Chapter 37

After a very long day at work, Martina stretched back in her chair and prepared to leave. As she was packing things away in her oversized bag, she looked at the picture that was propped up against the wall on her desk. She smiled despite herself and grabbed it, putting it in her bag with the rest of her things. At least she tried to. It wouldn't fit so she tucked it under her arm. After slinging the bag over she shoulder she made her way to the elevator.

Once she was out onto the Muggle streets above she decided to walk to her house, which was in the middle of town, not too far from the Ministry. As she rounded the corner to her home she pulled the picture out from under her arm and looked down at it, the smile yet again tugging at her mouth. She walked up the steps, still looking at the picture when she finally noticed someone was there.

Draco, a small smirk upon his lips, was waiting for her with his hands behind his back. She stared at him a moment before she said anything.

"Uh... hi."

Draco smiled. "Hi. How was your day?" He asked, ignoring the fact that she had been lovingly staring at his gift.

'Good." She shifted the bag on her shoulder. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I wanted to make sure you go home okay." When she gave him a doubtful look he smirked. "Okay, I wanted to give you this."

From behind his back he pulled a single red rose. He smiled and handed it to her. She stared dumbly at it for a moment before she took it. She gave him a half smile and stuck her key in the door. She opened it carefully, flicking on the lights as she stepped in. She dropped the picture and her bag and stared.

Dozens of roses were placed about her small foyer, their vases made of all different colors of glass. Draco walked up behind her and shut the door. She turned when he spoke.

"I remembered how you said you like roses. I couldn't remember which ones were your favorite, so I got them all." Martina swallowed hard. "Do you like them?" He asked, inching closer to her.

Martina nodded, her mouth hanging open slightly. Draco smiled and reached out for her tentatively. He touched her arm, running his fingers over the coarse tweed jacket she wore. Martina took an unconscious step closer to him. He reached out his other hand and caressed her cheek. She sighed, not wanting to give in. He looked down at her, and she up at him. He leaned forward, expecting her to slap him at any moment.

His lips touched hers and he drew back immediately to watch her reaction. Her eyes were large, but she made no move to push him away. He leaned forward again and kissed her. She sighed and kissed him back. He ran his tongue across her lips and she opened hers slightly. He groaned and deepened the kiss. They wrapped their arms around each other, both of them loving the feeling of the other.

Draco pressed her to the wall and kissed her neck. She moaned and realized what she was doing. She pushed him away quickly.

"Draco!"

"What?"

"I... you... we..."

Draco smirked again. "Speechless I see."

"Shut up. I'm still mad at you."

"I'm sorry..."

"I know." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But a pretty picture and a few dozen flowers..."

"Try a few hundred."

"Are not going to make me forgive you." Martina finished like she hadn't been interrupted.

"What then? What do I have to do?"

Martina raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Maybe you should take me to dinner and we can talk about it."

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. He smirked. "Pick you up at seven?"

Martina smirked back at him. "It better Italian."

Draco smiled and stole one more kiss before practically skipping out the door. Martina sighed, breathing in the wonderful scent the roses were giving off. She repaired the picture, took it up to her room and began to get ready for dinner that night.

Jezzy and Lucius woke Christmas morning to the screams of Rhiannon in the nursery. Jezzy rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed and padded to her youngest child. She picked Rhiannon up and pressed her to her breast, stopping her cries immediately. She sat in the chair with her, rocking back and forth, the motion of the chair and her child nursing on her lulling her back to sleep. She woke with a start when Rhiannon pinched her left breast.

"Ouch!" She cried out, almost dropping her.

Rhiannon smiled up at her. Jezzy shook her head and pulled her robe closed. Carol, her faithful nurse, walk into the room at that moment and asked if she wished to have Rhiannon dressed.

"Yes, thank you. Bring her down to the Living room when she is ready please." Carol smiled and took Rhiannon from her lap.

Jezzy yawned again and headed back to her room to shower and get ready for the day. Lucius was already in the shower, so she slipped her robe off and got in with him. He turned and smiled at her, kissing her cheek. They had been up late the night before making slow love to one another. Jezzy wasn't complaining, but she couldn't stifle her yawns.

Once they were clean and dressed they made their way down to the living room, where the kids were waiting impatiently.

"Finally!" Sebastian shouted when he saw them.

Though both Jezzy and Lucius expected their children to act with a modicum of decency, Christmas morning was always chaos. Sebastian practically dove into the pile of packages while tossing the ones that didn't belong to him out of the way. Within ten minutes, all of the packages were open and Sebastian came out of a pile of discarded wrappings and sighed loudly.

"Well, that's everything."

"So sorry we didn't deliver up to your standards, ungrateful brat." Jezzy yawned.

Sebastian smiled at her and gave her a hug. "Thanks mom. Thanks dad."

"Welcome."

"Why are you so tired, mom?" Drucilla, always observant, asked.

Lucius smirked. "We were busy last night, with your presents."

Liar. Jezzy thought to herself. They didn't even touch the presents. The house elf's wrapped them. Lucius hugged her tight as they watched their children play with their Christmas presents.