Chapter Seven
"Grandpa." Lennon runs out of her room, dawning her cowboy hat and duster. Interrupting awkward silence.
"Hello, sweetheart, you look just like a real cowgirl." He sweeps her up in his arms.
"Grandpa, look daddy is here!" She excitedly tells him pointing to a very red Dimitri, before he can say anything a loud buzzing in his pocket saves him.
"I need to take this, I'll be back." He kisses me chastely on the forehead before he makes his way around the group without making eye contact with anyone.
"Hi, guys."
"Hi? We just walked in on you and Dimitri and hi is your go to line?" Lis throws her hands in the air.
"I mean technically all you walked in on was a kiss."
"Yes because the extra large shirt without anything under it doesn't give anything away." Christian nods sarcastically.
"Speaking of which, that shirt is very short, Rose." Adrian laughs almost giddily.
"You three stay here and do not I repeat do not jump down his throat if he makes it back in before me. The man has been through enough, not to mention the fact he learned he has a daughter less than 24 hours ago." Pulling at the edge of my top I run back into my room to change.
I dress faster than I have in a while trying to beat Dimitri, I fail. When I step into the kitchen Dimitri has taken over the cooking of my forgotten pancakes, Lennon is sitting on the counter next to him. Abe is staring him down, Lissa is desperately trying to bring the tension to an end, while Christian asks where the hell he's been and Adrian watches from the living looking way too amused.
"Guys! Come on, what did I just say?" Exasperated, I push Abe out of the way so I can pull the syrup from the shelf.
"We just found out where he was, you can't blame us for wondering." Abe motions up from the puzzle Lennon has just finished dumping in front of him. She is all over the place this morning.
"And you, you couldn't have given me some sort of heads up? Like hey kidz your baby daddy is looking for you I guess he lost his memory, anyway he'll probably be around soon."
"Aw kidz where the fun in that be?" He winks.
I give the dirtiest look I can. "Old man, one of these days I swear you're going to give me a heart attack."
Dimitri wraps his arms around me from behind after flipping the last pancake "I'm glad I got to see your face when you saw me."
"Hmm yeah I'm sure carrying me out of the doorway after I fainted was the highlight of your night." I reply, leaning into his arms.
His eyes gleam with mischief, forgetting the other people in the room "I wouldn't say that."
"EW EW EW, I don't need to know about the highlights of your nights." Christian chips in making Dimitri and I both turn a bright red.
"Lennon, your pancakes are done." Dimitri coughs, placing her plate on the table.
"Thank you daddy!" She's such a polite little thing and Dimitri beams as he pours syrup over the stack of chocolate chip pancakes.
"You're welcome."
Her legs swing happily as she dives into her breakfast leaving the adults to talk.
"Okay in all seriousness what are you guys going to do?" Lissa asks, plopping down on the sofa.
"I don't know, we haven't really talked about it." I answer looking toward Dimitri.
He sighs leaning forward "I left Montana in a hurry, that was Jake the guy who found me. He wants me to come back at least until he can find a new Forman for the ranch."
"I cannot believe even with no memory you became a cowboy. Do you have a hat and boots comrade? Really polish off the look."
"Actually… I do." The thought of him in nothing but said cowboy hat and spurred boots invades my head, making me feel all kinds of tingling warmth.
"Earth to Rose." Christian waves his hand in front of me " Hey you wanna come back to the conversation?"
"Sorry I got distracted. What was the question?"
Christian rolls his eyes "Abe offered to take Lennon out so you two can talk."
"Please mommy? Grandpa said he would take me to get some ice cream!" goodness she just finished chocolate chip pancakes.
Abe must see my face "I'll make it frozen yogurt."
"Fine, go get dressed, Lennon you can go with grandpa." I give in we really do need to figure out where to go from here and that will be exponentially easier without Lennon here
"Can uncle Adrian, Auntie Lissa, and Sparky come too?"
Adrian jumps up catching her and swinging her around "We can never say no to you little miss." she giggles as her feet hit the ground.
Dimitris' face twists into annoyance and maybe a little jealousy.
Lennon gets her shoes on in record time, before giving both Dimitri and I a hug and turning toward the door dragging Abe behind her.
"So…" I start.
"So.." Dimitri replies.
"So what do you want?"
He sighs flopping on the couch next to me " I want you to come with me, you and Lennon."
"For how long?"
"I don't know; what I do know is that I don't want to spend another minute without you and our daughter. I have a house. It's nothing too fancy but it's nice enough and definitely big enough for us. I know you'll probably need to ask Lissa for time off, but I want you to come."
Why would I need to ask Lissa for time off? Understanding unfolds, he thinks I became a guardian, well better get this over with. "Dimitri I- I never graduated, I'm not Lissa's guardian."
His eyes grow three sizes "Why didn't you graduate, if you're not her guardian then how have you been able to support yourself?"
Sighing deeply feeling the weight of his disappointment already resting on my shoulders I start "After the craves I was really lost. I got caught drinking a lot, I didn't go to class all that often. I think I weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. On top of that I was experiencing all the pregnancy symptoms without realizing what they were. No one seemed to be able to reach me, anyway the day I found out I was going to have Lennon I went into a pretty serious shock. Adrian and Lis found me and took me to the clinic. My mom came and heard me tell Lissa about us, she tried to make me get an abortion and when I wouldn't Abe made her leave. I found out later she went to Kirova and had me expelled. I guess getting pregnant had been the last straw. After everything that happened I guess she was done giving me leeway. It turned out okay though Abe really wanted to be a part of our lives. He gave me a job, a place to stay. I'm getting my business degree. He's helping with that, I meant it when I said he saved us."
Dimitri stares at me "You were expelled?! After everything you did during the attack?"
"I still got my marks for the attack, and a few more over the last couple years, but no I never graduated."
"I'm sorry, I should have been there, I should have-" he starts but I cut him off.
"You have got to stop apologizing. It's not like you found out about Lennon and ditched you literally had no idea who you were. You're here now and that's what matters. Honestly not being a guardian means I don't have to worry about Lennon being left without her mom, I don't want that to change."
"I just missed so much, I hate I wasn't there for you."
I understand he's upset but he needs to know how much worse this could have been, I take his face in my hands forcing him to look at me "Think about it Dimitri, a mentor gets his underage student pregnant? It wouldn't have ended well, you would have been arrested. I would have been left alone probably without Abe's help. Everything has worked out for the best so far. Just be here now okay?"
His eyes dig into mine reflecting astonished awe "You are amazing. So strong and sure of yourself. You really have become the person I knew you would." he leans forward meeting his lips with mine. There is no urgency in this kiss just love and hope. His lips linger softly pulsing against mine.
"Okay." my voice is barely a whisper.
"Okay?"
"Okay, we'll come with you." His face turns to pure warmth as he jumps up spinning me in the air.