"Belikov. You better have been taking good care of our girls?" Abe reached out to shake Dimitri's hand. Abe and Pavel had just arrived at the restaurant in Sioux Falls where they'd arranged to meet. It was early evening, but Rose and Dimitri had driven up in the morning, spending the day shopping at Target and getting measurements taken for new blinds for the RV.
"I've been doing my best," Dimitri replied warily. Over the years he and Abe had developed an understanding, but Abe's usual, casual demeanor was demonstrably absent right now.
"Try harder. The way I see it, you still have some groveling to do."
Dimitri nodded. He'd expected a lot worse from Abe. Even though Rose had glossed over the issue when she'd spoken with her father, Dimitri wasn't stupid enough to believe Abe would remain ignorant of his reaction and behavior when he'd first seen Lara. And Abe was right. Dimitri still had a lot to atone for.
"So, where are they?" Abe asked looking around.
"They're freshening up," Dimitri explained. Moments later Rose returned to the table carrying a freshly diapered Lara. Rose had insisted their girl looked her best when she met her grandpa, so had purchased a sweet pink floral outfit and matching headband for the occasion.
"Baba!" Rose exclaimed enthusiastically, as Abe wrapped his arms around them both. "I've missed you!"
"I've missed you too," Abe replied. "Now how about you show me this little beauty? Hello, Lara, I'm your büyükbaba!" Rose passed Lara to Abe before hugging Pavel. Then the four adults took their seats, Abe talking and cooing to Lara in English, Russian and Turkish the whole time.
"I can see her Majesty in her," he admitted quietly. "What about the father? Any ideas there?"
"Yes. We know who he is, and he knows about Lara. She's with us with his blessing," Rose explained.
"And the registration of her birth?" Abe asked, his shrewd eyes glinting as he ran every possibility through his head.
"She's registered as ours," Rose replied with a frown. "Dimitri's and mine. Why?"
"It makes your case stronger if her Majesty were to try and claim her later on and take custody."
"You don't think she'd do that, do you?" Dimitri asked in alarm.
"After what's happened, I wouldn't put anything past her," Abe said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You're in touch with the father?"
"We can be," Rose replied evasively.
"Then make sure you get a DNA test proving he is a biological parent, then get a custody agreement signed off by him. Just as a precaution. I can have something drawn up if you'd like?"
"Yes please, Baba. I don't think Lissa will come for her; she made a point of not even looking at Lara once she was born. As far as she is concerned, having a Dhampir child is shameful. But if you think it will help protect Lara, we'll do it."
"Lara's part of our family, now. My first grandchild. I'm not going to let anyone take her away from you," Abe vowed cuddling the infant against his chest. As Rose had anticipated, her decision to make Lara hers had made Lara Abe's, too. "Speaking of family, I had a conversation with your mother."
"Here we go," Rose muttered under her breath, calming slightly when Dimitri stroked her outer thigh. Abe was continually trying to broker peace between his daughter and her mother.
"Janine now understands you and Dimitri have adopted Lara and the rumors from Court about you cheating on Dimitri were wildly inaccurate. She asked me to let you know she's sorry she jumped to conclusions and would welcome a call to hear more about Lara."
"Of course she did. How many times are you going to do her dirty work for her, old man?" Rose asked insultingly, feeling decidedly out of sorts. Any discussion about Janine tended to do that to her. Every time there was gossip or insinuation of impropriety involving Rose, Janine would sound off first and ask questions later.
"Since it's your mother we're talking about, and given her temper, I should imagine I have numerous occasions ahead of me yet," Abe quipped, the corner of his lip twitching. It was only funny because it was true.
Rose smiled while Dimitri and Pavel openly laughed.
"Call your mother," Abe ordered with a grin. "But feel free to make her eat humble pie…"
Their waiter appeared with menus, and the four of them checked them out. Abe was surprisingly adroit at juggling a baby while reading a menu – and it was clear he was enjoying the experience. Their orders placed, and the waiter gone, Abe continued to cuddle his granddaughter as he listened to his only child and her partner talk about their new lives outside the Moroi world.
Lissa sat shaking at her desk after Hans left. Once he'd dropped his little bombshell, she had asked him if there was anything else he needed to discuss. He'd replied there wasn't, so doing her utmost to appear calm, Lissa had dismissed him.
Running the conversation through her head, again, Lissa wondered whether it was certain Hans knew. He hadn't actually said he knew about the parentage of the child, and he hadn't made any demands or threats, either. In fact, if anything, he appeared to be taking care of loose ends on her behalf.
Getting rid of Croft was not an option, and she couldn't outright ask Hans what he knew without tipping her hand that there was something to know. Plus the man was smart – you didn't get to be Head Guardian if you weren't. If he'd worked out what had occurred, he wouldn't let her know he knew without putting a plan in place to protect himself.
Since becoming Queen, Lissa had learned a lot more about her predecessor Tatiana Ivashkov than had been publically known. A series of highly confidential reports had given Lissa an accurate picture of their late Monarch. The Head Guardian and the Queen's Guard were nothing if not loyal, and when it came to their reigning Monarch, they were unfailingly discreet. They'd kept Tatiana's secrets, so Lissa could only hope they'd keep her own. In the absence of any other option, Lissa pushed down her growing dismay and panic and resigned herself to waiting to see what Hans did with his newfound knowledge.
Returning to the stack of papers on her desk, Lissa flicked through the topmost, stopping at the yellow tags to read and sign where indicated. After signing, she continued to the next stack of reports, glancing over them and only pausing at the red-flagged areas. Because most of the information that crossed her desk was routine, it didn't require her detailed attention, but anything of importance was highlighted in red.
Most of the information wasn't critical, and she wondered why anyone thought the marked passages required her to consider them. Sighing and picking up the last report, the weekly report she received from the Alchemists, Lissa dutifully turned to the flagged sections. Mostly statistical information about Strigoi attacks that the Guardian Council would read and consider in their allocation of resources, Lissa turned with relief to the final red annotation.
An overview of an Alchemist report regarding a restored Strigoi Dhampir named Olive Sinclair, who was now deceased, the report claimed she had given birth to a child who had since been proven to be the offspring of two Dhampir. A detailed breakdown of the science behind the conception was included, but Lissa skipped to the conclusion. The Alchemists, after testing the child and now other restored Dhampir seemed reasonably confident that thanks to Spirit a restored Dhampir, male or female, would be able to conceive a child with another Dhampir.
The report fell from Lissa's hand, fluttering across the floor in a random splay of paper. Her throat felt tight, and her breathing came fast. It was hard to give credence to what she had read. In addition to raising that child, if this report were to be believed, Rose and Dimitri might get to have children of their own!
"Hello!" Christian greeted Lissa optimistically as he stepped into their suite. As soon as he opened the door, he could see his wife and Monarch looked out of sorts.
"Where have you been?" Lissa asked in a tone of voice that wasn't quite angry but wasn't friendly, either.
"I thought I'd bake some sweets for my sweet," Christian replied humorlessly, his sarcasm entirely lost on Lissa. He placed his offering of chocolate croissants on the coffee table. "What's wrong? You look distracted?"
"There was some interesting news in my weekly Alchemist report."
"Oh?" Christian asked.
"There's been a child born to two Dhampir. The mother was restored, and they believe that's what enabled her to conceive with another Dhampir. The Alchemists have tested the blood of several restored Dhampir, and are now of the opinion a restored Dhampir can reproduce with another Dhampir."
"That's huge," Christian murmured, his thoughts immediately going to Dimitri, and by extension Rose. "Are you going to tell Dimitri and Rose? Surely they have a right to know?"
"When they left Court they lost their right to know anything," Lissa responded harshly.
"They've only taken a leave of absence," Christian pointed out, deciding no matter what Lissa thought about it, he'd call Dimitri to let him know there was a possibility he could father a child with Rose. "They're both still Guardians."
"Only because I let them be," Lissa sneered.
Christian looked at his wife. He didn't know who she was anymore. "I don't get what your problem with them is?"
"Rose should be here guarding me, not out there somewhere doing God knows what!"
"But she can't be here," Christian argued. "She was removed as your Guardian and from your guard."
"She deserved to be after what she did! What she did was unforgivable!"
"What exactly did she do, Lissa? I don't understand why you won't talk about it? The two of you disappear for six months, and suddenly Rose comes back with a baby. It doesn't make sense. I can't see Rose cheating on Dimitri! They've been so through so much to be together. She loves him, and he loves her. And if she did cheat, why did Dimitri suddenly go away with Rose? He went from hating her to telling me she'd done 'nothing for him to forgive.' What did he mean, Lissa? What the hell happened while we were away?!" Christian was roaring, now. He wanted answers.
"You know what happened," Lissa said dismissively. "Rose got herself knocked up."
"And you organized a whole trip away to help her hide that?"
Lissa shrugged noncommittally.
"That doesn't make sense either! If you were so committed to helping Rose disguise what happened, why not continue to assist her once she was back at Court?"
"How was I meant to help her conceal a child, Christian?" Lissa's asked, her voice scathing.
"That's not the point. You moved heaven and earth to disappear for months so no one would know that Rose was pregnant, but as soon as the two of you return to Court with the baby you turn your back on her? What aren't you telling me?!"
"I've told you everything!" Lissa said defensively.
"You've told me nothing," Christian rebutted. "Where did Rose have the baby? When did she tell you she was pregnant? And who is the father?! It's not Dimitri, so who is it?"
"I can't tell you."
"Can't? Or won't?!" Christian spat at her. "None of this makes sense! Rose would never put you in danger by taking you out of wards for so long with only her close by to protect you, especially if she was heavily pregnant. She'd never let you risk your safety for her!"
"You don't know all the facts!" Lissa replied hotly, her words echoing those Dimitri had said to him.
"Then tell me!" Christian bellowed furiously. "I know there's something you're keeping from me! There has to be a reason you've turned your back on Rose after twenty-years of friendship!"
"I don't choose to discuss it, Christian. As your wife, and your Queen, you need to trust me!" Lissa screeched.
Christian stood still, biting his tongue. That was the ultimate issue. He did love his wife. But he didn't think he could trust her.
"They come first." It was the first sentence Hans wrote as a child. As a career Guardian, prioritizing Moroi was second nature to him. But even he was struggling with his latest discovery.
Sure, an illegitimate Royal child was a surprise, although it was certainly far from the first in the history of their Monarchy. While he'd never picked her Majesty as that type, a Dhampir child was manageable as far as Hans was concerned. What had stunned him was the callous disregard their Queen had shown to her best friend and long-term Guardian along with the lengths she'd been prepared to go to conceal what happened.
The information he'd gathered from the feeders, as well as the hints he'd received from Dimitri and Rose, led Hans to paint a particularly unsavory picture of their Monarch. If what he suspected was true, Lissa had set Rose up – and it was frightening to think what a person willing to do that to their best friend might do to people she didn't know personally or care about.
Hans was a realist – he'd never expected Vasilisa to be perfect – although he had held out hope a new, younger sovereign might be more open-minded and liberal. And in that respect, he was not disappointed, but he'd been unprepared for the level of deception he'd now uncovered. Which is why he was sitting in his office in the middle of the Moroi night. He was used to working long hours, and could usually switch his brain off to sleep, however, tonight his mind was working overtime. So when his phone rang at 2.00 pm, he answered it on the first ring, despite the fact it was from a blocked number.
"Croft," he greeted impassively.
"Good evening, Guardian Croft."
The Head Guardian shivered. Even though his dealings with the man had been minimal, he placed the voice instantly. Given he was Hathaway's father, it stood to reason he'd be in contact now.
"Mr. Mazur. Always a pleasure. How can I help you?"
"You're looking happy?"
"I am," Dimitri said with a grin, leaning down to kiss Rose. "It's been a great morning."
Dimitri had left before dawn with Isaac to visit a friend who was a blacksmith. They were in between major jobs on the farm, so Issac had suggested they take a trip to repair some of the equipment ahead of the next cycle of craziness.
Rose prepared sandwiches for lunch while Dimitri enthusiastically described how the blacksmith had repaired the huge metal pieces of farm equipment, asking for Dimitri's help from time to time moving and positioning things.
"It was amazing, Roza. There's a lot of modern equipment, so it's not like what you see in the movies, but the fundamentals are the same. As well as repairing farming equipment this guy makes all sorts of other metal stuff. Isaac and I are going back tomorrow – you should come with us."
"You don't think he'd mind?"
"I'm positive – I already asked."
Sitting with Lara on his knee, Dimitri ate his sandwiches, still talking excitedly about the forge and everything he'd learned. Rose had to admit – it did sound kind of cool.
"So you can make anything? As long as it's out of metal?" Rose asked.
"He uses iron and steel, but metalsmiths can use all sorts of metals depending what they're doing."
"Sounds cool, Comrade," Rose replied, enjoying seeing Dimitri so interested and enthusiastic about something. "I can't wait to see how it's all done."
Putting their dishes in the sink Rose moved through to their bedroom, beckoning for Dimitri to follow. It wasn't often Dimitri got an afternoon off, and Rose wanted to spend some time cuddling with her two favorite people. Climbing into bed, Rose lay on her side as Dimitri joined her, carefully placing Lara in the middle between them.
The two of them looked at their daughter. Her eyes were still a hazel green, although her hair was getting lighter. Still darker than Eddie's sandy brown, it was lighter than it had been at birth.
"My beautiful girls," Dimitri said, lifting his eyes from Lara to regard Rose, wrapping his arm around her waist and carefully leaning over to kiss her, before resting his head on his pillow and contentedly closing his eyes.
Christian was sitting in the Palace kitchens. This time he wasn't cooking, just drinking. He should have a sofa and a bed brought down here, he mused. It seemed to be where he was spending all his time these days.
It was 3.00 pm, and he should be sleeping, not drinking. Bury had gone off shift, replaced by another Guardian. Christian couldn't remember his name and didn't want to speak with him in any case. He just wanted to drink, and keep drinking, until everything that had happened since he'd returned was a distant memory.
Marrying Lissa had been the happiest day of his life. After what happened with his parents, and then Tasha, he'd been alone in the world. Lissa had given him a family again. She was his family. Rose and Dimitri had been his family, too. But now they were gone. Gone thanks to a secret that apparently he was the only one not to know about!
"What the hell happened?" he asked himself. Rose and Lissa went away for six months and come back with a baby. If it wasn't Rose's, it had to be…
"Belikov," Dimitri said quietly. Half asleep, he'd fished his phone from his pocket and answered it quickly so it wouldn't wake Lara.
"Dimitri? It's Christian," the Royal Moroi slurred. "I know. I know the secret you three won't tell me. The baby. Lara? She's not Rose's, is she?"
Dimitri was awake now, his eyes widening as he looked at Rose who was also awake. She was lying close enough to hear most of what Christian was saying.
"No. Lara isn't biologically Rose's."
"So that only leaves one other option. Is Lara Lissa's?"
Sorry for the delay with this chapter. Yesterday I received the news that my first long VA story "Reality Bites" has been shortlisted for the 2018 Watty's Award on Wattpad :o Shortlisted authors have to fill out a whole heap of stuff to go to the judges, so I've been busy doing that. If you want to stay up to date with what's going on with my writing, check out my Facebook Page. I put sneak peeks, pictures and news up there.
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