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There's nothing like a warm bath, I was able to wash myself off the last few weeks at sea ... and my daughter's poo. Especially since Lagertha, like any good wife, has decided to help me.

- Have you had any interesting adventures? (Lagertha)

- No, a typical war, followed by a trade expedition. Nothing interesting. We have established good contacts in Spain, we will sell slaves there every year... and what happened in Kattegat while I was away? When did Hild give birth? (Ulf)

- Three weeks ago, her delivery wasn't difficult ... Rollo came back a few months ago and headed east, apparently you make him a Jarl. Floki is still building ships, he said that he might be able to build the fleet you told him to create earlier ... (Lahertha)

- I'll deal with it later ... time for gifts. Wait at home and I'll be right back. (Ulf)

I got dressed and went back to the port, I took a small box with Byzantine ornaments, some Arabic cloth, but with children will be a bit more problematic, I didn't have toys with me ... the only thing that came to my mind was fruit, we managed to buy in Lisbon, some figs, dates and pomegranates, for my children it can be an interesting experience... Less than half an hour later I was back.

I sat down on called Lagerthe and told me to sit on my lap ... I felt like Santa Claus ... although I was hoping he wasn't getting an erection like me... painful erection ... I still felt the effects of Yrsa welcoming me.

- You were a good girl in my absence? (Ulf)

I squeezed her buttock a little harder, my wife leaned over my ear and whispered.

- You'll see in the evening. (Lagertha)

I took some ornaments from my trunk, some earrings, a necklace and rings. Then it was Hild's turn ... she also sat on my lap ... but she will have to lose a few kilos after pregnancy. I also gave her a similar set, but a bit less impressive. Lagertha was my wife, Hild just a slave.

I also gave each of them the material to make dresses or whatever they wanted, and then it was the children's turn.

Their reaction to the fruit was comical, distrustful at first, spitting it out on the floor after the first attempts, but gradually they became convinced of the taste of the novelty. Lagertha and Hild also tried them, and fruits immediately conquered their taste buds, especially pomegranates.

The last surprise I had for them was a camel ... Of course I told them to be careful, especially my children, they are malicious creatures and I didn't want to stress the camel.

- What is this large creature ?! (Yrsa)

Large? I looked at the animal, perhaps because I had seen hundreds of camels, or because I got used to its presence, I did not pay attention to its size, especially from the perspective of a child it might seem enormous.

- A camel, he lives very far in the south, in a land where there is no snow, it is very hot there, and for many kilometers there is only sand. People use it instead of horses. (Ulf)

Suddenly I was inundated with a pile of questions whether there were other equally strange animals, although I had not seen them in Spain, I told my children about elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebras and crocodiles.

- What are you going to do with him? (Lagertha)

- It can stay in Kattegat as something unusual, people will be curious, we can eat it too ... but I don't know how they taste. (Ulf)

With difficulty, we managed to drag the children home again, and I temporarily led the camel to the barn.

The whole family gathered in the largest room, Hild was sitting in the armchair and feeding my daughter, I was lying on the couch, Lagetha was lying next to me, children were running around and wreaking havoc. Idyll...

I was slowly falling asleep when suddenly I felt a blow to my stomach ... jumped up from the couch ... Hild and the children started laughing. It turned out that Yrsa climbed onto the edge of the couch and jumped on me ... I don't know what came to her mind to pretend to be John Cena. I grabbed her leg and lifted her up and glared at her angrily.

- ... and now I'll turn you into jamón serrano. (Ulf)

Yrsa started to giggle and try to break free from my grip... Little monster ... I suffered less injuries and wounds throughout the war than after being at home for a few hours.

After a day with my family, I had to go back to work, I had our gold and silver melted down and minted our coins, new female slaves were assigned to work, I also noticed that many women who had been in captivity for a year or two were pregnant, which made me very happy. We have a lot of land, a lot of food, but not enough population. Another thing I had to think about in the near future was slave exchange in a copper mine, old ones wear out too quickly and looking for new settlers to populate England.

There was also a topic related to Úlfheðinn, which was slowly gaining momentum, the first children and teenagers were already training under the supervision of older warriors. I also introduced them some rules borrowed from Jomsborg, such as the ban on bringing women to the stronghold and that a warrior is not allowed to leave the stronghold for more than two nights in a row, otherwise he will be banned from Úlfheðinn after 48 hours.

For the coming months I will not be short of work ... there will be no time for boredom.