Okay my lovelies there are some moments I really want to capture but that aren't necessary for the plot but are sweet moments I want to capture with Rose so we're going to skip around a bit and come back around to the plot. I just think it's important to build the bond Rose is making with her baby.

Chapter Four

Abe sits back against the couch having directed the last piece of furniture into the living room. "You don't have to do all this Abe."

"I know I don't have to, I want to kidz."

The apartment is honestly better than I could have hoped. The front door pushes into a large living room that opens up to a kitchen with fairly new appliances. A simple wooden table sits on the tile in the middle of the floor surrounded with a few matching chairs. There are three bedrooms in all. The farthest one back has a magnificent bathroom, with a walk in shower and beautiful clawfoot bathtub. Abe has furnished all the rooms; the master bedroom has high vaulted ceilings and tall windows with a kind bed that honestly feels like a cloud. The apartment is on the fourth floor and looks over the park across the street. The room next door already has a crib, changing table and anything else a baby would need. The last room has been converted into an office to accommodate the job Abe also was able to get me working as his assistant, at one of his few legitimate businesses. He really has done everything for me. "Thank you baba, I don't know what we would have done without you." I reach out and wrap my arms around him in a hug. Once the shock wears off he holds me back offering a sense of fatherly love I know I will forever be grateful for.

(Roughly 10 weeks later Rose is around 18 weeks or so)

"Come on guys, I don't want to be late!" Adrian and Lissa are taking a lifetime to follow me to the car and I hobble at about two miles an hour.

"We're just giving you a head start little Dhampir." Rolling my eyes I literally drag them each in one hand toward the door of the hospital. Today is the day we find out if baby Belikov is a boy or a girl, and these two melon heads are going so slow.

The waiting room is packed and it feels like a century before they finally call my name. I make Adrain turn around as they weigh me, this makes him laugh and say some unruly things about things he wants to do no matter what I weigh. Those earn him a glare from Lis and a smack from me. The room they lead us to is rather small but it's clean and just large enough for Adrain and Lissa to sit in the two seats settled in the corner of the room and still leave space for the doctor to wheel in when he gets here. "Care to change your bets?" Adarin looks between Lis and I.

"No, I still think it's a girl." I run my hands along my stomach and I'm meant with a small kick.

"Me too." Lissa says just as the Dr. Jay comes in.

"Are we ready to see this baby he says?"

The three of us answer in unison as I roll my shirt up. My heart pounds as the familiar cool gel hits my stomach.

"Alright, here's the head, and the legs. Mom, did you think boy or girl?" he asks without looking away from the screen.

"A girl." I am always in awe when I get to see my baby. Watch her wiggle and move under the pressure of the ultrasound probe.

"Looks like you are right. Congrats."

A girl I'm going to have a baby girl. My heart soars as I picture myself running through the park with a toddler, her hair bouncing in curls against her shoulders, brown eyes just like Dimtris smiling back at me as we play. The image makes me grin with hope for the future.

(Rose is now 30 weeks or so along I know this uses past and present pretenses its on purpose it's super common in people who have missing loved ones and they don't know if they are alive or not)

Snow falls heavily outside my window already layering the glass in ice, everything outside is covered in a thick dusting of snow, it's as if someone spilled a bag of powdered sugar on the city. A soft purple glow emanates from the window. I sit quietly in the window seat enjoying a cup of ginger tea. The snow always brings a different kind of peace. My baby moves contently against my hand. "Hey, baby." I whisper quietly as I join in the peace of the lullaby the storm offers. I think about Dimitri and the times we had together, most of the time it hurts to think about him and I push the thoughts away but tonight I let the memories intrude, without thinking I start telling my baby about him. "Your daddy is from Russia you know, I used to tease him about it being a frozen wasteland. Just like tonight is. He loves westerns. He always had one with him, I have a few of them. Maybe as you get older we can read them together. Deep down I know he thought of himself as a cowboy. He wears a ridiculous brown leather duster. He is so strong baby girl he would have done anything to keep you safe. He would love you so much. There's so many things he could have taught you, he is an incredible fighter he never lost….well he almost never lost. He loved me in a way no one else could, it was like we were part of each other like two halves of one whole. I wish you could meet him."I tell her about training with him and how we fell in love and before I know it her kicks slow and my stomach feels a bit heavier as we both fall asleep.

(8 weeks later Rose is 38 weeks along)

"A little to the left, Adrain." my devoted friend leans farther, almost falling over.

" Lissa, what do you think?"

"I think you better let Adrian hang it before he falls over." she laughs, almost spilling the gingerale she has in her hands.

I take the glass sipping it slowly "Alright right there is perfect."

The nursery is so close to being done. A beautiful chestnut crib sits against the back wall, accompanied by a matching changing table and dresser. Gifts from Adrian, Lissa and Christain despite my many objections they won out in the end. The color on the wall is a pale pink. The picture Adrian just finished hanging is of the four of us and Dimtri taken at the lodge just after he told me about Tashas offer and before Mason ran off, or well before we knew he ran off. It hangs over her crib ready to watch over her as she sleeps a rocking chair made of the same wood as the rest of the furniture. This is a gift from baba he said it used to be in my nursery as a child. The fact he had kept it all these years made me feel so loved and cared for. Adrian painted the ceiling as a galaxy in glow in the dark paint. The dresser is stocked with bows and cute little outfits, The changing table is stuffed with diapers and wipes. The closet is filled with blankets and a tiny white wicker bassinet sits next to my bed ready for this baby. Babba,Adrian, Lissa and even Christian have been amazing; they've made sure we have everything we need. I'm set up to be enrolled in online classes next semester after the baby is born, I'm planning on getting a business degree to help Abe. He does run a few legitimate businesses after all. He wouldn't let me be a part of the dark side of his life even if I wanted it.

"Rose, have you picked out a name?" Lissa asks just as Abe walks through the doorway.

"Yes." I take a seat in the rocking chair breathing a sigh of relief as the pressure in my back lessens.

They all stare at me "So are you going to tell us?:" Adrian breaks the silence.

"Oh did you want to know?" I tease rocking in the chair

"Yes, that is the general idea."

"Lennon Marie Belikov."

Abes eyebrows shoot up, damn it why can't I do that? "You plan on giving her Dimtris name?"

"Well he is her father and I think she should have a part of him."

"That makes sense.I can't wait for her to get here. How is your mother taking it? Have you heard from her?" Lissa plops on the floor next to me.

"I don't know, I haven't heard from her and I don't know if I want to. My life is complicated enough without her." just as I finish talking, a splash of water soaks my legs.

"Uh Rose did what I think happened really just happen?" I have never seen Adrians eyes so wide

Nodding, I stand up with Lissa's help "My water broke!"