Rose watched as Lissa's jaw dropped in absolute shock and just stared wide-eyed at her friend. Christian had the same expression on his face and was standing immediately behind Lissa, grasping her shoulders. But Rose focused momentarily on Adrian, who, despite being shocked, was glancing between her, Dimitri, and the baby suspiciously. This tense moment was broken by a shriek, and Lissa ran forward and jumped into Rose, crushing her in a hug.
"Rose!" She was sobbing, spilling tears onto Rose's already wet face. "Are you here? You're here! Please tell me you're here! My God, I thought you were dead—but you're actually here, aren't you?"
"I am, I'm here," Rose promised her best friend. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed all of her friends until she was finally back with them. Lissa clung to her, not wanting to let go.
"Why were you gone for so long? Markus—I think that was his name— said he left you in a cave full of Strigoi—how did you even survive?"
"Can't say until I'm able to breathe, Liss," Rose joked, and glanced back at Christian and Adrian who also had tears in the corners of their eyes. Lissa apologized quickly and backed up a little.
"You boys gonna say anything or are you just going to stand there being manly?" Rose put her hands on her hips.
"You're alive," Christian breathed.
"Sure am, Sparky. Have been this entire time."
"I knew it," Adrian said, moving forward and nodding to Rose. "It was all a ruse to make her comeback seem more dramatic and more romantic when she declared her love for me."
"Gee, I feel the love, Adrian. Glad I was missed," Rose rolled her eyes, drifting them towards Dimitri and their son, who everyone else was ignoring and seemed to have forgotten. It was still a very big concept to wrap around her head that she had a son, and with Dimitri of all people, but she was getting used to it.
"I did miss you, Little Dhampir. You know that. It killed me as much as it killed Lissa." Rose could hear how genuine his voice sounded. She knew he did miss her, he just showed his emotions in very different ways.
"So what happened to you?" Christian asked, the first to recover from the initial shock that Rose was there. She fidgeted, wanting to hold her son, but knew she should get this out of the way first.
"When Markus left the cave, the people who took me in were a special group of Strigoi hunters, not quite like guardians. They were also trained to kill Strigoi, but they have more improved weapons."
"How'd you escape?" Lissa asked breathlessly.
"I didn't. They let me go. They didn't really want me there, I have a reputation you know," Rose explained. Adrian looked confused.
"Then why didn't you come back earlier? It wouldn't have put the rest of us through such heartbreak and stuff."
"Well, I was in a coma for two months after the attack—" Rose said patiently, sounding like a broken record, having already told Dimitri the same thing. Speaking of Dimitri, he was still standing silently in the corner, cradling Immanuel, and Rose knew she would have to address them soon.
"So that's why!" Interrupted Adrian. Rose tried to raise an eyebrow at him before remembering she didn't know how. Instead she just replied out loud.
"Why what?"
"I tried to dreamwalk you multiple times in those early months, on the slim hope that you were still out there somewhere—and it didn't work because you were in a coma!"
"But what about after that? You could have come back to us a long time ago!" Lissa said, furrowing her brow. "Did you not want to come back?"
"No, no, of course not. They wanted to keep me there until I had given birth," Rose said. There it was. She dropped the bomb. Now she had to wait.
"They wanted to keep you there?" Christian said, not comprehending the rest of the sentence. "But you said they didn't want—"
Then he stopped. Lissa froze too, for the second time that day. All three of the Moroi standing in the doorway turned their attention slowky towards the tall guardian standing in the corner, with a tiny baby, the contrast almost hysterical.
"That baby that Dimitri is holding...is your son?" Lissa whispered. Rose nodded.
"His name is Immanuel. He was born a week ago."
Lissa burst into hysterics. "This has to be a dream. A miraculous dream where anything can happen. Christian, I'm dreaming right?"
He was also staring at Immanuel, and shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, Lissa. This seems very real."
"It is," Adrian said almost casually, but like the other too, was gazing at Rose's baby intently. Dimitri looked slightly put out by the attention his son was suddenly getting. "I know what dreams feel like and this ain't it."
"So she did find a guy at the boot camp! Rose! I'm so happy! But so sad! I wasn't there for all of this! Is the father hot! Who is he? Where is he?"
Rose snorted in response. "Definitely not a guy from the boot camp, that's for sure."
"You mean...? He was concieved at the academy?" Lissa asked incredulously. Rose was kind of amazed that all her friends seemed to just immediatly accept the fact that she had a baby. She glanced at Dimitri. His eyes told her to tell the truth.
"Yes," Rose responded carefully. Lissa's eyes widened.
"Is it Adrian?" She asked in a high-pitched tone, gesturing to him.
Rose gagged, while Adrian keeled over, grinning.
"As if!" Rose burst out. "If he gets anywhere near me, I tell him hell no!"
"Sorry, Cousin," Adrian stood up, shaking with mirth. "As much as I'd love to hook up with Little Rosie and her gorgeous body, I can assure you I am not the dad of that little boy."
Dimitri glared at the Moroi, frowning. It was obvious he didn't want to think about Adrian hooking up with Rose anytime soon. Adrian noticed the frown and grinned.
"Jesse?" Lissa asked.
Rose retched. "Worse than Adrian!"
"Ralf?" She guessed again.
"Worse than Jesse!"
"Eddie??"
"Just a friend, Lissa, you suck at this."
"Jasper?"
"Who?"
"Kevin?"
"Again, who?"
"Christian?"
"Ew, no! Liss, what?"
Christian just looked at his girlfriend. She blushed. "Sorry, I was running out of options."
"You could have just asked and I would have told you," Rose stopped Lissa from trying to guess again.
Lissa looked up, looking apprehensive yet excited. "Who?"
Rose took a deep breath. This was it. The moment it all came out. Nobody even knew when she and him had been together, and now they had a son. It was finally time to tell someone.
"He's the first one who came to visit me after I come back, somehow knowing I was here, the one who loves me and now Immanuel unconditinally, and who was always there for me back at the academy. He's also standing in this room, currently holding his son. Oh, and his name is Dimitri Belikov."
Dimitri stepped forward slowly and came to stand next to Rose.
Christian and Lissa had frozen for the third time in the last ten minutes. Adrian crossed his arms.
"I mean, not the guy that I would've chosen, Hathaway, but still a good catch. So...a dhampir and dhampir baby?"
Rose nodded, focusing on Adrian, who seemed pretty understandning about the situation. "The doctors said it was a lucky fluke in the dhampir system."
"Lucky indeed," Adrian gazed at the child. Lissa and Christian finally unfroze.
"Dimitri is the father?" Lissa squeaked. "My guardian? Your mentor?"
Dimitri nodded, and put his arm around Rose's shoulder comfortingly, in support. "Sorry we didn't tell you, Princess. It wasn't the most wholesome of relationships, we couldn't be out in the open."
"But how? When?"
"Over time," Rose answered simply. "We realized we were a perfect fit for each other. And then one night...Immanuel happened."
"Yeah, okay, I don't want to hear about that, Ms. Sentimental," Christian stuck his tongue out.
Rose looked at her three friends. She didn't see a speck of dissapointment or shame on any of them.
"So you guys aren't...mad about this?" Rose asked worriedly.
"Mad?" Lissa asked. "Of course not! This is incredible! I got my best friend back from the dead, along with her son, and found out about a secret relationship all in one day! This is so great!"
"I second that," Adrian nodded. Christian agreed.
"Honestly, Roza, we're all just happy you're here," Dimitri said smiling at her and giving her a quick peck before handing her Immanuel. She started rocking him immediatly, glad to have him back in her arms.
Then she noticed Lissa, Adrian, and Christian staring at them.
"Not saying it won't take some getting used to," Christian commented, wide-eyed.
"Did he just kiss her?" Lissa squealed. "Oh, Rose, I'm so happy for you! Not that I wouldn't love to see you more, because I just go you back, but I bet you want to hang out with your true love so me and the boys better head out, love you, bye!"
With that, Lissa shoved Christian and Adrian out the door with her and slammed the door behind her. Dimitri and Rose eyed each other with a look that said, ''did that just happen?"
The final thing they heard was Adrian.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen that man smile before."
xXxXx
Hey guys! Thank you for all the support on the last chapter! I don't know how I feel about this one, but I hope you enjoyed. As always, REVIEW REVIEW!