Part 147, Chapter 2661
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-One
20th February 1978
Mitte, Berlin
This wasn’t the first time that Annett had gotten upset by something beyond her control. A key part of her personality was that she needed to be in control of everything at all times in a world that was seldom obliging. That was probably the reason that she had been instantly in love with the idea of being an airplane pilot. Nan was always in control. With the rudder pedals, control yoke, and throttle quadrant she got instant results with every action.
Charlotte knew that her adopted daughter was a special case, it was something that she had understood from the instant that she had first seen Nan under the care of Katherine von Mischner. It had been Charlotte who had requested that Kat go to Bavaria because a small child who had no one else couldn’t ask for a more fierce or dedicated advocate. Charlotte had instantly recognized that what Nan needed was acceptance and stability after the nightmare that she had endured up until that point in her life. It had been Louis who had suggested that they take Nan in as a solution to that. Originally, it had been intended that Nan was to be their ward to sidestep the thorny legal questions that formal adoption arose because of who they were. Then as the years went by Charlotte saw how close that Nan and Nella became, and that horrid woman, who was more than likely Nan’s half-sister, became a growing threat even though she was locked away. Formally adopting Nan to shield her from Gudrun and the tabloid press who had been trying to find out what had happened to “Child 6” for years had been something that Louis and Charlotte had hardly needed to think about.
Charlotte had never regretted that they had done any of that. It hadn’t been perfect by any means though. At first, it had been Nan finding every hiding place she could find and showing fear towards men in general. It was a circumstance that was far less than ideal. Later, Nan had been troubled at times in many areas. Mostly that had been in the form of having difficulty in social situations. Basically she was fine with individual interactions, but group situations were entirely different. It was inevitable that Nan would say or do the wrong thing. Now, to Charlotte’s astonishment it was the Prince of Naples of all people who had caused Nan’s latest crisis.
It was not clear exactly how Amedeo Giovanni had done it, but according to Gudrun’s jailers, she had been reduced to a babbling, quivering wreck by the end of the conversation. This was a woman who had defied interrogators and needled Nan for the last twelve years. Apparently, Amedeo had known something that they did not. One of the pieces of information that he had pried out of Gudrun was Nan’s actual birthdate and it was not at all what Nan had been expecting.
Charlotte knew that most women would be overjoyed to learn that they were actually younger than they had thought. For years they had celebrated Nan’s birthday on the same day as Nella’s because as far as anyone could tell they were roughly the same age. Suddenly, Nan knew that had been born at the end of March, on the 30th or 31st, in 1960. Making her ten months younger than Nella. That was the exact opposite of what everyone might have assumed and for Nan it threw a major wrench in the works as she had been trying to move on with her life. Suddenly she was a month shy of her eighteenth birthday and while that meant nothing as far as her attending University Classes was concerned, there were other things. Her flying a multiengine airplane solo and her relationship Amedeo being the two big ones.
Charlotte was perfectly aware that the Italian Prince was considerably older than Nan. Amedeo had been a career Naval Officer and had spent his adult life at sea. Upon becoming heir to the Italian Throne, Umberto II, his father, had leaned on him to find a wife of the right background who was preferably young enough to be able to produce issue without any undue complications. That had resulted in Amedeo being sent to introduce himself to Nella on her birthday last year. While from the perspective of European history Nella would have been considered perfect, Charlotte knew that she was exactly the wrong sort of woman to play that role because as much as she hated to admit it, Nella had the personality of wet newspaper and would probably need to go through a whole lot of life before that changed. Amedeo must have realized that on some level because he had done no more than exchange pleasantries with her. Instead, he had been attracted to Nan. She had a past, well, so did Amedeo, and they had a great deal to talk about.
When Charlotte had asked what was going on, Nella and Nan had told her that Amedeo was incredibly charming and had not really asked them for anything. Nan had traveled to Rome a few times at his invitation, but that had mostly involved her wanting to have a bit of fun with someone else paying the check. Now in an effort to free Nan of her past, Amedeo had somehow put the fear of God into Gudrun Himmler. Charlotte was unsure how to react to this turn of events or Nan’s reaction to them. What she did understand that was her daughter had an important birthday coming up in a month, it would be the first one that she would celebrate on the right day and that should mean something.
20th February 1978
Mitte, Berlin
This wasn’t the first time that Annett had gotten upset by something beyond her control. A key part of her personality was that she needed to be in control of everything at all times in a world that was seldom obliging. That was probably the reason that she had been instantly in love with the idea of being an airplane pilot. Nan was always in control. With the rudder pedals, control yoke, and throttle quadrant she got instant results with every action.
Charlotte knew that her adopted daughter was a special case, it was something that she had understood from the instant that she had first seen Nan under the care of Katherine von Mischner. It had been Charlotte who had requested that Kat go to Bavaria because a small child who had no one else couldn’t ask for a more fierce or dedicated advocate. Charlotte had instantly recognized that what Nan needed was acceptance and stability after the nightmare that she had endured up until that point in her life. It had been Louis who had suggested that they take Nan in as a solution to that. Originally, it had been intended that Nan was to be their ward to sidestep the thorny legal questions that formal adoption arose because of who they were. Then as the years went by Charlotte saw how close that Nan and Nella became, and that horrid woman, who was more than likely Nan’s half-sister, became a growing threat even though she was locked away. Formally adopting Nan to shield her from Gudrun and the tabloid press who had been trying to find out what had happened to “Child 6” for years had been something that Louis and Charlotte had hardly needed to think about.
Charlotte had never regretted that they had done any of that. It hadn’t been perfect by any means though. At first, it had been Nan finding every hiding place she could find and showing fear towards men in general. It was a circumstance that was far less than ideal. Later, Nan had been troubled at times in many areas. Mostly that had been in the form of having difficulty in social situations. Basically she was fine with individual interactions, but group situations were entirely different. It was inevitable that Nan would say or do the wrong thing. Now, to Charlotte’s astonishment it was the Prince of Naples of all people who had caused Nan’s latest crisis.
It was not clear exactly how Amedeo Giovanni had done it, but according to Gudrun’s jailers, she had been reduced to a babbling, quivering wreck by the end of the conversation. This was a woman who had defied interrogators and needled Nan for the last twelve years. Apparently, Amedeo had known something that they did not. One of the pieces of information that he had pried out of Gudrun was Nan’s actual birthdate and it was not at all what Nan had been expecting.
Charlotte knew that most women would be overjoyed to learn that they were actually younger than they had thought. For years they had celebrated Nan’s birthday on the same day as Nella’s because as far as anyone could tell they were roughly the same age. Suddenly, Nan knew that had been born at the end of March, on the 30th or 31st, in 1960. Making her ten months younger than Nella. That was the exact opposite of what everyone might have assumed and for Nan it threw a major wrench in the works as she had been trying to move on with her life. Suddenly she was a month shy of her eighteenth birthday and while that meant nothing as far as her attending University Classes was concerned, there were other things. Her flying a multiengine airplane solo and her relationship Amedeo being the two big ones.
Charlotte was perfectly aware that the Italian Prince was considerably older than Nan. Amedeo had been a career Naval Officer and had spent his adult life at sea. Upon becoming heir to the Italian Throne, Umberto II, his father, had leaned on him to find a wife of the right background who was preferably young enough to be able to produce issue without any undue complications. That had resulted in Amedeo being sent to introduce himself to Nella on her birthday last year. While from the perspective of European history Nella would have been considered perfect, Charlotte knew that she was exactly the wrong sort of woman to play that role because as much as she hated to admit it, Nella had the personality of wet newspaper and would probably need to go through a whole lot of life before that changed. Amedeo must have realized that on some level because he had done no more than exchange pleasantries with her. Instead, he had been attracted to Nan. She had a past, well, so did Amedeo, and they had a great deal to talk about.
When Charlotte had asked what was going on, Nella and Nan had told her that Amedeo was incredibly charming and had not really asked them for anything. Nan had traveled to Rome a few times at his invitation, but that had mostly involved her wanting to have a bit of fun with someone else paying the check. Now in an effort to free Nan of her past, Amedeo had somehow put the fear of God into Gudrun Himmler. Charlotte was unsure how to react to this turn of events or Nan’s reaction to them. What she did understand that was her daughter had an important birthday coming up in a month, it would be the first one that she would celebrate on the right day and that should mean something.
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