Chapter 33: Settling In
I woke up to the sound of Dimitri's alarm and for once I didn't hit him thinking he was the snooze button. But Dimitri did the unexpected, he hit the snooze button and said in a sleepy voice "It's too early, want to cuddle". He turned on his side and pulled my back to his front, wrapping his arms around me, burying his face in my neck and said "that's better".
Thirty minutes later, we finally got up and took a quick shower. Dimitri shaved and we got dressed in cargo pants, boots, Dimitri had a long-sleeved shirt on and I chose a long-sleeved shirt and a hoodie. As we were dressing, I asked "What's the plan for today?"
Dimitri put his stakes in his holders and said "I want to check out the gym as well as the compound."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Mom is flying in today and then Baba and Pavel will arrive in a few days and Guardian Dunham is in charge until Pavel gets here" I said.
"Okay, it will be good for both of us to meet him. I also want to check out Lissa and Christian's house and their guardians. Pavel suggested that since Celeste and I were Lissa's guardians that those guardians will fall under our team" Dimitri stated.
"Also, I want to have a debriefing with all the guardians" Dimitri said.
"What's debriefing?" I asked. I had heard the term before but I wasn't sure I understood exactly what it meant.
"After an incident, like yesterday, everyone gets together to discuss the events. You discuss what worked well and what didn't. It gives guardians a safe place to discuss the incident" Dimitri explained. "I am inviting Lissa, Christian and their guardians as well, since they dealt with Adrian and the Royal Guardians at Court. Plus, they had to leave abruptly to come to Turkey for their safety."
My stomach started to growl and Dimitri laughed and said "Come on, let's get you fed" as he pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head.
Dimitri and I went to the fourth floor and the majority of the guardians were already there. It was a buffet style and there was huge amount of food which was good since there were about fifteen dhampirs eating.
I took a plate and piled on eggs, bacon, hash browns, yogurt and then I saw them, my chocolate donuts and I grabbed two of them. Dimitri and I sat down across from Vika and Matt. The two of them had goofy smiles on their faces as they were quietly talking to each other. Vika looked at me as I sat down and I mouthed "later" to her. Dimitri came back to the table with two coffees and he placed one in front of me.
"Thanks, Comrade."
"Your welcome Roza" Dimitri replied and then he gave me a bowl of fruit salad. I rolled my eyes at him, trying to seem like it annoyed me but in truth, I loved that he was always looking out for me.
I dug into my food with gusto, at least Christian wasn't currently here to make some comment about the way I was eating. Dimitri started noticing that Vika and Matt were in their own little bubble. Dimitri turned to me raising an eyebrow. I shrugged back at him with a smile on my face.
I wanted to distract Dimitri from watching Matt and Vika, so I asked "Comrade, do you think the rest of your family is going to stay in Russia or come to Turkey?"
"If I had to guess, I think they would prefer to stay in Russia, but I am planning to call later today."
We finished eating breakfast and Dimitri stood in front of the group. "Good morning, I hope you all slept well last night. I wanted to go over the plan today. Everyone will have the morning off from training if you want. I want to check out the gym to see what is here and I will help set up workouts for tomorrow and then tour the compound. I want to have a debriefing on the third floor after lunch. If anyone needs anything or has concerns feel free to come to me or Guardian Dunham, who is in charge here until Pavel arrives in a few days. Any questions?" No one said anything and a few shook their heads 'no'.
Dimitri came back to our table and picked up his dirty dishes and said to Vika, Matt and me "Come on, let's go check out the gym."
The building that housed the gym was twice the size of the gym in Russia. We walked through the doors and I think all of our jaws dropped. It easily had to be the best guardian gym in the world. It had all the same equipment as the other gym, it was just newer and there were more pieces.
There was a weight room off to the side with machines as well as free weights. There were treadmills and bikes opposite of the weight room. There was an indoor track on the second floor similar to the one in Baia. But front and center of the gym were multiple sparring circles with the biggest one in the center. There were bleachers against the wall so I wondered if they had sparring competitions.
A guardian who looked to be about forty and was built similar to Dimitri, just not as tall walked towards us. "Hi, I'm Guardian Dunham, you must be Novice Hathaway and Novice Belikov" he said.
I shook his hand and said "Rose, please" and Vika shook his hand and said "Vika".
"And you must be Guardian Belikov and Guardian Logan. Pavel briefed me yesterday about your impending arrival, I'm sorry I was unable to meet with you but I was off the compound at the time. Let me give you a quick tour of the main areas you will be using. Obviously, this is the gym where you will spend most of your time. Most guardians workout early in the morning or late evening, so you will have the gym almost to yourselves during the day."
Guardian Dunham led us out of the gym and said "You have already seen your house. There is a path around the compound that people like to run, but unlike in Russia, it is surrounded by a ten-foot brick wall. It helps with strigoi but also fits in with the neighboring properties. This is the garage, there are a few retired guardians who maintain the vehicles. Just give them a few days' notice if you want to use one of the cars. The tall structure that you can see from here is your father's residence".
"And here is the house for Princess Dragomir and Lord Ozera. They have four guardians with them split into two shifts. Pavel explained that since Guardian Belikov was previously in charge of her protection, that you will oversee their protection. I'll let all of you get settled but feel free to contact me if you need anything." Guardian Dunham said and then walked away.
"Vika and Matt, why don't you get a short workout while Rose and I check in with Lissa and Christian" Dimitri suggested.
"Okay, see you later" Matt said.
Dimitri and I walked up the steps to the house and knocked on the door. A guardian answered the door and introduced himself as Guardian Demir. He showed us to the kitchen where Lissa was sitting at the table and Christian was furiously baking. Lissa looked exhausted, I looked over at Dimitri who gave me a small nod and I said "Come on Lissa, show me around."
Lissa looked relieved and as we walked out of the kitchen, I heard Dimitri say to Christian "Okay, where can I help". God, I love that man.
Lissa and I went upstairs to her bedroom and she flopped down on her bed. I crawled on to the bed and laid down on my side next to her and I said "Talk". Lissa let it all out from Adrian's behavior to Tasha becoming strigoi.
"It's all my fault, if Christian wasn't with me, he would still have his Aunt. He would still be at St Vlad's and he would graduate and do whatever he wanted to" Lissa cried.
I hugged her and at the same time, I probed in her head and found that there was some darkness. I needed to talk to Dimitri before I took it away because I didn't want to hurt anyone like I did with Celeste.
"Lissa, none of this is your fault, you are not responsible for the actions of Adrian or Tasha. Christian loves you so much, every time I was in your head and Adrian or Tasha was threatening you, Christian always stood in front of you to protect you" I said.
"I know" she responded through her crying.
"Christian's a good guy, he just needs time to process everything that has happened. And you better not tell him I said he was a good guy" I jokingly threatened.
"Okay" Lissa giggled.
"Too late" Christian said as I turned around and saw Christian smirking from the doorway.
I turned back to Lissa and said "Great, I'm never going to live this down."
Lissa laughed, hugged me and whispered "Keep your mind busy for a while."
"My cue to leave" I whispered back and hopped off the bed and as I passed Christian, I said "See you Sparky".
"Bye Buffy" Christian said.
I went down the stairs and found Dimitri speaking with two of the guardians. He introduced me to them and then we walked out to head back to our room. We both started to speak at the same time and Dimitri said "Ladies first".
"How's Christian?" I asked.
"He's okay. He needed time to come to terms with what Tasha did and he didn't want to add more stress to Lissa. But he realized by being quiet he was making it harder for her. How is she doing?" Dimitri asked.
"She blames herself for Adrian's and Tasha's behavior" I started.
"But she's not" Dimitri interrupted.
"I know that and you know that but she has some darkness in her that is playing into her fears/depression" I responded.
Dimitri stopped waking and scrubbed his face and let out a big sigh. "Alright, we'll discuss this at the guardian meeting and set it up like last time, but you need to only take a little at a time."
"Okay" I said feeling a little flat. Dimitri put his arm around me and pulled me close to his body and we walked up to the fifth floor. I could smell food "I thought we were eating with everyone else" I said to Dimitri.
"That's what I thought" Dimitri responded. We walked into the kitchen and to my surprise, my mom was in the kitchen cooking with a few of the guardian chefs.
"Hey Mom, how are you?"
"I'm good Rosemarie, I was hoping that you and I could have lunch together, if you don't mind?" She asked a little nervous.
I looked quickly at Dimitri, he gave me a quick nod and a wink.
"Thanks Mom, I would love to have lunch with you" I said. I walked to the stairs with Dimitri, he turned to me and pulled me to his chest.
"Have fun with your mother and just come down to the common area when you are done."
"Okay" I said as I started to rise on my tippy toes to kiss him. Dimitri lowered his head and met me halfway. It was a nice gentle kiss, but he pulled back sooner than I wanted.
"I love you Roza"
"I love you too Comrade, see you in a bit" I responded. He gave me another quick kiss and then turned and went down the stairs.
I went back to the kitchen and I asked Mom "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Yes, do you mind setting the table for us?" She asked.
"Sure" I went to the cabinets and got two placemats. Since it was the first time we were eating together, I kind of wanted to make it special. I got plates and silverware and placed two glasses of ice water next to our plates.
Mom turned around and said "I'm making some of your father's favorite Turkish dishes." She brought over two bowls of soup and said "It's called Ezogelin Corba, it has lentils, tomatoes and some spices."
I took a sip "This is really good"
"Thank you, Rosemarie, your father always liked to tease me because there is an old wives tale that a woman made up the soup to impress her potential mother in law. Of course, Abe didn't tell me this until after I had made the soup."
Mom shook her head trying to look annoyed but she had a smile on her face. I laughed at her expression and Baba's trick, maybe that's where I got my devious side from.
Next, we had Saksuka which has eggplant, zucchinis, tomatoes, garlic and chili. Mom started to discuss how she met Baba and the feelings that she had for him.
"I met your father when I was in Turkey with my first charge. We had all been warned to stay away from someone named Ibrahim Mazur. But your father being your father, did not tell me his real name the first night I met him. After we parted ways for the night, one of the other guardians had asked, why was I talking with Abe all night long."
My eyes were bugging out of my head because knowing my parent's temperaments, I knew this would not end well.
"I was so furious, so I called Abe and told him to meet me for dinner the next night. When I got there, I was so mad that I started pushing him around. I don't know how Pavel managed to stand his ground and not interfere, maybe he agreed that Abe deserved it."
Mom and I both laughed at that thought.
"But your father became very persistent, asking me to have dinner with him every night I was in Turkey and I finally gave in the last night I was in Turkey. It was magical, he set up this dinner on the rooftop overlooking the city. We stayed up all night talking. It was hard when I left with my charge the next day, but we talked over the phone almost every night after that. Then about three months later, my charge died of natural causes and your father invited me to stay with him for a while."
The guardians then brought out Mercimek Kofte which had lentils, onions, tomatoes and spices. I was definitely liking Turkish food and started think that Dimitri and I would need to go out to dinner to try more Turkish food.
Mom explained about her family, that her mother was a dhampir and her father was a Moroi as I expected. She said that while her father was not involved in her life, he did provide for them financially. She had two brothers and a sister. Her brothers, her sister and her all had the same Moroi father. Mom said she was the only one to become a guardian, her siblings had left the Moroi world in favor of the human world.
"Do you ever see them?" I asked.
"I try to see them when I can, but it has been about five years since I have seen them. But with Abe's help maybe we can see them or have them come here with their families."
"Wow, Mom, that would be great if we could work it out. I would love to meet Aunts, Uncles and cousins."
We talked about her getting pregnant and then the first four years of my life. She said Abe has the photo books somewhere here, so when he shows up, we can sit down and look at them.
"I would love to see them" I said as I only have a few pictures from St Vladimir's.
She apologized for sending me to the academy. Again, she said she thought it was the right thing to do. I told her that I had forgiven her and Baba. I wouldn't have met Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Mason and Dimitri had I not been at the Academy. I explained that I was here now and that we can start to build our relationship.
Mom stood up and gave me a big hug. I could feel water dropping on my shoulder. When she pulled back, she sat down and wiped her tears away. "Thank you, Rosemarie, I also wanted to talk with you about something first alone before anyone else heard."
"Okay" I questioned.
"Your father and I have been talking about my future. I am going to retire as a Guardian and your father and I want to see if we can rekindle our relationship. But we both wanted to make sure it was okay with you; you are our first priority."
"About retiring, if that's what you think is best than I think it's a great idea. And as for you and Baba getting together, I think it is a decision for the both of you to make. At this point, I want to build individual relationships with you and Baba but having a relationship with the both of you would be great as well. I'm sure from time to time we might have different opinions, the only thing that I ask, is that you ask me about it first and calmly listen to me." I replied.
Mom laughed a little "Okay, I promise to work on that."
DPOV
I kissed Roza and then I turned to go downstairs to the dining area. I was thinking that after a workout, Roza and I could take the night off. I thought maybe I could make her a nice romantic dinner.
I went to the kitchen and spoke with the head chef guardian and we planned a meal for Roza and myself. He said he would help me prepare the meal and would send a guardian to get the ingredients that we didn't have.
I thanked him and went to go get some food and I looked around the tables and found Matt and Vika sitting next to each other. I sat down across from them; however, it took awhile before they acknowledged that I was sitting across from them. They both had goofy smiles on their faces and Vika started to blush, I raised an eyebrow at her. I guess I would be talking with both of them sooner rather than later.
Vika asked "Where's Rose?" as she looked around the room.
"Her Mom flew in today and wanted to have lunch alone with her" I explained.
Vika nodded her head and I said "Actually, could you help me tonight? I wanted to plan a romantic dinner for her as a surprise. I thought that Lissa and you could help her get ready and keep her occupied while I get everything ready?"
"Sure, I would love too" Vika all but squealed.
We finished eating and we had about 45 minutes until the guardian meeting. I excused myself and I called Guardian Dunham to let him know about our meeting and I wanted him there because we were going to discuss the darkness and how we were going to deal with it. He agreed to come and help set up the plan.
I called Pavel and let him know that Rose was going to take Lissa's darkness tomorrow. Pavel said he would inform Abe and requested someone call him once the darkness was taken.
I then looked for Vika, I found her sitting on a couch in the rec area by herself, so I sat down next to her and asked "So, how are you doing with Matt?"
Vika started to blush and her smile got bigger.
I laughed at her "Well, I guess that huge smile on your face answers my question. I am glad that you are happy. Just make sure he treats you right and please come to me if you have any problems."
"I will Dimka. He makes me happy and he treats me well and looks after me and wants to protect me" Vika said.
"I'm glad, that's how you should always be treated. And I am happy that he makes you happy." I said as I stood up and gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll see you in a little bit" I said as I left Vika to go find Matt. I didn't see him in any of the rec rooms on the third floor, so I headed to the second floor and found him in his room. I knocked on his open door and stood in the doorway.
Matt turned around and said "Hey Dimitri, did you need me?"
"No, I just wanted to talk with you for a minute" I said as Matt nodded and I closed the door. I sat on one of the chairs and Matt sat on the bed.
"So, what's up?" Matt asked.
"I just wanted to talk to you about Vika" I started as Matt opened his mouth to start talking but I put my hand up to stop him.
"I know we talked about you wanting to date her and I gave you my blessing. But I think it's obvious to anyone watching that what is happening between Vika and you is more than casual dating."
Matt looked down at his hands and said "Yes, it is. I really care about Vika and I think she feels the same way."
"She does, I just spoke with her prior to coming down here."
Matt lifted his head and looked at me, so I continued "I want to make sure that whomever Vika dates, treats her with respect, love and compassion. And also treats her as her equal."
"I understand where you are coming from. I want the same thing for my sister. I do care a lot for Vika and I promise to take care of her. I didn't expect this to happen when I accepted to be her mentor but now it just seems right." Matt said.
"I know exactually how you feel" I said as I stood up. Matt stood up as well and I shook his hand and said "I told Vika I was happy for the both of you and all I ask is that you treat her right. Otherwise, Rose will probably kick your ass." I laughed at the thought and so did Matt.
I left Matt's room and went back to the third floor to get ready for our debriefing and to see if Roza was finished with lunch.
Sorry it took so long for an update, but I have been scheming and plotting. Hope everyone is safe out there and thanks for reading.