I don't own any characters except my own. Anastasia belongs to Don Bluth and 20th century Fox.

It had been several weeks since Anya discovered that she was expecting a baby and she still had mixed few about the whole thing. The idea that she was going to be a mother in nine months was still mind-blowing to her. Even though she had her grandma, her second cousin and her landlady willing to help her and Demetri out, at times, Anya wasn't sure if she could do it. Which was why, she had began to spend more time at the local library.

It had been a long time since, Anya had read books in French, but she could vaguely recall her French lessons when she was a young girl.

In her own private room in the palace, her tutor was going over the original French version of Les Miserables with her.

"Now remember if you come across any words that you don't know, you can ask me, alright?" He reminded the young duchess.

Anastasia eagerly nodded her head. She aside from her horseback riding lessons, her favorite lessons were her French.

Then her thoughts were interrupted as her tutor said "Now, let's resume our of chapter 9."

Anya took a deep breath and began to read chapter 9 aloud. As she got caught up in the drama of Fantine's plight, the young duchess suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice ask "Excuse me miss?"

Anya blinked as she returned to the reality that she was a newly wed mother to be and no longer the heir to the Russian throne. Still holding the book in her right hand, Anya looked up too see that she had almost left the library without checking out the book!

Anya felt her face flush with embarrassment as she spun around to see a librarian clerk with blonde hair and green eyes starting at her from across the desk. At once, she quickly and quietly replied "I'm sorry I was just lost in my own thoughts."

"Thinking about becoming a mother or are you worried about a friend who's about to become a mother?" The librarian clerk asked her in French.

For a moment, Anya wondered how did he know. Then she looked at the book in her hand and remembered it was all about the anxieties of upcoming motherhood.

"Yes, I'm worried about a friend of mine." Anya replied in French, not feeling like telling the clerk that she was the mother to be.

The clerk gave her sympathetic smile as he answered "Motherhood is a blessing, you should be proud of her. How far along is, by way?"

"A few weeks along." Anya answered. "I know it can be a blessing, but what worries me is the fact that she only got married not that long ago and she's the one putting food on the table as her husband is going to college to get better opportunities for them." She added, feeling unsure why she spilling out all of her feelings to a stranger.

The librarian clerk gave her a sympathy look as he said "She needs to do all that she can for herself and she needs to be stop being selfish."

"What?" Anya muttered in disbelief.

"She needs to go home and take care of her baby. It isn't fair that she needs to make her husband waste time getting an education instead of working." The clerk continued.

I can't believe I'm hearing this. An angry Anya thought to herself. She angrily slammed the book down on the counter before she stormed out of the library.

I'm never coming back here again. Anya vowed as she walked down the stone steps. As she reached the bottom, Anya suddenly felt her stomach starting to growl. Feeling hungry, Anya began to look for a place to eat. As she looked over the many restaurants, Anya realized that she had a craving for crappies with ice cream. With that, Anya walked into a lovely black and pink crappie shop. Inside she was greeted by a red head in a black and pink dress as she asked "What can I do for you?"

Anya looked over the menu before she looked over at the server and said "I would like a crappie filled with chocolate, covered in chocolate and ice cream on the side."

The woman wrote all that down before she answered "Your total comes to 3 francis."

Anya handed the woman her money before she walked outside and sat down on a white elegant looking chair. Anya was surprised how soft the chair was and how lucky was able to sit at this place during her day off from work. She started to think about whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. If it was a boy, she would name the child after her father, her brother or both of them and give him a French male name. If it was a girl, she would name it after all of her sisters and grandma as well as give the child a French female name. What would the baby look like? Would it be a spitting image of Demetri? Would it look like her? Would be some combination of themselves? Would the child have the looks of their relatives? Before Anya could dwell on the matter even further, her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the waitress say "Your order is ready."

With that, she placed the crappie down in front of Anya as she went back to the counter. Anya began to eat her crappie as she thought about work and what it would be like tomorrow.

The next day, Anya was cleaning the windows and rooms of her grandma's mansion with Chloe.

"How was your day off?" She as she scrubbed the carpet.

"It was nice, I was looking over books on how to deal with anxieties on upcoming motherhood." Anya replied as she picked up a towel from a nearby bucket filled with water and scrubbed the window.

"Congratulations, by the way." Chloe remarked as she took out the last of the carpet stains. "What does the Dowager empress even do that causes so much stains in the carpet?" She added.

Maybe she has a lot of parties? Anya thought to herself. No, that can't be right. She only had parties on special events, maybe she just likes to eat or drink in this room a lot? She added.

Then, Anya pulled herself out of her thoughts as Chloe asked "Have you and your husband talked about your plans on who will be the breadwinner and how you'll each raise the baby?"

Anya pauses for a moment before she answered with "He's thinking about putting college on hold and getting a job while I go on Maternity leave."

"What kind of job is he thinking of getting?" Chloe wondered.

"I'm not sure. He hasn't made up his mind yet." Anya answered.

"Well he could always work in a grocery store. I heard they're always looking for people to hire." Chloe suggested.

At her words, Anya began to think over the kinds of jobs Demetri could work at a supermarket, he could be a cashier, a janitor or a manager. He did such a good job getting her, Pooka, Vlad and herself into Paris that running a store would be small potatoes to that. He also used work in the kitchen, so he could easily be a baker or stock up food to sell to the customers. Before Anya could continue to dwell on the matter, she heard her grandma's voice state "Well done girls, why don't you all take a break for the day?"

Anya and Chloe spun in shock to see the Dowager Empress herself standing in the doorway to the living room.

Chloe was the first to speak with "Are you sure my lady?"

Marie nodded her head as she said "Of course I'm sure, you've earned it."

With that, Chloe went to get her lunch as Anya moved to follow her, but was stopped as she felt her grandmother place her right hand on her shoulder as she said "How are you and Demetri holding up?"

"We're doing fine, Grandma. The baby isn't due for another eight months. We have plenty of time to prepare and think over our options." Anya assured her.

"Nine months can pass so quickly, Anya." Her Grandma reminded her. She then leaded into her granddaughter's right ear and whispered "Are you sure you don't want my financial aid? The money could help you, Demetri and the baby."

Anya sighed. It was so hard to turn down her grandmother's help. However, in order for her real identity to be protected, she couldn't rely on her grandmother's help to much. Getting hired as a maid and finding an apartment with aid of her second cousin was one thing, taking money from her grandma, that would get the communist Russian government back on her tail again.

"Grandma, you know why I can't offer." Anya stated sadly.

"Well, will you at least let me give you a bonus check?" The Dowger empress pleaded.

"Sure." Anya stated.

Sometime later, Anya was walking back towards her apartment, feeling good about her bonus in her purse. She decided to make a quick stop at the bank to cash it. As Anya walked inside, she noticed a strange man in a trench coat approaching one of the tellers and saying something to them as he opened up one side of his coat. As Anya took a closer look, she could see that he had a gun in his jacket. At once, she opened her mouth and screamed "He has a gun!" As security rushed over towards the man, he took out his gun and fired it into the air.

"Get down! On the ground! Now!" He ordered.

Anya did as he asked along with everyone else in the store.

What have I done? She thought to herself as she looked over at her now follow hostages. How are we all going to get out of this and will I ever see Demetri, Pooka, Grandma, Sophie and Madame Du Motier ever again? Will I come out of this alive?

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