Archive of Our Own ^beta

i may not change the entire world, but at least i can change someone else's life, that would enough for me.

~

they came to her in rags, each one so thin to the point where their ribs were poking out of their clothes. erzsébet's heart pounded in sympathy, her mind flooding with unpleasant thoughts of the life that the children had to endure in the horrendous ghetto. she pitied the children and don't even get her started on the immense amount of guilt and remorse for their parents.

her lips parted slightly, quivering in the slightest as her eyes welled up with tears. god, she felt horrible, she felt as though it was her fault that they were suffering.

"erzsèbet? oh my lord, i'm so glad you're so willing to take in these children," irena spoke in a hushed tone as her eyes frantically scanned the area. in her hands were folders of fake identification papers which erzsèbet knew was for the three children that stood in front of her.

"here, the identification papers," irena said once she made sure the place was desolate and empty. she pressed the folders into erzsèbet's hand. she gave the papers a glance before fixing her eyes on the children.

"what are their names?" erzsèbet asked in a quiet voice, looking at the children who were shivering due to the cold air hitting their frail bodies.

"it's in the documents," irena said.

"no, i want to know their real names, the names their parents gave them."

silence sat between them as erzsèbet waited for an answer from irena, who was pondering if giving her the children's names would prove to be dangerous for all of them.

"the oldest girl is anya, the boy is nikolai, and the youngest girl is veronika," irena revealed and watched as erzsébet nodded in acknowledgement, and began trying to associate the names with their sullen faces. "i believe you will be able to take it from here. i trust you to not put these children in harm's way."

erzsébet snapped her head up to look at irena, giving her a firm nod. "i won't. i'll do my best to give them a good life."

~

"i won't let them find out, especially not your brother," erzsébet hissed in a hushed voice as she glared at gilbert almost as if threatening him to snitch on them — if he dared to even do that, of course.

"you and i both know that ludwig is the last thing we have to worry about," gilbert started, glancing outside before gripping erzsébet's sides and pulling her closer to him. "we should worry about the ones who go about knocking on people's doors and interrogating them," he finished, looking at erzsébet with a determined look.

erzsébet stared back into his crimson eyes before her face softened and her eyes fall to the ground, her shoulders drooping as she slowly made her way to the dining table, pulling a chair out and sitting down.

"they would be a big problem...but we'll have to deal with it somehow. they can't take these children away," erzsébet gloomily stated, fidgeting with her fingers.

"i know that, erzsèbet, but how long do you think we can hide them before someone finds out and snitches on us?"

"what are they going to tell them if they do decide to backstab us? taking care of children? that isn't punishable," erzsébet retorted, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"everyone living in our vicinity knows that we don't have any children, you think they are just going to believe it if we told them that we just decided to adopt some one day? that's such an unawesome plan, erzsébet," gilbert stated.

"you know what? let's just go check on the children," erzsébet spoke, standing up from her seat and walking towards the stairs to go to the children's room. a soft sigh fell from gilbert's lips as he scrambled to follow behind erzsébet.

once she was on top of the stairs, she turned to her left, to the room. she gripped the door knob tightly within her palm. with a soft sigh, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. she stood at the door, looking at the three children who were huddled up together in a small corner of the spacious room. gilbert peeked in from behind erzsébet.

"good afternoon...children," erzsébet started awkwardly, trying to keep a gentle smile on her face. the children kept quiet, averting their gazes from her.

"are you all hungry? would any of you like anything to eat?" erzsébet asked, looking at them with soft and kind eyes.

gilbert stood behind and watched as the oldest girl in the trio ('her name is anya, right?' gilbert thought to himself.) shifted in her place, deciding whether or not she should speak. the youngest one ('this one is veronika, i think.'), however, curiously looked at erzsébet and gilbert with bright brown eyes that twinkled with life.

"we're-"

"we're very hungry, miss!" veronika's high-pitched voice spoke, causing a sharp gasp to come from anya.

"oh! well then! why don't you children follow me down? we'll get some food from downstairs," erzsébet smiled, motioning for the children to follow her while gilbert walked towards the stairs, waiting for them to go down.

anya and nikolai exchanged glances while veronika eagerly followed after erzsébet, anticipating some good food after eating next to nothing over the past few months. anya and nikolai, however, could only muster up enough energy to trudge behind their younger sister.

as the three siblings walked towards a rewarding meal, the words their mother said were etched into their minds.

"when will we see you again, mama?" anya asked. natalya pondered over an answer.

"after the war," she answered, smiling gently.

~

"people are saying that you and your husband are resistance members," the officer started, causing erzsèbet's blood to run cold, draining all colour from her face.

"would you care to explain?" he ended and erzsèbet looked around nervously, desperately trying to find a believable excuse.

"we're not," she stated flatly, trying not to let her anxiety show. "i don't know where you got that information from."

"well, your neighbours are raising concerns that you may be sheltering jewish children, given that they have never seen you with children a month prior," the officer continued.

"i'm not sheltering jewish children," she said. "i adopted three aryan children a month ago," she lied, feeling disgusted at herself for saying such things. the officer stared intently at erzsèbet before nodding and walking off, leaving erzsèbet standing at her door, her heart pounding rapidly against her rib cage, threatening to jump out at any moment.

as she calmed herself down, she rushed herself into her house, quickly slamming the door behind her before running up to upstairs to the room where gilbert and the children hid. she opened the door and brought her whole body into the room, closing the door behind her and sighing in relief.

"-one!" was all erzsèbet heard before she felt gilbert's hands on her sides, tickling her. a high-pitched scream erupted from her before she leaned back into gilbert's arms, little, small giggles falling from her lips. gilbert stared at her with his crimson eyes before leaning in with a quick peck on her lips as the children behind them laughed and giggled. he then let her go, making sure she was standing upright before he turned around to the children, a devilish smirk apparent on his face as he inched closer to them.

"any one of you might be next!" he mused in a sing-song voice as erzsèbet watched the children scatter, little giggles and screams coming from them as they tried to get away from gilbert and his tickles. watching this scene in front of her, she couldn't help but let a small chuckle slip past her lips.

deciding that she would join in this activity as well, she ran forward, and unexpectedly tickled gilbert, causing him to let out a loud scream and fell to the ground, all while the children laughed and continued running around the small room.

"the tickle monster has been stopped!" anya beamed, her voice so full of life and joy. a stark difference from how she sounded a month ago.

"i'm the tickle monster now!" erzsèbet exclaimed, walking towards anya while she scrambled away, not wanting to get tickled just like how gilbert was.

giggles, laughs and happiness radiated in the room and both erzsèbet and gilbert wondered, how long has it been since the children felt like this?

~

erzsèbet huddled with the children as footsteps rang above their heads, her hands covering her mouth in a desperate attempt to not make a sound that would alert the officers above them.

"mutter, why are the bad people in our house?" nikolai asked, his soft voice shaking as he gripped onto erzsèbet's skirt. erzsèbet pondered for a moment, thinking about an answer before deciding that assurance was the correct answer.

"don't worry, vater is going to make sure nothing happens to us," erzsébet answered in a quiet voice as anya looked at her with uncertainty in her eyes.

"the last time these people came to our house, they took mama and us to somewhere else, somewhere not nice," anya said.

erzsébet felt the familiar emotions of guilt and remorse creeping up to her again. pushing those emotions aside, she ran her fingers through anya's soft blonde locks. "they won't take us away, not this time," she said, determination lacing her soft voice.

the door to the cellar parted slightly with gilbert peering in. "it's safe, you can come out now," he spoke, opening the door fully and holding out his arms, ready for the children to run to him. seeing this, anya, nikolai and veronika all ran to him, running into his arms, causing him to stumble back a few steps, before knocking him onto the ground. he laughed heartily as he ruffled each of the children's hair.

erzsébet walked over to him and smiled happily, kneeling down to their level and giggling softly.

if they find them, they will kill them, but no one ever said they couldn't enjoy little moments like this.

~

"hey, erzsébet," gilbert spoke as the dozing woman laying beside him made a sound of acknowledgement. "do you know what you're going to do once this unawesome war ends and the children have to return to their biological parents?"

erzsébet fluttered her eyes open and kept silent for awhile before sighing dejectedly. "i don't know," she answered truthfully. "i'll miss them, for sure...but i think i will miss the feeling of being a mother more..."

"don't you want to have a child?" gilbert asked, turning to look at her. erzsébet stared at him with wide hazel brown eyes, before they softened, her eyes now swirling with sadness.

"i do...but how many times have we tried at this point? so many times, yet i was never able to get pregnant," she solemnly stated, her voice tinted with guilt. guilt over the fact that she knew gilbert wanted kids, but she was never able to deliver, no matter how many times they tried.

"we can always try again, you know. you don't have to beat yourself up like that," gilbert said, bringing his hand up to caress her cheeks. "who knows? maybe these awesome children might be the miracle you need to get pregnant," he remarked, kissing erzsébet's forehead.

"yea, maybe they are," she mumbled, her eyes drooping slightly, ready to just flutter shut and drift off to the land of sleep.

"go to sleep, you awesome human," he softly mumbled, yawning before his eyes fluttered shut. he wrapped his arms around erzsébet's smaller frame, drifting to sleep peacefully.

~

"vater! vater!" anya's voice called out, running up to her foster father as veronika and nikolai sat on the couch, their eyes glued onto the television, mesmerised by the show displayed on it. "mutter has something to tell you!"

"what?" gilbert spluttered, not understanding what the little girl just said. anya shrugged before she pointed to the door to his and erzsébet's shared bedroom.

"mutter is in there," she spoke, fidgeting with her fingers behind her back, very reminiscent of how anya acted when they first met. gilbert knelt down and pecked anya's cheeks before standing up and walking to to their room.

what did erzsébet want to tell him? was it something big? was it something horrible? oh god, don't tell him-

he opened the door to see erzsébet seating on their bed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him and the edges of her lips lifting upwards to form a delighted smile.

"guess what?" she asked in a sing-song voice as she stood up and walked over to gilbert.

"what?" he echoed back, wrapping an arm around his unusually happy wife's waist. hopefully it isn't reverse psychology and that erzsèbet is actually happy.

"i'm pregnant!" she excitedly exclaimed as gilbert became stiff, his mind reeling from confusion before finally, everything clicked and his eyed widened with happiness and joy.

"oh mein gott! erzsèbet!" he exclaimed as he hooked his other arm around her and pulled her closer to him, giving her little kisses all over her face.

little giggles could be heard behind the two adults as they pulled away from each other and faced the doorway, seeing the three siblings peeking in.

"does that mean that we will have a little sibling soon?" nikolai asked, his eyes twinkling with innocence and anticipation.

gilbert and erzsèbet exchanged one glance before erzsèbet smiled and nodded.

"yes, that means you will have a little sibling soon," she softly said, to which the children cheered excitedly and ran over to give their foster mother a hug. gilbert looked at them before deciding to give his wife a hug too, turning it into a group hug.

a knock on the front door broke the bonding moment between the 'family' as erzsèbet stood up to answer the door.

"stay with them, gilbert," she whispered, watching him give her an affirmative nod before heading to the front door.

she cracked the door opened, just enough to see who was at the door. she saw a uniformed officer.

are they serious? this was the third time that week the officers knocked on their door. are they that suspicious?

pushing those thoughts aside, she fully opened the door, and stood face-to-face to the officer, not at all intimated by the man's height or size.

"yes?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side innocently. "is there anything i can help you with?"

"i hear from my other officers that you said that you adopted three aryan children, am i right to say that?"

"yes, they are currently off to school, sir. why do you ask?"

"may i take a look at their documents? i need proof that they are indeed aryan and not jewish."

"of course, i absolutely understand. just give me a few moments," erzsèbet spoke as she entered the house again, immediately heading to the little space under their stairs, where she had left the documents that irena gave her that day. she glanced through the papers, making sure that she had taken the correct papers before turning back to the front door and walking towards the door.

"here you are," she said, handing over the false documents to the officer for him to go through. her eyes held not an ounce of fear or uncertainty, like how most people would, instead her jade-green eyes held confidence and pride, certain that the officer would not find any faults in their papers.

after a while, the officer looked up from the papers, giving her a nod and returning the paper to her before walking off. she watched the officer's leaving silhouette, making sure he was a safe distance away before she darted back into her house, and opening the door to get back with gilbert and the children.

"what did they want this time, erzsèbet?" gilbert softly asked as she haphazardly opened a drawer in the room and chucked the papers in.

"they wanted the children's papers, said they needed to confirm," she answered as she turned towards them, the edges of her lips tugging upwards to make a smile as she looked at the scene before her. gilbert sat off to the side of the big bed, the three children peacefully asleep in the middle of the of bed, all huddled closely together. 

"they fell asleep? was i gone for that long?" erzsébet quietly asked, getting on the bed slowly, making sure that her weight didn't accidentally wake the children up. her eyes cast a gentle gaze down onto the children, her hands moving to run her fingers through veronika's light brown hair which mirrored erzsébet's own hair colour. 

"not really, they were just very tired," he whispered. "veronika looks a lot like you when she's asleep, doesn't she?" he remarked, looking down at the children with soft eyes. 

erzsébet let out a soft noise of agreement before her eyes fluttered shut, and she let out a soft yawn. 

gilbert stared at her, before letting a small chuckle out. "do you want to sleep, my beautiful wife?" he smiled. erzsébet nodded, her tiredness getting the better of her. she laid beside the children, by now drifting off into the land of sleep. 

gilbert smiled gently, thinking about how peaceful the children and erzsébet looked in the moment, despite the raging war beyond their borders. in a sense, they were the luckiest in the bunch, the lucky few who weren't sent to those horrendous camps and left to rot.

and for that, gilbert will forever be grateful.

~

erzsébet panted heavily, staring down at her newborn child, her face flushed from her labour. 

"oh my god," she breathlessly spoke, cradling the wailing baby wrapped in a light pink blanket, in her delicate arms. "oh my god, i gave birth to this," she gaped, fresh, crystalline tears rolling down her flushed cheeks.

"you sure did," anneliese's tired voice spoke. "i don't know why you insisted on a home delivery, a hospital delivery would have sufficed," she mumbled under her breath. 

"a home delivery was the safest way of giving birth and making sure the other children don't get caught, great nurse of austria," gilbert chided, looking up from admiring his newborn daughter. "oh, i'm sorry, austria isn't a thing anymore! i meant to say, great nurse of germany!" 

"like the whole of europe in this pitiful state," anneliese retorted, narrowing her eyes in distaste at gilbert before shifting her attention to erzsébet and her baby where her eyes softened more noticeably. 

"erzsébet, you should rest," gilbert suggested, taking the baby from erzsébet's arms.

"b-but gilbert-"

"for once, he's not wrong, erzsébet. you should rest," anneliese agreed. "i believe you are very worn out from such a taxing labour. don't worry, gilbert will take care of the baby," she affirmed, putting her palm over erzsébet's eyes, causing them to flutter shut as gilbert slowly inched out of the room, rocking the newborn gently, cooing at her. 

after watching erzsébet's resting form for a few seconds, anneliese slowly backed away and out of the room, meeting up with gilbert who was standing outside. 

"what did you name her?" anneliese asked, her soft violet eyes casting a gentle gaze at the now sleeping baby that gilbert cuddled in his arms.

"izabella. erzsébet really liked that name," he softly spoke, walking into the room beside the one they just came out of with anneliese behind him. he gently placed the newborn in the crib and inched out the room cautiously, careful not to make any sound that would wake izabella up. 

anneliese stood at the door, watching as gilbert quietly — and quite out-of-character of him — walked out, closing the door behind him. 

in silence, both anneliese and gilbert descended the stairs and sat down on the couch. anneliese took in the rest of the room, something she didn't have the ability to do when she rushed here upon the news of erzsébet entering labour. 

"so. where are the children? or have you already eaten them up?" anneliese asked, sending a glare in gilbert's direction.

gilbert rolled his eyes before casting his crimson eyes to the floor. "they're asleep in their room," he spoke.

"can i see them?" 

"no," gilbert answered affirmatively. "it's for their safety. and ours."

"but we're in your house, it's not like they're just going to barge in for no reason...right?" anneliese retorted, a layer of uncertainty lacing her voice, but she wouldn't let gilbert know that. 

"don't be so sure, annie," he answered, using the nickname that he knew anneliese hated with a burning passion. "we never know when they are just going to come up to our door and ask about the children, right? don't want to take any chances here," he added, standing up from the couch and glancing at the window.

"i think you should go. you can always come by tomorrow," gilbert said. anneliese huffed in annoyance before rising to her feet as well and turning towards the door. did gilbert just try to chase anneliese out? yes, he definitely did.

"i'll be here tomorrow to check up on erzsébet," anneliese spoke, walking out the front door but not before casting one last glance at gilbert, as if questioning him before leaving the house.

gilbert heaved a soft sigh of relief as he slowly closed the front door before crashing onto the couch. 

just how long can i keep this up? i don't know...

~

the war drew to an end, though to erzsébet and gilbert, it felt as if it was only yesterday where anya, nikolai and veronika was placed under their care. currently, the only thing ringing in the couples' minds were the fact that soon, the three children who they developed an unbreakable bond with will have to be brought back to their biological parents, and the house would be quiet once more, and izabella will no longer have playmates. 

but only the adults had to care about that, the children don't have to know anything. 

"irena just called, she said the parent is coming," gilbert told erzsébet who was silently packing the three siblings' bag. 

"oh," was her soft response, her green eyes reflecting sadness. gilbert seemed to notice this as well, as he sat himself down beside erzsébet, his fingers rubbing circles on her back. 

"it's fine, you already provided enough for them, and you made sure they had a home to stay, you don't need to feel bad anymore," gilbert whispered to her, feeling her body relax into his arms. erzsébet stayed silent but he could tell that she was troubled, feeling as though she could not do enough for the children and her own, feeling like she was a bad mother to all four of them. 

gilbert would usually crack a joke or two but with an atmosphere this tense, he knew better. the couple spent the moment in silence, just gilbert quietly comforting erzsébet with his light touches. 

a knock on the front door caused erzsébet to snap out of her trance as her attention turned to the knock. gilbert acknowledged this change, taking her hand and leading her out to the front door.

gilbert stayed behind to play with the children while erzsébet went to answer the door. gilbert had told erzsébet to stay with the children, but she insisted on answering the door so gilbert just let her.

as erzsébet slowly pulled the door open, her eyes were met with soft green eyes that matched hers and in that moment she knew, the time has come for her to let her emotions go and send the children back to their rightful home.