Hello…Hope all is well with everyone.

Thanks for the reviews you have written me..I appreciate all your kind words and comments.

Thank you to MizfitMandee , Alexandra Ozera Ivashkov, ShadowKissed23, jnjnorris,

grassandsafetypinsandthings, and LellyLunya….I can always count on you guys to put a smile on my face.

Terri :D

Chapter 48

ROSE'S POV

I walked into our bedroom pissed off at my dad. I may be out of the loop where guardian business is concerned. But, I knew that Strigoi were starting to become even a bigger problem, now more than ever before.

It didn't help that humans are willing to do anything to help Strigoi in order to gain immortality. At first, the undead would just end up killing the humans, but they are getting smarter.

They figure if they use the humans for personal bloodwhores for a while then they could convert them, hence making the Strigoi population larger.

Thankfully, Eddie would stop by often to keep me on top of the issues that my dad doesn't feel like sharing with me. Which wasn't much because I knew that neither my dad nor Adrian wanted me to become a Guardian again.

Either way, eventually, I would be entering back into a world that needed me. I had days where I felt guilty for not committing myself to the promised oath that I took. But, my family came first. They had too!

No Moroi life could ever come before Ethan, Adrian, and my unborn child that I am now carrying. I wouldn't sacrifice them for anyone or anything.

And right now, I would surrender my need to be involved in the fighting world so I could be the mother my children deserved and needed. I wanted to be a mother that they could be proud of, look up too.

Unlike the one I had. Sure, she was a great guardian, but that was it. She wasn't a mom figure to me, never really was.

"Rose?" Adrian whispered when he entered the bedroom. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Are you upset with me?" While he gently pressed his lips to my neck.

I let out a sigh before answering him. "No, I am not upset with you. I am upset with myself. I should have more faith. But, I just don't want to lose any part of my family, and you're the main structure in this unit, Adrian.

We aren't a family without you. " My hands instinctively went to my stomach. "We need you to be here with us."

He spun me around to face him. His gorgeous, emerald green eyes admired mine. "You are not going to lose me. Ever. I promise."

I knew he truly believed the words he had spoken... BUT….."Adrian, you've never been in a cave surrounded by strigoi, who are hungry to kill you. Until you've been in a situation like that…You can't possibly know what I am talking about. "

My mind went to that fateful day when he was taken from me. I knew my heart would never be completely recovered from losing Dimitri. And, I couldn't bear the thought of it happening to me again.

I knew that I could not live through that once more. However, I decided to keep my fears to myself and let Adrian make his own decisions.

Luckily, Adrian changed the subject matter. "So, you're going shopping with Lissa?"

"Yeah, that's if you didn't have other plans for us. I know that I just got here. I will understand if you want me to stay home."

He gave me that sly grin. "No, I want you to go. I can't wait to see your fine body in that bikini."

"Really? Red, right?" I touched my lips to his, cutting off his words.

He whispered against my mouth. "You're a tease."

I kissed his lips once more. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

"Nope…You're perfect." He rested his hand on my belly. "You know we have to make you a doctor's appointment before we leave."

"I already left a message for her office to call me with an appointment time."

Adrian snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot…can you let Christian know that we guys have to measured for our tuxes tomorrow. We have so much to do. Rose, you do realize that we are getting married in less than four weeks?"

"I know…You getting cold feet, Ivashkov?" I smiled at him.

"Nah! They are nice and toasty. How about yours?"

"I may show up. Depends on how much shopping money I get to spend today." I laughed, knowing it was just a joke.

"Technically, you're worth more than me now. You know… I've always wanted a sugar mama. I'll be a kept man." He winked at me.

I nudged him in the gut with my fist. "You're an ass."

"I may have heard that a time or two before.." He laughed. "Go have fun with Lissa. I may take Ethan to the park…. maybe look at girlie magazines. Or we boys can go check out the mother/daughter duos at the jungle gym or something."

I gave him a death stare as he held his hands up in defense. "Just joking, baby. Go relax, enjoy your day, and buy whatever you want. I could never deny you of anything, even if it killed me."

I started laughing.. "Yeah! That's what I thought you'd say. Do you want to come meet us for dinner later?"

"Sure…give me a call and let me know when and where." I kissed him and Ethan and left to get Lissa.

I reached out through the bond to sense her. The mood she was in was a little better than earlier. I definitely had to ask her about that.

I knocked on her door. "Hey Rose, come on in. I'll get Lissa." Christian walked to the bedroom to get her.

They both came walking back out. "You ready?" I asked her.

"Yeah, let's go." She kissed Christian and turned to leave.

"Hey Christian…Don't forget tomorrow at 2:00 you have to be measured for your tux at our place." I reminded him.

"Oh..Okay. Talk to you guys later. Have fun." He plopped on the couch and hit the sports channel.

We walked along for 5 minutes before any words were spoken. I could feel that something was troubling her, but she didn't want to burden me. She felt as though I had enough on my plate at the moment.

I needed to change that thought real quick when I finally asked the question.

"Liss, what was with all the sadness from you earlier today? Are you upset that I am pregnant again?"

Her eyes widened with shock. "Oh god, no. I am happy for you, Rose. I mean, sure, I wasn't expecting you to have another baby so quickly. But, you guys will make wonderful parents to this one just like you are with Ethan."

I gave her a sideward glance. "Okay…Why are you stalling with my other part of the question?"

She took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Christian and I are talking about getting engaged."

I interrupted. "That's great, Lissa. He has finally come to his senses. So, what's the problem? Why all the sadness?"

"Well, you see how he acts around Ethan, so excited and happy." I nodded in agreement. "He says how badly he wants to have children."

"Yeah….And?" I encouraged her to move forward with the story.

"I don't think I want to have children, Rose. And I don't know how to tell him."

"Liss, you don't have to decide on children right now. Jesus, look at me. Would you have ever thought that I would have a child? Or better yet, have two of them? You have lots of time. You may change your mind someday."

She gave a sad shrug. "I really doubt it. I love children, especially my nephew. But, I just don't want to contend with all of that….. Maybe I could just lie and say I do. I can address it later."

I bit my lip and scanned her face. "I don't know, Lissa. I don't think that would be a great idea. It will devastate him when he finds out the truth. I believe you should just tell him now."

She shook her head. "If I do..I know he won't marry me. I can't bear the thought of him sharing his life with someone else."

I didn't want to say it to Lissa, but she was being very selfish. It wasn't my place to tell Christian. It was hers and I honestly didn't know if she would tell him.

I took her hand in mine and gave a gentle squeeze. "I am here from you. However, I still say you should tell him the truth. You're my best friend and I will love you no matter what. Just really think about it before you do anything that you may later regret. Okay?"

"Okay." I could feel that she had no intentions of telling him. She would be the one to deal with the consequences. And I decided it was best just to change the subject.

"Have you had your final fitting for your bridesmaid dress?"

"Yeah…It is really beautiful. I can't believe you're getting married in less than 4 weeks. Are you nervous?"

"No, not really. I guess I am more concerned about our wedding vows. Adrian wanted us to write our own. And believe it or not, I am not good with words." I laughed at the thought of me getting mushy in front of people.

" I hope I don't gain any weight for the next few weeks. I am not getting another alteration done to my dress."

"I seriously doubt if you will gain any weight in four weeks. It not as if you're having twins, or anything."

"Bite your damn tongue. Could you see me with twins? I would have no hair left…from pulling it all out." I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of twins.

Lissa and I made our way in and out of several different stores.

We had purchased everything we needed for our impending trip. She was debating where we were going to go next when my cell phone starting ringing.

"Hello?"

"Little Dhampir."

"What's wrong?"

Adrian chuckled. "There is nothing wrong. I hate to interrupt your girl time. But, the doctor's office called back saying she could see you in an hour. What do you want to do?"

"I will be home. I want to get an exam before we go Friday. Lissa and I will leave now." I hung up the phone.

We made our way back to her apartment in no time at all.

"Think about what I said..Okay, Liss?"

She kissed my cheek. "Yeah..absolutely. And don't worry about me. I am fine." I knew that she wasn't, but what could I really say or do. This was entirely her decision to make.

And honestly, I didn't want to be involved in this particular one. I loved Lissa like a sister, only this situation has' blow up in your face' written all over it.

"I will call you later. Thanks for going with me." I said as I walked towards home.

I entered the house to find Adrian on the couch watching television. "Hey..Where's the baby?"

Adrian turned to face me. "He's sleeping. Did you have fun? Better yet, did you get the red bikini?"

"I did have fun and you're completely hopeless."

He totally ignored my statement. "Well, did you get it?"

I laughed while shaking my head. "I got it…!" I walked in the kitchen. "Did you eat because I am starving.." I called out to Adrian. He didn't answer me which was unusual for him. I walked back into

the living room to find it empty. I wondered where he could have went when I heard the sound of him getting sick. I ran to bathroom door and knocked.

"Adrian? Baby, are you okay?" I heard running water at this point.

The door slowly opened to reveal Adrian wearing a slight shade of green on his face. "Jesus, that hit me fast."

My eyes danced with concern as I stared at him. "What hit you fast?"

"I don't know…you said something about food and I became nauseous."

"Are you okay now?" I wrapped my arm around his waist, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah…I am fine."

"Maybe I should go to the doctors by myself since you aren't feeling well."

"No way…I am not missing a single appointment. In any case, I already called Hailey. She should be here in a minute or so."

Adrian and I walked hand and hand to our doctors appointment. We had decided to go with a different doctor this time. I had nothing against the last one, it's just that she was associated with Tatiana.

I knew she was gone , but it just brought up too many old memories and this was a happy occasion.. My pregnancy with Ethan had been traumatic; not knowing if he would be 'normal', close calls, and

all the stress. I wanted to experience this pregnancy differently.

I looked up to see Adrian studying my face. "What are you thinking about, Little Dhampir?" He inquired while opening the door for me.

I walked into the office and gave my name. "I was just thinking about how I look forward to a hopefully, stress free pregnancy this time around."

He brought my hand to his mouth, giving it a soft kiss. "I agree. I want nothing more for you, no, us then to have a drama free pregnancy."

"Rosemarie Ivashkov." The assistant called.

Adrian gave me that amazing smile. "I love the sound of that."

I took his hand in mine. "Me, too!"

I had no idea why I was so nervous to be here. It hadn't been that long ago when I was doing this with Ethan. But again, everything was different.

The doctor came into the room and gave us a slight bow of acknowledgement. I would never get used to that…hell, I hated it. "Mr. and Mrs. Ivashkov."

"Rose and Adrian, please." Adrian articulated.

I had answered the normal questions the doctor asked; my last period, which I wasn't sure about, how many pregnancies I've had, and how Ethan was delivered.

"Rose, since you are not sure of your last period..would you object to a sonogram today?"

"No..of course not."

She was scanning my stomach as Adrian stood beside me watching the screen. "Huh..!" The doctor said while examining the screen with a closer look.

Adrian glanced at the doctor. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

She smiled. "Absolutely…the scan is just showing me something interesting that we will have to keep a close eye on."

I sat up, resting on my elbows when Adrian said my thoughts out loud. "Is that…"

The doctor and I turned to the sound of a thud. I couldn't believe it…Adrian was sprawled out on the floor…he fainted. I mean out cold.

I jumped off of the examination table and hovered over him. "Adrian, are you okay?"

The doctor waved smelling salts under his nostrils; once the smell pervaded his nose, his eyes flew wide open. "What the hell just happened to me?"

The doctor started to laugh as we both turned our heads to glare at her. "I am sorry to laugh. But, Adrian, have you been experiencing any other weird symptoms lately."

Adrian raised an eyebrow and chuckled in non-joking way. "Lady, you don't have the time to listen to all my weird symptoms."

She laughed again. "Agreed. I will just take your word for it. However, if you experience nausea, dizziness, and fainting, you could be feeling what your wife feels. It has been known to

happen from time to time."

Adrian and I locked stares. We knew this went much deeper than sympathy pregnancy symptoms. Our connection is manifesting into something bigger than we both can explain.

The doctor focused her attention on me once she knew Adrian was feeling better. "Rose, I would say from your sonogram that you are roughly 7 weeks pregnant. I calculate your due date to

be December 5. I will see you in four weeks and if you need anything please don't hesitate to call me." She gave us both a firm hand shake.

"Thank you, Dr. Novikov."

When she exited the room Adrian gave me a smirk. "What did you see on the sonogram?"

"Huh? I saw a heartbeat, not much of anything else. Why?"

"My eyes must be playing tricks on me. I thought I saw something else."

I was dumbfounded. "What do you think you saw?"

"I don't know…Did she say anything about two heartbeats..maybe twins?"

"No, she didn't. You really are seeing things. There is only one baby in there. Now, stop your aura investigating and take me and your baby to get something to eat. We're starving."

Adrian gave me a grimace. "After I find the bathroom." He took off running. I was so going to enjoy this for the next few months.

Please review this story...It motivates me and it makes me happy..so be kind :)

Terri