The news we haven't expected

"You need to follow me right now," he said, then bowed his head and disappeared from the cafeteria as fast as he came here. We exchanged looks with Mallory, then stood up, left our cups of coffee, and went to the gynecologist's room. He was waiting for us with the family doctor, whom we met at the beginning. We sat on the sofa and relaxed, while they tensed. Their hands started to shake, and the documents in their hands as well. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat.

"Listen, dear doctors, I need to hear the results of my checkup as soon as possible. And I don't care why your hands are shaking. Tell me whatever you have found, and we'll never see each other again. I hope," I looked at them with my look full of anger, and they seem to wake up from my rude voice. The family doctor cleared his throat and held me the documents. His hands were still slightly shaking as if he was drinking non-stop.

"Due to the results we got, everything is okay with you. We haven't found anything abnormal that could explain why you felt as you told me." He looked at his colleague, who held me another bunch of documents. His hands were shaking as if he was drinking even more than the previous one. What a bunch of damn scared rats.

I took with some kind of disgust those documents and hid them in my purse.

"Now briefly."

"Unfortunately," the doctors exchanged views for a second until the gynecologist continued, "We can't tell if you're pregnant or not by only using ultrasound. The skin is too tough, even if you're half-human. However, from the symptoms you told us about, we can say you might be pregnant. But…" before I could interrupt him saying my protest about their skills and abilities, he continued, "We can take your blood and make a test. However, it requires some time. A day or two, considering you being a rare dhampir."

"If her blood will be tested in any other cases, you all will be turned to ash. I warned you." Mallory said, and then stood up, crossing her hands over her chest, "You have one day. We won't wait anymore. Aurora, let's go out of here."

"Wait, we need to take her blood!" The gynecologist screamed at our backs, and I stopped, and so did Mallory.

"Call the Markus and tell him I'm fine. I'll be quick," I turned back to the room to give them some of my blood for a test, however deep in my heart I suddenly understood I don't need any tests. My period is delayed for about a week or so, and there's no other reason than being pregnant. Maybe, I should use something else, something, females always do when they are pregnant?

{We can go to the drugstore and buy a pregnancy test? Even if I'm dhampir, it might show me the results. Maybe, even two or three of them that differ in prices will be more useful, than those two idiots.}

With that thought, I sat in the car where Mallory was waiting for me. She said she already talked with Markus, and we were going back to his mansion. It made me really wonder what happened that Markus interrupted the bloody bank trip and even left Kristof's mansion, and even made Mallory leave it.

{Those girls should have told him those police rats whom they know. Does… does, Kristof work for the police as well? But… I thought he and Markus were the best old friends? Or am I missing something?}

Mallory was driving faster than supposed to be, but I managed to slow her down by asking her to make a stop near the drugstore. I haven't told her why I need a stop here, but I think she can guess why. Even, if she doesn't know about pregnancy tests and which you can make at home, she might know there's something that might help me.

After a few minutes, I turned back from the drugstore with a few tests that differ in price, but are quite good and will show results. This is the fastest way to check everything, and we don't need to wait for what those two idiots will say in a few days.

{Well, in case the tests I bought won't show the results, we can have another one to prove it or reject it.}

"What we'll do if nothing will show the results?" Mallory suddenly asked, turning me back from my thoughts to real life. I frowned.

"Do I need to be pregnant right now?" I arched an eyebrow, and Mallory slowed down a bit and turned her head in my direction. Her facial expression was calm, her lips slightly twitched into a smile, and she put her thin pale hand on my knee and I suddenly relaxed.

"I think you misunderstood me. Markus just told me the symptoms you had, and as a girl and a vampire who can reproduce as a normal human female, I thought your pregnancy is the best explanation. The baby can be the reason you feel disgusted with human blood, and all the other things as well. If you're not pregnant nowadays, it's not a problem. However, Markus dreamt about kids for a long time." Mallory turned back to the road and fastened to the mansion.

We arrived in half an hour at the mansion where I spent the last month. That mansion became my home, my castle, and my office. I spent there, the best time in my life and spent it with a man I love. Even, if I never believed in the love at the first sight before I met him, now I do believe in it.

When we went out of the car and entered the hall, Markus was waiting for us on the staircase and talking with Raphael. I smiled, hurried up to the stairs, and hugged him tightly as if we haven't seen each other for a long while. He immediately hugged me back and kissed the top of my head.

"Thanks for doing that," he whispered in my ear, pressed me to himself, and continued talking to Raphael, "I need you to inform all other mafia bosses about the meeting tomorrow evening. They need to be full, or they won't be allowed to enter my mansion."

"Will be done, Markus. Anything else?" Raphael asked with a calm voice, but I noticed something different in his voice, something I never heard from him before. He was shocked, and I became really curious about what happened when Mallory and I were out of the bloody bank Kristof own. I looked up at him and noticed fire jumping in his eyes. He was slightly irritated.

"Anything happened?" I asked, arching an eyebrow and looking straight into his eyes. He looked down at me, his facial features relaxed, and he hugged me tighter.

"Follow me, baby girl," he took my hand and led me to the third floor.

We went to our bedroom, Markus took off his jacket and threw it on the bed, then he took off his tie and then turned to me. He was preparing to say something very important, something that was bothering him and something that made him irritated. He was making himself free from unnecessary clothes as if it can help him to be free from some inner worries. I stepped closer to him and took his hand.

"We have a traitor among us," he told me as soon as I took his hand to show him my full support. His eyes narrowed, then blew out with orange fire, then he stepped back from me and shook his hand in an attempt to control his fire.

"And you think it's Kristof? Why do you think so?" I sat on the bed, still holding his hand and looking at his attempts to control his fire. It was lighting up on the tips of his fingers, then vanishing when he was taking the control back, and then appearing again when he loses it. I squeezed his hand and forced my shield to recoil from my body and move to his, covering his every muscle from head to toes, and forcing his fire to stay inside to not harm anyone.

Markus immediately turned back to me, and squeezed my hand, then pulled me to himself and wrapped my waist in a cocoon. I wrapped his neck with my hands and lightly kissed his lips.

"His behaviors changed from the time I decided to free those girls and cooperate with them to find out other police rats. He was looking afraid, as if he knew they'll tell something about him, I should never know. If he's a spy, then a good one, as my thoughts never turned to him in any situation." Markus kissed my forehead, and straightened up again, looking into my eyes. He was looking for answers there, but I'm afraid I know as much as he does. Maybe, even less.

"Mallory told me that you were talking with her about my strange behavior, I mean my nausea and reaction to blood. We went to check a gynecologist, but they are useless. The skin is too tough for the ultrasound to see if I'm pregnant or not."

I looked deep into his eyes, seeing him being upset about the news I brought. However, his reaction to my words made me understand that he suspected I can be pregnant with him and that checkups had only one reason we all understood.

"However, they took my blood to make some tests, but it will take a day or two for the results. Though, thank God, I'm half-human, and I know some tricks that could work." I let go of him, feeling my shield turning back to my body, then took out the tests from my purse and looked at him, "Give me a few minutes and wait for me here."

I went straight to the bathroom, feeling my heart threatening to jump out of my chest.

"Am I ready to be the mother?"