#maybe they're on a trip to northern finland

[canisalbus]

Initially, I wanted to draw him as a tiny pubby wearing a sock as a bodysuit for Warmth but that was Beyond My Skill Level and thus the compromise

He will be Toasty

.

[saratravel]

Today was sauna day plus more exploring. After a slow morning, we set out to the sauna!

After two hours of sauna, dip in the Baltic Sea pool, dip in the heated standard pool, and repeat, we went to the market to find our last of three "must do" meals (the first two being Hesburger and sushi)- reindeer!

Reindeer are only allowed to be herd by the Sami people, who live in Northern Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It tastes similar to deer, from what I remember deer is like.

Next was souvineer shopping! I got my magnet and postcards, and we looked around some for a sheep-themed souvenir for my friend with no luck. I then had a taste for a coffee and dessert and ended up getting one of the best pastries I've had in a while.

While I was enjoying my treat, we saw a small filming crew filming for something. A quick Google of their crew T-shirts revealed they're filming for a reality show Selviytyjät Suomi (Survivor Finland). Maybe we'll be extras in the next season.

Finally, we went and hung at a mall, stopped by a dollar shop kinda thing for incidentals, where I picked up a Sour Apple drink and Salmiakki- a Finnish salty licorice. I loved the drink and really didn't like the licorice. We also stopped at a grocery and got choccy (oat) milk, cloudberry yogurt, and cloudberry juice. Cloudberries are a berry only found in these northern countries and since I couldn't find any of them at the market, I thought getting juice and yogurt flavors would be the next best thing.

It was a nice final day of Europe! Tomorrow, I return back to the US (Helsinki to Reykjavik to NYC). My total flight time will be around 11 hours, but I'll be gaining hours from the time zone differences, so the clock will only be 4 hours later from when I leave in Finland. I will be disoriented and tired but it will be almost home.

It has been a really great trip, even with the hiccups.

[countessofravenclaw]

A homeland this north, country dear fathers! Part dos

Winter is the time for holidays, celebrations, and fun. Nina, Gastón, Luna and Matteo receive a wedding invitation to France for the New Years and decide, since they're already going to Europe, why not take everything out of it and take a well-deserved skiing vacation? Simon and Ambar join them and all is set for a relaxing holiday at Finland's northern region called Lapland. A place for speed, reindeer, fun, and dangerous situations... Just kidding, what could possibly go wrong at the Winter Wonderland? (There is a Finnish Christmas song linked on the title)

Kylmä voisko olla kellä, talven säästä kun tuoksahtaa

“So do you know who other representatives are attending that conference?” 

“At least someone from Renishaw,” Gastón answered as he put his glass back onto the table. It was Christmas day and he and Nina were having dinner at his parents, “Maybe that’s why they wanted me involved, cause I worked there, but I don’t know. Apparently, it was a bit of a mess on PR’s part before HQ got involved and they realized they needed to send an engineer from the executive.”

“You did go to HR and ask if it was allowed?” His dad furrowed his brow. “Set stone vacation time should not be changed.”

“Yeah, Dad, I did,” Gastón sighed, they had had this conversation at least twice, “Everything is covered. I even asked Ambar to check. Do you need to see the bank deposit of the bonus to believe me?”

“We believe you,” Isla responded, “But it doesn’t seem right that German sent specifically you to do work on your vacation.”

“If you didn’t want me to work for Castillo Corporations,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “You could have just said so.”

“Why would we have done that?” Marco questioned, “The company is a huge opportunity for you.”

“As long as you are happy, we are happy,” Isla continued, “But…”

"I know you don’t like him, and dislike him all you want—” Gastón sighed again, “—but he just happens to be my boss, and he handpicked me for a promotion I did not deserve.”

“No one here is going to agree on that,” Nina ran her hand on his arm.

“Anyways,” Gastón continued, “I’m not being best friends with him. Can we just stop talking about this? My work is eating into my vacation as it is.”

“Of course,” His parents agreed, “You got everything set on the trip otherwise?”

“Yes,” Nina answered, “I’m actually quite intrigued to see the Central Library at Helsinki. It’s apparently quite new, not even ten years old.”

“You got the flights booked okay too?” Marco asked next, “Because it’s almost impossible to find flights to France for the New Years.”

“Good thing we booked them early enough,” Gastón remarked, “A week later, we would have been in trouble.”

“Sofia mentioned that the wedding will be held in some ancient church,” Isla noted, “You both have a proper jackets for it right? It might get cold.”

“Yeah, we do… Wait, are they invited?” Gastón stopped on his tracks. Flor was Matteo’s cousin from Lucia’s side. Gastón had no idea what kind of relationship Flor or her parents had with Alexander, especially after Lucia’s death.

“Sofia said that they were,” His mom continued, “She was a bit surprised too, but they can’t make it. Matteo is taking their wedding present. Hopefully, you’ll land on some good weather. It can be so unpredictable early in the winter at Europe, especially in the south. That reminds me, you did take those influenza vaccines?”

“Yes,” Gastón answered diligently. Of course, Mom was going to fuss over every little thing, even when he was an adult. “We got the prescriptions from the pharmacy and April actually gave them to us, now that she has the medication licenses.”

“She truly has worked hard. Mía is so proud of her. She is surely getting the residency she wants.”

“Because neurosurgery residency will be easier,” Gastón laughed, “Hopefully this makes up from me not becoming a doctor, since your niece will be one.”

“It’s always good to have doctors as your acquaintances,” Isla nodded, “I actually recently was talking to Serena…”

“Who?”

“Dr. Serena Alzamenti.”

“Delfi’s mom?” Gastón realized, “You’re friends with her now?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Isla shrugged, “As I was saying, she actually told me that lots of vaccines that are in use in the north for example, are starting to be useful here as well. She has told Delfi to consider vaccinating the baby with additionals as well. It’s something you should consider too.”

“Yeah,” Gastón moved his arm around Nina, “We will think about it… Once it’s it’s time. Don’t start.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“When was the last time you skied?” Thankfully Dad changed the subject before Mom could start going on about grandchildren. 

“2016… I think,” Gastón responded. “So, it’s been a while, but it’s gonna be fine. You remember how good I was?”

“You were a natural in it, but you’re not 16 anymore,” Marco pointed out, “So be careful. The emergency number is different there.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in trouble,” Nina glanced at Gastón, “Thankfully, they can’t spend the whole day there as there is so little light. We did look up the emergency number. 112 is the most common one in Europe, but they didn’t use it at England. But I doubt, we’re gonna need to use it.”

“Are you getting your hair cut before you go?”

“Mom, not now.”

***

“I’m so ready for the adventure!” Luna exclaimed through the screen. Gastón and Nina were having a Christmas night video call with them after they had gotten back from Gastón’s parents. “I can’t wait! Uuup, Simon and Ambar are calling us, we have to go.”

“We’ll see you at the airport. Merry Christmas!”

“You know, I actually agree with your mother,” Nina ran her fingers in Gastón’s hair after they had disconnected the call. 

“About what?” Gastón laughed, “About the vaccinations? She just had to bring that up…”

“About you needing a haircut,” Nina looked at him, “You’re representing the whole company. You could go get one on the 27th, before we leave.”

“Okay, I’ll get my hair cut,” Gastón rolled his eyes before placing the tablet down and wrapping his arms around Nina's waist. “Can we now stop talking about my hair? Come here.” 

He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her softly and Nina wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“I have something for you.”

“You already gave me a present,” Nina looked at Gastón disapprovingly as he reached into one of the drawers under the TV. 

“Then this is another present,” Gastón responded as he handed the small box to her. “Open it.”

In the box there was a dainty silver chain. It was about a choker length and had two stones on it. The first one was a pink stone, while the other one was scarlet red. 

“It’s a tourmaline, while the other one is a garnet.” Gastón said while pointing to the stones, “They’re our birthstones.” 

Nina still sometimes couldn’t fully believe the lengths he went to with even Christmas gifts. It should have not been a surprise, given how much effort he had put into her engagement ring for example. “It’s beautiful.” 

“I got it so stones can be added to it—” Gastón said while clasping the necklace around her neck, “—when we want. I didn’t put Newton in there, though.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Nina laughed as they looked at the dog who already was snoozing away under the Christmas tree. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

***

“Matteo, come on!!” Luna was wheeling through the terminal hallway that left from the car-park to the check-in where they had agreed to meet up with Gastón and Nina. 

“Luna, wait!” Matteo finally caught up to her. He was pushing the trolley that had all of their bags and breathing heavily. “We all can’t fly on our feet.”

“But, I’m so excited!” Luna did a twirl, “I mean, we're going to a wedding and to a brand new country which is basically a winter wonderland. I’m gonna learn to ski…”

“That’s all super great,” Matteo nodded, “But if you want any of that to happen, mind helping me with the bags?”

“Oh, of course.” Luna stared for a moment before grabbing one of the bags off the trolley. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“We should have hitched a ride with Gastón and Nina,” Matteo huffed as they started moving again, “They’re able to park at one of the priority parking slots and don’t have to drag all the stuff for kilometers.” 

“Doesn’t your Dad have that kind of thing as well?” Luna questioned. 

“He kind of does,” Matteo nodded, “but, it’s through the embassy. It’s not his. Gastón has the full access to almost all assets Isla and Marco have, because it’s all theirs. You know that they are richer than Dad.”

“There they are!” Luna pointed ahead as they started approaching the bag check-in area. Gastón and Nina looked like they had just dropped their bags off. 

“Hey! You did make it on time after all,” Gastón laughed as Luna and Matteo reached them. 

“I hate parking,” Matteo simply remarked. “I can’t wait to be rid of all of this luggage.”

“You have jackets on your carry-on right?” Nina asked right before Matteo would have started to load the suitcases, “It’s winter in France and will be cold.”

“Oh, right.” Luna dove into one of their suitcases ad pulled some jacket out, “Thanks’ for the reminder, otherwise we would have completely forgotten.”

“Okay, lets go.” Gastón started leading the way toward the security. 

***

“Okay, I’m here.” Luna dropped down on the bed in Gastón and Nina’s hotel room. The clock was striking 12 soon, they had three hours before the wedding ceremony was about to begin. “What were we doing again? Matteo went with Gastón to get food… I’m starving!”

“I called in some reinforcements, since we couldn’t take Jazmin with us.” 

Whenever Nina had needed to get her hair done for something, which had actually been quite often, during the time they had been living in Buenos Aires again, she had relied on Jazmin’s services. Nina wasn’t that good with her hair, especially with added length she had gained during the years, if it really needed to be done. She was able to do the basic ponytails and braids, and curl them on basic beach waves, but those wouldn’t really work for a winter wedding. 

So, while struggling to figure out what she was going to do, she had realized the obvious solution. 

“Reinforcements?” Luna rolled over on the bed when there suddenly was a knock on the door.

“I should not be surprised, but you have a great taste in hotels.” Nina got up from the armchair in the room to open the door to Ariana. “Hey.”

“Hey! Gastón did the booking,” Nina said as she hugged Ariana. “What has happened with your hair?”

“I’m gonna make a counter of how many people say that,” Ariana rolled her eyes. Her usually colorful highlights were gone, and her hair was significantly shorter. “I’m gonna let Grace test this rainbow technique on me, but I didn’t think it would be very appropriate for the wedding so bob it is for the time being. Hi Luna.” 

Ariana walked over to the vanity and dropped her bag on the table. “So, I heard that you two need some help with the hair?”

Nina had called Ariana to see if she could help her. She had done her hair multiple times when they had been roommates at Oxford. Ariana had started working at the salon her brother and sister-in-law owned after she had moved back to Ireland. She even went to cosmetology school now. 

“Oh my god yes!” Luna jumped up from the bed, “I totally need some help.”

“That’s what I am here for,” Ariana pulled her hair back, “I’ll gonna start from you, since I actually looked up couple Mexican style braids I want to try.”

“Go, for it,” Luna planted herself in the chair before the vanity. 

“Where are you staying?” Nina asked as she sat down on the bed and watched as Ariana started to sort Luna’s hair from the messy bun it had been on before. 

“Couple blocks away from here,” Ariana answered, “Closer to the train station. Obviously, it was impossible to get anything in the town the wedding is in, so I didn’t even try. Anyway, I’m heading off to Paris for a week after this. Checking a couple of modern art museums and getting some supplies for Grace.” 

“It’s great that everyone is coming here,” Nina responded, “It’s been so long since we’re all have been together.”

“I know right?” Ariana had finally gotten Luna’s hair completely detangled. “I mean Marlee’s girlfriend isn’t able to come…”

“She isn’t?”

“No, she apparently had work,” Ariana explained, “Marlee is coming with Jacob and his boyfriend—I forget his name. We haven’t met him before, so should be fun. This all just solifies that I am officially the last person standing single with no plus one.” 

“Well, I don’t have a plus one,” Nina moved her head, “Technically…”

“Nina, you’re married, you’re never going to have a plus one again,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “Not like that. So that doesn’t exactly make me feel better. I wasn’t able to fill my empty plus one slot. I don’t know what I am doing wrong. Honestly, I’m totally up for being set up with someone at this point, so if you know single guys, please tell me.” 

“Uuu, Ramiro’s single.” Luna piped up from the chair. 

“Ramiro?” Nina stared at Luna, “Estas siendo seria en este momento?”

“Progue no?”

“Uhm,” Ariana looked confused, “I still don’t speak Spanish… So, who was Ramiro again?”

“Oh, he’s my skating partner.” Luna explained with her very broken English. Nina translated the incorrect part to Ariana. 

“Old friend of all of us,” Nina explained. “He was in our wedding.”

“Oh, the one with big curly hair?” Ariana’s eyes widened just a little bit in recognition. “I think I remember him, he was one with those extravagant dance moves. He was cute, I give him that.” 

“I can totally set something—”

“But I doubt he’s willing to move to Dublin,” Ariana sighed, “I can’t come to Argentina. Otherwise, I totally would be game, but international relationships might be a bit too hard. We have a good thing going with Tom and Grace right now, and I’m really gonna be able to do more once I get my cosmetology papers. What kind of aunt would I be if I just abandoned Marianne and Liziel? Yeah, I don’t think it’s gonna work…but I mean, never say never I guess.”

“There is someone out there,” Nina leaned back on the bed, “I’m sure.”

“Okay, enough boy talk,” Ariana turned Luna around, “You’re done.”

“Wow, this is so great!” Luna spun on the chair as the door to the room opened up again and Gastón came in. 

“You’re back?” Luna got up from the chair, “Is Matteo back too?”

“Yeah, he took your food to your room.”

“Okay. See you in the bit!” Luna yelled after dashing out of the door. 

“Hey, Ariana,” Gastón hugged her briefly before sitting on the bed next to Nina, “You’re already here? And what happened to your hair?”

“And that’s two. Hair takes time,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “Do you want help too?”

“I think I’m good.”

“You sure?” Ariana kept eyeing Gastón, “When was the last time you got a haircut?”

“Literally couple days ago, why is everyone onto me about that?”

“If you say so,” Ariana turned around, “Nina your turn.” 

Nina pulled her rings off her finger, before sitting on the chair. She almost never took them off, the engagement ring only at night, the wedding ring never. But she didn’t want them getting douched in hairspray, so she handed them to Gastón. 

"Luna had an idea to set Ariana up with Ramiro," Nina told Gastón.

"Really?" Gastón raised his eyebrow and looked at Ariana, "Don't tell me you're going for it."

"I actually would, if I could move to Argentina," Ariana remarked, "I'm sick of being single. Maybe I'll try tp pick up some Italian guy at the wedding..."

Gastón looked like he disapproved.

"If any of you start pulling a protective older brother act on me, we're so done," Ariana shook her head, "I already have an actual brother, who made mt high school dating life terriple."

"I don't know where you got that idea from."

“Honestly, can you actually believe that Oliver is getting married?” Ariana remarked as she pulled a flat-iron through Nina’s hair.

“It was bound to happen eventually,” Gastón shrugged, “What do you want me to say? When we all met, you would have not believed that I would be married.” 

“But still somehow you are,” Ariana rolled her eyes. “You two are some sort of story book soulmates, that earthly people like me will never understand.”

“I wouldn’t maybe say that much,” Nina chuckled as she met Gastón’s eyes and saw a particular gleam rise into them. 

“I mean, I would.” Gastón responded, “Oliver at least didn’t need to be in a love triangle with only one person. Nina, you should really write a book about that.”

“I’m not doing that alone.” 

“Anyways,” Gastón went back into the topic they had deviated away from, “I mean obviously Oliver needed some help, who doesn’t when it comes to girls, but the effort paid off.”

“He truly has grown up,” Ariana tilted her head, “Just yesterday he was that redhead kid who always had to blend colors everywhere.”

“Aren’t you younger than him?” Nina questioned as Ariana called Oliver a kid. 

“That’s irrelevant.” Ariana rolled her eyes, “Who remembers birthdays anyway?”

“We do?”

“Well, that's great for you,” Ariana laughed again, “And I’m done and I gotta run. See you at the church.” 

“Thanks Ariana!” 

Nina turned toward Gastón after Ariana had gone, “How much time do we have before we need to leave?”

“About an hour before the train,” Gastón looked at his watch, “I’ll text that to Matteo.”

Nina got up from that chair and looked her hair in the mirror. Ariana had done a thick fishtail braid that she had pinned up.

“Luna and Matteo promise to be on time,” Gastón said as he started buttoning his shirt up. “So, lets hope that’s the case. I gave them a time 15 minutes before.” 

“That is smart,” Nina responded as she put her rings back on her finger after finishing her make-up. 

Nina walked to the closet and took her dress off the hanger. Mora had found her this midnight-blue velvet dress that went below the knees and had small bell sleeves on the wrist. The color matched perfectly with Gastón’s suit. 

“Can you zip this up?” She asked him as he had just pulled the suit jacket on. 

“With pleasure.” Gastón circled around the bed and Nina turned her back on him so he could pull her zipper shut. 

“You’re gorgeous.” He ran his fingers on the zipper he had just closed. His voice was coming from right next to her right ear, and she could feel his breath on her neck, which was making her extremely distracted.

They had attended quite a lot of weddings during the past years, and there had been literally zero instances where the dress she had worn hadn’t been unceremoniously disregarded to the floor at the end of the night. It was just the romantic atmosphere that put you extremely in the mood, which was also helped by her husband looking extremely attractive in a suit. Tonight, was not going to be any different—

“Luna and Matteo will never let us hear the end of it, if we make us late.” Gastón placed a little kiss on Nina’s cheek before moving away from her to grab his cufflinks from on top of the chest of drawers to put them on. "No matter how tempting that would be right now."

“Sometimes we should actually just try it,” Nina chuckled as she checked her necklace in the mirror. 

“And get the never-ending side eye? Gastón looked at her as he finished lacing up his shoes. “Remember when they dragged us to Disneyland right after our honeymoon? What were they expecting us to do?”

“I don’t know.” Nina walked over and straightened his tie. She had not been tying those since the Blake days, so she wasn’t even sure if she knew how to do it anymore. Good thing, that she didn’t have to, but she was almost sure that Gastón left his crooked on purpose so she would come and fix them. “Okay, now we’re ready.”

“Matteo says they’ll meet us in the lobby in five minutes so we're right on time.” Gastón helped Nina her coat on before putting his own on. It was about -2 Celsius, which was actually a bit on the colder side. The air was dry and light snowflakes had started to billow down from the sky. Basically, perfect weather. “Let’s go.”

“Lets go.” Nina grabbed her purse and linked her arm with Gastón as they walked out of the door. 

They had just made it to the lobby when Luna and Matteo appeared behind them. 

“Ah, we see you were on time.” 

“Flor would kill me if we were late,” Matteo shrugged as he straitened his bow tie one more time. He had opted for a classic black suit with a red bow tie to match Luna’s dress which was red and black with a rose pattern. It looked quite distinctly Mexican. She had paired that up with an outragedly bright pink coat. 

“I’m so excited for a family wedding!” Luna was skipping as they started walking. Thankfully the train station was close by to the hotel. 

“I’m excited for Flor…” Matteo responded, “...not so much the family part. Nonna’s family is huge and I’m not sure how many Flor has invited. Fede said that he and Ludmila were invited as well, but couldn’t come. I haven’t seen some of this family for years and not looking forward to explaining myself, what I do, how old I am and where I have been. You’re lucky, you’re just here celebrating your friends.” 

***

The subterranean monolithic church of Saint-Jean was actually a chapel that had been carved into a rock. It was basically a cave, but super intriguing. The whole chapel was almost a work of art, which suited Oliver and Flor perfectly. 

“This is beautiful,” Nina said as they walked in. The time was 14:30, so they had arrived perfectly on schedule. 

“It is,” Gastón said while looking at the place all over. “But, Mom was right. It’s definitely gonna get chilly in here.” He wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him. Nina was quite receptive to the cold. 

“Gastón, Nina!” they turned around to see James walk into the church with Isabel. 

“Hey!” Gastón hugged him as they came up to them. He and James hadn’t seen each other in a while, and he had really missed him. They had become really close at Oxford. 

“Wow, this day really has arrived,” James remarked, “Oliver is really getting married. Good for him.”

“Well, you’re next,” Gastón pointed out as Isabel had just gotten done showing her engagement ring to Nina. They had gotten engaged a month prior.

“Apparently, I am.” James nodded. 

“You are,” Isabel rolled her eyes at him. 

“Do you have a date yet?” Nina asked them. 

“No,” Isabel laughed, “You have no idea how hard it is to find a venue in London. I have tried, and I work for the field. James is not that keen on just getting married at Disneyland Paris. We’re gonna try and manage it for next year.”

“So, you need to drag yourself back to England at some point,” James finished. 

“I don’t need you to do that,” Gastón sighed, “I’m getting dragged around the world as it is. Who knows where they think to send me next at my job.” 

“Oh, yes, the job where you “accidentally” got yourself promoted to an executive position,” James laughed, “You know, I’m jealous of what they have you do. You’re clearly their PR darling.”

“Don’t be.” Gastón shook his head, “It’s not as fun as it sounds. How are you doing at TEXEL?”

“Actually, I heard, through the company, that Renishaw is looking for an assistant manager for the design division of a hydropower station.” James straightened his jacket, “I know it’s a long shot, but—”

“I wouldn’t say that at all,” Gastón remarked, “Totally go for it. You definitely have a chance. Do you want me to give them a call? I could put in a word for you.”

“Well,” James seemed to hesitate, “What can you say? You have never been my employer.”

“Maybe not, but I know you and I know how you work. I would hire your for us, if it was up to me, which is apparently something I will be involved with eventually, at least when it comes to new team members.” Gastón took his phone out, “Think about it. I’ll forward you the contact of the head recruitment agent there, Warren Merill. At least contact him.” 

“I don’t know.”

“James, let him do it.” Isabel looked at James, “You have connections, so use them.”

“And I think it’s time to stop the work talk,” Nina added, and she wrapped her arm back around Gastón’s. “We better go and sit down.” 

“Have you seen anyone else yet?”

“No, not yet,” Gastón answered while scanning the chapel, “We came with Luna and Matteo, but they got sucked into somewhere with relatives probably.”

“There they are.” Nina pointed toward the left row of benches. Maybe about five rows from the altar, they saw three people sitting there. A woman with an almost white blonde hair and freckles and a man with an earring. Next to him was another man, whom Gastón didn’t recognize. 

“Hey!” Jacob and Marlee turned around as they walked to the row of benches. “You’re finally here.”

“We’re not late.” Gastón responded as he and Nina sat next to Jacob. James and Isabel went around next to Marlee and Ariana joined them shortly as well. 

“Okay, so,” Jacob started speaking, “Miles, this is my other former roommate Gastón Perida and his wife Nina, who was Marlee’s roommate. This is Miles Toller, my boyfriend.”

“Great to meet you,” Gastón shook Miles’ hand. “I have heard a lot about you.”

“I have heard a lot about all of you.” Miles responded, “I gotta say, you don’t sound very Argentinian.”

“Six years does miracles to the accent.” 

“Pheew, we finally found you,” Matteo and Luna suddenly appeared next to them. 

“Should you be sitting this far back?” Nina questioned. “You’re family.” 

“Look, we’re probably gonna be forced to sit with some great aunt once removed the whole reception, so we’d rather join you when we’re allowed to pick where we sit.” 

The ceremony started after a while. Oliver showed up right before and had had time to say quick hi, before taking his place at the altar. The wedding was small and there was no bridal party. Oldest of Oliver’s younger brothers was acting as the best man, while Flor’s high school best friend was the maid of honor. 

The ceremony was relatively short and performed in English, for Oliver’s sake. He had privately admitted to Gastón that he had started taking Spanish and Italian lessons, due to Flor’s heritage, but progressing slowly. 

Well, at least some progress had been made, since the last sentences of his vows were in Spanish and Italian. Gastón knew about that, since Oliver had asked him to grammar check the Spanish part, plus teach him how to say it. 

“That was so beautiful!” Luna apparently was bursting with energy as they exited the church after the ceremony. “I understood almost everything! I am getting better at English!”

“I give him props,” Matteo nodded, “I mean, Flor has great taste… and he did bring the effort. The Italian was almost correct.” 

“You finally dropping that overprotectiveness act?” Gastón laughed, “It’s actually time.”

“That act saved you from looking super stupid.” Matteo countered as they walked into the reception venue and looked over the seating chart. “Yes, I love her!”

“What?” 

“We’re seated with you guys.” Matteo pointed to the seating chart, “Thank goodness.” 

*

“Okay, so here are the people who kept me on track at Oxford.” After dinner, Oliver and Flor had made the rounds around the tables, saying hi to everyone with their parents. “So: Ariana Williams, Marlee Wynne, Jacob Tomas, James Wilson and, Gastón and Nina Perida. Then we also have Isabel, James’ fiance, and Jacob’s boyfriend Miles.”

“And my cousin Matteo Balsano and his wife Luna.” Flor added. 

“Quite mad that we haven’t been introduced before.” Oliver’s mother started saying, “Honey, who were your roommates again?”

“Gastón and Jacob.” 

“The ceremony was really beautiful,” Nina said to Flor and Oliver, “Congratulations.” 

“Thank you.” Flor was caressing Oliver’s arm, “He learned some languages for me. But honestly, we have you to thank.”

“We just notched you into the right direction.” Gastón remarked. 

***

“Hah, we made it about 5 minutes longer than you did.” Gastón remarked to Matteo as he and Nina returned back onto their table during the anniversary dance. 

“Accomplishment.” Matteo rolled his eyes at him. 

“Aren’t they doing this in the wrong order?” Marlee asked. “Doesn’t the anniversary dance start with everyone and then go from married longest to shortest? Well, what do I know.”

“I’m glad that they are doing it this way,” Nina said as she sat down. She had maneuvered her chair into a position so she could completely lean herself on Gastón. “If it was the other way around, we would be one of the last ones on the floor. Our wedding was enough eyes on us while dancing to last a lifetime.” 

“I agree,” Gastón’s arm crept from her waistline to her hip, pulling her closer to him, “We can be the last ones on the floor when it’s our grandchild’s wedding.” 

“Are we supposed to read something into that?” Ariana perked up. 

“Read something into what?” Gastón and Nina exchanged glances with each other.

“Well, you can’t have grandchildren with no children.” Marlee continued, with a sly smile. 

“Oh, no no no,” Nina started shaking her head, “That’s not the case, at all.”

“Even if it was, you really think we would tell you now? At Oliver’s wedding?” Gastón shook his head, “That suggestion is reflecting on very badly on you girls. We’re not having a child, right now.”

“Well, had to try.” Ariana leaned back. “How were we supposed to know? We almost never see you, and Nina doesn’t drink anyway, so there are no signs.”

“Okay, time for the bouquet toss!!” The maid of honor announced through the microphone, “We’re doing this a little different. So, if you’re married, engaged, or in a happy relationship stay in your seat. We want to see the single ladies on the floor!”

“Well, aren’t you gonna go?” Marlee asked Ariana. 

“I thought we were gonna do this together,” Ariana scoffed, “I’m not gonna go out there alone.”

“Just because I’m attending stag tonight, doesn’t make me single,” Marlee noted, “But you’re not gonna miss out on this. What if you catch it, and that way you finally find love.”

“It’s just a superstition.”

“I mean it works. Didn’t Flor catch Nina’s and two months later they were engaged?”

“She did,” Nina nodded to Ariana encouragingly, “Go.”

“Okay.” Ariana said and got up from the table. 

“So, we’re all basically rooting for her to catch the flowers and then have a one night stand with somebody in attendance here?” James questioned. 

“I guess so?” Gastón shook his head. 

“It would be good for her.” Marlee remarked, “She’s the only one who has that freedom. Rest of us don’t. She has to have fun.”

***

“Haven’t you looked over that slideshow about ten thousand times already?” Nina sat next to Gastón on the bed of their hotel room at Otaniemi. 

They had landed to Helsinki-Vantaa airport at noon and then figured out the public transportation system, to get them to Otaniemi. Good thing was that there was an app which gave you the route, the busses or trains you needed to take—at their case it had been both—and what ticket they needed to buy. 

Now it was late at night, and they had settled at their hotel. 

“I know.” Gastón sighed, “I’ll stop now.” 

“Make sure you do.” Nina closed his laptop and put it on her side of the dresser, so it was out of his reach. 

“I’m sorry this turned into my work trip,” Gastón sighed again as she cuddled on his side and he wrapped his arm around her. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about. There was nothing you could have done.”

“Maybe there would have been something if I tried hard enough, but…”

“But you want to do this.” Nina completed his sentence. She knew him way too well, sometimes better than he did himself. 

“I guess I do,” Gastón nodded, turning to look at Nina, “Not the conference part that much, even when it is important, and I know how necessary it is… Anyway, it’s the talking to the students part that’s actually interesting for me. I guess, I am looking forward to that.”

“Of course, you are,” Nina ran her hand on his arm, “You’re definitely a much better person to talk to them than some PR person, who is getting paid to make it sound good. You actually do the job and can tell how it is actually like.”

“They’re freshmen.”

“That makes it even more important. You have been where they are. You are also a very good teacher. I would know.”

“So, we’re basing that off of a physics course, you never should have taken in the first place—” Gastón questioned laughing, “—and that I helped you with for completely different motivations than for you to actually learn physics?”

“As long as it worked.” Nina shrugged slightly. 

“And it did work.” Gastón smiled at her and kissed her left hand right next to the rings. 

Suddenly both of their phones dinged. 

“Hopefully Luna and Matteo have not broken the showerhead or something,” Gastón remarked as he pulled his phone out. “Oh, it’s not them.”

The message was from the group chat they had with Pedro and Delfi, that they had created as they were taking care of Newton. 

Pedro had sent a picture there, where Newton was laying on the couch with Delfi, head on her stomach. She was only about five months along, second trimester, so had really started to show in recent months. 

“Aww,” Nina said as she looked at the picture, “That’s so cute.”

“It’s official. We have lost our dog to an unborn baby of our friends.” Gastón laughed.

“Well, it’ll be very good to know that he’s good with kids,” Nina noted, “But Labradors naturally are like that.”

“That’s true. Our boy is in good hands.” Gastón kissed Nina on the top of her head before reaching for the TV remote, “So, what you wanna watch? We haven’t binged Andor in a while.”

“Do we really wanna go through that emotional turmoil again?”

“My answer is yes.”

*

“So, you got everything?” Nina asked Gastón as he was getting ready to leave early in the morning. For some reason, the conference was starting at 8:30. 

“I think so,” Gastón zipped up his backpack after putting his laptop in there, “I just need my IDs.”

“Got them right here,” Nina spun two lanyards on her hand. One of them was Gastón’s basic work ID at the Castillo Corporation and the other was the ID specifically issued for the conference. “Come here.”

“You are a lifesaver.” 

“It’s my job.” Nina grinned and straightened his collar that was sticking out under the cardigan he was wearing before putting the lanyards around his neck, and then kissing him. “I love you. Now go out there and show them what my husband is capable of.”

“I love you.” Gastón said to her before grabbing his jacket from the closet and walking out the door. “Have fun and you need to tell me everything in the evening.”

It was definitely quite colder in Finland than in France. On this particular morning, it was -8 Celsius and you could see your breath. 

The conference was being held at a building on the campus called “Dipoli” which apparently was like the administrative building… 

You were able to just walk there from the hotel they were staying in. Otaniemi was also called “Teekkari village”, the word Teekkari apparently was what the student in the science and technology faculties called themselves. 

Finnish University culture was quite different from England for example. Gastón had done some research about it with Nina’s help. The students wore overalls specific to their majors with pins sown into them and some variation of finnish graduation caps with some sort of tassels coming out of them. Those costumes were mostly commonly seen during the first of May which was a local holiday to Scandinavia and Nordics in general. 

There also were no dorms. Most of the students lived in apartments provided by independent nonprofit companies that provided affordable housing for students. 

Gastón found the Dipoli building quite easily. The area wasn’t that big, and building was distinct. He should have not been surprised, the founder of the University was an architect and Gastón as an architecture minor could appreciate it.” 

“Gastón Perida, representing Castillo Corporation.” He showed his IDs at the door and was let into some sort of a lounge. 

“Gastón?” Suddenly he was approached by a familiar voice. 

“Elias?” He turned around and saw his former manager from the time he worked at Renishaw walk toward him. He had worked directly under Elias Winton for most of his internships and the year after his graduation at Renishaw, and he had become some sort of a mentor to him during that time. 

“I didn’t come to think that they’d be sending you.” Elias remarked after they had shaken hands. 

“Well, then it’s a surprise for all of us.” Gastón laughed, “How are you doing?”

“I’m a main project manager on the carbon efficiency front now. A little bit of a step up from a team manager. You know HQ let me hear it for letting you quit.”

“Well, it had nothing to do with the company. It was just the time to go home.”

“And we couldn’t possibly keep you from moving onto bigger things” Elias added, “Which you obviously have done. Castillo Corporations and the executive team definitely count as that.”

“No one will ever believe me when I say that it was a completely impromptu promotion.” Gastón ran his hand on his neck. “But, yeah, I’m doing great.”

“And you got married? Same girl?”

“Yes,�� Gastón smiled while twisting his wedding ring, “Two and a half years ago now. We had the wedding quite fast after we moved back to Argentina.” 

He stopped and thought for a moment. James had never said no about him putting in a word for him at Renishaw. Even if he wouldn’t want him to give a formal recommendation, he could still put his name into the rotation through Elias. “By the way, I heard that you’re searching for an assistant manager for hydro power.”

“Yes,” Elias nodded, “We have had a couple of meetings about it now. We want the spot filled as soon as possible. Hopefully before April.”

“So, this will be completely off the record,” Gastón started, “but I think I know a person who would be perfect for the role.”

***

Luna, Nina and Matteo stepped off the escalator at the top level of the Helsinki Central Library. 

“Wow, this is cool.” Luna said while looking around. 

“Honestly, I’m actually surprised that they can make libraries this modern.” Matteo remarked, “Blake’s was ancient.”

“You should have seen the library at Oxford,” Nina noted as they walked forward. The library had a curved ceiling and walls were windows. She raised the camera that had been hanging on her neck and took a picture of the sight. She also snatched a pic on her phone and sent it to Gastón, “That was ancient. This is more than a library, more of a community center.” 

“Uuuu, Nina!” Luna suddenly jumped next to Nina grabbing her arm, “What if they have your books here?” 

“I doubt it.” Nina shook her head. “They have only been translated into English. I’m not a notable author internationally. Only in Argentina. No one here would care.”

“Well, we should still go and see.” Luna said before bouncing forward. “They totally should have it here, I mean your books are the best. Do they have a section for Spanish books here?”

“I doubt that too.” Nina said, but Luna was already dragging her forward. Matteo was following them and giving Nina the: “You don’t question her” look. 

Nina was sure they surely wouldn’t have her writing in here. None of the libraries of note didn’t. Blake only did because she was a notable alumni with Gastón, given that she had a degree from Oxford. 

Luna, in some way had already scouted the section where they held the books that were in other languages. English books seemed to have their own section. How she had found it so quickly, was beyond anyone. Luna had dreadful navigation skills. They had only found their way to the Helsinki centrum from Otaniemi because Nina knew how to use that HSL app. But if Luna really wanted something, she would always succeed. 

Nina eyed the titles absentmindedly. The Spanish section was quite sparse, but she did recognize couple of the titles. She took her phone out and saw that Gastón had responded to her message. His message was saying that the conference would be running at least for one more hour and then he still had the lectures left. 

Nina really wished that he could have come with them to see the capital, but his job obviously came first right now. Once they were in Lapland, they would have plenty of time. Even with Simon and Ambar and Luna and Matteo, there would be more than enough time to have just to themselves. 

“Nina! Nina! Nina!” Luna was suddenly jumping in front of her like a bunny. 

“What?” Nina looked at her confused. Luna was holding some sort of book in her hand, but she was jumping so furiously that Nina didn’t get a good look.

“Okay, Luna, let's calm down,” thankfully Matteo walked over and got Luna to slow down gradually by placing his hand on her shoulder, “We don’t wanna cause a scene. What do you have there?” 

“Look! I found it!” Luna held a book up to Nina, “Told you.”

Nina stared at the book before taking it from Luna’s hand. Why on earth did the Finnish Central Library network stock her book? The book was only released five years ago. This was the original Spanish version, from the second print. The copy also looked new and crisp. 

“Excuse me? Can I be any assistance?” They turned around and saw a staff member smiling at them. 

“Oh, noh,” Nina shook her head slightly to get herself to focus, “I was just… just wondering… well, maybe I wasn’t wondering. Just surprised that you have this here.”

“Oh yeah, I have actually read that one personally,” The staff member responded after checking the book cover, “Well, the English version. That and its sequel are actually one of our more recent arrivals. The board specifically picked it out, because it’s written by a young female Argentinian author, so it brings nice variety. I personally really love it, the author really captures the topic she’s talking about.”

“Oh, we know,” Matteo piped up as Nina wasn’t able to get something out of her mouth. She did have some fans, through her books and working with Matteo and Latino BookTok really loved to talk about her books, but in this country, she hadn’t prepared for this in the slightest. “You’re talking to her.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Nina started awkwardly, “I’m Nina Perida, or well, it’s Simonetti in this context… I promise I don’t usually go around libraries looking for my own books. We’re tourists and my friends here…”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” The employee continued, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—I thought you were British.”

“Common misconception,” Matteo laughed, “Gastón’s gonna be so mad that he missed this.”

Nina rolled her eyes at him. Luna and Matteo loved to tease her and Gastón about the fact that they got mistaken as brits almost everywhere they went, because they spoke English with British accents. What else were they supposed to do? Nina had really learned how to speak English after she had moved there. 

***

“...and that’s why we prioritize renewable energy sources on all of our projects to keep the construction of today and tomorrow as sustainable as possible. That is the number one value in our company, and we are dedicated to upholding the climate goal of completely fossil-free future.” 

Gastón turned his laser pointer off and switched onto the last slide. He had given the same speech two times already. First to the people studying the same major he had: energy technology engineering, then machine industry majors, and finally now he was talking to the chemical engineers. 

“So, that’s all I have to say today. Any questions?”

Multiple hands rose in the auditorium. 

“Speak freely.”

“You said you were Argentinian,” A guy in the third row started speaking, “Why do you have a british accent?”

“Bueno, ¿Hubieras preferido que hubiera hecho todo eso en español?" Gastón leaned on the table that was behind him as the auditorium filled with bunch on “no’s”.

“Yeah, didn’t think so, porque todavía puedo hacer eso.” He grinned. “I am Argentinian, lived in Buenos Aires since I was four, but like I said at the start, I studied at Oxford. I lived there for six years, so you would think that accent would catch on. So, any other questions?”

“How did you get such a high place at the company when you’re so young?” A girl from the second row asked, “If that’s okay?”

“Yeah, it’s totally okay,” Gastón nodded, “I get why you would think that. I am young. How I got where I am is a really long story, and I won’t lie and say that there haven’t been moments when luck has been on my side. But all that said, when it comes to it, I always put in the effort and work. I put in the work while I was in college and when I got the job I continued. I didn’t start at the executive team when I got hired at 24. I was a member of an energy preservation team, which was a lower tier division at the company. My effort there caught the attention of the higher ups, and I was offered a promotion. It’s not about the age. It’s about effort and passion you’re bringing with you and what you can offer, because everyone of you will bring so many ideas to the field. That doesn’t mean that work should totally over take your life. I have a wife and we have a dog, and family will always be a priority for me. Balancing that and your work life is something everyone will learn on their own.”

“You did extremely well today.” A professor approached Gastón after the students had left.

“That’s great to hear.” Gastón nodded as he was grabbing his laptop. “The kids were really great.”

“You managed to keep them really engaged,” The professor continued, “a lot of guest speakers don’t always do that. Have you done this a lot?”

“Surprisingly, today has been my first time,” Gastón admitted.

“You couldn’t tell. We might need to note to Castillo corporations that they sent you next time we have a guest speaker from there. You should keep doing this.”

“Hey! How did it go?” Nina perked up from the bed where she had apparently been reading a book, when Gastón opened the door to their room. 

“You’re back already?” He questioned as he walked in. “I thought you’d be longer.”

“We had to cut the sightseeing bit short as Luna and Matteo got too cold,” She put the book away as he walked to her and gave her a small peck before starting to pull the cardigan off. “I understand. They aren’t used to it and maybe better that they won’t experience the deep freeze before we get to Lapland where it really will be cold. But tell me, how was it?”

“Well, the conference part was tolerable, because it’s for an important cause, obviously,” Gastón sat on the bed after he had gotten done changing, “but giving the lectures, I actually really liked it.”

“I though you would.”

“The kids were great,” Could you really call them kids? They had been in the 18 to 20 age range. “And they had lot of great questions… I loved it.” 

“Thats so great that you did.” Nina smiled at him. 

“That just got me thinking that maybe I should do more of this kind of stuff. I mean like teaching.” Gastón continued, “If I should ask the company to send me do this kind of stuff more… I mean not overseas, because I don’t want to be away… or…”

“Or?” Nina was looking at him quizzingly, “I don’t understand.”

“You remember when I was maybe thinking about doing the PHD?”

“Yes,” Nina responded, “But you decided against it because it wasn’t worth it to you at the time.”

“Yes… Now I am just thinking that maybe I should do it after all.”

“You mean argue for a PHD?” Nina asked again.

“Yeah,” Gastón nodded, “If I had a PHD, I could teach at a university. What do you think about it?”

“If that’s what you want to do,” Nina grabbed his hand, “Of course I support you.”

“I don’t wanna quit my job, that’s not what I meant,” Gastón continued, “I guess I could enroll at the University of Buenos Aires or somewhere as a doctoral student and do that on the side, maybe reduce the hours for a little bit. I could at least try.”

“We both know you can do it,” Nina squeezed his hand, “And it probably won’t be hard for you, since you’re so smart.”

“Let’s hope so,” Gastón laughed quite nervously, “I don’t need to make any final decisions about it now. So, tell me, what you did?”

“Nothing that special. We went to see the library and the church and then looked around in couple museums close by.” Nina started talking, “Actually, Luna found my book at the library.”

“Really?” Gastón questioned. 

“She did,” Nina continued, “and then an employee came over and started talking to us about it and she turned out to be a bit of a fan… I was not gonna tell her who I was until Matteo blurted it out.”

“Always count on Matteo to have the worse timing,” Gastón laughed.

“The bottom line is that I ended giving her an autograph, which you know I hate doing.” Nina sighed, “Why would someone ever want my autograph?”

“You are amazing writer, and the books are amazing,” Gastón traced his finger on Nina’s chin. “I totally understand why. I wish I could have been there. I’m jealous that I missed seeing this side of the country on this trip… I guess we’ll have to come back here then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, how about we return here. Like for our third anniversary. It’s summer here then and we could go look around lots of cities… stay in nice hotel rooms…” He slid his hands on Nina’s back. 

“You’re already planning another vacation?” Nina raised her eyebrow at him, “We’re not done with this one.”

“I have not even been on vacation yet,” Gastón scoffed as he pulled her closer, “I have been working.” 

He kissed her deeply.

“Now I’m on vacation.” He said as they separated for a brief time.

***

“Come on Simon!” Ambar said as she and Simon were strutting across the Helsinki-Vantaa airport to find their connecting flight’s gate where they were meeting the others.

“Darling, we’re not in any kind of hurry,” Simon caught up to her wheeling the suitcase. Their luggage would be transferred from one plane to another but given that they had left from Buenos Aires during the summertime and touched down in Northern Europe in the winter, they needed a change of clothes and other things to be accessible. 

“Well, we shouldn’t leave them waiting either.” Ambar remarked. 

They had landed on gate 28 and the flight to Lapland was leaving from gate 5, so from a totally other side of the terminal. That was understandable, it was a smaller domestic flight in a small country.

“Ambar! Simon!” They heard the yells as they passed the TSA checkpoint. 

“Perfect timing.” They stopped and waited for Luna, Matteo, Gastón and Nina to catch them up from the gate. “Hey! How was the wedding?”

“It was so beautiful,” Luna started a huge flood of words, “I wasn’t allowed to go and catch the bouquet.”

“Yeah, that’s not really an activity for married women.” Ambar laughed. “Did you see who caught it?”

“Ariana did.” Nina answered, “One of my roommates if you remember.”

“After we forced her onto the floor.” Gastón added. 

“Do you know where our gate is?” Matteo asked Simon and Ambar. “No matter how big or small the airport is, you never find your way around.”

“I think according to the map, it’s that way,” Simon pointed ahead, “We need to walk as far as we can.”

“Fabulous.” 

“So, how was the school?” Ambar let Simon go ahead with Luna and Matteo as they started walking and joined Nina and Gastón. She wanted to hear about the infamous Aalto University. 

“Great,” Gastón responded. “Got things that I needed to get done done.” 

“How were the kids?”

“Dependable were they really “kids” per say,” Gastón continued. “I think the youngest were 19… But otherwise, it was honestly my favorite part of the whole thing. Had so much fun talking to them. Gave me really things to think about, about what I wanna do.”

“Sounds ominous.” Ambar raised her eyebrow. Over the years, her, Gastón and Nina had formed a bit of a comradery—in addition of the strong friendship they all shared—over being the ones who had spent the longest at school and had the highest degrees so to say. Not that it made anyone else’s accomplishments any less important. Ambar was immensely proud of everyone in their group over how far they had really come. 

“Not really,” Gastón shook his head. “Just some things in the future that I might wanna do. But that’s the future, I have time to think about it.”

{}

Okay, so you all obviously have noticed that even if this story follows Gastina, Lutteo and Simbar, it will be very Gastina-centric. Because whose story do you think you're reading? Others will get their moments but there is a very good story reason for Gastina getting most of the focus. This story would have not worked if they had taken the trip just two of them. Luna and Matteo obviously were invited to the wedding of Matteo's cousin and Simon and Ambar join them for added fun. Because this fic will be just fun and nothing bad will happen at all. I also took this opportunity to catch up on all the people from Oxford, who I hope everyone has missed since GOS finished. I wanted to do a small round on what they're all up to now, with Oliver getting married and James is engaged while Jacob and Marlee and in stable relationships. Ariana's still single. I said I wouldn't abandon them and we see how far they have come from calling themselves the "singles club of Oxford".