I'm sorry it took so long to update! I'm on vacation with my family now, and it's hard to sneak away with my laptop for long periods of time. I love the reviews! Please keep it up! I just love reading them, and they inspire me to no end. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you reading this story.

Please tell me what you think about this one! :)

"Dear God, Rose! How much stuff do you have?" Eddie groaned as he set down the last of my boxes on the floor by the door to the apartment Dimitri and I were sharing.

"A lot," I confessed, grinning as I dropped my own box on top of one of the many others. "But I think that's the last of it. Thanks for your help, Eddie."

Eddie nodded. "Anytime. You looked like you were dying out there." I laughed. Dimitri had run out to get pizza for the two of us in celebration of our first night in our new apartment at Court, and though he'd said to wait until he got back to unpack our boxes from the two cars it had taken to transport all of our crap, I'd been determined to do it before he returned. Luckily, Eddie had appeared before I got too far and, after scolding me on my bone-headedness, took over the unloading of the heavy stuff, leaving me with my semi-wounded pride and the small packages that couldn't possibly affect the baby. Unless Dimitri wore radioactive socks or something.

I gestured for Eddie to have a seat at the rickety table Dimitri had found by the side of the road outside someone's yard on the way to Court. I had wrinkled my nose at the wooden thing pretending to be a table, but Dimitri had found it endearing and stopped to pick it up, promising it was only temporary. He found the matching two chairs behind a trash can. Promising start of furniture shopping, huh?

"You've earned a slice of pizza for your labor," I declared when we were sitting down, wiping the sweat from our faces. Though it was only early June it was insanely hot, even at night.

"That's alright. I need to get back to Lissa anyway," he said, but made no move to get up. I could tell by the slight frown on his face that he wanted to say something, but was apparently too scared to do so. I'd been waiting for him to come find me, knowing that he would figure out the truth eventually. It was only a matter of time. I was just glad Dimitri wasn't around in case Eddie freaked out a little too much.

"Something on your mind?" I asked innocently as I fanned myself. I made a mental note to get Dimitri to buy an air conditioner.

"Sort of," Eddie said slowly, focusing his gaze on the table.

"Well, let's hear it." I got up to start opening the boxes. No matter how much I wanted to take a nap, we were leaving for Russia in two days and I wanted to have my things unpacked before then. There was also the fact that there was currently no place to sleep until Dimitri bought us a bed. We would be roughing it with sleeping bags until then.

"I'm curious." Eddie paused, but I didn't say anything as I pulled out Dimitri's cooking pans and brought them into the tiny kitchen, hanging them from hooks attached to the cabinets the previous guardian must have installed.

"Do you really not know the baby's father?" Eddie finally asked. His tone was too casual, too simple. I was sure he knew the real answer to that-after all, Christian had come to that conclusion himself, and I'd admitted as much. But I think Eddie was afraid of offending me or something, because he was trying to play dumb.

"No. I know who it is," I confessed, turning around to face him. Eddie actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"I knew it. It's Belikov, isn't it?" He asked. He sounded friendly enough, though I bet the idea didn't thrill him. I knew how much the 'whoring around' explanation had bothered Eddie, so this must have seemed like good news to him. Still, I groaned in frustration and dropped the strainer I had pulled out of the box.

"How does everyone keep figuring this out? It's not even possible!" I said almost angrily. I thought I'd done such a good job of protecting Dimitri, but apparently I was wrong if everyone knew it was him. Eddie shrugged.

"Can't think of anyone else it could be." He said simply. He stood to pick up the strainer and placed it back in the box, looking me in the eyes as he did so. "Do you know how it happened?" He asked gently. I ran a hand through my hair to push it away from my face and nodded.

"Well, kind of. The doctor I went to said the Moroi part of my DNA is greater than the dhampir part, and it was enough to tip the scales, I guess. We think when Lissa healed me after the accident, she actually gave me a part of her along with spirit," I explained hurriedly. That little speech was quickly becoming monotonous.

"I guess that kind of makes sense," Eddie said thoughtfully. We stood for another moment, neither of us saying anything. Then Eddie sighed.

"You never think it'll happen to you," I said softly, and he snapped up to look at me. I stared out the window that faced opposite me. Eddie put a friendly arm around my waist and squeezed slightly.

"No," he agreed. "But you're handling everything okay, Rose. You're going to be a great mother-you already are." Tears threatened to spill out when I looked into his eyes, so honest and sincere, but I fought against them.

"What makes you so sure?" I whispered, looking down at my hands. It felt weird to voice the things that had been worrying me for so long, but I guess I should be used to it by now. Dimitri and Adrian had always managed to drag them out of me eventually, and now Eddie was doing the same. Still, it felt like I was telling a dark secret no one was meant to hear.

Eddie put his hands of my shoulders and forced me to look at him with his gaze.

"Because you're Rose Hathaway. Because you've done everything in your power to protect that baby, even when you were trying to hide it from everyone. Remember that day we fought off Alberta, Yuri, and Stan?" He said. I nodded weakly.

"You fought them off. I didn't do anything," I argued. Eddie shook his head. "You fought to defend what mattered, Rose. You protected the one who was in real danger, and that time it wasn't Lissa or Christian. I know you think of that fight as a failure, but it really wasn't. Think of it as a big test, and you passed it." He smiled at me as he patted my shoulder and dropped his hands.

"I have to get back to Lissa before she breaks her own back from all her stuff," Eddie joked.

"You could have helped Lissa instead, you know. I would have been fine," I pointed out. Eddie grinned.

"Yeah, I know. But I was on my way to talk to you anyway. Figured you and the kid could use a little help," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Go back to Lissa. And Eddie," I called out to him as he turned to go. He looked over his shoulder at me and waited. "Thanks for the help." Eddie nodded and smiled once more before disappearing. I relaxed once I heard the apartment door open and close, a little relieved to have some time to myself, and then returned to the front room to survey all the work that had to be done.

Other than the dozens of boxes scattered around the living room, the apartment didn't look bad at all, I thought to myself. It was definitely on the higher end of the guardian housing spectrum, thanks to Lissa's influence. Only the best for her guardians, she'd told the housing director. Though we'd have to repaint a few rooms, I knew I was going to love living here. It was big and spacious with two bedrooms and two baths (one of which was connected to the master bedroom), complete with a full kitchen and cheery living area. Dimitri was so in love with the place that he was practically drooling over the idea of finding furniture for it. Unfortunately, that meant the crappy stuff people were throwing away because neither of us had much money to buy all the things we needed, let alone wanted.

I had just picked up one of the heavier boxes to move to the bedroom I would share with Dimitri when the door opened once more and Dimitri walked in with the pizza.

"Rose Hathaway, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, amused, as he set the pizza down on one of the other piles and took my box from me. Annoyance flashed through me, even when he gave me a kiss hello.

"I can pick things up just fine," I snapped, though it lacked the usual bite behind it. I was tired of him acting like I was fragile.

"I know you can, but we don't want to do anything that could hurt the baby," Dimitri said soothingly as his hands wrapped around my waist. I made an aggravated sound in the back of my throat, but he stifled it with a deep kiss.

"Damn," I muttered when I pulled away. His arms were still around me, but they had loosened their hold.

"What?" He asked, searching my eyes.

"Now I'm not mad at you anymore," I sighed as I reached up to kiss his cheek, then pull out of his embrace. I made a beeline for the pizza, practically ripping the cover off.

Dimitri chuckled as I grabbed a slice and hungrily chowed down, not caring that I was standing in the middle of the room or that there was sauce on my face. I was starving.

"Well I'm glad." Then he seemed to take in all the boxes, and a frown appeared on his face. "Wait, did you bring all of these in?" I could hear the beginnings of panic start to rise up in his tone. I shook my head quickly.

"Eddie," I said around a mouthful of pizza crust, though it sounded more like "aieee." Still, I guess Dimitri understood because he relaxed and reached for a slice himself.

"That was nice of him," he said mildly. I nodded as I reached for a second piece.

"We have a lot of unpacking to do," he chuckled after a moment, eying the piles and piles of boxes.

"I still have to finish packing for Russia," I moaned after swallowing a mammoth bite. I'd gotten bored of Lissa's organized packing system after a few hours and had ended up just throwing random things into random boxes. Luckily, Dimitri had labeled all of my boxes so I would be able to grab the things I still needed to pack. I wolfed down the rest of my slice, then started to pick up the nearest box that read Rose- Clothes in Dimitri's adorable writing. But before I could lift it, I felt his arms slide around me once more, hands resting over my stomach. It sent chills down my spine. I turned around so that I faced him and his hands held my back.

"I never thought I'd have any of this," Dimitri said quietly. I knew what he meant. The apartment, the promise of a family-it all felt surreal, like it could disappear at any moment. Still, his sudden embrace surprised me, and I gasped when one of his hands slipped under my shirt and gently rubbed my stomach. The feeling of his hands caressing my skin was so wonderful I nearly moaned.

"Well, now you're stuck with all of it," I told him. Truth be told, I was having trouble concentrating on anything but the hand that was sliding lower and lower...

"Mmm. Wouldn't have it any other way," he murmured as his fingers played with the waistband of my jeans. Looking in his eyes, I saw the hunger he'd tried to keep at bay since the night in the cabin. I knew my eyes would probably echo the same feeling. Still, there was no place to go, if you catch my drift, other than the not-so-totally-clean floor of our bedroom, and I wanted our second time having sex to be perfect. So I took a breath, kissed Dimitri's cheek, and backed out of his embrace.

"Buy me a bed first, cowboy. Then we'll party," I said in an overly seductive voice. He laughed sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair, then grabbed another of my boxes and followed me into the bedroom to help me finish packing.

"See? I told you we'd make it," I teased as Dimitri and I took our seats on the plane. He'd been quiet and fidgety all morning, and I knew it was because he thought we would miss our flight, which may or may not have anything to do with my tendency to always arrive late to everything.

"Never doubted you," Dimitri grunted as he shuffled into our row and sat in the seat by the window. Though he'd offered it to me, I hadn't thrown up yet this morning and I didn't trust myself enough to sit farther away from the bathroom than we already were. A quick getaway might be necessary, so I'd turned down Dimitri's offer of the prized seat.

I yawned as I settled in, and Dimitri folded his arm around me. It had been a busy morning, and I was only operating on four hours of sleep. Luckily the flight was ridiculously long, according to Dimitri. I'd have plenty of time to rest, something that he demanded I get plenty of.

"Tired?" Dimitri asked as he arranged himself in a comfortable position. It was no easy task for a man his size, but he did the best he could.

"Exhausted." I yawned again for good measure. Dimitri chuckled as he pulled the complimentary blanket out from the seat and laid it over me. I leaned my head against him and sighed happily. I would let myself feel nervous later.

"Do you remember the first time we were on a plane together?" Dimitri asked as he wrapped one of his arms around my shoulder again. I laughed.

"Of course. I hated your guts for taking Lissa and me back to the Academy," I recalled. Still, everything turned out alright, I thought to myself.

"I was so impressed with you, you know," Dimitri said. I looked at him questioningly. "You defended Lissa when you knew you didn't have a shot. It was...admirable." He shrugged.

"Thanks, comrade," I said, smiling. We sat in comfortable silence for a few moments.

"When did you change your mind about me?" He eventually asked. I looked up at him, still smiling.

"One of the first training sessions, I think. Then even more so when you kicked Jesse out of the lounge," I remembered. Dimitri growled.

"I was ready to kill him," he muttered.

"I know," I said, looking away for a moment. What at the time had seemed like a fun make out session with one of the cutest guys in school now held only embarrassment for me. I was ashamed at how...easy I seemed to everyone else. Of course, they probably thought that anyway, seeing as I was pregnant.

"But for the record, I'm glad you brought us back," I whispered, meeting his eyes again. They swam with emotion, and he kissed me for a long moment before sighing and pulling my blanket over me again. I hadn't realized it slipped-Dimitri kept me plenty warm without the blanket.

"Get some sleep, Roza," he said gently, a smile playing at his lips. I obeyed, and as I drifted off to sleep I heard the squeak of a chair from the older man in front of us. Too lazy to open my eyes, I remained in my sleep-like position, knowing Dimitri would handle the guy if he was a problem.

"That's some looker you got there. A real beauty," the man said in admiration. I was about to rouse myself from sleepiness and tell the man to bug off, but Dimitri's words beat me to it.

"I know," he said quietly, though his arms tightened around me defensively. I heard another squeak as the man turned around and smiled as I snuggled deeper against Dimitri, feeling safe and loved. I drifted off to sleep with the smile still on my lips and the promise of meeting his family ringing through my head.

"Rose, it's going to be okay," Dimitri said in amusement after slamming his door shut. I turned to look at him, my eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"I'm about to meet your family, who know nothing about us other than the fact that you were my mentor, for the first time. This is terrifying. How are you so calm about this? Will they try to kill us like Abe did? Oh god, I'm going to die," I finished, eyes staring out the windshield at the grey parking lot under the dreary sky. Normally I tried to keep my cool in uncertain situations, but right now my nerves were escaping though constant chatter. Dimitri shook his head as he started the rental car and backed out of the parking space.

"I've told you Rose, they'll won't be angry. They won't try to kill either of us. Just breathe, okay?" He eyed me, still amused, but I could see the concern starting to creep up in his features. I nodded.

"And that's not all they know about you. I've hinted enough about how I feel about you that I'm sure they have the idea. They know you graduated-you're fair game," he said, pointing us on the road to Baia, his hometown. I shrunk down in my seat.

"But, a baby? Will they be alright with it?" I asked worriedly. The family "talks" we'd had with my own parents had my imagination working into overdrive. I didn't know what to expect, so I assumed the worst.

"It doesn't matter, Rose. There's nothing they can do. My oldest sister already has children, and another is pregnant-if anything they'll be thrilled for us," he pointed out. I sighed and stared out the window to the busy street, not thoroughly convinced.

"And besides, I thought you were dying to meet them," he said, eyes on the road. I groaned in frustration.

"I am. I want to know about your life and where you grew up and all of that, but...what if they don't like me?" I questioned once more as we stopped at a red light. Dimitri turned to meet my eyes.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, they will love you. Every single one of them."

"But how do you know?" I couldn't resist asking.

"Because I love you," he said. He leaned in to kiss me, but the light turned green before he could get close enough. He reluctantly returned to the road but reached out for my hand, which I held gratefully.

I leaned my head against the cool glass of the window and closed my eyes for a minute. Why was I being such a chicken? I wondered. Strigoi I could deal with-I had grown up learning about them and their weaknesses. But my boyfriend's family? That was uncharted territory. I had no idea how to win them over, and that scared the hell out of me.

I opened my eyes two hours later and blinked sleepily. Dimitri was leaning over me, gently shaking me awake. "We're here, Rose," he said happily. I nodded but didn't open my mouth for fear of talking too much again. I opened my door, climbed out, and stretched my arms back. Dimitri came around the tiny silver car and watched hungrily as I arched my back, enjoying the feel of stretching my tense muscles.

"See something you like?" I taunted, bringing up the first moment the two of us had felt a real connection. Dimitri smiled as he reached for my hand.

"Absolutely," he said, and we ascended the stairs to his childhood home. I heard the sound of Russian voices as the family ran around, probably trying to get everything ready for one of the rare visits Dimitri was paying them. I looked at Dimitri once more and he kissed me one last time before knocking loudly. Excited screams were clearly audible through the wooden door, and I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the moment I'd both anticipated and dreaded. Showtime.

So you're about to meet the family, probably for the hundredth time for some people, haha. Get ready!