Yes, I know, the holidays have come and gone. I know it is mid-January but I promised you guys a part 2 to the last one and I really wanted to write this one. It just took me a very, very long time to get it done. I'm so sorry y'all. It hasn't been easy for me to just sit and write these days but better late than never I guess.

I don't own VA and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. And you guys, if you haven't yet y'all should go read Zodiac Academy. It's an amazing series I found the other day. It's what would happen if Vampire Academy, Harry Potter and House of night had a threesome that resulted in a baby. Oh and if you haven't read House of Night, please do!

Miracle for Christmas.

I had a stupid grin on my face as I sang along to the summer anthem of this year, the wind in my hair as I danced in the back seat, my parents' laughter ringing out from up front at my antics. We were on our way home from baby shopping. The prospect of becoming grandparents obviously something they were both ecstatic about if the many bags piled on the seat beside me was anything to go by.

"Can we get pizza?" I asked suddenly, making my dad chuckle again. It didn't matter that Lissa was coming to my house after this and she was no doubt going to come baring food, because all of the sudden I was starving and absolutely had to have some cheesy goodness from our favorite pizza joint right then. "Well, guys?"

My mother looked back at me with a grin and was about to open her mouth to no doubt agree, but I would never actually know what she would have said. Because suddenly there was a drunk driver who had lost control of his car and was on the wrong side of the road. He was speeding like he was on the Fast and Furious, barreling right for us. My father swerved violently, trying to avoid a collision but it was too late.

The sound of screeching tires on a road that was wet from countless hours of rain filled my ears and then the grinding, jolting slam of the brakes, my father swearing like a sailor both in English and Turkish as he tried in vain to gain some control of the skidding tires, and then the slam of impact as the other car collided hard with ours. Our car spun wildly out of control then, and I closed my eyes as I felt it start flipping.

A scream tore from my throat as glass shattered and pain ripped through my body. I smelt blood. I could barely breathe, every lungful of air making pain fill my chest. Fear filled every inch of my being not for me but for the life growing within my belly. And then, I smelt it. Gas. Pungent and sweet, damn near overpowering in its intensity, a clear indication that if I didn't get out of this car right now, I'd be in trouble.

So, I forced my eyes open. But I couldn't move. Everything hurt and the world was upside down. I called out to my parents as I struggled to undo my seat belt, but no answer greeted me. The pain in my chest only grew sharper every time I tugged and twisted to get the belt off, every breath feeling like shards of glass. But the adrenalin that had flooded me and which demanded that I protected my baby refused to let me stop. I struggled harder, sobs catching in the back of my throat, and making it even more difficult to get air down.

My chest was so tight. Was I going to die here in this car? Were my parents going to die? Hell were they even still alive? I didn't know, and that terrified me almost as much as the thought of losing my baby did. I finally managed to get the belt off just as the distant sound of blaring police sirens reached my ears. I dared to breathe a sigh of relief, but as I managed to get down, every ounce of relief died when I felt blood gushing between my legs and saw for the first time the carnage that surrounded me.

"Roza," Someone was shaking me, saying my name but no, no, I had to stay I had to protect my baby-I had to see if my parents were alright. "Baby, wake up. Open your eyes for me, sweetheart. You're not there anymore love."

"Dimitri," I said in a choked voice, opening my eyes and bolting up in the bed, staring wildly around at the unfamiliar surroundings. I gasped for air, shaking all over as tears ran down my cheeks.

"I'm here baby girl," Dimitri said softly, gently pulling me into his arms and holding me tightly against his chest. "It's okay. I got you." I clung to him as sobs racked my body because no nothing was okay. My parents had not been alright. The impact had snapped both their necks. My baby was dead and doctors had said I could never get pregnant again because the accident had fucked up my uterus leaving a lot of scar tissue behind.

I descended into a pit of guilt that was quickly becoming a familiar thing. What if I had gone into the office that day rather than going shopping? Maybe we wouldn't have gotten into that accident. Maybe they would still be here. Maybe I'd be holding my precious little angel in my arms right now. Maybe if I had done this differently or that, each thing I told myself I could have done differently more ridiculous than the last. But on and on it went, like a never-ending ride at a carnival, like a horror movie on repeat.

I knew it was irrational. I knew there was nothing I could have done differently. I knew that this was just my grief talking. But for the life of me, I could not stop. I was spiraling and I didn't know how to pull myself back. But Dimitri did, just as he always had.

He cupped my face in one of his hands, staring into my eyes and kissing me hard. There was nothing gentle about it. No, this kiss was deep, rough, demanding. Hell, it was damn near bruising. But it was exactly what I needed. It gave me something else to focus on rather than the thoughts spinning around in my head.

As his tongue forced its way into my mouth and his arm around my waist tightened to pull me in closer, my own arms wounded themselves around his neck, my fingers tangling in his hair as I melted against him and lost myself in his kiss. Everywhere there was contact between our bodies seemed to crackle with electricity. His kiss had lit a fire within me which burned with a need so desperate I felt like I was drowning in it. But I had no problem with that. I would drown in this man over and over because in his arms I found salvation.

And as he laid me on the bed beneath him, our bodies tangled so tightly together that it was impossible to tell where he ended and I began, I surrendered fully to him, letting him whisk me away from all the pain and grief that still lingered from my nightmare. We couldn't completely fix all that was wrong, but in that moment, it felt like all was right in the world. There was just him and I and the pleasure he was ringing from my body, the orgasms that seemed to come one after the other until I was blissfully exhausted, my limbs feeling like jelly. I snuggled deeper into his arms and the next thing I knew; my alarm was blaring its wake-up call.

"Fucking hell," I groaned pulling a pillow over my face more than a little determined to go back to sleep. "Turn it off. Please make It stop." Dimitri's soft chuckle reached me from somewhere as the alarm finally ceased its incessant shrieking. "Thank God." I breathed, making Dimitri laugh even more.

"You still have to wake up though," he said. "We're going to be late if you don't." I groaned again but I pulled the pillow away from my face and looked over at him where he stood gloriously naked.

"Oh damn," I purred, letting my eyes trail slowly up and down his muscular body. "Well, if I have to wake up to that beautiful sight every morning, maybe I'll become a morning person just like you."

"You do wake up to this sight on most mornings though." He said and I giggled because hell yea I did. If Dimitri wasn't holding me when I woke up, he was usually getting out the shower so he could have coffee and breakfast ready for me by the time I was done with my shower. He knew there was no way in hell I could function without it.

"Fine," I said. "But come here." He shook his head, probably because he could tell what I wanted from whatever look was in my eyes.

"No." He said when I pouted. "Up Roza. Now." I grumbled some choice words at him, but I dragged my ass up out the bed and into the bathroom, cursing even more when I happened to catch a glance at the clock. Dimitri was right. We were going to be late if I didn't hurry up.

…

I was surrounded by squealing kids and Christmas trees, the smell of them hanging thick in the air and taking me back to my own childhood. This was something my parents and I did every Christmas even though we could have bought those fake trees they sold at the store and just decorate that. But no, for as long as I could remember, we would come to this very Christmas tree farm and I would always get to pick which tree we brought home.

It was magical and beautiful and the fact that I was doing this without them sent an ache straight through my already shattered heart. But they were the reason I was even here in the first place. After we'd come back from the orphanage on Thanksgiving, an experience which had melted what was left of my heart, we had been visited by my dad's lawyer. He'd come with one more stipulation in the will. Apparently, my parents had wanted me to continue the tradition of making sure these kids had amazing Christmases. So, here I was, attempting to fulfil their last wish.

From the moment December first rolled around, the Christmas countdown began. I'd recruited Lissa and Christian, Adrian and Sydney, some of our other friends and, of course, Dimitri and his family who had planned to stay until after the new year anyway. Every day, our time was divided between the office and the orphanage. Every day was filled with some new Christmas themed activity.

From visiting the Christmas village and Santa's workshop, to writing letters and baking Christmas cookies, we were doing it all with these kids and they were loving every second of it. But on some days, we just stayed in with them, doing simpler things like cuddling up in front of the fireplace and reading them stories or watching those classic Christmas movies. Tonight, we were decorating the tree. Well, that was the plan providing we could actually decide on a tree.

"How about that one?" Dimitri asked, but one of the kids squealed tugging on my hand and pointing.

"That one aunt Rosie," she said, giving me a gapped tooth grin and clapping her hands excitedly. Her name was Zoe. She and her sister were the newest arrivals at the orphanage. She couldn't have been any more than 3, her sister just a baby. Their parents had died in an accident not too long ago and they were literally alone in the world now. They had no other family left, so child services had taken it upon themselves to pull them into the system where hopefully they would be adopted.

She was usually so quiet that this burst of emotion from her made me smile and it wasn't long before everyone else were squealing over the same tree. The other kids were probably just as happy as I was to see Zoe smiling like that, she was usually so sad.

The more time I spent with her and her sister Rosalee the more I could feel the wound that knowing I could never become a mother had given me trying to sew itself back together. There was an idea floating around in my head, but I hadn't yet spoken to Dimitri about it. He looked over at me and smiled holding Rosalee in his arms and I had to wonder if he was also having similar thoughts.

"You look good with a baby in your arms," Dimitri said to me later as the kids all piled out of the van and started making their way back inside the orphanage. I'd scooped the sleeping baby out of her car seat and was about to follow them inside but his words made me stop.

"You think so?" I asked, a small smile on my face as I cradled her against my chest rocking gently as she stirred in my arms.

"I do," he said. "Like I've been seeing you with Zoya lately but with Rosalee it's different. Like she belongs there."

"What are you saying?" I asked, terrified yet still daring to hope that he might be thinking exactly what I had.

"I'm saying that I think these girls are our Christmas miracles." He said gently as if he thought I'd snap at him for saying that. "I'm saying that I know what we lost when we lost our baby and I know nothing will ever replace that life but maybe the universe is giving us that dream of having a family in a different way."

Tears were running down my cheeks by the time he was done, and I watched as he opened his mouth to no doubt apologize for making me cry or something, but I set the baby back in the car seat and hurled myself up into his arms. He held me tight as I wrapped myself around him, pressing my face into his chest and letting myself cry for the life we had lost but also tears of joy for the family we could have.

"Do you really mean that?" I asked once I'd calmed down. Dimitri nodded smiling softly at me and wiping my tears away. "You really want both of them? Not just Rosalee?"

"Where are you taking my sister?" Zoe's little voice said from somewhere behind me. "You can't take my sister! Mama said I have to take care of her! I won't let you have her!" She ran back to the van, trying to pick her sister up from the car seat. "She has to stay with me."

"Zoe, calm down." Elise, the matron of the orphanage said as she came outside. "What are you doing? What's going on?"

"They're taking her! I don't want them to take her. Please don't let them take her from me," she said, tears running down her little face.

"We're not taking her anywhere." I spoke.

"Yes, they are!" Zoe said. "I heard them say just Rosalee. They're bad people!"

"Zoe," I said gently, realizing that she must have heard that last part of what I was asking Dimitri. "Come here sweetheart." She shook her head and clung to her sister's seat the baby now awake and waling loudly.

"Ok," Elise said gently taking Zoe's hand and picking up the baby. "It's ok I won't let them take her. Come on. Let's go inside, ok? Let's go put her back to sleep."

Dimitri and I both sighed as we watched them walk inside. Neither one of us wanted to see Zoe cry like that, but right now she didn't trust us. Elise truly was the best person for the job of comforting her, but something about that made my chest ache. She had taken a liking to Dimitri and I from the first moment we arrived here with our plans for a magical memorable Christmas for these kids, something which had surprised the staff who worked here seeing as how she had taken a while to even start warming up to any of them.

But she had looked up at Dimitri, commented on how tall he was and asked him to pick her up so she could be up that high too. And he had smiled down at her and gave her exactly what she'd asked for. Her little face had lit up so brightly it made my heart hurt, but as she looked down at me from where she sat on Dimitri's shoulders and said I looked like a princess, I could not help but smile too.

After that, she always chose to sit with us whenever we stayed in. She was quiet and her smiles were few, but Elise had told us that we were the only ones she'd ever let get that close. Then one night after we had all watched Home Alone and everyone had hot cocoa made by Dimitri, she crawled into my lap and asked Dimitri and I to stay a little while longer.

That had been the first time I'd held her. Hell, it had probably been the moment my wounds had started to heal. Because we had stayed longer, telling her and Rosalee a bedtime story and then carrying her and her sister into their room when we were done.

"Can I have a word with both of y'all?" Elise asked sometime later. We had been getting the ornaments for the tree together, but Dimitri and I instantly nodded and went over. She gestured us to her office and we followed quickly.

"How is she?" I asked the second we made it inside.

"She fell asleep with Rosalee, but she's convinced you're taking her sister," she said. "You don't really mean to split them up do you?"

"No," Dimitri and I said together. Elise looked relieved.

"Good," she said. "Because those girls have been through enough. Much of its Rosalee won't remember, but Zoe will and her sister is all she has in this world now."

"I know," I said with a sigh. "That's why we were in fact talking about adopting them both."

"Then why does she think you want to separate them?" Elise asked."

"Because Roza was asking me if I was sure I wanted both of them and not just Rosalee," Dimitri said. "She only heard part of what we were saying."

"So, you would really like to adopt them both?" Elise asked. "You will be good to the both of them and not make Zoe feel left out because she's older and it would be easier to bond with Rosalee seeing as how she's still a baby?"

"Of course not," I said feeling as though she had physically struck me. "We'll be good to them. We'll treat them like I gave birth to them. Just please let us have them." Dimitri's hand wrapped around mine, our fingers lacing together as he squeezed gently.

"You'll have to clear that with Zoe first." Elise said gently. "Make sure she wants to go home with you." We nodded, and just like that our meeting was over. We went back to setting up the ornaments for the tree with the rest of our friends, but a part of me was scared that this little girl wasn't going to want to come with us and, I didn't think I could handle losing another child.

"Roza," Dimitri said taking my hand in his and squeezing gently. "It's ok. We'll convince her. Let's go try." Nodding, I let his words convince me.

And as always, Dimitri Belikov did not steer me wrong. He never had and I knew he never would. Because by the time Christmas morning rolled around, Zoe and Rosalee were waking up in our house. By the new year, they were officially our babies. And I was eternally grateful to my parents for making me bring Christmas to those kids. Because in doing so, we had found our own little miracles too. Just in time for Christmas.

Well guys, here it is I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope that 2023 brings each and every single one of you everything you want. I hope that this year brings you success, happiness and good health and love, always love. And I hope that I will see y'all on my other stories!

XXX

Roza