DPOV
This couldn't have happened on a worse day.
I was sitting in Han's office staring at the ominous envelope in my hands and all I could think of was that today should have been a happy day.
In less than an hour, Rose and I would learn the gender of our baby, and this envelope had the power to ruin that. At least it could ruin things for me anyway. Rose wouldn't know anything about this, just like she didn't know about any of the other letters.
"It might not be any of my business Belikov, but don't you think it's about time you brought Hathaway in on this?"
The sound of Han's voice brought me back to the present.
Ever since the 'incident' as we liked to call it, Tasha had taken to sending me love letters. The first time it happened, I had found the letter by pure coincidence. Rose wasn't much for doing the tedious household chores but she'd always been good about checking the mail. If you ask me, I think it's because of those Victoria Secret catalogs she gets so excited. I swear that's the only reason she even bothers with it.
After that first letter I'd started making it a point to intercept the mail, and had even enlisted the help of a few trusted guardians to make it easier. Of course I still had to be sure and leave the rest of the mail. Rose might be lazy but she isn't stupid. If she knew about my new obsession with the mail, she would certainly figure out I was hiding something.
I knew Hans was probably right about telling Rose, but she was a bit of a loose cannon. There was no telling what she might do.
She'd been difficult enough lately and I didn't want to add more fire to the flames. As it was, we were having a hard enough time agreeing on when Rose would take her maternity leave. It was the beginning of November now and the baby was due in mid February.
Most pregnant guardians (not that there were many of them) tended to keep working well into their 8th month, but that had a lot to do with their options. It wasn't easy to find a long term replacement for a single charge, but as a member of the royal guard, Rose was in a unique position. She could take off as early as her 6th month and never even have to worry about Lissa's safety.
Of course you only had to know Rose to understand why that wasn't happening, and we'd spent a fair amount of time having that argument lately.
If Rose knew about Tasha's recent letters, she'd just use them as yet another excuse for her to stay on her guard.
"I appreciate the concern Guardian Croft, but now probably isn't the best time for that." I told him, answering his earlier suggestion.
He had a difficult time saying it, but I knew he respected Rose and like Mikhail he thought I was making the wrong decision. Of course neither of them had ever had a pregnant wife as obstinate as Rose, so they couldn't understand what I was dealing with.
For the most part Tasha's letters were harmless. She harped on and on about her feelings for me and was constantly dredging up memories of our past. Even as a Strigoi she was delusional, only now she'd become more possessive. She was angry about the life she'd been cheated out of, and now a lot of that anger fell on Christian. She blamed him for protecting Rose and vowed endlessly to make him pay.
It was the reason he was one of the few people who knew of this recent development and why we'd been working tirelessly to try and locate her. With a pregnant wife of his own to protect, he was the only one who could understand how desperate I am.
After dropping by his office with the latest letter, I tried to focus on the task at hand. Today wasn't about Tasha; it was about Rose and our baby. Everything else would have to wait.
When we reached the doctor's office, it was business as usual.
Rose had grown used to the poking and prodding and after taking her vitals, I helped her onto the exam table. The white paper crinkled underneath her weight and she groaned while trying to get comfortable.
"This is it!" she squealed excitedly.
She'd been looking forward to this appointment for weeks now.
"Any guesses?" she asked, trying to pass the time until the doctor came in.
"A boy." I blurted out, probably a little too quickly.
She cocked her head to the side with a hard look.
"And what's wrong with having a girl?" she asked, not even bothering to conceal her annoyance.
Great, just what I needed…an angry wife.
"There's nothing wrong with having a girl." I tried to backtrack, but the damage was already done.
"You'd just prefer a boy." She stated flatly.
She was staring back at me with her face completely impassive and the sight of it sent a chill through me. I knew that look. It was the calm before the storm and I needed to do something.
"Only for my sanity Milaya!"
She tried and failed to raise one eyebrow and I knew she wanted me to elaborate.
"Roza, in theory I'd love nothing more than to have a daughter. A beautiful little girl with your dark hair and smile. I have no doubt she'd be gorgeous and have me wrapped around her finger. The problem is little girls tend to grow up. She'd develop an attitude and attend academy, and there's no way I could save up the amount of vacation days required to follow her around and keep the boys away. She'd be off at school, probably every bit as much trouble as her mother, and I'd be stuck here at court, slowly driving us both insane. Having a boy just sounds so much easier Milaya and a lot better for everyone involved."
When I was finished, Rose surprised me by laughing.
"Ha! That's so cute Comrade. You honestly think you'll still have your sanity when this kids a teenager? Look at who you are married to! I've been chipping away at your sanity since the first day we met."
I hadn't even thought of that.
"So either way this plays out, I lose my sanity?"
"Yep." She grinned deviously.
I was still recovering from the shock of her statement when the doctor strolled in.
"Well? How did it go?" Lissa asked the moment we walked through the door.
She'd insisted on throwing us a gender reveal dinner party and the rest of our friends and family were on the way over.
I saw Christian poke his head around the corner from the kitchen and if he was half as excited as Lissa, they were both about to be disappointed.
"Don't ask." Rose grumbled, shoving the ultrasound photo into Lissa's hands, and with a defeated sigh she plopped down on the couch. I would have offered to help her but she was still pretty indignant about most things and insisted on doing them herself.
Lissa examined the ultrasound closely before looking up confused.
"I don't see anything."
"Yeah well take it up with this guy…or girl." Rose told her pointing harshly towards her stomach.
After all the buildup these past weeks, it seemed the baby was unwilling to cooperate.
Considering this was Rose's child, I could hardly say I was surprised.
"I'm sorry." Lissa consoled her, taking up the seat beside her on the couch. I hadn't even bothered sitting down since Christian and I had business to discuss.
Rose laid her head on Lissa's shoulder and sighed.
"I'm telling you Liss, I don't think I've been this disappointed since I found out M&M's really do melt in your hand!"
I shook my head laughing as I headed towards the kitchen.
"Did you make any progress?" I asked once Christian and I were alone.
Even with the afternoon off, I hadn't been able to sneak away. Not without making Rose suspicious anyway.
"We narrowed down a few possible locations. Han's sent a team of guardians to check them out."
This new sounded hopeful and with any luck we'd catch a break.
This weekend was the annual Diplomat's Dinner and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. It'd be nice to have this all wrapped up before the holidays.
Once the guests started arriving we didn't get a chance to discuss it further, but all throughout dinner the conversation plagued my mind.
The father along Rose got in this pregnancy; the more concerned I grew about Tasha's intentions. It had been all too quiet since the incident occurred and I didn't have a very good feeling about it.
"Maybe she lost interest." Eddie suggested, but I wasn't buying that for a second.
We were all holed up in Christians study while the women were talking baby stuff in the living room.
"Uninterested women don't send fan mail." Adrian pointed out. "Besides, you didn't see her face that night. She's not about to just let this go."
"Adrian's right." Christian grimaced. "Wow, I can't believe those words just left my mouth…"
"I know, it's pretty crazy right?" Adrian smirked.
"I'm inclined to agree with Adrian as well." Abe spoke up. "Tasha never struck me as the type to go quietly. If I had to guess, I'd say she's up to something."
"I think she's stalling." Christian suggested. "She's waiting for the opportune moment."
From a purely tactical standpoint, this made a lot of sense.
Tasha may be a skilled fighter, but she was no match for Rose. She needed something that could give her edge, and that edge was going to be Rose's pregnancy. The closer Rose got to her due date, the harder it would be for to defend herself.
"As much as it pains me to say this, Adrian's right." I agreed, and beside me Adrian chuckled and shook his head.
"Ye who have so little faith in me." He sighed.
"Has Hans heard back from any of the recon teams?" Abe asked.
"Not that I've heard of." said Christian. "But he does have his plate full with this diplomatic dinner coming up."
Every year the heads of the Royal families gather together for a summit of sorts to discuss foreign and domestic policies. It was a tradition Lissa initiated in the first year of her reign that allowed the royal families an opportunity to have their concerns heard.
"Well whatever the reason, we can't let our guard down. With the diplomatic dinner in two days we have to remain vigilant." I told them.
"If she's waiting for the right opportunity, then this dinner might serve as the perfect distraction." Abe pointed out.
"That's why we need to be ready for this. If there's one thing I learned from my time as a Strigoi it's that they possess an infinite amount of patience. Once you're immortal you've got all the time in the world."
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Adrian asked.
I wasn't really sure I had an answer for him, but when my phone rang it saved me from having to make something up.
"Guardian Belikov." I answered when I saw Han's name on the screen.
"I think we may have found something…" Hans started. "And you're definitely going to want to see this."
Things are going to get interesting with this Diplomatic Dinner, and Dimitri's going to get a blast from his past! Any guesses who?
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