RPOV

You know that old saying: Wherever you go, there you are?

Well it turns out whoever came up with that knew a thing or two.

Sure I had a new job, in a new country, in a new house, with my new family. But at the end of the day, I was still me.

Still an impetuous and slightly ill-tempered guardian.

Still the mother of a miracle baby and the best friend of the Queen.

Still the notorious offspring of my equally notorious parents.

And still married to the love of my life.

As far as I was concerned the only real difference I could see was that these days I was seriously sleep deprived.

Maybe it was my age or just my improved emotional state, but this jet lag was really kicking my ass. Although to be fair, my last stint in Russia had been under drastically different circumstances.

Short of snacking on somebody's brain, I had more or less been a zombie.

Now those were some dark days…

The time I spent chasing Strigoi Dimitri all over Russia was undoubtedly the worst time of my life. I had just lost Mason, abandoned Lissa, and more than once I had been certain I wouldn't survive it.

Fortunately for me I'd made it out in one piece.

But could the same thing be said about Dimitri?

From the moment he'd proposed moving the court back to Russia, I had mentally been preparing for the worst. It wasn't exactly a secret that Dimitri struggled with his past and the choices he'd made while a Strigoi. In the months following his restoration, he woke up screaming every night; tortured by all the innocent lives he had taken. It was a terrible time I couldn't bear to remember, so you can understand why I was in no hurry to relive it.

But after weeks of constant worry, it seemed my preparations were in vain.

It had been nearly a week since we'd set foot on Russian soil and Dimitri hadn't so much as blinked. He was sleeping through the night, showed no signs of any stress and there was no trace of the memories that once plagued him.

Simply put, he was the same old Dimitri.

So why did I find that more unsettling?

"I don't know why you insist on looking for trouble where there isn't any." Janine chastised as she handed me another empty box.

We'd spent the better part of our day trying to unpack Sebastian's nursery and it seemed that we were finally making progress. It was the only room left in the house that we had yet to unpack.

No doubt because Dimitri had tasked me with it…

"I'm not looking for trouble." I defended myself. "I'm just vigilantly trying to prevent it."

She glanced up at me over the box she'd just dismantled and her pursed lips told me that she wasn't convinced.

I watched her mouth open as she readied to protest before she seemingly decided to think better of it.

There was a time before her accident when she would have argued this to no end, but these days she was making a real effort.

We both were.

After deciding it was only fair that I meet her halfway, I tried to make my tone sound more reasonable.

"I know what this looks like, but you have to understand; it was hell the last time we went through this. The way he tortured himself; it was unbearable mom, and as a couple it nearly destroyed us!"

It was hard for me to remember just how close I came to losing him, and the possibility of it happening again had me panicked.

"I know he says he's fine now, but how long can that last when he's surrounded on all sides by bad memories!"

Even my own ears had picked up on my blatant desperation and Janine looked at me with sympathy and sighed.

"You think I'm paranoid, don't you?" I asked her with dejection, but she surprised me when she shook her head slightly.

"Of course I don't Rose. But what YOU have to understand is that worrying will do more harm than good. With the way the two of you are so attuned to one another, it's likely Dimitri will pick up on all your stress. Then he'll start to worry about you being so worried and then where will that leave the both of you?"

It pained me to admit it, but she made a fair point.

Of course I wasn't about to tell her that!

"Rose" she sighed wearily. "I know that you're scared, but right now your attention is needed elsewhere. That royal guard isn't going to assemble itself you know."

And I'd be damned if I wasn't right again!

Once the initial excitement of getting a promotion wore off, I found that I wasn't thrilled about it. The gravity of my situation and what was being asked of me; well it wasn't exactly an easy burden to bear.

"You've been given a great honor and with that comes great responsibility. You simply can't afford to be distracted."

Gee, ya think?

My natural inclination whenever my mother lectured me usually involved a lot of sarcasm and snark. But after reminding myself that we were trying to make progress, I somehow managed to hold my sharp tongue.

I could feel her eyes on my as she waited for a response but I diligently did my best to ignore her.

Hey, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all right?

Besides, I got the feeling that she knew my polite silence took real effort since I caught her smirking before returning to her work.

Nice to know that my pain amused her…

With the swift swipe of her box cutter, she pulled back the flaps and revealed the boxes contents inside.

Seriously? More clothes?

How many outfits could a kid his size have?

Sure I was no expert on children, but I had to believe, 15 boxes full of clothes was just overkill.

And on this my mother and I could agree.

"Honestly Rosemarie" she said as she dramatically rolled her eyes. "This is getting a little out of hand. Why don't you just donate the rest of these and be done with it." She asked, gesturing around us at the sea of baby blue.

And for the third time today, I couldn't entirely disagree.

More than half of the clothes in here had the price tags still attached. There was no way Bash could ever wear them all.

Especially with the way this kid grew!

"89.99 for this tiny scrap of fabric? Rose, tell me that this was the Queen's doing!"

I glanced in the direction of my screeching mother's voice and towards the object she was holding up in disbelief.

The small offensive article was a powder blue onesie, covered in tiny embroidered whales. And while there was no denying it was cute, it wasn't particularly special in nature, leading me to believe it was designer.

"Of course Lissa bought that." I told her rolling my own eyes, and it was hard for me to mask my indignation.

Did she seriously know so little about me?

Apparently so…

After careful scrutiny on her part, she seemed willing enough to believe me and once satisfied she continued rummaging through the box.

"Anyway" I began, trying to shrug off my irritation. "You were right when you suggested that we don't these."

The words sounded all wrong coming out of my mouth, but my mother seemed rather pleased at hearing them. In fact she damn near looked shocked.

"However, I do want to finish sorting through them first."

As daunting as the task set in front of me appeared, there were a handful of cute outfits worth keeping. Extreme as it may be, Lissa did have great taste.

Of course I wouldn't expect my mother to understand that.

25 years spent wearing the same uniform everyday had pretty much robbed her of any sense of style.

Besides, her near death experience may have improved our relationship, but she was fundamentally the same woman as before. She was still Janine Hathaway and true to form, she had little to no interest in cute clothes.

"Suit yourself." She muttered as she rose to her feet. "But I believe that my work here is done."

She was just about to leave when her gaze fell onto the corner and the mountain of empty boxes we'd amassed.

"Would you like me to take these to the curb when I go?" She asked, but I never got the chance to answer her.

"I'll take care of it." Dimitri announced, starting us both from the door, and his devilish smirk made it clear he was quite pleased.

Sneaking up on a guardian isn't easily managed, but then he's one of the best for a reason.

You'd think after all of these years, I'd be used to it by now, but his easy grace never ceased to amaze me.

"But thank you for all of your help today. I've been asking Rose to finish this all week."

"Well there's your problem." Janine scoffed, brushing the lint off her black slacks. "You coddle her too much. Next time don't ask. Just tell her to get off her ass and get it done. It's always worked for me." She added.

Ha! He wouldn't dare!

In fact, if Dimitri valued his spot in our warm and cozy bed, he'd do well to forget ever hearing that. The warning look that I gave him made that QUITE clear.

"I'll keep that it mind." He chuckled lightly.

She nodded in approval of the fact that he'd listened, but the moment she looked away Dimitri gave me a sly wink. He continued to hold my gaze a little longer than necessary and as a result his smirk melted into something more. The next thing I knew he had me squirming in my seat and I was suddenly very eager to get my husband alone.

Oh the things that this man could do to me…

"Well then" Janine announced, calling our attention back to the present.

Apparently she'd been oblivious to our mounting sexual tension.

"I guess I will leave you both to it."

After giving us her usual curt nod, she strolled purposefully across the room and crouched down on the floor in front of Bash He'd been quietly entertaining himself in his small bouncy chair and she leaned in closer to kiss his cheek.

"Nana loves her sweet boy." She cooed softly at Bash and his little arms began to flail around with excitement.

His sudden jerky movements were enough to make her laugh before she began peppering his face with more kisses.

Small garbled sounds were his only response, but it was clear he enjoyed all the attention.

It was times like these that I couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever been this affectionate towards me.

It wasn't likely.

When Bash let out a loud squeal of delight, both Dimitri and I laughed in response. Of course our laughter only reminded Janine she wasn't alone. She shot a quick glance in our direction, clearly embarrassed, before turning back around to face Bash. After clearing her throat she gave him one more quick kiss and then pridefully strode out of the room.

Okay, so maybe things had changed a little bit…

And the fun has begun!

What did you all think of Rose's new relationship with Janine?

Or Janine's relationship with Bash?

What are your predictions for their upcoming adventures, and is there anything in particular you'd like to see?

Hit the reviews and let me know : )