CHAPTER 4

If missing my period wasn't a big enough sign of being pregnant, the nausea that I felt in my stomach the next morning was. It must have been about two in the morning and Dimitri's arms were still wrapped securely around my waist, my back pressed against his chest. I decided to ignore the increasing feeling of nausea and then I had begun to wonder if Strigoi had somehow gotten into the court grounds but knew that should be impossible because of the wards.

I sat up in bed, feeling Dimitri's arms fall away from me. The nausea increased. Dimitri stirred beside me, reaching out a hand to brush my cheek gently with the tips of his fingers. "What's wrong?" He questioned, his words slightly slurred from the sleepiness that still hung over him.

"I—" I began and cut off when I could no longer deal with the nausea. I ran for the bathroom, just making it to the toilet before I felt the acid burning up my throat.

"Rose?" He called from the door way worriedly before coming over to me and holding back my hair and rubbing my back, while I emptied out my stomach's contents. After what felt like hours, I was still hunched over the toilet bowl, just breathing heavily. Dimitri placed a cool hand on my clammy forehead and I sighed against the coolness gratefully. "Are you okay now?"

I nodded, leaning back against his chest, feeling his lips graze the spot behind my ear. "I think so. Help me up?" His arms wrapped around me and lifted me onto my feet as he too stood. I rinsed my mouth out and ran my tooth brush along my teeth quickly, trying to dislodge the horrible aftertaste. Together, we retreated back to bed. We lay with limbs tangled together, waiting for sleep to reclaim us.

Dimitri's hand continued to stroke my hand, obviously waiting for my breathing to slow to indicate that I had finally fallen back to sleep. However, sleep didn't come for me; I lay there for hours just content to feel Dimitri's presence beside me and his hand stroking my hair, occasionally moving down to stroke my arm with his fingertips.

"I guess this just proves the fact that I'm pregnant even more, huh?" I murmured, more to myself than Dimitri.

His arms tightened around me briefly as he responded, "I guess so."

I pulled back slightly in his arms to peer into his face. His warm, brown eyes scanned over my face before travelling down my body to rest over my belly. Dimitri moved one of his hands from my shoulder to rest it over the spot where our baby grew. I pressed my face into his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. "I'm sorry for shutting you out earlier."

His thumb absentmindedly began to stroke my belly, his lips coming down to kiss my part gently. "You have nothing to apologise for." He said in a quiet voice, just above my ear. Instantly, the softness of his voice began to lull me into unconsciousness until I was floating in the world of dreams.

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I woke to the feeling of someone gently shaking my shoulder. My cheek was still firmly pressed into Dimitri's chest and suddenly I was self-conscience that I had drooled on him. I raised my head, groaning and wiping my mouth of any potential drool, peered up to find Dimitri's soft hazel gaze watching me quietly.

"Good morning," he greeted, planting a kiss onto my forehead. I groaned in response. I opened my mouth to talk and that was when I realised just how gross and dry my mouth tasted and how bad my breath must have smelt, despite my actions of brushing my teeth earlier this morning. Clamping my mouth, I sat up and rushed towards the bathroom. Behind me, I heard Dimitri sit up too and when I glanced back at him, his brow was furrowed with confusion.

"I did throw up this morning, Comrade." I reminded him, as I once again brushed my teeth.

He shrugged. "I don't care."

Once I felt that my mouth was as clean as I was going to get it, I walked back into the bedroom and into Dimitri's arms. Dimitri stood waiting outside of the bathroom. I groaned aloud, pushing my forehead into Dimitri's chest when I realised what day it was: Monday.

He pulled back to glance at me worriedly. "What's wrong, Roza?" He asked.

"Do we have to go to work today?"

Dimitri considered that for a second; I didn't think he had ever surprised me as much as that moment did. Dimitri was generally the logical and reasonable one.

"Why don't you call in sick and say you can't come in today? You did only just find out that you're pregnant yesterday."

I shook my head, looking down to where our fingers twined together. "I can't lie to Lissa, she's my best friend—and besides it's a big day for her." Today was the day that Lissa was going to announce her pregnancy to the Court; which meant that all of her guardians—and Christian's for that matter—had to be there too, just in case some people had bad reactions to the Queen's latest news.

"Why don't you just tell her you're pregnant?"

Any smile that may have been evident on my face instantly vanished. "No, I'm not ready to tell anyone about this, not even Lissa. Once one person finds out, everyone does."

"You do realise that you aren't going to be able to hide it much longer, don't you?"

My hand dropped down to rest just over my belly button, the spot where a child now grew inside of me. Along with my hand dropping, went my gaze to where my eyes landed on my bare feet. "I know, but just not yet. I'm not ready yet. I only just found out about this and so did you, I want to keep it a secret for just a little bit longer."

Dimitri nodded in understanding. Eventually he reached out with his own hand too and placed it over top of mine. I tipped my head back and stared into his eyes, smiling gently at him. "It's a miracle." He murmured. I nodded in agreement.

Eventually, Dimitri and I unwillingly stepped out of each other's embrace and begun to get ready for the day ahead.

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Lissa greeted me with a hug outside of the Courtroom, where the gathering was about to happen. Together we entered the room and Lissa made her way up to the podium where Christian waited for her, while I took my spot along the side of the room where all the rest of the guardians stood. The room was already full with people, all wanting to hear what the Queen had to say.

On the other side of the room, I spotted Dimitri. He caught my eye and gave me a small smile with a wink. How I wanted to be on the other side of the room with his arms around me and somehow I realised Dimitri was thinking the same thing. That was when Lissa had begun to speak so I unwillingly took my eyes off Dimitri and focused up the front.

"I'm sure each and every one of you is curious as to why I have summoned you here today. I have called you all to the Courtroom to share a piece of information that myself and my partner, Christian found out, just a mere month ago." I glanced around the room, gauging each person's reaction. Some appeared confused; others looked curious; and the rest had knowing smiles on their faces as if they had already guessed what Lissa's next words would be. "Christian and I would like to share with you today that I have fallen pregnant and the baby is to be a girl." The crowd erupted in applause and I shared a grin with Lissa.

The last part had also been news to me, I hadn't known that she was carrying a girl yet and I was ecstatic for her. Everyone started to depart the courtroom, talking eagerly and loudly. I sauntered up to the podium and pulled Lissa into a bear hug. "You're having a girl?" I asked her happily. She nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm going to have a little Cher!" she squealed. For a second I actually considered telling her about my pregnancy but the fear of the rest of the Court finding out kept my mouth shut.

Just then arms snaked around Lissa and Christian peered at me from over her shoulder. His hands rested lightly over her belly. Gradually several people came up to wish her congratulations and good luck and so far the day had had a positive outcome. However, I was still to remain on the sidelines and follow Lissa around for the rest of the day.

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When I got home from work that evening, I was exhausted and ready to just collapse on the bed and sleep. However my body felt dirty and so I decided to have a shower. Once I had stripped my body out of the clothes that I had worn that today—the guardian uniform—I stood in front of the mirror for a little while, just staring at my body, turning this way and that to see if my body had changed in any way. If it had, it wasn't by much.

When I emerged out of the shower and was changed into my most comfortable sweats, I wandered back into the bedroom to find Dimitri waiting for me. He was sitting on the bed, with his back against the wall, one of his western novels in his hand. He looked up when I came out.

"Hey," He greeted, glancing at his page number before setting the book aside.

I crawled onto the bed and settled myself in Dimitri's lap, tucking my head under his chin. "Hi," I finally replied back when I was comfortable.

"I missed you today." He whispered into my ear, causing me to shiver.

"I missed you too."

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to go and get some takeaway for dinner?" He suggested, running his hand up the length of my arm and back down. I simply just nodded; my body and brain felt dead from exhaustion. We sat in silence for a few more moments, just content to listen to the other's breathing. Finally, Dimitri shifted slightly underneath me and broke the silence. "Well, if you want food, you're going to have to let me go." He chuckled. Silently I slipped off of his lap and watched as he stood, stretching his legs before he turned around to face me. He brushed his hand across my cheek before murmuring, "I won't be long—promise."

Once the door had shut behind him, I curled up on his side of the bed, smelling his scent on his pillow and fell asleep.

It felt like it had only been minutes that my eyes had shut for when I felt a dipping in the bed which caused for my eyes to snap open.

Dimitri sat by my feet, staring at me softly. "Are you okay?" He questioned, looking at me with concern in his brown eyes.

"I'm fine—just tired." Dimitri showed me the plastic bag that contained our food and instantly I sat up, feeling a little better already. He chuckled and together we made our way over to the table and ate in silence.

When we were lying in bed together, limbs tangled, Dimitri whispered. "I've asked Lissa to give you the day off tomorrow." I glanced up at him sharply, confusion settling over my facial expression. "I've scheduled an appointment for you at the doctors."

"Are you going to be there with me?" I asked, not wanting to go to an appointment about our baby without him.

"If you want me to, I'm sure I could arrange something with Christian." I nodded and replied, "I don't want to go without you." We remained silent for a second, while I thought about it. "You do realise that Lissa leaves for LeHigh tomorrow, right? Which means that I have to go with her."

"Lissa has agreed to let you come at a later date; she said she would be fine and that she will have other guardians with her."

I settled my head onto Dimitri's chest before asking the question that was turning around in my head. "What did you say to Lissa? What was my excuse?"

"I just simply told her that you hadn't been feeling well lately and that you needed a day to recover."

"You do realise that Lissa would have wanted to come and heal me, right?"

"Yes, but I told her that you didn't want her to because of spirit's negative impacts." I nodded and a yawn accidentally slipped out of my mouth. Dimitri chuckled. "Get some rest." And with that I felt the black world of sleep slip over me and I gratefully accepted.