Sound asleep, Dimitri gets some much-needed sleep from being on the move for so long to get what was needed to save Emily's life that he didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep.
Slowly stirring from his sleep, he can feel Emily in his arms.
Dimitri's eyes spring to life when it dawns on him that Emily is no longer just lying in the position that she was when he fell asleep. Emily was now snuggled up to his side like she always did when they would sleep together every night. Dimitri could feel Emily breathing steady as his hand rested on her side.
Slowly moving Emily out of his arms, Dimitri slides out of bed and just stares at her, sleeping peacefully. "Is this a dream?" Dimitri thought as he rubbed his face. Dimitri moved closer to Emily to wake her like he had always done since they had moved back to his house. Dimitri paused when reality hit him. This was not a dream, but a reality of what he had done to her. Dimitri wanted to wake her up but didn't want to disturb her either. He stood and pondered the decision.
All of a sudden, Emily rolls over away from him, still asleep. Dimitri's stops breathing as he watches in amazement. "Emily, are you awake?" Dimitri says in a whisper as he sits on the side of the bed.
Emily never says a word as Dimitri finally gets up the nerve to reach over and roll her over to face him. Emily faces upward on her back but does not wake when Dimitri moves her. "Emily, please wake up, love," Dimitri whispers as he strokes her hair.
Choking back the tears, Dimitri leans down to Emily. "I know your in there. You moved love, come back to me. Please wake up," he whispers.
Dimitri waits and waits as Emily lays still and doesn't move a muscle. "Emily, come back to me," he tells her as his voice starts to tremble with disappointment.
Almost losing hope, Dimitri scoops Emily up from the bed and pulls her into his arms. Dimitri takes Emily to the end of the bed and sits down with her on his lap. Emily's head falls to Dimitri's shoulder as he sits there, rubbing her hand and back. "You need to come back to me," Dimitri says with demand in his voice.
"I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I will never forgive myself if you don't come back to me. Please, Emily, come back. We're going to have a baby, and you need to come back to me. I need you more now than ever," Dimitri says as he pulls her closer to him.
Emily shifts in Dimitri's arms, and her eyes flutter open. Dimitri gasps as he turns her in his arms. "Hey you," Dimitri whispers as he strokes Emily's face.
"Welcome back, don't do that to me ever again," he says in a stern voice. "Did I die?" I ask. "Only for a brief moment, I thought I lost you forever. My world ended, Emily. I can't live without you. I will never put you in harm's way again. I can't tell you how sorry I am for what I did. When Daniel called and said you had died, I lost it. I would have never forgiven myself," Dimitri says.
"You and this baby are my world," Dimitri says as he strokes my face. "What! What are you talking about? A baby! Am I pregnant?" I gasp at the sudden shock.
"Yes, love you are with child. My child and I will protect you and our son or daughter with my life," Dimitri whispers as he pulls me closer.
A baby, a baby with Dimitri, my one wish that I had a long time ago. A new pain opens for a brief moment when I remember the first child we lost, but a new joy fills me when I think of a little girl or boy that I thought was impossible to have was finally coming true. I lean over, taking Dimitri's face into my hands. "Never feel bad for what you did. I told you to do it. It was my choice. So, never blame yourself for what happened. I'm fine, and now we are going to start a new life together. I don't regret anything. I have you back, and that means the world to me, I tell him as tears form in my eyes.
Then a sudden fear hits me. "Dimitri, you were a Nightwalker when we.....What if the baby is a Night Walker too?" I ask with a daunting fear of the truth. "We don't know just yet what the baby is, but it's alive, and that's all the matters to me. I got you and the baby. It doesn't matter what it is. We will face the situation no matter what the outcome. We will make this work," Dimitri says as he tries to reassure me. But deep down inside, I'm scared to death.
Dimitri calls for the nurse as he keeps me held tight in his arms. I'm a bit surprised when I see Lisa walk into the room. I still remember getting checkups from Lisa for years. I find it surprising that she was not killed with everyone else when the Nightwalkers evaded our home. "Can you strip down to your under where so I can examine you and the baby?" Lisa asks. Dimitri sets me on the edge of the bed and helps me take off my nightclothes. Dimitri then helps me get to the top of the bed. I watch Lisa place a monitor on the table beside the bed and turns it on. "This will be a little cold," Lisa tells me before she places the probe on my belly. I watch as Lisa slowly starts moving it across my belly and stops as a strong heartbeat fills the room. The baby's heartbeat, my baby, and it's alive.
I glare over at the screen to see a small little dot. It doesn't even look like a baby yet, but it's got a heart, and it's strong. "So, what do you see?" I ask Lisa as she studies the screen. "It's too early to tell anything other than it's alive," Lisa says as she moves the wand more to get some measurements of the baby.
"So how far am I?" I ask pretty much knowing the answer to that one since me, and Dimitri only had the opportunity only a few times in a few weeks. "It looks like you are eight weeks, give or take a few days," Lisa says as she finishes the measurements.
We will put you on a good diet, and I'll give you something to help put some weight back on you. We will continue lots of fluids and plenty of supplements and vitamins. I'll keep a close eye on the baby's progress, and hopefully, as it develops more, we can determine what it is. A boy, girl, fairy, or nightwalker," Lisa says as she finishes up. My heart sinks as I think of raising a little nightwalker. I wasn't sure how I would manage it since I knew nothing about them other than they destroyed my family and lived on blood. What would I be able to offer a child like that? My mind raced at the odds of my situation.
