Drabble:107
POV:Third Person

The day Rose returned to St. Vladimir's, Alberta had called Janine, informing her about her daughter's return and reinstatement into the academy. Janine had been able to hold on to her professional façade over the phone, but inside, she was almost weeping with relief. Rose had returned-her baby had returned.

With five hours, she'd taken a leave from her charge and was well on her way towards her daughter. She was done being distant and remaining professional with Rose, it was time to mend their relationship and salvage whatever of it they could. And this was Janine taking the first step. Reaching out to Rose.
Saying that Rose was shocked to see her would be an understatement. Rose was absolutely taken by surprise and overjoyed. It warmed Janine's heart when her daughter immediately hugged her and their embrace left them both misty-eyed. After chitchatting a bit and being berated by Rose about Abe, both Hathaway women had walked to Adrian Ivashkov's apartment for dinner. Janine had watched her daughter joke and interact with her friends and felt happy.

She still couldn't believe that Ibrahim and Rose had met and they'd both managed to infuriate and one-up each other. She couldn't believe that Rose was back and that she'd promised to complete her academy year before doing anything devastatingly reckless again. She could hardly believe that the old cat-and-mouse feeling between her and Rose was gone, replaced by love, understanding and mutual respect.
Janine could neither believe that her daughter was this good an actress…
In spite of laughing with her friends, Janine could easily discern the sadness in her hollow eyes and fake-smiles. Even the concealer Rose had dabbed under her eyes couldn't hide the puffiness and shadows from Janine. Neither Vasilisa nor Ivashkov noticed these little things but Janine did. And she was pretty sure she knew why Rose was so sad….
Dimitri Belikov

He, Janine was certain, had been far more than just a mentor or friend to Rose. And when Rose had disappeared, Janine had known-on a subconscious level-that she'd gone after him, which was exactly why Janine had called Abe in a panic and asked for his help. She'd not lose her daughter again…
And now that she'd returned, Janine couldn't help but speculate if Dimitri was…..
But she wouldn't impose herself on Rose or demand answers. Not anymore. They had a long way to go, but Janine wouldn't invade her daughter's privacy. Rose would tell her in due time, if she wanted to. And Janine consoled herself that Rose trusted her enough to.
Janine hoped Rose would come to her, but she never expected it would be this soon…

She'd bid goodbye to her dinner companions and returned to her own room, to prepare for her journey back to her charge the next morning. An hour later, Janine was woken up by an insistent knocking at her door. She opened it to find her daughter standing on the other side, eyes stained with tears. Wordlessly, Janine had let her in and held her while Rose cried for herself and her lost love. Janine stroked her hair while Rose recounted Dimitri and her history-starting from their budding attraction, to him rejecting Natasha Ozera, to her confiding her spirit-madness fears to him, to their affirming their love, to his being turned and ending with her hunting him in Siberia. Janine knew that Rose had left a lot of loopholes in her story, but she didn't push for details; Rose had come to her for comfort, Rose had chosen her-that had to count for something….
So she comforted her daughter the best way she could, telling her everything would be okay and that she'd be there for her.
And that night after 15 long years, Janine tucked her daughter into bed and held onto her as Rose slept with her head on her mother's chest and her arms locked around her waist. And Janine had never been more content or heartbroken.

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to review!

And Dimitri's. Smexi. Shewolf that imagery! It goes directly to the list of things I cannot unread :p
And as always, thank you MelissaDB'sLover for your lovely words.