ALL CREDIT BUT STORY GOES TO RICHELLE MEAD. FIRST STORY, SO PLEASE DON'T HATE IT... SET AFTER SPIRIT BOUND! LETS PRETEND THAT NO SEARCH PARTY WENT OUT THAT NIGHT.
I awoke to hear Ivan crying. With a sigh I pulled my self from my bed to attend to my life and soul. My baby boy. Currently 7 and a half months old Ivan is becoming a greater mischief then ever. At least most nights he'll sleep till dawn. But unfortunately not every night. I pick him up from his crib beside my bed. Ivan's old enough to stay in the nursery I built for him across the hall but when he does he gets night-terrors.
I carry Ivan down the stairs of my 2 story apartment, turning on lights as I go, whispering comforting nonsense in his ear. I take a bottle of formula from the fridge and put it in a pan of hot water to heat up. Staring around my kitchen I remind myself how I got here. How I got Ivan.
I watched as the guardians set up a memorial ceremony for those we lost in the battle at St. Vlad. I hadn't let myself shed a single tear since my Dimitri was lost from me. I told nobody what happened in the cabin. Not even Lissa. I watched as she helped the guardians. I remember that other people had lost family and friends. Not just me. I felt weak, like I couldn't deal with it. "This will be my release." I murmured lowly. " This WILL help me."
I got half way through the remembrance before I broke down silently in the back row. Where he sat. Every Sunday he would come to this Church. He fought hard and was a god fearing man. Went the priest Called his name on the list I stood up silently and left. I felt a single pair the back of my head and I knew even without looking through the bond it would be Lissa. I looked anyway, as I did I heard a "Talk to me about it." I nodded and left. Guilty about the lie I just told.
A low cry brought me back to the present. The water was just at boiling point and Ivan didn't want to wait. I tested the milk out of habit even though I knew it would be just right for him. I slowly walked around my apartment waiting for Ivan to finish his bottle and fall back to sleep. Fortunately he finished it just as his eyes started to close. I smiled at my sleeping angels face. He looks so much like his father. Like Dimitri.