solution, the problem is with you."

Frederic was astonished. He didn't understand what Adam meant. "Yes, I see no solution, but I also don't see why I should be the problem? It's my father."

"Frederic, what should be your first thought?" As Adam got no answer, he pushed away from the chair and walked toward the kitchen. "Then I assume that you don't really love Giovanna."

Frederic jumped up from the armchair and followed Adam. "Of course I love her! What are you up to, Adam?"

"Then I ask you, why are you more concerned about your father than about Giovanna? Where is she, anyway? Shouldn't you be with her now?"

"She's down at the beach near the fishing village."

"She's WHAT?" Adam looked at him in disbelief. "Frederic, you don't want to tell me she has just explained to you the whole situation on the beach, and you've left her there right?"

Frederic hung his head and nodded. Adam put his hands on the side and looked at the ceiling. As he didn't want to shoot off any thoughtless arrows, he tried to come back to balance. After a while he looked back at his friend. With neutral voice he spoke to Frederic. "Frederic, if you don't grow up right away, I really will throw you out of the house."

Frederic raised his head. "Adam, please help me. I just want to have a future with her, but how should I do it all alone?"

"You're not alone ... there's Giovanna and her family. There's your sister, and I'm there for you, too. But you have to finally free yourself from your father. You will become a father yourself and your first step should be to look for Giovanna to tell her that you stand by her and the baby - and that right now."

"And what do I tell her? Where should we live after the wedding? Where can I get another job? Can I continue my studies at all? Can I ….."

Adam put his hands on Frederic's shoulders. "Step by step. Now go and find her. Then you come back with her and we discuss how to proceed. And, Frederic ... you can live here till we've got our degree. The house is big enough."

With a loud sigh, Frederic turned straight. "Thank you, Adam. For everything."

"Now go and find her."

Frederic left the house and Adam returned to the living room. His gaze fell on the table with his documents and books. Adam was sure it would be a very short night for him, because he didn't have the calm at the moment, to study for the exam. He was about to go back into the kitchen to prepare some coffee for Giovanna and Frederic when he wondered who should be part of the later conversation, too. So Adam left the house to find Bridget.

XXXXX

Adam closed the door behind his friend. The four had been sitting together for almost two hours and talked about how it should go on with Giovanna and Frederic. Frederic had accepted Adam's offer, to live with Giovanna in the house till they had been awarded their degrees. If while studying Frederic's money might not be enough, Adam would do without the rent. But that he should finish his studies, everyone agreed. The two years they'd manage together and there would be still Giovanna's family supporting them. Since the wedding was to take place within the next two weeks, Frederic had decided to talk with his father today. With a very queasy feeling he set off.

Adam looked up the stairs. Giovanna was lying down after having talked. She has still been at the end of her tether, because Frederic had just left her on the beach. He wondered how Frederic managed repeatedly to plunge in such a mess. What would become of him when Adam returned to Nevada? Adam's only hope was that his friend would at last learn to stand on his own during the next two years. His eyes fell back on the books. Adam didn't believe that he was able to take a look into before the exam. When Frederic returned from his father, he would surely desire to talk. There was no doubt that today Mr. Francois would be separated from his son. A woman from the working class district he certainly wouldn't accept as a daughter-in-law and certainly not her family, which was very temperamental.

Adam was about to put away his books when he heard the door above open and Bridget came down the stairs. He waited at the bottom of the stairs for her. "And, how is she?"

Bridget stayed at the last stage leaning against the wall. "Much better. She's just slightly done by the last few hours. I'm going to make her a cup of tea." She noticed how tired he looked. "Are you all right? You look quite done, too." She smiled slightly. "Do you already regret that you said they could live here? Giovanna's already worrying about it. She knows how much you like the silence and it won't be much quieter in the near future."

Leaning against the banister he shook his head. "She needn't to worry about it. Remember, I've got two little brothers and at home it was never silent, surely not, since Little Joe's around. No ... I'm more worried about what will be with Frederic, when I go back home. I mean, what he would have done if I hadn't given him a piece of my mind today? Would he then have admitted his responsibility?"

Bridget cocked her head slightly and smiled. "I do believe that he would have done in time."

"In time?"

"Don't look so shocked. And don't tell me first of all you wouldn't have to collect your thoughts, too."

"Of course not. If I was in that situation, I wouldn't need to think about what I'm going to do, and I certainly wouldn't just leave the girl at the beach."

Bridget smirked. Yes, that was true. How could she compare Adam with Frederic. He would react quite differently. Even if he wouldn't be thrilled, he'd never just leave his girlfriend desperate. That she had learned in the less than a year, since she knew Adam. Adam never acted headlong. If he brought a girl in such a situation, he'd stand by her side. With all the consequences. She looked at him lovingly and put her hand on his arm. "You know, Adam. I am a bit jealous. The woman who'll marry you is to envy. She gets a man on whom she always can rely on."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, but said nothing. "Adam, please don't worry so much about Frederic. He must learn to get along without you. My brother has to grow up, right now. You cannot constantly feel responsible for the nonsense he's up to."

Adam crossed his arms. "Will you just tell me, am I just as bad as your father?"

"My goodness, no, but you're worrying to much about him! Even if he is your best friend here in Boston, you cannot protect him from all vices. Be there for him. But if he falls flat on his face, he must learn to stand up alone."

Adam grinned slightly. "I'm trying to improve myself."

"We will see. You're apparently someone who always feels responsible for the people who are dear friends, but remember, some choices they've to make on their own." Bridget went down the last stage. "I'll go fix that cup of tea now."

Adam watched her as she went into the kitchen. They had barely seen each other in recent weeks, because Adam had to prepare so much for the exam, or he was in Mr. Graham's office. But his feelings for her hadn't changed. On the contrary. It became increasingly difficult for him, not to admit them, but just by her words right now, he had to get them under control again. Bridget had just made him understand clearly that she didn't see herself at his side, even if he had found a way to cope with his problem. Apart from the fact that he still didn't believe that she could live in his world. He closed his eyes, to bring the turmoil in his mind and in his heart back into balance. As he had calmed down, he looked at the fireplace. Slowly he went there and took the stone in his hand. "Koko, why aren't you here? You could sure give me some advice."

"ADAM ... YOU'RE TALKING ALOUD TO HER AGAIN."

Adam chuckled. He had asked Bridget to admonish him when she noticed that he talked with Koko too loudly. He didn't want others to think him to be strange, if they noticed.

After three hours, Frederic was still not at home, and Adam was getting nervous. Giovanna was asleep, and he had gone back down at the table to study for the exam, while Bridget was sitting in an armchair with a book in her hand. Again and again he looked at the clock. Bridget put the book aside. "Now I finally know how to get you out of the rest."

"And I don't know how you can stay so calm."

"He's my brother. I've known him all my life. No matter how the talk went. Now he'll sit somewhere and think about how bad he's off and that all others are to blame for his dilemma."

"I thought we are already beyond that point."

"You've never had a conversation with my father, when you've made a mistake. After that almost everyone feels bad." Adam looked back at the clock. "You'd like to go looking for him, wouldn't you?"

He slowly nodded. "Yes, I'd like to, but you've told me very clearly, I shouldn't feel responsible for everything."

"But I cannot watch you suffering. Make sure that you aren't at home late. My dear brother and Giovanna want to talk to her parents today."

She smiled when she saw how quickly he got up and left the house to find his friend.