Hello, lovelies! Chapter 22 on May 22 for my 22nd birthday (which is technically tomorrow, but whatever)... that a lot of 2's.
I am the only one to edit this so I apologize in advance!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly.
Waving to Sydney after leaving our coffee date, Dimitri and I head back to London for some shopping. Coffee was nice, it was good to talk to Sydney and catch up on what she's been up to since I went back to the academy and graduated. She was relocated to the U.S. and was a little alarmed when Abe contacted her again but was pleasantly surprised to find out I was here too.
Heading back to London to do a little shopping, windows rolled down and enjoying the crisp early fall air, I look over at Dimitri and feel my heart soar. He doesn't look like the badass, strigoi-killing-god, he looks like the young 24-year-old he is. Dressed in casual clothes, his duster and his hair tied at the nape of his neck, I ogle at him a little.
"Why are you staring Rose?" Dimitri says placing his hand on my leg and rubbing his thumb in soft circles against the denim of my jeans.
"You're handsome, you know that?" I chirp and take his hand in mine. He smiles at me before returning his attention to the road.
"So… there was a place I saw on the drive from the airport that I would really like to try," I quip to Dimitri and send me a man-eating smile.
"And what would that be?" he asked, squeezing my hand. Dimitri has been trying to coerce me into eating better for the babies, but all I crave lately is french fries - chilli cheese fries to be exact. He slips veggies in when he can, but this place he can't force them on me.
"New York Fries!" I say with an even bigger smile, bouncing in my seat a little at the prospect of food for my never-ending appetite. He tilts his head back against the headrest and groans a little, not liking the idea of my junk food. "The babies really want it," I add, rubbing my stomach with our intertwined hands.
Hook. Line. Sinker.
Tell him that the babies want the food or bring them up in general and he melts into the palm of my hand.
"You can't say that every time you want something Rose," he chuckles, pulling our hands to his mouth and kissing the back of mine then placing them back in my lap. I wag my eyebrows at him, and he smirks knowing that I have him exactly where I want him.
I tilt my head against the door frame and smile, closing my eyes and moving my face so it is basking in the sun.
"Wake up, krasivyy." Dimitri says placing a chaste kiss on my cheek. I snap my eyes open and see him standing next to me, holding the door open. I yawn and pick up my bag from the floor of the car and hop out, stretching my arms and raising onto my toes.
"I still don't know what you're saying. You could be calling me a whale," I joke and kiss his lips. He chuckles and rolls his eyes at me.
Walking through the stores was nice, going at a leisurely pace, but I could still spot the other guardian's wandering around. Now I know how Lissa feels being tailed by guardians. Go through multiple stores, picking out some jeans and tops, a few shoes and a dress before heading to the maternity store. Part of me is wishing Mom came with us for this part, I'm completely clueless on what I need and Dimitri wouldn't know much either.
Wandering in and looking around at the clothes for a few minutes before one of the sales woman approach me.
"Hi, anything I can help you find?" she asks politely, clasping her hands in front of her.
"Yes. I have not idea what I need. Kind of new at this," I say gesturing to my belly. She laughs and nods her head before stirring me through the store, pointing out clothing and products to try. She emphasized on the hydration cream, saying it was a dream when she had her child. I look back around the store to find Dimitri over looking at baby clothing.
"Is that your man?" the lady asks, following my gaze to Dimitri. I nod with a grin and she chuckles. "You two are going to have a very beautiful baby," she says softly.
"Two beautiful babies, actually." I correct and she smiles at me even wider, joking about really needing the hydration cream.
"Rose," Dimitri says coming over to us holding two sleeper sets. One says 'My Daddy Is Crazy In Love With Me' and the other saying 'Mommy's New Sidekick'. I take them from his hands and hold them closer to me before looking up at him and smiling at him. "We are so getting these," I say adding them to the ever-growing pile of clothes.
Heading to the change room to try a few pairs of jeans and pants on before going back to the counter and checking out. It feels weird buying myself so many clothes, but Abe insisted on me using the credit card he gave me, saying he had years of spoiling to make up for.
"Is there anything that you want to look at while we are here?" I ask Dimitri as we head towards the food court, my stomach protesting loudly at the lack of food.
"There are a few things," he says taking a few of the shopping bags from me and I roll my eyes at him antics but give him the bags anyways, always the gentleman. "But we can get those after we eat. I can hear your stomachs desperate cries for help."
The first thing I spot in the food court is a bright yellow, white and black sign and drag Dimitri towards it before he realized how unhealthy my food choice is.
"I told you I wanted to try New York Fries," I shrug as he throws me a look. Wrapping his arms around me, I peruse the menu before landing on the best thing I've seen all day, Chili Cheese Fries.
"I know what I'm getting," I declare tilting my head up to look at him, watching for his eyes to run across my choice on the board. A smirk crosses his face when his eyes land on it and he continues through the board.
Ordering our food and watching it being made, I am practically drooling on the glass watching them pour hot cheese all over the fries. Taking our food and sitting down, I start inhaling my food, moaning at the gooey cheese.
"What is that?" I ask pointing at Dimitri's fries, covered in green onion, tomatoes, with some cheese and sour creams.
"Veggie Works."
I roll my eyes at him and wipe my mouth on the napkin when I finish eating, watching Dimitri eat at a normal rate. I lean back at pat my stomach, drinking some water from my bottle.
"Satisfied?" Dimitri ask when he finishes. I quirk my eyebrows at him. "Yes, all three of us are happily satisfied." I chirp.
"So, there are a few things that I want to get as a surprise. Are you ok with me heading off with Guardian Andrews?" I ask throwing out our trash.
"That's fine. Meet back here in an hour or so?" he says, gesturing Guardian Andrews to come over.
"Sounds great."
Swapping places with Andrews and kissing me goodbye, we split off to different sections of the mall, and I have a plan in mind.
Running through the upstairs to catch my phone before I miss the call, sliding across the hardwood, I launch myself onto the bed to grab my phone.
"Yeah?"
"Hello to you too stranger,"
"Hey Liss!" I say into the phone, flopping onto my back and peeling my sock of my feet.
That is how I spent the next hour, lounging on the bed talking to Lissa. She told me all about her upcoming midterm exams, and how much she was enjoying her classes, and in return I told her all about the new house and the shopping I did, snapping photos of the baby clothes and a few other things before sending them off.
"It's so weird not having the bond. I feel like there is literally a part of me missing," I sigh pulling my hair out of my ponytail and running a hand through my stiff hair.
"I know, it's weird," Lissa agrees and I can hear her shuffling papers through the phone.
"How have you been doing without me taking the darkness?"
She's silent for a few moments before answering.
"I'm…ok. It weird dealing with all the side effects in full blast, but I decided to go back on a half-dose of the antidepressant. Enough that it suppresses the magic, but I can still reach a little bit of it. I'm glad that we aren't bonded right now though, it wouldn't be good for you or the babies," She says.
Nodding into my phone even though she can't see me, I'm glad she found a way to deal with spirit and the darkness on her own, and I feel less guilty knowing that she can handle herself.
"Are you still training lots?" she asks and I can hear her flopping onto her bed.
"Yeah, but I've slowed down a bit. I thought Dimitri was being over-bearing, but Mom stepped in and told me that sparring full-on wasn't doable anymore, and to dial back on my weights. I'm ok to do my running still, but I just need to dial it back. Thankfully I can still do some of my normal workout, I would go stir crazy without it." I sigh kicking the socks off our bed and move to pull some clean clothes out of the dresser. I had just finished a run with Mom when Lissa had called.
"Hey Liss, I got to go. I'll call you back tomorrow, kay?"
"Sounds good! Miss you. Talk to you tomorrow." She says hanging up and I toss my phone onto my bed and strip off, dropping my clothes in a path to the bathroom and hopping into the shower.
Standing up the hot spray I place my hands on the tiles in front of me and breathe deeply, allowing the hot water to release tension in my tight muscles. The door of the shower snaps open and I look over to see Dimitri stepping in behind me, giving me a soft smile. I move over to give him room under the spray and he pulls my back to his chest and rubs my shoulder, kissing my head.
"How was your phone call with Lissa?" he asks, moving his hands down my arms and resting them on my stomach, rubbing small circles with his thumb.
"It was good, Lissa said that she went back on antidepressants to help with the side effects. She also said that she is really liking her classes, and political science is 'amazing'" I say, laughing to myself about her declaration of her class being amazing. Only she would find that so interesting.
"Good," he says turning me around and resting his forehead against mine. I rub my nose gently against his before reaching for my shampoo and stepping back to lather, but he bats my hands away and does it for me. Man, probably the best feeling in the world to have someone else wash your hair for you. Tilting my head back and leaning against his chest, I sigh happily at the feeling of his long fingers kneading against my scalp.
"That feels really good," I purr while he rinses the soap from my locks. He smiles and pours a liberally amount of conditioner into his hands before working it into my hair. Returning the favour I reach up and scrub his hair the best I can while the conditioner soaks in mine, and I can see he enjoys it as much as I do. We both rinse our hair out and after washing down we step out to dry off and walking back into the bedroom. Dimitri bends down to pick up the clothes I left strewn across the floor and I snicker at the eye roll he throws in my direction before putting them in the hamper.
Drying off and pulling out the cream I bought today, I sit down and start putting it on as Dimitri throws a pair of sleep pants on.
"I'm going to make sure everything is locked up," he says kissing my cheek before retreating. I smirk, it's go time. I hurry to finish putting on the cream and scurry to the dresser and pull out one of the purchases from the other day. When venturing off with Guardian Andrews, we went into a few underwear shops and I picked up some new bras that fit properly, along with a very pretty sheer navy blue baby doll set that tied up under my breasts, and showed off my curves nicely.
Scooting the head of the bed I fluff my still-damp hair I cross my ankles waiting for him to come back. Flicking lights off in the hall as he walks back to the bedroom, he stops at the threshold of the door and his eyes widen a little and I watch a hungry look cross his eyes.
"See something you like?" I quip sitting up and biting my lip to keep from laughing at him.
He clears his throat and his eyes are moving rapidly over my body, the tips of his ears turning pink. Dimitri has always been a generous lover, and while he loved my body when we were back at the academy, he loves how it is now just as much. Anytime we lay in bed together his hands gravitate to my belly, stroking the skin gently or resting his hand on my hips. Moving through the doorway and shutting the door, he strides to the bed and climbs up it, hovering over me.
"I see something that I love," he says dropping his head to kiss my neck, one of his hands moving to stroke my side from my hip up to my breasts. "All wrapped in a pretty blue package."
I hum while tilt my head to the side and run my hand up his back pulling him closer to me. "Mmmhmm, just promise you aren't going to destroy this one," I say with a cocky grin and he laughs into my neck, sitting back on his knee and pulling me into his arms.
"I can't make that promise."
I yank my hair roughly up into a bun and I glare at Adrian across the coffee table.
"You do not get to judge me for my food cravings. They are delicious and you should not test me," I snap at him and narrow my eyes at him. He snickers behind his coffee cup and tries to hold back the mirth that got into trouble in the first place.
"I'm sorry, but hot Cheetos and Dijon mustard do not sound appealing to me. It actually makes my stomach hurt thinking about it," he explains, and I whip a Cheeto at his head, bouncing it off the center of his forehead. I have taken a liking to dipping crunchy hot Cheetos into mustard, and I have been on a very heavy veggie and ranch kick since our trip to the mall, much to Dimitri's delight. Veggies are the only thing I'll eat in the morning now.
"I like it, so leave me alone… anyways, I heard from a little bird that you have been hanging out with a certain alchemist lately," I say dipping my Cheeto into the bowl and eyeing Adrian. He shifts uncomfortably and flushes a little before a thought dawned on me and I almost launch from my seat on the couch.
"Wait, do you like Sydney?!" I screech and Adrian flinches and shushes me. I can't believe it, bad boy Adrian has a crush on perfect Sydney.
"Ok, maybe I do like her. But it isn't really going to go anywhere, I mean… she's a human and still believes we are undead creatures of the night. Except you of course, she likes you," he says, his face flushing further, and he swivels his head around to see who can hear us. I start giggling at him, revelling in his embarrassment because who doesn't laugh at their friends. It's even more comical because we are the only ones here.
"I can put in a good word for you if you want," I snort, stuffing my food into my mouth and he eyes me with slight disgust at my food choice.
It has been nice having Adrian here, and when I asked him just how much persuasion was needed to get him to move up here – away from everything – he merely stated that he wanted to be nearby and it would be an "adventure".
"If you would that would be great, I don't want to scare her off, you know? She's just… I don't know, she makes me want to be better. I've only known her for what, a couple of weeks," he says running his hand through his hair. I shake my head as the doorbell rings and I stand to answer it. Opening the door there is nobody there, but there is a package on the ground with my name on it, no return address.
"Hey where is Dimitri? It's weird not seeing him shadowing you," Adrian hollers at me as I return to the living room and set the package on the table.
"He went out to get some groceries with Abe, he had something he wanted to talk to my parents about. They should be back soon," I said absentmindedly, pulling at the tape on the box.
"What is that?" he asks leaning over to look at the box and I shrug, saying it was left on the porch. He moves to sit beside me on the couch, and I open the box to see a few envelopes inside, along with a wooden box. I pick one up of the envelopes to open it and feel my heart drop into my stomach.
It's a photo of me and Dimitri in our bedroom.
My breathing accelerates and I dump the envelope out onto the table, not even caring that Adrian is seeing them and ripping the other one open, containing more photos; us at the mall, him working out on the deck, me doing my laps around the block with Mom, dinner with Dimitri and my parents, more of Dimitri and I in our bedroom. The last one to drop out was one of us in bed the day of the mall, just two nights ago. I'm in every single photo.
If the photo hadn't been taken without our permission and sent to us in a box, it probably would have been an amazing photo. All our bits are covered by limbs in the angle of this photo, but it is clear we are having sex. It's almost boudoir like in black and white.
"You said this was on the porch?" Adrian said, looking over the photos carefully. I nod and look back into the box and pull out the last envelop and wooden box, placing the box in my lap and ripping the seal on the last envelope.
You can't hide from us. We will always find you. When we get our hands on you, you'll wish you died in the crash.
Dropping the note onto the table with a shaky hand, I open the lid of the wooden box too, praying that something nasty wasn't going to crawl out of it.
Big mistake. Huge mistake.
The minute the lid shifts, the box blows up in my lap, spraying some type of liquid all over me and I scream. I jump off the couch trying to wipe it off as it burns through my clothes and singes my skin, little flames dancing over me where the liquid has sprayed my skin. Adrian rips the throw blanket off the back on the couch and throws it over me, patting my skin down, snuffing out the flames before dragging me into the main level bathroom and turning on the shower and shoving me under the cool water.
Whimpering as the water hits my burned skin, Adrian pulls my sweater off my arms - well what is left of my sweater.
"You have to take your clothes off, you're covered in it," he says. I nod and try to move my hands to take them off, but my hands are the worst part of my body. Adrian steps into the shower and helps me slowly peel the clothes off, carefully moving them over the burned flesh. Tears roll down my face and I try to stifle my sobs, but they break through and I cry heavily looking down at my stomach. Large blotches are covering the swollen skin, and my anxiety is thrown into overdrive. The burns there are almost as bad as the ones on my hands.
Helping me sit down in the cold shower, Adrian adjusts the water so it's not ice-cold, but cold enough that I can stand it.
"Are you ok? Did any of it get on you?" I ask through sobs.
"It sprayed onto my arm, but you took the full brunt of it."
I nod and try to get my breathing under control, and my head snaps up hearing the front door close. Adrian steps out and walks out of the bathroom, and I can hear his muffled voice before three more join him and he, my mother and Dimitri appear in the bathroom as well.
"Oh my god," my mother whispers before shoving both men out of the bathroom and pulling her coat off before and grabbing a couple of face clothes and running them under the spray of the shower and pulling me out. Placing the cold towels over the largest of burns, she runs her hand over my soaking hair and tries to soothe me.
"It's ok, you're going to be fine. Take a deep breath Rosemarie," she croons, and I nod, not daring to look past her face into the reflection the glass shower. She pats my unburned skin dry and slowly peals the cloths off to look at my skin, her mask slammed firmly across her face as she examines me.
"Your legs look ok, it's your upper body that got most of it. I'm going to put some bandages on ok?" she says, pulling the first aid kit out from under the sink. My mind is spinning, all I can feel is the sting from the burns.
"The babies?" I whimper and she stands back up and cups my face.
"They are going to be fine. If anything they will be a little shocked because you are so worked up. I need you to try and calm down," she says before getting to work on tending to my injuries.
When she's finished, she tells me to stay put and she runs upstairs to my bedroom and returns with a pair of sweatpants and one of Dimitri shirts, still large on me and light. She helps me tug it on and twists my hair up onto my head again before guiding me out of the bathroom.
The living room is full of Abe's guardian, and Dimitri is looking over the photos that were sent, his jaw tense and his fist clenched against the table. Lifting his head as we walk back into the room, he stands up from the kneeled position he was in and come over to us, gently wrapping his arms around me. I look over to see Adrian filling Abe in on what happened, pointing to the box and Abe looks over at it, before grabbing a pencil from the table behind the couch and using it to move the remnants of the box.
"Sydney is on her way with some extra supplies. Are you ok?" Dimitri says into my hair and pulls back, looking me over. Thankfully the shirt has covered most of it, he will have a cow, and I'd rather he didn't have one in a room full of people. I nod and smile at him, but it doesn't reach my eyes and he shakes his head with a frown.
Mom walks over to Abe speaks to him in a hushed voice, both of them casting glances over to me with worried eyes.
"This will be reported back to Tatianna. This was a direct threat at you," Dimitri says and I can hear the anger in his voice, along with hints of fear. Hearing that fear does nothing to calm me, and I start to shake, it may be a mixture of being cold and panic, but Dimitri rubs his hands on my back and brings me into the kitchen and sits my down at the island.
Kneeling and placing his hands on the sides of my legs, rubbing soothing circles into the unmarred thighs, Dimitri asks me what happened. I take a deep breath and recap everything that happened and the photos and the note, explaining how the box blew up and sprayed me. He keeps his face calm and takes in everything I'm saying, and I can tell he is in guardian mode to try and keep not only himself calm but to keep me calm.
"There was nobody outside when you picked up the package?" he asks and I shake my head no. He nods and stands up, cupping my face gently.
"Does your face hurt?" he whispers and I furrow my brows at him. "You have small little burns on your face, nowhere near as bad as your arms, just little blotches."
"No, I don't feel them at all," I say, grasping his wrists and closing my eyes.
"Hey," Adrian says walking into the kitchen and we both look towards him. "Sydney is here, and she brought a doctor too. She's going to look you over ok." I thank him and he walks out. Standing from the chair I smile meekly at Dimitri, reaching and kissing him before walking out to meet Sydney. At a glance, I call tell she is a dhampir but I'm shocked when I see she bares a promise mark.
"This is Dr. Chu, I brought her to look at the burns. It would probably be best if we went upstairs where it's quiet," Sydney said we walk upstairs, Dimitri close behind. Walking into the bedroom and sitting on the edge of the bed, Sydney moves to stand by the dresser and Dimitri stands at the door, leaning back on it, and giving him a perfect view of the room and what the doctor is doing.
"Your name is Rose, correct?" Dr. Chu asks and I nod, she sets her bag on the bed beside me and looks at my face and hands first before asking me to remove my shirt. My eyes flicker to Dimitri before lifting the shirt slowly and I can hear him inhale sharply when he sees the burns across my stomach and chest. Sydney plays with the cross around her neck while looking between all of us with a sad expression.
"How far along are you?" the doctor asks as she unwraps the bandages. "Almost seventeen weeks," I reply, wincing as her fingers brush against one of the burns. She apologizes and reaches into her bag.
"We will need photos before you rebandage her," Sydney pipes up and pulls her camera out of her bag. I nod and the doctor steps back to allow Sydney to snap the photos. Keeping my eyes trained on Dimitri's, I can see him struggling internally. His eyes keep flickering over me and his hands are fisted tightly against his chest, his arms crossed and the muscles bulging in his arms. When Sydney is finished, the doctor continues her work, recovering the wounds and giving me a shot in the arm to help with the pain.
"The babies are going to be ok right?" I ask as she taps a bandage over the spot she gave me the shot.
"They should be fine, but I have a portable machine if you want a little more reassurance," she says reaching into her bag and pulling out a portable ultrasound out of the bag. I shimmy up the bed and lay down and pull my shirt up, smiling at Dimitri excitedly as he comes to sit beside me on the bed and kisses my head gently. Slipping the sterile covering over the wand and squirting the gel onto my stomach. Moving the wand around over my skin.
Turning on the sound so we can hear the rapid heartbeats I sigh in relief at the sound.
"They both look fine. You two have some tall babies," Dr. Chu says, and I smirk. Of course, they are, have you looked at the giant beside me? "I have a pretty clear view of the two, are you wanting to know the genders?" She says giving us a smile. I look over to Dimitri and raise my brows at him, silently asking him. He smiles and nods and tells the doctor yes.
Two little tidbits about this chapter:
One. New York Fries is pretty much a poutine fast food restaurant. I highly recommend it!
Second. The hydration cream mentioned is probably the best cream I have ever used! It's a stretch mark cream that I purchased after a horrific side effect to medication that caused me to gain 50lbs in a little over a month. Life-saving cream! If anyone wants to know the name, PM me and I will send you a link for it.