Epilogue

"'Mione…" a voice whispered in her ear. "Mione love…"

The rough tone of his morning voice that she loved so much was slowly waking her up, but she wouldn't show it. She had got to sleep so late wrapping presents last night that now she was comfortable, she didn't want to move. His firm body was radiating heat and it made her tingle with warmth.

"I'm asleep," she murmured, and snuggled further into the crook of his neck, her eyes remaining stubbornly shut.

She felt his body shake with a chuckle. "You won't be in a minute."

His lips swooped down to suck the sensitive skin of her neck, licking, nipping and kissing down and across her collarbone, between the valley of her breasts and brushing teasingly against her nipples before taking them in his mouth. Hermione had been expecting this. After three years of marriage, Sirius still couldn't get enough of their steamy morning sex sessions – touching her body was the only thing that woke him up. She was his coffee.

"What's the time?" she mumbled, peeking one eye open to get her bearings. It was still dark, and the misty rising sun shone through the curtains, making shadows on their bedroom walls. He had never started this early.

"Four o'clock," he muttered back, clearly much more interested with her breasts than the time.

"In the morning?" She let out a breathy gasp, whether it was because of the early hour or her husband's ravishing, she wasn't sure. A bit of both probably.

Before she could ask the question, he had answered it. "It's Christmas Day love, the kid's will be up soon. You know they wake up earlier every year."

That's true. Hermione mused. They thought their first Christmas was bad, with Albert running and roaring into their room at six o'clock. How wrong they were. The year after that, it had gone to five thirty. Last year hit an all-time record at five o'clock. So this year… well it was safe to say that starting their session at four o'clock was wise.

"Oh God," Sirius groaned from under the covers, "I love your body so much. Your stomach – your thighs – your arse – your tits!" he kissed each part as he said it, and then finally kissed her lips. She beamed as he settled himself above her, purposely pressing his throbbing erection against her folds; her body had always driven him mad, but being pregnant again had brought about changes to her that released the animal inside him. Her figure had always been slim but now she had love handles, womanly hips and was curvy in all the right places. Not to mention Sirius's personal favourite: her breasts. They had gone up a cup size and now she had the perfect cleavage without the wonder bras.

"Mind the bump," she warned him, pointing a playful finger at his chest.

He grinned cheekily and leant down to kiss her again. "You know I will."

And then he was inside her, stretching and filling her up and making her feel something only Sirius could make her feel. Beautiful… wanted…loved… They both exhaled loudly, always knocked off-guard by how right and perfect their coupling felt. He gripped her hips and began thrusting into her, slowly at first then increasing in speed, throwing his head back and groaning every time he pulled out and lunged back in. Making love to her was always the tip of heaven, she was so completely made for him – and so tight, even after giving birth.

"Kiss me," she demanded fiercely, and pulled him down to her, taking no humour from his laughing. He leant on his elbows so he wouldn't crush her and smiled into their kiss, their tongues clinging to each other like two magnets as they locked lips furiously. He could feel her muffled moans vibrating through his mouth, and it made him rock his hips faster.

"Yes Sirius, harder!" she whispered desperately, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist. Sweat was glistening their bodies, and the only sounds that could be heard was their ragged breaths and slapping of skin-on-skin. They were close. He was pounding so hard and deep into her now that she was gasping for breath, begging him for her release.

"Oh bloody hell – fuck-" he panted against her lips, "What are you doing to me witch?" his grey eyes were oozing hunger and lust as he stared into her own, and his jaw clenched in restraint.

Hermione made it with a moan. Whether it was the way she bit her lip, groaned into his ear or screamed his name into the hand over her mouth, he didn't know, but that was it. He lost control and came hard, biting back his bellow in her shoulder as his cock jerked inside her, filling her up with that wet mushy hotness. He saw stars, and thrust into her until the very last drop and then collapsed on top of her. Careful not to crush her, he rolled to her side and pulled her towards him, absolutely spent.

Five minutes later, their heavy pants had subsided, but their muscles were aching. Sirius was spooning her close, his nose smelling the sweet scent of her hair whilst his arms were wrapped protectively round her waist.

"The baby told me to tell you that they didn't appreciate being woken from their blissful sleep," she whispered.

He chuckled quietly and nuzzled her neck; this wasn't the first time Hermione had passed on messages to him regarding their little one. "Tell he or she I say sorry," he murmured, his hand stroking her belly bump.

"Daddy says sorry," she informed the bump, smiling when he laughed.

"I'll sing it back to sleep shall I?" he suggested, already thinking of one of his favourite songs to sing. Hermione nodded and made a sound of approval - she loved his singing voice. He was a Beatles boy through and through, so he chose one that was appropriate for the occasion.

"So this is Christmas…" he sang, and Hermione squealed with excitement.

"I LOVE THIS ONE-!" she exclaimed, and quietened down when Sirius grinned and shushed her.

"…And what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun… and so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun… The near and the dear ones, the old and the young…" he interlaced their fingers and kissed her cheek. "A very merry Christmas and a happy new year… let's hope it's a good one, without any fear… And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong, for the rich and the poor ones, our baby's nearly born-!"

Hermione burst out laughing and quickly swivelled round to face him.

"Our baby's nearly born? Sirius…" she heaved, only just managing to speak through her laughing. He stroked a strand of hair from her face and started laughing at her. "Sirius, I love you," she said, and put a finger to his lips before he could reply. She smiled at his cocked eyebrow and explained. "Don't say I love you too, it's too cliché."

"But I do-"

"Don't say it!" she stage-whispered, "Say something else!" His scandalised expression made her laugh again, and it took her a while to calm down. "Say something instead of I love you!" she urged him.

Sirius didn't know what to say, so he settled on the words that were currently swimming through his mind. "You're weird."

The pregnancy must have been playing on her mood swings, because she started laughing again. And this time, she couldn't stop. "Okay…" she panted, "that wasn't quite what I was hoping for."

There was a series of loud, happy shouting and screaming from the other rooms in the cottage, and Sirius and Hermione shared wide smiles. Any minute now… the rapid stomps grew closer and closer until their bedroom door banged open.

"IT'S CHHRRISSSSSTMAASSSSSSSS!"

Hermione dropped her head back on her pillow, still laughing. It didn't take a genius to work out who that monster of a voice belonged to. Albert, now six, sprinted into his parent's bedroom clad in broomstick covered pyjamas and dived on the bed. He still had the same black-brown curly mop of hair (the curls matched Hermione's and the shade matched Sirius's), grey eyes and that cheeky smile which Hermione knew would be well used to charm the girls when he got to Hogwarts. After they sat him down and told him about the houses, he declared that he didn't need the Sorting Hat to know he was a Gryffindor.

Next through the door was just turned three… Regulus. Like Albert, he too looked like a virtual carbon copy of Sirius, but instead of grey eyes, Reggie had Hermione's eyes - a deep chocolate brown. His black-brown hair was usually smooth and floppy, and strands tended to fall elegantly into his eyes (no doubt he would start pushing it coolly back when he was older like his dad), but when he was fresh from his bed, like now, it became messy and sleep-tousled, which of course only made him cuter.

Unlike his big brother, Reggie was quite shy when meeting new people and much preferred to hide behind his parent's legs than introduce himself, but once he knew you, he didn't mind asking crude questions. Sirius beamed with pride whenever he was reminded of the day his youngest son asked Uncle Remus how big his willy was. Everyone had laughed so much, and the memory still brought tears to his eyes. Apart from his habit of interrogating people, it was clear that personality wise he was most like Hermione: he was opinionated, stubborn and had been called a 'smarty-pants' by his brother because he had already started to show signs of wizardry at the young age of three. Little Reggie wasn't tall enough to climb onto the big bed by himself, so Albert jumped back down and helped him up.

"Sirius!" Hermione mouthed, nudging him in the ribs as she watched the boys wriggle towards them. "We – are – naked!"

Sirius chortled at her and shifted about under the covers for a minute before revealing his empty hands. "I'm not anymore darling, but I'll distract them so you can put your nighty on," he winked, "It'll be a shame to see that body of yours covered up."

He swooped down on her for a chaste kiss, which she accepted with a dramatic roll of her eyes and then playfully kicked him out of the bed. He stood in only his boxers, yawning and stretching his limbs out wide like a bear. Hermione couldn't help her eyes wander down his body and feel her heart flutter. Damn. Her husband was irresistible.

"Ay! What are you two doing?" His son's both stopped play fighting on the bottom of the bed to look up at him with faces of pure innocence.

"Nothing!" Albert shouted, patting Reg on the head to show their fight was fake. "We came to ask if we can open our stockings! Father Christmas has left us LOADS of presents! Can open them daddy, can we?" he stood up and started bouncing on the bed. "PLEASE?"

"Of course you can, I thought you had opened them already! Why don't we go and get them from your bedrooms now?"

Albert had already raced off before Regulus had got off the bed.

"Daddy," Reg murmured uncertainly, "Pick – pick me up?" He was peering over the edge of the bed and biting on his finger as if working out how to get down.

Sirius smiled slightly and picked him up easily, aware that he was scared of heights - another way he was like Hermione. "You can change now love," he called to her as he kissed Reg on the forehead and headed out the room.

"Okay, but Sirius can you check on Laila please? The baby monitor just went off!"

"Ah, let's go and see your little sister Laila shall we?" he said, bobbing Regulus up and down. The toddler merely smiled and leant against his dad's shoulder as he was carried along the hallway.

Laila's nursery was the closest to their bedroom. The walls were a yellow custard colour, and like the boy's rooms, there were many family pictures hung up, some moving photographs and others frozen. Whenever Ron had been babysitting, he'd rather annoyingly point out that Laila was only eight months old and so wouldn't be able to even see them. Whenever he said that, Hermione simply told him to shut up.

Peering over the cot, Sirius smiled widely as he saw baby Laila. It wasn't just fatherly favouritism talking – she really was the most beautiful baby girl he had ever laid eyes on. When they were shopping in Diagon Alley, people often stopped to coo over her in her pram. She had a tuft of soft chestnut hair, big, bright grey eyes, lovely chubby cheeks from giggling too much and had the habit to curl her little hand around people's fingers - and not let go.

"Merry Christmas little Laila," he whispered to her, gently tickling her neck, "are you going to give daddy a special Christmas kiss?"

Laila stared up at him, her eyes examining his face before pealing over with giggles. Sirius laughed and hoisted Reg up higher before leaning down and picking her up too. Laila's head rested upon his cheek, and he grinned at her version of 'a kiss' – a bump of her head.

"Happy kiss-mas Laila," Reg said happily, then scrunched his nose. "Laila – you smell!"

"She knows she does, you need your nappy changing don't you sweetie?" Sirius said in a funny voice, walking back to their bedroom. "Albert! Have you got your stocking?" he called.

"YES!" he shouted back, then came sprinting down the hallway towards them, carrying two large stockings in his arms that were nearly bigger than him. "I got Reggie's as well!" he panted breathlessly.

Regulus's eyes widened and he looked at his father. "Daddy, has father kiss-mass gone?"

"Yes, he only comes when you're asleep. He's very clever," Sirius replied, affectionately stroking his son's head when he looked sad, "you can meet him next year Reggie."

"I met him last year!" Albert announced, leading the group back into the bedroom. "Mummy you remember – I met him last year didn't I?"

Hermione was kneeling on the bed, having just changed into her white lacy negligee. She was examining herself in the mirror when her family came back, and upon seeing Sirius's hungry gaze on her, smirked and pulled on a cardigan of his over the top.

"Yes, you did meet him last year sweetheart," she confirmed, hopping off the bed and accepting Laila from Sirius. It was nappy-changing time.

Albert turned excitedly to Regulus. "Father Christmas started kissing mummy!" he roared, as if it was shocking news. "He was like 'oh baby yeah'!"

"No he wasn't!" Sirius laughed, pulling him into a playful headlock. He shared an amused glance with Hermione. The Santa Claus that Albert thought he had met was in fact him in a costume.

Two hours later, the Black family were still snuggled up in the master bedroom. The boys had opened all their stocking presents and were now laying on the floor sharing a box of Honeydukes chocolate and playing a mini kids version of exploding snap. On the bed, Laila had fallen asleep in Hermione's arms, and Sirius was sitting next to her, watching his wife.

Hermione eventually cracked. "What?" she huffed, "why are you looking at me like that? Am I still tempting you?" she gestured to the woollen cardigan. "I've covered myself up!"

"You always tempt me," he said warmly, in a voice that could melt butter. He rubbed his hand against the juncture of her thighs to prove his point and she quivered under his touch. Only his touch that emitted such a reaction from her. He slid his hand back to intertwine with hers to prevent getting any more excited than he was. With such a young family, sex twice a day was always a rare treat. "I was just thinking."

He watched her coo over Laila, how she would grin and laugh whenever their new born would curl her hand round her finger, opening her mouth and gurgling sounds of a happy baby. "Thinking?" she asked him absently. "What about…?"

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "About another way of saying I love you. You said saying it back was too cliché."

She looked up at him, remembering their previous conversation and smiling. "Well it is. 'I love you', 'oh thank you dearest I love you too'…" she made a disgusted face. "It really is awful!"

He shook his head in amusement, "Only you would say that. Okay… what about… I can't go a day without you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Considering all the time we've spent apart over the years, I think you definitely could."

Sirius grinned at her and laughed his usual lovely bark-like laugh. "Oh – here's a good one… Hermione," he addressed her, "You're my sunshine in the height of a storm."

"No!" she giggled, "are you serious-?" he smirked delightfully and opened his mouth to reply, but she shook her head and poked him. "I know what you're going to say, don't say it!"

He whimpered like a child and didn't drop the act until she kissed him.

Happy again, Sirius turned to his sons, who were still playing exploding snap. "Albert, Reggie, what's another way of saying I love you?"

"Whasat mean?" Regulus asked, looking from his parents to his brother with a cute frown on his face.

"When you fancy someone loads," Albert told him matter-of-factly. "Apparently, when you love someone you follow them everywhere."

Regulus's jaw dropped and he stared at his parents. "That's creepy!"

"Stop following me you stalker," Hermione said to her husband. "And stop impregnating me too."

They all laughed, even though their sons didn't know what it meant. Though she suspected that Albert had a vague idea.

"You can say, hello person that I love!" Albert suggested, grinning mischievously when his father stuck his thumb up at him.

"Hello person that I love," Sirius murmured to his wife, chuckling at her raised eyebrows.

"Aw, actually I really like that one," she sighed, a dreamy look crossing her face. She cupped her hand behind his neck and kissed him passionately, ignoring the retching sounds being made by their children. When she broke away she bit her lip seductively and said, "Hello to you too!"

One thing was certain. They were going to have a very merry Christmas and many happy new year's.

A/N: And there we are! I wanted to wrap this story up properly, and I felt that the Christmas theme was appropriate now that it's so near! It wasn't meant to be this long, but I love writing Sirius as a dad (I have a thing for yummy daddy's) and so I got a bit carried away. I'm not apologising! ;) I have started writing my time-travel fic, 'Tears Dry On Their Own' so have a little read of that too!

Love Soph/Hollister9