The Lives Of The Romanovs

The Children's Play

Tatiana

For the night, some of the children wished to get together to put on a play. Baby Irina, Little Dmitri, Beth, Prince Petar of Yugoslavia, Prince Michael of Romania, Olga's sons, Lady Patricia Mountbatten, and Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy were all in on it. They were performing "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Though, we wondered how they would truly do on it.

I sat between Olga and Dmitri, but our family stayed close together. The auditorium was large and elegant. The seats were dark-polished wood and the carpet was red. There was a chandelier hanging up and the stage was absolutely amazing. This would be a perfect place to put on all the plays in France.

"I wonder whose idea this was. Lyokha refuses to read to save his life." Olga sighed.

"I wonder how Little Dmitri is going to do. Baby Irina is short-tempered. I hope she does not get upset with him."

Anastasia snickered. "I bet Irina slapped him out of frustration and made him a tree."

"That is not funny, Nastya. We need to encourage the children to do their best."

"God, I need a cigarette." She pulled out a cigarette and a lighter from her small bag and smoked it. Dmitri ended up taking one from her too, and Igor followed. That's when the lights dimmed. We all went silent and the curtain opened. I could not help but smile as each of the children played their parts. Baby Irina looked so beautiful in her white-dress. And Little Dmitri seemed to be keeping up well. He relied on his eyes to tell him what was happening.

The play was shortened to one that was 30-minutes instead of the long one. The children took five-days to prepare for all of this. But nonetheless, it was adorable. There was even a photographer to take their photos. And once the play was over, we gathered in the main hallway and pub for drinks. I stood with Dmitri, Olga, Igor, and Anastasia by the stairs. We spoke with King Carol and Queen Helena.

"My little Michael would not stop speaking about the play he was doing with his cousins. They did so well tonight." Helena grinned.

"I am happy they enjoyed it as well. Our children are growing too fast. Before we know it, they'll be adults and we'll be the old ones."

Carol rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't remind me. Being incapable is such a fear."

"You do not seem fearful of being an incapable father and king." Anastasia cross her arms. Carol ignored her and continued ranting about Bucharest and his coronation earlier this month. I was not paying attention to the group of children farther away from us. But I looked over when I heard a loud thump of the floor. Little Dmitri was laying there with tears in his eyes as Michael stood over him.

"Are you stupid or something? Can't you hear anything?" Michael stomped his foot.

"No, he is deaf, you moron." Petar shook his head.

"Dead? He's alive."

"Not dead! Deaf. It means he cannot hear."

"I thought he only had a few lines in the play because he had trouble reading. So if I scream, he won't hear me?"

Baby Irina shoved Michael next. "Stop! Do not harass my brother, or I will scold you!"

"What are you going to do about it, girl?" Michael crossed his arms. And without hesitation, Baby Irina kicked Michael in his "private area". Michael cried out in pain. Dmitri, Helena, Carol, and I rushed over to our children.

"Baby Irina! What did you do?" Dmitri shouted and grabbed her arm.

"Excellent parenting, Tatiana Nikolaevna." Carol groaned.

"Bite my ass, Carol." Anastasia walked over with a cigarette in her hand. All four of us shushed Anastasia at the same time before going back to handling the situation.

"He was teasing my son." Dmitri said.

"So that gives your daughter a right to kick my son in such a sensitive area?! We want an apology, now!" Helena cried out. The room went silent and all of the other royals were watching us. Now, I knew Anastasia was going to cause a scene if we got into an argument. Also, I did not wish to embarrass Papa and Mama on this holiday. It was best to accept defeat in this.

"You are right. Baby Irina, apologize to your cousin. It is not right to hit." I scolded her.

"But Mama-"

"Now, Irina Dmitriaevna."

She groaned looked at Michael. "I am sorry."

Carol held his head up high. "See? This has been resolved. Come Michael, let's get you ice cream." The three of them walked off. I looked down at Little Dmitri, who was standing quietly by Baby Irina's side. I sighed and bent down to look at him. I gave a wan smile.

"Some people just don't understand, Little Dmitri. Some never will. Your ears do not matter. It doesn't matter if you can hear the piano, or the words of a play. But is your heart that matters most. What you do for other people and how you treat others is what makes you human. Never forget that, alright?" I signed to him. Little Dmitri quietly nodded back and walked off, holding hands with Baby Irina and Beth. I deeply exhaled watching them walk away. Anastasia walked up next and grabbed my arm. She guided me away quickly into the closest sitting room where no one was. Anastasia shut the door behind us.

"Tatya, are you serious? You cannot let Carol get away with this. Michael pushed your son!" Anastasia cried out. I shushed her.

"Carol is a king and we are staying together for two-months. I cannot cause tensions between us for our and our parent's sakes."

"So you will allow them to step all over you? Not just you, but your children?"

I scoffed. "Do not try and lecture me on parenting and being responsible. Not...Not everyone gets to say what they want all the time. You may not care about your reputation, but I do."

"I have never cared about what people thought of me, and neither should you."

"Truly? Then tell the world about Jewish man and who Cheryl truly is. See if you care about your reputation then. Anastasia, our lives our not easy. People think that just because we are royals that we can do whatever we want."

"We clearly cannot. Because if we could, you would have divorced Dmitri and ran away with Anton Ivanov. Let's face it, you are just as miserable as I am. You are better at hiding it, that is all."

I could not believe she had said that to me. I could see instant regret in Anastasia's face. I wanted to leave and get back to the party. No more words needed to be said between us.

"Tatiana-" She reached for my arm, but I moved away.

"I know what all of you think of me. All of you think I'm a pushover. But everything I have done was for my family. Sacrificing my happiness for my children was just something I had to do. And I do not expect you to understand, Nastya. But as a woman, I need you understand that we have little choices in this lifetime. Maybe one day, you will see that and stop being so damn selfish for once in your life."

"I understand that, I do. But you cannot make everyone happy. And Carol believes he can do whatever he wishes. Are you going to pretend you don't care?"

"No, I care a lot. It is you that pretends not to care. You like to act you do not care about anything. You pretend you don't think about just Josiah. You pretend you do not care about not having a husband. If you keep your act up, then you are going to lead a very lonely life. So I have to put up with Carol for awhile? So bet it. I am not the one who needs fixing, it is you." I scolded her. I saw tears form in Anastasia's eyes. However, I needed to go back out to my husband and continue my night casually. I walked out of the sitting room and retrieved another glass of champagne.