DPOV
"Dimi, look at this!" called Rose as she held a dress out in front of her and twirled about. "What do you think? Will it do?" I had no doubt the dress was designer, but it was a spaghetti strap, semi-formal tie-die sundress... and we were shopping for school clothes.
"Not for school, Rose. You need new training clothes and shirts and jeans."
Her brown eyes turned pleading. "You'll get no use of it until next summer, and by then you won't fit in it," I reasoned.
"But it's cute!" Rose argued, one hand on hip, pout and puppy-eyes in full play.
"I agree. But no one important will see you in it."
I hated being so tough on her, but Abe had tasked me with teaching her how to spend frugally and reasonably. She still had an incredibly, mind-blowingly high limit and was used to impulse buying without thought to cost or practicality.
"You will. Daddy will. I will."
I crouched down to her level. "I know Rose, sweetie, but that's the type of dress your daddy will have you wear at dinners. You don't have those dinners until next summer, when you won't fit into it or there will be something you like more." When she didn't respond I asked, "Can I see how much it is?"
She nodded and found the tag. I sighed. Of course it was over five hundred Lira, of course it was. This girl did nothing by half, or even three quarters. "Rose, if you put this dress back, you can get that leather jacket you've been eyeing off for over a month and two sets of those embroidered designer jeans."
"I can get them anyway." She gave me a defiant look.
She was hard work sometimes, but I could always find a way through to her. She was so sweet and innocent despite being so cunning and demanding. She just needed a chance. And others around her that could understand her impatience and outspoken nature, a person who struggled for their control just as much.
"But Daddy hasn't let you yet, has he?" I asked knowingly with a raised brow.
"No," she lamented. It was so cute to see her pine over clothes, forgetting she had a target and bounty on her head. "Daddy hasn't let me."
I smiled pointedly, mischievously. "If I let you buy them, would you put the dress back?"
An outright mental war shone on her face. Eventually she nodded. "Mmm'kay," she smiled and handed me the dress. I returned it to the rack before she grabbed my hand and led me back to where the jeans were.
Abe had wanted to preserve her little-girl image and dress sense as long as possible, but these jeans and jacket were more early-teens. Rebellious early-teens at that. I thumbed through them. "What size?" I asked, not yet knowing what size she found comfortable in jeans. She told me. "Try one in that size," I handed her a pair in the size she requested, "and this one- so you get more wear out of them." I handed her a pair of the next size up. She'd already grown a good centimetre or two in the two months I'd known her and it seemed as if she was on the cusp of starting her puberty growth spurts.
Rose read them and pouted. "Why, Dimitri? I'm not growing that much."
"Even I can see you're going through a massive growth spurt, Rose. You're at an age to as well." I ran a hand over her hair quickly. "Now let's find you that jacket and a top to go with it so you have an entire ensemble to try on."
She grinned excitedly and this time pulled me to the jacket. She placed the jeans in front of them and squealed. "It's gonna look perfect!"
"Not so fast, little lady," I warningly teased. "Find the next size up and try it on together before you go making those statements, don't want to be too let down when it doesn't work." I didn't believe my words for that outfit for a moment, it would work well together and she'd look very grown-up in it- especially with her perfect child-model looks. Still, it was a lesson she needed to learn, never jump to conclusions.
"Dimitri," she laughed. "You know it's going to look amazing!"
"Just grab the next size to try on and let's find a top to finish the look."
"Killjoy," she whined but did as directed.
"Not blue, Rose- Midnight or otherwise." I picked out a red alternative shirt that looked grown-up but also young and child-like.
"But it's a nice blue." Rose let me swap the shirts despite complaining.
"Yes, it is. But not with that outfit, your wardrobe or your hair and skin colour." This trip was not meant to be me giving her fashion advice.
She smiled sweetly, shrugged and headed off to the change rooms. That girl will be the death of me, but I wouldn't trade her as my charge for the world.
"Dimi?" Rose called and strode out of the change room with a smile on her face. "What do you think?"
Honestly? She looked incredibly like a teenager, the jeans made her look taller and the red shirt made her eyes 'pop' and made her nearly black curls seem darker still. Meanwhile the leather jacket clung and accentuated her toning... and, I awkwardly noted, her starting to develop curves.
"You look incredibly grown-up, Rose." She didn't look a thing like the little girl I'd met two months ago, and it scared me. "Incredibly grown-up. Your Daddy is going to have a heart attack and fire me," I joked.
She smirked gleefully. "Thanks Dimi!" Then she turned determined. "I won't let him fire you. You're safe. I always get my way. I won't let him fire you. Pinkie promise." Her little finger wiggled at me, beckoning mine to lock with it. My rough and calloused pinkie found her soft, smooth and small one in a promise.
"Thanks. Now go get changed, Rose, and let's get you home before dark."
With a skip, she returned to the change room.
The attendant smile fondly. "Is she your cousin?"
I shook my head. "I'm her guardian."
She looked at me oddly. "You're a little young, aren't you?"
"I'm eighteen. Old enough to look after her, not old enough to get odd looks. As you yourself assumed she's my cousin others will likely think the same. That's why her father chose me," I explained.
"Ahhh." Her smile returned. "She must be such a sweetie to look after."
I chuckled indulgently. "All in all, yes, she is."
"Did my Dimi just complement me?" Rose teased as she returned to my side, handing back the items that didn't fit... or wouldn't soon enough.
I ran a hand over her hair. "Yes I did."
"Thank you, miss," Rose smiled cutely before tugging me out into the main shop again.
"Rose... there's one more thing you need to get..." I started tentatively. I knew how to handle this with my sisters no matter how uncomfortable initially, but I really didn't know how Abe and Janine would want this approached. "Especially with that outfit."
Rose looked at me questioningly. "Mmm?"
"Rose... has your dad or mom explained...?"
Realisation struck. "Oh god! This is so awkward."
"It needs to be done, Rose," I said softly like a caress. Or hormonal teenage boys are going to be all over her.
She nodded in a rare show of meekness before letting me guide her to the bras section. "Help!" she pleaded softly while looking completely overwhelmed.
"Let's start looking for your shirt size, huh? And keep it to plain colours." I set Rose free, but she did the opposite, she clung to me. "Come on then," I sighed and guided her towards some age-appropriate-looking white bras. I wished for the chance to avoid padding and underwire, she was still so young and completely new to this part of her life. But her future vocation's prep dictated otherwise.
She tentatively, hesitantly leafed through row after row. "It's so confusing," she told me after a short while, already frustrated and confused.
"Hmmm." I joined in the search, well, I more like took it over for now. "You should start with these." I handed over three white ones in her shirt size, one each of the three smallest cup sizes.
Rose took them and analysed the sizing label. "How does the system work?" she asked, scrunching up her face.
"The numbers match shirt sizes, or they're supposed to, and the letters refer to the cup size," I explained, "the cushion-y part that covers and supports."
She giggled. "How do you know so much? This is girls stuff."
"I have three sisters and a mother. I've grown up around everything girl related."
She shrugged nonchalantly and entered the change rooms.
"How'd you go?" I asked hesitantly when she exited.
"I think I've got it sorted." She handed two bras back to the attendant.
"And?" I prompted, sensing she wasn't telling everything she wanted to.
"Now I think I get it, there were a few ones I spotted-"
"You're still young yet, Rose. Make sure I veto them. Lace is out of the question. I think you should stick to the crop tops."
"It's my body!" she argued, hand on hip, hair flicked back.
"If you were a normal pre-teen I wouldn't worry so much, Rose. But you're going to have certain teenage boys breathing down your neck, literally, wanting to play with you in a very bad way. You train so much too. You have such potential, Rose, don't risk it by giving yourself a bad name so early in life."
Rose listened intently then sighed in defeat. "I hate you when you're right," she muttered then went hunting. The third one she went for wasn't age appropriate.
"No black, Rose," I sternly stopped her as her hand hovered over the hangers, about to search out her size. She snatched it back.
"Why?" she demanded. "It's not like anyone's going to see."
I sighed. "You've only got a select few tops you can wear it under."
Her sharp brown eyes scrutinised me. It was the first time I ever wanted to squirm under her gaze. "It isn't all, Dimitri. What aren't you telling me?" She'd never sounded so mature and demanding.
I resisted the urge to gulp. "Black, especially black lace, is seen as sexy. It makes everyone's figure look it's best, but a black bra..." I shook my head, "a black bra-"
I saw the lightbulb moment through her eyes before she finished my sentence. "It will, especially in our society, basically say I'm selling my body. Is that what you're saying? That if I don't want to become like Mom's cousins, if I want to keep my respect for myself, I can't wear black?"
I gave her a sad, sympathetic look. My mind conjured images of her attracting unwanted attention, due to an untrue, inaccurate reputation as a stereotypical bloodwhore. She wasn't going to turn into one of them, not under my watch. She had too much potential as a guardian.
"Oh Rose. For training and that jacket that screams Dangerous Girl, yes, there are some black things you can wear. It's the underwear and bras you've got to be wary of."
She returned my sad look before setting her face into a determined expression. "They come first." She nodded sharply. "I know they're after me too, but they still come first."
As she turned away from the thing she so clearly wanted in order to play grown-up I knew that she was going to be one serious and self-sacrificing, kick-ass guardian. I followed her over to the sports bras with a small, proud smile just barely playing on my lips. It wasn't fair that she was hitting puberty in an unfair, unjust, and oppressive society. If she were Moroi, she'd be fine, but being a young dhampir girl the stakes were higher. Moroi males were going to want to be all over her in time, and it was my duty to make sure she wasn't hurt as my mother had been.
"What about this one?" Rose pointed out a black sports bra.
"Yes Rose, that one's fine."
"It's so unfair," she stated and picked out a couple more sports bras. "It's so complicated and so unfair," she repeated thoughtfully while still browsing.
"I know, Rose, I know. I wish it wasn't, but it is the way it is. The sacrifices we make."
"That doesn't mean I no longer want to be a guardian. This changes nothing, but I won't sit by and just bow down and take it."
I chuckled. "You sound like a politician in the making."
Rose laughed lightly though what she said scared me, of course. "You never know, maybe I am. I do have connections after all."
I smiled indulgently at her brazen attitude. "You could make a big difference Rose, I hope."
"I hope so too, Dimi, I hope so too." She picked out one last sports bra that was a kaleidoscope of colours, tugged on my hand and pulled me to the check-out.
"Miss Mazur," greeted the slightly plumpish, middle-aged human woman. If I remembered rightly from the first two trips here, her name was Kalani and she had known Rose from before she was born. She shifted her blue eyes to me. "Ah, Mister Belikov," she smiled like an indulgent grandmother. "I see Mr Mazur has solely entrusted you with his jewel."
"Yes, he has," I responded politely while adding the clothes Rose had made me carry onto the pile on the counter.
"Daddy did inform you Dimitri is authorised to sign my account payment, didn't he, Kalani?" Rose asked sweetly.
"Yes, sweetie, he did." Then she noticed the bras and sports bras she was scanning through. "You're growing up, aren't you, Miss Mazur?" she teased in an indulgent grandmother-like way. "And is this...?" she gasped dramatically at the sight on the jeans and jacket.
Rose nodded enthusiastically at my side. "Yup! The jacket and jeans Daddy hasn't been letting me buy."
"Now I suppose this is your doing, Mister Belikov," she asked knowingly in a playful chastisement.
"Guilty as charged," I confessed. "I talked her out of a dress she wouldn't fit in or wouldn't like come next summer."
Her blue eyes sparkled in amusement then turned sympathetic. "I guess you had to handle this first bra buy, huh?"
I shrugged. "I've got sisters," I explained non-committally.
"You can be embarrassing Dimi."
"There's nothing wrong with being a girl," I soothed.
"How would you know?" Rose teased.
"Because I grew up with only girls, 'member?" I nudged her and she giggled.
"You two look and act like really good cousins," came from Kalani.
We shrugged and she laughed before handing me the receipt to sign.
Rose peaked at the total and gaped. "That's nothing."
"That's still a lot, Rose. For some that's two years wages." Like, me, for example, and you in the future without access to Abe's hip pocket. Rose could spend like any well-to-do, thoughtless royal Moroi.
We farewelled Kalani and assured her we'd be back over winter break should Rose need to adjust the size of her winter wardrobe. With Rose by my side and carrying most of the bags, we left the shopping centre. And stepped out into the nearly-set sun.