*One more chapter after this one – where the kids are teenagers. Hopefully you guys like this chapter.
As Time Passes
Lissa
"Your Majesty, did you hear what Lady Drozdov said?" A male voice pulls me out of my reverie and I quickly sit up and look around the room. Fourteen pairs of eyes stare back at me, many of them lined with worry.
"I apologize, everyone." I place a hand on my growing stomach, "I think pregnancy brain is in full bloom right now. What were you saying Lady Drozdov?" I look towards the aging, yet regal, woman three seats down from me, but before she can speak another female voice fills our ears.
"Lis, I think maybe you should go lay down. We've been here for two hours and we can all tell you're fading fast." Rose is smiling at me but I can see how serious she is underneath and I know she's right.
Slowly I stand from my chair and face everyone again.
"Rose is right. We've been here too long and we can finish our discussion tomorrow. Baby number five is much more demanding of my senses than any of the others and I need to take a nap. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I'll see you all 10 a.m. tomorrow." I feel terrible having to postpone – as queen I'm supposed to always be there for my people but being a mother has taught me that I need to take more time for myself and my family.
Rose takes my arm in hers and steers us into the hall. "I don't know if I've ever seen you so spaced out at a meeting."
"I know, I know. I'm just so tired all the time, this little one has me up at night every hour to use the bathroom and the others are up at five every morning. I love my kids more than life but five is enough – even if Christian says he wants seven." I shake my head at the thought.
Rose just laughs, "Who would have ever thought Christian would be such a doting father, he even has Dimitri feeling guilty for not spending enough time with Vera and Jem and Dimitri could win Father of the Year."
We reach my room and a butler opens the doors for us, Audrey and Sabrina, black hair flying, come running and grab a hold of my shirt.
"Mommy, Henry threw up on Teddy and he did it on purpose and won't say he's sorry." Audrey has tears in her eyes and Sabrina looks murderous at the fact that her sister is sad.
I kneel down and wipe the tears off her cheeks. "It will be okay, sweetheart, we'll get Teddy all cleaned up and I'll talk to Henry. Where's dad?"
"Dad is right here," Christian says as he walks into the room, a clean teddy bear in his hands. "Teddy's good as new, Aud," he says while handing the stuffed animal to his daughter.
"You guys are back early, I knew those bores on the council wouldn't have much to say." Christian leans over and kisses my cheek. I've learned over the years to take his sarcasm with a grain of salt and let the comment slide.
"I actually ended it early so I could take a nap, but what's wrong with Henry? Why did he throw up?" The concern in my voice overshadows the exhaustion.
"He's absolutely fine, just drank his juice to fast. He's lying on the bathroom floor though, just in case." He says the last part with a wink at both of us before turning back to me with alarm across his face. "Let's get you into bed and I'll call the nanny to take the kids out so it's quiet."
We start to walk towards our room when Rose calls behind us, "I can take the kids for a couple hours. Vera and Jem will love to play with them and Dimitri's off duty so he can help out." She looks down at the twins who have silently been watching us with big eyes. "Maybe we can go to the park?"
"Yeah!" and "Please mom," overlap as they jump up and down excitedly.
Christian and I both look at Rose, "Are you sure? Six kids is a handful, even for two of the best guardians alive."
Rose gives me an exasperated look we're all too familiar with.
"Of course I'm sure. Now go get Henry and Juliet and I'll help these two put shoes on."
We don't need telling twice. Christian and I don't get a lot of time to ourselves anymore so we're not about to waste the opportunity. Five minutes later Rose is walking out the door pushing a double stroller, Sabrina and Audrey walking on either side of her.
"I'll bring them back later tonight after dinner. Feel better, Lis." She calls as the door closes behind her.
I turn to look at Christian. "We're alone."
He has a dazed look on his face but his mouth quickly quirks up on the side and his normal snarky expression is back. "I can think of exactly one thing that I'd like to do but you came home to take a nap so that's what we're going to do."
I smile flirtatiously as I take his hand and lead him to our bedroom. "I may be tired now but give me a two hour nap and I'll be rested enough to do whatever you want."
"God, I love you," is all he says as I begin to take my shoes off.
Rose
I regretted taking all the kids to the park almost as soon as we all walked out the door. Jem, Henry, and Juliet were all in strollers which made it easy to keep track of them but all they did was complain and ask to get out. Audrey, Sabrina, and Vera were walking around Dimitri and I but kept either running ahead or falling behind to investigate something.
It was times like this that I didn't know how Lissa and Christian could handle four kids, I have two and that's all I can handle most days. It's also times like this when I'm completely grateful for Dimitri, who – when it comes to children – has the patience of a saint. Not only is he pushing Jem in his stroller but he keeps herding the older kids back towards me when they get too far away.
After 15 minutes – it should have only taken 7 – we reach the park and the kids are free to run wild. The fact that the playground is fenced in is a blessing and it means we only really have to watch to make sure none of the kids fall off the monkey bars or play to rough with each other.
Dimitri and I take a seat on a bench under a giant oak tree.
"Did you ever imagine that this is how your life would turn out?" I peer at Dimitri through my sunglasses.
"I hoped, Roza. I hoped it'd turn out this way. You know I always wanted children but when I fell in love with you I let the thought take a backseat knowing we couldn't conceive on our own. When we found out it was a possibility after Declan, I began to hope again, but I wanted you to be the one to bring it up." He moves to put his arm around my shoulders and gives me a small smile.
I smile back and squeeze his hand in mine. "Well I never thought this is how my life would be. I didn't think I'd have kids, I didn't think Lissa would be Queen, I didn't think I'd ever find someone like you but all those things did happen and I'm thankful every day for it."
Dimitri leans over and places a soft kiss to my temple. We both look back to the playground just in time to see Vera push Henry down onto the woodchips.
In the split second it takes before his cries start, Dimitri turns to me and says, "She takes after her mother," before getting up to help the wailing four year old.
We get back to Lissa and Christian's at half past six and I'm not sure I've ever been so worn out in all my life. After the playground we took the kids out for an early dinner and then we went to a children's garden where the kids could interact with nature – but really they just ran around and had us chase them. We all came back tired but Dimitri and I weren't as young as we used to be.
As soon as we walk through the door Lissa and Christian are bombarded with hugs and descriptions of our day. They both take the time to listen to each of the kids before turning to us and immediately start laughing.
"Rose, I'm not sure you've ever looked so tired and I've seen you with three days of no sleep after fighting Strigoi." Christian quips.
Normally I'd have something snarky to say back, but all I want to do right now is go to bed.
"Christian, they gave us an afternoon to ourselves, maybe don't be sardonic right now. Rose, whenever you want a free day with no kids just let us know – we owe you guys."
"Today was no problem, Lis. Yes, I'm exhausted but the kids weren't that bad and you barely get any time off as it is. We'll see you guys tomorrow."
Vera walks back over to me and I pick her up to carry her back to our place. By the time Dimitri and I open our door both our kids are asleep and within in ten minutes Dimitri and I are too.