A/N: This one is going to be the last chapter for this story. I feel like it's ended in a good spot. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and please review.

I watched Lissa pick up Alexandra and cuddle her close, but I wasn't really registering the action. My mind was down the hall and up two flights of stairs, with the tiny baby that had been abandoned at the hospital three weeks earlier.

I had been sneaking away to see her as much as possible. I was becoming – ah who was I kidding? – I was already head over heels in love with that little girl.

Thanks to my position as Queen Vasilisa's Guardian, the caretakers of the babies in the nursery didn't ask me why I was staring at one infant for hours on end. I'm sure they al wanted to know exactly what I was doing, but to their credit, none of them ever asked, even when I was there for long periods of time. And man, I never got tired of looking at her little scrunched up face.

But, as much as I dreamed of bringing her home and making her mine and Dimitri's daughter, I still hadn't come up with a good way to broach the subject with my husband. Or with Lissa.

In fact, I hadn't mentioned my desire to adopt this specific baby with anyone. Maybe I'd tell Lissa first. Maybe I'd let her use a little bit of compulsion on Dimitri.

No.

That would be bad, right?

"Rose? Lissa's voice broke through my thoughts.

I shook m head and straightened, "What's up?"

Lissa's green eyes had a weird gleam in them; I got slightly nervous. The look in her eyes was almost similar to the look Dimitri claimed I got when I was planning something.

"I'm okay with Alex by myself. Go up to the nursery," Lissa said and adjusted her daughter in her arms.

"My eyes widened, "What?"

Lissa laughed, causing the baby to let out a happy squeal. I smiled despite my confusion and mild shock; my de facto niece was adorable.

"As Queen, it's kind of my business to know who is going where when they're in Court. My dhampir Guardian best friend is no exception."

I ruffled a hand through the end of my ponytail. Wow, I really had underestimated my ability to sneak around without anyone finding out.

Meanwhile, now that Lissa knew about my trip to the nursery, I might as well tell her my whole plan.

"Okay, I'll tell you," I sighed.

"I never actually asked for you to tell me anything," Lissa pointed out, sticking a bottle into Alexandra's wailing mouth.

I ignored her, "When I got knocked out three weeks ago and was in the hospital, this woman had abandoned her baby. And oh my God Liss, she's beautiful. I fell in love with her and I want to adopt her. Some nurse said they keep the abandoned babies in a nursery in Court, so I've been going to visit her."

The grin that appeared on Lissa's face was so wide, the tops o her cheeks almost touched her eyes.

"that's great, Rose! I know how badly you've wanted a baby. And Alex could use a friend, at least until Christian and I decide to give her a sibling. What has Dimitri said" she leaned forward to wrap an arm around me in a hug.

I laughed tightly, "He doesn't know. I haven't told him."

Lissa frowned, "Dimitri Belikov doesn't have a single clue as to what you're planning? Why do I find that hard to believe."

"He might have some kind of idea. But I don't think he knows that I'm planning on convincing him to adopt this specific baby," I rubbed at my eyes with one hand.

Lissa bounced Alex in her arms and looked down at her. I could tell that she was thinking. Her emotions were slightly jumbled, but the prevailing one was hope that I'd convince Dimitri.

I leaned against the wall, watching Lissa interact with her daughter. I hadn't realized how badly I wanted a baby, but watching my best friend be a mother? There was an ache in my chest that I knew would only be filled when I convinced Dimitri.

Lissa looked up at me, "Go. Seriously. Go see that baby."

"Are you sure?" I asked, already angling my body towards the door.

Lissa laughed, "Yes! Of course I'm sure. I want you to be as happy as I am!"

"Thanks, Liss. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

I shut the door carefully behind me, knowing Lissa was going to put the baby down for a nap.

While I walked down the hall, I couldn't resist a look into Lissa's mind. I wanted to see exactly what she thought about my plan when I wasn't in the room.

Next thing I knew, I was looking down at Alex. Lissa was saying, "Your Aunt Rose will be such a great mom, if Uncle Dimitri ever comes around. And he will. I know he wants a baby as badly as Aunt Rose does."

I would have teared up if I were in my own body. I don't know what was wrong with me and my emotions lately. Maybe that knock to the head had shifted something in my brain.

"And when Aunt Rose and Uncle Dimitri finally get that baby, you're going to have a best friend, just like Aunt Rose and I are best friends. We're there for each other no matter what."

I – Lissa – leaned down to press a kiss to Alex's forehead.

I pulled myself out of Lissa's head. I didn't want to intrude on any more of the mother-daughter time.

Coming around to my surroundings, I realized I was outside the door to the nursery. I put my hand on the doorknob, but hesitated.

I really needed to tell Dimitri about my plan. It wasn't fair that I was keeping something this big from him. And, if I was being honest with myself, keeping this form him was probably just proving his point that we weren't ready to be parents.

I took a deep breath, after I got off my shift of guarding Lissa I would tell him.

A minute later, I was inside the nursery.

It was set up like a miniature dormitory. There was one room full of the bassinets for the babies; with fifteen of them lines up against each wall. At the end of the room, there were doors that led to more rooms for the older kids and the storage areas for formula and diapers. There was also a room for the babies that were smaller or sick and needed extra care or had to be kept apart from the healthy babies.

The room was painted in pastel colors; not my thing, but insanely soothing.

My baby was in the last crib on the left side of the room, right next to a window. I could have found her with my eyes shut and my hands tied behind my back.

I only took a few steps into the room before stopping. A dark shape caught my eye.

The one dark spot in the whole pastel colored room belonged to my Russian's cowboy duster.

What was Dimitri doing here? And more importantly, what was he doing sitting by the crib of the baby I had fallen in love with?

Dimitri didn't seem to have noticed my entrance, although I knew him well enough to not take his lack of reaction as definite proof he was ignorant of my appearance.

I didn't want to interrupt him just yet, so I crept quietly towards him, pausing when I was three our four feet away from him.

Now that I was closer, I could hear him whispering in Russian. He looked so relaxed, like nothing could ever bother him again.

Maybe I had misjudged his desire for kids. He was edging very close to 30. It was entirely possible that he wanted kids more than he let on, maybe even more than he wanted to admit to himself.

"Rose," he sighed, "I know you're there."

"I was trying to give you a little space. Didn't think you wanted me right on top of you," I said lightly, walking forward in a few strides and resting my forearms on his shoulders.

"I always like it when you're on top of me," he gave me a little smirk along with the innuendo.

"Hey, we're in a room filled with babies! You can't say stuff like that," I laughed, teasing the edge of his collarbone with my fingers.

"How do you think all of these babies got here, Roza?" he laughed, and I loved the feeling rumbling against my chest.

"Shut up, Comrade. What are you doing here?" I asked my question quickly, hoping I could trick him into answering truthfully.

No such luck.

Well, not at first anyway.

"Just checking on something," he answered vaguely.

I rested my chin on his head, "Yeah, okay, because I believe that. Wanna try again?"

Dimitri sighed under me, "I was looking for you a couple of days ago. Eddie had mentioned seeing you sneak in here. I watched you from the door."

"Stalker," I said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"You looked so…" Dimitri paused. He was very rarely lost for words, so I waited, holding my breath, for what he was going to say.

"So…right. Like this was where you belonged," he finally said.

I didn't say anything. Like Dimitri, I was rarely speechless, but this one had thrown me for a loop.

Dimitri reach up and locked his fingers with mine, "I've been coming back here every couple of days. She's the baby from the hospital, right?"

I nodded, a lump forming in my throat. I didn't trust myself to speak, mainly because I thought I had an idea of where this conversation was going.

"I've been talking to her," he admitted this slowly, like it was a silly thing.

"That' supposed to be good for them. They get used to other people," I said softly, looking over Dimitri's head at the little girl that had captured our hearts.

Because right then, I knew, without a doubt, that Dimitri loved her just as much as I did.

"I think…that we could figure something out," Dmitri twisted his head to look at me. I moved to the side of the chair so we could see each other better.

"Are you…?" I asked, breaking off my question.

Dimitri nodded, "I think since we can use the Queen as a reference, the adoption process might get expedited."

My face split into a grin, "We're really going to adopt her? We're going to take her home and she's going to be ours?"

I couldn't contain my excitement. Dimitri had barely opened his mouth when I leaned forward and planted a kiss on him.

I leaned over the crib, my hands itching to pick her up and hold her close. I had never held her before, thinking it would cause me to get too attached.

Dimitri stood up behind me and rested a hand on my hip, "She'll need a name."

"Anna," I said immediately, "Anna Olena Belikova."

Dimitri laughed, "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

I shrugged, "Probably more thought than was healthy."

"Anna," Dimitri tried the name I loved out.

It sounded even better in his Russian accent.

Ah-nna.

God, could I be any more in love with this man?

He gently reached around me and lifted the baby into his arms. She opened her mouth like she was going to scream, but sighed and cuddled close to the leather duster instead.

Dimitri let out a happy sigh and shifted her slightly, tucking her into the crook of his arm.

"I think she fits," he said, not taking his eyes off of her.

"I think you're right," I agreed, reaching my hand out to gently touch Anna's cheek.

"I can't believe she's really going to be ours," I whispered, still shocked that Dimitri had been sneaking to see her too.

"Get used to it. Rose Hathaway Belikova, you're going to be a mom," Dimitri laughed.

"And you too, Comrade. Dimitri Belikov, dad. Look out any boy that comes her way," I joked, feeling lighter and happier than I had in days.

"If we raise her right, she'll be able to take care of herself," he smiled.

I'd never seen him smile this much. It was a nice change.

I looked up into Dimitri's eyes, "We're going to be parents."

He nodded, "Twenty-three year old Rose is very different from nineteen year old Rose who was terrified of getting married while she was a teenager."

"And twenty-nine and eleven months old Dimitri is really different from twenty-nine and eight months old Dimitri who didn't want a kid," I shot back.

Dimitri rolled his eyes, "Yes, Roza, we've both changed."

"And speaking of changed…" I trailed off, laughing as Dimitri realized the baby needed a new diaper.

"I've got to get back to Lissa! I promised her I'd only be gone twenty minutes. Let me know how the first diaper change goes, Dad," I kissed his cheek before running to the door.

I stopped with my hand on the doorknob and looked back.

Dimitri was smiling down at Anna, one hand reaching for a diaper that was kept in a cloth bag attached to each of the cribs.

I smiled to myself.

Maybe I did have it better than Juliet.

A/N #2: Okay, so since this story is AU, it won't really be continued in any future VA fics I write. I will, however, be keeping Anna as one of their children. I will also probably keep her as being adopted. Unless I can come up with a magical reason for Rose to be able to have kids.

And if anyone is confused, Anna's name is pronounced like Anna in Frozen, with more of a focus on the first A.

Once again, please let me know what you thought of this in a review. I live for reviews, they make me want to write more for you guys.