Updating twice in one week! I must love you guys! But this chapter was kind of easier to write seeing as I'm not being distracted anymore byt wedding plans and work and Christian Grey...
Anyway, thank you to katherinesilvasweet, Radio-active Meggy, Kris Ivashkov25, To Love Is To Destroy, vnsjvhhs, READandWRITE11, aj davis, NoahandMattFoReVeR, fallenstar1313, , heyupkaye, Ozera's Girl, ashleyr2468, jpitt and my four anoymous reviews (one I think is xDropDeadBeautifulx judging by the name at the bottom) but you know who you are!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own VA
Two whole months after my honeymoon and still no baby has been made. And believe me, we've tried. Who knew making a child would be so exhausting! We've had a couple of false alarms (did you know that the implant affects your periods?), but still nothing.
"You don't think there is something wrong do you?" Adrian asked me one night.
"Like what? We're doing it wrong? Maybe there is a place in the house for optimum conception?" I joke.
He's having none of it. "I'm serious. Normally, dhampir and Moroi children are conceived quickly. Maybe we should get checked out." He says.
What could possibly be wrong? Dhampirs and Moroi very rarely get ill or have any sort of medical problems. But I agree to getting checked for Adrian's peace of mind.
Life, however, continued as normal. Me and Eddie guarded Lissa and Christian to every sort of event you could think of. Charity galas, posh lunches and dinners, Royal functions. Honestly, it is starting to grate on me. Don't get me wrong I love being a guardian but sometimes, the pompous behaviour of some Royals and the blatant disapproval of me being married to Adrian gets a little too much for. Adrian and Lissa try and reassure me and tell me to ignore it, but there is only so much you can take. Things like this never used to affect me but now they just seem to get on top of me. Why? What has changed so much that I have lost my Rose Hathaway flare? Maybe married life changed more than my name?
I even went so far to ask Dimitri for advice. "Rose, as you know, some Royals think they are better than us, regardless of the fact that we do them a service by protecting them. That is never going to change. And as much as this is going to irritate you to hear, you have to get used to it and rise above it. They may have money and titles, but without us..." he doesn't have to finish that sentence.
Things started to get more interesting about a month after Adrian and I returned from honeymoon.
It was late evening, Adrian and I had just had another attempt at conception and we are snuggled on the sofa in our PJs (everyone got used to us doing that after a while), Christian and Eddie were watching some guy thing on TV and Lissa and Mia were giving each other manicures when our doorbell rang.
Eddie and I immediately jump into guardian mode, checking all the Moroi are safe before moving out of the living room, securing the door and heading into the foyer towards the front door. A bit much maybe, but we don't take risks when it comes to Moroi protection.
I nod to Eddie and he pulls the door so it opens on the latch and I am faced by Dimitri with a small suitcase by his feet.
"Dimitri? Eddie, open the door." He complies and I step aside to let him in. Dimitri picks up his case and strides into the foyer and I point him towards the living room. I can see the anger and irritation radiate off him. What has happened to make him like this? It must be bad.
"Sorry to disturb you all so late but I have been sent here by the Queen." He addresses us ignoring Adrian completely. I guess some people hold grudges.
When none of us say anything, Dimitri continues. "I have been given a new assignment, seeing as Tasha...anyway Adrian is my new assignment. The Queen believes he needs a guardian now. The Strigoi see Rose as a threat and believe they may use Adrian to get to her." He shrugs and sits down next to Christian on the couch.
There is a stunned silence. Dimitri Adrian's guardian? They hate each other! Not that Dimitri would let that affect his job but that doubled with mine and Dimitri's history it is just going to be awkward. And clearly he has to live with us now and Dimitri being that bit older and more mature than us...its just going to be...weird.
"Don't I get a say in who my guardian is? What if I don't want you to protect me, move into my...our house? What happens if I go to the guardian office right now and request a different guardian?" Adrian's low voice comes from the opposite couch. Yeah, he's just as pissed as Dimitri.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. As much as I and your family tried to convince the Queen otherwise she won't budge. And no, Rose cannot be your guardian." Dimitri adds before both Adrian and I protest.
"So you're moving in with us?" I ask stupidly. Of course he is.
Dimitri nods. "I'll show you to your room." I mumble before an argument can start and stalk out of the living room, into the foyer and up the stairs. There are a couple of spare rooms for guests but most of the rooms are in use. Well, in a house this big you need things like a cinema and game room. Eddie and I even have an office; I guess it's Dimitri's now too.
I show Dimitri to a spare room on the second floor. There is one on the third but seeing as Adrian and I claimed that for ourselves I decided it wasn't a good idea.
It isn't a massive room but it does have an en suite and a sizeable wardrobe. I'm sure it shall suffice.
"Thanks, Rose." Dimitri says as I hold open the door for him and he places his suitcase on the large double bed. "I really appreciate this." He smiles slightly.
"I'm sorry about this. I know you and Adrian don't like each other but I'll tell him to at least be civil. No one wants it to be awkward." I say. Why I'm being so diplomatic I don't know but I have a feeling Dimitri is going to have to put up with a lot from Adrian while he's is guarding him.
"Thanks, Rose but I'm sure it will be fine. I know it'll be strange having me here but I won't get in the way."
"Dimitri you won't get in the way. The rest of us don't have a problem with you. I know we've had our ups and downs but you're still my friend." I smile reassuringly at him and he smiles back. "I'll let you unpack. I think Mia said about watching a movie so you can join us if you'd like."
"I may just do that." He smiles and I leave him to it.
Well that was a shock. Dimitri guarding Adrian? If I wasn't all for Adrian having a guardian I would find this whole thing highly entertaining. Maybe I should have a talk with Adrian. Dimitri is a great guardian and just because they hate each other it doesn't mean this can't work. Right?
When I return to the living room, Adrian is ranting.
"How fucking dare she! I have managed twenty one, nearly twenty-two just a hint, babe my birthday is soon," he winks at me as I sit down on the sofa he has recently vacated and continues "years without a guardian so why the hell would I now want that that Russian prick guarding me and trying to cop a feel of my wife?" He takes a long drag of his cigarette, I decide not to protest, it is clear he needs it.
"Adrian, Dimitri is a good guardian and he will put all his personal feelings aside to protect you. And he won't try and 'cop a feel' of Rose." Lissa says, totally stealing my line.
Adrian looks incredulous. "How can you say that? That man took advantage of my wife while she was still in school! He's a fucking cradle snatcher and you expect me to like him?" he shouted at Lissa and there was a collective gasp. They don't know about Dimitri and I and Adrian just realised it to. "Besides, like I said I don't need a guardian." He mumbled but no one is paying attention to him.
"You and Dimitri?"Lissa whispered, sounding slightly offended. Christian doesn't appear to care neither does Eddie but Mia leans forward in her seat slightly.
I look at my feet. "Yeah but nothing happened really. It was just a crush I had and Victor Dashkov took advantage, put a charm on us. But nothing ever really happened and never will. I told him straight when I started dating Adrian. I had a crush and that's the end of it." I shrug, it's not like I lied exactly, I just never told them Dimitri confessed his undying love for me on several occasions.
"I can't believe you never told me." Lissa said the hurt coming through loud and clear.
My heart melts. "Liss," I went and sat next to her and took her hand. "I wanted to tell you. I did. But I couldn't. It wasn't because I didn't trust you it was just you were having a hard time dealing with spirit and then there was the whole Victor Dashkov thing and by then I had practically met Adrian and it didn't really matter after that." I said hoping to make her feel better, and that is what happened anyway.
She smiles slightly and squeezes my hand. "It's fine. Just don't do it again." she laughs and I know I'm forgiven. It doesn't stop me being pissed at Adrian though.
As if on cue, Dimitri enters the room and frowns. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, fine." I say and resume my original position on Adrian's lap. He sat back down as soon as Dimitri walked in and I notice a bottle of whiskey on the small table beside him. He wraps an arm around me and I nuzzle into him. He smells of cigarettes.
"We're gonna watch a movie. Wanna join, Guardian Belikov?" Eddie asks as Dimitri takes a seat in an arm chair.
"Eddie, and everyone for that matter, seeing as I'm going to be living here, call me Dimitri. Not so formal." He smiles slightly. "And yeah, alright. What are we going to watch?"
"American Pie." Adrian smirks.
Well this is going to be embarrassing...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Taking Adrian's advice, first thing Monday morning I go and see a doctor. is a Moroi in her early thirties and I immediately liked her with her no nonsense attitude.
"What seems to be the problem, Mrs Ivashkov?" she smiles.
"Well, my husband and I are trying for a baby and he seems to think that because it's been two months and there is no baby there is something wrong."I roll my eyes and smile.
"Right, we shall have to do some tests. Some of them are going to be a bit uncomfortable, I'm afraid. I have to start with a pregnancy test first, just to check and then we'll proceed from there."
She gives me a cup and I head to the bathroom. I give her the cup back when I've finished and she puts a stick in it. I don't what colour it turns, because she moves away before I can look.
"Mrs Ivashkov, can you just lie down on the bed over there and remove your jeans and underwear." She points to the other side of the room and smiles tightly. Something isn't right.
I do as she says and get comfortable as she pulls some of screen towards the bed and dons gloves. If I'm not mistaken that is an ultrasound machine.
Taking a wand like instrument she puts a condom and some clear gel onto and tells me to relax. It doesn't hurt exactly, it is just a bit uncomfortable.
"Hmmm." She says as she examines the screen.
"What is it?"
She removes the instrument and tells me to lift my t shirt up off my stomach as she prepares another instrument and some more gel. That looks more like the ultrasound equipment I've seen on TV.
Dr Williams presses the contraption onto my stomach and moves it around a little. After a few minutes, she presses a couple of buttons and a light, slightly disjointed thudding noise fills the room and she turns the screen towards me.
I'm shocked. That is clearly a baby. A fully formed baby and that noise is a heartbeat. She moves the instrument on my stomach whilst pressing some buttons and I gasp. There are two heads.
"You can't conceive, Mrs Ivashkov, because you're already roughly six months pregnant with twins. Congratulations."
More shall be explained in the next chapter. And well done to the guest reviewer that saw through my cunning plan and guessed that Rose was already pregnant. Great minds, my friend!
Anyway, get to reviewing my lovelies.
And my big Dimitri secret shall be revealed in the next couple of chapters and no one has guessed it yet and I would love to keep it like that a shock you all! Mwhahahahaha!