Chapter 10

Term

And here it comes

The next morning I woke up with rose curled around my body, she was cooing in her sleep. It was such a peaceful sound. She looked like an angel the way her hair tangled around her face.

Looking at her now, as she slept one would never know that she was the same one from last night. She seemed so fragile and delicate now, but last night had been murderously strong. She hadn't shown any mercy, which I was very satisfied with. The southern vampires deserved what they got and this other vampire that wanted her, he could think again. She was mine.

She would never be able to mother my child for my line as long as she had her humanity, but I wasn't going to implement a change that I knew she didn't want. I honestly didn't care either. I could always leave it up to Regulous and Courtney to have that glory of birthing the Alpha. As long as I had Rose right where she was I didn't care about my line or all the politics that went with it. When the time came, I would pass the bill to my niece or nephew.

I decided that it was time for me to get up. As comfortable as I was I still had to call Bones and let him know what we found out from last night's activities.

I rolled out of the bed quietly, hoping that I wouldn't wake Rose. I grabbed some sweatpants and my cell phone then trudged down the massive staircase. I figured that there was no need to shower until I after I got back from my run with the pack. Maybe I could even get a shower with Rose.

I made my way to the kitchen first to get something to eat. Looking in the fridge, I settled for just orange juice. When I turned around to get a glass Vlad sat on the other side of the counter. He wasn't there when I came in. I hated how vampires could move like that. Then I found myself fascinated with the idea that Rose might be able to move like that.

"Bell, Man. Big, loud bell." I glared at him. He had been pretty scarce all week. Only appearing around Rose. I couldn't complain though, as far as protection went he was it. He was Dracula.

"If you let the vampire out to play, do you think you can reign her in again?" I knew that he spoke of Rose, but I had no idea what he meant.

"First Mencheres and now you? Doesn't anyone speak English?" A little annoyed with the cryptic I grabbed my glass and filled it, putting the O.J. back in the fridge.

"She has strength and power, but the base was all she knew. She left them, not wanting that life anymore." Vlad seemed curiously remorseful as he looked into my eyes. "You are waking up her vampire after 2 years of silence, where do you think that will get you? She won't be able to give up and let other people be in charge. She's strong and she knows that she can use that strength to our benefits. She won't listen to you. She's like her mother and won't rest now until it is all over. She will be at the base again before you can say 'Boo.'"

I thought of the angel in the bed upstairs. I knew that when it came to her brother she might not give up, could I risk it? Maybe Bones was right to keep her out of things. It wasn't like I had tried to put her into them. They came after us, we didn't go after them.

Shaking my head to clear it, I grabbed my juice and headed out the back, "I have to call Bones."

I heard Vlad chuckle behind me, "Good luck."

As soon as I dialed the number he picked up, I didn't hear the ring.

"Why am I hearing from my guards that you took her out last night? When I gave specific orders not to leave?"

"We have breaking news. The Vampire that has Marcus is in Texas, his name is Johan and he knows about Rose and Cat." I decided to get it all out and leave out the details of how we got the information.

"Why don't you tell me what happened and why you took my daughter out for a night on the town, knowing that she needed full protection." It wasn't a question, it was an order and he was trying to keep his calm.

"She can protect herself, which she showed us last night."

"She opened up." I could hear the disbelief in his voice.

"She did. She actually got the information from the guy before she crispy creamed him." I was still stunned myself and I had seen it

"Rose is your girlfriend Term, nothing more. She is my daughter before anything that the two of you have at this point. She is my line and my blood. I make the decisions and you will have no more outings. We will see you on Thanksgiving." The line went dead.

I thought that went well. It was the best conversation we'd had since he walked in on Rose and I a month ago.

"Do you enjoy rubbing all our noses in it?" Adam asked as the group walked over to me. All of us were sweat pant clad. It made it easier for us to undress for our run.

I smiled, of course now that I thought of it, I was kind of rubbing it in. Sex with no shower after. Rose was magnificent, who wouldn't gloat?

"Okay, let's do this so bro can tell us how good his night was and we can get it over with." Reggie seemed to be all business.

"Where's Court?" Daniel started stretching.

"I let her sleep. She looked peaceful." He shrugged.

"She'll be pissed she missed it." Eaton shook his head.

"I'll deal with that later." He rolled his eyes at the comment.

We got back early afternoon. I went to the pool room to see if Rose was there with Courtney, they had spent most of their free time swimming in the warm water but no one was there. I made my way though the house peering in every room for her. When I walked in to what seemed to a sitting room Courtney was sprawled across a chair, but no Rose.

"Rose is upstairs." She smiled at me. "She's showering for the third time this morning."

"Why?"

She giggled, "Ask her."

I made my way up the stairs to our room with no interruption. I could hear the shower on and her sputtering.

"Ew-ew-ew! Gross!" It sounded like she was marching in place. "Eww…"

"Rose, Doll, are you okay? What happened." I could smell mild traces of blood. Not sure where they were coming from. Had she been hurt?

"Nothing happened. I have a… period! Ugh!" She huffed.

I started to laugh.

"It's not funny Term." She opened the shower door to glare at me. "Not funny at all! It's so nasty!"

"It's natural."

"Not for me." She had a point, she hadn't had one since I had known her. "I have to wear a tampon, Term! A Tampon!"

I couldn't help but laugh again. She was so cute when she flipped over ridiculous little things. I wondered if it was a part of her PMS this time.

"Women have periods all the time. Just because your primarily a vampire doesn't mean your immune to humanities." I laughed again and climbed into the shower behind her. I still needed to take one.

Rose

Two weeks later I woke up at about 2 am with a heavy acid taste in my mouth. Almost as though it were coming from my teeth. My stomach felt awful. Like someone had kicked me. When I opened my eyes to check on Term the room started to spin. My mouth started to fill with the acid coming out of my stomach.

I ran to the bathroom and leaned over the toilet to release it all. When I did I got a wrenching feel instead of the release I had hoped for. More and more came up after every heave. I didn't know I had that much in me.

"Rose?" Term came running in and started to check me over. "You okay, Doll?"

"I think I'm throwing up."

"That would be what is called, Hon." He shook his head as he chuckled.

"Why are you always laughing at me?"

"I'm sorry maybe you drank too much. Or have a virus. You could have eaten something you didn't agree with. Just relax. You'll feel better." He gave me a ruminating look.

"I can't relax. I have bile coming out of me." More came out at that moment. "Eww."

"Haven't you ever been sick before?" His brow furrowed.

"No." After a moment of thought I realized that I had never actually been sick. I had been hurt, but never sick. Not even a cold.

"What?" I asked when he paused, as if not knowing what to do or think about this new situation. Just a month ago I had been shot and he didn't have the look on his face that he had now.

"Well, lets get you up and into bed." He rolled his eyes, as if it was some kind of inside joke and helped me up and guiding me to the bed.

"What if I get sick again?" I whined. "Shouldn't I stay in the bathroom?"

"I will be here. Just call out, I'll leave the door cracked so I can hear you. Should I call Tate at the base? If you haven't been sick before and are now throwing up he might want to see you."

"Can't I take some medicine or something? Isn't that what people normally do?"

"Go back to sleep. When you wake up, if your still sick I'll call Tate."

"Yes Dr."

I woke up again at 4, 5 and 7. That was when Term decided that we needed to call Tate.

Term

I shut myself in the library, not wanting anyone to overhear my conversation. And I dialed the number.

"Tate."

"It's Term, I think we need medical assistance."

"Is she okay?"

How could I explain this… "She's throwing up. She said she's never been sick before."

"You're kidding." He paused as if waiting for an answer that didn't come. "Has anything weird or out of ordinary happened lately? Something that's not normal for her? Can you sense what I'm getting at?"

"You mean like a period that she's never had before?"

"Yeah." He sighed, "How is her blood intake?"

"Not much lately. She hasn't been to the basement in about 3 days and she won't touch her blood bags. She says that she can live without blood though."

"She can." There was another pause then he spoke again in a cautious tone. "Did you use protection?"

I knew what he was asking. "It's not possible."

"Fuck! Did you use anything?"

"Look, do I need to bring her in or not?" I wasn't explaining myself to him. I barely knew the guy. We hadn't used any and I knew what was asking. Rose couldn't be pregnant. Vampires didn't get pregnant and she wouldn't unless she was fully changed. It wouldn't happen while I still lived.

There was a longer pause this time. "Yes. I'll send Juan. He's in the area and he can get you here quickly. 15 minutes on the landing pad."

Rose

By 9am we were there. Despite the 2 hours it normally took to get there and my blood had been drawn. Apparently Tate thought that it was an important issue.

Term and I stayed in Tate's office waiting to see if they could find anything. I of course, being the sick one, laid on the sofa with my feet on Term and a pail next to my head for my next scene from the exorcist.

"You going to be okay?" He had been watching me closely since I dressed to get here.

"Fine. Just fine. Haven't been sick for and hour." I waved an arm at him as if it were no big deal.

"You want to talk?"

"Tired." Who knew that vomiting took that much out of you?

"Okay. Just rest, Doll."

A few minutes later Tate came in the room, papers in hand. He didn't seem to happy. "You're going to have to tell them this one. I hate Bones more than anyone, but I won't tell him."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did you- You know?" Term asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. Apparently it was a private conversation. One I wasn't involved in.

"It was the first thing we tested for. The ONLY thing we needed to test for, since you didn't fucking wrap it!" He leaned against his desk, setting his papers next to him.

"What?" I sat up strait as the room swam. I never liked the whole beating around the bush thing. It was time someone told me what was going on.

"You're pregnant, Rose." Term buried his head in his hands. The words sounded cold. Very cold and inhumane as he said them. He didn't bother to look at me.

"I knew as soon as Term told me you were sick. It was the second sign with Cat." Tate tossed his files on the desk as he leaned against it.

"What was the first?" I asked.

"She had a period." Term couldn't look at me either. What was I, a Cyclops?

"And no one informed me that this could happen? Is it even possible? I had never had a period before. Don't I need one to start with in order to even get pregnant?" I was stunned. I didn't know what to ask or what to do. I stood and started to pace, all illness suddenly gone.

"We need to figure things out. Dates it could have happened, the size of the fetus determines the age." Tate spoke, but it sounded far off in a distance.

"Is it possible?" I hadn't gotten an answer yet. Had I?

"You already asked that, Doll." Term finally looked up, meeting my eyes. He seemed just as lost as me.

"Well, is it?" I paused and waited for an answer.

"Apparently." Term slowly rose to his feet and put both hands on my shoulders. To slow me down he wrapped his arms around me.

"Date? Pick a day of the week. Your guess is as good as mine." I mumbled.

"There has never been a birth of this magnitude before, this is three species combined. Human, shifter and vampire. We need to know what it will mainly possess. Weather there is a dominant gene, like the vampire in you. It's not a joke Rose." Tate said quietly.

My mind spun. It would be a baby though. One that would need extra protection. One that would need support and help. Love. It would need us. Term and I. I would be a mother?

"I'm not joking, Tate. I'm still astounded that I'm even pregnant, now this 'baby might have three heads' thing is being thrown at me?" I started to walk out, but I was stopped by Term holding firmly in place. When I looked into his eyes I saw his fear.

"I need you to stay for a few more tests. We're going to do more blood work and try an ultrasound. We weren't able to get them on Cat, but we can try with you. This baby is more… it's different than you were." He tossed some pills from the top of the files at me. "The doc said that these will slow down the nausea. Take one now and we'll head down." Big red pills. Yay. I took one and started out the door. With Tate behind us Term was at my side.

An hour and six tubes of blood later I was on the table, with the engineer holding the mouse to my stomach. The gel was cold and slimy, but it did what they needed. I couldn't see anything, the screen was just a jumbled mess to, but apparently the sonographer could read it.

"I can see into the amniotic sack. I couldn't see it with Cat. This is a very good thing, plus the heartbeat is normal. I'm going to take my measurements."

It took about 5 minutes. No one dared to speak to each other. Everyone stared intently at the screen.

"In exactly 5 months you will be proud parents. Give or take a week. I can't determine the sex yet, but we will be able to tell soon."

"5 months?" I asked. "My mother was only pregnant four."

"The gestational time varies with the species. I did some math and came to the conclusion. Now, I had to take into accountability the size of the embryo and the fact that you just started morning sickness early this morning. Naturally you would be a month along if your starting morning sickness, but since your metabolism moves faster, I believe we are about two weeks after conception. The size of the embryo says that it's 14 weeks along right now. Anyway, Factoring that with a little more math leaves us at 5 months. Although I need to monitor the growth pattern over the next couple of weeks to be positive."

I hate math. I thought in vivid colors as I pictured myself cutting out this vampire's tongue. It would just grow back anyway.

"I don't think I caught any of that." Term's eyes slanted as he glared at the poor man sitting across from us.

"5 months you daddy, Caveman! It baby." I simplified it sarcastically pointing to my stomach. I don't think anyone was truly happy about the situation. I turned to Term who had turned white in color. He couldn't speak.

Tate stood near the door. "I won't tell Bones. He hates me enough. That's for you to do."

"Secret for now?" I asked. The last thing I wanted to do was tell Bones. He didn't trust Tate and he couldn't even stand to be in the same room with Term. This was going to interesting.

"Secret." He agreed.

As we walked out Tate called out, "Better tell him by Thanksgiving."

The problem was that there were 5 more people that we couldn't keep it from. I really didn't need Bones or anyone to know right away. I needed to deal with it for the present. Thanksgiving was in 3 weeks. Things could wait until later.

"I won't shift until you want them to know." We had just gotten off the helicopter when he spoke for the first time since we had left the office.

"Thank you."

"How do you feel?"

"Sick. Like I was 3 hours ago. I'm going back to bed." I knew that wasn't what he meant, but I needed to sleep. We could talk about it tomorrow