A month outside the gates (a VA fanfic)ON HOLD

Chapter 70

RPOV
Ten. That was the number of hours notice I gave Council members to come to my first ever dinner party. Nine hours was how many I was was working for to get it organized. Lissa was ecstatic. Christian was cooking. Dimitri was ensuring the house was spotless. Mom was surprised. Abe was giving me pointers of how to tell who was a true ally and who was faking it to overthrow me or undermine me. Tasha was telling me not to broach my political concerns. And Tatiana was congratulating me on my initiative to fully embrace my Princess roll.

By the time pre-drinks came around I was a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. This wasn't the type of party I was used to!
Ariana was the first to arrive. I greeted her as I had been trained. Politely, respectfully, formally but friendly. She returned the favor and thanked me for the invite before she relaxed and studied me for a bit.
"You look scared, Rose," she said compassionately, "you should have rung me for help. I had nothing else on all day."
"I didn't wish to bother you incase you did have other commitments. You're alliance and friendship is valued, Ariana, but I felt as though not even Lissa should have been helping me with this endeavour."
She tsked in what I suspected was a motherly way. "Nonsense, Rose. You're pregnant with twins, the stress of hosting your first royal dinner party was something you should have spread around- and not to your unborn children."
"If that's so, Ariana," I smiled politely but genuinely, "then I would be honored if you would assist me to organize and co-host a party this Wednesday?"
With a warm smile she agreed. "Yes, of course. And Evette should be able to help out too- I know she'd be happy to help our special Princess."

"I'm dead," I complained and flopped into bed. "That was too much." I snuggled into Dimitri's side. I smiled as his freshly-showered smell engulfed me. "On another note," I began while walking my fingers up his bare chest, "this is perfect. Once you get rid of that." I snatched his Western and put it in my top bedside drawer.
Dimitri growled playfully before adjusting our positions so I was carefully pinned under him. His smile was heart-stopping, his now-not-so-rare-in-private full one. "One day, Roza, one day you'll let me read in peace."
I pouted. "I thought I was your peace?"
"You're the most vital piece of me, Princess."
I groaned. "Just shut up, Comrade, shut up and kiss me already."
"I love you, Roza." His lips met mine in a heady kiss before I could reply. "We shouldn't..."
I stared into his lust-filled brown eyes. "We should," I countered. He knew the argument I was going to use. He'd gotten me pregnant and he'd placed us in this compromising position, he had to deal with the consequences. It's not like he got nothing out of it!
"Lissa and Christian?"
I checked with the bond. "Too busy themselves to care," I murmured against his lips suggestively.

Lissa'sPOV
"You two went at it again last night, didn't you," I commented knowingly while Dimitri made breakfast with Christian and Rose poured us each a glass of milk. I didn't need to look at their auras to know that simple fact.
"Your boyfriend's already given me enough hell over that, Liss." Rose handed me one of the glasses of milk.
I laughed. "Thanks Rose. So, you did, didn't you?"
She blushed. "Can you blame us?"
"Roza..." complained Dimitri. He was her polar opposite in many ways, but still, they fit together.

After breakfast, Christian and I stuck to our plan of helping the expectant parents clean up.
"I was thinking," began Rose in a mischievous voice.
I smiled. "And?"
"I decided today is the day we should start going shopping. For mat clothes, that is. The baby stuff can wait a while."
"It's Sunday," I argued.
"So?" Rose shrugged. "The shops around Court are open. Besides, even if they weren't the designers have to be at our beck and call."
"You hate using your power."
"Who are you? And what have you done with my practical Roza?" Dimitri honestly looked legitimately worried. But I knew he was just playing with her.

DPOV
Rose emerged in her new black leggings and red maternity knee-length dress. Even with twins her bump was small, but still stunning. I smiled at her when my eyes returned to meet hers.
"Gorgeous."
Rose blushed and pulled me to her for a kiss. "I love you, Comrade. We love you, Daddy."
I smiled against her lips. "I love you three more than anything." I dropped to my knees and cradled where Rose was carrying our two very healthy miracle babies. "Daddy loves you two girls," I murmured in Russian, "Daddy loves your mother so much. Daddy and Mommy promise to always do our best to look after you and protect you."
"I still say one of you is your father's son." Rose ran her hands through my hair and guided my face to look back up at her. "You look so vulnerable right now, Comrade, it's heartwarming."
I stood and kissed her slowly, tenderly, lovingly, somehow sensually but not sexually. My heart raced. "Is it just me, or do you find it harder to go without breathing these days, Roza?"
"Shut up!" she mumbled against my lips. "You can't say anything; you're the one who got me pregnant... Comrade. Now, deal with it."
"Anything for our babies, our family."
Rose giggled and her eyes twinkled with happiness and love. "Ready to meet with the girls?"
"You mean, the princesses?" I quirked my brow.
Rose laughed and nodded before tugging me to the front door. Five of the princesses were got to help Rose with organizing the next party we were planning on throwing. Rose still found it outrageous that the only way to change the game was to play it. Which meant, for now, she had to earn her alliances on the Council by throwing a number of parties in quick succession in this crucial first month after her Princess coronation.

Who helped her host those parties also played a crucial role in forming the longer than life-long allegiances of the Mazur royal house. Which of the other royal houses she secured loyalties with would set up the circles our kids socialized in and the circles their kids ran in. The survival of the Mazur royal house fell on Rose's shoulders in this crucial next month or few. Just standing with Lissa, with the Dragomirs, was not going to be enough. Far into the future our kids could marry Lissa's, but even then... well, if the Mazur house was to survive, then the stigma of Moroi-dhampir marriage was going to have to eventually be dissolved and removed. I didn't want to think about twenty years from now. That's given I lived that long.

"I don't yet see a ring on her finger, Guardian Belikov," sneered Nathan Ivashkov after dinner three weeks later. Nathan was Adrian's father and a real ass. "How are you so sure those children she's carrying are yours? For all you know, they could be my son's."
"With all due respect, Nathan," thank god for Roza always including me in the guest list not guardian list because he didn't deserve to be addressed with his title of Lord Ivashkov, "they can only be mine because the pre-natal DNA test proved they are. Even if they weren't genetically my children they are still Rose's and I would love them no matter what."
Nathan scowled. Despite his aunt being the one to add Rose into the Council fold, Nathan was strongly prejudiced against the dhampir race. In this fight for dhampir equality, we may have Tatiana on side, but winning over the allegiance of the Ivashkov Prince and family was proving to be an incredibly challenging task and Rose was quickly losing her patience with him, with almost all of the Ivashkov clan. Both in Council meetings and out of them Prince Ivashkov was her greatest opposition. He was doing anything and everything to drag her down and make her break. I knew it wouldn't be long, since Lissa had been sent off to Lehigh the Monday after the first dinner part Rose hosted.

"Have you been feeling any kicks yet?" the doctor asked at Rose's 20 week mark. Today we were going to find out the genders at the ultrasound. We would have loved to keep the genders hidden from Council, but they had been so adamant given Rose's allies were already organizing the baby shower and they claimed that for them to be able to do their job properly the genders needed to be known so we weren't stuck exchanging boy gifts if there was a second girl or girl gifts if there was a second boy.
Rose both smiled and grimaced. "Yes. And plenty of them."
"Do they hurt?"
Rose shook her head. "No. They're just uncomfortable and strong and there's lots of them."
The doctor nodded. "Make sure you tell either us or your partner here if they hurt more than normal. Some babies have strong kicks and I suspect your twins are stronger than the average dhampir, and certainly tell us should bruises occur."

"So," Christian demanded when we walked in the door to our apartment. He more or less lived with us now since Tasha had gone home and Lissa had taken Mason and Eddie with her to Lehigh as her guards. "Are we getting at least one Hathaway boy?"
Rose laughed and snuggled into my side. I protectively wrapped my arms around her and encased her now big, beautiful bump our babies were making. "Christian, Christian, Christian," Rose shook her head, "you've always been wrong there. But yes. We are having both a Mazur-Belikov and Mazur-Belikova."