When we emerged from the bathroom, Sonya gave me a small, knowing smile - one I tried to return. Everyone continued to ask if I was okay, and I brushed them off, assuring them that I was. The shock continued to poor into me as Lissa spoke about the night's festivities. When a waiter came by, she politely asked if he could fetch some champagne to get the party started. Dimitri stayed by me the entire time, holding my hand, his strength and happiness soothing my desire to bolt and curl up on our bed and cry. My emotions were all over the place – thanks, baby.
Eddie came over by me, Jill and Lissa talking in the corner, and I found my voice again. "So, how's Maine?"
He shrugged, "Alright. I mean, I miss you and everyone here, especially Jill, but we visit enough that we're able to make it work. We're not that far, you should come visit someday."
The idea for a mini break from court – and my problems, sounded great right now. "I'll take you up on it. Maybe Dimitri and I can get some time off and come visit?"
"I'd love that," Eddie said honestly. "Think you'd take Jill with you?"
I nodded, "I don't see why not. I'll talk to Adrian about it. I don't want to intrude. We'll stay in a hotel, of course-"
"Don't be silly. Adrian's house has so many rooms. It's more like a mini castle. Plus, I'm sure Jill would love to spend some time with Adrian."
"You mean stay with you," I teased.
"We're slow moving," Eddie chuckled. "As we both want it. If she stays with us, she'll have her own room."
"She won't be a teenager forever," I pointed out. "I mean, I lost my virginity at seventeen-"
"Seventeen?" Eddie asked, faking shock. "The infamous Rose Hathaway with all of her lovers lost it at seventeen. I remember before you left, what were we, fifteen? You said you hooked-up with some senior and lost it. Mason was devastated," he teased.
Mason's name caught me off guard, and I smiled sadly. I wasn't usually one to shy away from sex talk, but Dimitri's concern for privacy had guarded me from speaking about our intimate life in detail. It wasn't just me that I had to think about – and he was seven years older and less inclined to gossip about such matters. "I've only been with Dimitri," I admitted.
Eddie's brow furrowed. "Before you were eighteen, before you left the academy," he pieced together.
"Well, as far as my mom knows, I was eighteen, so we'll stick with that, 'k?"
Eddie chuckled, "Your secret is safe with me, Hathaway. Or should I start calling you Mrs. Belikov? When's this big wedding happening?"
I laughed, "No, Hathaway is perfectly fine – and I don't know, we have to set a date."
"Well, hurry and pick one quick. I'm willing to bet Christian's just waiting until you tie the knot to ask Lissa."
"Really?"
Eddie shrugged, "Probably."
"We have a lot to figure out," I said idly, looking over to Dimitri who had caught my gaze while talking to Alberta.
"'Nah," Eddie said. "Lissa will do most of the work, or well, arrange it. You just have to show up."
Suddenly, the thought of only planning a wedding was ten times less scary than before. If only that was my only problem right now. I forced a smile and nodded agreeably as Lissa called everyone together. During our hangout, the decorators had hung a beautiful crystal chandelier in the middle of the room, strung small, white string lights from it to the edge of the room in every direction possible, ensured the lighting and sound was up to par, and started setting the dinner tables.
I realized the waiter from earlier was going around with glasses that were full of champagne and he went around to everyone as Lissa called a toast. I was about to take a glass to forget about everything, when Dimitri took my hand tightly and looked down at me disapprovingly.
Shit. Pregnancy.
No alcohol.
Oh, fuck. Could this get any worse? Not that I drank often, but well, suddenly, today most definitely felt like a drinking occasion.
"No thank you," I said finally as the waiter went by me, Lissa giving me a weird look.
Hopefully I could play it up to my nauseous stomach, but I knew this conversation had to happen sooner rather than later. I gave her a reassuring smile and she raised her glass.
"To friends, who are more like family, and a really, really fun time tonight. Let's get super drunk and make memories, like we used to before… well, before we grew up."
Everyone clinked glasses together, and I was glad Dimitri had refused his drink, too, so I wasn't the only one standing out.
"Do you want to pre-drink in our suite?" Lissa asked everyone.
Adrian agreed, but Sydney decided to go back with Daniella and Declan until the party. Eddie, inclined to follow Adrian, went, in addition to Jill who wanted to follow Eddie and Sonya came over, putting a hand on my arm. "You're blessed, child," she said softly. "Remember that."
I felt sick again, the true reality hitting me, and as Lissa approached, I did my best to give her a confident smile so she wouldn't worry about me today, but I had a feeling by the look on her face, that I had failed. "Come on, a few tequila's will straighten your stomach out. We haven't gotten drunk together since… Jeez, it's been forever. Tonight is the perfect time."
Well, yeah, it would have been, less than a day ago at least when I was still ignorant about incubating a child. "I'm really not feeling well, Liss. I'll be there tonight, I promise, but I think I'm going to lay down. I'll probably visit the clinic and see if they can give me anything." Well, not really, but I didn't want her to worry and I wasn't ready to tell her yet and ruin her party.
She frowned but nodded and hugged me. "Fine, but we're celebrating tonight, so get some rest and take some medicine."
I frowned as everyone left, Dimitri and I – along with the twenty or so decorator and caters, alone in the throne room. "C'mon, you should rest."
"I swear," I said, hoping it sounded braver than I felt. "If you worry about me constantly for the next… however many months, you'll have to commit me because I'll lose my mind."
He chuckled and started walking with me, hand in hand, out the doors and back to our suite. "I won't hover," he promised. "But as soon as Lissa knows, we need to find a doctor to check you out."
"You do a pretty good job checking me out already, comrade," I grinned.
He chuckled, "Unfortunately my specialty seems to lie within initiating the pregnancy – not the upkeep."
"Monday we can go," I promised. "I'm off and we can go before your night shift starts. That leaves only tomorrow to tell Lissa and Christian."
"See? Baby steps," he squeezed my hand and we walked back in silence to our room. When we got there, I still felt strange – like an out of body experience. Dimitri led me to the bed, and I laid back, sighing.
"Am I going to be able to enjoy food through-out this thing or is my stomach going to be too preoccupied trying to create life that it forgets that I need food for sustenance?"
Dimitri chuckled, "Crackers are good for morning sickness. If it's bad, we can see about some medication to help, but lots of water, crackers, ginger, and try small meals. I'll go out later and pick some up. When we go out Monday, we'll get you a prenatal, too. They may help with the nausea, too, and help the baby's development."
"Woah, okay, were did you get your medical degree from? I thought your only extracurricular activity besides, well, me, was your Wild West fantasies?"
"My sisters and their pregnancies," he mused, ignoring my taunt. "You're not the first dhampir to get pregnant, Rose."
"Maybe not," I sighed as he sat beside me. "Probably the first previously shadow kissed dhampir who's with another dhampir that's restored and a Queen's Guardian, though. And who clearly doesn't know how to use birth control despite my best efforts."
An amused look crossed Dimitri's face and he leaned down, kissing my forehead. "Maybe, yes, but pregnancy is pretty standard despite the circumstances. Get some rest. I'll wake you up in time for you to get ready for the party."
He got up and turned the light off, and I rolled onto my back, looking down as I gingerly pulled my tank top up, revealing my stomach. As I said before, it looked the same, but well, it felt different looking at it – knowing there was a human inside, or cells, or whatever it looked like so far. My and Dimitri's cells. The sick feeling faded, replaced by tremendous love. This baby, although scary, was a part of Dimitri, and nothing – absolutely nothing, in the world that was a part of him was any less than extraordinary. Dimitri hovered by the door, watching me, and I pulled my shirt back down. "Comrade?"
"Yes, Rose?"
"How about we finish what we started in that bathroom instead…."
He hesitated by the door before coming back to the bed and laying down on his side. I turned on my side to face him, and I kissed him passionately. He returned the kiss easily, and as his hand immediately went to my stomach, I paused and pulled back. "Is sex okay… I mean, after all, it's what got us into this mess to begin with."
"Yes, Roza," he breathed. "As long as you're feeling up to it, sex is fine." I flushed, and he pulled me close.
"Good, because I'm not abstaining for the next nine months. I can handle forgoing alcohol, but sex? When my fiancée is so devastatingly handsome and hot? Not a chance."
Dimitri grinned, and a smile crept up onto my lips, too, before his met mine again, any ill feelings toward the pregnancy now gone as he quickly got rid of my shirt and caressed my stomach before I got his shirt off, our clothing piling up on the floor beside us, as we merged into one.
Or, well… three?
This was weird, but I was sure it was about to get a lot weirder.
Regardless, it felt the same as normal, expect there was an unspoken fierceness behind Dimitri's movements – as though, for the first time, he had everything he wanted, right in front of him.