Rose POV

When we walked into the lounge several minutes later, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to us. It was actually kind of weird, hearing several conversations stopped mid-word.

"So," Abe rubbed his hands together, looking like the terrifying mob boss he most likely is, "what's the verdict?"

I took a deep breath, then decided to just tell it straight, Rose Hathaway style.

"We're pregnant." I gestured between Dimitri and I.

Everyone stared at me. After a few minutes, I laughed nervously. "Um, guys? Hello? You can talk now."

Lissa's ear-splitting squeal broke the silence.

"ROSE!" she tackled me. Then she slapped me.

"Ow! Liss!"

"First you're engaged, now you're pregnant! When were you going to tell me about this, Rose?"

"I – "

"And don't give me any of that 'we can't be together' crap because, obviously, you're together."

"But – "

"And," she cut me off again – was she ever going to let me speak? – waving her finger in front of my nose, "even if you were going to try to stay away from each other, don't you think I'd have found a way to help you be together?"

"Well – "

"Answer me, Rose!"

I gaped at her. "What do you think I've been trying to do, Liss?"

"Oh." She looked embarrassed for a moment, then her expression morphed into one of annoyance. "Still. You should have told me earlier. Now I have to figure out what to do about your pregnancy and maternity leave. And I'd just gotten everything worked out." She gave a long-suffering sigh, and chewed absently on a strand of her hair. "Maybe…"

"Liss." I interrupted her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. We both had kind of a lot on our plates. But, there's more to work out now than just pregnancy and maternity leave."

"What do you mean? Oh, of course, the wedding. Well, I was thinking – "

"No, Liss." I said gently. "Not the wedding. I'm afraid that's going to have to be put on the back burner for now."

"Then, what?" I noticed that everyone was paying close attention now.

"While we were at my appointment in the clinic, Dr. Olendzki made it very clear that we could never let on that Dimitri and I were the parents – that this baby was conceived by two dhampirs."

At her puzzled expression, I sighed and continued. "They'll turn us into lab rats, Liss. Me, the baby, even Dimitri. They'll want to test and monitor us, and they'll never let us actually live our lives."

The horror dawning in her eyes, and in the eyes of everyone around us, told me that it was finally sinking in.

"We have to hide, Liss. It's dangerous to even let on that I'm pregnant, now that everyone knows Dimitri and I are together. We can't afford for anyone to guess…"

"But, Rose!" exclaimed Eddie, "You won't be able to graduate – you'll be showing by then. You probably won't even be able to hide it by trials."

"Oh." I hadn't even thought of that. I felt a moment's regret. "I guess I'll just be unpromised, then. It's not the end of the world. I could even go to the human world – get a job there. I'm sure there's something I can do other than guarding."

Alberta spoke then, cutting off my mother's horrified exclamation. "You can graduate early, Rose. We'll schedule your qualifier, hold your trial early… you've improved drastically with Belikov as your mentor. It shouldn't be a problem. We'll just need a convincing reason for it. I'll work on the qualifier now…" she went to pull out her phone, but Dimitri stopped her.

"No need – her qualifier is already scheduled."

"What?" I gasped. "When?"

He dropped his gaze sheepishly. "Today – this afternoon sometime. As soon as Art gets here."

I glared at him. "And you were going to tell me this, when?" Then it hit me. "Art… Shoenberg? You got Art Shoenberg to administer my qualifier?" I grabbed for his hand. "Comrade, I think I'm gonna faint again!"

He just laughed. "I thought you never fainted, Roza."

I was so busy glaring at him, I almost missed the strange look that passed over Alberta's face. It was almost… wistful. I shook my head to clear it. Time enough to ponder that later. Right now I had more important things to think about.

"How am I supposed to prepare for my qualifier now?"

He took my chin in his hand, holding it firmly, keeping my attention on him.

"Roza. Look at me. You. Will. Be. Fine. You can't prepare for a qualifier – it doesn't work like that. But, I can assure you that Art will love you, and that you'll pass with flying colors."

He held my gaze intently for another moment, then let me go as I began to relax. I knew he was right, damn him. But, still. Some warning would have been nice!

"I've got it!" Lissa yelled, startling me out of my thoughts. I wasn't the only one who jumped, luckily for my badass reputation.

"What have you got, Liss?" I asked bemusedly.

She was so excited, she was bouncing up and down on her toes. Not jumping – quite. But close. "The way to factor your child into our plans, of course."

"And how do we do that?"

"Well," she said, "let's assume, for the sake of argument, that we can arrange to have you graduate early. Then we'll get you and Eddie assigned to me, and Dimitri assigned to Christian – as planned."

"Then, Rose," she continued, "you need to disappear for awhile. I'm thinking until the baby is a year or so. That's, what, about two years?"

She didn't wait for confirmation – she just plowed ahead. "We'll need a reason. I think I can convince the Queen to send you – and Dimitri, of course – on a secret mission." She made air quotes with her fingers. "It would be easier if you trusted her with your secret, but I think I have enough pull with her to manage it regardless." She gave a small, mirthless laugh. "And, there's always super-spirt-compulsion."

"Liss, No. You are not going to use compulsion on the Queen!"

"You won't have to." Adrian broke in. "I'm Tatiana's favorite nephew – between the two of us, we can easily convince her."

"Thanks Adrian." I hugged him. "That really means a lot."

"Hey, no problem Little Dhampir. After all, being the Queen's favorite has to be useful for something."

"We can work out the details of where you two go later." Lissa decided, "And when you come back, you can bring your 'adopted' child – whose mother was a guardian who died during your mission. She never told anyone who the father was. Um. You'll have to get adoption papers somehow…"

"Leave that to me." said Abe. "That is definitely something I can do."

"We'll need to find another guardian for me though, until you two return…" Lissa frowned. "Oh, and one for Christian too."

"Did someone say they needed a guardian?" A new voice broke into our conversation. A new voice with a very familiar Russian accent.

"Vika?" Dimitri was stunned.

"The one and only!" She twirled into the room. "Hello random strangers! And – who are you and why do you have your arms wrapped around my brother?" She spun to a stop in front of me, stake out and pointed menacingly at my heart.

"Whoa, easy there." I held out my hands and put on my most non-threatening look. "Let's not be too hasty to whip out the pointy objects."

"Vika," Dimitri said patiently, "this is Roza."

"Never heard of her."

"Rose Hathaway." I clarified. "Well, soon-to-be Roza Belikova." I waved my left hand, making the ring sparkle.

"Is that Yeva's ring?" she gasped.

"Yes." said Dimitri, "And if you paid attention, I'm sure you'd have heard her mentioned. I know I've talked about her when I called Mama."

"Oh! Wait – she's not your student, is she?"

"Yes." His mouth quirked into a half-smile. "But not for much longer."

"Dimka!" She slapped him on the arm. "You can't just propose to your student!"

"Why not?"

"It's just not done! How old is she, anyway? Seventeen?"

"Actually," I jumped in, when Dimitri hesitated, "I'll be eighteen in just a few days."

She hit him again. "You proposed to a minor? What would your mother say?"

"I imagine she'd say that he really should have waited for her birthday, but that she's glad he's so happy." A new voice said sardonically.

"Mama?"

"Hello, Dimka." I stepped back so she could embrace him, but she quickly reached out and pulled me into her arms as well. "No, no, dear. You're part of the family now – no need to hide. Now step out here and let me get a look at you. I'm Olena, by the way, but I'd be honored if you would call me Mama."

"Um, thanks." I wasn't sure what to call her, honestly. This was all happening way too fast.

Then I noticed a third person standing off to the side. When our gazes met, he smiled shyly, and raised a hand in greeting. "Hi."

"Nikolai!" Dimitri gave him a manly half-hug half-handshake. I snorted. Men. "What are you doing here?" His friendly look turned suddenly suspicious.

"Well, I, uh…"

"He's with me." Vika twirled back over to him, linked arms with him, and whisked him away with her. He shot Dimitri an apologetic look over his shoulder.

"Vika!" Dimitri yelled after her.

"Yes Dimka?"

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Not sure, really. Abe sent his jet for us – said it was important. Mama and I were the only ones free to come."

"Ah."

My father smiled. It was a predatory sort of smile – the kind that showed his fangs. "I thought you two might want to tell them your news. Of course, that was before I realized you had even more news than I thought."

"Dad!"

"Hold up!" Vika stopped twirling and stomped over to me. "He's your father?"

"Yeah – I know. I just found out myself yesterday."

"Huh. And who was your mother, again?"

"That would be me." Mom waved.

"And you are?"

"Janine Hathway."

She whirled back to Dimitri. "Oh. My. God. You do realize that you're engaged to the daughter of The Janine Hathaway AND Abe Mazur aka Zmey, right? And they know! How are you not dead?"

He chuckled nervously. "Honestly, Vika, I'm not sure of that myself. Although, to be honest, I didn't know who Roza's father was when I proposed."

"Or when you got her pregnant." Dad muttered.

"YOU WHAT?" Vika yelled. Olena looked like she wanted to yell too, but was managing to hold it in.

"Yeah… that's the rest of our news." I said awkwardly. "Surprise?"