Chapter 4

Rosto was so thrilled Beka was pregnant. Rushers at the Court were surprised to see their King so, well, cheerful. He was not acting very sane. Some of them got together to vote on who should approach him about it. They decided on Ming, with Kora and Aniki to back him up. They went to talk to Rosto later that day.

"Your Majesty," began Ming.

Aniki interrupted him,

"Look Ros, you aren't acting sane, you aren't being very kingly, and you are humming! Now, we want to know what is going on, and we want to know now."

Kora and Ming looked slightly embarrassed for Aniki. She really needed to learn diplomacy.

"Do you all feel like this?" asked Rosto.

"Yes." They answered at once.

Rosto supposed it couldn't hurt for him to share his news. Maybe "share" wasn't a strong enough word.

"BEKA'S PREGNANT! I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!!!" Rosto shouted enthusiastically.

All three of his friends looked at him with shocked expressions on their faces as he began doing a 'happy dance'. He was starting to really scare them a little. They started to back away. Very. Slowly.

"What are you all looking at?" inquired Rosto. He was starting to get that familiar feeling again, confusion.

"Did you forget to take your potion this morning Rosto?" asked Kora slowly.

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"Beka, I'm home." Rosto swept into their room. He lifted Beka off her feet and spun her

around.

"Feeling better today?" he asked her.

"Actually, I am. I haven't had any weird meltdowns, and I haven't been sick at all."

After saying this she had to run to the bucket and throw up. Rosto just rubbed her back as she heaved.

"I might have spoken too soon." She croaked out.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay." Rosto reassured her.

Then he asked,

"So have you decided when the wedding will be?"

She turned white, then red, then green. She had to throw up again. When she stopped she looked at him.

"We need to talk about that. I want to marry you, but what happens when you don't come home one day? Or when one of us decides we aren't right for the other? What if you end up feeling like you don't want this baby, or this relationship? I want to marry you Rosto, I really do. I'm just scared."

Rosto was quiet for a moment, and then he replied, very seriously and gently,

"I love you more than life Beka Cooper. I would never leave you and I would never hurt you. If I ever left you or hurt you in any way I would have myself to answer to first of all. Not to mention all the other people who care about you and what happens to you. And if you think my people, Kora and Aniki and Ming, would abandon you and Amanda and our baby if anything happened to me, you underestimate them. I understand you being scared. I'm more scared than anyone, but I also love you more than anyone. I love you and respect you enough to wait for you. If you want to marry a crooked old thief like me then go ahead. If you need time, then that is perfectly fine. The one thing I will not do is leave you; I will always be here for you."

Beka was crying when he finished saying what he needed to. She loved him back with all her heart, but she needed time to think. She was pretty sure she wanted to marry him. The only thing was she didn't want to marry him because it was the 'right' thing to do. She was going to marry him because he loved her, she loved him, and they both wanted to make it work. She would sleep on it and let him know tomorrow what she was thinking.

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When she talked to Rosto the next morning, she hadn't gotten much sleep. She had been nauseous all night but she hadn't wanted to get up and disturb him. She had finally made her decision. It wasn't easy, and she wasn't sure how he would take it, but……..

"Yes Rosto, I'll marry you. When we have this baby it will be a Piper, and so will its sister Amanda."

Beka was happy to see Rosto's face light up in a huge grin.

"YES! I knew it, I love you Beka. I'm so glad you agreed to marry me. Do you want a smallish wedding? Medium? Ginormous? So, what is it?"

(For your information, Ginormous is a word. Gigantic + Enormous Ginormous. And for all of you people who say I'm crazy, here's a big :-P to you. Lol, j/k)

Beka laughed out loud at Rosto's inability to use the English language.

"I wouldn't mind a medium size wedding, but can we afford it?" she inquired.

"We can afford anything you want. That shouldn't be a problem since, well you know, since I do what I do at the Court."

Rosto had a sheepish smile on his face. One that meant he knew Beka wouldn't be happy with him, but he had to say it anyway.

Beka sighed,

"Alright, but I only approve this once, and only because it is our wedding. After that you have to promise not to bring it up anymore."

Rosto nodded and kissed Beka on the lips. She hugged him tightly and laid her head on his chest. She thought about what planning their wedding was going to be like.

Maybe Kora and Aniki would help her. She would have to make them bridesmaids. She could even try to coax Clara into a dress for long enough to be her maid of honor. Ming would probably be best man, with Mattes as another of the groomsmen.

Beka would wear an off-white wedding dress. Since she was getting married pregnant it wasn't like she was still 'innocent'. Her bridesmaids would wear either a light blue, or a light purple. She would carry white roses with lilies and baby's breath laced through. Beka could picture everything.

It would be the wedding she had always wanted, and also the one her mother never got to have. It would be a perfect day. She would invite everyone she knew. The only people not invited were her sister Diona and Lady Tedorie, Lord Gershom's wife. Diona had not recognized Beka as her sister in a long time.

She would have to talk to Rosto about making her brothers groomsmen. That is, after they actually met Rosto. Maybe they were a little young to be groomsmen, but that may not matter. Her sister Lorine would be her flower girl. Lorine was the only sister who actually admitted being related to Beka. That hadn't been true in the beginning, but she managed to change things. She was glad she had introduced him to her family already. They all liked him as much as she did.

Except for Diona.

"Beka IIony Cooper, how can stay with this man?"

Beka hadn't counted on Diona being home when she came to visit. It seemed like she was always out with Lady Tedorie or off somewhere flirting with boys. Diona didn't approve of Rosto, and she never had. The only reason she tolerated him at all was because he made decent money. That tolerance had been very thin as of late. Beka was starting to think Diona truly hated her fiancé.

"Mistress Diona," Rosto really didn't know how to shut up did he.

"If you really thought I was never right for Beka why didn't you do something about it? You could have approached either one of us and talked seriously about it. Mattes approached both of us at the same time. He expressed his concern for Beka's career as a Dog if she continued to see me. I told him that if that ever became an issue, I would remove myself from her life if she wanted me to. I would even do it if she didn't tell me to, but if it was the best thing for her anyway."

He looked at Beka,

"That's what we talked about while you were out of the room. I would have told you, but he asked me not to."

Beka sighed, "He was playing older brother again."

Diona looked from one person to the other. "I don't know if I will ever be really okay with this Bek. I just think you deserve better. I mean he's…"

Beka cut Diona off.

"He's what Di? He's a thief? He's not good enough? Come on tell me another. He loves me Di. He cares about me, he won't leave me, and most importantly he didn't run away when he found out I was pregnant."

Beka looked her sister straight in the eye and her voice got deadly quiet.

"Do you know what the man who fathered you said? Did mom ever tell you? He said to our mother, and I quote, 'I don't want to have a kid with a bitch like you. You are just a common whore.' Do you really think that he cared about you at all? I don't think he did. I think you were just another of many children he fathered. Did you know that mom made him marry her? She went to the Goddess temple and told them. They forced him to marry her. He used to beat her every night Diona. I know you don't remember that but I was three when you were born so I do. When he finally left her she was happy. She was happy to be free of the dirtbag who was your father. And you know what, you turned out just like him. You are a backstabber who cares nothing about her family. If you cared you would be happy for me just because I am happy with Rosto. I think you hate him because you don't have anyone who cares about you."

When Beka finished she was almost yelling. She knew she had hurt Diona but she didn't care. Everything she had said was the truth, and Di knew it. Diona had sunk down to her knees and was sobbing. Beka walked over to her and pulled her up.

"Diona Lily get up. You know what I said was true, but that doesn't mean I should have said it."

Diona was still shaking when she answered,

"You were more right than you know Beka. A few months ago milady almost cast me out. I had become…friendly with one of the stable boys. We, you know, got together. It turns out that the stable boy was Lady Tedorie's son by another man. A lower class man. So I was pregnant with this boy's child and he left me. He said he didn't want the responsibility. So I went to Lady Tedorie to ask her to help me in my pregnancy. The fact that I was pregnant wasn't the problem with her, it was who the father was. She was beyond livid. She was so angry with me I was afraid she would cast me out. My only saving grace was that milord didn't know she had this son. To cast me out would have meant explaining to him about this other man and son. She did however force me to give up the baby to a woman who's baby died in childbirth in a prison. She told us her baby had been supposed to be adopted so milady just gave her my baby instead."

Beka and Rosto looked at Diona with odd expressions on their faces. Beka asked her

"Who was it that you gave the baby to?" Diona stared at her. Why would Beka ask her such a thing.

"It was Tansy. I figured you already knew since you were friends with her."

Beka had to try hard not cry.

"Diona, I am so sorry about what I said before. Do you think you'll ever see your baby again?"

Diona looked furious

"How could you ask me such a thing? Do you think I would ever be able to see my child again? How dare you?"

Beka was quick to assure Di that she hadn't meant anything mean by that statement. In fact it was quite the opposite.

"You see," Beka began, "we, Rosto and I, adopted Tansy's baby so it wouldn't have to be in prison until it reached adulthood. And now I guess you are saying it was your baby we took in. We weren't able to go get Amanda until a few days after Tansy, supposedly, delivered."

Diona looked shocked. Her sister had taken in her baby and she didn't even know?

"How could you not know who she was?" she whispered

"Didn't Tansy tell you?"

Rosto took the liberty of answering that one.

"We never actually saw Tansy when we went to pick up the baby. The guards met us at the door and handed Amanda to us. Oh, by the way, we named her Amanda Elizabeth. Her surname will be Piper as soon as Beka and I are married." Suddenly Beka thought of something.

"How long ago was it you became involved with this boy?"

"About a year. Why?"

"So that's why you stopped talking to me."

"I didn't want you to find out about him. I figured you would caution me about getting too serious, and I didn't want my sister interfering. So when can I come and get her back?" She asked this last question eagerly.

"I would have cautioned you, but I wouldn't have interfered. Your body is your body. There is something I have to tell you though."

Diona looked at her sister strangely.

"What is it?" she asked.

Beka sighed and began.

"Di, we aren't going to give you the baby back. We have her andshe's safe. And before you protest," Di had in fact just been about to say something. "she is more my daughter than yours. You didn't try to find her, and didn't bother to find out who she was being adopted by. You may think I am being heartless; however, she is legally ours and, apart from coming to visit her because she is your 'niece', you are not to see her at all. I love you, but Amanda will not be like you. She will not be raised in this house, not like I was."

Beka had a single tear running down her face. It was taking all her emotional control not to sob uncontrollably. Diona on the other hand was bawling. Beka walked over and kissed her sister on the cheek.

"I love you Diona, and I always will."

Rosto wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on top of the head as they left the house.

"I love you too Rosto." She replied to his unspoken statement.

"Let's go home." he said.