Chapter 10: Thirty-One Weeks
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy
RPOV
I woke and as my eyes fluttered open things were hazy. I could hear the slow steady rhythm of a hospital monitor, but also the voices of the ones I loved.
"She's waking up," Lissa said.
"Roza?" I could hear Dimitri's voice and then I felt his hand on my forehead.
My eyes began to focus and I took in my surroundings. Dimitri and Lissa were there. In my sleep, I'd nearly forgotten I where I was. Adrian had come to visit with me while I slept taking me to a very serene garden with a small stream and a waterfall.
"How are you feeling?" Dimitri asked.
"I've been better," I said trying to sit up a little. He helped me and put a pillow behind my back for support.
"Is the baby alright?" I asked rubbing my belly. Dimitri stood beside me squeezing my hand gently.
"Everything is alright for now. We were able to bring your blood pressure down to a relatively normal level, but we're going to keep you here under surveillance for a few days to make sure. We'll continue the drug treatment and take it from there," the doctor said. I hadn't noticed her in the room before.
I sighed heavily in relief.
"Where is Lexie?" I asked worried that she'd have woken up by now and found us all missing. Lissa and Dimitri exchanged worried looks.
"What happened?" I asked. I could feel Lissa was keeping something from me.
"Everything is alright. Lexie woke up in the middle of the night and was distressed that we were gone. I went home to comfort her and explained that I needed to come back. I brought her over to Ivashkov's and he and Viktoria are looking after her. She seemed to calm down once we got there."
"My poor baby," I said hating that she'd been afraid. I knew Dimitri was looking to me to tell him he made the right decision in not bringing her here.
"You did really well Comrade. She would have been scared last night, but if everything is okay for a little while longer you can bring her for a little while so she can see that I'm okay."
He looked relieved that I agreed with his decision. Poor man, he was drowning here. I knew he was worried and it was actually kind of cute.
A few hours and an injection later my blood pressure was still doing alright so the doctor okayed a visit from Lexie.
"Remember what I told you," Dimitri instructed as he let her in by the hand. She nodded and looked at me with bleary eyes, the eyes I knew had been up all night crying. She was more subdued than usual as she walked forward handing me a card.
"Aww baby thank you. We love it," I told her smiling in hopes of making her more comfortable. She stayed at least three feet away from me. I had no idea what Dimitri had told her, but this just wouldn't do.
"Baby come here and give me a hug." I held out my arms for her. She eyed me carefully and stepped forward giving me a very gentle almost no touching hug as if she were afraid that I would break.
"Sweetheart, it's okay to hug me a little tighter, I won't break," I assured her.
"Daddy said to be careful and not to get too excited," she said biting her lip.
"Well yes that is good advice, but if you climb up here carefully you can lay next to me." Her eyes lit up a little.
"Daddy is that okay?" she asked. He nodded smiling at her. She climbed carefully onto the bed and I patted the spot next to me. She snuggled her face into the crook of my neck and I wrapped my arm around her tightly.
"I was so worried about you Mommy," she said her voice a little shaky.
"Shh, baby it's okay. I'm just fine. Daddy and the doctor's have been taking really good care of me and the baby," I said stroking her hair gently.
"I woke up and you weren't there," she sniffled. "Daddy wasn't there either just Uncle Crissie."
"Well I know that if I woke up and the only person I saw was Sparky, I'd be a little scared too," I joked. She laughed along with Lissa and Dimitri. Laughter was just what the doctor ordered right now.
"Is that a smile I see?" I asked kissing her cheek softly.
We were still laughing when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," I called. Adrian, Christian and Viktoria entered. Adrian had flowers and Christian had a balloon in the shape of a flaming torch.
"Hey there Little Dhampir, heard you were sick, but now I see you're just in here for the free food," Adrian joked handing me the flowers and kissing my cheek.
"Thanks, you always know how to make a girl feel special," I laughed accepting the gorgeous bouquet of peonies. He knew I loved them because when he dream walked me in his grandmother's garden I was always admiring them.
"Hey Roza, how's my little niece or nephew doing?" Viktoria asked patting my belly gently.
"We're just fine for now," I said.
"Glad to hear that and just in case you miss me while you're here, I brought you a little something to remember me by," Christian piped in handing me the balloon.
"Wow, just when I thought you couldn't be any more full of yourself," I smirked.
He hugged me tightly. "Seriously Rose you have to stop scaring us like this."
"Don't I know it?"
"Daddy, I'm hungry," Lexie complained several hours later. She hadn't let go of me since she got here.
"Why don't you guys take her to the café?" I asked.
Dimitri shot me a look. I knew he didn't want to leave me, but he looked like hell.
"You should take her to the café and then both of you should go home and get some sleep."
He was about to argue with me.
"Comrade, I mean it," I said forcefully.
"Lexie don't you want Daddy to take home?" I asked. Her face lit up like it was Christmas.
"You'll stay with me tonight?" she asked hopefully. He looked at me with disapproval knowing full well that I was blackmailing him. It was for his owngood though.
"Of course I will stay with you Milaya," he said scooping her up into his arms.
"Who is going to stay with Mommy?" she asked.
"That's a good question," he said looking me in the eye.
"I believe that while you are with your daddy that your Mommy's daddy can take care of her."
"Grandpa Abe!" Lexie squealed fighting to escape Dimitri's arms.
"Agh you've gotten big," he said as she hugged him tightly.
"How's my girl?" he asked, looking at me after Lexie was done attacking him. His usually calm eyes showed worry.
"I'm okay, did Dimitri call you?" I asked. He nodded. Well at least now I knew who's neck to wring over this.
"Where is that beautiful engagement ring of yours?" he asked kissing my hand softly.
"I got too fat and now it doesn't fit," I groaned.
"Nonsense kizim, you're absolutely glowing."
"I see my fiancé over there has taught you the art of lying," I snorted. He glared at Dimitri.
"Baba, I was kidding. Lay off."
"Lexie come give me a kiss and I'll see the two of you later." Dimitri growled a little, but kissed me goodbye.
"You'll call if anything changes?" he asked directing his question at Abe.
"I will, now do what my daughter asked and scram," he said waving his hand. I had to laugh at the hurt puppy look he was giving me.
"We will be fine. I've got things under control," he reiterated pulling a deck of cards out of his coat pocket.
Dimitri raised his eyebrows.
"She's on bed rest, not mind rest. I think learning to cheat at poker will be a fantastic distraction," he said winking at me.
"Sounds like fun," I said trying to sound enthusiastic. Dimitri finally left with Lexie in tow, my friends waved goodbye promising to come back tomorrow leaving me alone with my father.
"Where's mom?" I asked.
"She'll be along. I asked her to get us settled in guest housing."
"You're staying?"
"I've made preparations to stay until after the baby comes. Your mother was worried sick as was I. It didn't make sense to stay away. God knows we spent far too much time doing that during your childhood." There was regret in his eyes as he spoke.
"I'm really glad you're here," I told him. He hugged me tight. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
DPOV
It took every ounce of self control I had to do as Rose asked and take our daughter to the café. I didn't want to be away from her for even one minute and leaving her alone with Abe was not high on my priority list, but she was right. I had other responsibilities and Lexie needed me right now. We had to keep things as normal as possible for her.
"Why don't we all go to the café? I know everyone is hungry," Viktoria suggested.
"Sounds good," I told her.
"Dimka you don't have to shoulder this alone. We are all here for you. I called Mama and she and Babushka are coming as soon as possible. Abe wired them tickets. They should be here in a few days."
I sighed in relief. Although I was thirty-three years old when times were tough I couldn't help but wish for my mother to comfort me. After all that is what families do in times of need. A fact thus proven by how quickly Abe had come. When I'd called he hadn't even bothered to hide his worry. He'd just said that they'd be there as soon as possible and to keep him posted on her condition.
"Daddy, when the new baby comes where is it going to sleep?" Lexie asked taking a big bite of her hot dog.
"Well that is a good question," I told her. I'd been so busy worrying about Rose these last few months that I hadn't put too much thought into the nursery. I had a few ideas, but hadn't had the time to get started on them what with covering for Rose as Lissa's guardian and taking extra shifts and all.
"He or she can sleep in my room with me," she offered generously.
"That is very nice of you to offer to share your room with your baby brother or sister, but I think that you're such a big girl now that you deserve your own room. The new baby is going to have the room next to yours," I explained.
She looked thoughtful for a minute and then motioned for me to come closer. She whispered in my ear.
"Of course Milaya, I'm sure that your baby brother or sister would be very happy if we read our special story to him or her," I smiled brightly at her. She was so adorable asking if we could read the new baby Vasilisa Krasaveetsa, her favorite fairy tale. It was Russian and over the past two years I'd read it to her so many times that she was able to imitate her favorite parts. She'd recently begun taking beginning Russian at the Academy and I tried to teach her the little things whenever I could. She could recognize most letters and make their sounds and I'd taught her such things as hello and goodbye, thank you, I love you and the words for different members of the family. She seemed to pick it up rather quickly and I had high hopes that in a few years she'd be able to carry a conversation with me.
That of course made Rose very jealous. She'd always hated that she couldn't understand me when I spoke Russian. She'd said that now Lexie and I would be able to gang up and talk smack about her while she was in the room and she wouldn't even know it.
I laughed and told her we wouldn't do that. It was funny how she pouted when she felt left out of something. I'd tried to encourage her to enroll in an online Russian class while she was pregnant. There wasn't too much she could do in the way of guarding and it was sure to cure her boredom. I don't know how many of the tutorials she actually watched, but I knew my sister had been teaching her some things that were definitely not appropriate for a school setting.
"If you want I can get some catalogs sent over for you to look at this week. That way the nursery will be finished by the time Rose comes home. All you have to do is pick out the stuff and I can have someone come in and do the work," Lissa suggested.
I thought for a minute. "Well I was going to do the painting myself and I had plans to build a crib, but the rest would be helpful. Thank you," I told her.
"Can I help you paint Dimka?" my sister asked.
"That would be really nice Vika."
Two days later Rose's blood pressure was still in a good range. They still wanted to keep her a few more days and that made me feel better that she'd be under constant care. Abe and Janine had been keeping her company in the mornings, Lissa, Christian and Adrian had figured out an afternoon rotation although I knew Lissa fought to be there at some point every day. There was no way she was leaving Rose alone. I stayed with Rose at night. She wanted me to go home, but I assured her that Lexie was being well taken care of. She and Babushka were thick as thieves and had been doing all sorts of fun activities. When my grandmother tired Abe and Janine took Lexie for the evening and night shift. She said her grandpa told the best stories and seemed to be having a good time.
My mother and grandmother had arrived yesterday and after visiting with Rose for about an hour came straight to the house and began cleaning furiously.
"She needs to come home to a clean house," my mother insisted going as far as to scrub out the oven, clean out the refrigerator and the microwave. She also went grocery shopping and began cooking meals to freeze.
In between my guarding shifts I had painted the nursery the color of the ocean and then Viktoria and I had stenciled on a myriad of sea creatures to make an underwater scene.
"Daddy it looks like we're under water!" Lexie cried as I showed her the nursery. The furniture had been delivered yesterday and I had started work on the crib.
"Daddy can we paint Spongebob on the wall?" she asked. I chuckled and took her to the store to find what we would need. As it turned out they had a wall rub on of Spongebob that was perfect.
"Where should we put it?" I asked.
"Hmm," she put her finger on her chin, deep in thought. "Over there next to the jellyfish, Spongebob loves jellyfish," she said excitedly. We stood back and admired our work.
"When can we show Mommy?" she asked.
"Well the doctor said if all goes well she can come home tomorrow," I told her. She beamed.
"Can we show Uncle Adrian and Auntie Lissa today?" she asked tugging on my hand.
"Sure, we can call them over," I told her.
RPOV
"Comrade, I think it's okay for me to walk from here to the house," I protested as he forced me to sit down in a wheel chair.
"I would feel better if you didn't. Humor me Roza," he said. I had been released because my blood pressure had been down for nearly a week, but I wasn't out of the woods yet. I was still only thirty-one weeks and the doctor wanted me to make it to thirty-six. I was hoping to make it to forty.
I huffed, but complied. At least they'd allowed me to wear normal clothes or as normal as Lissa could find seeing is that I was enormous.
"Why don't you just put a sign on the back of the chair that says wide load," I snapped as he wheeled me on my roll of shame right through the middle of court.
"Will you stop that? What do I have to do to prove to you that you are the most beautiful woman on this Earth?" he said sighing in frustration. I felt bad for continuously snapping at him, but I hated being cooped up in that hospital and now I was going to face the same over protectiveness that I did in the beginning only now instead of just Dimitri and Lissa I would have my parents and Dimitri's family breathing down my neck.
"Welcome home Roza," Olena greeted me as Dimitri helped me through the door. He led me straight to the living room.
"You did not!" I cried taking in the fact that our bed was now in the middle of the living room.
"Rose, you cannot climb the stairs and I don't want you trying it when we are not around," Dimitri scolded. If I hadn't felt like a three year old before, I certainly did now.
"How are you feeling dear?" his mother asked as Dimitri placed me gently on the bed pulling down the covers and lying me gently against the freshly fluffed pillows.
"I'd be better if I wasn't on display for everyone to stare at in the middle of my living room," I grumbled.
"I told you she'd hate it," Viktoria tisked from behind me somewhere. I couldn't really see anything that was going on behind me since I could barely turn around.
"Are you comfortable?" Dimitri asked.
"I'm fine. Can everyone just go and give me some space?" I cried out in frustration.
"Okay, if that is what you want," he agreed.
"We'll be in the kitchen if you need us," he said kissing my forehead.
"Come on Lexie, let's go," he said.
"No, she can stay," I said opening my arms for her to come and lie with me. She smiled and climbed up on the bed next to me.
I used the remote and flipped on the Disney channel.
"I said get out!" I growled at Dimitri who was still hovering. He held up his hands in surrender and exited the room which his family had had the good sense to do the first time I asked.
"Mommy are you mad at Daddy?" Lexie asked as we watched Anastasia which was on television right now.
"No, baby, I'm not mad at him. I'm just grumpy because I'm tired and uncomfortable," I told her.
"I love you Mommy," she said.
"I love you too baby," I said kissing her forehead.
I was woken sometime later when I felt the side of the bed dip beneath his weight.
"Roza, it's time for dinner. You slept through lunch, you need to eat my love," Dimitri's said softly as he stroked my hair.
I groaned snuggling deeper into the blankets. I must have fallen asleep. I noticed Lexie was asleep next to me. She must have been exhausted.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier," I apologized. He smiled warmly at me.
"It's okay, you've been through a lot and I know you're uncomfortable. I'm so sorry you're feeling so terrible. I love you so much, it means everything to me that you're going through this to protect our child," he said pulling me into his arms. I let him hold me for a while and it felt really good.
"I have something that might make you feel better," he said sitting up.
"Pepperoni Pizza?" I guessed.
"No, you know you can't have that. You need a low sodium diet," he chastised. I groaned.
"Then what?" I asked my sullen behavior rearing it's ugly head.
He unclasped a chain from around his neck and placed it gently around my own. I looked down to find that he'd put my engagement ring on there.
"My ring," I gasped rolling it between my fingers.
"It's a temporary solution, but at least this way you can wear it," he said.
"Thanks Comrade," I whispered leaning over and joining my lips with his.
Sorry for the late update. The power has been out in our area and my laptop battery died and then the internet was down. I hope you liked this chapter even though it didn't really have that much going on. Also I will not be able to post another chapter for a little over a week. My husband and I are reliving our honeymoon and will be going to Orlando Florida to Universal Studios and Disney for a week starting Wednesday. I hope to update shortly after we return.