Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 33

"I'm nervous, Comrade. She'll be there. You know she will!"

"So what if she is? She can't hurt you. She can't hurt us."

"She'll be able to tell I'm pregnant. Everyone will!" At twenty-five weeks, there was no hiding Rose's baby bump – and it didn't help that Dimitri drew attention to it by having his hands all over it every chance he had.

"Good! I want to show off my very beautiful pregnant girlfriend," Dimitri said, taking Rose into his arms and waltzing around the kitchen with her.

"You guys are enough to make someone ill," Eddie laughed as he cuddled Lara, giving her the bedtime bottle. It was early May, and Lara was coming up on eleven months old. Sitting unassisted, she'd moved past pulling up on furniture and was able to stand independently now. She hadn't yet attempted her first steps, but Rose and Dimitri both felt she wasn't far from it.

"Are you sure you two are ok with this?" Rose asked yet again.

"It's six or seven hours. Lara is perfectly safe with the two of us," Eddie assured Rose, his eyes twinkling as he turned to smirk at Guardian Hathaway.

Rose had received a call from Jill in late February, asking for an address to which she could send a wedding invite. Cautious about letting anyone know where they were settled, she'd requested it was sent to Abe's post office box at Court. From there, one of Abe's staff sent it on to their local post office for them to collect. Rose had almost forgotten about it when an invite arrived mid-March requesting the pleasure of their company at Jill and Douglas' wedding the first weekend of May at St. Vladimir's.

When they received the invite, Rose had immediately called Alberta confirming the Academy was the chosen venue of the young couple to marry and celebrate their union. Apparently not their first, or even second choice, Alberta explained the options had been limited due to Jill's connection with her Majesty and the security issues Lissa's attendance posed.

Seriously in two minds whether to accept, Rose had eventually been swayed by Christian. Being the wedding of his wife's sister, he was obligated to attend as Vasilisa's partner. To say he was reluctant was the understatement of the year, so he'd called Rose and Dimitri, together and later separately, to beg them to attend as moral support.

Surprisingly, Dimitri was the one to insist they went. As far as he was concerned, they had done nothing wrong and there was no reason for them to hide away. Although she agreed, Rose had broken down, refusing to take Lara anywhere near where Lissa would be, which is how they'd reached a compromise. Eddie had booked leave and came to their home to take care of Lara, assisted by Janine. While not invited to the wedding, Abe and Pavel would be in attendance at St. Vlad's, ready to step in at a moment's notice if required.

Knowing Eddie and her Mom were there to care for Lara calmed Rose considerably. Eddie had visited a few times over the last few months and had formed a solid bond with Lara. As their daughter/granddaughter, Rose knew Eddie and Janine would protect Lara without question and that she was safe with them.

Adrian, Frankie, Alberta, and Christian were the only ones who knew the young family lived close by, and they had committed to keeping that information to themselves. If asked, the official word would be that Rose and Dimitri had asked Abe for the use of his plane to bring them to campus for the nuptials. They would stay for the wedding and the reception before being seen to leave to return to the landing strip to head home. Abe and Pavel were already at St. Vlad's, having arrived unobserved in the middle of the Moroi night. After the festivities, Abe's plane would be seen to arrive and then take off. Empty other than the flight staff, it would head to Bozeman where Janine, Abe, and Pavel would meet it in a few days. Abe, Pavel, Rose, and Dimitri would secretly leave the Academy by car.