Through Blood

Chapter 6: Love

The deep snow had settled and the top layer had become frosty. Liesel had called that morning to say that she needed to talk and she sounded worried. Ivy walked to Liesel's house; every step she took crunched through the sparkling white surface. Despite her long wool coat, her legs were cold. It reminded her of her Bund Deutscher Mädel days.

Back then, she had only been allowed to wear her woolen uniform skirt, which reached her knees. With nothing but plain undergarments underneath and long wool socks, whenever there was wind, her thighs would freeze. All the girls had disliked the uniform in the Winter, yet whenever they complained they were punished. "Ladies in the Third Reich do not wear trousers! They wear dresses and skirts. You are cold? Toughen up! You are German, you are from the North, be strong, embrace the cold! If I hear one more complain, you are all going without supper tonight!" the group leader shouted after several girls complained they couldn't feel their legs.

"Are you well? Is everything alright?" Ivy asked once inside the large, luxurious house. Liesel was one of those people who had always had it all. Growing up, anything she desired or wanted, no matter how expensive or unnecessary, she had gotten. The only thing she never really had was her parents. Her mother, Nadine, had never given her much attention, she spent her days shopping and gossiping with her upper-class friends. She wasn't a bad mother, but she wasn't a good one either. Her father, on the other hand, loved Liesel dearly. He also loved his career, and ever since he became a member of the Nazi party and joined the SS, he devoted a lot more time to his job than his family. It was a common occurrence for Liesel to be home alone with her Rottweiler Bär, and sometimes with the maids. She had been practically raised by the household's maids and servants.

"I think so, thank you for coming. I have something to tell you, didn't want to say it over the telephone," Liesel said.

They sat by the bright fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and petting Bär. "Will you tell me now, what happened?" Ivy asked.
"I did it. I went to the Lebensborn clinic. I might be pregnant," Liesel stared into her cup.
Ivy gasped. "Why did you go without me? Why didn't you didn't tell me? I wanted to go with you!"
"I'm sorry. I know you wanted to be there for me, but I just had to go alone."
"What happens now?" Ivy asked.
"Depends. If I'm pregnant, they said I'll marry the father of the baby, if I'm not pregnant, they will try again," Liesel replied.

"I thought you'd marry the man before... you know... having sex with him," Ivy said.
"I thought so as well, but I didn't even have sex with him. I don't know who he is. There was no attachment, no physical contact, just a nurse and..." she sighed.
"Why must you marry him, a stranger, and only after being pregnant? It's so... nontraditional."
"I don't care who he is, I don't have to love him or even like him. We only meet if I'm pregnant, if I pass that test. They wouldn't want to marry him to a barren woman. What use am I to him if I'm unable to produce children? Our child won't be born a bastard, he'll be born to a married couple," Liesel told her what the director of the Lebensborn clinic had explained.

"Do your parents know?" Ivy asked.
"No. If I'm pregnant, I'll marry him, and they'll know then. They don't have to know the pregnancy preceded the marriage, and it's expected for the bride to become a mother soon afterwards," Liesel said.
"You've really thought this through."
"I have."
"I'm happy for you, you're doing the right thing. Our Führer would be so proud of you," Ivy hugged her best friend. Liesel sobbed into Ivy's shoulder.
"It's okay, everything will be okay," Ivy assured her.

~

The full moon shone bright and the sky was a bright amber. It was a calm Sunday and also New Years Eve. Snowflakes flew past the windows as the wind carried them away. Uli put the twins to bed, although it took reading Rapunzel thrice before they both fell asleep.