Chapter 13: Pop! Goes the question!

(I ended up speeding up ahead in the storyline setting, in part due to the fact I'm not really the best when it comes to taking pictures.)

A few months had passed. The two families seemed to now have almost a sense of one.

Though Karen and Arvid remained together, Karen had better accepted her father dating her boyfriend's mother.

It was as Karl said. There was no point in making a fuss if Lief and Josefin were happy.

She was still reluctant about it. And coming events would make it even harder for her.

Chapter 12: Are You Frozen By Fear?

Although Lief was one to spend a good amount of time with Karen lately, still he managed to set apart some time for his other children.

Sadly, Karl was getting to that point in his life where he was starting to want to distance himself from his father. Most of their conversations seemed to dwindle off and go nowhere.

Lief didn't blame him, though. He remembered when he himself was on the cusp of adolescence. All he hoped for was that Karl didn't turn into a troublemaker when he reached his teen years.

After Karl went to a friend's house, Lief found himself with no one to talk to. Karen and Arvid were out at the movies, Kristin was sleeping, and Josefin was working overtime.

Then, he realized there was someone he could talk to.

Even if that someone wasn't one for socializing.

Chapter 11: Doesn't That Just Burn You Up?

It wasn't long before the Oss family had already spent an entire day living under the same roof as the Helgasons.

Much to Lief and Josefin's delight, the boys were already bonding quite well with Karen's siblings. Admittedly, Edvin and Arvid were at a loss as to how to change a diaper.

Other than that, though, things went quite well.

Edvin enjoyed playing Peek-a-boo and This Little Piggy with Kristin. So much so, that he actually dreaded having to leave for work.

As for Arvid and Karl, theirs was a more subtle but no less important relationship.

It rather baffled Arvid, having to know that Karl's studies were far too advanced for a boy his age. Nevertheless, he was willing to help him out however he could.

But not everything was completely without a hitch.

Chapter 10: Moving Day

For the next few weeks or so, things between Lief and Josefin were amazing.

Lief was sure Karen was hoping something would go wrong. But unfortunately for her, things between the two adults couldn't be better.

So good, that Lief decided now was a good time to merge the families.

Not in the marital sense, of course. Lief felt he was going to hold back on that for now.

The father of three decided to wait a little while longer.The last time he rushed into marriage, the result was obvious.

This time around, Lief was going to try a different approach. The next chance he got off of work, he drove up to the Oss house.

As if by some stroke of luck, Josefin was there.

"Hey, pretty lady," He greeted her with an admittedly cheesy sentiment. "So I was wondering..."

"Yes?" The way Josefin looked at him was a mix of hopefulness and confusion.

"I know we haven't been dating that long, but I was hoping that maybe, I don't know..." Lief never understood why it was so hard to talk to her about such big commitments. He soon decided to take the "mince-no-words" approach.

"Josefin, would you and yours like to move in with me and mine?" Now that the request was out, Lief was afraid she would reject him and laugh at him.

Chapter 9: Always Ask For Permission First

In all honesty, Lief was not entirely sure why he did it. Talking to a dead man seemed strange.

But then again, it felt like it was the right thing to do. After all, Josefin was another man's wife before Lief came along.

When Lief knew for sure his children were all asleep, he left to go to the cemetery.

It had taken some time, due to the massive amount of gravestones, but he found the man he was looking for.

But now that he found the guy, what was there to say?