For the first time, I realized she was holding something. She handed it to me. That's not what I was expecting.
~ Chapter 2 – The Pink Line ~
I just stared. And stared. And stared. I couldn't believe my eyes. It made sense, I mused. The signs had all been there, I had just been oblivious to them.
Part of me didn't want it to be true. It complicated so many things. But part of me also thought that this might be a blessing in disguise. Lissa constantly struggled with the internal battle of who she was and who her parents wanted her to be. Being the last Dragomir caused an unbelievable amount of stress and guilt to fester in her. She believed that she was being selfish when she chose her happiness over her familial obligation. At least now she would have something to distract her from that.
I felt like I should say something, but I couldn't find the words. When I had felt the emotion that surged through Lissa I had expected dead animals, or for her magic to be overwhelming her again. I had been prepared to fight off an attacker or protect her from some evil. But nothing I could say now would make this better. Nothing could change what had happened.
"Does Christian know?" I finally asked.
She looked at me and shook her head. I didn't blame her. If something like this happened to me, I would never be able to tell Dimitri. "Rose what am I going to do?" Lissa sobbed. I looked at her sympathetically. I can't even imagine how she must be feeling right now. Her life was becoming a frenzied roller coaster ride that she cannot escape. She clearly hadn't been planning this.
"You have to go see Dr. Olendzki!" I told her gently. It was the only thing I could think to do. I would go to the ends of the world for Lissa. I would fight off anyone that tried to stop me. I have done that. But for the first time, I had no idea how to help her.
"Rose I can't! Nothing stays secret here for long. If someone sees me in the clinic they may make assumptions. If this gets out…" Lissa trailed off.
"It won't," I told her. I tried to sound like a believed my words, but I wasn't so sure. It would be difficult to hide this until graduation, but not impossible. I knew from experience that if I sounded confident, Lissa would believe me. "We're two months from graduation. No one needs to know… Well except for Dr. Olendzki… And Christian."
Liss shook her head stubbornly. "I refuse," Lissa said sharply. I groaned. Of all times for Lissa to rebel. Why now?
"Liss this is beyond what either of us can handle on our own." I grabbed the stick from her hand and turned it so she had to look at the little pink line. "You're going to have a baby! You need to start taking care of it now! If you don't start taking care of it now, it could be bad for both you and the baby. I know that you're scared, but this is serious. Really serious. You have to go get checked out and then you have to go tell Christian that he got you pregnant and that I'm going to give him a five minute head start before I chase after him and kill him," I teased. I was trying to relieve some of the tension that had built up when I found out about the baby.
It kind of worked. Lissa let out a sound that resembled the noise Oscar used to make whenever he sneezed. I think she was still too upset to laugh, but what I had said amused her.
"He's going to hate me," Lissa whispered.
"He's not going to hate you, Lissa. He's loves you. And it's not like you're the only one at fault here. His sperm are half to blame. Which brings me right back to the five minute head start," I pointed out.
This time, I didn't even get a smile for my joke. "I can't Rose… I just can't…" She cried. She put her head down in her hands as ugly sobs wracked through her. I crouched down and wrapped my arms around her, allowing her to dampen my shirt with her tears. I rubbed circles into her back, hoping that would calm her down.
Dimitri knocked on the door and then entered. I had forgotten he was out there the moment I saw the little pink line on the pregnancy test. Now I realized the volume we had been talking at. I saw from his face that he had heard everything. I shot him a look, begging him not to say anything but I could see from his solemn expression that he was going to ignore me.
"Princess… I didn't mean to overhear, but someone was shouting," Dimitri glanced over at me then looked back at Lissa. "I know you're scared, but Rose is right. You need to go see the doctor so you can start properly taking care of the baby. No matter how scared you are, you don't want any harm to come to the baby. Every child is a miracle, regardless of how old you are when they are born," Dimitri said seriously. Several emotions flitted across his face. Some of them surprised me. He looked upset and wistful.
I wish this was something I could give him, but it was impossible for me to ever give him the family he wanted. I looked back at Lissa so I wouldn't have to look at him.
She didn't know about me and Dimitri, but I could see that she recognized his emotions. She knew it would be unlikely that Dimitri would ever have a child. No matter how emotional she was right now, she could respect that she was going through something that many were deprived of. "You're right," she said softly.
She paused for several moments, then took a deep breath. "I'll go to the clinic," she said determinedly.
I looked at her and felt what she wanted more than anything and what she was dreading at the same time, through the bond.
"Comrade," I said turning back to Dimitri. "I think there's one stop we need to make."
He looked up at me confused.
I looked at Lissa. "Christian deserves to know about this. And despite how scared you are, I know he is going to support you in this," I told her sincerely. I meant my words. I may not be Christian's number one fan, but he was my friend. And he loved Lissa. He would never do anything to hurt her.
Lissa looked back at me terrified, but finally she nodded. "Let's go see Christian," she said quietly.