And she has NEVER returned to Lebus after leaving it when she and Petra were sent to boarding school as young girls.
Until today! Why?
***
“It’s their birthday Petra,” Claudia said to her sister; speaking their native German.
“I know that,” Petra replied in German, then suddenly switched to French. “But then, they’ve had many birthday’s, haven’t they Claudia? Where were you for them?”
Momentarily puzzled by the sudden switch of language, Claudia replied in French:
“But this is not just any birthday! It’s their eighteenth birthday.”
“What’s so special about it?” Petra asked in French.
“Why are we speaking French?” Claudia asked in French.
“Because they don’t! And I don’t want them to know what we’re talking about,” Petra replied in French.
“They don’t speak French?” Claudia asked, taken slightly aback.
Petra merely shook her head.
“How many languages do they speak?” Claudia asked in French.
“Only German,” Petra replied in French.
“Two eighteen-year-old kids living in Europe and they only speak one language?” Claudia said in French, practically aghast.
“They’re learning Polish,” Petra replied in Polish.
“Why? To shout insults across the fucking river from the backyard?” Claudia snapped in Polish.
“Will you please watch your language,” Petra rebuked in French.
“Which one?” Claudia fired back in French.
“Your pig Latin,” Petra replied in French.
“I thought I was speaking French,” Claudia whipped in French.
“Cute,” Petra replied in French.
“So, just what exactly are we talking about?” Claudia blurted, suddenly switching to English.
“I want to know why you’re here,” Petra demanded in English. “You haven’t been to this house or this town in nearly thirty years!”
“I told you,” Claudia fired back in English. “It’s their birthday. I wanted to surprise them. After all, I haven’t seen them in person in over four years. Not since grandmother’s eightieth birthday in Leipzig.”
“Where you kidnapped them and took them to Rome,” Petra snapped; now speaking Italian.
“Will you please make up your mind what fucking language you want to speak,” Claudia replied in Italian.
“I told you to watch your language,” Petra roared in Italian.
“They can’t understand it anyway,” Claudia rebuffed in Italian.
Petra rolled her eyes with disgust.
“And what is it, exactly, that you don’t want them to understand?” Claudia asked, suddenly switching to Russian. “That their aunt is a soulless, self-absorbed cunt?”
“I didn’t say that,” Petra said in Russian.
“You didn’t have to,” Claudia replied in Russian.
“Momma,” Mia suddenly asked in German. “Why are you and Auntie Claudia speaking so many different languages?”
“You want me to tell her?” Claudia said in Latin with a devious smile. “Or should I?”
“It’s just what we’ve always done Mia darling,” Petra answered in German.
“Liar, Liar, pants on fire…” Claudia giggled in English. “And just for the record, I kidnapped you on that trip to Rome, too. And was it really so terrible?”
“I suppose it could’ve been worse,” Petra replied in French.
“Oh, most certainly,” Claudia said in English. “I could’ve taken you all to Detroit.”