A/N:Heyo~ Sorry for the late update. I have been having trouble getting this chapter to show up properly on the site, hopefully this time it'll work. My apologies to everyone who saw the notification for the update but couldn't read the chapter.

"We take the bus home," Royce chatted to Dimitri on the ride home. "George is a bus driver."

"Oh yeah?" Dimitri was being so nice for listening to Royce's rambles and being serious with his answers. The fact that Royce was rambling with a technical stranger at all was surprising enough to Rose. The little munchkin was still so shy around his teachers and classmates, and he'd been going to the daycare for over a year. It even took him at least a week to adjust to Mia and Mason, and he was all over them now. "Do you like the bus?"

"I like sitting at the window. I like cars more."

"Do you like this car?" he asked, smiling in the rearview mirror.

"I like this car!" he cheered. Rose couldn't agree more. From when he picked her up from the station she had fallen in love with it as well. It was spacious, smooth, simple, and made Rose never want to take the god forsaken bus again.

"Mommy likes cars," Royce supplied.

"I found that out today actually," Dimitri smiled at Rose. "You were practically drooling when you first saw mine."

"Yeah, yeah," Rose said flippantly. "It's okay, as far as cars go." This car was everything. "And public transportation isn't so bad." It could go die. "Oh, we're almost there."

"Almost there?"

"Yes honey." Rose was reluctant to leave Dimitri's company so soon, but she had grocery shopping to do and dinner to prepare. The coming weekend meant cleaning and hanging out with her boy. She really couldn't spend any more time with Dimitri today or this weekend.

Or at least, that was what she had originally believed. But seeing the way he interacted with her son, and Royce's own quick taking to him, it changed the views she'd held so tightly the past five years.

Glancing back at them, at Dimitri driving while talking with Royce; it truly made her believe that there could be a future for them, and she could make time in her schedule for relations.

"Alright munchkin, let's go," Rose said as she unbuckled Royce once they'd reached the apartments.

"No," he said with a pout.

"No is not an option young man." This sent him into a fit. Great. "Royce, really honey."

"It's okay," Dimitri said, stepping around to their side to say goodbye. "I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"You've been so wonderful Dimitri, thank you for today. Despite our early end to lunch, I really enjoyed our date."

"As did I," he said. God his teeth are so nice. The fact that Rose found the sight of his teeth attractive meant she needed to get laid. She had to avert her eyes from Dimitri's, because it would be highly inappropriate to think about that while holding her crying almost-4-year-old son. "When can I see you again?"

"Excuse me?" There's no way she heard that right. He wanted to go out with her again? After having to bail on their lunch date? Even after seeing her son in a crying fit?

"Let's do this," Dimitri stated. "How about I come and pick you up from the station again? It'll give me time to get to know you and Royce better, so you'll both feel more comfortable going somewhere with me next weekend."

She definitely could not be hearing this right. "Let me get this straight. You want to see me again?"

"I want to see you all the time," he breathed, before clearing his throat and simply answering 'yes'.

"And you want to go out? With me and Royce?"

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of leaving him out."

Okay, wow. "And you're willing to drive me to the daycare then back home? Next week when?"

"Every day, if you'd permit me to."

This man knew just how to get her to say yes. No public transportation for a week? Praise the heavens. "I-I'd hate to put you out like that..." her reasonable self said. "I'm sure you're busy with your own work, and I don't even know your schedule-"

"Roza."

And like that, she knew he had her.

"Okay. But, promise me you'll let me know if you're busy. Or if I'm being a bother. And what your weekly schedule is."

"I will call you tonight then, and we can chat about it," he easily replied. This man was smooth as butter, and Rose was quickly melting. "We can also talk about where the three of us should go."

"Yeah," she sighed, finally cracking a smile. "Royce. Royce, if you stop crying for a second, I have something to tell you." His face lifted from Rose's shoulder as his cries reduced into sniffles.

"Di-Dimi saying bye?"

"Yeah buddy, but I have good news," Dimitri said, placing his hand on Royce's back.

"Good news?" her little boy sniffed.

"Yeah. Next weekend, you, your mom and I are all going to go out."

"Go out?" he asked.

"We're going to hang out," Rose helped. "The three of us."

And just like that, the crocodile tears were gone. "Hang out with Ditri!"

"Dimitri honey," Rose corrected.

"My name might be a little hard for him for now," Dimitri chuckled. "He can call me what he wants."

"I'll work on it with him," she said, then hefted him a little higher. "Okay munchkin, time to say bye-bye."

"I'll see you next time Royce," Dimitri said before he could get sad again, bless him.

"See you next time!" he cheered, in the way that only he could.

"And I'll speak to you tonight," he almost purred to Rose. At least, it sounded like a purr to her. Man, she needed to get laid bad.

"I'll call you tonight," she answered simply. They said their goodbyes, and Rose walked up the steps to enter the apartment. She couldn't get the images of him sitting with her, listening to her talk. Taking her arm in his. Opening the door for her, chatting with her son. Just his wanting to see Royce again had her almost jumping his bones. The few dates she had been on since her son had been born either divulged into sex or never got past the initial meet with the little munchkin. Most men ditched out before getting too involved, or only wanted to see Rose and not deal with Royce at all which was a thousand percent unacceptable in her book. It was what made her so reluctant to tell Dimitri about Royce in the first place. But she had nothing to be ashamed of, her son was the most precious and wonderful kid in the world. If men couldn't see that or didn't even bother to, then she had no time for them.

But, as she was quickly learning, Dimitri was a different kind of man. A man she knew for sure now she was going to get to know much better.

Once inside, Royce ran to the bathroom and Rose sank into the couch with a happy sigh. She was probably working but Rose couldn't help but give Lissa a call.

"Liss, you got like, 60 seconds to chat?"

"Well my boss isn't back yet, so I could even give you 61 seconds." Before Rose could even get back at her for her sass she continued. "Speaking of my boss not being back, that must have been one heck of a lunch date. Where did you guys go, the Cape?"

"Oh hush you," Rose sniped. "I only called to let you know, but if you're gonna be a brat about it…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please tell me how it went, I need all the details."

"I don't wanna take up too much of your time and I hate to admit Mason was right…but Liss?"

"Hmm?" she cooed.

"There are definitely stars."

There was something about going to the office every day now that he had something to look forward to; outside of just heading home and hanging out with his dog. Don't get him wrong, Luchik was his little sunbeam. He was just happy to have another source of happiness in his life.

And that happiness came from Rose and her son Royce.

All week he'd been picking them up after work. At first Rose had been a little hard to open up, but she was slowly coming around. And Royce. What could he say about the little prince? He always has a smile to offer, smart beyond his years, and just a wonderful kid. Dimitri knew who was responsible for that, and it was the woman he was leaving to pick up currently. One of the perks of being the boss was that essentially he could leave whenever he wanted. He usually stayed in his office doing all his work, but he now had a reason to leave the confines of his company.

"Have a nice night Lissa," he said to his assistant on his way out.

"Night boss," she waved from behind her computer. He didn't hear her run after him, but when he got on the elevator, Lissa slipped through the doors before they closed.

"Anything the matter Vasilisa?"

"Nothing besides you calling me Vasilisa."

He bit his tongue. "Of course. My apologies, your name is very beautiful to say."

"You flatterer," Lissa chuckled, nudging his arm with her elbow. "No wonder Rose is so smitten."

"Smitten you say?" Dimitri smiled.

"Oops. Don't tell her I told you."

"My lips are sealed," he answered. Though if there was one thing he could be sure of, it was Lissa's lips not remaining sealed.

"So I presume things are going well?" she inquired.

"Quite." He pictured Royce cheering with his little arms raised. The memory made him chuckle. "Quite well."

"I knew you two would hit it off. Aren't you glad I set you guys up?"

Dimitri could hardly count being tricked to another of Ivan's infamous house parties and running into Rose as Lissa deliberately setting them up, but he wasn't about to burst her bubble. She seemed just as happy about the development as the people involved.

After bidding farewell to Lissa once again after she stalked him to the parking lot entrance to goad more information out of him, he quickly made his way to his car and left the company grounds. He knew the way to the TV station by heart now.

When he got there, he did not remove his shades as he waved at the ticket guard who quickly let him in to park. As he pulled into an empty spot, he saw a figure dash over to his car. Stepping out, he could hear the clacking of Rose's heels before she appeared.

"I'm here, I'm here!" she yelled, coming to a stop on his side.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to drive off without you." Taking a glance, he saw Rose was wearing olive green pants with an off the shoulder white top and what seemed to be a black camisole peeking from under. If he was remembering correctly, she was most definitely not wearing that when she was on the air earlier today. He guessed she'd noticed his gaze and supplied an explanation. "I usually don't have time to change before I have to run and pick up Royce. But normally I don't stay in my on-air clothes." She pushed back a strand of her let-down hair.

"You look amazing either way," he said, and pulled up his Ray Bans to reveal the sincerity in his statement.

"Thanks. You're not so bad on the eyes yourself." She stepped closer to him. He sucked in a breath of air filled with her scent. Naturally his head started leaning in closer.

And suddenly she was gone from his personal space, his sunglasses now in her possession. How could he be the least bit upset when her triumphant smirked lit up the whole parking lot? Speaking of the parking lot. "Are you ready to go Ms. Hathaway?"

"Why yes of course Mr. Belikov," she replied elegantly. He walked her over to the passenger side so he could open the door.

"I'm curious. Why did you not change out of your heels? I know you like sensible shoes." From one of their many conversations over the phone, he'd gathered that she loved food (particularly chocolate and donuts, preferably together), bubble baths, and secretly wished she had a closet the size of a room. There were many intricate little details about Rose's life and interests that had come out from their late night talks.

She turned away from the open car door to look into his face. He couldn't see her eyes until she pushed his sunglasses to the top of her head. "I left them on purposely." He raised an eyebrow to inquire why and she pouted. He knew that she couldn't raise just a single eyebrow. "It was so it would be easier…" Once again he found Rose in his personal space, nearly flush against him. "…to do this."

This time he didn't have to guess what she was up to. The soft press of her lips on his own was a sensation he had been looking forward to for some time now. Not wanting to push Rose, but sure as hell not ready for her to pull away, he placed his hand on the back of her waist, bringing their chests together. He felt her erratic heartbeat against his own wild one. He left the kiss as it was; sweet, lingering, wanting. But every hair on his arm seemed to be standing up as if electrified just from the feel and smell of Rose.

Finally they parted, slowly, still connected chest to chest. "Wow," Rose breathed.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that Roza," he said, looking into her hazel eyes.

"Me too. If I'd known we were both torturing ourselves I would have given in much sooner." A laugh escaped her as she went to her tiptoes (even in her heels she still couldn't quit reach him) to give him a peck on the cheek. "Let's roll Comrade." She lowered the shades back and hopped into the passenger side.

Oh man, he was truly taken with this woman.

"Do you see your mom Royce?" Ms. Heather said to the little boy by her side.

"No," he answered, ready to run out with the other kids. His mom had been coming to pick him up earlier of recent, so he now was in the habit of waiting at the front with the other kids instead of in the playroom. "There she is! Bye!"

"Hold your horses little man," she called, holding the door closed before he could try to open it. "She has to come get you."

"Mommy! Over here Mommy!"

Rose glanced towards the daycare's entrance and waved through the glass doors at her over-excited son. She spoke a few words to the man at her side by the gate then started towards them.

"Royce, who is that man with your mom? Do you know him?"

"That's Ditri! He's almost Mom's boyfriend," Royce supplied.

The daycare teacher was surprised he answered at all, he was normally so quiet. "Almost boyfriend?" What did that mean?

"Not quite," he answered simply. Looking past Rose at the man again, something about him seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Royce said his name was Ditri. She didn't know anyone by that name.

"Hey munchkin," Rose greeted once she opened the door. He ran to her and hugged her legs. "How was daycare?" He put up a thumbs-up. "How was he today?"

"Very good, as always. He's even been opening up more to the teachers and some of the students.

"That's my boy." She grinned and ruffled his hair. "Alright. Ready to go monkey-butt?"

"I'm not a monkey," he giggled. "Let's go! I wanna see Ditri!"

"Okay, okay. See you Ms. Heather." Rose waved bye to the teacher and left the center with her son. This man looks so familiar. Ms. Heather continued to gaze at the strikingly handsome stranger, trying to put her finger on who it was. Royce ran to this "Ditri" who bent to pick him up. He looked to be chatting a lot with the man who smiled sweetly back.

And then it hit her.

That was Dimitri Belikov!

"And then, and then!"

"Take a breath sweetie. Dimitri's not going anywhere."

"Hopefully not, seeing as how I'm currently driving," he chuckled. "So what happened after the boy hit the ball?"

Royce was chatting with Dimitri about his day, and it made Rose's heart swell. He was always so intent when conversing with her son, and she counted her lucky stars (and not the ones in her eyes, damn Mason) that he took an interest in her. Not that Rose was a troll or had low self-esteem. Liss had always preached that she was a catch any day of the week. As the years went on and relationships didn't seem to pan out, she began to lose faith in forming a significant relationship with any man. And it was this exact thought that kept needling the back of her heart, telling her not to let this go any further, to just appreciate that Royce had another male role model in his life. Maybe she could just remain as friends with Dimitri. Lissa would knock her upside the head, saying she was making an unnecessary sacrifice using her son as an excuse rather than a reason.

And after that sizzling kiss they shared this afternoon at the station, she feared she couldn't go back to "just friends".

"-so when the ball fell near me, I picked it up and I threw it. And then! It went in the hoop!"

"You made the shot," Dimitri smiled, and Rose's heart swelled for multiple reasons.

"I made the shot! Mommy!"

"I heard sweetie, I'm so proud!" She turned to look at her son in the car seat, holding the plush soccer ball Dimitri had gotten him yesterday. He'd thrown a fit that night when we realized he'd left it in Dimitri's car. Of course he was all smiles now that he had it back.

"So am I dropping you off at home?" Dimitri asked as they drew nearer to her neighborhood.

"Actually, you could just drop us at the market, I need to do some shopping for dinner," Rose answered.

"What are you making?"

Rose was surprised for a moment before quickly answering. "Just steamed chicken breast with rice and veggies." And because she couldn't help herself, she had to ask. "Would you care to tailgate our company over comestibles?" Dimitri sent a quick one eye-brow raised glance. Damn how Rose wished she could do that. "I have to say it in a complicated way in case you say no, and Royce gets his hopes up."

"Hopes up?" Royce ponders allowed. Rose points at him in a "see what I mean?" gesture.

"Well, if I'm understanding what you just said correctly," Dimitri started with a smile, "then I'd absolutely love to."

A gasp was heard from the back seat. "Ditri joining us for dinner?!"

"Wow, he really did understand."

"Told you," Rose chuckled.

Alright folks! I am sliiightly behind on the next chapter, but I've got a long weekend coming up, so hopefully I'll be able to get through a good chunk of it, if not all. Thanks for your patience and your continued support, and as always, look forward to more~