I am so, so incredibly sorry for the wait. Life finally caught up to me... I'd been avoiding it for so long, but the teachers finally began piling on the homework, and everything fell apart. : / But I'm working on getting back on track. I promise, you guys.

A few things before the chapter...
1: Where did all my original reviewers go? :c I love that new people are reading the story, but I miss my original readers, too! I love you guys... It's made me sad to see you disappear like that.
2: The next chapter after this will probably not be posted until the 14th of March. Sorry, but I need my routine back... Plus, spring break is the week after that, so hopefully I'll be updating faster.
3: This chapter will be in Rose's point of view. Dimitri's is emotionally draining, and if I tried to write it right now, it would be days until you got it. Hope you guys don't mind!

Okay. Now that those few things are over with, we can get to the chapter! =D

Disclaimer: Rose and Dimitri - mine? *Sigh* Nooo...


Dimitri was watching me with a fierce expression, and I couldn't help but feel responsible for making him worry. I mean, I knew it wasn't my fault that I'd disappeared on him for almost ten minutes, but I felt like I should have completely ignored Adrian. Dimitri wouldn't be upset with me, and this entire mess wouldn't have happened. I dropped my head, ashamed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you. But you know how fighting appeals to me." As soon as I said it, I felt the unusual urge to blush. That didn't sound good, I thought worriedly.

I expected Dimitri to at least crack a smile or chuckle a bit. I was waiting for him to hug me and whisper something about how he was worried about me. He didn't do any of that. He stood there, watching me carefully. His eyes were fiery red, and they were narrowed at me. My chest constricted at the realization that he wasn't going to let this go. He was mad at me.

That hurt and shocked me greatly. I couldn't remember the last time he'd been angry with me. It happened so rarely that I never gave much thought to him being angry with me. Of course, I still wasn't completely sure he was mad at me. This silence could be stemmed from jealousy or even anger at Adrian, for putting me in that situation. I cringed as a new thought flashed through my mind. He could be angry with himself for not being able to help me when I needed help.

"Are you mad at me?" I whispered, suddenly unsure.

He sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, Roza, I'm not. You know I could never be upset with you." I chanced a glance at him and found that his eyes were still glued to me. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. He wasn't mad at me. I could deal with his fury at Adrian, but if he was blaming himself, then we had a problem.

"Are you mad at yourself?"

He was silent, and I knew I'd hit my mark. "Dimitri, why are you blaming yourself for this? You didn't do anything. I had to go find Jeremy, and Adrian happened to be there. Everyone got out okay, and he didn't touch one of us. We're all okay. I handled it," I insisted. Sometimes I hated how incapable he thought I was. He had convinced himself that I was so fragile. Of course, it only came with his new strength that he thought me to be so unable to fend for myself.

"I should've been there," he muttered, angrily raking his hands through his hair. "I hate not being able to help with the family during the day. I should be doing something."

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist. "How can you say that? You do help out - every day. Even at night, when I can't. You watch over our kids. You make sure they don't have bad dreams."

He grimaced, looking away. "I want to be able to go outside and play with them during the day. I hate taking anything away from them, but I also can't stand not being there for even one second."

"I know, Dimitri." I squeezed his arms tenderly and kissed his cheek. "I know you do. But it'll all work out. It has to work out."

My husband nodded, smiling down at me a little. "I love you, Roza."

My lips curled into a wide grin. "And I love you. Now, come on. Let's go find Adrienne before she completely turns her siblings into slaves." We both looked at each other, unsure if I was joking or not. Hell, even I wasn't sure if I was joking or not. Adrienne was the sweetest little girl when it came to her daddy, but she was also a younger version of me. She was demanding and fierce, and by God, if you didn't listen to her when she wanted you to listen, you'd better be able to afford to give her an arm or a leg for the trouble you put her through.

Finally, Dimitri chuckled. "You don't think she would . . . do you?" Our eyes met again, and we both darted for the stairs, laughing. When I opened the door to our children's room, I burst into laughter. Adrienne was standing on top of her bed, hands on her tiny hips, ordering her siblings to clean up their room for us.

Dimitri's eyes shone as he watched her. "She's so like you," he sighed, taking my hand in his.

I scowled, unsure if it was a compliment or not. He grinned when he saw my face. "Don't be that way. You know it's cute."

I gave in. "Yes, it's adorable when she does that. But it won't be good when she gets older."

"She'll grow out of it. For now, let her have her fun." Adrienne turned and saw us. Her little face brightened considerably, and she jumped off her bed and ran to Dimitri.

"Daddy!" she squealed happily, jumping up and down, just begging to be held. He picked her up easily and nuzzled his nose against hers. She laughed delightedly, smiling. "Daddy, Momma, look! We cleaned our room for you!" She was so ecstatic. I chuckled as I noticed Sabrina and Jeremy looking at her, exasperated. It did not escape my notice that she said 'we' when, clearly, the correct statement was, "Sabrina and Jeremy cleaned our room for you, and I ordered them to do it."

I couldn't bring myself to ruin her fun, though. So Dimitri and I smiled and thanked her while I kissed Jeremy's forehead and picked Sabrina up, whispering words of gratitude in her ear. Dimitri lifted Jeremy into his arms, and Adrienne's eyes flashed dangerously. Both of us caught the look, and my eyes widened as I watched to see what Dimitri would do.

He didn't do anything, I quickly found out. There was a storm cloud over Adrienne's head, and she was close to exploding if nothing happened in the next few seconds. I loved my daughter, don't get me wrong, but I had a headache. I didn't want to hear her cry and scream. So I took Jeremy from Dimitri and kissed Jeremy on the cheek.

Dimitri scowled at my actions, upset at having his son taken away, but I knew that Adrienne would have thrown a fit. And as of now she was curling herself around her father, sighing contentedly. She was most definitely a daddy's girl.

"Time for naps," I announced. Every one of my kids looked at me like I was crazy. I smiled and prepared myself for the argument that was sure to come my way.

But Jeremy just sighed and said, "And then we'll go to Aunt Lissa's?"

"Of course, honey," I whispered.

He squirmed, and I put him down. He hopped into his bed quickly and shut his eyes. I leaned down and kissed his temple. "Have a good nap, Jeremy," I murmured. Dimitri touched his forehead softly and smiled.

Sabrina was already almost asleep in my arms. I set her into her bed and brushed her hair out of her face. "I love you, Sabrina. Sleep well." Dimitri leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Good night, sweetheart," he breathed. And now for the hellion. Adrienne was defiantly glaring back at us, almost daring us to try to make her take a nap.

Dimitri whispered something in her ear, and she sighed, squirming. "Night, Daddy. Night, Momma. But we can go to Aunt Lissa's later for the party, right?"

"Of course," we answered in unison. Lissa would murder me if I didn't take them to the party she'd been planning for forever. She crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. She exhaled softly, almost a soft sigh.

She was asleep before we shut the door. That was the thing about Adrienne. She was utterly convinced that she was big enough to be finished with naps, but the second her head hit a pillow, she was out like a light. It was adorable, really.

Dimitri and I glanced at each other, then exhaled. The mission had been accomplished. I looked at a clock and wanted to take a nap myself. There were four more hours until Lissa's party, and we only made the kids nap for two hours.

What was going to take up time for two entire hours?


Please review? I've felt sick all day, and yet I still pulled this out of me. ^^ Oh, and one last thing - Adrienne's not a bitch. She's just a very strong-willed, fierce little girl - much like her mother.

Review? I will love you guys for forever and ever. And I'll try to find pictures of what the kids look like so you can see them.

- J.C.