Chapter 13
The two months since Demitri's departure had passed slowly. The first week hadn't been so bad, since he was able to communicate with Felicity. It had now been seven weeks since Felicity had last heard from Demitri and the worry was beginning to eat away at her. Kennedy left Hidden Springs after two weeks, Felicity was not sure where. Felicity had been staying in the main house since Kennedy's departure, sleeping in the single bed in the second bedroom. It saved her from walking back and forth in the snow. Rosa did her best to keep Felicity distracted, although some of her methods were not very helpful. Rosa fed Felicity a potion that ended up making her hair grow several inches before Rosa could get it to stop. Rosa apologized profusely, saying that rapid hair growth was not a side effect she had seen before. Felicity didn't mind too much. Kennedy could always cut it when she made her next appearance. Besides, Felicity had bigger things to worry about.
Her period was usually very regular, but she had not received her monthly visitor since before Demitri left for Egypt. Back when she was Jackson's prisoner, poor nutrition and stress threw her cycle off. It had been months since then and her period had long since returned to normal. Felicity was fairly certain something else was going on. Rosa went grocery shopping a couple of times a week and Felicity usually tagged along. Since she was traveling in the company of a very powerful witch and she was under a ward, going short distances was perfectly safe. While Rosa was reading labels and making sure none of her tomatoes were imported, Felicity bought herself a pregnancy test. Nervous, Felicity decided to wait to take the test until the next morning. It was a decision she came to regret as she had not gotten any sleep. After several long minutes, the results were in.
Her period was usually very regular, but she had not received her monthly visitor since before Demitri left for Egypt. Back when she was Jackson's prisoner, poor nutrition and stress threw her cycle off. It had been months since then and her period had long since returned to normal. Felicity was fairly certain something else was going on. Rosa went grocery shopping a couple of times a week and Felicity usually tagged along. Since she was traveling in the company of a very powerful witch and she was under a ward, going short distances was perfectly safe. While Rosa was reading labels and making sure none of her tomatoes were imported, Felicity bought herself a pregnancy test. Nervous, Felicity decided to wait to take the test until the next morning. It was a decision she came to regret as she had not gotten any sleep. After several long minutes, the results were in.
Felicity was pregnant.
Dropping the test, Felicity stumbled out of the bathroom and into Rosa's bedroom. She plopped down on Rosa's bed, drawing her knees up to her chest. This was not good.
Rosa stopped what she was doing and crawled onto the bed next to Felicity. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"I think I'm probably pregnant." Felicity replied. There was a chance that the test was faulty, that her emotional stress was bad enough to throw her out of whack, but it seemed unlikely.
"Oh, that." Rosa said, letting out a relieved sigh. "I thought it was something really bad."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Felicity replied, her voice higher than usual.
"I did some research and apparently that elixir I gave you does have the documented side effect of rapid hair growth. It only occurs when the person who drank the elixer is pregnant."
Any hope of a faulty test was dashed as Felicity stared at Rosa in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have believed me?" Rosa said, countering Felicity's question with one of her own.
"Probably not." Felicity admitted.
"Alright then. That's why."
"I think I'm probably pregnant." Felicity replied. There was a chance that the test was faulty, that her emotional stress was bad enough to throw her out of whack, but it seemed unlikely.
"Oh, that." Rosa said, letting out a relieved sigh. "I thought it was something really bad."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Felicity replied, her voice higher than usual.
"I did some research and apparently that elixir I gave you does have the documented side effect of rapid hair growth. It only occurs when the person who drank the elixer is pregnant."
Any hope of a faulty test was dashed as Felicity stared at Rosa in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have believed me?" Rosa said, countering Felicity's question with one of her own.
"Probably not." Felicity admitted.
"Alright then. That's why."
The next two weeks passed quickly. Rosa decided that she would move into the guest cabin and that Felicity would stay in the main cabin. She ignored Felicity's protests, telling Felicity that she would need the second bedroom for a nursery and they might as well both get used to the change as soon as possible. Rosa dragged Felicity to all the thrift stores within a three mile radius. Rosa also procured some art supplies for Felicity and helped her frame and hang the paintings she brought with her from Riverview. Her days occupied with furniture arranging and painting, Felicity did not have much time to worry about Demitri or her impending motherhood. Everything was worse when she was alone at night. Felicity had no idea where the father of her child was or if he was in danger, which he probably was. She didn't know when she would see him or hear from him again. They had not exactly been at a point in their relationship where having a baby was a good idea, especially with a crazy vampire running around trying to kill Felicity. On top of it all, Felicity had no idea what the implications of having a half vampire baby were. With everything in the cabins done except the nursery, Felicity had already been given more time to think about what could go wrong than she ever wanted. Right now she was focusing on her painting, determined not to let herself get bogged down in her thoughts.
While Felicity painted, Rosa was busy making lunch. Rosa had been cooking for the both of them, with varying degrees of success. Before she gained a housemate Rosa lived on pizza and salad, two things that required absolutely no cooking skills other than pushing buttons or stirring. Rosa decided that since Felicity couldn't cook and would need a healthy diet for the baby, Rosa would just have to cook for the both of them. Her theory was that cooking was just a different kind of alchemy. Rosa was good at alchemy, so what wouldn't she be good at cooking? While Felicity admired Rosa's newfound enthusiasm for the kitchen, she was dubious about Rosa's theory.
"I burned the macaroni again." Rosa said, waving her hand in front of her face as the smell of burned cheese and noodles invaded her nostrils.
"Just make waffles again. You never burn those." Felicity replied, not looking up from her painting. Rosa groaned.
"Waffles again? I'm getting sick of them." Still, Felicity could hear her moving around the kitchen as she cleaned up the macaroni and gathered ingredients for waffles.
"Waffles again? I'm getting sick of them." Still, Felicity could hear her moving around the kitchen as she cleaned up the macaroni and gathered ingredients for waffles.
Forty-five minutes later, Rosa and Felicity sat down at the kitchen table to eat their waffles. Felicity dug in, but Rosa hesitated, watching Felicity.
"You have some potential for magic, Felicity." Rosa finally said. "I could teach some things if you would like. I'm not sure how powerful you are, but if you learned to cast your own ward you wouldn't be stuck here for me to renew it."
"You have some potential for magic, Felicity." Rosa finally said. "I could teach some things if you would like. I'm not sure how powerful you are, but if you learned to cast your own ward you wouldn't be stuck here for me to renew it."
Felicity swallowed before replying. "That would be great." She continued eating with a smile on her face. She had the potential to be a witch who could protect herself instead of making other people do it for her. Maybe she would be better able to protect her child, and Demitri as well.
After lunch, Felicity put on her coat and went outside to check the mail. Despite the fact that she had checked the mail daily for the past eight weeks and found nothing but bills or odd circulars addressed to Rosa, she could not help but hope that there would be something for her. Though she did not know where to contact Demitri, he knew where to contact her.
For the forty-ninth time since Demitri's departure, Felicity's hopes were dashed as she opened the mailbox and found nothing but an envelope addressed to Rosa and a coupon for the spa that had probably been sent to every household in town.
Frustrated and unhappy, Felicity decided to go for a walk to clear her head. So far Felicity had kept the promise she made to Demitri not to cry, but as she walked into the wind and snow she finally let go. Right now she was angry and scared and hormonal, all excellent reasons for her to cry. It was as much Demitri's fault as hers that she was pregnant, and the timely was incredibly shitty. Felicity had always wanted children in the 'sometime in the future' sense of the word. It had never even crossed her mind that she could have children with Demitri. Felicity knew absolutely nothing about vampire reproduction, except that females couldn't get pregnant.
Once she was finished with her cry, Felicity continued walking. She was beginning get tired when she realized she was not sure where she was and that the snow was coming down faster. Shivering, Felicity rubbed her gloved hands together. It had never been this cold in the town where she grew up, so Felicity was completely unused to the cold. She needed to warm up and get her bearings.
About a hundred feet away, Felicity spotted a cabin that Rosa had pointed out to her several weeks previously. Rosa told her the cabin was maintained by the city and available to those who needed it. Apparently they got a lot of lost hikers.
Plunging through the snow, Felicity made her way up to the cabin and let herself inside. It was empty and all of the lights were off. Peeling off her coat and gloves, Felicity went around turning on lights and preparing the fireplace for a fire.
After a few minutes she had a nice blaze going that warmed the little room up nicely. She could see the snow continuing to fall outside the window as the chill in her bones was replaced with a comfortable warmth.
The snow didn't look like it planned on stopping anytime soon. Exhausted and sleep deprived, Felicity laid down on the sofa for a nap and hoped she wouldn't get any lice.
Some time later she woke up and looked around. The fire was nearly out and the snow had stopped falling. Felicity put the little cabin back in order before pulling on her coat and gloves. She was fairly certain she could remember the way back to Rosa's home from here.
After two hours walking through deep snow, Felicity finally made it back to the cabin. Rosa was waiting for her as she stepped inside, shivering so hard her teeth chattered audibly. "Go take a nice hot shower and change into something warm." Rosa said with concern, helping felicity out of her coat. "I was worried about you. You've been gone for hours and it was starting to get dark. If you were gone any longer I would have put out some finding spells." Felicity was silent, heading towards the bathroom to take Rosa's advice. "Meet me out here when you're done and you can tell me what's wrong." Rosa called out just as Felicity shut the bathroom door behind her.
Once she was showered, in her pajamas, and thoroughly warmed up, Felicity took a detour to the nursery before going to talk to Rosa. The only piece of furniture was an old crib, along with one of Felicity's paintings on the wall. There was also a rocking chair in the living area, but nothing made the baby seem real.
Today it had finally sunk in. Felicity was having a half-vampire baby on her own, and she was terrified.
Going out into the living room, Felicity sank down on the sofa and buried her face in her hands. She was pregnant and she had no idea what to do. If she'd had any more tears left, she would have cried again.
Felicity heard Rosa sit down next to her. "It will be okay you know." Rosa said softly.
Felicity sat up quickly, her head spinning from the sudden movement. "How do you have any way of knowing that? I'm going to be the single mother of a vampire baby and I don't even know what that means."
"Well, for starters you're not going to be a single mom. Demitri will come back eventually, maybe even before the baby is born. Until he comes back and even after you'll have me to help you. You seem to be forgetting that I am a powerful witch. Any witch of note is also a pretty decent midwife. I'll be with you through this whole thing."
"You're a midwife?" Felicity asked incredulously. "Does that mean you know what my baby will be like?"
"Sure. The peanut is either human or vampire, not a mixture of the two. You've got a fifty-fifty chance, just like with gender. I don't know why and there's no way to know until the kid is born. Your pregnancy will be rougher than most, but like I said, I'll be around to help you out. I know it hasn't been easy, especially with Demitri gone and unable to communicate. He's probably in the middle of nowhere right now and I would bet my life that if he could contact you we would. I won't lie, what he's doing is dangerous, but Demitri's been around for a while. He's strong and he's got conviction. He'll be okay."
"Sure. The peanut is either human or vampire, not a mixture of the two. You've got a fifty-fifty chance, just like with gender. I don't know why and there's no way to know until the kid is born. Your pregnancy will be rougher than most, but like I said, I'll be around to help you out. I know it hasn't been easy, especially with Demitri gone and unable to communicate. He's probably in the middle of nowhere right now and I would bet my life that if he could contact you we would. I won't lie, what he's doing is dangerous, but Demitri's been around for a while. He's strong and he's got conviction. He'll be okay."
Felicity sat in silence for a few moments, thinking about what Rosa had said. Slowly, a tentative smile spread over her face. "I'm going to have a baby, and... and I'm happy about it."
Rosa gave Felicity a broad smile. "Congratulations."
Rosa gave Felicity a broad smile. "Congratulations."
A.N: First of all, I switched Felicity's skintone from her non default to my default skin after I accidentally uninstalled her non default. Secondly, some of you may be wondering where Demitri is, when he will show up again, etc. I have decided to not have him reappear until he comes back to Hidden Springs for good. When he does, his experiences will be revealed through a series of flashbacks. Ultimately this story is about Felicity, so even though her day to day is less exciting than Demitri's she will remain the main focus of the story.