A/N: Hello Lovelies! I hope you are all doing well! I'm sorry it took so long to update. I apologize in advance as I am the only one who edited this chapter.
And to any of you who sent good luck my way, it was very much appreciated!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! (But I wish I owned Dimitri.)
All I want to do is scream, I expected Dr. Carson to keep his mouth shut. I trusted him to do that as it was my right to have my privacy. Dimitri shifts, putting himself between me and the other patrons in the room.
"So much for patient confidentiality," I snark towards Dr. Carson, and he adverts his eyes from my gaze, clasping his hands together. "It's not what you think, I'm doing this to protect the four of you," he says quietly. I scoff and roll my eyes, clenching my hands into fists.
"What is going on? I did not expect to be summoned to see you Tatiana while I made a surprise trip to visit my child," Abe says politely, twisting his ring on his hand. Mom's eyes slide to me and Dimitri before back to Abe, subtly shaking her head, telling us she hasn't said a word to Abe about my current state.
"We will get to that. Please come join us, we have things to discuss," Tatianna says regally. Dimitri takes my hand in his and we walk to the couches, and I sit down next to my mom, while Dimitri sits next to me, angling his body towards me.
Adrian looks a little lost about what is going on, but then again there is a very good chance that he is either still drunk or hungover. Mom puts her hand on my knee and squeezes gently, and I place my hand on hers.
"First off, I would like to apologize for the blunt interrogation you went through while you were on personal leave. I was told that you were being questioned and informed my Guardians that I knew for a fact that you were not the one to assault me. If you wanted to target me you would have been less sloppy, and you surely would not have used your own weapon to do so. You're much more intelligent than people give you credit for," Tatianna says to me kindly, making me feel slightly uneasy at the kindness she is showing me.
"I'm glad that you have recovered," I say.
"Thank you. Now, to the reason all of you are here. Dr. Carson has informed me of your current situation, and I am wanting to help you. This is not unheard of; this has happened once before."
I look at Dimitri in complete shock, and he keeps his face neutral but he squeezes my hand tightly.
"I'm still lost here," Abe says gruffly, crossing his legs and resting his folded hands on his knee. I look between the people who know, before landing on Abe and take a deep breath.
"I'm pregnant; ten weeks," I explain hesitantly. Abe's eyes narrow slightly and his face darkens.
"Abe, do not cause a scene," Mom says sternly, drawing his attention to her and away from me and Dimitri.
"You knew this and didn't say anything?" Abe says harshly, glaring at my Mom. Oh no, this is not something I want to experience. I know I get my temper from Mom, but I must have a little bit of his mixed in too.
"It was not my place to say, Abe."
"Regardless. This has happened once before, and I intend on helping you both. This needs to be kept secret, the Moroi would go ballistic if they knew this was possible, and it would be unsafe for you and your children." Tatiana interrupts.
"As I told you before, my sister was a Spirit user too. But not many people knew about our youngest sister Olive, she was a guardian as well. We shared the same father. Olive was turned and Nina restored her. Shortly after she fell pregnant with another guardian and went into hiding," Dr. Carson said calmly, trying to make things as clear as possible.
"Can we meet her? Has she had her baby? Did she carry to full term and were there any complications?" Dimitri asks urgently. The look of sadness crosses the doctor's face.
"She did carry to full term, and there were no complications with the baby, but you can't meet her. She was killed by a Strigoi shortly after giving birth. Nina died in the crash the same night trying to get to Olive. The baby is currently being taken care off by the Alchemist, kept hidden from the society for his own protection," he says to us and I feel a little bit of relief admits the sorrow I felt for the loss of both his sisters.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper, sniffling as tears well up in my eyes. Stupid hormones.
"This is where you come in Ibrahim, we will be putting Rose and Dimitri into hiding, and we need someone who is good at making people disappear without a trace," Tatiana said, drawing the attention back to her.
"What do you mean?" I ask quietly.
"I mean that until this baby is born, you two will be leaving court, along with Adrian and your mother. I'm not about to let my family become some scientific experiments for the Moroi to push for," Tatiana says bluntly, and I am speechless.
I never thought a royal from the Ivashkov family would ever deem a dhampir family, besides Adrian. Adrian and Dimitri look at each other, Adrian giving us a genuine smile. "How long do we have until we need to leave?" Dimitri asks her, placing his hand on my knee and rubbing gently.
"You have until Abe is able to find somewhere for you two to go that will keep you hidden."
I look over at Abe, recoiling into Dimitri's side at the glare on his face. I know that he has earned his reputation, but I have yet actually see the man angry.
"Give me a few hours. A day at most to find somewhere," he says gruffly.
I release a breath that I didn't notice I was holding and sag back into the plush upholstery, tilting my head back and closing my eyes. A small hand brushes across my cheek and I turn my head towards my mother with a small smile.
We discuss for a few more hours about what we can expect during our time in hiding and the thing I put up a fuss about is having other Guardians there. Dimitri, Mom and I are all trained Guardians, but Abe and Tatiana are both firm and unmoving on the topic.
Tatiana's assistant pokes her head in around three-thirty to remind Tatiana that she has another appointment, giving the Dhampir's in the room a pointed look. I scowl at her before pushing myself up off the couch and bowing to Tatianna, but Tatiana waves me off, standing up and giving me a ridged hug. "Congratulations, Rose. I'm happy for you and my great-nephew." I nod my head and wave to Adrian before stepping out of the room and walking back to my place with Dimitri, who has placed his hand on my lower back.
"That was… a lot," I say as we approach housing. He hums in agreeance, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his keys and unlocking my door and gesturing for me to go ahead of him.
Walking straight towards my bedroom, I shrug off my jacket and drop it to the floor before crawling up my bed and flopping down on my side, sighing heavily. I watch Dimitri walk in and pick up my jacket and fold it before setting it on the dresser and getting on the bed next to me, pulling my back to his chest.
"Are you ok, Roza?" he asks quietly. I nod and snuggle back into him, enjoying the heat of his body against my back
"Do you think Abe is mad at me?" I ask quietly, thinking about the dark look he had on his face.
Dimitri sighs and presses his face into the back off my neck, placing a kiss on the nape. "No, I think that look was directed at me, to be perfectly honest. I did get his daughter pregnant," Dimitri murmurs, muffled by neck
I roll over and wrap my arm around his back, and move my legs to intertwine with his, placing my head on his chest and close my eyes. He moves his hand up and down my back, running all the way from the tops of my shoulders, down to my tailbone, applying a little bit of pressure to relieve the tension in my back.
"I was a little shocked that Tatiana announced you as her family, it's unheard of for the Ivashkovs to do that."
"It is, but let's not talk about that right now. I can feel you stressing out the more you talk about it, just take a deep breath and relax," Dimitri says.
I tilt my head up and kiss the stubbled skin below his jaw and press my face into his neck, getting comfortable. Where would we go? Where exactly would Abe take us and how long would we be gone, or how would it be before I could see Lissa again? Shifting around in his arms a little bit, trying to find a comfortable position and trying to calm myself.
"Roll onto your stomach," Dimitri says softly as he sits up and moves the pillows on the bed around, placing one under my head and one directly under my stomach. Pulling back he runs his hands on my back in small circles before kneeling over me and rubbing my upper back, kneading the knots in my shoulders. I groan into the pillow as he digs on a particularly large knot and sigh when it releases. He continues slowly down my back, paying attention to my tailbone and hips before moving onto my arms.
After reaching my hands he moves down the bed and massages the tops of my thighs, working the muscles carefully before moving down my calves to my feet, and I feel completely relaxed by the time he's finished. This feels like heaven and I feel like I could fall asleep any moment, but I force myself to stay awake.
I sigh flipping over onto my back giving me a content smile. "That was amazing. Thanks, Comrade."
He smiles at me when he hears the nickname slip out of my mouth, making me smile even more.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he says sweetly. I sit up and move closer to him, cupping his face gently and he leans into my touch.
"I know you're trying to make things better between us, and I appreciate everything you're doing for me. And putting up with my mood swings," I say stretching up and placing a kiss on his lips. Feeling the familiar tingle run down my spine and pull myself up onto my knees, kissing him harder and clutching the back of his neck. If the nightmares weren't enough, the hot dreams about Dimitri have been slowly killing me.
"I miss you," I murmur into the kiss, climbing into his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. He places his hands on my waist and holds me in place..
"I'm right here," he says, and I pull back from him, cocking a brow.
"No, I miss you - us. I miss how happy we both were. I'm still a little upset, but I don't want to keep pushing aside my happiness and yours because I'm upset. You have been trying to make things right and I need to cut you a little slack," I say sadly. I do miss him, I miss sleeping in his arms, I miss his laughter, I miss being close to him. He caresses my face softly before placing another kiss on my lips, soft and sweet before pulling me tightly to his chest.
I press my face against him, breathing deeply and running my fingers up his neck, tracing the promise mark on the nape. I don't think I can stay mad at him for much longer, but it still stings a little to know that he didn't believe me right away, even though I know why he didn't.
"I miss us too Roza, so much. It hurts leaving at night and having to go back to my place and sleep alone. You know, the pillow you use when you are at my place smells strongly of your shampoo. It is like a white-hot poker in my chest or finding one of your shirts in my drawer. It has been hell," he says quietly as he leans back and lays down, bringing me with him and snuggle on top of him.
"Stay tonight."
"Are you sure?"
I nod my head against him and let a mischievous smile crosses my face. I toe my socks off and move my feet to his legs where his pants have ridden up from his socks. He flinches once my cold toes hit his skin.
Sitting across Abe the next morning with my mouth hanging open, I seriously question if he has lost his sanity.
"Where?!"
"Canada, a small town called Goderich. Under 8,000 thousand people, quiet, quaint little town, once deemed the 'prettiest little town in Canada'. That's where we are going," Abe says with a smirk, enjoying my expression.
"We are going to a frozen tundra? Don't they use dog sleds to get to school?" I exclaim shooting up from my seat. Dimitri laughs and tugs me back into my seat, rubbing my shoulder while laughing harder at the glare I've sent in his direction.
"Canada has similar climate to Montana, and they have very hot summers, Rose. There is only that much snow in the territories more north," Dimitri explains with a sympathetic smile, trying to pacify me.
I huff and cross my arms, narrowing my eyes at Abe. "When you say we…"
"I mean you, Belikov, myself, your mother and Adrian. Now you two will have your own house, Adrian will have one next door, and your mother and I are down the street. Close but you have your own space. Plus, after you staying at my house, I don't think my ears can handle that again," Abe says, grumbling and sending another glare at Dimitri.
My face flushes and I bite my lip trying to stifle a laugh. Poor Abe, I thought we were a little more discreet than that. Oh well. "I'll send you photos of the house, and I will need you to pick some furniture so that it can be brought over for when we get there, and we will be switching to a human schedule to blend in better. We will be leaving tomorrow night."
I start to laugh at him, he has to be going crazy. How does he expect us to be able to pay to furnish an entire house in one day? Voicing this concern, he simply laughs as he pulls his wallet out from the inner breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out two cards and handing them to me. One with my name on it and the other with Dimitri's.
"Abe, I can't accept this," Dimitri says handing it back to him, but Abe waves him off, muttering about not letting his grandbabies going without the best and kissing my head before walking out.
I look down at the card, turning it over in my hands. He never even told us the limits on them.
"How much you want to bet that there are no limits on these?" I snicker to Dimitri while fanning myself with it dramatically. He just stares at it before setting it on the table in front of us. "I really don't want to take your father's money. Also, what am I going to do about my family if I'm not working?" he says conflicted as he places his elbows on his legs and leans on them. I scoot closer and rub his back, I hadn't thought of that. With Sonya being off still, it left a large weight on Olena and Karo to bring in money if Dimitri wasn't getting paid, and even when Dimitri was being paid it wasn't much.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, feeling guilty because the only reason we are leaving is that I'm pregnant. As if sensing where my thoughts were going he sat back and pulled me into a hug.
"It's not your fault Roza, we will make things work. I do have some savings but it won't last long, but I will make it work."
I nod against his shoulder and pull back, squeezing his arm. I stand up and grab my phone from the kitchen before plopping back down on the couch and open my email to view the house. My god, this house is gorgeous. Two stories with brown brink and lots of greenery in the front, scanning through the photos of the spacious living room, massive kitchen with updated appliances included, three bedrooms on the upper level with two bathrooms and a large open concept basement with a half bathroom and a smaller room that we could put an office in if we chose to. My favourite part was the view, approximately a five-minute walk from Lake Huron, the view was breathtaking. Large deck and yard. This is what my dream home would look like.
"Oh Comrade! Look at the view from the master bedroom!" I squeal with a large smile on my face, shoving my phone closer to his face. He chuckles and takes it out of my hand and brings it to a more comfortable distance from his face before smiling and handing it back.
"I'm sure you're going to love it," he says.
"You better love it too, cause that will be your morning view too," I quip back looking up at him. He furrows his brows at me.
"What did you think I was going to make you sleep on the couch or something? We are going to be living together, plus, I always sleep better with you. I'm sure if my wacked dreams continue, I'll end up crawling into your bed if you slept in a different room." I say laughing at his face. He leans over and kisses my nose before placing a hand on my cheek.
"Thank you. And wacked dreams? You're still having nightmares?"
I flush a little, not because of the nightmares but the other dreams. Clearing my throat and scratching the back of my neck with an awkward laugh I advert my gaze from his.
"Um, yes. But it's not just nightmares," I say shyly, giving an awkward smile to match my embarrassment. I shouldn't be embarrassed, the guy has seen me naked so many times, and well…I'm pregnant, but voicing the dreams makes me squirm a little.
"What is it?" he asks taking in my flushes state. I shift slightly in my seat and bite on the corner of my lip.
"Well, uh, I uh. I have some very, uh vivid dreams about you sometimes. Very dirty dreams," I stammer out, looking anywhere but at him. He is deadly quiet for a moment or two before I look at him and groan, seeing that his face is turning red as he tries not to laugh at me. I drop my phone into my lap and press my hands to my face, trying to hide how red it is. A moment later he finally cracks, his loud baritone laughter ringing through my small living room and bouncing back to us.
"How dirty are these dreams?" he chokes out and I press my hands harder against my face.
"Dirty like in the bathroom on our flight home," I groan, muffled by my hands. This makes him laugh even harder, and I look up at him with an ugly glare as he wipes a few tears from his face.
"It's not funny, Dimitri!" I exclaim punching his chest.
"I'm sorry! It's just funny seeing you get so flustered over it when you have an extremely adventurous imagination in the bedroom," he says while placing a kiss on my pouted lip. "I promise that I will help you when you have these dreams," he says with a saucy wink. I drop my head back into my hands with a chuckle.
After ordering the furniture and paying for it - which only made me feel a little guilty at the total - Dimitri went back to his place to pack his things and I did the same. After closing the last bag, I stride into the bathroom and hop into the shower and washing thoroughly before stepping out and wrapping the towel loosely around me after rubbing it over my hair and body.
I walk out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, I jump when I see Dimitri leaning against the headboard holding a book in his hand.
"Jeez Comrade, make some noise when you come in. Don't give a girl a heart attack," I say putting a hand to my chest. He looks up and smirks at me before looking back to his book and chuckles.
"So, when you said you would help with these dreams, did you mean it?" I ask nonchalantly as I rub Vitamin E moisturizer son my arms and shoulder, before moving on to the top of my breasts.
"Of course I would, but only if you want me too. I know that vivid dreams are common in pregnancies," he says without taking his eyes off the western in his hands. I smirk and pull on my pyjamas and crawl into bed next to him. I wiggle my way under his arms and plonk my head on his chest. He adjusts his arms and rests his hands on my side so he can still read his book.
"I still can't believe we are leaving to go to a frozen tundra tomorrow," I quip into his chest causing him to start laughing softly. He can tell me a million times that it isn't, but until I see it myself in person, I'm going to stand by my opinion. The biggest downside is not being able to see Lissa before we go, and not knowing how long it will be until I see her.
"Do you think we will be able to tell Lissa about the babies, even if we don't give her all the details?" I ask quietly a few minutes later.
"I don't know, but we can always check with your father and Tatiana before we leave. I'm sure it would cause a bit of suspicion if we just disappeared without a trace and our friends have no idea about what has happened. We will figure everything out Roza."
Dimitri places his bookmark in place and set the book down on the nightstand and flicks the lamp off. He pulls the blankets up around us and shuffles the two of us down the bed into a better position. I get comfortable in his arms when my stomach roars to life.
I tilt my head and smile pleadingly at him. "You want some pizza?"
Dimitri reaches for his phone and places it to his ear, giving me a faux annoyed look but amusement is clear in his eyes. He orders two pizza's for delivery and puts his phone back and flicks the light back on. "Only you would crave pizza at eleven-thirty at night," he chuckles.
I sit humming and hawing thinking about the gooey pizza that's on its way, and bolt from the bedroom with my wallet when there is a knock on the door. I pay the man and skip back into the bedroom with the boxes, a jubilant smile on my face.
I plop back down at my bed and open the lid, inhaling deeply and rip a sloppy slice from the box. I start to munch on the pizza and smiling like a kid with their favourite toy at Dimitri. He laughs at my antics and takes a slice, "I don't think I have ever seen someone so happy for food in my life," he says, taking a bite.
I stick my tongue out and pull another slice from the box. "Yes well, you've known me how long?" I joke and bring the piece to my lips, getting a whiff of the pizza again and grimace.
Nope, no. Please don't do this to me, I pray silently as my stomach starts to roll. The pizza no longer smells or looks appealing, and I set my piece back onto the box.
"What's wrong?" Dimitri asks. I shake my head and leap from the bed and run into the bathroom to spill my guts. I wipe my mouth afterwards and stand in the doorway of the bathroom, looking longingly at the pizza on the bed. "I just want pizza," I whine. Dimitri rolls off the bed and comes to stand in from of me, running my arms soothingly.
"Mm, nope. You need to brush your teeth before you get back into bed. I can smell it on you," I grumble and step around him.
I hold my breath and bring the pizza into the kitchen, placing it in the fridge and cracking open the windows in the apartment. I crawl back into bed and pull the bag of pork rinds out from my bedside table and munch while I wait for Dimitri to come back.
I pout at him as he lays down beside me, stroking my hair. Why does my favourite food have to be so unappealing?