The smile on my face felt like it was going to break my face. Sofia's fascination with the Christmas lights melted my heart. Dimitri and I had to step around her as she laid looking up at the tree lights while we decorated the tree.

I wanted to surprise Dimitri with a beautiful ornament that said 'Sofia's First Christmas', but it turns out that Dimitri had the same idea too. While I got a bobble, Dimitri had gotten a small snow globe. I chuckled and smiled when he showed it to me, but my heart felt so full. My heart felt full all the time now. I had a man that I loved unconditionally that was about to become my husband in four weeks, a baby girl who was almost a year old and the light of my life. I had another baby on the way that I could finally start to feel.

Dimitri was attentive as always, hovering just a few steps away. At night, his hand would rest on my stomach for a few minutes in hope of feeling the baby move.

"Do you think it's safe for her to be looking at the lights this long?" I asked as I put the last of the bobbles on the tree, looking down at Sofia at our feet. Dimitri smiled and shrugged.

"No. I think she's had enough. Come here princess," he said as he stooped down to cuddle her, cradling her to him as she let out a big yawn. I stepped towards them and wrapped my arms around Dimitri's waist, kissing the back of Sofia's head as I cuddle into them.

"It's crazy. She's going to be a year old in two days," I said thickly, getting a little emotional. My baby was going to make her one-year milestone.

"I know. It feels like yesterday we left from our Christmas dinner and hung out in a hospital for two days," he joked and tipped his head down to kiss me. I smiled against his lips with a sigh.

"Best Christmas yet," I chuckled and loosened my grip around Dimitri as Sofia stirred. I nuzzled my nose against her hair and closed my eyes. Sofia was one of my favourite things about waking up in the morning. I loved her cheeky smile and the way her hands would reach for me when I came close. I loved the way her nose would twitch before she sneezed, or how she would sigh with a smile in her sleep like her father. She had perfected the Rose Hathaway lip when she wanted to sucker her father, and her personality was the perfect mixture.

She had my spunk, Dimitri's heart, my slyness, and Dimitri's temperament. Her laugh was like pure gold and her grandmother's twinkle. Both were something she got from Olena and Janine.

"I can get her ready for bed if you want to get changed," Dimitri offered, running his hand through Sofia's hair. I nodded and took her from him for a moment, cuddling Sofia close.

"Mommy will be in in a minute," I said softly, kissing her head. I handed her back to Dimitri and headed for our room in a hunt for pyjamas. It didn't take long for me to find the ones I wanted and slipped them on and headed into Sofia's room. Dimitri had her cuddled in the rocking chair, already starting to read to her.

I always thought it was funny hearing his accent try to create different voices for the stories, but it made my heart flutter every time he did it. And it would make Sofia laugh, so I loved it even more.

"What's it tonight?"

Dimitri smirked at me. "Your favourite."

"There are many," I said as I wandered in, tipping my head to the side to read the title. "Ah. Dumbo," I said with a smile. Dimitri nodded and continued reading while I watched Sofia's eyes slowly droop.

It didn't take long before Sofia was asleep in her father's arms, cuddling against him with her lips parted as she slept. I wish that I could save her in time, but I also didn't want that. I wanted to see her grow up and flourish into the beautiful woman she would become. But in this moment, I wanted her to stay this small.

I carefully picked her up and brushed her hair away from her face, kissing her cheek as I carefully lowered her into her crib. I draped one of the many baby blankets Olena and Dimitri's Babushka made for her onto her legs, tucking it around her legs.

I felt Dimitri come up behind me and he rested his hands on the cribs on either side of me, kissing my shoulder.

"Hard to think we're going to have another little one soon," Dimitri whispered against my shoulder, moving up to kiss my neck. I smirked and leaned back into him.

"Mmmhmm. I want Sofia to say little for longer. Soon she'll be old enough to give us real attitude and not want us around."

Dimitri snorted a laughed into my neck. "Roza. She's only going to be a year old. She isn't a teenager. She's still going to be our baby for a bit."

I pursed my lips with a sigh. He was right, she was still a baby, our baby. I pulled away from him and the crib and lead him into the living room, sinking into his lap when he sat on the couch. Dimitri chuckled but held my hips as I got comfortable in his arms, looping my hands behind his neck.

"I love you," I said softly, rubbing the tip of my nose against his. Dimitri's warm hands stroked my hips gently as his eyes closed.

"I love you, Roza."

I pressed my lips to his quickly before pulling back to look at him. "Thank you."

He raised a brow at me. "For what?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"For loving me the way you do. For making me so happy. For helping me create two beautiful lives. For you being you," I said gently, smiling at him. Dimitri had a tender look cross his face as his hands slid up my body, coming to rest on my cheeks.

"I should be thanking you for all of that," he said kissing me again, "I have never been this happy in my life. I can't wait for you to be my wife."

I smiled and snuggled into him the best I could with my growing stomach, resting my face in the crook of his neck. "You smell amazing," I groaned out, squeezing my arms around his neck.

Dimitri chuckled and kissed my head. "Is that you talking or the hormones?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Both. You know you love it."

Dimitri's hands crept under my shirt and up my back, his fingers tracing my spine. I lifted my head from his neck and kissed him, running my tongue along the seam of his lips. His hands became firm against me and pulled me to him, commanding his lips against mine.

"Maybe I could give you one of your presents now?" I asked coyly, wagging my brows at him while biting my lip.

Dimitri's eyes opened and he looked down at me through his lashes, his eyes dark with hunger. "Oh really? What kind of present?"

I smirked and stood from his lap. "Well, you'll just have to find out," I said as I headed towards our bedroom, my hips swaying a little more than usual. Dimitri made a groan, whether of excitement or pleasure, I wasn't sure, but he followed.

I pushed him to sit on the bed and told him to wait there as I slunk into the closet. It was cliche, I'll admit, but I felt really good in my own skin right now. So as I pulled on the red lace panties and white trim bra, I felt good. I felt sexy.

And from the look on his face when I came out of the closet, he agreed.


I push myself up from the pillows with a frown. The room was too quiet. I clanked at the clock before letting my head fall to rest on the pillows again, rubbing my face against the cotton. I was so tired. A baby was so much more work than I had expected it to be, but I loved every minute of being her mom. She was perfect, despite the circumstances.

The stilling silence made my eyes open again and I listened carefully. I couldn't hear anything. I had put her in the nursery tonight because I was going to be up late and was worried about the noise of my lecture videos disturbing her. I reached for the baby monitor and squinted at it, not seeing the red light blinking back at me.

The batteries were dead. Again. This had to have been the cheapest baby monitor on the planet. With a sigh and a grunt, I pulled myself from bed and wandered down the hall to her room. I was careful to be quiet as I passed my parents' room and flicked the lamp on the shelf.

The lamp was enough light so we could see and I walked to the crib to check on her. I leaned over the crib with a half-smile, seeing her little fist up by her head. But something was off. My brows knitted together as I reached into the crib and rested my hand on her chest.

There was no movement.

"Jenny?" I whimpered, rocking her gently, hoping that it would stir her. Again, no feeling under my palm.

I felt panic rise like a hot flash through my body, starting in my chest and rushing through me like a fire.

"DAD!" I screamed as I pulled Jenny from her crib, bringing my head down against her chest. I held my breath as I listened carefully. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't hear her breathing; I couldn't hear her heart. I could hear absolutely nothing.

I don't know where the strangled noise came from as I sunk down onto the carpet, clutching my girl to my chest, but the hands on my shoulders were not mine, nor were the ones that were trying to take her from me.

The hands on me were strong than my hands on her and forcefully pulled me away, while red hair moved into my line of sight, leaning over Jenny's body.

The thumping in my chest was so hard that it felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. The hot flush in my body was just as bad as I had felt that night and I tumbled out of bed, getting my legs tangled in the sheets as I tried to get free.

My feet had barely hit the floor before I was running out of the room and down the hall, barreling into the room without a care for the noise I created. The bang of the door against the wall startled Sofia and she started the wail. Any other time I would have cringed, but that sound was like cold relief to me. In the time I crossed the room and pulled Sofia out of her crib, Dimitri had stumbled into the room behind me, wide awake and alert.

"I'm sorry," I panted as I tucked Sofia's head under my chin, hushing her gently as I tried to soothe her as my panic started to leave me body. "I had a nightmare. I didn't mean to wake you."

Dimitri looked from me to Sofia before wiping his hand over his face. "You scared me," he said quietly, "I thought something was wrong."

I nodded and buried my face into Sofia's hair. Now that the initial fear and panic had seeped out of my body, I started to tremble. I hadn't had a dream about that night in almost three years, but the feeling it left me in was just as horrible as it used to.

Dimitri's hand came to settle on my back and rubbed it gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head and kissed Sofia's head as her whimpers started to die down. "No. Can we keep her with us tonight?"

I could see him but he kissed my hair. It wasn't often that we kept Sofia with us, mostly because we both tended to sprawl and toss in our sleep, but I needed her.

"That's fine," Dimitri said as he led us back to bed, grabbing Sofia's elephant from the crib. I whispered my apologies to Sofia for waking her as I crawled into bed, setting her between us. Dimitri climbed in after us and pulled the covers over us, stroking my cheek softly, collecting the tears I didn't know had fallen.

"That nightmare really scared you, didn't it?"

I nodded and rested my other cheek against Sofia's head, cuddling her as she rolled towards me.

"Yeah," I did after clearing my throat, "it did."

It wasn't easy to fall back asleep, but I finally managed it around four in the morning. When I did wake, it was because the warm little body was being moved away from me, and I instinctively reached for it.

"It's just me," Dimitri crooned gently, kissing my temple. I opened my eyes and found two sets of beautiful browns looking at me.

I blinked and rubbed my face, looking out the big window to see the white sky and snow falling. I turned back to them and gave them a weak smile, sitting up in bed.

"Merry Christmas, my love," Dimitri said kissing my lips quickly before sitting when Sofia had been laying, her settled in his lap.

"Merry Christmas, comrade," I replied with a small smile, "Merry Christmas baby," I said to Sofia, cupping her little cheeks. I was rewarded with a sweet, toothy smile and outstretched arms. I looked at Dimitri with a smirk and picked her up.

"How long have you been up?" I asked as I snuggled, leaning towards Dimitri.

"We've been up for about half an hour. You were dead to the world but had a pretty firm grip on me and her. Did you fall back to sleep okay?"

I shrugged. "It took a while, but I did. No dreams though."

Dimitri looked at me carefully, knowing that I was holding information back but knew that asking me about it when I wasn't ready would only do harm. Instead, he cupped the back of my head and brought my lips to his, pouring his love into the kiss before pulling away.

"How about we make some breakfast and do our gifts with Sofia?" he suggested, running his thumb over my bottom lip. I nodded and lifted Sofia towards him before crawling out of bed.


The house was lively, but I still felt off. The dread still lingered in me as I stood in the kitchen, watching my loved ones in the living room. Lissa and Christian both came, Dimitri's family were all able to come again too. I was happy that both my parents came. They both seemed to notice my unease and came over.

"Is something wrong?" Janine asked, resting her hand on my shoulder. I chewed my lip and tried to blink back the tears that started to form, but my pregnancy hormones were adding to them.

"I had a dream about that night last night. And it scared me," I explained, hoping that would be enough for them to know what I was talking about, "I haven't had dreams about that night in years."

It took a few moments for my parents to realize what I talked about as I stroked my bump, but once it clicked, Janine gently pulled me to rest my head on her shoulder, stroking my hair.

"I'm sorry wee one," she said, a tender term of endearment that I hadn't heard in a long time. I nodded and turned my face into her shoulder so nobody could see how red my eyes were getting. Dad put his hand on my back and rubbed it gently, lending me physical comfort and support as I pulled myself together.

"Have you talked to Dimitri about the dream?"

I shook my head and sniffed as I lifted my head. "No. I didn't know how," I sighed and tried to put on a happy face as Sofia waddled my way. I bent down and picked her up, setting her on my hip

"She was definitely spoiled today. And she's going to be spoiled tomorrow," I said with a wet chuckle, changing the subject to the beautiful girl in my arms. Janine nodded and played with Sofia's head with a laugh.

"Oh yes. Your bairn is spoiled for sure. Between us and Dimitri's family, she'll have enough to keep her busy for months. Thank you, for my gift again. I really do love it," she said, looking from Sofia to me with a smile.

I hadn't been sure what to get Janine, but when I thought about how much of Sofia's life she'd missed, I figured I'd give her a little bit of that. I put together a scrapbook of pictures of Sofia. From when she was a newborn, to moments we were fortunate to get on camera, I filled the book the best I could.

Dad was simple. As much as he held sentimental value to the worn leather cigar pouch, it was starting to fall apart. So I bought him a new leather pouch and had it embroidered with his name on it. He had a grin I knew so well on his face when he opened the box, and it lifted my spirits to see him like it.

As long as I was a part of something today, the feeling of fear and the dull ache was at bay. Dimitri surprised me with a pair of slippers I had been wanting but could find anywhere. He also bought me a beautiful charm bracelet that I could add to.

He was impressed with the collection of books I found for him and laughed with a cocky grin when he opened a box to find it full of chocolate peanut butter cups. He had a slight addiction to them, and I found them on sale for fifty cents a package and cleared out the shelf. It would state his chocolate fetish for a little bit. He really loved the cuff I bought him with Sofia's name engraved on the silver plate attached to it. It was big enough to add to for our future children, but he proclaimed quickly that he wanted to add my name to it too.

"You should talk to him, kiz. It may help," Dad pressed gently. I nodded my head with a sniff.

"I will. Just not today. I can't do it today," I replied when I caught his eye across the room. He was standing with his mother but looked concerned. I gave him a tight smile before breaking away from my parents and made my way towards him.


Our Christmas dinner went much more smoothly than it did last year. I mean, there was nobody here to go into labour this year, so we all got to sit and enjoy the meal and the night without interruptions. Dimitri showed Paul how to carve the turkey, and Karolina had a sweet smile on her face as she watched. Sonya's daughter, Lydia, slept through almost the whole meal and was being passed around while Dimitri and I watched from the kitchen.

I leaned towards him and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, smiling against the sleeve of his shirt as he kissed the top of my head. I was starting to feel better, and I was in a post-meal bliss. I was tired but was fighting through it.

"There was something I wanted to ask you about."

I lifted my eyes away from our guests to look at him. I was monetarily distracted by the thick bands of his forearms that lead to the hands that were submerged in the water.

"Sure. What's up?" I asked as I carefully dried the crystal glasses.

"I was thinking that while we both love the penthouse, that maybe it was time that we got a place of our own?" he proposed, giving me a lopsided smile. I was surprised by the question but in a good way. He was right. We needed a place of our own. While this was home, this was his home. We didn't pick it together, and it was still mostly decorated the way it was when I met him.

"You want to buy a new place? Like here in the city or?"

"I was thinking more of a house. Maybe in Manhasset?"

I frowned. "Dimitri? Manhasset is almost an hour from Belikov Enterprises."

Dimitri shrugged. "That's fine. I can do some days in the office, some days remote. I don't need to be there every day. I go because I want to be there. But there were a few houses I saw in Manhasset that I thought would be nice. If you want to, of course."

I turned my attention back to the dishes as I mulled it over. Manhasset was a beautiful city, and it was safer than the city core.

"Maybe we can schedule a few open houses? Maybe be in a home before the baby is born?" I offered with a smile. The prices in the area were a lot more than I could afford right now only with the one job, but with combined income and a new job after I finish school, it'd work out.

"I can set it up," Dimitri said looking down at me. I gnawed on my bottom lip and nodded my head as I set the plates I had just dried in a stack. Dimitri's warm hands settled on my waist and I turned to face him.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said but I hadn't fooled him.

"Roza. What is it about buying a house that has you quiet?"

I shrugged with a sigh. "The prices in Manhasset are a little more than I can afford right now," I said quietly. Dimitri's features softened and he moved a hand to cup my face.

"That's what's bothering you?"

I nodded my head and was confused by the small smile on his face.

"Don't worry about that," he said gently, "please. Don't worry about that. We're a family now."

I looked down at his chest and nodded, still feeling off about the circumstances. Dimitri brushed my hair away from my face and kissed my forehead. I sighed and leaned into him.

"Yes, but it's your money."

Dimitri took a slow breath before wrapping his arms around me. "I know that you've struggled in the past. But I don't want that to cloud you. We are a family, and I want to give you and our children the best lives possible. Please don't worry about that. We will make everything work," he implored, rubbing his hands over my back.

I rubbed my cheek against his chest as I nodded. "Okay," I said quietly. Dimitri kissed the crown of my head before pulling back to look at me. He gave me a soft smile and I returned it, stretching up on my toes to kiss him.

"We'll make it all work," he whispered against my lips as we pulled apart, pecking my lips again softly.


Hello hello!

I wanted to get this chapter out before I have surgery tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'd be able to really focus enough to update after that. There are only a few more chapters left!

Let me know what you think!:)