Reading VA: Reading Vampire Academy (A VA fanfic)

Sixteen

RPOV
Last night had been fun. Intense. Playful. Loving. And sleep depriving but so worth it.

We were awoken by a knock on the door to Dimitri's room early morning. We'd 'gone to bed' at ten last night. Sleep, however, hadn't happened until two thirty. A look at the clock told us it was three forty-five. An hour and a quarter later. Lovely!

"Hang on!" I called. Quickly rushing to get dressed. So did Dimitri. After throwing on a pair of spotty cotton sleep shorts and stealing one of Dimitri's tees, I opened the door to find Sonya and Nadia. A crying Nadia and an already freaking and stressed Sonya.
"Sorry to wake you lovebirds, but I can't settle her. Roza," she looked at me, silently pleading for help.
"Come here Nadi," I cooed and removed her from her mother's arms.
"Sonya." Dimitri pulled his sister into our room while I carried Nadi to the bed. She was still crying and her mother was still freaking out.

"Nadi, Nadi, Nadi," I crooned softly, gently stroking my niece's forearm and kissing her forehead. Meanwhile Dimitri hugged my sister-in-law.
"Relax Sonya." Sonya started blabbering about not being a good mom as I kept shifting Nadia, trying to find the ideal place and way to hold her so she'd calm. Dimitri wouldn't hear of his sister putting herself down. "You're an amazing Mama, Sonya. You're tired, exhausted. Just as Nadia is. Not to mention both probably jet-lagged."
"She can feel your stress, Sonya. She can hear and smell something's up- her senses are as sharp as any dhampir's," I tried to soothe while rocking with a calming Nadi on my shoulder.

My attempt at soothing my sister-in-law worked. Surprisingly enough.
"Roza, would you mind feeding her if I made a bottle?"
"Not at all, sister. I'll feed her if you want me to." Nadi was nearly asleep on my shoulder.
"Thanks," she smiled, turned and left.

"These kids are making you mellower and softer than I do." Dimitri pouted as he cautiously brought us into a group hug.
"We need to talk about that sometime," I sighed.
"Are you saying you want children?" Dimitri asked in surprise as he slowly released me and Nadi.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I know you're ready. I know you'd be an amazing dad. I know I feel like I'm taking that from you. I know I'm not ready." Shock then understanding crossed his face.
"You thought about this over the ski trip, didn't you? Tasha's offer and your mother's comment regarding Adrian after she pulled you from the banquet made you think about this. It's why you told me to take the offer, you truly thought I'd moved on and was happy with her, didn't you?"
"Spoilers!" I teased to cover wanting to cry because he'd read me so well again.
"Oh Roza. How do you still love me?"
"How can I not, Dimitri? How can I not love you when you've taught me everything, given me everything, made me who I am? You're my reason for living, and the reason I'm sane."
"Oh Roza. I love you. I'll never be able to say it enough. I should never have fought you, should never have tried to hide from you and your ability to see through me." I could see every emotion playing across his face. "There's worse things in life than falling for a forbidden but destined someone." Sonya quickly handed me the bottle and left, after pausing my convo with Dimitri. "I should have never denied you the truth."

Dimitri wasn't quite giving me a guilt speech, more like a regret speech. One that was beginning to sound like the preamble to a proposal speech. "You had perfectly good reasons, Comrade," I said, sitting in a recliner and began feeding Nadi.

"Life's too short. Even more so for those of us who become guardians." Dimitri came and sat in front of me. "You were never really my student, Rose. Never. You weren't meant to be."
"I needed to be, though. I needed to learn from you. I don't regret a single moment, Dimitri. Not one single moment." Damn! Now I sounded as though I was about to start a proposal speech.
"Even Russia?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"Even Russia. We went through what we did for a reason."
"Even death threat love letters?"
"Even those. If only because they were motivation to get you back. I actually almost laughed at the one perfectly timed for my trial. The note that I really shouldn't need to take it. I agreed wholeheartedly. I'm glad they did though." I said seriously but with an amused smile. Shock crossed his face. Strigoi mafia head hadn't been all knowing apparently. How was my life so full of irony? My dad is a Moroi mobster boss, and my boyfriend, lover, whatever, was a mafia head while Strigoi.
"They made you take it?"
"Yeah. They did. Spoilers for how it went down though." I smirked playfully and he growled. "I like this. This us. It's nice."
"We don't have to hide anymore. No rules to worry about. That's all that's changed, Roza." He sent a warm smile my way. I melted even more. "I love you, Rose. You never gave me the option not to."
"Speak for yourself, Comrade," I sighed, perfectly contented. The smile hadn't left his face. It almost never did since I'd gotten him back.
"What did you end up doing on your birthday?" my man casually asked with a cheeky smile. "Party? Surely you left your hair down just that once."
"No. I didn't. How could I when you weren't there?" It hurt to think about how that day had turned out. Dimitri squinted at me, trying to puzzle out what had happened.
"You dropped," he said suddenly. "You dropped and came straight for me in Russia. You didn't get your birthday."