RPOV
After the kidnap fail, Lissa was put on med's that blocked her from the magic and stabilised her mood. As for Jenée and her magic... I didn't want to even think about thinking about it. At two years old, it was hard to stop her from healing me or Dimitri. Jen didn't fully grasp why she shouldn't heal us and she struggled to fight the instinctive need to take away her parents' pain. She listened to us when Dimitri and I told her off, no matter how hard she found not touching the magic.
After visiting Victor, I also knew how Jenée existed. I strongly disliked how he had figured out who Jen's father was and my relationship with Dimitri. How could I ever be sure he wouldn't ever expose my secrets? That question was another worry I didn't want to think about.
Four days after that same visit and killing Natalie I was in guardian admin with our resident tattoo specialist receiving my first molnija for my third kill.
"She won't have the promise mark," commented Lionel while analysing my blank-canvas neck. The molnija's were two lightning bolts that crossed to form an x shape; meanwhile, the promise mark was a stretched out S-shaped mark that ran up the middle of the necks of guardians when they graduated and swore to love and die to protect the Moroi. It was nearly unheard of for a novice to make a kill, but I had done it again and this time I had to be marked for it. All novices saw the molnija's as badges of honour, but my opinion had changed. This tattoo was going to be a horrible reminder of killing someone I had called a friend, even if she had betrayed both me and Lissa through colluding with her father. She had been a friend who made a mistake or few and had given up all her morals and her magic to win her father's favor, and I had been the one to end that.
"It happens," Alberta sighed, "do the molnija. We'll add the promise mark later."
With that, I leaned my head forward and let Lionel have full access to my neck. I bit my lip when the needle stung while biting into the sensitive skin and irritated it. I would not let Jenée see a needle causing me pain.
When Lionel was done some time later, he let me see the mark in a couple of mirrors then bandaged it and gave me some instructions to take care of it while it healed. I'm sure Dimitri would remind me later.
The first person to come see me was Dimitri with Jen on his hip. He handed her to me.
"Momma hurt?" my daughter asked while peeking at my neck.
"Jenée Luca Hathaway," I warned with narrowed eyes, "No. Don't even think about it."
Dimitri smiled at me when she frowned in annoyance. "You're good." He rested a hand on my cheek while his face sobered. "Both at being her Mom and being a guardian. You didn't hesitate and I'm proud of that."
I gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."
"Stop hogging Rose, Dimitri Belikov," Alberta chastised from her spot behind him; she was second in line.
Dimitri shot me a look of pure love and support that warmed my heart.
"Mitri!" Jen demanded to be handed back after kissing my cheek. I'm pretty sure the whole room of guardians laughed. I know I certainly cracked a full smile and laughed.
"Your manners, Jenée?" he asked in English then must have repeated it in Russian. Jen's face lit up as she responded. Also in Russian before babbling away once on his hip again.
Alberta gave me a hug. "Now you're completely one of us, promise mark or not."
"Thank you," I murmured.
"I look forward to seeing Jenée follow in your footsteps and also develop into a gifted young guardian."
"Only without the kills before graduation."
She nodded. "Agreed."
Even Stan had a few kind words. "Welcome to the ranks, Hathaway. I hope to see you pay more attention in my class now." He may as well have been giving me a kiss on the lips given our antagonistic hate-hate relationship.
I shook my head. "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction. And thank you."
No one said congratulations and for that I was thankful. This event may as well have been a wake for Natalie for almost all intents and purposes.
When I found Dimitri again he was on the phone. I gave him a curious look.
"She's free now, I'll hand you over." Dimitri passed the phone and mouthed that it was my mother.
"What a surprise, Mom. And you called Dimitri's number, of any of the campus guardians's?"
"I figured you'd be closest to Belikov since he hogs my granddaughter." The way she said my granddaughter with such affection made my heart swell with hope, joy, and even love. Maybe we could actually rebuild a mother-daughter relationship. I doubted it would ever be as strong as the one I worked tirelessly to have with Jenée, but maybe it would be so much better than this resentment and distance that existed between us currently.
"He does not 'hog' Jen, Jenée Luca Hathaway hogs him."
I swear I heard a laugh escape my mother's mouth. "Believe what you want. Anyway, I just called to say I'm proud of you. Even with Jen you're becoming the guardian I've always hoped you would be."
"Wow. Okay. Thanks. Do you want to say hi to Jen? Be warned she likes to prattle on in Russian these days."
"Russian? Really?"
"It's all a certain Guardian Dimitri Belikov's- aka Mitri's- fault. He's been teaching her both when I'm around and when he's got her for the last two classes of the day."
"Well tell him to stop. She's your daughter after all."
"I've tried. She won't stop asking him to ignore me and teach her more. Anyway, do you want to say hi to her?"
I heard a smile in her voice when she agreed. "Yes, please, Rose."
"Hey Jen! Nana's on the phone! Come say hi."
"Nana?" she asked excitedly and ran over to me. I picked her up and put Mom on speaker.
"Hello Jenée."
"Hi Nana!"
I tuned out and let them have their time. I truly did want Mom and Jen to bond in a way Mom and I hadn't.

Just over a week later, I had to leave Jenée with Lissa, Christian, and Ms Meisner so I could go to my Qualifier. Ms Meisner was a magic teacher like Ms Carmack and just as kind. Lissa was spending most of today researching spirit even if she couldn't touch the magic. Christian was going to be there both as moral support for Lissa and to entertain Jen.
"Liss, please don't let Christian practice magic in front of Jenée."
Curiosity burned through the bond and showed clearly on her face. "Why?"
I guess it was time to bite the bullet and tell her. "She's got magic," I whispered, "and I absolutely don't want her using it. I don't know what she's capable of, so I don't want to come back and have her throwing fireballs at people she doesn't like. I don't want her playing with any of the elements, period."
"Wow. Okay. I'll do my best. But you know Christian, he doesn't exactly listen."
"Tell him it's Mother's orders and I'll hound his ass if he does."
Despite wanting to defend her boyfriend and be offended on his behalf, Lissa laughed. "I'll tell him. Now go. You can't be late for this."
I nodded. "Thanks Liss. I'll see you later. Kay?"
She gave me a quick hug and I sprinted off to find Dimitri in the garages.

The tough mentor look he was giving me was priceless. "I know I'm late, sorry." Though, if I knew him well enough, he'd asked me to meet him at least half an hour early.
"You're lucky this time I asked you to be here an hour and a half early," he told me while opening the passenger door to a Honda Pilot. What was this? Coop illegal lovers up for however long day? Please tell me someone else was coming to relieve the tension so I could focus!
"Is anyone else coming?" I tried my best to hide my freak out.
He shook his head. "No. It's just us." His eyes portrayed his real emotions. He was completely fine with this. Oh god. What next!
"How far away is it?" I asked once Dimitri was sitting in the driver's seat. He just had to be behind the wheel, didn't he?
"Five hours," Dimitri said as if it was nothing.
"Oh."
I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or not. It wasn't near enough alone time with Dimitri, but it made our destination too far away from Jenée. Speaking of my daughter, I changed the topic to distract myself from the way Dimitri's clean, sharp scent from his aftershave filled the car and made me weak at the knees. "Will we be able to go to Missoula on the way back? I need to get that crazy daughter of mine a Christmas present... or three."
Dimitri chuckled and reached across the console to place a hand on my knee. Did he have to? Not that you'll be finding me complaining. "It's one reason I asked you to meet me so early. I want to get her something too- if you'll let me, that is."
I laughed and took his hand in both of mine. I loved what those hands of his could do to me. Oh, ENOUGH, Rose! Big test taking you away from your baby, remember that? Yeah. Focus on that. And answering Dimitri's question. "You don't need to ask, Comrade. She's made herself your baby as much as mine."
If I'd thought Dimitri's stern-mentor face earlier had been priceless it was nothing compared to the way he melted and relaxed when I acknowledged the rights Jenée had given him when she made him her father figure. "Thank you, Roza."
"There's no need to thank me, but you're welcome."

Silence fell in the car and I was left wondering about the Qualifier. It was a Junior-year novice test you either passed or didn't. High ranked guardians visited Academies and individually interviewed students. The whole thing was shrouded in mystery because no one knew what was actually assessed until they'd been through it. Though rumours said they assessed character and dedication, and some had been deemed unfit to continue on and graduate.

The quiet got to me after a while. I missed Jen's chatter, even her Russian ramblings. "Why are we going to them? Don't they usually come to us?"
A cheeky look crossed my lover's gorgeous, handsome face and his brown eyes sparkled with a secret. What was he hiding? "You're just going to a him. And since he's doing us the favour, we're visiting him."
"Who?"
A grin crossed his face and I suddenly knew.
"No! You're Not taking me to Arthur Schoenberg... you are! Dimitri, why?" I pleaded. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Arthur Schoenberg was a retired head of the Guardian Council who now protected a Badica family. We studied his history of exploits in our curriculum and nearly half of the standard novice repertoire was because of him. And I'd known for a while Dimitri was in favor with him.
"I told him I needed to sort out your Qualifier and he offered." Dimitri smiled. "Besides, if he approves of you it bodes well to you being assigned to Lissa."
"We are fixing that come graduation. Right?"
Dimitri brought my hand to his lips. "Yes, we will. Nothing can ever tear me from you, or Jen. You have no idea how much I love you, both of you."
I grinned and sighed happily. "We love you too, Comrade."

Silence engulfed us again and I was left questioning if I could match his standards. My grades were good, sure, but taking Lissa on the run for over two years and all the fights I'd gotten in, plus Jenée, meant I may not have been able to redeem myself even with all the tests I'd had to take the first few weeks I'd been back. I doubted even a kill would be enough prove my dedication.

"You'll be fine, Roza. Not even Jen can take your future from you." Why did he have to be able to read my mind sometimes?
"Thanks, Coach," I teased. I was still trying to ignore the urge to kiss him. And do so much more to shared the heat that- No, Rose!
"I'm here to help," he returned the light note and kissed the back of my hand again. From the look on his face I realised I wasn't the only one fighting the urge to- No! Just... NO!
"You know what would help? Is if you changed this crap music off and put on a kids station."
Dimitri laughed. "Rose, human kids aren't up at this hour, remember?"
"Then it's lucky my iPod wasn't confiscated."
"Fine," he chuckled, "on the condition there's eighties or country kids music on it."
I groaned. "You're horrible. You know that, right?"
"You didn't seem to think so a couple of weeks ago."
I blushed and looked out the side window. "Don't go there! It's already tense enough." I whined.

I convinced Dimitri to stop in at a 24 hour diner.
"Table for two?" the hostess batted her eye lashes at Dimitri. Dimitri grabbed my hand and squeezed.
"Yes, please."
The hostess named Hanna, according to her badge had bleached blond had, blue eyes I'm pretty sure were contacts, a fake tan as obvious as the sun at human midday, and Horrendous flirting skills. I almost laughed, if I weren't so angry. I knew Dimitri was hotter than smokin' hot, but that didn't mean you were allowed to hit on someone else's boyfriend in front of said girlfriend. Especially when she could kick your ass in less than two seconds flat.
I sat at right angles to Dimitri. Hanna handed over menus, ensuring Dimitri got a face-full of A-cup boobs. She didn't notice when Dimitri averted his gaze and caught my own. He mouthed 'only you, so settle'.
I pouted and he surprised the hell out of me when he pecked my lips.
"We're out of town- way out of it," he whispered in my ear when he noticed my surprised look.
"What was that about?" I asked after I noticed Hanna- aka the slutty waitress- had left.
"I love you and you looked ready to murder her. You're too precious to end up in jail because of jealousy. Besides, I share your child with you, remember?"
"What are we going to do about her next year, Dimitri? I don't want her at the Academy, but you'll be who knows where with who knows whom." I heard the anguish in my voice. Judging by Dimitri's compassionate expression he caught it too.
"I don't want her there either"
"But what other options are there?"
"I'm sure Lissa could pull strings at Court, get her tutors."
I pursed my lips. "I don't like asking those things of her. Anyway, we'll be at College, possibly across the country. I mean, there's likely a day care on campus, but the expense," I shook my head and sighed, "it's an incredible rip off. And I'm not sure I could leave her there all day. And what about when she misses you? There's only so much FaceTime and Skype can do."
The hostess returned with my Pepsi and Dimitri's lemonade. She shot me a dirty look when she thought Dimitri wasn't paying attention. I ordered a steak sandwich with salad and a side order of fries. Dimitri ordered a pork roll and salad.
"If we can't work with that then we have to leave her at the Academy... or... or we could move her to Russia in the interim."
"I couldn't possibly ask that of your family! I know you say they'll love me and that they'd love her just as much. But three years with them is too long. I could possibly handle it a month or two at a time, but I couldn't hand her over to them and have her impose on them for three full years."
Dimitri's hand shot out and gently cupped the left side of my face. I couldn't help but lean into the comforting touch. I placed a butterfly kiss on the heel of his hand. "They wouldn't see it as imposing, Roza. Just like you, if she's my family then she's theirs. I could ring Mama now and she'd instantly agree with nearly no explanation."
I shook my head. "I couldn't do it. We couldn't pay them enough- she's high-maintenance and you know it, Comrade."
"The only other option is forking out the extra fees for another three years at the Academy."
I groaned and collapsed onto his shoulder. "I could never wish I didn't have her, I just wish you hadn't made me bring her into our society. I've only ever planned on sending her to a normal school."
Dimitri wrapped one arm around me and held me closer to him. "Could you really have managed being on the run for the rest of her life?"
"It was easier to manage and plan her future and our present. Now..." I sighed again. "Now there's too many extra factors. One being the wages and that ruins it all."
"I know it's the hardest on you, but you really should consider sending her to Russia in the meantime. It's the cheapest option and she'll be so loved and have so much direct attention."
"I know, Comrade. But what if she comes to resent me for it?"
"She won't. We'll see her every time we take time off."
He made it sound so easy. I wish it was that simple. She was my baby, my miracle, my Princess. I know she's turned into a Daddy's girl, but she was still my world. How could I handle being six thousand miles away from her round-the-clock for months on end? I don't know if I could survive. "I don't know if I could stand her being nearly ten thousand miles away. What if she sees Christian playing with fire tonight and copy's him then burns your mother's house down? What then?"
"Then she's probably played with water too and could put it out before it burns the house down."
"You make it sound so easy..."
Dimitri pressed a gentle kiss to my head. "It could be that easy, but I don't know how hard it is to think of being so far away from her. Right now, I hate my job for taking me from our baby."
"How did my Mom hand me over when I was four and nearly never look back?"
"I don't know, Roza, I don't know."
"Tell me about them, what's changed?"
Dimitri's face lit up. "Karo had a baby. A little girl. She'd have to be only about three or four months younger than Jenée. Her name's Zoya and apparently she looks like every other girl in the family. Yeva's hanging in there. Randall still hasn't visited again, thank The Lord."
"That's, what? A decade now?"
Dimitri nodded. "Yeah. Not that my mother would let him in the house ever again."
I grinned at him. "You are one amazing man, Comrade. It's no wonder I'm so in love with you."
Dimitri leaned in and smiled against my lips. "You hold me together, but."
The only thing I could do was kiss him as if my life depended on it. "You reckon you could hold me together if I agreed to send Jenée out to Russia?"
Dimitri nodded. "I think we could hold each other together."
I took a deep breath. "Then let's make that the plan for her for the next few years. Let's surround her with her Russian family."
Dimitri's smile was invaluable. "Oh Roza, honey. They'll take great care of her, I promise."

The only other stop we made was for gas. There was two philosophies about Moroi living out in the human world. If you didn't subscribe to getting lost in the crowd in the big cities you subscribe to the theory this Badica branch did, where you weren't noticed in smaller towns because there was fewer people to notice you. This family also-guessing by the smoking chimney, TV, and lights on in the wood-sided, bay-windowed, single-story rambler- lived on a schedule somewhere between the human and nocturnal.
"Time to shine, Rose," Dimitri smiled before jumping out of the Pilot.
The snow was easily an inch thick, but the river rock sidewalk had been salted. Being night, Dimitri walked close to me to subtly slipped me his replacement spare stake.
When we reached the front door Dimitri knocked. The one and only Arthur Schoenberg opened the door. Oh god. Help! My nerves spiked. I was Rose Hathaway, the mother who'd killed two Strigoi while pregnant at the age of 15, but I was scared of the legend in front of me.
He offered both of us smiles and a handshake after welcoming us in the door.
"Dimitri. And you must be her," his blue eyes sparkled just a little but more and his smile widened a little, too. "You must be Rose Hathaway. Dimitri's told me a number of good things about you."
"Don't listen to him, Guardian Schoenberg, he's known me since I was thirteen and was my biased mentor even back then."
"Rose," Dimitri chastised while Arthur led us into the lounge room.
"It's true, though."
"Don't stress, either of you. Joanne, Miss Hathaway's here for her Qualifier. Dimitri, feel free to sit anywhere and make yourself at home again. I'm not letting you influence Miss Hathaway anymore than you already have by mentoring her. So, shoo."
"Rose, please, Guardian Schoenberg."
Dimitri nodded at Arthur then sent me a reassuring smile. "Do this for Lissa and Jenée."
"Dimitri, shoo! She'll be fine. You know I don't bite." Arthur had to be older than Alberta, maybe on the cusp of middle sixties, but he still had a spritely vibe and lethal aura. His free-from-greys dirty-blond hair and minimal wrinkles proved as much. So did the cheeky smile he sent me. It was nothing like the cheeky smiles Dimitri sent me, it had what I guessed to be the feel of a lively, youthful grandparent's. I felt reassured by that smile. Maybe this would be a smoother process than I previously thought.

I shot Dimitri a 'behave' look before following Arthur to a study. He sat on one side of the IKEA style desk that was at odds to the rest of the house's furniture. He gestured for me to sit opposite him.
"So, Rose, I guess my first question would have to be: Who is Jenée?"
"Jenée- or Jen, for short- is my 29 month old daughter." She technically wasn't until Monday, but it was only two days later so I didn't care about the difference.
"If I'm right, you were on the run with Princess Dragomir at the time you were pregnant with her. How did you balance motherhood with guarding?"
"I'm surprised I didn't miscarry with the way we escaped; I didn't know I was three months pregnant at the time. To be frank, Guardian Schoenberg, I can't quite explain how I managed it. I took Lissa everywhere with me. I used the then-advanced techniques Dim-"
Arthur laughed when he noticed I was going to correct myself. "You've known him long enough, so just call him Dimitri as you obviously normally do."
"Thanks. Anyway, I used the techniques Dimitri had taught me: Carnegie's Quadrant Surveillance," I continued to list the main techniques I'd used and the kills I'd made while pregnant. "When Jen was born- early at that- I moved us again and we went to one of those schools that has a crèche. We stayed in at night and shared a room. Jen had this habit of waking me up just before one of Lissa's recurring dreams would. I always went to bed after both Lissa and Jen had gone to sleep and was up again before both once Jen started sleeping through the night. I still kept waking every couple of hours even when Jen started sleeping through the night. Then I started night potty training her about six months ago now, and neither Jen nor I went back to sleep after two in the human morning. When Jen started walking, she walked between Lissa and me. It's hard to explain, it was just sort of... natural to adapt at each stage."
Then he asked the question I never wanted to hear. "If you had to choose your charge and your daughter, who would you save?"
"It would break my heart, but I would pick my charge. Hopefully Jen could hold her own, even if it was just run away."
His wise blue eyes studied me. "You still might hesitate, you still might choose your daughter."
I shook my head when I thought of her magic. Could she learn to use fire as a weapon to save herself? "I know she's strong. Beside's... Dimitri's family is taking her in until she can go to St Vlad's to start first grade. Then she'll be at the Academy."
"And if she visits after she graduates and your charge is Princess Dragomir?"
"Then we'd team up to protect Liss."
Arthur nodded approvingly with a thoughtful expression.
After answering a few questions about training with Dimitri, killing Natalie and my role in the whole saving Lissa from Dashkov even by taking her on the run- how he knew about that I'll never know- he smiled again. Then he said the words I hadn't expected. "Well, Rose, I think one day you and Dimitri will be legends in your own right and I am honored to tell you I see no reason to take your graduation from you. Dimitri's high praise is well deserved and I agree with his judgements even if that Headmistress of yours doesn't. Welcome to the ranks, and feel free to call me Art."

We returned to the lounge and I grinned at a very restless and anxious Dimitri. "I did it!" I squealed in a whisper.
"You should be proud of her, Dimitri, very proud of her. I think the future of guarding theory, attitudes, and techniques rest in her hands."
Dimitri grinned and pulled me into a hug after asking me with his eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Rose. I always have been."
I squeezed back and stepped away, much as I would've stayed in his warm, completing embrace for the rest of my life. "Th- oh shit!" That nausea hit me just before the glass shattered and the door was forced open. In came the Strigoi. Strigoi don't get the jump on me anymore. Chaos ensued and the last thing I registered before battle-lust took over was that Art, Dimitri, Joanne, another resident guardian I didn't know the name of, and I created a circle around the family even though one of the kids had already had her neck snapped. They don't get to kill kids. Not while I'm on watch. I saw red and channeled my fury into firepower.

"No," I cried when we had finished battling and started analysing. "No! No, no, no!" I sobbed. Little Julie Badica was dead along with her older sister and brother. How had I not saved them! How had I failed to save the children?
"Rose," Dimitri's honey accent called to my soul. But I couldn't listen. I just stared at the bodies of the innocent two year old and five year old girls and six year old boy and tried to stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks. The only non-Strigoi fatalities were the kids and Joanne. How had I let the Strigoi get to the kids? I was at fault. I had an alarm but hadn't reacted quick enough. I hadn't been fast enough with my strikes to the Strigoi hearts. I did this!
"Rose," another male voice said and arms that weren't Dimitri's embraced me. "This isn't your fault. You saved me. You saved Mom, Aunt Hallie and Uncle Drew. You saved Guardian Belikov and Schoenberg."
"But I let them die! I let the babies die, Peter! It is my fault. I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't strong enough."
"Let me deal with her, Peter," Dimitri gently extracted me from one on my my Moroi classmate's arms then from the house.
"I let them die, Dimitri!" I sobbed into his chest. "I let the babies die! I let Julie die." She could've been great friends with Jen.
"Shhh." Dimitri ran a hand through my hair and let sweet Russian nothings fall from his lips while the sunrise creeped on breaking around us, bathing us in the only warmth and safety we had left. And even that was dubious because somehow humans were now Strigoi minions.

DPOV
Rose cried herself to sleep in my arms. After locking her in the car I returned to the house to help with the investigation. But Art waved me off. "Go get you and Rose cleaned up. I'm pretty sure I know who has how many kills, so get Rose home. She needs her friend and her daughter right now, she needs you to get her home. So go. We can handle this." He gestured to Tamara and her SWAT team colleagues. "Can't we, Tammy?"
"Of course, Art. I was taught by the best."
I could just hear Rose's indignant 'Hey!' Then again, she's biased in my favor.

She still saw me as invincible, as some kind of god. The irony was that she's my greatest weakness, she's my Achilles heel, and for all her insane talent for reading me, she hasn't figured out how scared I am of letting her down, of disappointing her. She doesn't realise I want to give her the world but am terrified of not being able to make her happy and do what she wants and needs because I don't have the power. I'm scared I'll one day lose her to a Moroi who can throw money away on showering her with gifts and bouquets of roses and flowers every other day. I had been unnerved enough by the way Ivan bathed her gifts, god rest his soul. I was still unnerved by what he'd given to her in his will, what she was yet to receive.

As soon as I started the Pilot's ignition Rose woke. Damn it!
"Babe, we should get you cleaned up then go home."
Rose frowned and shook her head. "I don't wanna go straight back to the Academy. I wanna go shopping for Jen, to take my mind off it. And I have the worst headache ever!"
I reached across to the bag on the seat behind her. "Here, there's stuff in there that should help."
"I can't go through your bag, Comrade."
"Yes, you can. If it's mine, it's yours. I don't get how you can say that when you're harbouring half my shirts and at least two pairs of sweatpants. First aid should be front pocket, bottle of water and the food you made me buy should be in the main part."
"Don't turn this on me," she teased.

"Are you sure you still want to go shopping?" I asked Rose when we were approaching Missoula.
"Yup. It's not like we can come before Christmas next week."
"Well then, the mall is waiting for us."
"The mall waits for no one," she shot back playfully.
I couldn't not smile at her resilience. She has always been one of the strongest people I know and it's one of the major reasons I love her.

"Where are you?" Alberta demanded the millisecond I answered. Rose was looking at getting Jen a trike from the both of us.
"Missoula. I did warn you Rose would want to go Christmas shopping for Jenée."
Rose caught my eye and gestured between a Little Mermaid themed trike with blue and pink streamers or a Winnie-the-Pooh one with red and yellow streamers. I pointed to The Little Mermaid themed one. Jen was Disney Princesses obsessed so it was the obvious choice.
"Well get her back here ASAP because we have a situation with Jenée."
"What sort?"
"She burned a hole in the roof of Meisner's classroom. With. Magic."
My eyes locked on Rose's and I knew she knew.
"I'm going to make Christian regret babysitting her today. He's not going to get to babysit her again until she's learned her control. I warned Lissa, I really did. This is why I'm scared to leave her side."
"Later, Alberta." I hung up and focused on Rose. "Settle, Rose. Everything will be fine."

"Jenée Luca Hathaway," Rose chastised the second she laid eyes on her in Alberta's office. "I told you: No. Magic. I told Aunt Lissa to make sure Christian didn't play with fire while around you. Now, say sorry to Alberta and Ms Meisner or Mommy will tell Santa you don't want Christmas presents."
Jenée's face looked so guilty it made my heart break. "Sorry Alberta, sorry Ms M."
"Good girl. I think Mitri will need to work on your impulse control."
"Rose, we want to know how it's possible for her to use magic," Ms Meisner commented. "The only way I see that happening is through running a DNA test."
Rose's face set into an expression only anything Jenée-related could bring about. "No," she said in a dangerous voice. "You are never experimenting on my child." The look in my partner's eyes was one of sheer protectiveness and defiance. "I have the final say as her mother, and that is you are never touching her. I'll die before I let you experiment on my daughter."
Alberta and Meisner both looked a little shaken by Rose's maternal instincts flaring up. "How else do you expect to figure out-"
"When Lissa bonded me, she must have sent spirit into my eggs. I don't care if you think there's other explanations, because this isn't going to get out. I won't have her subjected to extra bullying from this age. She's still a baby!"