Across the Baltic Sea

It was the first time in a long while that the wind blew that hard. It felt like the ceiling above the tiny head of her sleeping child is going to get blown away. Nicole sat on the rocking chair and stared outside the window as the wind whistled and the trees swayed to the melody. It has been a year since they moved to this city. From the multicultural life of Paris to the quiet and reserved city of Rostock. She couldn’t believe that she actually agreed with her husband Jacque to make that move. Rostock was extremely boring and it resembled everything she hated about a city. Nevertheless, the success of Jacque’s career and his happiness meant to her more than all the cities of the world.
The wind blew harder waking up little Celine with tears and paranoid cries. Nicole held her child close to her heart and soothed her till her cries faded into a tranquil silence and wide hazel eyes that stared at her and gracefully blinked with wonder. Celine was 6-months old now. She was born in Rostock and her parents were the only family she had. Her grandparents, aunts, and uncles all lived in either Lyon where Jacque is from, or in Boston where Nicole was born and raised. Sometimes Nicole felt bad for her daughter who is far from her relatives, but she always reminded herself that their living standards have become much better since they made that move.
As she was away in her thoughts, Jacque came home with an anxious smile. She looked at him with suspense. “Is everything okay?” she asked him with uncertainty because she knew how much he hated to be asked that question. Yet to her surprise, he did not snap at her. “I need to talk to you Nicole. Our life is about to change, again.” He murmured that last sentence as he shuffled the papers on the living room table. Nicole looked at him waiting for further explanation, but Jacque kept on shuffling the papers and talking to himself like any occupied businessman. The word “change” scared her. Last time she heard that word from him, they moved to Rostock. She was not ready for another dramatic shift in her life. Ten minutes passed and the only noise that was heard was that of the wind until Jacque broke the silence with a sharp statement that shook Nicole leading her to collapse on a chair with her daughter in her arms. “I have been made redundant. We are expected to leave the house in three days. Oulf found me a job as an accountant at a French bank in Copenhagen and I start first thing next week”.
He handed her a cup of water and took Celine from her. Nicole was crying. Her mind was a whirlpool of confused thoughts. Redundant? Three days? Oulf? Accountant? Copenhagen? Next Week?! It was too much to take in and she was shocked by Jacque’s calmness and almost robot like behavior. She hated Rostock but she cannot handle another big move. Jacque was a deputy general manager, how can he get redundant so easily? And Oulf is a recipe for failure. He’s a 50-year-old cranky German who never seems to settle in one place. In the one year they’d known him, he changed jobs three times. How can Jacque trust and follow his words? Denmark seemed so foreign to her. She did not want to go there, and especially in February when it is even colder than Rostock.
Nicole looked at Jacque with desperate eyes. She didn’t have much choice. Her love for him made her submit to anything and everything he says. It seemed like he had felt his wife’s desperateness, hence Jacque sat next to her and made her melt again into the submission of love. “I promise you this will be our last move for a long time. It has not been easy on you and I know how lonely you get at times, but I promise you our life will be better in Copenhagen. I will make more effort into making you happy”. He said those calming words and kissed her. He rocked Celine as her little fingers held into her father’s white shirt.
A week passed and Nicole had their little belongings packed in boxes and suitcases ready to be taken to Copenhagen. The big truck was waiting outside as she walked around the house for one last time. Two men came in and started loading all their belongings into the truck. Jacque was carrying Celine who was in a deep sleep as he slowly sat in the truck. A couple of minutes later, everything was loaded and Nicole sat next to Jacque in the truck ready to make their journey to the Ferry that will take them to Copenhagen across the Baltic Sea.
The Ferry was better than Nicole expected. It had a cafeteria, a travel shop, and a duty free shop. She walked around with her family until Celine started crying because it was time for her meal. They searched for an empty table at the cafeteria and the only one they could find was next to a table with a really old lady. Nicole smiled to her as she fed Celine her baby custard. The old lady kept on staring at them making Nicole feel very uncomfortable and self-conscious. She tried to ignore her, but she could feel the stares piercing through her. Eventually, she gathered her courage and asked the old lady if she spoke English.
“Actually, I lived in London for 20 years so I speak good English. Cute child you have here. Is she your daughter?”
Although Nicole was very protective of Celine yet she tried to hide her defensive motherly instinct and smiled. “Yes. Her name is Celine and she’s 6-months old.”
The old lady’s eyes brightened as she pulled her chair closer to Nicole. She seemed like a nice lady but her stares and her wide eyes scared Nicole. Jacque was busy on his smartphone that he didn’t even notice that Nicole was talking to her.
Nicole was bored and she just wanted to talk to someone so she gathered herself and neglected her unreasonable nervousness and talked to the lady. “We’re moving from Rostock to Copenhagen. My husband got a job there so we’re going to live there from now on”
The lady didn’t seem interested. It actually seemed like she did not even hear what Nicole just told her. “Why did you decide to name your daughter Celine? It is a nice but uncommon name.”
Before Nicole could answer, Celine started crying bringing Jacque back from his smartphone bubble. He carried her and started walking back and forth. To Nicole’s surprise, the old lady turned her back to her and was looking at Jacque and Celine. At that point, Nicole was freaking out. She gathered the baby’s bag, her purse and Jacque’s jacket and told Jacque to join her in the travel shop. She told him what just happened, and he seemed puzzled. He tried to reassure Nicole by telling her that sometimes old ladies are fascinate by children because they remind them of a time when their children were young or it reminds them of a melancholic reality that they have none of their own. He told her to disregard what just happened, but to make her feel relieved he promised her not to go back to the cafeteria.
As the time passed, Nicole, Jacque, and Celine had to go back to the truck as they came closer the harbor. Nicole saw the old lady again, but this time she looked different. She was wearing black instead of the long grey dress she was wearing before. Nicole shook her head and made her way to truck. She got in and closed the door, yet she suddenly heard someone knock on her window. It was the old lady again. “I have to tell you a secret. I sneaked into this ferry and I don’t know how to get out of here. Can I join you in your truck?” Nicole did not know what to say. She didn’t know if that strange old lady was lying or saying the truth. She felt bad ignoring her request, but she was also worried. She asked Jacque and he immediately opened the door and told her to hop in.
At the beginning, everything seemed okay. Everyone was quiet and either looking out the window, or lost in a world of thought. Suddenly, the old lady broke the silence “Your daughter doesn’t look like either of you. Is she adapted?” Jacque laughed yet Nicole did not find it that funny. Celine was her own baby. She bore her for nine months, and she looked like her. She had her wide hazel eyes and her brown hair. How could this stranger miss that? Everyone saw it at the first glance. “No.” Nicole replied firmly. “She is our daughter, and she looks like us, her parents”. The old lady seemed dissatisfied with this answer and she seemed to be digging for more. “When was she born? You know they say that many babies get mixed up in hospitals? I’m old and old people are known to have a good 6th sense. I sense she is not your daughter. Are you sure she is?”
At this point, Jacque was losing his patience. Celine was his little girl and he would fight the world to protect her. He requested the truck driver to stop and he kindly asked the old lady to get out. “Look, I understand that you want to get somewhere and that you sneaked, but I am not obligated to get you to your desired destination especially because you are technically illegal. We don’t know you and frankly, I am not comfortable with the way you are talking to us. Here is some money. Get yourself a cab or anything, but please just get out of this truck”
The lady looked at Jacque then turned to Nicole. She did not look angry, she looked resentful. She looked at Celine and without blinking murmured a few words that neither Nicole or Jacque understood, and then added, “I shall return. This is not the end. I have been deprived the right to see my granddaughter because the hospital gave her away since she is the daughter of a refugee, but this child of yours will be mine one day. She is not Celine. She is Costantina and I will come back for her. I shall return”.
She stormed out of the truck and started running. Nicole hugged Celine and started crying. Jacque called the police and reported her yet he did not have her name or any other demographic information that can help them. The truck driver spoke in German on his phone and he seemed startled. Everyone was struck and afraid. Celine however was smiling and shaking her raddle waiting for her mother to respond with a tickle as she usually did.
After two hours of complete silence in the truck, they reached Copenhagen and were parking outside a simple yet nice looking house. “That’s your home sir. We will help unload everything and put it in the main area of the house” the truck driver stated as he tried to hide his exhaustion for this trip.
Nicole got out of the truck while carrying Celine. She entered the house to see that it was beautiful. It had a lot of windows, overlooked the river and all the mansions on the other side. It was fully furnished with very cozy furniture. She walked to the main bedroom to find a baby crib standing next to the mahogany bed. Celine was in deep sleep but she did not want to put her down. She did not want to let go of her daughter for one second. She knew that they were far from where they kicked the lady out, but she was still traumatized by it. Jacque came in and right away he knew what was going on in his wife’s mind. He hugged her from behind and whispered in her ears. “I will keep you both safe and protect you with all that I have. It’s going to be great and I will make you happy. I promise. I love you with all my heart”
His words brought warmth to her heart. She leaned her head against his chest as her baby took a deep breath while away in the world of dreams. She looked outside the window as the sun was reflecting on the waters and beautifully coloring the horizon as it was setting behind the huge mansions. She believed him.