I told you guys this chapter would be posted up sooner! And who has seen that new trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia? Ben Barnes looks so handsome! You guys should totally watch the trailer if you havent seen it already. As always, Richelle Mead owns all =)

Enjoy!

Daisy

Chapter 10

I lay on the floor panting and trying to catch my breath. "You're wearing me out Comrade," I said.

"Well we need to stay in shape in case we run into anything," said Dimitri looking down at me.

"I know," I said taking his hand and standing up.

"Pick up from the beginning," he said taking his stance again.

We did hand to hand combat for another hour before going inside to wash up. I went to the shower and let the warm water run down my back and soothe my aching muscles. The last six weeks we had been practicing combat and it was all fine with me. But recently I had started to feel really tired, and not just after our sessions either. I felt sluggish during the day and it took every ounce of my will to get up and go practice with Dimitri.

After taking my extra long shower I changed into some comfy and warm clothes and made my way to the kitchen where Dimitri was already showered and making dinner. I inhaled deeply the mouth-watering smell of his cooking. "I hope you're making enough for ten cuz I'm starving," I said. Along with feeling tired I had also been extremely hungry, more so than usual.

He chuckled and kept stirring the contents of the pot. "Of course. We have to nourish that body of yours."

"So have you heard anything new from Abe?" For the last six weeks Abe's men had been searching for new leads but had come up empty handed.

Dimitri shook his head. "No, they still haven't found anything new."

We ate dinner in the kitchen and then watched a movie before heading off to bed. I was so tired that I fell asleep right away without a sweet second of sleep to waste. I was having a nonsense dream about a duck chasing me at a carnival when a wave of nausea rolled through me. I shot up in bed thinking that there were Strigoi nearby but quickly realized it was actual vomit threatening to come out. I pulled the covers back and ran to the bathroom just in time to avoid throwing up on the floor. I clutched the sides of the toilet as I threw up everything I had eaten for dinner and left my stomach empty.

I must have woken up Dimitri with my wrenching because he appeared behind me pulling my hair back so I wouldn't get puke all over it. "Are you okay Roza?" he said in a worried tone.

After throwing up all the contents in my stomach I did feel better. I nodded and went to go brush my teeth to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. "I must have eaten something that made my stomach upset," I said, not truly believing my excuse. Dhampirs and Moroi rarely got sick and I didn't even want to consider the possibility that I had some rare virus or disease. I couldn't exactly waltz in to a vampire clinic and ask for help. "Don't worry," I said noticing Dimitri's worried expression and giving him a small smile. "I'll sleep it off."

We headed back to bed and fell asleep. I thought I was going to be able to sleep it off but the nausea continued all throughout the next day. I couldn't keep anything down and my appetite for food had vanished, which set off a warning flag. I was always hungry and welcomed food. But now? The mere thought of it made me want to vomit. After a couple of days both Dimitri and I were starting to get really worried. I was so worried that I even let Dimitri schedule an appointment in a clinic, not that it might do much help if I did indeed have a rare virus that affected Moroi and Dhampirs.

So the next day we headed into town an hour before my appointment. The car ride into town alone was thirty minutes, so when we arrived it was half an hour until my appointment. After I signed in I had to fill out some paperwork that Dimitri volunteered to fill out for me. I sat next to him and concentrated on not puking all over the old woman next to me. Twenty minutes later I was called in while Dimitri stayed in the waiting room. The nurse took my weight and height and vital signs before leaving the room and saying that the doctor would see me soon.

I sat there on the paper covered bed remembering all the times I had visited the clinic at 's. It was crazy how I had been injured so many times, and yet I had remained healthy and fine. Well at least I hoped so.

"Hello Ms. Mazur I am Dr. Pranly." Dimitri and I had agreed that I should use another name and had ended up with Roza Mazur.

The doctor was a female about as tall as me with long blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and shadowy gray eyes that created a sharp contrast to her pale features. "How are we doing?"

"Well I've been feeling really nauseous and tired for the last couple of days," I said noticing how she wrote down what I told her.

She noded. "Any headaches, fever, dizziness, shivering or anything unusual?" she asked.

I thought back to how I had felt the last few days. "Nope….well actually maybe a little dizzy."

She wrote down some notes on her paper and looked up at me. "Well lie down and let's check you out," she said. She pressed on different spots on my body and listened to my heart and lungs before telling me to sit up.

"So what's up with me?" I asked.

She looked at her notes then looked back at me. "Miss Mazur, are you sexually active?" she asked.

The question caught me off guard but I answered after a slight hesitation. "Um, yes."

"And do you use any sort of protection or birth control?"

Dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other and Dimitri and I were both Dhampirs so we never bothered with that stuff. "No," I said. Then after thinking about it I realized what she was getting at. "Wait, you think I'm pregnant?"

She noded. "Yes, all your symptoms seem to point to that."

But I couldn't be pregnant, it just wasn't possible…was it? No, of course not. Dhampirs couldn't reproduce with each other. "But I can't be…" I trailed off.

"Don't worry Ms. Mazur, we can run a pregnancy test here and get you out of that doubt." She gave me a cup and ordered me to go pee in it and give it to a nurse so she could do the test. I went back to the waiting room and waited for the results.

"So what's wrong Rose?" asked Dimitri.

I shook my head. "Um don't worry," I mumbled.

"What do you mean? Did they check you out already? Can we leave now?" His questions started sounding a little frantic.

"I'm just waiting for some results," I said.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong Roza?" he asked with clear worry in his voice.

"Look don't worry about it, okay? Just wait until the results are ready."

"But Roza—"

"Just please wait Dimitri," I said cutting him off.

He nodded and remained quiet. What was I going to do if it came out positive? I barely knew how to take care of myself, let alone a baby. Wait, what was I doing? Of course I wasn't pregnant! There was just no way that I was. I just probably had some food poisoning or something.

The whole time we were waiting it felt like an eternity. All the while Dimitri was sick with worry about what was wrong with me and I was pondering the possibility that I was pregnant. They had instant messages. Instant coffee ... Why the heck hadn't anyone invented an instant pregnancy test yet?

After what seemed like years, they called me back again. This time I told Dimitri to come with me, he should be there if it turned out to be positive. We walked back to the room with who told us to sit down. She looked down at the results and looked back at us with a smile on her face. "The results came back positive Miss Mazur. Congratulations."

"Positive? Positive for what?" asked Dimitri clearly confused.

"Can you give us a minute please?" I asked the doctor.

"Of course," she said before exiting the room.

"What's going on Roza," said Dimitri searching my face for a clue as to what was going on.

I took a deep breath and gave him a small smile. "I'm pregnant."

Shock was clearly written all over his features before it was replaced with sadness. "It's Ivashkov's isn't it?" Of course he would think that, it would have been the most logical explanation. The only problem was that I hadn't had sex with Adrian or anyone else except for Dimitri.

"Adrian? No, Dimitri I haven't been with anyone else but you," I said looking him straight in the eyes.

"But how can this be possible? Dhampirs can't reproduce together," he said confused.

I shrugged. "I don't know how this is possible, but it happened."

"So this means I'm going to be a dad?" he said, not really expecting an answer. Slowly his features started changing and he gave me one of those rare beautiful smiles that took my breath away. "I'm going to be a dad!" he said hugging me.

"And I'm going to be a mom," I said, not sure of how I was feeling about this. So many emotions were running through me right now: shock, fear, confusion. But overall, I did feel happy. I was having a baby with the man I loved the most, something I never thought I would ever be able to do.

The doctor walked in then, smiling at us. "I'm glad to see that you two are happy. There are so many couples that feel like it's the end of the world. But if you do decide you don't want the baby, there are other options," she said taking on a more serious tone.

"Like abortion," I said.

"Yes, as well as adoption. If you decide you don't want to keep it you can give it up for another family to adopt."

"No." I shook my head. "I want to keep my baby," I said reaching for Dimitri's hand and giving it a slight squeeze of reassurance that he returned.

"That is great to hear," she said with a smile. "You don't know how many children are abandoned by irresponsible parents."

My thoughts went to my mother who had left me to be raised by the academy. She hadn't completely abandoned me but she had been almost nonexistent in my life. I wouldn't do that to my child. I shook my head. "No, we won't abandon this little guy," I said patting my stomach.

"That's good to hear," she said nodding her head and looking at her patient charts. "Our Obstetrician just had an opening if you two would like to see her and get an ultrasound."

I looked at Dimitri who smiled at me. "We would like that very much," he said.

"Follow me then." She led us to another room that had the ultrasound machine and a bed to lie on. "Change into this gown and the Obstetrician will be with you shortly," she said with a smile before leaving.

I turned to Dimitri. "I thought they did the ultrasound by putting that thing on my stomach."

Dimitri looked like he was holding back a smile. "I think she is going to use the other method."

"What other method?" I asked slowly.

A small smile escaped his lips then. "The one where they place the probe inside your…well down there."

I stopped just as I was pulling off my pants. "You mean she's going to stick something up my crotch?" I had never used sex toys and to have someone else put something in there seemed kind of weird.

"It's going to be fine Rose. Now finish undressing so we can get started," he said picking up my discarded clothes and folding them.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's going to get some metal thing stuck inside you."

He chuckled and shook his head but didn't say anything else. Yeah you better not say anything, I thought. The OB walked in then, a tall 40 year old woman with long brown hair and almond shaped eyes. "So how are we doing Mister and Misses Mazur?" Huh, she thought we were married.

"Oh uh we're not—"

"Belikov. It's Mister and Misses Belikov," interjected Dimitri. I looked up at him with a questioning look but he just gave my hand that he was holding a squeeze.

"Okay well lay down so we can get started." She took out the probe and stuck it in me. It felt…uncomfortable to say the least, but after a little while it became bearable. She moved it around to get a better view. "Okay here we go…oh," she said.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Dimitri.

"No there's nothing wrong with the babies."

I let out a sigh of relief. Nothing was wrong with the—"Did I hear right? Did you just say babies?" My voice going up an octave when I said it.

"Yes." She smiled. "See here?" she said pointing to two places on the screen, "these are the two heartbeats."

Oh good lord. I had started with just one trouble maker and now it had turned into two. Dimitri and I were going to have our hands full. I looked at the screen and saw the two little fluttering hearts and my heart gave a slight squeeze. I was feeling so happy right now that a tear escaped and ran down my cheek. I looked up at Dimitri and saw that he had the same smile I had on my face.

"How far along am I?" I asked.

She looked at the screen. "I would say that you are about seven weeks along." Seven weeks…seven weeks ago Dimitri and I had been together in that cabin in Siberia. Who knew our reunion would have such an outcome?

The OB gave us a picture of the ultrasound before we took off, two little blobs on a paper. When we got home I decided to take a bath to help my nerves settle down and let all that had happened today sink in. My whole life had changed today. All I wanted to do now was protect the new lives growing inside me at any cost. A sudden realization jolted me. Dimitri and I had been sparing for the last few weeks, and not to mention all the attacks we had encountered. It was a miracle babies or I hadn't gotten hurt.

Even though I was happy, I couldn't help the doubt and fear that sprouted in me. I hadn't even started my guardian career yet and I was already pregnant. How am I going to be a guardian and take care of two babies? I knew Dimitri would be there for support and to help out but I wasn't sure if I was cut out to be a mom. I had never felt that maternal instinct very much. The only thing that comforted me was that I knew Dimitri would be by my side every step of the way.

When I got out of the bath I changed into my silk pajamas and found Dimitri lounging on the bed reading his western novel. "Is it getting to the good part?" I asked getting into bed and snuggling next to him.

He put his arm around me. "Well Clint has just come back to his childhood town to get revenge for his father's death."

"How…sweet," I said. I really didn't see what fascinated him so much about these stories. It was silent for a while. "How are you feeling about all this?" I said breaking the silence.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled before answering. "When I met you, I imagined myself with you for the rest of my life. And even though I knew we could never have kids together, I still wanted to be with you because I love you and I can't imagine a life without you." He smiled and bent down to kiss my forehead. "I never would have expected this, but it feels right, like it was always meant to happen. And knowing that it's our children that both of us created out of love makes me the happiest man on earth."

"You really feel that way?" I don't know how I had ended up with such a great man. I never really believed in a god, but I thanked whoever had led Dimitri into my life. I put my hand on his cheek and kissed him. "I love you with all my heart and all my being. You are my soul mate, my other half that completes me."

"As you are mine," he said covering my hand with his. "And don't worry Roza, we have eight months to prepare. Even then we might not be fully ready, but no parents ever are."

A sudden thought occurred to me. "What are we going to do about our search for Lissa's brother?"

He thought about it before answering. "I don't know. I think we should wait until we tell Abe to see what he thinks we should do.

I smile. "Ooh you better watch out."

"He'll be just as happy as we are," said Dimitri.

"If you say so," I said, trying to do the one eyebrow thing that Dimitri does but failing miserably.

He chuckled as he pulled up my camisole to reveal my stomach and kissed it. "I can't wait until you two are out of there," he said to my stomach.

I laughed. "Don't speak so soon. You're gonna want to put them back in there when they keep us up all night with their crying." He pulled down my shirt and joined in on my laughing. In eight months I would be able to hold them in my arms. My little miracles.

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