Epilogue 1

"It's really weird hearing you speak Russian while we're in Hawaii," Rose says once I end the call with my family. "Everything okay back home?"

It takes me a moment to answer because of how much it hits me when she refers to Russia as home.

"Yeah, they were just checking on us...again," I answer as I toss my phone onto the bedside table and scoot back on the hotel bed so that my back is against the headboard.

"They just miss us," Rose says as she sits at the foot of the bed brushing her wet hair out and adjusting the towel tighter around her. "With all of the happy photos and postcards we send back, they probably think we're not coming home soon."

"If ever. This is our chance to escape our smothering family."

After a few months being back in Russian and trying to adjust to having a normal life again and helping Rose deal with a few personal issues, we decided to travel for a while.

Everyone kept asking what we had planned for ourselves since everyone else in the family was already working toward their futures and the rest of their lives.

With Abe dead and Janine in jail and a will that hadn't been updated, everything they owned went to Andre. As a first sign that he isn't his father's son, he divided their wealth up and gave it to Eddie, Alberta, Rose, me, and himself.

Alberta used her money to buy a house close to my mothers since they'd become close friends.

Eddie and Andre combined their money and put it toward their efforts in finding and helping anyone Abe and Adrian ever hurt. Their efforts to clean up organized crime especially where it involved politics were so successful that some were even thinking Andre would be perfect as a politician.

I gladly gave portions of the many to everyone in my family and some to Ivan and Mia who were officially a couple.

My mother, with a little inspiration from Rose and the fact that she didn't want anyone to really live in the house that her family had lived in beside ours, used Rose's old house to make it into an official much needed medical clinic and day care for our small town for anyone that needed help.

Karolina and Sonya were both juggling with school, parenting, and working at the clinic that was considerably successful and ended the majority of our financial troubles. Victoria was finally able to focus less on money troubles and more on school. She even joked about going to college possibly.

Things were definitely looking up for everyone.

I was happy when I could see Rose was slowly adjusting to normal, smiling and laughing. There were days I could see she was restless though. She told me she couldn't think or plan too far into the future until she dealt with a few more parts of her past and did a few things she's always wanted to do and was hoping I'd do them with her.

That is how we ended up in Hawaii. It was one of the places she'd wanted to go most and never been.

"We're going to go back," she said referring to my earlier statement. "You love your chaotic, big family as much as I do," she smiles nudging my leg with her brush.

There was no denying that.

"It's home," she smiled softly looking down at her brush before looking back up at me. "I like that I can say that. Home."

"Me too. But..." I reach for her hand and used her as an anchor to sit up and put my feet on the floor while she stood between my legs in front of me. "We're on our vacation from home which means I'm going to enjoy every moment we're alone, not having to worry about someone barging in on us, every moment we have together."

She moved her arms up my arms and over my shoulders slowly wrapping them around my neck as she leaned closer.

It'd been months since everything had happened, since the big showdown in Montana and everything came to a blow, since the moments we thought we'd never see each other again. I still could believe we'd survived it all which made each time I was able to simply hold Rose-and if I was lucky kiss her without being interrupted-that much more special.

There were days where she needed space, to be alone, and work everything she was feeling out in her head. Yeva had told me that even though I wanted to be there for Rose through everything, there were some things she had to do on her own and she was right of course but it wasn't easy.

Rose was strong though, stronger than her parents, Adrian, and Andre had ever given her credit for. Andre- with the time he made to spend with his sister- was starting to accept that Rose wasn't the same person he'd known growing up.

Rose was different but it was a good kind of different, better.

She kissed me tenderly on the mouth before pulling away, noticing I was too lost in thought to really kiss her back.

"You okay?"

"Just thinking," I answered simply, pushing her hair back from her face.

"About me I hope."

"Of course," I whispered kissing her on the lips. "Thinking about you and me...and all the activities I have planned for all the time we're going to spend in this hotel room."

As I was talking I'd been working to undo the towel wrapped around her. It fell away slowly and I held what parts of her body I could see in my hands but my eyes never left her gaze.

"We're going to miss out hula lessons," she giggled as I pressed a kiss to her neck.

"I'm okay with that," I responded, my words muffled with my lips against her skin.

She didn't put up much of fight when I moved my mouth over hers.

She moved so that the rest of the towel fell away and this time I couldn't stop my eyes from roaming over the rest of her body. She melted against me and we felt back onto the bed in a combination of touching, smiles, soft laughter and love.

It felt weird being back here.

We hadn't exactly gone sight seeing the last time we were here in Montana and even though this cemetery was miles away from where we'd been the last time we were here, simply being in the state felt weird.

I would have never come back here if it wasn't for Rose.

The last thing she wanted to do before we headed back home was visit Lissa's grave since she'd never seen it. We went by her old house before we came here and the house we'd stayed in while we'd been here. Rose decided to let both of them go, sell them, and let someone else make new "hopefully better memories" as she'd told me and I'd thought it was a good idea.

Now we stood in front of the only gravestone in a nice private part of the cemetery where it simply ready Lissa's name and the dates of her birth and death.

"You deserved more than this," Rose whispers, kneeling to brush some of the overgrown weeds away from the bottom of the grave.

"You all did," I tell her, kneeling beside her. "The three of you deserved better than this."

She leans into the palm I've rested against her cheek and then sniffles as she rests against my shoulder when I wrap my arm around her.

Looking at the blank grave it was like Abe and Janine didn't even care, could barely be bothered to bury their daughter and mark her grave.

"I was thinking of having a better tombstone put in place," Andre says, appearing on the other side of Rose. Rose wipes her face and looks up, surprised to see her brother appear out of nowhere. Before either of us cans ask what he's doing here, he tells us. "Alberta told me you guys were headed back here as your last stop and I had a few things to take care of so I thought I'd meet you. Janine is requesting for us to visit her in jail."

I felt Rose stiffen under my hold.

I could practically see the scale already swaying in her head debating whether or not she wanted to see her mother or not. She glance up at me for my opinion but it would always be the same.

"I don't think it's a good idea. You're finally moving past all of this. Whatever you decide though I'll support you."

She seemed to weigh my words in her head before turning to her brother.

"Have you seen her? Are you going to?"

"I don't need to. I heard everything I needed to that day she was arrested. I'm done, moving on, and I think Dimitri's right. You're doing pretty good for yourself. Going to see her will only set you back."

I was trying to get over the fact that Andre agreed I was right and that he used my name instead of using the "unlucky bastard" nickname he usually bestowed upon me.

We waited while Rose thought it over. Determination set in her eyes the second before she spoke and I knew what she'd decided.

"I heard everything I need to, too. I'm done waisting time thinking about the past. All that matters is my present and my future and how I'm going to make the most of it." She gave my hand a tight squeeze and grabbed a hold of Andre's hand to do the same before letting go to kneel before Lissa's grave again, brushing the weeds away again. "I think you're right. I think Lissa needs a better tombstone."

She looked up at me, the few rays of light streaming through the clouds shining on her face.

"That's a good idea. We can take care of it before we head home."

A/N: A little bit more of closure fore Rose. It kind of feels like this story turned into a Rose story from Dimitri's point of view when I mostly meant for it to be a Dimitri story with Rose in it. Anyways, Part 2 of the epilogue will be posted soon and then we're done!