Luisa knocked at the door of Karel's room and waited but no answer. She knocked again but no response, so she thought Karel was not home, but when she walked away to return to the kitchen, the door of Karel's room opened.
"Luisa?" Karel was awakened from his depth sleep. "Your home."
"Yes!" short answer from Luisa.
"You wake me up, why?" Karel asked.
"Ah, go back to sleep, I want to talk to you, but I do it later." Luisa said and went back to the kitchen and continue what she was doing. But then Karel came out from his room covered himself with robe and followed Luisa to the kitchen.
"May I ask, where was you?" Karel asked Luisa.
"Looking foods for myself because I had none even a single centavo. You see that two black sacks, that are empty bottles." Luisa answered Karel. Karel looked at the two plastic bags and he saw indeed empty bottles.
"What will you do with that empty bottles? Where did it came from?" Karel asked.
"Garbage of other people. I can bring it back to the supermarket for the deposits so that I will have money to buy foods! I never had expected to collect empty bottles for food here in the Netherlands. Is that not painful? You know, my father died on the streets collecting empty plastic bottles for him to provide food for us." Luisa emphasized her sentence word for word. Karel kept quiet; he did not replied Luisa.
S I L E N C E
"How could you do it, taking all my money and my bank card?" Luisa said it firmly to Karel.
"Luisa, I am sorry, I apologize!" after a long pause, Karel answered Luisa.
"For almost two days I had not eaten but only coffee and water. What will happen to me now? I will give birth and I have no money?" Luisa was angry.
"Luisa, I am sorry, I had demeaned myself and violated your trust. Yes, I had taken your money and your money in the bank, I lost it all in gambling!" Karel accepted to Luisa that it was him indeed that taken her money.
Luisa do not know what to say. Karel lost to gambling all her money, the money that Thelma had given to her and the money that was left from the loan she had from Kees.
"I am sure you also had lost your twenty thousand guilders and it was not enough, you stole my money and lost it too. We have a deal; we have an appointment!" Luisa let Karel remembered about their deal.
"I know, Luisa, that's why I'd promised myself not to gamble anymore. I will better myself. I will change my lifestyle; I will stop all my vices!" Karel said to Luisa all the things he intended to do.
"What you did or will do, I don't mind. We do not have to mind each other, remember? Now, how will you return my money. I needed it."
"I still had my work, and I will have a salary every month. You will make no costs anymore, even your food will be my responsibility, and I give you pocket money all the rest of the seven years until you will have your paper, I mean your citizenship." Karel was promising that he will support Luisa within the time of seven years of their contract.
Luisa kept quiet; she said no more words. She could jump up high it would not change what Karel had done. He promised to support her until the end of the contract, but could Karel fulfill it? Ah, tomorrow will be another day, tomorrow will take care. Now, she could do nothing but believed Karel.
"The foods in the refrigerator are also for you." Karel said.
"Thank you!" Luisa answered Karel then suddenly she holds her tummy. She felt a sudden pain.
"Luisa, what happen?" Karel asked when he saw that Luisa had pain.
"I think, I am going to give birth." Luisa answered as she groaned painfully.
"My God, I will bring you to the hospital!" Karel was panicked. He even did not clothe himself. He quickly takes the key to his car. "What will you bring to the hospital?"
"There's a blue bag in my bedroom!"
IN THE HOSPITAL.
In the hallway Karel was restless.
Luisa was inside the delivery room but had not yet delivered a baby. A doctor came out and came to Karel. "You are the husband?"
"Yes!" Karel was nervous.
"Your wife can not deliver her babies normally. We will perform Caesarean to her." the doctor said.
"Babies?" Karel repeated the word babies that the doctor said.
"Yes! You and your wife are having a twin!"
"Twin!" Luisa was having a twin. Karel if not shocked was amazed. "My wife is having a twin!"
SIX DAYS LATER
Luisa was home with her twin babies. Karel acted as a real husband, worried about the situation of Luisa. He takes a four weeks' vacation from his work only to take care Luisa and the babies. Luisa was not allowed to carry heavy things but must walk everyday around the house as advice by the doctor. Karel assisted Luisa in many ways. He cooked foods for Luisa and taking care the twins, giving milk when its needed and many more.
When the vacation days of Karel was over, he hired a woman to helped Luisa, and when he arrived from his works, he would cook food for supper for them both.
Three months was fast gone, Luisa felt contented with the harmonious platonic relationship she had with Karel. Karel fulfilled what he promised to Luisa. He provided the needs of Luisa for her babies and gave Luisa a personal allowance for personal needs. His month salary was just enough for the rent of the apartment, for the energy (electricity and gas), for food, needs of the babies and some more expenses like the city tax. Karel discharged all her vices, even cigarettes.
Always while eating, they joked to each other. Later Luisa was so used and felt comfortable with Kees that she began to talk to him about Herman.
"You still could not forget, Herman!" Karel said to Luisa one Saturday afternoon while they were sitting on the living room drinking coffee.
"How can I forget him when every day I am looking at these two angels." Luisa answered and what she meant was her babies. "They both look like their father. Look, Lindsey with her blond hair and blue eyes, Norma, also had blue eyes with black hair, the only what's from me, they are so pretty!"
Luisa was right, she has these two beautiful angels that already reacted with their surroundings. The one with the blond hair, Luisa gave the name of Lindsey as requested by Karel to name it after Karel's mother, who was together with his father were deceased by a car accident. Karel was an orphan that grew in the state's home for the boys. The other, Luisa named it Norma to honour her mother Norma in the Philippines. Luisa agreed that one of her daughters be named after Karel's mother because whether she liked it or not, her babies carried the name of Karel. Officially Karel was the father.
In the weekend if the weather was fine, they strolled together on the Lijnbaan Square, sat down on a snack bar to drink coffee and eat some pie, or sat in one of the banks in the Binnenwegplein and ate frites, Karel and Luisa began to enjoy each other company.
When the name of Herman would come in their conversation, there is no more verge of tears in Luisa's eyes, she started to accept that Herman was already totally gone from her life. Life in the Netherland was wonderful and easy. The Netherland was a social democratic country that take good care of its citizens well and Luisa could not wait to be a citizen of this country after seven years.
Luisa with the help of Karel learned stepped for stepped the Dutch language. She could already manage to do buying things with her broken Dutch and heavy Filipino accented talking. Only one thing she had not done yet, letting know her mother in the Philippines that she already had children and that she also had not yet sent even a single centavo to help her mother in the Philippines.
One evening, while Luisa and Karel were on the living room watching news on the TV, the telephone rang, it was Thelma.
"You returned already from your world tour!" Luisa was excited when she heard the voice of Thelma.
"We'd broken our tour because the mother of Kees in the Old People Home died!" Thelma answered Luisa. "How are you, I am sure you already had your baby, my Godchild!"
"Now, prepare yourself because you have two!" Luisa answered Thelma gladly. She refrained herself not to laugh with the thought that maybe Kees was near and listening to their conversation and it was not nice because his mother died.
"Two?"
"I have a twin. Two pretty girls!"
"Wow!" Thelma was also glad. "I am very exciting to see them."
"By the way, when will be the funeral? Is Kees there, I want to give him my condolences!"
"No he was in the funeral parlour to arrange everything. Luisa, by the way, did you already see Herman?"
"Herman? No! Why?"
Karel who was just listening the telephone conversations of Luisa and Thelma heard the name of Herman and Karel felt inside him a sensation of fear. ****to be continued****Remedios Dorio