A/N: I want to dedicate this chapter to SandyLeePotts, because if she hadn't asked me to write a story that would include the tale of Mother Hulda, this whole story wouldn't be more than a One-Shot.
Disclaimer: Mother Hulda isn't mine at all, it's written by the Brothers Grimm.
Jess stepped out of Lotte's bed room and returned to the kitchen. The sight in front of her was surreal. Remaining silent, the woman watched as Becker washed up the dirty dishes from dinner.
It had been five days since Lotte had moved in with Jess, and those five days had been filled with breaking down the language barrier, getting to know each other and helping Lotte to settle into this new time. Jess took her on walks around the neighbourhood, played memory games and searched for language games on the internet. The child learned quickly and was able to communicate in simple sentences already. Each day had ended the same: with Becker joining them for dinner.
Jess hadn't asked him to come over, and the soldier hadn't done so either. He just appeared on her doorstep after he finished work as if it were the most natural thing.
The young field-coordinator had seen the joy in Lotte's eyes whenever Becker arrived. While the child had mainly talked German with the soldier during the first few days, she now tended to use English more and more often.
After the first evening with Lotte in her home, Jess hadn't expected Becker to turn up again. But of course she was pleasantly surprised when he did. On the third evening Jess had caught herself silently hoping that the Captain would come again. On day four she had checked her watch more than once as it got closer to Becker's finishing time, and today she wasn't able to suppress the happy squeak when Becker had sent her a text message in the early afternoon announcing that he'd pick up pizza for dinner.
Becker had never left right after dinner, he had always stayed another hour or two to listen to Jess' narrations of the day and the brunette was happy to talk to another adult. As much as she enjoyed having Lotte around, it was more exhausting than she had imagined it to be. Not physically, but mentally. Lotte was easily scared by loud sounds she couldn't place and often her mood changed within seconds. One minute she'd be chatting away happily and in the next, thick tears would be running down her cheeks.
Jess would never blame her, the child's reaction was understandable, but it took its toll on the field-coordinator. The time with Becker gave her the strength to face another day.
The soldier felt Jess' presence behind him, yet he wasn't able to face her just now. He needed to get something straight for himself.
Here he was standing in her kitchen, washing up, doing the kind of housework he usually procrastinated in his own four walls. He had come to her place every day after work instead of going straight home.
The soldier had tried to explain his behaviour with his job description, but knew well enough that he was only kidding himself. Jess knew it was beyond his duties and she had even told him so. Yet they had never finished that conversation after Dr. Sullivan's interruption: a fact that disappointed him. Still, he had never found the guts to bring it back up.
Becker knew it was time to stop deceiving himself. He liked Jess, really liked her, and he enjoyed her company.
The soldier stowed away the last of the dried plates, took out two wine glasses and filled them with the Merlot he had picked up on the way. With the glasses in hand, he turned around, catching her eyes. His eyebrow shot up, "I didn't know you loved to watch others do your work."
Jess knew by the tone that he was teasing, but couldn't help her cheeks burning up. What she could suppress though was her rambling. Instead, she took a step forward, taking a glass from him."Well, it's not every day that I have a man doing my chores."
"How was your day?" Becker asked as they settled down on the sofa together.
Jess pulled her feet up and turned to face the soldier. "So far so good. Lotte is really interested in learning English, but her mood can change from one second to the next." Shyly, Jess bit her lower lip averting her eyes from the man opposite from her. "I feel rather helpless in those moments."
Silence spread over the room while Jess recalled Lotte's latest break down. Mixed emotions rolled over Jess' face and Becker was taken aback when guilt settled on her features. Before he had the chance to bring himself to take her into his arms, the sound of small bare feet disturbed the quietness.
Quickly Jess pulled herself together and turned to face the child, who stood in the room almost lost. Lotte stared at the floor in front of her, whispering something in German that Jess wasn't able to understand.
A small smile spread over Lotte's face when Becker answered. With an expectant look in her eyes, Jess waited for Becker to translate when the child came over and cuddled in between the two adults.
"She can't fall asleep and asked if we could tell her a fairy tale."
"And?" Jess had seen an indecipherable shimmer in his eyes.
"She asked for a specific one. 'Mother Hulda', do you know it?"
Jess shook her head no and reached out for the blanket lying over the armchair behind her and spread it around the girl.
"It was written by the Grimm Brothers and from what I heard it's rather popular in Germany. One of my teachers read it to us before the winter holidays. Not sure if I remember all of it though."
"Well, you are about to find out," Jess stated matter of factly with a big smirk on her lips.
Taking a few more moments to recall as much as possible, Becker started eventually, much to Jess' disappointment in German.
"English, German I know." Lotte interrupted him after only a few words with a reproachful tone in her voice, which caused fits of giggles to escape Jess.
After shooting Jess a look that was supposed to be a scowl, Becker started again: in English.
"Once upon a time there was a widow who had a beautiful, industrious stepdaughter, but her own daughter was ugly and lazy. The widow loved her daughter but treated her stepdaughter badly.
Every day the stepdaughter had to sit by a well and spin yarn. One day her fingers started to bleed, and the blood stained the bobbin. When she tried to clean the bobbin with the waters of the well, she accidentally dropped it into the well.
With tears in her eyes, she told her stepmother what had happened. The merciless widow commanded her to retrieve it.
In an effort to obey this command, she jumped into the well. She lost consciousness. When she became aware of her surroundings, she found herself in a pleasant meadow.
As she walked along a path, she encountered an oven in which bread was being baked. The bread asked the girl to take them out of the oven because they were done. The girl cheerfully complied.
Then she encountered an apple tree. The tree told the girl that all its apples were ripe and asked the girl to shake it. She shook the tree till all the apples were laying on the ground. She gathered the apples in a heap and went her way.
Then she came to a cottage. An old lady looked out the window. The girl was afraid because she had big teeth. However, she proved to be a kind hostess. Her name was Mother Hulda.
She enjoyed the hospitality of Mother Hulda for many days. She cheerfully did all that Mother Hulda asked her to do. She daily shook up the bed of Mother Hulda, so that the feathers flew into the air and fell down like snow, just as her hostess had instructed her to do.
Even though life was pleasant, the girl became homesick and wanted to return to her family. Mother Hulda was pleased when she learned about the wishes of the girl, and she promised to help her get home."
Jess was surprised by Becker's ability to tell a story. His voice was a little deeper compared to his normal talking tone and he stressed the sentences in all the right places. Within seconds into the story, the characters had come to life for Jess. The young woman closed her eyes and enjoyed the lulling effect his voice had on her.
"Mother Hulda led her guest to a large gate. As she was standing under it, a shower of gold rained down upon her, and the gold clung to her. Mother Hulda explained that it was a reward for her diligence. She gave the girl her bobbin and shut the gate.
Her home was not far away. As she approached the house, their rooster said, "Our golden maiden is here again. Because of the gold, she enjoyed a cordial reception when she came home.
The widow wanted her own daughter to receive a similar blessing. So the ugly daughter took the spinning wheel to the well and pricked her finger on a thorny hedge so that she could make the bobbin bloody. Then she dropped the bobbin into the well and jumped in."
She found herself on the same meadow as her stepsister and walked along the same path. However, she refused to take the bread out of the oven, and she did not shake the apple tree. When she came to the cottage, she was not afraid of the large teeth of Mother Hulda because her stepsister had told her about them.
The desire for gold made her work diligently the first day. However, as the days passed, she became more and more lazy, until she did not even want to get up in the morning. Finally Mother Hulda suggested that she return home. The lazy girl was happy and thought that now she would receive the gold.
However, when she came to the spot where her stepsister had enjoyed a shower of gold, a kettle of pitch fell on her instead.
The rooster greeted her with the words, "Our dirty maiden is here again."
The pitch clung to her for the rest of her life."
Becker ended the tale and looked at the child and woman in front of him. Lotte met his gaze and shifted a little, only to throw her arms around him, catching him by surprise. Hugging the child back, his eyes wandered to Jess, who had her own closed. A tiny smile played on her lips and her hair framed her face. Becker couldn't help but think how beautiful Jess looked.
The moment was so unreal; here he was sitting on a sofa, with a child he barely knew in his arms and the woman, who waited for him to admit his feelings to her, opposite from him. He hadn't felt so content in a long time. The soldier rubbed his eyes, trying to ease the tension that had built up inside him.
"Come on Lotte, I think it's time for you to go to bed," the soldier whispered, relieved it would give him a bit time away from Jess.
Five minutes later he returned to the living room and was greeted by a thoughtful looking Jess.
"Are you okay?" Becker asked concerned as he sat down again.
For a moment Jess hesitated in answering, but she had to know. Suddenly the words came sputtering out.
"You come here every evening, help me cook, clean the dishes, you ask about my day, you tell a tale and you put Lotte to bed." The field-coordinator bit her lower lip nervously, her cheeks burning up. "You really do all that because it's your job?"