"I am glad she is out of here ... That gloomy black old witch! Depressing ... And the cross ... The large cross she was wearing ... Brrr ...," mumbled Dr. Patsouros, shaking his shoulders.
"Well, Doctor?" asked Anna.
Dr. Patsouros looked up, but said nothing. Dr. Tsipras did.
"Well, Miss Bouras, it's December already. If the baby decides to be born now, we'll have another little Jesus ... Another virgin birth! No father ... and all that ...," Vassili chided.
"Please God, Mother of God, help me," murmured Anna, as she succumbed to the anesthesia.
***
Melpomeni had no trouble getting forged adoption papers for the newborn baby. She knew German and Italian officers in the highest positions in and around Athens. During her sleepless nights, she was creating a different story, far from the truth. She had become a master of deception and treachery. "What am I going to tell Stavros about it to keep him completely in the dark about the truth?" she asked herself and finally, she came up with an answer.
***
She and Dr. Tsipras took the baby to Switzerland, to the Bouras summer home overlooking Lake Geneva. Melpomeni hired a nursing mother, so the baby would suckle natural mother's milk. In addition, she provided the baby with a round-the-clock nanny.
"I brought you a little brother," said Melpo to Plato, her nephew on Stavros' side, who was spending the summer at their home.
"He is good looking," said Plato with a puzzled look. "He looks so familiar," he added, scratching his head.
Plato was a good-natured young man, a couple of years younger than Anna. "It is a big responsibility to raise a child, Thea Melpo," said Plato in a soft voice.
"That's right, Plato, and I want you to be part of his upbringing."
"Thank you. I'll think about it ... It is a big responsibility. I feel like I'm too young and I'm not even married yet."
"Details, Plato, just details. Of course there will be nannies to help raise the child, but you will be a good influence and a father figure for him, since Stavros is too old for that role."
"I will do my best to live up to your expectations, Aunt Melpo," Plato said solemnly, "and I will try not to disappoint you."
***
Months went by and finally, Stavros Bouras came to Switzerland. By that time, Melpo had everything worked out. She had professionals forge Anna's signature and write a false letter to her father, stating that she no longer wanted to see him, or to have anything to do with him, that he was a terrible father, and that all through her growing-up years she had hated him for cheating on her mother and putting her through so much pain. "Therefore, Father, I am committing my life to becoming a nun and I no longer wish to see or speak to you."