Thank you all so much for the amazing response to the first chapter! I'm glad you like it so far :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 2

RPOV

"I'm sorry about the mess," Dimitri said as he scurried around, clearing the toys and books away. "I just got home. I didn't have the time to-"

"It's fine," I interrupted gently. "Having a full-time job and taking care of three kids on your own must be hard. Don't worry about it."

He smiled at me gratefully. "You want something to drink?"

"No, thank you," I said politely.

He put the last of the toys into a box and put it in a corner.

"Want to sit down?" he asked, motioning towards the couch.

I nodded and sat down on the couch, trying not to gape at Dimitri. He was really good looking. And those dark jeans fit him really well. Focus, Rose! I chastised myself. You're here to get a job.

"So, umm," Dimitri said, clearing his throat, as he sat down across from me. "I assume Christian has already told you about my situation?"

I nodded. I didn't know if I should tell him I was sorry for his loss. I was pretty sure he'd heard that a lot the past couple of weeks and if I were in his place, I would've gotten tired of hearing it.

I remembered when my father had died a couple of years ago, everyone had looked at me with so much pity, asking me every five minutes if I was okay… It had annoyed me a lot. Maybe he felt the same way, maybe he didn't want to be pitied – he certainly didn't look like he was waiting for it – so I decided not to say anything about it unless he started talking about his wife.

"You're in college, right?" Dimitri asked. "I believe Christian mentioned it..."

I nodded. "Yes. It's where I met Christian, actually."

"You're studying the same thing?" he questioned.

"Oh no. I'm studying Elementary Education," I said. "I'd like to become a kindergarten teacher."

"Really?" he said, looking impressed.

"Yes. I love kids. It's why I'm applying for this job and, well, it's more useful than working at some grocery store," I said. "This way, I'll have more experience with kids for when I become a teacher."

Dimitri nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"And I already did some babysitting," I added, confident. "I'm not a total newbie at this."

He smiled and was about to say something, but got interrupted when his phone started ringing. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take this," he said, looking at me apologetically.

"Sure. No problem," I said smiling.

"I'll be right back."

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed and glanced around the room. The living room was cozy, with two couches and a fireplace. There was also a flat screen TV on the wall across from where I was sitting.

I got up and strode toward the other wall to look at family photos hanging there. My eyes landed on the family photo of Dimitri with his wife and kids. Tasha was really beautiful. She had straight black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded me of Christian's eyes. A girl stood next to her with the exact same hair and eye color. That must be Inna, the oldest one. The two youngest, Alisa and Liam, looked a lot like Dimitri: brown hair, brown eyes and a kind smile.

There were a lot of pictures of the kids, but aside from the family photo, there were none of Tasha and Dimitri. There wasn't even a wedding picture, which I thought was strange. Could it be that Dimitri had removed the pictures of his wife because it was too painful for him to see the pictures after her death?

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. Startled, I turned around and saw Dimitri standing in the door opening. I flushed and averted my eyes quickly as I made my way back to the couch.

"You have a beautiful family," I said as I glanced back up at him hesitantly.

He smiled. "Thank you, Rose." He sat back down, too. "Sorry about that," he said as he put his phone back into his jeans pocket. "I couldn't ignore this call."

"It's okay," I said, smiling reassuringly.

"Well," Dimitri said, clearing his throat, "do you think you'll be able to combine your studies and babysitting my kids? It won't be every day, but still, if it's too much then-"

"Sure," I said quickly, hoping he would offer me the job. It certainly seemed like this was going good. "I don't have that much classes this semester and I could study here, right?" I asked hesitantly.

He smiled. "Of course. As long as you check on them once in a while then you can choose whatever you do here. They don't need to be watched at all times, but if you just check on them a few times. I don't want them to be alone at home, just in case something happens, you know. They're too young to be left alone here."

"I understand and it's no problem," I said. "I'll make sure nothing happens to them while I'm here."

"Great. Well then, I guess you're hired," Dimitri concluded.

I stared at him in disbelief and then jumped up, excited. "Oh my God, really? You're hiring me?"

He looked surprised by my outburst, but then smiled and nodded.

"Oh my God! Thank you!" I squealed. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. He stiffened and I gasped when I realized what I was doing. Quickly, I let go of him and stepped back. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I said, blushing furiously. Way to go, Rose. This is really professional. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'm just so excited I got this job," I rambled. "I really didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry."

To my surprise, he laughed. "Rose, it's fine. Stop apologizing."

"So I'm not fired?" I asked hesitantly.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, you're not fired."

I sighed in relief. "Okay. Cool. Cause that would really suck, you know, since I just got hired two minutes ago," I mumbled, grinning sheepishly.

"It's okay," he said, still smiling. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, I'll make sure it won't happen again," I muttered, still a little embarrassed.

After making a fool of myself, Dimitri set up some rules for me. No boys were allowed to come over here, no alcohol, no smoking inside the house, no parties, etc… Like he seriously thought I was going to throw parties here and bring guys over to make out with! I wasn't a saint, but even I thought this was not done when you're babysitting on someone's kids. I was actually serious about this job and I didn't want to screw it up so I made sure he knew I wouldn't do any of those things.

"Thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Belikov," I said as he walked me to the door half an hour later.

We shook hands and as soon as he touched me, I felt a current of electricity run through my body. I let out a small gasp as I let go of his hand, looking up at him to see if he'd felt it too. If he had, he didn't show it.

"You're welcome. And it's Dimitri," he added with a smile.

I smiled back hesitantly. "Well, thanks. I'll drop by tomorrow to give you my schedule."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then."

I gave him a small wave and then walked off with a huge grin plastered across my face, ecstatic that I'd gotten the job.

DPOV

When I went to pick up Inna and Alisa, I was still contemplating if I should tell them right away I'd found a babysitter for them or if I should wait until tomorrow, when Rose would drop by with her schedule so we could work something out.

"Hey girls," I said as I collected them from the dance studio. "How was it?"

"It was great!" Alisa said grinning. "There was this new girl, too, and she's really nice."

I smiled. "Good. And you, Inna? You had fun?"

"Yes, it was okay," she said quietly.

I frowned. She used to get so excited whenever she talked about dancing and after every dance class, she had this big smile on her face, but even dancing didn't seem to get her mind off of what happened to her mother. I think, out of everyone, she was having the hardest time with her mother's death. They'd been pretty close, after all.

I wish there was something I could do to cheer her up, to make her feel better, but I knew there wasn't anything I could do right now to make it all better. The only thing I could do was be there for her when she needed me.

"So, I found you guys a babysitter," I said, changing the subject.

Inna groaned. "Dad, I'm ten! I don't need a babysitter."

"Yes, you do," I said sternly as I looked over at her. "I'm not leaving you alone at the house with Alisa and Liam while I'm at work. What if something happens and I'm not there?"

"If you'd let me have a cell phone, I could call you if something happened," she responded.

"You're too young to have a cell phone," I said, "and there's a house phone, which you can use if you need to call me."

"But almost everyone I know has a cell phone," she argued.

"You're not getting a cell phone, Inna," I said sternly. "We've already discussed this. You're way too young."

Inna didn't look happy about it, but at least she didn't argue anymore, which I was grateful for. I hated fighting with her.

Alisa leaned forward in her seat, looking thrilled. "What's our babysitter's name?" she asked.

"Rose," I said smiling, grateful for the change of subject.

Inna huffed, but Alisa looked excited. "That's a pretty name. Is she nice?"

"Yes, she's really nice," I answered. "You'll like her."

Of all the girls that had applied to the job, Rose was by far the best. I wondered why Christian hadn't told me about her sooner. I'd wasted several weeks interviewing girls who weren't even serious about the job and now I'd finally found a suitable babysitter, one I deemed trustworthy. And to top it off, she seemed really nice. I think she'd get along great with the girls and I was pretty sure Liam would like her too.

"When will we see her?" Alisa asked.

"She's coming over tomorrow. You can meet her then if you want," I said.

She grinned. I smiled at her, glad she was so excited about having a babysitter. When we got home, I started dinner whilst Inna and Alisa did their homework.

"So, now that you're going to have a babysitter, there'll have to be some changes," I said during dinner. Inna and Alisa both looked at me tentatively, waiting for me to continue. "Would it be okay if you'd go to school with the bus from now on?"

Inna frowned. "Why? Can't you drive us?"

"No, I can't," I said sadly.

"But you've done it for the past couple of weeks," she pointed out. "Why can't you drive us anymore?"

"I know, milaya," I said, knowing this would be an issue. It would be a huge adjustment for them to take the bus every day to school. "But I can't drive you anymore. I'm always late at work and I don't think my boss will tolerate this much longer. Can you understand that?"

Alisa nodded and continued to eat, but Inna crossed her arms and mumbled, "Mom used to drive us to school every day."

I sighed. "I know. I'm sorry I can't drive you to school anymore."

"What about Liam?" she asked sharply, not looking at me. "Are you going to let him take the bus, too?"

"No, of course not. He's too young for that," I said. "Rose will walk him to school on the days she doesn't have classes in the morning. And the days she can't, I'll take him to school."

Inna gasped. "You'll take him to school, but not us?!"

"His school's on my way to work," I said. "And like I said, I'll only drive him on the days Rose can't bring him."

"Seems like you got it all planned out with the babysitter," she muttered, pushing her plate away. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to bed."

"Inna," I called after her. "Wait-"

The door slammed shut, followed by her running up the stairs and then her bedroom door slamming shut. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Inna was being so difficult lately. I knew she was having a hard time right now and all these adjustments weren't making it any better, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't run a household all by myself and I certainly couldn't afford to lose my job so I had to make some changes to be able to keep my job and take care of my family.

"Dad?" Alisa asked softly.

I looked up at her. "Yes, milaya?"

"Don't be sad," she said as she got out of her seat and crawled onto my lap. "We'll go with the bus. I don't mind."

I smiled, wrapping my arms around her, and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, sweetheart."

So, Rose is hired and it seems like she likes Dimitri so far, especially his good looks :P You'll find out what Dimitri thinks of her next chapter :)

What do you think of the kids so far? Do you think it's strange that there aren't any wedding photos of Dimitri and Tasha?

Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Have a nice day/evening! ^^