(Brentwood area, Washington D.C., 9pm)
Emily started making coffee, while Martin showed the Hardings around the apartment. Her grandmother had given them a great coffee maker. It brewed good, strong coffee, just the way Martin liked it. Emily glanced at the engagement ring and started thinking about the first time, when she and Martin had met.
A friend of hers had talked her into going to the IRS office party, just because the friend had a crush on one of the men working there. As expected, Emily had having a terrible time. All of that changed though, when the man her friend had the hots for, introduced her to Martin. He looked extremely handsome, in his black smoking and his bow tie, a regular James Bond, one might say. For Emily it was love at first sight. She felt it clicked between them, the same way it did between Jamie and Paul, in the first episode of Mad About You. They danced all night and afterwards, Martin drove her home. She wanted desperately for him to come inside with her, but she never told him that. In the past, she had scared away one or two men by being too pushy and she didn�t want that to happen with Martin.
Gradually they started seeing each other more often. Emily noticed that Martin�s feelings for her grew stronger for each time they met. The proposal was quite a logical step, but Emily had not expected it to come so soon. Not that it mattered, she was very much in love with the idea of soon becoming Mrs. Martin Reed.
��and here�s the kitchen. That concludes our tour of Casa Hanson/Reed.� Martin�s voice woke her up from her dreams. �Honey, don�t you think that coffee will be a bit too strong?�
She looked at the coffee maker. The filter was so full of coffee powder, some of it had spilled over to the kitchen sink. �Sorry, I guess I wasn�t paying attention.� She soon rectified her mistake and the coffee started dripping down into the pot.
�What happened after the pool game?� Monica asked.
�I went upstairs, without telling anyone about the ring. My grandmother, of course, noticed it right away and congratulated us. It took my grandfather a good hour and a half before he noticed anything. You know how some men are.�
�I sure do,� Monica replied. �I bought new curtains for the bedroom four days ago and Danny still hasn�t noticed them.�
Emily stared at Danny. �Danny, tell me it�s not true.�
�I�m afraid so. I didn�t know we had new bedroom curtains. Then again, it really isn�t my area of expertise.�
Both the women rolled their eyes at him. Emily knew Martin was just as bad. He could name all the parts in a CD player, but he still thought khaki and chinos were the same thing. What is it about a man that makes him so ignorant to things concerning the household?
�Damn good coffee, and hot,� Martin said, quoting Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks.
�We could all use some strong coffee,� Emily told him. �There are still a few hours left of Christmas Eve to tell Danny and Monica about.�
�You�re right, honey. OK, here goes:�
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(Fargo, MN, Christmas Eve, 6pm)
Martha served all kinds of Christmas cookies with the coffee, including her homemade gingerbread cookies. Emily just loved her grandmother�s gingerbread cookies and apparently, so did Martin.
�Before we open the presents,� John said, �Gunnar Anderson is going to tell us a story about his emigration to America.�
Martin gave Emily a puzzled look. He knew Swedish traditions were a bit different, but handing out gifts on Christmas Eve?
�Sorry I didn�t prepare you for this,� Emily said. �I�m so used to these traditions, I didn�t realize you come from a different background. Hope it�s OK?�
�Sure it�s OK. I was just surprised, that�s all.� Martin smiled and gave her a light kiss on her forehead.
�And don�t worry, I will translate Mr. Anderson�s story for you.� She returned his kiss.
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�This story begins in a small town in Sm�land, Sweden, called Stockaryd. It was three days before Christmas and I was 7 years old. I had three older brothers and a baby sister, who was four. The harvest had been poor, so we didn�t have much to eat. Two months earlier, our only cow had died from foot-and-mouth disease. My oldest brother had to join the Army, because my parents couldn�t support us all.�
�Despite the hardships, we were all looking forward to Christmas. My mother had saved a small bag of oat meal, so that she could make a big batch of porridge. She had placed the bowl in the earth cellar, so that the oats could swell, before being cooked. My little sister, who like the rest of us, was very hungry had snuck out to the cellar, when no one was looking. When my father found her an hour later she had eaten the whole batch. The oats had already started to swell in her tiny tummy. She died that very night, from a ruptured stomach. My mother was never the same after that.�
�Two weeks prior to all of this, a man had given my father a pamphlet, telling him how wonderful everything was in America. He had told my father he could have more land, than the richest man in Sm�land had now. At that time, my father didn�t believe him, but when my sister died, he decided to leave the old country. He hoped everything would be better in America.�
�In July the next year, we had sold all of our belongings, to be able to afford the boat tickets. A medium sized ship, called Kalmar�s Nyckel (The Key of Kalmar) was to take us to New York. The trip took almost five weeks. Many died from pneumonia or from other diseases, and all of us were full of lice when we arrived. I can still remember the joy I felt, when we first saw The Statue of Liberty. She was so beautiful, in the afternoon sun. I hardly remember anything from Ellis Island or from the trip to Chicago. From Chicago, we rode a train to Minnesota. It was my first and only train ride.�
�When we got to Minnesota, we were given a small piece of land near Lake Superior, almost on the Canadian border. On that piece of land, my father built our first home here in America. He managed to make the best of the situation, but my mother never adjusted to life in the States. She withered away and died two years later. Shortly after that, my brother was shot dead by the Police, when he was trying to smuggle whisky across the border from Canada. Somehow, my father, my remaining brother and I managed to stay alive and make a decent living here. Of course, they are both dead now and when I die, there will be no more of my family left in the United States.�
Martha was crying all through Mr. Anderson�s story. She had experienced similar events, as had her husband, John. Martin found it to be a very touching story. He was normally not the one to cry, but he came very close when Mr. Anderson told them about his sister.
When everyone had gathered themselves, it was time for the presents. John had dressed up as Santa and knocked on the door carrying a huge sack of packets.
�Are there any nice children here?� he asked. Everyone nodded and said: �I�m nice.� Once again, everyone except Martin and Gary. They looked at each other and laughed. Never had they felt more out of the loop than this.
Emily had bought Martin a bottle of 24-year-old Jameson�s, cuff links, two shirts and a tie. He had bought her a pair of golden earrings, a watch and a car stereo.
�I figured since you don�t have a real car, you should at least have a decent stereo.� He gave Emily a wink.
�I do too have a real car. I�ll have you know that my Saab is much safer than your Trans Am. And besides, I like driving a Swedish car.�
�Will you drop that already,� Maria interjected. �Gary is the same way. What �s with you American men and your cars?�
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(Martin and Emily�s apartment, Washington D.C., 10.12pm)
�After the gifts, we had lots of candy, nuts and fruit,� Martin told the Hardings. �By 11pm, most of the guest were getting tired, and said their farewells. We stayed up and talked to Martha and John until 1am. They are really nice people.�
�And when those nice people had gone to bed, you snuck into my room where we had wild and passionate sex.�
�Emily!� Martin blushed.
�Don�t worry. We did nothing Danny and Monica wouldn�t have done in our situation.�
Now it was Danny�s turn to blush. He knew Emily and Monica discussed everything, but letting it all hang out like this, was a bit too much for him.
�Anyway, we stayed with Emily�s grandparents for three days, before we flew to San Diego, to spend some time with my family.� Martin ended their story.
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[NRPG] A bit short, but it's after midnight here in Sweden and tomorrow is St Valentine's Day. Mia and I are celebrating it togheter with her mum and her sister and brother.