Hey I loved your responses and I hope you'll forgive me for how short this chapter is. Please read my reason at the bottom because I truly am VERY sorry. Enjoy what I wrote so far.

Rose's POV-

The hours passed by faster than I thought. Through all the pain it honestly felt like time has slowed to a stop and life just wants me to suffer. I'm tired. My downstairs area and stomach hurt. My back is sore. I feel like I'm freezing but it's hot at the same time. The sun's light is shining through the window lighting up the room. At about 6 am my family finally arrived. Max is safe. Mia and Eddie are safe. My aunt is safe. What more can I ask for except some pain medication.

No one is telling me anything. The minute my family arrived they were shown rooms and welcomed with open arms. I've learned Dimitri has an older sister named Karolina who has a son and daughter. He also has two younger sisters named Sonya who's pregnant and a Viktoria who's a year younger than me. All of them are so nice. Look so much like Dimitri. Mia is sleeping at my side. Dimitri is helping his mother in the kitchen. My family is asleep in their rooms. Yeva sits next to me….well she's putting a cold washcloth on my forehead.

"You have a fever." Yeva tells me.

"I'm sorry." I reply cringing and trying to relax through the pain.

"Will only get worse. I am midwife. I deliver lots of babies in my time as did my mother and her mother before her. I know difficult birth when staring me in face. May be a dangerous birth but we put food and fluids in you and you try to sleep. Will help." She says.

Olena walks through the door carrying a tray filed with fruits, pancakes, bacon, juice, and other things. Dimitri comes carrying another. Smelling food Mia wakes up.

"I'm so sorry for falling asleep." She rasps out sleepily.

"You had a long run around. No one blames you and we think it's very nice that you're so loyal. Just walked in sat down and fell asleep." Olena says laughing. "Well eat up and gather strength because I have a feeling this is going to be a tough one."

Walking back out of the room humming I laugh and smile at her statement. Well I tried to laugh but long painful birth does not sound….feel good. Eating as much as we can Dimitri and his grandmother talk. Looking concerned Dimitri sits on the bed next to me and feels my cheek making me cringe away from his hand.

"Am I cold to you?" He asks looking very worried.

"A little." I lie not wanting him to stress. Picking up my tray he sets it on the nightstand.

"You need to rest." He says stroking my cheek.

"You're not telling me anything new." I murmur to him bolting up as another bolt of pain strikes through me. For a second the urge to push is strong. Like if I push the pressure will be released and the pain will go away. As if sensing my thoughts Yeva grabs my hand.

"No pushing. Not ready." She says before lapsing into silence. Laying back down I watch as she walks down the bed a little and lifts the covers. "Take off pants."

Horror. Absolute horror. She wants me to take off my pants! Everyone will know I'm naked except for the sweater dress. Well shirt. Dimitri made me change into his shirt. Hearing what Yeva said Dimitri sets down the tray and Mia does the same. Pulling back the blankets I shiver as the cold air hits my sweat sheened skin. Helping me sit up Mia sits behind me and props me up while Dimitri pulls off my tights and underwear making me glance away in embarrassment.

"I've seen it all before Roza. My feelings haven't changed you're still beautiful." Dimitri says tossing the clothes into a basket his sister bought in.

My heart swells in my chest and I smile up at him tiredly. Mia gets off the bed and lays me back down. Yeva walks over and pushes Dimitri out of the way and opens my legs peering down. Closing them when she's done she pull the covers back over me.

"Only 4 centimeters." She states solemnly.

I watch as Dimitri stiffens at her words making my heart pound and panic to blossom. Four centimeters! That's not even half the way and I already feel like passing out. Blinking back tears I lay back into the pillows and turn my head away from everyone closing my eyes. Feeling Dimitri kiss my hand I hear him leave the room with the trays.

Dimitri's POV-

I have to leave the room feeling panic and fear threatening to take over me. They said it would be a tough labor but this is too much. Only four centimeters. Rose is ready to push already! This can't be good. I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen finding Alberta and Eddie sitting at the bar talking quietly among themselves. Walking over I see Max in Eddies arms. He looks like a happy baby boy. I'm surprised he hasn't picked up on the tense atmosphere around him. Seeing me walking up his face lights up and he gurgles at me making spit bubbles. Alberta and Eddie turn around alert of my presence.

"How is she?" Alberta asks. She looks worried…and she should be. Eddie looks at me expectantly also waiting for my answer.

"She's dead tired. Almost three hours of sleep on a train isn't enough rest and all the stress is taking its toll on her. She has a fever and is ready to push." I tell them.

"Well that's great!" Eddie says looking on the bright side. I shake my head.

"She's only four centimeters dilated." I tell them.

Alberta's face blooms with even more worry. She knows the dangers now. So far into labor and only four centimeters dilated indicates there could be birthing problems down the line. Her eyes wander around and soon settle on my chest.

"You need to change you bandages." She says pointing at my wound.

Looking down I see through my white shirt that it's starting to bleed again. Sighing I set the trays by the sink and call mama in to help change my bandages. Sitting down on a stool I watch as mama comes in with a first aid kit. Pulling my shirt over my head I peel off the bandage that's already there wincing in pain.

"Rose stitched you up?" Alberta asks looking surprised. Mama murmurs her approval as I nod.

"She did a good job. No infection and already healing nicely. The bleedings expected for a little while." Mama says reapply ointment and bandaging it up again. "If you'll excuse me I'm going to go help with Rose."

"Update." I say shrugging back on my shirt after mama leaves. Alberta sighs and sips her coffee fast.

"Well we took out pretty much the entire hit squad that Sean had bought. He's pissed. Took me an entire hour to lose him and then be able to get here. My guess is that he doesn't know that his territory is being taken over or already belongs to Mazur. When he does find out him and the five men he does have will track us and come here with vengeance." She says taking another swig of coffee. I nod in agreement. No way will he just roll over and give up.

"How long do you think we have?" I ask getting up serving myself some hot chocolate that mama made.

"I don't know." Alberta says. "Noon till he finds out…he's got a tracker with him so five when he knows where we are…if he drives about four hours to get here and another two hours to plan a perfect invasion plan. So all in all we have till eleven before we really need to worry about getting shot. That's only IF he decides to drive."

"Well than we need to come up with a plan of action." Eddie says setting Max into a little baby seat on the counter. "Watch the doors make sure everyone stays upstairs. I know that shouldn't be a problem considering there's a family game room that has every entertainment known to mankind and another small kitchen. They'll try to come in through the bottom and maybe the roof so we watch that too."

Alberta and I stare at him impressed and slightly shocked. He's growing up quickly and makes an excellent strategical specialist. Patting him on the shoulder I nod at him.

"I'm glad you've got your thinking head on." I tell him. He shrugs and takes Max into his arms.

"I've got to protect my family too." He murmurs.

I nod again in agreement. We all have a family to protect. I have my family and Rose and our daughter. Alberta has her two children a grandchild and her in labor niece. Eddie has his son, girlfriend, mom, and cousin who's soon to have a baby. Family everywhere and we'll do anything and everything to keep them safe.

I AM SO SORRY! I know I promised an update but today's my Eighteenth Birthday and my mom is banning me from the computer all day so my family can all celebrate. I really wanted to give you an update though just to tide you over. So I know it's not much but again I'm so sorry. Please review still