Hey, Comrade

11

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When I get downstairs I see Sonja with Paul and Zoya, looking ready to go out. "Hey Rose." She greets as I enter into the kitchen.

I smile "Hi, where you off too?"

She pockets her keys and purse."To get food for tonight. Mama is organising a welcome back party with all our friends for Dimitri."

I observed the room where Katya was nowhere to be seen "Wheres your little girl?" I ask.

"Yeva has her doing lord knows what" She holds out her hands to Zoya in a gesture to pick her up but little Zoya shakes her head. "Rose."

I give her a surprised look and Sonja laughs. "Looks like she wants you, feel like coming for a walk?"

I shrug and follow them out of the door. Zoya holds up one hand to mine and grabs it, walking alongside me hand in hand. It fells weird, kids never really liked me unless they were little boys ready to hear about all my kills.

Sonja looks at her joint hands and genuinely smiles, showing teeth. "She really likes you." Looking up from our hands to my face she keeps the smile going. "We all do, you're good for him, Dimitri. I don't think I have ever seen him this happy."

I cant help the grin that stretches across my face and the blush that fills my cheeks. "He makes me happy too."

"Its nice to have someone you love so much it consumes you." She says, looking up to the distance. Zoya and Paul, bored by the talk run off ahead of us. Sonja lets them go, not a look of worry on her face. I would love for my kids to grow up like that, were they weren't under the threat of a Strigoi coming at them during the night as they trudged off to school.

God, now I was thinking about having kids.

I notice the sad way she says it and put my hand on her arm. "Are you doing alright?"

She sighs and looks at me before staring off into the distance again. She looks as though she is conflicted in her mind to say something. Eventually she does though and it comes out as a whisper. "Im pregnant again."

My hand slips off her arm in shock, but I quickly regain my composure. "Are you okay with that?"

She nods and then shrugs. "I don't know. The others don't know yet and how Mama reacted when I told her about my pregnancy with Katya, I'm scared. She just doesn't want me turning out like her and Karolina, but I cant help it. I want to be a parent, not a guardian. I know thats not how you view things so I don't expect you to get it but... Vlad, am I doing the right thing keeping this baby?"

"I think you answered your own question." She gives me a confused look and I continue. "You say you want to be a parent and so far you have been a pretty dam good one. Katya is an amazing child and you should be so proud of her."

She stops walking and pulls me back and into her arms. "Thank you." She says into my hair. I smile and pat her back.

"What are your baby brothers girlfriends for to not give baby advice." I laugh, but I am not really sure why she told me this before her family. Why not the other two sisters.

Sonja seems to sense my question, "You seem really mature I guess and the only one I felt would not get mad and judge me, nor would tell Mama on me after a fight." We both know she is talking about Viktoria there.

She is the first person to ever call me mature. Three years ago, no one would even dream of it, not when I was so wild. But I guess with everything that happened to me and the one I love, I grew up.

I think it started first after Mason's death when I realised the hard way about being stupid and brave would lead to getting me killed.

Its not a long walk to the supermarket and once we get there Paul busies himself talking to his friends who happened to be there and Zoya jumped into the shopping cart. Sonja begins to collect tomatoes in a bag when I suddenly think of something to ask her.

"Hey Sonja, would you be able to teach me a word or two in Russian?" I ask sweetly, following her with the cart to the lettuce.

"Sure." She catches a glimpse at my amused expression and half smirks "It's a swear word isn't it?"

I nod and say which one, making sure Zoya wasn't paying attention to our conversation. She wasn't, instead playing with the apple she picked from the cart.

Sonja laughs and repeats the Russian too me. I repeat it out loud, causing the lady walking past to give me an evil glance. Sonja corrects my pronunciation and I repeat till I get it, way too many times that I should in a public place with Russian children running at our feet.

"So why did you need to know it?" Sonja asked after I perfected it. We had gone through nearly all the shop and the cart was loaded up with a mixture of fruit and vegetables and Russian junk food that I had no idea of what they were.

"Dimitri refuses to teach me swearwords. Says its because I say the english so often that I don't need to add Russian into the mix." I admit with a shrug.

"Am I going to get in trouble for teaching you?" She says wearily with a amused glint in her eye.

"You will." I wink "But he wont find out it was you."