Page 54 of The Champion
“Who needs beaches when you can have lakes?”
“Mom, no one but you wants Austria.”
“That’s because the rest of you don’t appreciate true beauty.”
“How about we vote?” Albert raised his hand. “Who says we go with Portugal?”
He and Ada voted in favor.
“Austria?” Shelly stretched up her left arm.
“I vote for Belgium,” Victor said and raised his hand. Marco and I followed.
“Then I guess that’s settled,” Albert declared. “Do we call it Belgium or something more exciting like Land of the Enchanted, Country of the Great, Wisdomia, or Brillian?”
We all laughed, but Albert defended his idea. “If the Northlands name their children after great people, shouldn’t we aim high when we name our new country?”
“I like Brillian or Wisdomia,” Ada said in support of her brother.
“As far as history books go, the people of Belgium were known to be intelligent and master many languages,” Shelly informed us. “I don’t care what we call the country, but Wisdomia sounds like a tribute to the people who used to live there.”
Albert frowned. “I was thinking more about the fact that Wisdomia will be founded by at least four geniuses.”
“Four?” I shook my head. “I don’t consider myself a genius.”
“Good, because I wasn’t counting you. I was thinking about Mom, Victor, Ada, and me.”
Marco and I exchanged a glance before Marco addressed his son, “And what are Freya and I then?”
“I would say that you are both average in intelligence, but then I don’t know Freya that well yet,” Albert explained. “It’s okay not to be a genius. You have other skill sets, Dad.”
Marco angled his head. “Yes, I do. For instance, I know when to shut up and not brag about my intelligence. And while we are on the subject, tell me this, how can two kids whose IQ scores are above a hundred and fifty still not know how to clean their room?”
“I’m above a hundred and sixty,” Albert pointed out. “It was Ada who scored a measly hundred and fifty-six.” He winked at his sister, who stuck her tongue out at him.
“You can call the country Wisdomia if you like, but just for the record, having a high IQ and being wise aren’t the same thing. I’m sure Freya and I are wiser than all of you geniuses put together. Your mother will be the first to admit that I’m way better with people than her.”
“But Mom has a degree in psychology.”
“Your dad is right, Albert. You know I say weird stuff around people all the time and to be honest, so do you.”
“Me?” Albert, who had Marco’s curls and his mother’s eyes, looked shocked.
“Yes, you. What about that conversation you had with our neighbor yesterday about masturbation? Normal people don’t talk about private things like that within the first five minutes of meeting someone.”
“But I didn’t want him to think Ada and I were a couple.”
“Which is why we have code words in this family. If I had been there, I would have told you that it was time to go and search for yellow roses so you would have known to shut up,” Marco said.
Victor cut through the chatter. “Can we get back to our talk about the new country?”
“Wisdomia,” Ada said.
“Yes…” Victor threw up his hands. “We won’t get anywhere without resources to build the first settlement. We French are experts at survival when it comes to urban gardening, collection of rainwater, and that sort of thing. But we have little experience dealing with survival in the wilderness. Our best bet would be knowledge from the Explorers.”
“I’m sure we could recruit several of the French and Northlander Explorers,” I suggested.
“Oh, can we recruit Shiva?” Ada pleaded and moved to the edge of her seat.
