Nøtteknekkeren Read Online Free PDF Page A

said flatly. “But he’s my brother. Aside from Uncle Yvo, he’s the only family I have. I think we have cousins scattered here and there, but I haven’t kept in touch with them since our parents’ deaths.”
    The sisters looked at each other.
    “While family is important—” Tautropfen started.
    “—you also need to live your own life,” Geflimmer finished. “Safely. He isn’t family if he abuses you. Don’t let him hold you back.”
    “I don’t know what to say,” I said. Having total strangers tell me to stay away from Rik was weird. Rik was my brother, and family was important. And while I didn’t mind being lonely, I didn’t want to be alone. Walking away from Rik would mean I didn’t have a family anymore.
    Before the sisters could say anything else, Ginger floated over to us.
    “He promised me dinner,” she told them with a deep curtsy. She wobbled a little but managed to stand up on her own. “Thank you for rescuing him,” she sighed. “I’m not good at dealing with adults. Even adults who are acting like bratty children.”
    “Take good care of him,” Geflimmer said.
    I waved good-bye to the two of them as Ginger escorted me to the buffet.
     
     
    T HE PARTY was over, all the guests were gone, and it was just family now.
    “I don’t know if you remember him?” Yvo asked as he carefully lifted a nutcracker from the chair it was on. He handled it carefully, like it was alive.
    “I do,” I smiled. “We slept together a lot of Christmas Eves.”
    The nutcracker had an oversized jaw, odd jade eyes, and metallic white wire hair pulled back into a rough queue. He was dressed in an odd outfit of black harem pants and a blue-and-gold brocade jacket that fell to his knees, with a curved sword by his side. There was the faint hint of a beard on his face. He was so ugly he could be considered beautiful.
    I had seen the object years before, always placed prominently, showing how much Uncle Yvo valued him. The piece had always fascinated me, and I had spent a lot of time looking at him as well as the tree. Those memories were the clearest ones I had of the holiday, even if they were fuzzy.
    Rik looked over at us, barely hiding the disgust on his face. “Not that old thing again,” he mocked Yvo.
    I frowned as Yvo went still. Something about what Rik said was bothering the older man, but I didn’t know what. The work was an antique and had its own charm, but Yvo was acting like Rik was insulting a family member, not a figurine.
    “Does it even work?” Rik scoffed.
    Before anyone could stop him, Rik grabbed a nut from the table and shoved it into the nutcracker’s mouth. He moved the sword arm so the nutcracker’s jaws would shut and crack the nut, but before he could do more than that, Yvo snatched the nutcracker back from him.
    “It’s not a toy!” Yvo snarled at him. “And that nut is a Brazil nut. Those are very hard nuts. It would break his jaw before he cracked it.”
    “Thijs would know more about nuts than I do,” Rik snarked.
    Rik had never been the accepting older brother I had wanted him to be—about anything in my life, not just being gay. But, I had figured out early on that my brother’s default setting was asshole.
    “That comment was uncalled for,” Yvo said frostily as he sat the nutcracker back on his chair. It looked a little like a throne, an elaborate handcrafted chair covered in gilt and what looked like real jewels.
    “Like you can’t tell he’s gay,” Rik scoffed.
    “That isn’t any of my… our business,” Yvo said. “And no, I can’t tell he’s gay. Is he supposed to wear the letter ‘G’ embroidered on his chest to inform me?”
    I had the impression Yvo was pleased rather than upset that I was gay. That was strange, and I’d think about it later. I reached out to smooth out the jacket on the nutcracker and was surprised to feel a small shock when I touched him. I drew back my hand quickly with a small gasp.
    “Are you all right?” Yvo