Chapter 19.2 – July 2024 – Antons Birthday (When the branches break)

Antons family tree (before aging up).

 

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The next morning appears to be a pretty normal Saturday morning for this little family. The little boy Anton is the first one to wake up to spend some time happily being the mayor of his own little dream world in his crib.
Daddy Knut wakes up next, well-rested and with a smile on his face, as he greets his boy and walks over to free him from his enclosed, yet safe, little world. The sight of his father being awake makes Anton realize he is hungry, so he calls out for his daddy as loud as he can.

This cuts Helenes sleep short, and she reacts with the usual anger of any parent or spouse that gets such a rude awakening.. and she was right there in the middle of a really sweet dream, surrounded by her perfect family in one of the most amazing birthday parties the world – or at least this little town – had ever seen...

Everyone currently awake in this household is more or less equally hungry. Knut takes responsibility and makes sure the child is fed before himself. Helene is more concerned with her own well-being and walks into the kitchen to help herself from some of yesterdays leftover pancakes..

..before sitting down on the comfortable couch to play some video games..

Knut is starting to feel a little disgruntled now about his wifes lack of taking care of their kids as he heads back upstairs to give little boy Anton a bath to make sure he is perfectly clean and ready for his big day.. but he says nothing about it to anyone and keeps it to himself..

"Here you go, little man. Just the right temperature for you," he says before he shuts off the water in the bathtub and gently lowers Anton down into the water for some quality father and son time...

While he is upstairs giving Anton a bath, he doesn't notice that Helene is busy herself downstairs doing laundry and cleaning the house to make it look as pristine as possible for the upcoming party..

-- Take a walk --

After Antons bath Knut wants to take him out for a stroll on this fine summers day to get some fresh air, while Helene stays back home to work with decorating the house and giving everyone the usual last minute notifcation that the party is happening today at three o'clock, more or less sharp, and that it is expected that everyone attending is showing up in their finest outfits, of course.

 

Knut takes Anton on a solid trip around the neighbourhood, down past his workplace at town hall, before taking a left up Landgraab Boulevard and another left onto Maywood lane, where he decides to cross the road by the house Lucie Karlsen moved to after she divorced Asgeir. Knut has no memory of this event, even though it happened in the house next door, since he was just a toddler at the time, even younger than Anton is now..

 

Him crossing the road by the old divorcee house takes him straight onto the parking lot outside the doctors' office where he decides to turn around and go back home. Its saturday and he has no appointment today, but this particular walk is one that he has gotten used to doing on a weekly basis lately. The route home brings him through Maywood Glen – a quiet little park popular among chess players and others who wish to concentrate or just relax surrounded by silence.

Once home he compliments Bjørn-Yngve on his genius after he finished his homework in the kitchen, before goes upstairs to check out the new bed that Helene has bought and placed in what is soon to be Antons new bedroom.

Helene did a really good job here, he thinks. He gets so excited thinking about his sons future, he even does a university school cheer all by himself in the room.

 

This is going to be such a great day and there is no doubt in his mind that both of his boys will have a great future ahead of them.

-- The last laugh.. for now --

Grandma Frida is the first guest to show up already greeting her daughter from outside on the porch. 

 

More guests arrive while Helene walks outside to greet her and be enthusiastic about their common love of books before inviting everyone in. Up on the porch to the right is Sofie, who is married to Knuts brother Eivind, in a conversation with cousin Ingrid and grandpa Ingmar (Knuts father). Ingrid can't be seen as she stands behind Ingmar. To the right the paparazzi is in her place again, taking pictures of anyone entering the party..

In the front below the porch is aunt Ranveig discussing cartoons with aunt Monica, both are Knuts sisters.

Holly Bastiansen wasn't invited, but word had spread around about a birthday party in the neighbourhood so she decided to show up. She immediately takes a liking to talking to Knut as soon as Helene walks back inside and he takes over the task of welcoming the guests, something which gives Sofie a bit of a bad feeling.

Being happily married, or atleast as happy as one can be, and eternally faithful is important to Sofie and what she just witnessed doesn't impress her very much..

She watches Knut and Holly become increasingly flirtatious with one another and leaves the partly shortly thereafter without even going inside to take part in blowing out the candles for young Anton..

The only one, besides Helene and Anton, that are truely engaged in the birthday celebrations is aunt Kathrine who is standing right behind them cheering as Helene helps him blow out the candles so he can make his wish. Now that he is soon a big boy, it would be really awesome to have a treehouse to play in.. if it can fit on their lot, that is.

His grandpa, brother and father are also present celebrating in their own way by pointing and laughing. To them birthday parties are just downright hilarious and as Anton ages up he inherits the same propensity to laugh at peoples birthdays and other such things.. so we'll see who gets the last laugh...

Antons notes (now six years old):

Dad, Bjørn-Yngve and grandpa are really dumb. They shouldn't be laughing at me when its my birthday! I hope they fall and get cake all over their clothes!

"This isn't funny! You're stupid and rude!" I said to them. "If you don't stop laughing now, you're not getting any cake!"

Dad and Bjørn-Yngve got it when I told them. But grandpa was slower. Probably because he's so old. He didn't sit down to eat until I was done. And nobody else came either. They were just sitting in the living room talking. Don't they know it's my birthday?

On their birthdays I'll do the same. I'll laugh at them because they're stupid. Or I'll sit in the living room or be outside playing with toys. I don't care about them if they don't care about me. Stupid adults, they're stupid. They're the stupidest stupid stupid stupid. Why did they even come here?

Narrators notes:

Well... I'm not gonna try to speculate about why excactly the majority of the guests doesn't seem to care about Anton and his birthday... but atleast Robert-Bråge seems to have some fun and hit it off really well with Holly. I guess he must have squared it off with Ranveig after his long stay out with Holly at the beach earlier, and that she somehow accepts their friendship. Even if it is perhaps a little odd for a teenage boy to become such good friends with an elderly woman, perhaps, but hey, I'm not gonna meddle. ;)

Ranveigs notes:

I felt bad for the boy having to blow out the candles in front of dad and my brother, and even his brother. They're all the same, they just don't know how to.. or maybe they just don't care. I know it's not on me to start doing dishes and cleaning around the house, but when I saw him getting up to collect them I had to step in.. The birthday boy shouldn't be doing dishes.

Helene looks like she has forgotten all about him after she helped him blow out the candles, like her job was now done and I wouldn't trust Knut with it.. He's just like dad, he'd probably clean himself along with the dishes. Right there in the kitchen, even using the same sponge. Nobody should witness something like that on their birthday.

Antons notes:

Grandpa isn't even downstairs with everybody else. Mom says he is probably on the computer working on something. Even if he's an old man he's still working. We only have one computer in the house. It's upstairs in moms room. Mom likes to work alot too, but now she only uses the computer for games. She says painting is work now, but that's weird. Painting isn't work.

I wanted grandpa to know its my birthday so I had to find him. Everybody should know its my birthday. They don't have to eat to much cake though. Its not good for them. Its better for me because its my cake.

My laughing grandpa and aunt Kathrine wants to join us. Kathrine is very happy, my laughing grandpa is not. Moms room is very small. Its only made for one person, so we shouldn't all be in here.

My laughing grandpa says we should go downstairs and we go downstairs. I think aunt Kathrine folllows us. Working grandpa has more work to do. Someone rings the doorbell, maybe somethings broken again. Dad could fix it, we only need a repair man when dad isn't home.

Its uncle Eivind and cousin Walter. Uncle Eivind can't join the party, he probably has something broken at home. Mom and uncle Eivind wants me to play with Walter, but I don't know him. His t-shirt is ugly and he wears it outside his sweater. He's weird, I don't like him.

I want more cake so I go to our dinner table to eat. I watch grandma Eirin and grandma Frida through the doorway. They're way to old to be pillow fighting. They're funny. They're acting like children!

-- Blame --

Narrators notes:

I would agree with Anton here, funny and cute, so I decided to take a short video of them..

..and while I did so, I missed what was going on behind them. Monica and Ranveig were in a conversation about their jobs when Knut did something almost everyone would find to be quite deplorable...

"So yeah, Landgraab decided to cut field work. More time spent at the desk modelling, less dirt under the nails" Monica said to Ranveig, feeling disappointed her plant research wasn't going anywhere.

"That sounds completely wrong. Like covering a flood with spreadsheets."

"Excactly. But its cheaper." Monica sighs. "How about you? Did the Gazette survive another week?"

"Barely." Ranveig respons. "We're running a case that the town hall planted the wrong trees in the park. People are furious. Again."

Monica chuckles briefly. "You should write about something pleasant for a change."

"That's not what I'm paid f-" Ranveig says before interrupting herself. "Don't turn around!"

"What?"

"Don't turn around. Seriously."

"What!?" Monica freezes for a second. "Is it...? Are you..?" Monica lowers her voice, almost whispering. "Are you seeing them again?"

"No... no, not this time. This is something different. Its Knut. He's kissing someone."

"But... but how can he? Who is he kissing? Helene is right over there talking to Ingr-"

"It's Holly!" Ranveig interrupts. "He's kissing Holly! I don't know what that woman is up to.."

"I can't watch..." Ranveig says before turning away. "I should've known there was something wrong with her...and Robert is right there too."


"Are you gonna tell Helene?"

"I don't know.. but if I don't, someone will. Theres no way this can go by unnoticed.."

Further back in the room Antons oldest cousin Ingrid was in a conversation with Helene about the latest book in the "Archives of Persephone" series.

"Oh my god!" Ingrid exclaims in a sudden disbelief.

"Yeah" Helene laughs. "I never saw that ending coming, what a great book!"

"No... this isn't about the book." Ingrid said with a serious tone, having already forgotten that Helene just spoiled the ending of the book series to her.

"What? What is it then?" Helene chuckles with excitement, wondering what her niece is all about. Have they been planning something behind her back? Has Knut bought a really expensive gift for Anton and brought it in without her knowing? Feeling thrilled about her husbands potential public display of wealth scenarios about how this night could end begin playing in her head.. if he has a surprise for her, than maybe she will have one for him as well.. a little later when the guests have left and the kids are in bed asleep...

"I... I think you should.." Ingrid hesitates noticing the expactant expression on Helenes face. She doesn't want to tell Helene what she just saw. Not now, but everybody else has seen it, so someone has to say it.


"I just saw... Knut.. he's there with Holly and they just.. they just kissed.. like that, in front of everyone."

"Oh..." Helenes face went blank as the potential joy evaporated from her face.

She quickly turned on her heel to walk across the room in his direction. She wanted to confront him about what he just did – this was crossing the line, by far. But she couldn't do it here, in front of everyone, and she couldn't do it at Antons birthday party. Yet the painter in her wanted to learn graffiti, to paint it on the walls and let everyone know with screaming colours what a rear end Knut was...
She thought about Anton too, and didn't want to ruin the birthday party any further by making more of a scene... but she wanted to keep close to Knut from now on, to keep an eye on him and to possibly intervene if he should try something stupid again.

Now that Helene had noticed Knuts actions Ranveig saw no need to hide how she felt in order to protect Helene. Knut deserved every bad thing that was coming at him right now. He had everything Ranveig had ever wanted, a stable, simple family life under one roof.. and what did he do about it!? Wasting it all in a moment of selfishness. This is what made her most furious. Not only was he betraying Helene in the worst possible way, in front of everybodys eyes, but his lack of care, his recklessness... how he can just throw away what she could never hold on to..

Ingmar, who just noticed what Knut is doing, watches his son with mixed feelings. He recognizes the temptation, yet he has never done anything like this. Not necessarily because of his morality, but simply because it would have been to much out of his comfort zone. Especially in a crowded room like this... His shyness was what held him back, a shyness which Knut doesn't have in him...
Ingmar looks at his son and feels an unpleasant kinship... This could have been him if his own shyness hadn't been there to stop him in his tracks. As his father he knows that the right thing would be to indisputably condemn Knut for his actions, to look him in the eye and let his disappointment be clear enough to not be misunderstood. This is wrong, this is betrayal.

Yet somewhere in him was something else, something he found difficult to admit and put into words. It was almost like a feeling of some peculiar sadness.. or jeaulosy. Not necessarily of this particular act, that would be to much, to wrong, but the boldness to take action. The ability to live out his more inappropriate sides without a care for what others might have thought of him.

"What if it was me."

He immediately suppresses this thought before its allowed to hit him to hard. This is excactly what he doesn't want to think about, but what if he, in another life, with less fear could have taken his chances to feel wanted and desired in this way, to feel alive and get carried away...
Ingmar tightens his jaw, this is a place he cannot allow himself to stay in. He knows its wrong, but cannot feel it. He knows that if he entertains this thought, he will only feel bad about himself. Not because of guilt, but because of his own inability to act on his impulses and do something about it...

He would be blaming himself for the wrong thing.

Helenes mother Frida turned her face away, she didn't want to watch. She had never told anyone, because she had always wanted to support her daughters with whatever choice they made in life for the most part, but she was a little skeptical when her youngest daughter Helene announced to her that she was thinking of marrying Knut – one of the Motorsens. The family in town that always had a reputation for being a little... strange, but she didn't say anything thinking her daughters should get the same freedom in life that she had always enjoyed.
Now however, maybe somewhere there was a hint of regret.. maybe she should have atleast said something. Given her daughter a warning, even if it wouldn't have worked at first.. then maybe she would have been a little more careful, maybe she would have reconsidered..

Knuts mother Eirin is the first to let her opinion be heard, loud and clear, as she boos at her son. What she just witnessed was very disappointing. Life wasn't always easy in the Motorsen household when Knut, Eivind, Monica and Ranveig grew up, but she stood by her mans side and remained faithful, as did her husband. So how could her son grow up to do something like this, in front of everyone? So incredibly disrespectful. This certainly couldn't be coming from her side of the family.. she remembers her own mother, who stuck it out through thick and thin with her own father, even if he would often pay more attention to his friend in the bottle than her, and how her mother struggled to keep it a family secret... until his heart stopped when Eirin was 18 and her mother fell into a deep depression.

Meanwhile in the background Knuts eyes rested on Ingrid, who was just about to put "Proserpinas fruit of death" back into the bookshelf...

Ingrid had noticed Knuts inappropriate stare and tried to keep her distance by walking away from him. It was as obvious as day what he was thinking, and she didn't want to get involved in that..but he followed her across the room..

"You disappeared a little quickly there" he said in a teasing tone. Ingrid only gave him a cold stare before taking a step backwards. "I was just putting the book back in its place, thats all."

Knut follows her step as if it is some kind of game before lowering his voice to make it appear more confidential. "You're always so...reflected. Its not many your age who..."

"No" she interrupts while pulling away yet another step. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Look at me like that" she says while holding his gaze. "Its uncomfortable."

He laughs softly, as if she has misunderstood something. "You're overreacting a little, don't you think?"

"No." she says briefly before looking around to find something else to talk about, to shift the focus..

"Anyway, your home. It looks very nice." she says soberly, almost professionally. "It feels complete in a way. Cozy. You can tell its been lived in."

Just as she has finished the sentence Knut moves in closer and extends his arms to give her a hug as if it was his right all of a sudden.

"No, no, no! What in the world do you think you're doing!?" Ingrids voice is sharp now, devoid of any politeness. This kind of behaviour from a colleague in the political career wasn't anything new for Ingrid, as she has on an earlier occasion been flirted with and even stalked by the towns mayor, but still...

"Don't touch me!" She stares him down, before stepping away once more and turning her back on him.

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The difference between the two versions is in the language. The ratings are based on an AI analysis of the text. Due to the topic, and using a strict analysis, it,s not really possible to give it a lower rating than 13+ without changing the text more than I'm comfortable with. If you're more leniently minded, the rating is 10+ on the cleaner version and 13+ on the mature version, as per the AIs suggestion.

Chapter 19.2 – July 2024 – Antons Birthday (When the branches break) - part II

Ingrids voice was loud enough to cut across the room while everyone else tried their best to keep the atmosphere friendly for the children, hoping in vain that Knut would come to his senses and stop what he was doing. Helene, who was in a conversation with Robert making fun of Oliver Freddys science projects, turned around and began walking towards them...

Flirting with Holly, at the party and in front of everyone, was bad enough, but taking his chances with Ingrid, his niece-in-law, was crossing the line and then some... she would lose more face now if she didn't say anything...

"This ends now." Helenes voice is low, but snarling. Knut looks at her with surprise. "What? What did I do?"

"You've been disrespectful all afternoon. Against me. Against the family. And now Ingrid." Helene points her finger and stares at him. Hard. Something would need to terminate now, one way or another...

Ingrid still feels her pulse beating, but her anger has already begun to subside. She looks at Knut, at the way he's shrinking while being confronted with Helenes anger. She bows her head slightly to let out a gentle smile to herself. "There it is" she thinks. "Now he's getting what he deserves."

"But I was just trying to m-" Knut tries to excuse himself once more, but Helene doesn't want to hear it..
"Ah ah, don't you even try! I've had enough of your lies and lousy excuses!"

Mommy shouting at daddy has now caught Antons attention.. he doesn't know what is going on, but something is wrong here, very wrong... mommy is talking with a kind of voice she has never talked with before, a scary, angry voice. And daddy, who would usually have a funny answer to anything to make mommy laugh is now silent and doesn't want to look at mommy.

They're acting like strangers, like they aren't his parents anymore, but have become.. someone else, someone he doesn't understand. Why is mommy so angry? Why is daddy acting so strange? He wants to shout for them, to shout their names. 

 
Mommy!

Daddy!

He can feel the words in his throat, but they won't enter his mouth to produce sound. They can't. They are to heavy. They can only sink down, down, down into his stomach and he can only sink with them. He wants for mommy and daddy to return, to smile at each other, to turn around, to smile at him, say everything is ok and to give him a hug, but they aren't.. he's not even there, and neither are they.

He doesn't want to look at them anymore and walks away. Maybe grandpa Ingmar is still himself.. maybe he can tell him why mommy and daddy are acting this way and what's going on... maybe grandpa can give him a hug...

After giving him in Helene turns her back on Knut for a while, and notices Anton walking away. Maybe she should have kept her face after all, not for herself this time, but for her son....She had completely destroyed his birthday now... and this was all Knuts fault! All of it! What he had made her do! That absolute prick!

 

"You know what? I am so done with you!" Helenes voice hasn't softened one bit. Everything was ruined now! Everything!

"You're pathetic! So transparently pathetic! Do you really think you're charming!? Really!? Do you really think that's what this about!?" Helene clenches her fists and her arms are flailing wildly around.

"No! This is about you being a coward! A big enough coward to mess around behind my back, but to much of a coward to stand by the life you've chosen!"

This isn't what Ingrid had pictured when she thought he was getting what he deserved.. this is something else. Ingrid swallows as she watches Helene lose it. What just happened to good old auntie Helene? She has turned into something completely unrecognizable. She is no longer her best friend and aunt with whom she could share a drink to discuss books or the importance of enjoying the finer, more expensive things that life had to offer.. none of that seemed to matter right now..

 

Then it's as if it suddenly dawns on Helene too what she just said and what just happened.. The sound of her own voice echoing with such untamed anger through the room. The piercing words, naked and irreversible. The faces that surround her. Ranveigs tight mouth, Ingrids concerned gaze, Knuts mother Eirins contempt, her own mother Fridas shame. The whispers, the words.. her son!

What have I done?

Not just said, but done! Torn apart! Exposed! Shattered something that can never be whole again!

A vision starts to grow in her mind... a vision of a life falling apart in all directions. A home forever divided and child learning to tiptoe around their parents, counting down to the next explosion... a name that will forever be tied to this day.

"I... I'm..."

Helene begins to form the words in her mouth, but is interrupted by Holly who now saw her chance to let it be known how she was feeling about it all. Supposedly. Everyone had seen how Holly flirted with Knut earlier, and even kissed him. And everyone knows that Holly is married to Mikael, so she was nowhere near as innocent as she would like herself to be...

"You're bloody unbelievable, Knut! Do you think this is okay? Do you think you can just do what you want, and then stand there like a dumb kid when there are consequences?"

Helene looks away, not sure how to deal with this situation... she was just about to give her apology, not to Knut, but to everyone else in the room. To Anton for ruining his birthday... and to herself. Knut deserved it, but everyone else didn't... but instead Holly had rushed forward to place herself in the spotlight.

"You used me to, you know." Holly continues. "Promised nothing and made it feel like something. And then you leave me standing here to receive all the stares as if this was my mess!"

Helene closes her eyes for a second. Who does Holly really think she is!? Who was it that took all the stares? It certainly wasn't Holly.. there was no need for her to draw this kind of attention to herself! Helene isn't sure how much this will really help Holly, but then again it does prove that everything Helene has said is right...

Ingrid can only stand there watching. This is no longer something for her to meddle with... and if Hollys husband Mikael learns about this, and he will, there might be a little hope that Mikael will become available in the future.. if Ingrid still has some feelings for him, and if she can somehow find a way out of her current relationship with Hogne Nielsen.. that is, if she wants to..

"You're not even worth the fuss!" Holly says, while turning her back on Knut to signal her disgust. Helene still stands there, immobile on the floor. Everything is now a mess around her and she doesn't know where to look, who to turn to or what to say... Knut notices and thinks this is his opportunity to slither away from the situation..

That's when all of Helenes emotions come together into one gigantic existential punch to knock away her last little shield of dignity and she begins to cry. Not loudly, more like an involuntary sob at first... then another.. and another until there's no mistaking..

When Holly hears Helene crying, the sound cuts through her mind, different from anything else that has been said so far. How could she have... how could Knut have done this! There isn't a bad bone in Helenes body, Holly is sure of it, but Knut... if there's anything like a good bone in him.. it would all have to be superficial.. A fraud, that's what he is. Using others for his own ends... how recognizable. A politicians mind never changes, they're all greedy, evil and power hungry, just like...

Knuts reaction to Helenes tears only confirms what she already knows, but still...

"Helene... get a grip on yourself!"

Unbelievable. Holly can only stare blankly into the air in disbelief. What was that!? Not even an ounce of understanding in his voice.. and Eirin is now standing right by his side. He is her son, but she cannot.. she has to say something to Helene to apologize for her sons behaviour!

But Eirin says absolutely nothing, as if she can't find the words to say.. and Helene.. she ignores Knut and turns to Eirin.. to brag about her latest high score at the arcade.. Holly can't make any sense of this, she finds the situation yet again to be incredibly infuriating so she decides to lash out at Knut once more... 

"You know what you are!?" Holly shouts. "You're green! But not the good kind! You're the vile, vicious kind! The kind that comes from envy, egoism and pure rottenness! You're just like.. "

Holly pauses for a moment, unable to complete the sentence. There was definitely something familiar there about Knuts tendency to use others for his own ends. Holly has seen this before, and she hates it now, just as much as she hated it then...

"And the worst part is, that's my favourite colour! And people like you, you're completely ruining it!" she continued. Her words were carefully chosen, as if she had been practicing them her whole life...

Ingrid has completely given up on understanding the situation by now, and has retreated to re-read an old classic, "Murder in Pleasantville", one that is in almost everyones bookshelf, whether they want to admit to it or not...

Meanwhile in the living room the remaining family and guests finds themselves in the living room doing their best to save the scraps of Antons birthday party by playing video games with the volume on the tv set to the loudest setting they can in order to drown out the arguing happening in the hallway, but not so loud that it becomes to uncomfortable...

Well, thats almost all of them, except Ranveigs son Robert-Bråge, who has left the drama behind to practice chess on the upstairs balcony, and Helenes father Egil, who is also upstairs hanging out with Bjørn-Yngve in his room. Bjørn-Yngve has been upstairs the whole time and is currently unaware of his fathers inappropriate actions and the arguing that followed...

..and then there's Eivinds son Walter, who Anton didn't want to play with, because "he's weird", who is currently helping himself to a meal in the dining room and overhearing it all.. Walter has sort of become used to shutting out the surroundings when things get a little unpleasant around him, which most often happens when his mother Sofie has one of her bad days, or when his older teenage sister Kleopatra wakes up on the wrong foot and decides to unleash her wrath upon anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby...

Holly is relentless now and continues to berate and shout at Knut..

"Do you even think about what you're doing!? At your home!? You family!? Your kids, Knut!?"

Helene is still doing her best to ignore it all right now and has changed the topic completely again, as if it was deliberate.

"My car, the new one that is, it's actually surprisingly fast. People won't believe it, but it goes really well uphill." Helenes smile is tense. Eirin tries to show enthusiasm, though she couldn't really care less about Helenes car. Still, in all this madness, Eirin thinks she could need all the support she can get.. and to think that her own son is the one responsible for all this..

Helene really can't take it any more.. As much as she would like to give everyone the impression that her car is the best and that it can pull the weight and then some while going uphill, the truth is that its all a wreck, a car accident..
For so long she has done her best to be in control, gripping the steering wheel tightly, to present a perfect outwardly image of her family.. at all costs. Her husband, the promising politician, herself, best selling author and famous painter, and of course, her brilliant children..

She can't take this situation any more and without saying a word, she retreats to the laundry room.. opens the laundry machine, throws in a bunch of random clothes, pushes some buttons and twists a knob without really noticing what she's doing.

Then she just stands there.

The sound of the water filling the machine... its mechanical whirring when a cycle begins. Then it stops. Silence. Then it starts again. Finally something predictable. Some kind of order in all this chaos. Something purely mechanical.. and trustworthy. She can't remember if she used detergent or not, but it doesn't matter....

For so long she has lived with Knut, stood by his side. An amazing father, always caring and attentive to his kids.. during his good periods. For so long they have tried to cover up his health problems, always having to come up with alternative explanations as to why he showed up to work in his swimwear. No, he wasn't talking to himself.. he's just a very important person, you know, not his fault he gets so many phone calls at all hours of the day...
All of this, it was a struggle, but somehow it seemed manageable.. and finally, since last summer when Ranveig had finally managed to convince him to seek some professional help – against his mother Eirins, and even Helenes wishes – because what if this came out, that her husband is.. that would completely ruin the facade of a successful family.. but it didn't. It made it easier, better.. for a while.. 

People didn't gossip as much as she had feared. People understood, some even respected him more for it. .and those that didn't.. they never mattered much anyway.. It was a fresh start, and he had become much more interested in certain... bedroom activities.. which meant that, since Anton was still sleeping in their room, they had get a little creative.. but it was all in good fun, and some days Helene almost couldn't keep up.. and somedays she just wanted sit on the couch and play video games.. and maybe that's when it began.. or had he always been this way? Looking at other women... well, no harm in checking the menu as they say, as long as the meals are consumed at home.. but then some other rumours began to circulate.. and tonight she had seen it all before her eyes, in front of everyone, at the worst possible moment..
Helenes blank expression turned to a frown. She felt like clenching her fists. She felt like putting her hands tightly around him, not his body, but his neck. But she couldn't do that, not here, not in front of everyone. She couldn't do that.. for the children. With fast, determined steps she walked out of the laundry room.

Be gone with that man. To heck with what everyone else would say, to heck with the rumours and her familys reputation. To heck with it all. The cat was out of the bag, claws stretched out and it was burning.. She was so out of herself, so furious, so angry now, she hadn't even noticed that once she left Eirin to do laundry, she had lost touch with reality again...

..but Helene couldn't shout at him forever, and in spite of all the anger there was still some doubt in her. Was this really the right thing to do? To lash out at him? What if this happened because she hadn't been attentive enough? What if she had been to self-absorbed? Not caring enough about his needs, not taking enough care of the children, leaving him stressed out and looking for fun elsewhere? What if this car crash that was still happening was her fault? Holly certainly didn't seem to think so, as she continued to lay all the blame on him, but Helene all of a sudden wasn't sure.. and felt like leaving the situation again..

Maybe her father Egil could be of help for once.. As she walked over to him to talk, her sister Kathrine came down the stairs after having retreated to an upstairs bathroom, and headed straight over to Knut. Holly had eventually stopped cursing out Knut, she had probably done enough now to make people believe she was innocent and that it was all his fault.

"Don't come any closer! I haven't done anything!" Eirins voice is now the loudest in the room as she clenches her fists against her demons and commands them to stay away. "Leave me alone!" The contrast is stark to Kathrines soft voice as she hides a bouquet of flowers behind her back.
"Knut.. maybe you could need these right now...". Knut is starting to feel the pressure from the people in the room. This is to much... he can't accept these flowers. Not from his wifes sister, even if she means it well, not in front of everyone, not after he's been constantly yelled at from Holly and Helene...

So he does his best to respectfully decline the offer. Holly gasps in shock. Is she flirting with him now!? Is that seriously whats going on!? Holly can't believe it...

"I've had it with you people! What is wrong with this madhouse!?"

Now Hollys voice is once more the loudest in the room. The word madhouse echoes through the room and makes Eirin turn around towards the others, slowly, her gaze shifting across the room. Where they.. talking about... her? Was she... the..? Was she the.. madhouse?

"Are you....?" Eirins voice was soft, almost inaudible, and immediately interrupted by Hollys sharp, loud voice.

"What on earth is this!? Is this supposed to be a birthday party!? For a child!? This isn't normal! None of this is normal! I'm done here! I'm completely done here!"

Hollys face is a hard frown as she marches towards the door, right past Eirin as if she wasn't there. Without looking back she rushes through the door leaving everyone behind in an unpleasant, awkward silence..

She has to stop for a while on the porch to catch a breather before she can head home to her husband Mikael and pretend nothing special has happened.. but no doubt will word about what went down at this party spread and some version of the truth, not necessarily the actual truth, will see the light of day...

Holly felt like she had just left a hurricane behind. Outside was a calm, pleasantly warm summers day. Chirping birds, the occasional car driving by. Someone was starting up a lawn mower a few houses a way. Kids playing, a dog barking at the mailman or some random passerby.
Just a normal, peaceful and quiet day in a regular neighbourhood in any small town anywhere in the world.. but inside the house, though it was silent right now, except for the sound of the video game and Helenes quiet conversation with her father about political structures, choices made and who gets to carry the consequences, tall clouds loomed around them, which could only mean that they weren't done yet, and that possibly the worst was yet to come...

The first sign that the storm was picking up again came when Kathrine, who thought she had to say something to fill this eerie vacuum they found themselves in..

"This got a little intense" she said softly. "Maybe we should just.."

Knut backs away. "No. This isn't right." What was she trying to do now? He felt the urge to give in, but he couldn't do it right here, right now...

"What?" Kathrine asks, pretending to be confused. "We're of course not gonna do it right h-"

"You're right." he says, before extending his arms in an attempt to give her a hug that would be ambiguous at best.

"No, no, what are you doing?" she says while backing away. "I meant that we could just find a private place to, you know, talk for a while."

"What do you take me for? Helene is my sister. I meant it as an offer to help you. To find a way for you to make things right again, if that would even be possible by now." Kathrine continued, now sounding more stern, as if she was actually offering to help and Knut was the clumsy one misunderstading everything again.

In the back of the room Helene had kept an eye on Knut the whole time and his attempt at hugging Kathrine had not gone by unnoticed. She abruptly left the conversation with her father to walk rapidly across the room, straight ahead, with heavy steps, chugging along like an accelerating, unstoppable freight train, commanding Kathrine to step back, out of harms way...

Anton was still sitting on the couch, as if paralyzed. He knew mom was angry with dad again, but didn't want to watch, hear, or be anywhere near whatever was going to happen next. If this house only would've had a basement, thats where he would've been, to hide and take cover from all the fury that was about to be unleashed...

"Enough!" Helenes voice was a loud, distorted roar of the kind that had the potential to make walls shake and windows shatter. No doubt this was already a broken home, and now it was about to be completely leveled..

"You!" Helene began, sounding more like a growling demon than anything else. "You SWINE! This marriage is OVER!" For a brief moment Helene was almost terrified by the sound of her own voice, but this was it. There was no turning back now.

"I'm divorcing you. Right here. Right now."

Kathrine was powerless in this situation. This was the worst possible outcome and there was nothing right now she could do about it. Did she really contribute to this? Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? Why did she have to talk to Knut now? She should have known this is the way it would go.. especially since she tried to hand him flowers! After all that he had done, flowers was probably the last of what he deserved.. as the older sister, she felt a responsibility to look after Helene, but what had she done... She had ruined it all! She wished there was something she could do right now, but there was nothing. Nothing at all.

"Mom!? Dad!? What are you doing!?" Bjørn-Yngves voice was trembling. "We're a family, right? We.... we...."

Bjørn-Yngve had sensed that there was a strange atmosphere earlier when he came downstairs and saw his mother walk with towards the laundry romm with a blank expression on her face.. and then all his worst fears and then some about this birthday party came true as he witnessed Helene shouting at Knut, while his grandma Eirin was shouting, worse than ever before, at something he couldn't see.. so he knew that his father had done something wildly inappropriate. The only thing missing now, was Helenes mother Frida getting juiced, but she was surprisingly clear-headed, all things considered...

He couldn't hold it together anymore, because if it was already worse than he had feared earlier.. this, his parents divorcing right in front of him, this knocked a hole in the floor below him, and the home that previously didn't have a basement, now had one.. but it wasn't a safe place to hide or take cover. It was a place of sadness, a cold place of fear and desperation... A place of abandonment and loneliness.

 

Whatever he was feeling, or not feeling, it all turned to rage now. This was all Kathrines fault! Why would she bring flowers to his dad!? She was not his aunt anymore! She was a witch, an evil, evil witch, and she could stay far, far away from his dad!

Helene looks at her son. It felt like she was being stabbed. Again. The fury in her was dying out and now she had to deal with the aftermath. There was only one person in this room she wanted to hurt. It was not her children. This was not a consequence that she wanted..

 

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