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Dan-Ole had invited a special guest over and hurried to the door as soon as he heard a familiar series of knocks. He opened the door and grinned at the guest in his bird sweater and a reindeer antler headband placed over his strawberry hat.
"There you are, Bertel, come in!"
he said and stepped aside, creating enough room for Bertel to step in. While he'd waited, Dan-Ole had decorated the Christmas tree that now was standing tall and stunning in the corner of his living room. Christmas still meant a lot to him and brought him great joy.
Bertel of course noticed the tree the moment they walked into the living room together, but to Dan-Ole's surprise he recognized it, too.
"Is that.."
"The tree we went to get together from the Christmas tree farm? It is,"
Dan-Ole said and nodded happily. All of a sudden Bertel felt a lump in his throat as he looked at all the different bird-shaped ornaments on the tree.
"I thought you would have given it to your mother,"
he said quickly.
"Oh, no.. She doesn't want a big tree like this. She's more than happy with her little plastic one,"
Dan-Ole explained.
"Well.. You've got a Christmas tree, a nice home, treats and warm drinks.. Everything you could hope for. You didn't need to invite me,"
Bertel noted with a shrug, trying to make it seem like he wouldn't have minded if Dan-Ole never even had invited him. Dan-Ole, of course, was quick to shake his head.
"What? No, I didn't have everything.. But now I do. You see, Bertel.. I was missing my best friend."
His words and tone of voice were genuine.
"I don't deserve you or your friendship, Dan-Ole. You're too good."
As he heard that, Dan-Ole's smile faded a little. Then he exclaimed:
"Go sit down, I'll bring you a drink!"
When he returned a few minutes later with two mugs filled with steaming hot glögg, he got back to the previous topic for a moment:
"Look, Bertel, let's not go there now. We both know you messed up, but there's no reason to go over it again. It's in the past, and now is now. And I don't want anyone to be sad."
After a few seconds of silence, Dan-Ole continued:
"This is the season of feasting and friendship and laughter. And I think we should treat it as exactly that."
He gestured at the plate on the table.
"The pastries, they're from my Mamm and the glögg is store-bought, but I made the cookies myself. Help yourself to anything you like!"
An adoring smile lit up his face as he added:
"Oh! Eva-Lisa is going to be coming here later. Our first Christmas together. We're going to play Christmas bingo! And you're more than welcome to stay and celebrate with us!"
Dan-Ole sounded all happy and bubbly when he talked about the woman he'd met on Botnia Paradise. And Bertel wouldn't have changed anything. As long as Dan-Ole was happy, then he would be fine, as well.