RPOV
"I can't do this any longer, Dimitri!" I screeched when I told him I was dropping out.
"Can't do what, Rose?" he asked calmly, with concern, love and fear lacing his voice.
"This! Us! Society. I can't handle it any more." I would not cry, not in front of him. If I cried and he took me into his arms I'd be lucky to make it out of the gym never mind the school.
"Wh-what do you mean, Rose? I get why dealing with society is hard. But what's wrong with us?" I could clearly see and hear his heart breaking. Mine was too, but I had to do this. For him and for me, for our futures, I had to do this. I'd thought about this for a good three, nearly four weeks now and it was now or never.
I steeled myself to tell the biggest lie of my life. The one that would break him so completely that a piece of my soul would die because of it. I met his eyes and slipped my mask in place. "I don't love you."
His composure crumbled entirely. He believed me. "You–you don't love me?" he tested out the words while searching me to see if I was lying, begging me to tell him he'd heard wrong.
I gave nothing away as I repeated the lie. "I don't love you, Guardian Belikov. I never have." I saw him flinch and recoil. It was the last, heartbreaking image I had of him for a long time.
DPOV
After all we'd been through, she walked out of my life three weeks before graduation. I collapsed against the wall of the storeroom, our storeroom, curling in a ball as sobs as bad as when I'd believed she was dead racked through me. I'd gone twenty-four hours believing she was dead, completely filled with guilt and heartbreak. The next week I'd put myself together enough to organise leave to hunt her down and kill her to free her soul, to fulfil that unspoken and vital promise. After a month of searching all over Russia (believe it or not) for her, killing a multitude of useless Strigoi in the process, she'd eventually come to me. I hadn't been able to practice what I'd preached. I'd been taken by surprise. I'd hesitated, and consequently been trapped, held hostage and used as her bloodwhore. It had taken a lot of effort to be able to beat her at her own game, to think as she always had. But I'd done it and I'd escaped her clutches. But not her attention. I had failed my most significant kill... twice.
Adrian had not been impressed to learn I'd failed her. So we'd worked together—just barely—with one of the guardians who owed me a great favour, and we'd broken Dashkov out of Tarasov. I had followed in Rose's footsteps in chasing a fairytale. All the while she'd put a bounty on my head. We'd somehow gotten in and out of Vegas without her catching us. Determined, Adrian learned how to stake a Strigoi within a week and had dragged me—and Christian oddly enough—out to find her. He'd also compelled Alberta along by way of compelling her to let Christian out.
It had taken her mere hours to find us and us mere minutes to turn her back. She collapsed in a ball and sobbed. Adrian had been first to her side. But he hadn't been allowed to stay there long.
"Dimitri!" she sobbed and shoved Adrian away. I sat beside her and pulled her onto my lap. "I'm sorry!" she cried into my chest, clinging to me for dear life. "I'm so incredibly sorry!"
"Hush now, Roza," I cooed. "Hush. It wasn't you, it wasn't you."
"I tried, Dimitri! I tried not to, but I had to, to survive. I knew you'd come for me so I had to survive. And oh god, their faces! Their terror. Your face! How are you even here? Why! I'm a monster, Dimitri! There's no way you could ever forgive me, and I'm not worthy anyway."
I kept running my hand through her hair. "That wasn't you, Roza, that wasn't you. That you can feel this, this guilt and remorse proves that wasn't you. You are not a monster, Roza. I had to keep one of my promises because I love you, Rose. There's no way to forgive because there is nothing to forgive, Rose. And you are worthy of forgiveness, everyone is—especially from loved ones. Forgiving yourself is the real challenge."
"Stop with the profound zen life crap, Dimitri, just stop." Her warm, brown and haunted eyes met mine. They held for a minute, something shifted in those gorgeous back-to-soulful brown orbs and the spark between us lit a brand new bonfire of heart, mind and soul. "I'm sick to death of your life wisdom, Dimitri Belikov. But I goddamn love you for it right now." Her lips crashed down on mine. It took all my control to remember who was around us and stop my hands from exploring everywhere I knew she needed my skin-on-skin contact.
"I love you, Roza. Forever, my precious," I whispered against her lips.
"I love you too," she returned as I moved my lips to her forehead. "I wanna go home, Dimitri."
I smiled. "Then let's get you home, huh. Put Lissa and Eddie's minds at ease, hey?" With Alberta's help I stood with a nodding Rose in my arms.
"Janine has to know, Belikov, she has to come see," Alberta softly addressed as we all rode back to the Academy. For a moment I thought she meant about my relationship with the woman asleep in my arms. Age wise, she'd been paused at seventeen, still legally a child, but her eighteenth had occurred while I'd been hunting for her, making her the young woman she'd been for a while.
"No, Petrov," I nearly growled protectively when I realised she meant Rose's restoration. "That's her choice. And she's not going to want anyone else to know she'd actually been turned. Anyone asks, she was not a Strigoi, she was, as is the usual cover, a snack or a captive." Exactly what she'd made me, but I wasn't holding it against her—I couldn't.
"You're a mess again, Belikov," Alberta's gentle voice pulled me back to my too painful present.
"Of course I am!" I cried.
"Pull yourself together, for heaven's sake. Rose has left you in charge of Lissa, so get your shit together and do as she commanded."
I didn't react.
"The love-bug screwed you over big time."
For the following four years life went on. But I hardly noticed. Rose's absence and rejection had left me more empty than Ivan's death. I became even more of a shell and did my duty as Lissa's guardian in the most professional sense possible. I still cared for her as my charge, but Rose meant so much more than anyone in my life ever had. She'd taught me how to live, love and lose. She'd showed me the lighter side of life, but also understood all the grave things a guardian has to to truly live out our duty properly. She'd taught me so, so, so much more than I had ever managed to teach her. Rose Hathaway had completed and balanced me when I hadn't realised I needed balancing and completing; until Rosemarie Hathaway and all our troubles and adventures I'd been content and happy enough with my lot in life. She'd been my dream Princess and 'damsel in distress', who hadn't believed she needed support from anyone; her strength was truly inspiring and one of the main reasons I'd hopelessly fallen in love with her.
Today was the day that changed everything all over again.
"Get back here, Comrade Jr! Oh no you don't, Jessy-Louiza!" I heard her frantic voice off to my right, a few dozen yards away and getting closer to where Lissa and I were, walking through Lehigh's main great court about to pass the on-campus child care centre.
"You heard her too, didn't you?"
I nodded. "I think so."
"Comrade! Jessy! Look where you're going!" she squeaked and came into sight.
She was half bent over, chasing after two laughing and giggling tiny tots, technique all out since she was chasing the two live-wire children. Still, I noticed the gleam of a stake and the scanning her eyes did. The children hid nearby, just off to my left, behind a tree as Rose nearly ran into me.
"Comrade Jr and Jessy-Louiza Hathaway, now is not the time for hide and seek." She completely ignored Lissa and me as she dashed behind the tree and they ran out. It was then I really registered these two live-wires were her kids. She had a family of her own and a pang of loss and envy hit me. And judging by her face Lissa was thinking and feeling the same way.
"Mommy, do we have to go?" the little boy with straight, light brown, shoulder length, barely successfully tied back hair pouted at Rose. The girl stayed silent, despite sharing her brother's straight, light brown hair—worn longer and in a high pony with a pink ribbon—and despite sharing nearly everything else of her brother's she seemed the polar opposite.
"Yes, Comrade Jr, you do. Mommy has work, but I'll come have lunch with you. Deal? Jessy?" She looked between the two kids pleadingly.
"With The Hungy Catpilla?" the little girl bargained.
Rose laughed softly and nodded. "You and your books, Jessy. At least neither of you like the Old West." She grimaced. "Yet. Now let's get you signed in, now you're behaving."
There was nothing wrong with the Old West, Rose.
"She didn't even notice us, did she?" asked a saddened Lissa after Rose had disappeared into the child care centre and we moved into the foyer of her next lecture theatre.
I shook my head. "I believe she may have. I noticed her eyes scanning exactly as I taught her," I whispered.
When Lissa was safe in her room in the nearby share house that was swimming with guardians, I decided I could afford to go to the gym. I pushed the treadmill to its maximum for warm up. Then I stretched using the same combination in the same order as when in training with Rose. Feeling okay in the not-too-packed but not-too-empty gym, I decided it was time to pump it on the cross trainer. Next came the bench press. I laid my towel down first and went to take the pole-with-the-appropriate-number-of-attached-weights off and begin... only two small but lethal hands stopped me.
"Never on your own, Comrade," playfully chastised a stern-faced, twinkle-eyed Rosemarie Hathaway. "Never on your own."
"If I didn't know better—and I'm not so sure I do—I'd say you were flirting with me, Sweetheart," I returned just as flirtatiously before letting go of the equipment and twirling up and around into a sitting position.
"Who ever said I was flirting with you, dearest Comrade?" she taunted. And now I really got a good look at her.
"How old are you?" I asked in a way that the others around wouldn't realise Rose and I had a past. I was closer to thirty than I cared to admit to... passing the prime of my career, biologically anyway. I still trained hard enough to combat that—I had used training as an escape ever since Rose left.
Rose met my eyes. "Twenty-two." Just as I knew she was supposed to be.
"You hardly look eighteen," I said in anguish. I'd keep getting older and she was struggling to look her age, to hit her prime. I was certain I'd never hated Strigoi more for screwing around with the natural order of things and the ageing process.
Rose's eyes turned sad and she nodded. "I know. It's made life a bitch sometimes."
I suddenly thought back to earlier today, seeing her and her kids, compassion and understanding swept through me. "I bet it does. Especially with, what was his name, Junior? And hers, Jessy-Louiza?"
Her eyes bugged. "You took note of my kids names this morning?"
I chuckled. "Honey, you were squeaking warnings and chastising them at the top of your lungs in the middle of campus. Of course I took note." I was amazed how quickly and easily we fell back into our banter. As if she'd never shattered my heart. As if she'd never destroyed me. "And I hear you're working here now?" I teased.
Her face turned deadly serious. "Yes, I am." She leaned across to whisper in my ear. "A rather important security guard job for royalty." She pulled back and I looked at her in surprise.
"Oh, please. Comrade, don't insult me. Undercover work," she waggled her brows and I outright laughed. "I started the semester after she did."
"Then why haven't I seen you around? Why haven't I noticed?"
"That is a secret, and was a lot of hard work.... Not as much much as the twins of course. Plus, you wouldn't count me as a threat even if you had recognised me."
"You're a threat to my heart, woman," I muttered.
A very pained look scrunched up her face, like she was the one wronged. I couldn't believe she could be so audacious, could have the effrontery. She left me. She was the one who no longer loved me. Then when it cleared I looked into her eyes... and found regret and guilt, lifetimes worth of regret and guilt. If it weren't for the fact I was left heartbroken and empty, I would nearly be proud of her pulling it off, of successfully tricking me.
"You lied to me? You actually managed to lie to me?" I didn't have the mental energy to be pissed with her, or to let it show.
"You bought it so easily, Dimitri, so damn easily. And do not go looking at me like that! It broke my heart to break yours." Just like it had broken me to tell her to report the charm, to deny to her and myself how attracted to her I already was, how she'd already found a way into my heart. "I had to, Dimitri. It was the only option I had, the only option we had. I spent nearly a whole month agonising over whether or not I should. Hell! I even consulted Alberta about it." About what? I was left wondering.
Alberta'sPOV (In Rose's flashback)
"Hey Rose," I greeted when she let herself into my office. Her face told me all I needed to know—something was off between her and Dimitri.
After his stunts and sobs and silence sessions between her being bitten—turned—and her restoration, nearly every Moroi staff member and guardian knew they had been involved. Some students suspected and had felt sympathetic towards Dimitri, some had even felt as empathetic as all us teachers and guardians. I mean, the always-composed-unless-something's-wrong-with-Rose god of a young guardian was nearly completely unresponsive for a week. Even Janine had her suspicions, but was too affected herself to bring herself to confront him... or, I found even more disgusting, she hadn't been able to bring herself to comfort him, or even seek understanding from the man who loved her daughter so completely it was sickening yet absolutely heart-warming to witness.
Then he left and I knew what he was attempting. A suicide attempt in all reality, maybe even worse. That said, once she'd been restored and he was the one who guarded her from those who didn't believe she hadn't been a Strigoi, talk restarted. Whilst they hadn't ever been obvious in the public eye, they allowed themselves comforting hugs to help her heal, though nothing typical of a couple's constant contact. But the guardians and I knew she was in his dorm nearly every night.
"I need your help, Alberta," Rose nearly cried as she sat in a chair opposite me at my desk.
I let my guard down. With everything she'd gone through lately, I was hardly going to report her coming to me for relationship advice with her guardian come mentor. "What's wrong, Rose? Is it Dimitri?" She'd been becoming more distanced from him and the resulting worry in his eyes had become ever-more blatantly obvious. To everyone.
"Sorta..." her frantic eyes met mine, "Alberta, I'm pregnant and he's the only possible father!" she cried in indecision and heart-breaking concern.
"I gather you've known for a while and haven't told him?"
"How am I meant to tell him, 'Oh, by the way, you know it's impossible but I'm having your kid'?"
I raised my brow at her. "It was supposed to be impossible to restore you, yet he made it happen. He believed. Why wouldn't he believe this?" He'd be over the moon. He wouldn't have to also worry about monitoring the darkness side effects from the bond because it was gone.
"I'm not terribly worried about that, Alberta. I'm worried about his job! He's risked enough for me. I don't want this cutting the last thread keeping him with Lissa. If I can't guard her I only trust him and Eddie to do a good enough job."
I studied her long and hard, thinking very carefully. He wouldn't let her say she didn't know who the father was, because she hadn't been near her flirty, happy self except for when she was with Dimitri. I doubted he'd even let her keep it a secret. Then there was her well-being and the baby's. What about her future we'd all fought so hard for?
I sighed. "Go with your gut, Rose. If it's telling you leaving is the best way to protect him, then follow it: Run." The next day she'd dropped out.
RPOV
It had been hard to follow my gut like I had, but I was still protecting Lissa from afar, protecting Dimitri in the process. I hated what I'd had to do to protect him after all he'd done for me.
He wasn't wrong about my painfully slow ageing. I wanted to look my age, not like I'd been pregnant at fourteen. I wanted to look mature enough, old enough to be with Dimitri—not that that relationship could or would really happen again. I couldn't entirely return to my old life because the twins would still result in Dimitri getting fired.
The problem was, much longer in the human world and my looks would become suspicious with the twins. Soon, very soon, I would have to seek out the protection of the wards and mainstream Moroi society. No matter my Strigoi past and how barely trusting society had become, my dropping out had raised questions, stirred up doubt in those who hadn't believed I'd only been a feeder—and that had been nearly everyone.
As if reading my mind, as if seeing the internal battle I waged, he spoke.
DPOV
I spoke before I could change my mind. I'd forgiven her for breaking my heart, because she had to have had a good reason. The more outrageous her actions, the more noble the intention. I already found myself forgiving her for lying. Again, her pulling it off told me it had a very important purpose.
For her and those gorgeous twins of hers I had to do this. "Come home, Rose. Please?"
She stiffened in momentary shock then shook her head furiously. "No, Dimitri. I can't. I hav—"
"Have Comrade and Jessy to consider?" I asked knowingly, continuing without letting her respond. "I know. That's why I'm asking—begging—you to come home."
"It's still no, Dimitri. It creates the age old issue again." Her eyes pleaded with me to give up. No way in hell.
"We had that sorted!" I cried. "We sorted that out twice, we can do it again. Please, just come home." I tried blinking back the hot tears stinging my eyes. "I can't lose you again, Roza. Please bring the twins home."
"So, what? You expect me to be able to relocate two babies on your whim? Nice, Comrade. Easy, real easy."
She turned to leave, but my hand shot out and encased hers, fingers entwining. I pulled her back towards me. "It would be easier if you let me help, Roza," I murmured. "No woman should be left to be a single mother of a child, let alone two beautiful bundles such as yours."
She looked at me as if she badly wanted to cry. Before speaking again she drew a ragged, steadying breath. "Come with me," she said in a tiny but commanding voice. "I'll train with you afterwards if you still want to, no promises though."
I grabbed my towel and water bottle. As we passed by the lockers, we placed our stuff in ones that appeared as though we'd claimed them years ago. Again she took a steadying breath and led me downstairs... to the crèche.
Rose spoke to the receptionist and signed some paperwork before entering. Pulling me in with her.
"Mommy!" the little girl squealed first, her brother joined in and they bounded into her arms.
Rose laughed indulgently and kissed their cheeks. "I leave you two here for ten minutes and this is the welcome I get? What am I going to do with you two?"
Comrade Jr and Jessy shrugged cutely.
"Comrade, come take Junior off my hands, would you?"
"I'm Comrade!" exclaimed Comrade Jr as I stepped forward and reached to him so as to relieve Roza of his weight.
"So you are, I hear," I chuckled.
"Junior, Mommy means Tall-y wit you hair," Jessy corrected.
"Who? Him?" Comrade jabbed his thumb in my cheek. It hurt for a three year old. In fact, it hurt, period.
"Rose, this is why you don't name children by others' nicknames," I laughed as we walked outside, carrying a twin each. "It just creates confusion."
"Comrade Jr, you don't poke people. And you absolutely do not poke people's faces." Rose set Jessy down and I did the same with Comrade. No matter how odd and confusing the name was, it rather suited the boy.
"Mommy? Who's Tall-y?" Jessy asked as she tugged at Rose's workout pants while never taking her tiny, familiar brown eyes off me. "Why he hab Junior's hair?"
Rose bent down to the twins' level. "Jessy-Louiza, Comrade Junior," she said gently, nearly fearfully. "I want you to meet Dimitri Belikov," she raised her eyes from theirs to mine, fear and nervousness and honesty radiated from her, "your Daddy. Dimitri, meet your beautiful babies."
Oh. My. God. Time froze. My breath caught in my throat. I felt light-headed and dizzy with the revelation. I was a father... and that was a damn scary thing to accept. Despite the rules of our universe's biology, Rose was the mother of my children. And they looked exactly like me, exactly like me and my sisters at their age. Jessy had mainly my temperament from what I'd observed this morning, but Comrade Jr had mainly Rose's attitude.
"I—I..." I looked between the three people that made up my immediate family. My family, my babies and my better half. While I was stunned to speechlessness, and unable to move, the twins had no trouble bounding right into my arms.
"Daddy!" they cried happily as they ran up to me.
"Babies," I returned gently, tenderly, almost scared that this moment would shatter if I said the wrong thing. I looked to Roza. "Please, Roza," I begged, truly begged, "come home. Bring the twins home. Bring our twins home. You know it'll be safer, and I won't leave, you can't scare me away—none of you three could ever scare me away."
Roza sighed. "Junior? Jessy? Do you want home to be with Daddy?"
The twins—MY twins—looked at each other questioningly, then studied me (their heads having turned in unison) then swivelled their heads to face their mother. Together they smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Mommy."
Roza shot me a resigned look. "What these tykes want, they get, Daddy. You've got DIY work to do to prep that house."
I grinned. "You're returning?" I asked in disbelief and failing-to-be-contained joy.
"Triple time!" she teased. "Babies? Home time?" She reached for our twins.
"We want Daddy!" they cried tiredly... well... JESSY cried while Comrade Jr nodded along. Both clutched on to me extremely tightly. Guess they both have a mix of our characters.
"You two are terrors," Rose teased tenderly.
"Yours or Lissa's?" I asked quietly as we loaded the nearly asleep twins in her car.
"They want you and you need to be at Lissa's, so I guess hers. I'll have to duck home first to get some necessities."
I nodded in understanding and kissed her forehead. "I've loved you from the moment I met you, Rosemarie Hathaway."
"Ew!" exclaimed Junior.
"Hush now," chastised Roza before reprimanding me. "I thought you knew better than to use my full name."
"I know nothing except my love for you. See you soon."
Lissa'sPOV
Dimitri returned from the gym looking pleased with himself and no where near as exerted as he normally did. It was the first time in years he didn't appear to be going through the motions.
"What's up, Dimitri?" I asked when he took a seat in the lounge instead of standing by the wall.
His eyes twinkled with a secret he was desperate to share. "Rose is returning." He completely failed at dead-panning.
Excitement ran through me then uncertainty. "As in visiting? Or returning to society?"
He stood, towering over those nearby and looking imposing, smiled and started to purposely stride out of the lounge room. "She's coming home with Comrade and Jessy," he called happily before exiting. I checked his aura and saw excitement and love, so much love it was blinding.
It took me a handful of minutes to remember that Comrade and Jessy were her children.
My instinctual reaction was to be jealous and envious of her adorable and extremely energetic kids. It was silly since we were so young, but I couldn't help it since I had to have kids eventually... besides, kids were just cute!
"Who's Comrade and Jessy? And why does Belikov look and sound like a lovesick fool at the mention of this Rose?" asked Guardian Hall. He was new this year, just graduated from an English Academy.
"Comrade and Jessy are Rose's kids. And Rose... Rose is his... I don't even know how to correctly name what she is to him. His reason for living is pretty close but still not quite accurate. My best friend and his ex-student."
Hall's eyes widened. "Belikov?" he asked incredulously. "Belikov is in love with his old student? Surely not?"
I smiled as I thought back on how sweet they were together, what he'd done to save her. Then I grimaced as I remembered how lost and empty he was without her. I swear he'd been a suicide risk after the caves. Shaking my head I focused on the good parts. "You haven't seen the real Dimitri Belikov—Rose has. And they're so sweet together; they just fit together."
The ringing doorbell cut off any response he may have made.
I bolted off the couch and to the door, having sensed Rose's aura. But Dimitri beat me to it. He smiled broadly at her before kissing her deeply. Behind me Guardian Hall gasped involuntarily. I wanted to puke at how hot and heavy that kiss was getting. So much for his control.
"We need to get the kids in from the car," Rose gasped breathlessly against Dimitri's lips.
"They fell asleep?" Dimitri asked in amusement.
She laughed and slapped him playfully. "Of course, you idiot— they nearly fell asleep on your shoulders, remember? Now help me." She glared playfully and he chuckled.
"Come on then." He stepped out into the night, leaving us all gaping. Us being me, Guardian Hall, Eddie and Christian.
"What the hell? How did she do that?" exclaimed Christian.
I slapped him playfully. "He's been pining over her for four years, Christian. How do you expect?"
"But she's got someone else's kids," commented Eddie.
"Or maybe not..." I murmured with a directional nod as they walked towards us, each with a child on their hip and conversing softly. Seeing the boy in Dimitri's arms, I suddenly saw the resemblance.
"That's impossible," breathed Eddie.
"We all knew he was doing her," snarkily came from Christian. I chose to ignore him, welcoming Rose back instead.
"Hey Rose," I greeted quietly but happily as Dimitri showed her through the door. "Wasn't expecting you tonight, but god I'm glad to see you." I so wanted to hug her, but a sleeping Jessy got in the way. She smiled at me before glaring at Dimitri.
"I was busy getting a room ready for B1 and B2 here," he defended.
Rose gaped and choked on laughter as we led her through the house. "Oh no, you didn't just reference Bananas in Pyjamas, did you?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I did. Something wrong with that, Mommy?" Dimitri teased. The other three looked on, dumbfounded as Dimitri led her upstairs. Eddie, Christian, Hall and I stayed at the bottom stair, giving them privacy while still eavesdropping.
She smiled and shook her head. "No. There's nothing wrong with that, Daddy."
"I was right," I crowed quietly once they were out of earshot.
"But... how?" demanded Eddie.
"I don't know, but they're their kids."
RPOV
"While us guardians take shifts, we all have our own room so this is the only spare one. You can stay with Thing 1 and Thing 2 in here, or... well, I cleared some space in my drawers and wardrobe," explained Dimitri as he set Junior in one of the two beds in the room.
"How big is your bed?" I asked with my man-eater smile in play.
"Big enough for two... if you snuggle."
"Sold. I'm joining you," I stated and laid Jessy down in the bed opposite Comrade Jr's.
"Anything else you want to bring in?"
"I think we sorted them and their essentials," I responded softly as we closed the door to the twins' new room.
"It's good to have you back, Roza," sighed Dimitri as he pulled me into his side.
"It's good to be back," I conceded. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on for dear life. "I won't deny I'm scared, but you're right, it's time to come home. You have no clue how guilty I felt taking the twins away from you..."
He smiled at me compassionately. "I get it, Roza. I get it. You were protecting me. You sacrificed your career to protect me and our kids."
"I wish you could have seen them growing up," I said wistfully. Memories of their first steps and words, baby smiles and babbling, first day at daycare and becoming addicted to reading like their dad.
"I haven't missed that much, Roza. They're still tiny. I'll still get a number of other important milestones," he soothed, though I knew he was hurting over what he had missed. "I'll still get their first day of school."
"Ugh! Don't remind me of that. You're making me feel old." I jabbed him playfully in the ribs with my elbow.
Dimitri laughed his infectious laugh as we joined the others downstairs. "You're old? You're old? What about me?"
The semester passed by rather uneventfully. I fit back in reasonably easily, and the twins adjusted well. Dimitri doted on them whenever possible and we grew as a family. I was loving sharing a bed with him—he was so warm and homely. I felt safe in his arms. Jessy and Junior loved having Dimitri around and how we switched parenting duties and Lissa duties depending on which one of us the twins wanted picking them up and visiting for lunch. And it tended to be Dimitri, so I got more time near guarding Lissa, catching up or studying.
Before we knew it, our final exams for the semester were over and Christmas was fast approaching. On the way back to Court, we did a mall run for presents. It took a while and sunset was nearly over by the time we returned to the cars.
"Dimitri," Lissa said in a commanding Princess tone, "go home with Rose, Jessy and Comrade."
"But Lissa," I started.
She cut me a glare. "I don't care. Christian and I are fine. Comrade and Jessy are more vulnerable." She faced Dimitri. "Go protect your family or I'll fire you," she threatened.
Dimitri nodded and took Jessy from me, wrapping an arm around my waist. We were parked three spots from each other, but the sun was gone and Lissa was in her car by the time my family reached ours. We were all on high alert and Dimitri and I put the twins in the car before packing in the bags.
The twins were asleep ten minutes into the rest of the drive. We'd locked the doors and put a CD on with their favourite lullabies. Dimitri rested a hand on my knee and I sighed contentedly before snapping back into my hyper-alert state.
"We'll be fine, Roza. I'll protect you, all of you."
I laughed lightly. "I love you, Comrade. I really do. And are you sure you're talking about if Strigoi come, not Court?"
Dimitri cracked one of his full smiles and I think my heart exploded. "I love you too. I still don't understand why you had to name him after my nickname."
I shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. He looked so like you I couldn't not."
"Then why not name him Dimitri Jr?"
"Now that was a crazy idea. I never understood that. It hurt too much anyway."
"Rose?" enquired Meredith when we reached Court's front gate.
"The one and only. And hi to you too, Meredith," I smirked as she checked the car.
"Where'd you disappear to this time? And whose are these beautiful babies?"
I laughed. "Would you believe me if I told you I disappeared to just outside Lehigh? That I've been unofficially far guarding Lissa from the shadows? AND would you believe me if I told you Jessy and Junior there are ours?" I looked at Dimitri and gripped his hand. He smiled and nodded before pecking my cheek.
Meredith was dumbfounded as she let us through.
"Rosemarie Hathaway! How dare you let me believe you were taken by Strigoi again!" screeched my mother as Dimitri and I carried the twins to a small apartment Lissa had pulled strings to get for us. The guardian dorms simply wouldn't have been able to accommodate our young family.
Jessy stirred and started crying at being woken up. Comrade did the same on Dimitri's shoulder.
"Shh, it's okay, you're okay," I cooed in her ear and ran a hand through her hair before glaring accusingly at my mother.
Beside me Dimitri was struggling with Comrade.
"Here, Dimitri, hand Comrade over and you can take Jessy," I offered.
"Daddy!" sleepily squeaked Jessy with a gorgeous smile on her little face while reaching out to him with her tiny arms and wiggling her fingers.
"Are you really up, baby?" asked Dimitri as we switched kids.
Jessy pouted and I cooed soothing nonsense in Comrade's ear. "Thanks for the extra work having to resettle the twins," I muttered bitterly.
"They aren't yours, are they?" Mom demanded.
I smiled tiredly but proudly up at Dimitri.
"They're ours," we said in unison.
"That's impossible," she commented before letting us continue our walk from the garage through Court to our apartment.
"Mom, I was brought back from being Strigoi after being brought back from the dead—both thanks to Spirit. Trust me—it's possible."