Author's Notes:

No mature sexual content this chapter, but you'll definitely see it next chapter.

Important note at the end about release posting.

-=o0/&\0o=-

Rose worried her lip as she waited for the last student to exit Dimitri's classroom after detention, slowly packing up her books into her bag and trying to look busy. Once he had left, Rose could feel Dimitri's heat at her side before she saw him there.

"So, Comrade," she began, "before we go back to your place, there's something I need to ask you."

Dimitri must've seen the look in Rose's eyes, because he didn't reply.

"It hasn't escaped my parents' notice that I've been spending a lot of time texting you in the evenings lately and ... well, they noticed I was going out for a date on Saturday. I told them I was back with Adrian, and my mom told me that she should meet my new boyfriend." Rose cleared her throat. "My parents don't usually take such an active role in my life, but this time ..." Rose let out a big breath, "I think, because of everything that happened with Adrian when we broke up ... my parents want to meet him." Rose paused to let that sink in. "They said that they expect my 'boyfriend' to come to Thanksgiving dinner if they can't meet him before then."

Dimitri's eyebrows were practically flying to the ceiling at Rose's words. "But that's only a week away."

"Do you have any ideas on what we could do?" Rose asked, "Is there someone else we could have show up to be my 'boyfriend'? A stand-in?"

"No one that I can think of. And if they wanted to really grill the person with any hard questions, this could all fall apart."

Rose frowned. "Right. So do we just have you not show up? They wouldn't really like that, either. Otherwise, it almost has to be you. But how we'd pull that off is a mystery."

Dimitri scratched his chin. "Your parents didn't show up for fall parent-teacher conferences. At least, not to talk to me about Lissa."

"They won't, either. They don't for either of us, but especially not for Lissa. Her grades are always golden."

"I've noticed," Dimitri said, "she's the only student I've ever had who asked for extra credit less than two weeks into the semester. And she has gotten straight A's on everything I've handed out. But what happens if I have you in my class next semester?"

"Dimitri, I thought you were smarter than that. Weren't you the guy who's all about reading here? I read through that whole non-disclosure agreement. And some of the other stuff Ivan gave me about Title Nine. If you have me in your class next semester, we have much bigger problems to worry about."

"Okay, so maybe I just come as myself and we don't talk about being a teacher. How do they feel about the age difference?"

"Well," Rose chewed on her lip again, "they weren't super about the age difference with Adrian and that's half the age difference between you and I."

"Do they need to know how old I am?" Dimitri asked, "Is that something that has to come up?"

Rose ran her eyes up and down Dimitri's tall frame. "What are the chances they won't ask? Really? You don't exactly look seventeen."

Dimitri thought for a moment, scratching his chin again and looking at the ceiling. "I have an idea."

'Let's hear it, Comrade."

-=o0/&\0o=-

"The turkey will be sliced and on the table in twenty minutes," Rose's father called from the kitchen, in his melodic Turkish accent that reminded Rose of home.

Rose sniffed the air around her. The appealing scent of her father's homemade turkey and stuffing wafted through the house, but even with the grumbling of her stomach, it did nothing to quash Rose's nerves. She had inherited her inability to cook from her mother, but Abe had proven again and again to have been surprisingly adept in the kitchen and she knew from the smell that their Thanksgiving dinner would be more than delicious.

Rose was bouncing on her toes in the entryway, glancing at the clock on her phone. Three more minutes. She knew how much Janine 'Hard Ass' Hathaway had valued punctuality. For Janine, "early is on time" was a life motto.

She glanced again. Still three minutes. Rose was grateful that it wasn't already too late - or later than the last time she looked, but that battled with the nerves of what would happen when Dimitri arrived. She tapped her foot and began searching for a game to play on her phone or a book to read. With resignation, she opened Angry Birds and began searching for a level she hadn't beaten already.

After two more levels, she checked the time again. Two minutes left. She closed up her phone, slipped it in her pocket, and began picking at some old polish on one of her fingernails. She loved to have them painted, but with her active lifestyle, she always seemed to let them become unkempt before she painted them again. Her last manicure had been weeks ago. The day after the assembly when Dimitri took me relentlessly in a room full of people, Rose thought to herself, heat running along her spine with the thought.

The sound of a loud engine rumbled and her heart flipped. Rose would know the sound of that Camaro anywhere. A few moments later, the doorbell rang and Rose threw open the door before anyone else could arrive.

"Dimitri," she breathed, taking in the sight of him in his dress shirt and tie, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a small box in the other. She let her eyes linger on his abs and his full package.

"Roza," Dimitri whispered, pulling her into a hug and kissing her on the cheek, "If you don't stop looking at my shaft, I'm going to get an erection in front of your parents."

Rose averted her eyes and felt her cheeks heat.

"The flowers are for your mother and I brought some Russian black bread - my mother's recipe," Dimitri said, "I thought about bringing a bottle of wine, but it seemed a bad idea to draw attention to the fact that I'm old enough to buy alcohol."

"Drinking the wine probably would've been alright. They usually let us all drink during holidays," Rose said.

"Sure," he said, "Where are your parents?"

As if summoned by their own mention, Janine and Abe appeared in the entryway behind Rose.

"Mom, Dad, This is Dimitri," Rose said, "My boyfriend. Dimitri, these are my parents, Janine Hathaway and Abe Mazur."

Dimitri smiled a small smile. The smile wasn't genuine and didn't touch his eyes, but Rose was amazed at how well he kept the nervousness off of his face. "Ms. Hathaway, these flowers are for you," Dimitri said, and then held out the box, "And I brought you some homemade Russian black bread to go with the meal."

Rose covertly nodded at Dimitri, slipping him a surreptitious wink when she noted her mother's approval of the flowers and bread as generous gestures and the use of the last name as a sign of respect.

Janine took the flowers and Dimitri handed Abe the box of bread. "Can I take your coat, Dimitri?" Rose's mother asked. Dimitri nodded and shrugged out of his jacket, but before he handed it over, Janine's questions had already begun. "That's a lovely accent you have, Dimitri. Where are you from?"

"Russia," he said, "but I've lived in the United States for years now."

"Did you -" Janine began, but she was cut off.

Abe was looking out the still-open door and walking towards Dimitri's Camaro parked out front. "Dimitri, is this your car?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Mazur," Dimitri said, "It's a classic."

"Beautiful, Dimitri," Abe said, already running a hand gently along the hood, "What year is she?"

"A nineteen eighty-two, sir."

"Are you a rich kid, then, Dimitri? Did you buy this beauty all put together? Or maybe someone saved it up for when you were old enough back when it was still relatively new?"

"Actually, I restored her myself, starting when I was in high school. It took me four years to put her together. She wasn't easy or cheap, but she was worth it."

"Dimitri," said Abe, still eyeing the Camaro, but extending his hand to be shaken, "Please, call me Abe."

Janine approached from behind as the two shook hands. "Did you say, 'was in high school', Dimitri? And that was at least four years ago? So you're a college student now?"

Already with the age question, Rose thought, I hope this works.

"No, ma'am," Dimitri said, walking back in towards the house, "I finished high school when I was sixteen and had a lot of Advanced Placement credit. I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts from college in three years."

"What's your degree in, then, Dimitri?" Rose's mother asked.

"I had a double major in English and Criminal Justice."

"So what do you do for a living, Dimitri?"

"I had to pay my own way through school, so I have several jobs right now. One of my favorite things I do is proofread legal documents for my roommate's law office. My degree makes me uniquely qualified to do that."

"Criminal justice is near and dear to Janine and I, son," said Abe, putting an arm around Dimitri as he led him into the dining room, where Lissa was already standing, "Janine was in the marines and I was a navy seal. The two of us met on a combined mission during Desert Storm. I don't know if you've heard of me, but I own a defense contracting agency."

"Lissa," said Rose, "You remember Dimitri?"

Lissa gave a little squeak, clearly not in on the plan, then nodded and quickly grabbed a glass of water, busying herself with drinking it down.

Dimitri replied, "Rose told me a little about you, actually. She didn't mention that you had both been in the military, though. Thank you both for your service."

Janine piped in with another question. "What other jobs do you have, Dimitri?"

"I used to fight some mixed martial arts matches when I was in college, but these days, I teach a class in it on weekends."

Janine narrowed her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "My hand-to-hand training is pretty extensive. Would you be willing to spar with me, then?"

Dimitri smiled, much more genuine this time, eyeing the woman a foot and a half shorter than him. "I'm not sure declaring a winner of that match would be a good thing, no matter which one of us won."

"Nonsense, my boy," Abe interjected, pulling out a chair at the table for him, "We're a family who thrives on the fight. The only one in our household who hasn't been trained to fight is Lissa. Janine has beaten me every time we've fought. I'm sure the amount of time it would take for Janine to beat you would reveal a lot about your character. But perhaps after we have eaten?"

Janine arched an eyebrow. "Unless you're not up to the challenge?"

"Perhaps after we've eaten and our food has had some time to settle. I'd have to change, too."

"Dimitri, do you still have that workout bag in the Camaro?" Rose asked, hoping it wasn't there, and wanting to remind Abe of the one thing he had already latched onto that had made him accept Dimitri.

"Yes, actually," Dimitri said. She didn't know if that was because he didn't want to lie or because he hadn't picked up on her subtle hint. "I keep a change with me at all times. I try to go to the gym at five o'clock every morning."

Rose sighed in defeat and covered her face with her hands.

-=o0/&\0o=-

Author's Notes:

Be sure to check out my Facebook page (page on profile) for the latest details on what I'm up to. I have news there that you won't see in my author notes, as well as previews of upcoming chapters. Obviously, you noticed there wasn't much in the way of mature sexual content in this chapter, but I'm hoping to put out smaller chapters going forward so that I can get them out more frequently. Expect things to heat up before Dimitri leaves the Mazur residence.

Starting with chapter 12 (which will be coming out tomorrow), I'm going to be posting my chapters for this story on Wattpad a day or two before I post on Fanfiction and ArchiveOfOurOwn. Once it's here on Wattpad, if you want to read it, you can read it here first.  There's already a preview of chapter 12 up on Facebook.

If you liked the chapter, I'd love it if you could vote or comment!