Before the commencement of this chapter, I would just like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has followed A Life So Changed. You are all amazing and one-of-a-kind! THANK YOU to Richelle Mead for giving us Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, you are a true gem!
This chapter is the last chapter for A Life So Changed, so Sydney and Adrian's romance will be coming to an end (and not the way you've read that!). This was written sometime during the creation of chapter four, so it's been set in stone of what the final chapter would be.
I hope that until The Indigo Spell is released you will come back and read this many times (along with the books, of course!)
So, I now give you; A Life So Changed: The final Chapter
3RD PERSON POINT OF VIEW!
Screams echoed throughout the hospital halls and the small delivery room, as a contraction ripped its way through Sydney Ivashkov's lower abdomen. Her husband, Adrian Ivashkov, was on the bed behind Sydney, propping her up, grasping her hands and whispering words of encouragement in her ear.
At the other end of the bed, the nurses and midwife were urging Sydney to push. And push she did, clenching her teeth and letting out agonising screams.
"I'm going to kill you, Adrian Ivashkov!" She screeched at her husband once a contraction had passed.
"I love you too." Adrian sounding both amused and scared. He was scared for her. She heard it in his voice and felt it every time he flinched when she screamed in pain.
"This is all your fault!" Sydney growled and dug her fingernails into the palms of Adrian's hands. She felt him flinch and laughed darkly.
"It takes two to tango, honey." He laughed softly into her ear. Sydney let out a frustrated cry and snapped her head in the direction of the tiny room as she heard it open and then close shut. She felt the stirrings of another contraction and squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe through the pain. When she opened them, she saw Rose Belikova standing next to the bed, an encouraging smile on her face and unshed tears shining brightly in her eyes. Rose Belikova. She was still getting used to hearing Rose's new surname as she'd always known her as Rose Hathaway. She and Dimitri Belikov had married a year ago in two beautiful ceremonies; one here in the U.S. and the other in Dimitri's birthplace; Russia. Sydney and Adrian had been married almost four years and she was only now giving birth to their first child.
"Come on Sydney. You can do this," Rose pushed. "If Lissa can do this, then I know you definitely can!" That caught her attention.
"Lissa's already given birth?" Adrian asked. Rose nodded her head proudly. Their friend, and Moroi queen, Lissa Dragomir-Ozera had gone into labour the same day as Sydney and was in a room a couple of doors down.
"What did she have?" Sydney asked breathlessly. She'd been feeling weak and dizzy for a while but didn't say anything. She thought it was all part of the birthing process.
"A girl. Elizabeth Rea Marie Dragomir-Ozera." Rose replied. Sydney smiled weakly then scrunched her nose as another contraction swept through her.
Sydney was exhausted. She'd been in labour for almost eighteen hours, and yet, there was still no sign of the baby coming anytime soon. Her blood pressure hasn't gone down either.
"Sydney, you're still three centimetres dilated and it's been more than eighteen hours. You should be more dilated than this by now!" As the midwife said this, Sydney felt a strange and unpleasant tingling sensation down the left side of her arm. She's probably been gripping Adrian's hand too tight and was stopping the blood flow, so she went to give it a couple of shakes. Big mistake. She couldn't feel it. And to top it off, the dizziness intensified and she felt extremely nauseated. She tried to tell Adrian, but her mouth couldn't form the words, so she groaned. A wave of cold then hot swept over her leaving her chilled to the bone and she closed her eyes. Distantly she heard Adrian cry out, the midwife yelling for help and a door opening and then slamming shut. Nothing from Rose.
"She's going into cardiac arrest!" Was the last thing she heard before the cold and darkness consumed her.
Adrian saw a change in Sydney's aura moments before she went into cardiac arrest. He felt Rose dragging him off the bed as he struggled to get away from her and stay with Sydney. She was leaving him. She was leaving him alone in this world. And he did not like that. Not one bit. Adrian fought Rose. And he fought her hard.
"Adrian stop! There's nothing you can do! Just let them do what they're trained to do." Rose pleaded.
"You don't understand Rose! I can't lose her. I can't." Adrian's voice cracked on those last words.
"Adrian, I do understand! Lissa, Dimitri, Jill, Mason. You. I lost Mason and nearly lost the rest of you." Adrian spun around.
"This is completely different! They all nearly died one at a time. But Sydney...Sydney's my everything. Do you remember my wedding vows? She is what keeps me sane and if I lose her, then I may as well ship myself off to Tarasov." He screamed. The look on Rose's face changed from one of grief and pain to one of excitement, like she'd just come up with a great idea.
"Why are you looking so happy? My wife is in there dying!" He screamed again. Frustrated and angry, he pulled at his hair, ripping handfuls out.
"Spirit." Was all Rose said.
"What?" Adrian said in confusion.
"You're a goddamned Spirit user Adrian!" Rose grabbed Adrian's face between her hands and leant her forehead against his. "Think about it." Adrian realised exactly what Rose was talking about at the same moment the midwife walked back out, hands clasped tightly.
"Mr. Ivashkov?" She asked solemnly. Adrian and Rose pulled away and Adrian walked up to the midwife. "I am so sorry-" Adrian didn't need to hear the rest of what she said. He already knew. She was gone. But only temporarily. He pushed past the midwife and into the room. He stood by Sydney's bed and grasped her hand. He could feel the magic warm his cold body as it worked its way into Sydney's body.
"Adrian wait!" Rose said as she burst into the room. Adrian stopped and looked back at Rose.
"What? I'm trying to bring my wife back, if you don't mind."
"They need to remove the baby first, so you can prepare it for burial."
"The baby?" Adrian's mind was sluggish, but it snapped into focus soon after. He looked back at Sydney and concentrated on her swollen belly. There it was. His baby's aura. "My baby isn't dead. I can see its aura. They can remove the baby by c-section when Sydney is back." Adrian concentrated even harder on Sydney and once again felt the warmth followed by all the light and love the world could ever possess. He watched as Sydney's aura flickered and then stabilised, burning bright with each second that ticked by. He felt the magic dim and still clutching Sydney's hand, slumped into the chair that Rose must have put there. Adrian heard Sydney cough and he weakly got out of his seat and stood over her, looking down into her eyes as they opened.
"Adrian?" She whispered hoarsely before scrunching up her face in agony.
"What is it?" He asked in a panic. She took a few moments to answer.
"Contraction." She breathed. Adrian laughed and let out a sigh of relief.
"Welcome back." He whispered smoothing a hand over her hair. Sydney opened her eyes in alarm.
"What did you do?" She gasped.
Bonded us. You went into cardiac arrest and died. They wouldn't let me near you until the midwife came out and told me you'd died. I already knew and came back in and used Spirit to bring you back. He said through the bond. Sydney nodded thoughtfully.
"Thank you. You shouldn't have done it, but I am grateful you did."
"Shouldn't have done it? Sydney, there was no way in hell; I was going to let you die and leave me here alone. We're supposed to grow old together."
"If you let me die, you would have moved on eventually." Adrian snorted in disagreement.
"No way. It was kill myself, send myself to Tarasov or bring you back. I chose the latter. I couldn't live without you." He held her hand to his chest.
"But you did, for twenty-two years."
"Smartass." Adrian laughed as Sydney poked her tongue out and then scrunched up her face as another contraction wracked her body. He'd got her back, yet she was still in pain.
The door opened and the midwife walked back in and stood there, staring at Sydney as if she'd seen a ghost.
"But..but...how..." She sputtered then levelled a finger at Sydney. "You were dead. Cardiac arrest. How the hell can you be here?"
"Spirit." Rose said coming up behind the midwife.
"Spirit?" The midwife scoffed. "That's just a fairytale everyone's telling because Moroi haven't specialised yet."
"After all this time and there are still those that don't believe Spirit exists. Pathetic." Rose said and walked past the midwife to go stand beside Adrian, a knife in hand. How Rose managed to get a knife, Sydney and Adrian would never know. Sydney groaned and everyone spun in her direction.
"Contraction. Can we hurry this up? I would like to have this baby out already!"
"W-what are you going to do with that knife? How did you even get it?" The midwife asked eyes wide in horror.
"Proving to you that Spirit does exist. Even though Sydney is living proof...and so am I. Now, come stand here, next to me." Rose gestured at the midwife with the knife still in her hand.
"What do you mean, you're also living proof?" The midwife asked as she cautiously edged her way to Rose. A lot of people were scared of Rose. And for good reason. She was a badass. And well respected by Moroi and Dhampirs alike.
"The car crash that killed the Queen's parents and brother? I was in the car with them. I was sitting in the middle seat. The crash had also killed me. But, Lissa unknowingly used her magic to bring me back to life and bonded me to her. We're no longer bonded. I'd jumped in front of Lissa and got shot by Tasha Ozera. Now, enough chat. We need to get Sydney and the baby into that operating theatre. And I need to prove to you that Spirit exists." Rose raised her free arm and with the knife wielding hand, pressed the blade of the knife into her forearm and sliced it open. Blood oozed out and dripped onto the floor. The midwife watched with a queasy sort of fascination as the blood continued dripping.
"Adrian?" Rose asked and Adrian stepped forward, placing his hand over the wound. Instantly, the blood slowed, and then stopped altogether. The wound crusted over like it was days old instead of seconds old, before completing the healing process and disappearing completely.
An agonised cry came from Sydney's bed as another contraction ripped its way through her body. Adrian turned back to his wife and gripped her hands.
"It'll all be over soon. I promise." Adrian's voice was soothing, but there was a trembling note underneath the surface. Almost like he didn't believe it would be over anytime soon. Sydney, reacting to some unknown emotion through the bond, reached up and pulled Adrian down to her level so their noses were almost touching.
"Adrian, it won't happen again. I will not leave you again. Not until we're old and grey. Even then, I'll see you in the Afterlife." She promised solemnly. Adrian nodded and pressed his lips to hers in a brief kiss.
"Know this, Mrs. Ivashkov; you are having a Caesarean. And you're going to have a c-section for any other children of ours that come along afterwards." Adrian said and turned to the midwife who was still quite clearly in shock. "Right?"
It took her a few seconds to answer. And when she did she was back to being businesslike.
"Yes. The operating room is prepped and ready to go. Mrs. Ivashkov is ready to go. All we're waiting on is you Mr. Ivashkov. I'm going to assume you'll be wanting to be there?" Adrian's brow furrowed in confusion before straightening out.
"Oh, right! Yes, I'll be there! I have to change into scrubs first, right?" After a confirmation nod, Adrian kissed his wife and dashed out the room.
"I'm coming too!" Insisted Rose.
"Well then, you'd better change into scrubs as well." The midwife said shortly.
"Oh I will. When Adrian gets back." The midwife nodded and fiddled with Sydney's charts.
It wasn't even ten minutes and two contractions later, that Adrian returned clad in surgery scrubs. Sydney thought he looked quite sexy in them. She sensed through the bond that they were making him uncomfortable and itchy.
"You'll be fine Adrian," Sydney said out loud. "You're not the one who's giving birth to this baby. And besides, I think you look quite sexy in those scrubs." Sydney clamped her hands over her mouth in shock. Adrian laughed.
"Why thank you." He said smugly.
"Nice one Sydney. You just boosted his already too big ego." Rose said walking out the room yelling, "My turn!"
"We'll be in OR3!" The midwife yelled out to Rose.
"Got it!" Rose yelled from somewhere down the hall.
"Ready to go?" The midwife asked as a couple of orderlies walked in to push Sydney into the operating room.
"Bring it on!" Adrian cheered. Sydney giggled as Adrian waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Stay with me?" Sydney asked. Adrian stopped walking and took hold of Sydney's hand.
"Always." He whispered against her knuckles as he brushed a kiss across them.
In the Operating room they were soon joined by not only Rose, looking hilarious in her scrubs, but also the anaesthetist and a few more nurses. The anaesthetist explained to them what would be happening and how it would be done.
"I've always wanted to see what you'd look like on the inside." Adrian said curiously. Rose gagged and hit him on the arm.
"Geez Adrian! That is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard you say!" Rose said. Adrian and Sydney laughed.
"Unfortunately, you won't get to see what I look like on the inside." Sydney said.
"Why ever not?"
"Because we'll be putting up a sheet to hide it from view. We will only lower it just enough for you to see your baby being born." The anaesthetist said and held up a needle. "Anaesthetic. So you can't feel anything."
"It won't put me completely under will it?" Sydney asked.
"Not unless you want us too?" Sydney vigorously shook her head. "Very well. We'd rather you be awake for this anyway."
"There's no way in hell I'll be asleep for this." Sydney said. She began feeling queasy and somehow knew it wasn't her. She looked over at Adrian; he was as pale as a Strigoi. And looked ready to vomit.
"How you doing over there?" She asked him and felt a sharp prick as the needle slid in. Adrian gave her a weak thumbs up and took hold of her hand.
"I'm okay." He whispered. "How about you?"
"I can't feel a thing!"
"Good. We can get started." The anaesthetist said.
"Rose?" Sydney asked. There was movement to her right and she looked over and saw Rose standing beside her.
"I'm here. And not as queasy as your husband over there."
"I'm not that bad!" Adrian insisted.
"I call bullshit!" Rose announced pointing at Adrian. Sydney laughed.
"I felt the nausea through the bond."
"Can you feel that Mrs. Ivashkov?" The anaesthetist asked peering over the sheet.
"Feel what? I can't feel anything."
"Let's do this." The anaesthetist said and disappeared.
Not long later, the room was filled with a strange gurgling sound and Adrian and Sydney looked at each other, eyes wide.
"Is that..." Sydney asked and tried to lift her head.
"I think so." Adrian answered. Rose let out a loud squeal.
"It is! It is! It is!" She squealed and then her face changed as she squinted. "Oh my God it's covered in blood and weird crap!" Sydney and Adrian laughed.
"I want to see." Sydney said as the midwife came around the sheet, which hadn't been lowered for some reason, carrying a tiny form wrapped in blue.
"A boy?" Adrian whispered. "Blue means boy right?"
"It does." The midwife said kindly. "Welcome to the world Master Ivashkov." Adrian took his son from the midwife and leant over Sydney who instantly reached up and pulled him onto her chest.
"Our son." Adrian whispered to Sydney his eyes shining brightly. The intense joy that radiated from Adrian through the bond flowed into Sydney making her giddy.
"This is also our contribution to the Dhampir race."Adrian said proudly.
"He'll grow up to be a respectable Dhampir Guardian just like his Aunt Rose." Sydney said looking meaningfully at Rose.
"You want me to be his aunt?" Rose almost shrieked.
"Godmother, actually." Adrian said. Rose's mouth dropped open and both Sydney and Adrian flinched back, expecting her to bombard them with hugs. Instead, she started to cry. Great, heaving sobs. Certainly not the reaction they were expecting.
"Oh guys." She sobbed. "I would so be honoured to be his Godmother."
"Good. We were kinda hoping you'd say yes." Sydney said stroking her son's tiny forehead.
Just then, the sheet lowered and the anaesthetist walked to Sydney's side.
"Congratulations Mr and Mrs. Ivashkov. Everything went well, but with only one minor exception; the blood loss was just a bit more than we were hoping for." Seeing their shocked and worried faces. He hastily added, "But there's no need to work. We stemmed the flow and you are in no need for a blood transfusion. You're all stitched up and ready to be moved back to the ward."
"Have you got a name for him?" Rose asked expectantly. Sydney and Adrian shared a smile and a look.
"Leonardo Ashton Ivashkov." They both said at the same time. Rose let out another little squeal.
"It's perfect!" She said and then started laughing.
"What on earth is so funny?" Adrian asked.
"Maybe when they're older they can marry each other!"
"Who?"
"Elizabeth and Leonardo, of course."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes." Adrian said. Sydney looked up at her husband and then down at her son.
"My two boys; Adrian Nathaniel Ivashkov and Leonardo Ashton Ivashkov. I couldn't ask for anything better."
Two years later, after six years of marriage, Sydney gave birth to a daughter; Sophia Rebecca Ivashkov. And indeed, Leonardo and Elizabeth did marry each other, furthering the Dhampir race. While Sophia went on to marry Sonya and Mikhail's son Derek, and seeing as they were both Dhampir's, they adopted orphaned Dhampir children. Now, Adrian and Sydney Ivashkov, once their children had moved out of home, they moved to Rome for a few years and returned to the United States upon news of Adrian's mother's death. They lived out their lives happy and blissfully content.
The End.