'..So..this is about the brother, huh?' Tontu asked Johanna out in the kitchen. She nodded, dabbing at her eyes with little affect and looking away briefly. Tontu had managed to prise an explanation of what had just happened, a miracle considering the showdown that she'd just had with Hilda.

'Yes..I-I have a son..t-the sweetest little thing..!,' Johanna sniffed before she leaned back and wiped her eyes once more, '..His name is Harry-'

She stopped and looked at Tontu again, fully absorbing what the Nisse had said at first. He had..known about Harry? The Nisse stared back, expression unreadable because of all the fur but Johanna could tell he was nervous from the way his tail swung back and forward behind him.

'Hilda told you at some point, didn't she?,' she asked and the house-spirit nodded slowly, looking down at the table and gripping its edge tightly.

'Uh..I think it was this day last year..I saw Hilda was kinda upset at something. It was just after the whole thing with the Black Hound, so I thought she was still dealing with it,' Tontu began as Johanna nodded slowly, 'She'd only tell me what was wrong in the nowhere space though..so I let her in and she started talking..'

'..talking about Harry..,' Johanna sighed, hiccupping slightly, 'All this is my fault..she doesn't ask me because..because she feels she can't..n-not after how I treated her when s-she found the photo…'

"...over and over, and over again! Every December you'll hear it and say.." the radio sang as she studied the mince pies while they cooked away in the oven. The smell had Hilda almost on her knees begging for her to take them from the oven, but her Aunt Astrid's recipe always called for them to be slightly burned.

So she'd told her daughter to go focus on something else, a task made all the more difficult by the blizzard outside. Evidently though, Hilda didn't seem to mind as she turned at the sound of the girl's winter boots, which echoed down the stairs. She intercepted and blocked both the girl and Deerfox from the front door.

'Hey! I want to play outside!' She huffed, 'You told me to focus on something else!'

'I meant something else in here, sweetheart! If you go out there, you'll get so cold your fingers might fall off! We can't have that can we?' She chuckled, going to pat her head but Hilda intercepted and held her hand in place.

'You can't just kiss them better..?' she asked innocently.

'Oh, well..it would take a lot of kisses and the mince pies would be all burned! Now..hm..what's that in the corner? Do you see?' She asked and crouched down next to her. Hilda peered at the corner then back to her, confused.

'What is it?'

'An invisible troll! Quick, you'll have to run around the house to distract it or it will steal the pies!' She grinned and Hilda's eyes lit up at the idea. She laughed and ran off with Twig back up the stairs. As she gave herself a pat on the back for that one, she returned to the oven as the song played out.

'Always one of my favourites!' The host gleed, 'Now..we got some well-wishes here from our listeners, let's start with Harry here-'

She'd turned off the radio the moment she heard his name. She had been quietly finding the day hard enough, having let a few tears escape whenever Hilda wasn't in the room. A part of her desperately wanted to believe that somewhere, Harry was happy but her blood chilled when she remembered the look on his Father's face. The last she'd ever seen of her partner was a man she hadn't recognised, a man who had only ever seen her as a means to an end-

'Mum! Mum look!'

She'd snapped back into reality to see Hilda stumble towards her with a wide grin. At first, she'd taken shelter in her smile, just like she had done during those slow, awful days after Harry had been snatched from her. Then she saw the photograph in her daughter's eager hands.

'It's Harry!' Hilda said, delighted as she waved the photo before her. She'd turned away instantly, unable to look her infant son in the eyes. And inside, the pain and resentment bubbled, her anger at herself for not being able to protect him. And then Hilda had started with the questions. Where was Harry now? Why didn't she talk about him? What about her Dad–?

'Enough, Hilda..I said ENOUGH!' she'd shouted. The child had taken a step back, her mood completely deflated by the reaction before it turned completely when she'd snatched the photo from her daughter's hands.

'Hey-!'

'Where did you even get this!?' she'd snapped back. The guilt and anger had taken full control now.

'Y-Your room-!' Hilda stammered out.

'You're not to go into my room, Hilda!'

'Ok ok! B-But what about my brother-!?'

'IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BROTHER!' she'd shouted again and her outburst had caused a stray tear to roll down Hilda's face as she'd slammed the photo face down on the counter.

'But..M-Mum..!'

'GO TO YOUR ROOM! NOW!' She'd demanded and the girl had fled before her, with the sobs being what finally shook her from the grip of her guilt. But it was too late to make amends now, as Hilda's bedroom door slammed shut, reverberating around the house.

Hilda hadn't come down for her dinner or the mince pies that she had craved. Instead, she'd found her curled up on her bed when she'd dared to crack open her bedroom door a couple of hours later.

After a tearful and angry conversation, she'd let her keep the photo in return for her forgiveness. But when Hilda pressed the family issue again, she just couldn't find the will to explain, still too tortured to sift through her guilt. Instead, sat on the end of her bed and staring away from her, she'd made a promise to her.

'Someday..I-I don't know when but you'll know one day sweetheart…'

'...It could still be that day' Tontu said, back in the present, 'You don't have to leave it off like this, you know,' he encouraged, though Johanna continued to stare into her cup of peppermint tea in despair, fists clenched on the table. Her self-loathing stood in a way like a brick wall, having survived repeated attempts to break through and been reinforced by the nights she'd spent crying herself to sleep over it.

'Mum. Hey, Mum!'

She sat straight up, startled and gripping the table to find Hilda standing in her doorway. Eyes red, puffy and unimpressed, she stood with the photo clutched by her side. The girl bitterly jerked her head inside her room, pushing the door open to re-enter as she did.

'Alfur's talked me into giving you one last chance' she muttered, before she disappeared inside. Johanna inhaled and exhaled, glancing at Tontu. Somewhere under there, she could tell that the Nisse was staring back at her as Hilda could be heard flopping back onto her bed. The seconds ticked by slowly, as inside the girl counted down the couple of minutes she would give her Mum. Ten seconds, twenty, then forty. Just as she reached the fifty second mark, the bedroom door swung open. Her Mum flicked on the light and approached slowly, eyes darting to her bed but Hilda nodded at the chair instead. Johanna sat down and turned it towards her, wringing her hands before she took a breath and looked Hilda in the eye.

'I'm going to tell you everything..I promised you that, just..I can't promise if I can stay composed'

'That's fine' Hilda breathed, hardly remaining composed herself as she sat up and swung her legs aimlessly for a moment, gripping the mattress before she stared back up at her Mum.

'Tell me about Harry'

She relished those words, though the minutes that came after them dragged on. At first Johanna just sat there, mouthing air without realising it before she paused to massage her forehead. Then she seemed to gather her resolve, before she opened her mouth and no sound came out. As the seconds slipped by, Hilda found herself becoming increasingly impatient, but forced herself to remain calm. Her Mum genuinely wanted to tell her. Hilda wasn't about to chase her off when they were so close.

She glanced quickly at the photo to her left, and picked it up. Prodding her Mum with it, Johanna took it gingerly and Hilda hoped it would encourage her. Yet, Johanna still couldn't say anything, her guilt having vice-grip on her vocal cords. As the silence stretched on, Hilda realised she'd have to speak up. She didn't want to, because she wasn't sure if she could leash her anger.

Because she still wanted to be angry. Felt it was her right to be after having the truth kept from her for so long. Yet they weren't even a minute in and her Mum was crying like she had never cried before, so she took a breath to steady herself before she reached up and took her Mum's hand.

'Mum..please..you can do this, y-you can do it for Harry!,' Hilda encouraged, surprised at how much emotion appeared in her voice, while the anger began to fade. Johanna stared back for a moment, then nodded and placed the photo flat on Hilda's desk. Squeezing her daughter's hand, who in those dark, dark days had been the only thing keeping her going, Johanna finally mustered up some words.

'Harry was..was such a sweet boy..!,' Johanna sniffed as Hilda hung on to every word, 'I..I could n-never take my eyes off either of y-you! Not..Not even for a-a minute!' She explained, before the sniffling turned to sobbing once more. But it was a start, and while Hilda wanted to give her time, she didn't want to be drip-fed information either.

'We..We got on?' Hilda asked, forcing herself to wade through her Mum's emotions, though some guilt remained in her hoarse voice. Her Mother laughed, or choked on her tears, the girl found it hard to tell.

'Yes..Yes you did..you'd babble away to-to each other. It-It wasn't words really..just baby speak but it-it always made me l-laugh!' Johanna explained, a thin smile on her face and Hilda allowed her to ruffle her hair gently. She remained quiet for a moment, allowing her Mum some time before her next question.

'And..And what would we get up to?'

'Oh..t-the usual baby things..' her Mum mused tearfully, taking some tissues from the desk but also leaving Hilda none the wiser.

'Like..?'

'Throwing food at-at each other..taking each other's things..sp-splashing in the bath, that sort of-oh! Wait!' Johanna grinned, a previously forgotten, happy memory poking out from the abyss of torment. Hilda forced herself to wait patiently again, as her Mum once more made a feeble attempt to dry her eyes to little success.

'Harry had learned t-to walk before you did..now h-he wasn't brilliant at it, but when you s-started you..you would fall over all of the t-time! T-Then one day, after you'd fallen o-over, H-Harry took you and..and he led you across the r-room!'

'He helped me to walk!?' Hilda asked, trying to picture the memory in her mind but coming up blank. Her Mum nodded, blowing her nose once more, before she sighed and held her hand out for Hilda's. The girl did so, feeling her anger confront her sympathy once more. Her Mum's expression shifted to a mournful one, as she rubbed her thumb over the back of Hilda's hand.

'Sweetheart..what's y-your oldest memory?'

'Oh..hm..' Hilda murmured, brow furrowed in thought. Anything earlier than her fifth birthday was hazy at best, but eventually something came to mind. Once or twice, she'd remembered sitting in her Mum's arms in an unfamiliar room. It hadn't been the Cabin, and it couldn't have been Tofoten since they'd never visited. Her go-to explanation was that it had been a visit to the doctors, but now she wasn't so sure; the supposed waiting room had been oddly quiet.

'You're holding me..I think we're at the doctors?' Hilda half-explained, half-asked. But her Mum just sighed and shook her head bitterly, squeezing her hand a little as she used a finger to stem her tears. The area around her eyes had become sore from all the crying and drying, as she stroked the side of Hilda's head and put together a stinging revelation.

'No..No, s-sweetheart, it was-was after H-Harry was taken from us..b-by your Father..'