Sierra's mouth remained open as the vast lorry pulled up.

Jonas jumped out and spoke to the driver in Swedish.

All Sierra understood was the contents of the truck were Jonas's belongings.

"Hi Sierra," the man said in a perky voice.

"Hello, Mr.Pots."

"It's Potsmann, and please call me Jonas," the man said before going to the back of the lorry.

Jonas wondered why the woman persisted in calling him Mr. Pots.

Sierra followed Jonas with Leone in her arms, "Eh, Mr., I mean Jonas, do you think I live in a condo or Buckingham place?"

Jonas turned, "I beg your pardon?"

Sierra adjusted Leone's position and pointed to the lorry, "Wha-what is this? Where on earth do you think I can stock all of that?"

"It's two times nothing; I told you, I can work from anywhere, but I need my stuff," Jonas said while he pursued in bringing out his belongings.

"What are you, a black Smith or something?" Sierra asked as she saw the kick peddle for the first time. Since Jonas was Swedish, the cliché did not seem too farfetched as Sierra recalled the Viking series's images. Ragnar Lodbrok seemed to be moving in with her.

Jonas laughed warm-heartedly. He, too, read between the lines of Sierra's words, " I promise to arrange things well. Now tell me where we can enter."

Sierra was taken aback by the man's seamless, positive attitude. One could think Jonas did this often or that he and Sierra knew each other for ages.

From the outside, things looked different, "wow, first it was the white kid, now, it's Steve Jobs," said the shopkeeper of the corner shop who watched Jonas push his Apple tv and other high-tech equipment into the gateway.

"Do you know what that is? Her last boyfriend must have done something wrong for her to cross the river," Asma said to her husband as she placed the fruits and vegetables on the outdoor racks.

Sierra turned and threw a dark stare as they spoke loud enough to be heard by the whole neighborhood.

"Sierra?" The men's voice snapped her out of her daze.

"Eh, this way."

Sierra led the way, but her thoughts raced as she imagined what all her neighborhood gossiped about at that instant. No one knew the details surrounding her new occupant or Leone. St Denis was known to be populated by immigrants for the most.

The migration to the French capital made even the upper-class population search for the least costly households. St Denis became one of the destinations with the new constructions, cinema studios, and big company headquarters.

Despite that, it remained tagged as the immigration parking lot with most African, Indian, Eastern European populations. Paradoxically, it was a cultural pot without the melting part.

Jonas's clean-cut Scandinavian appearance stood out as much as Leone's feather blonde hair.

The lorry driver and Jonas went back and forth, bringing the rest of his luggage. An hour later, Jonas said goodbye to the man and joined Serra in her apartment, "Woah, well, I'm glad that's over."

Sierra looked at the parcels at the man's feet, representing a laptop case, a backpack, and another suitcase. If this was all, he brought Sierra would have thought he traveled light. But the material which now covered a full wall in her apartment scratched the theory.

"Jonas, this is a-," Sierra did not know what to say. The sentiment of being invaded by a Viking took a toll on everything else.

Jonas approached Leone and patted him on the head, "hi Leone; I hope we become good buddies."

The man seemed at ease; this made Sierra more uncomfortable.

"Eh, Jonas, before we do anything else. "I'd like to set a few rules."

"Okay, go ahead," man advanced towards his computer, followed by Sierra.

"First, I don't want you to interfere with-."

"Do you have a plug somewhere near?"

"Here, as I was saying, Leone's education is my-."

"I will not interfere."

"Okay, also, I have my life. I hope you don't expect me to be your tour guide. My apartment isn't a playground, so I expect you to tidy up after yourself."

Jonas chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Sierra, relax. Everything will be fine. I'm a clean and cool guy. I'm only here for Leone. You can carry on living the way you always have. I just want you to know I'm not here as a bystander; I want to get to know him too without troubling his environment."

Sierra sighed, "okay, is there anything about you I ought to know? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

The man frowned, "like what?"

Sierra rolled eyes, thinking the man only acted smart at punctual intervals, "like do you smoke, drink?"

"No, I don't do neither."

"Are you a vegetarian orㅡ."

Jonas smiled, "no, but I prefer fish to meat, so where do I crash?"

"Come, I'll show you."

Sierra led the way in the corridor; this is my bedroom."

Jonas poked his head in the room, white walls, cream curtains, and bedspread. The whole place appeared to have sprung out of an IKEA catalog, as most of the furniture was from the famous Swedish company, the man noted.

A few steps further, Sierra opened the door to another room," this is Leone's room; it used the be my office and visitors room.

This time Jonas entered, he had to admit the woman had gone all out on the decoration. There two all was in beige or cream tones. Leone had a beautiful crib. Jonas could see it was handcrafted. Jonas was surprised the room even had the scent of apple crumble pie and cinnamon as if someone had hidden it in the bedroom somewhere. There was a corner with stuffed animals. What captured Jonas's attention was a particular giant teddy. He had thought of buying it before coming but had to forget the idea not because of its cost, which was a few hundred euros high but because of the space it took.

One thing was sure; Sierra did not hold back to offer Leone comfort.

They moved on to the next space, "so here is the bath. I don't know what time you get up in the morning, but I have to use this space between 6 AM and 6:30 AM.

The bath was a contemporary one. Jonas was astonished to see how bare space was. Sierra opted for different shades of grey and white for the decor. To Jonas, the woman was someone with a taste for sober and pure lines. None of the walls had patterns or designs. This said a lot about her personality.

If the rooms showed a very subtle and warm side, the kitchen gave off a cold feeling with its industrial metallic design, which reminded one of a professional kitchen. It was functional, yet it looked like a showroom. The clean-cut aspect of the place made Jonas wonder if the woman cooked.

"That's it."

"You still haven't told me where I'd sleep," Jonas said as they returned to square one in the living room.

"As I said, the visitor's room is Leone's now, and I will not evict him from his room for you. I will definitely no give up mine, so you'll sleep here."

Jonas's eyes darted, "you mean in the living room?"

The man's expression was priceless. Sierra put in a lot of effort to keep a straight face as she announced, "the couch is a convertible."

Jonas regained the jolly expression that Sierra already placed in the things that irritate the list, "okay, it's good for me. It will be easier to work."

Sierra hoped for a little protest. Jonas's positive attitude tapped on her nervous system. If Sierra did not have Jacob as an example of candid kindness, she would have thought Jonas was a weirdo.

"Fine, I'll leave you to it then."

"Don't you ever leave him to crawl?"

Sierra looked down on Leone, who was still in her arms and happily biting into her t-shirt.

"Eh, I told youㅡ."

The man placed his hands as if to say, calm down, "I know, I will not interfere. I remember it's just a question."

Sierra's eyes widened, the man had just arrived, and here he was trying to be cocky, "the answer is yes, but there's a stranger who has left a big Bazar in my apartment. So for Leone's safety, I prefer to carry him for the moment. Does this answer your question?"

"Okay, fair enough," Jonas replied as Sierra turned to leave the room.

"Sierra."

"Yes."

"I don't want a cold war; I'm not your enemy. I want you to know that."

"Time will tell us that, Jonas."

Time, if the first few days flew for Jonas, who acted as though he was doing an Airbnb exchange.

For Sierra, it was something else, "look, he hovers, washes the dishes, he can't take five steps without saying hello to someone. He knows more people in the neighborhood than me."

"Sierra, what's wrong? The man is friendly and clean, isn't it what you wanted? Your house would be a dumpster if your brother didn't come and clean all the time."

Sierra cocked an eyebrow at her friend, "whose side are you on? He's weird; it's bizarre. He doesn't watch Netflix."

"Now that's bizarre for sure, Sierra."

"See."

Jade chuckled, "Oh, my goodness, not being a Netflix addict doesn't make you a weirdo."

"Anyway, I want him to leave. He's a nuisance."

"What has he done?"

He's invading my private space.

"I think he's kind of cute."

"Please, no, stop it."

Jonas appeared to have everyone in his pocket. Sierra was the only one who saw the potential danger. Even Leone careless played with the man. Deep down, what scared Sierra was a situation where Jonas would become indispensable for Leone.

What would happen then if the baby preferred his father's arms to hers?