Post by ladyfiaran22 on Dec 22, 2018 10:43:10 GMT -5
This is the first chapter of my Romanov story, I thought the Original Section was the best place since it's not really a fan fic. Reviews are welcome
Chapter 1
The first thing Nicholas noticed when he opened his eyes was the bright sunshine, tempered slightly by a few clouds. He bolted upright in bed and blinked several times, his heart pounding furiously and his mouth dry. The window in front of him and Alexandra's bed was clean glass and looked down on a well-kept garden blooming with luscious pink peonies, standing guard behind the globular flowers a mass of fiery red, orange and dark pink snapdragons. Next to the peonies were a bed of purple and white tulips and adjacent to the tulips were a stand of scarlet poppies. Further away was a cherry tree whose boughs bore ripening fruit, the cherries a bright pink which would turn red in the autumn.
"Alix!", he yelled.
Alexandra moaned and slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight making her eyes water. Gradually they adjusted to the light and her eyes widened in shock, then delight when she saw the garden. "We aren't in that horrid house anymore", she said in awe.
Just then, there was a polite knock on the door and Nicholas braced himself. He opened the door and it revealed a man in his early thirties, dark-haired and wearing glasses which reflected his dark blue eyes. The man wore black trousers and a white buttoned-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and buttoned neatly so the sleeves wouldn't flap "I suppose you like your room, after that dreadful place", he said in proper Oxbridge English.
"You're English!", Alexandra exclaimed.
"By the Grace of God, Your Majesty. My father is Belgian and our mother is Polish. I am Pierre Lacroix", he said.
Nicholas came to attention. "Where are the children?" he demanded.
"Maria and Anastasia are in a spare bedroom, they're still asleep. Olga, Tatiana and Alexei are across the street at my cousins' house. We'll discuss this over coffee", said Pierre.
"Where are we?", she asked.
"Manchester, Your Majesty. Didsbury, to be precise", replied Pierre.
Alexandra would have fainted if Nicholas hadn't caught her. "I know, it's a shock. The coffee is already done", said Pierre.
Nicholas helped Alexandra out of the room and down the stairs. The house appeared smaller than the Ipatiev House or the Governor's Mansion but it was cozy and welcoming, the hardwood floors polished and the scent of cut flowers in the air. On the low table in the parlor were a stack of books and on a shelf were records in cardboard sleeves while the shelf above the records held numerous photos in gilt frames. "The little girls are very pretty", said Alexandra.
"Thank you, the older girl is my daughter Nicole and the younger one is my niece Mollie. My brother Jack is in Japan with Mollie, she's visiting her Mum family whilst he's on a book tour. Before that they were in Hong Kong and Singapore as part of the tour. His ex-wife is Japanese", he explained.
"But they defeated us!", exclaimed Nicholas.
"That's in the past, Jack has always loved Japanese things and his novels are set in Japan, he speaks it very well for a gaijin. Minako didn't like it here and the Japanese are wary of mixed-race people, so they decided Mollie would live in England. They're coming back on Wednesday", said Pierre.
"How did we get here?", asked Nicholas.
Pierre poured three cups of coffee. "How do you take your coffee, Your Majesty? We brought you here from your time to ours, it's the year 1963", he said.
Both of them looked faint. "But that's impossible", he sputtered.
"Not for us, it isn't. The Lacroix one of the four clans of Sol Duga, the others are Torres, Sutherland and Jarvinen. We help people from the past escape their fates, or stop bad fates. My cousins are Sutherlands, your servants are in Finland with the Jarvinens", said Pierre.
"But how?", she asked.
"This", he replied, showing them his ring. At first glance it appeared to be a piece of attractive costume jewelry, a bluish-purple glassy stone mounted on a pewter ring. On closer inspection they could see the tiny pinpricks of light and swirly opaque clouds on its surface. "We all have these, they are ordinary costume rings but when Hugo blesses them they allow us to travel back and forth in time", he said.
"How can we thank you?", asked Nicholas.
"No worries, Your Majesty. Just think of this as your chance to be normal, not a czar. Hugo made the proper documents but I would recommend shaving your beard and moustache", said Pierre.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee seemed to revive them as Pierre handed them each a cup. "We want to see our children", said Nicholas.
"Just be quiet, they might be sleeping", he replied.
Pierre led them upstairs to a room at the back of the house. He carefully opened the door and the couple were relieved to see Maria and Anastasia sleeping soundly in adjacent beds. "And our other children are across the street?", asked Nicholas.
"Yes, when the girls wake up, we'll walk over", said Pierre.
Just then, another door opened and Nicole stood in the doorway. "Daddy, are they king and queen of Russia?", she asked.
Nicholas tried not to laugh. "Not anymore, Miss Lacroix. I am Nicholas and this is my wife Alexandra", he said kindly.
"My name is Nicole Athena Lacroix, sir. My Mum was Greek so I got a Greek middle name, my Babcia came from Poland but it was part of Russia", she said.
"My wife was from Cyprus, Mum's family's lands were in the Russian part of Poland", said Pierre quietly.
Alexandra nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Lacroix", she replied.
"Please call me Pierre, Your Majesty", he said.
Nicole clearly resembled her father with her wavy black hair in loose curls around her shoulders and her brilliant dark blue eyes with hints of violet, startling against her black hair and dark complexion, just like her father. "Then that means the ladies are princesses. They are prettier than our English princesses", she said.
"Thank you, Miss Lacroix. But we can't wait to see our other children, we have four daughters and a son", said Alexandra.
"Wow, four princesses!", exclaimed Nicole.
"Mama, where are we?", asked Maria in fright.
Alexandra rushed in and embraced her daughter. "You're safe, Mashka. This lovely man and his family saved us, we are in England", she said.
"We're in England!? This is like a Jules Verne story", said Anastasia in delight.
"Not quite. I am Pierre Lacroix and this is my daughter Nicole", he said.
"We cannot thank you enough, Mr. Lacroix. And your daughter is a lovely child", said Maria.
"But you're a princess and so pretty. Our princesses aren't", said Nicole.
"Tanya and Mashka are the beauties, Olga is the brains and I'm the imp", joked Anastasia.
"Those are our older sisters", explained Maria.
"Girls, let's have coffee and then we'll see the others", said Alexandra.
"There's some modern clothes in the closet, our cousin is nearly the size of the older girls and I'm afraid only her older clothes will fit you, Anastasia Nicholaevna", said Pierre.
"Oh faugh, I want to go shopping and buy woman clothes", said Anastasia with a huff.
"When you get settled in", he said reassuringly.
Everyone felt much better after coffee and donning fresh clothes, Nicholas in one of Pierre's trousers and polo shirts, Alexandra in one of his mother's dresses and the girls in Skye's dresses. "I can't wait to go shopping", said Anastasia. While her pale green dress had a skirt down to her ankles, the bodice was very tight across her ample bosom as it was from when Skye was thirteen.
"We will, but Skye is a tall girl and this is from when she was younger. She'll take you shopping, she loves fashion", said Pierre.
"I can't wait, it's been ages since we had new dresses", said Maria. She wore a pretty dark blue cotton dress with an A-line shape, the design flattering her ample bosom and little waist and nearly the color of her blue eyes.
Pierre led the group out the front door. Since it was an early Monday morning in July, the street was very quiet except for someone mowing their lawn down the street. The Lacroix house was a modest two-story brick house on a small plot, two holly bushes framing the front steps. He led them across the street to a similar house, except the front steps were flanked by two bushes sporting creamy white roses which gave off a delicate scent. "They're from Yorkshire", he explained.
From an open window they could hear soft, pretty music on they had never heard before. The door opened and a tall blond man dressed in black trousers and a plain white t-shirt answered it. "Welcome, glad you lot made it safely from t'horrid place", he said with a Yorkshire accent.
"You are from Yorkshire? It's lovely there", said Alexandra.
"I am, from Scarborough. Your children are fine, Tatiana is helping Skye with brekky. I'm Ian Sutherland", he said.
The sight which greeted them in the parlor caught them in their tracks. The pretty music came from a phonograph-type device on a table and Olga was seated at an upright piano playing along. The eldest Romanov sibling looked much better than she'd had in over a year, her dark blond hair pinned up in a neat braid and her cheeks flushed, her blue eyes sparkling. She was still too thin but she looked happier than in any time in recent memory.
Alexei squealed in delight when he saw his family, jumping up from the couch and hugging his parents. "Lyosha, you can walk!", exclaimed Anastasia.
"Hugo healed him while he was sleeping. If he were to go to a hospital the doctors would be suspicious since he should have been treated months ago", said Ian.
Olga stopped playing abruptly and embraced them. "This is a miracle!", she yelled.
"Just doing our duty, Olga Nicholaevna", said Ian.
"Is Alexei...", asked Alexandra, the question trailing off.
"Yes, Your Highness. Boys with hemophilia are treated from birth, doctors would be suspicious and Hugo didn't want to risk people getting suspicious", said Ian.
Alexandra grinned so wide she felt her face would crack. "That is all I ever wanted, for our son to be healthy. So he no longer has the disease? He can be a normal boy?", she asked.
"He will be a normal boy, Your Majesty. And him and Anastasia will have to go to school, otherwise officialdom gets suspicious", said Pierre.
"But I already know a lot, lessons are boring", said Alexei.
"Yes, but all children must go to school, Alexei Nikolovich. And you'll get to meet new people", said Ian.
"But what sort of school?", asked Nicholas.
"A secondary school, he's the correct age. There's some very good secondary schools here in Didsbury, both regular state schools and fee-paying ones, but many of the fee-paying ones are Catholic. My daughter and niece go to Our Lady of the Victories, it's a fine girls' primary school", said Pierre.
"I hope you brought an appetite, Skye and I have been preparing breakfast", said Tatiana as she wiped her hands on her apron and embraced her family.
"Of course, anything but black bread and tea", said Anastasia.
A tall young woman with a long honey-colored braid nearly to her waist emerged from the kitchen. Her hazel eyes were slightly tilted at the corners and her high cheekbones gave her an elegant Slavic look as she smiled at the family. "Good morning, Your Majesties. We're making blini with sour cream and jam, our Mum taught me. She's Polish", said Skye.
"Interesting, Miss Sutherland. We had an estate in Poland, Spala", said Nicholas.
"Our grandma's people might have been there, they were Polish nobility, the Jablonskis. We had to leave after the bloody Bolsheviks were advancing", said Skye with a grimace.
"Yes, I do remember a Count Jablonski visiting us at Spala, he had two lovely daughters. That Count Jablonski?", asked Nicholas.
"Yes, our grandfather. Our Mum was the elder sister Barbara and Pierre and Jack's Mum is the other sister Aurelia", replied Ian.
"Amazing, Mr. Sutherland. Do you know Polish?", asked Nicholas.
"Tak, Your Majesty. It made it easier for us to learn Russian, it would be more useful if I worked for MI6", he deadpanned.
"Then what do you do?", he asked.
"I am a professor of Ancient Greece at the University of Manchester, I specialize in Macedonia and Alexander. On behalf of the university, I've been to Greece, Iran, Iraq and India, Rajasthan and Gujarat. I would love to visit the Central Asian Soviet republics since there's a lot of Alexander sites and his favorite wife Roxana came from there", Ian replied.
Olga's eyes were wide as saucers. "You went to India? I want to see India", she declared.
"India is a fascinating country, but very extreme. The northwest is very hot and dry, except for monsoons. The palaces and temples are amazing, but there is also extreme poverty. You have to be open-minded and willing to tolerate things, it's all part of the experience", said Ian.
"Luckily the British keep things in line", said Nicholas.
"Actually, India is an independent country. They still use the British railways and many people speak English, but they are independent. It's a long story", said Ian.
Anastasia grimaced at the idea of a long historical story. Her eyes widened when she realized Skye was wearing pink dainty sandals and her toenails were painted bright red. "I had my feet done this summer before we go on holiday, I'm a nurse so I can't paint my fingernails", she explained.
"I want to paint my nails", declared Anastasia.
Alexandra frowned. "Ladies don't do that", she chided.
"Actually, painting nails is very popular. But since I'm a nurse, I can only paint my toenails because the work would ruin them", said Skye.
"I was a nurse too, at our hospital", said Tatiana.
"I'm a school nurse at our local primary school", said Skye.
"That sounds dull", said Tatiana.
"I get the summers and holidays off. And call me Skye, since we live together. And people call you Tanya?", she asked.
"Yes, but only family. Skye is an unusual name", she replied.
"Our parents went to Scotland for their honeymoon and liked it so much they gave us Scottish names. Plus one part of the Sutherland clan is Scottish, the other branch is from Yorkshire", Ian said.
"I'm hungry", whined Alexei.
Skye chuckled. "And brekky is ready. I hope you like our blini", she said.
Everyone sat down at a table laden with a large platter of blini in the center flanked by a crock of sour cream and several jams of assorted fruits. At each place setting was a mug of steaming tea as the family tried to control their hunger. "I know, I don't blame you", said Pierre.
Tatiana had to chuckle when she saw Anastasia and Alexei greedily eat the blini filled to bursting with sour cream and jam. Skye gave her a sympathetic smile as she took a bite of hers. "These are lovely, Miss Sutherland", said Nicholas.
"Thank you, but Tanya helped", said Skye.
Tatiana blushed. "That's good, Tanya. I suppose under our new lives, you could learn to cook", said Alexandra.
"But I want to be a nurse like Skye, Mama", she replied.
"Perhaps for January you could enroll in nursing school. If you're good at it, you could go to medical school", said Skye.
"Now that is a possibility", said Tatiana.
Chapter 1
The first thing Nicholas noticed when he opened his eyes was the bright sunshine, tempered slightly by a few clouds. He bolted upright in bed and blinked several times, his heart pounding furiously and his mouth dry. The window in front of him and Alexandra's bed was clean glass and looked down on a well-kept garden blooming with luscious pink peonies, standing guard behind the globular flowers a mass of fiery red, orange and dark pink snapdragons. Next to the peonies were a bed of purple and white tulips and adjacent to the tulips were a stand of scarlet poppies. Further away was a cherry tree whose boughs bore ripening fruit, the cherries a bright pink which would turn red in the autumn.
"Alix!", he yelled.
Alexandra moaned and slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight making her eyes water. Gradually they adjusted to the light and her eyes widened in shock, then delight when she saw the garden. "We aren't in that horrid house anymore", she said in awe.
Just then, there was a polite knock on the door and Nicholas braced himself. He opened the door and it revealed a man in his early thirties, dark-haired and wearing glasses which reflected his dark blue eyes. The man wore black trousers and a white buttoned-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and buttoned neatly so the sleeves wouldn't flap "I suppose you like your room, after that dreadful place", he said in proper Oxbridge English.
"You're English!", Alexandra exclaimed.
"By the Grace of God, Your Majesty. My father is Belgian and our mother is Polish. I am Pierre Lacroix", he said.
Nicholas came to attention. "Where are the children?" he demanded.
"Maria and Anastasia are in a spare bedroom, they're still asleep. Olga, Tatiana and Alexei are across the street at my cousins' house. We'll discuss this over coffee", said Pierre.
"Where are we?", she asked.
"Manchester, Your Majesty. Didsbury, to be precise", replied Pierre.
Alexandra would have fainted if Nicholas hadn't caught her. "I know, it's a shock. The coffee is already done", said Pierre.
Nicholas helped Alexandra out of the room and down the stairs. The house appeared smaller than the Ipatiev House or the Governor's Mansion but it was cozy and welcoming, the hardwood floors polished and the scent of cut flowers in the air. On the low table in the parlor were a stack of books and on a shelf were records in cardboard sleeves while the shelf above the records held numerous photos in gilt frames. "The little girls are very pretty", said Alexandra.
"Thank you, the older girl is my daughter Nicole and the younger one is my niece Mollie. My brother Jack is in Japan with Mollie, she's visiting her Mum family whilst he's on a book tour. Before that they were in Hong Kong and Singapore as part of the tour. His ex-wife is Japanese", he explained.
"But they defeated us!", exclaimed Nicholas.
"That's in the past, Jack has always loved Japanese things and his novels are set in Japan, he speaks it very well for a gaijin. Minako didn't like it here and the Japanese are wary of mixed-race people, so they decided Mollie would live in England. They're coming back on Wednesday", said Pierre.
"How did we get here?", asked Nicholas.
Pierre poured three cups of coffee. "How do you take your coffee, Your Majesty? We brought you here from your time to ours, it's the year 1963", he said.
Both of them looked faint. "But that's impossible", he sputtered.
"Not for us, it isn't. The Lacroix one of the four clans of Sol Duga, the others are Torres, Sutherland and Jarvinen. We help people from the past escape their fates, or stop bad fates. My cousins are Sutherlands, your servants are in Finland with the Jarvinens", said Pierre.
"But how?", she asked.
"This", he replied, showing them his ring. At first glance it appeared to be a piece of attractive costume jewelry, a bluish-purple glassy stone mounted on a pewter ring. On closer inspection they could see the tiny pinpricks of light and swirly opaque clouds on its surface. "We all have these, they are ordinary costume rings but when Hugo blesses them they allow us to travel back and forth in time", he said.
"How can we thank you?", asked Nicholas.
"No worries, Your Majesty. Just think of this as your chance to be normal, not a czar. Hugo made the proper documents but I would recommend shaving your beard and moustache", said Pierre.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee seemed to revive them as Pierre handed them each a cup. "We want to see our children", said Nicholas.
"Just be quiet, they might be sleeping", he replied.
Pierre led them upstairs to a room at the back of the house. He carefully opened the door and the couple were relieved to see Maria and Anastasia sleeping soundly in adjacent beds. "And our other children are across the street?", asked Nicholas.
"Yes, when the girls wake up, we'll walk over", said Pierre.
Just then, another door opened and Nicole stood in the doorway. "Daddy, are they king and queen of Russia?", she asked.
Nicholas tried not to laugh. "Not anymore, Miss Lacroix. I am Nicholas and this is my wife Alexandra", he said kindly.
"My name is Nicole Athena Lacroix, sir. My Mum was Greek so I got a Greek middle name, my Babcia came from Poland but it was part of Russia", she said.
"My wife was from Cyprus, Mum's family's lands were in the Russian part of Poland", said Pierre quietly.
Alexandra nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Lacroix", she replied.
"Please call me Pierre, Your Majesty", he said.
Nicole clearly resembled her father with her wavy black hair in loose curls around her shoulders and her brilliant dark blue eyes with hints of violet, startling against her black hair and dark complexion, just like her father. "Then that means the ladies are princesses. They are prettier than our English princesses", she said.
"Thank you, Miss Lacroix. But we can't wait to see our other children, we have four daughters and a son", said Alexandra.
"Wow, four princesses!", exclaimed Nicole.
"Mama, where are we?", asked Maria in fright.
Alexandra rushed in and embraced her daughter. "You're safe, Mashka. This lovely man and his family saved us, we are in England", she said.
"We're in England!? This is like a Jules Verne story", said Anastasia in delight.
"Not quite. I am Pierre Lacroix and this is my daughter Nicole", he said.
"We cannot thank you enough, Mr. Lacroix. And your daughter is a lovely child", said Maria.
"But you're a princess and so pretty. Our princesses aren't", said Nicole.
"Tanya and Mashka are the beauties, Olga is the brains and I'm the imp", joked Anastasia.
"Those are our older sisters", explained Maria.
"Girls, let's have coffee and then we'll see the others", said Alexandra.
"There's some modern clothes in the closet, our cousin is nearly the size of the older girls and I'm afraid only her older clothes will fit you, Anastasia Nicholaevna", said Pierre.
"Oh faugh, I want to go shopping and buy woman clothes", said Anastasia with a huff.
"When you get settled in", he said reassuringly.
Everyone felt much better after coffee and donning fresh clothes, Nicholas in one of Pierre's trousers and polo shirts, Alexandra in one of his mother's dresses and the girls in Skye's dresses. "I can't wait to go shopping", said Anastasia. While her pale green dress had a skirt down to her ankles, the bodice was very tight across her ample bosom as it was from when Skye was thirteen.
"We will, but Skye is a tall girl and this is from when she was younger. She'll take you shopping, she loves fashion", said Pierre.
"I can't wait, it's been ages since we had new dresses", said Maria. She wore a pretty dark blue cotton dress with an A-line shape, the design flattering her ample bosom and little waist and nearly the color of her blue eyes.
Pierre led the group out the front door. Since it was an early Monday morning in July, the street was very quiet except for someone mowing their lawn down the street. The Lacroix house was a modest two-story brick house on a small plot, two holly bushes framing the front steps. He led them across the street to a similar house, except the front steps were flanked by two bushes sporting creamy white roses which gave off a delicate scent. "They're from Yorkshire", he explained.
From an open window they could hear soft, pretty music on they had never heard before. The door opened and a tall blond man dressed in black trousers and a plain white t-shirt answered it. "Welcome, glad you lot made it safely from t'horrid place", he said with a Yorkshire accent.
"You are from Yorkshire? It's lovely there", said Alexandra.
"I am, from Scarborough. Your children are fine, Tatiana is helping Skye with brekky. I'm Ian Sutherland", he said.
The sight which greeted them in the parlor caught them in their tracks. The pretty music came from a phonograph-type device on a table and Olga was seated at an upright piano playing along. The eldest Romanov sibling looked much better than she'd had in over a year, her dark blond hair pinned up in a neat braid and her cheeks flushed, her blue eyes sparkling. She was still too thin but she looked happier than in any time in recent memory.
Alexei squealed in delight when he saw his family, jumping up from the couch and hugging his parents. "Lyosha, you can walk!", exclaimed Anastasia.
"Hugo healed him while he was sleeping. If he were to go to a hospital the doctors would be suspicious since he should have been treated months ago", said Ian.
Olga stopped playing abruptly and embraced them. "This is a miracle!", she yelled.
"Just doing our duty, Olga Nicholaevna", said Ian.
"Is Alexei...", asked Alexandra, the question trailing off.
"Yes, Your Highness. Boys with hemophilia are treated from birth, doctors would be suspicious and Hugo didn't want to risk people getting suspicious", said Ian.
Alexandra grinned so wide she felt her face would crack. "That is all I ever wanted, for our son to be healthy. So he no longer has the disease? He can be a normal boy?", she asked.
"He will be a normal boy, Your Majesty. And him and Anastasia will have to go to school, otherwise officialdom gets suspicious", said Pierre.
"But I already know a lot, lessons are boring", said Alexei.
"Yes, but all children must go to school, Alexei Nikolovich. And you'll get to meet new people", said Ian.
"But what sort of school?", asked Nicholas.
"A secondary school, he's the correct age. There's some very good secondary schools here in Didsbury, both regular state schools and fee-paying ones, but many of the fee-paying ones are Catholic. My daughter and niece go to Our Lady of the Victories, it's a fine girls' primary school", said Pierre.
"I hope you brought an appetite, Skye and I have been preparing breakfast", said Tatiana as she wiped her hands on her apron and embraced her family.
"Of course, anything but black bread and tea", said Anastasia.
A tall young woman with a long honey-colored braid nearly to her waist emerged from the kitchen. Her hazel eyes were slightly tilted at the corners and her high cheekbones gave her an elegant Slavic look as she smiled at the family. "Good morning, Your Majesties. We're making blini with sour cream and jam, our Mum taught me. She's Polish", said Skye.
"Interesting, Miss Sutherland. We had an estate in Poland, Spala", said Nicholas.
"Our grandma's people might have been there, they were Polish nobility, the Jablonskis. We had to leave after the bloody Bolsheviks were advancing", said Skye with a grimace.
"Yes, I do remember a Count Jablonski visiting us at Spala, he had two lovely daughters. That Count Jablonski?", asked Nicholas.
"Yes, our grandfather. Our Mum was the elder sister Barbara and Pierre and Jack's Mum is the other sister Aurelia", replied Ian.
"Amazing, Mr. Sutherland. Do you know Polish?", asked Nicholas.
"Tak, Your Majesty. It made it easier for us to learn Russian, it would be more useful if I worked for MI6", he deadpanned.
"Then what do you do?", he asked.
"I am a professor of Ancient Greece at the University of Manchester, I specialize in Macedonia and Alexander. On behalf of the university, I've been to Greece, Iran, Iraq and India, Rajasthan and Gujarat. I would love to visit the Central Asian Soviet republics since there's a lot of Alexander sites and his favorite wife Roxana came from there", Ian replied.
Olga's eyes were wide as saucers. "You went to India? I want to see India", she declared.
"India is a fascinating country, but very extreme. The northwest is very hot and dry, except for monsoons. The palaces and temples are amazing, but there is also extreme poverty. You have to be open-minded and willing to tolerate things, it's all part of the experience", said Ian.
"Luckily the British keep things in line", said Nicholas.
"Actually, India is an independent country. They still use the British railways and many people speak English, but they are independent. It's a long story", said Ian.
Anastasia grimaced at the idea of a long historical story. Her eyes widened when she realized Skye was wearing pink dainty sandals and her toenails were painted bright red. "I had my feet done this summer before we go on holiday, I'm a nurse so I can't paint my fingernails", she explained.
"I want to paint my nails", declared Anastasia.
Alexandra frowned. "Ladies don't do that", she chided.
"Actually, painting nails is very popular. But since I'm a nurse, I can only paint my toenails because the work would ruin them", said Skye.
"I was a nurse too, at our hospital", said Tatiana.
"I'm a school nurse at our local primary school", said Skye.
"That sounds dull", said Tatiana.
"I get the summers and holidays off. And call me Skye, since we live together. And people call you Tanya?", she asked.
"Yes, but only family. Skye is an unusual name", she replied.
"Our parents went to Scotland for their honeymoon and liked it so much they gave us Scottish names. Plus one part of the Sutherland clan is Scottish, the other branch is from Yorkshire", Ian said.
"I'm hungry", whined Alexei.
Skye chuckled. "And brekky is ready. I hope you like our blini", she said.
Everyone sat down at a table laden with a large platter of blini in the center flanked by a crock of sour cream and several jams of assorted fruits. At each place setting was a mug of steaming tea as the family tried to control their hunger. "I know, I don't blame you", said Pierre.
Tatiana had to chuckle when she saw Anastasia and Alexei greedily eat the blini filled to bursting with sour cream and jam. Skye gave her a sympathetic smile as she took a bite of hers. "These are lovely, Miss Sutherland", said Nicholas.
"Thank you, but Tanya helped", said Skye.
Tatiana blushed. "That's good, Tanya. I suppose under our new lives, you could learn to cook", said Alexandra.
"But I want to be a nurse like Skye, Mama", she replied.
"Perhaps for January you could enroll in nursing school. If you're good at it, you could go to medical school", said Skye.
"Now that is a possibility", said Tatiana.