Hey, this is (obviously) a story for VA. It's a sequel/continuation for my "It's Been A While" story about Rose and Dimka. I suppose that it's not absolutely necessary to read the other one for this one to make sense, but it is preferable that you read the other first, seeing how it did come before this one. Really, if you haven't read the other one, please go read it and review and then come back to read this one. Please! Also, there is some info I added here that I didn't add in "It's Been A While" so it's going to be a slight overload of information, so bear with me people!

I hope you guys enjoy, so rate and comment, lovelies!

Simply,

Sam.

It's funny really, how a few words can change the entire course of your life. It's funny how a single look, touch, feeling can control what you think, say, do at that particular moment. My mother would agree with me. She knows what I mean when I say that. When I say how simple words like "I love you" can have so much more emotion behind them when said to a certain person, and how they can make a person react in such harsh words. It's funny how words like "I'm sorry" can have different meanings to them. For example, do you think that a police officer's wife, or a fireman's wife would like to open the door to a stranger in a uniform and hear the words "I'm sorry" coming from their mouths? No, they would break down instantaneously. Kind of how like when my aunt heard those words. Her eyes went wide with shock, her mouth opened into an almost comical o, and she fell straight to the ground. And she screamed. Oh, how she screamed.

"So when are you due, Liss?" I asked Lissa, who was lying down with her head resting in Christians lap. She had cut her hair to where it rested just above her shoulders. She had it tied messily back and was wearing a simple blue cotton dress, but she still looked as radiant as ever.

"Doctor said in 3 weeks." She answered with a smile on her face. She and Christian had finally decided it was time for them to procreate so they got busy. Christian wanted 1 and Lissa wanted 3, so they settled for 2. Then, a few months after Lissa found out that Christian had succeeded in knocking her up, the doctor told her she was having sextuplets. Lissa, of course, was ecstatic from the moment she found out, but Christian was so shocked, he was like a statue for a couple days. After it really hit him though, he was just as excited as she was. They had everything planned out months ago and it was really a smart plan. The kids would share a nursery and then once they turned 3, the boys would be in one room and the girls would be in another. Once they turned 10, they'd each have their own room, but I've been trying to convince her to let them have their own rooms the moment they started fighting. Which would mean early on, but hey, you gotta make sacrifices for your children, right!

"Do you have that same bastard doctor I had for MacKayla? Because he's probably just saying that, that fat bastard!" We all laugh at that, remembering when I went into labor for MacKayla. I'm really glad that Liss is finally having kids to carry on her last name. Oh yea, didn't I mention that they decided that all the kids will be named Dragomir? It's true. Christian agreed to it because she's the only one in her line. Plus, Lissa promised that one boy and one girl would have the middle name Ozera. I thought it was pretty sweet.

"So where are Maks and MacKayla?" I pointed a few feet away from us to where MacKayla was playing in the grass with her toys then to a tree where Maks was playing with some other kids. "Right there." I answered.

Christian smiled. "They everything they're cut out to be?" Meaning children, I know. I looked up at Dimitri, who I was using as a back support. Christian had directed the question to him, and I was curious to know his answer also.

Dimitri smiled at the kids and then he looked at me. "No. They're better." We all turned to look at the kids and stay silent for a moment. "So much better." I whispered quietly and knew that Dimitri heard me when he squeezed my hand.

The sextuplets are now 3, MacKayla is almost 4, and Maks is almost 11. The events surrounding the sextuplets births were kind of bitter sweet because Eddie died almost 3 years ago, and it's still hard to come to terms with it, even after all this time. He had become the guardian of another Moroi after Lissa took me as hers, even though we begged him to stay on. He said that it was just time for him to move on. He and his Moroi had been walking home one night when the Strigoi attacked. There were too many for Eddie to take on alone, and they were both killed instantly. The Moroi had had a child with a Dhampir that became Maks' best friend after he attended the academy. They've been attached to the hip since they moment they met. They both always have to protect MacKayla from the bigger boys who she insists on picking fights with, even after we've told her not to. That kid is just so damn stubborn. Dimitri says she gets it from me, but I know for a fact that he's just as stubborn as me, if not more. He just doesn't want to admit it.

Liss and Christian have had their hands full, but with us helping out, they've been able to deal. Adrian comes around as often as he can and the kids just adore him. They call him Uncle Adrian. He got married a couple years ago to a Moroi named Shari, who I didn't like at first, but have slowly come around to once I realized she was completely perfect for Adrian. She keeps him in check. They're expecting their first kid and I've honestly never seen Adrian this excited or happy before. His aunt, on the other hand, isn't too crazy about Shari, since she's a non-royal, but she's learned to put up with her for Adrian's sake, which I think is quite an improvement in her attitude towards others.

As I looked into my children's bedrooms as they sleep, I wonder how it is I got so lucky. It took a while, but I finally have my perfect family. I finally have my perfect man. I close my daughters' door and walk around the quiet, dark house. There are pictures of us all over the place. There are pictures of Eddie with the kids before he died. Lissa and Christian and the sextuplets. Pictures of Tasha, Adrian and Shari. Pictures of our life. Our perfect life. I feel arms wrap around my waist and I relax against the hard, warm body behind me. Dimitri rests his chin on my shoulder and whispers "Come back to bed."

I smile slightly before whispering back, "In a minute."

"Then I'll wait here with you."

After a few moments, I whisper, "They're perfect."

"No one's perfect, Roza."

"Well, our kids are."

"Our kids."

"Huh?"

"You didn't say our daughter or my son. You said our kids."

"Well, they are our kids. Both of ours."

"Thank you." He whispers in my hair before I turn around in his arms; wrap my arms around his neck, and tippy toe, meeting him half way in a kiss. We walk slowly to the bedroom, still locked in that kiss. As I close the door behind me, I whisper, "Two is enough, so you better be careful." As the door shuts, he chuckles quietly.

I ran as fast and as hard as I could through the darkness that was slowly engulfing everything in it's path. If I was engulfed by that upcoming darkness, I would be dead. So, so dead. I stumbled, which slowed me down, and allowed the darkness to creep closer. "Shit." I whisper when I hear the clawing getting closer. As I get closer to the intersection where the light was abundant, I make the biggest mistake. I turn to glance back. What I saw made my heart beat fast and my breathe come shorter. There were red eyes, all looking at me hungrily. Strigoi prefer Moroi blood, they crave it, because it makes them stronger, faster. Better. But of course, if they can't get Moroi blood, Dhampir blood will do just fine. And I was a Dhampir. I tripped and landed on my stomach, I pushed myself up with my hands, and almost got away but then I felt hands lock on my ankle and pull me down. Then, slowly, oh, so slowly, the darkness engulfed me.

"Wake up!" I felt my desk vibrate from the force of the blow Guardian Alto gave it. I was a little startled, but didn't show it. Slowly, I pick my face off the desk and stretch lazily, like a cat. I blink slowly and look up at Stan with a small smile on my face. "Mmm….Yes? How may I help you?" I ask, slightly sarcastically.

"Were you sleeping?" He asks, angrily.

"No, of course not. I was simply resting my eyes."

"Why were you resting your eyes?"

"Because your class made them tired." Everyone laughs, even the guardians in the back of the class. I can see Stan start to turn red with anger and mentally pat myself on the back. Stan was old and over the years he'd gotten his temper under control, but I sure knew how to push his buttons.

"Just like your mother."

"Thank you." He rolls his eyes. He has no idea how much of a compliment that is to me.

"The Headmistress needs you."

I stand slowly and walk to the door, where the guardian is waiting to escort me to the headmistress.

"Well, what did I do this time?" I ask, throwing myself on to the chair in Headmistress Ivoshkovs office. To anyone looking on, I'd seem very irresponsible and not anywhere near ready to be a guardian, despite being in the last year, but in the 10 seconds in the office, I already noted where everything was, the two guardians inside, and the boy sitting on the chair beside mine.

"You're not in trouble." Ivoshkov answers.

"Then what is it?"

"I need you to escort this young man, show him around. He has the same schedule as you, so I thought it'd be fitting."

I smile at her. "Sure, why not? It's a good excuse to get out of Alto's class. Thanks for that, by the way."

She smiles at me, warning me with her eyes to show some respect towards my teachers. "This is Blake Adair. Blake, this is MacKayla, she'll be showing you around. She is one of our best students, so don't be fooled by her manner. Take him to the dorms after school, and since the Queens is here, why don't you take him to meet her? And to Jane, she does enjoy meeting new Dhampirs, as you know." She's right. Jane, her daughter, loves meeting new Dhampirs, and especially ones with reputations like Blake. Blake Adair, 17 years old, and already killed 8 Strigoi, and he beat up his own father, who was a Dhampir, because he was beating up on Blake's' mom. He's English (as in, from England) and he's tall, like 6' something tall, blond hair, green eyes. He's lean and has a type of… emotionless mask on his face. Not a real mask, but more like something to protect himself with. Maybe it's because his mother was killed last year. By his father.

"This is the lunch room," I say, pointing to the doors, then moving on. We're both quiet, and he hasn't said a single thing to me, at all, and it's just so weird. I hear slight commotion and when we turn the corner, I see why. Jimmy and Paul are beating up on some poor kid. I sigh and turn to Blake. "Stay put, no matter what happens, m'kay?" Then I hand my backpack to him and walk calmly to where the boys were. They turn to look at me and Jimmy nudges Paul.

"Howdy there, darlin'. Looking for a little fun?" Jimmy asks sarcastically. I simply smile at him and nod my head towards the kid on the floor that they were beating up on a while ago.

"What'd he do to you?" I have a very faint Russian accent, courtesy of my father. I can speak the language, but not much of it. I only know the basics, mainly because I wasn't patient enough to learn the language like my brother.

"Well, punk thought it'd be funny to make us look like fools in front of the Dragomir girls. So we though we'd teach him a little lesson." Paul answers with a sneer. They're both Moroi, and so's the boy that's passed out on the floor Jimmy's from the Dashkov family, and Paul is sadly part of the Ozera's, which means he's related to Uncle Christian, which just plain sucks if you ask me. "Jimmy, poor kid doesn't need to do that, you guys look stupid all on your own."

"You're really taunting us, Dhampir. If I were you, I'd watch what comes out of my mouth next."

"Whatever, you couldn't take me even if you tried, idiots. Plus, the Dragomir girls aren't anywhere near interested in you. Their brothers might be interested in kicking your asses, though." After a little more taunting, I stepped right up to Jimmy and whispered, "Watch what you say next, bastard child." Jimmy's dad left his mother right after he was born. No one knows who he is, so calling Jimmy a bastard is a sore point with him. I saw the anger flash in his eyes right before he put his hand around my throat and pushed me against the wall.

"Shut. The hell. Up. Dhampir." He whispered, menacingly. I heard Paul grunt right before Jimmy's hand was removed, rather roughly, from my throat. I walked to the kid on the floor and, after a while, I woke him up and told him to go to the nurse.

"What are you two doing here?" I ask, hand on hip, the two men standing in front of me.

"Saving your ass."

"I had it handled."

"Ah, so you were using Mom's technique. Get the opponent pissed to the point where they see red."

"Pretty much." I say with a curt nod of my head. Maksim, Alexei, and I laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Came for a visit, little sister. Haven't seen you in a while." Alexei said, calling me his nickname for me. He and my brother are 24, 7 years older than me, and both already guardians. They both have 4 molninja marks and both graduated top of their class. They were almost the same, in everything. Almost. Alexei's family was killed when he was 11, and ever since Maks and he met, which was a little while after that, Alexei's been practically family to us. Especially since his fathers' guardian was Eddie Castile, my mom's friend. One of my mom's oldest friends.

I walked over to Blake and took possession of my backpack. I noticed he'd gotten a lot closer to where Paul and Jimmy had been. Now that's kind of cute. He'd been about to jump into the fight on his first day of school. "Who's this?" Alexei asked, looking questioningly at Blake.

"Oh, this is a transfer student. This is my brother, Maksim, and his friend, my other brother for all intents and purposes, Alexei. You guys, this is a new transfer student, Blake Adair."

"Wait." He started. He pointed to Alexei. "Was your fathers' guardian Eddie Castile?"

"Yes." Alexei beamed with pride, because everyone knows that once Eddie became his fathers' guardian, he taught him so many things about being a guardian. And everyone knows how great Eddie Castile was.

"He was a great guardian." See? Told you. "I've heard that you're just as good." And Blake's right, Alexei really is one of the best new guardians out there. He'll be a legend soon enough if he keeps it up.

"Thank you." Because when someone compliments you and compares you to a great guardian, you don't argue, unless you know it's not true.

Then he turned to Maks and me and said, "So that must mean you two are Belikovs." Maks and I beamed proudly at him. We've become so used to people being shocked when they learn who we are, but we're both always proud. I mean, our parents are Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway Belikov. Both are badass guardians and one is shadow kissed with the Queen, Lissa Dragomir. Our grandfather is Abe Mazur, still notorious despite his age, and our grandmother is Janine Hathaway, a kick ass guardian that is still revered as great. We are the miracle children of two Dhampirs who loved each other, even though one temporarily turned Strigoi. And even though our legacy precedes us, that doesn't mean we live in the shadow of our family. Both my brother and I are about as kick ass as it gets. He was tied with Alexei for highest in their class. He will be one of the guardians for the Dragomir girls when they graduate and he is one scary mo fo, kind of like our father. I haven't even graduated yet, and I've already got 2 molninja marks, I'm going to be one of the guardians for the Dragomir boys, and I am rather infamous for not listening to teachers and having a fairly bad temper. It's not as bad as my mom's, but worst than my dad's. We got way beyond the expectations people have of us because of our family, and people are always surprised when they figure this out. We are way beyond proud to be our parents' children. I mean, our parent's are our parents, no matter how notorious or infamous they both are. And trust me, there are some people that still don't like or trust them, even though Lissa is my mom's best friend.

I see a look of pure awe on Blake's face as it really hits him and he recalls everything he's ever learned about our parents. He opens his mouth and the words that come out send both my brother and I into such a whirl, it makes us both dizzy, and we haven't even moved from the spots where our feet are firmly planted.

"Dimitri Belikov is the father of my cousin."

How did you like? It's fairly long, and no, not all the chapters will be like this. This was just a type of introduction, to get the plot moving faster. Anyways, rate, review, comment, all that jazz. Please, please, please, answer these questions to help with the next chapter:

What did you like most? Least? What would you have changed if you could have changed anything? What would you have kept the same? What, if anything, confused you? What type of emotions did you feel while reading this?

Thanks again, and please keep in mind that I am still writing another story, "Round and Round" based off the Gallagher Girls series, so that means that I won't be posting up the chapters as quickly as I posted the chapters for "It's Been A While."

By the way, I'm trusting that you read "It's Been A While" before this, so tell me, what did you like best from that story? (And yes, this is a way to test you!)

Thanks again! And also, thanks for putting up with my craziness!

Simply,

Sam.