Rose POV

I left Dimitri behind me, unable to look him in the eyes through my tears. I should have told him. I should have pushed aside my feelings and done the right thing. But then it was too late.

I look over towards Dimitri again and see him walking towards her grave. I hold my breath as I watch him getting closer and closer. He puts the flower down and reads the stone.

Anna.

Anna Belikova Hathaway.

God's greatest gift returned to God.

Dimitri falls to his knees, landing quietly in the snow. For the next few moments nothing else existed except for Dimitri and his grief. It was like the world faded away around us, my friends and family disappeared, and there was just this Russian God grieving for the daughter he never knew existed.

I didn't want him to find out this way. It's just so cruel; so unforgivable.

Forgive me. Please. Please forgive me. Both of you.

I walk over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me, silent tears running down his beautiful face. "Dimitri," I whisper as tears fill my eyes again, "I'm sorry."

"How did it happen, Roza?" He asks shakily. "How did… how did our…"

"Strigoi. They…they got me…and I… Dimitri, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't… I couldn't protect our daughter." My tears start falling at the thought of that horrible night. The memory of the physical pain surges through my brain, but nothing could ever be equal to the amount of pain caused by losing a child. Nothing.

As I try (and fail) to blink back tears, Dimitri rises and captures me in his arms. I cry into his chest, even though I haven't seen him in all this time… even though he shattered my heart… even though he should hate me. I cling to him like he's my lifeline and maybe he is. He's the only one who could possibly understand the emotions running through my body. He's the only one who could ever help me deal with the grief buried inside my heart.

He's the other half of my soul.

He always has been.

"Roza, it isn't your fault." I lift my head away from his body to see his face. His eyes are full of sadness as he looks down at me. "If I had been there… if I-"

I cut him off my putting my hand on his cheek. "Dimitri, no. Please, don't. Don't blame yourself. You didn't know."

He gives me a soft, sad smile as he pulls me closer to him again. We stayed like that for I don't know how long. A while? A lifetime? Who knows? When we pull apart we look at each other, then the others, and then back at each other. Dimitri offers me his hand and I take it as we head back to the SUV.

This past year has been hell, but I know with Dimitri by my side we can deal with it together, just like we should have all along.

The End.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for reading, following, favoriting [is that a word?], and reviewing. It really means a lot to have such dedicated readers. Thank you!

If you would like to read more of my work, and you haven't already read it, I do have a new VA story up. It's called Once Upon a Miracle. I'm rubbish at summaries, but basically Rose finds out she's pregnant and she has to decide what she wants to do. Does she run? Does she stay? And most importantly how does she tell Dimitri? It's way better than that, but if you have the time and you would like, check that out.

Most of you have already read The Hathaway Effect, but if you haven't it's a really great fic. I encourage you all to read that if you haven't done so.

And one last note: I had the great idea of creating a Facebook page and I would like to cordially invite each of you to like it if you want. I'm going to post updates about my updates, maybe a schedule, fun little facts, I'll answer questions, respond to my favorite Guest reviews (since I can't do that on this site), maybe have trivia contests or polls, my thoughts on my character choices, new ideas, I don't know, but it will be all really cool things about my stories. If you would like to like this page it's the facebook url followed by a forward slash and then vladmorgendorffer (I'd post a link but it's forbidden) or you could just type in Vlad Morgendorffer in the search bar.

Once again, thank you for sharing this story with me. You are amazing.