The two of them were smiling dreamily at one another as they ate their breakfast.
"So now it's my birthday, are you going to tell me everything you've planned for the weekend?"
"Nope!" Dimitri said with a mysterious grin. "It's a surprise! The only thing I'm prepared to reveal is we're checking in to the hotel at 2 pm, we'll be checking out at 10 am on Sunday, and we're due at Baia for a birthday lunch by 1 pm. Oh – Mama asked me to let you know she's invited Abe as well as Oksana and Mark, so everyone will be there."
"What's Vika doing?"
"She's going to catch the train like she normally does, but she's planning to arrive on Sunday morning for your lunch. She'll stay Sunday night, and we can take her back with us Monday morning like usual."
"I'm glad she's coming home even if it is just for one night. She's been so flat since Eddie left," Rose observed.
"I know," Dimitri replied thoughtfully. "They both seem very taken with each other. I have a feeling Vika's determination to have an American posting probably tripled after meeting him."
Dimitri sat with adoring eyes, watching Rose finish the last of many rashers of bacon. "We'd better get going. Are you excited milaya?" he asked shyly.
She raised her eyes to look at his chocolate brown eyes, hers brimming with happiness and love. "Yep! Today's the first day of our adult lives together!"
"That it is," Dimitri agreed tenderly.
"Does that mean I get to drive today?" Rose asked hopefully.
"Not a chance in hell!" he grinned.
They stood from the table, and Dimitri was picking up their bags to leave when Demyan spotted them and walked over.
"Belikov. Hathaway. I believe today's the big day? Happy birthday Rose!" he added, leaning a little awkwardly to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Now you two should get going. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!"
"Thanks so much for this, Demyan. We really appreciate it," Dimitri said, shaking the older man's hand.
The couple were grinning as they walked to the car when they heard pounding feet approaching them along the corridor. They looked up to see Dimitri's Senior Combat class running towards them. Looks like they were doing laps through the many passages of the interconnecting buildings.
"Hey, where are you two off to, and how come we've got Whitman for training this morning?" Leo asked as he hurtled toward them.
"Compulsory training exercise. Have to do it as part of my St. Vlad's assessment requirements," Rose lied. "I'll see you Monday."
The guys who were leading the pack were almost around the corner when the girls followed.
"See you Dimka, see you, Rose. Have fun on your training exercise. I'll see you at home on Sunday!" Viktoria said with a wicked sparkle in her eyes. She knew they were off for a special weekend together, but they'd sworn her to secrecy. Inna was running beside her and shot Rose a look of pure loathing.
"Thanks, Vika!" Rose called out to her retreating back. "See you Sunday!"
Exiting out the side of the Guardian building their usual car was waiting. Dimitri walked around to the passenger door, and when he opened it for Rose, there was a gorgeous bunch of pink and white beautifully scented flowers resting on the passenger seat.
"Oh Dimitri," Rose gasped "They're exquisite!"
"Siberian irises and lily of the valley. Delicate and beautiful but also resilient and able to withstand whatever nature throws at them. They reminded me of you, milaya."
Rose got a little teary. Right there was the reason she loved Dimitri. He put so much thought into everything. Any other guy would go into a florist and pick the first bunch of flowers they came across – but not Dimitri. He really thought about her.
Wrapping her arms around him, Rose kissed Dimitri tenderly before climbing into the passenger seat. He walked around to the rear to load their bags into the trunk before climbing in and adjusting the driver's seat. Taking the bouquet from her lap, Dimitri carefully laid it on the back seat. "They'll spoil if they're in the heat from the vents," he explained. "I don't want them to droop before we get there. Besides, I think you need to check out the glove box."
Looking at Dimitri curiously, Rose opened the glove compartment to find a white square cardboard box similar to a burger box tied up with a ribbon. Beside it was a small wrapped present.
"Open the box first," Dimitri counseled, as he started the car and guided them on to the long driveway and towards the gatehouse. Carefully untying the pretty ribbon, and retying it around her ponytail, Rose opened the box.
"Oh Comrade!" she swooned. "I don't even dare ask how you managed this!" she said, turning to look at him with a huge smile. "Can I eat it now?" she asked hopefully, eyeing the glazed choc donut sitting in its pristine white box.
"Of course, Roza," Dimitri said with a grin, watching her ecstatic expression as she picked up her prize and took a satisfying bite. Closing her eyes in bliss, Rose groaned happily as she finished her first mouthful. "Aww – it's so good! Just like back home! And it's nice and fresh, too!" Rose lovingly broke off a piece and fed it to Dimitri as he was driving. He carefully ate the proffered morsel, licking her sticky fingers clean as she giggled.
"Hmm – that does taste good. You might need to start sharing your donuts with me, milaya."
"Nope! My donut," she laughed, quickly moving her donut to the other side of her lap and angling her body as if to defend it.
"Your donut, Roza," Dimitri reassured, watching with pleasure as she carefully took bite after bite until it was almost gone.
"So would you like the final piece?" she asked him generously.
"No Roza. I want you to enjoy it – but thank you."
"I love you so much I will share my donuts with you if you want," she promised solemnly.
"I know you will, baby."
Licking her fingers clean and closing the cardboard box before replacing it in the glove compartment, Rose looked at the other present curiously.
"You can unwrap that now if you want," Dimitri offered. Rose favored him with another joyous smile before carefully undoing the gift wrap.
"How did you know?" she asked, eyes wide. It was a tube of her favorite lip gloss.
"I saw how quickly you were going through it and figured you'd not have enough to see you through. So I got you another."
"I ran out yesterday," Rose confirmed. "I didn't factor in all the extra kissing and the weather being colder, and for longer than Montana, so I used it more quickly than I'd anticipated. How did you find it? It's not a common brand."
"Guardian secret," Dimitri responded with a wink.
"You know in two months time you'll not be able to use that line, Comrade."
"I know – which is why I intend to give it a thrashing for the next nine weeks!"
Opening the tube, Rose applied a liberal amount of gloss to her lips smacking them together. "That feels better," she said with a satisfied smile. "Thank you, Comrade. I love it, and I love you."
"And I love you, Roza. Always."
"Always," she agreed, putting her lipgloss back into the glove box and then resting her hand on Dimitri's upper thigh as he drove. They'd made good time to Novosibirsk, and Dimitri declared them right on schedule when they pulled up in front of a familiar block of residential units.
"The Guardian transit house?" Rose asked in confusion. She'd never hurt Dimitri by telling him, but she hadn't expected to see this place this weekend. She didn't need anywhere fancy to stay, as long as she was with him, she was happy, but Rose had hoped for somewhere private! As if reading her thoughts Dimitri laughed.
"We're not staying here, milaya. I thought we'd change here." He said no more, coming around to open her car door. He'd grabbed her toiletries bag from the back but surprisingly nothing else. Taking her hand, he led her into the building.
Opening the door to the communal transit house, it looked almost identical to their last visit. In fact, the only real differences were it had about fifteen Guardians sleeping, eating or sitting on their beds and quietly talking with one another, and there were also pink rose petals scattered on the ground running from the unit door to one of the two bathrooms.
"After you milaya," Dimitri grinned, motioning for her to follow the trail of rose petals to the bathroom. She did, and when she got there she saw a white garment bag hanging from a hook on the wall, and a familiar pair of shoes sitting on the floor beneath it. Handing her the toiletries bag, and leaning to gently kiss her lips, Dimitri said "Try not to be too long, Roza. We have a schedule to stick to." And with that he closed the door, leaving her to change.
Opening the garment bag, Rose gasped in surprise. In it was a gorgeous pale pink lace dress Lissa had bought for her when they were on the run. A vintage find, Rose had been going to wear it to a theme party when they were in Portland, but they'd been found before she had the chance and she'd not had the occasion to wear since. Sleeveless with a subtly pleated calf-length skirt, it was very 1950s and super girly. Not Rose's usual style at all, but nonetheless she loved it. When she slipped it on she was happy to notice it accentuated her slim waist and womanly hips, and the square cut neckline was low enough to feature her breasts without being unseemly. Looking into the bag, she saw an accompanying white fur stole which she recognized as Lissa's. Trying it on, of course, it matched the outfit to perfection and would add some much-needed warmth.
The accompanying heels had been bought to match the dress - they were quite high, but had a nice thick heal so weren't too hard to walk in. Rose slipped them on before pulling her hair from its ponytail and brushing it quickly. Rifling through her cosmetics bag, she finished the look with some more mascara, a pink-tinted lipgloss, and a little eyeliner. Carefully packing her discarded clothes into the garment bag, she almost missed the little note in the bottom written on the Dragomir notepaper.
Dimitri wouldn't tell me anything
other than it's to wear to a very nice
restaurant for lunch on your birthday.
I hope I chose right!
It's so nice to be a part of your special day,
even though I can't be there.
Happy 18th birthday Rose.
Love Lissa (and Christian)
That little note made Rose's heart surge with love. For both Dimitri and Lissa. She couldn't believe he'd had Lissa rifle through her wardrobe on the other side of the globe just so she had the right outfit to wear today. And getting Lissa to use her exemplary fashion skills to come up with the perfect outfit for her special day? Well, it was a genius way of making feel Lissa feel included. Lifting the garment bag off the hook and grabbing her toiletries bag Rose opened the door to find Dimitri leaning on the wall beside it waiting for her. He was still in his dress jeans, but he'd changed into a fine weave black knit sweater that she adored, and he'd added a suit jacket. With his hair out and tucked behind his ears he looked like some sort of male model.
"Oh, Roza. You look gorgeous. I am the luckiest man in the world," Dimitri grinned taking Rose's bags from her and then twirling her around, admiring as her skirt flared in a very pretty way. "Let's go milaya."
As they walked back towards the door most of the Guardians were watching them smiling. Near the door, she noticed a Guardian she recognized from St. Basil's. He smiled at her and gave Dimitri a friendly nod. She laughed when she saw the dustpan and brush he was semi-concealing behind his back and wondered what Dimitri had promised to get him to set up, and clean up, all this. It was cold outside, but fortunately, they were back in the car in moments, and Dimitri cranked up the heat.
Rose and Dimitri were very quiet as they walked hand in hand to lunch together. In fact, once they were seated, they spent five minutes at their table for two with their hands clasped just gazing at one another. They were both startled when the waiter came to take their drinks order. Dimitri turned to Rose, asking in English whether she'd like some champagne. She nodded, so he studied the wine list.
"Champagne? Celebrating a special occasion are we?" the waiter asked kindly in English.
Rose gave Dimitri an adoring look before answering shyly, "Yes we are."
Ordering a bottle of champagne for them to share, Dimitri returned his attention to his gorgeous girl. "The menu is all in Russian, but they might have an English one. Would you like me to ask, or shall I translate it for you?"
"Can you translate it?" Rose asked not wanting to be a bother. Finally looking around at the restaurant for the first time, she was actually ever so slightly intimidated. It was gorgeous. Very airy and modern but elegantly understated. At Friday lunchtime it was filled with men in suits and women wearing business attire or pretty dresses like her own. Everything was just perfection, from the gorgeous joinery of the timber bench upon which she was seated and the chair in which Dimitri sat, the flatware burnished to gleaming perfection and each of their glasses glittering in the muted light. Dimitri started reading the menu to her when they were interrupted by the arrival of a man wearing a chef's uniform.
"Mitya! I can't believe you're here in my little restaurant!" he greeted Dimitri self effacingly, gesturing to the space around him.
"Not so little, and delighted to be here, Artur," Dimitri said fondly, standing to give him a one-armed hug Rose now recognized as the way he greeted his male friends. "May I introduce my beautiful Rose?"
"Ah, Rose!" Artur said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips, but not actually kissing it. "Thrilled to be able to play a small part in your special day," he said with a kind smile.
"Rose this is Artur Gomulka, Executive Chef here at Salt. We trained in the junior years at St. Basil's together."
"I realized I was a little better at cooking than fighting," the Dhampir explained.
"Artur is being modest," Dimitri said. "Salt is considered Novosibirsk's best restaurant and one of the top ten places to eat in Russia. We're fortunate he was able to find a table for us today."
"There's always a table for you here, Mitya," Artur said sincerely. "My family and I will never forget your friendship and support. Please take a seat. Now - you're welcome to order anything from the menu of course, but can I suggest you try the 6-course degustation? It's a sampler of all the best things on the menu."
Dimitri looked at Rose who shrugged, saying "Sounds good."
"That would be great, thanks, Artur."
"My pleasure. And it really is good to see you, Dimitri. Please sit back and enjoy," he said, leaving them to return to the kitchen.
"Artur's heart was never in being a Guardian," Dimitri elucidated. "But he's from a poor Dhampir family, so there weren't many options for him. He was bullied a lot at St. Basil's, but I persuaded those responsible to stop."
"Persuaded?" Rose asked.
"Bullies are almost always cowards at heart," Dimitri explained. "Artur ran away the day he turned sixteen. He came to Novosibirsk and worked in restaurants at night and went to chef school during the day. He spent a couple of years in Europe before returning to start Salt. He's achieved a lot and should be very proud."
"Did you keep in touch with him?"
"Not directly. I knew his older brother. He was Ivan's other Guardian."
"The one who passed away defending Ivan?"
Dimitri nodded sadly. "He was a great guy, and we were good friends. After he passed away, I stayed in touch with his family."
The sommelier arrived with their champagne, pouring the wine into the refined flutes and breaking the somber moment.
"Happy birthday, Rose. You're the woman I'm always going to love," Dimitri said devotedly, raising his glass.
"To us, Dimitri, and to love," Rose corrected.
"To love," he agreed, giving her a heart-warming smile as they sipped at the delicious golden nectar.
Lunch had been every bit as marvelous as Dimitri had predicted. They were obviously treated to the Rolls Royce service, having a dedicated waiter attending to them. The food itself had been superb – individual works of art assembled on a plate. Looking around Rose also noticed compared to the other diners, she and Dimitri received Dhampir sized serves. Other patrons had appreciated they were in the company of some sort of VIPs, looking curiously to where Rose and Dimitri sat enthralled with one another, completely oblivious to those around them. At the end of their meal, Artur again appeared, again hugging Dimitri and this time embracing Rose and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm so glad to see Dimitri happy," Artur said in his heavily accented English. "He's a wonderful man. I wish you both every joy together."
"Thank you, Artur. And thank you for making this day so special."
Dimitri went to pull out his wallet, but Artur put his hand up. "Your money is no good here, Belikov."
"I insist," Dimitri said, not wanting to take no for an answer.
"No, I insist. Consider it a gift for your beautiful lady," he said with a wink before heading back to the kitchen. Dimitri shrugged and putting his hand in the small of Rose's back guided her towards the door.
"How are you feeling, milaya?" Dimitri asked affectionately.
"Good. Full, happy, and perhaps a little bit silly from all the champagne!"
"Well, it's gone 2 pm. Would you like to go to the hotel and get settled in? We could have a rest before this evening's activities?" he suggested, helping her into the passenger seat of their car.
"Hmm – that sounds perfect Comrade," Rose said, picking up her flowers and sniffing their ambrosial blooms. In a matter of moments, Dimitri had pulled out into the traffic and drove the short distance to their hotel.
"Here we are milaya," Dimitri said proudly, pulling up in front of the Novosibirsk Marriot. The hotel was awe-inspiring. Built in the Art Nouveau style, it was opposite a gorgeous park and near a Cathedral.
"It's beautiful," Rose gasped, looking at Dimitri uncertainly. She had no idea how he was affording all this.
"Come on then," Dimitri grinned, coming around to open her door before handing his keys to the bell boy. "Bags are in the trunk, booking under Belikov," he said, passing Rose her flowers and guiding her across the pavement and into the lobby. All marble and muted brown and tan tones, the lobby had the sumptuous functional refinement typical of a high-end establishment. Walking confidently to the concierge, Dimitri smiled and said "Booking under the name of Belikov," pulling out his credit card and license. Quickly signing the paperwork where required, they were soon on their way up to the sixth floor.
Walking along the corridor with its thick woolen carpet, the bellboy had reached the room ahead of them and was taking their bags into their room. Handing the young man a tip, Dimitri picked Rose up and carried her across the threshold and into their suite, kicking the door shut behind them.
If you want to see Rose's dress, check out the 'I Never Told You I Love You' album on my Facebook Page:
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