It's rare moments like this that I take for granted. Moments of complete stillness. I carefully roll onto my side and watch her sleep, taking in the dark circles under her eyes. We were fortunate that Toby slept through the night and I woke on my own despite the quietness. I raise my hand and brush a wayward curl away from her face, but sadly my touch is enough to wake her. Rose's eyes snap open and a small smile crosses her face before she sits up.
"Oh my God!" she exclaims as she goes to whip the blankets off her legs. I chuckle and pull her back down.
"Toby is fine. I checked on him when I woke up. He's still asleep."
Rose frowned for a moment before relaxing against me with a sigh. "Wow, for once our son takes after me and enjoys his sleep," she murmured. I shake my head and kiss the side of her head. If only our son loved to sleep as much as his mother does. Rose pushes herself up on her elbow with a smirk.
"Toby's still asleep."
I raise my brow at her and nod my head, trying to figure out what she's getting at. Rose bites down on her lip and rolls on top of me, resting her knees on either side of me. She leans in to kiss me, her smirk still plastered there. I anchor her to me by her hips and give myself over to her, slipping my tongue between her lips. Rose groans quietly and pulls away to pull her shirt over her hand and I let my eye wander over her.
"What are the chances of us getting a quickie?" Rose murmurs against my lips, gently rocking herself against me. I slide my hands up her back and cup her neck, growling as she shivers in my hands. We've been together for years, married for almost a year, and she still responds at a simple touch.
I don't respond in voice but I push Rose onto her back and sit up, gripping her panties and pulling them down. She kicks them off when they reach her ankles and I stand to pull my pants off. Three months of next to no satisfaction and I'm already excited. I get back onto the bed with her, resting on my knees while she clammers into my lap, an excited giggle coming from her lips.
Our movements are rushed and heated, hands caressing each other, mouths locked as we move together. I lift her up and lay her back down on the bed, hiking her legs up around my hips as I work my way towards both of our blisses. They come quickly and violently, making Rose scream out in pleasure. I follow behind quickly and bury my face into her neck, resting my fists beside her head.
Rose turns and nuzzles her face against the side of my head, sighing happily when noise crackles through the baby monitor. I chuckle and push up on my elbows and kiss the top of her head.
"Apparently your son doesn't like to sleep as much as you do," I say, pulling away from her. Rose laughs and throws a pillow at me as I pull on a pair of sweatpants. I shake my head and toss it back to her before going into the nursery.
"So, how does it feel to be a full-fledged dad?" Daniel asks, handing me a beer. I take it with a thank you and take a sip. Kaitlynn, Rose and the kids went out and Daniel and I thought it would be good to get together for a bit. He's been working a lot of overtime and I'm still on nights at the club.
"Good. I'm loving it, actually," I say with a smirk, leaning back into the chair. Daniel nods as he sips his beer too, tilting his head back to rest on the couch. The silence is nice, something that I have always found comforting. It's not the same as Christian and I sitting back and having a beer, but the company is still nice.
"Hey, who is that guy that I keep seeing at your place?"
What?
"What do you mean?" I ask, setting the bottle down on the coffee table. Daniel sits up and wipes the back of his hand across his mouth. "There's this guy around a lot. Tall, not quite as tall as you, but really thin too. Honestly, he seemed a little drunk at one point. He looks like you a bit, but the hair is lighter and he's paler than you."
I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through the photo album, coming down to the photo of Adrian, Eddie, Christian, and me at my wedding. "Did he look like him? The one on my right?" I ask as I turn my phone towards him. Daniel purses his lips for a minute before nodding his head.
"Yeah, almost identical."
"Fuck!"
Daniel's eyes widen at my outburst, but I don't care about that at the moment. I shake my head while dialling, knowing that we already have an issue.
"Dimitri, my boy! How are you?"
"Abe. I've been better," I sigh as I rub the heel of my hand against my forehead.
"Oh? Is something wrong?" Abe asks. I can hear it in his voice, he already knows something is wrong and the worst part is that this could go one of two ways. He could take him calmly or he could threaten my manhood.
"Randall. He found us. My neighbour saw him by the house recently," I say. There is silence on the other side, but that doesn't mean anything. For all I know, Abe could be talking with Pavel or trying to prevent himself from exploding.
"Let me talk to your neighbour. Is he available?"
I frown and pull the phone away from my ear and hand it to Daniel. He takes it and raises a brow. It's Rose's father, I mouth to him before he speaks, going into police officer mode instead of neighbour. I tune him out while he talks and think back to the last time I saw Randall. The way his gaze lingered on Rose. If he was around the house, who knows how long could have been watching us, her…Toby.
Daniel nudges my shoulder and extends the phone back to me. "Your father in law is kind of terrifying. Like, making-officers-nervous terrifying," Daniel jokes as he sits back down. I laugh dryly and tuck my phone back into my pocket.
"I'm pretty sure Strigoi are scared of Abe Mazur," I say as I pick up my bottle again. I turn to look at Daniel again only to find a shocked look on his face.
"I may not be a part of that life, but even I know who he is," Daniel says with a shiver. I laugh and nod in acknowledgement. My mobster father-in-law is terrifying.
"There's my little man! Come to Dede!" Abe exclaims as he walks into the living room, scooping Toby out of the swing and cuddling him. It's an odd sight, but I'm starting to get used to seeing the more gentle side of him around Rose and Toby. Rose snorts a laugh and hugs Pavel before plopping down on the couch next to me. I tuck her into me as I watch Abe dot over his grandson and I catch Pavel's eye. He shakes his head and laughs, something that I don't think I've ever heard.
"He has been talking nonstop about Toby and about how excited he was. I think the trunk of the car is full of toys. Your son is going to be spoiled rotten," Pavel explains as he sinks down into the chair beside him. Rose hums and pulls her feet up into my lap and rests her hand on my chest, her head resting on my shoulder.
"Baba, this is making you look less like a mobster and more like a suburban dad," Rose laughs as Abe makes faces at Toby. Abe stops and looks over at Rose before sticking his tongue out at her like a child. The notion makes all of us laugh and Toby seems to be enjoying all the noise. Toby has just started to smile in the last few days, and we have done everything we can to make him smile. Rose in particular will lean down and kiss his little mouth and make gasping noises, which makes Toby smile and squeal. It really does make my day when I see it.
"Alright, now that I've had a chance with my favourite man, let's get down to business," Abe says as he hands Toby to Rose and me. We settle him on top of Rose's legs with him facing Abe. Rose seems to be quiet through the discussion but when I look down, I find both her and Toby asleep.
"How has she taken this?" Abe asks, pointing to Rose with a slight frown. I sigh and run my hand that is wrapped around her shoulder through her hair. Rose didn't take it well at all. She was on the verge of hysterics when I told her, but she wasn't worried about herself. She was worried about Toby.
"Not great, but she's Rose. She's half you and half Janine. She's dealing with it as best as she can," I say with a sigh. Abe nods slowly as he twists the gold band on his finger.
"So the best-case scenario is to let him think we don't know that he is here? To let him keep following us around?" I ask, resting my hand on Toby after laying him against Rose. Seems like a more comfortable position than sleeping sitting up.
Abe nods reluctantly as he tents his fingers and rests his lips against them. "If there was another way, I would take it. I don't like the idea of him being near my daughter and grandson. I also don't like him being around you. It's just as much of a taunt to your mother as it is to you and to me," Abe explains and leans back into his chair with a sigh.
"Why would him being around me be a taunt to you?"
"Because you're my son, by blood or not. You are a part of my family too."
I nod and give him a tight smile when Toby starts to stir and I pull him closer to us to prevent him from falling. Abe looks from me to Pavel and tilts his head towards the door. I raise my brow at him and a smirk cracks across his face.
"Pavel did say I have gifts in the car for the little guy. Plus, I think we need a topic change, don't you? he says as he sits up and sips from the coffee cup on the table. I chuckle and mentally thank him for changing the topic. There is only so much talk about my father that I can handle.
"I thought you were putting him down," I say, leaning against the door jam of our bedroom. Rose looks up from where she has Toby laying back against her bent legs. She smirks at me and shakes her head.
"No, I barely got any time with him today with 'Dede' here. That man had him in his arms all day when he wasn't sleeping," she explains as she strokes Toby's cheek. I smile and come to lay beside them and rest my head on Rose's shoulder, making a face at Toby. I'm starting to see more and more of Rose in him every day. Some of the faces he makes are carbon copies of hers and his curls are the same as hers.
"I'll put him down in a few minutes. I just want to hold him for a bit. I'm still on edge," Rose says as she pulls Toby up and lays him down on her chest. I place my hand on hers that lays on Toby's back and stroke my thumb across her skin.
"I know. Do you want to keep him in here tonight? Just to give you peace of mind?" I ask to which she nods enthusiastically. I tilt my head up and kiss her cheek before getting back up. I turn off all the lights in the house and make sure everything is locked and the alarm is set. It won't do any good against a Strigoi, but it will give me enough time to put myself between them and my family.
Rose is already dressed for bed when I get back and is laying on her side, rubbing Toby's stomach and smiling softly. I kiss the side of her head before going around to my side and climbing under the duvet before laying on my side too.
"Try to get some sleep tonight. You've been restless," I say while tucking her hair behind her ear. She looks up and gives me a tight smile.
"I'll be less restless when we know that Randall isn't hanging around," Rose says. She swallows roughly and takes a deep breath before laying her head on the pillow, tracing her finger over Toby's cheek softly. I nod and reach over to turn off the lamp and settle down further. Toby's still awake as he stares up at me, laying still under his mother's hand. I duck down and kiss his head and breath in the smell of him that could make anyone break.
That smell, that little person in my bed is the reason that if it came down to it, I wouldn't blink an eye about killing a particular Moroi if it meant that he could never hurt my family. Again.
Hello hello! I'm sorry for the late update, but I've been struggling to put this story in the direction I want it to go to. But slowly, it is going that way! I appreciate all the responses and I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this story.
Big thank you to TheLittleSubmissive for the edit, you're a gem!
