The Lives Of The Romanovs

The Way It Was (Flashback)

Olga
August 1906
Flashback

I dressed in my navy-colored sailor's dress and adjusted my hat. My sisters were all dressing the same way along with little Alexei. Today, Konstantine Konstantinovich, his wife, and his children were coming to visit today. Aunt Ella was also coming along with our cousins, Maria Pavlovna and Dmitri Pavlovich. We were going to eat lunch and then play at Alexander Park. We were very excited for the day we had coming.

"Come on! Come on!" I laughed and ran down the halls while holding Tatiana's hand. I was so very excited for the day we were having.

"I cannot wait to see cousin Dmitri!" Tatiana jumped on the stairs as we ran down together. "Oh, and cousin Maria."

"And cousin Tatiana. Oh hurry!"

Tatiana and I ran down the stairs even faster and around the halls. We got to the main hall where our parents, nanny, and other siblings were. Little Alexei was on Nanny Eagers hip while Anastasia pulled on Maria's hair and teased her.

"Ow, Nastya! Mama!" Maria cried out and pushed Anastasia back.

"Anastasia Nikolaevna, stop it now! Do you have no respect for your sister? Apologize to Maria right now, or you shall have no playtime today!" Tatiana immediately stepped up and pointed her finger in Anastasia's face. Anastasia pouted and crossed her arms.

"I am sorry, Mashka."

"Good. Now cheer up, little one. Our guests will be here any moment."

Papa chuckled. "Good job, our little Governess."

Anastasia stomped her foot. "They are taking forever to get here!"

"Be patient, Shvybzik. They shall be here any moment now." Mama soothed Nastya. Anastasia was rather short and chubby at this time in her life. Maria was a bit chubby as well, but was taller so she did not look so chunky. But still, she would always remain the "Fat Little Bow-Wow". Tatiana was thin and slender her whole life, not even chubby as a baby. I was a fat baby, being Mama's largest, but I became thinner when I got to be around five-years-old.

The doors to the Alexander Palace suddenly opened. Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich (whom we called "KR") and his wife, Mavra walked in with all eight of their children. The oldest was Ioann, whom was twenty. The youngest was Vera, and she was only four-months-old. I was closest in age to their sixth child, Igor. Him and I were one-year apart. But I preferred the company of the oldest sister, Tatiana Konstantinovna. We sometimes liked to cal her Tati, so avoid confusion with my sister. She was five-years-older than me, but we got along very well nonetheless.

"Tati!" Tatiana and I exclaimed and ran over to her. She smiled widely and greeted both of us with a hug.

"Tanya and Olenka! How are you both?"

"Happy to see you, of course. Should we play hide-and-seek at Alexander Park?" I gasped. Tati giggled and looked over at Gabriel, the second oldest brother. The two were close and got along very well. He gave a gentle smile at us, but did not say anything. Instead, he was paying attention to the conversation amongst our parents. Ioann and Gabriel were adults and believed they were too mature to be playing with us.

"Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevna." Oleg, the fifth child, came over with grin. Igor and him were attached at the hip and did everything together. Just like Tatiana and I. Maria and Anastasia were the exact same way.

"Hello Oleg, how are you?" I smiled. Oleg was three-years-older than me and was currently fourteen. He was as sweet as can be and calm. Igor was kind, but a very loud-speaker and got excited easily. Though, Igor was more fun to play games with.