"- Katerina. I'm not going to beat around the bush with you! You're grown up now, and now that you're a widow... You and Liliya should leave Bulgaria..."
What?! What? Wait, did he just say that?! No... no no no... I must have misheard! I must have heard wrong! Tell me he didn't just say that! Tell me Oleg Petrova, my father, Tatko, didn't just tell me, calmly, that I should leave Bulgaria! Like, the only place where I'm not likely to run into a vampire or a witch in Klaus's service! No, that's impossible... Of course not, why should I leave my country when I've followed all the rules?! Tatko, stop with the jokes, it's not for you.
"- Katerina... I'm saying this for you and especially for your baby. You need to understand that the moment you got married, you officially become an adult. And... it might be cruel of me to remind you, but you need to know this before you can't make any more choices."
Ouch, ouch, I don't feel good about this, not at all. Tatko never beats around the bush! He just dives in headfirst without looking! Ouch, ouch, it's not stopping today! What's going to fall on me next?
"- You see, Katerina before you got married, Sia and I made the choices for you. It's called parental rights, and since you're a woman, when you married Aleko, it was him who made the choices for you, not your mother or me."
Yes, I know that, thanks! We're in 1490, so women still have no rights, and it's the man who decides. But what does that have to do with the fact that I should leave Bulgaria? This makes absolutely no sense! At least, I don't see the connection!
"- Hmm... You see, after... your husband's death, Aleko's powers don't return to your parents but to the village chief..."
Oh yes, I've heard about this once... Well, it doesn't matter... The village chief isn't a bad person... In fact, I don't even remember his last name... I think it's Igor Roma... Ruma... Ugh, I don't remember... Anyway, he won't do anything to me since he's married. So no problem!
"- I guess you don't remember what you did to his daughter, judging by your face!"
What?! What did I do again? I hurt his daughter?! Because Igor whatever his name is has a daughter?! Oh no, I feel sorry for her! She hasn't been spoiled... Wait... but I never did anything to hurt anyone, I don't even talk to them! The last person around my age I spoke to was... who was it again? Oh right, I had forgotten about her... that damn Ramanova. Oh shit! Tell me she's not his daughter! Otherwise, I'm screwed! On the other hand, that would explain her lack of manners and education...
"- Tatko, can you remind me of the name of our esteemed chief, please?"
Tatko seemed a little thrown off for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure, and I could see from his face that he was holding himself back from giving me a lecture. After all, he hates it when anyone mentions the chief when he's around, whom he affectionately calls 'the bald bastard.'
"- Igor Ramanova."
Double shit! He's the father of that damn Ramanova... sorry, Suzanna Ramanova. This is getting worse and worse today! Can we just redo the day... Because this is just a horrible day!
But what am I going to do?! Now I'm not even safe in my own country! Damn it! What am I going to do?! Leaving Bulgaria is throwing myself into the wolf's den, namely Klaus, but staying is putting me in the hands of the Ramanovas, who will make my life a living hell! The worst part is that if he wants, Ramanova could take Nadia away from me since he'd have all the rights over me! And I seriously doubt he'd gently hand her over to another family.
Suddenly, I felt a painful contraction in my belly. Surprised, I placed my hand on my round belly as if to check that everything was okay, but I felt another pain, even worse, which made me cry out involuntarily.
"- Katerina! What's happening?!"
I couldn't answer, only feeling something flowing down my legs. Please tell me it's not what I think it is! I didn't just lose my water, did I?! Not now!
Ugh! It hurts!
"- Damn! Sia! Sia! Katerina just lost her water! It's going to be okay, sweetheart, alright? Sia!"
If I wasn't suffering like I was, I would probably be shocked at how Tatko just called me... Though, I am still a little shocked!
Oleg gently picked me up in his arms and carried me as quickly as he could to my parent's room. Mama arrived quickly, followed by Natalia, carrying a basin of water.
"- It's going to be okay, sweetheart... now listen to me carefully. I want you to take deep breaths, and when you have a contraction, I want you to push with all your strength. It'll be quick, you just need to be very brave."
"- You can do it, Katerina! Hold my hand as tight as you want," Natalia whispered in my ear.
As soon as I took her hand in mine, another contraction hit. Like Mama had told me, I pushed with all my strength despite the pain. I must have had about ten more contractions before Nadia was fully out of my uterus.
"- It's a girl!" Mama said, moved.
"- Congratulations, big sister!"
Oh my god! Nadia... is born... she was born just as her father passed away... But what am I going to do?
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