Mid October, around five months after the St. Vladimir's graduation

Dear Inna,

Thanks so much for your emails! I am so sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but I have a spare hour now, so I promise I'll bring you up to date on all the news from here.

But first, congratulations! You said you were expecting but not how far along you are. When are you due? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? I'm sorry things didn't work out with the father, but you're right – you're better off without him if he's not going to support you 100%. It's great your uncle is being so good about things and that you can keep living there and working for him. As for your parents, give it time. I'm sure they'll come around once they get used to the idea.

So the news from here? Well, where to start?!

We've now settled on to campus at Lehigh, and I'm loving it! While Court was fun, Lehigh is so much better! No uniforms, lots of young people and daylight hours! I absolutely love it!

As I said we're living on campus, which is fantastic. Dimitri made several trips to town before we moved and just couldn't find anything suitable for so many of us. Finally, Queen Tatiana stepped in and made a few calls. Anyway – there was a house built several years back to accommodate a Malaysian Prince who was studying at Lehigh and his security team. It's been vacant since he left, and basically, it's perfect! It's situated on Lower Sayre Park Road along with some of the fraternity and sorority housing, so it's just like having our own mini frat house!

Dimitri and Rose went up for a week before we arrived to supervise getting it cleaned, buying furniture, having the windows tinted for the Moroi and getting a few modifications made, but it's exactly what we need and the best thing is they've rented it for the next five years so we can leave what we want here when we go back to Court and not have to shift everything.

It's built into the hill so is three stories, but really only two as the basement is just garages. The ground floor has a kitchen, laundry, living, dining, bathroom, and a games room. Upstairs at one end is Lissa and Christian's suite, which runs the depth of the house with reinforced windows on three sides. It's massive! At the other end of the upstairs is Dimitri and Rose's room, which is also big and sits next to the panic room and security office.

There are another four bedrooms, two on each side of the upstairs hall. Each side has a two-way bathroom between the rooms. Eddie and I share a room facing towards the back of the house. The view is all trees and green hills, and I love it. No one overlooks us, so it's easy to imagine I'm back home in Baia and not in the middle of a University campus! Celeste and Leslie are on the other side of the hall. It works out well as we all have our own space, and I only have to share a bathroom with Eddie.

Eddie is still wonderful. It was nice having our own space at Court before we moved to group guard here. It helped to establish us as a couple. He spends most of his time guarding Christian, and I usually guard Lissa, so we don't spend all day together, but we often see each other at lunchtime or if Lissa and Christian are studying together, which is heaps. As well as guarding three or four days a week, we're rostered on to guard five nights a week, which usually means hanging out at home or going out with Lissa and Christian if they're going somewhere. The house is like a fortress, so as long as we're inside and the property is secure we don't have to actually stand on guard or stay awake all night.

Dimitri is doing a great job leading the team. I was a bit worried how it would be him being my brother and all but it's actually been good, he treats me the same as he does the others. I really like the seniors Celeste and Leslie. We take turns training together every morning, so sometimes Eddie and I train with Dimitri and Rose, and sometimes with Celeste and Leslie. I'm learning heaps still. I had no idea how unprepared new Guardians are for what we have to face, so I'm lucky to be on a team with three seniors showing me what I need to know.

We've had no attacks at Lehigh, so far, but I was involved in an attack outside Court just before we left. I was doing general duties when we encountered three Strigoi just outside the perimeter. Guardian Croft said it was probably a scouting party. There were three of us patrolling, and we took one down each. It was harder than I imagined, but I now have my first molnija.

Dimitri and Rose are still sickeningly in love. Her parents bought her a car for graduation and over summer Dimka was teaching her how to drive. It was the funniest thing you've ever seen, and I'm surprised Dimka has any hair left after that experience! Leslie, Dimka and I are trying to teach Eddie, Rose and Lissa Russian. Lissa can already speak, but she wants to get more fluent. Rose is picking it up quite well, particularly the swear words, but Eddie just doesn't seem to have an ear for it.

It's funny, even though we all live together, we have different things we do as well. Eddie and I have Monday nights off, so we've been going to Salsa dancing lessons. It wasn't something I'd considered before, but since we had the night off, and it's a quiet night on campus so not as many activities on, we gave it a go, and we love it. Eddie started out a pretty crappy dancer, but he's getting quite good, now! It's good having a day or two off during sunshine, too. Dimitri tries to make sure my days off coincide with Eddie's, but sometimes they'll be with one of the others, and so we'll hang out or do stuff together. It's nice – it's like being part of a big family.

Lissa and Christian are really lovely and not at all stuffy like you'd expect. Lissa and Rose are still best friends, and I thought that might be weird with Rose kind of being my best friend too, but it's not. Lissa and I are becoming friends in our own right, which is helping. Christian and Dimka are good friends now as well. They both love cooking so even though we're meant to take it in turns, more often than not we'll trade off, and the guys will cook, and we'll clear and stack the dishwasher.

We'll be heading back to Court in December when Dimka and Rose will be traveling to Russia. They're doing a teaching intensive at St. Basil's until March, but they'll be back in Baia for Christmas. I'm a little envious as it will be my first Christmas away from my family, but Lissa has promised we'll do something special at Court and it will be my first Christmas with Eddie, so that will make it special, too.

I miss Russia and my family, but being with Rose and Dimka helps a lot. We skype Baia every weekend, and Mama and Babushka were over for graduation and spent a week at Court when we moved from St. Vladimir's, so that helped. Pretty much all of our expenses are paid for here, so Eddie and I are saving and thought we'd come home for a visit either this summer or next. I promise when we do we'll come and see your little bundle of joy!

I haven't heard anything about the others from St. Basil's and what they're up to, so if you hear let me know. I hope everyone is doing well and pleased with their allocations.

I'd better run – it's time for me to get my Salsa shoes on!

Hope this finds you well and happy,
Love your friend Vika

March nearly 5 years after the St. Vladimir's graduation.

"I missed you so much," Dimitri groaned, pulling his wife into his arms.

"It was only a week Comrade," but secretly Rose agreed. A week with Lissa at Court, while Dimitri stayed on campus with Christian, was far too long apart! Her husband obviously had some intimate reconnecting in mind, but Rose swatted his hands away, needing to have a chat with him first.

Dimitri looked up in surprise. His Roza almost never refused him.

"Hold your horses, cowboy," she chided gently. "I have news to tell you first."

"Sex now gossip later," Dimitri growled childishly.

"Na ah," Rose laughed, wagging her finger at him. "You'll want to hear this…"

Dimitri sighed, pulling her onto his lap and sitting on the armchair in their bedroom at Lehigh. "Alright. Tell me all."

"Well," Rose started with her eyebrows raised, "I saw Demyan at Court!"

"Oh?" Dimitri said, vaguely interested. "What was he doing there?"

"He was there with Alberta. They've been doing some analysis of the Guardian outcomes for St. Basil's and St. Vladimir's graduates post the introduction of the combat intensives. They knew they've been helping, but not by how much. Turns out a third more Guardians are making it through their first year thanks to the additional teaching. Alberta and Demyan have been talking it over, and they had an idea on how to further improve things, and they wanted to run it past Tatiana."

"So what do they have in mind?"

"Well, they said the downfall at all the schools at the moment is the students get taught only what the teachers know, which is why you and Mom doing the teaching intensives has helped because you're bringing in practical knowledge. But it's still the cart leading the horse."

Dimitri looked at Rose in confusion. English expressions like that still confused him at times.

"It means it's the wrong way around," Rose explained seeing Dimitri's perplexed expression. "Alberta and Demyan want to work on a curriculum and then find the right people to do the intensives. They said if the two months of specialized teaching has done so much, imagine what five years of that could do. So they want to get a group of teachers, Guardians, former students and the like together to work out what needs to be taught. And not just for combat – they want to do it for all the Guardian training subjects, even the theory ones!"

"That's HUGE," Dimitri gasped, the full potential of the idea revealing itself to him. "This could completely change what we teach and how we prepare Guardians!"

"I know!" Rose grinned at him. "Alberta was saying that once they know what's needed, they can approach experienced Guardians to come back to the schools for two to six-week stints to focus on specific skills. Students would still have a regular teacher who'd be there all year and tie it all in together, but they'd be getting taught by the best of the best!"

"Wow," Dimitri murmured. "What an exciting project!"

"Well, I'm glad you think so because Demyan wants us to be part of it. They're going to be running it from St. Basil's from June this year. They're anticipating it will take a year and a half, although there'll be some parts run out of St. Vladimir's as well as St. Christopher's and Alden. But the idea is each year level, and subject will be overhauled. They're going to fly the necessary staff in and out so a thorough job can be done with it. Demyan and Alberta were both pushing hard for us to take part due to our experience at both locations and you being the instigator of the intensives at St. Basil's. Mom's already signed on to take part, too."

"So where does that leave guarding Lissa and Christian?"

"Well, it wouldn't be starting until after they graduate and return to Court. Christian will be doing his internship, and Lissa is going to spend that year working closely with Tatiana, so they'll both be well protected, and I'm sure Celeste, Leslie, Eddie, and Vika could be convinced to stay on so they have guards they know and trust. We'd be reallocated for the duration, but I'll be asking for a guarantee we go back to guarding Lissa and Christian when we return. Tatiana's talking about retiring in two and a half years time, so time wise it fits in perfectly."

"Could you do it, though? You struggle being away from Lissa even during our intensives at St. Basil's. Could you manage a whole year and a half?" Dimitri asked, eyeing his wife dubiously.

"Well at least a couple of parts would be done at St. Vlad's, so we'd need to fly back here a few times. And Tatiana will probably fly over to check the progress at least once so she could bring Lissa then. I know it will be hard, but we'll manage it, particularly if I have other big things going on to occupy my mind," Rose said a little evasively.

"You're keen on doing it, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I think this is our chance to make a lasting difference, Dimitri. Can you imagine how many Dhampir lives could be saved?"

"You're right," he said looking at his wife proudly. "Where do we sign up?"

Rose smiled. "Well I thought you might feel that way, so Demyan's putting together an allocation contract for us to consider. He'll have it here in the next day or so, but I don't see any surprises. You'll still be teaching while we're there. It will be the same number of hours but spread over more weeks, and we'd have weekends free to visit Baia as usual. I'll be focussed on the admin side of the project or anything else that comes up. I thought we might take a few weeks off before we start and go via Turkey to see Mom and Baba? We have a truckload of leave accrued."

"That sounds good. I know you miss them and I'm feeling the need for some time off. Hey? Did you realize that means we'll be in Russia for my thirtieth? I can't even remember the last time I had a birthday at home," Dimitri mused. "It's been at least eight years."

"Yes, I know," Rose said softly, bringing her lips to his. "I've already started planning your present!"

"Hmm, is that right?" he murmured. "Do I get any hints?!"

"Maybe," Rose laughed, deepening the kiss and straddling her Russian God.

The two of them made out, slowly pulling off each other's clothes. While talking about revolutionising the Novice training program was exciting, right now Dimitri needed his excitement assuaged a little closer to home!

"What happened to your arm?" Dimitri asked, looking at a cotton square with a plastic membrane over the top on Rose's inner arm.

"Well," Rose said, looking up at him through her lashes, "I thought if we got started now I'd have time to make that present I was thinking about for your birthday…"

Dimitri looked at her in bewilderment. He had no idea what she meant.

Rose laughed. "With me on desk duty for a year and a half, it would be a good time to progress one of our long-term goals…"

Dimitri was still clueless. Rose was giving him every hint, and he just wasn't getting it.

"Comrade?" she said softly, giving him her tenderest look, "I had the doctor at Court remove my contraceptive implant. If you're ready, I thought for your birthday I might try and give you a baby."