CHAPTER NINE

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Elana Jean Nott was born at 3:20am on December 2nd 2003 after a gruelling 18 hour labour for Hermione and three broken fingers and a very nearly broken nose for Theo. Hermione broke his fingers and he almost broke his nose as he passed out, stupidly having taken a peek between her legs as she pushed out their daughter. At the time, Hermione had been absolutely furious that he had missed their baby's first cries, but it quickly became a source of much amusement.

After Hermione had been cleaned up and Theo had been given something sugary to eat by a very amused healer, she laid in her hospital bed and watched as her muscled and very masculine husband cradled their tiny 6lb 5oz daughter and bobbed her up and down as he circled the room, whispering promises. It made her heart swell as she took it in and once Elana had fallen asleep and Theo had ever so carefully put her down in her hospital cot, he laid next to her on the bed, smiling softly.

"Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?" He asked, turning his head to smile at her and she shrugged.

"Millions have done it before me, Theo." She chuckled and he snorted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, but you did it for me. That alone makes you uniquely amazing," He said, kissing her temple and watching as she reached into the cot to stroke Elana's cheek. "She's just as gorgeous as her mum."

"Yeah right," she snorted, "she's far more beautiful than I could ever be. And she's got your eyes."

"Your hair though," Theo chuckled, "poor kid."

"Hey!" She squawked, "it sorted itself out eventually!"

They spent the next couple of hours picking apart what Elana got from each of them, laughing as they argued over whose ears she got, until the tiny little girl woke up wailing with hunger and Theo watched as the tiny human he had helped create suckled at her mother's breast. She smiled up at him and rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes as she fed their child.

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Harvey adored the little baby as soon as he set eyes on her when they brought her home. Unlike when they had first introduced him to Erotas, when the kitten had chased him out of the room, there was no way you could drag Harvey from Elana's side. He was absolutely dedicated to her and spent hours just pottering around in her room while she slept, just to be nearby.

Erotas, who had become aloof and enjoyed his solitude now that he had matured, had been intrigued by his new housemate, sniffing at her and poking her with his paw. Until she first cried, that is. At that point he had scattered from the room and avoided the very loud tiny human. It was quite amusing to see him throw an evil glare at her as he left the room as soon as someone entered with her.

Flourish and Blotts was to be rebuilt and modernised, scheduled to be completed just after the new year. Hermione was looking forward to having the time to spend with Elana before she would need to be involved with running the shop and Theo had decided to put his mastery on hold for a couple of months so that he could enjoy the festive period with his family. It was a lovely, quiet Christmas for the Notts, with occasional visits from Harry and George who both fell utterly in love with the newest addition to the family.

On boxing day, Theo quietly crept out of bed at the first sound of Elana waking, leaving the bedroom and quietly shutting it behind him before silencing it so that Hermione could get some well deserved sleep. Even though he had convinced her to pump some of her milk, storing it incase there came a time when she wouldn't be able to feed Elana when she went back to work, she still refused to let him help in the night or allow herself a lay in. So this morning, Theo was going to give her a lay in whether she wanted one or not.

In truth, Hermione had taken the brunt of the hard tasks involved with having a newborn, leaving him to sleep at night and never asking him to do much. He knew that Hermione was worried that once she went back to work, when the shop was refitted, she would struggle to bond with the little girl. He had tried to tell her that there was no rush for her to go back to work, owning the store meant that she could take all the time she needed but his wife was insistent on being a working mother and he knew it was useless to argue.

He knew that no matter what happened, Hermione and Elana would always share a close bond, purely because of the amount of love his wife had for their daughter. Even at such a young age, when Elana looked into her mother's eyes, she showed such love for the woman who had birthed her and Theo thought it was truly something to behold.

Now he was intent on making sure that Hermione got some well deserved rest and as he walked into Elana's room and strode to stand over the cot that had once been his, the little girl looked up at him and kicked her legs in excitement. He scooped her up, carefully supporting her head as he transferred her to lay along his forearm with her head tucked safely into his elbow. She was truly the most astonishing little thing he had ever seen and his heart almost burst with love as be bent his head forward and kissed her head and her hands grabbed onto his long hair at the front.

He winced as she tugged, but smiled as she looked into his eyes. His own eyes were so much more perfect in her little face, pure and innocent. He gently pulled her chubby little hands from his hair and kissed her hands as they curled and uncurled into fists. Quite how he had played a part in making something so perfect, he would never understand.