On their way back to the hotel there was silence for a while. Eve needed to sort her mind. Finally she looked at Josh, being ready to talk.

„Baby… tell me how you feel.“ He said carefully. 

„Unchanged to be honest. This was completely senseless.“

„No, it wasn’t. I’m happy I’ve had the chance meeting you dad. It was touching to see you two interacting with each other. There was so much love and affection between you.“ 

Eve scoffed.

„It’s so unfair he’s the one who turned sick…“ 

„Don’t say that. She’s still your mother.“ 

„She’s nothing more than the woman who gave birth to me. You should understand the best.“ 

„Honey, I’m not blaming my biological mom for what she did. She gave me away because she wanted a better life for me than she was able to offer.“

„I’m sorry.“ Eve apologized. „I’m just driven my negative emotions…“ 

„It’s okay. I know you’re upset. But… may I say what was my impression when I saw your mother?“ 

Eve nodded. 

„She regrets what she did. But she’s not strong enough to change things.“ 

„I don’t care.“

„I don’t believe you. You want peace but you’re too stubborn to let it happen.“ 

„Josh… she’s not able apologizing to me. I told her, this was what I expected, but she just didn’t do it!“

Josh sighed. 

„I don’t wanna fight, my love. As I said, I’m very proud you gave it a try. Thank you for doing this for me.“ 

Eve and Josh were having dinner in Eve’s favorite steakhouse in Dortmund downtown the same night. 

„God… this garlic butter is heaven. I could lick it like ice cream.“ Eve said, biting into her piece of bread. 

Josh smiled. 

„Let me have some as well.“ 

„No chance.“ 

„It’s better, when both of us stink.“

Eve giggled. 

„Okay, this makes sense.“

Then she let him have a bite of her bread. 

„Oh wow, it’s really good.“ He replied with full mouth.

In the same moment, a woman appeared at their table. She was in her early sixties, having short dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was tall and skinny, wearing comfortable jeans and a casual white blouse. Both of them looked up to her. Eve’s heart immediately dropped. 

„Evy.“ The woman said, staring at her like seeing a ghost. 

„Andrea.“ Eve almost whispered. 

Josh was watching the scene, not understanding what this was about. 

„I believed, you live in America now.“ Andrea said in German. 

„I do.“ Eve replied. 

Both looked at Josh now.

„Ehm… honey… this is Andrea. Tom’s mom.“ Eve explained, speaking English now. 

„Oh.“ Josh said surprised.

Then he stood up and reached out his hand.

„It’s nice to meet you, Andrea. My name is Josh.“ He said friendly.

Andrea shook his hand, still processing the situation. Then she gave her attention back to Eve. She stood up as well to hug her mother in law. Andrea noticed her baby belly. After hugging Eve back, she looked down her body once again. 

„You’re expecting a baby.“ Andrea stammered in English. „Is this your… husband?“ 

„We’re engaged.“

„Evy… why I didn’t hear from you for so long? Don’t they have telephones in America?“

Eve cracked a smile. 

„I started a new life over there… I didn’t mean to hurt you but… talking to you always opened wounds and that’s not what I wanted, when I decided to leave everything behind.“

„I see.“ Andrea replied. 

Then she looked at Josh and smiled.

„You’re very handsome. My boy was as well, but… these blue eyes are extraordinary.“ 

Josh smiled sheepishly, not knowing how to reply. 

„Hey ehm… do you wanna sit with us?“ Eve suggested. 

„Oh no, my dear. My friend is waiting outside. We already had dinner. But then I saw you and decided to say hi before leaving.“ Andrea answered. 

„I’m glad you said hi.“ Eve replied, giving her a loving smile. 

„And I’m glad you finally moved on and gave another man the chance loving you. I must admit, seeing you with a baby belly was something I never expected, but I’m very happy for you, Evy.“

Eve was still smiling and stroke her belly gently.

„It’s a boy.“ 

„This is wonderful. Please do me a favor and share some pictures when you gave birth. Will you do this for me?“ 

„Of course.“ 

Andrea opened her arms once again and both women hugged each other tightly. 

„It was good to see you.“ Eve said. 

Andrea caressed her cheek, before giving her attention to Josh. Then she hugged him as well.

„I can see that you make my daughter in law very happy. The way she looks at you makes my heart melt. I wish both of you all the best.“ She said, after releasing him.

„This means a lot to me. Thank you.“ Josh replied. 

Andrea gave both of them another loving smile, before she left. Eve and Josh sat down again, processing the unexpected situation for a moment.

„She is…“ 

„…amazing.“ Eve finished Josh’s sentence. 

„Yes, she is.“ 

„Andrea was there for me when my own mother decided to hate me.“ 

Josh grabbed Eve’s right hand.

„Your mom doesn’t hate you, cupcake.“

Meeting Andrea made Eve feel even worse about her own mom. If someone had the right blaming her for causing the accident, it was Andrea. But this was not how Tom’s mom dealt with the tragical situation. All she did was sending prayers to the universe being grateful, that Eve didn’t die as well. 

The same night, Josh was lying in bed with Eve in his arm. They started watching a movie, but she fell asleep within seconds. Josh was staring at the TV screen, being lost in thoughts. After a while he looked at Eve, reassuring himself, that she wasn’t awake. He pulled his arm away carefully, without waking her up. Then he sneaked out of bed.

„Joshua? What are you doing here?“ Kristin said irritated. „It’s almost midnight.“ 

She was standing in front of him in her bathrobe, not understanding why he showed up that late. 

„I wanna talk. Eve dosen’t know I’m here. She’s asleep.“ Josh explained. 

Kristin opened the front door wider to let him in. Both went into the living room.

„Sit.“ Kristin said, pointing at the sofa. 

Then she switched of the telly.

„Where is your husband?“ Josh wanted to know. 

„Wilhelm stays in a care home. I can’t handle his disease on my own anymore.“

„I see.“ Josh replied. 

„I’ll make some tea.“ Kristin said next. 

Then she disappeared in her kitchen for a moment and returned with a tray, which she placed at the coffee table. 

„You wanna some fresh lemon juice in your black tea?“ She asked. 

„Lemon juice?“ Josh said irritated. 

Kristin put some juice into his cup.

„Trust me, it’s better this way.“ 

Then she sat down next to him. 

„So? What are you having on your mind?“

„I guess you know why I’m here.“ 

„You want me to apologize to my daughter, right?“

„Honestly, I came to understand, why it’s so hard for you to admit, that you made a giant mistake back in those days.“

„I already explained to her. What I did is unforgivable.“ 

„Kristin, you daughter wants to forgive. But you really make it hard for her.“ 

Kristin looked away and took a sip of her hot tea carefully.

„I don’t deserve being forgiven.“

„Does it mean, this is your way punishing yourself for what you did?“ 

Kristin nodded. 

„But all you do is hurting your daughter with this behavior.“

„Why is this so important to you to make things right between us? That’s non of your business, Joshua.“ 

„Because she’s my family. It kills me seeing her suffer because of you.“

„Do you smoke?“ Kristin asked next. 

„What? No. I don’t…“ 

She stood up, went into the hall and returned with her cigarette box. 

„Usually I’m not doing this inside the house, but it’s terribly cold tonight.“ She explained and lightened one up. 

Josh tasted his black tea. He needed to admit, it was really good with the lemon juice inside. 

„You like it?“ She asked curiously. 

Josh nodded, taking another sip. 

„Tell me how you met my daughter, Joshua.“ 

Josh put his cup back at the coffee table. 

„We met at a bar on New Year’s Eve.“ 

„Was it love on first sight?“ 

„Kind of. I felt immediately connected to her and had the urge to get to know her.“ 

„And the baby? How did that happen? My daughter never wanted kids.“ 

„She changed her mind about that topic.“

„Tom didn’t have the guts asking her for a child.“ 

Josh frowned. 

„Does it mean he wanted kids?“ 

„At some point he did. But he had no idea how to tell her. And then the accident happened…“ 

Josh took another sip of his tea, processing what he just learned.

„What do you do for living?“ Kristin asked next. 

„I produce music.“ 

„For famous singers?“ 

„Sometimes.“ 

„Do I know your work?“

„I don’t think so.“ 

„Eve loves Justin Bieber.“ 

Josh couldn’t help himself and started laughing. 

„You mean Justin Timberlake.“ 

„Ya, however. She went to a concert with an old school friend once. Tom brought them to the arena. They’ve been freaking out like teenagers. He was completely annoyed, not understanding what she was seeing in him.“

„That’s a very good question.“ Josh joked. 

Kristin chuckled.

„Those singers know exactly how to make girls buy their records. It’s all about money, right?“

Josh just nodded, not wanting to start a discussion about the music industry at this point. He finished his tea in the next moment and stood up from the sofa.

„I need to go now. But please do me a favor and think about what I’ve said.“ 

Kristin nodded.