Erik's attention snapped to the door as he heard someone knock. He wondered who on earth it could be, especially this early in the morning. Every nerve was on alert as he approached the door. If it were someone unfriendly, it was up to him to protect his family.

Prepared for anything, Erik cautiously opened the door. To his surprise, it was none other than his brother-in-law. Unsure why he was here, Erik didn't speak, didn't invite Fredrick in; he just stood there. The two men stared at each other, tension in the air before Fredrick finally spoke. "Is Katja here?"

Katja was in the bedroom nursing Belle, and Erik wasn't about to disturb her. "She's busy with the baby," he replied. He started to close the door, but Fredrick stopped it with his foot.

"That's okay. You were the one I wanted to talk to."

"Oh." Erik glanced towards the bedroom, trying to determine whether allowing Fredrick inside or sending him away would upset Katja more if she were to find out her brother was here. Finally he took a step back, allowing the German inside. "What would you like to talk about?" Erik asked as he closed the door.

"I wanted to apologize," Fredrick admitted.

"For what?" Erik asked, thrown completely off guard.

Fredrick stuffed his hands in his pockets. "For getting mad at you. Katja's kidnapping wasn't your fault. I was just angry that she had been taken again and needed someone to blame. You were an easy target. And honestly, this is three times now you've saved her, and, well, my father and I haven't been able to do it once. Compared to you, we seem rather incompetent, and to us, my father especially, it's a huge ego blow." He let out an audible sigh. "Obviously she's far safer with you than us."

Erik didn't know how to respond. He wasn't expecting this at all. Before he could reply, another voice interrupted. "Fredrick? What are you doing here?" Katja asked, walking into the room. She had Belle in her arms and she stared at her brother in surprise.

"I came to see how you were doing," he replied. "Is it wrong for me to want to visit my little sister?"

She stood beside Erik, like she was afraid of being forced to choose between him and her family again. "No," she said slowly. "It's just that we weren't expecting you."

Her brother shrugged. "I know. I just stopped by on my way to the café."

"You would have had to come the completely wrong direction," she continued, her voice filling with suspicion. Katja stepped closer to Erik, hugging Belle against her chest protectively. "Did Vati put you up to this?"

"No," Fredrick replied, shaking his head. "Actually, to tell you the truth, Vater's not exactly happy with me right now."

Neither Erik nor Katja were expecting that response from him. "Why not?" she asked.

Fredrick sighed. "Because I defended your decision to come back here and Vater didn't seem to like that very much."

Katja's eyes grew wide. "Why?"

"Because I can see the bond you two have. You two are more deeply in love than I have ever seen anyone before in my life. It's like you two have a connection, like you were made for each other. I can't explain it, but I've never seen anything like it before and I doubt I'll see it again."

"Really?" she asked.

Erik put his arm around Katja's waist and pulled her close, inhaling the sweet perfume of her hair. "I'd believe it," he whispered into her ear.

"Besides," Fredrick continued. "The way you two fight for each other, it's pointless to try and keep you apart. Sooner or later Vater's going to have to admit that."

"He never will," she said with a sigh. "He's too stubborn."

"I doubt that," Fredrick countered. "He already regrets letting you leave. You just came back and after all that, he doesn't want to stay on bad terms with you. They miss you Katja, Vater especially."

She cuddled Belle close to her chest. "I miss them too," she admitted softly. "I don't want them to watch Belle grow up from a distance. After all those years, I don't want to cut them out of my life. Oh Fredrick, what am I supposed to do?"

"Everything will sort itself out soon enough," her brother answered. Erik was slightly hurt that she was going to Fredrick for advice over him, but then again people weren't his strong suit. His own advice was probably worthless.

Katja looked up at Erik with imploring eyes, clearly not happy with Fredrick's response. "Erik, you'll talk to Vati, won't you? He might listen to you. Maybe you can make him see sense."

Erik sighed. "I could, but your father seems to hate me. It won't help anything, and will just make things between you and your family worse."

"Please Erik," she pleaded. "Just talk to him for a little bit. He was just angry when he said all those things to you. He knows deep down you didn't mean for anything to happen, he just was looking for a scapegoat."

He knew that he couldn't deny his wife anything, especially if she was going to beg. Erik sighed, nodded, pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, put a gentle hand on his daughter for a moment, then turned to Fredrick. "Will you stay with her until I get back?"

The German nodded. "Of course."

"Don't be too long," Katja called after Erik as he left. He turned and waved at her before heading into the stable.

Fredrick stared at her for a moment. "Do you really think that's wise? It might make things worse instead of better. You should have gone to talk to him yourself."

"Believe me, I know," she sighed. "But I can't leave Belle, and she isn't strong enough to be out in this weather unnecessarily. But I don't want this rift between us and Vati to keep growing. I want to fix things before they get any worse. Erik will do his best. I know he will. He knows how important it is to me."

"I just don't want you to be disappointed if he doesn't succeed."

She shrugged. "I know he might not. I just hope he does."

Belle chose this moment to fuss in her mother's arms. Katja kissed her forehead and began to coo to calm her down. Fredrick smiled at the sight. "You know, she takes after you," he said. "Beautiful but a danger to upset."

Katja smiled. "Would you like to hold her for a while?"

His eyes widened. "I don't think I've ever actually held a baby before in my life."

"Well someday you'll have a family of your own, then you'll have plenty of babies to hold. You'll need the practice," she replied. She motioned for him to follow her into the living room. "Come on, I'll show you."