Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 32

"Everything is perfect," Dimitri reassured Rose for about the twentieth time.

"I know! It's just he's our first proper guest except for family," Rose said, checking the kitchen and sitting room yet again.

They had food cooking in the range, beds made up upstairs, and Lara was enthusiastically crawling from one end of the house to the other. Now she was mobile, everything had been moved up – and after a near miss with a hot pan and Lara underfoot near the stove, Dimitri had installed a baby gate that kept their princess out of the busy cooking area.

"Did Adrian say which Guardian was coming with him?" Dimitri asked. They'd both hoped it would be Eddie, but it hadn't worked out that way.

"Some guy called Frank, I think?" Rose said absentmindedly, already second-guessing herself about the meal they'd prepared. Not that Adrian would have more than a mouthful or two, anyway. Speaking of which, Rose pulled out a couple of blood-bags to defrost. The Moroi equivalent of a TV dinner, they held the nutrition required despite, apparently, similarly lacking in taste. Still – for a long weekend they would suffice. There was a good chance Adrian would bring a thermos from the Academy with fresh blood, but since it only lasted twenty-four hours, he'd need some of the frozen stock Abe had so thoughtfully left behind.

Rose's parents and Pavel had departed at the end of January. Dimitri started his blacksmithing course but wanting something to keep them occupied until Rose started her classes, with the landlord's permission they'd completely refurbished the guest quarters. Cleaning, painting, decluttering, washing the curtains and rearranging the furniture, by the time they'd finished the drab cottage looked sensational. In fact, the three moved in for a fortnight while they gave the main house the same treatment.

The difference a fresh coat of paint and a spit and polish gave the house was amazing. Carefully packing up the items in the house that were not to their taste, they'd moved the boxes out to one of the sheds. Clean, decluttered and repainted, the house started to feel much more like their own – which is why, three weeks after Janine, Abe, and Pavel left, Adrian and his Guardian were coming to visit.

A black SUV pulled up out the front right on 5:00 pm. It was safest to travel in daylight hours, so Adrian and his Guardian had arranged to arrive before nightfall. It being very early in the Moroi morning, rather than get up early, Adrian had elected to stay up in an attempt to adjust to the human timetable Dimitri, Rose and Lara operated on.

"What are you feeding that child? She's grown," Adrian noticed as Dimitri stepped out of the house to greet them, carrying Lara with him. Dimitri stopped short when he noticed the young, pretty Guardian accompanying his cousin. Before Adrian could say anything, Rose stepped out of the house.

"Hello, little dhampir," Adrian greeted before stopping short. "Whoa! Fuck, Rose! You have two auras!"

"No swearing around Lara!" Rose snapped, her eyes flashing. "Come inside, I'll tell you everything," she continued, like Dimitri eyeing Frankie curiously.

"Hi – I'm Rose, this is Dimitri and our daughter Lara," Rose introduced herself.

"Oh yeah – sorry this is Frankie. She's my Guardian," Adrian said, grabbing his bag and walking into the house.

"I see Adrian's manners haven't improved," Rose said. "Please come in."

Frankie shouldered her bag, following Rose into the house. She knew quite a bit about the former Guardians from Christian and Adrian, but it was still interesting to meet them in person.

"Comrade? Can you stew Lara's dinner?" Rose asked Dimitri. "I'll get Adrian and Frankie settled in."

Adrian and Frankie followed Rose through the house, looking around curiously. Trailing her up the stairs, Rose pointed Adrian into one room, Frankie into the one next to it.