I followed Liss into the throne room, to find Tatiana. I wasn't sure if she'd seen me since she'd heard I was pregnant, and right now, you could definitely tell. I looked like I swallowed five watermelons. Okay, maybe not that many, but it felt like I was carrying that many around. Liss and Tatiana began discussing stuff, but I noticed Tatiana's eyes kept flickering to me. When her and Liss were done, she turned to me.
"Your showing Rose." She said. I snorted.
"No kidding, what gave it away?" I was not in the mood to deal with her today. She smiled.
"Liss, can we go please?" I asked. She nodded.
"See you later your majesty." Liss said, and we walked out. As we headed back to her room, she shook her head at me.
"You should start trying to nicer to her." She said.
"Or maybe… you should stop kissing her ass."
"Rose, its possible I could be next in line for the throne. I'm not going to put that in jeopardy by being a bitch to her." Liss said. I rolled my eyes.
"I didn't mean to be a bitch to her alright. The baby is moving all around, and its getting to be painful." I told her.
"Well, you are close." Liss said.
"I have another week. It shouldn't be this bad yet, should it?" I asked. Liss shrugged.
"I don't know Hun. I've never been pregnant." She said, rubbing my bulging stomach. I rolled my eyes. As we walked up the stairs, and to her floor, I got this strong pain in my lower abdomen. I grabbed my stomach, but didn't make a noise. It wasn't long after that I felt something wet, almost like I peed my pants.
"No." I murmured. Liss turned around and looked at me.
"What?" She asked.
"My… my water just broke." I whispered. She shook her head.
"Your kidding." I shook my head.
"I'm not." I said. The pain hit me again and I couldn't contain the groan that escaped my lips.
"Okay… come on. We've got to get back downstairs, and to the nurse so they can call someone." Liss said. I nodded. She helped me down the stairs while on the phone with Adrian, and then Christian.
"You do realize, they are not allowed in when I have this baby right?" I asked. She nodded.
"I know. I still want them to be there. Just incase something comes up." Liss said. I nodded. She carried me into the courts infirmary and told the nurse I was about to give birth. The nurse ran, and picked up a phone, and pretty soon doctors were swarming me. They made me change my clothes, and helped me up onto the bed. Adrian and Christian came in before things started getting bad, to see me and wish me good luck. Then, they started taking bets on whether it would be a girl or a boy.
"I've got money on a girl." Adrian said.
"I've got my money on a boy. Dimitri and Rose are bad asses. Its only fair they have another bad ass little boy." I rolled my eyes, but then, another contraction hit me. I contained my reaction since there were other people in the room.
"That's my que to go." Adrian said. I rolled my eyes. He came over and kissed my forehead.
"Good-luck baby girl." He said. Christian just smiled warmly from where he was.
"Good-luck Rose." I smiled.
"Thanks." I said. After hearing Adrian and Christian talked about me having a boy or a girl, that wasn't really what I was worried about. What I kept thinking was… am I having a dhampir, a moroi, a human. No two dhampirs have ever conceived before. No one knew. The next contraction hit, and a scream escaped my lips. I was breathing heavy now.
"God, that one hurt." I said. Liss smiled, and patted my forehead.
"We're going to get through this. You're going to be fine. Just a little bit longer." She assured me. I nodded.
"Do you think I'm having a boy or a girl?" I asked.
"Girl." She answered quickly. I smiled.
"What do you want it to be?"
"A girl." I answered smoothly. She didn't ask why. From the looks of it, she already knew. I was almost positive that if I had a boy… he'd look almost exactly like Dimitri. I couldn't have that sort of reminder. Another contraction hit, and the doctors walked in, probably realizing the louder my screaming got, the closer I was becoming.
"Your almost ready." One of them said. "You ready for this?" I snorted.
"Do I have a choice?" I asked. She grinned. I sighed, and laid back.
"Alright Rose. We need you to push." She said.
"Awe shit." I muttered. I took a deep breath, and pushed as hard as I could. I was able to hold in the scream, and just whimpered a little as the baby's head started to stretch me. God, it was painful. I took a few more deep breaths, and the doctor nodded.
"Your doing good. Try again." He said. I took another deep breath, and tried again, this time, not being able to contain the scream that left my lips. I was strong. I was good with pain. I'd experienced enough of it, but there was nothing in the world compared to this. It was like being run over with a steam-roller. I'd have preferred that.
"Okay, the heads coming. Again Rose. Your doing amazing." He said. Liss patted my arm, and smiled.
"Your doing good, Rose. Amazing." Liss said. I nodded, and took a deep breath before pushing with everything I had.
"She's so close. So close Rose. Your almost there. Again." She said. Liss left my side to move to the end of the bed.
"God, Rose. Your so close. One more time babe." She said. I nodded, and took one last deep breath before pushing with everything I was. I wanted this to be over. I wanted it to be done, so I could have my baby in my arms. That's when I heard the sound of a small baby crying.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Hathaway on your beautiful baby girl." The doctor said. He cleaned her up a little bit, and then handed her too me. I smiled down at her. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. She had dark brown eyes, the same color as Dimitri's, and she had my color hair. It was thick for a baby. I smiled.
"Hey there beautiful." I whispered. He looked up at me too meet my eyes, and I swear she smiled at me. I felt a few tears run down my face. I stuck a finger in her mouth and felt so sign of fangs at all. Dhampir. I grinned. She was definitely mine. They took her from me, and clothed her, and checked all her vitals and then worked on me, cleaning me up, and letting me get dressed again. I smiled, as the handed her too me.
"She'll have to stay down here in the nursery for a little bit to make sure she'll take to everything outside the womb okay, but your free to be here as long as you want." The doctor told me. I nodded.
"Liss, go get Adrian and Christian. Don't tell em' what I had. Let them come see." She nodded, and walked outside into the hallway. I heard her call their names, and heard footsteps. They both followed her inside, and stopped when they saw the little pink bundle in my arms. She was wrapped in a bright pink blanket.
"A girl." Adrian said. He looked at Christian.
"Pay up." He said. Christian handed him a twenty. Adrian walked over to me, and smiled.
"Hey there beautiful." He cooed. She looked up at him, and just stared.
"What's her name?" He asked. I grinned.
"Bailey Marie Hathaway." I answered.
"Its beautiful." He said. Christian walked over to look down at her.
"Dhampir or Moroi?" He asked. I smiled.
"Strigoi." I muttered. He shook his head.
"She's a dhampir. It was the first thing I checked for." I told him.
"She have ten fingers and toes?" He asked. I smiled.
"That's was the second thing I checked for." He laughed.
"She's beautiful. Just like her mother." He told me. I looked down into her small and fragile little face and grinned.
"Nah, I don't even compare to how beautiful she is." I told him. He grinned.
"Listen to you, sounding all motherly." Christian said. I shot him a look, and he smiled.
"She's going to be a little bad ass, just like her mother." Christian said. I nodded.
"Damn right she will be." I said. Adrian met my eyes for a second.
"Are you going too-" I cut him off, knowing what he was going to ask. He was about to ask if I was going to tell Dimitri, and I wasn't.
"No. I'm not." I said. He nodded.
"Okay." He whispered. I sighed.
"I'm tired. I'm going to go put her down and go to bed. I have to leave her here for the next two nights, so… I'll be back in the morning if you guys wanna come with me." I told them. They nodded. I hugged them all, and they left. I went into the nursery, and laid her down in the little bed that was made just for her. I smiled down at her.
"I love you Bailey." I whispered. I leaned down, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I smiled down at her for a few more seconds, before I went and told the nurse goodnight. She nodded, and promised to take care of her. I nodded, and turned, leaving Bailey in the care of the nurse. I went back to my room, and picked up the note Dimitri had left me, when he disappeared. I picked up my cell phone, and stared at it. I was positive I could find out where he was, and get in touch with him… but I didn't want to. I threw them both across the room and sat down on my bed. I couldn't stand knowing my baby wasn't in me, or with me anymore. I felt alone. I went back down to the nursery, and picked her up out of her basinet, and sat down in the rocking chair, and rocked her until she slowly fell asleep in my arms.
