Author's note: So this is the last chapter. I know, short and sweet, but it took years. I apologize. I have to be at work early and then I'm too tired by the end of the day to be inspired. Anyway, keep your eyes out for a VA/Bloodlines story where I change a single moment near the end of VA and play around with how it alters everything else, even the world of the future that I've created. I've got a lot in mind, but I don't know when I'll be starting it.

Russian translations at the bottom.

Happy reading!

Chapter Five

"Mommy, can I just play with Ivanna?" Josh asked as they stood outside the large building that housed the party.

"I think that can be arranged, baby." Sydney squeezed Adrian's hand. "Do you have her?"

"Yeah, she's fine." He patted the baby's back. He carried her in a sling across his chest. "Are you going to wake up and say hi to people today, Marti?" He crooned.

Sydney adjusted the diaper bag over her shoulder nervously. "Plenty of people might want to hold her. At least the ones in our normal crowd. I don't know who else Lissa invited."

"Well, if it isn't the young Ivashkovs." A familiar voice said as they walked inside.

"Mr. Mazur." Sydney said with a smile. She had always endured this larger-than-life man, but she had also grown to like him even more over the years. She relaxed a little.

He leaned down and kissed her on both cheeks and then shook Adrian's hand.

"Who's he, Mommy?" Josh asked loudly.

Abe kneeled down and held out his hand. "Ibrahim Mazur, at your service. You must be Joshua."

The boy's eyes grew wide. "How did you know?"

He chuckled. "Rose told me. She's quite fond of you."

"You know Rose?" He asked in awe.

"Yes. She's my daughter." He ruffled the boy's hair.

"She is?"

He nodded.

"Ibrahim." A woman said softly from nearby.

He looked toward the voice as though it was the source of his very existence.

"Rose is looking for you."

"Thank you, Janine. Have you met the Ivashkovs?"

Introductions were made all around. Rose's mother was surprisingly in a conservative party dress instead of the black and white of a guardian on duty, as she had been in all the previous times they had seen her at these functions. She was a guest.

Abe's face softened even more when he saw Marti. "I may have to reserve a few minutes holding her." He said.

"You have to stand in line." Eddie came over. "There you guys are."

"Josh needed a nap. And then we couldn't wake him." Adrian explained fondly.

Eddie laughed and lifted the boy onto his shoulders. "Well, Ivanna and Reggie are begging for you. You want to go play?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please."

They made their way more properly into the party. It was crowded with a lot of faces Sydney had never seen before, but Adrian recognized them all. Janine and Abe wandered off together. She noticed Abe slip his hand into the guardian's before they disappeared into the crowd. She smiled over her shoulder at him.

All the children, mostly Moroi, ran around in an area set up with the best toys Josh had ever seen. He ran over to Ivanna and Reggie as they climbed onto a group of rocks that looked like a small mountain. There were guardians even more thickly here. One bent down and soothed a little boy who had scraped his knee.

"They'll be okay here. Rose and Dimitri hand-picked all the guardians working today." Eddie explained.

"We won't stray too far." Adrian said. "He barely knows anyone."

"Looks like he's fine, sweetheart." Sydney said softly. She pointed.

Their son was already playing happily with a group of boys wearing superhero capes.

Adrian chuckled. "There you go. I guess we can venture a little farther away."

"There's also a quiet room set up if Josh needs a time out or you need to feed Marti." Eddie pointed at a door across the room and then led them toward Jill who had Nikolai on her shoulder. She rocked back and forth as she spoke with a small group. Eddie rested his head against hers a moment and then kissed the baby's head.

He looked up at his father and blinked sleepily a moment and then closed his eyes once more.

Sydney rubbed Nikolai's back. "Hello, pretty boy." She cooed.

"Can you say hi to Aunt Sydney?" Jill said softly. She smiled and introduced the pair to the other people around her. Some were part of her design team. Others, just friends from around.

"Dimitri's been whispering to him in Russian." Eddie said, a note of teasing exasperation in his voice.

"He needs it." The man in question commented.

Sydney smiled, "Zdrastvuyte, Dimitri. Kak zhe svad'ba plany?"

He waved his hand, "Ne prosi."

"That bad, huh?" She chuckled.

He took Marti when Adrian offered. "I think she's getting back at me for insisting it happen." He clicked his tongue at the baby and murmured something softly to her.

"You should see the notes for the dress." Jill joked.

"Daddy?" Josh tugged in Adrian's pocket. He looked distressed.

"What is it, baby?" He kneeled down.

The boy leaned forward and whispered.

He smiled and stood, taking the bag Sydney still carried over her shoulder and calmly led the boy away through the door Eddie had pointed out earlier.

Sydney felt exposed suddenly and reached for Marti. Dimitri gave her back without a word, smiling reassuringly as though he understood. She stayed with the familiar faces, even as new people came forward to offer their congratulations to Jill and Eddie on the adoption.

"Ah, I've been looking for you." A man said from behind her. She turned. Nathan Ivashkov.

"Me?" She said with a nervous smile.

"Yes."

"Well, you found me." She said matter-of-factly.

He smiled sideways, reminding Sydney comfortably of her husband. "Daniella made me promise to be on my best behavior." He held out his hands anxiously. "May I?"

She nodded. "Here, Marti. Say hello to your grandfather." She passed the baby over.

Adrian walked back over, Josh on his hip. "Here's mommy." He sighed.

Sydney noticed their sons face was streaked in tears.

"A little accident." Adrian whispered as he gave her their son.

"It's okay, baby." Sydney crooned, rubbing his back.

Adrian noticed his father holding the baby and smiling kindly down at her. "She really has a way of stealing your heart, doesn't she?"

Nathan nodded. "She does. Are you sure she's not Moroi? I would say compulsion is at work."

Adrian laughed. "No, she just has the magic of being a very sweet baby."

"Will you come back to play, Josh?" a little boy asked, tugging on the boy's foot.

He looked between his parents a moment and then started squirming. "Down, please, Mommy."

Sydney put him down and he and the other boy ran back to the play area where they resumed whatever game they had been playing before. Adrian grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek.

"He's just like you." He whispered.

"I beg to differ." She whispered back.

They spent the rest of the party hand-in-hand as much as possible. When they couldn't hold hands, they stood very close. Adrian knew his wife took comfort in it. He noticed a few people whispering and looking their way. He hated the gossips. It wasn't like he was flaunting her. Though, he gladly would if she would let him.

At the end of the festivities, Sydney was exhausted. Being the only human at a Moroi party wasn't something that was new to her, but it was still hard every time. She gladly accepted the offer of a car to drive them across Court to the apartment.

Both children went to sleep quickly. Adrian found Sydney in the bathroom washing her face.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You look exhausted."

"I am." She sighed and reached for a towel to dry her face as she turned in his arms. "Your dad is warming up nicely."

"Better than the rest of Court." He commented.

"True. They don't really have to. I don't think we'll be here again for a very long time if at all."

"Dad said he wanted to see the kids."

She cupped his cheeks. "Then they come to us or we meet them somewhere."

"Josh likes it here. He likes the friends he made."

"He has friends in Utah. And if he decides to come here to train, he'll make those friends again." She kissed him softly. "Come hold me."

"I want more than that." He smirked.

"Is that so? Well, I suppose I have bit of energy to help you out." She slid a hand down his chest.

"You don't have to, you know." He said, his voice hitched a little as she started gently rubbing him through his pants.

"I know." She kissed him.

He moaned and pressed himself into her hand.

Marti started crying softly.

"She'll stop." Adrian said when his wife tried to pull away.

Sydney tried to ignore the cry, but it grew louder.

And then Josh called, "Daddy?"

Adrian groaned and stepped away. "Kids."

"You wanted them." She grinned over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

Adrian climbed into the bed after just a few minutes. "Josh just needed to have his back rubbed." He sighed.

"I've almost got her settled." Sydney said from the other side of the bed. "Her tummy wasn't full enough."

Adrian kissed the baby's head and then pressed a kiss to his wife's lips. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you." She got up and put Marti back in her crib. She turned and saw Adrian watching her. "You look as exhausted as I feel."

He smiled. "We don't have to do anything else, baby. Not if you aren't up for it."

"I'm sorry." She looked stricken.

He pulled her down on the bed. "It's fine. We've got all the time in the world."

"And Josh might walk in."

He nodded and kissed her. "I'd like to keep that talk at bay for as long as possible."

She chuckled and then sobered. "Are you sure?"

"Sydney, I went nearly two years being constantly frustrated by you. I can handle a few more weeks."

"Good." She moved to the other side of the bed and turned out the lamp.

Adrian quickly undressed and got into bed with her. He kissed her shoulder. "We're going home in a couple days. I know you're ready."

She sighed and rolled over. "I am. Aren't you? This hasn't been your home for a long time."

"It was never really my home. I was always restless wherever I was."

"You're going to say something cheesy about not having a home until you met me."

He laughed and kissed her. "Well, it's kind of true."

She combed her fingers through his hair. "I agree."

"I feel even more at when I look at our kids. I like that we have this family. And I really like that my dad is warming up."

"I wish mine would." Sydney said sadly.

"Me too. Maybe he's next." Adrian smirked.

"We can try." She kissed him. "Good night."

"Good night." He held her close, rubbing her back gently as they slowly drifted off to sleep together.

Sydney: Helli, Dimitri. How are the wedding plans.

Dimitri: Don't ask.