A/N:Hey-oh! Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter! (A little longer than usual, I had a lot to fit in this chapter). I'll be real, I really like this chapter, and am excited for the next chapter too. So expect it a little sooner than this one came out haha. Anyway, enjoy!

"Woah!" Rose stumbled back into Dimitri's strong arms after being bulldozed by… "Oh my gosh, I forgot you had a dog!"

She looked down at the huge pupper that was now panting by her feet. He sniffed at her toes, but otherwise did not move any further.

"My apologies, he is usually very well behaved. Luchik, sit." He immediately rested his rump down and looked up at Dimitri, alert. "I am sorry he startled you."

"No, it's fine!" Rose shifted Royce again which caused him to wake up.

"Mommy…home?" he said groggy.

"Sleepover, remember?" she answered, still a little disgruntled herself. She pulled him away from her shoulder so he could look at her. "We're at Dimitri's house."

"Ditri's…" He finally opened his eyes fully and glanced around. His eyes almost immediately zeroed in on the most important thing in this house. "Doggie!"

The loud outburst caused the dog to bark, and Royce shrieked and grabbed onto his mother. "Honey, don't worry. He was just scared."

"Yeah buddy. Luchik is shy, so he is easily startled." Dimitri put his arms out in front of Rose. "May I?" She obligingly passed Royce over to him, but he kept a grip on Rose's shirt. "It's okay Royce. I would never let anything hurt you."

Royce let Rose pry his fingers out of her shirt and he quickly grabbed onto Dimitri's. He bent down with the young boy in his arms next to the pup.

"I know you are scared, but so is Luchik. Do you want to be friends with him?" Royce wiped his eyes and nodded at Dimitri. "Okay. All you have to do is put your hand out like this." He turned Royce's hand palm up, where the dog finally walked over and sniffed it. Dimitri held Royce's hand gently yet firmly, so he wouldn't move suddenly and scare the dog again. "Just like that, you're doing great."

"His nose tickles," Royce giggled. Soon the dog was licking his fingers, causing him to outright laugh.

"See? He's a friendly dog." Dimitri put Royce down completely so he could interact with the dog, where they were having a grand old time petting each other.

"What's doggie name, Ditri?" Royce asked. Rose had heard Dimitri say it, but she had no idea how to pronounce it.

"Luchik. It means little ray of light."

"Luu…chick?"

"Almost," Dimitri chuckled.

"Lou?" The dog looked up when Royce called that out, so he continued to just say 'Lou'.

"I'm sorry," Rose said to Dimitri. "I keep trying to get him to say your name correctly too, but I fear it might be a lost cause."

He stood back up and guided all of them out of the front hallway and into what looked like the living room. Rose had to do another 360 to take it all in. "Wow. Just…wow."

"Thank you," Dimitri chuckled. "I tried to keep it modern, but I also wanted a taste of home."

"Russia?" They had talked about it once, but she couldn't remember exactly where he'd said.

"Yes. The engravings on the fireplace and most of the artwork is from Russian culture. The throws were made by my mother when I lived in Baia."

Rose walked around freely, seeing as how her son was preoccupied with Lou now. Darn it, the name was staring to stick with her too. "Where is Baia?"

"In Siberia." Dimitri joined her on her exploration of his home. "Despite what you may think, it is not a barren ice land."

"I didn't think that." Okay, maybe she'd thought it. Just a bit. "I don't know much about Russia."

"I would be happy to teach you." Suddenly they were in his kitchen, and he had Rose trapped in front of the island counter.

"Okay. You can start by teaching me how to say your dog's name."

This pulled a laugh from Dimitri who gave Rose a small reprieve by going to the fridge. "Luchik. Try saying the word 'logic' but with more of a 'u' sound."

"Lo-Luchik?" Rose tried.

Dimitri nodded. "Try to soften the 'k' at the end."

"Luchik."

"There you go," he smiled. He pulled out two mugs and a plastic cup. He poured water in the third one, but left the mugs empty as he put the rest of the water in a pot. "Are you okay with tea?"

"Yeah, tea would be great." They heard the pitter pat of footsteps before Luchik stuck his head in, followed by a heavily breathing Royce.

"Lou ran away," Royce explained.

"He must have heard us saying his name," Dimitri said. "You want some water Royce?"

"Yeah!" Dimitri handed him the cup, already filled about halfway.

Rose was more than impressed that he'd anticipated Royce's thirst, and was over the moon with his observation of her son's needs.

While Dimitri finished up the tea, he directed Rose to a guest room where Royce and she could sleep for the night. The room showcased even more of Russian culture, and Dimitri had informed her that his mother often used that room when she came to visit.

"Arms up," Rose commanded, and she managed to get Royce into his pajamas while he was distracted with Luchik. "Alright little monkey, time for bed."

"Okay Mommy," he answered, yet continued to play around.

"That means now, mister." It was well past 9, and she knew she was going to have trouble getting him up in the morning for daycare.

"Okay." He walked to his mother who picked him up and hugged him close before tossing him on the bed. In a fit of giggles he buried himself under the blankets. "Song Mommy, song!"

"Alright munchkin." She lied down on top of the blanket beside him and patted his covered tummy. He only made it through two times of her singing the short song before he knocked out. Luchik at some point had hopped up to the foot of the bed and rested his head just under her son's feet. "Night baby." With one last kiss to his forehead and a ruffle to Luchik's fur, she left the room. Where she almost ran head first into Dimitri's chest.

She kept herself from gasping aloud, but took his hand and led him away from the room so as to not wake her son. "You scared the hell outta me," she breathed once they'd gone down the hall. "What were you doing?"

"Listening to you sing," Dimitri answered. He smoothed her hair back from her face. "You are beautiful."

"Really? Christian says I sound like a broken record, though he doesn't have any right to talk," she joked, ignoring his compliment.

"You are beautiful Roza," he repeated, leaning closer to her. Okay, he's not gonna let me off.

"Please. You won't be saying that when you see how I look in the mornings."

"I'm sure I'll grow used to it," he chuckled, but some of the humor leaves Rose. Growing used to something meant sticking around. She was only planning on spending the night. Royce had daycare in the morning, Rose had work, and her life would continue as normal. It had to. Routine had stability, which she'd promised to her child the moment he-who-shall-not-be-named (damn it Liss) booked the next flight out of parenthood. Who knew where the bastard was now but he'd better hope he left the States, because if she ever saw him again she had a swift kick to the groin with his name on it. "Roza, why do you look like you drank sour milk?"

Oops. "Sorry. Just...thinking. About things." As Rose did whenever any man tried to breach past acquaintanceship. Dimitri was all up in boyfriend territory, and honestly? "I'm terrified."

Not realizing she'd said that last part aloud, Dimitri gently led her back into the kitchen. There were two mugs of tea already filled. He grabbed both of them (which smelled divine) and she had no choice but to follow him to the den. Giving one mug to Rose, he used the free hand to pull her onto his lap.

"Tell me what has you scared. Is it us?"

"It's complicated." To just blame it on this 'us' would be summing it up too cleanly.

"I won't let you use 'complicated' as an excuse not to talk to me." Forgetting the tea, Dimitri adjusted his position to get more comfortable, forcing Rose to grab his shoulders for leverage. "Does this have to do with Royce's father?"

Rose bit her bottom lip, not knowing how to answer.

Dimitri pulled it from her teeth with his thumb. "You shouldn't do that, it will chap your lips."

Not sure why that made her feel more inclined to speak, but it did. "He's…it's not just him. It feels like every man that I've ever had in my life has…left, ya know? Starting with my own father. I've never seen him a day in my life. Even after my mother died when I was little."

"I'm so sorry Roza," he whispered into her neck. The sensation helped her to continue.

"Lissa's family took care of me after that. The Dragomirs were wonderful, but I didn't want to continue to impose on them, so as soon as I was able to, I moved out. I didn't have much, but I knew it would be better than mooching off my friend's family any longer."

"I'm sure they didn't see it that way."

That made Rose snort. "They absolutely didn't. They called me their other daughter, and treated me like I'd always been a part of the family. Which I guess I had been, seeing as how my mom and Liss's were good friends."

"Seems it runs in the family then," he pointed out and Rose smiled. Liss was the sister she never had and always wanted.

"I love Liss to pieces. And it took a toll on both of us when her parents died soon after I left."

Solemn, Dimitri began rubbing Rose's back. "What happened?"

"Car accident. It was just a wrong place wrong time kind of thing, it wasn't anyone's fault. But Liss blames herself for not stopping her parents from going out that night."

"She could not have possibly known what was going to transpire."

"That's what I told her for months. One day it finally took, or at least Christian got her out of her slump. That's her boyfriend by the by."

"Yes, I've heard of him. I think the entire department has," he laughed.

"That's Liss alright," she chuckled. "But her and her brother finally decided to stop being idiots and live out their lives happily like Rhea and Eric would want them to."

"Her parents?"

"Yeah. They were great." She smiled with a hint of sadness.

"It sounds like it," he hummed, continuing to cuddle her closer. "What did you both do next?"

"I convinced Lissa to move to no-where's Montana, where we attended university. She graduated early though, and I dropped out, temporarily."

"Royce?"

"Yeah." This time her smile was full of joy. "The timing and circumstances in which he was conceived were unfortunate, but that's my little man. I wouldn't change a thing about my past. Besides maybe punching my ex in the face. I'd definitely like to do that."

"And every guy you meet." Now they were getting to the heart of the problem.

"Not everyone," Rose tried to defend. "Just…the assholes. Which is almost all of them. At least the ones I meet. I think I attract them."

"Does that make me an asshole then?" Dimitri chuckled.

"Hardly," Rose snorted, and brought her forehead to his. "You are…amazing. You're sweet, and attentive, and just wonderful. I love being around you. My son loves being around you, which is bonus points."

"Lucky me, because I love being around you both as well." He finally seized the moment and pulled her lips to his. "And, I love that you are both here, in my house."

"More like your mansion," Rose scoffed, pulling away to take another glance around the den.

"Just a condominium," he corrected and Rose poked his sides, causing him to jump. "Wrong move Roza," he growled with a sharp smile, and she knew she was in for it. They tussled on the couch, Dimitri getting a good hold on Rose's sides. When she was in tears from laughing, begging him to have mercy, he finally relented. He carefully laid his big body atop hers, and they just gazed at each other.

"Hi," Rose panted.

Dimitri chuckled. "Rose, you can be truthful with me."

"I know. When I said I was going to pee if you kept tickling me, I mean it."

"Not that you silly." He pinched her nose with his free hand. "I meant about your feelings. About how ready you are to be in a relationship. About the father situation with your son."

Rose looked about his face, not really searching, but confirming. That he was here because he wanted to be, that he wasn't going anywhere.

That he could maybe one day fall in love with her and her son.

And surprisingly? She was ready to take that plunge.

…

"Today's my birthday!" Royce cheered to the barber as he sat in a chair facing a mirror.

"Well congratulations young man. How old are we turning today?"

"I'm four years old!" He held out his fingers to punctuate that fact.

"Wow! Four already? What a big boy you are!"

Royce's grin made even Dimitri smile while he waited for Royce's haircut to begin.

"I'm a big boy, so I'm not scared of the buzzer," he huffed while sticking his chest out. He still held tightly to Dimitri's hand, but he sat still and waited.

"There's a big boy for ya!" The barber turned the clipper on, making Royce flinch.

"You're okay Royce. I am right here, and it will be over before you know it," Dimitri reassured.

"It's okay, I'm not scared. I'm a big boy now." That did not mean he let go of his hand, which made Dimitri chuckle to himself.

Five minutes later Royce was shaven down so most of his hair was at the top of his head.

"There's a handsome man," the barber cheered, brushing off the stray hair. "You ready to go to school soon?"

"I start school next week!" Besides the fact that today was Royce's birthday, he was also going to start attending school. He started Pre-K this coming Monday, and he was more than excited. He couldn't stop talking about it all month. He remembered when Rose informed him the morning after they stayed over his place for first time. He wasn't quite sure Royce understood what school was, but the young boy had been over the wall regardless.

"You ready to go buddy?" Dimitri asked while paying the barber.

"Yeah!" Royce cheered. "Bye Mr. Barber!"

"I hope I see you again young man. And happy birthday!"

Dimitri walked with Royce to his car. It was just the two of them that morning while Rose stayed behind to set up for the party. "Are you excited Royce?" Dimitri asked while strapping him in.

"Yeah! I wanna go to school!"

That made him laugh. "I meant for your party, buddy."

"Oh yeah. That too!" He grinned while trying to put on his own belt. He was getting better at it. Another year and he'd be able to do it himself. "Mommy there already?"

"Yes, she is setting up the decorations for your party."

"Aunt Liss?"

"She's probably there too, helping your mother?"

"Uncle Chris?"

"Let's see who is there once we arrive," Dimitri chuckled. They drove along to the music for a while until they reached his condo.

"Home!" Royce yelled running into the house. Luchik barked and tackled Royce into the couch.

"We're home Luchik," Dimitri said. Technically Rose and Royce still lived at their apartment over on the other side of the city, but they'd spent so many nights over since that first time that they pretty much lived here. Dimitri had discussed it with Rose and she said she wasn't quite ready to make that big a move. He didn't push her, but he also saw that more and more of their belongings were making their way to his house. So whether in her head she thought she was ready or not, it was an inevitable juncture. "Alright buddy, let's get you dressed. Your mother is waiting."

"Okay! Come on Lou!" The dog followed Royce to his room he shared with Rose (Dimitri was also slowly trying to convince Rose to move into his bedroom, but that was another story). She mostly was in charge of changing him, but the few times that Dimitri had to take over were a challenge. The boy did not like to change clothes, despite his affirmations of 'okay'.

Luchik was a good distraction, and he was able to get him into his new clothes that Lissa had bought him a few days ago.

"This my favorite shirt!" he said, pointing at the red t-tee that said in white sparkly writing "I'm a Big Deal". He had on matching white shorts with guitars that Dimitri was positive were going to be ruined an hour into the party.

"Oh yeah? What about your tank top with the superhero turtle on it?" Dimitri asked, tightening the belt buckle.

"Oh. That one too!" The boy was too sweet for his own good.

After finishing tying the laces of his checkered converse, he kissed the top of his head and picked him up. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah! Let's go Lou! Mother is waiting," he repeated Dimitri's earlier statement.

Rose would personally kill him if Royce started calling her 'mother' because of him. He'd make sure that didn't stick.

…

A half hour into the party and Royce's shorts already had grass stains. She had told Liss not to get him anything white.

The music played at a decent volume, though Rose was ready to blast it once Bruno started. But this was a family affair, and there were many children here, and she was not going to be blamed for ruining these twenty plus children's hearing.

So yeah, Royce's fourth birthday party was going off without a hitch!

"Mommy, Austin's here!" her son cheered, dashing over with a friend in tow. Despite being his mother, Rose had seen very little off the birthday boy since the party started. He'd went to get his hair cut beforehand with Dimitri and came back a handsome devil. The both of them did. Now he was spending all of his time playing with friends or shoving junk food in his face. Rose was just glad they were able to use this park space for a private party. Dimitri had offered use of the location near his condo after Rose realized there were a lot more people coming to the party than she'd signed up for. He went with her to buy extra food and goodie bags. Liss and Christian had come over early to help with setup. Mia had a practical exam this morning, but she said she'd drop by once it was over.

"How's the party host doing?" a sultry voice from behind asked her, and she accepted the arms circling around her waist.

"Balls to the walls tired, but what else is new?" she chuckled. Leaning back into Dimitri's chest, she sighed. "Royce's energy level I can handle. Thirty little rugrats? I'm gonna need a glass of wine."

Dimitri squeezed her close and oh did that feel good. "After the party is done and Royce goes down for the night, I'll run you a bath and give you the tallest glass of wine."

Rose was ready to put a ring on this man. "Promise?" she laughed. Twisting in his arms she gave him a chaste kiss, then went on to rejoin the fray with Dimitri at her side.

They spoke to some of the parents, every other person recognizing either her or Dimitri. They kept the conversations away from work though. It almost felt like they were a celebrity couple with the way some of these parents reacted to seeing the two together.

"Ms. Hathaway!" Oh that voice. She'd almost forgotten she'd invited Royce's daycare teacher Heather. Through all the party planning and the setup, and going back and forth between being at Dimitri's house and her own, it was a wonder the party was going well at all.

"Ms. Heather, I'm glad you could make it."

"Of course! We're not going to see Royce at the daycare anymore, what with him starting school. So I wanted to visit with him one last time."

Rose hadn't even thought of that. She just thought it'd be awkward if she invited the parents and kids of most everyone at the daycare but not the teachers themselves. Ms. Heather was one of the first teachers Royce had opened up to, and when he asked if she was coming to his birthday party, of course Rose would have to invite her.

"Well I'm glad you're here then." And since it was expected. "By the way, this is-"

"Dimitri Belikov, correct?" she finished for Rose.

"Yes, it is nice to meet you," he greeted in return.

"You as well Mr. Belikov, I know so much about your company! Pray tell, how did you and Ms. Hathaway meet?"

Not something she wanted to divulge into right now. Thankfully, her son ran in to bail her out.

"Mommy, can't get the straw in." He held up a juice box.

"I got it pumpkin."

"Hello Royce," Heather greeted.

He tuned to see his teacher, not realizing she was standing with them. "Hi Ms. Heather!"

"Happy birthday young man! Are you having fun at your party?"

"Yeah! We play with the ball, and I made it around the post! Then, then we used the sticks as swords, and ran the jungle gym!"

"Why that certainly sounds like a blast!" She bent so they were at eye-level. "And I see you got a new haircut. I love it!"

"I love it! Ditri took me!" He looked up at said man.

"He was very brave," Dimitri commented.

"I'm a big boy now!" Rose didn't think he was ever going to get tired of saying that. "I'm gonna make it this year!"

Both Dimitri and Heather shot her a questioning look. "He tries to stay up all night on his birthday. He's zip for three so far."

"This year, this year, I'm gonna stay up all night!"

"Whatever you say munchkin," Rose scoffed. The little monkey never made it past 9 o'clock. And with all this sugar he was inhaling? He'd be lucky if he didn't crash before the party was even over.

"So that's what he meant when he said that at dinner," Dimitri muttered.

"Dinner?" Heather pondered allowed. Her hand quickly slapped over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

That's right, it wasn't any of her business.

"Ditri is mother's boyfriend."

Well, there went her business. Thanks Royce. And when the high hell did he start calling her mother?! It made her sound ancient! She was only 24!

"Oh wow, I had no idea!" Heather gasped making Rose groan.

"We are trying to keep it, you know. On the need to know. So," she ended with.

"Oh! Of course. No worries here, you can trust me."

With her kid? Sure, absolutely. Good gossip? She had no idea how tight lipped miss tight skirt was.

Rose really needed to get a handle on her irrational distaste for Ms. Heather.

"Anyway," Heather continued, "I want to go talk with some of the other parents. But I'll catch up with you again sometime! And happy birthday again mister Royce."

"Thank you Ms. Heather," he waved bye as he sucked on his juice box. Rose didn't even know where to begin on this conversation. Dimitri picked up Royce and seemed to want to start.

Lissa chose that moment to intrude on them. "Hey you guys. Mind if I borrow Rose a smidge?"

"Uh, yeah," Rose answered for her. "Just, one sec." She turned to her son in Dimitri's arms. "Royce, do you remember what private means?"

"It means secret," he answered dutifully.

"Yes. And my relationship with Dimitri? Is private. Only tell if directly asked. Okay?"

"Okay mother," he smiled. The word ran like nails on a chalkboard. She couldn't even respond to him, just turned and followed Lissa away. She could hear Dimitri reprimanding Royce not to call her 'mother' before they were completely out of earshot.

"Okay One: When the hey-haw did Royce start calling you mother?"

"Ugh, please don't say that," I shudder. "Turns four and thinks he can call me whatever he wants."

"I'm sure it's just a phase," Liss said.

I wave to a couple parents and get a few compliments about the party. "So, why'd you pull me over to the bubble machine?"

"Oh right! But second: how are things going with you and the boss?"

"Could you just call him Dimitri? Calling him your boss makes it sound like we're having an affair."

"Isn't it though?" Liss laughed, and Rose shoved her in the side. "Okay, real talk. Things look good. Are they good?"

Rose thought about Dimitri and raked through her memories with him over the past two months. "Things are…things are wonderful."

"And that surprises you because?"

"It doesn't surprise me. I'm just-"

"Waiting for things to go wrong?"

"Damn it Liss, you know I hate when you do that."

"Sorry, habit," she giggles. "As long as you're happy, then I'm satisfied."

Rose was more than happy. She was currently living a dream life, it seemed. I mean, amazing friends, the best son in the world (who was going to stop calling her 'mother' immediately), and what seemed like the perfect boyfriend. What could ruin that?

"Did you really just call me over to ask about my love life? We talk like every day."

"Oh no, that wasn't the reason. You are not going to believe who just showed up here though."

Rose narrowed her eyes questioningly, but before she could drag her for details, she was grabbed from behind.

Look forward to the next chapter~

Also, I will be so proud and surprised if anyone can guess who this is. I'll give you a hint: they were mentioned in this chapter.