Hey, guys! Another chapter for you kind souls sticking around! Just wanted to send some love to those of you reviewing, you're the real MVP's! I love hearing what you liked, what you didn't, your sorrow at some places, and your laughter at others!

I just have to give a special thanks to: ittzallaboutjazz. If you happen to see this, I need you to know that I read your review after a very, VERY bad day. The review made me feel sooooo much better. Hearing that you love my story, and you read it in ONE sitting—WOW—makes me feel great! I hope you stick around!

Alrightie. Now that I got that off of my chest…NEW CHAPTER! (Ya'll know I don't own VA, just my OC's and the plot line!)

"Briar, let Orchid play with her dollies," I heard Eddie scold lightly in the playroom. I threw a pair of jeans and a St. Vlad's hoodie on before making my way across our spacious home. My hair was still wet from my shower, but I was too nervous to care.

"Baba, you playin' wiff her! Not me!"

I paused in the doorway. Leaning on the doorjamb as Briar fumed at my husband. Eddie simply gave him an understanding, fatherly look. "I've been playing with you for an hour, bubby. It is sissy's turn now."

"Hey, Briar," I say brightly as I walk into the big room, crouching next to him and his train set. "I'll play trains with you."

My son's eyes lit up, and my heart fluttered. He grabbed my hand and pointed to his Thomas the Tank Engine locomotive. "Mommy, look!" Briar cries out, "Thomas gotta stop the bad guys!"

"Uh-oh!" I gasp, my hand flying up to my mouth. In the corner of my eye, I catch Eddie watching me, smiling. "Briar," I confide dramatically, "the bad guy's blocking the tracks!"

Eddie continues playing dollies with Orchid Marie, pretending to be the daddy doll. I swoon, seeing how happy he is as he acts out everything the little girl wants to happen inside the doll house. I definitely made the right choice in marrying Eddie. I love him, and so do my babies.

"Bad guy on tracks?" Briar interrupts my loving thoughts, "Dimitri, get off the tracks!"

I stop breathing, and my head flies around to stare at my son. Eddie does the same, his jaw ticking. I know he's not made at Briar, just at the mention of Dimitri's name. He doesn't take kindly to people hurting me, or our family.

"Briar," my husband begins slowly, his face noticeably calmer now, "where did you hear that name?"

The little boy shrugs, focused on moving the bandit figurines out of the way of the moving trains. "I heard it at Auntie and Unckie's house."

Eddie remains ever so patient, "When, bud?"

"Dinner," Briar says quickly, then turns to me, "Mommy, you not playing!"

I force a smile on my face, but my anxious eyes are trained on Eddie's, "Sorry, but, Briar? Don't use that name for your bad guys, okay?"

Orchid frowns, and plops down on Eddies lap. "I like 'Dimitri'. It pretty."

I sigh. "But you shouldn't use someone's name for your bad guys. It's not nice, and I don't want you two doing that."

My daughter was not satisfied with that answer. She crossed her tiny arms, and leaned back into Eddie's chest, eyes narrowing. Oh yeah. She is definitely my daughter. "Mommy, who Dimitri? Why he bad?"

I fumble for the right words to explain the situation, let alone to two year olds. "Dimitri is someone I've known for a long time. We were like…best friends. But, he did mean things, and I…stopped being friends with him."

Briar gasped. "You stop being friends?!"

"Yes," I nodded in confirmation. But Orchid Marie still wouldn't let up.

"Why he come here?"

Eddie turned her little body towards him on his lap, and gently tilted her head up. "Where did you hear that, baby?"

She looked at us like we were stupid, "Dinner." Well, perhaps we were stupid. The twins may be very young, but they were extremely intelligent. I should've known that sitting them in the living room last night wasn't going to keep them from hearing our "adult" conversation. That thought was validated with Briar's following comment.

"We hid and listened. I heard whole thing." He smiled arrogantly, "I good novice already."


"I still don't understand why we have to meet him at all," Eddie protests loudly, glaring at Adrian as the three of us walked to greet Dimitri when he arrived.

The moroi sighs, running a hand through his gorgeous hair. "The guy's coming to help you. I'd stop complaining, and start thanking."

"Wow, Adrian," my husband says sarcastically, "you're a poet, and didn't even know it!"

"So you're a comedian now, Edison?"

"Hey, at least comedians make more than poets."

"Yeah, and pigs also fly, so."

I chuckle, and they turn their icy gazes onto me. "What?" I ask, still in a fit of giggles, "I thought Adrian was a poet. That last one didn't even rhyme."

Eddie barks out a laugh and high fives me. Adrian just looks away, starting to walk ahead of us. He shakes his head, "I see why you two got married."

"And why's that, Ivashkov?" Eddie questions, smiling at me while wrapping an arm around my waist.

"You're both horrid creatures. Ugh, you two parasites deserve each other."

I snort at his teasing tone, caught up in the moment. But a few moments pass, and I remember why we're going to the main entrance to begin with. Eddie notices it and his face becomes somber as well.

"I still don't like this," he mutters, only to me. "But…I hope he can help us."

I nod resolutely and take his hand in mine, squeezing it. "For the twins," I say.

His mouth turns up at the corners, "For the twins."

Our sweet moment is ruined by Adrian. Imagine that. "Hey! Why am I a mile ahead of you guys? Stop lollygagging, will you? I've got a tea party with Orchid in an hour, and she does not tolerate it when I'm late! Hurry up!"

I'm pretty sure the two of us slow down just because he told us to hustle. Eddie laughs, and I remember he told me earlier that Orchid Marie was getting all gussied up for a cup of tea this afternoon. "Rose, that little girl has us all wrapped around her little finger."

"Well," I say haughtily, flipping my hair and batting my eyelashes excessively at him, "She is her mother's daughter."

"No, Briar is his mother's son. Orchid gets her attitude from you, but she's a quiet one, like me."

"True, but it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."

"Belikov better not even look at her wrong," Eddie clenches his fists, "or I'll pull a stake on him."

A new voice enters our conversation; uninvited, and laced with a Russian accent. "I'd rather you didn't."

I didn't even see him approach us. Bad Rose, bad! You've been out of action way too long. "Belikov," I state the obvious, dumbstruck.

He's definitely changed since the last time I saw him. The crazed look in his eyes is gone, and he actually looks…peaceful. I see the eyes of the old Dimitri, the one who captured Lissa and me a handful of years ago. But, his hair is short, not even curling over the tips of his ears. He's also missing his trademark, a duster. As I take in his coatless form, I nearly gasp out loud. A small child is clinging to his leg.

Without even thinking, I crouch down and smile at the little boy. "What's your name, cutie?" And a cutie he was. Imagine Dimitri as a toddler, with icy blue eyes; the Ozera eyes. This is Tasha and Dimitri's kid!

"Maksim Belikov, ma'am," his pure and adorably accented voice answered softly.

I beam at his manners, "That's a cool name. You know, Maksim, I have a son who's about your age."

He smiles shyly, reminding me of his father, "Really?"

"Yeah, I have a daughter, too. She's the same age as my son." The boy arches one of his eyebrows at my words. Oh come on! Even his kid can do that! Why can't I figure it out?!

"Same age?" He looks up at Dimitri, as if searching for a sign that I was telling the truth. The trust in the child's eyes for his dad was heart melting.

Dimitri nods at him, stroking the toddler's hair with a tender hand. "Miss Rose's kids are twins. That means they were born on the same day."

I could sense Eddie's shock at the Russian God's transformation over the past few years. Belikov didn't appear to be the wildly obsessed man that he acted like when he tried to snatch Orchid. But still, it would take more than a charming toddler to sway my opinion of the dude.

"Adrian," I hear myself say, "Why don't you take Maksim to play with the other kids while we talk with his Daddy?" I glance over at Dimitri and he nods his consent. Before the two leave, Maksim hugs his father's legs, says goodbye in Russian, and skips away to walk beside Adrian.

"Cute kid," Eddie says after an awkward silence.

Dimitri smiles, really smiles. I balk at the sincerity in his expression. "Maksim is a joy, definitely. I'm actually glad that Tasha won't be raising him. He has such a strong, compassionate nature, and it would have killed me if she had been able to corrupt it."

"Yeah," My husband agrees, then adds quietly, "She always was a wack-job."

"Eddie!" I scold sharply, but Dimitri remains placid.

"He's right, Rose. Tasha was insane."

After the air had been cleared a little, the unease between us receding bit by bit, we discussed the dreaded Sarcozy family. As I'd presumed earlier, Lord Sarcozy had planned on using Dimitri to kidnap my children. He'd obviously been offended at the assumption that he'd willingly try to take my child…well, now that he looked to be in control of his sanity. That was nothing of a surprise.

What was surprising was the fact that I wasn't scared or furious with Dimitri. I should have hated him for the way he left me, and then nearly hurt my little girl. I should have feared for my babies, and myself. But, I simply didn't. I know I made a mistake judging his character before, but I didn't feel like he was a threat anymore.

Dimitri had seemed so lost, so broken when he attacked us at Lissa and Christian's mansion. I never really gave thought to his actions before, except for how livid they made me. But Dimitri must have been going through the darkest time in his life.

He left a woman he cared for—me—to run off with Tasha Ozera, of all people. (No offense Christian.) Then, she was locked away for beating that same woman that he'd left behind. Not only that, but his past flame was pregnant, had been raped right after he deserted her, and had gotten together with another man. He found he truly didn't love the wicked Tasha, but by then it was too late to ask my forgiveness.

Then the man had to begin raising a child all by himself. I am not by any means condoning anything Dimitri had done, but it was hard not to sympathize with him. His mind was definitely not clear, and there was no one for him to talk to. I know that I have done worse than pulling a stake on someone when the darkness of Lissa's spirit overwhelms me.

He was completely alone.

And now look at him. He's a father, and a great one at that. It didn't take a genius to see the way Maksim adored him. Dimitri's life is finally bright again, and maybe he's realized that if he stayed with me, he never would have had his son.

I had an even more shocking revelation. If Belikpv never would've left me, I wouldn't have gone on that pity shopping trip in the mall with Lissa. I never would have been assaulted, and the twins would not have been conceived.

In our own twisted way, we helped each other find family.

While our stories are dark and our minds scarred, we both overcame it all. We became parents, and I found true love. So we didn't find a fairytale ending together, but we will live happily ever after. Maybe our camaraderie will even be repaired, and Dimitri will have others to lean on for once. I know it is wishful thinking, and I may be foolish to even let these things cross my mind, but you'll never get out of the darkness if no one shows you the light.

But for now, I just want my babies safe.

Dimitri's back! Tell me what you think in your REVIEW! Until next time, guys!