Chapter 1- It all started in March

It was a cold Monday morning, early March. Berwald just brought the last two boxes from his car and set them on the kitchen floor. He was finally done. All he had to do now was just to unpack all of the boxes, put things into place and start his new live. This was the only reason he sold his old house, in order to buy a new one, in a different town. To start all over again.

"Was it worth it? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure it was a good idea after all." he said to himself. Berwald looked around and thought the house was way too big. It was only him and Peter now. If only Desiré was here, this house wouldn't feel so empty and cold, but... he stopped himself from thinking any further. I can't think about this now, this was the exact reason we moved here in the first place! Berwald calmed himself down, decided to take a break and have some coffee.

Just then he realized none of the boxes were unpacked, which meant he had to look through them to find the kettle. After a few minutes, Berwald found what he was looking for and made himself some coffee. He sat down on the sofa and tried to relax before doing any work. However, all of the thoughts of how much work he had ahead of him didn't allow him to.
That's when he heard the soft footsteps of his son, Peter, coming down the stairs. "Papa, can you bring my boxes to my room please?" the little boy asked, making his best puppy eyes he could. "Of cou'se ah can P'ter" he answered, set his mug on the table and patted Peter's head gently. Berwald picked some of his son's boxes, carried them up the stairs and into Peter's room.

"Papa, I'm so happy that I've got a big bedroom and a massive garden now! I can do so many things in it! We can play in it together and all. I'm sure Mama can see us and she's happy! Thank you!" said Peter and hugged his father tightly. "Hmm" was all that Berwald could choke out. He could feel tears already starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He ruffled Peter's hair and left him to do his own thing.

Once Berwald closed the door of his son's bedroom, he ran downstairs covering his mouth with his hand so that Peter would't hear the sobs that already started to escape from his lips. It wasn't that Berwald was weak, but knowing that his son would never know his mother was just too much for him. He sat back on the sofa and curled into a little ball, squeezing his knees to his chest, sobbing quietly.

After Berwald calmed down, finished his now cold coffee and looked around him, he decided to start unpacking the boxes and sort out the mess he made while looking for the kettle. He stretched and went to the kitchen, where huge piles of pots, plates, cups and other kitchen equipment on the floor greeted him. Berwald got to work, thinking if he'll be able to finish all the boxes till the end of the week. He somehow managed to get a week off from his work, only to do more work at home. He sighed. It's impossible he thought, then resumed to his task.

Unpacking kitchen boxes was uneventful, but tiring nonetheless. After finishing with all the boxes labeled "KITCHEN", Berwald realized he still had some time before he had to make lunch. So, with nothing better to do, he went to the garden.
Patches of this years snow mixed with half frozen mud were still lying everywhere, covering the trees, grass and paths all over the garden. Even though most of the plants were still in hibernation, it was easy to say that the garden was wild and rundown. Berwald sighed, he wasn't good with gardening, not only that, he didn't have the time to spend on making the garden presentable and "Peter friendly". There was only one way out of this. He had to hire a gardener, because not only did the garden needed taming, but it was so enormous that keeping it in good condition would take most of his free time, and he already had so little.

Berwald looked at his watch, it was time he began making lunch. He took one last glance at the garden and went back into the kitchen.

...

It was only Friday afternoon and Berwald was almost finished with unpacking the boxes. All he had left to do was unpacking four boxes filled with his work stuff, a box with DVD's and CD's and...the garden needed sorting out too. At that thought Berwald sighed dramatically. The boxes can wait till tomorrow, but, the garden... I can't do this! he thought.

Although he didn't know where to start, he went to the garden and just stood there, staring. After all, it would be easier to clean the garden now, before all the plants started growing again. He looked at the garden once more. It was terrible!
The ground was covered by a thick blanket of dead leaves. Berwald took a couple steps deeper into the garden, stopped and inhaled the frosty air. The musty scent of rotting leaves and mycelium mixed with the freshness of the leftover snow filled his lungs and lingered on the tip of his tongue. Berwald could almost taste it, Spring was near.

He knew that getting the garden sorted out will be easier before Spring came, but he couldn't do it alone. Berwald needed a gardener. He went back into his house, grabbed a phone book and looked through it, searching for numbers to gardeners working nearby.

After finding about six, he called five of them, only to find out that all of them already had full schedules for the year. The only one left, a number to a gardener named Tino Väinämöinen, was his last hope. Berwald dialed the number, few beeps went by, he waited. No answer, a voice mail machine was all he heard on the other end. He sighed and tried again, this time however, someone answered.

"Hello?" cooed a velvet voice from the other side of the phone. "H'llo, 's this Tino Väinämöinen?" asked Berwald, his usual low voice shaking a little. "Yes, how can i help you?" answered Tino sweetly. "I'd like t' ask if ya have any free pl'ces in yer schedule sir?" there goes nothing, he thought. That man was he's last hope. After a second the man answered. "Yes, I do actually. Though unfortunately, the only days that i haven't got booked yet are Saturdays." Berwald was so happy, that if he could, he'd hug the guy in the other end. "Great! W'uld it be 'k if we'd arr'nge a t'me for t'morrow th'n? If it's 'k, of co'rse." asked Berwald, exited to hear the answer. "Yeah, sure. What time?" asked Tino happily, at least he wouln't have to spend another lonely Saturday. "How abo't 12 P.M. then?" he waited patiently for confirmation. "Okey, may I have your address please?" Berwald gave his address to the man, thanked him and said goodbye.

It was getting late now, so Berwald decided to make dinner. He went to the kitchen and started preparing the food. After thirty minutes he was done, he called Peter downstairs and sat at the dinner table.
The table was much too big for just the two of them, he though. Maybe if there would be one more person. Maybe if Desiré... Berwald's thoughts stopped all at once after Peter sat at the table. "What's wrong Papa?" he asked, worry audible in his voice. "N'thin' dear." he answered simply.

They enjoyed their meal in comfortable silence, until Berwald remembered something. "A gard'ner will come t'morrow. He'll come every week t' keep yer gard'n pr'tty." said Berwald while picking up his and Peter's plate and going to kitchen. "Wow, really? That's so cool! I can play with him and..." Peter was cut off by his father. "Nej Peter. He'll come here t' w'rk, not t' play." said Berwald, smiling softly at his son. Peter was a little disappointed by his Papa's answer, but he smiled nonetheless. "Okay Papa. Goodnight." said the young boy, kissing his father on the cheek and hugging him before storming back to his room.

After Berwald finished cleaning up after dinner, he went upstairs, checked if his son was already in bed, and went to take a shower. Once he finished everything, he looked at the time. It was 9 P.M. Oh well, he thought I might as well have an early night after a week of hard work at home... and so, he went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

...

Berwald woke up at 9 A.M. the next morning, took a shower, made breakfast, asked Peter if he wanted to do anything tomorrow (since Peter's new school started on Monday), cleaned up after breakfast and decided to unpack the boxes filled with his work, to kill some time before the gardener came.
And so, he got to work. Unpacking the boxes was boring, but it had to be done. He was so busy with his work, that he didn't even realize what time it was, until he heard the obnoxious noise, made by the door bell. He jumped up and ran to the door.

Berwald opened the door slowly, what greeted him wasn't an average stereotypical gardener, it was an angel. Short, slim, wearing black, skinny jeans and a blue shirt, a round face, pale, velvet-looking skin, and most importantly, the most beautiful, mesmerizing, violet eyes he's ever seen.

Then the angelic man spoke, smiling gently. "Hello. I'm Tino Väinämöinen, nice to meet you."

Author notes~

Hi it's Alexandrite-Raven here! So, this is my first fan fiction ever. I would really appreciate some honest reviews and all. I would also like to thank my awesome friend and editor fenhong-orchidea, i love you lots. Anyway, I'll try to update every two weeks or sooner, thanks for all your support! See you later...!