Disclaimer: Although I would like to think that this fic would make a great sequel to the movie, it will never happen all because I do not own the rights to it. Darn it.

All Men Are Babies

Chapter 16: Jealousy And Useless Dogs

Excited to finally be getting revenge on Anastasia, Zachariah Salazar contently walked back to his hotel. Not too far in his trek home, Zachariah haled a cab to take him the rest of the way. The cab driver was middle-aged and spoke with a heavy French accent. Zachariah was grateful for the ride. For the sooner he could get home and the sooner he could go to sleep. Murder was a big business and one must always keep up their strength. It was all planned out. Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov would die tomorrow.

"Thank you," Zachariah tipped the cab driver politely once they arrived at the hotel.

xXx

"Thank you, Dimitri," Anya said later that night as she and Dimitri were walking hand in hand down the dim lighted Paris sidewalks. "That was nice." Since he was paid, Dimitri took his wife out for dinner. The diner they ate at was cheap and not like the places Sophie would drag them to, but the young couple had a good time in each others company.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it my dear," Dimitri replied. Anya yawned resting her head on Dimitri's shoulder. Chuckling, Dimitri quickly glanced at her. Dropping her hand, he snaked his arm around her waist, keeping her on her feet. When they arrived to their street, Anya yawned again. This time, the twenty year old picked up his wife and carried her the short distance home.

Once they were back home, Dimitri carried her upstairs to their bedroom. Laying her on the bed, Dimitri kissed her head and pulled the covers over her. It wasn't long until Pooka bounded into the room and jumped onto the bed. Rotating in circles for a minute, the little gray dog settled himself at his owner's feet. Not long afterward, Dimitri snuggled up to Anya. "Goodnight, Anya," Dimitri whispered to her, although he could hear her labored breathing, indicating she was already sound asleep. A soft growl at the foot of the bed sounded. "Night, mutt."

xXx

Before he could go to bed, Zachariah had to plan the murder in detail, otherwise there was room to make mistakes. When one's occupation is murder, they cannot make mistakes. This all had to be perfect. First Zachariah would go back to the princess' house, and well-kidnap her. Yes, Zachariah had it all planned out and there was no way that his plan could go wrong. Soon he would be able to move on, soon he will be happy.

If we can't be happy Princess, then no one in your family will be happy. His promise to his dear, sweet Olga would soon be complete and then he, Zachariah Salazar, could be finally be happy once again. "Sorry Princess, but your time is up."

xXx

"What are you going to do today?" Dimitri asked Anya that morning as they relaxed in their small and sparsely, but comfortable furnished living room. Sitting on one end of the sofa, Dimitri looked down at Anya's peaceful face as she rested her head in his lap. Anya who was reading a book, put the book down and looked up at Dimitri.

"Well, Grandmama and Sophie want me to come over for a dress fitting," Anya explained sitting up. "So I was going to do that when you leave for work." Sitting beside Dimitri, she rested her head on his shoulder and held onto his arm. "Oh Dimitri," she sighed. Dimitri smiled feeling her warm breath on his cheek. "I don't want to go to this ball. I wanna stay here with you."

Dimitri chuckled. "Anya, you will be with me," he assured. "Besides, I'm not going to let any guy dance with my princess."

Amused, Anya picked her head up off of Dimitri's shoulder and looked at him. "You're jealous!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Dimitri exclaimed surprised that she would even suggest something like that. Shifting his position so he could easily face her, he denied it. "I am not!"

"You are too!" she countered. Sighing, Anya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't I tell you that you're stuck with me whether you like it or not?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Anya smiled. "Now go to work."

In pretense aggravation, Dimitri stood up. Grabbing his coat, he turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. Smiling a winner's smile, Anya stood up and followed him outside. The late morning sun was warm and shone brightly over Paris as Anya followed Dimitri to the road. Yipping, Pooka ran beside their feet.

"Anya," Dimitri said turning to face her. Handing her his wallet, Dimitri said, "Go and buy some groceries." Nodding in understanding, Anya took the money. "I'll see you tonight," he smiled. Before he left, he kissed her goodbye.

xXx

Smiling, Anya twirled around her in shimmering new ball gown to show it off. Beside her, Sophie and a maid stood watching the princess in awe. Excitedly, Sophie clapped her hands. Anya's shimmering and dazzling new ball gown was a beautiful with the gold coloring with top layer. The top layer of the skirt opened in the front to reveal a silver underskirt. Her dress also had a silver neckline.

"Ah," Sophie sighed. "With just the right hairdo, Dimitri won't be able to keep his hands off you!"

"Sophie!" Anya exclaimed annoyed. "Why are you making a big deal of this?"

Straightening the skirt on Anya's dress, Sophie nonchalantly said, "You're the princess. A princess is always a big deal and she deserves to dance into her happily ever after with Prince Charming."

Anya sighed once again. "But I don't want to dance with Prince Charming," she complained. "I wanna dance with the kitchen boy." Smiling she added, "Besides, the kitchen boy is too jealous to let me dance with anyone else-especially with a prince!"

xXx

Zachariah Salazar rubbed his hands together. Oh yes, he was finally ready to dirty them with the blood of the last Romanov. Smirking, the 32 year old continued walking down the sidewalk. By this time it was after 2:00 and Zachariah was positive that this was the perfect time to dispose of Anastasia. Dimitri would still be at work for another four hours and it was a time in the afternoon where Anya was sure to be at home alone with that mutt of hers. He just couldn't wait, revenge was going to be sweet. Zachariah was walking down the sidewalk. Hearing a woman's voice call out his name, he stopped.

"Zachariah!" Annaleese Debonaire called again. Although the petite french woman had only met Zachariah Salazar the day before, she felt he really understood her. It was like they had this connection. "Zachariah!" This time the man in question stopped walking. Fluttering up to him, Annaleese animatedly started talking about her day.

"Oh uh hi," Zachariah replied. Zachariah Salazar was sick of all these distractions that were keeping him from reaching his goal. And although as cute as Annaleese Debonaire was good looking, she was probably the main distraction. If it weren't for her, his job probably could have already been done. As much as Zachariah wanted Annaleese to leave, he half heartily listened to her drone on and on about her family and ex boyfriends, and everything else she felt like rambling about. Where Annaleese felt they had a connection, Zachariah felt that this acquaintanceship wasn't going anywhere. Perhaps it could turn into a friendship, but nothing more. Zachariah would and could not get his dear sweet Olga Romanov out of his head.

xXx

The cook thought Dimitri was an annoying kid and didn't think that anyone could grow up to be an annoying adult. He was wrong. 20 years old now and that kitchen boy still complained about girls-mainly his wife. Dimitri claimed he married the lost Russian princess, but the cook knew well of Dimitri's tall tales. Now of course was one of those famous tall tales as Dimitri talked about the Dowager Empress inviting him to a royal ball.

"Jealous!" the twenty year old exclaimed. "She says I'm jealous!"

"Are you?" the cook asked as they busily cooked the ordered meals to perfection, although he couldn't really care less about what Dimitri was telling him.

"NO!" Dimitri instantly denied. "What do I have to be jealous about?"

"Maybe your so called princess finding someone less annoying?" the cook grumbled soft enough that Dimitri didn't hear it.

xXx

Anya happily planted flowers to border the front side of the house. She had seen vendors selling beautiful flowers while she was buying groceries just as Dimitri said and she just couldn't pass them up. Besides, she felt it was about time they made the place a little more homey. Pooka ran around chasing after butterflies and anything else he could find. Every now and then the young woman would chase after the little dog, picking him so he didn't run off into the street.

"Pooka!" she laughed as the little dog rolled onto his back nudging her to pet him. Rubbing the funny the little dog, Anya stopped what she was doing. Soaking up the attention, his body seemed to go limp in appreciation. All of sudden, the little dog jumped to his feet and ran to the street growling. Anya called the little dog back to her. When Pooka stopped and looked at her, Anya contently went back to planting the flowers.

"Pooka!" Dimitri's voice called the little dog's name and the gray little dog ran up to him, attacking his legs. "Where's Anya," he asked the little dog squatting to pet the dog. "Huh, where's Anya?" As Dimitri stood to his full height, Pooka yipped once and stayed by Dimitri's side. Looking down at the dog, Dimitri muttered, "you are so useless," as he finished the rest of the walk home to Anya.

Stiff from bending to plant the flowers in front of the house, Anya stretched as she stood up. Twisting her torso to the right once and then to the left, she saw Dimitri coming home. Enthusiastically she waved to him.

Arriving home, Dimitri kissed her on the mouth. "How was your day?" he asked walking with her towards the house. Immediately, Anya engrossed herself in telling the amusing story of the dress fitting with Sophie. Noticing dirt on Anya's dress and the freshly planted flowers, Dimitri abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"And I told Sophie that I-"

"Anya."

"-the kitchen boy and that-"

"Anya."

"-too jealous to-"

"Anya!"

Realizing that her husband was no longer beside her, Anya turned around to see Dimitri standing with his arms crossed over his chest with a expressionless face. With Dimitri standing in that stance, Anya knew that he was upset with her. Sheepishly smiling, Any sweetly called his name. "Dimitri."

xXx

By the time Annaleese had finally left and allowed him to check the time, Zachariah Salazar realized that Dimitri would have been home by now. Recently, he was having the worst kind of luck, and he wanted it to end. Feeling a shoulder rub past him, Zachariah turned around to see the back of Dimitri's irate, retreating form. Maybe,he mused, my luck isn't all bad. Smiling, Zachariah decided that it was about time he pay the princess a visit.

This was the end of chapter 16 and I hope you enjoyed it. You're probably mad at me for leaving it like this. Classes are starting again, so I don't know when chapter 17 will be up, but it should be up soon.