I'd actually had this chapter written for about a week before publishing it, since I didn't like how short it was compared to the other chapters but I decided to just go ahead and post it anyways. Enjoy the second to last chapter which takes place a few years into the future with married Dramione so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Married life had been good for Draco and Hermione in their first two years together. Their honeymoon phase had lasted long enough, and was still going strong even with Hermione pregnant with their first child. It had come as somewhat of a surprise, since they had not planned on having children at this point in time but it was a a welcome one nonetheless. Naturally, Draco had been rather attentive to Hermione during her pregnancy and although it had been sweet at first, it quickly got on her nerves.

So when Draco received an opportunity to travel for his work, Hermione was all-too eager to convince him to go if it meant sparing her from his over-bearing behaviour. Of course Draco had been concerned about Hermione, since her pregnancy hadn't exactly been easy. The early months had been fine, but Hermione was constantly feeling sick and had been warned of the potential for her to have an early delivery in her last trimester.

With Draco being abroad and a worried husband, they had once again resorted to their old method of communication. Their habit of writing to each other certainly hadn't stopped, even when they weren't that far apart. There was just something about receiving a hand-written letter from Draco that always touched Hermione's heart. So while Draco was in Australia, they were sharing letters with their old boxes that still worked flawlessly. Hermione smiled to herself as she received another message from Draco and quickly read it so she could reply.

Australia's nice and all, but it's not the same as our villa in France. Perhaps we should make a visit there once our little one comes into the world.

That would be wonderful. I've missed travelling and experiencing new things. We should definitely take our daughter with us once she is able to travel. I want her to be able to see the world and create memories to last a lifetime.

Daughter? How do you know that? I thought we agreed to be surprised on her gender. Don't tell me that you found out for yourself.

I didn't. It's just my mother's intuition coming through.

Ah. My mother also correctly guessed that I would be a boy before she found out for herself. I think she was almost a little disappointed, because I think Mother would have liked to have a little girl to dress up and play around with.

Well, I'm going to love our child regardless of their gender.

I just don't want to make the same mistakes that my parents did.

Hermione frowned. She knew that next to her health, Draco's biggest concern about her pregnancy was how his performance as a father would be. Draco hardly had the best example growing up, but Hermione had complete faith that he would learn from the mistakes his parents made and he the best father he could be.

When it came to Draco's parents, they still hadn't exactly warmed up to her completely. Hermione hadn't been there to see Lucius' reaction to their relationship, though Draco told her that he had been rather nonchalant about it. As for Narcissa, Hermione's mother-in-law had been frosty to put it kindly. Despite the Malfoy's best attempts at proving that they had moved passed their pureblood supremacy, they still weren't thrilled about a muggleborn marrying into their family and 'soiling' their pure bloodline. At least now Narcissa was somewhat warming up to Hermione after she had announced her pregnancy, while Lucius still had nothing to do with her.

You are not your parents, Draco.

But I'm still part of them. I can still think of every time they failed me and let me down. The thing is, it wasn't even like they were trying to fail me. It just happened. So what if despite my best efforts, I still fail as a father and our child grows to resent me just like I still kind of resent my own parents?

That won't happen, Draco. I won't let it. You are going to be an amazing father. We are going to be wonderful parents. Our child is going to fill in that missing piece of our family and they will love us as much as we love them.

Thank you, Hermione. You always know what to say. Or write.

That's what I'm here for.

Have you been feeling okay since I've been gone? You're not over-doing it, are you?

I'm following the Healers orders, Draco. You don't have to worry about me because I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

I know that you are… I just worry about you.

And you know that I appreciate your concern, but you must know that it is not necessary. If there was a reason to be concerned, don't you think I would tell you?

I don't know, you were pretty eager to get rid of me before I left.

Draco, even you have to admit that you had been far too suffocating for me. I think we needed this time of separation to clear our heads. You'll be back home in two weeks, anyways.

And I'm counting down every hour and minute until that happens.

As much as Hermione was enjoying having some time to herself before the baby came, she still missed Draco. And Hermione couldn't help but love that last message that he just sent her because no matter how hard he tried to deny it, Hermione was under no uncertain terms that her husband was a romantic at heart.

In the days that followed, Hermione kept messaging Draco at every available opportunity, and she even found herself missing Draco more than she thought she would. Perhaps Hermione had been a little too hasty in encouraging him to take this business trip. Now that Hermione was working from home and on bed rest most of the time, there wasn't much company for her except for the occasional visits from her friends.

I hate feeling like a prisoner in my own house.

You could always sit on the veranda or go outside and enjoy the view with some fresh air.

It hardly feels worth it since then I'd have to get up. Ginny didn't make pregnancy sound as bad as it actually is.

Weren't you relishing in your pregnancy in your first trimester?

That was before it became an unbearable nightmare. I'm tired of being in pain and waking up with the urge to vomit.

And it'll only get worse once the baby actually arrives and we have to put up with it's constant crying.

If I were next to you right now I would slap you.

Then I'm glad I'm in Australia.

Not for long.

Why don't we talk about something other than how unbearable pregnancy is like… I don't know? Baby names?

We are not naming the baby Scorpius if it's a boy.

I didn't even say that! But I still don't get why you are so against that name. What's so bad about it?

It's just so… bleh. And just because you and I have unique names doesn't mean that we should punish our child with an unbearable name.

I think our names are just fine. And besides, wizard names always have more of a unique flare to them compared to the generic muggle names out there.

I hated my name growing up. I always got picked on for it and the fact that it's such a mouthful hardly helped. There are hardly any good nicknames for Hermione.

The only nickname I ever got was Drake, which was okay I suppose but Pansy always butchered it with add-ons like 'Drakey-poo.'

You cant even get a nickname from Scorpius.

What about Scorp?

Still not a fan.

Okay… What about girls names?

Now that's something I can enjoy talking about. I love Lyra, but I'm also impartial to Cordelia or Alya.

You know, we don't have to follow the Black family tradition.

I know, but I've had fun researching constellations and what not so I'm not just going to let that go to waste. Besides, there are some of these names that I actually like and don't sound so horrid.

The Black family tradition isn't just limited to stars. I know that a few of them were named after other astrological stuff like comets and what not.

I know. I found another name that I liked amongst the asteroids, Aurelia.

Hm, I suppose that isn't too horrid. And it's not too muggle but not too magical either, I suppose.

I think I could name just about every star or asteroid in the galaxy after all the research I've done over the past eight months.

I'm just glad it's given you something else to focus your energy on other than me.

Hermione would have written back a smart retort to that comment, but a painful jab in her stomach stopped her. She had been feeling that a lot lately, and would not have been alarmed if not for the feeling that came after that. The feeling of her water breaking.

Draco. It broke. My water broke.

What!? Please tell me this is a joke.

Do you think that I would seriously joke about something like this?

But you're not due for another month! This can't be happening… Can't you just… push it back in?

I know that you're not a Healer, Draco, but surely you must have enough common sense to know that that's not how delivery works!

I know, I know! Just… Floo for mother or someone and I'll try and get there as quickly as I can.

You better.

That was the end of their conversation then, as Hermione quickly had to call for someone to come and help her. Figures that her water would break the one day she was actually alone and two weeks before Draco was scheduled to come home. So Hermione quickly sent off a message with her Patronus in the hopes that someone would get here quick enough to help her. But despite her nerves, Hermione couldn't help but be excited because after all, she was about to be a mother and she couldn't wait for that moment when she would finally be able to hold her child in her arms and love them with all her might.

You can't tell me that Hermione wouldn't just love researching all kinds of baby names from constellations so I had to showcase her inner nerd here. Like every Dramione shipper, I do have my own headcanons for the their kids and I don't know why, but I just love the idea of them having a girl first since having Hermione in the family would basically just break any old traditions like the Malfoy family being dominated by men. But then there's still the part of me that loves the idea of protective big brother Scorpius, so I'm quite torn about that. Anyways, there's just one more chapter left after this and that'll be it for this story.