Times Change (complete)

Epilogue

ONE YEAR LATER

(RPOV)

One year ago today, my so very loving and wonderful fiancé proposed to me. And during all of our travels over the last year, we have been planning our absolutely perfect wedding the whole time.

And it had been beautiful, filled with our happy loving friends and family. Along with hundreds of guests, even the royals. Even though we personally hated it, we knew that we needed to start learning to get along with them. At least as far as they knew and in public, because very few of them knew that we hated most of the royals. And we had to keep it that way because in less than five years we would take the thrones. And we would have to keep our personal opinions out of all of our decisions, at least as best as we possibly could.

While we were traveling we had heard about how some of the royals protested about having Dimitri and I, or any dhampir, as the future king and queen.

We were also told about Aunt Tati telling them that she had made up her mind. And that nothing and no one in the world, could or would, ever change it. And if they didn't like it, they knew where the gates to court were and how to go out into the human world. And apparently, believe it or not, she also told them not to let the gates hit them in the ass on their way out.

So, even though they did not like it, they would have to get used to it. They didn't after all want to have to go out into the human world and not be looked upon as better than everyone else around them after all. Those most vocal to mine and Dimitri becoming the reigning monarchy,  such as most of the Zeklos clan of course, refused to come to our wedding. Which did not bother us one little bitty bit, because we hadn't wanted them there to being with.

The only members of the Zeklos family that had come to our wedding. Had been Ivan's parents, siblings and their families. His grandmother wanted to come, but her husband forbid her to.

Had that been me and Dimitri tried to forbid me to do any-damn-thing that I really wanted to do, I would have quickly told him where to shove it. And he knew it. Just as I knew that he would never forbid me to do anything. He would tell me why he didn't like the idea and then leave it up to me to do as I pleased. But then he is an amazing, loving, gentle and kind man. But he is also fiercely protective and possessive. And I absolutely loved  both of those traits about him.

TWO YEARS LATER

(DPOV)

We found out almost nine months ago that my Roza was pregnant with twins, one son and one daughter. And we were thrilled, just as everyone else in our circle of family, friends and guardians were.

She is actually due just any day now. And everyone, especially me, were on pins and needles with anticipation. Roza had a very difficult pregnancy for her first four months, which is why we were all so concerned about her going into labor. Her morning sickness, the taste of food, pretty much every scent made her terribly sick and her heat sensitivities were all horrendous.

We had to keep our entire home under sixty degrees, or she would get violently ill. Bless my poor angels heart, she would throw up until she finally and thankfully passed out.

The first time that happened I had to rush her to the emergency room to find out what was wrong. I was deathly afraid that she was going to lose our precious babies or that I could lose all of them. And she might have lost one or both of them if she had to go through that very often. But thankfully, the doctors figured out what was going on and how to treat her and keep it from happening again.

When she discovered that she couldn't even tolerate the smell of my aftershave anymore, she was very upset. She cried, her ugly cry, for a long time about that. But when the scent and taste of her precious brownies, pizza and doughnuts started making her violently ill. She was almost just as inconsolable, but not quiet. Which shocked her school friends, because they thought that she would be more upset about her favorite foods making her sick. But once she explained that the smell of my aftershave had always helped to calm and center her, even during the cases of a small to medium attacks of the darkness, they understood.