It's Monday, it's rainy, and I'm ready for the weekend already. My little brother just finished up the school year, and I will not lie - I'm jealous. Not that I would go back to school, but I do miss the three month summer vacation. Sigh, the good old days. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10
"I want to go home," Draco groused after a day in the hospital. He had been alert and the tests all checked out fine. It had been a concussion that had aided in rendering him unconscious after his fall, but he was lucky to have only a broken wrist and rib, which were easily healed.

"Soon," Hermione murmured, kissing his forehead as she pushed back his fringe.

He shook his head, resettling his hair. "No, now," he complained, reminding Hermione of a petulant four year old. "I miss Liam. I hate him being with the Weasleys."

"You'll be home tomorrow, Vicky...I mean Draco," Hermione retorted with a laugh. He reached for her, but she stepped far enough back that he couldn't. The door opened and in walked the Mediwitch in charge of Draco's case. Hermione was dismissed during the check up, but on her way out, she could have sworn she heard him mutter, "Bloody witch comparing me to a three year old girl."

Draco pushed opened the front door of Hermione's flat with his shoe as his arms were laden down a plethora of gifts dropped off at the hospital. Hermione cradled Liam close to her chest as she followed just behind him. Bags, shrunken boxes, a baby carrier, and her suitcase were deposited on the floor of the living room as Hermione took a seat on the sofa.

"I should find that disgusting," Draco commented as Hermione began unbuttoning her top to feed the baby.

"But you're actually kind of turned on?" Hermione deadpanned. "Or jealous?"

Draco crossed to the couch in three easy strides and leaned down over her. "Both," he murmured, pressing his lips softly to hers. It was the first real kiss they had experienced since that fateful night together. Tongues danced a lively waltz until Liam began to fuss. Hermione was the first to pull away, using one hand to rebutton her shirt as Draco took the baby to burp him.

"My mum asked if she could take Liam tomorrow," Draco said as he put the baby to bed that night. "Said she thinks we could do with a night off."

Hermione frowned as she considered the offer. The last time she and Draco had had a night alone, she'd gotten pregnant. "She hasn't been around him much," she said instead. "Do you think she can handle it? Although, the better question would be can you handle a night off? I mean, all that whining at the hospital."

Draco shut the nursery door and followed her to the master bedroom, choosing to ignore her snide remark. He had wondered the same thing when his mother offered only hours earlier when she visited him in the hospital, promising he would mention it to Hermione before giving her a final decision.

It had been a while, two decades in fact, since Narcissa Malfoy had last been around a small child. He shared all of that with her as she gathered her things to shower. "She could be fine though," he concluded. "After all, she did raise me. Or, at least, she hired the nannies who raised me."

"That's encouraging," she muttered, leaving the room. He followed her to the bathroom and sat atop the vanity while she showered. "I worry, that's all," she told him over the sound of the spraying water.

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't," he replied affectionately. No further words were exchanged as she finished her shower. The water shut off and Hermione stuck her arm out from behind the curtain to retrieve her towel. Draco handed it to her and waited for her to step out, wrapped in the warm terrycloth. It was pulled tightly around her small frame as she shivered from the coolness of the water. Hopping off of the counter, Draco rubbed her arms vigorously to dry and warm her.

"We could go to dinner," Hermione realized, her eyes widening with excitement. "Just us. No crying baby, no mismatched place settings like at the Weasleys. It could be quiet. I miss quiet."

Draco chuckled, wrapping his arms around her towel clad form. "We'll still spend the entire time talking about Liam," he pointed out, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. "But it would be nice to be able to talk and not have to shout over the din."

Draco sighed tiredly as he shut the nursery door. Day one of parenting down, a lifetime more to go. The light was on in the room next door. He stuck his head in to check on Hermione, who was more worn out by the day than he was.

"He's asleep," Draco reported. Hermione didn't shift; her arm remained covering her eyes as she breathed deeply. He stepped further into the room, intent on merely covering her sleeping form with a blanket and shutting off the lights before he went home.

The blanket had just been spread over her when Hermione stirred. "Will you stay tonight?" she asked, her voice heavy with exhaustion. "I'm just not sure I can do this alone."

Sitting down beside her, Draco sighed. He didn't want to rehash old conversations about his living with her. It wasn't the right time for a fight he wouldn't win. "Yeah, I'll stay," he said.

"Thank you," she replied softly, reaching for his hand as her eyes closed once more. He let her hold onto him as she drifted off to sleep. When he was sure she wouldn't awake, he slipped out of the room. He checked once more to make sure Liam was alright before briefly returning to his flat.

It had been days since he'd seen his place. Three days spent in the hospital had made him miss his little corner of the world, even if it was lonely. He stuffed a couple days' worth of clothes into a duffel before stopping in front of his nightstand. He knew what was inside, tucked in the front, left hand corner of the drawer.

The ring had been withdrawn from his Gringott's vault two days after Hermione announced she was pregnant. He would have married her, would have done the honorable thing by her. But Hermione rejected it, wanting instead to marry the man she loved. And that wasn't him.

Not yet, at least.

"So, we're really doing this? We're going to let your mother babysit?" Hermione asked warily, needing confirmation before she allowed him to give the okay to Narcissa.

Loose granules of floo powder slipped through Draco's fingers. This was his third attempt to place a call to his mother before Hermione interrupted. "It'll be fine," he said again. "Liam will be fine. Mother will be fine. You and I will be fine. The whole evening will be fine."

"Fine, not good?" she asked.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Everything will be good."

"Good, not great?"

"Hermione." His patience was waning.

"Great, not perfect?" she inquired, though this time she wore a smile as she asked.

The powder forgotten, Draco tackled her backwards until she lay on the floor beneath him. There was a hungry look in his eyes as he glared down at her, trying to keep his own smile off of his face.

"What could be more perfect than us being together?" he wondered, his voice soft as he dipped his head to place a trail of kisses along her neck.

"Nothing," she answered honestly.