Who: Dimitri, Viktoria, and a little baby Belikova When: Today Where: The Inn What: Uncle Dimka is relaxed and happy. Warnings: Doubtful
There wasn't much about the night of Lilya's birth that Dimitri remembered clearly. He'd been so concerned for her well being and the possibility of another attack that he and Azazeal had been discussing ways to keep the inn secure. Connor had volunteered with his family to help make patrols and even though knowing there were no unwelcome demons lurking in the area, he was still on edge. Then she went into labor and he was even more on edge. He could only manage to stay in the room with her for so long because he knew he wasn't doing her or himself any good by pacing the room back and forth. He'd ask himself if his nieces and nephews taken this long to be born. Had Viktoria taken this long herself? He'd been a young boy when she was born, but he didn't remember how long it had been mostly because he'd been kept in a separate room with his sisters while Yeva tended to their mother.
All of his anxiety washed away the moment Liliya was placed in his arms for the first time. It wasn't the first time he'd ever held a baby and it wasn't the first time one of his sisters had given birth, but he still was dumbstruck and stared at the little baby girl in awe. A little girl who technically shouldn't exist because her mother had already experienced one miracle when she was restored as he was not all that long ago. Now he was holding another sort of miracle in his hands.
A few days had passed and they'd all stayed close to the Inn. Dimitri knew that the prison and his responsibilities there were calling to him, but he wasn't ready to leave yet. Viktoria and Liliya were more important to him than any title. He was glad to have Rose and the rest of the Moroi there with him and he was glad to see the few people who did stop by to see Viktoria and the baby. There was still the possibility of a threat to show up out of the blue, but for the first time in a while he felt relaxed. Actually, he'd felt very relaxed during the rage virus which was ironic given how a lot of the others were, but it was a different sort of relaxed. Now he felt comfortable and at home. He still hoped that one day soon when it was safe and Liliya had grown some that Azazeal could help the Belikovs take a visit back to Baia to see their family and show off the new edition.
After a round of patrols outside the inn, Dimitri retired to the room where Viktoria was staying. She was resting, so he shut the door behind him quietly and took a quick peek inside the crib to check on Liliya. Bright eyes squinted up at him and he smiled one of those rare Dimitri smiles that few ever got to see. She was squirming out from her the blanket she'd been wrapped up in, so he picked her up and settled her into his arms. Gently, he sat down on the bed next to Viktoria and rested Liliya against his legs for support. In Russian, he whispered verses of an old Russian folk tale, a skazka, about the little girl and Baba Yaga. Traditionally, it involved a horrid stepmother, but Dimitri always switched the parental roles so that in the end the mother shot the father instead of the father shooting the mother.
He was in the middle of the story where the brave little girl escape Baba Yaga to return home when he felt Viktoria stir next to him. He smiled to himself but went on to finish the story only to conclude it with one of his favorite lines as a child as told by the narrator, "And I was there, and I drank mead and beer: it ran down my mustache, but didn't get into my mouth."