A/N: You have every right to hate me. So sorry this is so late. I wrote the chapter and didn't like it so I re-wrote it. And I was out of commission for a while because my computer had a virus. But all is good now.

Disclaimer: All characters (except Caroline and a few others) belong to JKR.

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Chapter 12

Blaise looked into the mirror. He appeared to be a lot older than his 37 years. He felt older too. It had been a hell of a year and one he would not want to repeat. He was getting married, but not to the love of his life. How could things get so mixed up?

Hopelessness overwhelmed him. If not for Julian, he'd probably kill himself. But his son had gone through way more than a kid his age should have. Watching your mother die before you would mess anyone up. The nightmares stopped after a couple of months after the accident, but recently the dreams had started up again. Every time Blaise heard Julian scream, it tore his heart out.

Blaise splashed cool water over his face. He wished he could just wash away the night. But there were still unresolved issues that he didn't want to face. In less than two weeks, he would be prisoner in a loveless marriage and would have to give up Caroline forever.

He pulled on his pajama bottoms when he heard the first scream. "Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" Julian sobbed in his sleep. Blaise burst into his son's room to find Julian crying uncontrollably, tears covering his face.

Caroline was on her way to the kitchen to fix a snack, when she heard the screams as she passed their suite. Without taking the time to knock, she ran into the suite and into Julian's room. Blaise sat on the bed holding his son, rocking him back and forth. Julian was awake and no longer screaming, but sobbing quietly.

"What's going on?" asked Caroline as she walked over to the bed. She stooped down level with Julian and gently stroked his face.

"His nightmares are starting up again," explained Blaise.

"Papa, can I sleep with you tonight? Please?"

"Sure thing, champ. Why don't you wash up first, okay?" Julian slid off his father's lap and slowly walked into his bathroom, an occasional hitched sob could be heard.

"Again, what's going on?" asked Caroline.

Blaise took a deep breath and started to explain. "The night Luna died she and Julian were coming home from Christmas shopping. Julian said they were singing "Jingle Bells." A deer, at least that's what he thought he saw, ran into the middle of the road and stopped. Luna swerved to miss hitting it, overcorrected and ran into a tree on the opposite side of the road. She wasn't wearing her seatbelt, and the airbags didn't inflate. Her head hit the windshield, but didn't go through it. Julian was unharmed. Luna was still alive when Julian unhooked his seatbelt and crawled over to the front seat." Blaise's voice cracked a couple of times. Caroline realized that it was difficult for him to continue, so she put her hand on his back for comfort.

Blood saturated her blond hair. "I love you, Julian. Don't ever forget that," Luna said weakly. She was losing a lot of blood and knew she didn't have much time. It was important to tell her son that she loved him as she closed her eyes for the last time.

Julian shook her shoulders. "Mama, wake up. Please, wake up." He started to panic and started screaming, "Wake up! WAKE UP! Mama, please!" He kept shaking her shoulders trying to get some sort of response. When the paramedics arrived, he was still screaming until he lost his voice. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

Tears rolled down Caroline's face. She put her arms around Blaise's shoulders and hugged him. "How awful for him to go through that. And poor Luna…" She shook her head and noticed Julian standing there looking defeated.

"Will you sleep with us, too?" Julian looked at her with those sad puppy dog eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea." In fact, she thought it a really bad idea.

"Pretty please, with sugar on top?" He stuck out his lower lip and looked up at her soulfully.

"Aw, how can I say no to that face? Let me go change." She was wearing a something a little too skimpy under her robe. Changing into flannel pajamas that covered more, she felt better, but still thought spending the night in Blaise's room was a bad idea

Julian scrambled onto the king-sized four-poster bed. The bed was so big, it swallowed him up as he got under the covers.

Blaise started to get in on one side when Caroline said, "Can't you at least put a tee-shirt on or something." She thought it would be hard to get to sleep if she's drooling on her pillow all night. The only thing he wore was the pajama bottoms he put on earlier.

"You're lucky I'm wearing the bottoms. I usually take them off and sleep nude."

"I really did not need to know that," muttered Caroline as she got in on the other side of the bed after she took off her robe. She quickly got under the covers and pulled them up to her chin.

Julian took off his pajama top and threw it on the floor. "I'm going to be like Papa," he announced.

Caroline looked over at the two Zabinis and found them looking back at her. "If you think I'm taking my top off, you are sadly mistaken." She rolled over with her back toward them as they snickered.

"Good night, Papa. I love you," said Julian as he kissed Blaise on the cheek.

"Good night, Julian. I love you," Blaise said and kissed him in return. Julian rolled over and tapped Caroline on her shoulder.

As she rolled over, Julian said, "Good night, Caroline. I love you," and kissed her on the cheek and giggled.

She was very touched that he included her. Not wanting to break their nightly ritual, Caroline said, "Good night Julian. I love you." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

The three laid there in silence for a moment. Julian cleared his throat and looked back and forth between his father and Caroline. "You need to say goodnight to each other. You first, Caroline."

She rolled her eyes. "Um, good night, Blaise," she murmured and gave him a quick kiss but couldn't look him in the eye. She undeniably she loved him; she had for a long time, but was too afraid to say it. What if he didn't have the same feelings? She would look like a fool.

Julian whispered to her, "You forgot to say I love you. Now, start over."

She rolled her eyes again and said, "Good night, Blaise. I love you." As she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, he quickly moved his head so that her lips hit his. She smiled at him. "Cheater."

"Now you, Papa."

He reached over and put his hand behind her neck and drew her closer to him, Julian still between the two. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her heart pounding fiercely as he pulled her closer. He looked her straight in the eye and said, "Good night, my darling Caroline. I love you."

Her heart melted. The way he looked at her with his deep brown eyes told her he really meant what he said. At first his kiss was gentle and he intended to make it quick. But as his lips lightly brushed hers, he couldn't stop and kept deepening the kiss.

"Hey, hey, hey," complained Julian as he tried to push the two apart. "You're only allowed to give a little smooch, not a big long snog."

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Julian was an active sleeper. He never woke up in the same spot as he fell asleep. So this morning, his head was at the foot of the bed hanging over the edge a little. When he woke up, he was a little confused because he wasn't in his own bed. Then he remembered the night before as he sat up and saw his papa and Caroline sleeping together.

Julian slid off the bed and picked up his pajama top from the floor. He quickly put it on and ran to his bedroom to get his robe and slippers. He was starving and wanted to get to the kitchen to get something to eat ASAP. He was a growing boy after all.

During the course of the night, Blaise and Caroline inched closer together. Blaise had his arm protectively around Caroline spooning her, his face nuzzled in her hair. He was half awake and thought he was dreaming when he felt Caroline in his arms. Realizing she was actually in his arms woke him up for real.

"I'd give up all the money in my vaults if I could wake up every morning next to you." Blaise pulled back her hair and kissed her neck. That got a little moan from the blonde waking up. Turning around she stretched and put her arms around his neck.

"Mmm, good morning," she purred as she quickly kissed him on the lips. She would give anything to wake up every morning next to him too.

That wasn't enough for Blaise. He started kissing down her neck, her moaning encouraging him on. She grabbed his hair as his lips traveled further down to her collarbone. Her back arched and her hips started grinding into his erection. Opening up the top of her pajamas, he exposed an ample breast and started ravishing it. As he moved to the other breast, she was about to jump out of her skin. He definitely knew his way around a woman's body.

His breath was ragged when he asked, "Do you remember a while back when I said I didn't want to screw or shag you, but make slow and meaningful love to you?"

She only nodded because she knew she wasn't able to speak at the moment as she caught her breath.

"Well, I lied. I really want to fuck your brains out," he said with a wolfish grin and placed his lips onto hers with a demanding kiss.

Shagging, screwing, making love – Caroline didn't care as long as he was on top of her and inside her before she exploded. She wanted to feel his skin next to hers. The remainder of her clothes quickly came off. "Fuck away. We can make love later."

Blaise knew Julian was probably in the kitchen getting his breakfast, but he locked the door anyway with a wave of his wand. He also silenced the room for good measure.

Caroline's body was nice, but without clothes on, it was spectacular. Every curve was perfect and begged to be touched. He didn't know where to start. He wanted to lick and bite and taste every inch of her. A kid in a candy store would be a good way to describe it.

He fisted his hands in her hair and roughly kissed her. Having a hard time controlling himself, he hadn't realized his need was so strong. He knew he wanted her, but he really needed her more.

Hands were grabbing and pulling all over each other as their lips stayed locked. Her skin was burning and all she could think about is getting closer to him. She wasn't that experienced, comparatively, so she hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself. Her head was swimming with the thought that she was finally having sex with a real man instead of a boy.

She marveled at his body, appreciating the fact that he kept good care of it. Let's face it, the man was ripped. Her goal was to explore every inch of every muscle - later.

He threaded his fingers with hers and raised them above her head. "I can't wait." His voice was thick.

She gave him a slight nod before he plunged into her. She cried out and was surprised that he was inside her so quickly. She thought he would be big, but she didn't expect to be that big - so it took her a moment to adjust.

"Are you okay?" The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

"Way better than okay," she said breathlessly. She was beginning to shiver, and he hadn't even moved yet. She wasn't going to last long as her heart beat furiously and her body hummed. When he finally started to move in and out, glorious waves of pleasure poured over her.

Blaise thought she felt so hot and tight, that he wanted to stay inside her forever, but he knew he wasn't going to last long either. His pace quickened and was pleased to find out she could match him thrust for thrust. No limp fish this one.

"Look at me," he murmured.

She opened up her gray-blue eyes and looked into his. This was going to be her undoing.

"I really do love you, Caroline." With just those words, her heart exploded and her body along with it. She threw her head back and let the passion ride over her. Her orgasm was so intense that she thought she was going to pass out.

With a couple more thrusts, he was quick to follow. In all his sexual experiences, he never felt anything as powerful and intense as what he felt inside Caroline. Putting the silencing charm on the room was a good idea. Their noises would have woken the whole manor.

Blaise collapsed on top of her and quickly rolled off. Lying on his side he pushed sweaty strands of hair away from Caroline's face. As his breathing was getting back under control he said, "That was fucking amazing. Pardon the pun."

He noticed there were tears in Caroline's eyes. "Oh shit, did I hurt you?" he asked with concern. "Sorry that was so fast, but I just couldn't wait."

She shook her head. "No, it's not that at all. It's just that I love you too." She leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the lips. His heart did flip-flops when she said it which made him love her even more.

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he slapped his hands over his eyes in dismay. "With everything going so fast, I forgot to cast a contraception spell. Oh shit..."

Seeing the look on his face made her burst out laughing.

"This is not funny, Caroline."

"Sorry, but don't worry about it. I'm on the potion."

"Just another reason why I love you." A very relieved Blaise gave her a quick kiss and started to get out of bed. "I really want to stay in this bed all day with you, but we really need to get dressed before Julian comes back."

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Draco was down the kitchen enjoying his first cup of coffee of the day. He didn't get much sleep since he was tied up most of the night. His peace was ruined when Julian bounced in and started gathering all the ingredients to make his breakfast…bread, peanut butter, pickles and Capt. Crunch cereal.

Each time Julian got a knife full of peanut butter and spread it over his bread, he licked the knife and stuck it back in the jar to get another knife full. And each time he did that, Draco cringed and made a mental note not to use that particular jar of peanut butter.

After the peanut butter was spread to his liking, Julian took the pickles and laid them on top. He then opened up the box of cereal and shoved his hand in the box. Draco made another mental note not to eat from that particular box of cereal.

After grabbing a fistful of cereal he placed each piece carefully over the pickles.

"You really are your mother's son," muttered Draco. He remembered the odd food Luna used to eat. "And where is your father? He should be down here helping you make your breakfast."

"I can do it myself," claimed the little boy. He put the other piece of bread on top and stood back to admire his creation. "Besides, Papa is still in bed with Caroline."