Sophia

  Everything suddenly had to go into overdrive due to my pregnancy and Lucas's upcoming departure to Aruba. We quickly had an appointment with Nicole. Lucas had told her that necessary changes had to take place. She wanted to discuss that personally with him, and Lucas thought I should be there too.

  Nervously, I walked behind him. "Lucas," Nicole said kindly and lightly flirtatious again. "Sophia. What a surprise. Come in." She sounded a bit disappointed that I was there too. "She likes you," I whispered to Lucas. "But I agree with that, you're cute." He took my hand and kissed it. "Not half as cute as you."

  We sat down at Nicole's desk. "Lucas, I'll get straight to the point. I'm a bit worried," she said. "Why?" he asked. "Necessary changes... The series is running like a train; too big changes can derail it." She sighed. "What happened? What needs to change?"

  Lucas smiled. "I've decided that the Klein family is getting a baby. This is necessary," he said, taking my hand. "Okay, so no extreme change. An extra baby is fine. Man, you scared me. But why 'must' this happen?" Nicole asked. Lucas looked from her to me. "Sophia here,is pregnant."

  Nicole's face lit up. "Well, congratulations!" She stood up and kissed me three times. "How amazing! How far along are you? Is it healthy?" I laughed a little. "Three months and perfectly healthy," I answered relieved. "How are you going to handle it from here?" she asked. "Sophia will be hidden under big sweaters and behind bags and props. I'm planning to have Linda Klein have a fourth child. That will be our child, so the baby can be with us—at least if there's a third season."

  Nicole nodded. "And how's this season going?" she asked. "Now I have inspiration for the rest. Were done; the rest will come naturally now. I'll have Linda discover the pregnancy in episode 20. Before that, we'll already explain why Hannah starts wearing big sweaters. I just want assurance that she can take it easier if needed," Lucas said. "Yes, of course. That goes without saying. I was even thinking of a small work trip," Nicole said. "We can put that in next season to explain why Hannah isn't there," she called out enthusiastically.

  "Is that already confirmed then?" Lucas asked. "Oh yes, four even. As long as there's enough inspiration, we look per season. No fixed stranglehold contract, but we have approval up to four. And the budget is doubled. You have gold in your hands. My boss even said you're moving from Net5 to RTL, right after ‘as the world’ next season."

  This was a bit too much. I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes to make the world stop spinning. "Sophia, are you okay?" Nicole asked. "Phi!" Lucas called in mild panic. His hand rested on my shoulder. I nodded. "Yes, yes. Just a bit much all at once. It made me dizzy for a moment," I said laughing.

  "That's okay, I understand." Nicole gave me a cup of ice-cold water. "Alright then. So seven more months?" I nodded. "I'm at six, then I'll finish season two in two months. Maybe shorter," Lucas said. "Then we can start three in three months, so we can take a break for our baby," he explained.

  "Yes, that's fine. I'll come by to see it when it's born," Nicole cooed. "A baby." She looked tenderly. "I'm too much of a career woman," she said smiling as she looked at me again. "Enjoy it, Sophia. You can have both—career and a little family. I'm a bit jealous, honestly."

  Relieved, we went home. Everything was arranged. In breakneck speed, the last four episodes had to be filmed. It was quite an exciting setting. We filmed a small piece outside with Jetty Maturain and my old dinner lady Priya, who played the hilarious sisters Malti and Manisha. They lived opposite each other and next to the Kleins. We had convinced the neighbors to let us use their gardens.

  "Do you know, Malti, what I heard now?" Jetty began mischievously. "No! What is it this time?" Lucas always let the ladies go—that gave the funniest effects. They made up the biggest nonsense, which actually made us all laugh. This time Jetty made up that the nanny and the butler from next door seemed awfully cozy, and that it wasn't 'clean as a whistle.'

  Priya piled on. "No, that's definitely not clean.” They even say that kid of theirs, Jannik, is theirs. Imagine!" Grinning, Lucas called that they were done. The goal of their characters was that they gossiped about everything, but what they said was never right.

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  "That was great, ladies, thank you again," Lucas said. He took me in his arms. "Then all that's left is Linda's pregnancy test," he said.

  "Yeah, why are you doing that anyway?" Jetty asked. "I thought three is enough for that family, right?" Lucas nodded. "Absolutely, but if one of the actresses gets pregnant, we have to get creative," he explained.

  "Is Joyce really pregnant then?" Priya asked. Lucas looked at me for a moment, his gaze full of love and happiness. "No, not Joyce," he said, his eyes sparkling as he looked at me. "You guys?" Priya realized. "I thought so, why do you have star dust on your skin when last time you had ashes.” she called out, and hugged me.

  "Do we know what it is yet?" I shook my head. "We don't want to know either. I want to find out what it is only when I hold it in my arms," I said. "How far?" Jetty asked, joining us too. "Almost fifteen weeks," I said thoughtfully, stroking a hand over my belly. "Well, enjoy that growing little one. Is it kicking yet?" Jetty asked. I shook my head. "It's still a bit early for that. But keep an eye out, from week sixteen that little baby will really start kicking up a storm," Jetty said. "And you, little director, you have to take good care of her! Pamper her." I heard Lucas laugh softly. "That won't be a problem."

  The last scene we still had to do was the so-called cliffhanger. Linda would discover her pregnancy at home during her weekend off. The final shot would be of a positive test.

  I took my place next to Lucas, to Alex's slight displeasure. He liked sitting next to his uncle. He grumbled a bit about it, but he was good enough that as soon as Lucas called "Action!", he was quiet and climbed onto my lap.

  "Where's the baby now?" he whispered softly. "I'll explain it to you in a bit," I whispered back. Lucas leaned toward us. "You can say it," he said looking at Alex. "CUT!" he called enthusiastically. "Two weeks rest, ladies and gentlemen," Lucas called. "For you guys," he teased.

  He had spent the last two weeks heavily writing on the third season, so the episodes up to my maternity leave could just be filmed. Joyce did have to get a belly measured—or actually a few. She'd been teasing me about it for days; she wanted to borrow mine.

  "Where's your baby now, Aunt Sopje?" Alex asked again. He'd been calling me Sopje since he learned that you write 'Sophia' with a p. "My baby is in my tummy," I explained, and placed his hand on my belly. "It's nice and warm in there, so the baby can grow." He looked at me. "That's stupid," he called. "I want to play with the baby." I had to laugh at that. "That can happen soon enough," I said.

  "Winston says that when you're pregnant, you get really, really fat," Alexander said. I nodded. "That's right. As the baby in my tummy grows, it needs more space, so I get bigger," I explained. "Listen, sweetie pie.If you have questions, you can ask them all, okay? If I know the answer, I'll tell you." He looked at me with big eyes.

  "Are you happy again now?" he asked. "You were so sad before. That made me sad too." His explanation broke my heart a little. I took him on my lap. "I'm very happy again, Alex. Don't worry." He stretched his little arms as far as he could around my waist. "I think you're sweet, Aunt Sopje." I felt tears in my eyes. "I think you are too, Alex." I felt Lucas's hand on my shoulder. "Wrap party at our place," Lucas said softly.

  The party was great. Lucas had arranged a big cake—for both the end of filming the second season and our baby. Jonas and Joyce had apparently driven to a few stores and gotten a big stack of snacks and drinks.

  The party lasted until the wee hours of the night. The kids were soon in our guest rooms. "Shouldn't you go to sleep too?" Lucas asked. "I'm not made of porcelain, Luuk," I said. "I know, Phi. But you and that little one there need enough rest." I hugged him. "You're worrying too much." He sighed. "May I? I've seen you go through hell, doubting yourself and your life. I want to protect you and that one there," he placed his hand on my belly, "So yes, maybe I'm a bit too concerned. But I don't want to see you slide down like that again." I kissed his cheek. "Alright then. I'll go to sleep, if that reassures you." He nodded. "Time to go, everyone," he said. I looked at the clock in the living room; it was indeed two o'clock at night by now, and I didn't want to admit it, but I was tired.

  A little quarter of an hour later everyone had left and Lucas and I were in bed. "How far are you with season three?" I asked sleepily. "About six episodes are done. Deliberately not the one where the baby arrives yet, because we don't know what this little one is yet," he said, placing his hand on my belly. "I can't wait to see it grow," he said stroking my belly, "and I can't wait even less for the moment we get to hold it." I smiled and snuggled closer into his arms. I felt my eyes closing.

  My dream that night filled with the idea of what my baby would be. I saw a little face with Lucas's beautiful eyes, my hair color, but I couldn't see what it was: it was bundled in the blanket that Peter's mother had given me. It lay in a crib of golden sunflowers. It was a beautiful dream. I wanted to believe that this was my little baby, showing me who it was—and reassuring me that everything would be alright.