Draco Malfoy wrinkled his nose at Karigan Zabini. She rolled her eyes heavanward and pretended to ignore him.

Some days he wanted to shake the small black haired girl and demand respect, but he didn't treat his own children that way and he didn't want to start with his step daughter. By all rights Karigan was his half daughter, even if she refused to admit it.

Karigan was Pansy's from her first and disasterous marriage to Blaise Zabini. A year after Kari was born, Blaise and Pansy split and Pansy married Draco. Draco wasn't happy about the situation, but he was lonely and with in a year, Pansy was pregnant with Aragon.

They say having a child changes everything. It was no lie. Draco wasn't in love with Pansy, he never would be, but from the first moment he saw him, Draco was utterly devoted to the boy. Then came the twins, Eliana and Faye. His devotion never changed, never wavered, but he made sure to lavish the same attention on Elie and Faye as he did Aragon.

Life had never been as sweet.

Until Blaise died, leaving Draco and Pansy with Kari.

Draco loved the girl as his own, caring for her the way he did with the twins or Aragon. He spent extra time learning the older girls interests. Kari seemed to be warming up to him.

Then Pansy got pregnant again. Draco of course spent time with his pregnant wife, but he could feel Kari growing colder.

So he read to her, every night. Kari loved it. She loved the squiggly Quentin Blake illustrations in the Roald Dahl books, the bright colors of No Such Things by Bill Peet. She loved it all.

Draco never saw the warning signs that Pansy was getting ready to leave. And leave she did. Six months after Aria Noelle was born.

Draco pulled himself out of his memories and made the airplane noises for Aria. She was a little over a year old now, but it was still easier to spoon feed her, especially in the morning when she was grumpy.

Aria laughed and clapped her hands together. She laughed and cried, but Draco had yet to hear her talk.

Kari let a tiny smile slip as Aria spat back out the mashed peas on Draco's bare chest. Draco forced a mock frown even as he rejoiced. He'd do what ever it took to get Kari to smile.

Aria mimicked him in her own little one year old way.

He gave up after a bit, with his chest and face splattered with green peas and orange carrots.

"You look like a Jackson Pollack painting." Kari muttered from the safety of her book. Draco had made the mistake of getting the girl into fine art and she had promptly raided his library for Art books. She was still too young to understand everything presented, but she was having a grand time with the pictures.

Draco struck a pose before the eight year old. "What do you think? Is it a good look for me? Or should I go back to Renoir?"

"Who?"

"R-E-N-O-I-R. He's a french impressionist, as I'm sure you know."

"Oh. I didn't know how to pronounce it. Thanks."

"Anytime. Aragon, my lad!" He exclaimed as his son charged into the kitchen. "Hungry?"

Aragon bounced around in his overalls that seemed to be his uniform since Draco had let them see Dennis the Menace.

"Yeah!"

"You just had breakfast!" Kari protested.

Draco made a pshaw motion with his hand and ran a finger across his chest, gathering up mashed peas and carrots. He held out the finger to his son. "Here you go!"

Aragon laughed and hugged his dad around the neck. For a moment Draco let himself revel in the moment. Then he carried the boy upstairs for a bath and a change of clothes. Like any boy, he protested all the way. Elie and Faye appeared from the room they shared, demanding in their four year old way to know what the fuss was.

Aragon, meanwhile, was refusing to take off his clothes. Draco considered a spell, but he remembered how unfair it had seemed to him when his parents used magic against him. So he filled the tub and tried to wrestle the boy out of the clothes.

Faye and Elie chose that moment to tackle their dad from behind, sending all four into the warm, soapy water.

They surfaced, laughing, as Kari cautiously entered the room. She took in the scene and rolled her eyes behind her glasses. Draco emerged from the tub and tore after the eight year old. Kari shrieked and sprinted off. But an eight year old is no match for a twenty six year old. Soon Kari was deposited in the bath as well. She glared up at her adopted father and he grinned.

"Get dressed my darlings. We're going shoping!"

(A/N: Once again, this chapter is by Ave and beta'd by Jules