A/N: Suprise! I'm early!
I hope you all like it! I am currently drafting the final chapters of this story (at least ten more from this one.)
I am the only one edit this story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
I must be going crazy - I must be hallucinating what I just heard. I look between Dimitri's pained face and Abe's furious one with a gaped mouth.
"What did you just say?" I gasp and Dimitri looks down to our laps.
"Tasha. She was here with Robert; she was telling him what to say. She was having him compel me to kill you, and when I did, to forget everything," he whispers brokenly, and I shake my head.
I knew that she didn't like me, but to go the extreme and try to make Dimitri kill me was mind-boggling. Of course, nobody would see it coming if Dimitri had succeeded. I rest my head on Dimitri's shoulder while I try to absorb.
"Baba, you said Tasha as well, what did you find out?" I ask exhaustedly. Dimitri gingerly wraps his arms around me again and I kiss his shoulder to let him know it's ok.
"We got her fingerprints on one of the photos, and inside the wooden box. Someone scrubbed her prints from the Moroi database, but not from the human's. She would have had to register when she started working at the martial arts studio," Abe says gruffly, taking his jacket off and tossing it on the couch. I scoot out of Dimitri's lap and sit next to him, tucking myself into his side while looking over the others in the room.
Pavel and Adrian have left the room, I assume that he is with the feeder right now. I stretch my feet out in front of me and groan a little, feeling a small twinge in my back. Mom is crouched in front of me in a flash.
"When you fell, did you fall directly on your back or did you twist to the side?" She asks.
"I ended up twisting onto my back, but hit the table more on my hip," I say and she pulls a face. She pulls out her phone and put it to her ear.
"Hi, this is Janine Hathaway. I know that the clinic is closing soon, but I need to speak with Dr. Chu, it's urgent." Mom says into the phone calmly. She listens for a few moments before speaking again. "Tell her there was an incident at the house and Rosemarie needs to be looked at."
Ending the call and shoving her phone back into her pocket, she takes my hands gently and pulls me to stand. I cast a look down to Dimitri before following Mom into the downstairs bathroom.
"I need to see your back," she says helping me lift my shirt up. She moves me around gently and palpates my back, making me gasp loudly and flinch away from her touch. "Sorry," she whispers before continuing to look over me.
"How bad is it?" I ask hesitantly and she meets my eyes in the mirror.
"It's not great. You're going to be sore," she says and angles me so I can see. Bruises already forming over my hip and lower back and disappearing under my pants. My shoulder blades look bad too, from where they ground into the glass and floor while I struggled.
"He can't see these," I whisper quietly and Mom gives me sympathetic look. Dimitri is already a mess, if he sees the bruises on my back, he will feel even worse. Mom sighs as she helps me pull my shirt back over my head,
and walks back out of the bathroom with me to see Dimitri sitting on the couch with Abe talking adamantly. His eyes are haunted, and I know that he is going to have a hard time forgiving himself even though I have already done so. Seems like we are repeating history a little.
"How do you feel?" I ask Adrian, who is slumped in the armchair, clutching a tumbler of clear liquid, but from the smell, I'm assuming it's gin.
"I'll be ok. Are you alright?" he says lazily, looking up at me with a raised brow. I nod and move to sit in the other chair, curling up with the pillow. I close my eyes and try to alleviate the pounding in my head.
"Keep your eyes open until Dr. Chu gets here," Abe says and I snap my eyes back open. I sigh and squirm a little in my seat, groaning slightly when I breathe too deeply and feel a twinge in my back. Dimitri stands up and crouches in front of me, brushing his hand over mine.
"How's your cheek?" I ask softly, ghosting a finger over the claw marks I left against his face. He takes my hand in both of his and rest his mouth against them.
"I'm not concerned about me, I'm worried about you. I hit you pretty hard, does your head hurt?" he asks, his eyes pleading for me to tell him the truth.
"I'm ok. A little sore and my head hurts a bit, but I'm ok Comrade," I murmur. His eyes move from my face to my stomach and I frown as a tear slips down his cheek. "They are fine too. Your little girl is currently pushing against my bladder and your son is using his fist to punch my belly button," I add softly and he nods his head and kisses my hand. He shifts around and sits on the floor and places his head in my lap. I run my fingers over his head and feel a small amount of tension leave his body. His hot breath tickles against me and I tilt my head back against the cushion of the headrest.
"How did she find out where we were?" I wonder out loud. It seems to be the million-dollar question today.
"We will figure it out," Dimitri whispers and I stroke his face.
Pavel disappears down the hall when the bell rings and returns with Dr. Chu, carrying a large container for her. She observes the broken wood and glass with wide eyes before they land me and her mouth gapes open.
"What happened?" She asks rushing over to me and tilting my head up to look at my neck. I explain everything that happened, and she shakes her head while moving my neck and head around. Dimitri moves out of her way but keeps one of my hands in his grip.
"I need to check you over," she says and I stand up and walk to the bathroom with her, locking the door and gingerly removing my shirt.
She directs me to sit on the toilet seat and palpates the same way Mom did earlier, asking me about pain and tenderness. She helps me stand back up and helps me pull my pants down to examine the tailbone.
"You haven't noticed any vaginal bleeding?" She asks and I tell her no, and she sighs in relief before returning to my neck.
"You don't look to have any broken bones, but your neck is going to be sore along with the rest of your body. You will have some nice bruises too. I want you on bed rest for a few days and try to take a warm bath tonight. And absolutely no training or lifting for five days. When the clinic opens after the holiday, I want to see you again." She explains and takes a syringe and vial out of her bag.
"What is that?" I ask as she wipes my arm with an alcohol wipe.
"It's something to help with the pain," she replies and insert the needle into my arm, then taping a cotton ball over it.
"Now, your head, how does that feel?" she asks as she moves to prods my head and I flinch when she reaches the back of my head. Leaning me forward and looking at it, she states it is just a flesh wound and doesn't need stitching.
Shining her penlight to check my pupil reaction and then asks about ringing in my ears, vomiting, nausea, or blurry vision before deeming that I only have a mild concussion.
"I want to take a look at those two, where would that be best?" she says as she packs things back into her back and I respond with the living room. A knock on my door draws my attention away and Sydney pokes her head in, stating that she will need to take photos of the damage. Dr. Chu assists Sydney with taking the photos and getting the proper angles. I pull my clothes back on and carefully wake back into the living room.
Someone, probably Mom, swept up all the glass and moved the broken coffee table out of the way, and I see Dimitri pacing behind the couch. His head snaps up as we walk back in and I lay down on the couch while Dr. Chu opens the large, boxy container that holds a different ultrasound than last time. Dimitri's eyes roam over me before they rest on my neck, and I lift my hand up to take his.
The movement snaps him out of his thoughts and he takes my hand gently, kissing the back of it and leans against the back of the couch. Dr. Chu gestures for my to lift my shirt and she squirts gel onto my stomach and moves the wand around. I look up at Dimitri and squeeze his hand, trying to reassure him a little that I'm okay, and that the babies should be good as well.
"They are good!. They are moving around, and I see no fluid that shouldn't be there. But remember what I said, take it easy and I want you on bed rest." She says wiping the gel off.
"Will you look at Dimitri too? He took a few blows to the head," I ask quickly before she can leave, and she smiles at me before standing and telling him to sit.
How the hell did we get to this? This has to be the craziest year of my life. From Victor to the ski lodge to the attack at the academy, Dimitri being turned and restored, my incident with the hospital. I need a serious vacation from life after this.
"You have a concussion, but surprisingly it's not bad. Just take it easy," Chu says a few minutes later when she's done examining him and I sigh in relief. Thank god.
She packs up her things and gives Mom specific things to look out for in regards to the babies and our heads before taking leave.
"Can I please eat something?" I groan as my stomach rumbles. Abe jumps up and goes into the kitchen for food and I curl onto my side on the couch, resting my head in Dimitri's lap. Adrian is currently passed out in his chair, his tumbler tilting dangerously from his hand. All I want right now is to eat and take a nap.
Everything is in place. Abe has contacted Tatianna about what happened and how Tasha was involved along with Robert. Abe also has moved Andrews to be inside the house while Dimitri and I are asleep and have Ballard stationed outside.
Abe wants to stay here tonight as well, but I drew the line there stating that we need to keep some form of normalcy and not to alert anyone who could be watching the house. By ten o'clock all I want to do is soak in the bath.
Slowly sinking down into the warm water, I hiss quietly as the water hits some of the small nicks in my skin and then groan after I'm seated in the tub. I roll my head back against the tub and sigh, revelling in the relief the warm water is giving me.
I must have fallen asleep because I blink and when I open again Dimitri is standing beside the tub, his face full of worry.
"Hey," he says and I smile at him softly. He kneels next to the tub and runs his hand through my hair. "You've been in here for over an hour."
Yep, I definitely fell asleep. I lean forward to hoist myself out of the tub and wince before sitting back down. Dimitri leans over and pulls the plug from the tub and hooks his arms under my legs and arms, gently lifting me from the tub and setting me down on the bath matt. He grabs a towel and wraps I around me gently, rubbing my skin dry. I am always amazed at how gentle he can be, and it's like he is worried I will crumble to dust if he applies too much pressure on my skin.
"Does that hurt?" He asks and I follow his gaze to the purpling bruise on my hip.
"No, not really," I say even though it hurts like a bitch. He looks me in the eyes for a moment before tucking the towel around me and I walk into our room and dress quickly and climb into bed.
"Get in here," I groan after getting situated and he hesitates before climbing in next to me. I scoot over and rest my head on his chest.
"I need you to stop blaming yourself. Nobody else blames you, and I can hear your internal monologue from here," I say warmly, placing my hand over his heart. He sighs and places his hand over mine, kissing my head gently.
"I almost killed you," he whispers dejectedly and I tilt my head up to look at him.
"But you didn't. That's all that matter," I say softly and he inhales deeply before pecking my lips. We lay quietly together for while, using the time to comfort each other without words, him running his finger through my damp curls, and me stroking smalls circles on his chest.
"What time is it?" I ask and he looks over to the nightstand.
"11:58." He says. I reach over him for the TV remote and turn it on, flipping through channels to find the ball drop in Time Square. Finding it just as the countdown starts, I drop the remote onto the bed beside me and watch the numbers decrease.
"I love you," he says to me right at the declaration of New Year and kisses me deeply, cupping my face. I smile into the kiss, thankful for having him in my life and being the person that he is.
I twist my fingers absently as I stare out the window in the living room, enjoying the snow fall around the trees.
"Tatianna wants us to go back to Court?" I ask, turning to look at Abe as he sits on the couch beside me. He strokes his goatee thoughtfully. I look over at Pavel sitting in the armchair beside Abe and he gives me a comforting smile.
"Yes. We brought you to hide your pregnancy, but with everything that has happened, she wants you back in Court where she can see you. But before we do we need to come up with a story about your pregnancy." Abe says. I look over to Dimitri and shrug my shoulders at him. We hadn't really discussed how we would explain things to people, but instead of looking at me, he is exchanging glances with Adrian.
"We might already have an idea," Adrian says slowly and I sit up and lean forward, giving the two my complete attention.
"What if we said Adrian was a donner?" Dimitri says and I'm taken aback. I flick my eyes between them and raise my brows at them.
"Explain."
"Well, it gives Dimitri some genetic claim in public, and if the baby has any physical characteristics, we can chalk them up to us being cousins. We can say that before you two left for your trip we did the whole turkey baster thing," Adrian says and I look over at Dimitri.
"We discussed it over drinks awhile back. It was more of a joke then, but it makes sense, and Adrian is willing to go along. I'm ok with it as long as you are," Dimitri says. I maul it over for a moment before looking at Abe.
"How hard would it be to fake those documents?" I ask him and he smirks at me.
"Little girl, I could fake those documents in my sleep. Now that we have that taken care of, the pressing matter about Ms. Ozera is something else we need to discuss. She has fled from court, and she has not returned to her residence in Minneapolis, so we need to be extra vigilant." He says.
"If she is working with Robert, I can almost guarantee Victor will be near too," Adrian pipes up. I nod in agreeance, Robert wouldn't go far from Victor now that Victor is most likely deteriorating again.
I twirl my fingers around the chains circling my neck, tuning out to the four men in the room talking about strategies and detail, but my mind is so full and cluttered that I can't form a proper thought. I feel like my life is in this never-ending loop of carnage, one thing after another. Sometimes I reminisce about living in Portland with Lissa; 16 years old and the thing we worried about most was school and catching up on Pretty Little Liars.
Sometimes I even wonder what it would be like to be born a normal human, living in ignorant bliss from the hidden world around us. A life where Dimitri and I had normal jobs, and normal lives and we could raise our kids in a life where we didn't worry about having to explain to them why someday their parents may not come home.
I'm startled out of my mussing when a hand strokes my cheek and I flinch backwards.
"Sorry. I said your name a few times," Dimitri says and I give him a half-smile. "We've come up with a plan."
"What's that?" I ask as I scoot over on the couch to make room for him to sit before I lay my head in his lap. He smiles down at me and massages my scalp with his fingers.
"You're trying to butter me up, aren't up?"
He chuckles and increases pressure on my scalp and I hum, closing my eyes and prepare to hear whatever outrageous plan Abe has concocted.
"Alright. Let's hear it," I groan with a smirk and open my eyes to stare up at him.
Dimitri is quiet for a second, running his hand out through my curls before placing it back on my head.
"He wants us to go back and act as if nothing happened. We go back, and act like we were on private assignments and try to live a blasé life until they can find Tasha and the brothers. We try to act like our lives haven't changed, well aside from these two," he says moving his other hand to rest over my stomach and I cover his with mine.
"Will I be going back to being Lissa's guardian?" I ask. If we were to return and pretend like nothing happened, that means I could get cleared to go back on duty and return as Lissa's guardian…right?
"I don't know about that Roza. Lissa is off at Lehigh, and Tatiana wants you in court so she can keep an eye on you. We're going to meet with her when we get back." He says with a tight smile. I huff and cross my ankles, fidgeting in my seat.
"Do you ever wonder what our lives would be like if we were normal people?" I blurt out, drawing a laugh from his lips. He moves his hand from my hair to brush across my cheek. I lean against his touch, revelling in the warmth from his hand.
"Sometimes. But it's hard to imagine something that seems so far off you know? It's almost cruel in a way."
It's my turn to laugh now. I sit up and swivel around to face him. I run my fingers over the blackening bruise that has blossomed over the right side of his head, running from his temple to his cheekbone.
"Didn't you say once that dreaming about being with me was far off?" I joke. He smirks and wraps his arm around me, pulling me to him and kisses me. I smile at him and quirk my brows up, waiting for him to respond.
"I guess I did. But sometimes dreams can become reality, you just have to fight hard enough for them," he says. I hum and lean in to kiss him again, thankfully we have a moment alone.
"You two are nauseating," Adrian says walking back into the living room and slumping down on the couch beside me throwing us a faux disgusted glance. I shake my head and bump his shoulder with my hand and pull back from Dimitri, settling in between the two.
"Awe is someone feeling a little neglected. It would be amazing if there was a certain sweet, blonde, gorgeous girl to make you feel better," I croon playfully and chortling at the flustered look on Adrian's face.
To no avail, Adrian has been trying to "woo" Sydney and has been failing miserably. Sadly, he has been going about it the wrong way, he is approaching her as if he were approaching some snobby Moroi who knew his status as a royal, not as a normal person. Not saying that he is normal, but he's been a little overbearing.
Sydney on the other hand knows what he is trying to do and is surprisingly being patient enough for him to figure it out. When I spoke to her about it, she said that she did in fact like him, regardless that he was a creature of the night, and she did want to pursue him. She was just apprehensive that he wasn't as committed to it as she was.
Adrian grumbles and runs his hand over his face, slouching down on the couch.
"Will you please talk to her?" Adrian groans which draws laughter from both Dimitri and me.
"I already have, just grow a pair and tell her you like her. Don't pussyfoot around about it," I say patting his shoulder. He tosses me a glare and then looks pleadingly at Dimitri.
"I'm not getting involved," Dimitri says raising his hands.
After spending the rest of the day packing up our essentials, I wander into the bathroom and draw a warm bath. Pouring little bit bath salts into the water I lean against the counter as it fills. It's a shame we have to leave, I really do love this bathtub. It's bigger than any bathtub I've ever seen, bar the tub at Abe's house.
"Should I leave the two of you alone?" Dimitri asks jokingly as he leans against the door with a cocky smirk on his face. I look over to him and raise my brows at him. His smirk turns into a full smile and he walks in and wraps an arm around my waist.
"You were looking at the tub like it is the love of your life," he chuckles, and I smack his arm. So what if I love the tub, I'm allowed to want to bring it with us.
"No, I just wish I could have a tub like this at court." I sigh smirking up at him. He pulls away and shuts the water off once the tub has filled and kisses me on the lips. He steps back to walk out but I clutch his arm and pull him back.
"Join me?"
He smiles again and gets undressed with me and climbs into the tub. I step down in front of him while tying my hair up onto the top of my head. He pulls me back to his chest and rest against him, rolling my head back onto his shoulder.
"How does your neck feel?" he asks running a finger down the side of it. Thanks to my dhampir genetics the bruises have almost healed and I've never been more grateful. Not because it was sore or because it hurt to swallow, but because when Dimitri thought I wasn't looking I could see the agony in his eyes as they lingered over the black outlines of his fingers. Even when he thought I was sleeping he would ghost his fingers over the marks.
"It's much better," I say twisting my head to look at him and kiss his cheek. He moved one hand and places on my chest and the other to cup my stomach, hugging me tightly.
"Have you thought about the names I suggested?" I ask, shifting to lay my cheek on his chest.
"Yes. I like the boy's name, but I'm not 100% set on the girl's. We have time to figure it out though," he says kissing my temple and I sigh happily. We spent the morning in bed discussing baby names, and it was a lot harder than I thought. You never realize how many people you don't like until you pick out names.
"What about baptisms'?" I inquire. He shifts a little causing the water to cascade up around us.
"Where is that coming from?"
I shrug a little. I know that he and his sisters were all baptized in the Orthodox church, and while he doesn't practice on a day to day basis, I know that it means something to him and his family; hence the cross that hangs around his neck.
"I know that it means something to you. And if it's important to you, I want our kids to experience it too."
He places a hand on my cheek and presses a kiss to the top of my head, a silent thank you.
"Come on, we're getting all prunie," I say after laying with him until the water runs cold. Towelling off and crawling into bed, snuggling into is arms, I think about how excited I am to see Lissa again. But I also dread having to tell her and Christian about Tasha.