With An Addition (VA Fanfic)

Guardians' Lunchtime

DPOV
I felt surprisingly empty and lonely without Jenée in my arms. She was Rose's daughter, which meant she was a solid part of my life. I just hadn't expected her to find a way into my heart so quickly and easily.

When I returned to the guardian lounge for lunch I was met with curious expressions. Eventually one spoke up. Yuri, one of the few of my colleagues here who'd always wanted Rose back, and for that we had a very-bare-basics friendship.
"Is Rose really a mother?" Really, Yuri? That's your first question.
"Yeah, she is."
"And?" Celeste asked as I retrieved some food.
"What's the child's name?" Emil pressed while I sat with their cluster.
"Her name is Jenée Luca Hathaway."
"Belikov!" complained Joan, one of the elementary campus guardians. "We need details. Age? Looks? Temperament?"
"I haven't checked with Rose, but I suspect she's a little over two years old. She looks like a replica of Rose. As for her temperament? She's nearly the opposite of her mother... she can be just as stubborn, but she's calmer and shy around anyone who isn't Rose or the Princess." So god knows who her father is.
"Or you," spat Alto. "She adores you, 'Mr 'Mitri'." I couldn't deny that, but I certainly wasn't about to make myself sound like I played a big role in her life. I also couldn't deny how cute and sweet her nickname for me was. She was only two! It wasn't like she'd be able to easily pronounce either of my names or my title.
"That she does, Alto, but I wouldn't know why."
"Because Rose trusts you," said Petrov. "She'll trust whom her mother does, and Rose trusts you with her. Unconditionally, I must add."
"But, why?" I still didn't understand. It wasn't like I could be Jenée's father.

Petrov sent me a look that said I was an idiot if I had to ask. One that seemed to say Rose would always trust me, and that everyone here knew it. I couldn't help but doubt it. She hadn't trusted me enough to tell me why she'd left, that she had reason to want to leave, or that she was pregnant. If Rose trusted me unconditionally with Jenée and would always trust me, then why didn't she tell me that or why she was going to leave or that she'd fallen pregnant? Why hadn't she at least approached Ivan?

"Did you tell her?" asked one of Dashkov's guardians as he entered. Spiridon. He was as southern as they came despite his Greek name.
"Hmm?"
"Ivan, did you tell her?" His name was like a stab in the heart.
I nodded morosely. "Yeah, I did."
"I thought so," compassionately said his guardian partner, Ben. "She's clinging to that cute daughter of hers and wearing a bangle that only he could've given her."

I swear, my late friend and charge had loved Rose more than just in a sibling way. But I doubted she'd noticed. I knew sibling love when I saw it, and his was bordering on something more. Hers however, hers had been purely platonic and familial.