Chapter 62 A normal birthday like every year

At first he only saw gold and diamonds, then a serious woman's face stared at him, next to her stood a man, dressed a little more casually, and then he saw Saskia. She seemed reserved.

"Uh, hello? Hi Saskia?" Luke began. The woman looked at him.

"She said she was invited by a boy?"

" Uh yes, that was me."

 She looked at him scrutinizingly, Luke felt like she was scanning him. 

"I just wanted to practically show her why I bang my head on the table about my family."

"I see, so why would she come in a bathing suit?"

"Um... Sea?" 

She gave him a punishing look that turned to panic. Luke saw two hands suddenly clutching her breasts, then Gitte's head popped up on his shoulder.

"Uhh Cala, did you grow those or Op? " 

She broke away and looked at Gitte.

"Gitte? What are you doing here?" 

Gitte was wearing shorts, an open shirt and a bikini, she grinned.

"Cala, I live here."

The man looked at her and nodded. 

"Honey, I told you in the car that the house looks like Gitte and Alex's from the workshop." 

"Cala, I have to show you Alex," Gitte reached for his hand.

"No! Gitte, please," she was pulled along. The man looked after her, smiling.

"I'm Henry, her husband and Saskia's uncle."

"Um, what kind of worskops? Sorry to ask, but my aunt meant the only workshop her parents attend. "

"Well, we say it helped us get Amanda. "

" Uh-huh, come on in. You know the way to the garden."

He stepped inside. Saskia had regained her composure.

"Who was the woman who dragged my aunt?"

"Liz's mother."

Saskia was wearing an oversized hoodie. 

" Come on, let's go to the garden." 

Luke led the way.

"Who are they all in the photos?"

Luke stopped and looked at the first huge family photo.

" This is the first family group picture where my aunts are together, that's me."

He pointed to himself as a 5 ~ 6 year old standing by Sue's hand. He looked at Liz's face and the faces of the others and thought as he also saw Uther in the photo, next to Alex and Lee.

He pointed to Uther, "That's the one you should see."

Saskia looked at him and nodded.

"Will he be here too?"

Luke winced as he was hugged by Tes.

"Gotcha, who?" she looked at Saskia.

"Great ..."

Saskia stared at Tes.

"You're the agricultural monarch..." she burst out.

Tes grinned. Saskia was still staring at her.

" Uh, I think they're choking him right now."

Tes lowered his eyes.

"Nah," she squeezed him again and let go.

"He's holding on," she looked at Luke scrutinizingly.

" So?"

Luke looked at her.

"And?"

"Yes. You don't usually drag girls here," she grinned.

Luke sighed.

"I just wanted to show her how crazy the family is..."

"Come on then," she grabbed Saskia's hand, who was still staring at the pictures, and led her outside into the garden. A huge table had been set up. Torches were burning, buffets had been set up and a bonfire was burning in front of the table. Luke saw his whole family. 

They were all wearing shorts. He saw Saskia's aunt Cherry Red standing next to Alex and hugging him. Tes let go of Saskia and him as he was grabbed by Danny and put under his arm.

"Uh..." 

Danny laughed.

"Jump training!"

He hung his head. He saw Leo as he was dragged towards the tower.

" Leo!" 

She looked at him, Eddi too. 

Luke pointed at Saskia, who was still standing there, helpless and disoriented. He saw Tes creeping towards the grill and there he saw Uther talking to Yusuf.

"I'll take care of it!" she called back.

Luke was dragged onto the tower.

" Danny, why did you surrender?" 

" Surrender?" 

Luke didn't see her face, he saw the garden. 

" I didn't surrender until I was married. "

" Yes. But I mean Mei married you." 

" That's different. Look Luke, it wasn't the first time I slept with her."

" Do you know the picture in the hallway?"

"Yes. Why? 

" I'm just wondering how long Sarge and Liz have been a couple and I have an idea."

He came upstairs and was placed on a board.

" They know each other, they've been together for 13 years. "

Danny looked at him.

"Jump and I'll tell you the solution."

Luke cursed inwardly, but he wanted to know. He just jumped and landed in the water with a loud splash, came to the surface gasping for air and swam to shore and trotted out of the water gasping for air. Mei rushed to him.

"Luke, why did you jump from the top? "

" What? Danny pulled me up." 

Mei looked over to the tower, where Danny was still standing at the top. 

" He jumped Mei, you old bastard!"

" I'll give him shitbunny!" She sprinted to the tower, Luke only saw Mei being thrown off the tower screaming and splashing into the water. Danny jumped in after her and swam to the shore, pursued by her. There, Mei jumped on his back.

"You can't just throw Luke from that high."

Danny looked at Luke.

"He jumped on his own, Mei." He patted her wet head.

"Thirteen years ... Yes. When I was thirteen, three of us hit on a group of rabbits. Which were more like predatory cats."

Luke looked at him questioningly, then at Mei, who bit Danny gently on the shoulder.

"I'll give you bunnies." She looked at Luke.

" The four of us hooked up with Danny and the other two and had fun" She grinned. 

" I said bunnies ..."

" But Liz ended up sticking with George after some back and forth."

" He lasted the longest, too."

" Shh!" She patted Danny's head.

"Let's kick April off the tower now." 

They both disappeared and Luke trudged through the sand, he reached into his pocket and realized he had his phone with him, he fished it out of his pocket and water spilled out.

It activated and when he got a message he read through it.

"Jas jump yourself!" He heard Jas chuckle and he groaned in annoyance. He glanced at the table where he saw the usual madness. It had rather disconcerted him that Gitte had put Saskia's aunt in a bikini and she was now sitting at the table in it. Henry seemed to be enjoying himself and raised his glass. He was intercepted by some uncle, he couldn't remember which one. 

Being of age and all... so first a glass of something that made his throat burn. After that Luke had to drink a Pepsi and Leo came to Luke with Saskia by the hand.

"Where have you been?" she asked him.

"Up there," he pointed to the tower from which April had been thrown screaming with a laughing Mei, who then flew screaming into the water shortly afterwards.

He glanced at Leo, who was holding a glass, and at Saksia. They were drinking well. 

"Aha, so now you're looking after her," she said and ran off calling Eddi.

" This is so different from our feasts..." she then said.

"What are yours like?" 

" Quite stiff and by the book. Most of them try to kiss my aunt's ass for her money. Okay, my dad tries on his own, but he still works for her."

She continued to sip from her glass, which was very quickly empty, Luke saw a blush on her face.

"Okay, then what are you going to do? "

She pointed to the tower.

"Fine, but first I need a drink."

He walked with Saskia to the drinks table, there were plenty of sodas etc, but Luke needed something else. So he grabbed one of the pre-mixed glasses and emptied it immediately. 

It burned, he grabbed a second glass, saw Saskia rinse out her glass and put it on the table, she coughed.

Luke thought, that's great, she took him by the hand and pulled him towards the tower. He emptied his glass and put it somewhere on the table. Something caught his eye on the way up.

"Didn't your brother tell you swimming trunks?"

"I did..." she hiccupped.

"Told him swimwear..."

She paused and looked down at him.

"He didn't..." she continued to climb. 

It wasn't that he didn't like the view. They climbed all the way to the top. The wind had picked up up here. Luke could see the festival below.

"Holy shit, Uncle Jusuff put the giant spit on the fire..."

He also saw Henry disappear into the house from one of Jusuff's unmarried cousins. Saskia tapped along the diving board and hiccupped. She glanced at the party. 

"Who's that guy with my aunt sitting there bright red and getting drunk? "She pointed her finger. Luke had to walk over to her to understand what she meant.

"That's my grandpa. He's at the top of the North Block hierarchy."

She hiccupped. 

"Uh-huh," she hiccupped, " Is he powerful? "

Luke pondered.

" My grandma, " he pointed at Babsi, who gave Saksia's aunt a hickey and Alex put a dog collar on her.

"She said that my grandpa had the idea of the north block. And he still champions the idea today. He's been the president of Nordblock since day one."

He heard a hiccup.

"See that one?"

He pointed at Uther, who was smoking and drinking beer.

Saskia hiccupped.

"Yes. He looks like the guy I saw back then. But the eyes look normal ..."

"That's Tes Mann, even more powerful than my grandfather. "

She looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

He looked from her to Uther.

"If he wants, the realm of your aunt, my grandfather, everything . .."

"Good. Then I need have no fear. " She hiccupped. Luke looked at her.

"I lied, I went to an all-girls school. My aunt wants me to be her successor. " She continued to hiccup. "She's got a tight grip on my family. 

Bill was the bad guy and was sent to boarding school to learn manners and have fun." 

She hiccupped and looked at her aunt.

"I was locked in the ivory tower. " She looked at Luke. Who looked at her thoughtfully. 

 "But for someone who went to an elite girls' school, you're really quite normal."

Saskia was about to say something when her aunt shouted from downstairs.

"SASKIA!!! what are you doing up there!!!?"

She was startled, lost her footing, tried to grab something and pulled Luke with her. Luke only heard her bright screams, then there was a splash, he swam up and spat water. 

He heard laughter from the shore and suddenly he was grabbed and choked.

"I can't swim..." came a panicked cry from Saskia, who was clinging to his neck on his back.

"Hold on tight..." came out choking.

The choking got stronger, so he swam as fast as he could towards the beach, running ashore and gasping for air as he felt like he couldn't breathe.

 Until a weight was lifted off him and he caught his breath. He looked to the side and saw Alex holding Saskia by the collar, she plopped out of the collar onto the sand and now she was sitting there in her swimwear. 

"Saskia, what are you wearing?"

Alex looked at her.

" Don't be like that Cala, she fell down up there because of you. "

" But she was up there alone with a boy!" she was drunk. 

Luke saw Tes come closer and pull Uther with him. Examined the strangulation marks on his neck, looked at Carla and growled. Uther put his hand on her head.

"He's alive, he saved her, but why can't she swim?" 

Carla snorted.

"She can swim!" She froze when Uther looked at her.

Luke looked at her.

"Yes. And I saw Henry go into the cabin, don't come moralizing to me!"

Alex looked at him.

"With who?"

" With the Fleet Eishe!"

Jusuff burst out laughing.

Luke saw Uther pulling Tes towards the tower.

" What? No? Please, the swimming trunks are a designer piece..." he realized.

Alex just shook his head. "Jusuff, we're not waiting for them." Gitte fetched a T-shirt from Nordblock and put it on Saksia.

"I'll take care of your aunt, have fun, okay?" 

Saskia looked at her and nodded.

"Oh, he's serious. " Luke looked up at the tower. He saw Uther standing at the top. Tes seemed to say something to him, took a running start and jumped, making a turn and diving into the water. Her head appeared, looking up. At the top, he stretched out his arms and let himself fall. Before diving in, he pulled his arms forward and landed in the water right next to Tes. 

"Thank goodness Yusuff gave up his wish to build the tower even higher."

Kams from Babsi.

Alex grinned. "It's not that high."

Babsi looked at him.

"Really? He pulled you up..."

Gitte grabbed Cala and dragged her up the tower, throwing her over her shoulder and slapping her butt every time she screamed. Luke stared at the scene. Then he saw his grandfather running after her. 

Luke stared at her, she looked at him questioningly, looked down at herself. Looked at Uther.

"It's ruined now..."

He took off his shirt and wrapped it around her chest.

"Now you have one."

She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

" But ... I've been in the designer's ear for months ..."

"Babs, you owe me a tenner," came from Min. 

Luke looked at her questioningly, then at Uther. He didn't see anything special, he was well-trained. 

Tes climbed out of the water.

"Ten? For what?"

Min grinned.

"For stripping off, Tes, like last year when you lost your top."

She looked down at herself.

"It's not like that bothers me ..."

Babsi handed Saskia and her shot glasses and looked over at the tower.

"And you're about to see the most powerful media woman go into the water ..." 

Gitte had reached the top and ran along the jetty to throw Cala into the water. But Alex grabbed both of them and jumped into the water. He took a big gulp and was pulled by the hand.

"I want some more," she hiked again and put the empty glasses on the table.

" Wait a moment! "

Babsi and Saskia looked at him. He knew he had no chance anyway, put his cell phone on the table and emptied his glass. Then he was pulled away. Luke wondered what the point was of her trying to jump, especially as she clung to him and choked every time. 

It was repetitive. Jump, drink, eat, drink again, lift her onto his shoulder to take part in the shoulder-riding competition.

>>> End season 3 <<<