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I don't own it, damn it!
Rose POV
The last of our friends have just left, leaving me and Adrian alone. We gather up the dirty dishes and get to work. I wash and he loads the dishwasher, all while dancing and singing along to the radio. Adrian has a secret love of disco music that cracks me up. He keeps bumping my hip and kissing me on the neck while dancing close to me from behind. "Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight. Get down tonight." he sings in my ear. I laugh and turn around and dance around the kitchen with him. We spend the next few songs gettin' down all over the apartment. After we played that funky music, I turn off the music to cuddle on the couch with my fiance. I love the sound of that. I grab the laptop before I sit down and boot it up. Adrian moves so I can sit between his legs along the couch, my back resting against his chest. He puts his chin on my shoulder and watches me type away.
"Watcha doin'?" he asks.
"I'm getting a head start on my dress shopping. I want to find the type of dress I like to narrow down the search." I find a website with all sorts of different prom and evening dresses to look at. Adrian stops me when one catches his eye.
"How about that one?" he asks.
"Are you serious? All you have to do is hook my up to the ceiling and spin me around and I'll become a disco ball. No thanks." I dismiss that sequin nightmare. "How about this one?" I point to a short dress that's a little revealing, just to guage his reaction.
"Are you planning on working the street corner?" That's a bit harsh, but at least I know he's taking this seriously. "How about that one? It'll cover you up nicely." he says.
"Since when did we become Amish? It's not a sin to show some skin." I say as I pull the neckline of my shirt down to uncover my shoulder teasingly. Adrian responds by kissing the exposed skin up along my neck, causing my breathing to speed up. Okay, if I don't stop him now, I'll never find a dress. I look back at the computer and see one similar to the dress I wore last night. "I like this one. It even has a slit on one side."
"It's very nice. A little too nice. I don't want anyone other than me looking at those lovely legs of yours. No slits." I guess he's setting boundaries now. This should be good. "This one's nice." he points.
"Sure, if you're eighty." I swear I saw Blanche wear that dress on a rerun of the Golden Girls last week. I scroll down to see more. He stops me again, finding another monstrosity.
"That one looks like it belongs at a Royal Ball." he says. It's a strapless form fitting dress that is puffy from the waist down.
"It looks like I could smuggle a bunch a little people under the skirt. Too poofy." He points to another one. "That one looks like it's made for a mermaid. How the hell will I walk in that thing? How about this one?" It goes to the floor but has see through material around the waist.
"Too sexy for the occasion, but we're getting closer." Then he sees one that is pink and white with lots of ruffles, bows and big fabric flowers on the top. "I can just see you wearing that one." he laughs.
"I'm afraid someone would mistaken me for a birthday cake and shove candles up my nose." I click on the next page and gasp when I see it. The dress style I want. It's strapless, form fitting bodice down to the hip and goes to the floor with a bit of a train in the back. It's gorgeous. "That's it. That's the dress I want. What do you think?" I ask waiting for him to find something wrong with it. He takes a moment looking at the picture carefully.
"I think you'll look fabulous in a dress like that. I can't wait to show you off." Now I just hope we can find one just like it. I turn the computer off and lean against him, pulling his arms around me to keep me warm.
"Show me off, huh? What happened to not wanting to attract much attention?"
"I guess after years of people thinking I'm nothing but a lazy, drunk womanizer, I want to show them that I must be doing something right to have the most wonderful woman in the world on my arm. The room is going to be filled with envy." he tells me.
"Yeah, but the jealousy will be directed toward me. You're the one all the women want, the young extremely sexy royal Moroi. If I'm not careful, I might actually die from all the death glares that'll be coming my way." He laughs, but it's true. I've seen the way women watch him with a look of longing in their eyes. "I think that in addition to telling our parents, we need to tell Tatiana before the Ball." I tell him soberly. Thinking about all this is making me extremely nervous.
"I already spoke with her today and she's happy for us. Concerned about the backlash, but happy. Man, I can't believe you two are actually friends, but I guess it makes sense. You both like to argue and you both think I'm the greatest man alive." I give him a playful elbow to the ribs for the last remark.
"Well, I'm glad she's okay with us. She told me she would support us if we ever got together, but I wasn't too sure she meant it. Why didn't you bring me along to tell her?"
"I needed to talk to her about your guardian assignment and why we didn't want you assigned to me anymore. We had a nice chat and decided that you will now be one of her personal guardians." Oh my god, I'm stunned. Only the best have the honor of being assigned to the Queen herself. I know I've proven myself to be one of the best guardians, but I never really thought I'd actually be put with the elite.
"Are you serious? That's...that's ...wow! When do I start?" I can't believe everything that's going my way right now. I'm getting married to the love of my life and I just got the most pristegious assignment a guardian can get. I guess the universe owes me for all the crap I've had to endure in my past.
"After Tatiana makes the announcement during the ball you'll start officially. I think this week you'll be shadowing another guardian, learning the ropes." I'm so excited now, I can't wait for Monday to get started.
"Can I tell people yet? You know, like my mom to butter her up for the big engagement announcement?" I ask hopeful. I don't know if I can keep this news a secret very long.
"No, you can't tell anyone. Not even your mom. Speaking of which, when should we call her?" He asks nervously. I get an ache in the pit of my stomach just thinking about talking to her.
"Actually, she's going to be here in a couple days. Lord Szelsky is coming to the Ball so of course that means she's coming too." I explain. "We should have Lissa with us when we tell her. She won't hurt us with Lissa there. She's always liked her." I strategize.
"No Rose. We need to do this alone. She's not going to hurt us. We don't need her approval to get married, remember that. We're just being curtious to tell our parents first. They can't do anything to us. We have all the power here." he says bravely.
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." I turn in his arms and give him a chaste kiss. He catches me before I get comfortable again and cranks up the heat, claiming my mouth with his. It doesn't take me long to get lost in his kiss. I flip completely over so I am now laying on top of him, unbottoning his shirt as fast as I can. Once I get the front open, I move my lips down his throat and over his chest, tasting every inch of him I can reach. I love how everything feels right when I'm with him. Like I'm finally where I'm meant to be. His body trembles at my touch and he lets out a low moan as I have my way with him. It turns me on that I can make him feel so good. We spend the rest of the night on the couch, 'gettin' down'.
3 Days before the Ball - still RPOV
"Alright, Adrian. We're meeting my mom for lunch at the cafe, and then having dinner at your parents guest suite for dinner. Are you sure you want to do this? We can still elope." My stomach is doing flip flops just thinking about what today will bring. Adrian takes my hands in his and leans his forehead against mine.
"Rose, calm down. You're worrying about nothing. They love us and want us to be happy. When they see how in love we are, they'll all give us their blessing. I promise." he says and then kisses my nose, making me smile. He always knows just what to say to cheer me up. "Of course if I'm wrong, I already reserved two tickets to Vegas." he teases. "I'll meet you at the cafe at twelve. Have fun." he says as he walks into the meeting room. I turn around and head over to the Queen's quarters. I practice my deep breathing exercises to calm myself down. I need to concentrate on my training as the Queens personal guardian. It's a lot more involved than being anyone else guardian and I don't want to screw up such a great opportunity.
It's twelve o'clock and I don't see Adrian anywhere. I walk in the cafe and see my mother sitting stiffly at a table in the back. Her face is expressionless, that guardian mask she's spent her entire life perfecting. I wonder how long it'll take to crack that mask when she hears our news. I take a deep breath and walk over to her. Our relationship is better than it was when I was at St Vlads, but still not where I would like it to be. She's never really liked Adrian because of his womanizing reputation and always thought he just wanted to use me and loose me. So when I was assigned as his guardian after graduation, she had a big talk with me about how Moroi men just want one thing from Dhampir women. I know she was trying to give me motherly advise, so I didn't try to argue with her about how Adrian was different with me, that we were just friends. I just hope she can keep an open mind and see him as an individual and not just a royal Moroi stereotype. "Mom, it's nice to see you again." I greet her as I make it to her table.
"Rose, you're looking well." she says as I take a seat. She has no idea that Adrian and I are even dating, so this whole thing is going to be quite a shock. That's why I decided to talk to her in a public place, hoping she wouldn't want to cause a scene. "So, how are you doing? I heard about the raid and your capture. I'm surprised they sent a rescue team after you."
"Well, they didn't. The Council wouldn't agree to send any quardians to retrieve me. It was all Adrian's doing. He got a team together of Moroi and their guardians to find me. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead, or worse, right now." I want her to see what Adrian did for me so she knows how much we mean to each other. She looks skeptical, but doesn't say anything. "So, how have you been?" I try to make conversation until Adrian can get here. He better not be ditching me to tell her myself, or he's going to be very lonely for the next few nights.
She proceeds to tell me about a Strigoi attack she found herself in and how she and the other guardian she was with managed to kill them. At the end of her epic tale, the waiter rescues me to take our order. Adrian still isn't here, but I can't stall any longer without telling her everything, so we order our food. Just as our drinks are brought to our table, Adrian bursts through the doors, looking like an angel sent from heaven as all the patrons look in his direction. He looks around the cafe for us while my mother rolls her eyes when she sees him come in. "Does he always have to make a grand entrance like that? Honestly, he must be late for lunch date number two by the way he looks. I don't know how you can stand watching him chase after all those women." she says with a disapproving air.
"Mom, there has only been one woman he's ever chased." I tell her as Adrian finally makes his way to our table.
"Sorry I'm late. Tasha needed to talk to me about something, and she tends to ramble a bit." he explains as he takes the seat next to me. "Guardian Hathaway." he acknowledges my mother with a smile and then orders a hamburger and an ice tea, but before the waiter leaves, I add to it.
"And a glass of vodka." I look over to my mom who's glaring at me for the alcohal order. "Make that two glasses." Adrian looks puzzled, yet amused to my order.
"Lord Ivashkov." My mom greets back, seeming a bit put off that Adrian joined us. She looks over to me for an explanation as to why he's crashing our lunch date. Adrian sees this and decides to rescue me, once again.
"So Guardian Hathaway, any more exciting tales of from one of my favorite Strigoi slayers?" If Adrian is anything, it's charming. Even my mother has a hard resisting him when he lays it on. She retells the same story I just heard for her new audience. Thankfully the food came so I tune her out and concentrate on my chef salad. I always forget to tell them to leave off the onions, and spend at least five minutes taking them all out before I even consider taking a bite. Adrian sees me out of the corner of his eye and chuckles as he bumps my leg with his.
After my mom finishes her story, Adrian begins to tell her about the rescue mission at the prison. He only tells her his part, not wanting to mention the torture Stephan put me through. I watch my mom's expressions while he's telling her his story. She looks pretty amazed that they were able to pull it off and how they used Moroi to help the guardians kill the Strigoi. When he's finished, she doesn't say anything, but just stares at Adrian, and then me, as if she's trying to figure something out. "Why did you go through all that trouble for one guardian? You surely would've been assigned another right away." I don't think she's trying to be rude, although that's how it came out. I just think she's really interested to know why he did it. Adrian stiffens next to me at her callous words. He looks over to me to see if I'm ready to tell her about us. I nod my head.
"I went through all the trouble because if anything happened to Rose, my world would've ended. I'm in love with Rose, Guardian Hathaway. I have been since the first time I laid eyes on her." My heart swells as I listen to him declare his love for me to my mom. Her eyes go wide at his admission and she looks over to me.
"I'm in love with him too. I have been for a while even though I wouldn't admit it until recently." I told her. She still hasn't said anything, just looking at us with a scrutinizing eye. Adrian breaks the awkward silence with our big news.
"Guardian Hathaway, I asked Rose to marry me and she accepted." he told her calmly. I thought her eyeballs were going to fall out of her head and roll out the door with the expression plastered on her face. I'm holding my breath, bracing myself for the outburst. I see her gripping the fork in her hand very tightly and she starts to tremble a bit. My insticts are telling me to pull Adrian behind me to protect him from the threat that is my mother. I keep a careful eye on her, waiting for any attack. To my surprise, she takes a deep cleansing breath and slowly releases her grip on the flatware. She glares at Adrian for a second and the addresses me.
"So, how far along are you?" she asks, clearly irritated. Now it's my turn to be surprised.
"How far...? I'm not pregnant! We're just in love and want to spend the rest of our lives together. Is that so hard to understand?" I huff, not appreciating her erroneous assumption. She blinks her eyes, clearly taken aback. I don't know what her relationship with my father was like, but from his absense in my life, it must not have been good. I don't know if she's ever been in love in her life.
"Rose, didn't you listen to a word I said at your graduation? What you two feel isn't love, it's lust. After a little while, the novelty will wear off and he'll leave you for a more acceptable wife, a royal Moroi, no doubt. Save yourself, and your reputation as a great guardian, now and end it, before you find yourself pregnant and alone." Adrian's grip on my hand tightens so much, I think he might brake a few bones. I try to calm him down by rubbing his arm with my free hand and whispering in his ear.
"It's okay. I love you and know that isn't going to happen with us." I reassure him. I'm not really surprised at the way my mom feels. This is pretty much the same reaction we're going to get from everyone.
"Guardian Hathaway" he says through clenched teeth. "I can promise you that will never happen. Now, we told you about our engagement as a courtesy, not a requirement. We hope you will get passed the prejudices of our society and support us, but that's your choice. Whether you're a part of our lives or not isn't going to stop us from being together and creating a family." She looks a little stunned that Adrian would speak to her like that, but I love it. He takes the glass of vodka I ordered him and tosses it back in one smooth motion, before slamming it back down on the table.
"Do you know what kind of uproar your 'marriage' is going to create?" she uses air quotes.
"Well considering the way my own mother is reacting, I have an idea." I say sarcasticly. I get up, pulling Adrian with me and start to walk away.
"Rosemarie, don't throw everything you've worked so hard for away because of good sex." She chastizes me. I can't believe she just said that. I turn back around to face her.
"Mom, not that it's any of your business, but we didn't even have sex until after we got engaged. And it wasn't good." Adrian gave me a confused sideways glance. I squeeze his hand and continue. "It was fan-freakin'-tastic!" I say a little too loud as the whole restaurant goes silent and all eyes are on us. Instead of getting embarrassed from all the attention, I allow Adrian to pull me away with his arm on my waist and walk out of the door, our heads held high.
"Well, that went better than expected. At least neither of us has a black eye." Adrian says as we walk back to his apartment.
"Yeah, well, the night is still young. I can't believe we have to do that all over again with your parents tonight." I sigh. This day sucks so far, and I have a feeling it won't get much better.
It's dinner time now and Adrian and I are standing in front of the door to his parents guest suite. "Alright, since lunch didn't go well and I never got to eat my burger, I say we wait until dessert to tell them." Adrian tells me before he knocks on the door. I take my ring off and put it in his pocket since I don't have any in the dress I'm wearing. "Oh, and my sister Anna is here with Dylan and the kids." That's the best news I've heard all day. Anna and I get along great, so I'm sure she'll have our backs. His mother, Daniella, answers the door and lets us in. She greets us with hugs and leads us to the living room where Nathan, Adrian's dad, and his sister and her family were sitting. Anna's three kids, Roman, Kyle and Irene, run up to me and practically tackle me to the ground. I pick up the littlest one, Irene, and swing her around. She's two and a half and is the opitome of a princess. Everything she wears is pink and she loves dragging me and Adrian to play with her dolls.
"Auntie Rose, you came for my tea party." Before I can answer the child back, Dylan takes her from my grip and puts her back down next to her brothers.
"Uncle Adrian and Auntie Rose came to visit with us grown ups tonight. We'll be here long enough for them to come to a tea party on another day." he tells her, but she doesn't look happy about it. Roman, the five year old, takes her hand and leads her and Kyle to the back room to play.
"Before you go back home, you'll have to let Adrian and I babysit one night while you two go on a datenight." I suggest. Adrian grudgingly agees with me and Anna accepts with a little too much enthusiasm. Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut.
We sit down to dinner and make small talk. Anna and her husband ask Adrian all sorts of questions about the Offensive Magic Committee. She says that the more ways to protect her children when outsides the wards is worth looking into. Lord Ivashkov, as I'm to call him, just grunts here and there, letting his disapproval of the movement known. I cross my fingers under the table, hoping no one brings up the topic of the rescue mission knowing Adrian's dad will have a coronary about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, because Adrian let it slip about what Amy did using her earth magic. Apparently, they haven't heard the news of the raid, my abduction and torture and subsequent rescue. Adrian launches into the story, including parts of my time there. By the end of the tale, they're all looking at us with shocked faces and all for different reasons. Daniella is concerned about how Adrian could've gotten killed, Anna looks like she knows something is going on between Adrian and I, Dylan looks interested in the magic aspect, and Nathan looks pissed actually.
"Adrian, damn it! You could've gotten all those people killed trying to save her. She isn't worth it." Even though I agree that my life isn't worth losing many, it still stings when he shouts it out like that. Adrian scowls at his dad while fishing out my ring from his pocket and handing it to me under the table. I guess it's time.
"Dad, I happen to think Rose is worth everything. I love her and can't live without her, so I asked her to marry me and she said yes." He pulls my left hand out to show off my ring. No one says anything, waiting for Nathan to speak first. He slams his napkin on the table and stands up quickly, nearly knocking his chair over.
"What did you do, knock her up? That's no reason to marry the girl!" he yells. Why does everyone assume I'm pregnant?
"She's not pregnant and I'm marrying her because I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her." Adrian says as calmly as he can.
"Adrian, it's perfectly natural to have a relationship with a Dhampir, but you don't marry her. A respectable royal like you marries another royal and has a family of Moroi. Keep her if you want, on the side, but don't disgrace this family by marrying her." I've never felt so cheap in my entire life. The anger is boiling up fast and it's my turn to squeeze Adrian's hand tight. I don't even realize what I'm doing when I shoot up out of my chair.
"I am NOT a bloodwhore!" I yell at his dad. Adrian grabs my shoulders and tries to get me to sit down. I thought my mom's attitude was bad. I reluctantly sit back down and let Adrian pull my chair closer to him so he can put his arm around my shoulder.
"Dad, you need to realize that I love Rose and I don't care that she's a Dhampir, or Moroi or even human. We are getting married no matter what you say. Accept it or not, it doesn't matter to us. We just thought you'd like to know before the rest of the world finds out at the Ball." His dad looks so furious, his face turned a new shade of red.
"Adrian, you're just using this poor girl for your own sick need to start a controversy and cause trouble." So now I'm a poor girl, huh? I guess that's a step up from bloodwhore.
"It really pains me that you would think I would do something like that." Adrian says as he gets up from his seat and pulls me with him. He walks over to his mother, who has been silent this whole conversation and gives her a kiss. She looks stunned. We say goodbye to his sister and Dylan and walk out the door to the noise of his father still ranting.
"I'm sorry my father said what he did about you." he apologizes to me. I lean against him as we walk.
"It's not your fault. I'm afraid we're going to get the same reaction from a lot of people when they find out. As long as we stick together, we can get past this and live happily ever after." I tell him, and myself, hoping to believe it.
Thanks for reading. I know we just found out Adrian is an only child, but in chapter two I mention he has a sister, so I want to stay consistant. Anyway, review and tell me what you thought about the parent's reactions.