I woke up in Dimtri's arms, the best place in the world. It was early morning for Moroi, so Mia wouldn't be up any time soon. I decided to let Dimitri sleep because he looked so peaceful. I went into the shower and turned the water on. I started washing my body all over and just for the Hell of it, I started to smell Dimitri's aftershave. Mmm, delectable. The door opened and I fumbled with the aftershave. I put it at the end of the shower and whistled like nothing happened. Dimitri suddenly came in and I grinned.
"I wanted you to sleep in." I said while looking at him.
"I can't sleep without you, Roza. Please come back to bed." Dimitri said. I shook my wet hair back and forth.
"I can't. I have to find a hair stylist, I have to go shoe shopping, I have to figure out who I'm going to invite… HELL! We have to figure out where we're going to have the wedding." I rubbed my eyes in frustration and he took me in his arms.
"We'll figure all of this out and I have a pretty good idea for a hair stylist." Dimitri said mysteriously.
"Who?" I asked. Then I got it. "You really think Viktoria would do Lissa's hair… oh wait. Of course she would. Other than that, my hair, my mom's hair, and Mia's hair? That's a lot to do, Dimitri. I don't want to overwhelm her."
"You won't. Just call and ask. Give it a thought." I nodded and backed up. "What?"
"I have to wash my hair. God, you're always such a distraction. Hand me the shampoo." Instead of handing me the shampoo, he washed my hair. It felt like I didn't want to be anywhere else. As I was spacing out, I finally realized he had gotten the conditioner out. I grabbed his chin-length hair and pulled him into a kiss. He welcomed it and he cupped my cheeks. It was very soft at first, but then, it became intense… very intense.
"Rose?" Mia called.
"And that's my cue to get out," I said as I was getting out of the shower. I peeked my head out the door. "Yeah, Mia?"
"Where's the formula?" She asked.
"Top drawer next to the fridge and the bottles are above the oven." She nodded and I shut the door to get my bathrobe on. As I turned around, Dimitri was right there, I almost screamed, but he put his hand over my mouth. "Hand me my bathrobe?" He handed it to me and I ran to the closet to get a casual outfit on. Then I went back out to Dimitri who handed me my phone.
"Please, just call her." I sighed and nodded. I dialed Viktoria's number and it rang and rang until she picked up.
"Hi, Rose!" She said. Hmmm. She was in a very perky mood. Did Dimitri already tell her?
"I have a question for you. I already picked out the dress," I saw Dimitri watching me with pleading eyes, "But I was wondering if you would like to be the hair stylist for the wedding since you did such a good job for my date." She gasped.
"I would love too! When are you coming back?" I chewed on my lip.
"Hold on." I put the phone on hold and looked to Dimitri. "Are we having the wedding here or Baia?"
"I think it's best to have the wedding here and it would cost too much to fly everyone out and back. We're only flying my family right?"
"Well, what about Mark and Oksana?" I asked.
"I don't think they want to come in ten feet of Moroi politics." Dimitri said. I nodded and took the phone off hold.
"Viktoria?" I asked.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"How would you like to come to the States?" I asked nervously.
"SERIOUSLY?! I'd love it! Is everyone else coming too?"
"Yep, so start packing your bags. We can get you a flight," I looked at my phone, "Tomorrow at Two PM."
"This is amazing! I can't wait to see you and Lissa and Skylar! I'll see you soon!" She hung up before she could say goodbye.
"Okay, hairstylist check. Now I have to go to some snobby Royal Court shoe shop where they're going to stare at me for marrying another Guardian and –" My words were muffled by a kiss.
"It'll be fine. If not, give 'em Hell. This is your wedding, do it the way you want too." I nodded and knocked on Mia's door.
"Mia, are you almost ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm just getting Skylar dressed. We need more clothes for her. She's growing swiftly." I nodded and added that to my very long checklist. Mia then came out with Skylar in her carrier. Skylar was drinking a bottle and Mia was in shorts and a T-shirt. I laughed.
"You know its March, right? It's still cold out." She shrugged and went to the door. I kissed Dimitri on the cheek and ran off with Mia.
"So, I have an idea for bridesmaid dresses." I said.
"What color?" Mia asked curiously.
"I was thinking lavender? It's a really pretty shade of purple." I said and she agreed. We met up with Lissa at her room.
"Hey guys. Hey there cutie!" Lissa said to Skylar. "What have you guys been talking about?"
"Bridesmaid dresses." We said together.
"What color?" She asked skeptically.
"Lavender purple," I said and Lissa looked at me like I was crazy. "Lissa, it's such a pretty color. You'll love it, I promise." We went back to the dress shop and my mom, Janine Hathaway was there.
"Mom?" I asked.
"You really expect me to miss your wedding?" She asked incredulously.
"Well…" I said and she elbowed me softly.
"This must be Skylar, the baby that Ibriham is making a fuss about." I rolled my eyes.
"What is Abe saying?" I asked sharply.
"He just thinks you shouldn't keep the baby, Rose. That's it. I don't agree with him. If you want to be a mom and it looks like you've got it all planned out," She looked to Mia and then back to me, "Then you're okay." I sighed in relief. The dressmaker then came out with the dresses and handed them one by one to my family and friends.
"I'm looking for a Viktoria Belikov," She said and I blushed. Oh right. They didn't know Viktoria was coming tomorrow.
"She's coming tomorrow. She'll be able to try the dress on then." Everyone gaped at me – except the dressmaker who nodded briskly and took the dress back in the back.
"Viktoria is going to be the hairstylist for the wedding." I shrugged. Lissa grinned, Mia had no idea who we were talking about, but smiled nonetheless, and my mom grimaced.
"How old is she?" She asked.
"She's eighteen." I said.
"She's not a Guardian?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Dimitri's family believes the men should go out and guard the family while the women stay home." I sighed and took out my phone and showed them the picture of me right after Viktoria finished my makeup and hair.
"Wow, Rose. You look amazing in this picture." Lissa and Mia gushed. Janine sighed.
"Alright," Was all she said.
"Alright!" I repeated her words. "Now, go try on your dresses. Lissa didn't realize that she had a different dress. She should have realized by now that she's my Maid of Honor. They all went in different changing rooms and then Lissa came out first.
"You weren't kidding. Lavender really is pretty." She said. Then Mia came out and Lissa realized she had a different dress. I grinned at her and she suddenly got it. Lissa twirled around in her dress. "I feel like a princess." I raised an eyebrow at her. "From a fairy tale." I nodded grinning. My mom came out and she was smiling shyly.
"Aw, Mom, you look great." I said and she gushed – wow. I have never seen that look on her before. "Now, we need shoes. Lissa, is there a good shoe store here?" She nodded but told me we'd have to leave. So the girls went back in the changing room to change back into their outfits and came out with their dresses.
"Can you wrap these up please and name them? This one is Queen Vasilisa's." She nodded and put a bag over it and with a sharpie, she wrote 'Lissa.' We all grinned.
"This one should say, 'Mia'," I pointed to the one in Mia's arms. Mia handed it to the dressmaker and she did what she did with Lissa's.
"And lastly this one should say, Janine – J-A-N-I-N-E." I spelled it out for her and she nodded and handed it to me, then I handed it to my mom.
"Shoe shopping, ladies?" Lissa said and we all nodded. We went to the other side of Court, but first we dropped off our dresses because my room was on the way. We then got to the shoe store and people, once again bowed.
"Rise," Lissa said while grimacing. I laughed.
"You really don't like the attention, do you?" I asked. She shook her head. Platinum Blonde Number One came up to us.
"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked.
"We're looking for wedding shoes." I said. Keep calm, Rose. Be calm and you'll be fine.
"Your Highness, are you getting married?" Platinum Blonde Number 2 asked and Platinum Blonde Number 1 glared at her. Lissa blushed.
"No, not yet. It's my closest Guardian and my best friend, Rose Hathaway who's getting married." I think their eyes widened when they saw me, but I was a part of the Elite Task Force to protect the Queen – AKA Lissa.
"Of course we'd be happy to help you, Guardian Hathaway." She gulped. I think some people still think I killed Tatiana even though Tasha was convicted and the sentence was carried out. "Do you want shoes that'll show your toes or no toes?"
"Toes will be fine," I smiled politely at her.
"How die – I mean high. How high do you want them?" We all blinked. I started to fume. Okay, so maybe they did think I killed Tatiana. I bet Lissa was reading my aura and then she pulled me aside.
"Ignore her. I read her aura. She was a good friend of Tasha's. She didn't see into all of the evidence against her."
I sighed and nodded. When I went back, Platinum Blonde had five stacks of shoes set up for me.
"Shoot, I got a paper cut." I said, sucking on my finger.
"Make sure you get a bandaid," Platinum Blonde said, "You wouldn't want an injection – INFECTION!" I glared at her, giving her my homicidal look and she backed off.
"I fucking hate Royals." I grumbled. "Except Lissa, you're an exception." Lissa's eyes brightened as we all tried on our shoes. We each found a favorite and we went to check out. Platinum Blonde 2 checked us out.
"Please excuse Mattie, Your Highness. She still believes it was Guardian Hathaway who killed Queen Tatiana." She said.
"Do you believe that?" I asked.
"No, not at all. Natasha Ozera was a vindictive bitch. It didn't surprise me at the elections when you called her out."
"Well, thank you." I said as we walked out. "Okay, shoes check. Now I need a bouquet and send out invitations."
"We'll get the bouquet closer to the date. Who do you want to invite?" Lissa asked.
"Alberta, Kirova, Alto, if it's possible and the Alchemists can make it happen, Sydney, Christian, Adrian, if he can, Sonya and Mikhail, and I think that's it."
"I'm not sure that the Alchemists will let you see Sydney, Rose." My mom said.
"Why? Because we were so badass in finding a killer and clearing my name?" I demanded.
"That's not the type of thing that Alchemists do. I heard she almost got sent to a Re-Education center."
"For God's Sake! We're just friends! I didn't know that was a crime." I took a deep breath. Why am I getting so angry lately? "I'm going to go Skype her. I'm effing done with this." Lissa grabbed my arm.
"Rose, if Sydney comes, then Jill will want to come. The same with Adrian." Lissa said looking at my eyes. I knew she wouldn't compel me. That would just be low of her.
"Adrian's been through Hell and back for me. I want to see him." I said fiercely.
"So he's going to want to see the girl he thought he loved at her wedding with the man that stole her away?" Lissa asked, raising an eyebrow. I sighed angrily. I knew she was right.
"What about Sydney? Can't she just say its Alchemist business?" I asked, looking at her.
"I don't even know if she could get past California state line without them knowing."
"I'm going to find out." I stalked off.
"Rose! Where are you going?" Lissa asked.
"To talk to Abe. I need another favor from him." I said as I stormed to his room. I banged on his door and he opened it.
"Rose," He said warily, "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. It's about Sydney and Adrian." He beckoned me in.
"Is something wrong? Or did Adrian drunk dial you again?" He had a sly smile on.
"No, neither I hope. I haven't checked my phone. Do you think the Alchemists would let Sydney come to the wedding?"
"No." He said bluntly.
"Why the HELL not?" I asked, while getting a cup of OJ.
"It's because of your history with her. When you first met her in Russia, you didn't commit a crime, but she was still in allegiance with you. Then when the prison breaking happened, she had to help because she made a deal with me."
"Then I'll go to California and get her." I said.
"Rose, you don't get it, do you? The Alchemists are on high alert because of what happened with Jill. They almost didn't let Sydney go on this assignment because of what she did with you. She CAN'T come and that's that. I'm sorry."
"Why does everyone say they're sorry when they're really not sorry? It pisses me off so much. I can't have one of my best friends at my own wedding because someone tried to kill my best friends little sister!" I put the cup in the sink and left, slamming the door. I went back to my room and just plopped on my bed. I got my laptop out and got Skype Messenger out. Adrian wasn't on, but Sydney was!
Rose: Hey, Sydney!
Sydney: Rose, OMG. I miss you so much D:
Rose: I miss you too. How's California?
Sydney: It's amazing.
Rose: How's Adrian?
Sydney: Frustrating D:
Rose: Why?
Sydney: He keeps going on about how he likes me. Then I realized Jill and Adrian are bonded, which was a total shock. HE KISSED ME!
Rose: Did'cha like it?
Sydney: NO! Of course not! I don't do fang, Rose.
Rose: How is Jill?
Sydney: D:
Rose: That bad, huh?
Sydney: Crap, I gotta go. Jill is ready to go. We're going over to Adrian's for Mini Golf.
Rose: Have fun!
I signed off. It felt good to talk to Sydney and my anger felt released. I deleted the chat history and shut down my laptop. There was a knock on the door. I went to go look through the peep hole and it was just Lissa and Mia.
"Hey," I said as I opened the door. "Sorry I got so mad earlier."
"You had a right too. You've been through Hell this past year. No one should go through what you went through."
"Yeah, but it just does." I said, sighing. "You guys remember Junior Year when Adrian took us swimming?" They both nodded. "Well, I could use some swimming."
"Rose, that was at a Resort." Lissa said. "But, there are some Mineral Pools here just for the Elite."
"That discludes me," Mia said. Lissa and I shook our heads.
"Even Non-Royal, you're still important to us." Mia blushed. I went to go grab my maroon bikini. Lissa ran to her room to grab her pink bikini and Mia had her ocean blue bikini.
"We have to stop by wherever Dimitri is." I said. They both nodded at me. The door opened and there he was, Dimitri.
"Hey, we're going swimming, so you have Skylar duty!" I pecked him on the cheek, but he pulled me back to give me a long languid kiss on the lips. When that was over, I blushed and hugged him.
"Let's go ladies!" And we waltzed off to swim and have a little fun.