Bundle of Joy; Chapter 4
Rose's point of view
"You're going to have to come home," I said into the phone, sitting on my bed, legs crossed.
"I thought you said everything was okay?" Dimitri's voice sounded through the receiver.
"I did, and things are fine, but well... Everyone knows. Or, some people do. I'm not sure. There's, uh, rumours going around that it's Adrians, with some very... detailed explanations of how it happened. I told Eddie. I'm not sure how many other people know but we have to tell my mom. If we don't and she hears it from someone else..."
"Well..." Dimitri's voice trailed off, taking in the new information. "That could be a problem." We were silent for a long moment until Dimitri spoke up. "I'll talk to Christian and we'll be back hopefully by tomorrow morning, okay, Rose?"
"Thank-you," I said softly.
"But you're positive you and the baby are okay?"
"We're fine. Dr. Stevens said everything seems to be on track."
"Good," He said, and I could heard the happiness in his voice. "I promised everything will be okay, and it will. Janine will eventually get over it. Your father on the other hand..."
I laughed. "Despite his claims to disfigure my boyfriends, I know he won't hurt you. I think he'll be shocked, but there's nothing they can do about it. We're only following in their footsteps, hey?" I teased.
Dimitri chuckled. "I wish we hadn't; not this soon, but I can't regret anything that I did with you, even a baby. We'll make it work. What did Eddie say?"
"The same as Lissa and Christian, pretty much."
"Good, well, I better go and I'll have a talk with Christian there before we head back to the hotel."
"Where are you?" I questioned.
"Out at the mall," he said cunningly. "Secrets, secrets. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you."
"I love you, too," I breathed before hanging up the phone.
I fell back on my and Dimitri's bed, sighing. I still didn't feel pregnant. There was barely any noticeable change in my stomach from my toned, tight belly before this happened. The only indication that there had been something wrong had been the morning sickness. I guess when my due date got closer and everyone started to see my belly grow - affirming that this wasn't fully a rumour - things would start to feel more and more real.
It was best, I decided, to get some sleep and see what happened in the morning. Hopefully Christian would agree to come back early so that we could tell my parents before the news got to them in some other way. I was convinced, despite how disappointed they would be, that it would still be better coming from myself instead of some stuck up royal who didn't know the whole story.
I succumbed to sleep quickly considering the day had been long and tiring and when I awoke in the morning I felt considerably rested, after the morning sickness subsided. I heard a knock on my door about halfway through the day - which I spent lounging around in sweats and eating ice cream with Lissa - and I jumped up to answer it, seeing Dimitri and Christian on the other side.
"Hey," I said softly, a smile forming on my lips as I shut the door behind them and Dimitri engulfed me into a hug.
"Hey, beautiful. How's everything?" His accent was thick and he kissed my forehead.
"Good. Well, as good as they can be right about now. My mom should be down in the gym working out," I told him. "I think it's best we get to her before someone else does."
Dimitri agreed and after he took a shower and changed, leaving Lissa and Christian in the care of Gerard and Lucy - Two guardians we've gotten very close to since they, also, were assigned to Lissa (and, by default, Christian).
We left our room and walked down the hallway hand in hand. "Nervous, comrade?" I asked Dimitri, teasingly as we went down over the stairs.
He chuckled in response. "Well, let's put it this way, I'd probably be less scared if a group of strigoi jumped out in front of us right now than having to go and tell your mother that I got you pregnant, if I was being completely honest with myself."
He kept his voice low so only I could hear it - not that there was anyone in the halls anyways - and I laughed. "Scared of my mother still, are we?"
"And your father. I'm not sure which would do the most damage, to be honest."
The smiled hadn't left my face going down the stairs, despite the situation we were in. Technically, I didn't need my mothers approval anymore, and this was my life so she couldn't tell me what to do with this baby, or get mad. But, considering the closeness we had achieved up to this point, I didn't really want to ruin it by disappointing her. No, we were far from best friends, but we had definitely made progress and I knew she didn't want me to follow in her footsteps, having children young. Or at all, really, I guessed. I wondered if she had been older when she had me, if she would have done things differently, or if she would have done it at all.
"You nervous?" Dimitri's voice asked.
I shrugged, "Nothing to really be nervous about. What's done is done, I just hope she doesn't get too hot-headed about it."
"She's a Hathaway," remarked Dimitri with a chuckle.
I turned, narrowing my eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked jokingly.
"You got your temper from your mother, Rose. Janine is able to stay cool in dangerous situations, much like yourself, but you know what she's like when she gets mad. Remember what I told you back at St. Vladimirs? You're a lot a like."
"Whatever," I said, smirking. "I'm your hot-head."
"That you are, Roza," he whispered, kissing my forehead quickly. He intertwined our fingers again because I had took mine from his when I turned to him, and we walked down to the gym.
When we entered, we saw many guardians in, doing laps, working out on the equipment provided and doing yoga on the mats in the corner. I hadn't been down to the work-out room - that was attached to a large gym area - very much since coming back from my run from death, but I wanted to start soon. I wondered if I could do that where I was pregnant... I frowned, seeing my mom in the corner with Alberta - who had been visiting for the last couple weeks until everything got settled again. They all respected her opinion.
"Mom?" I asked, coming up behind her treadmill. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Alberta glanced at me, and then at my mom, who immediately stopped her running and got down off of the machine, turning to me. "What's wrong, Rose?" Her brow furrowed as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"In private," Dimitri followed up.
My mom looked worried but nodded, pulling us into the nearby change room and checking to see if anyone was in there. Once she determined we were alone, she locked the door. "What's going on?" She asked, arms crossed across her chest. She was still getting used to the idea of me and Dimitri together. It was well-known she didn't condone relationships of any sort unless between the moroi.
"You have to promise to keep an open mind," I said levelly. "Remember, I'm eighteen now."
"Just tell me what's going on, Rosemarie. Now."
Dimitri's grasp on my hand tightened. "Rose has been sick the past week," Dimitri spoke. "In the mornings, throwing up. We called Dr. Stevens to check on her and make sure everything was alright."
My mom spoke, not allowing Dimitri to elaborate, her eyes going wide. "You're pregnant."
"H... How did you know?" I asked, dumbfounded.
My mom stared at us for a few seconds before running a hand through her bangs, the rest of her hair up and out of her face. "Rose..." She shook her head. "That's the most obvious reason she was sick; it's what happened to me." My mom gulped and paced the floor, rubbing her hands over her face. "Rose, what have you done? You've completely ruined your life... Who's baby is it?"
I knew that was coming. "I haven't ruined anything. It's Dimitri's baby, mom. We don't know why for sure, just yet, Dr. Steven's is looking into it and trying to figure out how it happened, but, well, the timing matches up to when we... were together."
"So you're sure it's not Adrian's?" My mom said, her arms crossed back over her chest.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Rose..."
"I'm going to take care of her, Ms. Hathaway," Dimitri said strongly. "Both of them. Don't worry."
"That's only part of the issue," My mom said, sternly. "Both of you are in a career path that doesn't allow you to be raising a child. There's no way you'll be able to balance duty and children. You're always on duty and when you're not, you're sleeping, preparing for duty. There's no time for a family."
"I'll figure it out," I said. "Somehow, I'll figure it out."
"You turned out well, Rosemarie, with the academy raising you," my mom replied. "You have to consider that option, of course. Really, there aren't any other options." She hesitated. "I'm sorry this happened to you so young, I know you wouldn't have chosen this, and I hate to see you have to make such big decisions at your age. You honestly have no idea how hard it was for me to give you up, Rose and I didn't want you to have to follow in those footsteps."
I felt bad. I hadn't gotten too much information about her decision to let the academy raise me - as I got older I came to terms with things myself, but she didn't make weekly visits or anything like that and never enlightened me on why she chose that, or what her and my dad both wanted. It surprised me, I guess that she did struggle with her decision, I always thought it was so easy, but now that I was in her place, I guess not. I could see both sides.
"Regardless of how this will work out," Dimitri said. "For now we're just concentrated on getting answers on how this could happen. Otherwise, it turns everything around; dhampirs being able to mate with others of their kind. It could put everything we know in jeopardy."
My mom nodded. "Yes, you said they're looking into it?"
"Yes, Dr. Steven's is trying to figure out how it happened. She's looking at my previous medical records."
"Good. But Rose, just be practical, okay? Don't forget about your future. A baby is going to completely ruin everything you had planned. You've come such a long way."
"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's not that bad. I'm guarding Lissa, and so are a bunch of other guardians. She obviously understands the situation so there's going to be some leniency. Dimitri and I are going to be together, and we live together, so it's not that huge of a stretch."
"And what if there's an attack? Are you going to stay at home protecting your child, or go out and protect your charge?"
I paused. I hadn't really considered things from every option and I didn't know what I would do. "Well..."
"Exactly."
I frowned, "We'll figure things out."
"I'm disappointed, but I can't say that it's either of your fault considering this was supposed to be impossible. I know you've already had to grow up fast but a baby is a whole new world." She frowned. "If there's something I can do, let me know. I know what being pregnant young is like so don't listen to what others think. I'm going to go back out there, but just know I am here for you, but I also want what's best for you, too." She turned to Dimitri. "There's no way I can condone this, but it's not like this was at all intentional or irresponsible considering there was no way either of you could of known what was going to happen." She seemed conflicted when she turned to Dimitri. "I know what a good guardian you are," she said. "And I know that there were things going on at the academy that really should never have started, but what's done is done, just don't do something you'll regret. You say you love Rose, so make sure it stays that way."
He nodded, "I will, Ms. Hathaway. I know what I've gotten into and I'm okay with it. I love your daughter, I won't hurt her or betray your trust again."
My mom nodded curtly. She didn't know we had been together before I was eighteen, thankfully. That would have ended terribly and I wasn't going to tell her any different. For all she had to know, I had been eighteen and able to consent to the act legally, without permission when I got pregnant. Therefore, I gave her a quick nod. "Thank you," I said, glad that she wasn't too mad. She didn't reach in a give me a hug or reassure me with some fake words, but her words were comfort enough. I knew if anything happened that I needed her for some reason, she was there. Well, until she went back to her charge, soon enough. Either way, she was only a phone call away.
"I'm not old enough to be a grandmother," she said, exasperated before exiting the storage room, Dimitri and I behind her. She turned to us before she got back on her treadmill, before we left. "Abe will find out, so I'm assuming you're going to enlighten him before someone else does. I understand that neither of you thought this could happen, so I can't be too mad, especially because you are of age, but your father may see things a little differently."
Her voice was low so only we could hear and I nodded before we left the work-out room, exiting through the gym, and back into the now, crowded, hallway.
"Well, that went a little better than I expected," I said gently, taking Dimitri's hand.
He chuckled, "Well, she didn't kill me."
"What she said was true, though. She's not really able to get mad. I'm of age, and we weren't purposefully irresponsible."
"I suppose you're right, but when you tell your dad, make sure I'm gone away for the weekend," he only half-teased.
"I'll tell him when I see him. I'm sure he'll be around at some point. He always is."
We walked up to Lissa's suite and filled her and Christian in on what happened, giving them a short but sweet version before we all decided to have a movie-night to try and put everything else from our minds. I cuddled into Dimitri, and somehow, even through the guns blaring from the fight scenes, I managed to fall into a comfortable sleep. Being pregnant was definitely far from exciting. For now, at least.
Authors Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews I got on the previous chapter! I really appreciate them and it definitely makes me more inspired to get the next chapter out! I hope you enjoyed this one just as much as you did the last one and I reallyyyy hope you agree with Janine's reaction. I know a lot of stories have her flipping out, but I decided to take another approach. She's not happy, but really, there isn't a lot she can say about it, realistically. So let me know your thoughts in your reviews and the next chapter will be out as soon as I can! Any suggestions on the story-line, etc, are welcomed!
- Becca