1 Chapter 0: Birth

Earth One

On 18 May 1973

A cry of a baby came from the maternity ward and resounded across the vacant corridor of the hospital. A man in a military outfit paced across the corridor worried and anxiousness plastered in his face. The sound of a newborn diluted some of his concerns, but still held himself back for news from the inside. He was approaching the door of the ward for inquiry when the door was opened by a middle-aged woman who came upon.

"Doctor Yelena! What is the situation inside!?" asked the man.

"Calm down, Mr. Mikhailov. The mother and son are both safe, while there were not any complications during the delivery. But I recommend keeping them under observation for a few days to avoid unexpected issues" Doctor Yelena said calmly.

"Thank you, doctor. I will keep that in mind!" said Mikhailov with a delighted expression.

"In that case, I will take my leave. You can** go in to see them and take care" said Doctor Yelena before she left.

Inside the Maternity Ward

A woman in her late late-twenties was lying on the hospital bed with her baby boy while stroking his face and hair with her hand. Although she went through all those mental and physical discomfort after getting pregnant, at this moment she felt it was worth it. While she was contemplating the future, a man accompanying a nurse went into the room.

"Anya!" wailed the man.

"Mikhail~, you are here." replied the woman faintly.

"Anya, are you feeling okay?" Mikhail inquired.

"Just a little tired but I will be alright. Mikhail, come and take a look at our son" she responded.

Mikhail turned to look at his son with a smile across his face. He held out his index finger to play with his son. "We did it, Anya. I cannot say how happy I am right now, finally being a parent."

Anya went to hold Mikhail's hand and said "I know how you feel. We have to make sure we raise him well."

"Don't worry, he is my son. Hehe, I know he will become a fine man." Mikhail boasted.

"Hmm. I'm sure, although he only has your eyes" said Anya mischievously.

"That does not matter. Anyways, have you thought of a name yet?" Mikhail asked while he continued to play.

"I want to name him Nicholai, what do you think?" asked Anya

"Nicolai Mikhailov... It is a good name befitting of my son" muttered Mikhail then responded with a grin.

On this fateful day, Nicholai Mikhailov was born to Alexei Mikhailov and Anastasia Mikhailova in Yekaterinburg in the Ural region of the USSR. Alexei is an engineer and active personnel in the Soviet military, while Anastasia worked as an accountant in a local state enterprise. The couple was unaware, Nicholai would eventually embark on a journey to change the destiny of a world.

The couple loved Nicholai as if he was life itself. As the months went by, Alexei busied himself between work and looking after family and Anastasia was busy caring for Nicholai. There would be celebrations whenever Nicholai would speak gibberish or walk unsteadily on his feet. Nicholai was unusually active for a child his age, which made the Mikhalovs ecstatic. This led them to buy picture books, puzzles, and all sorts of educational materials for him to "play". The couple would take some of their time off from the tiring schedule to nurture Nicholai. These activities continued on to 1976 and just months before Nicholai's third birthday, the Mikhailovs ushered in with a second child. They had a girl this time and named her Olga.

Nicholai went alongside his father to see his mother and little sister after they were discharged from the hospital. Nicholai was looking at his sister carefully when his mother called out. "Nico, come and see your little sister". Then Nicholai ran to hug his mother and started to play with little Olga. Nicholai's birthday celebration this time was merrier with the addition of Olga, who was looking at her family with wonder in her eyes. The Mikhailovs got busier in the following months with work and looking after the children. Alexei and Anastasia started teaching Nicholai alphabets and writing because he will soon join school later in the year, while he diligently started learning. The duo was very surprised and happy to see his learning ability and started paying more attention.

During one of these days watching her son writing, Anastasia told Alexei "Honey, Nico is catching up very quickly, do you think he will have a problem with connecting with kids his age?"

Alexei waited for a moment and replied "Don't worry, we just have to do our best to raise them to survive and providing support. They will figure out the best path for themselves. Besides, he is very curious so I'm sure there won't be any problems making friends, at least it did not restrict me." Anastasia just nodded and muttered "I hope so." then turned her attention to Nicolai " Well done Nico, you have done well. Now let us go for dinner and then your father will read your stories in the bed." Nicholai replied, "Yes mother".

Alexei watched his family with hope, accompanied them for dinner, and tucked Nicholai to his bed. He laid down in his bed with optimism over the future of his children, as he closed his eyes and proceeded to sleep.

(END)