Sophia

  I was now almost seven months pregnant. The baby was doing its best to kick up a fuss, and Lucas loved it. He wanted to feel every kick from our little one. Every day he read from his old fairy tale book so the baby would get to know his voice.

  It was growing like crazy. According to my doctor, it was perfectly healthy , something that relieved me enormously. This morning we had started filming early. We were a bit ahead of schedule, so I could really go on maternity leave at seven or eight months. My filming days were already being scaled back.

  Next week we would sail to London. I would go there privately because I wanted to meet the famous guests. I had no filming days ,it would be filmed as a family reunion during fashion week for the now-pregnant Linda.

  Angela Schijf would reprise her role as the poisonous snob Martine, which I thought was really nice. She is such an incredibly sweet woman. Still, my greatest excitement was for the international guests: Videoland had managed to get none other than Johnny Depp to play Linda's uncle, alongside David Tennant as the second uncle. I couldn't wait to meet them.

  Hannah's absence would be easily explained: only family was welcome. They had a month to film, and after that there would be a break until my delivery.

  This last filming week was tough on me. I had to sit down more and more often. Alexander, who was still playing the youngest in the family, was incredibly sweet. Every time I needed to rest, he brought me a glass of water and a chocolate.

  "Hang in there just a bit longer, auntie Sopje," he would say, and sometimes he muttered softly to his cousin in my belly. He was absolutely convinced I was having a boy. Lucas was hoping for a girl, one that looked just like me.

  I didn't care. In the last weeks, I often dreamed about my baby. Mostly they were nice dreams: I held a bundle of blankets and rocked gently back and forth.

  In almost every dream it was a girl. When I told Joyce that, she said it must be prophetic. We'd see. We didn't want to know the gender. That would come at the birth.

  After hours of filming, my last day was finally over. Lucas came over to me.

  "Are you two holding up okay?" he asked.

  I nodded. "Yes, but I'm really glad to be done now," I said.

  "I get that, yeah," he said. "Tomorrow to London," he said. "Excited?"

  I nodded. "Absolutely."

  The evening together at home was wonderful. Lucas had cooked for me. Something he was really good at. But because of my upbringing, I usually did it. He sometimes told me that if he hadn't become a director, he would have gone for chef.

  "We haven't talked about names yet," he said after dinner.

  I snuggled up to him. "No. Isn't it about time, don't you think?" I replied.

  He nodded and placed his hand, as always, on my belly. "A girl: Sophia Jr. or Sophie," he began.

  I laughed softly. "No. If this is a she, she needs her own identity," I said. "Nikki, Loena, or if you think that's too dutch Harry Potter: Luna."

  He shook his head. "Everyone and their dog names their kid Luna. Ten years ago that was beautiful. But according to Jonas, there are 15 Lunas at his school."

  I smiled softly. "Julia?" I suggested.

  "No, I don't like it," he said. "Jill?"

  I nodded. "Not totally sure, but possible. Emma?"

  Lucas wrinkled his nose. "No."

  He looked thoughtful. "Melissa? Or Lucy."

  I nodded. "Lucy. Yeah, I like that one."

  "Lucy Sophie de Witte?" he asked.

  "Yes, I like that. If it's a girl."

  I looked at him. "A boy?"

  He thought for a moment. "John, Joey, Martijn. Peter, after your brother."

  I shook my head. "No. Hmm, Michel?"

  Lucas shook his head. "Daniel? Danny?"

  I nodded. "Dannie, pronounced in Flemish with a soft a: dan-nie."

  Lucas smiled. "Yeah, I like that one too. Dannie de Witte. So it'll be Lucy Sophie or Dannie," he said.

  He kissed me and then gently stroked my belly.

  "Hear that?" he asked.

  Then he picked up his fairy tale book again. "Where were we?" he asked. "Oh yeah, The Little Mermaid."

  For a quarter of an hour, he read to the baby.

  "You know," I said. "You have to keep doing that, even when it's here," I said. "It's so sweet to see you read."

  I stroked his hair. "You're going to be such an amazing dad."

  He laughed. "You think?"

  I nodded. "Yes, I think so. You're already amazing now."

  He took me in his arms. "Yeah, but now that little one is still in your beautiful, sweet body."

  I nestled into his arms. "Don't sell yourself short, Luuk. You're going to be amazing."

  The next morning we boarded the ferry in Hoek van Holland. Lucas, Jonas, and Sam immediately jumped onto the bow for an extremely cheesy Titanic imitation. Jonas had his arms around Lucas, and Lucas channeled his inner Kate Winslet.

  "I'm flying!" he shouted in a high voice.

  Sam and Jonas sang the Come Josephine song.

  Lucas turned to Jonas and quickly kissed him on the mouth, which elicited a collective EWWW from the kids. Grinning, the boys walked our way.

  "When we go back Back, huh Joon, you can be Jack again," Lucas said grinning. "But then AFTER the iceberg."

  Lucas bellowed teasingly.

  "Don't mind daddy and uncle Jonas. They're acting a bit crazy," I said, stroking my belly.

  "Yeah, that's fine," Jonas shouted. "Then I want a 'I'll never let go, Jack!' from Sam!" he burst into. laughter. "Deal." Sam said

  "What will your son think, Jonas?" Joyce shouted, pretending to be indignant.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "That his dad and uncle dare to have fun with each other, my love."

  I sat up straighter in the lounger.

  "How's my future nephew or niece?" Jonas asked.

  "Busy. I think it just giggled at daddy and uncle Jonas too," I said.

  "How does that feel?" Jonas asked.

  "Oh yeah, Now you want to know cause its her. But Alexander? No!" Joyce snapped.

  "What?" Jonas shouted. "You could have asked me too with Alexander."

  Lucas shook his head. "That's different, Joyce. That's your own child, then you want to feel it yourself," he said. "I'm not even thinking of asking my sophia stuff like that."

  Said Lucas.

  Joyce snorted a bit frustrated through her nose. "To answer you: it feels like little jolts from the inside," I explained.

  "Little?" Joyce shouted. "That's going to be a girl, really. Alex kicked sometimes really viciously. Sharp, that was. Even slightly painful."

  "Look mom! That's Hannah!" I heard a girl shout a bit further away.

  I had taken over Hannah's habit: walking in wide sweaters. We wanted to keep the baby a secret until it was born. And then announce it in an interview.

  I stood up quickly — well, as quickly as I could. The girl ran our way.

  "Are you really Hannah?" the girl asked. Her green eyes sparkled. "My mom says no."

  "Rachel!" I suspect her mother shouted from a bit further away.

  "What do you mean exactly?" I asked.

  "Are you really the lady who plays Hannah in Hannah's Chaos?"

  I nodded. "Yes, that's me," I said. "And see there," I said, pointing to the loungers. "There sit the people who play Linda, James, and Jan."

  Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Cool!"

  I laughed softly. "Are Jannik, Cara, and Mick here too?" she asked.

  I nodded. "Yes, we're on our way to London. We're going to film parts there," I explained.

  "So cool!" the girl shouted. "I just think it's lame that Linda is having a baby."

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Then Hannah will be even busier!"

  I laughed softly. "Hannah doesn't mind that," I said.

  "What's your real name?" the girl asked. "The credits go so fast. And the opening too."

  I laughed softly. "My name is Sophia," I said.

  The girl nodded. "Pretty name," she said. "Thank you."

  The girl's mother shouted that it was enough.

  "But mom, I want to ask more!"

  I looked at the woman. "I don't mind," I said.

  "Okay then, Rachel. Five more minutes," the woman said.

  The girl fired a few more questions at me, which I tried to answer. Lucas came to stand by me soon.

  "Who do we have here?" he asked.

  "A fan," I said.

  Lucas nodded. "Who is he?" she asked.

  "This is my husband Lucas. He created the series and is our director."

  The girl looked a bit confused. "Isn't that a police officer? Like Eva and Wolfs?"

  I had to laugh at that. Lucas knelt down next to her.

  "No, that's detective. I get it. They're two difficult words."

  I enjoyed this. "I just sit next to the camera people and tell everyone what to do."

  The girl nodded. "But do you like Eva too?" he asked.

  The girl nodded. "That's why I started watching Hannah's Chaos. Because Mrs. Angela was in it."

  He smiled briefly. "She's coming back, you know? She's even on the boat."

  The girl's mouth fell wide open. "Shall we see if she has time?"

  He looked at the girl's mother, who nodded softly. "Stay here, I'll go get her."

  Lucas stood up and left for a moment. Rachel's mother came to stand by me.

  "He's sure to be a good dad," she said.

  "He will be, yes," I said smiling.

  "Oh, no kids?"

  I looked at the woman. "Not yet, no. But almost," I said, looking at my oversized sweater.

  "Ooh, I get it now. That's why Linda is pregnant. And Hannah suddenly wears those huge sweaters."

  I blushed a bit.

  "Rachel will love that," she giggled.

  Lucas had managed to bring Angela along. She was very sweet and patient with little Rachel.

  "Pretty impressive," I said. "That she already understands that what she sees on TV is almost never real," I said.

  "Well, she's 7, so she gets things quickly. She wants to be an actress too, thanks to Angela there and you."

  I laughed softly.

  For another quarter hour, Rachel chatted with almost everyone from the cast. She thought it was a bit weird that Joyce wasn't really pregnant. The woman took Rachel away soon. I walked back to the others.

  "You know, Luuk," I said, putting my arms around his neck. "You will be a good dad after all."

  I kissed him. "I hope so," he said, placing his hand on my belly.

  "I was wondering why you're not in the script," Angela said laughing.

  "How far along are you?" she asked.

  "Seven months," I answered.

  "Ah. While it's still fun," she said with a slight grin. "Don't mind me, enjoy it."

  We decided to sit at a table with everyone.

  "Do you know what the baby is?" Angela asked.

  "It's a boy," Alex shouted confidently.

  I shook my head laughing. "No, we don't know yet. We want to know only when it's born."

  Alex looked angry for a moment. "It's a boy!" he shouted again.

  Joyce laughed softly. "He wants to play with his cosin," she answered.

  "Oh yeah, I get that. Girls can't play, right?" Angela said to Alex.

  He nodded wildly.

  For about three hours we speculated about my baby, about what would happen in London, whether we had worked with celebrities of that caliber before.

  Lucas talked about the film he was making about the war in Aruba and how he experienced it. But the funniest was when Angela told that when she was temporarily done in Maastricht, she would sign up with a random amateur group for auditions with the craziest names.

  "What was your craziest name?" Jonas asked.

  "I was once Truus van Achter, uh Pien Niegezien. Flora de Hond. But I think my masterpiece was Truija Mechels."

  the names were quite funny. they translated to Truus From behind. Pien notseen and Truija could be translated as sweatery Mechels

  Everyone had to laugh at that. We docked soon.

  "Who wants a cup of tea?" Lucas shouted teasingly.

  "Well dear, I could go for a cuppa," Angela said in such a perfect English accent that you almost thought she was from there.

  Laughing, we grabbed our stuff.

  A tour bus was waiting on the quay.

  "Oeehh, school trip," Jonas shouted. "Are we hiding again when mom and dad come pick us up, Lucas?" he teased.

  "Oh yeah. You go hide comfortably in that bus for a month," Lucas teased back.

  "Hey torlers. I want to go to bed," Joyce shouted, climbing into the bus.

  "Todlers! Us?" Jonas shouted, climbing after her. "Well Lucas, she thinks we're todlers."

  I saw Lucas' eyes light up mischievously. I knew he was up to something.

  "Then we can act like it, right?"

  Lucas climbed onto his brother's back and together they started singing children's songs.

  "I shouldn't have said that," Joyce shouted, collapsing into a chair.

  "Look what you've done, Luuk," Jonas shouted overly dramatic. "She's turned into Hagrid."

  With some effort I got into the bus too. "Enough boys." I was pretty tired just like Joyce.

  "Are you okay?" Lucas asked. "Sophia?"

  I nodded. "Just tired."

  He climbed off Jonas' back and walked over to me.

  "How long is the drive?" he asked the driver.

  "An hour or two."

  He nodded and sat next to me. "I'll behave, darling," he said, pulling me against him.

  "You should try that sometime," I heard Joyce snap at Jonas.

  I didn't catch the rest of the ride, I must have fallen asleep.