Ken puts on an ugly Christmas sweater, in order to find the holiday spirit. November has felt especially hard for him this year, but maybe the Christmas preparations might help him to survive the darkness.
Ken is really scared about his financial situation, but Kaarna comforts him:
- No worries! Just think about the shit load of money I’m making with the calendars and this illustration work! Now it’s my turn to be the provider of our family!
Ken’s phone rings.
-
Hector of course. Nobody else calls normal phone calls. Only Hector and
the telemarketers, Ken laughs to Kaarna and answers the phone.
- Hi! Yes… What? Oh no!!! That is terrible! Of course… oh heavens….
- Hector has
had an accident with a falling tree and his leg has been broken! He’s in
the hospital now and asks if I could go to his cabin and warm it up
before he comes home.
- Oh crap! Is he okay?
- He sounded very brave on the phone.
Poor little Sulo has been alone all day and is very excited about Ken’s arrival. He brings sticks and wants to play.
Some hours later the cabin is warm and cozy and Sulo has had plenty of attention. Hector takes a cab from the hospital and arrives home with crutches. Ken doesn’t let Sulo jump around and accidentally knock Hector over.
Hector’s recovery will take weeks and with the crutches many of the every day chores will be hard.
Ken knows it’s really difficult for Hector to ask for help so he says:
- I will help you in everything possible! Don’t you dare hesitate to ask.
- Thank you for saying that, Ken. My chainsaw and helmet are still in the woods. And so is the four wheeler. Could you please go there tomorrow during the daylight and bring them home? I’ll send you the location.
- Noooooooo!!!! I can’t drive the four wheeler!!!!
- I can guide you through it, just give me a video call when you find it!
- Oh heavens….
- But at least they left the vehicle and both helmets! And it wasn’t my best saw either. Ok, let’s start up the four wheeler!
With Hector’s instructions Ken manages to get the engine running.
At first he’s terriefied of driving the monster, but pretty soon he notices how much fun it actually is! Wohoooooo!!!!
Since Hector is unable to drive, Ken takes care of the grocery shopping both for Hector and his mother. He has never been a fan of shopping, so this task is very unpleasant for him - luckily he doesn’t need to do this daily, because he can buy groceries for a couple of days at once.
- Your Jeep is so much better on the ice and snow than Herbert!
Hector says:
- Exactly. I’m always worried of you because of your rear-wheel drive Mercedes.
- Herbert’s ass really is out of control, Ken laughs.
Days turn into weeks.
- Look at the amount of stamps on this envelope! Kaarna shows the card from Brazil to Ken.
- I will not celebrate Christmas this year, but this ornament that @minime_doll_life brought to me last spring is a must have. It reminds me of that wonderful weekend with friends.
- Not even a Christmas tree? Kaarna asks.
- No. It’s too late now. I don’t want to kill a tree only for a few days’ sake.
- This mess is depressing. We live like someone with no dignity.
- Who the fuck cares? You’ve been too busy helping Hector and I’ve been too busy drawing. And that will be the case for a while now.
- We don’t have time to clean up here. If it bothers you, there’s the cleaning closet!
- It doesn’t. I won’t be spending the Christmas here. Let me see your illustrations now!
- They are adorable! Heartbreaking even! This one nearly makes me cry…
- Thanks, in that case I have succeeded well! I’m nicely on the schedule too! I’ve finished the paintings, and all I have left is to photograph them all and turn them into digital files for the customer. But I’ll do that after Christmas.
And the dress code is a onesie from morning till night.
The girls watch the best Christmas movie ever made. No, it’s not Die Hard!
It’s a Finnish movie called Rare Exports. If you still don’t know about the real Santa, this is the movie you need to see.
Bianca couldn’t care less about the movie. She has a tummy full of sushi and she’s high on catnip.
- You know that mother expects you to join us for dinner…
- Oh no… I really don’t have the energy to be social… and I’m not dressed for dinner either!
- It would mean a lot to her. And to me too, to be honest. But I understand if you want to go home.
Ken thinks about the empty fridge waiting for him at home and says:
- Ok. I know she loves me because I eat so eagerly everything she cooks. Let’s make your mother happy.
- Excellent… Ouch! Look out!!!! Slow down!
- What? I’m driving slowly!
- Not slowly enough! The road is slippery.
- I can handle this!
(And he does. No accidents happen on the way.)
Hector’s mother is a good old Carelian woman who shows her love by cooking too much food. And yes, she loves Ken because Ken never refuses to eat anything.
Actually Ken notices that spending the rest of the day with Hector and his mother feels pretty nice.
Even if Hector’s mother says several times that this could be her last Christmas and it really annoys Hector.
.
Ken had totally forgotten the doll house furniture kit he bought last summer.
- Kaarna! Come to the kitchen, let’s assemble this together!
- Nope! I don’t have time to play with you. I need to photograph my art and send the files to the customer.
Ken actually feels pretty lucky about getting fired. The timing was perfect now that he needs to help Hector daily. Ken doesn’t even have a bad conscience about letting Kaarna do all the adulting for a change!
He paints the tiny furniture and says to Kaarna:
- I don’t have a doll house of this scale, so I’m thinking about turning that big shelf into a giant doll house! I’ll just get rid of all that fabric and….
Suddenly Kaarna screams:
- Noooooo!!!! Not now!!!! Not again!!!!!
- Huh? Isn’t that a bit too strong a reaction, is it?
Kaarna starts to cry, slides on the floor and crawls to her bed. She sobs that her computer broke down again.
Ken tries to stay calm and says:
- They fixed it last time. So they can do it again now!
- Ken, shut the fuck up. This will happen again and again and again and every time I have to pay loads of money. It’s cheaper to buy a new one than to repair this one every half year. My computer is officially dead. I was an imbecile thinking that I might actually be able to make a living. My life is over. Go away.
While Kaarna chooses to stay in bed for the next days hoping for a sudden death, Ken manages to reorganize the crafting room and starts to create his doll world.
He can’t wait to get to a miniature fair again soon, to buy a lot more furniture! All his Disney princesses do deserve a mansion!
Since both Hector and Kaarna are out of the game, Ken goes alone to the town and watches the fireworks. He loves his home town for arranging the festivites at 8 pm insted of midnight. Nobody’s drunk and nobody has to stay up too late.