ROMIRTI
I looked up at the beautiful sleeping face of the man I now call my husband. I stare up at him and I feel a small smile start creeping up my face. How is it possible to have gotten so lucky? Dimitri and I had always joked around about getting married (okay, I joked.) but when he finally asked me, it was like all the pieces in our very complicated puzzle finally started to come together. That night was probably the single greatest night of my life. Okay second greatest; the day he was restored back to a Dhampir definitely takes top spot.
I remember it very vividly. It was a Friday night and Lissa and Christian had given us the night off. We were visiting the Academy for the weekend. Lissa had gotten word of a student that had specialized in spirit and she wanted to check it out for herself.
"Come, lets take a walk" Dimitris voice was soft but behind it was a hint of nervousness. I shrugged and started following him down the path towards the woods. It was a cold November night and I huddled up closer to him. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. It was still a little weird that our relationship was public knowledge after having kept it a secret for so long. Still, I enjoyed those little acts of affection. As we went farther into the woods I realized where we were going. "the cabin huh?" I said with a smirk, all the memories of the last time we were in there flashed through my mind. The first time we made love.
"Going to relive the moment, comrade? "
"Roza, I would relive that moment a hundred times over if I could. It was the best night of life. The moment I realized how much I truly loved you." I looked up at his beautiful dark brown eyes and saw the look of a man truly and unconditionally in love. I know because I give him the same look often. We walked up the steps to the cabin hand in hand and when he opened the door my mouth fell open. There were dozens of little candles spread across the little room casting a glow of light over us. On the bed there are hundreds of flower peddles covering the entire surface. And right in the middle of the bed is a tiny white box. I can't move. Dimitri grabs my hand and pulls me towards the bed. "What is all this?" my voice is barely a whisper. Dimitri grabs the box off the bed and gets down on one knee. My world is reeling. In that moment all the ancient taboos about Dhampirs marrying each other and abandoning their duties start running through my head. I can't do this, its wrong. I couldn't do that to Lissa. Dimitri notices my hesitation and pulls me down to him. "Hey, Roza. Don't worry. It will be okay. Im not asking you to choose between me and Lissa." He says. He always seems to know what im thinking. "Rose im asking you to be my wife. I would never ask you to choose between me and her. Just like I know you would never ask me to choose between you and our job. I just want us to have this moment. Not for Lissa, not for the Moroi and not for anyone but us. I just want this one thing to be about us. I love you more then anything in this world. You are the other part of me, one I cannot live without. Rosemarie Hathaway, will you do me the extreme honor of marrying me?"
Tears are now running down my cheeks and I look at him and see the love in his eyes. This beautiful man who I love with all my heart has just asked me to marry him. I push away all the thoughts of Dhampir taboos and guardian expectations and just concentrate on my beautiful Russian God sitting in front of me. "yes" I whisper and the joy that radiates from him is almost palpable. He reaches into the boxes and slides the ring on my finger. "My Roza forever…" he pulls me to him and kisses me with such passion I am momentarily caught off guard. "Mrs. Rose Belikov. That has a nice ring to it." He kisses me hard and we make our way to the bed.