Chapter 43: Mother and Child Reunion

Helmut and Niki meet up with Helga Hoffman. Will this be a joyous occasion or a complete disaster?

At noon the next day, Niki and Sheldon made their way to the ArtHotel to meet up with Leonard, Penny, and Blake. Sheldon's plans for the day were to pick up Lori and join their friends at the Metro Station for a trip to the local zoo. They took the elevator up to the hotel room where Mary was dutifully watching Lori, Blake having already been retrieved by his parents. "I ain't ashamed to tell you guys that, while I love both those two little rapscallions, I'm sure looking forward to spending a few days alone with Alfred."

Sheldon scooped up a delighted Lori and then addressed his mother, "Have no fear, I have made plans for the next week that will keep our daughter with us at all times. I do suppose I have to thank you for watching the children the past few days. We couldn't have managed without you."

Niki seconded his emotion with, "Mary, you've been a lifesaver. Lori is so very lucky to have you and Alfred as grandparents. Blake, too. Enjoy your time with your husband away from the kids. It's your turn now."

Mary headed for the door, looking back over her shoulder to tell them, "Thanks for the kind words, you two. Alfred said he was gonna meet me at the train station at noon. So, I called a cab which should be here in a minute or two. I'm headed downstairs to meet them, so if I don't see you two for a few days, just know I love you all, be safe, and have fun with the kids."

As she walked to the elevator, its doors opened, and Helmut Hoffman emerged. "Why hello," Mary called to him. "You're that German friend of Shelly and Lenny's. I met you and your pretty lady the other night at dinner."

Helmut greeted her with a smile and warm, "Hello, Mrs. Hofstadter. You are correct. You met me and Annelise when Niki and Penny first got here. It is indeed a pleasure to meet you once more."

Mary studied him quizzically and asked, "What are you doing here at this hotel? I thought you would be working at teachin' or something."

"I have no classes to teach today. Mid-term exams are coming up and my study classes are being covered by my teaching assistant."

"Oh, are you going to the zoo with Shelly and Lori?"

Helmut shook his head and explained, "No, I have come to see Niki. I don't suppose she has filled you in on this, but I am meeting my mother today in about an hour. Niki has volunteered to go with me for moral support."

Mary gave him a happy smile and replied, "Come to think of it, she did mention something about that last night. Well, that's really kind of her, Helmut. Niki is a good person to take with you, she has a good head on those shoulders of hers, most of the time, anyway."

"Yes, Sheldon has said much the same thing about her."

Sheldon's mother grinned at Helmut's words, "Did he? It's about that time that boy of mine opened his eyes to the real world. Anyway, good luck meeting your Momma. I gotta go meet my husband at the train station, so I guess I'll say goodbye."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Hofstadter. And thank you for the good wishes."

Mary corrected him, "Would you please just call me Mary? Everyone else does."

Helmut executed a courtly bow and responded with, "Very well. Goodbye, Mary."

"My, that was classy lookin'. Well, goodbye to you, too." With that, the elevator doors opened once more, and Mary stepped inside before they closed.

After Sheldon, Lori, and Mary had left, Niki sat by herself for a minute or two, pondering her next move. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and rightfully assumed it was Helmut. "Come in!" she called out happily.

Helmut entered the hotel room and as he surveyed the room, greeted his cousin with, "Good morning, Niki. I take it everyone has left for the zoo?"

Niki nodded as she took a sip of coffee from her cup, "Yeah, Sheldon took Lori to meet the others downstairs. Now, how are you feeling? Nervous?"

"A bit, but I have you to help me."

Niki motioned him to sit beside her, "Help you with what?"

Helmut sat next to her as he answered her question with a single word, "Courage."

Sheldon's wife patted his hand reassuringly, "Don't be worried, please. If you and Aunt Helga find common ground, then the forgiveness and healing can begin. If you don't, you go back to the same happy life you had before we found her. Really, it's a win/win deal. Don't you think?"

"I never thought of it that way. Thank you. You are every bit as clever as Sheldon has said you are."

Niki got up and headed to the kitchenette, "Coffee?" As Helmut shook his head 'no', she added, "He told you that?"

Helmut watched her as she crossed the room to rejoin him, "In so many words. He told me, more or less, that you are a very pragmatic, calming, influence on him whenever he needs that from you."

As she sat back down on the couch, Niki gave him a wry grin and replied, "Sometimes. I have to confess, I do have a bit of a temper sometimes."

"Which he also relayed to me. However, he explained it never shows up without good reason. And knowing Sheldon, I can see that it makes a somewhat regular appearance."

Niki was quick to defend her husband, "Not as often as you would think, Helmut. The Sheldon you have met here is a lot more on edge than the Sheldon at home. In the last few years, he's learned how to communicate and share more with others and I've learned to bite my tongue when I want to get sarcastic or angry. We've both come a long way since we've been together."

Helmut gave a faint chuckle and asked, "Could it be said that you two bring out the best in each other?"

Niki nodded, "Pretty much nailed it on the head with that. Yep. With his trip here, we have also learned that neither of us are at our best when we are apart for too long. So, I don't want that to happen again if we can avoid it."

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringtone from Niki's phone.

She answered with more than a little trepidation, 'Hello?

Niki?

Mom! How are you?

Just fine, sweetheart. I'm just calling to tell you that Helga is looking forward to meeting the two of you. She hasn't seen you since we visited her when you were a teenager. I have to tell you that she is so proud of you and everything you've done with your life.

How does she feel about Helmut and his life?

Honey, she's feeling a lot of guilt about what she did to him. She doesn't really talk about him much to me. I hope she opens up a bit more when she sees him. Anyway, she did tell me she loves him and that she has something to tell him. So…maybe she will end up explaining everything to you two.

We can only hope, Mom.

Niki, I've got to go. Richard and I are busy planning our wedding and we're going out to pick a venue tonight. Oh, nothing fancy like you had, just something classy and intimate.

Good luck with that. It was Sheldon who came up with the Queen Mary, not me.

And it was lovely. You married a good one, honey. Never forget that.

I haven't, believe me.

Well, I'll let you guys get going. I just wanted to wish the both of you good luck today. Call me and let me know how it goes.

I will, Mom. 'Bye.

Helmut looked over at Niki and asked, "Your mother?"

"Yep. She just called to wish us luck with the meeting." She gave her cousin a reassuring smile, "Not that we need it or anything,"

Helmut looked up at the ceiling as he replied, "Speak for yourself, Niki."

"Look, listen to me. When we first get there, I'll break the ice. Once she relaxes, she's all yours."

Helmut got up and began to pace around the room, "That sounds good, but what do I say to her?"

Niki's eyes followed him around as he moved, "Well, don't grill her right away. Just make small talk. Tell her about your job and Annelise. That should do for a bit. If you get stuck, I'll help you."

Helmut stopped his pacing and stood in from of her, "Thanks, Niki. Well, it's almost time. Are you ready to go down to the lobby?"

His cousin rose from the couch and tried to calm him once more, "As ready as I'll ever be. Relax, I've bought plenty of pictures of Lori and Sheldon to show her. That will kill some time. Remember, this is your mother and if my mother is correct, she loves you very much and feels a lot of regret for what she did. Just start with that, okay?"

Helmut looked toward the door and swallowed hard, "Okay, I suppose I can do that."

"Now, what do you say we get down there and meet her? This could end up being really good."

"Or a complete disaster."

Niki replied a little testily as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door, "Helmut, think positively. It will go great. "

He sighed and followed her, "If you say so…."

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When they entered the lobby, Niki spotted her aunt immediately as she looked very similar to her mother, Audrey, "Aunt Helga!" she called as she raced across the room and into her aunt's arms.

Her aunt wrapped the younger woman in a tight bear hug and exclaimed, "Nikita, sweetheart! Look what a beautiful woman you've grown up to be. You look just like your mother when she was younger."

Niki suddenly grew shy and gestured for Helmut to join them. "Aunt Helga, this is Helmut. He's grown up to be quite an attractive adult, also."

Helga stared hard at her son as tears filled her eyes, "Yes, he has at that." She then addressed him directly, "Helmut, I do believe we have a lot of catching up to do. Shall we head for the dining room of this hotel for a chat and a bit of lunch?"

Helmut remained speechless and merely nodded his head in reply, then followed his mother and cousin to the dining room. Trepidation filled every cell in his body, but an unrelenting curiosity kept him from running out the door and back to his apartment. There was so much he needed to know and the only way to get the answers he wanted was to join the two women for lunch. Still, his stomach was tied in knots and he was quickly losing his customary cool, detached, persona.

Once seated and their lunch orders placed, Helmut attempted some small talk with his mother, "Mother, Niki has informed me you work for Daimler. Just what is it that you do there?"

"I'm the head of the regional finance department. Son, when I ran from you and your father, I was fairly young, and I drifted around Europe for some time. Then, as usually happens, I began to mature and deal with both my lack of finances and my guilt. So, I enrolled in the local university and began some much-needed therapy with the intention of fixing myself so I would never run from anything ever again. I eventually graduated with a degree in business, started off with a job in the telemarketing department at Daimler, and because I was bilingual in English and German, I was promoted fairly frequently until I was given my current position. I hope that answers your question."

"That question, yes. But I do have another one."

Helga steeled herself for what she knew was coming, "Yes?"

"How the hell do you run off on some grand adventure and leave a loving husband and child in your wake? I know I could never do that!"

At that point, Niki angrily interjected with, "Helmut, stop! Just stop, damn you!"

Helmut and Helga both stared at her in disbelief, and she began to explain her outburst to them, "I'm sorry, Helmut. I wasn't trying to be rude or defend your mother's actions in any way, shape, or form. However, you should never use the words, 'I would never' when critiquing someone else's life. EVER. Helmut, as you know, I was married once before I met Sheldon."

He nodded and added sympathetically, "Yes, I know. You were widowed."

"But that's all you know. Here's something you didn't. While I was married my husband cheated on me many times. In fact, he was a serial cheater."

Helmut was taken aback at her words, "I'm sorry. I did not know that. Now, if you had left your husband, I would have understood why."

Niki gave her cousin a wry grin and went on to make an important point, "That's just it. Most people would have understood if I had left him, with a smug, 'that's what I would have done', attitude. The thing is, I didn't leave him. And a lot of people said those same words to me that you just threw at your mother. Instead of an indictment, why didn't you ask her why she did that? It might just help you make sense out of her actions." Niki saw his face contort in denial, "Maybe not, but you wouldn't have lost anything for asking."

"Very well. Why don't I start off by asking you, Niki, why you stayed?"

Niki patiently began to explain her actions, "There were several reasons, really. Some of them quite selfish and callous, and some of them not. First, I stayed because I was scared."

He challenged her smugly, "Scared of being alone or of what people would think?"

Niki shook her head decisively, "No, not at all for either of them. I was scared that leaving would hurt my career. If Paul and I had gotten into a protracted divorce, my attention would have been diverted from my career and it would have suffered. I had just secured a job with a most prestigious university and I wasn't about to put that on the line because my husband couldn't keep his dick in his pants." At their shocked faces, Niki went on to explain, "He wouldn't have been hurt by the divorce professionally. He came from a long line of powerful attorneys. My career, on the other hand, would likely have been decimated. His people were very, very powerful and they would have seen to it that my career suffered greatly."

Helmut stared across the table at his cousin, aghast, "He would have done that to you?"

Once again, Niki shook her head and explained, "Not him. No, outside of the cheating, Paul was a caring, decent, human being. But his family sure would have been pissed and they would have taken it out on me without a moment's hesitation."

"Okay, what about your other reasons?"

Niki lowered her head in shame and confessed, "Well…this is where the selfish part comes in. We led a very exciting life together. Through Paul, I was introduced to many celebrities and powerful people. We had them over for dinner parties quite often. I would be lying to both of you if I said I was willing to give that up at that time. That was the selfish reason."

Helmut's face held a huge question mark and he prodded her for more, "And?"

Niki let out a long sigh and continued, "The most important reason was, at the end of the day, I loved my husband. We made a very good couple, also. When he wasn't off cheating we had a lot of fun together and our marriage was both fulfilling and affectionate. No one in my entire life has ever made me laugh like Paul did. So, I weighed the good against the bad, decided there was more good than bad in our marriage, so I stayed. Very few people understood that, and I was attacked for staying more than once in a while. Let me tell you this, when Paul died, I was destroyed. Everything I had been afraid of came to pass. His family turned on me, my career went down the tubes, I lost someone I loved dearly, and all those important people I thought were my friends magically disappeared."

Helmut leaned forward across the table and asked her, "So, what is the point of you telling us all this?"

"Helmut, few people understood why I did what I did. If you think people are simple to understand, guess again. We all have something inside us we don't show to very many people, and that something drives us to be who and what we are. Instead of judging, why don't more of us try to understand there's always a reason people act in ways we can't comprehend."

Helmut leaned back in his seat and told her, "I can see now how you have stayed married to Sheldon. You understand where his many foibles come from."

Niki laughed out loud at his pronouncement, "Most of the time, yes. However, there have been times I have put my foot down and told him to cut the bs. He has done the same to me. We both see that as a positive thing, not a negative one. We are helping each other grow and become better people."

Helmut then turned to Helga, "I see. Then I feel I must ask my mother, why did you leave us? I truly want to understand."

"First off, let me apologize for all that I did to you when I left. Or more truthfully, what I didn't do. I didn't take you with me. But I had my reasons, believe me."

"And those would be?

Helga gave her son a pained look, leaned back, closed her eyes and began to speak, "I suppose for you to truly understand, I will have to start at the beginning of all of this. When I was eighteen, my parents were putting pressure on me to marry the son of some friends of theirs. Not a little pressure, a lot of pressure as in cutting me off financially and making threats to ruin me if I did not do as they wished. I was scared, but also stubborn. I decided I wasn't about to marry this man, no matter what the repercussions might have been.

"All hell was about to break loose when Kurt, your father, showed up in our town to do some business with my father. He was charming when he met me, but I had no idea he was attracted to me. He was about fifteen years older than me and I figured that a man that worldly and handsome could never be attracted to a teenage girl-next-door type. But he was.

"He began to court me, with my parents' complete approbation. They were impressed that a man with that much money, who hailed from Europe, was interested in their little girl. Soon, their friends' son was forgotten, and they pushed me to marry your father.

"I agreed, but said I wanted to be married in Europe, which everyone agreed to. The catch is, I just wanted to escape Milwaukee and my parents. I had no intention of marrying Kurt, or anyone else for that matter. I was attracted to him, sure, but I wasn't in love with him. I just saw him as a means to get to Europe, where I had always fantasized I would someday live.

"To make a long story short, we got to Germany, I hesitated about getting married, and Kurt had one of his good friends, 'persuade' me to go through with it. It wasn't pretty. I was tied up in a room and left alone for over eight hours. When his friend came back, I was so hungry, thirsty, and needing to use the restroom, I agreed to the marriage. All was fine for some time. Your father was a good husband. Kind, generous, romantic, sophisticated, but also very, very, controlling. He used his 'friend' and his force once again to get me to agree to having a child. So, in due time, I got pregnant with you, gave birth, and settled down into my new role as a wife and mother. Only I was scared, angry, and miserable. I stayed out of fear for a few years, but eventually, I just ran away from the whole mess."

"Why didn't you take me?"

At his question, Helga opened her eyes and gave him a direct stare, "I could have, if I had wanted to be killed. Your father loved you even more than me, and while it is easy for a young woman to disappear in Europe, a young woman with a small child would have easily been found. So, I had to go solo. For that, Helmut, I apologize."

Her son looked at her disbelievingly, "Mother, that's quite a story. I don't know that I believe all of it, though I am trying."

A light bulb suddenly went off in Niki's head and she had some questions of her own to ask her aunt, "Just a minute, please. Aunt Helga, you said you were tied up and forced to marry Kurt. Am I correct?"

Helga turned to her niece and nodded, "Yes. Kurt's best friend is a major underworld figure here in Europe. He and his henchmen have all kinds of nasty ways of getting what they want."

Niki then asked her with a sense of urgency in her voice, "And this man's name would be?"

"Why do you ask? His name is not important to my story."

Niki's eyes were pleading, "No, but it is to mine."

Helga was now completely confused, "How is that?"

Her niece began to relate her own story, "Yesterday, my friends and I were kidnapped and tied up. All in an effort to get one of this man's clients what she wanted. It's probably just a coincidence, but what was this enforcer's name?"

Helmut and Niki both exchanged a look of shock and sudden understanding when Helga revealed the man's name, "Hugo. Hugo Fronek."

Well, well, well. Isn't this an interesting development?