I woke up in Dimitri's arms. He was holding me like when I had broken my ankle. I stared to move a little bit and he looked down at me.

"Rose, are you all right?" he sounded so worried.

"Yes," I replied. "I'm fine."

"The baby?"

Just as he asked that, I felt a little nudge in my stomach.

"See for yourself."

I took his hand and placed it where mine had been. I felt it again and this time his face lit up. I couldn't keep from smiling at that. I looked around and realized we were on a plane. Lissa, Christian, and Adrian sat a little farther up and were all asleep. I couldn't think strait, so I had no idea where we were going.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the academy."

This worried me a little. I still had no idea what to tell them about me being pregnant. Then a new thought accrued.

"Do you think they'll still let me graduate?" I asked in a panicked voice.

I must have spoken to loud because Lissa woke up and came over to talk to me before he could answer.

"What's wrong Rose?" she asked.

"What if they don't let me graduate? I can't guard you and take care of my baby." I sighed as I realized this was probably the same position my mom was in.

"I'll never criticize my mom again. I'm starting to understand why she let the academy raise me most of my life."

"Are you going to do the same thing?" Lissa asked her voice full of sympathy.

I looked up at Dimitri and saw the same sadness in his eyes I felt at not being able to raise our own child. I looked back over at Lissa and nodded.

"It'll be the best we can it. Though we'll visit more often, if you don't mind Liss. You'll have to come too."

"Of course I wouldn't mind." She looked up at Dimitri. "But what will you guys do?"

We both new what she meant, she was asking about our position as her guardians. Dimitri replied before I could.

"We both can't guard you. It's too risky for you." Lissa looked as if she were about to protest but he spoke quickly. "I'll ask to get reassigned somewhere on court. It may not work but we'll still see each other on our time off." He said.

Lissa thought about that and I felt her get excited.

"Why don't you ask to get assigned to Christian? He'll be with me at the court and we'll be together a lot." She suggested.

Dimitri and I looked at each other excitedly. I knew it could work. While Christian was with Lissa, I could be with Dimitri. With all the security and wards at the royal court, guardians could relax a little around their Moroi. We really were going to make this work.

"It could work." He replied.

He was still smiling at me and I just wanted to be alone with him. Or at least as alone with him as I could be on a plane.

"Go back to sleep Lissa. Sorry I woke you up." I said looking back at her.

She guessed what I wanted so she just nodded and gave me a hug and left. I looked back up at Dimitri and smiled.

"We're really going to make this work aren't we?"

He nodded and leaned down to kiss me.

When we got back to the academy, we were all stopped right inside the gate. The guardian that let us in looked very surprised and immediately called other guardians. It didn't take them long too arrived. Alberta was in the lead, and when they saw all of us, they stopped. They took one look at Dimitri and Alberta reached for her stake only to realize she still didn't have hers. I did. I took it out and showed it to her.

"Sorry but I needed it. I kept it after the attack."

"Well, then what are you…" she started to say but trailed off.

She finally seemed to realize that Dimitri didn't have red eyes and was out in the sun. I gave her more reassurance when I gave Dimitri the stake I held. Everyone knew strigoi couldn't hold stakes.

"So you didn't get turned into a strigoi?" Alberta asked him.

He looked down at me and I knew what he was asking. He didn't know if I wanted them to know I had the ability to turn him back. I nodded and he looked back at Alberta.

"No, I was a strigoi. Rose turned me back."

They all stared at me until Alberta spoke up and asked the question everyone was thinking.

"How?"

"I don't really know. Maybe the same way I can sense when strigoi are nearby, I'm shadow-kissed."

Someone behind Alberta spoke up to get us inside. Dimitri didn't take my hand or put his arm around my waist. I knew it was to keep our feelings for each other hidden again, but this made it a little harder to walk normal because of my stiff stomach; I was used to having him for some support. I guess he noticed because he put his arm around me anyway. I looked up and he was looking at me with a mixture of sympathy and worry in his eyes. He made a quick glance at my stomach and back up. I guessed what he was trying to tell me. I was going to have to tell someone I was pregnant before it became too obvious. They led us to an empty lounge and told us to wait here for a bit. Everyone left until it was just the five of us. I talked quietly so only Dimitri could hear me.

"I think I'm only going to tell Alberta. She might be able to help us." I told Dimitri.

"But it'll be obvious soon and everyone will guess." He said

"Not if people don't see me."

"You can't hide from everyone four seven more months."

"Yes, you're right. But I still think Alberta should be the first to know."

"That's probably a good idea. We'll tell her when she gets back."

"Tell me what?" a voice said.

We looked up startled. I hadn't heard Alberta come back. She was alone and staring at me and Dimitri. I realized I was leaning on him and sat up. I looked over at Lissa with a silent pleading in my eyes for her and the other to leave.

Do you want us to leave? She asked me through the bond. I nodded.

"Is it alright if we get some sleep Guardian Petrov?" Lissa asked

Alberta looked at her and the others.

"Yes, of course. Go and get some sleep."

Lissa got up and pulled Christian along with her. Adrian left with them without even being told. After they were out of the room, Alberta turned her attention back to us.

"Now, what did you want to tell me?"

I looked at Dimitri and he could tell I had no idea how to tell her, so he did.

"Rose is pregnant."

I looked down waiting for the outburst I was sure to follow. But it didn't happen. I looked up at Alberta and she seemed to be staring at my stomach. She looked back up at me, and I didn't understand the look on her face. It didn't look mad or disapproving, but it also didn't look happy.

"Who is the father?" She asked in a relatively calm voice.

"Dimitri." I replied.

This time, her expression was easy to read. It was of total shock.

"But you're both dhampirs." She said. Her voice showing how shocked she really was.

"Yes." I couldn't help a small chuckle as she stated the obvious. But instantly regretted it when I got a look of disapproval from her.

"Sorry." I apologized.

"We were hoping you could help us." said Dimitri.

It looked like she was about to tell us that we were on our own, but the look in my eyes must have changed her mind. She sighed and her expression relaxed.

"I don't know what I can do, but I won't tell anyone yet at least. And yes, you two can stay together. It really isn't a good idea for you to be together here, but maybe you can stay in the cabin Tasha Ozera stayed in while she was here. I imagine it's cleaned up."