Love in Theory and Practice: Chapters 1-13

Helsinki, Finland

When I come into the living room with coffee, for myself, and tea for Elin, she is sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace, placing gifts around the base of the tree. Villekulla is cuddled in his basket and she is occasionally rubbing his ears. Her hair is getting longer but it still curls gently. She is humming quietly to herself.

It is the perfect image of Christmas that I always imagined but never believed I would have. The house is decorated. There are garlands of evergreen, holly berries and mistletoe in every room. The fireplaces have been lit nearly everyday we’ve been home since my birthday.

There are stockings hung over our fireplace mantle. There are candies and cookies in every room on the first floor. Elin decorated our bedroom but very subtly. There are a few garlands over our window, a Christmas star hanging in the window and mistletoe over the bed. She also put berry-scented candles on the bedside tables.

She made me help her put some lights on the front of the house and around the garden. We put white lights and evergreen garland around the front door and also added white lights around some of the landscaping in the yard.

She’s decorated the nursery room as well with a light in the window. But mainly all that’s in there right now are the boxes containing the gifts we’ve received from friends and family for the nursery. The items have doubled in quantity.

A week after my birthday, Elin and I went for our first doctor’s appointment together to check on the baby. Instead of the standard visit, we got a bit of a surprise. Elin had waited to get an ultrasound until we could be together.

When they began, they were confused. But it eventually became evident that Elin and I are having twins. We were both shocked. She had looked at me with wide eyes. As we stared at each other, tears began to form along the fringe of her eyelashes but in the end we ended up laughing and crying at the same time.

She began working on plans for the nursery that same week. She made detailed lists of what we would need for the babies, which became Christmas lists.

Her father bought us 2 cribs and an area rug for the nursery. Her brother’s and her sister in law bought 4 Ugly Dolls. Since we don’t know the sex of the babies, they bought enough colors to accommodate whichever out come.

Her sister bought us a set of hanging lamps to match the cribs. She also got us 2 miniature ecosystems for the nursery.

Her sister, Lisbeth, is one of the frostiest creatures I’ve ever met. She is controlling, aggressive and easily offended. She is a stark contrast from Elin, who always manages to remain calm or calm down quickly.

But the holiday with them was great. Her family is funny, low-key and loving. They have already accepted me into their family and are anxious to welcome the babies.

We spent a lot of time indoors as well as time outdoors. Elin and I stayed in her own cabin and returned to the main house during the day. We played video and board games, sang songs, and drank eggnog.

The snow is deep and all the trees are heavy with it. I have shoveled the walkways around our house for the first time ever. I never saw the need to shovel the snow when I lived alone but now that Elin is here, she insisted.

We flew out of Stockholm late last night and arrived home in the middle of the night. Once we were home, we both immediately got ready for bed and were asleep within moments.

Elin is becoming more and more tired as the pregnancy progresses but she’s happy and excited. We’ve been dealing well with her mood swings. She’s begun to notice when she’s not in a good mood and will do her own thing until she feels better.

“Hello,” she says with a sly smile when she sees me standing in the doorway. “How long have you been standing there?” she asks with a laugh. She’s wearing a

“Who knows?” I say and move into the room. I place her tea down on the coffee table beside my coffee. She smiles warmly at me.

“You’re funny.” She says after taking a sip of tea. She then turns back to the tree and continues to place gifts.

“I was just thinking.” I say and sink back into the sofa cushions. She begins again to quietly hum her favorite lullaby.

“What time do your parents want us over tomorrow?”

“They said around 2 or so.” I answer.

“Did you wrap your gift for your mom?”

“I did.” I say with a sigh. “She’ll be so surprised to see a wrapped gift from me. I never manage to get and wrap gifts in time.” I say with a chuckle.

“I’ll believe that.” She says with a light life.

After dinner, Elin and I settle into the living room to enjoy the peace and quiet. After having been so busy for the last few weeks, it’s really nice to have an evening to just relax and enjoy our favorite activities and each other.

She digs her toes in behind my back to keep them warm. She chews her bookmark while she reads. I prop my feet up on the coffee table and lean back into the cushions. She wiggles her toes against my back and I see a small smile form on her lips. She flicks her gaze up to mine before returning to her book.

An hour or so later, I feel her shift. She is looking over her book and out the window. I follow her gaze; the snow has begun to gently fall outside. The new flakes will add to the already accumulated drifts outside, wiping out all tracks and marks in the snow.

She puts her book down on the coffee table and shifts so that her upper body is in my lap. I wrap my arms around her and she snuggles into my chest.

She is beginning to show in her belly and I don’t think she knows what to make of it. She has always been skinny and I’m guessing it’s hard to put on weight that you can’t control.

We both absentmindedly rub her belly while we watch the fire in the grate. It is beginning to burn low.

“Should we add more wood or let it burn out?” I ask.

“Let’s let it burn out; we’ll go to bed in a few minutes anyway.” She says quietly.

“How many weeks are we at, again?” I ask, looking down at her belly.

“About 16.” She replies; she gets up slowly. “We have about 24 weeks left to go.” She says with a chuckle. I smile and get up as well.

“We’ll have them around the same time as our first wedding anniversary. Well the anniversary of the wedding anyway.” I say and she smiles brightly.

“Are you excited?”

“Yes but I’m also terrified.” I admit, following her up the stairs.

“Me too. But next year at Christmas, there will be 4 of us.”

“That’s a lot of Valos in one house.” I say with a chuckle. She nods in agreement.

While she brushes her teeth, she leans back and braces her self with her hand on her hip. I can tell that her back is already bothering her but she’s kept quiet about it.

She falls asleep in only minutes once in bed and her breathing becomes slow and even.

I can’t wait for her to wake up so we can spend a real Christmas together.