Many thanks to all my readers! I hope you enjoy the conclusion.

Chapter Eleven

Catherine Tatiana Dragomir may have been small, but she was a fighter from day one. Despite being born several weeks too early she was going to make it. Adrian and Jill sat outside the incubator that held their baby girl.

"She has your eyes," Jill murmured. She was in total awe of their daughter.

"I think she looks like you," Adrian whispered in a similar state of amazement.

Jill peered over the top of the incubator and smiled over at him. "We did good," she said to him.

"Damn right we did," Adrian grinned back.

The nurse came into the nursery to bring Jill back to her room. Adrian followed behind her and settled in the seat next to the bed. "You promised you'd tell me everything," Jill said to him.

"You don't want to hear it all," Adrian insisted.

"You promised when I was stronger. I'm stronger now," Jill replied.

He sighed. "Jesse was compelling everyone the whole time. It turns out he's a spirit user...that's how he was able to use compulsion on Lissa. His whole plan all along was to kill you so Lissa would lose the throne and he could run for the seat..." he explained.

Jill paled as she listened to the story. "I knew he was a jerk, but...he really is a monster..." she whispered. "How did you know to come find me that night?"

"Lissa and I stopped arguing and started talking. That's when we realized he had been using compulsion the whole time. We left the house to find you and tell you what we had figured out. When we got to your room we saw him leaving through the window and knew something was wrong...I mean we weren't expecting to find you...you know, but thank god we did," Adrian said.

"I thought you had to be looking at someone for compulsion to work," Jill said.

"All of his…business trips…were to a Moroi in Montana who has some kind of concoction that you put in someone's drink to make the compulsion last longer. He had been spiking her tea," Adrian explained.

"Why didn't he ever use it on me before...to get me on his side?" she wondered.

"It's probably best not to try and figure out his obviously unbalanced mind," Adrian replied.

"I don't think I can thank you enough...for everything...all this time...you've always been the one there for me," Jill said.

"You're my best friend," Adrian said. "The mother of my beautiful little girl. I'd do anything for you."

"Adrian, I think that I'm...I mean I know that I'm…" Jill started.

"Can I have a minute with my sister?" Lissa asked, poking her head into the room. In that moment Jill wanted to throw something at her.

"Yeah, sure," Adrian said. He kissed Jill's cheek and excused himself from the room.

"How are you feeling?" Lissa asked her.

"Better. Umm...Adrian told me everything about Jesse," she said.

"I'm so sorry. If I realized what he was doing...I should have listened to you," Lissa said.

"You've never listened to me before. Or really seemed interested in what I had to say...or just me in general," Jill admitted.

"I never knew how to connect with you," Lissa said. "But that's not an excuse. I should have tried."

"Will you try now?" Jill asked hopefully.

Lissa smiled softly. "Yes," she said. "I want to get to know you and my gorgeous niece," she said sincerely.

The two sisters chatted awhile longer until Jill fell asleep. The next morning Adrian was there to visit with Catherine and take Jill home. Though unconventional the three of them would be moving into the house meant for Jill and Jesse once Catherine was able to leave the hospital.

"Ready to go home?" Adrian asked her.

"I hate leaving her here," Jill said with a sigh.

"She's in the best hands here," Adrian assured her. "And we can visit whenever we want."

Reluctantly Jill let Adrian drive her home. He set her up in the master bedroom with the remote, the phone, and more magazines than a newsstand.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Adrian asked.

"Can we talk?" Jill asked. They were home alone. Nothing could interrupt them this time. She patted the spot on the bed next to her.

"Sure," Adrian said. He sat down on the mattress and smoothed her hair away from her face.

"I'm in love with you," Jill said before anyone or anything could stop her. She made sure to keep up the wall blocking her mind from his. She didn't want to know if he was going to reject her ahead of time.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" he asked, after a moment's pause.

"I kept getting interrupted," she said with a soft chuckle. "If I made things weird...I'm sorry, but I couldn't keep it bottled up anymore. Especially after everything we've been through."

"I thought you got this babbling thing under control," he teased her.

"Shut up," Jill said with a chuckle. "God...I embarrassed myself, didn't I?"

Adrian took his finger and put it under her chin, tipping it up to look at him. "I'm in love with you too," he said softly.

"You are?" she asked, not able to hide the surprise in her voice.

"I think I've been in love with you all along," Adrian said softly.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Jill asked. "How did I not know..."

"You've had a lot on your mind," Adrian pointed out.

"But you love me...you really do," Jill said, smiling now.

"I really do," Adrian confirmed.

"Then kiss me already!" Jill exclaimed. She leaned in and met him halfway. The second their lips touched all the drama of the past months melted away. This was the beginning of something wonderful.

...

A month later Catherine was finally able to come home from the hospital. Adrian had painted the animal mural on the wall as well as other paintings to hang in the nursery and in other rooms. The house felt like a home now that their baby was there with them.

"You do have to put her down eventually," Jill said.

"I can do whatever I want with her. She's mine," Adrian said and snuggled Catherine closer to his chest.

"Yeah, she's not going to be spoiled or anything," Jill snickered. She leaned down to kiss Catherine's forehead and then pecked his lips.

"I love you," Adrian said to Jill.

"I love you too," Jill said back. She would never get tired of hearing that or saying it.

"So how many of these little buggers do you want to have?" Adrian asked her. He nuzzled his nose against Catherine's cheek.

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself..." Jill asked him.

"You're right. We should give her all our attention right now," he agreed. "Because she's perfect...just like you."

"And you," Jill echoed.

"My perfect family," Adrian said. "I never thought I'd have one."

"We're so happy to be a part of it," Jill said softly.

THE END