She threw the cups in the sink making red porcelain pieces fly all over the kitchen and forcing Linn to take cover behind the chair. Emelie rushed out onto the porch, the anger rushing in her ears so loudly that she couldn’t hear Linn call out for her. Andreas looked up as she came stomping and raised his hand to wave, but let it fall when he saw her bright-red face. She stopped about ten centimeters from him and yelled:
“How could you? Suck up to me and play all nice and friendly and sweet!”
Andreas took a step backwards and stumbled on a water hose. He regained his balance and stared at Emelie in surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“You bloody well know what I mean! Shit, and I thought you were my friend, even though I should have known what you were after, but you should have taken responsibility! She is far too young, too young for you, too young to become…”
She was interrupted by Linn who came running.
“Mum! Stop it right now!”
She hadn’t heard Linn following her out into the lawn, but now she was standing there, tears in her eyes. She grabbed Emelie’s arm and started pulling it.
“Come back inside with me right now, before you make a complete fool out of yourself,” she said, pulling harder.
Emelie looked from Linn to Andreas and back at Linn and there was something that just didn’t make sense. Linn took her hand and pulled her back into the house, and Emelie saw her turning her head and mouthing ‘I’m sorry’ to Andreas, who followed them with his eyes all the way back to the front door. A couple of minutes later, Emelie was sitting by the kitchen table with her face in her hands. Linn was sitting across from her, leaning forward with both her hands softly placed on her mother’s knees.
“Try to relax and listen to me,” Linn said. “Oskar is the father of the child, I thought you understood that I’m madly in love with him. Getting pregnant wasn’t part of our plan, of course, but we want to keep the baby and live here on the island.”
Emelie dried her eyes and looked up on her daughter.
“But when…”
“When did I get pregnant you mean? I don’t know exactly, but I was supposed to have my period three weeks ago and then two weeks ago I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive, and we decided to tell our parents before I contact the midwife, or whoever it is you’re supposed to contact.”
“And Oskar, has he told his parents and what did they say?”
“I don’t know, he’s doing it today too,” she said, anxiously twisting a with napkin with a star pattern between her fingers.
Emelie’s head was spinning. Linn was going to be a mum. Her little, little girl.
“I’m sorry. Linn, it was just such a surprise. But if you have made up her mind then of course I’m happy for you. You’re right, I was only nineteen when I had you and…”
Her eyes were burning, and a tear ran down her cheek.
“It’s the best and most amazing thing that has ever happened to me, and I want you to know that I will always be here to help you - and I mean both of you - as much as you will let me.”
She got up, opening her arms to Linn who fell into her embrace, sobbing. Emelie held her and rocked her in her arms while stroking her dark curls and mumbling calming words into her ear. She took her head between her hands, looking straight into her brown eyes.
“I can’t imagine that my little girl is becoming a mum and…”
She stared at Linn in horror when she realised what that meant.
“I’m going to be a grandmother! Jesus Christ, a grandmother, isn’t that an old lady with grey hair who bakes cinnamon rolls and knits sweaters? AmIgoing to be a grandmother?”
She dropped down onto the chair and Linn giggled.
“Not in this family, I’m in charge of the baking here, and you are in charge of project management.”
“So where are you going to live?”
“I don’t know, we’ll figure something out, and it isn’t a very large island so for the time being, I hope that I can stay here. And then we have planned to start a YouTube-channel and a blog. We can get a bunch of followers, you know: young couple have a baby and start a café on an island – isn’t it brilliant?”
Emelie laughed.
“It sounds great, but one thing at a time, we’ll have to see how you are feeling. And maybe it isn’t the best idea to start a café when you have a new baby in the house”
