RPOV
So I'll admit that this wasn't one of my finest moments. Dimitri and his family had been cooking for hours now setting up a sweet little dinner for Dimitri, Olena, Janine, Zmey, and myself. I had snuck away and hid in a tree. I needed time alone to think. Everything had been so calm and sweet only days ago and now everything was loud and rushed. People were bustling all over the cabin and I just wanted some god damn sleep. Sleep on the floor and couch was starting to cramp up my muscles which is never good for a dhampir who thrives on her muscles and strength. I cracked my neck and stretched out my arms. The branch below my butt supported me perfectly. It resided in the small quiet garden Yeva found yesterday. I was hoping to maybe get a few hours of shut eye before returning to the crazy.
Perhaps if I had actually been able to train myself to sleep whenever and wherever like Dimitri this would be easy, but I can confidently say that trees are not for fucking sleeping. I groaned and shifted my weight. I missed my bed. Why is it that weddings always pull out the crazy in people? I just wanted some fucking peace and quiet! And sleep! Lots of sleep! I took in a deep breath. This was not going to work. I slung my legs over the edge of the branch and grabbed it before jumping off of it. I landed on my butt to my dismay but was too tired to even try to stand. I lay back and looked up into the black sky trying to make picture out of the stars. There isn't any cloud gazing in a vampiric world. After a while I couldn't decipher the difference between the blackness of the sky and the blackness of my eyelids. I feel asleep.
The sun was hot against my flesh. I stretched out welcoming it. Suddenly a shadow fell over me. I peered up at the obstruction. Dimitri peered down at me. "What are you doing out here, Rose?" His voice had the softness of a dream. It floated in the air and tickled at my ears. I grinned up at him full of joy.
"I am just soaking in the warmth. I felt so cold, Dimitri." His smile faded. He looked stern.
"You should have told me." I felt anger flash through me. He made me feel fragile, something Dimitri had never done before.
"I don't need you to take care of me."
"Yes you do." I tried to get up but found it difficult. I looked down and saw my swollen abdomen.
"What?" My hands fell to my stomach. Something inside of me lurched beneath my hand. Joy covered my nausea. Why was I so happy? What was happening?
"Rose, let me help you. You mustn't hurt the baby. Be more careful." He helped me to my feet.
"But how?"
"What?"
"How is this possible?" Dimitri's smiled filled with confusion.
"Rose, you sound like a child. Must I really explain sex to you?" I felt heat rise to my cheeks.
"No, I mean how are we pregnant? We can't be. Did I cheat on you?!" Horror filled my entire body.
"What?! Of course not! This is our child!" His hand fell to my stomach.
"But how? Dhampirs can't-"
"Rose!" I looked up to see a very tan Lissa walking toward me. She held a baby in her arms and Christian followed behind her holding the hand of a small boy. She flashed a grin at me revealing perfectly straight teeth that held a hint of yellow. But there wasn't a hint of fangs.
"What is going on?"
"Rose?"
"She's muttering about that vampire crap again, Lissa." Lissa's smile fell. Suddenly we were in a white room with everyone staring at me grimly. I was stretched out on a table with my legs up. Dimitri stood in the corner away from me with pain in his eyes. Lissa stood at my feet beside Adrian. Lissa looked at him with despair in her eyes.
"Doctor?" Adrian shook his head and then looked at Dimitri. I watched confused as Dimitri fell to the floor his face buried in his hands. I reached out to hold him but my hands stayed plastered to the medical table. Dimitri looked up at the doctor as tears fell down is face. Dimitri broke off into heavy sobs. Blood started to drip down the walls.
"Why couldn't you be happy, Roza? Didn't you love me enough?" I started to black out as the blood began to fill the room. It filled my mouth and choked me.
"What the hell was that?" I sat up on the grass grabbing at my throat. I could still taste the blood on my tongue. My hands fell to my stomach which lay flat beneath them. I sighed out a breath of relief. I glared up at the full moon. "So I guess to you do turn everyone fucking crazy." I muttered quietly to myself but it was apparently loud enough for someone to hear. A loud chuckle sounded beside me I jumped and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Adrian leaned against the trunk of the tree I had been sitting in earlier.
"Leave it to you, Rose, to curse at the moon after a dream like that."
"You did that? What the hell, Adrian!"
"Actually I didn't. I tried to make a visit when I saw you laying there but I was kind of pushed to the sidelines to watch. It was really bizarre. Luckily enough I found some way to force us both out of it by the time the blood started to drip." I shuddered at the memory of my dream.
"What do you think did it?"
"I don't know, Rose. The whole thing is kind of curious." His face turned thoughtful. "Could have been a premonition. Could have been a dream gift given to you by someone that somehow turned sour. Could have been a nightmare someone forced upon you. Could have been, well, anything, really."
"Gee thanks, Adrian. When did you get so insightful?" My voiced was dripping with sarcasm.
"I live to serve you, Little Dhampir." My mouth tugged at the edges.
"So what are you doing out here?"
"I stopped by the house and Dimitri sent me out to look for you. Poor guy looks stressed out. What did you do to him, Rose?" I rolled my eyes.
"For once? Nothing." I stood up and brushed the grass off my butt.
"Nothing? I find that hard to believe."
"Well I didn't." I lifted my hand to his eye level.
"Oh. Oh! So you finally took pity on the old guy."
"I wouldn't call it pity. He is gonna have to spend the rest of his days with me." His lip quirked into an adorable cricked grin.
"You're right. Now he has my pity." I playfully punched him in the arm and he pretended that it hurt him.
The walk back to the house was actually very awkward. I could swear that if a theoretical needle was dropped I would have theoretically heard it drop. I yawned and stretched out my arms. "What time is it?" Adrian pulled out his phone and placed in my face to reveal the time. "Ah, fuck!" I picked up my pace.
"What's wrong?"
"I've got to be back to the house right now. We are having my parents over to inform them on this new engagement." I tried to hide the shudder the word engagement sent through my body.
"I saw that repulsion, Rose."
"You saw nothing." I was glad that our friendship seemed to be resetting itself. I was going to have to bake Sydney cookies. Not that she would eat them. I should have Dimitri bake her cookies and then I could eat them for her. God, I'm a great friend. We reached the porch soon enough. I turned around and faced Adrian. "Thank you for walking me back. I should go in now."
"Oh yeah sure." His held fell downward as we watched his feet kick up dirt. So perhaps our friendship wouldn't be the same as it had been. Perhaps it will always have lingering feeling from him. I shrugged my shoulders and then hugged him.
"I'm glad that everything is going good between you and Sydney."
"I wouldn't say good."
"Well, it is good considering she was brought up to believe you to be the spawn of Satan. Alchemists really are the most sentimental people." He chuckled as looked back down at me. Despite the thick black coat, scarf, gloves, and hat he wore, his cheeks were still tinted a soft pink.
"Yeah, I should go. I'll bet she is being to miss me."
"I don't see how she couldn't." I turned away from him and walked back into the house.
"So you thought it was a good idea to find a place to sleep somewhere outside in the dead of winter?" I met Dimitri's worried gaze head on. I leaned back against the counter.
"Oh. It isn't like it is a big deal. There isn't even any snow on the ground. Everything has been surprisingly warm this year."
"You could have frozen to death Rose!"
"No, I couldn't have." I walked over to him and placed my palm against his warm cheek. He pressed his cheek tighter to my hand.
"I wish you weren't so reckless for maybe five minutes."
"We both know that that is an impossibility." He sighed and opened his dark eyes. They looked down at me thoughtfully.
"Why did I have to fall in love with such a crazy woman?"
"That one is all on you, Comrade." He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face. I tilted my head to brush my lips against his in the gentlest of fashions.
"Roza, could you please not do that?" His voice was husky. Given another setting, I would have loved to have tested his self-control, instead I pulled back.
"I know. I know. My parents are going to be here in a matter of seconds. I must be on my best behavior." I felt his mouth tug up in a grin.
"Good girl."
Somehow Dimitri had found the strength within him to stay completely composed throughout the dinner. I kept my left hand on my lap and stared down at my food. I knew that Dimitri wanted to be the one to tell him. I also knew my poker face would break the moment I actually looked at either one of my parents. Yeva had surprisingly not invited herself to the dinner which made it a lot less stressful. Olena sat beside Dimitri, who sat beside me. He held my left hand in his. His index finger was chasing a soothing pattern into my flesh. My parents sat across from us. I could feel my father's glare and my mother's anticipation rising. Suddenly she coughed and I made the mistake of looking up at her. When had I become such a coward? She dropped her napkin on the table and looked between me and Dimitri. "Alright, so did it finally happen? You guys are to still and silent for it to have not happened." I felt blood rush to my cheeks. And now I am blushing? What is becoming of Guardian Rose Hathaway? Dimitri always had a funny hold over me but this was becoming ridiculous.
I felt him shift uncomfortably beside me. Perhaps it was doing funny things to him to. He coughed. "Yes. Roza, has finally accepted my hand in marriage." My mother grinned and my father made a gruff noise in the back of his throat.
"Well it is about time, Rose." My mother looked at me with one of those rare, genuine smiles that always seemed to fill me with warmth. "Well let me see it!" I placed my hand in her outstretche done. She gasped and then looked up at Dimitri. "This is beautiful! How in the world did you afford this on a guardian salary?"
"Um."
"I shouldn't have asked you that. But woah! My god that is beautiful."
"Way to make every other man on the planet look bad, Belikov." Dimitri looked up at my father in surprise. "But I guess I am glad to have you in the family, kid. You aren't so bad."
"Thank you, sir. You aren't too bad yourself, apart from you breaking my nose."
"Well, you're welcome for the memory." He reached across the table and shook Dimitri's hand. "Welcome to the family."
I'm sorry this took so long. My sleeping schedule has been out of whack lately and I have had a busy schedule with theatre this week. We open in less a week so that is stressful. I've also started writing an original story. So that's been nice. Well I hope this chapter was good. Personally I think it is lacking a bit. There wasn't all that much to write. The whole informing people doesn't have too much excitement to it. I assure you that the next chapter WILL be better. How did you guys feel about Adrian developing into a better person and a better spirit user? What did you think of Rose's dream? Please R&R. Your opinion means everything!
