{Previously}
"Whoa" Rina whispered in shock. "So what you're saying is that I made you happy?" she asks him.

"Always" he responds, placing another kiss to her neck.

Given how Godric hasn't been in the sun in 2,000 years Rina was okay with smelling like sunshine for him – if only for a moment.
{End}

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

(1 month later)

"Marina, it's wonderful to see you again" Angela Jones, editor of Dallas Daily says to her as she held a hand out for Rina to shake when she made her way into Jade's Joint and approached the older woman.

"You too, Ms. Jones" Rina said as she shook her hand.

"Please. Call me Angela or Angie" the other woman says, "please sit" she said, gesturing to the seat across from her as Rina did so. "I trust that everything has been going well since we last saw each other?"

"Yes. I've recently finished with my final exams for my degree" Rina admits proudly. "All roads lead to graduation next year" she says excitedly.

"That's excellent to hear. Congratulations" Angie says to her as Rina thanked her humbly, "the reason I've called you is because of that" she says, "we're looking for someone to intern at our company and you were the first person that came to mind" she says.

"I'm honoured" Rina says as one of the waitresses, Sharon, made her way toward them.

"Hey Rina" she greets with a smile, "can I get you two something to drink?"

"I'll have an espresso" Angie says to her.

"The usual cinnamon foam coffee for you, Rina?"

"Yes please" Rina said as Sharon nodded at this before heading off to get their orders as Rina and Angie spoke some more about what the position at Dallas Daily would entail.

"Here you go" Sharon says as she placed their drinks before them. "Enjoy" she added as they thanked her.

Rina's coffee had smelled odd to her but she ignored it in favor of resuming her conversation with Angie but when she took a sip of it and her first reaction was to hurl she knew something was wrong.

"Excuse me!" Rina rushed out before rising from her eat and rushing to the bathroom, leaving a startled Angie behind as she rushed into the nearest stall and threw up.

She was in there for what felt like a year before cleaning herself up, rinsing out her mouth, cooling her face a little with some water and heading back to where Angie was sitting.

"Marina, is everything alright?" Angie asks her.

"Yes" Rina said with a nod, "I'm so sorry about that" she says. "The cinnamon doesn't seem to agree with me today" she added with a light laugh, attempting to bring some humour into the mix.

"Waitress" Angie said, gesturing Sharon over to them, "could we have a cup of tea instead? Rina isn't up to the cinnamon coffee today" she states.

"Sure thing ma'am. You okay, Rina? I can get you some nausea pills if you want" she offered.

"No it's okay, Sharon, but thanks" Rina says. "I'll just take a chamomile tea" she said as Sharon nodded at this as she took Rina's coffee away and replaced it with a chamomile tea.

"Here you go" she said when she placed it in front of Rina.

"Thanks" Rina said taking a sip of it. Sharon leaves when she sees that nothing happens. "You were saying, Angie?" Rina said as they resumed with their conversation.

Their meeting ended as both women said their goodbyes before Rina made her way over to the SUV that was being driven by her new driver, Arthur.

Godric insisted on it even though Rina kept telling him that she was capable of driving herself but unfortunately for her he has perfected the art of using intimacy and seduction to get what he wants so here she is.

"Home now, Miss Sinclair?" he asks when she opened the passenger door and climbed inside.

It had taken some time but she's finally gotten him out of the habit of opening and closing doors for her.

"Actually I want to drop by the pharmacy first" Rina says to him as he nodded at this.

She suspects that she's coming down with a bug because she's been feeling nauseated nowadays.

"Of course ma'am" Arthur nodded as he waited for her to slip her belt on before he started the car and drove her to the pharmacy.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"Hi, can I help you with something?" one of the pharmacists at Ackerman's Pharmacy asks Rina when she made her way over to the older woman.

"Hi, can I get something to help me with nausea?"

"Sure" the older woman nods, "how long has this nausea been going on?"

"A while now" Rina admits as the older woman froze at this.

"Any other symptoms?"

"I suppose I've also had a lack of an appetite these days" Rina says.

"Vomiting?"

"Yeah" Rina nods.

"I think I have just what you need" the older woman commented as she made her way around the counter, "please follow me, sweetheart" she said as Rina did so as the woman led her to the aisle with women's products. "Here. Try this" she said, grabbing a box of pregnancy tests and handing Rina one.

"Oh! No, I-I'm not pregnant" she says in a whisper.

"You might be, sweetheart."

"No, I'm really not" Rina denies.

She understand that this woman means well but seeing as Godric is the only guy she sleeps with and he's a vampire it's more than safe to say that she is NOT pregnant.

"You say you're nauseated and you're vomiting" the older woman says, "when was the last time you went on your period?" she asks, taking Rina aback at this since she hasn't had her period in nearly 2 months now.

"Uhm...can I just get pills for the nausea, please."

"Okay" the older woman replied with a knowing look before heading back to her station as Rina inhaled and exhaled deeply at this, feeling a miniature panic attack coming on.

She hasn't had her period but she figured that stress was the cause.

She's being stressed about a number of things lately: Sam's PTSD, Jade acting strange and her exams.

Godric is a vampire which means that it's impossible for her to be pregnant.

Yeah, there's no way she's pregnant.

Rina moved to head over to the station where the pharmacist was waiting for her but grabbed the tests at the last minute as she asked the older woman to ring them up along with the pills.

"You got it, baby girl" the older woman said with a knowing look in her eyes that made Rina feel shy and embarrassed like she was a 17 year old buying condoms again.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Rina was grateful that neither Sam nor Jade were at the house as she rushed to the bathroom with her pharmacy bag before locking her bathroom door and pulling out the box of pregnancy tests.

"This is ridiculous" she whispers to herself as she paced the length of the bathroom with box in her hands. "I'm not pregnant" she adds. "Vampires can't procreate" she says as she moved to toss the box back into the bag.

Something inside her convinces her to take one though, if only to prove the voice at the back of her head wrong.

She pulls one test out of the box and unbuttoned her pants before taking it.

She makes sure to wait the time stipulated on the box and when her phone's timer rings as signal that the test was ready she makes her way toward the test she left on her bathroom sink and lifted it from the sink to read the results.

The words written on the test chill Rina to the bone: pregnant.

Rina drops the test in shock before quickly picking it up.

"That's impossible. This test is wrong" she says before rushing over to the others as she took the rest of them too.

The word kept appearing on all of them as Rina's vision went hazy as she struggled to breathe.

Pregnant.

All of the test results were the same.

Rina grabbed her phone and dialed Sam's number.

"Hey Rina, what's up?"

"I...I can't breathe Sam" she managed to utter in between breaths.

"Rina?! Where are you?! What's happening?!"

"Home" Rina managed to utter before she collapsed onto the ground.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Rina groans before opening her eyes as she found Sam and Jade standing next to her.

"Hey there sleepyhead" Jade says tenderly. "You really scared us for a second" she says.

"S-Sorry" Rina says, "what happened?" she asks with a groan as the two sisters shared a look at this. "Tell me" she urges them.

"You...called me to tell that you were struggling to breathe" Sam starts hesitantly.

Rina nodded at the recollection when the memory started to come back before her eyes widen.

"Rina?"

"The tests" she says instead.

"We saw them" Jade confirms sheepishly.

"It...It's impossible" she said as she slowly sat up. "It's impossible, right?" she asks the two sisters.

"There are spells that we can perform so that you're 100% sure" Sam says as she came to sink slowly beside her onto the bed.

"O-Okay" Rina says with a nod. "Let's do those" she says.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"This won't hurt at all so just...relax" Sam says to Rina as she held a talisman over Rina's stomach before closing her eyes and concentrating as she started to chant softly.

"What does this spell entail?" Rina asks Jade.

"It's simple really. If you're pregnant then the talisman will spin clockwise and if you aren't then it will spin counterclockwise" Jade spoke up from her spot beside her.

Sam continued to chant as the talisman started to move slowly before it started to spin clockwise.

Sam, Rina and Jade gasp at this but their shock only grows when the talisman spun so fast that it literally flew out of Sam's hand and landed at Jade's feet as they all stared at the sight in disbelief.

Rina's shocked eyes meet with the Kingsley sister's pair as Sam and Jade also shared a look at this.

"Oh crap" Rina curses softly, knowing what this meant.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Pregnant.

Rina was pregnant and she has no idea how this is possible since Godric is the only man she sleeps with and he's a vampire.

Needless to say Rina panicked and Sam and Jade had to calm her down with magic given how she was spinning out.

She was so distressed that the mark Kuama gave her kept flaring orange as a result of her distress.

Rina begged Sam and Jade to take her as far from Godric's nest as possible and so they took her to her old apartment.

Rina had missed calls from Godric, which said a lot about her state of panic because he must have felt it in his undead sleep and considering he kept calling around the time the sun was at its peak he definitely got the bleeds from waking up then.

Rina sent him a message explaining that she was safe and would explain everything later that night before begging him to rest or risk getting the bleeds before turning her phone off.

She was seated on her couch, staring out of the windows in deep thought as Sam and Jade researched how it was possible for her to be pregnant to begin with.

"Basically what we've established so far is that this...situation is the result of a loophole" Sam explains to Rina when she turns to face them.

"We suspect that your phoenix side is responsible for this" Jade states.

"How?"

"Well that's what we're trying to figure out" Sam says sheepishly.

"The sun is going to set in 1 hour and Godric will be here as soon as the last rays disappear – if not before then" Rina comments, "and I have no idea how to explain to him that I'm pregnant" Rina says in distress, "he'll think I've been unfaithful."

"No, Rina. He won't" Jade says, "Godric knows that you love him and he knows that you wouldn't do that to him."

"What would you think if you were in his shoes, Jade? He's a vampire. He can't have kids" Rina retorts.

"The fact that you're pregnant means otherwise" Jade says to her.

"There is an explanation for this" Sam comments, "we just have to find it" she says.

"We have 59 minutes" Rina says, looking at the time on her cellphone. "Maybe less" she added.

"You're clearly very stressed, Rina. With good reason" Jade says, "how about you take a little break and Sam and I will keep searching for something?"

"I can't sleep" Rina says, "I won't be able to" she says.

"Maybe we could help" Sam offers.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

[The Dream Plane/Dream Realm]

"Hello, dear one" Kuama greets the startled Marina, who looked shocked to see the First Phoenix Queen.

"Queen Kuama?" she says in confusion, "b-but how?"

How can she see the First Queen if she isn't dead?

"You called for me" Kuama reveals to her. "And here I am" she says.

"I...I didn't..."

"Your phoenix told me that you were in great distress" Kuama reveals, "so I have come to...ease your fears" she added, placing a hand on Rina's belly as Rina's eyes widen at her meaning.

"The baby" Rina utters in realization.

"My gift to you and your mate as thanks for the great service that you did for me" Kuama says to her. "I offer him the chance to have living, breathing descendants walk the earth once more after 2,000 years" she added.

"But how–?" Rina asks in confusion.

"Many assume that fire can only destroy but there is more to fire than destruction, there is life in fire too" Kuama says to Rina. "How do you think Sumelion raised his armies of the undead?" she asks the younger woman, "with the magic of the fire that resides in all things: living and dead" she explains, "your mate is undead but his seed has taken root in you and lives" she added. "How? Because you have in you a phoenix, the inextinguishable fire" Kuama concluded with her explanation as she gave Rina a tender smile.

"I...don't know what you say" Rina whispers.

"Promise me that you will protect my gift to you and your mate and say nothing else" Kuama says to her.

"I promise" Rina says with a nod.

"Then know joy and peace, daughter of Atala" Kuama said kindly. "Are you familiar with dhamphirs?" she  questions.

"Half-vampires?" Rina asks her as Kuama nodded at this.

"Indeed" Kuama nodded, "They have not existed for many ages but there have always been legends of them" she shared, "they have the fortune of possessing all of a vampire's strengths with none of the weaknesses save for their thirst for blood" she explained to Rina. "You are going to birth a supernatural miracle, child. Go and share the news with your mate and remember that if you ever need me then just call" she added.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"G-Godric" Jade says nervously when she opened the front door of Rina's apartment and found the vampire standing there.

They knew it was only a matter of time before he arrived.

"Where is she?" he asks them coolly, looking like he was about to do some serious damage if they lied to him.

"She's..." Sam didn't get to finish her sentence before Godric sped past her as he headed to Rina's old room where he finds her waking from her sleep.

Godric flashed over to her and came to kneel before her as she blinked repeatedly before offering him a small smile.

"Hi" she whispers shyly.

"You frightened me today" he says, "I have never felt such panic from you since..." he trails off as he recalled when he last felt panic like that: just before Sumelion took her.

"I'm sorry" she says, sitting up. "Something really scared me and I...I didn't know how to process it" she reveals.

"What could have frightened you so much, mo grá? My progeny are ready to fly here at this moment" he revealed.

Nora and Eric called him to ask him if everything was alright since they felt his panic through their bond.

"They don't need to do that" Rina says, caressing his face. "This is just for us" she says as he waited patiently for her to elaborate. "I need you to be calm about what I'm about to tell you, okay?"

"Of course" Godric nods.

"I...I'm pregnant" she says to him, "and before you get upset and think I've betrayed you I just want you to know that it's yours" she added quickly.

"Vampires are incapable of procreating."

"Naturally that would be true" she agrees, "but it's not all vampires that are bonded mates with a phoenix that has recently been been restored to full power now is it?" she says to him.

"You carry our child in your womb?" he asks, seemingly having difficulty with processing this.

"I know that it's...crazy" Rina says for the lack of a better word, "But if vampires, witches, werewolves, lycans, faeries, shifters and skinwalkers can exist then why not dhampirs, right?"

"Dhampirs" Godric mutters in a tone of disbelief. "I thought they were nothing more than Balkan legends of humans that pretended to be vampires just so that they could sleep with the women that they desired" he states, making reference to the Serbian tales of human men who did so.

"Legends ring with truth, I suppose" Rina says to him as he gently placed a hand on her belly.

The belly where their child was growing.

He knows that it should be impossible for Marina to be with child and yet...she is a phoenix, a species that he had never known to actually exist in 2,000 years of life.

She was the only one of her kind from what he's gathered.

It seems fitting that as the only one of her kind she would go on to make another race of supernatural that would be the only one of their kind too.

Rina analyzed him carefully and for the first time she could admit that she didn't know what was going through his mind as he stared at her stomach as if it was something completely foreign to him.

Something that he had never seen before.

"Are you angry?" she finally managed to ask him as he lifted his head from looking at her stomach to face her.

"Quite the opposite, grá mo chroí" he reassured her, with a tender smile settling on his face. "I do not believe that I have ever been happier" he added with a smile so joyful, warm and contagious that Rina found herself smiling back.

A/N: To those of you who are still reading this story, I truly hope that you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for the likes and comments. They help to feed my creativity 😊