3.2

The private room was more a meeting hall than a room. It could comfortably seat forty people. And so, it was almost luxurious for the small party that night. And sure enough, the guest of honour was the last to arrive. Monwort and Gwen went ahead first, leaving the girls to show Haven to the party. And the girls and Haven started fifteen minutes later. So, they arrive roughly about fifteen minutes later. And when they did arrive, it became clear which of her responsibilities Pixie had shared with Erich. He was welcoming the guests.

"Welcome Haven," Erich said warmly. "We finally meet in person."

"Yes," Haven said. "We finally do."

"It's noisy," Erich said, much softer. "Never thought I'd get to see them acting like this. I guess you have a profound impact."

Haven laughed. The two men shook hands, and with Pixie pushing Erich and Edyn leaning into Haven, even hugged, after which Erich blushed and Haven laughed.

"There's the shy one in the relationship," Edyn said.

"What about you?" Pixie asked immediately.

"Yeah," Petra said, nodding.

"We share everything in half," Edyn said, wrapping herself around Haven's arm.

Edyn was a head taller when Haven left. And now, they seemed the same height, but if one looked closely there was a difference of a centimetre in Haven's favour. Edyn, of course, would never admit to that. She'd blame the eye's partiality. And Haven didn't really care either way.

"What's going on?" Erich asked.

"She finally got him," Petra said, with a shrug.

"Wait, what?!"

Erich was surprised. Until this morning, there was no mention of any romantic feelings existing between the two. And Haven arrived in the afternoon. How did the two get together in a few hours?

"Don't think about it," Pixie said. "You'll wear yourself out. Just think of them as weird. And that'll explain pretty much everything."

"Ah, I see how you got him," Haven said.

And after a second's silence, they all burst out laughing, except Pixie and Erich. The two who were teased, just smiled. Erich was blushing. And Pixie was telling herself to wait for tomorrow.

Enton walked out just then, as if attracted by the noise. The old man was older, but didn't seem like it on the outside. And it wasn't because he followed an intricate and lengthy skincare routine, but rather that he had grown as old on the outside as he could, and now the years went by like a mosquito or two only just landing on his face before being swatted dead. And on the inside, he had lost a great majority of his strength from when he was younger. But the starting point had been so high up, that even now he seemed strong as a middle aged man. And his voice was the same loud as ever.

"Will the lot of you be coming inside any time soon?" he thundered. "Or maybe we can just start eating. And you'll hopefully make it in before we're done with desserts."

Haven laughed and stepped toward the old man.

"Granpa Enton," he said, and went into the open arms. "Say anything except that you're glad I'm back."

"I heard we're family? Welcome."

Enton meant to tease. But he had forgotten who he was dealing with.

"Yeah," Haven said easily. "Seems like it. Though it is still quite a mystery to me. Seems as if all of you are in on it. Tell me that isn't the case."

It was Enton's turn to deflect the embarrassment. And he did it almost as well. Only the faint cough gave him away. And the momentary glance at the girls.

"Granpa, let's go in," Petra said. "You can't win. Not in these things. Not with us."

"I agree," Enton said, nodding grimly but with warm eyes. "And I must say, you are a tougher cookie than that brother of yours."

As they walked in, the rest came over too. All of the congratulating Haven and celebrating his return. And all of them with questions very different and of their own.

"Never thought you'd pick computers," Artie said. He was older, visibly. But his smile was untouched. "You look it well."

"What do you mean?" Haven asked.

"It's a teachers' thing," Artie said. "One look at a student and you know. Whether they're doing good."

"Okay," Haven said. "I'm glad you approve."

"Oh, it's more than approve. I'm truly happy. You just remain so all your life. And that'll be the best. That'll make me the happiest."

Julia beamed as she hugged him. "I can't tell you how happy I am, and excited. You're back. And we're going to be family."

"Can you at least try," Haven said.

"Try what?" Julia said.

"To not make it sound like an arranged marriage, something decided on by the families. Seriously, mama and papa were so much better at it."

He knew exactly what to say. Julia and Monwort had always been rivals.

"Ha," Julia said with a snort. "You'll see."

Haven nodded happily and moved on.

Lemon, Mr Onass, looked more appropriately older than his dear old friend. But his eyes shone so much brighter. Lemon had always been an academician, and that showed most in his eyes. Those unadulterated and undiluted eyes seemed like they wouldn't change even in death. And being gazed at with those eyes, with the appreciation in them showing unfiltered, was an enjoyable feeling.

"Stine truly was good for you. You should have just gone there from the beginning."

"Better late than never."

"No. I don't think that's it."

"I know."

"It's okay to be more selfish. It is widely believed today that selfishness itself can be a virtue."

"Agreed. And I am. You'll see."

The young and the old hugged after the brief exchange of words. The fondness couldn't be more evident.

And so, the party began. There was food. There were drinks. And there were questions being hurled, by anyone at anyone about absolutely anything at all. With the wine and the beer and the whiskey loosening lips, answers flowed freely as well. It quickly turned into the biggest and most honest game of truth. The questions were fun in the beginning turned probing toward the middle and serious at the end. When they were all the most drunk and most willing to reveal those dark secrets they would have rather kept unsaid on this celebratory night, the answers were most revealing.

"So, you're sure you're fine with the retired life," Haven asked Lemon.

The old man smiled. "It is the inevitable reality. I've always been ready for it."

"And it's not like he's doing nothing," Enton said. "We're starting a club, in the next few weeks. Gathering up the old souls, at least those that are still breathing. Crossing off those remaining items from bucket lists."

"That sounds really good," Haven said.

And the old men went on about how much their plans had progressed and how much they still had to do.

"Mr Jonas, are you sure?"

"I'm not your teacher anymore Haven. You can just call me Artie. I think we've long since gotten to that stage."

"You'll always be Mr Jonas," Haven said. "But, yeah, Artie should be fine, as long as you are okay with it. And since we are at that stage, I think I should tell you more honestly that I do not agree. You shouldn't simply walk away, just because that's what they expect of you."

"It's not that. And you know it."

"Yeah. You just dislike confrontation. Even at such a situation."

"A person is who the person is. One is a lot happier accepting oneself."

"I accept the person. But not the situation. And certainly not the actions of those that I don't have to be considerate about."

"Don't do anything Haven. Really. I mean it."

"Yeah," Lemon said. "Don't do anything Haven. That is just how Artie is."

"I've got an idea," Haven said, not even trying to act like it was an idea he only just had. "Would you consider teaching at Stine?"

"You want me to move to Jorges?" Artie asked.

"Well, you don't have to actually move there," Haven said. "You could arrange your classes over one weekend every month. And fly over for the weekend. Teach. And fly back. It's perfectly doable."

"See, that's what I don't get," Artie said. "About the school. About the students."

"Don't think of it as a regular school, or us as regular students," Haven explained. "It's a school where students can decide what they want to study and how they want to study. And it's a school that allows for this. As for the students, don't think of us as students who don't fit into more regular schools. Rather, think of us as free souls. That's what the school calls us. That's what we call ourselves. And it's not just anyone that gets in. The requirements for admission are quite severe actually. It takes a certain kind of person, a certain kind of mind, to get in. And let me tell you, the way you teach, you'll most certainly be popular."

"Don't I need recommendations or something, even for an interview?"

"Yes. And you've got two. That's how many you need." Haven pointed at himself and at Lemon.

"Alright, let me think about it," Artie said.

And last of all was the most popular subject. And everyone was pretty much prepared for it.

"So," Haven said, bringing it up as was inevitable. "Edyn. Explain to us all please. How did you and I get engaged?"

"Yeah," Erich said.

And the old men, and Artie and Monwort, nodded.

"Well," Edyn said. "I guess it started with the contract."

"Contract?" Enton asked.

It was strange that he was out of the loop. And also, not so strange. The old man was quite old fashioned.

"We help her with Gavel," Pixie said, "and she pays us."

"A share of her allowance to Pixie. Wendy's meal card to Haven," Petra said.

"And they delivered," Edyn said. "But then, you all know what happened."

"Gavel rejected her," Petra said.

"And that was that," Pixie said.

"What happened next was quite unexpected," Edyn said.

"Petey throwing up a fuss," Petra said.

"And Mr Thorne too," Pixie said.

"Haven left," Edyn said. "And everything changed after that. Didn't it?"

The girls nodded looking at each other.

"What changed?" Enton asked after a while. He could hold on for only so long.

Gwen was smiling the same. Monwort was visibly discomfited.

"I didn't think Gavel was such a person," Edyn said.

"Gavel?" Enton asked.

"Yes," Pixie said. "Petey was always hopeless. A dumb kid who thinks too much of himself. But Gavel? No. Gavel was the big genius of the family, wasn't he? The heir. The golden child. The bestest son. And he let that happen."

"Let Petey pull that stunt," Petra said, before Enton asked.

"I realized Gavel maybe wasn't the person I pictured him as in my head," Edyn said.

"He's not all bad," Petra said.

"Just not as good as us," Pixie said.

"Us, you mean brother and me," Petra said. "Because you are the same level as Gavel. Maybe lower."

"Shut up," Pixie said.

"And I was the lowest," Edyn said, steering away from the conflict. "But I was now climbing. Decided to side with Haven, after learning he was leaving."

"And we welcomed her over," Petra said.

"And then slowly realized she wasn't that bad," Pixie said.

"Turned out, she was changing her opinion of Haven as well," Petra said.

"Starting to like him," Pixie said.

"And at some point, by when we had become girlfriends, she had fallen for him," Petra said.

"And we approved," Pixie said.

"After all, not like there's someone who's the best," Petra said. And then coughed, embarrassedly.

"And we approved as well," Gwen said. "Having seen her from so close for so long, we came to see she'd be good with Haven. And since Haven here has no romantic bone in his body, we had to find the bride for him."

"The wife," Edyn said.

"The wife," Gwen agreed.

"And then we discussed," Julia said. "And realized it was actually good."

"As long as the children weren't opposed, we wouldn't be either," Gwen said.

"That meant as long as Haven wasn't opposed," Pixie said.

"And no way Haven would have an opinion about it," Petra said.

"Just go with whatever we decided," Pixie said, grinning.

"Oh," Haven said, finally presented with the story, though not with all the details. No rush, though.

And then, at the end, as they waited for the cars that were arranged beforehand, knowing they'd all be drunk and unable to drive, Lemon asked the question that was on the minds of all the adults and a few of the younger ones.

"What are your plans Haven?"

"Well," Haven said slowly. "There are a few things, to start with. Rest, we'll figure it out. No rush."

"That's just like you," Artie said. "I'm convinced now, you'll never change. I don't have to worry anymore."

"What plans?" Edyn asked quietly, so the question remained among them younger ones.

"I'll tell you," was all Haven said that night.

They said goodbyes, welcomed Haven again, and left. Everyone returned home, headed straight to bed. It was late in the night when they fell asleep, and well into the morning when they woke. Almost noon when Haven woke. Monwort and Gavel had gone to work. Pete was at college. Petra had taken the day off. And Gwen was home too.

They had lunch together. Gwen said they would be having a family dinner tonight. And Haven said he would starting tomorrow, with the first thing he had to do.

No one could have guessed then the storms he was going to be kicking up.