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Chapter 13: Little Sparky

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

As promised here it is. Enjoy=)

RPOV

"I still can't believe that you're not going to go home and see your family for Christmas?" I said incredulously. I knew that if it was an option I'd strap paper wings onto myself and fly home as fast as I could.

"I haven't celebrated Christmas at home in a long time Roza. They'll understand," he replied.

"Besides remember Russian Christmas isn't until the seventh."

It was Christmas Eve and we were sitting in his apartment. We'd come here so I could wrap my gifts for Abi and Baba without them seeing.

"Besides, I want to spend Christmas with you," he said kissing me softly.

I smiled. "I would miss you if you were gone," I said. I was secretly glad he was staying. I didn't want to seem selfish, but I really wanted him to stay here with me.

"What would you say to spending some time in Russia with me after your exams?" he asked.

"You mean you want me to go home with you?"

"Sure, my family loves you. I do recall specific instructions from my mother to bring Roza home to her."

"I would love to go visit your family," I said eager to see the home where he grew up.

"Vika's been bugging me to bring you to visit for a while now too," he admitted. She was great, his sister. I wondered if his other sisters would like me.

"You can meet my other sisters and Paul and Zoya and Sonya's new baby."

The way he talked and the look in his eyes told me this is something he'd been thinking about for a while.

"Let's do it," I told him firmly. Just as I'd suspected his mother and sisters squealed excitedly through the phone when he told them we were coming.

"Aren't you going to stay with me tonight?" I asked as I gathered my stuff. He hadn't made a move to put on his coat or anything?"

"No, I think you need to spend tomorrow morning with your family. I will come by later in the day."

I pouted, but I guess he was right. I wanted to make up for all the Christmases I missed.

I woke earlier than usual glad that Christmas was on a Sunday this year so I didn't have to ditch any classes. I was finally managing to keep my head above water in the three classes I hadn't dropped and was even getting an A in beginning Russian thanks to a certain handsome hunk with a Russian accent. I'd yet to discuss the fact that I'd dropped my sciences with Baba. I was going to wait until the holidays were over before broaching the subject.

I crept down the stairs and was surprised that I was not the first person up. Adrian and Avery and Baba were all sitting around the table still in their pajamas.

"Noeliniz kutlu olsun Kizim," Baba greeted me. He rose to his feet embracing me tightly as he kissed my forehead.

"Noeliniz kutlu olsun Baba," I responded. Abi greeted me in a similar fashion.

"Who wants pancakes?" Baba asked grabbing the griddle after tying Emil's apron around his waist. She had the week off to spend with her family so it was up to us to fend for ourselves.

"Really pancakes?" I asked in astonishment. I was so glad not to have to endure one more day of Emil's boring borek. There was only so much of that shit I could take.

"Of course. They're your favorite. I even managed to get the good bacon," he said winking. I knew he'd probably sent Pavel or Sergei to God knows where to find pork bacon, but I was eternally grateful.

I laughed as I watched him flip the pancakes in the air just like he used to. The smile never left his face even though he was covered in pancake batter and several of what he called his masterpieces ended up on the ceiling or the floor.

"Ready for more?" he asked as I finished up my second batch.

"Definitely," I said grabbing four more off the platter and two more pieces of bacon.

Avery's eyes widened.

"That's like twelve pancakes and half a pound of bacon," she said in awe.

"Hey I've been choking down what you guys call breakfast for months. Cut me a little slack," I said taking another long swig of chocolate milk.

"I knew you hated the borek. Why didn't you say so?" Abi asked crossing his arms.

I shrugged. "I didn't want to be rude to Emil. FYI I don't hate borek, I just prefer bacon and pancakes or French toast," I said sticking out my tongue.

I was nervous about them opening my gifts. I had followed the rule of hand making them like I did at home which was funny because I'd spent quite a bit of money sending things home to Astoria that were definitely not home made. The difference was that I knew Baba and Abi had everything they wanted. Mom and Dad and Chrissy and Tasha had always had to do without mostly because of me. I wanted them to have a good Christmas this year, especially since I wasn't there.

"Kizim, you made this?" Baba asked as he opened his gift.

I nodded holding my breath in anticipation. I really wanted him to like it.

"It's beautiful," he whispered. He was getting emotional. I'd decided that since he missed so much of my growing up that I'd make a photo book detailing the highlights of my childhood. My parents had indeed taken photos of us throughout our life. They had just stowed them away up in the attic so no one would see the ones of me.

I had my Mom scan and e-mail them over to me. The book started with my first day of Kindergarten. There were school plays, my first and only ballet recital, holidays, birthday parties and finally school dances ending with prom and graduation to which he'd been a part of.

"There's a DVD in the back that has old footage my parents took of us when we were little," I told him.

"Thank you," he responded hugging me tight.

"Open yours," I told Abi eagerly. Avery snickered in anticipation. She knew exactly what was inside. She'd already oohed and ahhed over the necklace I'd made her.

"Is mine a home movie too?" he asked eagerly. The box was in the shape of a DVD.

"Open it and see," I said trying to hide my smirk.

He tore off the paper and I laughed as the expression on his face went from hopeful to frightened as he looked at the DVD in his hand.

"Little cupcake, that is just mean," he said tossing the DVD on the coffee table in disgust.

Avery and I cackled like hens as he shivered.

"Dude you have got to get over your monkey fear," I crowed slapping my knee.

"Planet of the Apes?" Abe asked quizzically holding the DVD in his hand causing us to bust up even more.

"Stop mocking me or I'll take all of your gifts back," he threatened.

"You wouldn't dare," Avery said.

"Try me."

"Okay okay we'll stop."

"Here's your real gift," I said handing him another box.

"Now that's more like it," he said looking at the photo frame I'd made for him. I stuck a picture of us from the night we met at Lissa's pool party in there. We were laying in lounge chairs him with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and I had a drink in my hand. We were both wearing dark shades, smiling and giving the finger to Lissa who was taking the picture. That ended up being a really fun night even though I was pining over Dimitri. It was finally my turn to open my gifts only I didn't see any left under the tree.

"This is something I was planning on getting you when you turned seven, but I never got the chance," Baba started.

"You begged for one of these since the first time you saw one and I thought you might still enjoy it," he finished as Abi wheeled in a huge box from the utility room.

"Open it," he encouraged.

I lifted the top of the box and tossed it on the floor and the second I put my hand in the box I felt something lick me.

"Oh my God!" I cried excitedly as I lifted a squirmy little pug puppy into my arms. He whimpered and yelped trying to lick me all over. There was a red bow around his neck and jingle bells around his paws.

"He's adorable," I cooed nestling him against my chest like a baby.

Baba smiled. "I'm glad you still wanted one." I thought back to the first time I ever remembered seeing a dog. It was at the park. I was around three and Baba had taken Abi and me to play with the sailboats in the pond. I was sitting watching Abi with his boat when a small creature approached me and began to wag its tail. I reached out to pet the friendly animal and it jumped in my lap and began to lick my face. After that I remembered begging Baba to take me to the park to see the puppy and then begged for one of my own.

"This is the best," I cried hugging Baba tightly with the puppy between us.

"What are you going to name him Little Cupcake?" Abi asked. He and Avery had gotten all the puppy stuff I would need for him like a collar, leash, food and water dishes, a doggie bed, kibble, toys and bones.

I thought for a while and a devlish smirk crossed my face as I had an idea.

"Did you pick one?" Avery asked as I sat smiling at the little puppy.

"I think he looks like a Sparky. Don't you?" I asked Abi.

He busted up laughing knowing I'd named him after Christian.

"Sparky it is," Baba said not quite getting the joke.

We spent most of the afternoon playing with Sparky. I couldn't wait for Dimitri to get here so I could show him our new puppy. Oh, I hoped he liked dogs. If he didn't he'd just have to get used to it because this bugger was definitely a keeper. I poured some food into the dish and some water and watched as he ran around in circles as he ate. He'd nibble a few bites and get so excited that he had to run around and chase his tail. Then he'd come back and do the same. It was adorable. I took video on my phone to send to my friends later. I glanced at the clock and realized it was getting late. It was already after four.

I went upstairs to my room to call home to wish my parents and siblings a Merry Christmas and see how they liked their gifts. I was really excited this year. I knew I went a little overboard, but after Dimitri let it slip that they'd paid over a hundred thousand dollars for my fake documents last year, I owed them more than I could ever repay.

No one answered the house phone so I dialed Chrissy's cell.

"Hey big brother Merry Christmas," I said cheerily.

"Hey Rose," he replied.

"Did you like your gift?" I asked.

"Yea, it's definitely awesome," he said excitedly.

"What about Tasha? Did Mom like the necklace?"

"Yea, they liked them." I sensed a but in there somewhere with the tone of his voice.

"I think you're going to have to explain Dad's gift though."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Rosalie," my father's voice boomed across the phone. Uh oh! The only time he called me Rosalie was when I was in trouble.

"Merry Christmas Daddy," I said knowing he was mad.

"Merry Christmas, now do you want to explain the SUV sitting in our driveway?"

"What SUV?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"Don't get cute with me Rosie," he responded in his no nonsense tone.

"Oh come on Daddy it's a gift," I said huffing.

"Rose, you can't just buy us a car. It's just not right," he said sighing.

"You don't like it?" I asked dejectedly. "Chrissy said that was the one you wanted. Did I get it wrong? Did you not want leather seats? Is it the wrong color? We can exchange it for a better one," I said.

"Rose you know that isn't the problem," he said.

"Why does there have to be a problem. You needed a new car and now you have one," I said not getting why he couldn't just be happy.

"Rose you can't buy us a car," he repeated.

"Why not?"

"We're supposed to take care of you, not the other way around," he said. I could tell he was getting frustrated.

"You did take care of me and because of that, you can't afford the things you need. Daddy please take the car. I don't like the idea of you breaking down all the time. It isn't safe."

"Rose, it's just too much," he argued.

"Oh yea, did it cost a hundred thousand dollars? Cause I hear that's what I owe you for my driver's license," I retorted.

"What how?" he sputtered.

"How do you think?"

"Belikov," he growled.

"Yes, now please Daddy. I want you and Mom to have it. I owe you for everything you did for me. The house, the move, cutting ties with family, a hundred thousand dollars. Just let me do this for you. I love you," I pleaded.

I could tell he was cracking.

"Please," I said again. It would help if he could see my puppy dog eyes. Maybe I could send him a photo of little Sparky and his big brown doe eyes.

"We can't take Abe's money," he said finally.

"Is that they only reason," I prodded.

"Yes," he said.

"Good, then you can keep it because I bought it with my money."

He stuttered trying to come up with another excuse, but couldn't.

"Let me talk to her," my mother said and I could tell she was about two seconds away from ripping the phone out of his hands.

"Rosie, Merry Christmas," she said happily.

"Merry Christmas Mom. Can you tell Daddy he's being ridiculus."

"I think he knows," she said laughing.

"Did you get the package we sent?"

"I did, but I wanted to wait until we were talking to open it." I sat down on the edge of the bed and tore open the box she'd sent.

There were three gifts inside. I opened the first box and stared at the contents.

"Gummy Bears?" I asked aloud.

"Those are from Tasha," she said laughing.

"Ah, should have figured." She usually gave the strangest gifts.

The second gift was a crocheted handbag. It had a black interior and a crocheted white overlay with fancy stitching and a cute little black bow at the top.

"It's so beautiful Mom. Thank you," I told her. We talked some more and I told Christian all about my new puppy. He was not thrilled when I told him what I decided to name him. He said the third gift was from all my friends and I should open in after we hung up.

It was a huge glass jar. It was decorated with different colors of melted candle wax and paper machete. The top came off and I reached my hand inside and pulled out a photo. It was of me and Sydney. We must have been around thirteen. Our faces, tongue and lips were stained blue and we were making faces at the camera and wearing roller skates. I turned it over and on the back there was something written in Sydney's handwriting.

~My favorite memory with Rose was the day we went to that junior high roller skating party. We had blue snow cones and some older boy came up to us and asked us if we had given Papa Smurf a blow job. We laughed hysterically for the rest of the night, not quite knowing what that meant. Love you Rose ~Sydney

I laughed out loud remembering that day like it was yesterday. I pulled out a second photo. It was of me, Mason and Eddie.

~Our favorite memory of Rose was the first time we made a Rose sandwich. It's no fun without you Rose. Then it's just the two of us grinding on each other and boy does that look gay! We're missing the meat to our sub. Come back and visit soon! ~Mason & Eddie

There was a memory from all of my friends including Tasha and Christian. I got a particular kick out of the picture of Christian and I doing a three legged race on race day at school in the fourth grade. He was so clumsy that he tripped and I dragged him the rest of the way and still managed to com in first. He of course wasn't too happy being covered in grass stains and dirt, but I got my trophy.

The last memory was of me and Lissa. It brought a tear to my eye. It was the two of us in Kindergarten. We were both sitting in the grumpy bear chair. We had been taking some sort of test and our teacher had forced us to write out our full names on the paper. I remembered Lissa crying because she didn't know how many s's were in Vasilisa. She put one too many and the teacher yelled at her so I threw my book at her and called her a fascist bastard. That's how we ended up in time out for the rest of the day. Lissa thanked me and we'd been best friends since. I smiled at the photo of the two of us with mischievous gleam in our eyes. I wished there was some way I could see all of them. I missed them so much.

I texted them all pictures of little Sparky and Lissa called to thank me for the new Louboutin boots I'd sent her. She said she had no idea how long it took to ship things overseas and that the gifts she shipped would be arriving soon.

Dimitri arrived in time for dinner along with Aunt Meredith. Avery had put in the roast Emil left for us and we mashed up some potatoes and I made a jello mold. We'd baked enough cookies in the past week to last a lifetime. We ate and visited and then split into couples to spend the rest of our evenings with our lovers as much as it grossed me out to think of Baba and Aunt Meredith being lovers.

"Look at what Santa brought for us," I said letting Sparky out of his little cage when we got upstairs. He ran straight for Dimitri's feet and began pawing at him to get picked up.

Dimitri's eyes widened as he bent down to scoop up my little baby.

"He's yours?"

"Nope," I said with a sly smile.

He raised his eyebrow at me in confusion.

"He's ours."

He chuckled as Sparky began to lick his face.

"So he is."

"You really like him?" I asked.

"You love him and I love you, so yes, I love him too," he said pulling me into his side.

"You hear that Sparky, he loves you," I said ruffling his fur with my fingers.

"Sparky?" Dimitri snorted.

"It fits don't you think?" He scrutinized the dog for a minute.

"I do see the resemblance," he said finally.

"So do you want your present now or later?" I asked.

"Now is good," he said setting Sparky down on the floor in the middle of his toys.

I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a small bag.

"Open the card first," I told him.

He slit open the envelope and I watched in silence as he opened the card.

"Wow," he breathed. "I will definitely be using these. Are they good today?"

I nodded gesturing towards the small bag smiling as he reached in and pulled out a slinky black nighty.

"Hmm should I assume that this goes with the coupon that says breakfast in bed?" he asked grabbing me and throwing me onto the bed.

"Hmm, I think it also falls under activity of your choice," I said as his hands began to wander.

"Uh, this is so not hot," I groaned as I listened to Sparky whimpering from his place on the floor. I pulled my shirt back on and hopped off the bed.

"Hey there little Sparky, you my friend are far too young to see the naughty things I'm going to let your Daddy do to me," I said grabbing his bed and pulling it into the sitting room.

"Sorry babe. Be a good boy and go to sleep," I said shutting the door to the cage. He stared at me forlornly with his big sad eyes.

"Don't look at me that way. Mommy really needs to get laid." I said shushing him as he began to bark.

I closed the door turning around to find a very naked Russian lying across my bed.

"Ow ow Comrade! Zhe-rye-BYETS!" I said winking.

"Where on earth did you learn that?" he asked flabbergasted at my dirty Russian. I shrugged.

"Guess you'll just have to wonder." I purred pulling off my shirt and tossing it at him.

"U te-BYA kra-SI-vi-ye gla-ZI-sche Milaya." Ugh, he was so hot when he spoke Russian to me.

I stood as he stripped off the rest of my clothes.

"C Рождеством Христовым Roza," he said kissing me with passion. I sighed in contentment as he continued to kiss my neck. He put his hands under my thighs lifting me into his arms. His hands tangled in my hair as we fell onto the bed with him hovering over me.

Our lovemaking was intense and meaningful and more beautiful than ever. Every time he touched me I felt his love.

"You are the single most important person in this world to me. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, wonderful woman like you in my life," he said as I lay my head on his chest.

"Can you believe that a little over a year ago we weren't together?" I asked.

I could feel him tense at my words.

"That night, the first time you kissed me, it was like fireworks exploding in my head," I told him lifting my head to look him in the eyes.

"I tried so hard not to fall in love with you. It was futile. There was never a choice. From the moment I kissed your hand that day at the Dragomir's you had me enthralled."

"Hmm enthralled, I like the sound of that," I said kissing his soft lips.

"You didn't open your present," he said reaching over to the nightstand.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I told him.

"I wanted to," he replied placing a small box in my hand. I flipped the top open revealing a beautiful silver ring.

I pulled it out of the box and realized that there was writing engraved on the front.

" It's beautiful," I whispered. "What does it say?" It was Russian and I thought I could make out the word love, but I wasn't quite sure.

"вечной любви. It means eternal love," he said taking the ring from my hand.

My heart fluttered as he slipped it on my ring finger.

"Someday I will put another ring here," he said bringing my hand to his lips kissing the ring and my fingers gently.

So as promised I updated just for you! What did you think? Leave me some love. Next chapter will be their trip to Russia.