A/N: Hey :) well how about that ending haha as a treat for such a cruel ending...I wrote you a nice long chapter with a cute ending...so enjoy :) Also, after many pleads for a new chapter, I promised myself I'd post a new one once I finished writing the one I was working on...so here you go :)

Also...a bit of self promotion...I meant to do it last week...I wrote a one-shot based off a song, I hope you guys love this story enough to read the one shot :) If I get enough reviews or favorites/followers I might add an ending chapter.

Lastly...to the Guest review I got...thanks :) and don't worry I have at least 3 M scenes planned for the near future...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything VA

"Knock knock," I said as I opened the door.

"Roza?" Olena asked, peeking her head out from the kitchen. "Oh! What a nice surprise!"

I smiled and hugged her before both of us went into the kitchen.

"What brings you here?"

"Oh, I was on my way from Lissa's and thought I'd stop by."

"Oh that's so nice of you! Do you want some coffee? I was making some hot chocolate for Paul."

"Hot chocolate would be fine. How are you guys doing?"

"Great. Sonya had her baby a few months ago, so it's a bit hard dealing with her and Zoya."

"She had a girl?" I gushed.

"Yea," she said wistfully, her face full of pride and love for her children and grandchildren."Do you want to see her?"

"Oh. I don't know, I just came to ask you something."

"Nosense. Come. Paul's watching her in the living room," she said, dragging me to the living room.

"I really should be-"

"ROZA! YOU'RE BACK!" Paul screetched as he ran and launched himself into my arms. I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him and giggle. "Oh Roza I've missed you! Where have you been? How come you never come with Uncle Dimka?" And on and on came the questions. I let him ramble while I walked to the couch and Olena went to the baby.

"Well I had to go to school, and I go far away. And I'm not with your Uncle Dimka," I said, enunciating the last part slowly so I could gauge his reaction. His overall mood was a bit sad but something in his mind made him smile as he wrapped his arms around my neck and brought his face close to mine.

"So that means you can be my girlfriend?" he asked in a hopeful tone. I chuckled along with Olena and nodded my head before kissing his cheek. He broke into a big, bright grin and hugged my neck tightly. "That means you have to come around more often. And you have to spend Christmas with me."

"Ok, how about we make a deal? I'll come over more often if you come over to my house for Christmas," I said before looking up at Olena. "I'd really like it if you, Sonya, Karo, and the kids came over for tomorrow. We have more than enough room and food for everyone."

"We'd love to come," she answered just as the baby started crying.

"Oh, Roza, you haven't met her yet," Olena said as she came to sit next to me. "Would you like to carry her?" I nodded my head and held my arms out as we carefully transferred the baby. Oh she was a beautiful baby, with big brown, Belikov eyes and chocolate brown hair already starting to grow on her head.

"What's her name?" I asked while I held the baby with one arm, my free hand playing with her, tickling her and letting her grab my finger. I was vaguely aware Olena and Paul were there, my attention solely on the baby.

"It's Anja Rosalie Belikova," Dimitri said from the door, his rich, deep voice carrying over. I felt my mood darken as I contemplated my options. I heard him walk in, but I didn't see him come into the living room, so he probably went into the kitchen or dining room. Not like I cared or anything. I looked down at Anja and seeing her smile got rid of my bad mood as I continued to play with her, inevitably choosing to ignore Dimitri. However, I couldn't help remembering how the fashion show night ended

He lowered his head to close the space between us. I felt my head lifting to meet his, part of me screaming to back away while the other part of me was anxious to taste his sweet, luscious lips.

"No," I whispered when he was a breath away. He stopped, but didn't pull back. "I can't."

"Seems like you can," he said, lightly grazing my lips. "Like you want to. Don't fight it, Roza."

I shook my head lightly. "No, I shouldn't. I can't. I…I won't." I pulled away and got out of his embrace. His eyes filled with sadness as his arms dropped to his side. "I'm sorry," I said before walking away, no longer in the mood for a party.

"Anja's a precious name, for a precious baby," I cooed, shaking the memory away with the ache my lips felt right now, just like they did that night. I smiled when she grabbed my index finger. "Fit for a princess. Princess Anja. The fairest in all of Montana." Paul laughed, saying she was too young to be a princess. I don't know how long Paul and I played with Anja, but as soon as her bottom lip trembled and she started to cry, I handed he back to Olena, who laughed.

"Oh, Roza, what are you going to do when you have one of your own?"

"Easy, move you into our house so you can help me," I said with a big smile. Her eyes widened with hope. "I mean you always treated me like I was your daughter…and I know I'm not with…"

"Roza, I will always consider you like a daughter of mine. And I would love to be in your children's life, no matter who the father is." She pulled me into an awkward hug, since she had the baby in one arm.

"Well, I really do need to get going. I have a house to decorate and less than 48 hours to do it. I'll see you all tomorrow though, 7 sharp!" I said as I practically ran to the front door.

"WAIT!" Paul shouted as he ran after me. "You can't leave without giving me a goodbye kiss! I'm your boyfriend remember!"

I laughed as I said, "That's right. My bad, Paul." And then squat down to his level and kissed him on the cheek. He tried to go for the lips but pulled back. "Easy there, tiger, I like to take things slow." I laughed when he pouted, so I kissed the top of his head before leaving.

"S Rozhdestvom," Vika and Niko said when I opened the door, the rest of the Belikov family behind them. (a/n: not sure if I said it right)

I frowned at them as I let them in. "You know I don't Russian," I grumbled. "I'm going to assume you said some holiday greeting instead of calling me a fat ugly cow."

They burst into laughter, telling me they said Merry Christmas. "Plus, you look nothing like a cow," Vika said. "I'll tell you that my brother was right about one thing. You look like a gorgeous angel in that dress." I decided instead of getting a new dress, I'd wear the same one so that everyone could see me in it.

I hugged the Belikova women before we made our way to where everyone else was. And I gave Paul a big kiss on the cheek. Karo was about to say something but whatever it was got caught in their throat when we got to the entrance of the living room.

"Wow," Sonya said in a mesmerized tone while rocking a sleeping Anja in her arms.

The Christmas tree, situated in the corner where both windows displayed it, was illuminating with lights, shining from the tinsel garland, and covered in a variety of different colored and shaped ornaments. The whole room was beautifully decorated with various decorations, like santa hats, bows, garlands, and candy canes, but it wasn't over done.

"Like I said before," Adrian said from the couch, noticing more guests. "Rose puts my mother's decoration to shame."

"Ok, guys, this," I gestured to the whole room. "Is nothing, seriously. It's the same thing we do every year. Well, the glitter's new, but not overdone"

"Um, are you forgetting the year a certain 10 year old was in charge," Lissa said as she gave me a pointed look, both us laughing at the memory.

"What's so funny?" Tasha said from the living room entrance. Her belly bigger than it was the last time I saw it.

"Nothing," I said with a smirk. "Lissa just reminded me of one of our childhood Christmas."

"Oo, I'd like to hear this story," she said as she began to walk down the steps. I nudged Josh to go help her down.

"Tasha, you can't just barge in." Dimitri's voice carried over, anyone could hear the worry. My heart dropped a little in longing as I downed the rest of my cup of spiked eggnog. "You don't know if a robber broke in," he said as he came into view.

"Over dramatic much, don't you think, Comrade?" I muttered before I could stop myself. His eyes met mine quickly, clearly hearing my old nickname for him. And that I openly addressed him after a few weeks of denying his existence. "Ok, well I think we should do some major introduction or something because half of you don't know the other half."

"First," Vika said, her tone putting me on edge. "I'd like to know why the heartless and his concubine are here?"

"Vika!" Olena and I shouted while everyone just looked at her shocked.

"I'm sorry, Roza," Olena said. "He wanted to spend the holidays with us and I already agreed to come over here. I just-"

"It doesn't matter why they're here. They're more than welcomed."

"The hell-"

"No," I said firmly. "It's Christmas and if he's here to be with his family, I'm not taking that away from any of them. He's your brother, so stop treating him like he's not. Look, I've been acting like a 5 year old these last few weeks, but it's Christmas and I'm willing to put everything aside so that everyone can have a good time." Vika didn't say anything, but still glared at Dimitri and Tasha. "Vika, help me bring out the eggnog please."

When we got to the kitchen, I gave her the cups while I brought out the bigger of two bowls filled with eggnog. "Why are you only taking one?"

"Because everybody can have this eggnog. Anyone over 18 and not pregnant can have the other one, so they can come get it on their own," I explained. "Speaking of which, can you fill me a cup? And get yourself one too."

We came out to see all the girls hovering over Anja, who was in Paul's arms, while Sonya and Karo asked where the "special nog" was, grabbing the two cups Vika had poured and getting two empty ones and heading in the direction we came from.

"Oh she's adorable," Jill gushed.

"Yea, I can't wait to have my own," Lissa admitted, sneaking a glance to Christian.

"Well that's you, but I can definitely wait," Mia said, tickling Anja.

And on and on it went. I decided to sit with Sonya and Karo, with Joshua next to me, and we chatted about work and school. It felt good to be around so many people that I had come to care about.

"You have a beautiful home," Karo said. "Are you parents joining us?"

"I…I don't know. My dad had left for Istanbul a week after I came back and he promised to be back by the holidays, but I haven't gotten any word about his arrival and my mom's on some case so I doubt she'll take a holiday leave."

"Oh," she said, suddenly feeling embarrassed for asking. "I…" I waved off her apology just as Paul nudged his way out of the group and came towards us.

"Woman," he sighed. "Didn't know a baby would bring them all. But that doesn't matter because I have the only one that matters right here."

"Who?" I asked, taking Anja from his arms so he could sit down. "Your mom?"

"Nooo, you silly," he said as plopped himself right in between Joshua and I, causing all four of us to laugh. By now Anja was wide awake so the world got lost to me as I focused on her and play with her, living for those toothless smiles she'd give me and the occasional gurgling laughter.

"Motherhood suits you," Karo suddenly said, snapping out of my little bubble.

"Wh-What?" I stuttered.

"You're a natural with Anja, and you got along so easily with Zoya and Paul, you, my dear Roza, are meant to be a mother. I just wish you would be having my little nieces and nephews, not her," she said, spitting out the last word as she cut a deadly look to Tasha, who was drinking some egg nog and talking with Olena.

"Yea, well life's not a wish-granting factory."

"Who thought it was ok to add glitter?" I heard my mom say as she came into the room. Wait, my mom? My head snapped up to see Janine Hathaway walking down the stairs, my father close behind her, carrying two suitcases.

"I think it looks lovely, Janine, adds to the decorations," my father said. "Well hello, I didn't know we were having so many guest over."

"Yea, I thought it was just going to be six of us," my mom muttered.

"Sorry," I said, catching their attention. Their head turned in my direction, and when they saw me their eyes bugged out. "I may have invited a few more people."

"I know I was gone for a while, but it wasn't that long was it?" my mom asked, here eyes locked with the baby in my arms. I looked down at her, part of me wishing she was mine, and smiled.

"No," I said, making a funny face, getting Anja to smile. "She's not mine. She's Sonya's."

"Uh huh, and what are you wearing?" my father asked. I got up and did a little twirl, rocking Anja at the same time, getting her to let out a little thrilled squeal.

"I wore it at the fashion show and fell in love."

"Well you look stunning, kiz, and so innocent and angelic."

"So I've been told," I muttered before putting on a smile and hugging them, welcoming them back. They told me that my mother hadn't been on a case, but in Turkey with my father hoping that by escaping everything for a while would help them. And it did, for now at least."Well dinner's ready so let's go eat."

We all went into the kitchen, grabbing as much as we wanted before going out into the living room or into the dinning room. My parents and Olena went out to the dinning room, Paul, Zoya and Anja went with their grandma, while my friends, Sonya, Karo, the parents-to-be, and I went into the dining room.

"So Rose," Eddie said when we were all pretty much done eating. "Mia, Sydney, Christian, and I have know you all of high school, Lissa has known you your whole life, and yet none of us could figure out where you love for glitter comes from. "

"I don't have a love for glitter. I just decided to add some shine this year."

"Uh yes you do," Sydney said. "The night at the club, you had a sparkly, glittery dress and glitter in you hair. Tonight, your dress has the glitter sparkle and you added glitter to your crown braid and some of your curled strands. It's not weird, we're just curious as to what happened this year that made you in love with it."

"Oh, uhhh actually, I don't remember. I just remember having some heels with glitter and then all of the sudden when Joshua, Angeline, and Trevor went to the mall and I noticed glittery clothes that I liked. I didn't question it, I mean we all know I like things at random."

"So true," everyone said.

"I remember," Joshua said. "Remember that party we went to after rush?"

"We went to a lot of parties. They thought I was one of the sisters."

"Well, yea, but it was like the night rush ended but it wasn't one of the campus parties. Either way, the decoration was like glitter explosion. I mean, everything had glitter! The solo cups had glitter on them, the swag bags -"

"Swag backs?"

"Oh honey, it's LA. This wasn't your average frat party," he said. I elbowed him. What straight dude says oh honey?

"Actually, it was an after party," I said, remembering the party. "You had taken me to the Katy Perry concert and one thing led to another and then we were riding with her to her after party."

"You met Katy Perry!" Jill, Lissa, and Sydney shouted.

"How did you meet her?" Karo asked, Mia smirked because I had called her to tell her the story the morning after.

"I…may…or may not…have feigned wardrobe malfunction," I said, slightly embarrassed. Everyone looked at me shocked, while Mia smirked, and Dimtri looked jealous? His jaw was clenched and he looked like was angry jealous, but that might just be a trick of the eye. "Josh wanted to get me in backstage but the security wouldn't budge so when we left I slightly tore parts of my outfit and came back running asking if there was a place I could go. I think seeing what I had on under stunned him speechless cus he just let us through."

"What did you do after?" Christian asked. "I highly doubt you walked around showing everything."

"Nope. Katy Perry had an outfit I could wear, so long as I showed it off at the after party."

"Either way," Joshua said. "At the after party, it was sparkle and glitters every where and then

Lissa shook her head. "Only you would come up with such a plan."

"Well that's what friends are for, right? Plus, it makes a great story to tell the kids."

"Hold on," Mia said. "You got mad at me for suggesting taking things further with the guy, but you're already thinking of having kids? You can't do one without doing the other." I chocked on my eggnog, not sure how to respond.

"I…Wha…How…I mean like any kids I have in the future, I never said with Joshua. God damn, a girl has dreams you know?" I said defensively because any kid I imagined doesn't have sandy blonde hair or blue eyes. No. They had brown hair and brown eyes. "I need a refill," I announced suddenly as I went back to the kitchen.

"Wait isn't the eggnog in the living room?" Tasha asked.

"Yea, if I was pregnant," I said, slipping out the last part. "I…well...that…it's not spiked. Kitchen one is." I walked into the kitchen and filled my cup up. Instead of going back out, I went out the other kitchen door, drinking my nog, and went outside, not caring if the cold weather was biting at the skin exposed by the dress.

Tonight was going good. Real good. A fight hasn't broken out. No one's broken down in tears. My parents are here. All my closest friends are here. A sweet little baby has me wrapped around her finger. Tonight was going good. But then why did I feel like someone was squeezing my heart? Why was I out here drinking my fifth cup of eggnog? Or was it sixth? I don't know, but I should should probably stop drinking. I let out a deep breath and looked up in the sky as I drank the more of my drink. One more cup then I'm done, I thought. The stars were shining so bright I just kept staring until I felt myself start to sway, then I went back inside to join everyone in the living room.

However, Joshua ran into me right as I was leaving the room.

"Yes?" I asked him, trying to raise one eyebrow but from the humor in his eyes I failed. He just looked up, so I did too and saw there was a mistletoe hanging off the top of the doorframe. Who put that there? I thought. When I looked down, I saw Joshua had a knowing look, like he was waiting for me to figure it out.

"We have to kiss," he explained. My eyes widened and my lips curved into a small o. Just great, I thought as I drank the rest of my cup and nodded my head. It wasn't the first time we've kissed since his parents were pretty adamant that PDA was perfectly ok since I was a girl, meaning Josh couldn't possibly be gay. If only they knew…

I closed my eyes as he lowered his head and I prepared myself for the small kiss we always do, with just a bit of pressure, but not too much. Yea, that didn't happen. Instead he kissed me full force, almost knocking me back if it weren't for his hands gripping my waist and pulling me closer to him, but that didn't prevent my cup from falling. My eyes snapped open and I tried to push him off. Grunting, I tried pushing him off or pushing myself away from him, but he misinterpreted and pinned me to the side of the doorframe, trying to gain entrance to my lips. Yea, not happening, bud. I tried pushing him away again, but that didn't work, so I tried another tactic. I shifted us so I was at an angle where I had room to swing my leg back and knee him right in between the legs.

He fell on his knees like a man who just witnessed Divine Intervention. He keeled over, hitting the ground with a thud, the only noise being his groans.

"What. The. Fuck. Is your problem?!" I shouted, outraged. He just groaned, unable to talk over the pain, so I kept going. "What was that? You gay for fucks sake!" I heard a few gasps from the living room.

"No…I'm…not," he gasped out. "Didn't you ever notice that I was never very…couple-y with Travis? I was never pretending to be straight, I was pretending to be gay."

"So when we went on fake dates so you could go on real dates with Travis, I was really on a date with you?" He nodded his head. "WHY?!"

"Because…I…liked you and you only became my friend because you thought I was gay. And then when you came over to my house, heartbroken, I thought if I could get close enough to you I could get you to fall in love with me and then I'd come clean."

"Get out," I said quietly.

"What? No, Rose-"

"Get. Out," I said in a louder voice.

"Can we talk when you get back?"

"No. I'm not going back. I was never going back. Now go pack your bags and leave."

"Where-"

"For all I care you can go live under a tree. I just want you off my goddamn property. Now get out before I have you kicked out with what you have on."

"Rose, can't we-"

"No. I'm sick and tired of being played for a fool. Last time I lost my heart, this time I lost a friend. I don't ever want to see you again. Now. Get the fuck out of my house."

He nodded his head and walked up the stairs to his room. Instead of turning around, I walked back the way I came and went the back way to my room. Once I closed the door, I kicked off my shoes and laid on my back on my bed.

I didn't cry, or anything like that, I just sighed…a lot. I mean I was sad about losing the friendship. And kinda mad at myself for not catching it. I just…Jesus…guess I should just stick with the friends I have now.

I don't know how long I stayed staring at my ceiling when I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Not here," I called out. I heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the door before it started to open and Dimitri slipped through.

"You know not here doesn't mean come in," I said dryly. "Don't know if it got lost in translation or not."

"Oh I understood you, but I also wanted to make sure you were fine."

"AKA you came to make sure I wasn't drowning my pains in a bottle. Well," I said while I lifted myself up into a siting position, scooting over so her could sit down. "If I didn't do it with you, I'm definitely not doing it with him."

"I hurt you that much?"

"I…it….well I guess. I mean look at it through my eyes. I had just realized I was falling in love with you and I gave myself to you physically and then the next day your ex comes and tells me something I should have know. Fast forward a few days later and I find you guys kissing in the dark in your mother's kitchen. I felt like you tore my heart out and ripped it apart. And then I turn to the one guy I thought I could trust only to find out it was all a big lie. I don't who I'm more pissed at. You, him, or myself."

"Well," he said, as he grabbed my hand, making turn myself so I was facing him, our eyes locking. "I am truly, honestly, heart-in-my-handingly sorry for all the pain I caused you and my biggest regret is letting you out of my life without a fight because I let Tasha manipulate me. All I want is for you to be happy, even if it's not with me, but I'm hoping we're at a point where we can attempt to have a friendship."

I kept looking at his eyes, seeing the honesty in his words, and the pain to saying the last part. I gave him a small smile and caressed his cheek with my free hand, tucking a runaway strand behind his ear before planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I'm sorry for being so childish this whole vacation. And I'd like to attempt to have a friendship. I'd like it a lot. Kinda sucks you have to go to Russia now."

"Actually, I'm not. Much like you, I transferred here. It was great to be back in Russia after so long, but it didn't quite feel like home when I was all alone, so I came back like a month into the semester. Roza, when did you decide to stay here?"

I looked down at our joined hands and quietly said, "When I realized I didn't want to go anywhere away from you. I wasn't sure if I was in love with you yet, but I realized I didn't want to go away for four months not knowing. I wanted to stay and see how things went, but I found out I had to go for the fall, but I started the paperwork to transfer and then everything happened and while staying in LA is probably the smartest thing to do…I don't know…I guess a small part of me wanted to come back and see if we had a chance."

His eyes lit up with hope. "Are you…?" I shook my head, giving him a small, sad smile.

"I'm not ready to give you another chance. And I can't do that. I know that staying with Tasha might not be what's best for the child, but I wouldn't put it past her to threaten to take him away from you if you don't stay with her. Maybe down the road, when he's older or I'm older…we can see…but right now…I'm not ready to be a stepmom, and I don't have the energy to fight her. I'm sorry."

He gave me a small smile, caressing my cheek reverently. "I understand," he said softly. "And I don't blame you. But I'll wait for you because, Roza, there's no one else but you." He lowered his head and gave me a soft, parting kiss. Afterwards he got up and extended his hand, telling me we had a party to return to. So with a bigger smile on my face, I slipped my heels back on and went down to enjoy the rest of the night with my family and true friends.

A/N: This chapter was 11 pages long (exactly!) so I hope you liked :) What was your favorite part? your least favorite part? Where do you think it's headed now?

A nice friendly reminder...that now in terms of Romitri, it's on a roller coaster that only goes up :)

Also...quick poll...for those of you that read M scenes...do you like it hot and heavy or slow and sensual? or in between? or do you have a different preference? Leave me a review and let me know :)

See you next week xoxo