Hello my rediculously patient readers!!!!!!!!!!
I'm SOOO sorry that I haven't updated in... like, forever, but I've been having tremendous writer's block on this. I have, however, been very busy with different, new stories and I also got myself a boyfriend! (Loud squeal) Lol.
Anyway, I know you're tired of my sorry excuses and I am too. So here it is, second to last chapter, my people.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah (sorry to all the people I'm offending by spelling it wrong), Happy Kwanzaa, and any other holiday you're celebrating,
mmb
Chapter Ten: Six-ish Months Later
"Harry, c'mon, close your eyes," I say, putting on my stern, motherly voice, looking him straight in the eye with a look that quite clearly says, 'I mean it.' Of course that doesn't keep him from keeping his eyes wide open, fighting to get past me. I sigh as he continues to bounce around like a three-year-old on speed, before I finally snap at him. "My god, Harry, any day now your going to be a dad! Act your age and not your shoe size!"
I feel bad about yelling, but fortunately he's gotten used to my hormonal outbursts.
"My goodness, someone's cranky," he says pleasantly, still smiling that smirky grin of his.
"Can you honestly blame me?" I ask him, placing one hand on my hip and resting the other on my ginormous belly. I swear to God, sometimes I think I'm carrying five babies instead of one. "You're acting like you're a toddler, and I can't take care of two babies at once."
"Oh, who wants to grow up anyway?" he says, shrugging off my criticism. I eye him with my death stare. He rolls his eyes and says, "Alright already, I'll tone it down!"
He obligingly closed his eyes.
"Thank you," I say sweetly. I check his eyes, just to make sure they're fully closed. Once I'm satisfied, I slowly open the door to the nursery, designed solely by me.
Since Harry insisted that he wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, I basically had my work cut out for me trying to decorate the room. Since I couldn't use just pink or just blue, I decided on a pale yellow, not bright enough to hurt the baby's eyes but definitely not plain and boring, with white baseboards. Then, around fifteen weeks, I called up Abuelita and asked her for all the baby stuff from when Dom and I were little, and asked Ana for any baby toys or stuff like that which Enrique and Cristina had outgrown. After a week and a half of rounding up hand-me-down sleepers and stuffed animals, it took a couple days and the help of three big strong men (or at least that's what I told Harry, Ron and Dominik to get them to help a girl out) to disinfect it all with Spray Away (Just one spray sends the odor away! My god, what's happened to the Ad Agencies of today?) and that left them in near mint condition, ready for Baby Potter's arrival.
I then bought a bunch of really inexpensive, unfinished furniture (changing table, mountable cupboards, dresser, book shelf and an extra large crib) and that began the really tough part. The walls had been easy because we (we being me and Hermione, who, also needing a pregnancy project, had joined my escapade, seeing as Mrs. Weasley, so thrilled about her new grandchild, had taken it upon herself to make Hermione and Ron's nursery) used Fantastapaint!, quite possibly the greatest magical invention ever. All you do is neatly paint the sides and with a quick incantation, it fills in the entire wall very evenly.
So suffice it to say me and Hermione were more than a little upset when we discovered there were no magical sanders or self-painting furniture incantations. At 24 weeks, I was already gargantuan and at 9 Hermione was already starting to show a little bit and began to waddle (only slightly, but there was a definite duckness in the way she stepped), so we were forced to employ Ginny's help as we enviously eyed her perfectly flat belly while tediously sanding. After that, we easily painted the furniture white to match the baseboards, then enjoyed sponge panting powder pink and baby blue ducks and bunnies on the drawers and doors and stuff.
Once all that was done, I went to the Bed, Bath and Beyond in Muggle London and bought some cute drapes with little duckies on them and some white sheets and blankets for the crib (that way I can bleach them. God damn, I'm smart...) and a soft, fluffy rug to cover up some of the hardwood floor.
And the results are what I'm currently showing Harry.
"Okay," I say, grabbing his hand and leading him into the room, my eyes still diligently watching his, making sure he's not peeking. "Okay, stop. Now you can look."
Harry looks around in the room, slowly doing a 360 degree turn to take it all in. For a minute he doesn't say a word or show any expression, still trying to analyze everything.
"Wow," he says, grinning, pulling his eyes away from the room and stopping on me. He walks toward me and wraps his arms around me, holding me close. I just lean into him, closing my eyes and taking in the moment, not to mention shamelessly breathing in Fierce cologne. Everything about this moment is perfect. "This is awesome!"
"You like it?" I say, smiling.
"I love it," he says, kissing the top of my head. "And the baby's gonna love it." He adds, resting his hand on my belly.
"Yeah, all ten of them," I say, laughing.
As my eyes look over the room, I spot the wedding photos I put up in their fancy little frames. One of them is of me and Harry, one of black and whites we took with the photographer (a gift from Dom and Ginny) after the wedding--I simply refused to take them beforehand, it being bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding--and this one in particular just one of those boring formal pictures where you have to smile all daintily and touch each other like you're being watched by a nun. It's a decent picture, but painfully run-of-the-mill, except for the fact that I'm just starting to bludge out of the middle of my dress.
I glance at the next one over. This one is my absolute favorite. Me and Harry are just looking at each other, expressionless. I really don't know why I like it so much. Ginny and Hermione always laugh at it, but there's something about it. Like, you couldn't possibly say for certain what we're thinking, and it leaves so much for you to interpret.
Then we have one next to that, just of my bare gargantuan belly--with the stretch marks Photoshopped out, courtesy of Hermione's mom, who is, of course, a Muggle and a whiz at computers--with Harry's hands resting on top of mine. It sounds like a creepy picture, but trust me, it's really sweet when you actually see it.
Then next to that is this giagantic picture frame with a bunch of little spaces and one big space in the middle. The middle space will be the baby's first picture, the one we'll take once we get him or her home, and the ones around it will be for one picture on their birthday each year. It'll go up to it's thirteenth birthday and then I'll just post the pictures next to it.
"Look at the time," Harry says, looking down at his watch, then back up at me. "We have to get ready for dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm more than anxious to find out what Hermione's having." He walks over to me, kissing me deeply, and then smiling at me. "You did an awesome job on the nursery, Love."
"Thanks," I say airily. It seems strange, that after all this time, after all that we've been through together, that a simple little kiss can leave me breathless like that. Harry walks out, leaving me in the room.
It's always weird to get used to something new like this. Everything feels so unexpected and spontaneous, like wherever you look, you might discover something new. And I'm not just talking about the room. In approximately two or three weeks, me and Harry'll be bringing home a beautiful, perfect little baby boy or girl. And nothing will ever be the same. Everything will be brand new, around every turn something unexpected and spontaneous. But it won't be easy. I know that it'll be tougher than anything either of us has ever done. But every year, every day, every minute, every moment will be completely worth any tough times I will ever have. Because motherhood is a job that you never quit.
But then again, why would you want to?
"Oh my god!" I say, pulling out two tiny little sleepers, one in blue and one in pink. "It's adorable!"
"I'm so glad you like it!" Ginny says, smiling widely and batting her long, mascara-ed eyelashes. "I just decided to get one of each because I know you're going to have one or the other."
I laugh. We're out for dinner, as a small get-together just with us three couples. It's a kind of Last Supper for us, basically our last big dinner together while we are all childless. Dom and Ginny insisted on getting me and Hermione yet another gift for the babies, even though we already had our joint baby shower (Dom is a specialist at St. Mungo's--making oodles of money--and Ginny makes some money at the Ministry, so they make more money that Ron and Hermione and Harry and me combined, so they continue to spoil us).
"You guys don't need to keep doing this," I say, looking at Gin and Dom. "You've already given us tons of help already."
"Lex, we want to help you guys out," Ginny says, resting her hand on mine, looking me in the eye with her intensely blue eyes. "We know you guys would do the same for us."
I smile gratefully at her. I would.
"Okay," Ginny says, looking over at Hermione now. "Now open yours."
"Alright, alright," Hermione says obligingly, opening her impeccably-wrapped present very slowly and carefully, so she can save the wrapping paper, something that drives me absolutely bonkers.
"Hermione, could you unwrap that thing any slower?" I ask, annoyed as I rub my enormous stomach. "I swear, I'll go into labor, and you'll still be daintily opening that damn gift."
Everyone looks at me, but not in shock. They all have this look on their faces, as though I'm just priceless with my grouchy comments, and then resume as though nothing happened.
"Oh my gosh!" Hermione says, grinning after finally opening the present, which turned out to be a rediculously adorable stuffed elephant. "Gin, this is so sweet! Thank you!"
"You're welcome," Ginny says, very pleased that she picked out another winning present. For a bit, we all sit in silence, looking eagerly at Hermione and Ron, who are quite clearly ignoring us.
"Okay, out with it," I say, grinning in spite of myself. The two of them look at me, bemused. "You're driving us all crazy with the secrecy. What are you having?"
Hermione and Ron look at each other, sharing a knowing kind of smile, and then look around at us.
"We're having... a girl!" Hermione says, grinning uncontrollably. We all jump up to walk over to them and give them hugs and congratulations.
"If you'll excuse me for a bit," Hermione says once we finish up with our mini love-fest, having Ron help her out of her seat as she proudly displays her 5th month belly, "I have to use the loo."
I watch the two of them as they walk to the bathroom, Ron with his hand reassuringly placed on the small of her back--mainly for balance--as Hermione slowly waddles along, her fine, curly ponytail swinging behind her.
"They're adorable, aren't they?" Ginny says, looking at me looking at them. I smile at Ginny and nod.
"Kinda feels weird doesn't it?" I say quietly after a few seconds.
"What feels weird?" Dom asks.
"That in a week or so we'll be parents," I say, looking around. With us, we keep referring to the babies as our collective children. "That things are gonna change faster than we can keep up with."
"Lex," Ginny says soothingly, reaching across the table to grab my hand, "we're all gonna be here. Me and Dom will be babysitters whenever you need us. Ron and Hermione will be able to help to, so Bean can bond with his or her cousin. Just one call and we'll all be there to help out. Sure, things are gonna change. And fast. But if you ever fall behind along the way, we'll be right there to help you back up."
"Thanks, Gin," I say, smiling.
We just sit there for a minute, enjoying the moment and each other's company. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my lower back, the pain reminiscent of a pinched nerve.
"Geez," I mutter under my breath as I massage the spot on my lower back.
"Something wrong?" Dom asks, trying to act nonchalant, but I know him too well.
"I'm not going into labor, Dom," I sigh, tired of having to explain my every inexplicable body pain. Every Braxton Hicks I got, Dom would rush me to St. Mungo's. After about three times, they insisted that Dom cut it out. Then every time my lower back was achy or I felt a little crampy he'd freak out. Now he's gonna get all worked up over a twinge. "I just have a pinched nerve. I get them all the time, seeing as my body's being stretched into outer limits."
"Lex, I'm not trying to pester you," he says. "I just wanna make sure the baby's okay."
"Dom, just trust me," I beg of him. "I'm not going to do anything to put the baby in danger."
"Okay then," Dom says, just as Hermione and Ron sit back down at the table.
"Hey, 'Mione," I ask, trying to take my mind off of my stomach, which is getting a little crampy. "What names to do you have in mind?"
"Actually we were wondering if you guys had any ideas," Ron says, looking around at us. "Because Hermione thought it was a boy."
"I'm sorry," Hermione says, mock-offended. "I honestly thought the baby was a boy. So now I need some help."
"What about Caitlin?" I asked, rubbing my belly.
"Not bad..." Hermione said, taking a pen and pad out of her purse and writing the name down. "Okay, what else?"
"How about we just throw out some names and then you write down the ones you like and discard the ones you don't?" Ginny suggests. We all nod in agreement.
"Cassandra," I say, remembering a character from a book I read in my fourth year. "Ashley. Marina."
"Scarlett," Ginny says. "Hayley."
"Isabella," Harry says, naming off one of my cousins. "Cady. Melanie. Kacie."
"Paulina," Dom says, thinking of Antonio's (my cousin) wife, Paulina. "Ariana. Gabrielle. Suri."
"Corinna," I say, thinking of another book I read. "Sophie. Morgan."
"Alana," Harry says. I remember us considering that name when we skimmed through the baby name book the other day. "Masiela. Daniela. Caroline."
"Emma," I say, as I get another one of those pinched nerves in my lower back. "Cheyenne. Julia."
"Julia..." Hermione says softly, savoring the name. "I like that. Okay I think that'll be enough for now." She tucks the pen and pad away in her purse. "Now Alex, Harry, what are your top names?"
"For a girl," Harry says, "my favorite name is Holly and for a boy my favorite name is Connor."
"For a girl," I pipe in, "I like--"
And cue the pain. Suddenly the crampy feeling I've been having reaches critical mass.
"Harry!" I whimper.
"Breath, Lex, breath," he tells me calmly. How can he be so calm when I'm freaking out! I breathe for about thirty more seconds and finally the white hot searing pain in my abdomin subsides.
"Gin, Ron," I breathe, catching my breath, "can you go back to the apartment and get our hospital bag? It's a purple duffle bag in the coat closet. I need you to put our toothbrushes and paste and a bunch of toiletries and stuff. Once that's done I need you to really quickly take the basinet out of the box so we don't have to fuck with it once we get home."
"Language, Love," Harry says complacently.
"I'm in labor with your baby," I say, plastering a fake smile on my face and using the same calm tone as him, "I'll say whatever the fuck I please."
"Yes, darling," he says, still smiling.
"Sure thing," Ginny says, in a tone that tells me that I needn't have even asked. She hitches up her purse, then adds, "C'mon Ron," and with that the two of them speed out of the restaurant.
"Dom," I say, looking at him. "I need you to Apparate to St. Mungo's immediately. Get us a room and Harry, Hermione and me'll follow as fast as we can."
"It's okay, Lex," he says, quickly. "I'll stay with you."
"Yeah, Alex," Hermione says to me, brushing a stray hair out of her face. "I can go instead."
"Are you crazy?" I say. "You're five months pregnant. How are you expecting to fit through the Apparation hole?"
"Alex, I want to stay," he says. "We can call ahead."
"Dominik," I say emphatically, looking him in the eye. "I'll be fine. Hermione and Harry'll take care of me just fine for the next ten minutes."
He looks at me, like letting me go is the hardest thing for him to do.
"Dom," I whisper in his ear, "you can't protect me forever. You have to let me go."
He looks at me again with pain in his eyes, like he can feel the pain of severing the close tie we've had all these years. It's the connection that's protected and shielded the both of us from pain and heartache and... life. And it'll always be there. But we can't be what we've been. It's not gonna be us against the world anymore. It'll be me and Harry against the world. And Gin and Dom against the world. But we'll always be close. More than close. Best friends. We'll still read each other's minds, and pick on each other, and laugh until we pee our pants. And I think that the change might just be for the better.
"Fine," Dom says, grinning. "Keep your chin up, Lex. I'll see you in ten."
"Okay," I say, nodding. He weaves his way throught the procession of waitresses and other random people blocking the walkways and gets out the door quickly.
"Okay, you guys," I say, in an official sort of tone as I straighten myself up, "help me up. I'm gonna guess we've got at least..." I check my watch, "ten more minutes before the next contraction hits. Let's try to make it so that I'm pumped full of drugs by that time, eh?"
So there it was. The next chapter will be the last. Hope you enjoyed the run!
Special thanks to:
Sum nox, who is still my homey-g even though we're not in the same Biology class anymore! Love you like a fat kid loves cake!
My bf, who will probably never read this, but deserves recongition for giving me a little inspiration (scratch that, a LOT of inspiration).
All my reviewers! Who I desperately hope will review TONS after I post this...
Love y'all,
MMB