The Alchemists

Life was relaxing and fun for the little Schneider family. They spent a lot of time reading, playing with Aleksis and trying new food recipes. Two of Caspar's personal bodyguards and Ben had come to live with them in the mansion and the atmosphere became livelier.

Ben drove them out to enjoy the view. They spend their weekend at their villa villa in Napa Valley where their vineyard was located.

The scenery at the vineyard was very beautiful and they ended up staying there for three days because Finland loved it so much. Unfortunately, because of her pregnancy, she was unable to taste the homemade wine from their vineyard.

"It's okay, we will bring a few bottles to keep. After you give birth, we will drink the wine from this winery together," Caspar said soothingly.

As an understanding husband, he deliberately did not drink alcoholic beverages while Finland was pregnant. Every night he prepared a glass of squeezed oranges, or milk, or infused water for his family. These simple gestures made Finland feel very moved.

During her three-year stay in San Francisco, Finland never had time to live as a tourist and visit the tourist attractions in the city. Her time was always spent working and taking care of Aleksis.

Only for the past year, after Lauriel bought his farm in Colorado, she had time to relax during the weekends. So practically, Finland hadn't really explored San Francisco and its surroundings.

When Caspar heard this, he decided that they should enjoy the tourist attractions in San Francisco before moving to New York. He did not know when they would return to visit SF again, and he wanted Finland to have good memories of the city before leaving.

After being satisfied with their stay in Napa Valley, they filled their following days with fun activities and visited various famous places in San Francisco.

They visited Sausalito, the beautiful city across from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, ate sea food at Fisherman Wharf, visited Alcatraz Island, the most famous prison in the 60's (Caspar wanted to close the island for his personal visit, but Finland managed to prevent it), and they also visited the giant aquarium in Monterrey.

They joined a tour that brought them to the Japanese Garden, Redwood Forest in which grew giant trees aged hundreds and even thousands of years old, as well as the Painted Ladies, home to Victorian houses that became the setting of the TV series "Full House".

"I visited this area often, almost every day..." Finland commented as they got out of the car and stepped into the pretty park in Painted Ladies. "Lauriel's home is across there..."

"Oh..." Caspar nodded. "Did Aleksis stay with him every time you went to work?"

"Yes. He said that he usually stayed at the hotel, but then he decided to buy a house because he wanted to be close to Aleksis. He bought a house in the Painted Ladies here, and then a farm in Colorado, because he wanted Aleksis to live surrounded by nature."

Finland looked at Caspar with a probing look, to see if her husband was still jealous of Lauriel. Apparently not at all. Caspar's face actually looked rather sad.

"Hmm... I understand. Lauriel will be a great father. Hopefully someday he can have his own children..." Caspar said quietly. He remembered Lauriel's story, that he and Luna were actually expecting a child when she died in the war. Caspar had promised Lauriel to keep his secret, so he did not tell Finland. "Aleksis is fortunate to have a godfather like Lauriel."

"You are right." Finland was relieved to hear that.

Caspar was very nice now about this issue. He was no longer jealous of Jean and Lauriel and this made their lives very peaceful.

Finland did not expect that she would really enjoy her time traveling with Caspar and not working. Time flew by so fast and suddenly a week had passed and the day of the Jean's new movie promotion arrived.