Sorry for the huge delay in my posting. I realize that since August my posts have become completely erratic. Please accept my apologies. It seems like life has been conspiring against me.
Back in August I was trying to get my classroom and my school in order and ready for a new year. I had to try to get a head start on lesson plans and pre- preparing artwork. September brought a whole new set of kids and this year I have a mixed group of 2/12 to 4 year olds. When things at work were just getting settled my dad got burned and ended up hospitalized. It is now December 14 and he is now in a convalescent home till he is strong enough to come home to us. My sisters, my brother in law and I have been spending a lot of time in the hospital and the convalescent home with him. Reading Fanfics has been a link to sanity for me but I have not had the time or patience to write as much as I love too.
Adding insult to injury; my mind has also sabatoged me by giving me a new story that wouldn't go away and lwt me work on what I wanted so I wrote it and posted it as a one shot with possabilities. Also Emma and Ben are bugging me to bring them together so they will be getting some attention soon. It is writen but I need to put Rose and Dimitri first.
I wanted to thank all of you who are still reading even with my awful slow posing. This chapter is short by my standards the next one is going to be filled with lots of sweet chocolate mousse (lemons)
Chapter Fifty: Commencing again
Adrian's POV
I chose the classroom at St. Vlad's where Lissa and I had done most of our practicing when she was still a student, for our dream walk. Once she was asleep I pulled her in. When she materialized she looked around till she spotted me.
"Oh Adrian, I miss you so much!" She ran to me and gave me a hug worthy of a big brother. I embraced her and kissed the top of her head.
"I wish I could talk to you whenever like the way I do with my brother and My Lil' Dhampir. I have been watching what has been going on at the council meetings. I have tried to tell Rose what to say to Gerard but she is sure he won't want to know what her dead husband has to say."
"Have you been there even when she isn't?" She sat on the ground as we used to when we would practice.
"Yes, I have to say that though I agree with you whole heartedly, you are in for a real uphill battle. Even the Council members who don't mind her keeping a Royal name and Title are not so keen on giving her or any other Dhampir a place on the council."
"Part of my Oath that I swore during my coronation was to make our world better for both Moroi and Dhampir. I am just trying to do what I promised to do."
"I know and you are doing a wonderful job. I will talk to the higher spirits and see what I can do to help you."
"Thank you Adrian." She pulled me into an embrace.
"Anything; for the Queen. I best let you go; Angelina is waiting to pull you into a dream walk with the other children. I will talk to you soon." I sent her back to her own dreams where I knew Angelina would find her. I knew that Angelina was excited to tell her mommy that she was going to be giving her and the other children a new sister. With the boys already being nearly a year old Lissa has not yet started to think about having another. But I know that even if it is a bit soon she will be happy.
My next step was to go to the council of angels and saints. I closed my eyes and prayed to be brought to them. Soon I felt their grace surround me. When I opened my eyes I stood before them and to my amazement they were joined by a woman with flowing red hair. I recognized her from her portrait that hung on the walls at St Columban's Academy in Ireland.
"Rise dear child and speak your heart." Her voice was soft and warm. Her face was so beautiful and it was full of love.
"Great Guardian Donnelley, Council of the pure; I come before you to ask permission and guidance to help the Royal Moroi Queen."
"Adrian, spirit husband to the Wielder of Life and Death, why do you ask to help and guide the Queen when your task is help and Guide my Granddaughter?"
"I ask this in part for the benefit of my wife and brother as well as all other Dhampir. The Queen wishes to give Dhampirs a place in the court. She swore her during her oath to help improve the lives of Moroi and Dhampir. She believes that the best way to improve the lives of Dhampirs is to give them a say in what happens to them. I believe she is right. My brother and our wife are lucky that they are given as much freedom as they are but most guardians live a life of servitude. It is time to make Dhampir and Moroi equals. I ask that I be allowed to help the Queen accomplish this goal"
"I am proud of you my grandson. Rosemarie was lucky to have found you. Let us confer for a moment and we will give you our decision."
The council turned inward and the soft murmuring of their voices could hardly be heard. It took only a few minutes before they were ready. They again turned to face me.
"Dearest grandson we have decided that your request has merit. We have seen the struggle that the wielder of Life and Death has had as she tries to put her hunting packs together. Rosemarie will not approve so for her best interest you must send her away for a month. I assure you that we will protect the Queen for her.
Tell Vasilisa to seek counsel from Viktor Dashkov. He will be her primary guide but when needed, you will help her too."
"Thank you council. Thank you Great Guardian." I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was no longer in their presence.
Lissa POV
As soon as I had left Adrian's dream I was pulled into one with my Angelina. We were outside in the sunlight in one of the gazebos. Arianna, Isabela and Angelina were playing tea party. Christian was blowing bubbles to the twins who were sitting in front of him trying to catch them. A bubble landed on Jaden's nose; this brought such a fit of laughter out of little Christian Oliver. (We usually just call him Oliver) Jaden looked cross-eyed as he tried to look at the bubble on his nose. Oliver reached out and popped the bubble making Jaden laugh. I sat in the background and watched my family.
I loved dream walking with Angelina. At first it made me miss her even more but now I grateful that I didn't completely loose her. She is still a part of my family. I am proud of her; she chose to be a spirit guide. Unlike Adrian, who has to concentrate on me to pull me into a dream walk; Angelina just has to want me. If I am asleep I will be pulled to her and sometimes like right now she might not even know that I am there. She looked up and saw me.
"Mommy!" Angelina ran into my open arms. "I love you mommy." She whispered into my ear.
"I love you to my sweet angel."
Chris and I played with our children till it was almost time to wake up. Angelina sent the other children back to their own dreams. Then she grabbed a hold of mine and Christian's hand.
"Mommy, Daddy I get to tell you about a surprise. Do you want to know what it is?" She was so excited and her little body was bouncing up and down waiting for our answer.
"Of course sweetie, what do you want to tell us?" Chris tapped her on the nose. She leaned in close to us. Her voice was soft but her excitement was still evident.
"Daddy, you gave Mommy another baby." She leaned down to my belly. "Hello in their baby sister."
The look of Joy on Christian's face brought tears to my eyes. Angelina gave us both a hug and sent us back to our dreams.
I woke up to Christian kissing me sweetly on the lips.
"Good morning, Mother of my children. Have you told Rose yet?"
"No but since I was asleep my mental walls are down, she is blocking me right now so I am not sure what she knows."
Suddenly there was the sound of someone running from the third floor to the second. I began to laugh.
"She knows." No sooner had I said it; the door burst open and Rose rushed into the room and jumped on the foot of our bed. We made room for her and she sat between us.
"Oh my God, I am so happy for you guys! At the rate you guys are going you are going to catch up to me. It looks like you will bring the Dragomir line back after all." She gave us both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I have to get back to Dimitri. I think I left him a bit confused."
"Yes you did and I have to say that I am still a bit confused. Lissa is everything Ok?"
"Yes Dimitri everything is perfect."
"Angelina just gave us the good news. Lissa is going to have another baby. This one is going to be a girl. Now with Ari and Izzy we will have three beautiful daughters." Chris gave me another sweet kiss. "I hope she looks just like you Liss."
"Congratulations to you both. How far along are you? I can't even see the baby's aura yet."
"Well since that I just had a cycle a month ago…I am guessing maybe a few days?" I had to giggle. If it were not for the fact that Angelina had told me I wouldn't believe it. I would have been worried about miscarrying again but the fact that Angelina was given permission to tell me makes me feel confident that everything will go fine.
"I just realized something." Rose had a funny look on her face. "Lissa, you and my mom are going to be pregnant at the same time. My year of abstinence is almost up and as soon as it is I am going to be joining you. I never thought you, my mom and I would be pregnant at the same time. How weird is that?"
The look on Rose's face as she contemplated this made us all laugh and soon she was joining in. Dimitri and Rose left so that we could get dressed for the day. I wanted to take the day off and spend it celebrating with my family but I unfortunately The Queen doesn't really get to take too much time off.
This is the third week in June so the children at the Court Academy are preparing for the end of the year exams. Our first senior class consists of 7 students. We have two spirit wielders; one shadow kissed Moroi who is bonded of one of the spirit wielders. One shadow kissed novice who is bonded to a student in a lower grade. The last two seniors are Moroi whose families live at court and chose to go to school near home. Rose and Dimitri have come up with a trial for the novice and her bondmate to do together.
Thankfully between planning the Trial and weeding through applicants for the hunting packs; Rose has been too busy to spend too much time in my head. I have been able to keep my blocks up during the council meetings. I normally don't hide anything from her but I really want to keep her out of my fight to give the Dhampirs the right to have seats on the council. I know that the Zeklos Prince and the Drozdov Princess are both looking to use my love of Rose and Dimitri as the reason behind my fight. The truth is that they are a large part of the reason that I want to do this. I have seen how Dhampirs are treated like second class citizens. Because of how things have worked out for them and the relationship that I have with them Rose and Dimitri are not quite treated like other Dhampirs. It bothers me to see the Guardians around court and know that they don't feel represented. Decisions get made for them and they have to go along with it. I know that people like Gerard Zeklos and Ivanna Drozdov would like nothing more than to strip Rose and Dimitri of their title and keep them under thumb.
Farther more I have heard rumblings about having Rose's children tested and experimented on. There is no way on God's green earth that I am going to let anyone touch my nieces and nephews. We already know a lot about them from a medical stand point. Sasha has been very thorough in documenting everything from blood tests to rate of growth and development. Sasha doesn't treat the children like some kind of science experiment, but she realizes that the more they know about Rose's children the better she is able to care for them. Also someday Emma will have children and there is a very high probability that her children will be like Rose's. Knowing what to expect will help Emma in the future.
After my morning of counsel meetings I decided to take a quick nap on the couch in my office. Just knowing I am pregnant I want to start taking extra good care of myself so that the baby will be healthy. Sleep found me quickly and I was pulled into a dream walk.
~oOo~
Rose POV
I knew that something was up with Lissa. She asked me to clear my schedule for some traveling she needs me and Dimitri to do, for the next month! She was being evasive about what our itinerary was and I was getting frustrated with trying to figure it out. I tried the bond but we have both learned how to block each other from certain subjects and information while still allowing each other to have access to everything else. It wasn't time for us to make visits to the academies to see how the integrated defense programs were going. Besides since I have begun to get very involved in putting my packs together she had re-delegated the program to Tasha and Aaron.
She knows that I have my hands full with Pack formation. It was no use protesting against her….. She pulled the Queenly command card on me. I know that I can dream walk with my kids and family but it isn't the same as being with them in person. I am going to miss my kids if I have to be gone for a whole month. If she isn't carful I am going to put Tatiana's old ring tone on my phone for her number. Ok so that would be harsh, but funny. I bet Chris would get a kick out of it.
Dimitri and I are scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon. Today our first class of seniors from the Court Academy graduated and we are having an end of the year party for all of the upperclassmen. It feels strange because it really isn't that long ago that I was in High school yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. I did drag Dimitri out on the dance floor for a few songs. I never got to dance with my soul mate when I was in school so I decided that even if it was weird to have teachers dancing I was going to dance with him.
Emma looks beautiful tonight. Ben noticed too. Not long ago I started to notice how people feel about the people around them. I can tell who is in love and who is not. I can tell if people like or dislike each other. Emma and Ben have become very close friends but from the first time that they met I have felt a connection between them. It is still too early for me to share any of my suspicions with them. I guess I will have to see how things look when Dimitri and I get back. In the mean time I will have Adrian discreetly watching over them for me.
I am worried about how Dimitri will take things they are after all both special to him. Emma may be sixteen and adopted but he feels towards her the same as he does for Theresa or Alyssa; Emma is just as much his daughter as ether of them are. Ben is his little brother. Though Dimitri is still not close to Nathan he has taken to his brother. Yet at the same time I know that he is suspicious about the relationship between Emma and Ben too. I have caught him giving Ben a warning glare when he catches him looking at Emma.
After the dance/party Dimitri and I were utterly exhausted. We took a quick shower together; I made love to him in our special way by my sharing my blood and our love flowing around us. Finally the weight of the last few weeks pulled us both into the oblivion of sleep. The last thought in my mind as I fell asleep is that tomorrow I will finally be able to physically make love to Dimitri and no matter where Lissa is sending us; we will make love. I snuggled closer to my Russian demigod and fell into a blissful sleep.
Quiz Questions
1. Do you think that Lissa is doing the right thing by sending Rose and Dimitri away for a month?
2. So far both Tatiana and Lissa have managed to keep people from messing with Rose and her family. Do you think that they will be able to keep people Like Princess Ivanna, and Prince Gerard from gaining votes in council?
3. What is going to be the end result of Lissa's and Adrian's effort in changing things with the Moroi Council?
4. Where do you think That Lissa is sending Rose and Dimitri?
5. What is going to happen with Ben and Emma when Rose and Dimitri get home?
Thank you for reading please review.
Suzanna
