OTMA: I'll Meet You On The Bridge

Chapter 12: Maria POV

Maria watched as Tatiana grabbed her stuff and headed out the door of their home. She had just told Olga and Maria that she was wanted back at the hospital since on of the nurses was sick.

"I hate being on call, it's the worst, all the uncertainty, I thought I had this night off, I'm going to be so tired . . ." Tatiana was muttering as she walked out. Maria couldn't help but giggle.

"Have fun, sis!" She called out.

"Thanks, I will!" Tatiana called out sarcastically. Maria wasn't completely sure that Tatiana like her job. She always said she did, and sometimes, she seemed really happy. But moments like this made Maria wonder if she was just keeping the job for money. She was their highest earner. And they needed to eat.

"I'm going to bed." Olga said, standing up and walking towards her room. Maria sighed. She hadn't been able to sleep, which was why she had gone and joined her sisters. Maybe she shouldn't have taken that nap earlier that day. She walked over to her room, stepped in, and lied back down next to Felix. He turned and wrapped his arm around her. She loved him so much. She'd loved him pretty much since the moment she met him, and after nine years of marriage, she still felt just as lovestruck every time she saw him. He was handsome, too, with a stubble beard, close cropped black hair, and smooth dark skin. They'd met at the ballet, when Olga was performing. It only took one conversation for her to love him. They started hanging out. One year later, they married in a small ceremony with Tatiana and Olga as Maria's bridesmaids. She had always thought that when she got married, it would be in a fancy ceremony with Anastasia as her maid of honor. That hadn't happened, of course, but what she had was almost as good. She was glad that she'd gotten to marry someone she loved, rather than someone who shared her status. Two years later, Felix had given her a child, whom she named Garcon. The priest had made Olga and Tatiana the little boys godmothers. He didn't have any godfathers.

Now, Maria sort of wanted another child. She had always wanted a big family. She would daydream about having seven kids with one of the guards. She wasn't sure why it was seven, but little Maria had felt that it was very important that she should have seven kids.

As she thought about having another child, she felt herself drifting off. The next thing she knew, she was being jumped on.

"Mama! Mama mama mama!" Garcon was jumping up and down. "Mama get up I'm hungry and I'm bored!" The little boy said.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming Garcon." Maria said, sitting up. The little boy ran off, still screaming happily. She started to wonder why she wanted another kid.

"I thought they were supposed to outgrow this by the time they were like, four." Felix said. Maria giggled. She's had a little brother when she was six. She knew that the hyperactivity didn't end that young. She was so relieved that this child hadn't had hemophilia, the curse of her family.

And that's why they weren't having another kid. Felix loved kids, Maria loved kids. But it was so highly likely that any boy they had would have hemophilia, and Maria didn't want to take the risk.

Maria pulled herself out of bed and walked down the hall into the living room and kitchen. Her son was sitting at the table, holding a newspaper.

"Look at me, mama! I'm reading the newspaper!" He said. She could tell that he was actually reading it, for about a second. Then he was bored. "Can I have some food?" She smiled and started to make eggs. Olga and Tatiana had eaten eggs for dinner the night before, which Maria had judged them for, but she did things similarly. Eggs were easy to make. She threw some salt and milk in, then poured them onto the stove.

"Do you want milk, water, or tea?" She asked. She was already pulling out tea to brew for her sisters, Felix, and herself.

"Milk please!" Garcon said. Maria poured the milk into a glass and brought it to him. "I want it in a mug."

"You don't need that. The milk is the same in the glass as it would be in a mug." Garcon pouted, but started to drink it. He had gone into a 'I have to be a grown up' phase. Maria was sure that he was trying to look like a mature adult, reading the paper and drinking their morning coffee. She sighed and went back to cooking. As the transferred the eggs onto plates, Olga and Felix walked in.

"Hello, dear." Felix walked up behind her and kissed her cheek. "I'm awake now."

"That's good to hear." Maria said. "Can you bring these to the table, please?" She handed him the plates of eggs.

"Why am I always the pack mule?" He complained as he took them and brought them to the table.

"Is Tatiana home yet?" Olga asked. "And also, can I have some cream in my tea?"

"I don't think Tatiana is home yet. And no, you can't have cream, we're out. I have to go shopping today." She walked over to the table and set the tea at each of the spots, including the open one for Tatiana. The four ate in silence for a little while, Garcon still reading the newspaper. Felix asked how he thought him and Olga had performed, to which she said that it was wonderful. Olga and Maria asked Felix if he had noticed the girl in the blue dress, which he said he had.

"Mama, what does this say?" He asked, showing her the paper. He was pointing at the word 'Reunited.'

"It says Reunited, sweetie." Maria said. "What's that article about?"

"It says . . ." He squinted at the paper. While he could read, he was only in first grade, so it took him a while. "It says 'Grand Duchess Anastasia reunited with her grandmother, only to disappear again.'"

Maria's head whipped around to look at Olga. The two were staring at each other with wide eyes. If there was an article about her actually being reunited, then it must have meant that the dowager had recognized her as the heir. Which meant that it might have really been her.

"We can't talk about this here." Olga said. She was right. Maria didn't want to upset Garcon.

"Olga, come on." Maria said. She stood up and started to walk down to her room.

"Hey guys, guess what!" Tatiana burst through the door of the house. Maria and Olga turned and looked at her. Tatiana's face instantly fell. "Oh, um, guess what?" Tatiana tried.

"Yes, Tatiana?" Felix said. From around Tatiana, a little boy in a paperboy cap appeared holding her hand. In Tatiana's other arm was a little baby

"This is Griggs. His dad didn't make it out of Russia, and his mom died giving birth to his little brother, this baby. Duncan. They have nowhere to go. I was thinking that maybe we could take care of them."

Maria didn't know what to say.

Within a period of two minutes, she had gained two possible new sons and found out that her long dead sister might not have actually been dead.

She couldn't speak. 

Authors note: Whoops, at least I didn't wait like a month before remembering to post again! I hope you like this chapter! Also, I have a question: How did you guys get into this fandom? Are you Anastasia movie fans, Anastasia musical fans, or are you into the real history? Just so I know how many tiny details from each I can include and have them make sense. Okay bye!