Welcome, Hippolina!

Today Hippolina is coming to stay with Mother, Father, my brother Paul and I. In case you didn't know, my name is Portia Peachblossom. 

Dad has told us to not be nervous, that Hippolina is probably more nervous about her stay than we are and if we're nervous, she'll get nervous and then we'll all feel especially nervous and... you get the picture. 

That is why we are gathered in the living room acting normal.

Father has prepared everything for our tea.  

Paul is telling his penguin a penguin story, Mother is cross-stitching and I am multitasking. I am stroking our cat Aster with one hand and putting a beautiful pink necklace around my sheep's head with the other while telling it to behave. My sheep can get very naughty around visitors.

Suddenly the doorbell rings.

We all jump up and gather around facing the front door. 

"I'm so excited, I've never had a sister before!" Paul cries out. 

"You numpty!" I hiss at him, "What about ME??" 

"Aw Portia, you know what I mean - of course I have a sister, but we've never had a test sister before, have we?

Paul is right about that. I am so excited to have another girl in the house from now on. I can't wait to give Hippolina a welcome hug.

But trust the parents to be all patient and grown-uppy and to really take their time welcoming each other first. *sigh*  
In come Teresa Babblebrook and little Toby and the mothers exchange hugs and kisses.

Troy Babblebrook and Hippolina enter the living room behind them. Hippolina is wearing a pretty blue dress with pink and white flowers on it.

"Hello Hippolina!" I say, "How was your trip to Africa? You've got a lovely tan!"

Hippolina smiles at me and says, "It was awesome and thank you. You are the first to notice." 
And then she blushes a little, so I am feeling really good about myself and like I have broken the ice with her already,

when all of a sudden she turns around and leans into Troy Babblebrook. 

And when I think things can't possibly get any worse, she starts crying the most enormous tears I have ever seen another person cry.

"There, there," says Teresa and the Babblebrooks lean in for a group hug with Hippolina in the middle.  What is going on??

"Don't worry, children, it's just hard for her to say goodbye," Mother whispers to Paul and me, as if she were reading my mind.

The Babblebrooks leave because they don't want to postpone the inevitable and Hippolina gets a huge mother bear hug from my mother Orangine. Paul has suddenly pushed himself in front of me, so I contemplate pinching his dumb little tail in revenge, but then I think of my sheep doll and I stop myself. I have to set a good example.

Paul hugs Hippolina

  

and then it is finally my turn to give her my first test-sister-embrace.

After all the hellos and goodbyes and the crying and welcoming, Mother takes Hippolina by the hand and leads her to our comfy sofa. Aster joins her immediately and looks at her curiously.

"Oh Aster," I say jokingly, "have you never seen a hippo before?" (She probably hasn't...)

Dad is preparing our drinks.

Paul and I fetch something to eat 

and Mother chooses something for Hippolina. The Babblebrooks have told her she likes brioche with strawberry jam.

"I do hope you enjoy our homemade iced tea," says Patrick, our father. 

"Oh yes, thank you, I like it very much," replies Hippolina in a very well-mannered way. "In fact," she adds, "iced tea is my favourite drink."

And then we all tuck in. 

Hippolina seems to be relieved at the kind of food we eat. I wonder what she has been fed at some of the other families' houses?

I realise we should have test siblings over more often, since Mother and Father have made a special effort with our meal and we don't usually have muffins and brioche and puff pastries for tea...

Paul feeds his penguin another toy salmon.

And another one. 

(Well, actually, it's the same one.)

Hippolina seems to have a healthy appetite.

Mother has already finished and is having her belly massaged by Aster.

There is no food left on the dining room table - oh yes, a white chocolate muffin. Do you want it?

Hippolina and I draw some pictures and Paul listens to our conversation while cuddling the cat.

"I like your flower," Hippolina tells me. 

"Your bear looks good too," I reciprocate, after looking at her sketch. 

"Thanks," says Hippolina, "it is a picture of you."

After a while Hippolina stands up on top of a sofa cushion and looks at the family photos on our wall.

"I wonder whether I'll ever take pictures like that with a family of my own," she sighs.

"Of course you will, Hippolina! You just wait and see. You'll have at least one photo with every family you've ever tested, I'm sure, and then countless pictures with the family where you decide to stay! That's more family photos than we could even fit onto this wall!" I explain enthusiastically and Hippolina gives me a wide and happy smile.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS STORY!

GREETINGS FROM HIPPOLINA AND THE PEACHBLOSSOMS AND

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEK.

🍮 🍩 🍹 🍪 🍹 🍩 🍮

Quackie Takes Care

🍃 🍪 🎅 🍪 🍃

I greatly enjoy watching the Periwinkles in their home, even when they are sleeping. It's very relaxing to me. 

If you like, you can come along. It's very late though, so please be quiet and mind your step.

Jemima is asleep...

  ...and so are her parents. 

The Periwinkles have made some changes to the interior, see? They have turned the knitting/reading room into a room for the cats. 

The cats seem to be awake. Molly is sitting inside a green cat cube and Pip is staring at a large piece of kitty paté. Outside on the balcony, a squirrel is scuttling past the window.

Let me show you some more changes. I can't turn on the light though, I'm sorry. I don't want to wake anyone up.

See how the Periwinkles have rearranged their bathroom? 

The toilet is on the left side now and they have attached a light next to the door. They have also added a shelf and a picture of a rose. 

The bathtub is in the far right corner now and they have placed a pink shower curtain next to it for more privacy.

Here you can see the sink and a little cupboard next to it. James has placed a shiny white vase with a yellow flower in it on top.

Have a look at the new decoration of the sitting room. Julie is crazy about reindeer this christmas. 

No, do NOT touch those cookies. *slap!*

Sorry, but the cupcake, cookies and hot cocoa are for Saint Nicholas. Jemima placed them there before going to bed. She has heard that children in Germany receive sweets or other gifts from Saint Nicholas if they leave their cleaned shoes in front of their bedroom door on the night of the 5th of december.

Jemima did not place her shoes outside of her bedroom. They are definitely too small to put anything inside (apart from baby rabbit feet), but she is hoping he will come anyway, attracted by the smell of pastries and hot chocolate.

While we're downstairs, let's enter the kitchen, too. 

Looks like James's dirty shirt inside the clothes basket. -Okay, that is really  boring, sorry about that...

But how about that; on the kitchen cupboard on the left there are two more of Julie's reindeer. These are white to match the picture of the chicken.

And someone has attached a christmas wreath on the wall next to the window.

On our way back upstairs, let's have a look at the family photos.

Now we are back in Jemima's room. Quackie creeps out from under Jemima's blanket. She has heard a noise. Four noises to be exact. They sounded like this: SWISH, SWISH, SPLAT, CLONK!!!

Somebody has to check that everything is in order. So, Quackie jumps out of the bed and lands on her - *ouch!* - beak.

Quackie passes by Hans, who fell from the rocking horse as he fell asleep and says to herself, "Useless, this teddy. You can't rely on him for anything."

As she reaches the bedroom door she starts to feel a little sick. What if the door is closed? She would never be able to reach the handle! It's too far up.

She's in luck. The door is ajar and she manages to push it open.

Quackie looks at James and Julie who are fast asleep beneath their blankets and snoring.

She tiptoes across the carpet.

She wishes she could be back in bed with Jemima. Her feet are getting cold.

She lets herself tumble down the step that leads into the cat's room. 

"Oh dear, this is going to be a looong night," she sighs.

As she crosses the cat's room she snorts disparagingly. "Useless, these kittens," she thinks, "you can't rely on them for anything."

Then she reaches the top of the staircase that leads to the ground floor. *gulp!* 
Did you just hear that? I did...

"Don't look down, just DO it," Quackie encourages herself and then leans forward for the fall.

Her feet are too short to walk the steps, so there is no other way down than to tumble. Quackie is almost there.

Ouch!!

Quackie is excited. Somebody has brought them a large sack full of goodies. "Presents are always welcome," Quackie thinks.

But then she looks to the other side of the room and sees someone in a red hat lying on the floor munching one of the cookies that were meant for Saint Nicholas. 

"Hey you!!" rants Quackie. "What DO you think you're doing??"

The elf - because that's what the guy in the red hat is - looks at Quackie. I can hear him swallow loudly. 

"Oopsie," he mumbles.

"Are you the dog?" he asks and Quackie scoffs. "No, I'm the duck! And you better get out of here, mister! These snacks were meant for Saint Nicholas."

"Sorry, Ma'am," the elf says respectfully. "I'm Elmar. Saint Nicholas put me in charge of  Riverside tonight and I was really tired, since it was the last house on my route and this last sack was particularly heavy, because Jemima P. has been such a good rabbit all year, so... I just thought I'd lie down a bit and then I got hungry and thought I'd have a teeny bite. I'm sorry..."

"Okay, okay, enough with the explaining. Just put the plate on the floor now, please." Quackie orders.

As Quackie starts to eat the cupcake, Elmar sighs and quietly thanks the heavens, thinking he will probably get out of this house unscathed, after all.

After Quackie has finished all the food, he watches as she downs the entire cup of cocoa. 

"Now I feel better!" she says to the elf and burps loudly.

"Or not..." she mutters, as she burps again and falls over from pangs of indigestion. 

"You!" she says to Elmar. "You have to carry me back upstairs. I can't walk like this..."

Molly and Pip have eaten the kitty paté. Instead of it, there is now a blue toy mouse lying on the plate.

As the little elf enters the cat's room holding Quackie, the two kittens stare at him curiously. Elmar feels uneasy. 

"Sylvanians!" he thinks to himself, as he enters the parents' bedroom. He is hoping Quackie won't awaken them with her continuous burping.

Done! He is almost inside Jemima's room and everyone has remained sound asleep. Saint Nicholas would be proud of him.

In Jemima's room, Quackie tells him to stack Jemima's chairs on top of her table, so he can climb up and lay her into Jemima's crib. 

Let's come back in the morning...

🌞⛄🌞⛄🌞⛄

James walks up the stairs in his pijamas and wishes Julie a good morning. He has some news.

"Saint Nicholas was here over night!" he tells her. 

"Oh, that's wonderful!" says Julie.

"Let's go and tell Jemima right away! She'll be over the moon!"

 

 

The parents jerk back in astonishment as they enter Jemima's room and see that there is something green and red inside her bed.

It's little Elmar the elf and he is still holding on to Quackie, just like last night when he carried her back into Jemima's cot where he fell asleep next to the little rabbit girl.

The Periwinkles' facial expressions shift between incredulousness, surprise and amusement.

Elmar holds Quackie in front of his face as if to 

shield himself from their glares and says, 

"Oopsie."

THE END

P.S.: I made Elmar the elf from Fimo.

P.P.S.: Quackie and I wish you a wonderful Saint Nicholas' Day.