Chapter 18: "We Wish You a Merry Easter and a Happy New Spring"

Mathias wasn't too fond of Munich. He'd gone down a few times to see his dad, but he never would have gone just to visit. It wasn't that it was bad, it was just that it wasn't home. The streets weren't familiar and his friends weren't here.

Plus, his dad was there, and he'd started despising him. He mostly stayed in the extra room his dad had in his loft. He wanted to pretend he wasn't actually there. He mostly played on his laptop. He called Lukas as often as possible His father was easy to avoid, too, because he was always working or watching football or something.

Easter wasn't much different, but he did expect to see Mathias for dinner. He figured that was fair enough. He'd been avoiding him for four days. He woke up early in the morning and found a thick stack of money on his nightstand in place of a basket. He picked it up and stuffed it into his wallet. He hated his dad, but he wouldn't deny the money.

He went out and bought a few things. New shoes, candy, a few books, and that was about it. He tried to stay out for as long as possible to avoid his dad, but he'd have to go back eventually, so he figured he'd go ahead and get it over with so he could be back in Copenhagen before midnight.

They went to dinner at some upscale place Mathias had never heard of. He stirred his drink and looked down at the tablecloth, pretty much counting the seconds down until he could leave. "So, Mathias, how's football? Off season, right?"

He shrugged, but didn't reply. His father waited for a good minute before saying, "You doing well? What position are you playing?" He finally looked up at him, but the moment he did, he felt his stomach drop and he looked down again. "Forward."

His father ate a piece of something that resembled steak and nodded as if he cared. "I played forward in college."

"I know," he snapped. He knew his dad had played forward. He'd probably told him a hundred times. Maybe more. But definitely not less. His father made a weird "hm" noise and shook his head slowly, putting his fork down. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, finally fed up with his sons attitude. Mathias put down the straw he'd been stirring with and looked at him coldly. "What do you think is wrong?"

He shrugged innocently. "You get this attitude from your mother. She got mad for no reason, too," he said, causing Mathias to nearly spit out the water he'd been drinking. "Are you kidding me? You got my teacher fired. I mean, who does that?"

There was a brief silence. "It wasn't professional of him to talk about what he was talking about around you." Mathias was silent as he watched him take another bite of his food. He was beyond pissed and the anger he'd been feeling for days now finally bubbled over. He picked up the ice water from the table and threw it in his fathers face, lemon and all. Heads were turning to see what was happening.

Mathias didn't care who was watching. He slammed the glass back down on the table, said, "I'll be gone when you get back," and left without another word, leaving his father in the restaurant with a soaked shirt and a shocked expression.

Lukas stepped right into his Easter basket when he climbed out of bed and got fake purple grass stuck on his sock. Suddenly, his door flung open and Emil was climbing onto his bed frantically. "Lukas, look what the Easter bunny brought me! LOOK!" He showed Lukas some sort of board game and laid it on his bed before digging in his brothers basket for him. "Lukas, the Easter bunny brought you a magic kit! I want a magic kit!"

Lukas rubbed his eyes and looked through the basket. It was mostly candy and little toys. Then there was the magic kit, of course, which he'd told his parents he wanted. He ate a little chocolate egg and Emil went ahead and opened his gift for him. "Careful," he said. He looked through the contents of the kit and smiled a little.

"Lukas! Emil! Come down here and show us what the Easter bunny brought you." Emil ran downstairs with the game in his hand again, but Lukas dressed first. He followed his brother downstairs. He was in the middle of talking, now. "Lukas, show them what you got!" Lukas smiled and said, "A magic kit."

They both pretended to be surprised and Lukas smirked. They all played along for Emil, who was as ecstatic as ever about the gifts the Easter bunny had gotten him. It was fun, though, to be in on the joke, though there were a few times when he'd almost let it slide that the Easter bunny wasn't real. He couldn't imagine Easter without Emil being so excited for the Easter bunny.

Easter was always relaxed. They had light meals until night-time, and at that point, his mother cooked. When they'd lived in Norway, he would have his grandparents over and his grandma would cook the best food, which always made him feel better. He didn't have that this year, but it had been such a good Easter. He savored his meal, too, eating as much as he could. Everything just seemed too right to not enjoy it. Not just with food, either. Everything felt good. His life felt good.

He smiled as he thought about that. He supposed a lot of it was thanks to Mathias. He truly didn't believe he would feel this good without having him in his life. He wished he was with them for Easter. He was probably miserable in Munich with his father. Lukas didn't even know the man and he hated him. But he was sure that Mathias was putting up with him well enough.

"Lukas, do you want some coffee?"

He looked up and over at his mother. "Hm?" She poured herself some coffee and got him down a mug. "Coffee, Lukas?" He nodded and leaned back in his chair. Emil tugged on his mothers shirt and said, "How come I can't have coffee?"

"You're too small for coffee," Lukas said. Emil stood up on the chair and glared at his brother. "Oh yeah? Looks like I'm pretty tall, big brother," he said, putting his hands on his hips. Lukas' father came by and lifted him off the chair, resting him on his shoulders. "Give him some coffee," he said to his wife. "Look how tall he is!" He winked and she nodded, playing along. She poured a little bit of black coffee into a mug and gave it to Emil, who grinned cheerfully.

The minute the coffee hit his tongue, he gave the coffee back to his mother. "Why do you drink that?!" He climbed down onto the chair again and rinsed his mouth out with water. "It's so bitter!" Lukas giggled and sipped his coffee.

His father looked over at his mother again and she cleared her throat, smiling a little. "Emil, why don't we go upstairs and play your new game?" He nodded, took his mothers hand, and they both went upstairs. Lukas watched curiously, then looked at his father, who was walking into the living room. He sat at the piano and waved Lukas over, patting the empty spot next to him on the bench.

Lukas sat down and pushed on one of the white keys, then looked up at his father. The man played the piano for a second, then stopped. "Lukas, do you know how much I love music?"

The boy nodded and watched him play a little more. He smiled, patted his head, and played again, but this time it was for a few minutes. When he stopped, he said, "I don't need music to live, but I couldn't live without it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't explain why music makes me happy, but it does. It just does. I don't consciously choose to love music. It's the same with people." Lukas' eyes widened as he realized why he was telling him this. "She... she told you?" He started to get up to yell at his mother, but his father pulled him back down. "She did. She tells me everything because she's my best friend. We don't keep secrets."

He looked away from his father and mumbled under his breath. His father let out a little laugh and placed his hands on the keys. "It's going to be okay, yeah?"

Lukas nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. I thought so." He played a happier song, then said, "You know, sometimes I imagine there is a takeover of sports. Football and things like that just rule the world, and I imagine it's a crime to be a musician or listen to music or be an artist of any sort. All of it is outlawed. Everyone looks at people who still enjoy music and despise them for it. They think there's something wrong with them. And I think, what would I do? I'd continue playing. Within limits, nothing could take me away from this piano right now or ever. Same with love. If someone came in here and said I couldn't love your mother anymore, I'd tell them to shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

Lukas smiled a little at that and scooted a little closer. "Oh," was all he could think to say. He smiled at him and played a few chords. "I don't care who you love," he said with a reassuring smile. "It's more important that you love at all, Lukas. That's right, yeah?"

Lukas nodded. "That's right." His father smiled wider and pulled him into a hug. "That's what I thought. Now, you feel like learning something new on piano?"

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