Disclaimer: Second verse, same as the first, all recognizable characters belong to someone else. Also this fan fiction is a non profit venture.
Chapter 3 Braving New Frontiers
March 1980
Hell. He was in hell, it was the only reasonable explanation that Severus could come up with that could explain the torture that he had been forced to endure. The morning sickness, the constant need to pee, the weight gain and the weird food cravings (he still couldn't believe he had yogurt with mayonnaise and sardines for breakfast.) Then of course there was Black...
Oh God, Black. Severus was at the point where he was willing to walk through the ninth circle of hell if it meant he would be free of Sirius Black.
After initially informing Black of his impending fatherhood, the man didn't speak to him for a month. Then when the idiot finally pulled his head out of his own ass and decided to man up and take his new reasonability seriously, he became, as far as Severus was concerned at least, a menace.
It had started at the first healer appointment that Black had decided to grace with his presence. Severus had been in his twentieth week of the pregnancy at the time, and up until that point Sirius's involvement seemed to solely stem from some idiotic sense of Gryffindor duty. He arrived, gave the healer all of the requested background information and managed to fit in a few snide remarks about Severus's expanding waistline.
All of this however, ceased the moment Black saw the magically produced image of the child. As the pair watched, the healer explained to them that the baby was a girl, a little over 7in in length from head to rump, and weighed approximately 1lb. After that the appointment concluded without further incident, and Black left to do whatever it was that Black did with his time.
It was the following morning that seemed to set the tempo of their relationship. Black pounded on the door at 10 o'clock, they discussed one or two important topics, which turned into an hour of the two men bickering back and forth, till Black got fed up and left. Severus and Sirius by no means liked each other, but they were however, both intelligent enough to realise that they were going to be interacting with each other on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. So while they weren't cordial, they were at least civil.
That however, didn't mean they agreed on anything. The bickering between the two men was constant, and in the end it was Lucius Malfoy, after having to endure an hour of Severus's bitching in regard to the idiotic Gryffindor, that he suggested they get a lawyer. Despite his initial reservations about the idea, after three meetings with the Law wizard, Severus was ready to concede that Lucius was a genius. It was somewhat disturbing to see all of his parental rights and obligations in the form of the black and white legal document, but in the end it did help to curb the majority of his and Sirius's fighting.
The law wizard however, was useless as far as their currently escalating disagreement was concerned. The current disagreement was also the reason that Severus felt like he was in hell.
"No Black, I refuse to name my daughter Immaculada."
"Why not? What's wrong with it?"
"Really? You really don't see the problem with it? It means 'of the immaculate conception' for God sakes." Sirius laughed as if this was some private joke. "Come on Snape, you and I both know that we hate each other, I think the fact that we are even having a daughter together is nothing short of immaculate." Severus groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Illyria"
"What does it mean" suspicion lacing every inch of Sirius's voice. Severus paused for a moment "I'll let you give her the Black family name." Sirius took a moment to think this over, because up until that point, Severus had been adamant that their daughter would be a Snape. "OK" Severus sighed in obvious relief. "So Illyria Eileen Prince Snape Black." "Andromeda" came Sirius's rebuttal "Illyria Andromeda" Severus nodded. Over all it had taken three hours of the semi hostile conversation for the two men to come to an agreement, and Severus wasn't sure whether they're arguments were getting better or worse.
Severus relaxed into his chair as Sirius left. Thinking to himself that he only had another twenty years of this kind of interaction.
That walk through the ninth circle of hell was looking more and more appealing.
May 1980
Teresa could not help but watch the two small boys sleeping in the crib. The twins had been born two weeks earlier. The oldest of the two boys was Dean Menelaus Prewett born at 11:50 pm on May 1st, twenty minutes later, at 12:10am on May 2nd Dean was joined by his fraternal twin brother Samuel Aiden Prewett.
The two boys were currently curled up together in the same crib in the nursery, painted a soft green colour. It had been a big change, having to adjust to having the two new small people to care for, but seeing the brothers laying so peacefully together, made the effort worth it.
Even so, despite all the excitement and joy brought about by the newest Prewett family members, Teresa could not shake the foreboding sense that she would not see the twins first birthday. Pushing this morbid thought to the back of her mind, Teresa left the room.
