"So you have three sisters?" Meredith was asking my Russian God. We were installed in Abe's private plane, waiting for clearance to take off from Court. I'd managed to get through my farewells to Lissa without letting her, or Dimitri, know about my conversation with Christian.
"Yes. Karolina, Sonya, and Viktoriya. The older two live at home. Viktoriya is sixteen and studies at St. Basil's."
"So there'll be how many at your house?" Eddie asked a little nervously.
"My mother Olena, my grandmother Yeva, Karo, her son Paul, her baby Zoya, Sonya, and Viktoria when she comes homes on weekends. Plus us four."
"That's eleven! How are we all going to fit?" Eddie gasped.
"Tell me there's more than one bathroom," I pleaded straight after.
"The house is very large," he assured me. "For many years my grandmother ran it as a boarding house. There is a full bathroom and a washroom downstairs, and another two bathrooms upstairs."
I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.
"Hot water is provided by the district and piped to the houses, so it is endless," he was quick to assure me accurately understanding the direction of my thoughts.
"And the weather?"
"Down to mid-thirties overnight, and between sixty and seventy during the day. Not an arctic wasteland," he teased, draping an arm around me.
Meredith and Eddie both seemed a little surprised to see Dimitri so openly affectionate with me, but here on the plane, everyone knew about us, so there was no longer any need to hide.
"All ready to go?" Abe asked, walking down the aisle having concluded his chat with the pilots. "It's clear skies and fair weather ahead!"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I commented, checking my pocket for the drugs I'd need if things got too bad in the air.
"Are you going to be ok?" Dimitri asked tenderly, his lips nestled in my hair near my ear.
"I hope so. I'm hoping the ghosts won't be so bad over the water," I murmured back.
With his enhanced Moroi hearing Abe had picked up on what we were saying. I'd told him about the ghosts, and how I didn't fly well because of them.
"I've spoken with the pilots, and we'll be flying into London. If you're struggling, we'll stop overnight for you to recover. Otherwise, we'll refuel and keep going through to Omsk."
"I'd rather push through if we can," I said. "I've got some drugs here to knock me out if it gets bad."
Abe sat in a chair on the other side of the aisle, strapping himself in beside Pavel. The seats were arranged in conversational groups, so he could see me as I sat cuddled beneath Dimitri's arm. Eddie and Meredith sat opposite Dimitri and me, and there were a handful of other Guardians on board.
"All cleared for takeoff," a pilot announced, and then we were hurtling down the runway and lifting up into the sky.
"You're going to love Russia," Dimitri crooned, lifting the armrest up between us and pulling me even closer to him once we'd leveled off. "I'm going to show you where I grew up, where I trained. I can't wait. But I can't wait to introduce you to my family," he said, with a particularly tender expression on his face.
I leaned up and gave him a delicate kiss. He returned it lovingly. From the corner of my eye, I could see Meredith looking at us with a sweet smile, Eddie looking a bit embarrassed. I don't suppose they'd had much of an opportunity to see us kiss before. Well, they'd better get used to it, because I intended to be doing a lot of it now we could!
"Do you want to watch a movie or try sleeping?" Dimitri asked gruffly. He must have noticed Eddie and Meredith watching us, too.
"Movie," I decided, so he pulled out his battered laptop and fired it up, pulling out a handful of DVDs for me to choose from.
"Ugh! They're all Westerns," I moaned. "You pick one."
"I think you'll like this," he said, putting the Legends of the Fall DVD into the computer.
"We'll see," I muttered dubiously, perching the computer on the table that folded out from my armrest, and covering Dimitri and me with a blanket before pressing play and leaning back into his reassuring warmth.
The movie wasn't too bad, but I could feel the pressure of my ethereal friends pressing in on me. It was better than the flight from St. Vlad's to Court, but it was still annoying. Once the film was over, I used the bathroom and declared I was going to take a tablet and try to sleep. Dimitri obligingly reclined both our seats, protectively cradling me in his arms as I started to drift off.
"You don't have to hold me. You'll get bored," I murmured with a yawn.
"Roza, I could lie here and watch you for hours and never get bored," he said happily, smoothing my hair back from my face, and kissing my eyelids.
"That man has it bad," I heard Eddie say under his breath with a chuckle, but before I could retort, I was asleep.
I woke to find myself facing my Russian lover. He was asleep, lying on his side and facing me with a smile on his face. He looked young and carefree, and I loved it. I carefully lifted his arm, climbing out from beneath it and sitting up.
Eddie had a blanket over him and was sleeping reclined in his chair. Meredith was beside him reading a book while Pavel and Abe were playing a card game on the other side of the aisle.
"Are we there yet?" I joked, sitting up and wiping my eyes.
"About three hours until we're in London," Meredith said putting her book down.
"How are you feeling?" Abe asked, looking up from his game.
"Yeah, ok. Have I been asleep long?"
"About four hours," he said.
"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Meredith asked with a little grin.
I groaned. I knew I did – I just hope I hadn't said anything too embarrassing.
"What did I say?" I moaned, blushing a little.
"Something about chocolate doughnuts," she said. "You also told Guardian Belikov you love him."
"My two loves," I joked, red faced. "Makes sense," I said, hightailing it to the bathroom, Meredith's laughter following me down the aisle.
"So is there anything to eat?" I asked when I walked back to my seat. Dimitri had woken in my absence and was sitting up.
"There are refreshments in the fridge in the galley," Abe said pointing to a kitchen sort of area at the front partially obscured by a curtain.
"Anyone want anything?" I asked.
"I'll come get something," Dimitri said, standing up and stretching. Here in the confines of the cabin, he looked tall. I mean – he always looked tall – but in here his height was even more apparent.
We walked to the front of the plane, standing behind the curtain and looking into the fridge. There were packaged sandwiches, cold drinks, fruit salads, cheese and biscuits, and sushi.
I grabbed a few packs of sandwiches and an apple juice, Dimitri getting a fruit salad, some sandwiches, cheese and biscuits and a soda.
"You look so happy," I observed.
"I am happy. I'm going home to see my family and introduce my gorgeous girlfriend to them!" he said with a grin.
His smile was contagious, and pushing the Christian problem from my mind, I took the supplies from his hands, putting them on the little galley bench beside my own selections. With my hands free, I wrapped them around his neck, him circling his around my waist.
"I love you Dimitri Belikov," I whispered against his lips, moaning softly when his lips met mine.
"As I love you, Rose Hathaway," he replied, kissing me again before his lips wandered down the column of my neck, taking advantage of the fact we were hidden from sight behind the curtain.
In the end, we'd stopped in London for ninety minutes. Long enough to refuel and for Meredith, Eddie, Dimitri and me to go into the small private terminal, stretching our legs and visiting the shops there. Abe handed me a fistful of pounds, telling me to buy whatever we needed. I took him at his word, buying three movies, new books for Dimitri and Eddie plus some nail polish for Meredith and I. If we were going to be stuck on a plane for another nine hours, I was going to make the most of it.
Dimitri tried to call his mother to let her know we'd be getting into Omsk somewhere around midnight and would be arriving in Baia in the wee hours so not to wait up.
"I got the answering machine," he explained when he'd spoken rapidly in Russian into his phone. "They're probably out shopping… Mama is an excellent cook, and it's been a long time since I've been home. She'll be cooking up a storm."
"Have you told her about us?" I asked nervously. It had really only just dawned on me I was traveling half way around the world to live with my boyfriend's family for the next month and a half.
"Not yet. I wanted to do it in person," he confided. "I think they'll understand better when they meet you."
"What if they don't like me? What if they think you could do better?"
He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners a little.
"They won't," he promised. "My family have waited a long time for me to bring a girl home to meet them. They'll love you!"
The flight from London to Omsk was long and boring. Despite watching all three movies, doing Meredith's nails and her doing mine, having a long conversation with Abe and finally cuddling with Dimitri, the time went slowly. On the plus side, I seemed to be getting better at blocking the ghosts. I still had a headache, and I was a bit distracted, but it was nothing like it had been on the way back from Court after Victor's trial. Like most things, I suppose, it came down to practice.
By the time the pilot announced our descent into Omsk I was irritable from so many hours cooped up. Dimitri, on the other hand, was grinning. He was almost luminescent he was so excited. We grabbed my hand as we touched down, and brought his hands to either side of my face pulling my lips to his.
"I'm home!" he laughed, kissing me excitedly. "And it's all thanks to you!"
I don't think I'd realized until that exact moment just how much he'd missed his home and family.
"Let's get to the van," Pavel said, alert despite the long flight.
Dimitri nodded, slipping into a more serious mood. Everyone was vigilant as we walked straight through the deserted private arrivals terminal.
"Where's the security?" I asked Dimitri curiously. I knew Omsk was not a major city, but I thought it was still relatively large.
"This is not the main airport," he explained. "If we landed there, there'd be questions about visas and passports. This is a much smaller private airfield."
I guess that explained why it looked like little more than a large, fancy tin shed!
Pavel waved to a security guard on the way through, and by the time we were in the van the guard was turning off the runway lights and those in the terminal. I guess we'd been the only arrival.
"In the middle row next to your dad, please Roza," Dimitri ordered, seating Meredith and Eddie behind us, Guardians at the front and in the back seat. "We shouldn't run into trouble, but the road to Baia can be a target," he warned.
"For Strigoi?" I asked, remembering the attack on the way back to St. Vlad's.
"Yes – as well as human robbers. But it's less likely at this time of year. Anyone watching the roads is unlikely to attack a van so heavily filled. But I'll arm you all in any case," he said.
Pavel passed him a couple of spare stakes from the glove box, which he passed to Eddie and Meredith, and again Dimitri gave me his second stake.
"I think you're going to need to arm me for real soon, Comrade," I teased.
"I think I will, Novice Hathaway," he replied, kissing the tip of my nose lovingly before sitting beside me.
"How long is the drive?" I asked, reflecting on how peculiar it was to be sitting sandwiched between my father and my lover.
"About two hours," Abe supplied. "We should be getting in around 3 am."
"Wake up, Roza," Dimitri whispered into my ear. "We're here!"
My eyes shot open immediately, and I lifted my head from Dimitri's shoulder. We were still driving, but I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Around the next corner is Baia," Dimitri announced, his voice younger and more excited than I'd ever heard.
Sure enough, we came around a bend, and there were houses. They were all timber and on huge wooded lots. Mostly in darkness, there was the odd outdoor light on. We drove a little further before Dimitri started speaking to Pavel in Russian. I couldn't follow any of it, but it had the sound of directions.
"I told my family not to wait up," Dimitri explained to Meredith, Eddie and me. "Castile and Edwards – Mama will have set beds up for you. Rose? You can sleep in my room," he said, his voice husky.
I shivered with anticipation. While we were both too travel weary to do anything other than sleep, lying in bed beside my man again – sleeping next to him in his bed in his family home? Well – it was exciting!
"There it is," he breathed when we turned a corner a few minutes later. As Dimitri had promised, the place looked large. It was also conspicuous as it was the only house where all the outdoor lights were lit. We were obviously expected!
Pavel pulled up quietly, and I quickly said goodnight to my father and his Guardians, promising to see him sometime the next day.
And then Dimitri was leading us up to the doorway, quietly slipping his key ring from his pocket, sliding the key into the lock and letting us into his family home, shooing us inside before closing and quietly bolting the door behind us.
He held his finger to his lips, indicating we should be quiet. Turning off the outdoor lights, he beckoned for us to follow.
He stopped after two yards, pointing to Eddie and then into a room on the ground floor. Eddie walked in silently, put his bag down, nodded to us all and then closed the door. Before it shut, I saw a single bed made up with warm looking handmade quilts in what looked like it might usually be a formal dining room converted to a bedroom for his stay.
Gesturing for Meredith and me to follow, Dimitri moved further into the house, stopping at another room on the ground floor. This one looked like a spare room, made up with twin beds. Dimitri pointed Meredith into that room.
"Bathroom," he whispered to her pointing to the next room along.
She nodded and whispered good night to us before also shutting her door.
Dimitri turned and gave me a huge smile, pulling me to him in the dark.
"Come upstairs," he whispered, grabbing my hand and guiding me toward some stairs. They were a little steep, but soon I found myself in a long hallway, Dimitri helping me along confidently. There was one room at the end with a light on, and it was to that room that Dimitri led me.
"My room," he whispered on the threshold, before pushing the door open.
I stepped in gingerly, looking around me curiously. It was neat and clean, but somehow so him. A large double bed was in the middle of the room, a study desk to one side, flanked by a wardrobe and a bookcase. On the far side of the room was a lit fireplace, now glowing softly with warm coals.
He took my bag from me, placing it out of the way against the wall, putting his own down beside it.
"Do you need the bathroom?" he asked almost shyly.
I nodded, so he led me back out into the corridor, pointing to the next room. I stepped inside, quickly doing my business and coming back out. I knew I should brush my teeth, but I was so weary I just wanted to crash. Dimitri led me back into his room.
"Come to bed, ангел?" he asked.
I smiled then nodded, peeling my clothing off until I was in just a pair of boyleg panties and a bra. I pulled the latter off, catching Dimitri's admiring gaze at my breasts, and then a spare TShirt when he threw it toward me. I shrugged it on. He stripped down, too, until he was just in a pair of boxers. Pulling the bedclothes back for me, he canted his head to tell me to climb into bed closest to the fire.
"You feel the cold more than me," he murmured, although it wasn't too cold despite the hour.
Turning off the light at the switch near the door, I could just see his tall, handsome figure climb into bed beside me. And once he wrapped his strong, loving arms around me, I felt like I, too, had come home. His arms were my home - and I never wanted to leave.
It was warm. Almost too warm. I'd woken maybe half an hour ago to find Dimitri wrapped around me like a vine. We were on our sides facing each other, and his arms were so tight I doubt I could have escaped even had I wanted to. But I didn't – so once I'd reminded myself we were in Baia in his family home I'd closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
I was almost completely asleep when I thought I heard the door open. However, from my position in the bed, Dimitri's huge bulk and the quilt shielding me, I couldn't see anything. Ignoring it, I was jolted awake when I felt the bedclothes move, and someone climb into the bed.
Dimitri was still asleep and smiling as whoever it was spooned him from behind – essentially on the other side of his body from me. I felt a small hand try and slip around his waist, stopping when they felt me.
I pushed Dimitri's arm off me, sitting up in alarm. Someone was climbing into our bed, trying to cuddle my man!
"Dimitri!" I yelled, as a young woman sat up on his other side and stared at me, every bit as surprised as I was.
"Who is that and what the hell's going on?!" I shouted as the woman squealed, jumping out of his bed and racing down the corridor then down the stairs.