"My boobs are getting bigger." She observed looking at herself in the mirror. "I think I like it."

"I love it," Dimitri murmured wrapping his arms around her. "I also love how round your belly is and let's not start with those amazing curves of yours." He placed a kiss behind her ear making her moan softly. At four -almost five- months pregnant she was starting to gain weight and feeling quite unwanted. She tried to hide her body under baggy clothes, that is until Dimitri showed her exactly how much he loved her new figure. From that night on her clothes became tighter showing off her baby pump.

"Dimitri!" She gasped as he cupped her over her dress and pulled her closer to him. "Lissa is waiting for us." Lissa's son was turning two today and she was holding a ball in his honor. Of course, Andre had no idea what a ball was nor was his sticking around long enough for it but it was protocol. Lissa couldn't avoid it and so everyone was forced to attend.

Rose on the other hand had already thrown a party for the little terror early that morning. A real one with kids his age, balloons, and a big cake.

Because she was that kind of a Godmother! The cool one.

"I know, Roza. I'm just giving you a preview of what's going to happen after we get back." She smiled and turn to face him.

"Comrade?" She placed a soft kiss on his lips and he hummed. "Have you spoke to Adrian lately?"

"Really, Roza?" He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Is this the time to bring Adrian into the conversation? While I'm trying to woo you to get lucky?" She laughed and slapped his shoulder playfully pulling away.

"I'm sorry, lover. I'm just worried that's all. I mean he just looks a little depressed. I don't know." Dimitri shook his head and kissed her temple.

"I'm only saying this because I know you're going to be noisy and Adrian needs peace right now. He is in love!"

"I know that, Comrade. He has been in love with Sydney for the past few years." She used air-quotes around 'in love' to emphasize a point. Adrian fell in and out of love with women every other day. Rose learned to not pay attention to his love woes after a while.

"No, Roza." Dimitri shook his head. "He is in love! Like he really, really loves her."

"You think he wants to..." she trailed off shocked.

"I don't think. I know!" For once Rose decided to keep her nose out of Adrian's business. He would figure this out on his own.

Dimitri wrapped his arms tighter around Rose as they laid on their bed. There were a lot of things to be done to the townhouse but it was coming along nicely. They had finished their bedroom and the common spaces two days ago and had the constructor move to the nursery next. As the months went by the plan to moved back to Turkey was pushed back more and more. Though they had not discussed it officially Dimitri knew deep down that they were a step away from moving back to Court. One of his hands traced uneven patterns on her growing stomach and his wife let out a content sigh. He couldn't believe that seven months had passed so quickly.

"They like it when you do that." She murmured sleepily referring to his habit of caressing the place where their children were growing as often as he could. "It calms them down." For the last few hours, the twins kept kicking not letting Rose rest. She loved feeling them move inside her and it assured her that she was pregnant and this was not a dream. But after a while, it always became tiring and uncomfortable.

"I like it too." He whispered in her ear and kissed her neck softly. Rose could hear the love and adoration in his voice and it made her heart swell with happiness. It was truly a miracle that they had been blessed with such a gift. Rose was never the type of girl that wanted to have a family. Back when she was in the academy she was content with the fact that she would guard Lissa for the rest of her life. She didn't need love or anything of those sappy things. Although she had her fair share of boys to play with it never crossed her mind that she would find something like what she had with Dimitri. Her main concern was Lissa.

And then came Dimitri. The hot Russian guy that happened to be seven years older, her mentor, and forbidden for her. Sparks flew from the very first moment they laid eyes on each other. Along with Dimitri came something Rose thought she would never want or need for that matter.

Love.

Now almost six years, a lot of pain and tears later they both created something they thought would never have. With love, they created the two lives resting securely deep within her body. Protected from everything that could harm them. A smile crept up to her lips as she felt the flutter of movement inside of her again.

It was a warm spring night and she had let the french doors of their bedroom open allowing the light breeze in. It was so peaceful tonight.

"Did you hear that?" Dimitri asked alarmed from behind her.

"It's nothing Comrade." She murmured. "Go back to sleep." Rose snuggled under the covers, hugging her pillow closer while Dimitri's arms were secured wrapped around her. In the last few months, Dimitri had become a little paranoid when it came to his wife and kids. Which Rose found annoying but kept that thought to herself not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Dimitri settled again behind her and closed his eyes. He was tired from work and they had stayed up late with Rose talking about the nursery and what would happen when the babies would come. Rose wanted Lissa by her side and their Queen was more than happy to obligate. It was no secret that Lissa pushed for them to move permanently to Court too. She had practically found the townhouse they bought for Rose.

A moment later the peaceful silence was broken and a crush followed by a few curses came from downstairs and Dimitri shot up. Rose turned to look at him as he grabbed his stake from his nightstand. "Stay here." He threw over his shoulder and before Rose could say a word he was out of their room.

He walked down the hallway carefully looking around for any sight of the intruder without success. A second crash came from the living room and a female voice cursed again. Dimitri made his way over to the edge of the stairs only to be greeted by the sight of the Dragomir Princess trying to hold up a very drunk Adrian.

"Jill?" He asked amused at the scene before him. Her head shot up and she looked relieved to see him.

"Dimitri!" She exclaimed still trying to hold Adrian up. "Could you help me, please?" She motioned to the man beside her. Dimitri placed his stake on a self at his right and skipped down the stairs and in mere seconds had dumped Adrian on the couch. "Sorry I had to bring him here but yours were the closest house to the club." She apologized.

"Dimitri? Jill?" Their heads shot up to see Rose looking at them curiously. Rose's eyes traveled from her husband and their friend to the man lying on her couch and she didn't have to ask what happened. She knew very well. She had nursed a drunk Adrian enough these past years. "This is going to be a long night." She murmured to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to make a hot cup of tea for her and coffee for the others.

"So I take it something happened with Sydney?" Rose asked and Jill nodded taking a sip from her coffee. It had been only a few days since she and Adrian returned to Court for spring break and from what she knew Adrian and Sydney did not part on good terms. The last time Jill saw them together they were fighting and it looked pretty bad. Fighting wasn't something unusual for the couple since they officially got together a year or so ago but it was never this bad.

Jill had begged Lissa a lot to let her study away from Court and after someone had almost killed her, Lissa had finally agreed. Jill knew her sister loved her and so did she but she needed to get out of here. For everyone's sake! So under a lot of secrecy and with Abe's help, she was moved to Palm Springs along with Adrian. Everyone knew that she wouldn't be able to stay away from her bond mate. To Adrian's pleasant surprise Sydney joined them a few days later. The rest as they say was history.

"So what's going on?" Dimitri asked. He might not be too 'fond' of the guy –okay that was a lie he kind of thought of him as a friend. Adrian had even opened up to him once or twice about his woes.

"I don't know exactly. All I know is that they keep fighting over something and that has to wear Adrian off emotionally. I have never seen him like this before. Not even for you Rose!" She sighed desperately. "You have no idea how much darkness he has inside of him now. The only time I can feel he is truly happy is when he is with Sydney."

Rose and Dimitri both nodded knowing exactly what Jill was talking about. They had gone through the same things. Whoever said that love was easy had no idea what he was talking about. Love was the toughest thing on earth, loving someone was the hardest work but being loved by someone in return was the greatest gift. Silence fell upon them as they all got lost in their thoughts.

"I have an idea," Rose said slowly a smirking while Dimitri and Jill looked at her almost scared. It never led to something good when Rose had this look on her face. She looked like the cat that ate the canary. Flipping her cell phone open she pressed the numbers quickly and formed a number. Dimitri was almost sure who would be on the other line and as soon as the other person picked the phone he dropped his head on the table.

"Hello daddy!" This wasn't going to end well.

Adrian rolled over on the unfamiliar bed, his body colliding with another. His head was pounding and he was sure that this would be the worst hangover he ever had. A few years ago Adrian used to drink so he could keep the spirit in check. But nowadays that changed; Adrian drank so he could forget the two golden eyes that had been haunting him since he set foot in Turkey so many years ago. He was sure that God was punishing him by sending the sexy Alchemist in his life to torture him. Adrian was pretty sure that Sydney Sage was his punishment for whatever he did wrong.

He opened his eyes and took a look around. Yep! He was in an unknown house.

"Good morning Sunshine." Adrian's head snapped towards the direction where the voice came only to find his arch-nemesis sitting beside him reading a book and drinking coffee. Okay, Dimitri was not his arch-nemesis but you get his point. What the hell happened last night? He thought to himself.

"You don't remember, do you?" Dimitri chuckled and Adrian wondered if he had asked that aloud. "Yes, you did," Dimitri informed him and Adrian groaned, it seemed the filter between his brain and his mouth didn't work today. "Did it ever work?" Dimitri asked him and Adrian face palmed himself.

"My head hurts." He groaned again as Rose walked into the room with a glass of water and a few aspirins. Now everything fell into place slowly. He was at Rose and Dimitri's house.

"How did I end up here?" He asked as he sat up and took the aspirins from Rose's hand.

"Jill brought you. You were way too drunk for her to take you home and the next best place was our house." Rose informed him as she sat beside her husband. Dimitri leaned down and kissed her swollen stomach before he moves up to kiss her lips chastely. At that moment Adrian felt jealousy burn inside of him. Not because Dimitri had Rose but because of what Dimitri and Rose had. This unconditional love they seemed to share and that only seemed to be getting stronger now that they had babies on the way. He wanted to feel that too with Sydney by his side. He wanted to put a ring on her finger and call her officially his. He wanted to see her round with his children and be able to kiss her stomach as Dimitri did with Rose. But Sydney would never accept that.

"So do you want to talk about what's been bugging you?" Rose's voice brought him out of his thoughts and Adrian laid back down. Did he want to talk about what happened between him and Sydney? Better yet was he ready to talk about how torn his heart was? He knew that Sydney was hurting too, he could see it in her eyes. But his Alchemist was too stubborn for her good. They've been dancing around each other for years and when he finally had accepted the fact that they weren't meant to be she turned up on his doorstep ready to be his.

He remembered vividly that day. She looked like an angel as the sun shone around her. Her blonde hair was falling down her back like silk and her eyes were that beautiful gold color he loved so much. Not much was said, he knew why she was there. She was ready to take the next step with him; he could feel it as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled inside his room. That was the best night of his existence, he had his fair share of women but Sydney was different. She was his one. The moment he slipped inside her he decided that this was it for him. But just as he thought life was getting easier one word from him and everything went downhill. Now he could see how stupid he was but he refused to admit that he was wrong.

"There is not much to say." Adrian let a deep sigh out while his eyes met Rose's. "I'm pretty sure you know what's going on better than me." Adrian smiled as a blush crawled its way up her cheeks. He knew the relationship Rose and Sydney had; they were very good friends and that friendship only got deeper after Syd came back to their lives. "I asked her to marry me." Dimitri choked on his coffee as Rose threw her head back and laughed loudly.

"You did what?" Dimitri asked and Adrian could see how stunned the older man was.

"I asked her to marry me," Adrian answered solemnly his gaze locking with Rose's. Even though she found it quite funny she was very serious about what she was going to do next. She searched his eyes for something, Adrian wasn't sure what, but she found it because seconds later a mischievous smile spread over her face.

"Are you serious?!" Dimitri squeaked throwing his arms in the air. "I know you love her and all but marriage?" He said solemnly and Adrian threw a glare his way.

"I don't need your blessing to ask her, Belikov. I know how I feel and I know that I can't go another day without her by my side. I need to see her face every single morning I wake up. Don't tell me you didn't feel that way about Rose!" Dimitri seemed to think about it and then nodded slowly. He knew what Adrian meant.

"Are you sure about this, Adrian? I'm not going to help you if you are going to break her heart." Adrian's eyes snapped up to meet Rose's.

"You need to ask? The proof is right in front of you, Rose. A mess still wearing last night's clothes, smelling like a bottle of gin!"

"Then I have an idea." She pushed herself on her feet with a little help from Dimitri and reached for her phone on the nightstand. Adrian watched her as she pressed the numbers smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "The plan is on!" She squealed on the phone and a happy sigh left her lips.

"Are you sure this is going to work old man?" Rose questioned as she put the phone down.

"It worked on your mother all those years ago!" Abe shot back annoyed. This wasn't his first time setting people up for God's sake!

"I know but Sydney and mom-"

"They are both women, little girl! If she loves him she'll come." He assured her. According to the plan, Abe sent a message to Sydney that Adrian couldn't bear the rejection and tried to kill himself since she didn't love him enough to be with him. An old but classic trick! Abe knew it would work, now only if his daughter showed a little trust. Rose's phone ringed making everyone sit up.

"Hello?" The female voice on the other side was frantic. Rose had to keep the phone away from her ear, Sydney was in hysterics. Abe smirked happily that his plan was working.

"Tell them to let me in or I swear..." From what Rose gathered Sydney was at the gates and they refused to let her in.

"Calm down, woman! I'm sending Dimitri to get you!" Sydney finally settled down at Rose's words and she ended the call and Dimitri took it as his cue to leave before Sydney tore the Court apart. Putting her phone down she took a look around. Rose had sent everyone away and praised whoever higher power was helping her by keeping Adrian's parents out of their hair.

It would be a real bummer to have Nathan whining about this and she wasn't sure she was in the right mood to deal with him. On a normal day, she would snap at him effectively shutting him up. On bad and stressful like this one though? Dimitri barely kept her back to not murder the older annoying Moroi. She had the means to do it and make it look like an accident, all right?

She moved to sit beside Adrian's bed while her father took a seat by the window, looking all sad and stoic. "What are you staring at?" Her hand connected with the back of Adrian's head."Lay back, the show is about to start!" Adrian gave a small wine rubbing the spot where she hit him. "And look all pale and sickly!"

"Okay!" He whined. "No need to get abusive, you know!" He murmured sulking and dropped back against the sheets. He was so owning her for all of this!

Sydney let a breath out as soon as she saw Dimitri. "See? I told you I knew them!" She hissed to the idiots on the gates. Usually, she was very patient and liked to follow the protocol but right now she had another idiot to beat up! How could he do something like that? Was he that daft? He tried to kill himself because she said no to his proposal! Which wasn't even a proper one. She would hardly call him asking her to marry him right after sex the best way to do it! Not that she thought about the perfect proposal of course.

"Syd, it's nice to see you again after so long." Dimitri smiled at the young Alchemist and hugged her. "It's alright gentlemen, the lady is here to see us." He said to the poor Guardians that had gone pale. They weren't so much afraid of him as they were of Rose. It seemed that none wanted to piss off a pregnant Hathaway.

"I'm sorry Mister Belikov but she didn't have permission to be here." One of the guards murmured apologetically.

"It's fine guys. I should have let you know Miss Sage was visiting. Now if you'll excuse us." He grabbed Sydney by the elbow gently and started walking. "That boyfriend of yours is the biggest drama queen I've ever met!" He chuckled softly. "And I have three sisters! I know about drama queens!" Sydney though couldn't find it in her to laugh.

"How is he, Dimitri? Is he alright?" She asked desperately and he felt kind of bad for what they were doing.

"He'll be fine. Jill found him just in time. He only took a few aspirins. They made him good as new." He assured her and made a mental note to never let his wife do something like that again.

Sydney felt all air leave her body as soon as the door opened to reveal Adrian's room. She had been here only a handful of times and always when his parents weren't here. Not because he didn't want to be seen with her but because Sydney didn't feel up to seeing Nathan that often.

"What have you done?" she whispered to herself as she moved to stand beside his bed, his face was paler than usual and she could see the black circles under his closed eyelids. Rose was seated in an armchair right next to her, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying.

"You are just in time, Miss Sage." Zmey's gruff voice brought her out of her thoughts. "The doctor just left. He said Adrian will be all right but he needs rest." His voice was oddly calm, sending shivers down her spine.

"To think that all this happened just because you said no." He sighed dramatically. "If only-"

"Enough, Dad!" Rose snapped from her seat. "Sydney has nothing to do with Adrian's idiotic tendencies. I'm sure she had her reasons for not wanting to marry him." Something was off in Rose's behavior but Sydney couldn't see what. She rose and smoothed down her sundress.

"Let's give her a few minutes alone with him." Abe followed his daughter out of the room with Dimitri hot on his heels. She sat down beside him, Sydney ran her fingers through his soft hair and it was the first time in so many years they weren't stylized in that ridiculous way he did it.

"What have you idiot?" she murmured and placed a soft kiss upon his lips. "Did you even for a moment think I said no because I don't love you?" She wondered out loud. He was her whole life, damn it! The only reason she turned him down was the way he proposed. she shook her head lightly, if she had said yes this would be avoided. "To be fair I wouldn't have shut you down if you were a little more romantic about it." She murmured to herself unaware that the very bane of her existence was listening. "What kind of person asks another person to marry them right after sex?! A little romance never hurt anyone!"

"So you would say yes if I had made a grand affair out of this?" Her head snapped up and golden brown eyes met jade blue ones. It took her a few seconds to work out what had happened. Her fist came hard down on his jaw but not fast enough, Adrian caught her hands and flipped her over, throwing his body weight on top of hers. Sydney trashed and squirmed underneath him trying to free herself but Adrain only held her tighter. "I suggest you stop moving, love. Or else this will turn into something entirely different!" He laughed huskily, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You!" She fumed angrily but before she could say anything else his lips connected with her. All thoughts left her mind as his tongue slipped past her lips. Why was she angry with him again?