RPOV:
I was able to give Dimitri one last kiss before the paramedics all but shoved me out of the helicopter and slammed the doors shut.
As the helicopter lifted from the ground with winds strong enough to sear my eyeballs, I gave a silent prayer to God to make him okay. Frankly, I didn't care what happened to me or our child, I only wanted the love of my life safe. I wasn't sure I could live without him.
Slowly and painfully, Dimitri managed to raise his head from the gurney and gaze at me for a small moment. I love you so much, he mouthed before dropping his head again. The paramedics were all over him, shoving needles into his skin like he was a pin cushion, pounding their fists against his chest, sticking tubes down his throat.
Tears slid out of my eyes. I would have done anything to take his pain away and make it my own. He was such a great man. He didn't deserve to be titter-tottering with life and death. "I love you, too." I said as the helicopter went far up into the sky and headed east, wishing that Dimitri could have heard me.
"All right, senorita." Darius's voice was rougher than sandpaper. He cleared his throat, but it didn't seem to help. It was still raw. "I have to get you to the hospital. Boss's orders."
"I don't think you're in the right condition to be driving."
He managed to crack a smile, but his brave front didn't fool me. "S'all good, baby girl. I'm fine. Now, let's go before…ugh, yeah, never mind. I don't have the mental or physical energy to even try to be funny. Sorry."
"I'll take her." Tasha walked up to us and grabbed my arm.
"Dimitri asked me to take her," Darius growled. "I'm taking her."
"Somebody is here to see you." Tasha said, nodding over his shoulder.
Darius turned around, seething, but once he saw the woman standing there, his face dropped. "Mia?"
"Time to go, lil' mamma." Tasha spanked my butt lightly. "I've already started the car."
Arm in arm, we jogged as fast as possible to the mansions garage.
MPOV:
Walking in the mansion, I immediately looked away when I reached the kitchen and spotted two lifeless bodies on the ground. Taking a deep breath, I turned my head back to all the death.
There was a man I didn't recognize. But that's not what made me nauseous. Ivan, Darius's best friend, was there, his long, lean body sprawled out on the ground. The crimson dripped from his forehead and pooled on the floor, where the blood contrasted sickeningly with the ivory color of the marble floor.
His blue eyes were wide open and blank, and seemed to stare right at me, as if he was crying out for help and his life back. "Oh, God." I crouched down and gently slid his lids closed. It was so much more peaceful that way.
"Don't touch that!" A cop barked, smacking my hand away with his own gloved one. There was a badge and camera around his neck. "This investigation is strictly police business—"
"She's with me." Tasha interrupted firmly. "Don't worry. We're leaving."
"Thank you for doing this," I said to her as we made our way outside. "I really need to see him."
"No problem." The stunning assistant chef said, nodding solemnly to Pavel as we passed by him. "I don't think you could have come at a better time."
Tasha opened the doors that led to the backyard and I froze briefly as I spotted Darius out on the field. My God. He looked so lost…and all I wanted to do was help. Unconsciously, my feet moved towards him as Tasha ran over to Rose and rushed her to the hospital.
The moment he turned around and I met those deep blue eyes, my heart shattered into a million pieces and I felt every ounce of pain he was feeling.
"Mia?" Darius's voice was like a frightened child's. He stared at me for the longest time, as if he wasn't sure I was real or not.
"Darius." my voice cracked. "It's me."
A tear slipped out of his eye and he quickly wiped it away, like he was embarrassed for his weakness. "What are you doing here?" he said roughly.
"I'm so sorry," I said, because it was the only thing I could. Unthinkingly, I ran up to him and grabbed his broad hands and cradled them in my own. Darius may have been six-foot-nine and weighed more than twice as much as I did, but in that moment, he was tiny. The one who needed protection. The one who needed comfort.
And I was the only person who could give it to him.
I gazed into those broken electric-blue eyes briefly before nodding slightly and wrapping my arms around Darius. He collapsed in my embrace, finally putting down his signature careless façade and breaking down.
RPOV:
"She's in labor!" Tasha screamed as the automatic doors to the hospital flew open. Embarrassingly, she captured everyone's attention nearby and they all looked over.
"Thanks." I muttered, briefly lowering my head.
"I can see that." The nurse behind the desk said, getting to her feet.
"Well, I'm glad that you're not blind. Now, can you actually do something about it?" Tasha snapped. I giggled. Who knew the girl actually cared for me. And after the wine bottle stunt she'd pulled with Abe, I was really starting to like her.
The nurse glared at Tasha. "I need a wheelchair. Someone bring a wheelchair!"
A passing male nurse ran to get one. I was grateful when he slid it on over and helped me in it. "Thank God. I don't think I could stand another minute."
On the third floor of the maternity ward, in a hospital bed and gown, I wasn't exactly the happiest camper.
"GET ME SOME DRUGGGGGGSSSSSSSS!" I roared, lurching forward and knocking everything over in my path, including a nurse and the heart machine.
"It's okay. Just relax." Tasha braced herself and bravely wrapped her arms around my convulsing body. "The contraction will past."
"No it won't! Goddamn it!" In a low, bone-chilling, ominous voice, I said, "I want to kill you."
I scratched and clawed and tugged and bit at Tasha until the wave of muscle agony was over and I fell back against the mattress, covered in sweat and panting like a dog.
"Don't get so comfy," my voice was exhausted. "The next one is going to be coming in about a minute…oh, God. I can feel it already."
Tasha resumed a horrified expression.
"She's in there! She's in there!" said a nurse outside in the hallway.
Lissa, Christian, and Adrian burst through the door, looking ready for a battle. Each had balloons and flowers and stuffed animals, in various colors of blues and pinks.
"Sorry. We chose to get both, 'It's a girl!' and 'It's a boy!' because you don't know the sex of your baby, and neither do we." Christian said.
"And if it happens to be twins…" Adrian held up a blue and a pink balloon. "Then you get both of these smashing gifts. Or, maybe if it's two girls or two boys…then you would get two pinks or two blues. Or maybe if they're triplets—"
"There's only one baby in there, dumbass." Christian said.
"Rose!" Lissa screamed, running up and giving me a hug.
"Get away." I growled, which momentarily stunned her.
"It's not you, Lissa." Tasha smiled kindly. "Just blame the contractions. They've kind of turned her into a monster."
Seething and positively murderous, I turned my neck to look at her. "What did you say?"
The color drained from Tasha's face.
Making some kind of demonic noises, I chucked the thing that was closest to me at her. She ducked just in time, and the object went flying across the room, gracefully hitting Christian on the head.
The object fell to the ground and he stared at it, eyes full of terror. "Oh, God. Is…is that a pee pan thingy?"
"Yep…" Tasha said.
Adrian leaned over and began to gag.
"…but don't worry, it hasn't been used yet." she finished with a wicked grin.
"Oh, thank heavens."
"Knock knock." A man with tortoise shell glasses, a red bow tie, and a geeky air brought our attention to the door. "Hi, my name is Dr. Gregg. I'm the anesthesiologist, and it would be just fabulous if I could get all of you to clear out for a moment while I give her an epidural."
"I LOVE YOU!" I screamed and opened my arms to give him a hug.
MPOV:
Darius pulled back from me and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "I'm sorry about that."
I didn't bother wiping my own tears as I shook my head and said, "No. Don't say that." I still couldn't believe it had been nearly nine months since the last time I had seen or spoken with him. He was still just as gorgeous as I had remembered.
He straightened and ran a hand through his jet-black cropped hair. Man, how I missed those long locks. "So, uh, what are you doing here?" he laughed awkwardly. "Aside from giving my weak ass a shoulder to cry on."
"Do you want to go sit down?" I tugged gently on his arm.
Darius stopped dead in his tracks and shook his head wildly, staring back at the mansions doors with disturbed eyes. In a slightly hysterical and borderline insane voice, he said, "No. Anywhere but there. Ivan is still there."
I touched his face. "Okay. You don't have to go back in the mansion." I glanced back at my silver Audi. "Would you…would you like to come back to my place for a bit? Maybe if you're tired, you can lie down and rest. I can make you something to drink and eat if you'd like too—"
"What about Aaron?" Darius said flatly. "Won't pretty boy be upset that a dashing, charming man like myself would be in your home with such a beautiful woman—"
"You think I'm beautiful?" I glanced down, feeling my cheeks heat.
He tilted my chin up with two fingers and met my eyes. "You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
My heart soared, butterflies exploded in my stomach, and it felt like we were the only two people in the world. But then reality kicked back in, and I remembered our horrible situation…and Ivan. Darius was vulnerable right now; he'd just lost his best and closet friend. That was the only reason he'd said what he'd said to me. "I'll explain everything on the way. Let's go."
Darius reached out and grabbed my hand. As we walked to my car, I studied the difference in sizes. His hand was shockingly large, and mine was so incredibly tiny in his. He could have closed his fingers around my palm and crushed all of my bones effortlessly. But he didn't. He was so careful with me, like it was entirely natural for him to be. He might have been scary as hell at times, but in spite of his badass fighting techniques and tough exterior, he was a protector on the inside, just one big cuddly teddy bear. He was a man that when he loved…he really loved. With his whole heart. With everything in him.
Darius was the complete opposite of Aaron.
And I was so in love with him.
RPOV:
"I love you all so much!" I smiled from ear to ear, filling a million times better since Dr. Gregg had left. The needle being poked in my back had hurt, but once the drugs had set in and my body no longer felt like it was on fire, I was floating on a cloud of relief and happiness.
"Yes, Rose." Adrian groaned tiredly. "We know that."
"You've only told us a dozen times already." Christian muttered.
"CHRISTIAN!" I boomed, which made him jump and fall off his chair.
He got up, rubbing his sore ribs. "What is it?"
"Come here." I crooked my finger. "Come here…yeah, that's it. Want to know something?"
Lissa's fiancé stared at me.
"I think you're…AWESOME!" I playfully poked his chest to the beat of Funky Town.
Christian's ice-blue eyes widened.
Tasha and Lissa chuckled.
Dr. L.J. walked into the room, snapping on a pair of blue gloves. "Hey, Rose. How are you feeling?"
"Fantastic!"
He chuckled. "Yeah, I thought so. All right…" Sitting down in his circle chair, he slid over, propped my legs up on the stretcher, and lifted my hospital gown. "Let's have a look-see."
"Oh, Jesus," Christian leaned over and rested his palms against his knees. "I think I'm going to be sick."
I giggled. He was so funny.
Tasha cocked an elegant brow. "How can you feel sick? You're all the way over there."
Christian continued to gag, and Lissa, rolling her eyes, strolled over and handed him the plastic garbage can just to be safe.
"Lightweight," she murmured.
I burst out laughing.
"Whoa, that's surprising." Dr. L.J. said urgently.
"What is it?" Tasha asked.
"Something wrong?" Lissa said with alarm.
"The cervix—" Christian gagged and the doctor eyebrows rose. "You're all the way dilated. I'd say it's time to start pushing."
As the whole room went in a blurry panic and nurses flew everywhere and doctors prepared me, my heart started to beat really fast. "No!"
Dr. L.J. barely spared me a glance. "Do you feel pressure—"
"I need Dimitri!" Panic exploded in my body. "This baby isn't coming out unless he's here!" I hadn't given the love of my life much thought since he'd been airlifted out of the mansion's grounds, because in a way, I was in shock and that was my way of dealing with things I could handle—block. By blocking them, I didn't have to deal with the pain and reality of this situation.
But this was different. Our baby was about to be born. I needed to stop being a coward. Dimitri was fighting for his life in the same hospital I was giving birth in. Funny, life and death weren't so different after all.
"He's in the trauma center, sweetie." said a plump nurse with kind eyes and red hair. "He's in surgery right now. I need you to start pushing—"
"THIS BABY ISN'T COMING OUT UNTIL DIMITRI IS HERE!"
The sound and volume of my voice briefly made everyone in the room freeze and take a step back in fear.
"That's not something you can control, Rosemarie." Dr. L.J. said. "The baby comes when it wants to come. And your baby is coming right now."
"You haven't met Rose," Adrian said. "When she wants to hold out, she can hold out."
All heads turned to look at him.
He shrugged. "What? I know this because we dated for six months. And no, that's not my child. Now, pay attention to the pregnant lady in labor."
"Maybe someone can push the baby back in until the Russian gets here?" Christian suggested. "Just poke at it."
The pressure on my lower body was unbearable, and that's when I realized the epidural was wearing off and I was beginning to regain feeling. Not good. "I need more drugs!" I panted. Tears ran out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I had never put so much into something. Just as Adrian had said, I was holding out. Trying to keep the baby inside of me, which was an extremely difficult process considering the little bastard seemed hell bent on getting out.
"Sorry, honey. Too late for that." the doctor said.
"Everyone back up! Now! Or get out! I need you out of the way!" The plump redheaded nurse screamed, making a shooing motion with her gloved hands.
"All right, are you ready Rose? Take a deep breath, hold it, and push!" Dr. L.J. said. "1…2…3…4…"
MPOV:
"This your place?" Darius asked, shutting the front door.
"No. I just picked the lock and figured we'd park it here at this stranger's house for a night until we rob that bank tomorrow." I joked, which was totally inappropriate considering the situation. Clearing my throat, I held up my arms. "Yep. This is it. I know it's small, but it works for me—"
"It's great. Don't feel uncomfortable in your home. I am a guest."
"Would you like something to drink?" I headed for the kitchen.
"Yeah, that'd be great." Darius followed me, electric-blue eyes still searching the area. "Man, this place is sparkling clean. Like something out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine—not that I ever read any of that chick crap."
I snorted as I opened the fridge. "What would you like?"
"Whatever you got. It doesn't matter."
I peered at him through my hanging hair. "No. I want you to tell me what you'd like. I've got water. Lemonade. Peach Snapple. And every soda you could ever imagine."
"Do you have diet Coke?"
I nodded and tossed him one.
"Oh, thank God." Darius said, rubbing his stomach. "If you're wondering why I chose to have diet is because I have no choice. It allows me to eat anything while keeping my figure a ten. What more could I want?"
I laughed. "I really don't think that's the reason."
"You know me better than I know myself," he cracked it open, tossed his head back, and chugged half it down. "I don't know what it is about diet Coke. It's just so delicious and so…American."
"You are the strangest man I have ever met," I shook my head and took a sip of ice water.
Suddenly, Darius went all serious. "You never told me about Aaron."
Taking a deep breath, I fiddled with a cube, avoiding his intense gaze. "We broke up."
"When?"
"A month after that night you threw him on the hood of Lissa's Mercedes." An obnoxious laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. I covered my mouth with my hand when the laughter became uncontrollable and I snorted.
Darius's mouth twitched. "What's so funny, Tesoro?"
"That's Italian, right?"
He nodded and took another drink of his soda.
"What does it mean?"
"Treasure." he said. Something completely foreign flickered in my chest and positively roared. "Now, tell me what's so funny."
"Aaron was a douche, and though it was completely wrong of you, he kind of deserved the treatment you gave him."
"I'm glad you're finally seeing things the way I am." Darius said gruffly. "Why did you and Aaron break up?"
"You're just full of questions, aren't you."
"I want to make sure you're okay. I…care for you. Very much so. You're family to me, Mia. Anyone messes with you, and I'll take care of them."
That felt strangely good. With Darius's protection, I felt like I could take on an army.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Aaron just wasn't the one for me."
"Imagine that." he muttered, then gestured to the couch. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Not at all. Go ahead."
The couch seemed to shrink. He dwarfed the damn thing. But, my God, did he look wonderful in my living room. My dirty thoughts brought me to a whole other universe.
Darius was naked underneath me, so incredibly magnificent in his bare glory that I couldn't tear my eyes off him. My hands roamed over his golden-brown skin, down the mountains of rock-hard muscle, briefly dancing over his hips.
He made a wonderful sound in the back of his throat, almost a growl, and flipped me over, taking control. It didn't surprise me that he was the dominating type. He radiated power and confidence. Darius's hands gripped my hips, then traveled down my thighs, and up to my bottom, where he gave a hard squeeze that had me shuddering underneath him.
"You have another thing coming…" I panted as I fought to straddle him again. "…if you think you're the one who's in charge here."
"Mmmm. I love when you fight me." Darius's teeth grazed my earlobe and tugged on it. Those torturous fingertips traveled over my navel, heading for dangerous territory.
I cried out and arched wildly underneath him. My whole body was covered in flames. I wasn't sure I could take much more before I combusted from the infinite pleasure.
"Stop it…" My toes curled. I managed to open my eyes and stare into his hungry, passionate ones. "You're making my mind go all numb. I can't think straight…"
There was another struggle as we each fought to take control. Of course, Darius claimed the spot effortlessly. "I'm going to make more than your mind go numb, baby girl—"
"Mia? Mia?"
I blinked and focused on Darius's colossal form on the couch.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Was just thinking about something." I blushed furiously when I realized I'd been daydreaming about having sex with him. How inappropriate! Ivan had been killed today!
"You sure about that?" Darius smiled slyly. "Because you're redder than a stop sign, you keep licking your lips, and at the risk of sounding like a total inconsiderate asshole, your nipples are hard."
"What!" I scrambled to cover myself up, crossing my arms.
"They just kind of stuck out there. I promise I wasn't staring, but it was kind of hard not to notice them through your shirt."
The ground needed to open up and swallow me whole. Now! "It's just cold, that's all. The thermostat is on low. Let me turn it up a bit."
His booming laughter filled the whole studio apartment as I ran to fix the nonexistent A.C. problem. I stayed there for about fifteen minutes, just gathering up the courage and trying to recover from the embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, I went out to face the storm.
Only to stop short and slam against Darius's chest. I bounced back and was steadied by his arm snapping out and grabbing my own.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Fine. What are you doing?"
"Just watching you stand there the whole time. I found it amusing seeing you blush and curse yourself."
"That's...weird and borderline stalker-ish."
"Stalker-ish?" he arched a black brow. "I'll feel bad about being stalker-ish when it's a real word. You never told me why you and Aaron broke up."
I shrugged and passed by him. "It's not important." I dropped down on the couch.
"Maybe that's what you think. But I would like to know." Darius settled in beside me, grabbed my legs, and put my feet in his lap. The gesture was so casual, yet so comforting. I felt like I could relax and be myself around him. With Aaron, I'd always had to be the perfect girlfriend, say the right things, laugh at appropriate times. I felt like with Darius, I could eat whatever I wanted, have sweatpants on, my hair tied up, and no makeup on, and he'd still think I was beautiful.
For no apparent reason, I found myself telling the truth about Aaron, "I don't know. We just started fighting a lot. That's all we'd ever do. I was tired of being so 'in control' in front of him. I wanted to be me. But he hated that. He wouldn't even have sex with me! Can you believe that? He straight up refused it saying, "I want a lady in my bed, and you're far from being a lady." It's not like I wanted it anyways! The guy was hung like a hamster- oh, shit." The realization of what I'd just said hit me like a train. "Please tell me I didn't say that."
Darius smiled brilliantly, but there was a blazing anger in his eyes that chilled me to the bone. "You did say that."
"Ugh. Yeah. Sorry. Anyways...one day we got in this big argument at his parents house during their anniversary dinner. He excused us from the table, grabbed my arm, and pulled me up to his bedroom. He yelled at me for like twenty minutes because I had started eating before his parents had made their appearance. Which is incredibly rude, I know that...but I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten all day. And I only took two bites of the salad. Two bites! They didn't even notice it!" I drew in a shaky breath, trying to cool my rage at my ex. "Anyways, when Aaron demanded that I apologize to him, I actually stood up to him and told him I would never. He slapped me. I ran out of the room and headed for my car, telling him it was over and I never wanted to talk to him again. He was pretty upset about that apparently, because he pushed me down the stairs."
Darius's jaw clenched until I heard his teeth grind together. "He pushed you down the stairs?"
"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. I only broke my ankle-"
"He broke your ankle?"
"Yeah," I repeated myself. "But it's not a big deal. It was months and months ago-"
"It is a big deal!" Darius boomed, and suddenly I was terrified. I recoiled, reminded of Darius's size and his incredible muscles and the captivating, brutal way he fought. He was so much stronger than I was, so much taller. If I'd tried to run to the door to get away from him, he wouldn't let me get two feet before catching me. If I'd try to fight him, he could break me like a toothpick.
He swore in Italian when he looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry, Tesoro. Don't be afraid of me." he slowly reached out and ran his fingers down my cheek. I was proud that I only flinched a little. "I would put a bullet through my own head before I ever hurt you."
Surprising even myself, I turned my head and kissed his palm. "I know you would never hurt me."
"It just makes me indescribably angry. No man should ever lay his hands on a woman like that, especially not you. What Aaron did..." Darius shook his head, at loss for words. "You want me to take care of him?"
I choked a little. "What?"
"I can make sure he never bothers you again. I'm serious, Mia. You say the word, and he's no longer a problem of yours."
"What? Oh. No. No. No. No. Thank you...that's very flattering, but I'd rather have Aaron alive."
"You sure?"
I nearly laughed. He was dead serious. "Yeah, I'm sure. But if he ever comes around here again, I'll let you be second in line for laying a good punch on him. Okay?"
"Sounds good. But who's first?"
"Me. Of course."
He clapped his hands together, as if he was cheering on his favorite team. "Damn! That's hot. Not going to lie. I love when a woman stands up for herself-"
I leaned forward and kissed him. It was closed mouth and quick, lasting only long enough to blink, but I indulged in the feeling of his soft lips against mine. When I pulled back and discovered the shock in his eyes and the rigidness in his body, my cheeks warmed again. "I'm sorry. That was completely inappropriate-"
Darius cupped my face and crushed his lips to mine. His kiss and mouth devoured me completely. I was lost. I always loved the way he kissed me, like he was starving and always wanted more.
I was the one who broke the kiss when he shifted his body and hovered above me, fists planted in the couch cushions at my sides. "This is so wrong." I said, not really sure what the words meant. My mind was a fuzzy mess.
"Why is it wrong?" he was so gentle as his mouth traveled across my jaw and down my neck. "It feels pretty fucking right to me."
"Because of everything that happened today," I said, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him when he froze. "It just wouldn't be right. Not today."
He relaxed in my embrace and laid against me. "Fine." I chuckled at his childish tone. "But I still get to cuddle with you."
"Cuddle?" I closed my eyes, trying not to get lost - or aroused - at the feel of his body flush against mine. Which was extremely hard, considering he was deliberately rocking his hips against mine.
"Yeah, that's right. I said it. I want to cuddle with you." Darius admitted.
I giggled. "Okay, you can cuddle with me. But first, hop up and grab us something to eat and drink. I've got Everybody Loves Raymond episodes recorded on the TiVo."
"You like Everybody Loves Raymond?"
"My favorite show."
"Damn," Darius said. "You really are the woman of my dreams."
RPOV:
"There's the head!" Dr. L.J. shouted in victory. "You're doing fantastic, Rosemarie! Just one more great push and your beautiful baby will be here! Give it all you got!"
Gritting my teeth and crushing Lissa's hand, I held my breath and did exactly as he said. Tears were pouring out of my eyes, but they weren't from pain. At least not in the physical sense.
"There we go! Go, go, go, go—"
The doors flew open.
I cried out when I saw who was there.
Dimitri came in very keyed up, looking like he'd been running away from a mob of doctors, nurses, and security guards. He was naked except for a sheet wrapped around his waist, and there was tape on his arms and stray tubes, as if he'd ripped out his IV's to get to me. His chest was bandaged heavily, with a perfect crimson circle in the middle where the bullet had entered his skin.
"I'm so sorry." he ran over to me and grabbed my hand. "I got here as fast as I could. How are you feeling, baby?"
I beamed up at him, temporarily forgetting my pain and just overjoyed that he was still alive and had made it through his emergency surgery.
"You're here." I greedily took his kiss when he leaned down to give me one. "I was so scared that you weren't going to make it…"
"Shhh." Dimitri pressed a finger to my mouth. "We have a daughter to give birth to."
"A daughter? We're having a girl?"
"I'm sorry." he smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I couldn't wait. I asked the doctor on your last visit."
"Wait, what? He knew the sex?" Adrian glanced back at the blue balloons and stuffed animals. "That's bullshit! I could have saved so much money."
Joy and happiness and relief filled me. A giggle burst out of my mouth. "I'll kick your ass later." I winked at Dimitri. "But for now, I'm just glad you're here."
"One more thing…" Still holding my hand, Dimitri awkwardly arranged his sheet and got down on one knee. "I bought this two days after we started dating and have carried it around with me ever since, but I can't think of a better time than right now to give it to you." A small, black velvet box was revealed. He opened it, and the most perfect diamond ring sparkled in the light above. "Roza, will you marry me?"
"This is the worst timing ever!" I screamed, but held out my left hand. "Yes, Dimitri Belikov, I will marry you."
Dimitri smile was so beautiful it took my breath away. As the whole room clapped and tears brimmed in the nurses, Lissa's, and Tasha's eyes, Dimitri slipped the ring on the correct finger and kissed me until I couldn't breathe.
"You're crazy!" I said.
"I love you." he said.
The doctor and nurses cleared their throats and seemed to realize that they still had a job to do. Instantly, they were all back in business. "One more push, Rose. Give it your all!" Dr. L.J. said.
I grabbed Dimitri's hand. "You ready, babe?"
"Always."
MPOV:
My phone buzzed, bringing my attention away from a favorite episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Turning back to Darius, I realized I was in a pickle. His sleeping body was sprawled over mine, head on my stomach, chest and waist covered my legs. Even if his weight was tremendous and nearly crushing me, I loved the feel of him against me. As weird as it sounded, I felt like I could protect him from all the harm in the world when he was in my arms.
I smiled when I found one of his hands curled in my hair. He seemed to adore my locks. Couldn't get enough of them. He'd told me they were so soft—
The phone buzzed again.
Sighing and not wanting to wake him, I maneuvered out of his hold. Which was tricky business. Each time I moved even an inch, Darius would stir in his slumber, unconsciously wrap his arms around me, and hug me like he never wanted to let go.
I picked up the phone and automatically grinned when I read the text:
Healthy baby girl. Gorgeous, dark eyes. Ridiculous amount of curly hair. Name's Nikolia Ivana. Would you like to see your niece? ~R