I perked up a bit after Lissa's message, and it made getting through the day more bearable. As three o'clock rolled around, I was getting through the last of another manuscript when my phone rang. It was an external call.

"Court Publications; Rose speaking."

"It's Christian. I don't know what to do!"

My eye widened as I sat up.

"What's wrong?"

"She keeps saying she can't do this. And that she wants her mom, and I don't know what to do to comfort her. She's almost completely dilated and she's almost on the verge of hysterics," Christian exclaimed into the phone. If it wasn't for the quietness in his voice, I would have thought that he was on the verge of hysterics.

I can't get out of here for another hour. But I have an idea. I'll call you back," I said before I hung up. I dialed another number as I looked at my phone, realizing that it has been switched to silent by mistake hours ago.

It was almost the last ring when the call picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mom. I need a favour."

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Lissa's in labour…and she needs a mom. With Reha gone, you were the closest thing to it. And I've never gone through this. She needs someone who can tell her she can do this," I said quickly as I twirled my pen, scrolling through the frantic messages Christian had let on my phone.

"Which hospital?"

"The same as Dimitri," I said.

It was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"Let them know I'm on my way," she said before she hung up. I nodded to myself and called Christian back. He answered almost immediately.

"Yes?"

"Janine is on her way. I will be there as soon as I can get out," I said reassuringly, "Just take a deep breath. She can't calm down if you don't calm down."

"Okay, okay," Christian whispered, "Thank you."

I promised him again that I would be there soon and hung up, making a few notes about the manuscript before I got up from the desk, going in search of a way to get out of here faster.

"Roza, you don't have to hang out here. I know that Lissa is on the other side of this hospital," Dimitri said as I paced in his room.

"No. Lissa was very clear that she didn't want anyone aside from Christian. The fact she let my mom in says a lot. I want to respect her wishes. Janine said she would let me know when Lissa was ready for a visitor," I said as I ran my hands through my hair. Dimitri gestured for me to come to him and I sat on the edge of his bed, leaning forwards and pressing a kiss to his lips.

"I know that you're anxious. But the baby will be here soon, I will be out of here soon," he soothed.

I frowned but smiled at the same time.

"How are you feeling?"

Dimitri shrugged. "I'm feeling better. The medication they gave me makes me thirsty and foggy, but better than yesterday," he explained, "I miss Meeko. It's too loud in the hospital, but I miss the sound of his snoring."

I smirked. "There was very little snoring last night. More whinging and pacing the bedroom. There was a bit of thunder," I said as I ran my hand over his thigh.

Dimitri frowned. "Poor guy."

I snorted. "Poor him. What about me? I managed to get him into bed with me, but I barely slept."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. We both know that you loved having him sleeping in the bed last night," he teased. I smirked again and shuffled so I could lay beside him, careful to keep my feet dangling over the edge so I didn't kick him by mistake. Dimitri shifted and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my temple.

"Stay here for a bit. We'll take a nap," he said, the grogginess distinct in his voice. I smiled and cuddled into him.

"I think that's a great idea."

I woke up with a jolt, squinting at Dimitri. He pointed at the door and I turned, seeing Janine standing there with her arms crossed, a soft smile on her face.

"There is a very sweet little boy who is waiting to meet his Godmother," Janine said. I sat up, and wincing, apologizing to Dimitri as I jostled him.

"It's a boy?!" I squealed softly.

"It's a very healthy boy. Lissa asked me to come find you when you didn't answer your phone."

I carefully got off the bed and leaned over Dimitri, planting a kiss on his lips.

"I'll see if I can get a nurse to get you a wheelchair," I said softly.

Dimitri shook his head. "They said my body temperature is fluctuating too much. Take lots of pictures for me," he said softly, tucking my hair behind my ear, "Go see our Godchild."

I couldn't contain the squeal as I left the room and followed Janine to the maternity wing.

"How did she do? I know she was freaking out."

"She was okay. When I got there, she cried a lot, but she's okay," Janine said, "Thank you for calling me."

"Thank you for being there. You were able to help her in a way I couldn't."

Janine smiled at me and squeezed my shoulder as we got to the room. I detoured to the bathroom first to wash my hands, using the paper towel to open the door. I went back to her room and smiled when I saw them.

"Hi," I said softly.

Lissa lifted her head and smiled at me.

"Hey!" she exclaimed yet.

I came further into her room and leaned down to hug her gently. I gave Christian a smile too before my eyes fell on the little bundle in his arms.

"Oh my God, you're actually real," I enthused quietly. Christian laughed and jerked his head towards the chair. That was a rule that was discussed before Lissa's baby shower. Nobody got to hold the baby standing except for them.

I sat down quickly and brushed my hair over my shoulder as he set the baby in my arms. I bit my lip and grinned as I adjusted my grip on the baby. His eyes were closed, but he already had tufts of black hair.

"He's beautiful, what is his name?"

Lissa and Christian shared a smile between them, like they shared a secret.

"His name is Royce Desmond Ozera," Lissa said softly. I smiled and was trying to hold back my tears as I held him. I had always thought they would name their first born after one of their parents, or even Lisa's brother, but Royce was a beautiful name.

"Royce? I never thought you'd go for that," I said thickly, letting him grip my finger.

"Well, we couldn't exactly call him 'Rose Desmond', so Royce was the closest thing we could give," Christian said. I grinned down at Royce before his words set in. My smile dropped and I looked up at them.

"What?"

Lissa and Christian smiled at each other before my tears really started to fall.

"You named him after me?" I blubbered. Christian grinned and came around Lissa's bed, giving me an awkward hug.

"Let's be honest, if you didn't intervene in high school, we wouldn't be here still."

I smiled despite my blubbering and looked down as Royce again. I had completely forgotten about the last six months of high school. The two started dating in our junior year, but after a drunken night where Lissa made a mistake, it almost ruined them. I spent weeks trying to reason with the two of them. I wasn't sure why I tried so hard then, I didn't even like Christian then, but I think I knew deep down that he was perfect for her. He helped put her back together after her parents died, and when they finally got back together during the summer after graduation, I was thrilled.

"You have the best middle name ever!" I said thickly, making Lissa and Christian laugh. I hadn't realized that Janine was still there, smiling in the doorway with her phone out.

"Are you recording this?" I asked with a wet laugh.

"Of course, I am. Dimitri is missing this," she said with a laugh.

I stopped in front of Kirova's office and pursed my lips. She wasn't in yesterday, and she wasn't in today. It was unusual, to be honest. I continued down the hall and knocked on Arthur's door before stepping in.

"Hi, is Kirova out sick?"

"No, why?" Arthur asked.

I just shrugged. "I had an issue with Dimitri's pay cheque that I wanted to clear up with her. Did she finally crack and take her vacation time?" I laughed. I expected him to laugh, but he didn't, and the laugh died on my lips.

"Is it her husband?" I asked quietly.

"She told you about Jeremiah?" Arthur asked with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah, a while ago. Is he okay?"

"Shut the door," Arthur said, and I sat down in the chair across from him puzzled.

"Jeremiah passed Friday afternoon. She asked for the week to clear his things from the home," he said and I frowned with a shake of my head.

"That's heartbreaking," I whispered, "Does anyone in the office know?"

"You and me. I didn't want to bother Dimitri with this while he is off on leave. I was going to handle any bereavement duties in his place."

"Is there a funeral?"

"Tomorrow at one."

"Can you get me the information for it?" I asked him as I stood up. He nodded and said he would email it to me. As I left his office, I was stopped by Jasper as I walked past the bullpen.

"How is Dimitri doing? I heard that he unexpectedly went off on medical leave."

"He's okay. He was taking our dog out for a walk and tripped down the stairs. He broke his tibia, ankle and two ribs. He should be back soon, but he's in a lot of pain so he's working from home."

"You'd think he would take some time off," Jasper laughed.

"I may or may not have brought both of our laptops with me today so he can't work," I snickered.

"Is your dog okay?"

I smirked. "He's fine. Probably up Dimitri's ass everywhere he goes in the house," I laughed as I headed back to my office, picking up the phone to place an order.

The funeral was small, but I could tell that it was intimate. Dimitri mustered the bravery to come with me, hobbling with his crutches. It was a little funny seeing a man in a thousand-dollar suit moving with crutches. He would have preferred the cane but wasn't able to put much weight on his left leg. If it was to shuffle from bed to the bathroom, he was fine, but anything more than twenty feet and it hurt.

"Poor Ellen. I couldn't imagine what she's feeling right now," Dimitri whispered, tilting his head towards mine as she read the eulogy. I nodded and laced my hand into his and squeezed it, holding it in my lap. She did a good job being cold and stern at work, but she didn't have a dry eye the whole time she was here. Nobody in the room had a dry eye. The speech was moving, telling the story of their lives, the man that she loved and of his accomplishments. Arthur was here too, and a few other higher ups that knew Jeremiah, but it wasn't public knowledge in the office.

I couldn't help but shed a few tears for her. But I knew that she wouldn't want them so I quickly as we stood to leave the service. As the procession left the main church, I stopped at the stand of candles. I gestured for Dimitri to wait and made sure he was balanced before I approached the candles.

I picked up the matchbook and struck it against the pad, lighting a candle for Kirova. As I turned back to Dimitri, he had a brow raised.

"I didn't know you were religious," he teased.

"When I miscarried, she said that she would light a candle for me. There isn't anything I can do for her, but I can do this," I said quietly. Dimitri's eyes softened and he kissed my cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you," I returned, my hand resting on his back as we walked out. we weren't going to be able to go to the burial ceremony because of Dimitri's crutches and the wet ground, so Arthur let us know where the reception was going to be.

We were sitting at a table waiting for everyone to get back from the cemetery, Dimitri nursing a glass of water while taking his pain medication. He usually didn't take it unless he absolutely needed it, but I suggested that today would be a good day not to let it lapse between doses. He'd needed to be clear-headed and pain-free today.

Kirova was one of the first ones in the reception hall, and she stopped for a moment when she saw us. Dimitri pushed himself to his foot, holding his weight against the table as she approached.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Ellen," Dimitri said taking her hand. She smiled tiredly and accepted Dimitri's hug. He kissed her cheek and I stood up too, giving her a quick hug.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here," she said.

"You were there for me on my worst day, I wanted to be here for one of your worst," I said softly.

She sniffed and nodded, squeezing my hand gently.

"Thank you."

I nodded and she moved to sit with us, almost like she didn't have the strength to walk to another table. I offered to get her a tea or coffee, and she nodded slowly. I looked at Dimitri and he gave me a reassuring look. The room was starting to fill up and I went to get a tea for Kirova, and put some sandwiches on a plate.

Arthur approached me at the table, nodding softly at me.

"I heard your Godson was born the other day," he said quietly, "Congratulations."

I smiled. "Thank you. How do you think she's doing?"

Arthur frowned. "I'm not sure. She's good at hiding how she's feeling. But I think deep down, she feels relief. You know? Her husband isn't suffering anymore," he said as he smoothed his hand over his slicked back hair.

"I felt guilty for thinking that. That she would feel relief that he had passed. It must have been emotionally exhausting, having to remind him of who she was or, going along with the fantasy that was happening in his head."

"Don't feel guilty. I think we all had that thought at one time or another. How is Dimitri feeling?"

I put a few cookies on the plate and shrugged.

"He's doing okay. He's struggling with getting out of bed in the morning, or in the middle of the night. But today he seems a bit better. I think he misses taking Meeko for walks though. They were so used to that routine, and I do not apparently take him for good enough walks," I said with a chuckle at the end. Meeko had made it vocally clear that I did not take him for good enough walks. Mostly because they weren't as long as he was used to.

"It won't be too long. Just wait until the snow falls."

I rolled my eyes.

"He will protest coming inside," I laughed as I headed back to our table, setting the food and tea on the table. I wasn't sure what the two of them talked about while I was away, but Kirova was dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

I sat beside Dimitri and crossed my legs, smoothing my pants as I watched the two of them speak quietly.

I tapped my pen against the blotter as I watched the scan on the computer. We had had a ransomware attack on our computer system over the weekend, and now I was doing what I could to restore our files. Thank God I had Dimitri's laptop hidden in the back of my closet. If it had been hooked up to the main server, we'd be thoroughly screwed!

I sighed and looked up just as Jasper stopped at my door, his hand raised to knock on the glass.

"If you're coming to ask if I have things up and running, I'd like to point out that our IT team is useless and the very first thing I'm having Kirova and Dimitri do when they get back is get a new one," I drawled.

Jasper nodded and awkwardly closed the door.

"I need to talk to you. Arthur is out, and Kirova is still out. You're the closest thing to management."

I sat up and raised my brows at him.

"Sure," I said slowly, pulling the laptop screen down, "What's going on?"

He sat down in the chair across from Dimitri's desk. He seemed agitated and couldn't seem to keep himself still.

"Um, so I have a kid," he started out and I nodded.

"Okay," I said, encouraging him to continue.

"She has diabetes. She lives with her mother in California. She's been sick and in the hospital. We aren't sure what's wrong with her, but I need to go and be with her. I know that it's extremely last minute, and I don't have much sick time left for the year," Jasper said, his words becoming a ramble the longer he spoke.

I held my hand up and waited for him to stop talking.

"Why are you still here? Go! Don't worry about your sick time, I'll figure something out. Just let me know when you land, and how your daughter is doing. I'll fill Arthur and Kirova in when they get back," I explained and he stared at me dumbfounded.

"Just like that?"

"Did you expect me to say no while your child is sick in the hospital? I may be a bitch, but I'm not heartless," I said as I stood up, reaching for the binder Dimitri kept on top of his bookshelf for staff profiles.

"Okay. Um, I'll talk to Blake about my articles."

"I'll take care of them. Your notes are in the shared drive?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now get going," I said with a jerk of my head. He practically scrambled out of his chair as he went for the door.

"Thanks, Rose!" he called over his shoulder as he went, the glass down closing behind him with a hiss. I sighed and opened the binder, flipping to Jasper's file and dotting down notes. Once I was done, I lifted the laptop back and saw that the scan had failed. I groaned and let my head drop to the blotter. I hated this IT company. They wanted to talk me through how to do this instead of actually doing it.

I couldn't wait for Kirova to come back so that this wasn't my problem anymore.