Chapter 10:

(Hammelburg, Germany - February 1925)

It had been exactly one year since Klink and Janine had become a couple. The two of them were more in love than Romeo and Juliet had been with each other. They continued the weekly dates and the short vacation getaways to either a ski lodge, a cabin near Lake Schwerin, attended the first Oktoberfest in two years, and celebrated their first Christmas by going to a friend's party the day before, then spending Christmas Day at Klink's apartment opening presents and drinking hot chocolate while watching the snow gently fall outside the patio window.

On the anniversary of becoming boyfriend and girlfriend (also the anniversary of their first kiss), Klink planned a surprise date walking through the park it all began at. Most of the Christmas lights were still up, illuminating the night life with hundreds of colors and plenty of cheer. No snow this year, but the sky was clear, and the stars sparkled bright as if they knew tonight was a special night. A novice musician played the accordion and sang German folk songs off to the side underneath a lamp post.

Klink and Janine stopped on the bridge where everything had taken place, and after gazing up at the stars and casually talking with each other, they embraced each other and kissed for the longest time. They were not pulled back into reality until another couple walked by, and the girlfriend spotted the duo kissing. She shook her head and made her gaze back to her boyfriend, a navy officer with the compassion of a doorknob. The girl, a young blonde in her mid-twenties, gestured towards Klink and Janine.

"See that?" She scolded her boyfriend. "Why can't you kiss me like that in public instead of your stupid pecks on the cheek?"

The officer let out a frustrated sigh. "Annette, how many times do we have to go over this? You know I do not like kissing in the public's eye. My family frowns upon such an act unless the couple is married."

"Oh, so you won't kiss me in public, but you had no trouble inhaling that Tramp Britta all day and night!" Annette spat.

The officer groaned. "Mein Gott, not this again. Annette, for the last time, that was so long ago. I haven't spoken to Britta in seven years, she's ancient history...Unlike your Rolf, who just lives on and on and on and on an…"

Annette narrowed her flaming eyes and gripped her boyfriend by the ear, pulling him behind her as she stormed off to make this conversation private, the officer continuously crying 'Ow' as she refused to let go of his ear.

Klink and Janine, who had been silently watching the couple argue the whole time, looked back to one another and smirked, Klink turning his eyes upwards and shaking his head. They exchanged another kiss, then did nothing but stare at one another lovingly for a long moment. Janine finally broke the silence, her dark eyes twinkling as bright as the stars up in the sky.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" She asked.

Klink smiled back at her. "I think you've already shown me how much you do," he answered.

Janine rested her head against Klink's chest and sighed with contentment as she felt her boyfriend wrap his warm arms around her and kiss the top of her head. The soft sound of the accordion playing 'Santa Lucia' in the background only made the moment that much more magical.

"Oh Wilhelm," she said. "I never want to love another man other than you."

"I never want to love another woman other than you," Klink answered. He swallowed a lump forming in his throat, his nerves beginning to act up again. They had been doing that all day as he prepared for tonight. He wanted everything to be perfect. The right place. The right time. The right words. He wanted tonight to be a memory the two of them would remember forever and ever. For as long as they both lived. Deciding now was it, Klink cleared his throat and carefully chose how to begin. "Janine, there's something I want to ask you...Something that I've wanted to ask you for quite a while now."

Janine lifted her head from Klink's chest and looked at him both curiously and slightly worried. "What is it, meine Liebe? Is something wrong?"

The question made Klink smile, and he shook his head. "Nein," he answered. "In fact, the exact opposite...Janine, we've been together for exactly a year now. A year I wouldn't trade for anything in this entire world. You've become my best friend. You're always on my side and supporting me no matter what...You brought me back what I thought was lost forever: happiness...I thought you were just a figment of my wildest imaginations. You're beautiful inside and out...I can honestly and completely say you make me the happiest man in the entire world...Thank you for giving me that back again."

Janine's face brightened as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Her heart warmed at Klink's kind words. They were genuine and real. She could practically feel the love from them hugging her entire body. "You make me the happiest woman in the world, Wilhelm...I didn't think I would ever find you, either. I finally know what real love feels like now because of you." She put her hand on Klink's cheek and felt her heart grow twice in size as he gently took a hold of her wrist. "I love you so much, Wilhelm Klink. Forever and ever and ever."

Klink's face brightened as much as Janine's was, kissed the back of her hand, then rubbed his thumb across it as he continued. "I love you, liebchen. I want that love to only grow more and more. I want to wake up seeing your beautiful face, and I want it to be the last thing I see before falling asleep at night. Every waking moment I want to be with you. I want to share my whole life with you." He slowly got down on one knee and took a hold of Janine's hand. "I've been thinking about this for a long while now, and...well, I think tonight's the perfect night to do so."

Janine shook her head, her expression completely baffled. "I, I don...wh, wha…" She felt the air be sucked out of her lungs, and her mouth dropped from its hinges as she saw Klink pull out a small black box from his jacket pocket. He opened it to reveal a white gold diamond ring with three small diamonds stretching out on each side of the center one. It sparkled and shined just like the stars up above, and it brought tears to Janine's eyes as she realized just how much money that ring probably cost Klink to buy. She sucked in a few breaths of air to keep herself from crying, but it was proving to be ineffective. She finally covered her gaping mouth with her hand, letting the tears stream down her face.

"Janine Elke Ackermann, I love you more than every star in Heaven, and I love you more than every ocean on this earth. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you...Will you marry me?"

Not able to control her emotions anymore, Janine began to cry and nodded rapidly. The only verbal response she gave him was a loud sob before Klink got to his feet and took her in his arms. Janine wrapped her arms around his neck and cried uncontrollably for at least a minute or two. She eventually calmed down long enough for her new fiancé to slip the engagement ring onto her finger, then they looked into each other's eyes like only true lovers could.

Janine shook her head, her smile so wide across her face that it was almost painful. "I love you, Wilhelm Klink," she said sincerely. "With all my heart I love you."

Klink smiled back at her with the same grin, his own eyes wet with tears. "I love you," he answered.

The two leaned forward and shared a loving, passionate kiss of pure joy as the accordionist started to play 'Santa Lucia' louder and sang the lyrics in German. And once Klink and Janine had parted lips, they joined in singing along and nuzzled their noses before resting their heads against each other and looking up into the night sky. Klink finally had something that Wolfgang would never have: true love.

Klink and Janine spent the next ten months planning their wedding to the smallest detail. What church to have it in, who they should have as their pastor, where they should throw the reception, the list went on and on and on. Thankfully, with the help of their parents and close friends, the process was both smooth and quick. So on December 25, 1925, with all of their loved ones present, Klink and Janine became husband and wife in a beautiful Christmas wedding, while snow elegantly fell outside, making Hammelburg look like a perfect winter wonderland in a book or on a postcard. Schneider was Klink's best man, the major's little boy was the ring bearer, and even Colonel Burkhalter was invited to celebrate the special day.

Wearing his old colonel uniform, Klink carried his new bride down the church's steps as their guests threw grains of rice at them, and the organist played Mendelssohn's March in the background. The newlyweds reached the Mercedes limo and chauffeur Schneider and Tauscher had hired as a wedding present, then turned around to face their guests as snow continued to fall on them. Janine waved for the two of them, her bouquet resting on her legs. She and Klink watched as Janine's many girlfriends fought their way to the front and stretched out their arms for the moment they had been long waiting for.

Janine silently giggled as she closed her eyes and threw her bouquet away, opening them to find her friend Edith had caught it. While the girl began screeching with glee and made her eyes to Tauscher, Klink and Janine both laughed before turning to one another and had their second kiss as husband and wife.

The limo driver tipped his cap to the newlyweds in greeting, then opened the back right door for Klink to gently place Janine down in the seat. The driver closed the door, made his way to the driver's side, then Klink followed. He grabbed the handle to the door behind the driver, looked up at his loved ones once more, and waved 'goodbye' before getting into the car himself.

Tauscher, who was standing beside Schneider, began sniffling and wiped his wet, red eyes with a damp handkerchief. The noise grabbed Schneider's attention, and the major gave Tauscher a teasing frown as he saw the navy captain bawling his eyes out.

"Really, Ingo? Really?" Schneider remarked.

"This song always makes me cry!" Tauscher sobbed, still wiping his eyes. He buried his face into his handkerchief and continued to weep, Schneider rolling his eyes and rubbing the man's back for comfort in response.

The driver pulled away from the curb and drove down the street as guests continued to throw rice and wave 'goodbye'. The sign on the back of the limo reading 'Frisch verheiratet!' became smaller and smaller until it completely faded beyond the horizon along with the newlyweds. That perfect Christmas day was the end of a chapter in Klink's life. But a new one was just beginning. (1)

After hours of laughter, dancing, cake, and socializing with guests at an incredible reception held downtown, Klink and Janine bid farewell to their loved ones and headed to the Frankfurt airport to catch their 11:30 flight for Sicily. By the time their plane landed in Palermo and the taxi got them to their resort, it was almost two in the morning.

Once they had finished checking in and received the keys to their honeymoon suite, Klink carried Janine up to the second floor and down the hall to their room, where the bride unlocked the door and opened it to reveal the scene inside. Both husband and wife felt their eyes widen and their jaws drop from their hinges as they saw the breathtaking sight. A queen sized bed with plush pillows and a fluffy white comforter covered with rose petals. Candles lit and scattered throughout the room, a Christmas tree covered with lights standing in the far corner of the room, a patio deck that looked out onto the beach and the outdoor pool and bar, and sheer lavender curtains that gently blew in the ocean breeze, while the French style doors were opened halfway.

"Aw," Janine said, deeply touched by the efforts of the hotel staff to make their wedding night one to remember.

"I can't believe they did all of this for us." Klink added, finally coming out of his shock.

"Isn't it beautiful, Wil?"

As Janine continued to admire the romantic scene she had dreamed of having for years, Klink smiled and turned to look at his new wife. "Not as beautiful as my new wife," he answered sincerely. He then shook his head. "My wife...I love the sound of that."

Janine returned the same smile and gently placed her hand on Klink's cheek. "I love calling you my husband," she said, her brown eyes twinkling in the candle lights.

Klink's grin widened. "I like the sound of that, too," he told her, then looked out at the room before making his eyes back to Janine. "Can I put you down now?"

"Only if it's on the bed." Janine replied.

Klink smirked as they kissed each other, then he slowly approached the bed and set his new wife down at the left side of the bed. He then got down on one knee, took a hold of Janine's left hand, then kissed it before kissing her again.

The new Mrs. Klink gazed at her husband and beamed at him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, Meine Liebste," Klink answered, returning the same loving gaze to his wife.

The two fell silent for a long moment, nothing exchanged between them other than the mystical look in each of their eyes. Eventually the newlyweds began to kiss passionately and fell back on the bed while doing so. But before it had a chance to proceed, Janine suddenly parted lips and looked up at Klink questioningly.

"Shouldn't we close the patio doors first?" She asked him, briefly turning her gaze to the patio.

Klink looked up at the patio for a moment, then made his eyes back to Janine and let a grin of mischief come to his face. "I don't think the ocean tides will have much to say about it, do you?" He replied.

Janine used all her strength to fight back from laughing, but the smile that spread across her face made Klink's entire world go 'round. They resumed kissing each other and soon let their burning love take charge of things. A new adventure awaited the two newlyweds, and Klink did not want to go on it with anyone other than his Janine. His partner. His friend. His beautiful new wife.

(Present day)

Klink came out of his trance and shook his head. "My wedding day will always be one of the best days of my life," he said. "Our honeymoon in Sicily only made it that much more special...Oh Hogan, it was a wonderful honeymoon. Everything you could ever want to happen on a honeymoon happened. Fine champagne, five star meals, dances on the beach at night...I couldn't have wanted it any other way."

"So what happened after you came home? Did Janine keep her job as a florist, or did she want to stay at home and start life as a housewife?" Hogan asked, not able to help the smile on his face. Klink's wedding had sounded like a dream come true to him. And the fact that he got married on Christmas just made it that more magical of an event. He did not need to ask to know if his wedding was the best Christmas present he ever got.

"No, she left her job so she could be home when I got there after work. Dinner would already be on the table the minute I walked through the door. And after we got our new house, she started planting flowers outside in the yard or took on a redecorating project in one of the rooms. I worked at the toy store, and she worked at home. There was never a single day where I saw her not do anything around the house."

Hogan took a sip of his warm milk and honey before he continued. "What was your first year of marriage like? You guys just jump back into work and responsibility, or did you two go out and do anything fun?"

"Oh, we were constantly traveling all around Europe or going to some event as newlyweds. Paris, Madrid, Sweden, and Switzerland. We'd go out and have a fancy dinner with expensive wine every Saturday night to have some us time." Klink then smirked with amusement. "Sometimes it was as simple as turning on the radio and singing and dancing around the house with each other. Not entirely good singing, mind you, but we had fun while doing it. I had everything a man could ever want in his life. A successful career; a nice home; a beautiful, loving wife; I felt like the luckiest person on earth."

A smile returned to Hogan's face. "Until you had Kalina, that is."

Just the mentioning of his daughter's name made Klink light up like a Christmas tree. "Until I had my sweet little Kalina." He agreed. "I loved her with all my life the minute I found out we were expecting."

"When did you guys finally decide to have children? How many did you want?"

The expression on Klink's face suddenly changed. The light and joy that had once flickered in his blue eyes was quickly replaced with sorrow and darkness. He swallowed a large lump in his throat and let out a shaky sigh before he answered mournfully. "I uh...I almost didn't have Kalina, actually...I almost didn't have any children at all, for that matter."

Hogan's eyes widened with shock as his body momentarily froze in place. "You almost didn't have Kalina? Why? You love little kids. You love Kalina with everything you have; she's your entire world."

Klink shook his head. "It wasn't my choice. God had already decided that fate for me long before I knew about it," he said.

"Knew about what?" Hogan asked curiously, genuinely concerned for his German counterpart. "What happened, Sir?"

Klink let out a heavy sigh, his heart breaking as the awful memories returned to his mind, but collected himself and began to explain. "It was a month before our first wedding anniversary. Janine and I had just come home from a huge military dance in Frankfurt, and we were entirely full of bliss. That's when we realized that something was missing in our lives...Something both of us wanted more than anything." A bittersweet smile came to the colonel's face, while unshed tears glistened in his gentle blue eyes. "A baby."

(1) Frisch verheiratet - "Just Married"