Chapter 23

*Rose's POV*

I really needed to learn Russian, especially if I'm going to see more of Dimitri's family.

Dimitri's mother, Olena, was asking him multiple questions and it was even more confusing when his sisters started talking over his mother. I think I heard something like, "How are you?" and something about missing him or about a fish.

They kept at it for about 20 minutes, his sisters chiming in too. It was almost as if I didn't exist, but I didn't mind. Seeing the smile on Dimitri's face made it all worth it; he was like a kid on Christmas!

Finally, we all sat down. Dimitri and I sat on the couch, his youngest sister Viktoria squeezing in the small space on the other side of Dimitri. His other two sisters, Karolina and Sonya, and his mother sat in chairs close by. I went to get up so someone else could sit with Dimitri, but his hand grabbed mine and pulled me back down.

"I think this is an announcement we should make together, Roza." He whispered to me.

"Announcement? What announcement?" Viktoria asked loudly.

"Oh! Dimka, did you finally ask Rose to marry you?" Olena leaned forward, eyes darting to my hands in search of a ring.

"No!" I said a bit too quickly. "I mean, not yet." Telling Dimitri's family should have been easier. They're so accepting and would be completely okay with me being pregnant. But the whole 'what if' scared me. What if they got mad at me for 'cheating on Dimitri' when in reality I didn't? What if they didn't give me time to explain and they formed an angry mob?

"Actually the news is-"

"Shouldn't we wait for Yeva? She would want to hear it too!" I said, hoping that would give me a minute to plan exactly how I was going to say everything.

"I already know. I think a congratulations is in order." The older women walked in the room and sat down next to her daughter.

"Oh just tell us the news already!" Sonya exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly.

I looked at Dimitri, only to find him looking straight back at me. "Go on, tell them."

"Why me?" He asked confused.

"Because I told my family, so just tell them." I whispered harshly, giving him a look so harsh he knew to back off. No offence Dimitri, I thought, but I'd rather you take on the angry mob.

"You're right. I should be the one to tell them." Dimitri said hesitantly. It was getting boring explaining everything so many times, but it's what we had to do. We should've just sent out a mass email and saved ourselves the trouble.

Dimitri explained everything to his family while they sat there in silence. The room was quiet as the women that sat before us tried to make sense of what he said.

Viktoria was the first to speak. Well not so much speak as to smack Dimitri upside the head.

Not much surprised Dimitri, but his little sister smacking him sure did the trick and caught him off his guard. "What was that for?"

"For getting Rose pregnant." The brown haired girl shrugged it off nonchalantly, sending me a mischievous smile.

"You're sister is right, Dimka." Olena chimed in, making Viktoria smile victoriously. Dimitri seemed to still be processing what was going on. "You should have been more careful. Do we need to have 'The Talk'?"

That snapped him out of it.

"W-What?! Mother, I'm much to old- No, we don't…" Dimitri scrambled to save himself from the embarrassing situation, cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink which I found funny. "Isn't this when you girls start fussing over Rose being pregnant?" Dimitri was quick to push the attention away from himself, hating to be in the limelight.

Instantly questions were being shot at me so fast I could hardly keep up.

"How far along are you?"

"Oh my goodness! Now that you mention it I can see that baby bump!"

"How excited are you about the baby?"

"What's the weirdest craving?"

"Worst symptom?"

"Because of the baby are you two going to finally get married?"

I shot Dimitri the 'You-Are-So-Sleeping-On-The-Floor-Tonight' look and answered each question. "15 weeks. Yes. Pickles and chocolate ice cream. Morning sickness. And you can talk to Dimitri about that question."

That 'M' word started bugging me. I get that I was pregnant and usually marriage comes before the baby, but when have Dimitri and I ever been the traditional couple? I could wait until after the baby to get married.

Yeva stayed relatively quiet as the girls asked multiple questions.

I just wished she stayed that way.

"So you've quit being a Guardian, yes?" She asked me, a smug smile on her wrinkled face.

Shock ran its course through my body, almost like I've been hit with a lightning bolt. "What? Of course not. My plan is to be a Guardian and guard Lissa until my third trimester. Then I'll do some easier stuff, like desk work and stupid stuff like that. And after the baby is born Dimitri and I will work stuff out with Christian and Lissa. I'm not giving up being a Guardian."

The old woman scoffed and muttered something under her breath in Russian. I couldn't make it out but I bet it was something rude. She believed that men should be Guardian's and fight while women take care of the children. I, on the other hand, have a different set of beliefs.

"Look Yeva, I get that you think I should stay home with the baby. I know what it's like to grow up without a family. I grew up without my dad and barely seeing my mom. I know what it feels like to be alone as a child, to have nightmares and wanting your mommy and daddy to hold you but they're not there. But our kid won't live like that. Our kid will be the most loved child on the planet, and still have two Guardian parents who keep them safe from the big, bad Strigoi." At that point, I was off the couch, inches away from Yeva. No one tried to stop me yet, but I think it was because I actually made a point. My voice was so eerily calm that it was actually creepy. "So, you can take your opinion and shove it right up your-"

"Little ears!" Karolina exclaimed as she reached down to cover her son Paul's ears, even though he was nine and not little by any means. Olena covered Karolina's daughter Zoya's ears too, in case I did let slip some swears.

I smiled apologetically at Karolina and shot an evil glare at Yeva before dashing out the front door, unable to stay in a room with that woman any longer.

Russia during the day is cold, but Russia on a cold, November night really does seem like the place you would expect to see penguins sliding around.

"Holy shit." I muttered under my breath. I sprinted to the rental car, rubbing my bare arms to frostbite or hypothermia or whatever!

"Roza! Rose, stop or you're going to freeze!"

I didn't stop.

Dimitri would try and convince me to stay there, and I knew if I stayed there another minute I might end up killing his great-grandmother. Killing your boyfriend's relatives is not good for a relationship.

When I reached the car door, I yanked at the handle only to find that it was locked.

"I have the keys." Dimitri was quick to catch up to me and in second had wrapped his large leather duster around me. "You're not going anywhere."

"Then I'll walk." I tried to make it sound like a threat, but with my teeth chattering I don't think it came off that way. "I can't stay here with that bitch. She hates me, I hate her. I can't do it."

"I know you don't like her, but can't you at least try?"

"I can't. I know she'll keep saying that I need to quit being a Guardian for the baby and muttering things in Russian under her breath because I can't understand it." I leaned against the side of the car, rubbing the side of my head. "She's crazy. She drives me insane and I can't stand her and just give me the freaking car keys!"

"Where will you go?"

"To find a hotel or something. You can stay here and I'll come back tomorrow. Maybe."

"I'll come with-"

"No, they're your family. You never get to see them. Don't let me spoil your time." I sighed. Looking up at him, I could see the torn look on his face. He wanted to come with me but he wanted to be with his family. "Stay. I'll be back in the morning."

Dimitri leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead as he pressed the keys into my hand. "Be safe, okay?"

"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself and mess up anyone who tries to mess with me." I punched him in the chest lightly and smiled innocently, trying to lighten the mood.

He cracked a slight smile. "That's what I'm afraid of Roza."

I got in the car (still in his duster, I might add), pulled out of the driveway and drove, watching Dimitri shrink in my rear-view mirror. I might have been wrong, but I thought I saw him pull something out of his pocket and looked at it sadly. It was too small to get a good look at it, but the look on Dimitri's face said something big was coming.

Long, weird chapter, I know. But what was Dimitri holding? Any guesses? Next chapter is Sydney x Adrian. Also, to clear up any confusion, this story takes place around the time of Golden Lily but Dimitri is already back from Palm Springs. The month is now November in the story because I said so and because I really wanna write a Christmas chapter!

Also, I have a favor to ask of y'all! Last chapter I asked you guys to vote for me in a writing contest and I tied with someone else for the win, which is awesome! The tiebreaker is voting again so here is the link: poll/show/89013-please-vote-for-your-favorite-stor y-this-is-a-tie-breaker-so-make-sure But please read the story I wrote first and if you liked it, vote for it and if you liked the other person's story, vote for his! The link to that is in there! Thank you lovelies!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review because they are always welcome! If you're still reading this, leave me a baby name in a review, because finding good baby names is hard and I want a cute one for Rose and Dimitri's baby! Gender is TBA (voting for that is still open on my profile) so leave a girl or boy or gender neutral name! Hope you have a fabulous day!

Love,

Kaitlyn xoxo