God graces Rose and Dimitri with a Star

Chapter 2

DPOV
I had to know if Rose was alright. I had to know if my guess had been right. Was the one and only Guardian Rose Hathaway about to become a Mom?

I still loved her. No matter what. My heart had slowly opened up to more and more emotions. Love had been the last to return because it was the most risky and painful; painful when you have to hide it and keep it bottled up, and painful when things go wrong. It was because of that love and my protective instinct regarding Rose, that I'd tried to distance myself from her. I had her hurt her so many times and in so many ways, so I had to protect her from myself. That's not to say I never wanted to talk to her again, that I didn't want to interact with her again. It didn't seem to matter now, she'd turned the tables on me. She was now being the cold-shouldering one.

I was still in the waiting room, pacing about and unable to sit still. I felt like pulling my hair. I was sure labour was the only thing that could cause that ear-piercing and bloodcurdling, pain filled scream. Those screams echoed in my head and resonated and shook me to my core. I hated Rose being in pain, absolutely hated it-it tore my heart two. The last time I'd heard Rose scream anything remotely close to that was while I was being drained, but even that was nothing in comparison to the scream I'd heard through the phone and the one I'd heard before kicking down the door. How Rose could have even thought about the consequences for me while in such pain was beyond me.

"Mr Belikov?" the nurse interrupted my thoughts. I had the feeling she'd tried to get my attention a couple times.
"Yes?" I asked frantically. "Is Rose okay? What's wrong with her?"
"Guardian Hathaway has requested you. We need to hurry. Follow me," she instructed and led me through the maternity ward, into the scrub up room next to a delivery theatre. I hurriedly yet properly followed instructions when I was alerted to the fact Rose was nearly ready to push.

"Get your ass over here, Comrade!" Rose ordered.
"What do you need me to do, Rose?" I asked gently. Not calm enough to set her off, but not frantic enough to cause the same reaction.
"Sit your butt down behind me. Support my back and give me bo- FU**!"

At the sound of her scream, I don't think I'd ever moved so fast in my life. And that's saying something given I was including my Strigoi time in that.

"I'm right here, Rose, I'm right here," I tried to sooth.

I wasn't even going to begin to imagine the pain she was going through. And her pain threshold was impressively high. She could handle more than a lot of pain, but this was reducing her to tears.

"Rose, I need you to push on the count of three," the midwife informed. "Ready, one... two... three."
"ARGH!" Rose let out a scream that broke my heart. Meanwhile, her hands were attempting to break mine, her nails bit into my skin in an attempt to also beak it.

"You're doing well, Rose, you're doing very well. On the count of three, I need you to push again." Rose nodded at the midwife while trying to focus her breathing. "Dimitri bloody Belikov, you're alwa-" she got cut off by the midwife.
"Alright, one... two... three."
Rose screamed and used my hands as a stress ball. Let me say, it hurt. It really hurt, but it was nothing compared to what the love of my life was experiencing.

"I can see the head, Rose. I'm going to need you to push again very soon, Rose."
"This makes those damn laps seem like a walk in the park," Rose panted.
"Roza, you're so strong, so so strong and incredibly brave. You can do anything you set your mind to. Breathe and focus, Roza, breathe and focus. I'm right here," I murmured in her ear and ran my hands through her wet yet still beautiful hair. "I'm right here."

"Rose, I need you to push again. On the count of three," Rose grabbed my hands when midwife instructed her. "One... two... three."
Another scream ripped from Rose's mouth and she attempted to break my hand again.

"Very well done, Rose. The head's through. Very shortly, I'll need you to push one more time." Rose had barely gotten her breathing back before it was time to push again. "Here we go, Rose, on three. One... two... three."
A baby's cry was heard seconds after Rose finished screaming.
"Is it a boy or girl?" Rose asked in a weary voice once she could breathe.
"You have a beautiful daughter, Rose." A tired smile crossed her face as she collapsed into my chest.
"Can I hold her?"
"Congratulations, Guardian Hathaway," sincerely said the midwife and nurse as the midwife handed Rose her daughter after cutting the umbilical cord.
"Help me, Dimitri? My arms have never felt so jello," Rose directed while setting her arms into the formation to hold her little girl.
"Of course, Roza," I whispered and folded my arms around her, underneath her own, supporting her in whatever way she needed.
The midwife placed the newborn in her mother's embrace, and I don't think I'd ever seen such a loving, adoring and determined look on her face. Rose was beautiful, despite the tears and sweat, this moment was beautiful, and her daughter already seemed to radiate a power-and beauty, in the baby sense.
"I love you, baby girl. So much, so so much my precious little one," Rose cooed. "I promise to be there for you. I promise I won't make your grandmother's mistakes. I love you, and I promise to make sure you know it and feel it." Roza ran her right hand ever so lightly and tenderly over her tiny tot's form.
"You're beautiful, Rose. Both of you," I muttered lovingly and she turned her head to face me.
A million messages flowed between us before she spoke. And, for the first time in three months or more, she dared to say two sets of three little words I never expected her to direct at me again after I'd broken her heart, seemingly beyond repair.
"I love you. I've forgiven you," she declared in a tone and with an expression she hadn't used since the cabin. She wasn't trying to get me back, to make me say it back. She was simply stating the fact in a way that told me she'd stopped trying to distance herself from me, that she'd come to terms with the fact that love doesn't fade, that her love for me hasn't and won't.