London, Christmas 1910

Bert strolled through the empty streets of London. The snow crunched under his feet, which he stared at.
The otherwise happy man walked in a slightly crooked posture, his face hidden in his scarf and his hands in his pockets. Single snowflakes fell from the sky and danced through the air as a light breeze came up. Normally he would have enjoyed it, but his mood was depressed.
He sauntered from his small apartment towards the park, passing by various houses. Big, small, expensive houses in which one family lived and which with many small apartments in which the poorer lived. But in all he found a constant: the lights were burning, it smelled of food and he saw joyful silhouettes. But he, Bert Alfred, was alone. His chimney sweep friends were all with their families and Mary had to help a family on the other side of the country. He did not blame anyone but wished he had a family to celebrate Christmas with. Every year he thought so and nobody would have thought that he was so sad. Bert had never been a fan of facades before. That's why he was glad that nobody ever saw him like that.

When the wind, which was just a light breeze, got stronger, he buried his face deeper in the dark red winter wool scarf.
The wool scarf - how grateful he was to have this. It was a gift from Mary, which he had received from her in January two years ago. The story made him smile.

—

2 years earlier…

It was a very cold January day and Bert, who was plagued by a bad cold, was on his way to work. On this day he was a chimney sweep, because he could not paint pictures on the snowy ground. After he sneezed and then cleaned his nose with an old handkerchief, a melodious voice came from behind him: "You don't want to go work, do you?"

With a scratchy voice and a grin, but without turning around, he replied, "Mary Poppins," he made a turn and stood about a meter away from her, "o' course I'm goin' t' work, 'ow am I supposed t' pay my meal?"

Her face was worried. She knew he was not the richest man, but going to work in such a state was really too much now. But she also knew that she could not persuade him to stay at home while he could still walk upright. He would make a compromise and still sweep for several hours chimneys and run around on the rooftops of London. Besides, she did not want to start a discussion. As she plucked her dark red scarf she came up with an idea. Without hesitating, she stripped it and handed it to Bert: "Then take the scarf at least. It's very cold and you need it more than I do. Especially since I have enough."
Perplex took Bert the wool scarf and searched for words. "Don't say anything, just do me the favour and take it-", the Nanny broke off when her best friend hugged her tightly.

"Thank you Mary"

After the hug, he put on the scarf and felt warmer immediately-as if it were magic wool.

—

Even after years, the scarf still smelled of Mary and gave him a cozy warmth. He closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed it, but a new gust of wind made him look up. The sky was dark and the lanterns and trees shook dangerously. "I'd better go home," he murmured and turned around.

With quick steps he went back to his little apartment. He almost slipped on some icy parts but was always able to balance himself. The wind was so heavy now that he would blow his hat off if he did not press it against his head. One thing he realised: it's an east wind!
Could it really be that- No! Immediately he rejected the thought. She said in a letter that she will be away longer because this would be a very difficult family. But he still had a bit of hope - at least until the wind turned and slid slightly. 'Maybe just a normal little storm,' he thought, trudging slower through the streets.

With the same pose as at the beginning of his walk he turned into his street and heard quarrelling voices from one of the houses. 'At least I don't have to deal with somethin' this' But then something else caught his attention: a silhouette at the end of the street. She stood under a lantern in front of the house where he lived.

He would recognise this silhouette and shadow among thousands: "Mary Poppins?"

His footsteps grew faster as he walked towards her. When he arrived, he greeted her with a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas, too, Bert," the nanny said as they parted.

"Come," he cleared his throat, "Do ya want t' come in? We'll get sick if we stand 'ere any longer".
She nodded.

When they arrived in the small apartment, they took off their slightly wet clothes. While Bert put on the fire in the stove, Mary inspected his latest paintings: one showed London from above, another left a family in the park while flying their kites. His talent was admirable and he was getting better and better. "You can sit on the sofa if ya want" Bert offered her and she sat down.

He handed her a tea about two minutes later: "I would've prepared somethin' t' eat if I 'ad known that ya were coming. But unfortunately it's just tea " His voice was almost sad.

"No problem, Bert," she sipped the hot liquid and closed her eyes with relish: it was her favourite tea and no one, apart from her of course, could make it as good as her best friend.

"So," he sat down next to her, "'ow is it that you're in London? Please don't get me wrong, I'm 'appy that you're 'ere.. Very 'appy! But you said it would be a longer stay... Don't they need ya anymore? "

Mary put down her tea and took a deep breath. "The wind brought me to London this evening because there seems to be someone who needs me more urgently than this family."

The dark-haired raised an eyebrow: "I don't quite understand... You 'ave to go to work today?"

"No, Bert. You need me more urgently."

—

I wrote this story in October 2018. Yes 2018 xD
But I decided to upload it because it's Christmas time.

There are two more chapters xD