Hello lovelies! I hope all of you are well and healthy!

Firstly, I would like to thank TheLittleSubmissive for editing this chapter! I always appreciate it!

Secondly, while I may work in a lawyers' office, American and Canadian laws are different and I do not work in Criminal/Litigation law. If I got some things wrong, please bear with me. Also, there is a bit that may be uncomfortable to read, but I promise that it is very short. I will * the beginning and end of that part.

Lastly... There are only four chapters left of this story and I am more than excited to share them with you!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think in the reviews! :)

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it again? I own nothing.

I smooth my blouse nervously as my mother steps into my bedroom and spots me in front of the mirror. Mom comes over and wraps her arms around me, resting her head against my arm as she makes eye contact with me in the reflection.

"You look beautiful, but you need to calm down a little. I know you are nervous for today but the tension is rolling off of you in waves," Mom says softly and I nod with a slow breath. I place my hands on her arms and squeeze in acknowledgement before we both leave the bedroom and walk into the living room.

Today is the first day of the trial against Tasha. We have already been to court for Ethan Moore, and he has been stripped of his Guardian title and sentenced to ten years for his involvement with Tasha's crimes against me and for vandalizing my home. Robert, on the other hand, was sent to the psych ward at Tarasov. I think the hardest thing for me right now is knowing that I'm going to be in the same room as Tasha again. I look over at my friends and family gathered in my living room with a faint smile.

We were able to smuggle Sydney into court and she volunteered to stay behind today and watch over the twins. Christian is sitting with Lissa on the couch bouncing Nadia in his lap, but he has a sad look in his eyes and my guilt intensifies. Tasha is the only living family he has left, and she is going on trial for trying to kill his friend. Baba is sitting next to Lissa as they talk quietly and Mia is sitting next to him, eagerly hanging onto every word he is saying.

I scan around the room and find Artyom in Eddie's arms and Artyom seems to be contentedly resting his head against Eddie while being rocked side to side. Mom slides past me and starts speaking with Eddie.

"You ok, Little Dhampir?"

I look behind me to see Adrian holding a cup of coffee with his other hand shoved in his pocket. I shrug my shoulders at him as he steps closer, offering the hot mug to me. I take it with a smile and sip while looking around the room. "Things will go well today. I just know it," Adrian says philosophically, and I raise a brow at him with a chuckle.

"Why do you say that?" I ask and Adrian shrugs his shoulders.

"Gut feeling."

I shake my head and lean against the door jamb while the other people in the room have yet to notice my presence. Although there is one person I have yet to see in the room. That is until an arm slides around my waist and I look up to find Dimitri standing just behind me. I rack my eyes over him quickly to notice that he is wearing his uniform. I furrow my eyes at him, and he frowns. "I will be there as your Guardian today. Tatiana was concerned about the trial and asked that I go in uniform, but I will be sitting with you the whole time," Dimitri explains, and I lean back into him. Adrian bumps his shoulder against Dimitri's with a smirk.

"I've told you once, I'll say it again. You two brighten the room when you're close. It is extraordinary," Adrian says, and I simply shake my head at him.

Sitting in the chair rigidly, we wait for it to start. Getting into the courtroom was difficult, but with Mom, Eddie and Dimitri's help we were able to get through the crowd waiting outside. Lissa sits on one side of me with Dimitri on the other, both of them holding a hand. I squeeze both of their hands and look over to Lissa. Lissa turns to look at me and catches my gaze as I look over to Christian.

I raise my brows at her and she shrugs. "He isn't dealing with it well, but he doesn't want to discuss it until the trial is over," Lissa whispers and I nod at her. We are both startled when the doors swing open and Tasha is brought out by Guardians, her hands bound in cuffs and directed to a seat. Her eyes flick around the room and a look of sadness crosses her face as she sees Christian and Dimitri but the moment she sees me, her eyes darken again. Dimitri pulls his hand from mine and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling my closer to him, his eyes never leaving Tasha. Tasha turns away from us as she sits down in her chair and looks to the front of the courtroom.

We all stand when Tatiana enters the room and takes her place beside the judge and we wait until both she and the judge sit before we do.

"We are here in regard to the matter of Ozera v. Crown. How do you plead, Ms. Ozera?" The judge states. I lean forward slightly in my seat to hear Tasha's statement.

"Guilty."

"You understand, Ms. Ozera, that you are waiving your rights to cross-examine your accusers, and your privilege against self-incrimination?"

The courtroom is silent as we wait to hear her response and I spare a glance at Christian again. His brows are pinched and his lips pursed while his hand grasps Lissa's tightly in his lap.

"Yes."

"Are you pleading guilty to the attempted murder of our Monarch, Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, the attempted murder of Advisor-to-be Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway, attempted assault of Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, two counts of assault to Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway, assault of Guardian Dimitri Belikov, and twelve counts of compulsion of your peers?"

"Yes."

I lean my head against Dimitri's shoulder and take a slow breath. I didn't expect Tasha to come in here and plead guilty. I expected her to come in gun blazing so to speak, and fight tooth and nail. But she is sitting there with no expression on her face as she hands her life over to the court.

"Ms. Ozera, you are hereby sentenced to death for your crimes. Your sentencing will be carried out in a week's time. May God rest your soul," the judge stated and pounded his gavel. The sound of the gavel hitting the sound block shakes down to my bones and I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding. I turn to look at Dimitri whose expression is hidden away under his mask. I look over to the rest of my family and friends as they all sit in their chairs. Christian is leaning forward, resting his head in his hands as his shoulders shake slightly. I reach across Lissa and place my hand on his back and he tenses up, pulling his face out of his hands and glancing at me. I bite down on my lip as we lock eyes and he simply nods before putting his face back in his hands.

I stand up once the courtroom has emptied and move down the row to my parents and I step into my father's arms quickly. "The hardest part is over, Kiz."

I sigh against his shoulder and step back to look over the people remaining. Lissa gives me a sad smile as she helps Christian from the room with Eddie's support and Mia is trailing behind them with their belongings. I step closer to Dimitri and kneel down in front of him. He hasn't moved since the verdict was given.

"I'm sorry," I whisper and he seems to snap out of his daze. He cups my chin in his hands, confused. "Why are you apologizing, Roza?"

"Because regardless of what happened, she was your friend once upon a time. I'm sorry that you are losing your friend."

Dimitri leans towards me and rests his forehead against mine while stroking my cheekbones with his thumbs. "You have nothing to apologize for. She made her choices."

After the stressful day yesterday, I decided Dimitri needed a little bit of a pick-me-up, regardless of him telling me he is fine. I know him, and I know that he is keeping it all pent up. So here I am, creeping into our bedroom with a tray of breakfast and a steaming cup of coffee. I set it down on his bedside table and crawl back beside him in bed. I lean over his shoulder as he lays on his side and I kiss his cheek.

"Wake up," I say softly, running my hand over his arm. He lets out a quiet snore and I try to rouse him once more. He rolls over and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close to him.

"Roza," he mumbles and I kiss his forehead. He opens his eyes and rests his head against my face. I giggle as he rolls us both so I'm laying on my back and he curls himself around me, which is sort of comical considering how big he is.

"Happy birthday, handsome."

Dimitri chuckles into my chest and presses his lips against me. "It's not my birthday."

I run my fingers through his hair. "Comrade. It's the 3rd."

Dimitri pushes himself up and knits his brows together. "Is it really?"

I laugh at his expression and lean up to press my lip against his. "Mmmhmm. I was also a very nice fiancée and brought you coffee," I say, pointing to the tray of food on the table. Dimitri rolls over and spots the steaming cup and rolls back to face me, gathering me up in his arms and pressing his lips to mine. It isn't a simple chaste kiss, it's a loaded kiss that leaves me breathless.

"You are perfect, you know that?" Dimitri asks as he sits up and reaches for the cup. I giggle at him as he brings it to his lips. I swear I can keep him by my side for the rest of our lives solely on the fact that I bring him coffee every morning. I roll onto my side and gaze at him with a content smile on my face. Dimitri reclines back into the pillows as he holds his cup and he opens his arm to me with a smile. I scoot closer to him and snuggle into his side and rub my hand over his abdomen. Our content silence is disrupted by babbling through the baby monitor and I sit up, pressing my lips against Dimitri's stubbled cheek before getting out to get the twins.

I check them both over for wet bottoms before scooping them both up and bringing them into the bedroom. A large smile crosses Dimitri's face and he sets his coffee down before reaching across the bed for them. I hand Artyom to him and we situate them between us on the bed.

I love doing this – having the twins between us on the bed. It makes it feel as though we are in our own private world with them. "I'm sorry I don't have a gift for you. It's kind of hard to do that when the birthday boy is my shadow when I'm out of the house between the hours of nine and seven," I say sadly and Dimitri rubs Nadia's stomach with a smile.

"I don't need anything. I have everything I want right here," he says and leans over to kiss my forehead.

"Pa!"

Dimitri and I both look down at Nadia who is laying on her back beside me with her hands stretched up. Dimitri's eyes light up at the sound and grins excitedly down at her. Maybe that is the only gift he needs today.

I flick through the magazine Lissa shoved at me the minute I walked into her house and sigh, not really looking at the wedding dresses in front of me. "Are you and Christian going tonight?" I ask hesitantly. I look up to Lissa who is looking through her binder of wedding plans that she put together. Lissa swallows her mouthful of coffee and sticks her tongue against the inside of her cheek.

"Yes. Christian promised Tasha that he would be there. We are going by before the execution. Are you going?"

I gnaw on my lip and nod. At this very moment, Dimitri is down at the cells. Tasha had begged him to visit and Dimitri kept saying no, but this morning he was anxious and asked if I would be mad if he went to say his goodbyes.

I have no issue with him going to say goodbye. Once upon a time I looked up to Tasha for how strong she was. In the end, she is the last of Dimitri's longtime friends and I know that this is difficult for him, no matter how angry he is at her.

"We are going."

Lissa gets up from her chair and comes to sit down next to me, resting her head in my lap. I shift in my spot and run my fingers through her platinum hair. "Are you ready for the end of the month? It's going to be busy right after Christmas," I say, and Lissa shrugs her shoulders. Lissa is being crowned Queen on January 1st, and the prep work has been ridiculous. Lissa has been to so many fittings and I have had so many meetings with Amilia on the last minute touches for Lissa's coronation. A few of these meetings were so late in the evening that I picked the kids up from the daycare and brought them with me, much to Amilia's delight. She is smitten with them and loves to see them every chance she can get.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over. There is so much drama and stress going on," Lissa sighs. "Like I need to tell you that. You have had such a rough year."

I snort an unladylike laugh at her statement. It has been a rough year.

"So. When do you want to go wedding dress shopping?" Lissa inquires and I shrug. It's not something most people would talk about before going to an execution, but I guess she needs something to distract her.

"I'm not sure, maybe next week? I have an idea what I want. I have to make sure Mom is available. I promised her she could come. Baba wanted to but I vetoed that," I say and Lissa laughs.

Abe has been going on about how it was only right for him to purchase the wedding dress, which I caved and allowed, but I told him he had to wait just like everyone else to see it. Lissa sits up with a groan and looks at the clock. "I should probably go get ready," Lissa says. I get up with her, but wrap my arms around her before she can walk too far. It startles her a little but she wraps her arms around me just as tight.

"Tell Christian I'm sorry," I whisper and Lissa pulls away with a sad smile.

"Tell him yourself."

I zip back home to change into something more acceptable while the kids are still at the daycare center. I unlock the door and step into an eerily quiet house. Dimitri's duster is hung up on the hook along with his keys, but there are no sounds coming from him.

"Dimitri?"

I step out of my shoes and hang my coat up as I wander through the house, finding him in our bedroom. He's sitting on the floor beside the bed with his knees pulled up and his head in his hands. I sit down beside him and carefully put my hand on his arm. He must be wrapped up in his own thoughts because he jumps and snaps his head up to look at me, his eyes red and a few tears on his face.

"Oh, Dimitri," I whisper and pull him against me. I rest my hand on the back of his head and hold him as the hot tears roll off his cheeks onto my skin.

"I'm sorry. I don't even know why I'm so upset," he chokes out and I shake my head, holding him tightly. I run my fingers through his hair as he clutches to me and the tears continue to roll down his cheeks.

I comfort him the best I can before he sits up and wipes his hand over his face. Dimitri tilts his head back and rests it against the mattress but doesn't let go of my hand. "It was like talking to the old Tasha. And then on the turn of a dime, it was like talking to a stranger. I was fine until I got home," he says quietly and I nod to myself in understanding. I shuffle over to kneel in front of him and stroke my thumbs under his eyes.

"It's ok," I say. Dimitri looks at me and pulls himself to his feet. I stand up as well and watch him go into the bathroom to clean himself up. I head to our closet and pull on plain clothes and pull my hair out, fluffing it a bit as I wait for Dimitri to come back. I toy with the chains around my neck, trying to mentally prepare myself for what is to come this afternoon when the bathroom door opens and Dimitri steps back out. I give him a tight smile and he strides up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my neck.

"I love you, moya zhizn'."

I hum and press my face into his hair, breathing in his musky smell that I have come to love as much as his voice. I brush my lips over his ear and squeeze him tightly before letting go. "We don't have to go if you don't want to," I say seriously but he shakes his head.

"I need to go," Dimitri insists while pressing his lips into a thin line.

*Dimitri and I seat ourselves in the second row behind the glass with Christian and Lissa sitting in the front row. I reach forward and rest my hand on Christian's shoulder, trying to convey how sorry I am for what is about to happen. Nobody should have to go through what he is feeling. Christian reaches up and places his hand over mine, squeezing it once in recognition before I let go. The room is surprisingly full and I look over to the side where I see Tatiana standing in her place, her face blank of any emotion.

"Lethal injection?" I whisper to Dimitri. Dimitri nods his head as his hand slips into mine, protocol be damned of him being in uniform. "Injection seems to be the easiest way to go. Tasha knew Christian would be here and wanted the less theatrical one for him."

The last of the seats are filled and we all bring our attention to the front of the room when the curtain is pulled and we can see Tasha. The priest came forward and did his blessing before the process began.

Exactly seven minutes and forty-five seconds later, the doctor steps forward and takes her vitals before calling the time of death. I bow my head and breath a deep sigh as a fat tear rolls down my cheek. A tear for all the hardship I have gone through because of her, because of the pain that those around me have suffered. But also for Christian, who has now lost the only living relative he had.*

I hop up from my seat and tear out of the room with no regard for my name being called. I make it out of the prison and break into a full sprint, kicking my heels off as I go and push myself through the deep snow. I enjoy the burn in my legs as I push myself harder and harder, forcing myself to run longer until I reach the church and slip inside. Since it's early evening on a Tuesday, there are no parishioners and I seat myself in the back pew.

The same pew that once upon a time I sat on while my heart broke in two.

I pull my knees up and press my face against them, while tucking the skirt of my dress around my legs to keep my modesty. While it may be blistering cold outside, it's warm in here and I cocoon into myself to keep the pain I feel at bay.

What is wrong with me? This woman tried to kill me and yet I'm crying over her execution. I let the tears fall as I lie down on the wooden bench, tucking myself against it.

I knew before I went to the execution that it would be hard to watch, but I didn't expect the pain of watching that swallow me whole. It was not as fast as they show on T.V., and it was difficult to watch. I close my eyes, trying to still the flow of my tears, but exhaustion takes over.

I feel weightlessness and warmth wrapping around me and I curl further into the warmth, breathing in deeply. But this heat doesn't smell like wood and incense, nor does wood move. I lift my head up to see the rising sun and dark brown hair.

"Did you have a good nap?" Abe asks, adjusting his grip around my body. The weightlessness I feel is him carrying me in his arms. I shift to move out of his arms to stand on my feet but he stops me. "You have no coat or shoes on Kiz. Let me carry you, besides, we aren't far from the house now."

I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head against his shoulder. "There's something wrong with me Baba," I say quietly, and he chuckles deeply.

"How so? Aside from you bolting and leaving us all to worry about where you went," he says and I groan, turning to press my face into his coat.

"A part of me is happy that Tasha can never hurt me or the ones I love ever again, but at the same time, I feel guilty that she's dead."

Abe slows his steps and jostles me in his arms slightly, turning to look at me. "Do you know why you feel like that?" I shake my head at him and he gives me a small smile. "Because you're human and you have a good heart."

I nod and rest my head back on his shoulder as we approach my front step and Abe sets me down at the threshold.

"Baba? How did you know I was in the church?"

"Because it is the last place any of us would look for you," Abe says, squeezing my shoulder before opening the front door. I walk in first and step aside for him to come in, but he shakes his head. "I'm going to head home for the evening. Sleep well, Kiz."

I walk into the house to find Dimitri sitting on the couch and the look of relief comes across his face. I walk over and sit down next to him, curling myself against him as he wraps his arms around me.

"You know, you outran me today. I lost sight of you once you got down the block. Where did you end up?" Dimitri says. I push both of us down onto the couch and I roll on top of him, hitching my leg around his hip and tucking my head under his chin.

"The church. I just needed to get away from all of that," I say quietly. Dimitri runs his hand through my hair and kisses the crown of my head.

"I understand," he says as he wraps his arms around me.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Dimitri groans, pulling the two of us off the couch and carrying me to our bedroom.

"Mm, the kids?" I exclaim, trying to wiggle out of his arms, but Dimitri laughs.

"They're already asleep, Roza. They were asleep when I picked them up from Sydney." Dimitri sets me down but I brush past him quietly to go check on the twins before I return to our room.

Dimitri is already in bed waiting for me and I quickly change into some sweats and a tank top. Dimitri pulls the blankets on my side down for me and I climb in next to him, rolling on my side to look at him. I find his hand under the blankets and interlace my fingers with his, resting our hands on the pillow between us.

"Are you ok?" I ask Dimitri and stroke the back of his hand with my thumb. He meets my gaze and holds it as he moves closer to me, our hands brushing the side of his face. He nods slowly while taking a deep breath and kisses my hand.

"I'll be ok. Are you ok?"

I nod and scoot closer to him, untangling my hand with his and draping my arms over his hips. I rest my head against his chest as his arm wraps around my waist, his other arm sliding under my neck. "It's finally over, isn't it?" I whisper into his chest.

"Yes."

I promise there is smooth sailing from here on out!