Little Pink Plus Sign

An unexpected visitor

Everyone always talks about how wonderful pregnancy is, but no one ever told me the truth about pregnancy. No one ever mentioned the hot dog and Cheerios craving that hits at 2:45 am with little to no warning. They never brought up just how many damn times you pee in one day. And they certainly never said anything about how awkward your belly becomes after 33 weeks.

My only consolation was that the twins now had an amazing chance of survival as long as nothing happened during delivery. Their little heartbeats chugged away and brought a smile to my face every time I listened to them, but honestly I was ready for Evanna and Adelaida to be out of my belly.

After what seemed like an eternity of bickering, Lissa and Christian had finally settled on a name for their little boy. Initially Lissa had opted for Lucas Andre Dragomir, but Christian was adamant against it. He thought that naming the baby after his father would set a few people off in court, which it no doubt would. He countered with Eric Andre, but Lissa shot that down pretty fast.

"I want him named for both sides of the family!" she whimpered. "If he has to take my last name, you should at least have some part in his name."

Though I'm sure he still wasn't entirely convinced, Christian agreed to Andre Lucas Dragomir. He told Lissa that people wouldn't be as upset if Lucas was the prince's middle name, although I knew that was bullshit.

They'd still be upset. I knew that. Christian knew that. But he wanted to make her happy, and deep down he was still Christian, always prepared to tell people to go to hell when they disagreed with something that made Lissa happy.

"Roza, you home?" I heard Dimitri call from the front door.

"Yeah! I'm in the living room," I called back.

He peeked his head around the corner and smiled. "There's someone here to see you."

Suddenly, I was being scooped up in the arms of none other than Olena Belikova. She kissed my cheeks warmly and smiled at me with those golden brown eyes. "Rose, it is so nice to see you again!"

"Olena! It's so great to see you! How have you been?"

"I would be better, but I had to listen to мама complain the entire flight here," she joked.

Slightly surprised, I interjected, "Yeva is here?"

Then, a snarky voice sounded from the kitchen, "Она думает, что я хотел бы остаться позади, Тьфу!" I wasn't sure what it meant, but I could say with absolute certainty that it wasn't "nice to see you."

"The others had to stay, but Karolina, Sonja and Viktoria send their love. They'd have given anything to be here." Gingerly, she reached out and touched my belly. In protest, the girls kicked at her hand. "My, my...feisty one I see! So tell me, am I getting a granddaughter or a grandson?"

I looked quizzically up at Dimitri. "You didn't tell her?"

Shrugging, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought it was something she should hear from both of us." Sitting Olena down on the couch, he moved a stray hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "мама, you're going to have granddaughters."

Tears filled her eyes and she pulled him into a hug. "Twins?!"

"It's go big or go home in this family," I teased.

Suddenly appearing beside us, Yeva mused, "Вы очень благословил."

Noticing the quizzical look on my face, Dimitri translated, "You are very blessed."

"We are, aren't we?" I chimed, smoothing out my shirt over my belly.

"May I?" Yeva inquired pointing to my stomach. Before I could nod, she placed her hand delicately on either side. "Their lives will be full of beauty and love and..." She trailed off, making a face that quite honestly scared me.