A/N: So I'm sorry for not updating quicker but i happen to live with a 17 year old boy who does nothing but watch online wrestling matches. it's really annoying. So to show you how sorry i am i wrote this chapter extra long. Anyway hope you like this chapter.

DPOV:

My Roza. She looked as beautiful as ever. Age didn't do anything to her. How I loved her so much. I have the sudden urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her. She's so beautiful. I love her so much! I always hoped she would come back. I don't know if she will ever forgive me.

"Hello Guardian Belikov."

I flinched at the name.

"Well, Rose, before you leave can you sign some papers. It's for the kids to stay here and train."

"Fine Liss."

Kids? She had kids now? I wonder who their father is. I stared at her as she signed the papers. Her hair was longer now. I want to run my fingers through it. She almost ran out of the room. I watched her until she turned a corner. I closed the door to Lissa's office.

"You wanted to see me Queen?"

"Dimitri, you have been my guardian for I don't know how long and I still have to remind you to call me Lissa?"

"Sorry Lissa."

"It's alright. Yes, I did call you here. It's about dinner tonight…"

RPOV:

I quickly signed whatever papers I had to and rushed my way out of her office. I could feel Dimitri's hot chocolate eyes on me until I rounded the corner.

"Mom!"

I looked around and saw Anya running towards me. She stopped in front of me and looked at me, her eyes boring into mine.

"Something's wrong," she said as a statement not a question. It scares me how smart she is.

"No, nothing is wrong, Anya. Where is your brother? I need to talk to both of you."

"He's getting settled into his dorm. He should be coming in about 5 seconds."

Sure enough Nick came running up to us. Anya and Nicolai always had a twin bond between them. They could always tell where each other was and if they were in danger. It was similar to my and Lissa's bond, except the going into each other's minds and the whole shadowkiss thing.

"Hey Mama."

"Hey Nick. I need to talk to both of you. I'd do it in my room, but I forgot to ask Lissa where it was."

"Oh, I know where it is. The guardian dropped your stuff in there and told me to give you the keys."

Nicolai handed me the keys and lead me to my room in the guardian quarters. I opened the door and looked around. My room was similar to the one I had stayed in as a novice only a lot bigger. I had a queen size bed, a desk with a computer against the wall, a couple of dressers, and bookshelves where I'd probably put photos of the kids and Connor. Right in the middle of the room was a couch which the kids sat on. I looked around and saw my bags by the door. I pulled the chair from the computer desk and sat in front of the kids.

"What did you want to talk to us about Mom?" asked Anya.

I took a deep breath.

"Well, the school is in danger of being attacked by strigoi-"

"STRIGOI?" Nicolai interrupted.

I'd had to deal with a few strigoi over the years. The kids have had to witness it a few times so they knew how dangerous they were. It's hard to kill them without a stake, but I managed. I gave Nick a hard look before I continued.

"Yes, strigoi. Lissa wants me to stay here and help defend the school, teach a few classes, and take over the position of Head Guardian."

"So we're going to have to call you Guardian Hathaway?" asked Nick snickering.

"No, not if you don't want to, but you will have to address your teachers as Guardians."

Anya nodded her head in agreement. Nicolai just shrugged and leaned back into the couch.

"Sure Mom," he said. If this kid isn't mine, I don't know whose he is.

"Nicolai Joven Hathaway, you will respect your teachers." God, I sound so contradicting.

"Fine. Wait a second. What do you mean by teachers?" Anya's eyes widened at Nick's outburst.

"You guys will start training to be guardians."

"Do we have to? Can't we just stay with Aunt Lena or Aunt Sara?"

Oh crap! Lena and Sara. I have to call them.

"No you can't. I want my children with me. Come on guys. There was a time when I actually enjoyed being here." Anya and Nicolai still looked skeptical. "Anya, you're very outgoing. You'll definitely be able to make friends and Nick there is no possible way you won't have any friends. Plus you both are excellent fighters. Almost better than me." Nick raised his eyebrows. "I said almost. Don't worry guys. You're going to have an excellent time here."

The twins still looked unconvinced but nodded their heads anyway.

"Alright well tonight we are all going over to Lissa's house for dinner."

"I thought you hated her," said Anya.

"Anya, I don't hate her. I don't like her all too much now, but I could never hate her. If she were ever in danger, I would do all I could to save her."

"Okay then. So who's going to be there?"

"Well Lissa, Christian, and their 12 year old son Nathan. That's all I know whose coming."

"Okay."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay" was Anya's favorite word. It signaled to the world that she was completely out of it and wasn't even paying attention anymore. Well, I did say she was like me.

"Alright, well we're going to her house in about an hour so go get ready. I'll meet you outside of the dorm."

"Where does she live?"

"Oh right. I should probably call her."

The twins left to go their separate ways and I called Lissa for directions. Once she told me and I'd written them down, I went to take a shower. I got out and blow dried and brushed my hair into a ponytail. I grabbed my black skinny jeans and an off the shoulder white shirt with a feather on the shoulder. I grabbed my short black heels and released my hair from the ponytail. By this time it was curly so I decided to leave it out of a ponytail. I put on a little chap stick and before I went out I called Sara.

"Hello?"

"Sara? It's Rose."

"Rose! Where are you? We've been worried sick."

"I'm sorry. An old friend called and I had to leave immediately to go to her."

"Oh okay. When will you be back?"

"I don't know. I'm just calling to say that if I don't see you for a long time, I really appreciate all that you've done for me. I love you like a sister. Tell Lena that I love her and I hope to see you guys again."

"We love you too Rose."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I checked myself in the mirror one last time and saw that I had been crying and now my mascara was smeared. I quickly wiped away all traces and reapplied. Once I was finish I left to go meet my kids.

"Damn Mom you look hot," exclaimed Anya.

I gave her a small smile and a hug. She was dressed in this cute belted cowl neck green ruffle top, black skinny jeans, and metal link gladiator wedges. (A/N: Pics of everyone's clothes on profile). I looked over at Nicolai. He had on black skinny jeans (hmm, like mother like daughter and son), a red plaid shirt, and red converse Chuck Taylor high tops. Even though both I and Anya were wearing heels, Nicolai still towered a good 4 or 5 inches above us. He was almost as tall as Dimitri.

"Hey how come Anya gets to cuss and I don't?"

"That's because every other word she saids isn't a curse word unlike you."

Nicolai shrugged. I started walking in the direction Lissa had told me her house was in. We came upon a big house that spread the length of at least one dorm building. There were a few guardians walking the length of the house. I turned to the kids.

"Alright guys let's do this," I said putting on a brave face.

I was about to ring the doorbell when I remembered something.

"Guys, I sort of told Lissa that Connor was your father."

"But Connor was our father," said Nicolai.

"Yes, but she thinks I got pregnant with you guys AFTER I left the academy, not before."

"Mom, Connor was and will always be our father. Whether or not we were blood related has nothing to do with it."

I smiled. It was moments like this when Nicolai became calm and serious that he reminded me so much of Dimitri. I rang the doorbell. A boy with black hair and jade green eyes answered.

"Hi. I'm guessing you're Nathan."

"Yeah, that's me. You're Rose right?"

He opened the door wider and waved us in. We followed him down the hallway to a dining room.

"Mom's in the kitchen."

"She's not cooking is she?" I shuddered thinking about Lissa's cooking. She was never really good at it.

"No, Dad is," he said laughing.

He led us into a huge kitchen. It felt like one of the kitchens that you see on TV that people like Martha Stewart has. Lissa was leaning on the counter begging Christian who was stirring something in a pot if she could help.

"Christian, come on."

"Yeah, right. Last time you helped you almost burned down the kitchen."

I snickered at the memory. Lissa had been so freaked out that I had felt her even through the block I had put up. I checked her through the bond and rolled on the floor laughing when I saw Christian looking at her like she'd just blown up the empire state building. It reminded me of when she almost set fire to her house when her parents were alive. Lissa saw me laughing and gave me a curious look.

"Just remembering when you almost burned down your parent's house."

She laughed and looked at the kids.

"Hey guys."

"Hello Headmistress Lissa," said the twins in sync. I smiled. They were so cute when they did that.

"Oh, you can call me Lissa or Aunt Lissa. Whichever is fine with me."

"Okay."

Christian finally turned around from stirring the pot. When he saw me he smiled.

"Well, if it isn't little Rosie Hathaway."

"Oh, you are so lucky I like you Sparky or you would be dead."

He came around the counter and gave me a hug laughing.

"Christian, these are my kids Anya and Nicolai."

They looked up at whatever Nathan had been showing them on his laptop, smiled and waved, and went back to looking at it.

"Well, I see they're getting along."

"It's like they've known each other all their lives," said Christian.

"So Sparky, what are you cooking?"

"Ah, Rosie, that's a secret."

I flicked him in the ear. He looked at me shocked.

"What? That's for calling me Rosie…twice."

Lissa was trying to hold a laugh in, but we all burst out laughing. The kids looked at us like we were idiots and that set us off laughing even more. It feels so good to be with them again.

"Do I hear laughing?"

I stiffened at the voice. I turned to see Tasha coming towards me with Dimitri in tow. I tried not to look at Dimitri.

"Rose! How nice to see you? How have you been?"

"Fine." I really want to hate her, but she's so nice. Kill me now.

"Well, I just came to visit Lissa and Christian and to see Dimitri."

"Oh really?" I asked genuinely shocked. I thought he was guarding her.

"Yes." The twins and Nathan started laughing at something. "Oh who are they?"

"These are my kids: Anya and Nicolai."

The twins finally looked up from the laptop. Anya went over to shake Tasha's hand, but Tasha brushed it away and hugged her instead. You could see shock in Anya's eyes, but she quickly composed herself. Yep, she's definitely Dimitri's daughter. Speaking of Dimitri…He was staring at Nicolai like he'd just seen a ghost. I wasn't surprised seeing as Nick looked just like him. I turned to Nick and realized that he was looking at Dimitri the same way. That's exactly what you're going to look like in about 20 years or so, Nick.

"Nicolai!" I hissed at him.

He broke out of whatever trance he was in and looked around. Anya had managed to break free of Tasha and now Tasha was coming for him. He gave her a hug and stepped away.

"So should we go sit?" I asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. It's almost ready," said Christian.

I walked past Dimitri, avoiding his eyes, to the dining room. Lissa sat at the end of the table with me on her right. The kids sat on the opposite side of the table with an empty seat next to Lissa. Tasha and Dimitri sat at the two seat next to where Christian was going to sit leaving a seat open between me and Dimitri. Christian came in with a big pan of pasta, and then a big pot of sauce.

"How original Christian. Spaghetti?"

"Hey!" He went back in the kitchen and came out with a bowl. "You forgot the meatballs," he said setting down the bowl. I smiled as we all grabbed some pasta and meatballs and poured sauce over it. As I was about to dig in, the doorbell rang. Lissa got up to answer it. When she came back she looked a little annoyed. I didn't have to ask as a certain green-eyed brunette walked in.

"Adrian!"

I got up and ran to hug him.

"Hey little Dhampir."

"What're you doing here?"

"Well, I heard you were going to be here so I decided to pop in."

"Uncle Adrian!" The twins finally looked up from the laptop long enough to realize that Adrian was here.

Anya ran into Adrian's arms. (A/N: No, I'm not going to make them fall in love. I think that'd be too weird.) He was the only person I'd ever seen her truly open up to besides me and Nicolai. I think she even saw him as a father figure. He was really there for the kids after Connor died. Adrian had finally accepted that I couldn't be with him and was now married to a non-royal Moroi named Alyson.

"Where's Alyson?"

"Home. She's due in about a month so she can't fly."

We all went back to our seats. Adrian sat across from me and next to Anya. Adrian reached across the table and grabbed my hand. He gave it a squeeze and let go.

"Ahem, so when did Adrian meet the kids?" asked Lissa curious.

I could tell through the bond that she was staring to get pissed off. Well, sorry, Liss but you're about to get even more pissed off. I turned to Adrian who was looking at me silently asking a question with his eyes. I shrugged. He sighed and began to tell the story.

"Well, after Rose left the academy I visited her in her dreams. It was really sad to see. You know it took her like a year before she even let me come see her? I had to promise not to-" I coughed and gave him a poignant stare. "Oh sorry. Anyway, when I went to see her she had these cute little kids and was about to marry Connor."

"Who's Connor?" asked Christian.

"Our dad," said Nicolai.

"You're married, Rose?" asked Tasha.

"Well I was."

"What happened?" Tasha asked looking sympathetic.

"He died in a car crash."

"Was he a Moroi?"

"No, he was human."

Tasha, Dimitri, and Christian stared at me.

"You married a human?" asked Christian.

"Yes. He died when the kids were 9."

"So he is the kids' father?" asked Dimitri; his accent overlapping his words.

"Yes, he is their father." I said looking Dimitri in the eyes. "Adrian, continue with your story."

"Well, I went to their wedding. It was so cute!" I raised my eyebrows at him. "What? It was. Anyway since then I try to visit her whenever. Usually once or twice a month. When I married Alyson I brought her, too. After Connor died I made my visits more frequent, but I haven't been able to see them in about 3 months or so because Alyson was on bed rest and then she couldn't fly. She practically had to push me out the door."

I laughed. I loved Alyson. She was like a sister to me. I'd only known her for about 2 years, but she was able to look at my Lissa/Dimitri situations from a third person point of view and she gave me some really great advice. She said I should try talking to Lissa which I was going to do before she "summoned" me to the Academy. She also told me that even if I couldn't forgive Dimitri, I should at least let him be in the kids' lives. I was still pondering the second one. I looked over to Lissa and saw that she was shaking. I felt through the bond that she was beyond pissed. I felt guilt, sadness, hurt, but ultimately betrayal. Betrayal? How could SHE feel betrayal? She looked at me.

"Hey you okay Liss?" Christian asked.

"No I'm not okay," she said fuming. "How could you Rose? How could you go 15 years without so much as writing a letter or calling? Do you know how worried I was about you? Then I find out that Adrian knew where you were this whole time. ADRIAN! OF ALL PEOPLE! You let Adrian and his WIFE come see you, but you won't even let your best friend come see you? You come back and you're all chummy chummy with Christian, but I have to force you to talk to me. How could you Rose? How could you do this to me again?"

That was it. Lissa was being selfish, but this time I wasn't running out.

"How could I? How could you? The one time I really and truly need you, you turn your back on me. Do you know how hurt I was? It didn't help when you just told me to get out! Yeah, I let Adrian and his wife come see me and yeah I'm friendly with Christian, but you know why? Because they didn't judge me like you did! Plus, they weren't being selfish to me like you are. You say you're sorry well I don't forgive you. When you find my old best friend, tell her I'm waiting!"

By this time all the kids were staring at me along with Tasha and Dimitri and Adrian. I hadn't really told Adrian much about how much Lissa had hurt me just that I didn't want to talk to her ever. Christian was staring at Lissa as if she had just killed someone right in front of him. I was breathing hard so I sat down calmly and started eating the spaghetti. Lissa just stared at me until she slammed her hand down on the table and ran upstairs. Everyone was still staring at me.

"Isn't anybody going to eat?"

Adrian started eating. The kids started eating, too, but shot cautious glances at me. Christian gave me an apologetic look and ran up the stairs no doubt to talk to Lissa. Tasha looked like she didn't know whether to eat or follow Christian. She chose the latter. With Tasha gone, Dimitri looked at me as if I'd gone crazy.

"What?" I asked him.

He sighed and started eating. After we ate, Adrian followed me and the kids out. Christian came down and gave me a hug.

"I'm sorry about Lissa. I'll try to reason with her."

I gave him a small smile. The kids were all discussing something about a movie night tomorrow. I shook my head. I guess their mothers fighting don't really put a damper on their friendship.

"No, I guess it doesn't."

I didn't realize I'd said that out loud until Adrian responded.

"You know, you sure do think on your feet. That story was very believable."

"Yes, it was meant to. Well, most of it was true. Well, the wedding and after that was true. Come on, I wasn't about to say that you already had kids when you met Connor. I didn't think you would like it if I said that."

"Thanks Adrian."

We all started walking back to the dorms. The kids went their separate ways and I walked with Adrian to his room. We stopped in front of the door.

"How long are you here for?"

"Just a couple of days. Then I have to get back to Alyson."

I gave him a hug.

"You don't know how grateful I am to know you and that you're here for the twins. I really do appreciate it."

"Rose, I'm only doing this because once Alyson and I have our baby, you're the one who's going to have to help me."

I smacked his arm as he grinned.

"Yeah, payback's a bitch!" he said as he walked into his room.

I walked back to my room deep in thought about Lissa, Dimitri, the twins, and how badly I probably screwed up with all of them.

"Roza."

I stopped as Dimitri walked towards me.

"Roza, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About why Nicolai looks just like me."

I froze. My eyes widened. Oh God tell me he doesn't know.

A/n: So i hope you liked this chapter. Review please.