Coming Home to You (VA - Romitri)

Chapter 19: Rose POV

Dinner was Amazing. Seriously – Alberta was my new best friend. Now all that was wanting was a nice scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. Oh, God. Ice cream. Now I've done it. I'll be craving it for weeks.

"Man, I would kill for some chocolate chip ice cream right now." I looked at Dimitri hopefully.

"Sorry, Rose," he said, "I don't think the school has any ice cream on hand."

I groaned. "Surely somebody here can get ice cream."

"Rose," Alberta chastised, "no one is going to drive for several hours to buy you ice cream. You'll just have to make do with the popcorn, chips, candy, and donuts that Dimitri managed to scrounge up."

I groaned again, slapping my hand to my forehead dramatically and pretending to swoon.

"Make it stop!" cried Christian, chucking a pillow at my head. I threw it back at him, and a pillow fight ensued. No, more like an all-out pillow war.

When we all finally collapsed, the room looked like a war zone. Pillows, bits of stuffing, blankets, popcorn, M&Ms, and assorted bits of detritus lay scattered haphazardly throughout the room. The couches had been pushed together and the cushions rearranged to create makeshift forts.

"Oh, I wish I had some ice cream..." I sighed – mostly to provoke Fire boy. He flipped me off with a grimace.

There was a knock at the door.

"Ah, right on time," said Abe, dusting off his hands and moving to answer it. I watched curiously as he talked with whoever was outside, carefully angling his body so it, with the door, blocked the other person from view, then came back in carrying several shopping bags.

"For you," he said, handing one to me with a flourish. I stared at him in confusion, then looked in the bag.

"Ice cream!" I squealed. "You're the best, Dad!"

He preened.

"Don't encourage him." Mom said wearily. "Or her." she added as an afterthought.

"Come on, Janine," he pleaded, "I have 18 years of spoiling my only daughter to make up for."

"And I have 18 years of being spoiled to make up." I grinned. She was so gonna cave.

"Oh, whatever," sighed Mom. "You two are impossible, anyway."

"I've got a pint of chocolate cherry just for you." Abe wheedled. She looked tempted. "And look, are these macadamia nuts? And, dare I say, caramel sauce?"

"Fine. Give me the bag." Amazing. My mother never gives in. And she certainly doesn't smile like that. I wasn't sure what to make of this new, softer Janine, but deep down – so deep I hardly dared admit it to myself – I kinda thought I might like it.

Abe set the bags down and went back to the hallway. He soon came back with... more bags. Whoever he'd suckered into running this errand must have bought out the entire store. Ice cream, toppings, sauces – the whole nine yards.

"How did you manage this, anyway?" I asked around a mouthful of ice cream.

He waved a hand airily, forgetting that it held a spoonful of ice cream. "I called in a few favors."

"Well, thank you." I grinned at him as he attempted to remain dignified – not easy to do with ice cream dripping down his ear. "It's not often that your wishes are granted nearly as soon as you make them."

He grinned back, ignoring the ice cream. "Anything for you, Kiz, so long as it's in my power to grant."

"Oh, come here, you." said Mom indulgently, reaching over to swipe at him with her napkin.

"So, Dimitri," asked Christian, "how do you feel about being engaged to the daughter of the scariest and most powerful man in Russia – and Turkey?"

I turned towards him, curious to hear his answer.

"Terrified." He answered honestly.

"Of her, or of him?" That was Eddie.

"Both." He shuddered. "I've known Abe for a while now – I have some idea of what he's capable of. That doesn't make him any less terrifying. But Rose – Rose was pretty scary when all I knew about her was that Janine was her mother. With Abe for a father – well, she's honestly scarier than he is. At least to me."

"Hey!" I frowned at him. "I don't know whether to be pleased or offended by that!"

He grinned at me. "Oh, Roza. It doesn't change how much I love you." He squeezed my hand, and I returned to my ice cream, mollified.

Once we'd finished eating, and cleared away the mess, we retired to the lounge. Christian snagged a can of whipped cream on the way out.

"Uh, Sparky," I said, "I kinda doubt you and Liss will be using that tonight. At least, I really hope you won't. I've seen enough of that action through the bond – I so don't need to see it in person."

He flushed a deep scarlet. It wasn't a good look for him. "I was planning to eat it, actually. Some of us don't live with our minds in the gutter like you, Rose."

I shrugged. "Well, what was I supposed to think? No one eats whipped cream straight out of the can."

Christian chose that moment to squirt a huge glop of it into his open mouth. Then he grinned at me, whipped cream oozing out between his teeth.

"Ew, Christian, that's disgusting!" Mia and Lissa walloped him with pillows, which only made the whipped cream squirt everywhere. Ew was right.

Eddie scooped up the can Christian had dropped. "Cool! Whipped Cream!"

"Come on, Dimitri," I tugged on his arm, "lets get away from these crazy people."

He grinned at me. "Rose and I call this fort!" he yelled, flopping onto the nearest couch with a resounding thump.

"Ooh, Blanket Fort!" yelled Eddie, running towards us.

"Whoa, whoa Eddie," I waved him away. "You guys go make a blanket for over there, on that couch. I guarantee you won't want to join us in this one."

"What? Rose! No!" yelled Lissa and Christian.

"Seriously?" added Alberta, "I have to wear earplugs when you two are going at it, and I don't even live on your floor, Dimitri."

"...I so did not need to know that." Mom looked disgusted.

Dimitri colored beet red and hung his head. Poor man – he wasn't used to being picked on. I should probably distract him. I leaned in and captured his face in my hands, kissing him passionately.

A chorus of "ROSE!" brought me to my senses a little bit later. I shrugged. I'd accomplished what I'd meant to anyway – Dimitri was a more normal color now.

"Hey!" I suggested cheerfully, ignoring the looks everyone was sending our way, "Let's play another game!"

"It better be more fun than the last one." muttered Christian bitterly. Meh. He was just grumpy that we weren't going to play his idiotic giant-elf-whatever game. I couldn't be bothered to remember the name – it wasn't like we were actually ever going to play it.

"How about Never Have I Ever?" suggested Mia. That wasn't a surprise. She always suggested that game. I mean, yeah, it was fun and all, but some variety would be nice on occasion. I was about to reluctantly second her idea, when a new voice spoke up.

"Or," suggested Sydney, "we could play Two Truths and a Lie."

"I've never heard of it," scoffed Adrian, "so you must have just made it up."

"I did not!" Sydney huffed indignantly.

"Well, I'm sorta the king of parties and party games, and I've never heard of it, so..."

"Or, you were just too drunk to remember." Ooh. Burn. Sydney is feisty when she starts to relax.

"Anyway," she continued, ignoring Adrian's shock, "It's similar, but different enough to make it interesting."

"Here's how it works..."