Woohoo! I'm back with the boys! It was crazy how long it took. I had a little writer's block and needed ideas again. But now I made it. I already have ideas for the new chapter but let's see. I take my time. I wish you a lot of fun with this chapter and I'm happy about comments.

Greetings Petit Erik

19.7.2022

Oh, how good a vacation did! Although Jenny had already had one this year but then not all alone. The vacation in Cologne with the guys was wonderful but this, where she was now, was something completely different. The view from her room windows was simply gigantic. When she woke up early, she had the mountains right in front of her. It couldn't have been any better. This morning she had gotten up extra early because she wanted to do something that would take the whole day. Thus, Jenny jumped out of bed when her cell phone alarm rang, ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower before doing the rest of her laundry. When she was done in the bathroom, she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She was already wearing her clothes for the day but had wrapped her damp hair in a bath towel. While those were still drying, she could check in with the boys once.

On the day she left Paris and the boys, there was a sense of mourning in the big house. The Christines had stayed overnight to provide emotional support for the boys. But there was no point in this now either. They were crying as much as the phantoms and the children were crying too. So there were a total of 64 people in the big house who were crying and mourning a person who had become their best friend and was just going to fly away on vacation. Finally, everyone had to let Jenny go, no matter how hard it was for them. Thus, Jenny hugged everyone once again and then left them to go to the airport. The residents of the house waved to her until she was out of sight. Although they were very attached to her, she still felt how good it was to be completely alone on the road for once. And if something urgent came up, she could always be called. Sierra had her number anyway, and by now she wasn't the only Christine who had a smartphone. This was also true for the Phantoms. Where Crawford was also the only one with a smartphone in the beginning, now more and more of them had smartphones. Jenny could bet that Panaro's phone was overloaded with pictures of Soot. Once she had managed to take a picture of the two of them and it looked really beautiful. She had shown this picture to Trista and she was immediately enchanted. Jenny showed this picture to Panaro and saw how he got moist eyes.

He lifted Soot in his arms and said: "Look. Don't you look wonderful? Yes, you do!"

Soot barked and wagged his tail. He jumped out of his master's arms and ran around the house again.

"He looks absolutely wonderful," Panaro sighed in rapture.

"Yes, you do," Trista replied, snuggling up to him.

"Me, no I don't. Look at me!" he cried, bringing his disfigured face close to hers.

"I'm looking at you. And I say you're wonderful because I love you."

He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I love you too, my angel," he said.

She smiled, gently cupped his deformed cheek and kissed him softly on his distended lips. He smiled and lovingly returned the kiss. After a few seconds, they broke away from each other, looked at each other, and Trista gently caressed his cheek as he leaned into the loving touch. Jenny smiled at the open affection between the two. It was clear that the two loved each other very much. But not just these two. It was the same with everyone. They were always teasing each other affectionately or exchanging sweet endearments with each other. Somehow, every pair of pants was still in place with the boys. How that could still be so, Jenny really wondered. But she didn't want to get into that. That was between the Phantoms and their Sopranos. Jenny shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at her smartphone screen again. She dialed Crawford's number and hoped he would pick up. After letting it ring three times, someone finally answered.

"Hello?" mumbled Crawford's sleepy voice.

"Morning!" exclaimed Jenny cheerfully.

"Ah, Jenny!" he grumbled, "don't yell like that. I'm dead tired. Why are you even awake already?" he managed to ask after all.

"I've got plans today. That's why I'm up already."

"Oh, I see, can I please sleep some more?"

"Of course. Good night. And say hello to the others. Love you."

"We love you too," he replied, hanging up and curling back into his blanket.

Sarah snuggled up to him and rested her head on his chest as he rested his chin on top of her head and fell back asleep.

Jenny smiled and started eating breakfast. She sat outside on the balcony with a beautiful view of the Alps. She enjoyed her breakfast, then quickly cleaned up her plate, hung up her bath towel, combed her hair, decided to let it down, and then grabbed all her stuff she would need for the day and headed for the bus. She was more than jittery about what all she was going to experience today. Meanwhile, in the big house in Paris, there was also a joyous event going on. All the children were camping outside in the garden, under Soot's supervision. Charles had received a tent from his father, which still came from his time in Persia. There all the children were inside, giving their parents space. And it was clear that they needed it. Fortunately, none of theirs was in the room with them. And at this point, at the latest, the soundproofing became very helpful. If you could have been in all the rooms at the same time, you could have heard loud and lustful moaning coming from 16 rooms. What was happening in there would then have been immediately clear to everyone. When it was finally half past ten in the morning, most of them were sitting at the breakfast table, while they still had to wait for the others.

Soon they also arrived and all had disheveled hair and a huge grin on their faces. Crawford put his face in his hands and groaned. Everyone else just laughed and sat down at the breakfast table as well. The fathers lovingly tousled their sons' hair and grinned at them. Soot barked happily and came wagging his tail at Panaro. His master lovingly stroked his fur and Soot then sat down on the floor next to his chair. He tilted his head and looked at his master with greedy eyes. Panaro snatched a slice of cheese and held it out to his dog. Soot greedily pounced on it and devoured the treat. As everyone sat eating, they asked if anyone knew anything about Jenny. Crawford told them that he had been called by her that morning and that she had said she was up to something. What exactly, however, he didn't know.

"She'll write or call us," Kari said, nibbling on his jam croissant.

"I'm sure she will. Knowing her, she will," Sierra replied, nibbling also on her own roll.

The others agreed with her. They didn't have to wait long when Sierra's smartphone rang. She picked it up and held it to her ear.

"Yes?"

"HELLO!" screamed Jenny's voice.

"Boah Jen. Why are you so loud?"

"Well then make it loud."

"What, oh that's what you mean," Sierra replied, putting her phone on the table and turning on the speaker.

"Hi everyone!", Jenny's voice rang out.

"Hi!" everyone shouted back, some still with their mouths full.

"Ahhh I hear there's food being eaten. Bon appetit."

"Thanks!"

"And where are you right now?" asked Cortes.

"Wait... hello!" suddenly Jenny was visible.

She had turned on her cell phone camera and was now waving cheerfully at everyone. Everyone else waved cheerfully back at her. Then she turned once in a semicircle and they could see the mountains behind her.

"Guys? Benvenuto in Italia!"

With that, she made a hand gesture as if to welcome everyone

"Wow!" the kids exclaimed, leaning over the table to see more.

As Jake was about to climb up on the table, Murphy cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow. His son just grinned and sat back in his chair.

"What's it like in Italy?" asked Gant this time.

"Warm," came the monosyllabic reply.

"With us, too," Emmy replied.

"Well, I dressed a little breezier because it's really warm today. But it's totally dead here. I'm going back on the next train."

"Will you check in again today?" asked Carpenter.

"Sure thing. But not until I get to my lodgings. Gets too expensive otherwise. See you later. Love you," Jenny said goodbye and hung up.

Gray sighed: "I miss her so much."

"Me too," Sierra replied, picking up her cell phone from the table and placing it on the sideboard.

As breakfast went on, they talked about this and that. Every now and then a slice of cheese would disappear mostly unnoticed but no one was particularly bothered by it. When everyone was done, a lot of time was spent outside in the pool. Nobody wanted to do anything else today. It was just way too warm today. Some just lay in the shade so they wouldn't get too warm. Or it was the other way around. Others were also lying in the sun to get some color. And while everyone was passing their time, they were wondering what Jenny would be doing right now.

Well, this one was just on her way back to Austria. In a full train and in summer she was sitting with a mask. Fortunately, this obligation no longer existed in Austria. So when she finally crossed the border again, she could take off her mask. Fortunately, she had a direct connection to her train at Brenner, which would take her back to Innsbruck. From there, it would be back to her accommodation by bus. She sat on the train and looked at the Alps. It was beautiful. She definitely wanted to go there again next year. During her train ride, she took many more pictures of the scenery she was passing. When she finally arrived in Innsbruck, the bus was already there. She got in, sat down and exhaled. Today had been really exhausting. Beautiful but exhausting. Soon the bus started moving and she drove off. About half an hour later she was back. She got off the bus and walked to her accommodation. When she arrived at her room, she dropped her things and went to freshen up. After that, she changed her clothes and dropped onto the sofa, sighing. Then she dialed Sierra's number on her smartphone. It rang briefly and then her voice rang out.

"Hello, Jenny. Are you back?" she asked.

"Yes," Jenny groaned.

"Everything okay?", Sandra's concerned voice rang out.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just exhausted."

"It was a busy day today, wasn't it?" asked Borchert this time.

"Yes, it was. But it was really worth it. It was beautiful."

"I'll bet it was," Sierra said.

"When you get back, can you please show us some pictures?" asked Sandra.

"Of course," Jenny replied, yawning.

A giggle came from the speaker of her cell phone. Jenny laughed as well.

"Sorry but I'm a little tired. It's been a long day today. I'm just going to make myself something to eat and then go to sleep. Say hi to the others for me, please. Good night."

"Good night, Jenny," Borchert, Sierra and Sandra called out to her.

They hung up and said hello from her to everyone else in the living room.

Jenny, meanwhile, was preparing her dinner and had turned on some music. While the pasta cooked, the sausage sizzled in the pan and the sauce bubbled, she opened the balcony door. The heat had already decreased a bit but unfortunately it was still humid. When her food was finally ready, she put it on a plate and sat outside. She enjoyed her meal and thought about the boys, the Christines and the children in the big house in Paris. What would they all be doing right now? What were they doing all the time she was away? She had to admit to herself that she missed them all very much after all. A small tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away. Over the time they had all spent together, they had all become a family. A rather weird and strange one, but a family nonetheless. And this family she never wanted to give away again.