Returning Home: Baia Bound (a Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Shocking start

Dimitri and I walked up to the house and knocked on the door. When no response came, we opened the unlocked door. The house was eerily quiet. We walked into the lounge room to find a battered and unconscious Olena.
"Dimitri, I'll deal with her- go find Yeva and your sisters and Zoya. I don't care if you have to search the whole town- find them."
"Roza..."
"I can handle Mama. You know He's been, so find them!" I had a steel in my quiet voice.
"What if he comes back?" I could tell he was worried over Bubby and me.
"What if he's searching out the others?"
"Point taken." He kissed my forehead before leaving to search out the house.

I went and sat next to Olena's head.
"Olena?" I said gently. "Olena? Can you hear me? Mama? Mama?" When she still didn't respond, I stood up and went to the kitchen to grab a towel. I wet it before returning to my spot. "Mama?" I asked again while starting to gently clean her wounds. After a few minutes, her eyes finally fluttered open and I gave a relieved sigh. "You okay, Mama? You had me worried, Mama." I carefully placed a kiss against her forehead before moving her head to rest on my lap.
"'Mama'?" she asked while looking at me quizzically.
"Yup. I'm," hmm, how did one put this? "Involved, for lack of a better word, with your son. Dimitri."
"Oh? Who are you?"
I smiled gentle as I answered with, "Rose. Rose Hathaway."
Recognition lit her eyes. "You don't have to be my son's 'precious Roza', do you?"
I grinned and chuckled softly. Precious, in deed! "Yes. I am his Roza. But, I'm far from precious!"
"Oh?" Dimitri asked from the entrance. He was lounging against the frame. And he managed to look hot and graceful while doing it, despite his loft height. I was never going to adjust to his gracefulness irrespective of his height. "Not precious, my love?" He stared at my stomach pointedly.
"Hey! That's your fault! 'It's' precious. Not me." I chastised and teased.
"You may be badass Rose, but you'll always be 'my precious Roza'. 'It's' extremely precious and delicate."
"Comrade! Go find your sisters!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" He returned the banter as he pushed off the doorframe.
"Then why are you still here!" I teased as he turned and left.

"Roza?" Olena looked up at me. Clearly not game to sit up, yet.
"Yes, Mama?"
"You have him absolutely wrapped. I've never, and I mean never, seen nor heard him so happy."
"Really?"
"Seriously. He's..." I knew what she was getting at, avoiding divulging.
"He's been through a lot? He takes the weight if the world on his shoulders, protects those he loves, blames himself for things he shouldn't? He always tries to do the right thing- though choosing which 'right' was insanely difficult at first? He loves wholeheartedly, and is ridiculously private- even in private? Yeah. I know. I broke his shell the first time I actually talked to him. It scared him to no end." I softly laughed at the memories, then sighed.
"How much do you know?"
"Everything. And I mean everything."
"Tell me. Tell me how you won him over!" she enthusiastically demanded.
"Tell me what you know and I'll fill in the gaps."
"Well, I still don't know how you two met." Okay. That made a bit of sense.
"On a street in Portland. He was my, hmmm, captor. He was sent by St Vlad's to return Liss, and me, to the Academy."
She chuckled. "And?"
Now I chuckled. "And when I tried to attack him, he sent me flying to the pavement, but he caught me before I hit it. That was when the first spark lit."
"Then," she prompted.
"Then, when we were on the plane, I was hyper-aware of where he was."
"What next?"
"Kirova's office. And a million silent messages in a single look, while he was saving my arse from expulsion. He eventually took me on as my mentor. Though god knows what was going through his mind." I finished with a laugh.
She chuckled. "What was he saying?"
"'The numbers of female guardians/ novices had gone down way too much to risk losing one with such potential.' Quote, unquote. That and the bond."
"I think it's safe to say it was as personal as professional. He loved you even then. He didn't want to lose You, though he may not have known his true motivation." Mama laughed and I laughed with her.
"I think you may be right Mama."
"What was the next moment?"
"Stan Alto's class, an hour later. He was humiliating me and I searched out Dimitri. It was the first time I wanted to be strong for him, wanted to show him I was worthy enough, that he hadn't pointlessly risked his career in standing up for me. It was only us, the rest of the class didn't exist. I drew confidence from him."
"Hmm. Then?"
"After our first training- somehow I read the pain of Ivan's death was still torturing him. He still blamed himself and I wanted to cheer him up. God knows what I was thinking."
"Next?"
"Teasing over his Western novels and eighties music obsessions. And just general teasing slash pissing the other off in training to get a point across."
"And?"
"Running laps, ironically. It made me want to impress him. Then an incident with Liss where I first felt safe because he was around. He later asked me about something if left unsaid with Liss. It was the first time he read me. I demanded he teach me combat, and I realised I wanted to prove myself to him."
"What next?"
"He found me in a lounge. Semi-naked I might add. His look was so powerful and had me curious about how that power and strength, dedication and intensity translated into more, hmm, romantic or carnal acts."
"Did you find out?"
"Months later I found out the full effect." That man was still completely clueless. "I partially found out a little later. A conversation had things swing hot-and-cold. I knew one thing for sure- good, or bad- he held a power over me no one else ever had."
"What then?"
"A training where I tried to surprise attack him. Only to end up under him again. And the pinning lasted longer than it should have. I was aware of every place we touched, his smile, his almost admiring expression."
"Followed by?"
"Practices becoming my favourite part of the day. Once, while he was doing first aid on my blistered hands, we swapped family stories. It was definitely a bitter-sweet bonding moment." I explained why.
"And then?"
I told her everything. Absolutely everything. She was my Mama and my child's babushka, so I wouldn't keep anything from her.

I was about to tell her about Bubby when Dimitri walked in with Yeva, his sisters and niece. The sight of him carrying Zoya made me sigh. In nine months he'd be holding our baby.
"Hey Dimitri. Do you realise how cute you look carrying Zoya?"
"Cute? Really, Roza? Really?"
"Hmmm." I sighed dreamily. "Something like that, Comrade." I came back to reality. "I was about to tell Mama why we're home, care to join me?"
"How much does she know of us?"
"Everything. My side of it, but absolutely everything. Well, except for our big news. Our family could do with some good news." I grinned.
"Roza!" he playfully chastised and I laughed.
"You know I'm right!" I shot back just as playfully.
He sighed. "Of course, milaya. You're always right."
"Damn straight!" I laughed. "You all might want to take a seat because this may take a while to explain." They took a seat, but Mama stayed sitting on the floor with me.
"So," Dimitri started. "First of all," he came and sat next to me, then placed a hand on my knee. "I want you all to meet my partner, Roza." My man leaned across then planted a light kiss on my cheek, and I smiled like a fool. God. What he did to me. And the loveable teddy-bear battle-god had no idea.
"So, this is the woman you've been gushing over, Dimka?" Sonya asked.
"Yes. She is," he smiled at me fondly and proudly.
"How old are you, Roza?" Karo asked the dreaded question.
"Eighteen." I stated it as the dry fact as it was. I refused to let show the emotional turmoil and roller coaster ride of problems said age had created.
"Dimka? She doesn't happen to be Rose Hathaway, does she?" Sonya enquired.
"She is, one and the same," Dimitri replied, slightly timidly.
"Seriously Dimka? Your student?" Sonya's tone was, hmm, disapproving.
"She only became my student because my heart told me to save her butt from expulsion. She needed to learn, to train, and no one else was going to do it. She was going to be my guarding partner when she graduated." He sighed and regained his composure before continuing with "not that either's going to happen, now." I could hear the regret and sadness in his voice.
"Dimitri. Look at me." He did. "Don't you dare be sad or regretful over that. I'm not. You've got to remember the why." He smiled a tiny, gentle, smile at first. But the longer I stared him down, the bigger it became, and eventually it turned into an outright grin. "Much better, Comrade!" I smirked at him, eliciting a laugh.
"You're too adorable, milaya!" He leaned over to place another kiss on my cheek.
"Dimitri!" I playfully chastised. "Focus! We do have something to tell them." When I received a pout and pleading puppy eyes, I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
"Roza!"
"Tell 'em, or I will," I threatened.
"Fine!" he huffed playfully. "She's right," he turned back to face the others. "We've got something to tell you. It seems impossible- and it should be. However, when Lissa healed Roza from the crash a few years ago she accidentally healed her fertility."
"And?!" Mama prodded excitedly. I looked to Dimitri, before we both looked at Mama when we said, "we're having a baby, Mama!" with the biggest grins splitting our face.
They all screeched out, "what?!"
"I'm going to be a daddy."
"Oh Dimka," they all sighed. "We never thought we'd see this day."
"Which part?" Dimitri asked in response.
"All of it!" Karo laughed. "Welcome back, baby brother. Congratulations Roza, Dimka."
"Welcome to the family, Roza!" Mama hugged me, and kissed my forehead. "Congratulations you two." She then started Dimitri down.
"I'll do it, Mama! I promise I will!" he cracked.
"You had better. Yeva didn't send it to Montana for no reason."I knew better than to ask questions.
"I got the memo."
"And still haven't done anything about it!" she threw her hands up in exasperation.
"I was waiting for graduation, Mama," he sighed. Now, why was I getting the distinct feeling this was about me?

Later that night I made Dimitri cook dinner to give Mama a break. Afterwards, we unpacked our stuff into Dimitri's old room. Once we were happy we showered and crashed for the night. Entwined, of course.