Hey Ya'll.
Not much to say..Rose's preggers, Christian currently hates her, and Adrian's a jerk...
What next?
~Little-Dhampir
Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. :) I don't own VA.
**A month later**
"Rose. Roza. Wake up." Dimitri said, shaking me gently. I groaned and sat up, careful not to roll onto my back.
"What?" I asked, squinting to see through the light the stung my sleep-filled eyes.
"We need to get to court. They've found Lissa. Alive." He said, pulling me off of the bed and handing me a pair of trackies. I was definitely awake now. I pulled on my pants, and searched for a shirt. The only one I could find that still fit me was a tight fitting black tank-top. I sighed and pulled it on, along with a gray sleeveless hoodie and a pair of white canvas shoes. Dimitri smiled at me, and threw the rest of my clothes into my suitcase.
"We're stopping for food on the way. I'm starving." I told him, collecting his keys and my wallet from the bed-side table.
"Already got you covered." He said, producing a small box of Doughnuts. I squealed happily and let him pull me out of the door. An hour and a half later, we were on a private plane from Alexandrov to the airstrip just inside of the Royal Court. I held Dimitri's hand and laced my fingers through his. He could tell I was nervous. I hadn't seen my friends since the spirit dream with Adrian, and that didn't end too well.
"Rose, we're there to see Lissa. If the others want to make peace, let them. Lissa is our priority." He said to me. I wasn't looking forward to seeing the other guardians. They were still mad at me and Dimitri for quitting.
"Yeah, I know." I said, and rested my head on his shoulder as he softly hummed Russian Lullaby by Irving Berlin to me.
When we landed at court, I all but ran off of the plane. Hans, the Guardian that was in charge of me when I'd run away from court with Eddie and Lissa, was patrolling the airstrip. The look on his face when he saw me was priceless. That was mirrored when Dimitri came into view.
"Sh*t, Hathaway. Way to make an entrance. How's the unemployed life treating you?" Hans asked, shouting over the roar of the plane's engines.
"It's good. Been in Russia for a while. Where's Lissa?" I asked urgently. He nodded and shouted something over his shoulder at the back room. Mikhail Tanner, Sonya Karp's lover, came out and beamed when he saw me.
"Here for Lissa?" He asked us. Dimitri and I nodded, and he led us from the tiny airport toward the Royal building.
"Your room's next to Lissa's, exactly how you left it. She's in hers. Weak, but alive. As soon as we found her, we took her in for surgery. One of her lungs had died. She's better now, though. She's been asking for you." He explained. I nodded and ran into the building and towards Lissa's room. Dimitri caught up with me, and went next door to dump our bags. I went straight to her room and opened the door gently. I saw Lissa sitting awake on her bed. I gave her a one-over to see how badly she was hurt. Her right arm was heavily bandaged and bite marks peppered her neck. That and some bruising was the worst of her injuries. I opened the door fully and walked in.
"Rose! You're here! How could you quit? Nobody would tell me why. They just said to ask you when you get here. What happened?" She shouted; her voice a strange cross between Worry, Anger, Sadness, and joy.
"I'm so glad to see you're safe. I tried to find you. I really did. But... well..." I started to say, not sure how to tell her.
"But our dear Rose Hathaway got herself knocked up." A bitter voice said from behind me. Adrian. I didn't need a bond to know what Lissa was thinking.
"No, before you ask, I wasn't sleeping around. It's Dimitri's." I said as my Russian god walked into the room. He smiled at Lissa.
"Hang on...What?" She asked, getting more and more confused. I sighed and filled her in on everything that had happened since she was taken, and Dimitri piped in occasionally to add his point of view. Once I was done, Dimitri explained his theory of how I was pregnant.
"Are you going to keep it?" Lissa asked me, her face filled with happiness for me.
"Yes. That's why I had to give up being a Guardian for now. I can't fight, not for a while." I explained. Lissa leaned forward and hugged me warmly.
"It doesn't matter, Rose. As long as you're still around, I don't care. I'm happy for you, really." She said. Tears filled my eyes, and I beamed at her. Our moment was ruined the second Christian walked into the room. He took one look at me, and glowered, moving to stand next to Lissa protectively.
"I'm out." I snapped, storming from the room, leaving a bewildered Lissa and Dimitri shaking his head. I walked from the building and past the garden Eddie and I had created, and towards the boundaries. I sat against a tree and closed my eyes.
"Mason, I really wish you were here." I whispered, as a light breeze ruffled my hair.
"So it's true then." My mother said, walking towards me with the same bitter expression on her face that I knew so well.
"What? That your whore of a daughter finally returned, or that she got knocked up." I said, not bothering to stand up.
"Both! Rosemarie Hathaway, do you know how much of a big deal this is? As if that wasn't enough, you had the nerve to quit! Both of you!" She screamed, getting it out of her system.
"Do you even know the full story, Mom?" I asked softly, looking at her pained expression.
"Yes, Rose, I do." She sighed, sitting down next to me.
"Then you should understand. You of all people." I told her. Our eyes met, and remorse flickered across her features.
"I do, Rose. Believe me. But you didn't need to quit. I just hated being the last person to find out. When Christian told the Guardians, it spread across the court like wildfire until it eventually reached the Academy this morning, along with the news that you were back." She said in a small voice. My mother had changed a lot. She wasn't the same neglectful parent she once was. She cared.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry." I whispered, hugging her tightly and fighting back tears. She hugged me back just as tightly, and kissed my forehead.
"Its okay, Rose. I'm happy for you. Really." She said, releasing me and smiling at me warmly.
"Thanks, Mom." I said, smiling back.
"Oh, which reminds me, Adrian was looking for you. He said you bolted from Lissa's room." She told me, standing up. I groaned, and thumped the back of my head against the trunk of the tree.
"Do you want to have an aneurism?" Adrian asked me, sitting on the grass across from me.
"Really Adrian, you are the last person I want to see right now." I growled at him.
"I'm sorry, alright. I know I acted like a jerk. I get why you hate me. I just wanted to make peace. We were friends once upon a time.
"Yeah, we were." I said, smiling fondly remembering Adrian, Lissa and I sitting around and laughing while eating Chinese food.
"I just wanted to tell you that I get that you've made your choice, and I respect that. But since Belikov has always been an a*s to me, I plan to spoil his little surprise." Adrian said; a smirk on his face.
"What did you do, Adrian?" I asked; my voice wary as I took in the dangerous glint in his eyes.
"When he isn't around, go into his suitcase. Left pocket. You'll see what I mean." He said, standing up and walking away much like my mother did. I sat there for another five minutes, before I finally got up.
"Rose! There you are!" Mia squealed, running up to me and hugging me. Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea. You'd think I was gone for years.
"Hey Mia. Sorry. I have to go. I need to pee." I said, pulling her off of me.
"Oh, okey dokey. Meet you later? Everyone's getting together for lunch." She asked. I nodded and ran off in the other direction. I made my way back to my room. Once I'd peed, changed and eaten a bar of chocolate from the mini fridge, I was surprisingly tired. I curled up onto the bed and drifted off into a calming, peaceful sleep.