“Mom! We’re going to be late!”
The voices sounded distant, unreal. How could she be late for anything when she was swimming around a deserted island underwater, while her two sons played in the white sand with the gold they found on the abandoned pirate ship? Oh, my God! This is a dream! The early morning mass! She sat up so quickly in bed that she got dizzy.
Viktor looked at her with red eyes from crying.
“It’s starting in ten minutes. We’re definitely going to be late,” he whispered, his voice choked with despair.
Bettina didn’t respond, she just stroked her son’s face. A minute and a half later, they were running hand in hand down the cold, dark street towards the church. They didn’t end up being late. The woman, not wanting anyone to see the hem of her pajamas peeking out from under her sweatpants, her messy hair, or her puffy eyes swollen from sleep, sat in the middle row, by the column. That’s when she noticed that she could barely see. In her rush, she had forgotten her glasses on the nightstand. For a moment, she thought enviously of her older son sleeping at home, then felt ashamed of herself. Viktor had only asked for this one thing. He said he would do anything, any household chore his mother asked, as long as he could attend the early morning masses this year. And those were strong words coming from an eight-year-old boy. Bettina had immediately said yes, without hesitation. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that, as a single mother with a high-powered job, this wouldn’t be an easy task. She didn’t realize that she was facing the longest and most exhausting Advent season of her life. The seriousness with which her son had stood before her and made his request had overridden everything else.
In his own way, Benedek, her older son, also contributed to the Advent preparations. By the time Bettina and Viktor got home, he had already prepared breakfast and a snack for his little brother, and even made his bed. He never told anyone that he did this out of guilt. It wasn’t important anyway. No one asked why he wasn’t going with his brother and mother.
Even though the school was only a few stops away from their home, Bettina barely made it to the office a few minutes before her shift started because her workplace was in the opposite direction. She wasn’t ready for the boys to walk on their own yet. To pick them up from aftercare on time, she skipped her lunch break. She never asked the CEO if she could leave early. Everyone knew she was raising her children alone. They also knew her parents had passed away, so she had no one to help with the boys or around the house. At just under forty, Bettina had no time for relaxation or dating. After all, she couldn’t bring her children along on a date.
“We were thinking of taking the kids to the Lego exhibition,” said the secretary, taking a seat next to two other colleagues in the small kitchen.
“Your kids will love it,” Bettina’s assistant agreed.
“I think so too. Both of them love building. Even my daughter, and she’s already twelve.”
“Then Legoland would be perfect for them,” the HR assistant chimed in. “Have you thought about that?”
“I don’t know. It hasn’t come up yet. But I imagine it’s quite expensive.”
“It’s probably not cheap, but ask Bettina. She knows all about it; she took her boys there this summer,” Bettina’s assistant suggested.
“Really?” the secretary raised her eyebrows.
“That’s right,” the HR assistant said, thoughtfully. “I remember seeing the photos on her social media.”
“Well, it’s easy for her,” the secretary remarked with a biting tone. “With a salary like hers, she didn’t have to think about it much.”
“Yeah,” the HR assistant nodded. “Management has no idea what kind of problems the employees have.”
The other two nodded in agreement.
“What are you doing this weekend?” the secretary asked.
“The kids are going to my parents’, so my husband and I are taking advantage of it and heading to the mountains before the Christmas madness hits,” the HR assistant boasted.
“Good idea! Speaking of which, why don’t we go over to my desk and look at some decorations? I want to decorate the house with something new this year.”
“Let’s go!” Bettina’s assistant exclaimed excitedly. “I don’t have much to do today. Bettina’s got her hands full again, so she doesn’t have time to coordinate with me. At least I won’t spend as much time playing that candy game on my laptop,” she laughed cheerfully.