Hello hello! I hope you are all doing well!
I don't have much to say except I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it again?
After speaking with Abe and Tatiana about the risk of disclosing my pregnancy to Lissa, they both agreed that she could be trusted. After making sure everything was loaded up and ready to go, Dimitri and I drove down to Lehigh to see Lissa before heading off to Canada. Notifying her guardians before we left, we anticipated that we would have very little delay in getting to see her.
"Rose, you are shaking the car with the amount of bouncing you are doing."
I couldn't help it; I was excited to tell Lissa. I was practically bouncing right out of my seat with glee. Knowing her, she would probably start squealing and shrieking with happiness, so that was making me even more elated.
We pull up to her dorm and I burst out of the car to meet Dimitri at his side before he has put the car in park. He flashes me a radiant smile before shutting the door and taking my hand, guiding us to the building. We proceed to the floor Lissa is on and we see Guardian Mills standing in the hall, nodding to us as we approach.
"Guardian Belikov, Guardian Hathaway good to see you both. The Princess is inside along with Lord Ozera and Lady Ozera."
I frown hearing this, we weren't told there were here when we called.
"They arrived a few moments ago to surprise the Princess," Guardian Mills explained after noticing the look on my face. I muster a smile and proceed to the door and knocking on it before opening it.
"Lissa!" I say as I walk in and she pops up from the couch and runs to me, crushing me in her thin arms.
"I didn't know you were coming!" she squeals into my ear and I hug her back tightly.
"Kind of a last-minute thing."
She smiles and lets go of my arms to greet Dimitri with a hug as well and Christian stands up and greets us too.
"Rose, you got to lay off the doughnuts, your starting to look a little pudgy," he jokes and I can feel my whole body tense up before my face gets hot.
"No, no. It's just the shirt, it's a little bulky," I say dismissively with a tight smile. He laughs and greets Dimitri while I turn my attention to Tasha who looks far from impressed to see me.
"Recovering well?" she asks and I simply nod to her. Dimitri greets Tasha with a friendly hello and she starts yacking away about how he never called her after she left court. I roll my eyes and ask Lissa how she is doing so far in her classes and we sit down on her bed, Christian perching himself on the bedside table and joins our conversation. Getting caught up on how her classes are and how she is enjoying college life, Tasha's phone rings loudly and she looks down at it before excusing herself from the room.
"Ok, so now that we have you alone, we need to tell you something," I say as I get up to sit next to Dimitri on the couch, grasping his hand in mine tightly with a smile on my face.
"What, are you getting married?" Christian asks jokingly and Dimitri and I look at each other with a laugh. "No, no not that. Um… well, we are having a baby! Twins, I'm coming up to my second trimester!" I say excitedly. Lissa and Christian both stare at us, Lissa blinking a few times and her mouth opening and closing a few times.
"Your…what?" she stammers out.
"Oh crap. I just called a pregnant lady fat!" Christian groans, hitting his face with the palm of his hand. He stands up and walks over, leaning down to wrap me in a tight hug and I hug him back with a face shattering smile.
"Wait, I'm confused. Did you guys plan this? Who?" Lissa stumbles out her words as she tries to wrap her head around what I just said. Dimitri places his arm around me and pulls me to him and kisses my temple.
"Liss, Dimitri is the father. I got pregnant on the trip."
Lissa still looks bewildered and Christian looks at her as he starts laughing.
"Lissa, this is Rose and Dimitri. They kind of defied the impossible once already, what's to say that they wouldn't do it again. I'm really happy for you two," Christian says to Lissa before turning his attention back to us. I look at Lissa intently for a few minutes before realization crosses her face and she jumps up from the bed with a happy shriek and places her hands over her mouth. I stand up and move closer to her and she starts crying and wraps her arms around me, jumping up and down in my arms.
"I'm going to be an Aunt!" She squeals as she hugs me tightly, almost crushing me. I laugh as tears spill over too, her happiness making mine grow even more.
"Yes, but you two can't tell anyone. I mean nobody can know. We are being moved into hiding by Tatiana. Apparently, this has happened once before," I explain as I sit back down. Explaining the conversation to them that we had with Abe and Tatiana, we explained the severity of keeping this a secret.
Nodding their heads and promising to keep this to themselves we ease back into normal conversations as Tasha walks back into the room.
"I'm sorry, that was work. I need to head back earlier than expected. Walk me to my car, Dimka?" Tasha says sweetly with a smile. I slide my eyes to his before he nods and stands up, escorting her to her car. I smile at Lissa and Christian before standing and hugging them.
"We have to get going too, we have a flight to catch. Do you need a ride back Christian?" I explain.
"No, I'm staying the weekend."
"Ok, well make sure to use a condom. We don't need both of us pregnant," I quip giving Lissa a wink. She flushes and smacks my arm.
"Oh, I never got the chance to ask. What did Oksana say about the necklace?" Lissa says as we step outside and I can see Dimitri and Tasha having an animated conversation, but I can barely hear his voice. It is clear from here that it is not a happy discussion, and he is irritated.
"She said that it was a really strong compulsion charm, made with spirit and earth magic. I really don't know what to make of it, but it was designed to push the darkness from you to me - to make you think those things about me. Whoever gave it too you wanted to cause harm. I feel a little paranoid to be honest; first Tatiana gets attacked and someone uses my stakes to use it and then the car crash… I just don't really feel all the safe anymore," I say sadly.
"We will figure this out. We always do," Lissa says placing and hand on my arm and smiling at me. Flicking her eyes down my body with a larger smile, I turn my body so that my back is to Dimitri and Tasha.
"I know you want to touch it, I can tell that without the bond," I giggle and she places her hand on my bump for a few moments before removing it and moving her eyes over my shoulder. I look and see Dimitri walking back to us as Tasha peels hotly out of the lot, his jaw tight.
We say our goodbyes and get back in the car, driving silently for a few minutes. I reach over and squeeze Dimitri's knee and throw him a soft smile before returning my eyes to the road.
"Tasha asked me to be her guardian again," Dimitri says with a huff. I snap my head around with wide eyes.
"What did you say?"
He shoots me a really look and moves his hand to rest on my leg.
"I told her I didn't want to be her Guardian. I am with you, and I'm not interested in being in the "arrangement" she has proposed, again. I also told her that I took up a private allocation," Dimitri says irritably.
"Well, I guess it's something that anyone could believe, we just need to make sure there is a record of it," I say with a nod, intertwining our finger and resting them in my lap.
"There already is a record of it Roza. In writing I took a private assignment with Abe Mazur," he says with a seriousness in his voice.
I start laughing heavily at the thought, that would be the day. But it is a good cover, and it matches up with he is seen leaving with Abe tonight. I wipe a few tears that spilled over in my mirth before looking back at him and sputtering in laughter again.
"I don't know why you think it's so funny, I'm being serious. I spoke with Abe yesterday when I went to pack about my concerns for my family. He offered to send them money, but I told him I couldn't accept that, so he offered me a position on his team. Protecting the most important thing to him; you."
My laughter stops abruptly and my mouth hands open, eyes wide. Now it's his turn to laugh, shaking his head as he watches the road.
"Me? But I don't need a guardian!" I stammer, finding the idea completely ridiculous. I'm a guardian, and a damn good one when on duty, why would Abe think I need a guardian, even if it is Dimitri?
"I know that, but Abe was insistent on getting you a guardian anyways while you're pregnant, and I knew that you would be opposed to the idea. So, I told him I wanted to do it. It's sort of a win-win-win situation." He explains as we turn back onto the road that leads to court.
I narrow my eyes, "How is this a win for me?"
"Because I am your near Guardian, you won't notice the others."
Pulling up to the gate at court and producing our I.D, we park the car and head towards the landing strip hand in hand.
"I don't look pudgy, do I?" I ask Dimitri, Christian's comment running through my head again. Dimitri pulls us to a stop and cups my face, dropping kisses on my forehead.
"No Roza. You are not pudgy. And even if you were, you would still be the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on," He says sweetly and kissing my lips lightly. I smile into the kiss, place my hands on his arms.
"Hmm, you're a sweet talker, you know that?" I say giving him another kiss. He chuckles and pulls away with a smile.
"I'm just telling you the truth,"
I smirk and roll my eyes at him but elated at his sincerity. He always knows what to say to me to get me to smile.
"So, did Abe only talk to you about a guardian position?" I ask him, giving him a sly look.
"No, he did say to me that if I ever left you and his grandbabies that there wouldn't be a place in this world where he wouldn't find me. He left the rest of that threat open for my interpretation," Dimitri says, pinching his face up slightly. I laugh at the idea of how badly that conversation could have gone.
"Come on, before someone comes searching for us," I say taking his hands from my face and pull him with me.
Standing by the plane I could see both my parents speaking to Tatiana, her guardians standing close by and Adrian by her side, twirling a cigarette between his fingers. Noticing us approach he steps away and comes towards us, sticking his clove behind his ear.
"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to make it, was just about to send someone to see what was taking so long," Adrian said with a grin and clapping Dimitri on the arm.
"Is everything ready to go?" Dimitri asks Adrian. Adrian nods as we reach the rest of the group and Tatiana turns to us and regards is kindly.
"We are all set. Rose, I think that you should have these back." She says, handing me a wooden box. I open it and see my stakes nested in the soft fabric. It's nice to finally have them back, I've felt naked not having them.
"I saw to it that they were cleaned, polished and re-charmed. Now hopefully you won't have to use them, but I feel better that you have them."
I thank her and slip one into the loop in my jeans, the other into the leg of my boot.
"How is all of this going to work exactly?"
"The properties you all are staying at are warded and once a month I will be checking in through Adrian to make sure everything is going well. I have selected an OB to take care of you while you are away. Along with Abe's guardian team, a few select court guardians will be in Goderich as well. The Moroi population there is non-existent, therefor no other dhampirs. We will find a way to explain your pregnancy after the babies have been born. Hopefully, with the ongoing investigation on who attacked me, nobody will notice that you both have left." Tatiana explained as we all boarded the jet, placing her hand on my shoulder. It still seems weird to me that she is being nice to me and going out of her way to help us.
"So Adrian will be coming so he can give you updates?"
Tatiana shakes her head and squeezes my shoulder. "Everyone – aside from Vasilisa, Lord Ozera and myself will be going. I also figured having a familiar face there would be nice."
I nod my head and think it over. It would be safer to have all the people that know in one place. "What are you going to say if anyone notices my absence?" I ask.
"We have it backdated that you are going on private assignment," she replied swiftly.
Sitting down in the plush seat and buckling myself in, we prepare to take off as Tatiana is escorted back to the palace. My parents sat in front of me and Dimitri sat next to me, with Adrian sitting across the aisle with Pavel and another Guardian. I lean back and grip one of the armrests before drumming my fingers, trying to mentally prepare myself for the headache that was about to take over for the next five hours.
"How are you feeling Kiz?" Abe asks, tucking his phone back into his jacket.
"I'm fine," I say with a smile, avoiding the subject.
Dimitri chuckles under his breath and shaking his head. Abe noticing this tilts his head and raises his brows at me.
"If 'fine' means you haven't been able to eat chocolate doughnuts for two weeks and pizza make you gag, along with the fact that you cried this morning because your socks didn't match…then yes, she is fine," he says to my parents. I cross my arms across my chest and huff. Abe laughs a little and my mom smiles and places her hand on my knee.
"It's ok, when I was pregnant with you your father had to stop wearing his cologne and he used to laugh at me when I would cry at the most random things. This is normal," she says with a small laugh and a sympathetic smile. I groan and roll my eyes; I so do not want to talk about how much of a wuss I've turned into lately.
"I really hope I do not end up hating the smell of your aftershave," I groan and cover my face with my hands as we start taking off.
"I am so glad I don't have to deal with this," Adrian snickers from his seat, lifting his flask to his mouth. I shoot a glare at him from my seat and his smile falters from his face.
"Well you have to deal with me for the next six months, so get used to it. We are the only people you are going to know there."
He pales a little before closing the flask and tossing it into Dimitri's lap.
"Maybe you should take that," He says with a grimace on his face. Dimitri looks at me and then looks over at my parents before he starts laughing.
"How are you feeling Rosemarie?" Mom asks as we sit the deck a week after moving to Goderich. I will admit that it isn't a frozen tundra and that it really is beautiful up here. The lake is this beautiful turquoise colour against the sand and I enjoy watching the water move.
"I'm ok. I ache a little, and all I want to do is sleep. Plus, I feel like I'm a house already. Also, does the morning sickness ever go away? I mean, I'm waking up in the middle of the night and I'm trying to be quiet so I don't wake Dimitri, but have been failing epically."
Mom smiles and leans back in her chair and pats my hand. It different seeing her laid back like this, she is technically on duty when she is with me, but she is trying to distract me from that.
"It's normal to ache and to sleep a lot, your body is using a lot of energy. The morning sickness should die down now, but if it doesn't bring it up to your OB. You are not a house, but you are having twins, so you are going to see more belly earlier. When I had you, I felt huge too."
Well, that isn't so comforting.
"I'm going to need more clothes though. The only thing I fit into is my leggings and sweats, and a couple of stretchy shirts. And I want to do some working out, I can't stay cooped up in the house much longer," I say sitting up and reaching for my plate of food, snacking on it while we talk.
Dimitri is in the basement talking to Abe and the rest of the guardians that he brought, discussing strategy and work schedules. I think this is a little overkill, but I just keep my thoughts to myself.
"And you and Dimitri, how are things? You two seem better than when he found out at first."
I shrug and finish chewing my food, we were doing better but I feel like we haven't had a lot of time to just be the two of us. We may live in our own house, but there are constantly other people here, especially at night.
"We are doing better. I really had to sit myself down and think over how we both reacted, if I were in his position, I probably would have reacted the same. What we created should never have happened biologically, and yes it still stings a little that he thought I slept with someone else, but it's the most logical explanation. He has been trying to make up for it, and I am working on not getting upset about it." I say.
"We are moving forward with it. Hell, he said he wished he could go back and give me the reaction I "deserved", so I dragged him into my room and pretended to tell him all over again. The smile on his face when he realized what I was doing… Mom, it was like I made him the happiest man on Earth."
We sit quietly for a few more minutes, basking on the late fall sun. The door slides open behind us and I turn to see Dimitri stepping through, and he leans to kiss the top of my head.
"Abe has a surprise for you,"
I get up and follow him back inside and down the stairs to the front hall to see Abe talking to a young blonde woman. She turns as we reach the bottom of the stairs and I squeal when I see her face.
"SYDNEY!" I exclaim as I launch myself at her and hug her as tight as I can without hurting her.
"Hi Rose," she says returning the hug. I pull back and smile widely at her before smiling at Abe.
"Is Sydney my surprise?"
He nods and I move to hug him tightly and he laughs. "I figured you could use a friend that is a girl. Besides, Tatiana asked that an Alchemist look in on you and I pulled some strings to have someone that you know."
Stepping back I look over at Dimitri to see him smiling too. "Sydney this is Dimitri, Dimitri this is Sydney." Dimitri nods at her and she awkwardly waves back before looking at me with a peculiar gaze.
"I thought that…"
"We found a way to bring him back," I interrupt, giving Dimitri a kind smile.
She shrugs and smiles at us, but I can feel the tension radiating off her body. She may be comfortable with me, but the others she isn't.
"I would love to stay longer, but I have to get settled in and let the others know that I'm here. Maybe we can see each other in a few days?" Sydney says, clearing her throat.
"That sounds great!"
She nods and walks out the door and I break into a fit of giggles.
"Poor Sydney, she's going to have to get used to being around the "creatures of the night"."
I groan as I stretch across the bed, waiting for Dimitri to finish locking up and joining me. He promised that tomorrow we could go and get me some more clothes because I have started to take his shirts to wear.
He walks into our room and gives me smile before changing into a pair of cotton pants and climbing onto the bed but I stop him from lying down.
"Wait, sit in front of me," I say and I prop some pillows up behind my back and I sit on my folded legs. I pull him back so he is closer to me and start rubbing his shoulders, digging in to release tension. He sighs and I can feel him relaxing under my fingertips.
"You don't have to do this, but I appreciate it," he says, reaching back to stroke my leg.
"You have been rubbing my back for me and you deserve a good shoulder run too, Comrade," I say kissing the side of his shoulder. Not only does he deserve it, but I just want to be able to run my hands on him. Even if we aren't having sex yet, just being able to feel his skin makes me feel good.
"What gender do you think the babies are going to be?" I ask as I finish rubbing and he moves to sit beside me. He wraps an arm around and kisses my temple.
"I have no idea, you?" I shrug and smile at him and take his hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over his calloused hands.
I doesn't really matter to me, all that matters is that I have my family right here, minus Lissa and my friends. Dimitri shuffles over and lays down across my lower thighs and lifts my shirt before placing butterfly kisses over the swollen skin. He talks quietly with a smile on his face, and I don't understand a single thing he says.
"You know, the babies won't be able to hear you for a few more weeks," I laugh and run my fingers through his hair. He shakes his head and continues as if I said nothing, rubbing my skin softly.
"So, I still want to talk to them. Don't pretend like you don't talk to them throughout the day, I hear you," he says. I chuckle and settle myself against the pillow, stroking his hair and relaxing at the sound of his voice.
"I love you," I say quietly. I don't need to have my eyes open to know that he has a megawatt smile on his face, I can feel it against my stomach.