Ohne Dich (Sequel to Stirb Nicht Vor Mir)

Chapter 11

June 20, 1999

I drove over to Neil's house and knocked on his door. When he opened it up, I ran inside and grabbed Ashton, handed him a pen, and made him scribble on the card I got for Neil. 

"Go give it to Daddy," I whispered. 

"DWADDY!" He ran over to Neil and handed him the card. 

"Thank you," He kissed Ashton on the top of the head. "Thanks, Adette."

"Of course."

"But you didn't need to."

"It's 20 dollars, I'll be fine. I'm flying out to Germany today to go see Till and Richard."

"Okay."

"Bye, Ashton," I hugged him. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Bye!" He smiled. "Wove you."

"Love you too," I walked up to Neil and hugged him. "Happy Father's Day; You're a great dad."

I sped off into my car and drove to the airport. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're sure he didn't move, right?" I asked my mom while I was on the phone with her. "I'm in front of his apartment right now."

"Just go knock on it," She told me. "And if he's not there, he's not there."

"Then I'll have to call him and ask him, but I want it to be a surprise."

"Sounds like you're out of luck."

"You're such a help!" I sarcastically screamed.

 "Glad I could be of assistance."

And just like that, the line went dead. I rolled my eyes and slowly walked up to the front door. I pressed my ear to the door and could hear laughing and people speaking in German. I became hopeful as I heard that, but it quickly vanished. I was in fucking Germany; of course people would be speaking German. 

A rush of courage came over me and I rang the doorbell. I heard the locks clicking and the door opened. I sighed in relief as I saw Christoph in the doorway. 

"Adette!" He hugged me. "I have not seen you in forever!"

"I know," I squeezed him, then let him go. "Are Till and Richard here?"

"Till's at his house and Richard went out to the store. I'm watching his kids."

"How sweet. Where's everyone else?"

"Oliver is here, too. Paul and Flake are with Till."

"Are they not speaking to each other?"

"No. By the way, how are you taking things?"

"I'm a little surprised, but I feel bad. I've been avoiding Till and Richard and it needs to stop."

"Come in! He'll be back soon. I'm guessing that you wanted to surprise him?"

I was greeted with hugs from Khira and Merlin. They went back into their rooms and sat down. 

"I feel like Paul, Till, and Richard should be here," I sighed as I sat down on the couch. "I mean, they're the fathers."

"You have to understand that Till and Richard are not speaking to each other."

"I wish that none of this was real, that the whole incident didn't happen. It was right here that I found out Richard was my dad."

"I could just kidnap you and take you away."

"Yeah...you could," I said as my phone buzzed. "Do you mind if I take this?"

"No."

"It'll be really quick," I walked into the bathroom and shut the door, then answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello," Ville said. 

"What's up?"

"Do you have any plans today?"

"I'm actually in Germany right now."

"You're in what?!"

"Germany," I chuckled. "I'm here to see my dad and Rich-I mean my dad and Till. Jesus."

"For Father's Day?"

"Mhm."

"How nice. I'll let you get to it then."

"How about we hang out when I get back?"

"Definitely. When are you getting back?"

"HEY RICHARD!" Christoph shouted loud enough for me to hear. 

"About a week," I whispered. "Richard just got here, I have to go."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye," I put my phone in my pocket and quietly opened up the door. I tiptoed to the kitchen and screamed, "Boo!" as I tapped Richard on the shoulder. 

He yelped, then smiled as soon as he spun around. "Adette? What are you doing here?"

"Happy Father's Day!" I hugged him. 

"Oh, thank you."

"Yeah," I let go of him. 

"When did you get here?"

"A couple of minutes ago."

"I'm glad you're here," He hugged me once again. "Where are my other children?"

"Playing," Christoph replied. 

Oliver came out of the bathroom and smiled as he saw me, then waved. I waved back at him and walked over to the window. 

"It's so green here," I breathed heavily. 

"DONE TAKING A DUMP, OLIVER?!" Christoph shouted, completely ignoring what I just said. 

"What the hell?" Oliver asked causing Christoph to chuckle. 

"You heard me!"

Richard walked up to me. "I've missed you."

"I'm sorry that I haven't really been present."

"Why haven't you?"

"I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"How would you hurt anyone's-"

"Because for the past three years, I have been told that Till was my dad. We grew close and had a father-daughter relationship. I would feel bad if-"

"He caught us acting like father and daughter?"

"Kind of," I quickly covered my mouth realizing what I had just said. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that."

"Tell me you're joking!" Richard raised his voice. 

"You have to understand where I'm coming from, though."

"I'm your father, not fucking Till! TILL ISN'T YOUR FATHER!"

I flinched and started shaking violently. Christoph must've noticed because he came rushing over. 

"Richard, chillax," He put his hand on Richard's shoulder. 

"Don't tell me to FUCKING CHILLAX!"

Oliver tapped me on the shoulder and mouthed, "Let's go". He could tell that I was uncomfortable, so I walked out of there and he drove me somewhere. When we arrived, I felt guilty and ashamed.