Part of me wanted to drag Dimitri away and confront him about what he had just said, but I heard my parents approaching, and they walked into the living room a moment later. My mother's and Abe's eyes both immediately landed on me, both of them scrutinizing me, looking for whatever had driven me back to Baia. I could tell the bulky sweater I had on was doing its job by the fact that my mother didn't immediately start scolding me.

"Hi, Mom," I said. "Abe."

"Little girl," Abe said, striding forward. "What are you doing here?"

He stopped a few feet shy of me, and he didn't try to touch me. Neither of my parents were touchy-feely, which I was grateful for, especially in that moment. I knew the second either of them tried to pull me into a hug would mark the end of my secret-keeping, and I wanted to tell them on my own accord.

"You might want to sit," I said, gesturing toward the couch.

My mom gave me a suspicious look, but she and Abe did as I asked. Dimitri glanced at me, confused. Unbidden, the memory of Dimitri telling me to stay away from Abe came to mind. He had been a Strigoi then, and while there hadn't been fear in his voice, there had certainly been unease.

I looked between my parents and Dimitri, trying to figure out which news to break first. I finally settled on Dimitri, part of me selfishly wanted him by my side when I told my parents about the baby.

"Abe's my father," I said.

It was rare that I saw Dimitri shocked, and this was one of those times.

"What?" he managed to say a moment later.

"Trust me, I was just as shocked," I said dryly. "I found out after I got back from Russia in May."

Dimitri's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked between us before his lips tugged up in a small smile. "Actually, that almost makes sense. I can see it."

I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting. "Your mom said the same thing."

Dimitri almost laughed. "It's not a bad thing, Roza."

Neither of my parents said anything as they watched us. I could almost see the wheels turning in Abe's head. I sat back on the loveseat, pulling my legs as close to my chest as they would get, hiding my bump for a bit longer.

"Abe is actually the one who helped get me to Baia back in April," I said lightly. "Sydney Sage, an Alchemist, was with me, and we were on our way here to meet Abe. We stopped for the night in a town about halfway between Baia and Omsk, and Abe came to get us after we were attacked by Strigoi."

Dimitri's posture stiffened at the further mention of my last time in Russia, but he didn't say anything.

"He kept trying to get me to leave Baia, and in true Rose fashion, I wouldn't. When I finally did leave, I kind of implied to him that I would be leaving the country, not just Baia," I said.

"Did you know when—"

I shook my head, cutting him off. "I didn't know until after I got back to the Academy. My mom recognized the scarf he had given me."

"What's going on?" my mother asked, growing impatient. "Why did you leave Court? And come back to Russia of all places?"

Dimitri looked like he was three seconds away from bolting from the room, and I blurted out, "Stay."

He didn't protest as he settled back into the couch beside me. I tried not to stare at him and focused on my parents again.

"I left Court because I needed to get away," I said. "There was a lot going on, and it wasn't healthy for me to stay there."

I didn't miss the way Dimitri stiffened at my words. Abe and my mom shared a look.

"What wasn't healthy?" Abe asked, his gaze bouncing between me and Dimitri.

I decided to just spit it out – or part of it, at least. "Dimitri and I were involved."

I saw Abe doing the math in his head. "You were only at Court together for a few weeks before we heard you had left."

I cleared my throat and reached out to squeeze Dimitri's hand, knowing things were about to get bumpy. "We were together before he was turned Strigoi. When he was restored, he wasn't interested in continuing that relationship."

My mom gave me a look, and her tone was incredulous when she spoke. "You left Court – and Lissa – over a boy? You've risked your career—"

"Mom," I said, cutting her off. "That's not the full story. Please."

"You were underage at the Academy," Abe said lowly.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't start, old man. There are bigger issues here than that."

"Bigger issues? I would have to disagree," Abe said. He directed his next words at Dimitri. "You were her mentor. You were supposed to train her, help her, not take advantage of her."

Dimitri bristled at the implication. "I did no such thing. My relationship with Rose was fully consensual, and it was one that we both tried to avoid happening."

"It's impossible for it to be fully consensual with the power dynamics at play, not to mention your authority with the Academy," Abe argued.

"Dad! Stop, please," I said. Abe looked shocked at my use of 'Dad', and I took advantage of his silence. "It wasn't like that. As Dimitri said, we both tried to steer clear of it. Not just because of our age and the Academy, but because of Lissa, too. We couldn't both be her guardian, not with a relationship between us. We fought it for as long as we could until we couldn't fight it anymore. The attack happened before anything—"

I paused, trying to find the right word. I certainly didn't want to confirm to my father that Dimitri and I had slept together when I was still seventeen.

"Before anything substantial could come of it," Dimitri filled in.

I flinched at the word choice, and a look at him immediately told me he was regretting what he had said.

"What changed?" my mom demanded. "Because the two of you certainly look cozy right now."

I flushed. "We're not together anymore. We haven't been together in months." I took a deep breath before I continued. "We don't fully understand it or know how it's possible, but I'm pregnant, and Dimitri's the father."

Nobody said anything, the silence in the room quickly becoming suffocating.

Abe was the first to break the silence. "You would have already given birth if you got pregnant before the attack."

I flushed. "I didn't get pregnant then," I confirmed. "We hooked up before I left Court, thanks to some alcohol and lowered inhibitions. It was that night that resulted in the pregnancy."

"Dhampirs can't get other dhampirs pregnant," my mother said, still trying to process my words. "It's been that way since the first dhampir was born."

"I know," I said. "But it could only be Dimitri. I've never been with anyone else. Adrian said it could be from spirit. I'm shadow-kissed, and he's restored. Maybe it's one or both of those things. There isn't enough information to narrow it down right now."

My mom's eyes narrowed. "You don't look pregnant."

I sighed and stood up. I lifted my sweater, leaving my thermal in place, and revealed my bump. "I'm just past six months. It's a boy."

My mom just stared at me in shock. It might have been one of the only times I had seen her too shocked to speak. Abe kept looking between me and Dimitri.

"A boy?" my mom whispered.

I nodded. "I found out at the end of October."

Abe frowned. "How many people know?"

"More than I'd like," I admitted. "Lissa, Adrian, the Belikovas, Mark and Oksana, and the entire royal guard, I'm sure."

He directed his next question to Dimitri. "I'm sure you're aware of the incident in Palm Springs."

I cut him off. "What incident in Palm Springs?"

Abe and Dimitri exchanged looks. I knew from the bond that Jill had been sent into hiding in Palm Springs due to an assassination attempt that Adrian saved her from, but I hadn't received any updates aside from that.

"There was a young man there," Abe said carefully. "He was a restored Strigoi that we were unaware of. Except he wasn't grateful to be restored, and he wanted to be turned back. Based on the events, it seems that former Strigoi are immune to being turned back. Sonya Karp is looking more into it. I assume you've been asked to join her research?"

Again, the question was directed at Dimitri. He nodded. "Yes. I've already been out there and have helped with their efforts."

I looked over at him, shocked. "I didn't know that."

"Only a few people are aware," he said. "It's not that I didn't want to tell you."

That would explain some of the long stretches of silence from him. "What was Sonya trying to figure out? How to replicate the immunity?"

Dimitri nodded. "Yes. We didn't have much success though."

"What are the chances of this baby inheriting that?"

Dimitri's eyes widened. "I didn't consider that."

"This would change everything," my mom said.

I nodded. "He's going to be the first of his kind. That's why I'm here. I'm not ready to be a mom, but he deserves to know his family. Olena and the rest of the Belikova family have agreed to help raise him until I reach a point where I can be more active in his life."

"Oh, Rose," my mom said. "I never wanted this for you. But motherhood can be rewarding. I know I haven't been the most present mother, and it challenges you in ways you couldn't believe, but it's a unique experience." She stood and wrapped me in a hug. "Let us know what you need, and we'll help wherever possible. Your secret is safe with us."

The rest of the day passed smoothly, with my parents joining in on the holiday cheer. Dimitri stayed close by my side throughout the day, and his words from earlier kept running through my head. I found myself looking at him throughout the day, and whenever he caught me, he'd asked if everything was okay. I always responded that I was fine, but part of me didn't believe it. If Dimitri meant what he said earlier, it would change everything. I had never stopped loving him, despite everything.

I didn't have time to address what Dimitri had said earlier until it was almost time to go our separate ways for the night. I spent hours debating whether to address it at all, and ultimately, I followed him up to the bedroom he would be staying in under the pretense of making sure I hadn't left anything behind. After checking the room, I turned to leave.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" I asked softly, lingering in the doorway of the bedroom he was staying in. I couldn't just walk away without knowing for sure.

He glanced up at me. "When?"

I bit my lip. "When you were talking to the baby. Before my parents came."

He frowned, and I could see him playing back his memory to see when he had spoken in English to the baby.

"I learned Russian," I said after a moment. "It kind of came with the territory of making this my home for the last five months, and your family has helped me a bit. I learned a bit from when I was here earlier this year, but people weren't kidding when they said immersion was the best way of learning a new language."

His eyes widened as he realized what he had said. "Rose—"

"Did you mean it?" I repeated. "You think you've blown your chances with me?"

He sighed, setting down the clothes he had been putting away in a drawer. I had cleared two of the drawers for him earlier this week. "Yes," he said, not beating around the bush. "After my last visit, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. Hell, after what happened before you left Court, I thought you'd want nothing to do with me."

I nearly laughed at how stupid we had both been. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with me, especially after you talked about us not being together."

"I lied," he blurted out. "In the church. I never stopped loving you. I had buried my feelings for you under all of the guilt, and in those first few weeks, I didn't think you could ever truly be capable of loving me again. Hell, I didn't think I was capable of love in those first few weeks, giving or receiving. I feel like a broken record saying this, but I'm sorry. If I could go back and change—"

"Shut up and kiss me," I said.

Thanks to 19mconkl (on AO3) for catching my plot hole re: Sonya's restoration! Chapter 5 has been updated to fix it for those who want to go back and reread it.