This story was inspired by an aesthetic for the Wordsmiths & Betas Holiday Aesthetic Creation, it was created by ash-castle.
Thank you to the wonderful Affectiion for being my beta on this fic. You were such a great help!
"Good morning, love," Hermione heard Draco whisper to her as his arms wrapped tighter around her.
"What's so good about it?" she groaned. At 38 weeks pregnant, she was in no mood to be woken up early in the morning. All she wanted was to sleep until noon.
"Oh, don't be like that," Draco said, kissing Hermione on the neck. "It's Christmas."
"Christmas can kiss my arse," Hermione muttered, burying her face into her pillow. "Just let me sleep." Sleep, however, was not to return, for at that moment, the door to their bedroom slammed open.
"Mummy, Daddy, Father Christmas came!" a little girl squealed as she launched herself onto the bed, her brother following behind her more slowly. "Can we open presents now?"
Hermione sat up slowly and looked at her two children. "You know the rules, Lyra. Breakfast first, then we open presents."
"But breakfast takes so long!" Lyra complained.
"It won't be that long," Scorpius said, looking at the six-year-old. "You just have to eat faster so you can open presents sooner."
"Don't you dare," Hermione said to her children. "I don't want you choking just because you want to open presents."
"Well, I know what can save us some time," Draco said. "Why don't we have breakfast in here?"
Hermione glared at him. "And get crumbs all over the place? Not a chance."
"Aw, c'mon Mum, it's Christmas. Besides, you can use magic to clean up the crumbs," Scorpius said. "Please?"
"Please?" Draco and Lyra chorused with Scorpius.
Hermione looked in between her children and her husband. "Oh, fine, we might as well. At least I won't have to walk down those awful stairs to get to breakfast. We can open presents in here too, I guess."
"Yay! Thank you, Mummy!" Lyra squealed.
Draco called a house elf to let her know of their change of plans, and soon the family was sitting around a small table in the bedroom. Presents were stacked up in the corner of the room. Each member of the family had their plate piled high with eggs, sausage, beans, and all types of other foods.
"Mummy, may I have more eggs?" Lyra asked.
Hermione glanced at her daughter's plate. "Eat more of your tomatoes first."
"But I don't like tomatoes," the little girl complained.
"Lyra, you ate three whole tomatoes as a snack the day before yesterday," Draco said. "I'm sure you can eat at least two bites of tomatoes."
"But these tomatoes are cooked," Lyra complained. "I hate cooked tomatoes. They're gross."
"Can you eat one bite of them? Just one, and then you can have more eggs." Draco said. "And if you eat one bite of your tomatoes, I'll even let you open the first present. I promise."
Lyra's eyes widened. "I get to open the first present, and all I have to do is eat a bite of tomato? Really?"
"Would I lie about opening presents?" Draco asked his daughter. She shook her head and dutifully ate a single, tiny bite of tomato.
"Now can I have more eggs, please?"
"Here you go," Draco said as he spooned a small helping of eggs onto his daughter's plate.
"I've never seen a child who loves eggs as much as you," Hermione said.
Lyra looked up at her. "They're delicious," she said through a mouthful of food. She finished the last of her eggs in two more bites. "Can we open presents now?"
Hermione shook her head. "We have to wait until Scorpius is finished eating. You can be patient."
"But Scorpius always takes so long to eat!" She complained.
"It's not my fault I eat slowly," Scorpius said defensively. "I'm sure you'd take a long time to eat too if you had been born with esophageal atresia."
"I don't even know what that is," Lyra said. "Can't you try to eat faster?"
"I'm eating as fast as I can," he snapped. "Just because you can eat like Uncle Ron doesn't mean we all can."
"Kids, stop fighting," Hermione said in a warning tone. "Lyra, stop complaining and let your brother eat. The more you bother him, the longer it's going to take."
"But I want to open presents now!" Lyra whined. "It's not fair. Why do I have to wait to open presents just because Scorpius can't eat faster?"
"Because we are a family and we open presents together or not at all. If you don't quit complaining, we won't open presents until after lunch." Hermione said.
Lyra gasped. "You wouldn't!"
"I would."
"Okay, I'll be quiet, I promise!"
"Here," Draco said, conjuring a colouring sheet and some crayons. "Why don't you colour this Christmas tree while you wait?" He handed the sheet and crayons to Lyra, and she got to work colouring the tree.
After a few more minutes, Scorpius was finished eating, and it was time for the small family to open presents. True to his word, Draco handed a gift to Lyra first. She tore through the wrapping paper and found a large book inside. "The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales," she said, reading the title.
"I know how much you like Beedle the Bard, so I thought you might like those as well," Draco said.
"They're a bit dark for a six-year-old, don't you think?" Hermione asked, arching an eyebrow. Lyra may have been a bit more mature than other children her age, but Hermione still didn't think she was ready for such heavy material. The original Grimm's Tales were quite intense, and Hermione didn't want the little girl to read something that she was not developmentally ready for.
"Oh, I'm sure it will be fine. You can't tell me you didn't read them when you were that age." Draco rolled his eyes at his wife.
"I'll have you know I was seven before I read them," she said primly. "But I suppose you're right. If she has any nightmares over them, that book is getting put up until she's older, though.
"Mummy, Daddy, can you stop talking about me like I'm not right here?" Lyra asked, looking at her parents. "It's time for Scorpius to open a present."
Draco chuckled at his daughter and grabbed a present out of the pile for his son to open. Scorpius was much slower to unwrap his gift, trying his best not to rip the paper, but he couldn't hold back his excitement when he saw what his present was. "A new racing broom! Thank you!" He squealed in a very un-Malfoy-like manner.
"You can't take it with you when you go back to Hogwarts," Draco reminded his son.
"I know, but I can fly it here," Scorpius was smiling brightly. "Can I take it with me when we go see Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's fine. I'm sure Albus will want to fly with you," Hermione said.
Scorpius nodded. "James too, probably."
"Hermione, it's your turn to open a present," Draco said, handing a small gift to his wife. She, like her son, was slow to open it. When she opened the box, she gasped softly.
"Oh Draco, this is beautiful," she said, marvelling at the delicate necklace that lay inside. It was silver with a small charm that was shaped like an otter. The otter had ruby eyes that gleamed in the well-lit room. "Will you put it on me?" Draco nodded, and Hermione held up her hair as he clasped the necklace around her neck.
Soon all the presents had been handed out and opened, and the family was sitting on Hermione and Draco's bed. Hermione let out a gasp as pain shot through her back. She had been aching most of the day, but this was the first time the pain had come that sharply.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked, looking at his wife.
"I'm fine, just a backache," Hermione said.
"How long has your back been hurting?" Draco asked, concern evident in his voice.
"Since we woke up, I think," Hermione said, grimacing as another sharp pain hit her.
"We're going to St. Mungo's," Draco said.
"What? We don't need to go to St. Mungo's. I'm fine," Hermione said.
"You're in labour," Draco said flatly.
Hermione laughed at him. "Draco, I think I'd know if I was in labour!"
"Oi, which one of us is the Healer here?" Draco asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Which one of us has given birth twice before?" Hermione retorted.
"Don't you think it's better to be safe than sorry?"
"What I think is that I don't want to have to leave the house when there's nothing wrong."
"Hermione, we are not having this argument."
"We're not having this argument because I am not going to the hospital. We are going to sit here, and we are going to talk, and we are going to spend time with our children as a family." Hermione snapped.
"You two had this same argument when Lyra was born," Scorpius said, interrupting the bickering adults. "Dad was right that time too."
"Is the baby coming?" Lyra asked.
"No," Hermione said at the same time that Draco said "Yes." The couple looked at each other.
"Hermione, please," Draco said. "Please, let's just go to St. Mungo's."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"Not a chance," Draco said.
Oh fine, we'll go to St. Mungo's," Hermione gave in. "But when they tell us that nothing is wrong, we are going to come back home and spend the rest of Christmas as a family, and then you are going to give me a nice foot massage."
Draco smirked. "Of course, dear."
Draco was, as it turned out, correct, and seven hours later their third child was born. Hermione couldn't get over how small her infant daughter was. Titania, as she had been named, weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces, the lowest weight of all of Hermione's children.
"Mummy, can I see the baby?" Lyra asked, leaning over Hermione in attempt to get a look at the newborn.
Hermione smiled at her older daughter. "If you sit down and promise to be very careful, you can even hold her."
Lyra's eyes widened. "I'll be the most careful-est person ever!" Hermione didn't bother to try fixing her daughter's grammar; she would learn eventually. She handed Titania to Draco.
Draco cradled the baby in his arms and nodded towards a chair. "Sit there beside Scorpius, and I'll hand her to you." Lyra shot towards the chair and sat down, fidgeting every few seconds. "Now remember, you have to be very careful with her," Draco said as he placed the infant in Lyra's arms, showing her how to hold her sister.
"She's so tiny!" Lyra whispered in awe, looking back and forth between her father and sister.
"You were that small when you were born, too," Scorpius said, peering at the baby. "I was that small too, wasn't I?" Scorpius looked up at Draco.
"You were both just a bit bigger than her, but you were certainly small. All Malfoys are born small. One day you'll all grow up to be nice and tall, like me. Or maybe you'll stay short, like your Mum." He snuck a glance at his wife and saw her glaring at him at the mention of her height. "The point is, Titania won't stay small forever. Babies grow faster than you can imagine."
"Can I hold her soon?" Scorpius asked.
Draco nodded and looked at Lyra. "Do you think you can let Scorpius hold her now?" Lyra nodded, and Draco carefully took Titania and placed her in Scorpius' arms.
Scorpius stared down at the baby, a look of wonder on his face. "She's so cute." After a few more minutes, he handed Titania back to Draco, who carried her back over to Hermione, Scorpius and Lyra following after him. As Hermione took the baby back into her arms, she heard Draco whisper something.
"What did you say?" Hermione asked.
"I said 'I told you so'," He smirked at her.
Hermione glared at him for a moment before smiling softly. "Yes, you did," she said. "And I don't think I've ever been so happy to have been proven wrong."
"This is the best Christmas ever," Lyra said.
Yes, Hermione thought. Yes, it is.
A/N: Esophageal atresia is a birth defect in which the stomach and the esophagus are not connected. It is corrected by surgery, and I'm not sure if eating slowly because of it is a thing for most people, but it is for me (I was born with it and another related condition), which is why I put it in there.