31st December 1930

Bert wanted to spend the day in 1930 with Mary Poppins on the rooftops of London. They spent the holidays together with Elizabeth and Matthew. For Bert it was the best Christmas he ever had! He does not know if he it was just his imagination, but it seems to him that he and Mary were getting closer. Sure, the six years have brought them apart - but they still have a strong bond!

One evening, when the adults talked about their earlier new years'e eve, Elizabeth and Matthew listened to them and saw the glitter in the eyes of the two lovebirds, as Liz liked to call them. On Bert's question, if the two orphans want to visit him on new years's eve, Liz said surprisingly ‚no'.

With a smile Bert set the small table in the kitchen for two people and cleaned up the rest of the apartment. One thing to be prepared for, having two children in the house: it gets pretty messy. Even though Matthew always tried to tidy up his stuff, Lizzy was bad enough for both. Bert's apartment was never quite tidy, but it has never been that bad! Everywhere there were papers and pencils and sticks. Sticks! At one point he thought he did not have an orphan sitting there but a dog. He picked up the last stick and looked at it when a moment from a few days ago came to his mind:

In the late afternoon of December 26, Bert brought his best friend to her uncle. However, when he arrived at his apartment, the small pile of sticks has felt doubled. Matthew probably had nothing to do with it, because was reading a book on the sofa. But Bert did't saw Elizabeth…

"Lizzy?"

"Yes?", The girl came out of the kitchen and had a cloth in her hand.

"Why is there a forest in the living room? Do you want to light the fireplace? "

"No," she took a knife from the cloth and took a stick, "I want to carve."

Bert opened his eyes in shocl, rushed to her and took the knife from her: "Are you crazy? You can cut yourself! "

"But I can carve!", She protested with a frown and crossed her arms.

Meanwhile, Bert lay the knife to the side and squatted: "That may be. But while you're here, I will not allow you to carve... Imagine if something happened to you? Then I blame myself", he paused and her expression softened again,"besides, Mrs. Fisher would be angry with me and you probably would not be allowed to visit me anymore. "

„Maybe you're right…"

After the apartment tidied up, Bert got ready. He put on his best (and only) suit and tried to tie his bow tie- but failed. After a couple of tries, he simply tied it up like a loop and thought that this should be enough. Afterwards he put on his best coat and looked at himself in the mirror: he did not look like the chimney sweep and artist as one knew him. Now he looked more like someone from the middle class. "Clothes make the man," he mumbled. The suit and the coat he wears only on special occasions- and this evening was a very special occasion! Satisfied with himself, he got out of the apartment and happily trotted down the street in the direction of Uncle Albert's house.

It was a beautiful afternoon: not too warm, not too cold, dry, clear sky and the setting sun bathed everything in a beautiful light. When he arrived at his destination, it was already dark, but the street lamps were already lit. Bert straightened his failed fly again and cleared his throat before ringing. A moment later the door was opened by Albert and Bert was patterned with a big grin.

"Hello Bert! Come on in, Mary should also be ready soon", Uncle Albert knew exactly that the two spend New Year's Eve together and was secretly glad that the two met again after such a long time. Mary had told her uncle that they had not seen each other for the past six years, which surprised him at first, because Mary had been in London for a few days in this six years. Albert thought it best if he kept that to himself-he already could picture Bert's disappointed face.

Just as Bert entered, Mary came down the stairs. Even though she wore her usual clothes, she looked stunning! And Mary was surprised when she saw him, standing there in the doorway with a suit and a noble coat. They did not even notice how Uncle Albert said goodbye with a „Have a good evening you two".

"Hello Mary... you look great."

"You do not look bad yourself, Bert", but when she saw the fly, an amused smile crept to her lips. She took a step toward him and straightened it so that it was neat and matched the rest of the outfit.

Bert was surprised because he knew that she could have done it with a simple snap. Still, he lovingly watched her and offered her his arm when she was done.

"Shall we?", with a smile she accepted the offer and they strolled silently through London's streets. It was not an unpleasant silence - on the contrary! They just enjoyed their togetherness. Sometimes Bert looked unobtrusively at her and studied her. She was just the most beautiful woman he ever met - and he did not just mean her looks. Her character was amazing too.

When they arrived at the apartment, they took off their coats and started cooking together. Since both of them were not really hungry, they did, as so often lately, a simple soup. It was not really about food but about their reviving tradition, because they always used to prepare New Year's Eve dinner together. And they had fun, as if it had never been a break. When Bert saw his best friend laugh so carefree and heartfelt, his heart went up and he wished that he could hold on to this moment forever. While Bert stirred the soup (with his thoughts again elsewhere), Mary took a bottle of champagne out of her bag, opened it with a bang, and poured the tingling fluid into the two glasses. The loud noise made him startle and he looked to her. A wry smile crept onto his lips. 'She did not forget it' - of course not, she was Mary Poppins after all!

"I thought I try to get two bottles of the best champagne. It's still our little tradition", she winked and handed him one of the glasses, which he gratefully accepted.

"Cheers" he said.

"Cheers", they clinked glasses and took a sip. Mary just had a feeling for good champagne! Always just before New Year's Eve, she let the wind take her to France to find the right drink for the New Year.

They spent the evening talking about their experiences and past New Year's Eve. Both of them reminisced and laughed more than they had in a long time. Even though he was unhappy to admit it, Bert was glad the orphans stayed at the orphanage that day so he was alone with Mary. Unfortunately, it also came up that Mary had to go to a new family (who lived on the other side of the country) the next day and can not estimate how long it will take. This hurt Bert but his heart told him that she would return soon.

Just before midnight, they made their way to the roof and sat on the blankets that Bert had already laid there at noon. They silently watched the stars and had a direct view of Big Ben: it was less than five minutes to midnight.

"Do you have any plans for the New Year?", Bert broke the silence.

"Be more often in London, maybe?", She looked at him playfully, "and you?"

„I thought about to finally teach Lizzy how to read and write or try to persuade her to finally learn it at the orphanage. According to Matthew, she is very stubborn when it comes to reading, writing and calculating. "

"You're just too good for this world, Bert."

„I try my best", he joked.

Unlike his expectation, she did not look at him admonishingly, but with a look he could not really interpret. It was a mix of yearning and guilt. And he was sure that her eyes, as she studied his face, stayed on his lips for a second. They stayed that way and just had eyes for each other when Big Ben struck twelve in the background, announcing the New Year. And at that moment, Bert threw all thoughts and inhibitions overboard, leaned over and kissed her.

They closed their eyes as his lips touched hers and it was like there was a fireworks in them. Her hand moved to the back of his head and she ran her fingers through his hair; with gentle pressure she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.

This was not their first kiss on New Year's Eve. In 1916, they did this for the first time and since then, it became a small tradition. Of course they didn't always kiss each other on the lips! Otherwise it was once on the cheek, sometimes on the forehead but this was the second, where they kissed on New Year's Eve on the lips.

But this kiss was different - it was like they had to catch up with the past six years and it was more desperate than ever! Maybe it was just the alcohol, because they both had more than enough of it (which they never did) and did not tolerate so much.

After a while, they broke and looked at each other.

"Happy New Year, Mary," he stroked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Happy New Year."

When they realized what had just happened, they both wondered the same thing: did they make a mistake?

As promised, here is the New Year's Eve chapter :D

I wish you a happy new year 2019!