This took me longer than I had expected, so sorry! I have really re-written this chapter over and over again.
The sad thing that I have to tell you that this will be the final chapter of this story. See the post at the end.

'Rose, will you marry me?' I ask her, kneeling on one knee in the middle of an empty house. It looks crazy but it is one of the best decisions I could make. She is about to give me an answer when her phone starts ringing. She pulls it out and gives me an apologetic look. She has to take it.

I sigh as she steps a couple of steps towards the window. I rise and drag my hand through my hair. This is not how I had pictured it. Not at all. When Roza calls my name I look around to see a worried look on her face.

'Lissa is in labor. We need to get to the hospital.' She tells me. I only nod and then we are off. Out of the house and in the car towards the hospital. Towards Lissa.

Two months ago
'I don't understand why you are so mad at me.' Roza says to me as she sits next to me. Yesterday I found out that there are pictures from her with other man. And while it looked like we made up yesterday it doesn't feel like it.

'I'm not mad.' I tell her, not looking at her. It is true that I am not mad. I am jealous, furious and a whole lot more. Every time when I can forget about what she used to do, there is something that reminds me again.

'Well, you're not happy either.' She says and as I peak at her I see her pouting. I have to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling. She is adorable when she pouts. But then I remind myself why I am sulking here alone and the smiling stops.

'How would you feel when you knew I had slept with hundreds of woman before you?' I tell her, finally snapping. It is not fair. I don't even know why I do this. Maybe because the pain I feel in my leg. Maybe it is that green monster inside of me. She sighs loudly.

'Are we doing this again?' she asks me. Her voice even sounds tired. I lay my head in my hands. God, why do I have to be this pathetic?

'Let me know when you are yourself again.' she says, touching my arm lightly before leaving me alone. I want to tell her not to go but her retreating posture gives me peace.

Six weeks ago
'Lissa wants me to be in the hospital room with her during her labor.' Rose tells me and I only nod. We are still ignoring each other. I have to apologize to her but instead I am ignoring her.

'What are you pathetic?' Ivan tells me as soon as Rose is out of the room. I glare at him before looking back at the paper before me. I am ignoring him to. But he is a lot harder to ignore because he is insulting me every chance he gets.

When I turn the page my breathing stops for a second before my heartbeat starts beating even faster. Pictures, stories. Everything. Pointing out who Rose really is and her relationship with me. I close my eyes before giving the paper to Ivan.

He swears loudly when he sees it. In a minute he is on the phone and I know that I have to make a decision. I take my crutches and go the same way where Rose disappeared a couple of minutes ago. Finding her on the couch in the living room, staring at the paper.

I sit down next to her, gathering her in my arms. Apologizing to her, over and over. She clings to me as her eyes are still on the paper. I don't even know how she must feel know that the whole world knows who she is.

Five weeks ago
'Trials will start one week from now.' Ivan says as he sits down next to me on the couch. It has been one hell of a week.

'What are we going to do?' I ask him, looking at him. I see worry in his eyes that I know is reflecting in mine. In one week we lost a lot of customers. The press has been constantly on our back. Rose hasn't been out of the house in a whole week.

'I don't know. I don't know. But going back to Russia has never sound this good before.' he tells me with a laugh. There is no humor in his laughter. There is a chance that we will lose everything that we have built in those years here.

'We are not going back. Not yet.' I tell him. Not telling him about the papers and plans I have ready if this is all going to fail. It all depends how we are going to deal with everything going on around us.

'If I knew that this would all been such a mess I wouldn't even come to America in the first place.' He tells me. Sighing loudly and leaning his head against the back of the couch.

One month ago
We hired an advisor who would talk to the press and manage that kind of things for us. But with everything going on that wasn't enough. They wanted our opinions. They wanted to hear what we would say. So now we were sitting here with the press in front of us.

We had explained everything and they had their time to ask questions. Most were the same things. How could we have missed this for so long? How could we have hired Tasha when she already had her faults in the past?

And after everything they wanted to know about my relationship with Rose. That was not something I wanted to share a lot of to them. I am not ashamed of Rose or my relationship with her. It is just that I like to keep things privately.

'Mister Belikov, could share a little bit more about the past of Rosemarie?' one woman asks. I sigh loudly before rubbing my eyes again.

'Rose has a troubled past. Lived in foster care and on the streets. She had to do what she had to do to survive. I'm not going to share more about it.' I tell them and can already see that they don't like it.

They would like a story where they could fill two pages with, at least. But even when I had wanted to share her story I would've invited her to this so she could tell her own story. Another pair of hands go up and I have to stop myself from sighing again.

'Does it affect your relationship that she used to work as a whore?' one man asks and in that moment I have to resist the urge to punch the man. Ivan kicks me beneath the table, reminding me to be nice.

'It doesn't affect my relationship. I love her and I want to share the rest of my life with her. It shouldn't matter what her past is or what mine is. The only thing that matters is our future. If you don't have any other questions that doesn't involve my relationship with Rose than we are done.' I say to them. Cutting of any other questions they want to ask.

After it stays silent for a while I push my chair back and leave the room. Feeling angry and that green monster is coming up again. That is happening a lot lately. To my left is a glass bowl and before I realize what I am doing I have it in my hand and are throwing it at the wall in front of me.

'Let's get a drink.' Ivan says behind me, observing me for a moment. I don't even argue with him, just follow him into his office where he pulls the vodka out of the drawer of his desk.

'For emergencies.' He tells me while giving me a glass of the liquid. I throw it back all at once. Feeling it burn in my throat.

'I'm so done with all of this.' I tell him while refilling my glass. 'I'm so ready to give this all up. Buy a small house somewhere far away from here and start working somewhere. Just a simple live.'

Still one month ago
My hand reaches out to hers, tangling our fingers together. Her palm is a little sweaty, she is nervous, but I ignore it. I need her and I guess that she needs me. Lending strength to each other during everything that is going on.

Today is the start of the trials. We are heading there with mixed feeling. Hopefully it will bring justice and send Victor and Robert to prison. On the other hand I don't want to see those two man again. I know that Rose doesn't want to see them either.

When we step out of the car a lot of press is waiting on the steps to the courthouse. Taking pictures and trying to get our attention. Ivan walks in front with our lawyer. Then comes me and Rose. Behind us are Abe, my mom and Sydney and Adrian.

Lissa wanted to come but she wasn't allowed. Christian wouldn't let her go. And Ivan and I didn't want to have her here. All this stress isn't good for the baby. She has enough of that with the false accusations.

We fill in the courtroom. Waiting for the jury to come in and for the judge to take his place. First we will start with testimonies from employees of us. Testimony's from me, Ivan and Rose. But also Abe since they don't really trust him.

The judge comes in and we stand until he takes his place. After that he calls up the first person and everything starts.

Three weeks ago
'What do you think?' I ask Ivan as I push the small black box his way. He opens it, looking inside of it. When he looks at me again he has his brows raised.

'Are you serious?' he asks me and I nod. I am very serious about this. We have a lot thrown our way and we reached a stress level we can't barely handle. But in all of this there is one thing that I am sure of. And that is that I want to share the rest of my life with my beautiful Roza.

So when I had time last week I went to the storage where all our furniture went and all the boxes out of our old apartment. Somewhere in one of those boxes was the ring that my mother brought. The ring that used to be from my babushka.

'Will she say yes?' he asks me, probably remember the last time I tried to do things in a rush. It only resolved in her leaving me.

'I hope she does.' I tell him, being honest. I want to ask her. I want her to be officially mine. It would be amazing to wake up with her and be able to call her my wife. To know that we will spend the rest of our lives together. That she will still be with me when we are both old and grey.

'Maybe you shouldn't wait a couple of years?' Ivan asks me. I know that he will support me no matter what. But that it is his job as my best friend to protect me.

'Maybe I should. But this isn't like the first time I got married. You know that. Rose doesn't want me for my money. She won't push me into a marriage just because she claims to be pregnant. I don't even know that she will accept to marry me. It is just that I got this ring from babushka. It means that she supports this. It is like she already knows that Rose will marry me. I have to try it.' I tell him, trying to explain how I feel about this.

'Alright.' he finally says, pushing the ring back to me. 'But I will be your best man. And don't think you won't get a crazy speech.' I laugh at this, already knowing that he is going to try to embarrass me in front as many people as he can. It is why he is my best friend.

Two weeks ago
Last week we heard that Robert is heard by many psychologists. He looked unstable towards the trials and was finally send to a mental hospital. It is good for him that he is getting help for his problems. But it isn't helping us with our case.

His testimony is classified as unusual because of the unstable character he has. This threw back our case for a bit. The judge wanted to hear a couple of people again. And wanted to hear more from the jury what they thought.

Today we would give our testimonies again and Victor would be heard, again. He was enjoying this a little bit too much. All that attention going to him. I just hope that they will put him behind bars for the rest of my life.

One week ago
Rose is always bouncing up and down. She is such an impatient person. The moment I lay down the phone she grips my hands in hers.

'And?' she asks me, searching my face for answers. I give her a couple of seconds longer before grinning at her.

'We won the case.' I tell her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling into a tight hug. We finally did it, we finally won. Victor will be put behind bars for the rest of my life. He can't bother us anymore now.

A couple hours ago
'What about this one?' I ask Rose as we step into the second house from today. I dragged her along with looking at houses. Something she didn't knew when she stepped into the car with me this morning.

I am done with living with Abe. I need my privacy. It seems like every time I even try to kiss Rose he just shows us, clearing his throat and making us stop. I want to be able to pull her onto the couch with me and make out for the rest of the night.

Sure we have the bedroom for ourselves but it makes me feel like a teenager instead of an adult. I want to be able to sneak to her, wrap my arms around her when standing behind her. Kissing her neck and slipping my hands beneath her shirt.

'I don't know.' she says and my eyes go up, back to hers. She is looking at me with an amused look on her face. She busted me while I was looking at her body for a moment.

'Then let's go to the next one.' I tell her, tangling our fingers together while pulling her with me.

'Don't we have time for a quick stop somewhere?' she asks me, her tone teasing. I don't seek much in it and just expect that she wants to stop for ice cream of something to eat.

'Where do you want to stop?' I ask her, receiving my car keys from my pocket. Letting go of her hand and wanting to walk around the car to get in. She lays her hand on my arm, stopping me.

'I don't know, somewhere where no one can see us.' she says, her fingers tracing over my stomach. Her eyes following her fingers. I can just watch her until I have enough of it. I grab her hand, pushing her against the car and kiss her.

This woman will definitely be the death of me. I pull back from her sooner than I actually want but we are standing in the middle of a street. Everyone can see us here. Not something I usually appreciate.

'Later. First we have to find our home.' I tell her, pecking her lips one last time before releasing her.

We go see three more houses before we walk into the last one. It is a simple house. Beautiful but simple. It is a free standing house with a small garden in the front but a big garden at the back of the house. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms. A large kitchen with dining area and a living room with glass doors leading to the garden.

'I think I love this one.' She tells me, looking around. I follow her with a smile on my face. Loving to see her like this. It is like she is already picturing her future her. I hope that she is picturing a future with me. Taking a deep breath I pull the ring out of my pocket and get on one knee.

Now
We were just in time for labor. It looked like Lissa's baby had a rush to come into this world. She was just checked in at the hospital when the doctor told her that she would be able to push in less than half an hour.

I left Rose as Lissa's side. Wishing Lissa good luck, sharing a look with Christian before going to the waiting room. Luckily for me that I always had a book laying in my car or it would've been a long time sitting here.

Before I even knew it Rose came into the waiting room, a happy smile on her face. Lissa had given birth to a beautiful baby girl that she named Moira, after Christian's mother. She crawled onto my lap. Telling that Christian would get us when they had Lissa all cleaned up. Giving them a little bit of privacy with their new born.

'I think I want one of those monsters one day.' She tells me. I give her a puzzled look until something click into my mind.

'You mean a baby?' I ask her, nearly laughing at her by calling them monsters. She nods.

'Not now. Just one day. When I am grown up and everything.' She says, making me laugh. I drag my hands through her hair, pushing a kiss to her forehead.

'That would make me the happiest man in the world.' I tell her, picturing a small girl looking just like Roza does.

'I thought you already was.' She says, pulling back so she can look at me.

'I am always happy when you are with me.' I tell her, trying to kiss her again. She pulls back, shaking her head.

'Yes.' She tells me, making me more confused than I already was. 'I will marry you.' She finishes.

I pull her towards me, kissing her passionately. Trying to put everything I feel into that kiss. When I pull back it is only to receive the ring from my pocket and slip it on her finger. It looks so good on her.

'I love you.' I tell her.

'I love you.' She says before kissing me again.

So, what do you think? Probably not really happy about the ending. Well, I want to add one or more extra chapters to this story. Making time laps. But I am not sure what to write. So you can share your ideas with me. And it may take me a couple of weeks, maybe months, to write those. Life is crazy.
You can follow me as an author so you can see when I post a new story because I have one in the making. As well as two short stories.