Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II

Kat did call Sigi a fuckwit, but to the Commandant of the BWA when she showed up at her house.
Yep. He must have found it hysterically hilarious.

However it was certainly HIS way of aiding Sieglinde to grow in her career and as an individual.

Louis Ferdinand knew certainly that once Kat interrogated Sigi, and learned about her motivations and life, that she WOULD support Sigi without hesitate in her dreams.

Add that passing for the Circus that was the Von Mischner-Blackwood household and the linked ones would certainly toughen Sigi psychologically and to the hour interact with others in all future endeavors.

For not talk that in the Heer and forwards, any Superior officer that read Sieglinde's career and wasn't in the selected circle that truly and well knew Kat, to have been the aide of the bona fide hardass Baroness Von Mischner and not folded or quit like a pack of wet paper would certainly respect Sieglinde for having the mental fortitude to stand......
 
Part 84, Chapter 1284
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Four


9th June 1958

Berlin

It had been a very long day as Kiki sat at the table in the hospital cafeteria with Doctor Berg though she didn’t feel like talking. Mostly in the past she had been able to keep a distance from hard medical cases because Kiki had not been close to the person involved. Despite being a bit underweight the baby was fine, it was Ilse who was the problem.

“There were complications, but your friend will eventually recover” Doctor Berg said trying to cheer Kiki up, “She’s an incredibly tough woman.”

Complications? That was an understatement, the medical procedures that had saved Ilse’s life had only been in existence for the last few years. Before that it was believed that once the heart stopped then it was final. Still, for the last two days it had been difficult watching what was happening with Ilse. Kiki had also had a rather harsh wake up call in the form of the behavior of Albrecht’s family. Ilse spoke in glowing terms about them, but when it came down to brass tacks Albrecht’s father seemed more concerned that the family line would continue than the survival of his daughter-in-law. It was the very privilege that Kiki had been unable to see for most of her life playing out before her. Kiki had seen that Albrecht had also picked up on what she had when he had given his father a look that suggested that he would have strangled his father.

“It just isn’t fair” Kiki said, “We get to take all the risks and what do we get out of it?”

“If by we, you mean what I think you are Kiki then you are not the first young woman to ask that question” Berg replied, “And human biology is an iron bitch, frequently driving us to do questionable things.”

“Oh” Kiki replied. She hadn’t anticipated as frank an answer as that.

“I think that the last couple years have given you an education of the sort that you never would have gotten in school” Berg said, “You should probably look to the relationship of the woman whose house you are living in has with her husband as an example to aspire to. When you are old enough, of course.”

Kiki understood that well enough, though that seemed extremely remote to her. She just knew that trying to get Ben to kiss her had been a frustrating experience that she would rather forget. Just for some odd reason there was a part of her that would not stop thinking about how he might have kissed her. That seemed totally absurd and anything more seemed impossible.

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As much as Albrecht might have wanted to kick the Graf’s face in, he had settled on something that would send a stronger message. When he had discussed with Ilse possible names, Kristina for a girl was for certain after all the help that Kiki had given Ilse. A boy’s name was a bit more complicated. Ilse had suggested name Nikolaus though she said she knew it would never fly, but he had seen how it was what Ilse wanted. When he had seen Ilse in the Intensive Care Ward so weak that she couldn’t breath on her own after suffering from cardiac arrest just following the delivery, he had realized that the name was actually symbolic of Ilse’s own hopes for their son and he had added to what he hoped would be the right theme. Nikolaus Oswald Jacob Louis von Richthofen was what Albrecht had told the Registrar, much to his parent’s confusion. Katherine and Marcella had been delighted, Nikolaus had been the given name of Marcella’s late husband Klaus Böhler. Albrecht’s parents had just been confused.

Now, with everyone else having been removed from the ward, Albrecht thought about minutes earlier while looking at Nikolaus. A confused little bundle who belonged with his mother though that wasn’t happening yet. The Doctors had said that Ilse needed time to recover and was already showing improvement. Doctor Berg had bluntly told him that Ilse wouldn’t survive if this happened again. He had been prepared last year to disappoint his parents when they had believed that Ilse couldn’t have children. They would probably be disappointed anyway for different reasons.

As he looked at Ilse as she slept, she was hooked up to machinery that was almost identical to that used in the Space Program that pushed air into her lungs and monitored her heart. This was something that he couldn’t allow to happen again.


Wunsdorf-Zossen

All his life Christoph had been advised to not go borrowing trouble. The report on his desk struck him as being exactly that. When word had reached Wunsdorf about the Emperor’s impending nuptials someone had the bright idea of conducting a study of the implications of union between the German Empire and Austria. It was all detailed in the report. As a Naval Officer Christoph saw the merit in having Triste as a logistics port even if the KM didn’t want to risk having a squadron bottled up in the Adriatic Sea.

It was the big picture though, the thing that General von Holz had been encouraging Christoph to look at which was worrying. The Eastern Mediterranean could potentially be a bigger mess than it already was. There was already an HSF squadron in Constantinople that the British were looking at warily from Alexandria and Malta. Additional HSF resources in the Eastern Mediterranean mixed with the British continue to lose ground in the Far East and Africa might cause them to abandon the Suez Canal. That would mean that the primary means of water transport for them to Australia would be through Panama. Which happened to be controlled by the Americans. That had the potential to disrupt the strategic balance like few other things that Christoph had looked at.
 
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I am surprised that neither Lothar or Wolfam was used.
A warm water port may not be worth the trouble if the fleet can be bottled up, but could having sub pens make up for that?
 
Don't forget that Manfred was a Great War aviator. Even if he doesn't fully approve of the name choice he is going to understand about honoring fallen comrades. And Oswald has been included as a family name. There hasn't been a total break with tradition.
 
Anschluss time?

Nah, Austria is too different to the OTL one to make that a possibility.

It may still have the chief issue that our Post-WW1 Austria had, mainly being an Imperial Capital without an empire, but there are enough differences that there wouldn't be the support in Austria itself for such a move.
 
It is most likely that the only ones who are serious about having an Anschluss between Germany and Austria is the Nationalist Right in Germany but if Italy and whatever TTL version of Yugoslavia is threatening Austria over Triste it may lead Austria to call on help from its "Big Brother".
 
Pretty sure no-one would be dumb enough to start a war in a part of Europe people care about.

Transylvania however is a different matter.
 
Part 84, Chapter 1285
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.
 
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Part 84, Chapter 1286
Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Six


6th July 1958

Potsdam

To see the Sanssouci Palace today, one would hardly think that it was where the Emperor had mourned his late wife Kira in a bit of an uncharacteristic drunken episode. Kat had described how he had been depressed and it had taken Louis some time to get out of it. Now, on a warm summer evening it was decorated in full splendor as the Summer Residence was intended to be as the hours grew late and the party was wrapping up.

It was a small wedding by how these things were reckoned. It was Louis’ second marriage and Charlotte didn’t want a big production. The result was that it was only immediate family, close friends and people who Louis couldn’t afford to alienate politically. No more than a few hundred guests and the Press was strictly limited. There were rumors that the First Foot had been issued live ammunition for the event that had made sure that all but the most obnoxious photographers stayed very far away. Gräfin Katherine said that those rumors were garbage because the First Foot was always issued with live ammunition when guarding the Emperor and his family. Charlotte did however insist on having the religious ceremony a few days after civil portion of the marriage was concluded.

For the ceremony and the reception that followed, Douglas had gotten one of the few official Press passes for the event. It was something that couldn’t be had for love or money and the result was that he had taken hundreds of photographs over the course of the day. Which ones that got released to the public was entirely at the discretion of the Emperor and Imperial Court’s Press Liaison, Nancy Jensen. Certain things needed to be kept in mind, like photographs of Friedrich, Kristina and Michael not necessarily being for public consumption because of their various aspirations. There was also the fact that unless they asked him directly, he was not to take any pictures with Kristina and Benjamin. The same went for Friedrich and Suga-no-miya. All because they didn’t want to drive speculation about the love lives of the Royal children.

Benjamin had been reluctant to be Kiki’s escort to the wedding because he knew that tomorrow morning she was leaving, and it seemed like none of Kiki’s future plans included him. The result was that Ben already seemed to be drawing away to try to avoid getting hurt. Doug would have told him that doing that was a waste of time, though he doubted that Ben would listen. For Freddy and Suga it was different, the two of them had been friends since they were both children and probably knew each other as few others did. However, Freddy didn’t see it but every time the very proper Princess Suga looked at him one could practically see the words NEEDS IMPROVEMENT blinking over his head in bright red letters. Considering that Kat had once told Doug that she had a similar reaction to him, it was hardly a surprise.

There was Kiki and Ben that Kat told Doug to keep an eye out for tonight. Especially because Kat knew that Kiki would probably be so dramatic and naïve to think that tonight represented a sort of now or never opportunity. While Kat didn’t feel that Kiki would be so foolhardy as to do anything particularly stupid, Kat felt that he still needed to keep a close eye on her. Once the Court formally crowned Charlotte as the Empress Consort, Kat would be the new Obersthofmeisterin and Asia Lawniczak would replace her as the Mistress of the Keys. So, she was expected to be with Charlotte this evening. It was a task that he hardly felt up to, if there was anyone knew every nook and cranny of the Sanssouci Palace better than Kat herself it was Kiki.

That was why Doug was watching Kiki and Ben when they left the Hall that the reception was taking place in. Doug followed only a minute behind them. Fortunately, they didn’t try to hide. Instead they were standing just outside one of the palace’s many side entrances and were talking. Doug overheard Kiki talking with Ben about the woman who was now her step-mother, how she knew that she needed to give Charlotte a chance and was finding it difficult. Kiki also expressed her concern that she was making a series of poor decisions in leaving school early and pursuing a medical career.

After a few minutes, the two of them felt silent. Kat had said that Kiki had been trying to contrive a way to get Ben to kiss her for months. Doug saw that she had finally succeeded with only a few minutes to spare. Checking his watch, Doug cleared his throat, both Ben and Kiki jumped apart. It was all he could do not to laugh at how silly a response that was.

“It’s time to go home” Doug said, “If you could get Kiki’s coat Benjamin?”

Ben sheepishly walked off and Kiki fell into step with Doug as they walked towards the hall where they would give their farewells to the bride and groom.

“Why did you have to interrupt?” Kiki asked.

“Did I interrupt anything?” Doug asked in reply.

“I know you saw… what we were doing” Kiki said.

Doug just shrugged.

“It wasn’t a big deal” Kiki said defensively, “I personally don’t see what all the fuss is.”

Doug didn’t respond, he just watched Kiki as she put her fingers to her lips and had a vague smile on her face as they waited in line with the other well-wishers. Whatever you say, Doug thought to himself.
 
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