"So, now what are we going to do?" Zena asked.

"Relax. Reflect on what has gone on in the past couple days."

Lev laughed. "Yeah, well I want to talk about the fight! That was hot! Like seriously awesome! You and Rose, Dimitri, wow. I never thought you two could fight like that. It was like, MMA material."

I chuckled. "He was MMA material. Besides, we have to be ready for dinner tonight. Gabe is bringing his lady friend home tonight to meet us. She is cooking, so be ready to feast!"

"You sound excited, Rose." Tammy said amused.

"Until you taste her cooking, don't judge me. You'd be excited too."

I could see the smile growing on her face, even though I couldn't see her. I was busy looking out the window at the sun (but not directly at the sun. That would hurt).

I had missed the sun, the feel of its warmth kissing my skin. I would like to go to the beach one night and just soak up the sun. Perhaps the Cobra's and I can talk to some humans and have a good time, but only if they want to come with me. Do they miss the sun as much as I do? Today, with the sun on my skin in the courtyard reminded me how much I missed it.

When we returned to the castle we all sat down in the living room area with healthy banana shakes (no sugar or ice cream added). Tommy sat on Dimitri's lap next to me, and on his other side was Lev. Tammy sat next to Lev. Zena sat on the rocking chair. Eddie sat with Lissa and Christian on the other couch. Denis and Larisa sat on the love seat. Gabe was still missing.

Before we started talking about what happened, I had to bring up Russia. "So, we will be leaving next week for Russia."

Lev smiled. "About time. I miss home."

Denis nodded in agreement. "What day and time?"

"Friday when the sun is up. Lissa and Christian are coming with us, so I'm taking extra precautions."

"So soon?" Larisa said in surprise.

I frowned. "If any of you don't want to come, you don't have to. I'm not making you do this. I just thought you would want to return home sooner rather than later."

Larisa nodded. "I just thought with the wedding games that we would stay a little longer is all."

I shook my head. "It was fun, but now we really need to get down to business."

"I hear plane rides are fun!" Tommy said in excitement.

In unison, we all looked at Tommy. I nearly had forgotten him in all the excitement about the wedding. I looked to Dimitri.

"He should come with us." Dimitri said immediately. Lev nodded in agreement. Tommy saw Lev nod and brightened up.

"Oh, can I?" Tommy looked to me. "I've never been to Rwussa!"

"We can't." I said gloomily, immediately foreseeing many obstacles.

"Sure we can." Tammy chimed in with force.

"I'd be dangerous." I pointed out in Russian to the Cobras. (A/N:The rest of the conversations are in Russian.)

"No it won't." Lev said. "Not with all of us or one of us with him."

I looked to my hands. "Guys, don't make me the bad guy here. I want him to come with us, but if we do, it would also be kidnapping. We are not his guardians. We are just taking care of him and even though the Council knows we are taking care of him, child services will be here to take him away. And leaving the country with Tommy would definitely be a bad idea."

Dimitri nodded, though I could see it was hard for him to agree. "Roza is right. We can't."

"What are you guys saying?" Tommy asked, cocking his head to the side. "I don't understand."

That's the point, little man.

Suddenly, the door bell rang. "I'll get it." I said.

"I'll come with you." Levi said, standing up.

As we walked down the corridor, he took his shirt off.

"Why did you do that?" I asked amused.

"Women can't resist this." He gestured to his muscular torso.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help a smile. "If it's a woman."

"It is. My body tells me so."

I playfully chocked and he poked me in my side. We walked to the door. Through the stained glass, I could see a woman. Levi opened the door with a smirk directed at me.

"Hello?" I asked, confused. A beautiful brunette moroi woman with light blue eyes, stood at the door. She was dressed nicely; baby blue silk blouse with a white and baby blue skirt that went below her knees. "Can I help you?"

She gave me a warm but professional smile. "Good morning, Guardian Hathaway," she turned to Levi, gave him the up-down and finally looked at his face. "Guardian Andreev."

"Good morning." Levi said in the same tone she said to him; professionally. "How can we help you?" There was a double meaning behind that and I resisted the urge to elbow him.

"My name is Ms. Sarah Carmichael," I didn't miss the hint that she was single and I mentally groaned, "from child services. I am here to pick up young Mr. Foster."

"Um.." I blinked. "Dimitri!" I hollard. I gave her a smile. Dimitri was by me seconds later.

"Yes?"

"Hello Guardian Belikov." Sarah said.

"This is Sarah Carmichael. She is part of child services." Dimitri's face looked a little disappointed.

"Oh."

"She's here for Tommy."

"Mmm." He said. He looked at me.

"Can you come back after dinner?" Levi asked suddenly.

She nodded. "Yes. I can do that. What time should I be here?"

"Eight-"

"He is four years old, he should be going to bed around seven."

"Four?" Dimitri asked, shocked.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I just found out he was four and half this morning." I gave Dimitri a shrug. "I got his file this morning."

"Oh."

"Come back at seven thirty." I said.

She grimaced, but nodded. "Ok." She turned and left. I shut the door slowly, realizing that my day is no longer exciting. I turned around and looked at my two guys.

"We have to tell him some time."

Lev nodded. "You will. You're good at making thing seem…not so bad when they really are that bad."

That was a lie, but I didn't care. Tommy was leaving anyway.

"I didn't expect them to be here so soon, especially since he has no family."

"What about that Kevin guy?"

The door opened up and Gabe and Maria walked in. Maria was as beautiful as I remembered her. Her long brown hair was curled and put on top of her head like a princess. Her gray eyes looked a little green, and her makeup had really made the color pop. She wore a black skirt that went to her knees and a yellow shirt that was somewhat baggy and was cut at the shoulders so you could see skin, but had sleeves that covered up to her elbow.

"Hi Maria, welcome to our home." I said, trying to sound not as gloomy.

"Who was that?" Gabe asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the door, indicating the driveway.

"It was child services." Levi said with a grimace.

"Tommy." Gabe realized.

We nodded.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. Though I thought it would take them longer to get to him."

Me too, "Gideon must have called in a favor." I said out loud, just realizing it. "I told him about Tommy."

"Darn." Maria said. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged and looked at her. "Do you want me to show you our awesome kitchen?"

She laughed out right and it sounded beautiful and full of amusement. "Sure. I made up most of the food, so that all I have to do is heat it up. You won't have to wait long." She winked at me. And I smiled.

"That's great. What is one the menu?"

"Stuffed chicken, dumplings, corn and the cob and green beans."

"Stuffed chicken?" I said it like a foreign word.

She winked. "My own personal recipe."

"Tell me what is in it?"

She shook her head.

I gave up and signaled her to follow me. Gabe came with us, but Dimitri and Lev went back to the living room.

We went up some stairs and down another corridor to the kitchen, taking the long way. We reached the kitchen and she smiled. She came to a halt a few feet after she entered the kitchen. "Awesome kitchen. Any chef would be proud to work in here."

Gabe gave a deep laugh from his throat. Trying to sound manly was my only guess as to why he was acting like that. "Agustus sure enjoys it."

"He's your chef?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Do you need anything?"

She looked around. "Where are all the cooking supplies?"

I walked behind the counter with her behind me. Hanging up over the stove was some pots and pans. On the counter near the stove were some cookie, pizza, pie and cake trays in a slot-like holder. There must have been twenty of them. I opened up a drawer and saw forks, spoons and several types of knives.

I went to the cabinet below the drawer and open it. In one circular aluminum tin were wooden cookware. Next to that tin was another tin, but it was sturdier, because it had heavy duty spatulas, tongs and other cooking tools.

"That's all I need." She said. I nodded and left the room, leaving Gabe and her in peace.

I went back to the living room, and everyone was still sitting down.

Eddie was speaking when I sat down between Larisa and Dimitri. Tommy was sitting next to Denis now.

"...he nearly broke his ankle."

"who?" I asked.

Eddie looked at me. "Rafe. This was when you were gone with Lissa."

"Oh."

It was quiet.

"Gabe and his lady friend are here."

"We know." Larisa said. "Levi told us."

I nodded and got up. "Well, I'm going to get ready."

"That sounds like a good idea." Zena said, getting up too. Together we left. I jumped in the shower, taking longer than I normally would. I didn't get why I was so depressed about Tommy leaving. It was weird, but then again, I could understand lingering an attachment.

"Rose?" I heard Dimitri call out in the bedroom as I stepped out of the shower. I had used my vanilla sugar body soap, so I smelled good.

"I'm drying off."

"Then I will wait out here."

I quickly dried off, wrapped myself in a towel and walked out. Dimitri was taking his shirt off as he turned towards me.

"Hey." I said. "What is it?"

He smiled. "You took longer than usual. I was making sure you were okay." He leaned down to kiss me, but ended up kissing my shoulder.

"You smell wonderful."

I chuckled. "Thank you."

He stepped back and I slapped his butt. "Get in the shower."

"Why?" He asked in amusement. "Do I smell?"

"No. You might be late for dinner."

"Yes dear."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes dear?"

"That is the key to a happy marriage."

"Then it will do you good to remember that."

He leaned down with a breathtaking smile. "Yes dear."

I laughed as he kissed me. "God, I love you!" I said as I hugged him.

He stepped back and walked into the bathroom. He left the door slightly ajar as he brushed his teeth.

"Did Tommy take a shower?" I asked as I looked in my closet for something nice to wear.

"He is right now. One of the maids is giving him a Jacuzzi bath." I heard him spit. "He thinks it's the coolest thing!"

I chuckled. "Of course he does." I picked out my dress; a dark blue V dress with a white belt buckle. The part that held the strap of the dress was silver metal.

I heard Dimitri jump into the shower. I decided to lie something out for him. I grabbed a nice white shirt with his Denim jeans that he seems to love. When I was done, I went to my dresser and decided to add a little makeup on. I went with silver shadow stick on my eyelids, and black eyeliner and mascara. I added a little blush to my cheeks and dried my hair.

When I finished drying my hair and started brushing my hair, Dimitri stepped out and walked over. He took the brush from my hand and absentmindedly started brushing it for me. I looked at him in the mirror. He was watching what he was doing.

"We need to start packing soon." I said quietly.

"Yeah." He agreed, still watching what he was doing. He moved from left to right. When he was done, he set the brush down and ran his fingers through it and looked at me through the mirror.

"You look beautiful." He said, resting his chin on my shoulder. I tilted my head so that it rested on the side of his and smiled at him. I never get tired of hearing him say that.

"I laid some clothes out for you." I told him, still looking at him through the mirror.

"Thank you." He got up and went to the bed where laid it out. He put his close on while I looked at the time and made sure my makeup was perfect.

"Ready?" He asked.

I looked at him and nodded. He offered me his arm and I took it. We left the bedroom and walked down the corridor.

I smiled. "I feel like we are going on a date."

"It does feel like that, huh?"

We made our way to the dining room. Dimitri opened the door and he followed behind me and grabbed my hand and put it on the crease of his bicep and forearm. The table was seat beautifully with fine china. Gabe was sitting in a seat in the middle of the table. I saw that he had started a fire in the white colored marble fireplace. Zena and Denis were playing chess over in the corner near the back. Lissa and Christian were seated at the table, across from Gabe.

"Did someone get kicked out of his own kitchen?" I asked amused as Dimitri pulled my chair out and pushed me in. He sat next to me.

"Where are Levi and Tamara?" Dimitri asked before Gabe could say anything back.

"The place where I got kicked out!" Gabe said, raising his arms in annoyance.

I laughed. "Aw, poor Gabril." I pouted my lip out to exaggerate.

"Shut it, Rose." Gabe said teasingly.

Dimitri looked around the room. "What is it?" I asked.

He turned to Gabe. "Where is Tommy? I thought he would be out of his bath by now."

"Dimitri, if you were in a Jacuzzi and you are four and a half years old, would you want out?" Zena pointed out.

"No."

"Me either. I'd love the feel of jets and the fact that it's so big."

The doors of the dining room opened up and Cara and Tommy came through. "Tommy is all dressed. I took the liberty to put bubble bath into the Jacuzzi. Dian went out and bought him new clothes."

"Thank you Cara." Dimitri said. "Dian went home, right?"

Cara nodded. "Yes, she has a doctor's appointment and took the rest of the day off."

He nodded. "Remind me to pay her for her troubles." He said to me.

Tommy came up and sat right on my lap. "That was the best bath ever!" He wore a red transformers t-shirt with Megatron on it, and blue jeaned shorts.

I laughed and ruffed up his shaggy black hair. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm stawved (starved)!"

Dimitri laughed, and it sounded delighted. "Have a seat Tommy."

To my delight, he straightened up on my lap and sat forward.

I chuckled. "So, you're going to eat my dinner?"

He nodded. "No food for you."

The doors opened up and Lev pushed a trolley with one big pot, two stainless steel bowls and one long pan on it. Tammy and Maria followed after him. When they got to the table, Tammy and Lev sat down, but Gabe jumped up.

"Babe, can you put the big pot," Maria pointed to the huge stainless steel pot on top, "in the middle. Make sure you put the hot pad underneath before you set it down. Otherwise you will burn the table."

Gabe did as he told. Maria set the two bowls- that held the corn and the cob, and the green beans. Then she set the pan in the middle of the table.

"Dig in!" She said with a smile.

"No need to tell me twice!" I said. I reached over Tommy and grabbed two corn and the cobs, two big spoonfuls of green beans, two chicken breasts and a big scoop of dumplings.

I took my fork and knife and cut them up for Tommy, then for myself. As soon as I was done, Tommy took Dimitri's fork and started eating.

Dimitri looked at Tommy with an eyebrow raised.

"Snoose you loose." Tommy said.

I looked at Tommy and he looked at me. "I love you already!" And I kissed him. This kid was amazing.

"Christian, he's mine. You don't need to be an influence on him."

"I will be the only good influence."

After that, everyone dug in and ate.

"So, how long have you two been seeing each other?" Zena asked nicely.

"About three weeks." Gabe answered.

"What football team are you rooting for?"

"Pittsburg Steelers." She answered without fear.

"Huh. Do you have a problem with Packers?"

"I have nothing against Wissconin's Packers….other than that they shouldn't have won the superbowl!"

I snorted. "They are awesome!"

"The game was awesome." She said, bargaining.

I leaned back in my chair. "Agreed, but even though we are all Pennsylvanians, I think Packer's are better."

She eyed me. "Michigan or Michigan State?"

I gave her my cunning smile. "STATE BABY!"

"Uh." She turned to Gabe. "This won't work!"

I laughed. "We are going to get along just fine." I said.

"uh oh." Larisa said. "That's never a good thing."

"Don't worry, Gabe and I will protect you." Dimitri said to Maria.

Maria laughed.

"How old are you?" Denis asked her.

"Twenty."

"Do you like kids?"

"Definitely."

"How many relationships have you been in?" Larisa asked, trying to sound casual, but failing. She sounded like she was interrogating her.

Maria stiffened up. "Three."

"what is your sexuality." I asked.

"Bi." She twitched her lips when she saw my expression. I tried to control my shock, but that obviously didn't happen. "Kidding. I'm straight. I'm very much into men. As you can tell." She looked at Gabe and back at me.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Dimitri asked, eyeing her up but not making it look obvious. His tone was neutral, but I knew he wanted to know. He wanted to make sure that his brother wasn't getting into anything over his head.

"No. I never wished anyone dead. I may wish karma on them, but not death."

I nodded, liking her answer. "But what about strigoi."

She frowned. "It is unfortunate that, that person was turned, but they must be stopped."

Everyone at the table nodded and everyone went back to eating their dinner.

After a moment, someone spoke in a child-like voice. "Superman or Spiderman?" Lev asked with a twinkle in his eye. I think they like her already, especially since they went on to these kind of questions.

"Superwoman."

"Ah, and you are my favorite person." Tammy said with a chuckle.

"Do you plan on traveling a lot?"

"I plan on traveling for vacations here and there, but not all the time."

I looked Gabe, wondering if he told Maria about him leaving for Russia. Or is he going to be staying here? Gabe caught me looking at him and he must have been thinking the same thing.

"So, Maria, I will be leaving with them Friday."

She nodded. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going back home."

"To Russia?"

He nodded. "Yes."

She seemed a little disappointed. "When will you be back?"

"Not for a while."

She nodded. "Okay."

I looked to Tommy. "Do I get to come?"

I shook my head. "Sorry Tommy Jay."

"But where will I go?"

I looked to Zena. "What time is it?"

"Seven twenty." She said, looking back up from her watch.

"A woman named Sarah Carmichael will be here to pick you up."

"Why can't I stay hewe?" Tommy argued.

I frowned. "Don't you want to go with her?"

He shook his head.

"Think of it as a fun adventure. You get to meet new people!" I said, trying to sound cheery.

He looked down. "I don't want to leave."

Cara came in with Sarah. "I'm here for Mr. Foster."

Tommy turned to me. "Pwease, can't I stay?"

I shook my head. "They won't let you stay, sweets."

Tommy turned to Sarah. "Pwease. Can't I stay?"

Sarah shook her head. "Now come, Tommy. A lot of people want to meet you."

Tommy turned into me and cried. "I want to stay!"

"You can come and visit." Dimitri said

That seemed to easy Tommy up. He looked to Sarah. "Weally?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."

Tommy hugged me, then went to Dimitri and hugged him. "Thank you for letting me stay hewe."

Dimitri smiled. "Any time."

Lev got up and went to Tommy. He kneeled down to look him in the eye. "You are the bravest young man I've ever met. Remember to keep your chin up and believe in yourself."

Tommy nodded, but he still didn't look happy. "Thank you for dinner. It was the bestest eveow." (best ever)

Dimitri, Lev and I walked Tommy to the door. Tommy grabbed my and Dimitri's hand as we walked and squeezed a little bit. When we got to the door, Tommy hugged all of us.

"This isn't good-bye, Tommy." Dimitri said, trying to sound neutral.

"I know, but I don't wanna gow."

I hugged him close when it was my turn. "Sarah has my number, so if you want to talk to me feel free to call me and we will come get you if they say it is okay."

He nodded then hugged Lev and off Tommy went.

We went back to the dining room and found that most of the room had been cleaned up. Maria was wiping down the table.

"Agustus has real competition now." I told her.

Maria chuckled, her eyes sparkling. "Good to know."

"What was the sauce on the chicken?" Lev asked.

"It was my own recipe. It has garlic and honey in it, with a touch of cinnamon."

"It was the best I've ever had." He complemented her.

"Rose." Gabe said to me from across the room. He was over at the chess table. He waved me over. "What do you and everyone else think of her? Isn't she great?" He asked me in a hush voice when I got there.

I could make him worry a little bit…. I decided to bullshit him a little bit.

I frowned at him. "Gabe…" I scratched my head to show a little insecurity. "She prefers superwoman over batman! Really? And her sense of humor…a little bit under the top."

Gabe's expression stopped my heart. He looked crushed. I immediately felt retarded. What was I thinking?

I laughed regardless. "I'm kidding bro! We like her. I think she's great. And you know Lev does since he asked her that ridiculous question with superman and batman."

At first, Gabe actually glared at me. "You nearly freaked me out!" he slapped my upper arm then pulled me into a bear-crushing hug. I wanted to laugh, but all the oxygen was squeezed out of me.

"I love you too." I said, out of breath when he hugged me. He let go and I took in a deep breath. "Don't hug be that hard again, though."

"Don't scare me like that again." He glared again, but it was a lot less serious, then it quickly disappeared into one of his 'I want to know for real' look. "You really like her though?"

I put my hands on my hips. "Gabril Maletski, are you doubting your leader?"

I think that melted away his worries, because he gave me a breathtaking smile. "No, ma'am."

"Good. Now to talk to her. Tell her the good news."

He saluted to me and walked off.

I went and sat down next to Dimitri, who was talking to everyone else. Gabe and Maria went into the kitchen. "…he was a good kid." I heard the tail end of what Tammy had said.

"Who?" I asked.

"TJ." Zena said with a sigh. "Oh, I'm gonna miss that little buddy!"

"He was here less than two days and he captivated me." Tammy pouted.

I laughed. "I know what you mean. He was a brave boy." I grimaced. "I wish we could have saved his mom."

"Where is his dad?" Dimitri asked, turning his head to look at me.

"He…" I looked at the table. "He was turned strigoi."

"By choice?" Zena pushed.

I shook my head. "Wrong place, wrong time kind of thing."

It was quiet after a moment, then Tamara spoke. "I think I like Maria."

I nodded.

"But…do you think it will last long?" Zena asked.

Tammy and I gave her a haunting look. She put her hands up in defense. "I'm being realistic! I want it to work out, but you know how the moroi race rolls. They will eventually leave. I just don't want my brother to get his heart smashed." She frowned. "Gabe is a softy when it comes to love."

She was right, but what she doesn't realize is that everyone's heart gets broken sooner or later. "I'm afraid that's unpreventable, Zena."

She frowned. "Why?"

"Because we can't control life." Dimitri answered for me. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I like her, but if she hurts him, we have a problem." Zena said in a discourteous voice.

Everyone in the room agreed with a 'yeah.'

"Do you think she's going to move in?" Denis asked.

"I hope not" I said. Then I thought better of my words. "At least not yet. It's much too soon. After all, we just met her. I would find it weird…and very uncomfortable. I want to get to know her a little bit more before we talk about ground rules for a girlfriend moving in."

"Hey, it's no different than you and Dimitri." Denis pointed out.

I nodded. "True."

I looked down, but I was pondering what we discussed. This was only the beginning. Would it ruin my family? Would future relationships break them away from me?

I got up. The more I thought about it, the more depressed I felt. "I'm going to start packing my things for Russia."

Zena and Denis got up.

"I think we will do that too." Denis said and they walked away.

I took the longer way, avoiding Dimitri's gaze. I went up to our room, but didn't bother closing the door. What would be the point? He was coming to talk to me after all.

What do you think they will talk about? Do you think Tommy will be back? Do you have any clue's as to what may happen in the future? How do you think Dimitri feels?

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