DPOV

I cleaned the baby and cut the umbilical cord. I tried to clean Roza up too, but I found it to be a little difficult. Roza had caught her breath and I wrapped the baby in some clean towels the doctor had left.

"A boy?" Roza asked. I nodded. She held her arms out. I gently placed the baby into Roza's arms; he had long since stopped crying, and I saw as he looked up at her innocently. The Strigoi had attempted to kill this? I couldn't imagine why. "What will we name him?" Roza asked gently; her fingers were gently rubbing the baby's cheeks as he made small noises and balled his fists.

I kissed Roza's forehead. "I don't know." The baby looked at me and yawned. I gave a small smile.

"Why would they try and kill him?" Roza murmured. "I don't understand. . . ."

After a few minutes of silence, Roza said she wanted to go back to our room.

"Roza. . . ." I said uncertainly.

"I'm serious, Dimitri." She looked up at me, tired and firm. "I want to go back to our room. I'll feel safer there."

Knowing there'd be no convincing her otherwise, I gently scooped Roza into my arms [with the baby in her arms] and carried her back to our room. As we walked through the infirmary, it turned out that Donovan had killed Roza's doctors and the nurses. I felt a great deal of guilt but some pride that I had been able to deliver me and Roza's baby.

I heard Roza mumble something, but it was too low for me to hear.

As we went outside, the Moroi, dhampirs, and humans had stopped fighting the guardians. They all stood, watching Roza and I, walk back to the main building. They were eerily silent and as still as stone, the only thing moving were their eyes. The guardians murmured amongst themselves, watching Roza and I also.

"It's okay, Roza," I whispered. She nodded, reassured.

When we made it back to the main building, the students and the guardians who were inside looked at us quietly. It was as if the whole world stopped. As we made it to our bedroom, I gently placed Roza on my bed. She craddled our son close to her chest.

"We still haven't named him," she said, looking at me.

"I know," I said. "Do you have anything in mind?" I looked at her curiously.

She thought for a moment. "Just one."

I laid down next to her. "What is it?"

"I'm thinking we could name him Nikolai," she said. He was asleep in her arms. She looked at me for confirmation.

I considered it, then nodded. "Nikolai sounds wonderful." I smiled. She smiled.

"Nikolai James Belikov."

DPOV still

Turned out that right when Nikolai was born, it set off some sort of weird reaction in the Strigoi world. Once Donovan had been murdered, and Nikolai had been born, all the Strigoi in the world just died. Anyone who had worked for the Strigoi and had helped in planning Nikolai's and Roza's murder were put under arrest and set up for execution. But since it wasn't just in Montana where the planning had been taking place, Moroi and dhampirs and humans all around the world were being put under arrest. Turned out that Nikolai's existance was more important than Roza and I imagined.

A new doctor had been brought in. He examined Roza and said that she looked healthy, he examined Nikolai and said he looked healthy. He congratulated me on how well I delivered my son. I thanked him.

Everything in the Academy seemed to have gone back to normal. Because of Nikolai, the Queen decided to lift the law that made it illegal for dhampirs to love dhampirs. Roza and I were able to love each other freely. My family came to see Nikolai just a few days ago. I had called them about four hours after my son had been born and they were infuriated I hadn't told them sooner, though I had to keep the real motives a secret. I'm sure I'd tell them the real reasons soon, but for now, I'd let them adore the new addition.

Olena, my mother, commented on how similar Nikolai and I looked, making Roza laugh. My sisters absolutely adored their new nephew, Pual and Zoya, my niece and nephew, were hypnotized by their cousin.

Roza got to know my family very well by their visit. I found out that Sonya was pregnant with her first child, only three months along. I asked her who the father was, but she refused to tell me.

It amazed me how quickly my family had accepted Roza, despite her being dhampir. I suppose it was because my family was so loving and understanding. . . .

RPOV

Once I was healed enough to go back to classes, and Olena promised that she'd watch over her grandson while Dimitri and I were gone, Dimitri and I made no effort to hide our relationship. It stunned people that I was in a relationship with a dhampir, nonetheless my teacher. We kissed and hugged and held hands and completely ignored the stunned or disgusted looks we got from people. My friends were completely understanding of Dimitri and I. Alberta's attitude towards me and Dimitri's relationship lightened up a bit, though she disapproved of it greatly still.

There were some guardians who approved of Dimitri and I.

What shocked me the most was that a week after I started classes again, my mother came to visit. And she didn't come alone. She brought a man with her.

"Rosemarie, I'd like you to meet Abe Mazur," she said. "He's your father."

I looked at him blankly. My father? I'd never met my father. I figured he'd had a one-night stand with my mother, not even knowing he left her with a kid. I guess I looked a lot like him, besides the fact he was a non-royal Moroi. We both had tanned skin [rare for a Moroi], dark hair, and hazel eyes. Abe and I both were stubborn, outspoken, witty, and had bad self-control.

After about five minutes of getting to know him, and introducing him to Dimitri and Nikolai, I discovered how quickly he adapted to fatherhood. He was an even better parent than my mother, who disapproved of Dimitri and I and seemed to show no interest in her grandchild. I already knew that I'd be closer to Abe.

DPOV

In the weeks that followed, I became close to Roza's father and Roza and I became more accustomed to parenthood. Mama showed us the basics on how to take care of a baby [diaper changes, bathing, feedings, naps] and provided us with much of the needed things. Since Roza and I had been so busy with the whole prophecy, we hadn't bought cribs or baby clothes. Olena provided with an old crib from when Paul was a baby and some hand-me-down baby clothes. She bought the diapers and baby wips and toys.

Roza tried convincing Olena she didn't need to spend her money on us, but Olena could be just as stubborn as Roza when it came to family.

Roza and I both agreed that when the time was right, we'd tell my family and her father the truth behind Nikolai, and when our son was old enough, we'd tell him the truth too.

It became known throughout the entire vampiric community that anyone who showed signs of wanting to become a Strigoi would be executed on sight, no trial. Strigoi were completely outlawed.

Roza and I were both happy about that, but just because the Strigoi community was extinct, didn't mean we stopped training. Roza wanted to get rid of the baby weight, so we continued our morning and afternoon practices.

She was able to get off all the baby weight and became stronger in the process. And, in a few days, Roza will be graduating.