I've been killing today with editing all of these chapters. In one day so far I've done eight Yay for me!

and Yay for you because here's more Lily and Dimitri.

DAUGHTERS

DIMITRI POV

A week passed since Miss Marie, Lily's new teacher, made her début in our lives. She was all Lily could talk about. Miss Marie's funny, Miss Marie taught me this, and Miss Marie says Dora is lame.

That last one I was grateful for. Dora was the most unpleasant cartoon that Lily used to be obsessed with. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard and with one mention of her Miss Marie eradicated her from our lives. She insisted I cleanse her room of anything Dora. I even had to get her a new bedspread. I bought her a purple bedspread, good thing Miss Marie liked purple, or that would be out too.

Whoever this new teacher was she had Lily wrapped around her finger, she basically idolized her. She even keeps bugging me about meeting her.

I tell her I'm busy, but truthfully I've been trying to find Rose. I tell myself it's so I can avoid where she is, but I know better than to lie to myself. I miss her. And I hate that I miss her.

Ever since I almost saw her that morning in the gym I go there every morning waiting for her to come through the same doors, but she doesn't. I can't help but be curious. What does she look like? What does she like to do? Does she think of me? Does she even have feelings for me? Or for Lily? I wonder if she's been asking around for me?

I shake my head trying to rid myself of these thoughts. Literally she's all I think about. She sits in the back of my mind all day. And I knew why. I knew I was stupid for thinking about someone who didn't think about me. But even after four years, Rose still owned my heart, well what was left of it. She was the only girl I allowed to truly touch my heart. She would always have it, she took my heart with her when she left the Academy but now she was back. What did that mean? I felt like I needed to find her but my brain kept telling me it was a horrible idea.

"Daaaaddyyyy?" Lilly said in a singsong voice making Daddy sound like it was a six-syllable word. She seemed extremely chipper today, probably because I promised to meet her precious Miss Marie today.

"Yes Liliya."

"Guess what Miss Marie is teaching me to do?" She crawled into my lap.

"What's that Princessa?" I asked not completely interested, Rose was still on my mind.

"Look at me!" Lilly huffed apparently, I wasn't watching the new thing Lily had learned so I focused my attention on her. Her forehead creased in concentration, and then slowly she lifted an eyebrow.

Rose had always wanted to know how to do that. She admitted it to me on the night spent in our cabin. I told her I would try to teach her, but only a weeks days later she had told me she was pregnant and ended our relationship.

The last time I saw her was at the hospital after My Liliya was born, I tried to thank her for giving me a family, and she had asked me to leave. As if that weren't bad enough she had asked me to take "it" with me. She didn't even hold Lily once, didn't even want to know her name. She wanted nothing to do with raising our daughter.

I could never turn my back on family. Especially a child I had brought into this world. My sense of duty didn't just end with the moroi, unlike Rose I knew I had to raise my child, it was my duty as a parent. She hadn't even said goodbye before she left for California, I now know. She just took off and left everyone she had ever cared about. It was then I knew that I had meant absolutely nothing to her.

"That's great Liliya," I tried to sound happy but I couldn't. Not when she just reminded me of Rose. I was glad Lily had connected with a woman; she needed a girl role model in her life, since she didn't have a mother. She loved her Auntie Lissa and Janine and even all her aunts in Russia, but she didn't see them very often, besides Lissa. Out of all the aunts she had and the two grandmothers she had, Miss Marie had made a bigger impression on her than all of them.

I felt a little guilty that I hadn't met the woman my daughter looked up to so much. I should've meet her sooner but my new second job of looking out for Rose had made me late in picking up Lily, and she's always gone by the time I get there.

"I loooooove Miss Marie. I can't wait until you meet her Daddy, She funny and smart and really pretty. She's even a Guardian like you Daddy!" Lily went on to say.

"That's wonderful Lily," I hadn't known she was a guardian too. What was she doing in a preschool classroom?

"I want to be just like her!" Lily exclaimed her dimples showing.

"I like you just the way you are Liliya," I poked her stomach in emphasis.

"I mean when I grow up Daddy, She sooo pretty. You two would be great friends."

"Are you trying to tell me I don't have enough friends Liliya?" I raised an eyebrow at my daughter.

"No…" she paused to think, "but you don't have any lady friends." She finished bluntly.

"Why do I need lady friends?" I asked confused Lily had never expressed to me that she thought I should be dating. I heard the front door open but I didn't turn around to see who it was. "Why?"

"Because she's pretty, and I like her."

"Liliya, Daddy's never had lady friends before why do you think I need one now?" Not since Rose at least, but that was before Lily.

She continued to look down sadly, "Because you would be happy, and not lonely anymore Daddy. She looked up at me then her brown eyes watering.

"Liliya," I said sternly. I hated to see her sad, it hurt me so much to know she was upset about something that I couldn't make better. "I am happy and I'm not lonely because I have you," I pointed to her then myself, "we are a family." I held her close to my chest and kissed her head.

"No, a family is a mommy, a daddy and a kid. I don't have a Mommy!" Lily became frantic, crying, and would no longer let me hold her close to me. I wanted to cry but I kept a straight face, I wouldn't cry in front of my daughter.

"Lily," a person beside me called, I had almost forgotten someone had walked through the door. I looked over to see a flash of blonde hair move around the couch and in front of me bending down to get close to Lily. "Lily," I now recognized Vasilisa as she bent down and turned Lily to face her, "You're okay." She told her in an eerily calm voice. "You're just sleepy, go to sleep Lily," She was so convincing even I got tired, I almost closed my eyes when I recognized the compulsion she was using and shook it off.

I felt my Liliya relax back into my arms and I sighed as she continued to cry herself to sleep.

I looked at Lissa and mouthed a thank you, before getting up to put my daughter to bed.

A while later, after waiting for Lily to stop crying and shedding a few tears myself, I made my way back to the living room where Vasilisa sat patiently on the couch.

"Thank you Vasilisa," She turned her head and made a face at her full name but didn't comment about it. She knew after four years not giving her the formal title of Princess was about as far as I would go.

"No problem, I wasn't sure if you would be very happy with me using compulsion, but I could see her aura… she was a mess I had to do something," she explained but I shook my head.

"I'm glad you did it I don't know how I would've calmed her down," I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose closing my eyes for a second. When I opened them again I found her staring at me. "What?" I asked her.

"You're a good father Dimitri. I hope I'm as great a parent to Chrissa as you are to Lily." She smiled at me.

I rolled my shoulders back. I was uncomfortable, I wasn't used to people seeing me as emotional as I am when I'm with Lily. "How much did you hear?"

"Lily's right you should start dating."

Apparently, she had heard all of it. I sighed, "Vasilisa, I'm a guardian and my concentration needs to be on guarding and raising my daughter I have no time for anyone else." I told her my face holding no emotion, because that's what it is like for me. Very simple I rarely dated before Rose or Lily and I wasn't going to date now.

"Well, you can have friends, go have fun a little." She smiled again, and I just nodded my head. "Here." She handed me a piece of paper with names on it. "Four new guardians came in yesterday. Alberta told me to pass this along to you."

"Thank you," I nodded looking at the paper it had names, a meeting place and time. I guess I would be meeting new guardians again in the morning, which means less time with Lily in the morning. I frowned.

"I'll see you around Dimitri," Vasilisa waved as she left through the front door.

Maybe meeting Miss Marie wasn't such a bad idea. I would make sure I was on time tomorrow to meet Lily's new teacher. No more walking around looking around every corner for Rose. I would do this little thing for my daughter it would make her so happy. And maybe Miss Marie would turn out to be nice, maybe we could be friends. Nothing more really, I had too much on my plate, as it was, being a single dad and a Head Guardian.

I just couldn't do this to myself anymore. I had to get over Rose. It wasn't healthy for me anymore. I thought I was hiding it well but my daughter could see I wasn't totally happy. She could tell how lonely I was even with her in my life. I wouldn't put that strain on her anymore. I had to move on for Lily, and for me.

I was done thinking about Rose Hathaway. I was done inflicting pain on myself by thinking about her. I needed to get over her. Thinking of her all day every day was killing me, slowly sucking the life from me. It killed me to know my daughter could see how it was affecting me. And I hurt when she was hurting. If I could do anything to stop her pain I would. Which means not a single thought of Rose would cross my mind. I needed to live for my daughter.

I know this one was really short but the next chapters will be long and overall more exciting.

If you read it, review it!