Hahaha. A lot of you guys sent me reviews based on what you think will happen and how you wish it would happen. I am very open to ideas. And I am also very, very happy about the responses I'm getting with this story. ^^ Well, you all wanted to know who was at the window, so here it is….~

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Meanwhile, a feminine figure watched them from inside the house, staring at them longingly.

They looked so right together.

"It's not right of you to lie to his face like that, Rose"

Rose jumped up slightly, turning and narrowing her eyes towards the intruder.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I honestly don't know how Dimitri didn't notice it when he first glanced at the children," the other figure said, stepping closer to Rose, "but I did."

"You don't know anything, Tasha." Rose said defensively, letting the curtain fall back into its place and walking away.

"For the record…..I'm not going to tell him," Rose stopped at the entrance of the hallway, waiting for her to finish, "it wouldn't benefit me in any way to do so."

Rose smirked and gave a cold laugh, "Why?" turning back around to face her, "because you'll know he'll come running back to me."

Tasha glared

"You know, I always knew there was another reason why I never liked you. It wasn't just the fact that you had the attention of the man I love. But now I see that you're nothing but a cruel person that only does things for herself."

"I don't care what you think of me Rose," she said, walking towards the refrigerator and taking out a water bottle, "I already have him by my side," Tasha turned to look at her with a smug grin.

Rose clenched her jaw before walking away.

When she was out of view, Tasha's face betrayed what she had just said.

She knew he was never going to be hers. But that didn't mean Rose had to know that.

She sighed and walked towards the window that Rose was at a moment ago and moved the curtain. Watching as Dimitri genially smiled and laughed for the first time in four years.

She chuckled.

Kids, huh…..is that all it really took? That was definitely enough reason for Rose to fully be able to take him away from her.

She wouldn't let that happen.

Maybe…she will tell him about Rose's secret.

Maybe, he will be too angry to actually be able to mend their already deteriorating relationship.

'Decisions, decisions…'

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The day passed with Rose trying to ignore Dimitri as much as possible. But that was hard due to the fact that her kids were literally on his lap as the taller man sat on the couch. Why did life have to be so cruel to her? Why show her this image that she's longed to have for so long?

"How did you like your present's boys?" Tasha asked, smiling away at them.

From the corner of her eye, Rose glared maliciously at the infuriating woman.

How more fake can she be? Sure, like she said before. There was a reason she didn't like her. But she didn't think she was this nasty in comparison to her views from before.

"Santa brought us a lot of toys!" Damyan yelled

Yulian narrowed his eyes at Damyan, slapping him on the chest

"Ouch! What'd you do that for?!" Damyan shouted at his younger brother.

Yulian grinned, "You had a spider on you."

Rose smiled slightly; she was starting to see a nuisance begin to grow in him for Tasha. So…his instincts kicked in did they?

"Yulian, stop hitting your brother" Rose said, not putting any sort of punish mental voice to it.

"Yes, mama"

Dimitri leaned himself back and watched the two boys bicker away. The entire room disappeared in front of him. The only things he could see were Yulian and Damyan. This inept relationship he has grown with them….why was it?

Was it because they were Rose's children?

His grip tightened a bit from around the boys waists'.

"You should have seen Dame, me and Mr. Dimi played outside all day~!"

Damyan glared, "Why did he play with you?"

"Because you were asleep!" Yulian stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

"Not my fault you kept on kicking me all night and didn't let me sleep!"

Dimitri raised an eyebrow.

"You share a bed?"

Any little detail he can get from them. He would gladly accept.

He wanted to know everything about them.

Damyan tsk'ed, "No, this scaredy-cat always comes into my room when he gets scared."

"I do not!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Boys, stop arguing. Now." Rose's voice suddenly filled in Dimitri's mind.

Their conversation had been really bothering him. And he also noticed that she has been avoiding him like the plague. But he wasn't going to stop her. It was a bit uncomfortable to talk to her after their small fight.

"Seems like the Hathaway spunk has begun to come out" Christian smirked, leaning back in his chair and resting his elbow on the head rest, laying his head against his palmer.

"Sparky. Shut your trap and go put your little toys away." Rose glared

"Why do you and Uncle Christie always fight, mama?" Yulian asked, looking at his mother then back at his uncle.

Rose looked at him at a loss for words.

"Same reason you fight with Dame" Christian replied

"Why do you two argue?" Rose motioned to her sons

The boys looked at each other before shrugging, "We don't know"

Christian shuttered even more, "Would you stop doing that!"

Lissa smiled, shaking her head at her husband's childish behavior.

"What? Can't handle two little boys, Christie~" Rose fluttered her eyes

"You can't even handle them!" Christian glared, ignoring the 'Christie' comment

"I've raised my sons' sense they were born, I have to be able to control them or else they wouldn't have the life they have now" Rose clarified, crossing her arms, daring Christian to say otherwise.

Christian just looked away, admitting defeat.

"Yeah, you do that sparky"

"Anyways, children," Lissa looked at both Rose and Christian, "how about we let the kids go out and play with the nanny's while we have some wine."

"Sounds good to me" Tasha agreed.

Everyone else agreed, except Rose

"Mm, not me, I already drank champagne last night. Besides, I'm driving home today." She said, taking her seat in the couch farthest from Tasha and Dimitri

"Alright then, do you want Ice-Tea?" Lissa asked, calling for the maid

Rose nodded, grabbing her cell-phone from her hand-bag.

Seeing she had two missed calls

"I don't get what you see in that damn phone. You're always on it." Christian said

"Stop complaining. Besides, what I do with my phone is my business" Rose said as a matter of fact

"Yeah…wouldn't want to know what kind of conversations you have going on there"

Rose smirked, "And what kind of conversations do I have Ozera?"

"That's enough. Rose, stop with your snide comments and Christian, just….stop." Lissa chided

Rose hpmh'ed and looked at her caller ID.

Her eyes widened, a large smile forming on her face.

"What's up?" Lissa asked, taking her wine glass from the maids that had arrived

"We've won the case!" Rose squealed

"Oh my god Rose! That's amazing. Congratulations" Lissa reached over to hug Rose

She sighed, squeezing her arms around her best friend

"Case?" Tasha asked, looking at Christian.

Christian took a drink of his wine before responding, "Rose owns a large architectural business company. She'd recently merged in with another company. They proved to be a fraud or at least, made a breach in their contract."

Rose nodded, "They failed to have representatives present at the hearing. They had no validity of warranties that would benefit us. We voided the contract and got restitution in return. I took the initiative and filed for a law suit. Luckily, our state follows out-of-pocket rule for damages for fraudulent misrepresentations. So we made a large benefit in bargain damages just by suing for the breach of warranty. Plus the amount of money I lost in the damned deal."

"How much did you put in?" Tasha asked.

Rose bit her lip, "Over two-hundred mil"

Their eyes widened.

"That's why my restitution and chances of gaining back more money is infinite. At this rate, I'll have compensation for the deal, the suit, and the veto of the contract." Rose grabbed a glass of wine, "Forget it, I'm taking a drink right now. I'll just call Adrian to drive us home!" She said, wearing a large grin on her face

"That's the spirit!" Christian said, cheering her with his glass

No one seemed to notice the difference in Dimitri's posture. The mention of Adrian made his blood boil. Why did he have to come into the conversation?

"I didn't know you had a job other than guarding Lissa, Rose?" Tasha asked

So many fucking questions from this bitch, does she have a fucking off button or something?

Rose cleared her throat, "I don't guard Lissa, anymore," Dimitri focused his attention on Rose, "that is…..I never became her guardian. I graduated and got my promise mark to her. But after finding out I was pregnant, I had a one year leave and didn't end up protecting her. I started instructing at the academy instead. Then, I slowly began to make my business grow…" she looked down sadly to the floor, "I regret not being what I worked my butt off for our last couple of months at the academy. But I don't regret taking my break to spend time with my kids. I wasn't going to do what my mother did to me."

"It's fine Rose, I'm not upset about it. I'm happy that you're at least here with me," Lissa placed her hand on Rose's shoulder, "I'm happy that I got to be an aunt of two great boys"

Rose chuckled, leaning her head against Lissa's.

"Why so much money though?" Tasha continued to ask

"What's a deal, if not interesting in numbers? What can I benefit from it?" Rose asked back.

"The agreement was two-hundred million, for 51 percent of the profits and business. At least, what they made out to be a business."

"I personally still think that wasn't enough. But what the hell do I know?" Christian said, casually taking in his wine

Tasha looked at him as if he had two heads, "Son, that's a lot of money"

Christian snorted, "For who?," he pointed at Rose, "her? No. The woman can have anything she wants. Why she bought a two story family house and has an Infinity as a car. I won't ever freaking know"

Rose rolled her eyes, "I don't need to waste my money on things like that. I'm going by what I know I can live with, thank you very much"

Rose looked down at her wine glass and grimaced, not in the mood to drink anymore. So she just set it down on the glass table next to her.

"Look it's snowing." Tasha said, looking out the window.

Rose followed her line of sight and seen blankets of snow come down, "Christian, my kids don't have their jacket's on," she glared at him

Christian shrugged, "So?"

"So, go bring them inside. Now." She glared even harder

Christian stood up and raised his hands in the air, "Sheesh, I'm going."

"I need to call HQ" Rose muttered, getting up and walking into the hallway.

Lissa sighed

"What's the matter, princess?" Dimitri asked, standing up in assisting her with the tray's with wine glasses.

Lissa smiled, "Thank you. It's nothing, it's just….it's always like this nowadays. Christian goes out with the kids—though I don't mind—and Rose is either always busy at work, at home, or here. She never takes a break. So we don't really spend time together anymore."

Dimitri didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't fairly close to the heir of the Dragomir's.

"It's alright, Lissa. I'll spend time with you." Tasha said, setting her hand over Lissa's.

"Thank you."

Dimitri stepped back and walked away from the girls. Not wanting to get into the conversation.

Instead, he made his way towards the direction Rose went.

"Yes, that's perfect John Philip! You always know how to get into a girl's heart," Rose giggled, "Alright then JP, I need you to backup all of the useless documents, files, anything that's related to those worthless people and have them disposed of. I don't need people trying to sneak into the building to try and dig up information about the law suit," she turned around and came face to face with Dimitri. She stared right into his eyes, still keeping her conversation on the phone, "I don't need unwanted eyes and ears to know about this problem. If anyone were to hear about this, my profits will pummel down."

Dimitri turned his head slightly, letting her continue talking.

"I know. I agree. Alright, I'll call you tomorrow, yes. Thank you again, JP. I owe you one." she lowered the phone down and let the call end itself before giving her full attention to the man in front of her, "Did you need something."

He cleared his throat, "The princess is upset."

Rose looked at him confused, "What do you mean. She was fine a minute ago"

"No, she was fine before you left the living room. That was ten minutes ago. Tasha is consoling her."

Her eyes narrowed at that. Not only did Tasha take Dimitri away from her, but now she's trying to take her best friend.

"What was she upset about?" she looked out at the now snow covered grass.

The hallway consisted of full bodied glass, showing off the view of the courtyard. While the other had a rock covered wall with water cascading down to the drain on the floor.

Dimitri leaned himself against the glass, nodding to himself, "She thinks you're spending too much time with work and not on her."

Rose rolled her eyes, "That's ridiculous."

"Is it really? You said you wanted to spend time with your kids and not make the same decisions your mother made with you. But yet, you're still working and Christian is the one that takes care of them. Leaving the princess alone and feeling abandoned."

"You don't know a damn thing about me—about Lissa and you sure as hell don't know anything about my kids." Rose glared.

"I may not know who you are anymore, Rose," he stepped forward toward her, "but I want to get to know your kids."

"Like hell" she spat, trying to make her way around Dimitri. But of course, luck wasn't on her side.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult? Why must every conversation we have always end up in arguments? You told me once you didn't want to fight with me. Why are you being this way? I asked for forgiveness—I've realized my mistakes. I know I did wrong in leaving. But you weren't the only one in pain after I made that decision Rose. Believe it or not, I would make that same decision over again if that's what I thought was best for you." His bangs fell over his face, covering his eye from one side. Not deterring his vision from her.

"Stop trying to make me out as the bad guy…." she whispered

"I'm not," he said quietly, "I just want….things to go back to how they once were or at least an ounce of how we use to be."

Rose bit her lip harshly, turning her face away from him.

"This is why I never wanted anything serious. This is why I was the way people made me out to be back at the academy. Those rumors….of me going around from guy to guy were true, to an extent. I never gave myself to them. But I always messed around. A relationship for me meant trouble. I knew it would hurt—that it would give me hell." she said

"You're only stating the negative perspectives Rose…..," he said, tugging on her arm, "was what we had back then that bad for you?"

"…No."

"Then…love isn't what you make it out to be. You felt it and you still do," one last tug and she was in his arms again, "let me in," he tightened his hold and clenched his eyes shut, "let me fix my mistakes, please."

Rose sniffled, shaking her head from side to side, "I can't…"

"Why!?" he growled

"Because then you'd hate me." she whispered

Dimitri looked down at her head, confused.

"Why would you presume I would do that?"

Then she abruptly pulled away, wiping away at her tears, "Nothing. No reason."

"Rose." he warned

"Don't give me that tone. It doesn't work anymore." she lowered herself to the floor, covering her face with her hands

"Please tell me why you think I would hate you….." he said gently, kneeling down on the floor with her.

He grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips

But she continued to shake her head and keep her mantra, "I can't…."

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, her hands still at his lips.

"Alright…I'll let it go, for now. But I'm going to find out sooner or later," he leant himself closer to her, "nothing about you stays a secret from me forever, Roza."

That damn nickname brought so many memories.

She allowed herself to rest her head against his chest as she felt him wrap his arms around her.

"Please forgive me….." she whispered

He didn't respond, just squeezed his hold on her more.

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"Mama~ wake up!" Yulian yelled, patting his mother's cheek.

"She's not waking up?" Damyan said, jumping up on the bed and towering over his mom

"Nope."

The boys looked at each other, then down at their mom, "MAMA!"

Her eyes opened widely, "What…is your problem?"

She looked in between both of them, startled by their rude awakening.

Wait, awakening?

Rose checked her surroundings and found herself in one of the spare rooms Lissa had.

"What am I doing in here?"

"You fell asleep, mama" Damyan said

"Yeah, Mr. Dimi brought you in here." Yulian nodded

"He what?" she groaned, sitting up on the bed

"I wanna go home, mommy!" Damyan whined, patting his little hands against the bed comforter.

Rose just nodded her head, trying to readjust her sight, "Go on downstairs. I'll follow you guys out."

"Kay~" they chimed and ran out the door

Rose slowly got up and made her way out the door.

"You're leaving already?" She heard Lissa's voice from the foyer

"Uh huh! Dame wants to go home already" Yulian's voice came next

"But…where's your mother?"

"Right here." Rose responded, slowly stepping down the staircase

"You okay? You look…..tuckered out." Lissa asked, worry lacing her features

Rose raised her hand in the air, "I'm fine…just need to sleep more, I guess."

Lissa sighed and made her way to hug her best friend.

"Careful on your way home, okay"

"Will do." Rose smiled.

"Come on boys, let's go home."

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Meanwhile...

"Ah, Guardian Belikov. Welcome back!," a man dressed in long white robes greeted Dimitri as he made his way inside his office

"Thank you, father."

"What can I do for you-," he motioned for the chairs in front of him, "sit, please."

Dimitri chuckled, "Thank you…again. I actually came to ask the impossible."

"The…impossible?" the priest repeated, setting down his spectacles and leaning his chin on his hand, "what do you mean?"

"Has there ever been…a possibility in damphirs consummating with the results being-"

"A child?" the priest finished

Dimitri, a little shocked with the priest's answer, cleared his throat and nodded his head.

The priest sighed and stood up slowly from his stool, walking into a closed room behind the office, "Come with me."

Dimitri quietly obliged

"There have been rumors, yes. But that's all they were. The fact that there were special casualties did nothing to result this factor. Damphirs are not meant to elope-" Dimitri's gaze hardened, while the priest continued on forward "that doesn't mean it's never happened before. The attempts to actually birth a child should be inevitable."

"Yet…?" Dimitri muttered

"Yet…it has happened before—once," Dimitri's eyes brightened a fraction, "but it was never really proven with hard evidence. The information you're looking for is in this book," he made a grab for a thin book encased between thick, older books, "it is the way it is because like I said, no true evidence was found. As far as people can say, it never really happened."

Dimitri looked up at the priest, receiving the book from his grasp, "And what is your opinion on this matter, father?"

"My opinion….," the priest smiled, "I never have them. I believe in the righteousness of god. He can create many things. And I believe that he can make anything happen, so as far as saying that, that child born of both damphirs is true—I believe that there was a possibility."

Dimitri stared at the book for a second before letting his hand drop to his side, "But the possibilities…are zero to none. How can you say there is a possibility?"

"Why the sudden interest, Guardian Belikov?"

He blinked a couple of times at the bookshelves next to him, turning his gaze back to the priest, "Common curiosity to pass the time."

The priest nodded, not believing him one bit, "The reason I say there is a possibility is because there was something in one of the damphirs that most did not have."

Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows while surveying the book.

"Your student has that same defect—or as the former Queen would say, a gift," the priest made his way around him, with Dimitri following in tow, "shadow kissed damphir's have been known to be a legend. As this has only happened to the late St. Vladimir and Shadow Kissed Anna, take what you will from that legend. But what most do not know is that there has been one more pair with that bond, a damphir before Anna. His name was Andemion Badica"

The younger man looked at him quizzically

The priest gave him a Cheshire smile, "Not expecting that were you?"

"That's impossible. The Badica's are of moroi descent."

"Ah…..that is what they want you all to think—but I know better. As I was saying, long ago Andemion Badica met Emerie Vaughan, two damphirs that worked side by side to serve under the Dashkov's. Believe it or not," The priest turned around and stopped his stride, "after having to be constantly around each other they slowly started a fruitful love. They of course, had to hide it from the world. Damphir associational relationships were frowned upon back then and still are now, though it's not as personal as it was before. Now, it's just meant to be a survival quot. Moroi alone cannot survive without the help of damphirs. That's why they are not only depended on just for protection. Well anyway, Emerie found out she was with-child. She didn't understand—but, come to find out during the amount of time that both damphirs spent together. They had a lot of mishaps with their line of jobs. Of course, to become shadow kissed, one must be faced with death. That is what happened to Andemion, though they didn't get why she had become pregnant. They didn't know he had been shadow kissed. No one had ever heard of it. Thoughts of betrayal fell into Andemion's mind and with that supposed betrayal, came out his malice. He began to grow spiteful. On the contrary, he had been taking….the 'darkness' from Emerie without realizing it. After the child was born, Andemion murdered Emerie and such became the life of the Badica's we know today as Royals."

Dimitri ran his hand through his hair, trying to process as much as he could take, "None of the Badica's were known to have inherited this trait-"

"Because without Emerie, Andemion would not have been so." The priest said

"Being close to death the way he had, the possibility of consumption was just that, a possibility." Dimitri whispered

"I still have no idea where you are going with this Guardian Belikov. Why does it seem to me that this information is so vital to you?" The older man grinned, bringing his hand together in front of him. Waiting for a response from the younger male

Dimitri looked up at him with a respectful smile, "Like I said; mere curiosity."

"Mm…you also have to realize that curiosity killed the cat, Mr. Belikov" the priest pointed out.

That brought Dimitri back to reality

"Knowledge is a good thing to have. But too much information can also become one's maker."

Dimitri nodded, "I understand," he handed the priest back the book, "thank you for your time."

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Oh oh~ Looks like Dimitri is doing some snooping around of his own *o* ….I wonder what's gonna happen :3 tell me what you think. Until then….TBC~