The Lives Of The Romanovs

An Embrace

Olga

"Igor, hurry up!" I shouted to him from downstairs. "We have to leave in about three minutes if we want to be there right when Maria and Vladimir arrive!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Igor shouted back at me. I heard footsteps move around upstairs. Igor came around the corner with Oleg on one of his hips and Lyokha on the other. They were both dressed in their little sailor outfits with blue coats on top. It had become colder this month then usual.

"Be careful, you could drop Lyokha!" I gasped and immediately took Lyokha from Igor.

"Relax, we were alright."

"Do not tell me to relax. You could have slipped and dropped one of them. One child at a time, please."

"Mm, someone is grumpy this morning. Is someone not excited to go spend two-weeks with her family?" Igor said in a pouty tone, then leaning in and pecking me on the lips.

"No, I am very excited. I am just trying to make sure everything is in order before we leave. The last thing we need is to put anymore stress on Papa and Mama. But especially Mama." I nodded and set Lyokha down on the floor. Igor furrowed his eyebrows and set Oleg down.

"Natasha, please help the children into the car." Igor said to my lady-in-waiting. She did just that and left the house. Igor then quickly pulled me away into the dining room. It was empty in quiet in there. It was a bit refreshing to me.

"Olga, turn around."

"Igor-"

"Just do it."

I turned my back to him. Suddenly, his hands gripped my shoulders. He started to massage my shoulders, which felt so nice that I could melt.

"Oh, I like that." I giggled.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, a bit."

"Good. We have a long couple weeks ahead of us. We already know your mother will be sad. She has been sad since...well, you know."

I then moved Igor's hands off my shoulders and turned to look at him. "Actually, about that. Please, do not mention Alexei in front of my mother. Seeing the boys might make her sad enough, but mentioning Alyosha will only make it worse."

"Olga, she cannot go on like this. Your Papa has healed just fine, but your mother refuses to move on."

"It has been very hard on her. Alexei was her only son and her baby. We all miss him terribly." I crossed my arms.

"I did not mean it in a cold way. I just wish someone could help her, that's all."

I sighed. "Me too. But we must give her more time to grieve. She has been through a lot. Now moving on from this topic, I have some news that will probably make your day a little better."

"News? What could it be this time?"

I grabbed the lapels of his coat. "How does a fifth family member sound?"

"Are you pregnant again?" Igor raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, I found out sometime ago. But let's not say anything for awhile, at least until everyone has settled in. And I know it's quite early and there's no way of knowing, but I think it is another boy."

Igor picked me up and swung me around quickly. We both laughed. As he set me down, Igor came in for a kiss and then held me tightly.

"Finally, some good news. I love you so much, my dearest. And do not worry, we can keep it a secret for a little while. But let's get to our boys and head to Tsarkoye Selo. I am excited to see sweet Maria and cousin Vladimir." Igor smiled.

We went out to the car and got in. Oleg sat on Igor's lap and Lyokha sat on mine. As we rode to Tsarkoye Selo, we allowed our boys to look out the windows and pointed to different things. Oleg was quite interested, but Lyokha could care less and only wanted to cuddle up close to me. That was the difference between our boys. Oleg was rather serious and even at such a young age, it was almost as if he was full of wisdom and life experience. Lyokha was more loving and sweet. He wanted to be hugged, kissed, and held all the time.

As we got closer to the Alexander Palace, we saw Tatiana and Dmitri also getting out of their car with Baby Irina and Little Dmitri. Our chauffeur pulled up behind their car and stopped. The footmen came to each side and assisted Me and the children out of the car.

"Olenka!" Tatiana exclaimed. I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her. It had been a long while since we had actually spent some quality time together. I was rather excited to spend more time with her and the whole family in general.

"Dearest Tatya, I hope your journey here was easy." I kissed her cheek. She kissed mine and then we let each other.

"Quite easy, really. It was only a little over an hour. If anything, you were the one who had more of a journey. Goodness, look at my nephews!" Tatiana giggled and walked over to Stephanie, who was holding Lyokha and holding Oleg's hand. Tatiana picked up Oleg and set him on her hip.

"Oh Olga, I am starting to disagree with you more and more. Oleg looks like this Uncle Oleg, not really Igor."

Igor laughed and walked past me. "I told you. I won. Admit it."

"You have not won yet. Our bet was two rubles."

"I'm going to win." Igor said and continued walking. Tatiana and I walked in the Alexander Palace along with Stephanie who was still holding Lyokha. The servants were moving around fast and the Butler was trying to show the staff where to go. Stephanie gave Lyokha to me so she could join the staff downstairs. Nothing about the Alexander Palace changed. It looked like how it always had.

"Olishka and Igor!" Papa chuckled as him and Mama  both came up to us.

"Papa." I smiled and hugged him, and then Mama. Mama was surprisingly wearing more modern clothing.

"Mama, I love your clothes. Are they new?"

"Yes. Anastasia told me it was time to let go of the past. I'm a woman of the twentieth-century now."

I giggled. I looked past them and saw people standing on the stairs. Vladimir, Maria, and Anastasia were all talking to each other. I immediately ran past my parents and up to them.

"Mashka!" I exclaimed. Maria looked over, and she gasped with a wide smile on her face. Maria charged down the stairs to me. We laughed as we embraced each other. She hadn't been to Russia since last Christmas, but we did see her for a couple weeks in May while on a holiday at Livadia. Honestly, I was still not used to her not living in Russia anymore. I think we all found ourselves missing her so much. But Papa made sure to not tell her that. Maria was happy in France, but she would come back to Russia in a heart beat if she knew we were missing her so much. And Mashka deserved every bit of happiness.

"Oh Olishka, I have missed you." Maria groaned as she hugged me. We let each other go, but Maria kept a grin on her face.

"I've missed you as well, but we are together now. That's what matters. How has life been?"

"Nothing new. I am still teaching art classes, working in my garden with Vladimir, and going into town for shopping every now and then. Oh, and I have decided to learn how to make some food. Olga, you should let me cook you lobster bisque. I have heard that my lobster bisque is amazing."

"Then perhaps you and Chef Kharitonov can get together to make us dinner one night. But that does seem a little odd."

Maria shrugged. "I have become a simple woman. Some days, I find it hard to believe that I'm a Grand Duchess. But don't take that in the wrong way. It was my choice to live practically middle-class. And I would not change it."

"Good, as long as you're happy." I stroked her face with my thumb. Papa, Mama, Igor, Dmitri, and Tatiana all walked over to the stairs. We were all crowded in one spot now. Papa cleared this throat loudly, somehow quieting all of us down.

"Everyone should go unpack now. We can meet back for dinner at 18:00. Let's get settled in. It is so nice to see everyone back here." Papa announced. And just like that, we were all scurrying to get to our new rooms.

It was still beyond me. How is it that the palace has not been renovated, but it feels like everything has changed? Perhaps, it feels like everything has changed, because everyone in this palace is changed.