"These are the best pancakes I have ever eaten!" Janine moaned, reaching over to grab another choc-chip pancake from the top of the stack.

"Keep them coming, fire boy," Rose instructed from her place at the table.

"Hell yeah!" Frankie agreed, also snagging herself another pancake. She grinned at Christian – he was a good kisser and could cook. That was two points in his favor already!

"I'd forgotten how much Dhampir women eat," Christian said to Dimitri, shrinking when three sets of fierce female eyes turned to him. "Because it's such a pleasure to see women with a healthy appetite!" he quickly added, hightailing it back into the kitchen to whip up another batch of pancakes before they descended on him!

"That was delicious, thanks Belikov," Pavel added. Dimitri had made a full cooked breakfast for Pavel, Eddie and himself and eggs on toast for Abe and Christian. Not that the latter had had a chance to sit and enjoy his, yet. "I'll just get going to pick up the supplies," Pavel said standing up from the table now his meal was complete. "Lord Ozera? I've asked our contact for a fresh supply of blood for you, too."

"Please – it's Christian and thanks heaps. I know Rose has frozen here…" he trailed off. Everyone knew frozen blood would sustain a Moroi, but it was pretty gross and nothing like fresh. It was like eating a week-old refrigerated cheese sandwich - it would keep you going, and it wouldn't kill you, but consuming it wouldn't be a pleasant experience. Pavel left in Abe's car driving the twenty-minutes to a rendezvous spot.

"What do you all want to do today?" Rose asked with a yawn. It was now approaching midday, and she'd only been up just over sixty minutes, but she'd only had a few hours sleep so was tired.

"Why don't we watch a movie and hang out?" Christian suggested, walking back into the dining room. "I want to hear about what you're doing at college."

"That's a great idea," Janine said. "You young ones relax. It will give your father and me a chance to play with our granddaughter - we don't see her nearly often enough!"

"Yeah thanks for coming to take care of her so we could go to Jill's wedding," Rose said. As soon as she came down, she'd noticed Janine was tending to Lara. Usually, it was Eddie, which led Rose to suspect her mother knew how things stood, and had stepped in as Lara's primary babysitter to avoid Christian guessing Eddie's real purpose here.

The group finishing off their breakfast they headed through to the living room, flopping onto the sofas. Like the ones in the guest quarters, what they lacked in style they made up for in comfort. Janine and Abe disappeared upstairs with Lara, wanting all her playtime before she went down for her nap.

"Let's watch Nightmare on Elm Street," Christian suggested, flipping through the films on offer.

"I have not seen that in years!" Rose grinned. Lissa had never enjoyed scary movies, so the movie nights they'd had at St. Vlad's, then later at the Palace when Lissa was first coronated, had always featured her preferred romantic comedies.

"Is that the one the guy goes on a killing spree after killing his sister?" Dimitri asked. After so long with Rose, his American pop culture was getting better, but he was still hit and miss on films.

"No – that's Halloween. This is the one where four kids are killed in their sleep," Rose explained.

"I'm in," Frankie said enthusiastically. "Rose? Do you guys have popcorn?"

"You had to say it," Dimitri muttered in exasperation as Rose moaned loudly.

"Oh! Yes! Can you make me my favorite, Comrade? Please?" Rose wheedled.

"I thought we were over this," Dimitri groaned, nonetheless standing to make popcorn.

"I was – but I've now I want it again!"

"But it's gross, Roza," Dimitri argued.

"What's gross?" Christian asked.

"Last month Rose was craving salted and buttered popcorn topped with hot chocolate sauce," Dimitri outlined. "It's a pregnancy thing."

"Ugh," Christian said, pulling a face.

"That's nasty," Eddie agreed.

"It tastes great!" Rose replied dismissively. "Don't knock it till you try it!"

"I'll give it a go," Frankie offered. She thought it sounded quite nice.

"You won't regret it," Rose said smugly as Dimitri rolled his eyes, headed to the kitchen to make two batches of popcorn – one chocolate, one regular.

Dimitri kept his eyes trained on the screen, unobtrusively observing his former charge from his peripheral vision. Rose was lying back against Dimitri fast asleep, smiling as Dimitri's hands gently rubbed her belly. Despite the books saying he should be able to feel the baby move around now, Dimitri had yet to feel anything, hence having his hands on Rose's stomach any chance he got. Eddie was watching the movie, and slowly Christian and Frankie were moving closer and closer to one another. At the start of the film, they'd sat at opposite ends of a sofa. Over the last hour, the three feet between them had become two, and now it was less than one.

In fact, as Dimitri conspicuously didn't watch, Christian lifted his arm and Frankie moved beneath it, resting against Christian's side. Checking to make sure no one was looking, Frankie leaned up and placed a lingering kiss on the side of Christian's neck, smiling when she saw him briefly close his eyes and smile, clearly appreciating her attention.

Rose had told him something was starting to happen between Christian and Frankie, but he hadn't believed it. Seeing the two of them now, Dimitri had to admit that, as usual, Rose was right. Ever since Dimitri had known Christian, the Moroi's focus had been on Vasilisa. Seeing him affectionate with another woman was peculiar, but not unwelcome. As a close but external observer, Dimitri thought Christian had always been more 'into' Lissa than she was to him. She had loved Christian, of that there was no doubt, but he wasn't sure she always respected him.

In fact, while Christian might not remember it that way, the offensive magic program had initially been Lissa's idea. A way to placate the more radical Royal Moroi shortly after her coronation, her boyfriend, at the time, championing the cause had given them reassurance enough that she was progressively inclined, but she was far enough removed to convince the right-wing Royals that she was not a radical. She couldn't have anticipated how seriously Christian would take the role, and the confidence it had given him. Lissa and Christian's marriage had all but ended once Christian learned of her infidelity, but the cracks had been showing long before then.

And then there was Frankie. The few times she'd visited their home with Adrian, Dimitri had grown to like her – and particularly the easy friendship she was developing with Rose. After Frankie had stopped fangirling – being four years younger, in her last years of high school like many female Novices she'd grown up hero-worshipping the eighteen-year-old primary Guardian to the new Queen – she had settled into a natural friendship with Rose based on sarcasm, inappropriate thoughts, and similar interests. While Rose's friendship with Lissa had been marked by deference and duty, Frankie and Rose's friendship was on a more even footing.

Returning his full attention to the screen, Dimitri was still caressing Rose's belly when he felt movement. Trying not to stir so Rose would not be disturbed, Dimitri pushed where he'd felt the flutters. His efforts were rewarded by a swift and decisive kick.

"I just felt our baby move," Dimitri whispered in awe, immediately attracting the attention of Eddie, Christian, and Frankie, the last two discreetly moving apart.

"You haven't felt it before?" Eddie asked. Despite technically being a father, all the pregnancy stuff was a mystery to him.

"No. Roza has been feeling movements for weeks, but this is the first time I've felt it," Dimitri explained, a massive grin gracing his face. "Rose is exhausted. Excuse us – I'm going to take her upstairs so she can sleep more comfortably." And so I can pull up my woman's shirt and kiss her bump, whispering my love to our unborn baby in private, Dimitri left unsaid.

"Have you seen the second movie?" Christian asked Frankie, all but ignoring Eddie.

"Not for a long time," Frankie replied.

"If everyone's resting, we can watch it in the guest house," Christian suggested. "That way we won't disturb anyone."

"Yeah, I'll rest," Eddie lied, looking at his watch and knowing Lara was due up, soon. He'd been surprised when Janine snatched her from him this morning, but he'd quickly appreciated she'd seen Christian and Frankie walking across from the guest house. He was due to return to St. Vlad's tomorrow, so hopefully he'd get to spend some time with Lara this afternoon.

"We'll see you all at dinner, then," Dimitri said, carefully standing up and picking up his woman, carrying her up to their bed.

"That wasn't very subtle," Frankie giggled as she and Christian sat cuddled up beside each other on the sofa in the guest quarters after making their way across from the main house.

"You saw them – they all wanted to rest," Christian said defensively albeit not very believably.

"So are you ready to see Jason go on a killing rampage?" Frankie asked coyly.

"Or…?"

"Or we could talk and make out?"

Christian groaned. They hadn't yet had a chance to talk about 'where to from here.' He'd woken from their rest curled up around Frankie like a vine. It had been a long time since he'd felt so connected to another person, and it was as though, even in his sleep, he'd wanted to be as close to her as possible.

There'd been the embarrassing issue of his morning wood, but Frankie hadn't seemed to mind. In fact, she'd rubbed against him several times, silently suggesting she wasn't averse to taking things further. Christian would probably have gone for it, too, except for the slightly embarrassing issue that he had no condoms.

Not prepared to risk anything by going bareback, Christian had considered asking Dimitri if he had any, but given Rose was pregnant they probably hadn't been using contraception any time recently. Besides which, Rose and Dimitri had no idea he was attracted to Frankie. He wasn't sure they'd approve, especially as he was technically still married to Lissa. He didn't want to tip his hand and earn their condemnation or embarrass Frankie by asking if they had anything when things might not even come to that. As single guys, it was unlikely Pavel or Eddie would have anything with them. And there was no way in hell's earth Christian was going to ask Abe Mazur; even if Rose's mortified whispered story this morning before the movie started suggested he'd be the most likely to have some given apparently, he still got it on with Guardian Hathaway. Now that was a mental image Christian didn't need!

Trying to slow down the inevitable, Christian suggested "Let's talk for a while, first. I want to get to know you better."

Frankie grinned, climbing to sit on Christian's lap and curling into him. It was such a sweet, affectionate gesture. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"You need to be more specific," Frankie teased, her fingers stroking Christian's hair.

"Ok. Name three things on your bucket list," Christian suggested as his arms wrapped around Frankie's waist, smiling at how relaxed and right this all felt.

"That's easy. I want to skydive, run a marathon and I want to visit every continent on Earth at least once. What about you?"

"I want to do one of those helicopter tours over an active volcano, I want to run with the bulls, and I want to spend a year living completely outside of the Moroi world."

"A year on blood bags… Are you sure about that?"

Christian laughed. Frankie made a good point.

"Ok. So maybe not completely out of the Moroi world. I'll take a feeder with me, or go somewhere big like New York and use the public feed centers."

"What would you do?" Frankie asked.

"I don't know. That's part of the fun of doing it, I guess. It would just be nice to get away from all the Moroi gossip and expectations."

"Adrian told me you packed up your parents' and aunt's houses. How did that go?" If anyone else had asked, Christian would probably have been angry. But he knew Frankie asked because she cared – not out of morbid curiosity.

"Harder than I thought," he admitted. "As a kid, you see your parents as these perfect adults who have it all figured out. But they're not. Going through their stuff, I got a different sense of them. Stuff I didn't know or was too young to remember. My father was obsessed with raising the profile of the family. He was determined Tasha make a good match and marry well. Me too. In his office, there was a notebook about me. He'd started it when I was a few years old. He'd listed a number of Royal Moroi girls around my age, with the pros and cons of each match."

"He wanted to set you up with someone?" Frankie asked, scandalized. "Like an arranged marriage?"

Christian shrugged. "I think it was more background research for when I was older. The funny thing is, Lissa was one of his top picks."

Frankie shifted uncomfortably. Lissa was always the white elephant in the room. Their Queen, and Christian's wife, just because she wasn't there, didn't mean she could be easily forgotten.

"What about your mother?" Frankie prompted, hoping to change directions. "What did you discover about her?"

"If my father was obsessed with things being right, my mother was interested in them being seen to be right. She was image obsessed. Everything had to be just so and the very latest. You know the sad thing? They probably did me a favor with what they did. I don't condone it," Christian quickly explained, "but I don't think I'd like the person I would have become if they'd continued raising me that way, and I'm sure they wouldn't have liked the person I am now."

"You can't know that," Frankie argued.

"No, I can't," Christian agreed. "I'm at peace with it now. But for right or wrong, the place has been cleared out and sold. I've stored a few things and sent a lot of the family antiques to other wings of the Ozera family to enjoy. Now I'm ready to move on."

"What about your Aunt's place?"

"That didn't take long at all. It was mostly furniture and a few boxes of files."

Christian hadn't told Belikov or Rose about the album he found filled with photos of Dimitri over the years, along with a letter and a couple of postcards he must have sent Tasha during his travels with Ivan. Even now, Tasha was a tricky topic that they mostly avoided.

"Did you sell her place, too?"

"No. It's not a good market to sell there at the moment, so I'm renting it out. I never want to live there, but it brings in a bit of money."

"So - where to next?" Frankie asked, skirting back around to the question Christian had been asking himself. He wasn't sure if she meant him or them. Or even if there could be a them.

"I thought I'd stay here with Belikov and Rose for a bit if they'll have me. I really damaged my relationship with Rose back at Court before she left. I didn't know what was going on, and I was horrible to her when I should have known better. I should have been asking questions and raising hell to get to the bottom of things. I know she's forgiven me, but I want to put some time into our friendship. Then I thought I'd travel to the offensive magic sites and maybe take in some of the sights along the way? Live a bit, you know, and not strip clubs! Everything's changed from how I once thought it would be, so it's time to take another look at things."

"The world's your oyster," Frankie joked her tone slightly off.

"You disapprove?" Christian challenged.

"No – I'm just jealous as hell! It would be nice to travel and be in charge of your own destiny," she said with a sigh.

"Then come with me," Christian offered. He hadn't meant to say it; it just slipped out.

Frankie looked at Christian, her eyes wide with surprise that quickly morphed into excitement.

"You want me to come with you? As your Guardian? Are you for real?!"

"Why not? I need a Guardian. You want to travel, and it would give us time to work things out between us… Only if you want to. There's no pressure about that."

"I don't need time to work things out," Frankie declared brazenly. "I want to go with you, and I want this."

She shifted in Christian's lap, straddling him once again. This time there would be no stopping. Even before Christian's hands had settled on her hips, Frankie had pulled her shirt over her head, unfastening her bra so it could follow.

Vlad! Christian thought it should be illegal to look as good as Frankie looked topless! Her breasts were even more stunning uncovered. Full and round, Christian wasted no time pulling a nipple into his mouth, laving the tip of the sensitive bud with his tongue, smirking as it instantly pebbled. Kissing his way across the valley of her breasts, he quickly found Frankie's other peak, lapping at it with the same devotion as he had its twin. Pulling back for a moment, discarding his shirt, Christian was panting as Frankie brought her lips to his, her wet nipples grazing lightly against his bare chest.

Christian's hands were all over Frankie as she rocked in his lap. He was tickling her back lightly, causing her to shiver. Although if she was honest with herself, the bulge between Christian's legs was causing her at least as much excitement. They had a few hours before the others expected them back at the main house for dinner, and Frankie had some pretty firm ideas of how she intended to spend it. Food, after all, was not the only appetite a woman needed to satisfy!

"Take me to the bedroom," Frankie moaned, nipping and kissing at Christian's neck.

Not stopping to ask if she was sure, Christian dropped his hands from Frankie's waist to beneath her backside, supporting her as he effortlessly stood, carrying her the few steps through to the room they'd shared last night. It was darker in here, the curtains still shut. Carefully lowering Frankie onto the bed, Christian stood regarding her.

Milk white skin flushed, with her tatts and bright hair, Frankie was a riot of color. She was also incredibly beautiful.

"Are you going to join me?" Frankie asked shyly.

"I want to! But I don't have any condoms," Christian moaned apologetically.

Frankie smirked, rolling over onto her stomach then crawling across to where her duffel was resting beside the bed. Unzippering it, Frankie rummaged within, pulling out a box of Trojans and tossing them triumphantly onto the bedside table.

"Do you always carry those, or was I a foregone conclusion?" Christian asked, a bitter pang going through him at the fleeting thought of Frankie with another man.

"I hoped… So I wanted to be prepared, just in case," Frankie admitted with an adorable giggle. Holding her hand out to Christian, Frankie pulled him down beside her. Lips joining again, the couple made out and slowly stripped until there was nothing left keeping them apart.

"Are you sure?" Christian murmured as Frankie mewled against his neck. He was fingering her slit and knew, physically, she was more than ready for him.

"Please…" she replied instantly.

Wresting the box of condoms open, Christian separated one from the strip, tearing the foil pouch open with his teeth and sliding the latex sheath over his length. With a final kiss, Christian pulled back, positioning himself then watching Frankie's face as he pushed into her tight, wet heat.

"Yes!" she moaned, running her fingertips down his neck and onto his back. She'd never been with a Moroi before, but so far she was far from disappointed.

"Yes," Christian responded, dropping his face to the side and nuzzling Frankie's neck as he set to work between her thighs, thinking in all honesty he was the luckiest guy in the universe.

"What are you doing down there?" Rose asked, her fingers snaking into Dimitri's hair. She woke up curled up on her side, Dimitri lying diagonally across the bed, his head resting against her stomach.

"I felt the baby move while you were sleeping downstairs," he replied. Even without seeing his face, Rose could hear the excitement and emotion in Dimitri's voice.

"Really? What happened?"

"I was patting your bump, and I felt a little flutter underneath my hand. I pushed softly and next thing he kicked my hand!" Dimitri explained.

"It could be a her," Rose reminded him.

"No. That was a boy's kick. I can tell! Speaking of which, we still need to talk names."

Rose rolled her eyes. Dimitri was convinced their unborn baby was a boy. At twenty-five weeks they could have found out a month or so ago. Rose had been keen, but Dimitri was adamant he wanted it to be a surprise, which had made choosing names difficult, especially since they'd decided since Lara had two middle names, so would this little one.

Dimitri had stated from the outset he wasn't keen on Ivan as a first name. It wasn't that he didn't want to honor his former charge. He just wanted their child to have a name all of his own.

"What were your criteria when you came up with Lara's name?" Dimitri asked curiously.

"I wanted it to be Russian but understandable and not weird in America, and I wanted it to sound good with Belikov. Do you have any ideas? You must know some names?"

Dimitri chuckled. "Bogdana?"

Rose smacked Dimitri's head lightly. "I'm not calling our son Bogdana!"

"Of course not," Dimitri replied sounding affronted. "It's a girl's name!"