Bundle Of Joy
Chapter Three

Authors Note: Just wanted to note that I'm not bringing Bloodlines events into this story so no one's confused! Not yet at least. The first part, in italics is a dream, just letting you all know from the start so no one's confused.

Rose's point of view

My little girl's warm face looked up to me, full of love and trust. "Mommy?" she asked softly as I spaced out, getting lost in her brown eyes, fair complexion and deep brown hair. She was a mirror image of Dimitri and I and shared traits from both of our genes. "I want to play a game, okay? I'm learning new things. I learned a lot since you were here last."

It broke my heart that I had to see her so spiratically and when I did visit, I did everything I could to keep her entertained and happy.

"Don't worry, Rose," Alberta told me after. "She's being taken care of. She's perfectly happy and she already has a best friend. His name's Jeremy and they're inseperable, just like you and Lissa were; are."

I gave her a small smile. It was odd seeing Alberta teaching my child after she had taught me, and was the reason I did graduate after my misson to kill Dimitri. I had failed and my failure was the reason I was engaged right now, and, had this beautiful little girl that was playing in the corner.

"I know nothing about her, though... I only see her every few months... That's not a mother, that's a babysitter. She's going to grow up hating me just like I did with my own mom. I'm a horrible parent. This never should have happened." I couldn't shake the penetrating feelings away. Regardless if I did visit more than my own mother had I still felt as though I was abandoning her.

Alberta took my hand. "Rose, things happen. If she's half the guaridan you and Dimitri are, she's going to be excellent. We're counting on it."

"No, she deserves better... So, so much better."

"You're right," Alberta said, sighing as though she was giving in to some inner emotions. "She misses you. A lot, Rose. She always talks about you. She doesn't know when you'll be back and she can't stand to be away from you. She cries, a lot. But mistakes happen."

"She's not a mistake!"

"Well she surely wasn't planned."

"No, but..."

I felt myself being shaken awake, Dimitri's large, strong hands on my shoulders. "Roza," I heard his voice, thick with accent as he said my name, calling out to me. "Wake up, Rose."

I gulped down a lump forming in my throat and nodded. "Sorry," I whispered, biting my bottom lip as I shook the nightmare away.

A week had passed since I had found out the less than joyful news. I had to admit, I was dealing with it a lot better now, but it was still a shock. More mornings than not, I woke up throwing up and that wasn't exactly a promising start to the day. I was also getting suspicious that other people were catching on. I wasn't sure if I was just being paranoid or if someone had seen me going to the nurses station a couple times the last few days to book the ultrasound appointment and pick a perscription up for pre-natal vitamins, or whatever they were called, or overheard me whispering to Lissa or Dimitri. Eddie still wasn't in the loop, but I knew I would have to tell him soon.

It was Friday morning and Dimitri and I had gotten up early. Surprisingly, my stomach was more settled. Dimitri was going with Christian this morning on the trip until Sunday night and he kissed me deeply as he got ready to leave. "I want to know immediately if anything happens," He said fiercely, his arms around my waist.

I nodded, "I'm fine, comrad-"

"To either of you," he pointed out, nodding his head down to my stomach.

I frowned and nodded, my mirth leaving with the seriousness of the situation. "I will, I promise. But I'm fine, really... We're fine."

Dimitri kissed my forehead and he sighed, throwing his overnight bag over his shoulder. "I won't be gone long, Roza. Lissa's only a phone call away, anyways."

"Go," I urged him, giving him a convincing smile. I leaned up and kissed his lips for a long, tender moment before he opened the door. "Have fun and bring me back something sexy," I teased.

Dimitri merely chuckled. "You don't need to be any sexier, Roza," he whispered, his accent thick before walking down the hallway.

I smiled, leaning in the doorway. I watched him retreat with admiration for his tall, muscular build before going back into my room and closing the door.

Lissa and I had a breakfast date in about an hour so I decided to hop into the shower before meeting her at her room. With Dimitri gone I knew it would be harder to preoccupy myself so that I wouldn't be constantly thinking about what was happening to our lives, and what would happen once this baby was born into the world. I shivered, even under the lukewarm water cascading down over me.

"What am I going to do?" I groaned, letting the shower water run down, over my skin. There weren't really many options, but yet there were lots. There wasn't many people I could tell right now but I knew there were people who would support me. Everything was just so confusing.

I turned the water off after I washed the shampoo out of my hair and I twisted my long, damp locks up into a tight bun, drying myself off. After slipping on a pair of jeans and a tank top, pulling a sweater on over, I locked the apartment behind me and went to find Lissa.

The halls were mainly empty where it was so early - on the vampiric schedule, at least - so I didn't run into many people.

"Rose," the receptionist to Lissa's wing greeted me. "You're up early, I assume you and the princess are going out this morning."

I gave her a honest smile and nodded. The girl had long, blonde hair and I wondered if she was the type of person Hans referred to, keeping her around merely as a receptionist instead of a fighter. "Yes, we're going out to breakfast, Cecilia," I informed her. "Is she awake?" It was still weird without the bond and it definitely took some getting used to.

"Yes, awake and ready for you, you can go on in, you know the passcode."

I gave her a parting 'thanks' and entered the corridor to Lissa's room after entering the passcode. I got an eerie shiver of nostalgia with the passcode every time I entered it, remembering being captured in the mansion in Siberia, having to figure out all the codes to stay alive. I shook the thought away, realizing it was in the past, but not being able to completely shake the nightmares just yet. I felt horrible when Dimitri woke me up from them saying I had been crying out in my sleep. They weren't frequent, however. Small blessings.

"Hey Liss," I called as I entered her room, seeing her at her vanity, brushing the tangles out of her hair.

She smiled, "Hey Rose, how're you feeling?" She asked, placing her brush down and turning toward me on her stool.

"Better this morning."

"I'm glad. Still confused about it all though, I guess."

I nodded, "Of course. I just... I don't know what to do, Liss. This is all so crazy. I thought you'd be the pregnant one."

She laughed softly. "That makes the both of us, at least when I knew you were with Dimitri." She paused, "Which was a surprise of it's own."

I sighed, but sat down on the arm of the couch. "Almost ready? I'm starving."

And with that, we left, going downstairs to one of the little cafes that served the best breakfast sandwiches and coffee, and even though I wasn't a fan of coffee it was weird knowing I was restricted to it now.

"What are you going to get?" Lissa asked as we opened the door.

"A bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a white hot chocolate, you?"

"Probably just a hot chocolate, I fed last night so I'm not extremely hungry for food."

I nodded and glanced over at her. "Liss?" I asked as we got in the line-up, my voice low. "Do you think people know?"

Lissa laughed gently, shaking her head. "No, Rose. Don't be paranoid."

I gave her a weary smile but nodded at her words, convincing myself she was right.

She turned to me, taking my hands in hers. "Don't worry, okay? You're safe here with me, you'll be fine."

She spoke very quietly considering there were people watching us. Lissa always had people watching her now that she was queen and I knew that she wasn't too sure how she felt about that just yet. "I know, I know, I keep hearing that it's just not what I expected. It feels like I'm not... me. Like I'm looking at this from outside my body, in a dream, just wanting to wake up so that things are normal again."

Lissa frowned before the lady behind the counter gestured us up to take our order. Of course, she was perfectly polite to Lissa, and slightly nervous and once we got our order - which was rushed - we left the small coffee shop and went for a short walk outside as I snacked on my bagel.

As my stomach got fuller and fuller, however, a nauseaous feeling swept over me causing my stomach to lurch and my forehead to start accumulating sweat on it. I ended up turning around and grasping a garbage can that was outside a small clothing shops door, gagging.

And I had an audience. People passing by, on their way to breakfast as well were looking as they passed by, arching their brows and giving me curious glances.

"So it's true," I heard a familiar voice chime behind me.

I ignored him until I was sure I was okay, and by then, Lissa was rubbing my back, worried.

I hadn't talked to Adrian since he found out I had cheated on him and when I turned to see him standing there, my stomach almost did another flop. I frowned, and I could see in his ragged appearance how life had been treating him. His hair was messy and not in the usual styled-messy way. Just messy. Clover cigarettes were sticking out of his pocket and if he was any closer I was sure I would smell alcohol on his breath.

"You're pregnant," He stated, the shock causing him to sober up, slightly. He paused, trying to get his thoughts together as he ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "The baby can't be mine, though, we never even had sex. I've been hearing so much stuff around Court this morning... That you're pregnant and everyone's saying it's mine and that we had this big love fest thing with other dhampirs and please, tell me it's all bullshit."

"Adrian, not here," Lissa hissed softly. Our audience had pretty much disappeared, but Adrian's gaze on me felt like a million people were watching.

"I know it's not yours," I said, stronger than I felt. "I never said it was, but... Where did you hear that?" By the looks of it, Adrian hadn't slept yet, otherwise he'd never have been up at this hour.

"People around campus... My mother." He gave a shrug and took out the cigarettes I'd grown to become so familiar with. I had a pang of saddness in my chest. Adrian and I had been close, even just as friends and I felt horrible seeing him go through all of this and knowing I was the one who had made him miserable.

"It isn't yours," I told him gently. "Not that it could have been. It's Dimitri's."

Adrian frowned, looking down to my stomach as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. "How? It's impossible."

"I don't know, but the... timing, it matches up to when we were together."

"When you cheated on me," he said bluntly because of his liquid courage.

I didn't say anything. He didn't need affirmation to what he obviously already knew. "I'm so sorry, Adrian..."

"I know," he said lifelessly.

"I miss you... I just... I couldn't give up on him. Please don't hate me forever."

Adrian chuckled, "I don't hate you, Rose. I could never hate you, even after what happened... I just can't be around you anymore. You're having his baby for God's sake."

I nodded, frowning.

"I'll see you around," Adrian said, turning on his heel and putting his cigarette back into his mouth.

Lissa turned to me, "It's okay. He'll forgive you."

"I don't know about that. I shouldn't have cheated on him... I know it was wrong to him, but when Dimitri and I reconciled... It felt so right." I paused, placing a hand on my belly. "That's when this happened... And now everyone's finding out. Let's go find Eddie and tell him before someone else does."

Lissa gave me a quick hug. "That's a good idea," she muffled into my shoulder before we pulled back and started on our way to Eddie's room.

"Adrian deserve someone really, really good. I hope he finds someone who makes him as happy as I am," I told Lissa as we entered the dhampir housing and went for the elevator, pressing the fifth floor button.

"I know what you mean. I hope everyone finds someone as good for them as Christian is for me."

I looked over at her and gave her a smile. "I wish I could have told you about Dimitri before."

We were alone in the elevator, and when it dinged, the doors opening, Lissa kept her voice down low. "I was hurt, but I understand better now. I still wish you would have told me though, you know I would of kept it a secret."

I nodded, knowing where she was coming from as we exited the elevator and stepped onto Eddie's floor, finding his room quickly. I knocked a few times and finally, he opened the door, seeming tired and dazed. We had woken him up.

"Come in," he said, still trying to portray the upmost respect and guardian-form. I felt kind of bad that the trip to Spokane had changed him so much, but I was glad there was another amazing guaridan in the world.

He shut the door behind us and turned, eyeing us carefully. "What's going on?"

Blunt and to the point. Eddie and I got along very well.

I took a seat on the couch and Lissa stayed standing. "Well... There's something I want to tell you myself before you hear it from someone else."

Lissa was there for moral support, and she stayed quiet, letting me take control.

Eddie frowned. "Oh, Rose, do you know how much I hate hearing those words come out of your mouth?" He hesitated, "Well, I suppose nothing could be as bad as the shock over Belikov and you."

I gave him a weak smile. "Well about that."

"Uh-oh."

Lissa laughed softly. "You and Christian are so much alike," she commented before I spoke up.

Eddie gave her a smirk and turned his attention to myself.

"Well, I'm kind of in a bit of a situation and I was waiting for the right time to tell you."

"Rose, you're always in some kind of situation," he remarked. "What is it this time? What kind of evil scheme do you have waiting for me?"

I laughed, in spite of the situation. "Nothing, I promise. Well, nothing criminal, at least. There may be some minor babysitting involved, though."

There.

Eddie chuckled at first, before catching on, his face turning somber. "Babysitting?"

I knew if Lissa and I still had the bond she would be thinking about all the unique ways I had to word things. "Well, I'm kind of having a baby."

Eddie looked shocked. "But you were completley infatuated by Belikov... I didn't think you'd slept with Adrian."

I shook my head, sighing. "Well you thought right because I didn't sleep with Adrian. It's Dimitri's."

"But how?" He asked, brow furrowed.

"That's the problem, I don't know. No one does, but, well, the timing matches up to when Dimitri and I were together, and he's the only one I've been with."

"Wait, so Belikov's the only guy you've...?"

"Mhm," I affirmed.

Eddie laughed, but not in a malicing way. "Well by the way everyone used to talk, and you did, too, I would have assumed you knew the whole dhampir population very well back at St. Vlad's."

I sighed, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't need to bring the past back up."

Eddie took a seat beside me, placing a comforting hand on my knee, turning serious. "What are you going to do? There's no way you guys can keep it, I mean, you're not going to give up your jobs for a baby, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, I won't. But I don't want to do what my mom did with me, either. I don't really know what I'm going to do just yet."

Eddie nodded, "Well you know I'm here for you, whatever you decide. It must be... Well, a shock."

"Yeah, if I had to of known this could happen..."

He just nodded, knowing how to finish my sentences. In many ways, he was a brother to me, especially after Mason was killed and he made it his responsibility to look after me. I felt safe with him and knew that, especially after our adventures hunting Dimitri, he would stand by me.

"Well, everyone's starting to find out so I wanted to make sure you heard it from me and not someone else, but I'll let you get back to your rest. Liss and I are going to go see the nurse to make sure everything's okay."

He nodded and walked us out, and even though I wasn't showing and the thought of a dhampir getting pregnant by a dhampir was techncially supposed to be impossible, the walk to the clinic seemed to be the longest one ever, everyone's eyes on me.

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