Chapter 14: Sleepless in Pennsylvania

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy

I apologize profusely for the late update. I wanted to get my new story up and running so this one kind of missed the boat for a few days. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little dramatic.

DPOV

"Belikov!" Eddie's voice startled me and I shot up out of my seat.

"What?" I asked trying to regain a sense of alertness.

"You were drooling on the desk," he laughed. I let out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair which I had forgotten to tie up this morning in my haste to leave the house.

"Still not sleeping through the night huh?" he asked sympathetically.

I nodded. "She's been colicky, at least that is what Rose calls it." I groaned slumping back down into my seat. Katya was now four weeks old and although she was cute as a button, she was driving me insane.

I hadn't slept more than forty minutes at any one time in nearly a month. I had little or no alone time with Rose and Lexie was constantly vying for our attention, somewhat jealous of her little sister. Between the laundry, the spit up, the diaper changes, the feedings and the constant crying it was a wonder I was awake at all. I was taking on full shifts while Rose stayed at home. My mother had been trying to help, but Katya was fussy and almost always cried unless Rose or I was holding her. She was slightly more receptive to Lissa and Adrian because as spirit users they were more charismatic, but even they could only hold her for so long before she'd begin to wail. I'd asked Rose if Lexie had been this fussy and she'd told me she didn't remember it being this bad.

After a long shift I trudged home to give Rose a break so she could go to the gym. She was really working hard at getting back into shape. I knew she was self conscious about how much weight she'd gained, but to me I couldn't see what she was so upset about. The way I saw it was that she was doing everything she could to keep our baby girl healthy and safe. Those few extra pounds were proof that she was a mother. When I looked at her she was even more beautiful than she'd ever been. I understood her wanting to shed the extra pounds and get back into shape because it was guardian nature and if she was going to be fighting I wanted her in top shape. I just didn't like that she let it bother her that much. I kept telling her that I thought she was the most stunningly beautiful woman on earth and that my opinion as her fiancé and future husband was the only one that mattered. Still even after all of that she was killing herself in the gym two hours in the early morning and two in the evening like she did when we trained at the Academy. Lissa and my mother took care of Katya during her morning workout and I kept an eye on her after I returned from my shift.

Lexie had been spending time with her Auntie Vika and Uncle Adrian more frequently to avoid the crying fits and lack of attention she was getting at home. I felt terrible that I didn't have more time to spend with her, but there was only so much I could do. My hands were constantly full.

"Her bottle is in the fridge, I'll be home at six. Love you," Rose called passing Katya off to me as she nearly fled out of the house. So much for quality time with my fiancée.

"Dimka you're home," my mother exclaimed as I entered the kitchen with Katya in my arms.

"You look tired," she mused.

"Do you want me to watch the baby while you take a nap?" I was almost tempted to take her up on her offer, but thought twice about it realizing that I wouldn't get any sleep with the crying that was sure to happen if I put her down.

"No, I'm okay. Do you want me to help you with dinner?"I felt like a cad that she'd been doing a lot of the chores around the house since the baby was born.

"You work too hard. Go relax and I will handle dinner. Take her into the nursery and the two of you can nap together," she suggested. It sounded like a good idea.

I woke sometime later to the sound of Rose's voice.

"Dimitri, wake up," she said shaking my shoulder.

"Mmmm what is it? Is dinner ready?" I asked opening my eyes. I was confused because it was bright as the middle of the human afternoon outside. The sun was pouring in through the shutters.

"Um no, you slept through dinner. It's almost noon," she said taking Katya from my arms. She was sleeping peacefully for now and Rose set her in the bassinet. It was then I noticed that Rose was in her night clothes.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I yawned.

She smiled. "You really needed the rest. You've been running yourself ragged." She put her hand on my cheek and I leaned into her soft touch.

"I've missed you my love," I whispered pulling her into my arms.

"I've missed you too Comrade."

She snuggled into my lap on the rocking chair and we just sat there enjoying the few minutes of peace we were allowed.

"Daddy, can you take me to ride my bike?" Lexie asked looking hopeful as she held her kneepads and helmit in her hands.

I sighed. "Not now Milaya. I have a lot of things to do. Go ask Mommy," I told her. I had Katya strapped to my chest in her swaddler and a basket of dirty laundry in one arm and the phone to my ear.

"No, please don't put me on hold." I sighed in frustration. Rose had set our wedding date for November 7th and we had barely begun to make plans. There were so many things to do and right now I was on hold with the operator for the Disney hotline. The background music was enough to make one want to go deaf. I had been on hold three times already and if I had to hear "It's a Small World" one more time I was going to lose it. Rose wanted to take the kids to Disneyworld for our honeymoon and I'd be damned if I didn't give her what she wanted. She never asked for anything and I was determined to make her dream for a small intimate wedding come true. Finally someone came on the line.

"Yes, I would like to book five days and six nights at the Polynesian Resort," I told the overly cheery phone operator.

"How many people are in your party?"

"Two adults and two children," I replied.

"Will you need park tickets?"

"Yes."

"What are the ages of the children?"

"A nine year old and a six month old."

"Okay then you will only need three tickets. I can do a park hopper plus water park option if you'd like."

"Yes, please do that."

"Are you celebrating any sort of birthday or anniversary?"

"Yes it is going to be our honeymoon."

"How lovely. We'll see you on the eighth of November. Your tickets will be ready for pick up when you check in. Thank you for calling Walt Disney World Orlando." She could have kept talking all day, but I decided to hang up at that point.

"Okay one down a million to go," I muttered. Thankfully Lissa was taking care of a lot of the wedding details, but there were still things like picking out the tux, buying wedding bands, selecting music and such that would need to be handled by Rose or myself. I was starting to think that we should have waited until the baby was at least a year old to begin the planning. I couldn't do too much about it now though and I reminded myself that I was the one who hadn't wanted to wait.

I had just gotten Katya to go down for a nap and was headed downstairs to finish up with the laundry when my cell phone rang.

"Belikov," I said tiredly.

"Guardian Belikov, this is Dr. Mozorov. There's been an accident…," I dropped the phone. My first thoughts went to Rose. It was her first day back on active duty and she had gone to a meeting offsite with Lissa.

"Guardian Belikov, are you there?" I could hear her voice while the phone was on the floor. I quickly retrieved it.

"What happened?"

"I'll explain when you get here, but I need your consent for surgery so make it quick."

"Mama!" I called out not caring if I woke the baby.

"What is it Dimka?" she asked rushing in from the garden where she'd been pruning the flowers.

"There's been an accident. Can you stay with the kids. I need to get to the clinic." I was entirely frantic. I had known that she was pushing to go back too soon. It had only been eight weeks.

"Of course, be careful and call me as soon as you find anything out."

I took off running and arrived at the clinic in under two minutes.

"Where is she? Where's Rose?" I demanded breathless from my mad dash.

"We were unable to get a hold of Rose. We need to operate on your daughter and we need your consent," the nurse began holding out a clipboard.

My eyes widened in fear and all the blood drained from my face.

"Lexie was in an accident? What type of accident?"

"She was riding her bike in the woods and lost control. She went over an embankment and rolled several hundred feet over rocky ground. She has several broken bones as well as a concussion and from what I can tell there is internal bleeding. She needs exploratory surgery right now," Dr Mozorov said with urgency.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"Not until after. It's imperative I start immediately. I'm sorry." She hurried off disappearing behind a curtain.

I signed the form and sank down into a chair.

"Damn it!" I raged punching the wall. She asked me to ride her bike with her and I stupidly told her I didn't have time and to ask Rose knowing full well that she wasn't even home. This was all my fault. I had been so consumed with taking care of one child that the other had been suffering for weeks.

How many times did she ask me to play with her or help her with something or even to tuck her in at night and I'd blown her off? I put my head in my hands. I was a terrible father. My daughter was lying in a hospital bed going through God knows what right now and it was all because I couldn't handle being a father.

"What have I done?" I gasped. I was still sitting there helpless when Viktoria, Janine and Christian burst through the doors to the waiting room.

"Is Rose okay? Your mother told us you rushed over here, but never called to let her know what was going on," Christian said in a worried tone.

"It's not Rose, it's Lexie," I choked out.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Viktoria gasped.
"She asked me to ride her bike with her and I told her I was too busy and she must have gone on her own and she had a bad fall and now she's in surgery and it's all my fault." I let out a strangled sob.

"No, oh Dimka, you've been tired and overworked and it was an accident. It isn't your fault." She hugged me close to her stroking my head in comfort.

"Has anyone gotten a hold of Rose?" Christian asked. He looked as if he were going to be ill. I shook my head.

"She wasn't answering her phone. Can you try her?" He nodded and stepped away to make the call.

"How can I tell her that our daughter's life is hanging in the balance and that it's because I was neglectful?"

"Shh, you have to calm down," my sister urged forcing me to sit down.
"Janine can you get him some water?" She nodded and left quickly to go get some. She had her guardian mask on, but I could tell she was upset.

"Still no answer. I left messages for her and for Lissa to come to the infirmary as soon as possible."

"You didn't tell the over voicemail did you?" Viktoria scolded.

"No, just to come here. That's enough to freak them out as it is."

Janine called Abe and Viktoria tried Adrian's phone without success.

There was nothing we could do, but sit and wait.

Uh oh! Like I said being a parent is hard. Poor Dimitri. He feels so guilty. Just so you know. Adrian is with Lissa and Rose. Viktoria asked Eddie to go with them instead so she could stay and help with the baby. There are no spirit users around to heal her this time. What's going to happen? What is Rose going to think? Leave me some love or some hate=)

Check out my new story if you haven't already. It's called "The Search for Rosemarie Mazur"

Dimitri is a private detective searching for Abe Mazur's long lost daughter. He poses as a high school student and ends up unknowingly falling in love with the girl in question.