"BERLIN: WHAT A CITY!"

After an uneventful trip, they landed at Tempelhof, where they quickly went through the formalities...

As his Ausweis was checked, Paul looked around the grand hall and saw a large Nazi eagle up upon the wall, holding a laurel wreath in its claws with a large Swastika in its midst. Of course, Nazi flags were everywhere... and Paul felt very uncomfortable...

Looking at Paul and guessing what his lover was feeling, Will whispered to him:

"..."You'll get use to it. Remember: We're in Berlin now..."

Paul smiled to Will and nodded...

"Have a nice stay in Berlin mein Herr! Heil Hitler!", the custom officer said to Paul.

"Thank you...", Paul answered.

Minutes later, Will saw his father waving to them... Will smiled and waved back to him...

"My dad is right over there...", Will said to Paul...

Paul looked at the man still waving over there and smiled: Obviously, Will had inherit his good look from his father, for he was a carbon copy of the man waving to them, only younger...

"Dad!", Will shouted, dropping his luggage to hug his father...

"Wilhelm", his father answered, smiling... "You look fantastic my son!"... "Oh, and Hi Lutz..."

"Good afternoon Herr Von Rundstedt", Lutz replied, giving the man a firm handshake...

"Dad... May I introduce you to my friend Paul de Brion..."

"We're most honoured to welcome you, monsieur de Brion..." the man said, warmly shaking Paul's hand...

"Thank you very much, Sir... And please, call me Paul..."

"Of course son...", Will's father answered to Paul, with a warm smile on his face...

"You have no idea how your mother is anxious to see you all...", Will's dad said. "Where are the rest of your luggage?"

"...We made arrangements so they will be delivered home later...", Will answered.

"Fine..." his dad answered. "So let's go... let's not keep your mother waiting... and Lutz, will you be surprised to learn that your family and Klara are anxiously waiting for you at our house?"

"I'm not suprised to hear that, Sir! I'm anxious to see them too...", Lutz replied, laughing...

"And we know this reunion is possible thanks to you Paul: Will told us about that... and we're all very grateful to you for that...", Will's dad said...

"I'm so happy to be here Sir: Otherwise, I would have spent Christmas all alone in Paris..."

"Yes we know Paul... Will told us about that too... We're truly sorry, you know...", Will's dad answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable...

"Listen Sir, you're not personally responsable for the invasion of France... And besides, if the Wehrmacht had not invaded France, I wouldn't have met Will and Lutz...", Paul said, laughing...

"...Yes", Will's dad answered. Then, looking at Will, he said: "And Paul is quite a good friend, isn't he?"

"Yeah! You've got it right...", Will answered, looking at Paul, grinning...

While they were driving through Berlin on there way to Charlottenburg, Paul saw how beatiful the City was...

"You have lots of trees in Berlin, it must be very beatiful during summer time...", he said...

"Glad you like my City...", Will answered, smiling... "Tomorrow, I'll take you for a tour..."

Later, Will's dad parked the car in front of a nice house and Will said to Paul:

"Welcome to our home!"

Paul looked at the house and found it to be a very nice place... It had nothing to do with his mansion on Avenue Foch, of course... but it was very nice nevertheless...

As they were walking to the house, the door opened and a nice lady appeared at the doorstep:

"WILHELM!!!... MY BABY...", she shouted, with a big smile on her face.

Will ran to his mother, smiling, then took her into his strong arms, lifting her up... kissing her...

"Mum!"

Lutz and Paul walked to the door, followed by Will's dad... and Will said to his mum:

"Mum, this is my friend Paul..."

"Come to me son... let me kiss you!", she said, smiling...

Paul walked to her, and she kissed him on both cheeks.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you... Will told us so much about you...", she said...

"And I'm so glad to meet you too... needless to say Will told me a lot about all of you too...", Paul answered, smiling...

They walked into the house where Lutz saw his parents and his girlfriend Klara. They all kissed, and all started to talk at the same time...

Lutz introduced Paul to his parents and to his girlfriend, and they all welcomed him...

Then Will introduced Paul to his sister and his brother...

"Paul... this is my sister Karin..."

"Nice meeting you Karin...", Paul answered, smiling to the good-looking girl who was blushing in front of him...

"...And this is my baby brother Ludwig..."

Seeing Ludwig, Paul started to laught and said:

"...Hi! Ludwig... You look so much like Will... If you were not younger, I would think the both of you are twins..."

"Hi, Paul... I was eager to meet you... Will told us so much about you...", Ludwig answered, smiling... Then, turning to Will, he said to his brother: "...And I'll have you know Wilhelm Von Rundstedt that I'm not a baby anymore... I got fifteen last July, in case you forgot!"

"Ohhhhh... That's right... And I didn't mean to insult you Ludwig: I can see how much you've grown since the last time I saw you... You're almost as tall as I am now... Come here and give me a hug, bro... I've miss you...", Will answered, with a big smile on his face...

"And I've miss you too Will... You don't know how it is to grow up with that girl over there...", Ludwig answered, laughing and looking at their sister Karin...

As the two brothers hugged, Will looked at his sister and said to her:

"...I've miss you too Karin... and I can see you're turning into a very beatiful woman. I don't know how that's possible... but I have to admit it's true! Tell me: Do you have a boyfriend now?", Will sarcastically asked...

"OH YOU! STOP THAT!... Stop teasing your sister", Will's mum said, laughing... "I can see war has not changed you one bit! Don't start a fight with your sister, please..."

As they were all laughing they went to the liging-room, where they started talking about so many things, it was like if they could go through all the events of the past year and a half in only five minutes...

Lutz and Will told all about their last campaign through Belgium and France and when Paul realized the others felt rather uneasy about that, due to his presence... he made sure they all understood he was not holding them responsable for what had happened...

Both young dudes also spoke about their apartment on rue Lapérouse in Paris, and of course, Will never mentioned that in fact, he was living with Paul on Avenue Foch...