Chapter One
AHH cheesy title alert. Borrowed from Anastasia, but the song really fits if you stick through this story with me!
I started writing this story the second I finished reading Last Sacrifice because all I could think about was, "What about Dimitri's family?" I'm actually really proud of this because I hand-wrote the entire thing. As in a pen and paper. I NEVER do that. But I kept coming back over the months and writing a few pages at a time, and voila. Here's the finished product. The really good thing about that is that it is DONE. Meaning it will be updated promptly once a week, and none of that pesky waiting that I know I make everyone do when I get writer's block. Long intro, that's the other thing I do.
Anyway, hope you enjoy.! I own nothing, everything belongs to the fabulous Richelle Meade. I had a lot of fun with this, her characters are fantastic. Read and review :)
"Rose, we should leave soon," said Dimitri, brushing my back as he passed by me on his way to the bathroom. Our bathroom. I still hadn't gotten used to the fact that we shared this house. Given Lissa's immense fleet of guardians and the fact that Christian spent so much time with her, Dimitri's and my hours were so lenient that we could even live together—while we were at Court at least.
"Do we have to?" I whined, joining him at the mirror to brush through my tangled hair.
Dimitri laughed. "It's not going to be that bad, Rose. We've already met. They like me."
"That's what you think," I muttered darkly, earning me another laugh from Dimitri. "It's going to be so much easier when it's your family," I added absentmindedly while I struggled with a particularly nasty knot in my hair.
The smile dropped from Dimitri's face instantaneously. "That's not going to happen," he stated firmly.
I stared at him blankly for a moment, half expecting him to laugh and tell me he was kidding.
"What do you mean? Of course it is! I mean, you've contacted them, right? They know you're…a dhampir again, right?"
Dimitri's face was set in a stony look that I knew meant I would get no answers. Yet.
"Let's not talk about this now. We're going to be late."
I watched him for another long moment, about to protest, but then sighed and nodded in agreement. I could tell he wouldn't talk about it then, and besides, I needed tonight to go perfectly. But we both knew this wasn't the end of the conversation.
Still, the second he saw me drop the subject a smile crept back onto his handsome face as he caught my hand and pressed it to his lips. "Are you ready, Roza?" he asked, almost as a dare.
I groaned, but only to cover up the laughter. "Alright, let's get this over with."
The air outside was warm though the sun hadn't quite risen. We were still enjoying the last few weeks of summer. The last few weeks until Lissa went to Lehigh, and Dimitri and I were separated. I tried not to focus on that, instead focusing on his warm arm around my waist as we cut across the Moroi Court to the guest housing where Abe was staying. No surprise, he had secured one of the nicest rooms there, complete with a kitchen, three bedrooms and a hot tub. He had invited Dimitri and I and my mother over for a "home cooked meal." I'm not sure what terrified me more: my parents interrogating my boyfriend, or whatever the hell Abe might serve.
Abe answered the door, eccentrically dressed as ever in a peacock blue sutit with a pink and orange-speckled tie. He wore a quaint addition, too, in the form of a light pink, frilled apron.
I choked on my greeting when I saw him, instead mustering a sarcastic comment. "Very masculine, old man."
He flashed me a bright smile. "Only true men wear pink," he replied, then gave Dimitri a seemingly disapproving glance for his lack thereof.
Dimitri just chuckled. "I'll remember that for next time then." I hoped he wouldn't.
Abe led us through the house, which seemed excessive even for his taste. Arched windows lined the walls, covered in thick, velvet curtains that looked as if they could use a good dusting. The furniture looked antique, and as if it hadn't been sat in for years. Abe caught he eyeing it distastefully and grinned. "Admiring the décor?" he asked. "The last resident was a rather wealthy old lady with a taste for the—ah, traditional, shall we say. Unfortunately I can do nothing about it, as I'm only renting."
"A problem that the fabled Abe Mazur can't solve. Never thought I'd see the day," I reply.
Abe turned to Dimitri. "How do you stand her sarcasm?" he asked good-naturedly. "Not very attractive in a young lady," he said, this time aimed at me.
"It's not without effort," he teased, earning him a jab in the stomach from my elbow.
We rounded the corner into the dining room, where my mother sat waiting at the beautifully set table. She stood to greet us, giving me a hug and Dimitri a handshake. Though she didn't seem outwardly cool, I could tell she still didn't know quite what to make of us. I also knew this was precisely what tonight was for.
Small talk carried us through the salad and halfway through the main course—which was surprisingly delicious, though I didn't know exactly what it was—before the real questioning began. I had just stuffed an enormously large piece of meat in my mouth when my mother decided to begin the interrogation, leaving me utterly incapable of answering.
"So tell me again, how did you two meet?" my mother asked. She was starting us off easy, I could tell. Still, not wanting to choke, I was forced to chew furiously while Dimitri took the lead.
" I was in the group that brought Rose and Lissa back to St. Vladimir's."
"And then you were her instructor?"
"Yes, we had extra training sessions together so that she could make up for the time she had missed," Dimitri responded coolly But we both knew the direction this was going.
"And you two began your…romance while she was still your student? Isn't that against some sort of rules?"
I had finally finished chewing, and exclaimed, "Mom! It's not like how you're making it seem!"
"How was it then?" she asked, adopting that tone that was a mixture of concerned mother and seasoned guardian.
"You're making it sound like Dimitri took advantage of me or something." I could take my mother's criticism of me—I was used to it. But I hated her making Dimitri seem like the villain for pursuing a minor. If anything, I was the one who had kept after him, despite our age gaps. "We fell in love. The fact that he was my instructor and I his student had nothing to do with it. I would've fallen in love him any other time in any other circumstance." I felt Dimitri's gaze on me, full of love and also amusement, but I kept my eyes locked on my mother.
She looked slightly surprised at my forceful declaration of love for Dimitri, but his hand found mine under the table and gave it a squeeze, calming me down slightly. My mother said nothing, and I was unsure if she was angry with me or simply caught off guard. Abe, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the past few minutes, chuckled.
"Who knew I'd see the day when my daughter would be passionately professing her love to two disapproving parents." He regarded Dimitri for a moment. "Strike that. I do approve."
"Thank you, sir," Dimitri responded gratefully.
"You're a good man, Belikov, and I think you've proved how much you care for my daughter. Besides, who are we to question their age gap? After all, I'm about that much older than you, Janine."
"But you weren't my teacher!" my mother protested,
A mischievous smile appeared on my father's face. "I do believe I taught you a few things, Janine," he said with a wink, causing my mother to blush furiously.
"Oh my God," I exclaimed. "I do not want to hear about your sex lives!"
My mother cleared her throat. "You're right. Abe, let's keep this appropriate. Please."
Abe shrugged and turned to Dimitri. "Well, now that you know I wasn't actually serious about disembowelment or whatever I threatened you with, what do you say to that hunting trip?"
I still didn't like the idea of them alone where guns were involved, but kept my mouth closed as Dimitri readily agreed. "I'd love too, but I've got to admit I've never really been before."
"Really?" I asked, a bit shocked. "I figured everyone in Russia hunted."
"There you go with your stereotypes of Russia again," he said with a smile. "You think you would've learned your lesson after going there yourself.
"Rose never learns," my mother said exasperatedly and everyone had a laugh at my expense.
As the food slowly disappeared off our plates and no more relationship questions came up, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised that we might have gotten off so easily. Though it wasn't quite so. Dessert brought round two of questioning, ranging everywhere from the times we had hidden our romance to the plans for our future. Dimitri handled it all admirably, answering with a blatant honesty that somehow seemed to make things less awkward. Like when my mother asked if we had slept together while we were still underage. While I sputtered on my drink and blushed, Dimitri calmly answered, "Yes." My mother, seeming not to want to focus on my sex life any more than I did, hastily moved on. After forty-five minutes and what felt like hundreds of questions later, she finally sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Alright," she said. "I still don't like how this started, but I can see you two really care about each other. And given your unique situation with your Moroi, I do believe you can make being together and being guardians work."
I smiled happy at this approval as Dimitri kissed my cheek and thanked my parents for their hospitality. I'd been dreading this night, but I hadn't realized how much I cared about my mother's approval. We'd had a rocky relationship for most of my life, but things had gotten better these past few years. I really did love her, and I would hate for this to put a rift in our relationship.
This evening had turned out exponentially better than I had anticipated, and we stayed for a bit longer until my mom noticed me yawning and ushered us home to get some rest. Abe began clearing plates and I hurriedly picked up a few and joined him in the kitchen, seeking a private moment.
"Abe, do you think the Belikovs know that Dimitri is alive?" I asked in a hushed voice.
A frown creased Abe's tan face as he considered my question. "No," he said slowly. "I don't think they will have heard. News always travels slowly to their village, and rarely specifics. Besides, Tatiana was trying to keep Dimitri's transformation hushed up until she was entirely certain. Then, of course, she was murdered, and that entirely eclipsed all other news."
"But Dimitri helped me escape. You don't think that would have reached them?"
Abe shook his head. "Think of it this way, Rose. Have you ever played telephone? It's like that. Each time the message gets passed on, something gets lost, and I believe Dimitri's name would've been lost long before it reached Baia." He gave me an apologetic smile. "I don't doubt that your role in everything reached them, however. Though I do hope news of your exoneration did, too."
I nodded and gave him a fleeting hug before joining Dimitri at the door. He was speaking with my mother and reached his arm out to me as I approached. "It was nice to see you again, Ms. Hathaway," he said politely.
"Yes, you too, Dimitri." She sounded sincere enough and even gave him a pleasant smile, then leaned down from the top step to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Be good, Rose," she said seriously.
"I'll try," I responded, and with a wave we headed back out into the crisp morning air.