A/N: So sorry for the long wait! Hopefully this chapter makes up for it :)
Chapter 14
"You know," Lucy said, as they stood in Dinah's living room, "the last time I was here I was unmarried and didn't know if I was pregnant or not."
Dinah grinned; "Well, I hope you're happy that you're now married and do know that you're pregnant. You remember the guest room where you and Sirius changed at Christmas? You can go ahead and put your things there if you like."
Lucy nodded, "Yes. We'll be right back," she said, tugging Sirius up the stairs, "and don't worry we'll behave." They were quick leaving their bags in Dinah's guestroom and Sirius only made Lucy a little bit of a liar with some kisses that Severus would not have wanted to witness.
When they came back down to the living room, Lucy was still flushed and Sirius insisted on walking behind her, but she didn't think it was too bad.
"Are we playing follow the leader?" Dinah asked with the classic Snape raised eyebrow at them.
That made Lucy's blush come back full-force.
"Um, no," Sirius said, stepping out from behind Lucy. Apparently he didn't have to hide now.
"We behaved. I promise. No clothes were removed, except to put on the Muggle ones and we stayed far, far away from each other then, and…"
"Now, now, relax," Dinah laughed, placing an affectionate hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You're fine. I'm not judging I'm just teasing."
Lucy gave her friend a sheepish grin, "Good to know. Are you going to drive or can I?" she asked, trying to take the focus off of what she may or may not have done in the guestroom
"I'm driving," Dinah's response was immediate and a little apprehensive.
"Oh, all right," Lucy said, a little disappointed. She hadn't really expected Dinah to let her drive, especially as she'd never driven a Muggle car before. Maybe she'd ask for lessons some time.
"Lucy, I think we all feel better about Dinah driving. You handle a broom well, but I'd rather get to the doctor's office in one piece," Sirius said.
Lucy stuck her tongue out at the group, even Severus who hadn't said anything yet, and marched out to the car, feeling rather hormonal again.
Dinah laughed as approached the driver's seat. "My doctor is going to start trying to get rid of me if I keep bringing unruly people into her office."
Lucy sighed, climbing into the back seat with Sirius, "I'll behave. Really, I'll probably be too busy staring at everything around me to bother with the hormones."
The drive to Dinah's doctor was just as fascinating to Lucy as her other two car rides had been, especially as she was seeing different parts of the city now. It was just as well Dinah hadn't let her drive, she thought. She'd have been too busy looking around to watch where she was going and that seemed very important when driving one of these Muggle devices.
Eventually though, they arrived at a building that Dinah parked next to, presumably the doctor's office. Stepping out of the car with Sirius's help, Lucy thought that this building didn't look much like St. Mungo's. It couldn't possibly be big enough to house a mental ward too…
"We go in the door and then…" Lucy trailed off as Dinah walked next to her, towards the building.
"And the infernal bell will go off," Severus growled, pointing at the ceiling as they pushed the doors open. Indeed, a bell of some sort rang out over their heads.
"Oh!" Lucy said, looking up and turning around, startled.
"It's just the door, Lu. Like Severus said. Now we have to go sign in. Up there at that window, right?" Sirius asked Dinah. He wasn't so distracted by the Muggle stuff all around him.
"Yes. I've already set up your appointment for you so you'll just have to fill out some paperwork. I think I've thought everything through already but we might need a confundus at some point, so just be prepared. Go up and give them your name and your appointment time and they should get your paperwork to you. Severus, stop!" she laughed at her husband, who was glaring murderously around the room.
"Look at these Muggles. Disgusting," he snarled. "Reading those dirty magazines. Talking on their ridiculous mobile contraptions..."
"Hostile, hostile," Dinah giggled. "And I think you mean soiled magazines, not 'dirty' ones."
Lucy and Sirius left the other couple behind for a few moments. Walking up to the window Lucy signed her name on the odd looking Muggle parchment, with an apparatus that looked nothing like a quill really, and told the women behind the window her name. The portly woman consulted some machinery that looked similar to Dinah's laptop, before handing Lucy a stack of papers to fill out while she waited.
"Wait where?" Lucy asked Sirius as they looked around the crowded room. Some people were coughing, some sneezing, one looked decidedly queasy, and a few looked very pregnant.
Eventually she spotted Dinah and Severus waving from a corner far away from the little window, well Dinah waved anyway. They had managed to find two free chairs and when the Blacks reached their friends Severus politely stood so that Lucy could have his seat.
"Thanks," she told him, grateful. She'd be even more glad for the seat if that queasy person actually threw up.
"Here," Dinah handed a small sheet of paper to her. "This is the address and phone information I constructed for you. Just copy it into the relevant spaces."
"All right," Lucy nodded, working at filling in all the little lines and spaces on the parchments. Eventually she came to a question she didn't know how to answer. "Dinah? What should I put here? It says 'emergency contacts'."
"Just put mine and Severus's address. Here," she grimaced, pulling a rectangular shaped object out of her purse thing and handing it to Lucy. "Just don't look at the picture. And I can give you my parents' address for the second one."
"All right," Lucy repeated, diligently copying the addresses Dinah gave her. She'd only had the forms filled out for maybe a minute when a different woman than the one behind the window called her name. Lucy stood, took Sirius's hand and turned to Dinah. "Are you coming too?"
"I think it might be best, if that's okay with you," Dinah said as she and Severus stood. "Just because this is the Muggle world and all and if I leave Severus out here in the infernal waiting room he might kill me."
"That's fine," Lucy agreed, "I mean with all that Muggle stuff back there I'm libel to slip and say something I shouldn't…"
The foursome walked up to the woman, who was waiting at a door for Lucy. Dinah must have known her because she greeted her warmly.
"Ah, Mr. Snape," the woman, whose name was Carla, turned a nervous glance and a nod to Severus. "You're here as well. This is a rather large group today, isn't it?"
"He'll be on his best behavior, I promise," Dinah teased, grasping the again scowling Severus's arm. "We're a pretty close group of friends so we're all coming back, yes."
"Yes, we are," Lucy nodded in agreement. In the back they went, following Carla to another, smaller, room with a funny looking table in it. She followed Carla's instructions and soon found herself up on that table with her gigantic belly exposed to the room. "Oh," she moaned, "It looks bigger from this angle."
"Lucy," Sirius shook his head, "How many times do I have to tell you you look fine? You aren't as big as you think you are. I doubt anyone in the waiting room thought you were pregnant."
"You look just fine," Carla smiled, grabbing an oddly shaped white tube and turning to Severus; "Do I have your permission to use this, Mr. Snape?"
"Don't ask me," Severus snapped back at her.
She turned to Lucy and Sirius, "Ready for this?"
"I think so," Lucy nodded. She was prepared, or at least she'd thought she was until that goo touched her skin. "That's cold!"
"Sorry about that," Carla apologized as she spread the goo around. After a moment she put a weird probe thing that Severus had warned her about onto the goo and pulled a telly over.
The telly was full of wavy black and white lines. "I think you need to adjust the telly. It's not getting very good reception," Lucy offered.
Dinah covered her mouth to stifle an apparent rush of giggles as she shook her head at Carla; "She's joking. She's joking."
"Oh," Carla, who had looked a bit confused at first, now appeared amused and laughed along with Dinah; "That was a good joke, Mrs. Black."
Lucy smiled, not really sure what she'd said wrong but glad Dinah had been there to cover it up. "Thanks."
Carla tapped at the telly screen. "If you watch closely, your baby should appear in a minute or so."
Lucy stared hard at the screen, not wanting to miss the moment. The wavy lines changed shape and patterns but she couldn't really make out what was what.
"And there it is," Carla said, grinning.
Lucy squinted at the screen but she still couldn't see anything.
"It looks as if the baby has hiccups too," Carla laughed a little, "Can you feel them?"
"No," Lucy shook her head, now desperately searching the screen for signs of a baby with hiccups.
"Well, that's not uncommon for a first time mum. You should probably be able to feel it within a month or so."
"I can't even see it," she finally admitted, feeling about ready to cry.
"Aw, yes you can," Dinah assured her, pointing to the screen. "See that? That should be the head right there. And the body and the arms... remember what my ultrasound picture looked like? Yours is farther along than mine, but..."
"Oh!" she gasped as she saw the shapes Dinah was pointing out, "There it is! Sirius, do you see it? It's so tiny."
"I see it," he said, his voice husky, as he wiped away a couple tears from Lucy's cheeks.
"Were you interested in finding out the sex?" Carla asked, "It looks like the baby's in a good position to see if you wish."
"No," Lucy shook her head, "We talked about it and we want to wait. But," Lucy reached out a bit, "Can I touch it?"
"Of course," Carla gave her and indulgent smile. "Many new mums want to touch the screen when they see their baby."
The women maneuvered the screen so that it was within Lucy's reach. The screen…felt like a screen. She hadn't expected that and looked over at Dinah, but didn't think she should say anything in front of Carla.
"That's inside me," she whispered, stroking the tiny head.
"Yeah, it is," Sirius chuckled, kissing Lucy on the temple.
"We did that," she said, "How did we do that?"
"Well, if I remember right, I was hungry."
"Oh, yeah," Lucy giggled, "You never did finish your spaghetti."
Carla, apparently sensing it was time to leave, said she'd leave the telly with the baby on it near by and go get the doctor.
Dinah smiled at Severus; "I remember you expressed similar wonderment over what we did when you and I were here last."
"Yes, well," he cleared his throat, looking quite embarrassed. "At least we didn't start discussing spaghetti in front of the nurse," he raised an eyebrow at Lucy and Sirius, but it seemed more to get the subject off of him than anything else.
Lucy grinned, looking away from her baby for a moment, "It's not like we told her where the baby was conceived. Not even you two know that. Tonks does, but she's the only one besides us…unless she told Remus."
"You told Tonks?" Sirius asked.
"Well, yes. She asked."
"I suppose you know where her children were conceived then?"
"Not Teddy," she shook her head, "but why do you think Anne's middle name is London?"
Sirius, shook himself a bit, "I let them use Grimmauld Place while we were gone…"
"Oh, it's not that bad. It's not as if we've never…Look," she started again, "we don't know that it was in our home and even if it was, it wasn't our bed and I doubt Remus would have left without cleaning the place."
"And you both realize that the doctor is going to be in here at any moment, correct?" Severus muttered, pacing back and forth in his jet black Muggle clothes, looking almost naked without the bat-like robes to emphasize his impatience.
"Hello," Dr. Laraby said cheerfully, coming into the room, "How are we doing?"
"Much better now that the first trimester is over," Lucy told Dinah's doctor.
The other woman smiled and nodded, "A lot of women feel that way. Especially if you've been suffering from morning sickness."
Lucy nodded, "Oh, yes. I had that. A lot of it." They chatted with the doctor awhile longer and eventually she handed Lucy a envelope.
"I expect you know what this is all about, having seen Dinah's, but these are some pictures from the ultrasound. If there's no further questions I think we're all set."
"I want to frame this," Lucy sighed, staring at the picture of her unborn baby back at Dinah's house. "Put it on the desk in my office. Maybe make a copy and put it on my classroom desk too."
Dinah giggled; "You'd have to tell everyone you're pregnant then. Don't forget there are Muggle-born and half-blood students who will know what that is."
Sirius grinned, "I think that's her plan."
"Well," Lucy blushed, "I don't want to make a big announcement at a meal. I think that would just make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. I thought maybe this would be a conversation starter. Once a couple students find out it'll spread quick enough. Or is that a stupid idea?"
"It's not stupid," Dinah shook her head. "But that leaves me wondering just when and how to make my own announcement..."
"Oh, I don't want to force you into doing anything!" Lucy said, worried she was putting her friend in the same position she had over the summer. Beside her Sirius was looking…serious about something.
Dinah and Severus's focus seemed to be more on Sirius as well. "What?" Dinah finally questioned.
"Lucy, can I ask you something?" Sirius questioned, sounding very serious.
"Of course," Lucy said. She couldn't imagine why he would think that he couldn't, but his change in mood was very strange.
"I know you and your father never got along so…what was it that made you go with him?" he asked out of nowhere.
She drew her knees up to her chin as best she could with her stomach in the way and glanced over at Dinah and Severus.
"We can leave the room if you want," Dinah offered.
"No, it's okay," Lucy told her," You can know." She closed her eyes and felt tears start to fill them as memories came rushing back. "He said he was taking me home and home sounded so good right then. All I wanted at the time was for Mum to hug me and say that everything was going to be okay. That it would hurt and I would be sad, but eventually, things would get better. They would never be the same, but it wouldn't always hurt so much.
"Mum decorated my room there. She wrote little messages all over the walls, 'You're my favorite' and 'I'll always be here for you'. My favorite one, and one I didn't know was there until after she died, is right next to the head of my bed. It just says, 'I love you', but I wanted to see it, to feel close to Mum, so I could at least feel part of what I needed from her.
"Henley offered to take me there. I agreed. We never went home. I'm so stupid for thinking he might actually care about me but," she shrugged, "right then, I just…I thought maybe he did."
"Why did your mother stay with him?" Severus suddenly demanded, his tone a bit harsh but not directed at Lucy. "Why didn't she take you and get out?"
Lucy shook her head, brushing the tears away, "I don't know. She loved him I guess…that's not really an excuse though. Anything that was wrong between them always came down on me. If she'd have just gotten rid of me, if I'd never been, then they would have been happy. I don't really believe that and I don't think Mum did either."
"Hm. She 'loved' him, did she?" Severus snorted. "That's always what it comes down to, isn't it? And they can't escape for just that reason. She should have known she deserved better," he decided.
"Yes, she did," Lucy murmured. She lifted her face a bit to look Severus in the eyes. "I know your father was not a good man, but at least he cared enough to hate. The only time my father cares about me is when it reflects poorly on him." She shifted to curl her legs underneath her and rested a hand on her stomach. "I don't want him to know about the baby. I'm so…so happy right now and I don't want him to touch this, to ruin it."
"You don't have to let him ruin it," Severus murmured, considering. "You can do what your mother could not. Perhaps for her sake as well."
"I intend to try," Lucy assured him, "but I've said I'm done before and then something happens and he shows up promising to make everything better. I fall for it because I want to believe he cares. If I had just been stronger, if I hadn't reacted the way I did..."
Sirius, who up till now had been silent, finally spoke, "If I hadn't gone to…"
"To what? Help Harry and the rest of the DA? They wouldn't have escaped. If something had happened to Harry you would have felt awful. You wouldn't have wanted to live with that. It sucked then but…can we stick to blaming it all on my father?" she grinned a little.
"I suppose…" Sirius said, looking unconvinced.
"Just promise me you'll love our child and everything will be fine," she said, somehow becoming the one who was comforting rather than needing comfort.
"I promise."
"Now, can we go back to plotting how Dinah is going to tell the students about her baby?"
Dinah sighed; "Yes, it's a dilemma. Well, maybe once you've made your announcement I can just throw mine out there. But where and how?"
"I don't know," Lucy shrugged, "I feel like any way you do it it's going to be awkward, but it has to be done. Maybe start introducing things about Muggle babies?"
"Oh, that just seems so... complicated and convoluted," Dinah sighed again. "Maybe I'll just tell them straight out. After all, they will probably be talking about you already anyway."
Lucy giggled, "Yeah. Well, if you've contacted Hermione already maybe her arrival will sort of break the ice. You'll have to explain why she's there after all."
"I didn't plan on her coming until after I told anyway."
"Ah, well that takes care of that idea. I'm sure you'll figure something out," Lucy said, trying to reassure her friend.
"I think I'll just announce it the day of or the day after you do. It might be awkward, but I think it's the best way." Dinah nodded. "Yes, I think that's the best way indeed."
"Sirius?" They were laying in the guest bed, Lucy curled up into Sirius as was normal.
"Hmm?" His eyes were closed, but she didn't think he was sleeping yet.
"What are you thinking?"
He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "I was thinking about sleeping, but if you've got something else in mind…"
"Well, I was thinking," she said, levering herself up on an elbow, "if it's a boy I think we should give him your brother's name. It'd be nice. After all," she trailed the fingers of her free hand over his bare chest, "he did try to do right in the end. Died for it in fact."
Sirius grabbed her hand, stopping its motion, "Why would you want to torture our child with a name like Regulus?"
"It's not that bad, but I was thinking more as a middle name."
"And if it's a girl?" he asked, bringing up her hand to kiss it.
"Jennifer," she whispered, "It was Mum's name."
"Then it's perfect. Any thoughts on a first name?"
"Not for a girl, though I do like the idea of sticking with the Black tradition of celestial type names. At least in part. I mean some of those names are just atrocious, maybe if they just sound like that type of name…"
"And if it's a boy?"
"Owen. I read it in a book once and I've loved the name ever since. As long as you like it too. You have to like it too or we aren't using that name."
"Owen Regulus? It sounds nice. He's got a normal name and an insane Black one too. It fits us," he rolled to pin Lucy beneath him and kissed her. "Do you think this bed squeaks?"
Lucy grinned and kissed his collar bone, "Why don't we find out?"
It didn't take long for them both to be naked. Sirius kissed his way down her body, being extra gentle when he reached the swell of her stomach where their child was growing. Without too much fuss he entered her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
He thrust a couple times before Lucy spoke up, "Can we move a little away from the headboard? It's doesn't hurt, I'd just rather not wake Dinah and Severus. We are in their house after all." Sirius complied, scooting them down and more towards the middle where they did indeed find one squeaky spot before they finished that night.