Lady Berlin

Chapter 16

~In which our hero Viktoria Schmidt explains her entire family and how complex it is.~

Berlin,Germany
You might think it is just me and my mom and some cousins. My mother had four other siblings who had two to three children in their unions. So let the family tree begin. My grandfather Louis Schmidt married Maria Schmidt. Their marriage produced:Otto,Maria-Louise,Josef,and Franz.

Maria-Louise is my mother,and I was born at the turn-of-the-century,start of the new millennium. My mother never told me about my father. Whenever I asked,she would say,"All you need to know about your father is that he is a son of a bitch." My mother was 16 when I was born,the only thing I know is that he was 17.

I go up to my mom again and ask her under the reason "It's better to know than learn who your father is at 80." She looks at me and takes a deep breath. She was about to break it in her 34 years of existence. Well she was 34 going onto 35.

"I met your father in the late 1990s. All my siblings started having children because they were born in the 1970s,I was born in the 1980s. He was great in the science field. You gave him a topic:Regular science,biology, chemistry,ecology,botany,zoology,you name it. He is was great in learning languages,he knew German,English, French,Italian,Spanish,Portuguese, Russian,Dutch,Mandarin,and Latin. We'd speak one of those languages sometimes. He was great in technology. He told me out of all the girls in school I was the prettiest. Our affair began when I was 15 and he was 16. He was a year older. On my 16th birthday,I found out I was pregnant with you-"

She stopped there and started weeping. I knew the rest of the story was going to get sadder and sadder. She started crying.

"When I found out,People began looking down on me. I was called a slut. Your father's parents told him to keep away. I was kicked out of school. You were born a few months later. I never saw your father again after that until 2005,when he was this big-shot-top-of-his-class student at an American University. I remember him talking about his dreams of going to the United States Of America and attending a top notch American school. He became extremely rich and graduated at the top of his class. He is now a famous scientist who has a very diverse team of scientists by his side.",Mother said

"You never told me any of this! You kept this a secret for the last 18 years!",I yelled

"It was only to protect you!",Mother yelled

"From what! The people in high school who attacked you and don't know who I am!",I yelled

"Viktoria,It is sad to know this. After your birth,I had to take night classes. I did this for your own good.",Mother said

"Okay mother. Es tut mir leid(I am sorry).",I said

"I will accept your apology.",Mother said

There was a pause.

"Your cousin Anna and her Swedish husband are coming in from Stockholm to visit.",Mother said pretending nothing happened,"Her plane just arrived and she will be here in an hour and a half."

  Anna Schmidt was another one of my cousins who married a man apart of the Swedish Military. His name was Eric Dahlström. Anna Schmidt Dahlström was her name.

  An hour later Eric Dahlström and Anna Schmidt Dahlström are at the front door. Anna now knows English,German,and Swedish.

"Hej. Hallo.",Anna said

"Hello.",I said

  Now we begin with my cousin and her Swedish lover.