Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Five
25th June 1958
Tempelhof, Berlin
It was a pleasant afternoon when the hospital finally released Ilse to come home. Kiki was helping with the baby as Ilse was still weak. Having Albrecht on hand to help quite literally carry her up the stairs was a big help. The plan was that they would share Ilse’s room and Nikolaus would share the nursery with Kat’s two-year-old daughter Marie until a more permanent solution might be found. Having additional people around all the time was something that Kat didn’t seem to mind. As Kiki had learned, the Gräfin seemed to like being at the center of a big, chaotic household. There were however a few things that were not to be discussed around Graf von Richthofen and his wife, something that Albrecht had quietly done while Ilse was still in the hospital for example. Kiki had overheard Kat and Ilse discussing it, Ilse was cross that Albrecht had done it without talking to her. At the same time, she was happy that he cared so much about her that he would do such a thing. When they had noticed that Kiki was in the room, they had changed the subject.
“It seems to me that being an adult means endless discussions about unpleasant things” Kiki told Ben as they were standing around in the back garden because the house was so crowded, “And then having to do those things.”
“I don’t know” Ben replied, “There’ve got to be tradeoffs. Right? All the things that adults get to do?”
“Perhaps” Kiki said as she looked as the house and noticed that no one was looking out any of the windows.
Perhaps this was finally an opportunity to get that…
Someone a lot stronger than she was, grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides and she forgot everything that Kat had taught her to do in such a situation. “Got you” A low voice said in her ear. Ben was staring in shock, too surprised to do anything. “Teach you not to be a skinny little whippet.”
Only a few people called her that and Kiki absolutely hated it when they did. That was why she didn’t hesitate when she drove the heel of her shoe into Freddy’s instep. He deserved it. He let her go, which was good because Kat had taught her that if a man won’t let her go, then to go for his eyes and balls. Most men would cringe at the thought and consider that a low blow. However, Kat had told Kiki since she had started teaching her several years earlier that rules were a luxury for those already in a position of strength.
“That was a horrible thing to do!” Kiki yelled at Freddy as she spun around to face him.
“So was stomping on my foot” Freddy replied back as he winced in pain.
“Who is this?” Ben asked.
“My dope of a brother” Kiki said, “Ben, this is Freddy, Freddy this is Ben. Got that?”
Ben just stared wide eyed at Freddy, he had been aware of who she was for months but had never reacted this way.
“What are you two doing out here anyway?” Freddy asked.
“Nothing” Kiki replied, only to hear Ben say “Just talking” a bit too quickly. Freddy responded with a knowing smirk, completely misreading the situation and Kiki wished that she really had kicked him in the balls.
“I thought you were in Vietnam?” Kiki asked. She wanted to change the subject, if Freddy had waited a few minutes then Kiki might have gotten Ben to kiss her. Recently Kiki had spoken to Doctor Berg about her frustrations regarding Ben only to have her mentor point out to her that Ben was just as clueless about romance as she was. Freddy was the last person on Earth she wanted to discuss that with.
“I came back for Poppa getting hitched” Freddy said, “You’ve not forgotten that with everything else going on?”
“No” Kiki replied. She had been sitting for the exams that would determine if she would get her abitur at last or waiting until the end of the next school term. Now, she was impatiently waiting for the results. Between that and Ilse’s baby, her father’s impending marriage to that Austrian woman had mostly been on the back burner. With Freddy back that was obviously about to change.
“No matter” Freddy replied, “We get to attend that and then I guess you are off to the training depot.”
That caught Kiki short, her future plans had always seemed like they were just that. In the future. Now, they were her present and she saw Ben’s reaction to learning that. Why did everything always have to be such a complete mess?
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Kat stood in the window in her bedroom holding Marie and watching. Marie was not taking no longer being the baby in the household very well and she had been particularly needy this afternoon. Kat had made a point in spending as much time with her as she could.
From the bedroom window Kat had seen how Kiki and Ben had been gravitating towards each other when they thought that no one was looking. She had also seen Freddy sneaking up on his sister. Few things were quite as effective at quelling teenage lust than the mere presence of an older, much bigger, brother. Kat had been debating whether or not she would have to go down into the back garden with a bucket of water.
Kiki didn’t know it yet, but she had passed the exams with flying colors, so there were no longer any obstacles between her and her professional aspirations. In another week Kiki would be off for the portion of her training where she would learn how to survive in the field. It would also be the first time in her life that Kiki had ever truly been on her own. In a couple weeks she would be back, but the training program for Field Medics was intense and went on for two years. After that, Kat knew that Kiki would probably be asked to continue her education and the workload would probably increase. It would be keeping her busy for the next several years. It was very likely that Ben would simply be forgotten because of that. Kat wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.