Reality Bites - Wattys 2018 Shortlist

Chapter 98 - What Have You DONE?

I raised my eyes to the chocolate brown ones I so adored. I didn't even know what to say. There were a couple of surprises in Dimitri's envelope, not least of which was the Queen recognizing their kinship by way of signing it as 'Aunt Tatiana.'

Dimitri handed me back my envelope and I his. "May I be the first to congratulate you Guardian Hathaway?" he said with a gorgeous smile, hugging me and kissing me gently on the cheek. I returned his kiss, sadly also on the cheek. It wasn't the kiss I wanted to be giving him right now, but it was the sort of kiss a new Guardian could publicly give her former mentor without raising suspicion.

"Hand her over Belikov" Mom mock threatened.

Releasing me with a grin, Dimitri shook hands with Kirk as Mom gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"A perfect training score? It's never happened before! And Queen's Guardian?! Darling, I COULD NOT BE more proud! What's your special project?" Mom gushed. I could see people around us straining to listen.

"I can't say, Mom. It's top secret – Belikov's too" I said, giving her a meaningful look. Before she had a chance to ask any more Baba, Lissa, Christian, and Adrian had made their way through the crowd to where we were standing. Baba grabbed Mom in a hug and spun her around. She was laughing in a very girly way, which he silenced quickly enough when he returned her to her feet and gave her the sort of kiss rarely seen outside the bedroom.

Seriously not wanting to see any more of that than I already had, I turned to Lissa who pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you Rose," she told me again before passing me on to Christian who also hugged me.

"Congratulations Rose. If anyone deserves this it's you."

"Little Dhampir," Adrian greeted with a big grin. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Adrian," I said, surprising him by being the one to initiate a long hug.

"Rose?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see Eddie there grinning at me. He didn't say a word just hugged me.

"So you here to ask me to get Pavel to give you a job, or are you ok with the asshole you've been allocated?" I teased.

"Oh, I'm pretty happy with my allocation" Eddie laughed.

"Kirk and Dimitri are going to take you on as a second," I confirmed. "Train you up a bit."

"You'll be coming to Europe then? I thought with the special project you and Belikov might not be able to?"

"Nope – we're definitely coming. Both of us," I confirmed.

If anything, Eddie's grin got even bigger.

Baba had finally stopped kissing Mom and was now coming over to me. "Congratulations sweetheart" he said, pulling me into a hug. "Can't wait to hear all about your special project."

"Thanks, Baba. Congratulations to you, too! You look very happy," I laughed.

"I'm head over heels" he confirmed.

For the next half an hour or so we milled around. Several Guardians came over to congratulate Dimitri and me on our appointments as Queen's Guardians. While everyone wanted to know what our special assignments were, we didn't reveal anything. Lissa had the camera out again, and was taking photo after photo. At her request, Dimitri and I both put on our red sashes and posed for a couple of pics together.

"Princess? Could you please take a photo of Rose and me with my phone? They'll be asleep there now, but I'd like to text my family."

Lissa took Dimitri's phone and snapped off a couple of pictures of us wearing our Queen's Guardian sashes before handing it back. I watched as Dimitri chose a lovely photo of us grinning side by side, before typing 'Mamma – Rose just graduated with a perfect training score and has been appointed as a Queen's Guardian. She's been given a special assignment to look after Princess Dragomir. We're still coming to Russia as planned. I was also made a Queen's Guardian today with a special mission to guard Rose. We're both very happy and will Skype soon to tell you all about it. Love Dimitri and Roza'