The next morning I was all puffy eyed, and Dimitri was worried.

"Milaya? What's wrong?" he asked with concern, seeing my face as I stood up to go to the bathroom.

"Nothing," I mumbled, pushing past him and going into the bathroom, carefully locking the door behind me so he wouldn't follow. I could hear him rattling the handle in frustration. I knew a flimsy lock wouldn't keep him out if he were determined to get in, but the rattling stopped; he'd obviously decided to wait me out.

Consequently, I spent a long time in the shower. I shampooed and conditioned my hair, shaved my underarms and what I could reach of my legs. And then I stood and cried for fifteen minutes before finally stepping out and toweling down. Grabbing my vitamin e cream, and taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and walked to the bedroom. Dimitri followed and sat down on the bed watching me warily.

"Roza? Is something bothering you?" he asked.

"No," I said, refusing to meet his eyes.

"It's just you look upset. Why don't we have a little cuddle and you tell me what's worrying you?" he coaxed.

"I'm putting on my cream," I said dismissively, moving out of his reach when he moved his hands towards me. I sat on the bed, slathering vitamin e over my belly, breasts, thighs and then standing up to also do my bottom. I could feel Dimitri's eyes on me, but I paid him no heed – moving about my tasks quickly and efficiently. I slipped on my bra, some panties, and pulled on a dress. My shoes were on my feet, and my keys in my hand, before Dimitri appreciated I was leaving. I walked straight out of our unit and knocked at Olena and Yeva's door.

"Please? Roza tell me what I've done wrong? I'm sorry, and I love you," he implored as his mother opened the door.

"I told you I'm fine!" I growled, stepping into Olena's arms and promptly erupting in tears.

Olena cuddled me tightly, stroking my hair and mumbling soothing things to me in Russian. I instantly felt calmer, although the irony that it was the same way Dimitri calmed me was not lost on me.

Dimitri was talking to Olena in their native tongue, although the only words I recognized were Mama and Roza. I don't know what she said to him, but after a moment I heard him say, "I love you, Roza," in a defeated tone before he closed the door and left. That caused another torrent of tears.

"Mama? Make some tea for Rose," Olena instructed, leading me over to their sofa. For once Yeva was quiet, obediently moving into their kitchenette to start the brew. She was still in her nightdress – something I suspect she might also have had since her St. Basil's days. I made a mental note to buy her some new ones for her birthday. That's if Dimitri and I were still together then.

Olena gave me a few minutes to compose myself, looking as though having a hysterical daughter-in-law arrive before breakfast was a commonplace occurrence. Yeva brought the tea over and sat it to steep on the side table, seating herself in an armchair and pulling out knitting from her ever-present net bag. Olena disappeared into one of the bedrooms, coming out a few minutes later dressed for the day. She poured three cups of tea, passing one to me and taking a sip of her own.

"Rose? What's wrong?" she asked kindly.

"Dimitri's hiding something from me," I wailed. "I heard him on the phone when I got up to go the toilet last night. He said he didn't want to keep something from me, that he wasn't sure how I'd feel about something, but he wouldn't say anything about it. He sounded like he knew I wouldn't like whatever he was hiding, but he agreed to hide it anyway! We're meant to be having a baby together in two weeks - how can I do that if I can't trust him?!"

"You'll be having the baby either way," Babushka pointed out, earning herself an exasperated mouthful in Russian from Olena.

"Rose, is there something specific you think he might be hiding from you?" Olena probed.

"Not that I can think of," I sniffled.

"Do you think he'd withhold something important from you?"

I thought about it. He did tell me he didn't return my feelings after Victor's lust charm, but since then he'd shared everything with me – even things he could easily have concealed, such as Galina's sexual advances on him.

"I don't think so," I said cautiously. "But he might withhold something from me if he thought it was in my best interest."

"Do you trust his judgment?"

"Most of the time," I admitted.

"Do you think he'd knowingly upset you?"

"No. He wouldn't."

"So you're upset that he's not telling you about something that's almost certainly unimportant to protect you?"

"It sounds silly when you say it that way," I mumbled, sure there was a flaw in her argument somewhere, but too weary to try and figure out what it was.

"I know Dimka is feeling very protective of you at the moment. He rang Alberta twice during the bus ride home to make sure you were well and would be home before sunset."

"Yeah, because I wouldn't be safe on a bus with what, thirty Guardians?!"

"Men can get a little overprotective when the woman they love is going to give birth soon," she assured me. "It's their way of dealing with their anxiety and showing how much they care. Give him the benefit of the doubt – you said yourself he'd never knowingly upset you."

I heard the wisdom in her words then there was a knock at the door. Olena opened it to Dimitri who was carrying a large tray in his hands plus a basket hanging from one arm. Setting everything down on the table, he quickly unpacked; breakfast for four.

"What would you like, Roza?" he asked, showing me the variety of food he'd collected. "Would you like a hot breakfast?"

I nodded shyly, letting him load a plate for me. We all moved to sit at the table, Dimitri placing a generous serve of toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, wilted spinach and grilled tomato in front of me. I smiled at the wilted spinach. I'd never tried it before I fell pregnant, but Dimitri suggested I give it a go one day and I'd surprised myself by loving it. Dimitri was always on my case about healthy eating, so he wasted no opportunity to load me up with the stuff every morning.

"Thank you, Comrade," I said quietly, looking up at him a little sheepishly.

"My pleasure, milaya," he said lovingly, leaning cautiously forward to brush his lips against mine.

I ate slowly, listening to Dimitri chatting with Olena and Yeva. I could see his loving looks in my direction, so I looked up and gave him a little smile. I was full and feeling much happier, now, although I knew I'd be famished again in an hour or so. My metabolism had gone nuts with the pregnancy, but with Junior now almost full size, my stomach capacity was smaller. So I was a living, breathing eating machine. Dimitri even kept a fully stocked fruit bowl on my bedside for when I got hungry in the night!

"I have the day off, is there anything you'd like to do, Roza?" Dimitri asked tenderly. He seemed to appreciate the crisis was past, but he wasn't taking any chances.

"I didn't sleep well; I might try and get a little more rest," I replied, wanting to be in his arms, but too shy to ask him to waste a few hours of his morning off sleeping next to me.

"I'm tired from a week of constant workouts," he replied. "Mind if I join you?"

I smiled, grasping his hand and shaking my head to tell him I didn't mind.

"Mama? Babushka? Leave all this – I'll take it back up later on. Roza and I are going to have a sleep."

Back in our room, Dimitri helped me out of my dress, bra, and panties. I got so uncomfortable so easily, and tossed and turned so much I never wore anything in bed. Following suit, Dimitri disrobed and lay on his side of the bed. He opened his arms to me hopefully, and I obligingly wiggled backward into his embrace. His skin against mine was comforting, as was the way he nuzzled into my hair until his lips found my neck. I loved falling asleep with the feeling of his breath against my skin, his strong hands caressing my bump. He was softly humming a tune; he'd told me in the past it was a children's lullaby. I drifted off feeling safe, reminding myself that Dimitri had gone through hell and back to come home to me and he wouldn't risk all that by keeping something big from me.

My Russian God was still asleep when I woke. I lay there and watched him for a while. He was beyond handsome; he was beautiful. His smooth, hairless chest, his rock hard pecs, and abs, the sculpted muscles of his arms; all beautiful! Looking further down, I admired the v of his hips, his happy trail, his manhood lying proudly amongst the patch of hair at his crotch, his thighs in their magnificence. It's a pity Dimitri's legs were always covered, and that I was the only one to get to see how faultless they were. The man was perfect and without blemish. At least he had been until he took a bullet for me.

He was lying on his right side, and I lightly fingered the small scar on his left arm. Six inches more and I would have lost him. Hell – even an inch more and the bullet could have hit bone or a major artery. He could have lost his arm, or worse. At the time, everyone had told us how lucky he had been, not realizing that scared me even more – the knowledge that the only reason I still had him was luck.

The panic started to rise as it always did when I let my thoughts wander in that direction. I didn't realize I was making little whimpering noises until I felt Dimitri reach for me, cradling me against him. Even half asleep the man's first instinct was to protect me; even if it was from my thoughts!

"Milaya?" his sleepy voice queried. His eyes fluttered open, and he noticed my fingers still on the scar on his arm. "I'm here, Roza. I'm not going anywhere," he soothed, immediately deducing the cause of my distress. I nodded, burying my face against his chest. God knows how the poor guy was still here and putting up with me – my moods and tears were shitting even me!

"It's nearly 11, milaya," Dimitri said, looking at the clock and springing out of bed. "Quick – put some clothes on and let's go for a walk."

"I don't want to go for a walk," I groaned. Truth be told I had overdone it yesterday; my hips were aching and there was a heaviness in my pelvis which hadn't been there a couple of days ago.

"Come on. I need to return the breakfast stuff to the kitchens, and we can see if there are any doughnuts left…"

I humphed in an undignified way, allowing Dimitri to help me back into my bra before he came around to my side of the bed and lifted each ankle, sliding on my underwear.

"Bet a year ago you didn't think you'd be helping your whale of a girlfriend into her panties," I muttered.

Dimitri stopped and looked at me, a peculiar expression on his face.

"No," he said slowly, "A year ago I was in New Mexico following up a lead about you and Lissa."

It was a stark reminder of how quickly this had all happened.

"New Mexico? Bet you loved that," I teased.

"Well there wasn't much time to sightsee," my Russian God laughed, "but I did have a chance to buy a belt buckle." I smiled. I'd seen it in his drawer. There's another idea for his birthday – I'd get a belt made for it so he could wear it.

Helping me to my feet, Dimitri lifted my dress pulling it over my shoulders and smoothing it over my hips.

"To think there was a day when I could kick your ass," I moaned, remembering the day Alberta had told him of his reallocation. I'd taken him down that day. And he'd kissed me senseless.

"You will again soon, Roza," he promised. "I've been doing research, and I've already devised a training program to strengthen the muscles and then build up your stamina and strength again. A lot of muscles will have stretched and changed, and your pelvis will probably be weak at first. You can't go too hard too fast as you'll risk injuring yourself, but the good news is with some careful work you'll be back in form in no time, and your hips will be much more flexible."

"How long?" I asked. He knew I meant how long until I was back to myself again.

"Hard to say. A lot will depend on how the birth goes," he admitted. "I want you to see a physio regularly after the birth so we know what we can safely work on."

"And here I thought your days of training me were over," I sighed.

"I want us always to train together, Roza," he said wrapping his arms around my waist. "I've missed you in the gym these last few weeks."

I smiled. I'd missed our gym sessions, too. I had no idea how I'd manage them with a new baby, but Dimitri was right – training together was our thing, so we'd make it work. Looking at myself in the mirror I looked tired and pale, so I threw on some lip gloss and a little mascara. That was better!

I followed Dimitri from our rooms to those where his mother and grandmother were staying. They weren't in, but the basket had been repacked with the empty breakfast dishes and was sitting beside the front door, so Dimitri picked it up, and we walked hand in hand to the kitchen. After disposing of that, he gave me a tender kiss before asking if I felt like going in search of a chocolate doughnut. But for some reason, I didn't. Dimitri stopped short and looked at me in surprise and almost alarm.

"But you always feel like a doughnut?" he stated in shock.

"Yeah, well; not today."

"Well I wouldn't mind one," Dimitri said. "Let's get one and then we can go sit by the lake."

I shrugged. The idea of my health-conscious Dimitri ingesting that much sugar in one hit was amusing, so I went with it.

It was quiet in the administration building. It was a beautiful day out, and only a couple of weeks before students were due back on campus – everyone was no doubt enjoying the sunshine. Dimitri opened the door to the Guardian Lounge, as always holding the door for me.

"SURPRISE!"

The lights had been out, but Dimitri had switched them on – to reveal the Guardians' Lounge redone into a baby shower! There were pink and blue helium balloons floating across the ceiling, an enormous white cake with a pair of sugar baby booties on top and a table packed full of wrapped presents.

Alberta stepped forward, wearing a pair of gray pants and a surprisingly feminine long sweater. Beside her was Celeste, also dressed in casual clothes; jeans and a short sleeved button up shirt. In fact, looking around there wasn't a uniform in sight! It was a motley crew in front of me; a lot of Guardians I'd grown up with at the Academy, Abe, Pavel and the Pennsylvanian Guardians from the property, Dr. Olendzki, Dimitri's family and EDDIE AND MASON!

"Icantbelieveyoutwoarehere!" I screamed, waddling over as quickly as I could and throwing myself into Mason's arms, then Eddie's.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world, Rosie," Mase said, looking at my now very pregnant form in awe. We spoke on the phone regularly, but it had been a month or so since he'd seen me. "You're freaking huge!" I whacked his arm, perhaps a little more vigorously than I needed to. "And can still throw a decent punch, too," he added, rubbing his arm in pain.

"When? How?" I stammered.

"Alberta organized it. She rang and spoke with Lissa. I don't know what she said, but ten minutes after she got off the phone, we were both given a twenty-four-hour leave pass and told to get ourselves to the runway at Court in an hour's time. There was a plane waiting, and here we are. We're here for the night and returning tomorrow," Eddie explained.

"Lissa is devastated she couldn't make it," Mason said. "The Queen has her helping at some royal function, and with such short notice she couldn't get out of it – but she sent presents," he said, pointing to two white boxes with pink and blue ribbons that couldn't have come from anyone else. If present wrapping became an Olympic sport, Lissa Dragomir would be America's reigning champion. These were ornate, even for her. I knew it was her version of an olive branch and I sighed, knowing I'd have to ring and thank her. I mean, I still loved her – I just hoped we could make our way to some happy place where we weren't perennially walking on eggshells around one another. I looked at Dimitri where he was standing beside me.

"Is this what you were hiding from me?"

"Hiding from you?" he asked in confusion.

"I heard you on the phone before you came to bed last night," I confessed.

"Oh milaya," he said rolling his eyes. "Is that why you were upset? I was talking to Alberta – she was asking me to stay quiet about Eddie and Mason's visit and to bring you here at eleven today."

I looked across to where Olena and Yeva sat smiling, and everything fell into place.

"Your Mama and Babushka knew, didn't they?"

"They did," he said apologetically.

"And you let me carry on like an idiot," I moaned, so embarrassed.

"Not at all," he said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me soundly. "We just all love you enough to want to surprise you." We pulled away when we heard the Guardians around us cheering.

"If you can take your hands off her, Belikov, we need to seat Rose in the place of honor!" Alberta demanded with a smile, steering me across the room to sit in a large comfortable chair. I looked to get Dimitri to follow, but Celeste had cornered him, asking him questions and jotting the answers down on a pad.

Olena came over and gave me a big hug.

"I hope you've forgiven him now?" she said with an indulgent smile. I nodded, returning her hug.

"Mase? Eddie? Come over here," I ordered, introducing them to Olena and Yeva. Then the guys grabbed chairs and pulled them over near me, and the fun and games started.

I'd never been to a baby shower before, so I didn't know what to expect, but it started with silly games.

"Right – thanks all for coming today. We're here to celebrate Hathaway becoming a Mom. Now as frightening a thought as that is, we can all take comfort in the fact there'll be six and a half feet of solid muscle who'll do his best to keep Rose and the baby under control," Stan Alto said, gesturing to a red-faced but smiling Dimitri.

"Now… I know some of you guys here fancy yourselves as ladies men, and today you get to put that theory to the test. I need four male volunteers for the first game, please… Josh? Please prepare the equipment. Belikov, stay here – you're required for this, too."

I giggled. Other than the Belikov women, Dr. Olendzki, Alberta, Celeste, two other female Guardians and myself, it was all men present.

"Go on Eddie," Mase said, pushing him up out of his chair.

"Fine, but you, too!" Eddie said, grabbing Mason's forearm and pulling him to his feet. Another couple of Guardians I knew stepped up as well.

"Right!" Alto said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "The first game is called 'find the nipple'…"

He waited for the laughing to subside, which took a while because once it started to quieten, Alberta shouted out threateningly, "You promised me these games were going to be tasteful, Alto!"

He put up his hand laughing.

"I'll keep it clean, I promise," he said, but I could see Alberta looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Gents, you'll be playing it off against Belikov here to see who can get the most ti…. I mean who can accumulate the most nipples," he said, holding in his hand a silicone rubber teat – the type that goes on a baby's bottle. I had to hand it to Alto; his comedy timing was perfect. He was walking the fine line between being suggestive but not crude, and he was doing it perfectly.

"Now I can understand your concern, gentlemen. Belikov here does look like the sort who might be an expert at finding the nipple," he gave a knowing lewd wink here, "but I'm sure you fine young men will be able to give him a run for his money! So – you need to kneel down in front of these buckets, with your hands clasped behind your back, and collect as many nipples as you can using only your mouth!"

The rest of the group erupted in laughter. This promised to be hysterically funny, and even Alberta looked appeased.

"The winner is the man who collects the most nipples. He gets to claim a kiss from our lady of honor," Stan said with an exaggerated flourish in my direction. "The losers get to be my little helpers for the rest of the baby shower."

There were five buckets of water, each with about thirty nipples in it. Stan supervised, lining Eddie, Mase, Dimitri and the other two Guardians on their knees, keeping up his witty repartee the entire time. "You can start as soon as the music does, and finish when it does."

Stan pulled a remote from his pocket and started the music. Justin Bieber's 'Baby.' There were several groans, but the guys at the buckets were going for it! Dimitri was grabbing two or three nipples with each go, spitting them onto the floor beside him before rapidly returning to the bucket for another mouthful. Eddie was bobbing up and doing collecting them one by one. Mase was trying to grab several at once like Dimitri, but with limited success. The other two Guardians were trying a combination of both techniques.

The music stopped, and Josh went bucket-to-bucket counting the number of remaining nipples while Stan continued his suggestive but good-natured comments.

"Well the count is in, and it's official. Gents I'm going to tell you what I suspect the ladies present already knew. Belikov here is capable of getting the most nipples! But look at the guy – are any of you surprised?! Congrats, Dimitri – you can go and claim your kiss," he smiled as there was laughter and whistles at my Russian God's sheepish look.

"My hero," I whispered, giving him a long lingering kiss.

"Well I wasn't going to let anyone else win that prize, was I?" he murmured against my lips.

Josh set to tidying up the buckets while Stan announced the next game.

"Next up I'll be handing around envelopes, two for each of you. You need to put a single in each envelope and seal them. On the front of one I want you to write the date and time you think the baby will be born, and on the other the birth weight. Now – to make this fair, you can know that the estimated due date is the twenty-seventh of August, and Rose herself was just on seven pounds when she was born."

"Yeah but how much did Belikov weigh?" a Guardian from the junior campus called out. There was an awkward pause. As far as almost everyone here knew, Dhampir couldn't reproduce together. So what Dimitri weighed should be irrelevant.

"He was ten pound three, and I was in labor for thirty-three hours," Olena piped up. "Thank you for reminding me of that," she joked. And with that, the awkward moment passed. Ten-pound-fricken-three? How did I not know that? I looked at Olena in alarm. She smiled and leaned over, "Your bub isn't as big as Dimka was," she promised quietly so only I could hear.

"Once you're done, the envelopes will go into these containers, and Alberta will keep them safe. When the baby is born, the closest in time gets to keep those envelopes, same with the weight. In the case of a tie, the money will be split," Stan explained.

There was a lot of laughing and joking as people made their predictions, then Stan directed Eddie and Mason to go around collecting the envelopes.

"I put ten pounds, and a week over," Mason joked as he passed me.

"I hate you," I growled. Going past my due date or having such a huge baby wasn't what I wanted to think about.

"I said two days early and eight and a half pounds," Eddie piped up.

"See – that's why he gets the girls, Mase," I teased. "He knows what a woman wants to hear!"

"Yeah, yeah," Mason laughed, giving Eddie a shove with his shoulder.

"You're just pissed because I get more titties than you do," Eddie joked.

I rolled my eyes. Those two were hopeless.

After the envelopes had been collected, there was a break for lunch. The kitchen had made little sandwiches, cupcakes decorated in blue and pink, platters of petit four, as well as scones with jam and cream, punch, tea, coffee and there was even non-alcoholic champagne. It all looked delicious, and true to his word; Stan had Eddie, Mason and the other two Guardians acting as waiters, moving around offering the food and drink.

I was halfway through eating when Celeste coopted me, pulling me aside into a corner with a notepad, asking me questions about my hopes for Junior, explaining it was for the next game.

When she was done, she returned me to the chair of honor to sit next to Alberta.

"Are you having fun?" she asked.

"So much fun!" I said. "Did you organize this?"

"Celeste and I," she said nodding. "We thought it was awful you didn't get a baby shower. Although Alto had most of the ideas. It turns out he's been to more baby showers than the rest of us put together!"

"He's doing a great job. I never thought he could be so funny," I admitted. "Thank you for getting Eddie and Mason here. That's the icing on the cake!"

"You can thank Abe and Lissa for that. Abe made his plane available to transport them, and as soon as she heard it was your baby shower, Lissa insisted on giving them leave to attend. She was so disappointed not to be able to come herself. She's feeling awful about the things she said when you last spoke. She asked me to let you know she knows she was out of line and she'd like to apologize."

"I'll give her a call this afternoon or tomorrow," I promised, not wanting to bring myself down by thinking about that now.

Abe chose that moment to come over and say hello.

"I have to say this is the best baby shower I've ever been to!" he said with a big smile.

"Let me guess, Abe – it's the only baby shower you've ever been to?!" I quipped.

"Well. That, too!" he admitted. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

I could feel the tears starting to well in my eyes.

"I am. Thank you for bringing Mason and Eddie here," I said, giving him a big hug. Well as well as I could with a huge belly in my way. "It means the world to have them here."

"My pleasure," Abe said looking pleased. "I had no idea what a new baby would need, but I thought Mom might need her friends."

"I do," I said with a smile.

Stan dismissed his helpers to eat and drink before calling the crowd to attention.

"This next game is called Mom and Dad secrets… Now I know there's a lot of secrets we'd like to know about Rose and Belikov…" he started, earning himself a dirty look from Alberta, "but for this game we've asked them the same questions and you have to guess which answer each gave. Rose? Belikov? Can you two come sit here?"

Celeste had to help me up from my chair, causing raucous amusement. I walked to the chairs in the middle of the room, Dimitri helping me lower myself on to one.

"Now I don't mind telling you this game was tricky. We had twenty-five questions, but they answered most of them the same, so these are the five questions they answered differently to one another. The first question: Do you want a boy or a girl. One replied boy, the other answered girl. Who thinks Rose wants a girl?"

I looked around. None of my closest friends had their hands up, but almost everyone else did.

"Dimitri?" Stan asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Rose wants a boy, I want a girl," he said with a smile, "and we haven't found out," he clarified. Josh had an attendance list and was marking off who had guessed correctly.

"The second question: We asked about how they anticipated baby's temperament. One answered placid; the other answered mischievous. Who thinks Belikov said mischievous?"

Almost all the hands went up, and I could hear some comments about apples not falling far from trees. Since most didn't know Dimitri was really the Dad, that meant they were talking about me!

"Rose?" Stan asked.

"I said mischievous," I laughed. "Come on – it's my baby how could it not be?!"

There were lots of titters and laughs at that.

"You tell 'em, Rosie," Mason called out.

"Shut it, Duckie," I replied.

"Yes thank you Guardian Quackford," Stan said, and I knew at that moment he would forever be Quackford to Alto. I think Mase knew it, too, because he flushed as red as his hair.

"The third question: the attribute they most hope the baby gets from Rose. One answered 'her hair' the other answered 'her Rose-logic.' Who thinks Rose answered 'her hair'?"

Almost every hand in the room went up.

"Dimitri?" Stan asked.

My Russian God was flushing dark red when he shook his head.

"I'm the one hoping the baby has Roza's hair," he said, twining his fingers into my long locks and giving me a very sweet look.

Checking quickly with Josh, Stan continued, "Three of you have answered all the questions correctly so far… nearly at a winner. The fourth question: the attribute they most hope the baby gets from Belikov. One answered 'patience' the other answered 'a love of reading.' Who thinks Belikov answered 'a love of reading'?"

About half the hands went up.

"Rose?" he prompted.

I nodded.

"Yep he said reading, I said patience."

Josh approached Stan whispering in his ear.

"Ok, so I've been informed two people have guessed every answer correctly. We'll keep going until there is one winner. If we run out of questions, we'll go to the other questions we asked, and you'll have to guess what they answered. Alberta? Mr. Mazur – you're the two winners so far. Question five: we asked them how big they thought the baby would be. One said seven and a half pounds; the other said nine and a half pounds. Who thinks Rose said seven and a half pounds?"

Abe put his hand up; Alberta kept hers down.

"Belikov?" Stan asked with an amused expression.

"Sorry Alberta, I said nine and a half pounds. Abe – looks like you're the winner!"

Abe grinned.

"So what do I win?"

Stan was nearly choking with laughter.

"Mr. Mazur? As king of the game, you get to wear the diaper crown for the rest of the afternoon," Stan said, producing a hat fashioned out of two baby diapers. It looked ridiculous. There was silence for a moment as everyone looked at Abe in concern. He wasn't a man to be crossed, and the idea of him donning a headdress made from nappies was pretty ludicrous.

Then Pavel started laughing. Really laughing.

"Put it on, Abe," he encouraged. "I bet it suits you!"

Abe laughed and put the crown on, sitting it at a jaunty angle on his head.

"Go on. Take photos. I know you all want to," he said, rolling his eyes but nonetheless smiling. He stood like a good sport as every Mazur Guardian, and a lot of other people as well, took photos on their phones.

"Not many people can pull off a diaper crown, but you can!" I complimented him.

"It's all about the attitude," he said with a wink, going to sit down next to Yeva.

"The next game is more of a present for the baby. I'm going to hand around these lovely cards, and I want you to write something about Belikov on one side and something about Rose on the other. Now the things about Rose and Belikov can be something you admire about them, a funny story, a memory, a fact about them. Just remember one day they'll be giving this to their child, so don't put anything on there you think they might not want their kid to know! While you're doing that, Rose and Dimitri can open their presents!"

Josh busied himself bringing the presents one by one to where we sat and then brought a bin for all the wrappings. Stan read out who the gift was from and then Dimitri and I would take turns unwrapping. There were clothes, educational toys, muslin wraps, a couple of lovely breastfeeding scarves, singlets and lots of books.

"I can't believe how perfect all this stuff is," I said to Dimitri.

"You can thank Celeste and Alberta for that," Stan said quietly. "A lot of the Guardians had never been to a baby shower before, so on the Guardian shopping trip after you'd done your baby shopping and went off with Dimitri's family, Alberta and Celeste called everyone to the baby store and vetoed the gifts. Otherwise, you would have ended up with forty teddy bears!"

I smiled. It was a good call, and I made a note to thank them both later.

Finally, there were only three presents left. Stan's and two from Lissa. Dimitri opened Stan's and was surprised to find a bottle of the leading brand of baby pain relief and one of those touchless thermometers.

"Not very exciting, I know. But the first time baby has a fever in the middle of the night, you're going to be grateful having both of those close by," he predicted.

He was right. It was a very thoughtful gift. I stood up and hugged him. He was a little taken back, but returned it.

Then I opened the first of Lissa's gifts. The one addressed to me. Four lovely smocked baby nightgowns in white, two small two larger. The fabric was delicate and sheer; no doubt the finest, most expensive available. Inside was a note, 'Rose I'm so disappointed to have missed your baby shower. You have no idea how much I wish I could be there for you. I wasn't sure whether you were planning to use the surname Hathaway or Belikov, so I didn't have them monogrammed. I miss you. I love you, Lissa'. They were exquisite, but very her taste. Still, it would be nice to have some elegant baby clothes to put the little one in when we visited Court.

Dimitri opened the last present. A box of cigars and a bottle of genuine Russian vodka. His had a note, too. 'For when the baby arrives – hope these help you celebrate. With our blessings for the three of you, Christian and Lissa.' It wasn't Lissa's handwriting, so it must be Christian's. It was a nice touch, and I knew Dimitri appreciated it.

The next hour was spent mingling, thanking people for their presents and attendance. Stan put a group of Guardians into service packing the gifts carefully into a couple of boxes ready to move across to guest quarters.

Calling us to attention a final time, Stan asked Dimitri to say a quick word which he did, thanking everyone for coming and telling them how much it meant to both of us to have so many people helping us prepare for our new arrival. I looked on and nodded, tucked beneath Dimitri's arm.

"Now let's all grab a balloon and head outside. I want you to stand in a circle and one by one we'll release the balloons, each person calling out a wish for the baby," Stan directed.

It was a perfect way to end the baby shower. Dimitri stood behind me as I rested my head against him looking at the pink and blue balloons floating into the sky.

"Happy milaya?"

"Blissfully," I confirmed, spinning in his arms to bring my lips up to his.