WOHOO the longest chapter ever!

Chapter 5

We spent the rest of the night dancing in each other's arms.

It was only a few days later that I actually realized we'd never finished telling Viktorias friends the story of the attack. I didn't really care, but still.

At around one or two at night people started saying goodbye and went home. We also got, like, millions of congratulations from Dimitris friends. I noticed Mark looking at me like he really wanted to tell me something, but he never really got to the point. Whatever, I thought, he'd tell me already if it was important.

Olena wouldn't let us help clean up anything, even though the whole backyard was full of the remains of the party. She sent us to bed, and we were more than happy to attend her orders.

* *R**~VA~**D* *

I was in a big, bright room. The walls were white and the windows were big, letting in the sunshine. I was looking into a huge mirror, but the image was fuzzy. I squinted and suddenly the image was clearer. There I was, in my arm there was a cute little...baby?

It was a pretty little girl, and she was looking at me with an adorable smile on her face. She didn't seem to be older than a few months.

I got a whiff of Dimitris aftershave and in the next instant he was right there behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me softly. I tried to turn around to wrap my free arm around his neck, but he was holding me too tightly.

All of a sudden, the scenery changed. The bright room with the mirror vanished and instead I found myself surrounded by darkness. It wasn't very dark, I could still see, but it wasn't bright either.

The next thing I knew, the baby girl was gone. I looked around frantically and spotted her a few feet away from me. She was in Dimitris arms and crying. He wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at a woman beside him. It was...Tasha.

And the way she was looking at him made me want to run over and stake that stupid cow, because, WHAT THE HELL? That was MY man over there!

'Rose, Roza wake up! We're gonna miss the plane!', a beautiful voice pulled me out of the horrible dream. I blinked and saw him looking at me with a worried expression. 'Let me sleep!', I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head. What was with the stupid headache? I didn't even drink that much! And, gah! What a dream to have after a night like that!

'Rose, do you seriously wanna miss the plane? Lissa will fly over and get us if we don't get home, and I'm pretty sure you'll want some food before going.', he told me. Ugh, he was right, I hated when he was right.

'Who cares? I wanna stay in bed with you. That's much better than going back to stupid court.', I told him childishly.

That's when he started tickling me. I giggled and let my defenses down. He sensed that and threw off the blanket. I tried to protest but he scooped me up into his arms bridal-style and carried me to the bathroom. 'You're stupid Russian who always has to get his way.', I told him and he laughed. 'And you love me anyway.', he teased. 'Mmmh...', I agreed.

After taking an extended shower together, I put on some skinny jeans and a black tank top. Then I put on a little make-up to conceal the tired rings under my eyes and brushed and blow-dried my hear the way Dimitri liked it.

Then we went down to get breakfast, and, surprisingly, Mark and Oksana were there. 'Good morning guys!', I greeted everyone happily and went to sit down to eat, but was stopped rather violently as little Paul came running into the kitchen and threw himself at me. I caught him and scooped him up into my arms. 'Morning comrade junior! How did you sleep?', I asked him, using my newly found nickname for him 'Auntie Roza!', he shouted worriedly, putting his tiny hands on my cheeks.

'Yeah? What is it?', I asked. I wondered why he was so worked up. He looked around the room and saw Dimitri leaning at the counter, watching us. Paul actually glared at him.

'Paul, tell me what's going on!', I demanded. He looked back at me 'Are you all right Auntie Roza?', he asked quietly. I frowned but answered anyway 'Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?', I asked him. Now this kid was really confusing me. 'Because', he said, glaring at Dimitri again 'you were shouting at uncle Dimka last night.'

'No. Way. In. Hell!' I thought. Oh, I'd been more than all right last night. And I'd been too loud. I knew Dimitri knew exactly what Paul had heard, because he looked horrified. And his sisters knew, too, obviously.

'So? Why were you shouting at him, if you weren't hurt? Or fighting?', Paul demanded to know.

'Umm, I, … I wasn't shouting at him. You know Dimitri would never make me need to shout at him, he's too scared I'll kick his butt.', I said earning a few chuckles. 'I was just er... having a nightmare.'

Oh damn, that was the worst lie – 'Oh. You should have drunk some hot chocolate if you had a nightmare. Mama always makes me some when I have bad dreams. It helps', he told me. Phew! I could almost feel the relief coming from Dimitri. And the amusement from his sisters.
This is so embarrassing.

I let Paul down and sat at the table beside Dimitri to eat. Paul ran off to the living room or to play or whatever, and Dimitri said 'I told you you were being too loud, Roza.' I blushed furiously as Viktoria giggled and Olena rolled her eyes. I glared at him 'I was not. Besides, even if I was, you'd have no one but yourself to blame.', he chuckled and Karolina made a fake gagging sound. 'I never heard you complain.', he countered. 'Ok, guys, could you stop this? I wanna eat.', Viktoria said disgustedly, and we thankfully dropped the subject and sat down to eat.

'I'm so gonna miss this bread.', I told Dimitri as I buttered my fourth slice of Olena Belikovas wonderful self-made black bread. Oh yeah, embarrassment makes me hungry.

He grinned 'Don't worry, I still know how to make it.', he told me and I answered, 'Thank god. I wonder if you could teach me?', I asked hopefully. He shook his head, 'So you can burn the kitchen? No way. But you can help me if you do what I tell you to.', I rolled my eyes. 'Whatever. You're really unfair, comrade.' I was gonna get my way sooner or later.

Before he could complain about the nickname, Oksana said 'Rose, there is a special reason we're here today.'

I looked at her distractedly, her serious tone had caught my attention. 'Um, the awesome bread?', I asked hesitantly. She smiled, but didn't laugh 'No. I'll just get to the point, you two are leaving soon so I should get it over with. I have a friend who lives near the place where we believe St. Vladimir and Anna lived. He recently sent me something about them because he knows about me and Mark being shadowkissed.', she paused.

That didn't seem like she was getting to the point, because now I was confused. Just as I was about to ask her to actually get to the point, she went on. 'You see, Rose, he sent me one of Anna's diaries. And I read all of it and copied every entry I found interesting, so...I don't need it anymore. I thought about giving it to you yesterday at the party but then my friend called and said he needed the book back, because they want to put it into the museum at court. That's why I copied the whole thing for you, because there is something in it I think you'll find very … exciting.', she finished breathlessly.

'You lost me.', I told her and finished my coffee. Dimitri was looking at her expectantly, too, but she seemed to be finished. She just kept staring off into space thoughtfully, so I turned to Mark. 'What is she going on about?', I asked impatiently. 'Well, I guess you should read it for yourself. The flight is long and you'll probably appreciate the reading material.', he said, smiling.

Then he produced a thick folder and handed it to me. 'This is the copy. Remember to be careful with it, even though this is just a copy, it shouldn't fall into the wrong hands.'

I didn't have much time to ask anything after that, because Dimitri and I were late for our flight. We rushed through the goodbyes and Olena made me promise that I brought Dimitri back as soon as possible. I was especially sad to leave Viktoria. I'd miss our training sessions and talking and shopping with her. 'I'll miss you guys a lot.', I said at the door. Then we left, and I felt like I was leaving my home.

We'd called a taxi to get us to the airport, and the drive passed quickly. I'd put the diary into my purse, and was glad that I liked big purses, because this folder was really thick. As we boarded the plane, I took it out and started reading immediately. I felt Dimitris gaze on me and looked up at him. Noticing his expression, I said 'Yeah, alright, I get it. Famous Rose Hathaway reading. Don't comment.' he laughed and pulled out a western novel.

Anna had had a very clean, elegant handwriting so reading the book – or rather folder – was easy.

Monday 10th of August

Dear Diary,

I don't know why Vladimir gave me a diary for my birthday. He told me to write something in here as often as I can. I don't know why he wants me to keep a diary, but I today I've decided to finally start doing it.

Today was pretty much like any other day. I guarded Vladimir along with Guardian Aleksei Ivanov. He was as dedicated to guarding Vladimir as always. Sigh.

Vladimir spent most of the day healing people with injuries and a few hours ago I felt so sad and angry like I always do when he uses magic a lot. He isn't even trying to use it less, and I can feel why. The magic feels too good to let it go.

Anyway, I kind of lost control over my emotions a few hours ago, and Aleksei knew what was happening right away. I just love him so, so much, he knew how to help me immediately. He pulled me away from Vladimir and quickly called someone to guard him while he 'took care of a problem'. Everyone knows about this craziness and also about my bond with Vladimir.

He dragged me to his room, though at first I didn't want to go, because I was afraid of hurting him. He won though, as always and when we got there, he helped me get rid of those crazy feelings in that wonderful way of his.

Aleksei made love to me.

I gasped and stopped reading for a second. 'Dimitri.', my voice was not more than a whisper. His head snapped up and he looked at me with worry in his eyes. 'What is it Roza? Are you al-', he started to panic and I quickly interrupted him. 'No, no, but read this.' I showed him the page I was reading.

He looked at the folder in my hands and started reading curiously. I knew when he'd reached the line I'd last read because his head snapped up and he looked at me with wide eyes. 'Rose! This is like, … I don't know... The easiest thing anyone could have come up with to get away from spirits darkness.', he said with excitement lacing his every word.

I grinned. 'And it's fun, too. I wonder if this is what Oksana meant.', 'I'm not sure, you should read the rest, too. You might find something else useful.', he said. I grimaced. I didn't like reading, but he was right. If Oksana only wanted me to know that part, she'd just copy that one page.

The rest of the entry was just boring stuff about how much she loved Aleksei and how the day ended, so I went on to the next entry.

Thursday, 27th of August

I read the date. She definitely didn't keep a very regular diary. Damn.

Dear Diary,

I know it has been a while. I just can't seem to find the patience to sit around and write, but I'm writing now.

I'm writing because I'm scared. Something is happening to me, and it's definitely not good. I've been throwing up almost every morning during the past week. I'm also eating lots, it seems as if I'm pregnant, but I can't be. I've only ever been with Aleksei and he's a damphir like me, so it's not possible.

Vladimir has been eying me strangely for a while, too, but he's blocking the reason from the bond. It's getting pretty frustrating, and Aleksei worrying all the time doesn't help, either. I want to ask Vladimir if he sees anything unusual in my aura, but Aleksei is always around, and I don't want to worry him.

I now understood why the folder was so thick – she'd used a whole page for each tiny, short entry.

Sunday, 6th of September

Dear Diary,

Today Aleksei had a day off to visit his family, so I took the opportunity to ask Vladimir why he was blocking me and if he knew what was happening to me, and his answer scares me.

He told me, and these are his exact words, 'I think there is more to this bond than we see, Anna. Because what I see in your aura is wrong in everything we believe in, but also perfectly right. You have some explaining to do.' Instead of answering, I started crying, and Vladimir realized he'd scared me.

He never was very emotional, but when someone needed him to be, he was. So he comforted me and I told him about my fears. Then I asked him about what he meant when he mentioned my aura. He said 'You see, when a woman is pregnant, I see an almost pearly white around their stomach, and in their father's aura pearly clouds appear, almost invisible but still there. The white in both the mother and the fathers aura match. That's how I knew.
You are pregnant, and I started looking around for the pearly clouds on every Moroi man I saw. I know I could have just asked you but I wanted you to find our yourself.'

For a split second I wondered if Adrian knew this thing about seeing if someone was pregnant. It was kinda cool. But where was it leading? I read on eagerly.

He didn't give me time to wonder what he was on about.'I didn't find the white clouds on any moroi man's aura. Not around the whole palace. I saw them in Aleksei's. And they match the color around your stomach perfectly.

Anna, you're carrying another dhampir's child.', he told me matter-of-factly. I stared at him like he'd gone crazy, and – no point in denying it – he probably had. I started to protest, but he cut me off 'Anna, I know we have never heard of such a thing, but you know you've been throwing up and eating a lot lately. And I can see it. In your aura.'

I gasped, not sure what to think of this. I felt Dimitris worried gaze on me, but I ignored him and read on.

Well, I was pretty shocked, but then Vladimir explained to me that he is one hundred percent sure the reason why this was possible was that I'm 'shadowkissed'. He means the bond we share, and he said that there is no reason I should be afraid. My baby will be healthy, he said, and he also said it will be a dhampir.

But how can I not be scared? How am I going to explain this to Aleksei? What if he doesn't believe me? He's going to leave me when he finds out.

The entry ended there and I took my time to think about this, not bothering to turn the page. I took a shaky breath and looked at Dimitri. He was looking back at me, and I could see in his eyes that he knew I'd found out something big. 'Rose?', he asked. I gave him the folder and said 'Read this page. And don't get hysteric or anything, please.'

He read it quickly, his eyes getting wider and wider with each sentence he read.

An eternity later, he looked at me, with something in his eyes that I'd never seen before, but decided I liked a lot. 'Anna was shadowkissed. And so are you. She...she had a baby...with another dhampir.', he whispered. 'And so can I.', I told him. He pulled me to him and kissed me furiously and I kissed him back with the same passion. When we broke apart he took me on his lap, forgetting all about his western novel.

'We can have kids', he said with a huge smile on his face. I was grinning like an idiot, but I didn't care. Dimitri wrapped his arms around me and kissed me again, of course I liked that and I stayed in his lap for pretty much the rest of the flight. I could see the stewardess glaring at me angrily whenever she walked by and saw us making out heavily – which was often – and I loved it – feeling like Dimitri was truly mine and nobody could take him away from me. Not that stupid stewardess, not Tasha, nobody.

I didn't finish reading the diary, but I promised myself to do that later, only wanting to celebrate that we could have kids after all...tiny little comrades. The thought brought a smile to my face, the dream from the morning long forgotten.

* *R**~VA~**D* *

'Rose!', Lissa screamed as if she'd gone mad. She threw herself into my arms and I caught her and spun her around in a circle. We were in mine and Dimitris room at court, Lissa and Christian had waited for us there.

'I missed you so much!', we both said at the same time after I set her onto her feet again. We took each others hands and jumped around like kids, squealing as if we'd gone mad. 'Rose I need to tell you something!', she shouted. We stopped jumping and squealing and I looked at her 'What is it? Tell me!', I commanded.

Instead of answering, she raised her hand and showed me the pretty golden ring on her finger. The diamonds on it were probably more expensive than the Titanic itself. 'I'm marrying Christian!', she screamed, and I hugged her fiercely again 'Oh my gosh Liss! That's so amazing! I'm so happy for you!', I shouted. When I released her, she looked shocked. 'Liss! What is it?', she was staring at my hand, and I slipped into her mind for, like, five seconds. She was looking at my ring.

'Oh, umm...yeah, Lissa...might as well tell you already...I'm marrying comrade over there.', I said and winked at him. He was standing a few feet away, with a baffled looking Christian beside him. Now it was time for her to congratulate me, and after that was settled – and we'd stopped jumping and squealing again – Fireboy came over to me and – surprising us all – hugged me. 'Congrats Rosie!', he said. 'Thanks, Firepants, you too.', I grinned at him. He really was my brother, in a way. Then I remembered something. 'Oh, do I need to tell you what will happen if you ever hurt my Lissa?', I asked. He grinned 'Umm, no I think there's no need to: You'll rip me apart with your bare hands and burn me. Something along those lines.', he said, with no trace of fear. I nodded, 'Good.'

Dimitri laughed and congratulated them. They returned his congratulations and suddenly Lissa had an idea. 'No, Liss! That's seriously not necessary!', I tried to stop her, but Fire pants seemed to have caught on, too, because he followed as Lissa made her way to Dimitri, both of them absolutely determined.

'Liss! Christian, please don't.', I pleaded. Lissa looked at me 'Sit on the bed and don't get up until I tell you to.', she compelled me, and I did as she asked, struggling to shake off the compulsion. They turned around and Christian said 'It's not your decision. And it is necessary.'

DPOV

I had no idea what the three of them were going on about. I didn't have to wonder long, though, because Lissa compelled Rose to sit on the bed and stay there, and then both of them stood in front of me, side by side. 'So.', Lissa began. 'I know you love Rose and everything, but this is a warning, and I won't repeat myself. Rose went through hell and back because of you, and I was there to watch it, unable to do anything about it. I know it isn't your fault they turned you, but remember: I didn't turn you back because I felt like it. Nor did I do it because I like you, don't get me wrong, I do like you, but I only changed you back because of Rose. I see that you're making her happy at the moment, but, Dimitri Belikov,', she said, using my full name for the first time ever. 'If you ever, ever in your whole life do anything, anything at ALL that hurts Rose, you'll have to deal with me.', she hissed, just loud enough for Rose to hear.

My heart rating picked up at her words, because, no matter how good a fighter I was, I knew what Christian could do with the fire – he'd already been able to restrain (and probably kill) me when I was still strigoi – and I knew what Lissa could do with spirit. I knew she could make me go through my worst nightmares with her powers. Hell, she could even kill me with them without anybody ever finding out – she'd just have to compel me.

Then Christian spoke 'The same goes for me.', he said, still absolutely determined. 'Just remember what I did when you were still strigoi. I can do that again, whenever I want, so you better make Rose happy. Understood?', he asked fiercely.

'Of course. I would never hurt Rose, you both know that.', I told them evenly.

'Good. Just making sure.', Lissa said and released Rose from her compulsion.

A/N: WOOO I DID IT =) this chapter was pretty hard and I worked on it a lot, rewriting most of the scenes often :S but i did it ;D

I REALLY hope you like it, and PLEASE review! I wanna reach 30 REVIEWS until I've finished the next chapter. Also VERY IMPORTANT: This might all seem a little boring now, but I've got a HUGE idea and what's happening now needs to happen so my idea plays out nicely. If you want me to update FASTER this time, review. Whenever I read new Reviews, I WANT to write, so you see how much they help me =D

-Maria