Rose had a problem. She needed to tell Dimitri about her plans to have a baby; she needed to talk to Adrian and finalize all the details about this baby business; and she needed to talk to Lissa because Lissa was her best friend, and if she didn't talk to Lissa about what was going on she would explode. Despite her desperate need to have these three conversations she knew she couldn't. She knew that she couldn't talk to Dimitri without all the details or Lissa's support because she didn't know how he would react to the idea in the abstract. She couldn't get more details because she knew she shouldn't talk to Adrian again without first talking to Dimitri. She couldn't talk to Lissa about it because Lissa would either press her for details or make her feel guilty about not telling Dimitri yet. So, left with no other options, Rose found herself talking to the one person who would give her no emotional feedback . . . and she knew she would regret it; she knew the moment she looked into his ice blue eyes.
Rose sat down and began to tell Christian about her conversation with Lissa, and the subsequent conversation with her mother, and then Adrian's speech and her talk with Adrian, and then she explained her current situation. Christian simply looked at her raised an eyebrow and said, "It's quite simple really; invite both of them out for dinner and then after about twenty minutes, casually drop into the conversation the fact that you want to marry them and have lots of sex and babies."
Rose was shocked. She just bared her soul here and all he could do is just sit there and make snarky sarcastic comments. In response, Rose narrowed her eyes and said in her scary voice, "I hate you; more than you will ever know."
Christian just smiled at her and said, "You love me; more than you will ever say."
Rose decided to ignore him and instead inform him of how illogical his solution to her problem was. "That's all very nice Christian, but it's a bit unrealistic. Isn't polygamy illegal?"
"No it'll totally work you marry one, have lots of sex with both, and lots of babies with the other," Christian said laughing. "Besides, you're best friends with the queen; you could easily have polygamy legalized if you wanted it."
Rose had to work really hard not to punch him or scream in frustration. After a few moments of deep breathing exercises to get her rage under control she looked at Christian and started shouting at him.
"I am in a fuck-ton of emotional pain right now. I have made a life-altering decision, and I really don't know how it's going to ALTER MY LIFE! All I am looking for from you is a little bit of sympathy, understanding, and unbiased guidance. What do I get from you? Sarcasm, derision, and scathingly condescending remarks. Christian Ozera, you are the worst friend ever." Rose said while she started crying.
"Rose! Rose, calm down, it's okay. I'm sorry I'm an ass. I was just joking around because it really seemed like you needed a laugh to break this wall of tension surrounding you. But I'm sorry . . . Look you really need to talk to Lissa about this because maybe she'll understand how to help you better than I can." Christian said while he hugged Rose and rubbed little comforting circles on her back. Before she could repeat her fears about Lissa being any less than absolutely supportive, Christian said, "And Lissa will be supportive of you no matter what happens, and she'll help you with all of these feelings," he said feelings like it was a dirty word, "that you're having."
After Rose finally stopped crying, she shrugged until Christian released her from his embrace, hugged and thanked him, and then made to leave to go find Lissa. As she was leaving, she heard Christian say, "I'm so glad Lissa doesn't pull this kind of crap, I don't know if I could handle being with you if you do this. Belikov is a saint."
Rose turns back and says, "Trust me Christian he's no more a saint than we are, and I wouldn't be too sure about Lissa doing something like this. I mean she'd have the baby with you, but still she might be leaning towards that. But in all honesty Christian was ever a time you thought we could work out?"
Christian chuckled for a few minutes, but then looked at Rose and deadpanned, "Yeah, for like a few seconds after Lissa and I broke up and before you got with Adrian. I figured we could run off together, kick ass, take names and kill every Strigoi in the world before we turned 20. Super romantic right?" He chuckled again, "But now I'm back with Lissa and you're reunited with Belikov and I wouldn't trade our lives right now for anything." Rose couldn't help but smile as she finally left the room.
