Where Is Your Heart?

Dinner With The Belikovs Part 2

RPOV

Knock

Knock

Knock

Dimitri knocked on the door to his family's room. His nephew, Paul, answered the door and welcomed us in. For a ten year old, Paul has some very good manners that I could have used when I was his age. We walked into the front room where most of Dimitr's family was sitting. Olena, Yeva, and Sonya were all in the kitchen preparing dinner. All three kids, Karolina, Viktoria, and Ivan were sitting in the front room. Viktoria came up and hugged me right away once she saw we were here. Ivan said hey and Karolina looked up to give us a small smile since she was on the floor entertaining the three kids.

Viktoria pulled Dimitri and I over to the couch and sat us down. Dimitri sat Aleksandr's carrier on the table in front of the couch and took a seat next to me. Paul got up off of the floor where he was building legos and came over to where Aleksandr was. He looked at Aleksandr, smiled, and said, "Finally! I'm not the only one!" We all laughed at this, because Paul had been the only boy since Dimitri was gone a lot with his Guardian duties. Paul was glad to see that he's no longer outnumbered by all the girls in his family.

Olena then announced that it was time for dinner and we all gathered around the medium sized table in front of the couch, while the younger children sat on stools by the kitchen counter to eat. Dinner was a bit more awkward than I was hoping. Being around the Belikovs without telling them that I slept with Dimitri and that my baby was technically his baby but I didn't tell him when I met them for the first time will do that I guess. The only two people who weren't awkward about the whole thing were Ivan and Viktoria.

Ivan was the first one to talk. "Well, this isn't awkward or anything. Why don't we get some of this awkwardness out of the way. Dimka and Rose slept together and had a kid. Oh well. They're together now. No big deal. It's not like the kid is five, or ten, or fifteen. Nobody missed much. So I think that we should move on like nothing happened, because not a lot even happened. So, yeah. Let's get on with our lives. No sense on dwelling on nothing."

Everyone looked around at each other after Ivan got done with is mini ultimatum. I think Ivan got his point across very well. There was less tension and awkwardness than there was before, but it was still there. Dimitri cleared his throat and rubbed his jaw. "Well, Ivan. You always knew how to make a whole room go silent."

Viktoria took the time to speak up and voice her opinion on the matter. "Ivan's right. This isn't something that was planned, but hell. Who would have thought that two dhamphirs would have a baby? Instead of looking at how the baby was conceived, I think we should look at the fact that the baby was conceived in the first place. I think we should look at the fact that Dimka gets to try and have the family he always wanted with someone he loves. We should look at this baby as a great opportunity to add a new member to our family. It doesn't matter how the baby was conceived. What matters is that the baby was made out of love, and that Dimka is happy. We should be celebrating happiness instead of sitting in awkward silences." Viktoria looked at Dimitri and I and smiled.

Dimitri and I just walked into my room in guest housing after dinner with his family. After Viktoria and Ivan gave their ultimatums to the rest of the Belikovs, Dimitri and I thought it was best to leave and let the others think about what was said. Dimitri started emptying out the diaper bag and putting things away while I made Aleksandr a bottle. After a few moments of working in silence, Dimitri spoke. "I'm sorry about my family tonight, Roza. I didn't expect things to be so awkward between them and us. I agree with Viktoria and what she said about them focusing on how Aleksandr was conceived. They know that that situation was not normal behavior from me and I don't think they were expecting something like that. I think that if we give them some time to digest all of the information, they'll see what Viktoria and Ivan already do."

"It's not that big of a deal, Dimitri," I said as I sat down to feed Aleksandr his bottle. "I understand that this was kind of sudden for them. Viktoria had 3 months before Aleksandr was born to digest the whole situation. They might need as long as a month to really let everything sink in. I'm fine with them taking as long as they need. Pushing them into accepting the situation we were in and are in now won't do any good. It will just push them further away. While they let things sink in and get out of the shock that two dhampirs had a baby, we can focus on being a family."

Dimitri smiled at this. "When did you become so mature, Roza?" I laughed.

"Having a baby will do that to you. It's no longer about you. It becomes all about the child." As I got done saying this, Aleksandr had spit up all over my shirt. Dimitri walked over to me laughing.

"I'll finish feeding and burp Sasha, while you clean up and change." I got up and walked over to one of the boxes that had some of my clothes. I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. I went into the bathroom and showered Aleksandr's spit up off of me. Once I got into the shower, some of his spit up had ended up in my hair. I hadn't thought that it made it that far, but apparently he did. After I finished showering, I threw my hair up in a ponytail and put on my clothes. When I walked out, Dimitri had Aleksandr laid down in his crib at the end of the bed. Dimitri was sitting on the bed reading a Western. And it was travel sized!

"Wow, Comrade. You're so into Westerns that you need to carry one in your pocket. That's kind of sad. I think you might have a slight addiction." He chuckled and closed his book. He set it down on the nightstand and turned to me.

"Westerns are great. You have no idea what you're missing out on."

"Why did you call Aleksandr, Sasha?" I had been wondering this almost the entire shower.

"Sasha is the Russian nickname for Aleksandr."

"Russian is seriously weird. Sasha sounds nothing like Aleksandr." Dimitri laughed.

"Russian isn't weird if you grow up with it. To me, English is a weird language." I laughed at this. "Aleksandr is asleep and it's pretty late, so I guess I should get going." He stood up to grab his things. Right before he opened the door I called his name. "Dimitri, wait." After spending the evening with his family and listening to Viktoria's speech, I realized something. I realized that I really did miss Dimitri. Hearing Viktoria and Ivan call us a family sounded right to me. I wanted to hear and call us a family more often. Even though Dimitri had hurt me, I still love him. When I showed him the note that I thought he wrote, he was completely clueless. The whole note thing is a mystery, but it's a mystery that can be solved another day. What I have been able to solve is that I am still in love with Dimitri and I do want to be with him. I want all three of us to be a family. "Can you stay? We can take turns with Aleksandr, and we can put a pillow or two between us." Dimitri smiled and nodded. He sat his stuff down and kicked off his shoes and socks.

We walked over to the bed and started arranging things. I set a couple pillows in the middle and gave one to Dimitri for his head. I walked over and shut off the light and then laid down on the bed. It was silent for a couple minutes before I said something. "I still love you," I whisphered. "And I want us to be a family." I heard Dimitri roll over and then move the pillows aside. He slid over to me and leaned on his elbow.

"I love you too, Roza." I smiled. I loved it when he called me Roza. He had leaned down towards me more as he said he loved me. Our faces were mere inches apart, the number of inches decreasing. Finally, he leaned in and kissed me.