#mathaway

Little Pink Plus Sign - Rose POV - Part 9/?

“Dimitri! Hurry, come here!”

Almost running into the door frame, Dimitri came sprinting into the bedroom. Panic filled every feature of his face. “Roza, what’s wrong?”

“Come here!” I urged smiling widely at him.

Cautiously, he walked towards me.  I reached eagerly for his hand and placed it on my small swollen stomach. Watching his face, I waited.

After a few seconds, I felt it, a tiny kick, and I watched as Dimitri’s face lit up. He excitedly placed his other hand on my stomach as well and splayed his fingers.

We deserved this little moment of happiness after the two months of apprehensive doctor’s visits that basically left us living our lives on eggshells. Not to mention all of the new rules I had to follow. I couldn’t drink coffee anymore which was a real tragedy, but as I felt the tiny kicks, I decided it was all worth it.

With my stomach clearly showing, I could hear the whispers in the hallways. Not everyone exactly believed our story, but luckily for us, there was bigger news at Court.

The story of Lissa’s pregnancy had spread like wildfire. Court was buzzing with excitement for the Dragomir baby. There were already bets on what gender the baby would be and what Lissa and Christian would name their first child. Lately, the names Rhea and Eric had been floating around quite a bit.

Though Lissa would never let it show, I knew the extra attention added much more unneeded stress to her life, and bless his heart, Christian did his best to shield her from it.

Gingerly, Dimitri leaned his ear up against my stomach. He whispered something in Russian and smiled up at me. “You’re so beautiful.”

Rolling my eyes, I smirked back at him. “Yeah, yeah, help me up, will you?”

Getting out of bed was becoming a daily struggle. My center of gravity was completely off and my once perfect balance now failed me in the simplest of ways. I swear Dimitri caught me from falling over at least once a day. His eyes were always watching me, preparing for my next klutzy moment.

“Hot chocolate?” he offered.

I thought for a second. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

He nodded and went to work heating the water. While he did that, I searched the fridge. I grabbed the dill pickles from the door and put a few in a bowl, completely aware of Dimitri’s eyes on the back of my head.

“Pickles? And hot chocolate?” he asked, making a face like I was the most disgusting person he’d ever met.

Pointing at my stomach, I raised my eyebrows at him. “You did this, Comrade. Now you have to live with the consequences.” He chuckled and shook his head.

Sitting down on the breakfast bar, I rested the bowl on my stomach. Honestly, these were the best pickles I’d ever eaten. I wasn’t going to let him bring me down. Also, it wasn’t the weirdest thing I’d eaten in the last few months. He was on duty the night I decided to put potato chips in my ice cream. It really wasn’t a bad combination to be completely honest.

Slowly and almost reluctantly, he slid a mug of hot chocolate my way. “Double chocolate?”

“What else?” he said shrugging.

Taking a big sip, I smiled blissfully at him. “Dimka, will you grab the oreos while you’re up.”

Scrunching his eyebrows together, he complied. I enthusiastically shoved an oreo in my mouth before chasing it with a pickle and a sip of hot chocolate.

“Alright, I’m going to go before I throw up,” he said simply kissing the top of my head.

“Training again?”

He nodded. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” I said stuffing another oreo in my mouth.

Lately, he’d been training my temporary replacement. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea, but Lissa needed someone to help out over the next few months especially since Dimitri was spending less and less time guarding her as he was opting to spend more time with me.

I leaned back and rested my hands on my stomach. The twins were still kicking slightly. “Just five more months guys. Hang in there with me.” They stopped moving at the sound of my voice. “I love you two already.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Groaning, I pushed myself up and made my way to the door. Pushing up to my tiptoes, I glanced out the peephole before opening the door eagerly.

My dad stood there awkwardly holding a present. “Rosemarie.”

“Hey, Dad!” I hugged him…well sort of hugged him trying to maneuver around my belly. “What are you doing here? Where’s Mom?” Now that she’d transferred her guardianship to him, I rarely saw them apart.

“Right here, Sweetie,” she said peeking out from behind him. She kissed my cheek and handed me a bag of In-and-Out.

“Oh my God, Mom. You’re a saint.”

She laughed. “Now I wouldn’t go that far, but I know that I always craved In-and-Out when I was pregnant with you.”

Taking a fry from the bag, I invited them inside. We sat down on the couch, Abe and my mom sitting adorably close together. She laced her fingers with his and nodded to me.

“We got you a little something, dear,” she said as Abe handed me the gift.

Wiping my hands off, I took it. “You guys didn’t have to get me anything. Really the food was enough.”

“Call it making up for the first eighteen years of your life,” Abe said simply. He kissed my mother on the forehead and I had to smile. He’d changed a lot since they got back together. Zmey was gone forever, replaced with a soft, loving father who I could almost, almost see as a grandpa.

Slowly, I removed the tissue paper and glanced inside. Pregnancy products. There was some soothing skin lotion, a couple of bella bands, and some weird walkie-talkie looking thing.

“It’s a fetal doppler,” my mom explained. “Put the wand to your stomach and it’ll let you listen to the babies’ heartbeats.” She moved over towards me and helped me set it up. Within minutes, we were listening to two tiny heartbeats thump-thump-thumping against all odds.

Wiping a few stray tears away, I smiled at my mom. “Thank you so much. You have no idea…”

Hugging me tightly, she whispered, “It’s going to be okay, Rosemarie. I love you.” She wiped a tear away and glanced back at Abe. “Well, Sweetie, we should get going.”

He nodded and stood up. Kissing my cheek lightly, he said, “If you need anything, Rose, you call. Okay? Now that we’re back at Court, we’re never too far away. Alright?”

“Thanks, Dad. I will.”

Helping me up, he guided Mom and I to the door. Lifting my chin up, Mom kissed my nose. “You use that lotion, Rose. Trust me.”

“I will, Mom. Thank you guys. Really.”

“You’re very welcome,” Abe replied. Placing a hand around Mom’s waist, he closed the door behind them.

Abe POV

It was hard to contain my excitement. I hadn't seen Janine in over two months and here I was…in Glasgow of all places. I made my way to the café that we had arranged to meet. I made the mistake of bumping into someone and realised where Janine got her lovely charm from when they called me a 'Fucking eidgit.' I wasn't sure exactly what it meant…but I knew it wasn't a compliment. 

I sighed looking around the street I was walking on. It was hard to imagine Janine walking down this street and I wondered if she adopted the same colloquialisms when she was back home. I got a gust of wind and shivered, tightening my coat. It was a lot colder than I expected due to the bitter winds. I stepped into the small Italian café and scanned the room looking for Janine. My eyes landed on her and my heart leapt in my chest. I made my way over to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I missed you," I murmured, pressing a kiss against her head. Janine forced a smile and I felt myself frown. It had been so long since I last seen her and I had expected her to have missed me too. But…the smile on her face was distant…business like even.

I took my seat opposite her and I watched her carefully. I wasn't sure how to act around her. Our time together over summer…had been amazing but now…her cold front was back up…and much like the weather I could feel a bitter edge to her. Janine sighed and ran a hand through her hair. I followed the movement of her hands and I swallowed the lump in my throat as the realisation set in. She didn't want to be here…so why did she ask me? I thumbed at the items in my pocket and waited for her to speak. Janine picked at her fingernails and looked up at me.

"I have something to tell you," she said quietly. My heart froze in my chest as I ran through the possibilities. I don't love you anymore. This summer was a mistake…I've found someone else. What I wasn't ready for were the words she spoke.

"I'm pregnant Abe," She whispered, almost as if she was struggling to accept it. My eyes searched hers, waiting for the punch line. Only it never came. She was pregnant. My heart leaped in my chest and I leaned across the table, capturing her lips in a kiss. I leaned my forehead against hers and let out an elated sigh.

"Janine that is wonderful," I breathed. I dug around in my pocket for the ring I had been carrying for the past month, I held it out to her. "Marry me,"  My mind was racing, I wasn't going to lose her. She was pregnant…we were going to have a baby. I was too busy thinking about our family to realize Janine was talking. I glanced at her, tuning back into the conversation.

"What?" I asked, locking my eyes onto hers. Janine gulped and picked at her nails.

"I said that I can't marry you," she said, avoiding my eyes.  My heart froze in my chest and I reached out, taking her hand.

"Janine-" I began, trying to reason with her.

She tore her hand away. "Abe. I'm serious. I can't marry you. I won't marry you. I've put so much into my training…I've built a name for myself. I can't give that up," She said tugging her hand out of mine. My nose began to tickle and I tried to blink back my tears.

"What about us?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Janine, I love you,"

"I love you too Abe…but it's not enough. I won't give up my role as a guardian Abe…I want you to stay away. Don't contact me. Please don't make this harder than it has to be," she pleaded. My temper broke and I met her eyes.

"How can you ask me to stay away? What about our child?" I snapped. Janine met my eyes and she shook her head.

"Abe, I need to you to stay away…from both of us," she said, standing up. I shook my head, staring at the wall beside me.

"How can you ask me this Janine?" I asked, tears spilling onto my cheeks. "I love you and you know I'd love both of you,"  A brief flare of pain crossed Janine's features but she schooled it off her face and put on her guardian mask.

"Abe…if you love me you'll respect my wishes. Please," she said, walking past me. I grabbed her arm and stood up. If I knew anything about Janine, I knew she wasn’t one to back down. If she wanted me out of this child’s life and I stayed, it would only make her hate me. So, with great difficulty, I nodded. Digging into my pocket, I pulled out my Nazar and pressed it into her palm and rested my head against hers, the tears falling down my cheeks.

"Promise me two things?" I asked. Janine's eyes met mine and she nodded, a tear escaping her eyes.

"You'll let me know everything is okay when they're here," I murmured, resting my hand on her stomach. She nodded and I wiped a stray tear away. "And  second, if anything ever goes wrong and you need me. Call," I whispered, resting my head against hers.