To Sweden With Love

Here I thought the five hour flight to San Jose was bad. Stockholm was almost eight. Thank God for first class seating and easy access to the lavatory.

I was never able to sleep on planes but I did manage to catch a few minutes of sleep here and there. During the moments I wasn't asleep, I read the book I brought along with me.

It was only a little frightening to me that most of the flight was over the Atlantic Ocean.

During the last hour or so, I just sat back and watched the clouds pass by.

I closed my eyes and before I knew it, we were landed in Stockholm. This was the first time I've ever been to Sweden. Actually, this might be the first time I've ever left North America.

I turned my phone off airplane mode and texted Derick and Liv letting them know I made it safely.

I walked down to baggage claim and saw Carl smiling, standing there waiting. He was holding a sign with my name on it.

I shook my head as I approached him. I ripped the paper sign out of his hand.

"I made that sign just for you. Isabella even helped me!" He was offended.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Uncle Carl." I hugged him.

"That's okay, we can just make you a new one!" He exclaimed as he pulled my luggage off the baggage carousel.

I laughed. "I thought Patric was picking me up? He was looking forward to seeing me."

"He called me last minute and said something came up. How was your flight."

"Long and tiring," I yawned. "I'm also starving."

"You're the one that chose an overnight flight."

"Uh actually, that was Patric's doing," I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, there's a cafe down the road a bit we can stop by for some lunch."

We drove down the road a good bit before we stopped in front of a cafe called Café Foam.

We walked inside and were seated at a table by a window.

I picked up them menu and stared at it.

"Hey Carl, you're gonna have to order for me because this entire menu is in Swedish."

He laughed. "I got you. I eat here all the time so I know what's good."

A minute later, our waitress came to take our order.

"We're gonna have to teach you some more Swedish," Carl said.

"Yeah yeah, I've been slacking ever since I left Pittsburgh."

I played on my phone in hopes Derick would have gotten back to me by now. Any other time he's awake early.

"You know," he started as I looked at him from across the table.

"What do I know?"

"Good question, because I don't know either... How's Liv been doing?"

"She's been busy setting up her classroom. It sucks I moved because I normally help her. And then she's been pretty sick lately."

"Did she go to the doctor?"

"No, not when I told her to at least. No wonder you two are together. You're both stubborn."

He sighed, "so I've been told."

To avoid me going on about that, he quickly changed the subject to focus on my relationship.
He continued, "How are things with Brassy?"

"Better. We bought a house in Ottawa," I smiled.

"Oh! Congrats! That's so great to hear. Seems like a big step for you guys."

"It is. Between all the arguing we've done the last month or so, it was a much needed."

He smiled as the waitress brought over our food. We thanked her and dug in.

I stared at the sandwich he ordered me. "This looks so good."

Carl sat there staring at me waiting for me to try it.

"Oh." I picked up the sandwich and took a bite. "You Swedes are so particular with your food."

"Well?" He waited.

"It's as good as it looks. Now stop staring before you burn a hole in my forehead," I laughed.

We finished our lunch and were headed to Patric's, where I would be staying.

I stayed silent for most of the ride; just enjoying the sights of Sweden.

When we got to Patric's and before I could even open the car door, I was greeted by the Hornqvists. I missed them so much.

I picked up Isabella as she ran to me. Patric and Malin followed behind.

"Älskling! Det är så bra att se dig!" Malin said as she hugged me.

"Sorry, I haven't been able to keep up with my Swedish lately."

"It's okay, you've had a busy summer. But now you're here, so good times are to be had!" Patric exclaimed as he hugged me. "Thanks, Hags for picking her up."

“Yup, no problem,” he said as he got back in his car.

Patric picked up my suitcase and carried it inside; Malin carried in my carry-on.

“Surely, you’re tired,” Malin said as we walked in the house.

“I am, because your hubby here decided it was okay to book me an overnight flight,” I narrowed my eyes at Patric.

“What? It was the cheaper one!”

“Gee, heaven forbid you splurge on me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, next time.”

I rolled my suitcase down the hallway as Malin showed me the room I’d be staying in.

I laid down on the big comfy bed and called Derick before I passed out.

The jet lag is about to get real, real quick.

---

I swear Carl has asked me to hang out every day since I got here on Saturday.

After relaxing for a few days to catch up on my lost sleep, and the boys showing me around Stockholm, today Patric figured I had had enough of the two of them. He suggested that Malin and I spent the day together.

I haven’t had much girl time in general since moving away from home. I’ve spent most of my days with Derick.

Honestly, I missed my girls.

Malin, Isabella and I spent the day at the Mall of Scandinavia. Boy, we were going to do some damage on Patric’s credit card.

I mean, Derick gave me one of his cards for ‘emergency use’. Shopping is an emergency, right?

One of my favorite places to shop in back home is H&M, and what a place to shop at while in Stockholm: the birthplace of the company.

I found a cute white lace dress and a sparkly black chiffon halterneck dress.

Malin found this black fitted halterneck dress for me to try on.

“Do I have to try it on? It doesn’t look like it would even fit me!” I groaned.

“Do you want to please your man? Ja? Then try it on!” She threw the dress at me and pushed me into a fitting room. “He’d like you in that.”

I tried the dress on. I took a deep breath and I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I’ve always been hard on myself when I tried on tight fitting clothes.

I walked out of the fitting room and showed Malin.

“Du ser fantastisk!” She exclaimed.

I smiled. “Maybe red heels?”

“Bright red lipstick and you’ll knock him off his feet.”

I went back into the fitting room and changed back into my clothes and then finished looking around. I picked up a couple pairs of jeans.

As I was heading toward the check out, I was thinking about where to go to next. ‘That Lindt store sounds good. Who doesn’t like chocolate?’ or ‘Maybe Lush?’ ‘Definitely Michael Kors, I need a new bag.’

The possibilities are endless.

I checked out and we headed toward Michael Kors.

“How much would Derick hate me if I bought another bag?”

Malin shrugged, “There’s no such thing as having too many bags.”

She’s right. Besides, I need accessories to go with my new dresses.

Ever since Derick signed with Ottawa, I’ve been liking the color red more. Red would go perfectly with the dresses.

I found this super cute red jet set saffiano leather crossbody. It was just something simple.

I walked over to the jewelry and started to browse.

“Do I buy myself jewelry or do I leave that up to Derick to buy me it?”

“That sounded like a subtle hint at something,” Malin smirked.

“Was it?” I giggled. “I just like shiny things… you know like the Stanley Cup?”

I passed on the jewelry and checked out.

Now we were headed to meet the boys for lunch.

---

Malin had me call Patric to let him know we were on our way to Nosh and Chow.

“Okay, I made a reservation so they should have a table for us.”

“That’s usually what a reservation means,” I laughed.

“Åh håll käften.” He said under his breath.

“Älskar dig också, Patrick.” I rolled my eyes as I hung up with him.

I might be slacking on my Swedish, but I knew what that meant.

We pulled into the parking lot and went inside to find our table.

“Hornqvist, party of 7?” the hostess asked.

I just figured maybe he either miscounted or they just wrote the wrong number down.

Malin and I ordered ourselves drinks as we waited for the guys to get there.

A few minutes later, Carl walked up to the table.

“Ellie!” Carl exclaimed as he saw me.

“Hi Carl,” I rolled my eyes. “How’s your day?”

“It’s better now that I’m with my favorite people.” He took a seat across from me.

“Don’t you have any other friends?” I joked.

“Nah, who needs friends when you have family?”

Patric joined us at the table. He took a seat next to Malin and gave her a kiss. “Sorry, I’m a little late. Something came up.”

His eyes shifted.

Then all of a sudden, a pair of hands covered my eyes.

They were a familiar pair of hands.

“Surprise!” I heard Liv’s voice.

The hands uncovered my eyes and I turned around to see my best friend and my boyfriend.

“Liv? Derick? You’re in Sweden?” I got up and hugged Liv.

She nodded. “We decided to surprise you and Carl. You surprised?”

I went to hug Derick and gave him a kiss. “You have no idea.”

It was more than I could have ever imagined.