Hermione's entire body hurt. The last thing she remembered was that she was standing at the top of the main staircase at home, about to say goodbye to Lucius and her morning sickness had started up again. Her stomach had hurt in the past if the vomiting had been really intense, but that didn't explain why every inch of her hurt right now. Opening her eyes, she took in the ugly ceiling that clearly didn't belong in the Manor.
"You're awake," Draco spoke from beside her.
"Where am I?" Hermione asked.
"St. Mungos. You fell down the stairs this morning."
Hermione's hands moved to clutch her still flat stomach, hoping to feel if there was life still growing inside her. It didn't matter that she was too early in the pregnancy to feel anything.
"Our baby?"
"The baby is fine. You had a hemorrhage and were bleeding pretty badly, but the Healer says both of you are fine."
"Thank Merlin the baby is okay." She paused and looked around the room. "Where's Lucius?"
"He left to run a quick errand, but he will be back soon. The healers want to keep you here for a couple of days to make sure you're okay."
"I'm a little sore, but I've survived worse. You should go back to work."
"Most of the day is already gone," Draco explained. "Plus, I wouldn't feel right leaving you here alone."
"The last thing I remember is seeing Lucius. I assume he was there when I fell. Is he doing alright?"
"What do you mean? You're the one that fell down the bloody stairs."
"I know that," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes. "You mentioned that I was bleeding pretty badly. That must have brought up a lot of bad memories for him. Is he okay?"
"Now that we know you and the baby are fine, I think he will be. Until we knew, he was pretty upset."
"I feel awful. I should have been more careful. What if I'd lost our child?"
"It was an accident, and the important thing is that both of you are healthy."
"Logically I know you're right, but I still feel awful."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Draco asked.
"I could use a cuddle," Hermione suggested quietly.
Draco removed his shoes and crawled into bed next to her. Lifting her head, he slid his arm under her neck before pulling her close to him and wrapping his free arm around her waist.
"I'm always happy to cuddle with you, Otterpop."
Lucius walked into Hermione's hospital room and smiled at the sight of his wife and son curled up together in the small bed. He knew he had made mistakes when he raised Draco, but seeing how much love he showered on Hermione, Lucius knew he had done at least one thing right; Draco was dedicated to his family and put them before anything.
It was something Lucius was trying to learn how to do, and today was the first step towards being the husband and father he wanted to be. Whilst he had spoiled Draco, he had never really encouraged him to be a better person. And Merlin knew he had placed his desire for power above his family when he'd willingly became a Death Eater. He would be there for Hermione, Draco, and any children they had– it was something he was going to get right this time around.
"Lucius?" Hermione softly called to him.
"Hello, beautiful. How are you feeling?"
"Still sore, but good. The nap helped."
"I'm happy to hear that."
"I'm sorry about this morning," Hermione said, pulling her eyes away from his and hanging her head in shame.
"Hermione, look at me," Lucius commanded, placing a finger below her chin and lifting her face to look at him. "You have nothing to apologise for."
"I scared you, and I'm sorry for that."
"I'm just glad you and our baby are alright. But I might make you move downstairs for the rest of your pregnancy."
"You will not Lucius Malfoy!" Her eyes flashed with irritation. "I'm perfectly capable of walking up and down stairs. Just not when your devil spawn insists on making me sick."
"Oh, it's my spawn that's making you ill? Because from the stories Severus used to tell me, you were quite the trouble maker as a child."
"I wasn't that bad."
"Really?" he said sarcastically . "So you didn't set him on fire? Or steal from him his potion stores before turning yourself into a cat? Must have missed that somemeow."
"Really, Father?" Draco said, eyes still closed. "Did you just say meow?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Lucius said over Hermione's laughter. "I do have some news for both of you."
"You convinced them to let me leave early?" Hermione asked.
"No." Lucius moved to sit on the bed next to Hermione and grabbed her hand. "I was going to wait until closer to when the baby was here but after today, I realised you need me at home more than I need to work."
"What are you saying, Father?" Draco inquired.
"I resigned from all of my positions effective immediately."
"Lucius, you didn't have to do that. I know you love to work," Hermione told him, concern etched on her face.
"I do love it, but I love you more. Love both of you," Lucius placed his hand on Hermione's flat stomach, "and our unborn child more."
"We love you, too," Hermione said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Thank you for doing that for our family."
"I know I made a lot of mistakes with you, Draco." Lucius looked at his son. "I don't want to do that again this time around. I will be there for our children, everyday. Even when their mummy decides to go back to work."
"You're going to be okay with Hermione working after she has children?" Draco asked incredulously.
"I know that no Malfoy wife or mother has ever held a job, but our bride is unlike any woman this family has seen." He smiled at his wife. "I'm not going to stand in the way of your dreams, Hermione."
"I love you, Lucius," Hermione said, leaning up to kiss him.
The next two months were hard on Hermione. Her morning sickness was so severe that Healer Shafiq had to visit her multiple times because her husbands were so worried. The magical world had potions that a witch could take to counteract morning sickness, but unfortunately they had no effect on Hermione. Nikki had run a series of tests on her before, during, and after she took the medicine and concluded that something in the curse made the potion useless for her. Lucius had visibly blanched when Hermione lost her temper and called Bellatrix a 'cock sucking, son of a cunt-faced bitch whore' after vomiting in the healer's rubbish bin.
It pained her to see how her troubles affected her husbands; she could see how they winced each time they watched her retch. They told her they felt guilty that she had to go through something that was normally so easily cured and had both confessed to her that they felt useless. She could understand their frustration, although couldn't fault the way they were looking after her. She could not have asked for more attentive husbands. They would do anything for her, including rubbing her sore stomach, holding her hair back, staying up all night when she was sick, and massaging her back and feet when she was too tired to move.
"How are you feeling, love?" Draco asked.
It was mid-August and, whilst her stomach had finally settled down in the last week, Hermione was feeling hot and miserable. A heat wave had settled over England and cooling charms weren't helping. Or maybe they were and she was just being an irritable, hormonal bitch; Hermione wasn't sure which.
"Miserable," she complained. "If it's going to be this hot, I would rather be back in Cyprus reliving our honeymoon. At least we could swim in the ocean."
"After the healer leaves, we can go swim in the cold pool if you want," Lucius said as he entered the sitting room.
"The healer is coming today? And since when do you have a pool?"
"Yes, you confirmed the appointment with him two days ago," Draco said, looking at her like she was crazy.
"And we have had three pools for about nine hundred years, give or take. They have been renovated regularly." Lucius leaned down to kiss her forehead and she felt another cooling charm settle over her. "You need to remember this is your house, not just ours."
"Where is it?" Hermione asked.
She thought she had been in every room in the Manor and couldn't remember seeing one pool, let alone three. Being as tired as she was, she still hadn't taken the full tour of the gardens, but couldn't remember seeing one in the grounds either.
"They are in the forest, behind the kitchens," Draco explained. "There's a natural hot spring on the property and since it was discovered, my ancestors have diverted the water from it into different pools. The one closest to the spring is about forty degrees all year round, and the one furthest away is about twenty degrees."
"Like the Roman baths in Bath?" Hermione asked. Her parents had taken her on a tour of them when she was ten.
"I'm not familiar with the Roman baths," Lucius told her. "But after the healer leaves, you can find out."
A pop sounded and Ditty appeared in the room, announcing that Healer Shafiq had arrived. Hermione stayed quiet as the healer ran all the diagnostic spells on her and smiled at the look of awe on her husband's faces as they heard the heartbeat for the first time. She had a similar reaction when she heard it two weeks prior.
"Would you like to know the gender?" the healer asked.
"Isn't it too soon?" Hermione had read a Muggle book on pregnancy that said they normally couldn't tell the gender until around twenty weeks and she was only seventeen weeks.
"Since gender is determined by the sperm at fertilisation, we can actually tell as soon as you know you're pregnant. I typically wait until after the mother is past the twelve week mark because I've found it's harder for the parents when they know the gender and something untoward happens."
"What do you think?" Hermione looked between her husbands.
She knew they were probably thinking the same thing she was. If it was a girl, it was Lucius' child. If it was a boy, either of them could be the father thanks to the spell on the Malfoy family. In all the discussions they had regarding having children, they had never discussed finding out who the father was.
"I know you like to plan, love," Lucius spoke first. "I'm happy with whatever you choose."
"I'd like to find out if it's okay with you," Draco said. "I hate surprises."
"Me, too," Hermione agreed, thankful she wouldn't have to wait.
Healer Shafiq murmured a spell, moving his wand in circular movement over her abdomen . She felt flutters in her stomach like butterflies as it lit up blue before fading out.
"Another son for the House of Malfoy," the healer confirmed. "I'll leave you to celebrate the news. Hermione, the scans show that you are healthy enough to resume all activities I had restricted you from. Owl me if you have questions. If not, I'll see you in two weeks."
Hermione chewed her lower lip as she floated in the coldest of the pools on the property. While they looked nothing like the Roman baths she had toured before, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how many pregnant women had enjoyed the benefits of natural springs in England over the last two thousand years. And how many Malfoy women had come here to escape the pains of pregnancy while growing the next generation of their family.
"Are you happy it's a boy?" Lucius asked, coming to stand next to her in the water.
"Is it horrible if I say yes?" Hermione asked, moving from her floating position to wrap her arms around Lucius. "I want more than one child, and I'll be happy with whatever we have, but I have no idea how to deal with girls. At least I have experience trying to keep Harry and Ron alive.
"Are you happy?" She pressed her lips to his chest as she asked.
"I am. I told you before that I want more children. Having a boy first means we get to keep trying for a girl."
"We haven't talked about it, but do you and Draco want to know who the biological father is?"
"Draco and I discussed it the night after we agreed to help you. If you wanted to find out we would, but we're going to raise them together either way. I'm not going to love a child less because I'm not the biological father."
"But it does matter when it comes to the Malfoy inheritance doesn't it?"
"It does to an extent," Lucius admitted. "Only the firstborn to a marriage can legally inherit."
"And in a triadic marriage?" Hermione could feel that Lucius was holding something back.
"Our son would need to be Draco's or the Malfoy Estate will transfer to the eldest Malfoy cousin still alive when I die. Currently that is my cousin's family in France."
"Why does it matter? Our son would still be the first born in our marriage."
"Yes, but the way it's written, it has to be a married man's first born. Since I have already been married and had a firstborn, any additional children I have do not inherit. Since Draco does not have any children, his son would be the firstborn Malfoy from our union."
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Because the Manor, the money, all of it matters less than you being alive. Draco will have enough money independent of the estate that he can leave for our children."
"I think we should find out," Hermione said. "Maybe we can work with Armand's portrait to get the rules changed if we need to."
"If anyone could get him to change his mind," Lucius smiled at her, "I think it would be you. He has taken a liking to you. We can talk to Draco and see what he wants to do, then go from there."
"I think," Hermione lifted herself in the water, wrapping her legs around Lucius' waist, "we can wait to talk to him for a bit."
"What are you suggesting, love?"
"I'm suggesting that the healer told me I'm cleared to have sex again. And I'm currently naked, wet, and wrapped around one of my husbands. I think you are smart enough to figure out what comes next."
"Is that so?" Lucius murmured, pulling her tighter against him. "Does daddy's little girl want to play?"
"Oh gods, yes. Please daddy," Hermione whinged.
Lucius pulled her towards the side of the pool. Setting her down, he grabbed his wand and dried them off before conjuring a large thick blanket on the ground before him. He was okay with having outdoor sex, but he wasn't okay with getting dirt all over him if he could avoid it.
"Be a good little girl and lay down for me, love."
He bit back a moan as Hermione crawled to the middle of the blanket, shaking her hips as she went. Like he needed any more enticement to have sex with his pretty little wife. Moving to lay next to her, he pressed his lips to hers as she wrapped one leg around his hip and tried to grind against him.
"Patience, baby girl," Lucius chided her between kisses.
Rolling them over so she was laying on her back, Lucius started to kiss his way down her body. He stopped as he kissed her lower stomach. Hermione had been thin the entire time he had been with her, but she was always soft around the middle. Now, her stomach was hard and was just starting to show her pregnancy.
Lucius kissed her below the belly button where her bump was sticking out the furthest. He had been through pregnancy before with Narcissa, but that didn't make the miracle that was happening inside his wife any less exciting. There was something sexy about watching her body change because you created something together.
Hermione's nails dug into his shoulders and he stopped the attention on her belly to look at her.
"Are you going to kiss anything lower than my stomach?" she teased.
"Is my little girl getting impatient?" Lucius teased her as he kissed lower down her body.
"Just a little, daddy."
Groaning, Lucius dipped his head and flicked his tongue against her engorged clit. Hermione let out a shuddering breath and opened her legs further so he could settle himself between them. Using his thumbs, Lucius spread her lips apart and moaned at how beautiful she looked. Wasting no time, he lowered his head and slipped his tongue inside of her.
"Fuck, Lucius," Hermione cried. "Keep going."
Her hands wrapped themselves in his hair as he continued to pleasure her. He moved to lick her clit and pushed two fingers inside of her tight cunt. Sucking hard, Lucius smirked as her body tightened and a scream escaped his wife's lips. The sound of wings filled the air and he glanced up to see the birds from the trees taking flight– startled by Hermione's cries.
"Pregnancy hormones are the best," Hermione said quietly. "Orgasms are so much more powerful." She looked down at him and smiled. "Come up here."
"I'm not done down here yet," Lucius told her. "You're carrying my child, love. I want to worship you."
Lucius used his mouth and hand to bring her to orgasm again before he couldn't hold out any longer. His cock was painfully hard and he needed to bury it inside of her. Spelling his face clean, he kissed his way back up her body, making sure to stop and lavish her breasts with kisses.
"I'm pretty sure all my bones have melted," Hermione said with a sigh.
"Do you need to take a break?"
"No. I need you inside me, daddy. Please."
"Such a good little girl, begging for daddy's cock." Lucius lined himself up with her entrance and started to push in. The increased blood flow to her cunt had made her impossibly tight. "You feel so good. So fucking tight."
"I think…" Hermione stopped to take a deep breath as he pushed deeper into her. "I think your cock has gotten bigger. I feel so full."
Lucius internally preened as he seated himself fully inside her. He knew his dick was the same size and the difference Hermione felt was because of changes to her own body, but it was still a wonderful compliment. He started to move within her and leaned down to kiss her neck as he wrapped his arms under her shoulders. Hermione's body was sensitive, and he knew she liked this position because it caused their chests to rub against each other. The added sensation to her nipples increased her pleasure.
Feeling her pussy walls start to flutter around his cock, Lucius pressed his lips to the spot she loved behind her ear.
"Are you close, love?"
"So close," she cried. "Please, daddy. Faster."
"Anything for my good little girl."
Lucius started to move his hips quicker as Hermione planted her feet next to his hips and started to thrust up into him. Growling at her enthusiasm, he added a swirl to his movement. He smirked as she gasped in pleasure at the new sensation. Her cunt tightened around him and he could no longer move in and out as she came. Grinding harder into her, Lucius let go of his restraint and emptied himself into her tight channel.
Pulling out of her, he quickly placed his shoulders between her thighs and took her clit in his mouth once more. He sucked hard and flicked his tongue against the bundle of nerves until he felt her orgasm again.
"Please, daddy," Hermione begged. "No more!"
He sent a cleaning charm over both of their bodies as he moved to lay on the blanket next to her. He pulled her into his arms and she settled her head on his chest. They cuddled in silence as they waited for their breathing and hearts to return to a normal rhythm, Hermione rubbing gentle circles on his stomach with her finger.
"I love you," Lucius whispered into her hair as he kissed the top of her head.
"I love you, too."
He closed his eyes as he felt her yawn against his chest and allowed himself to drift off to sleep with her in his arms.
A/N: Thank you all so much for your wonderful response to the last chapter! I was so nervous to post it and your comments were just fabulous.
We finally know the baby's gender! Let me know what you think or who you think the father is.
Interact with me on Tumblr (tridogmom) I add sneak peeks for the next chapter every Wednesday!
This story has been changed to now be 25 chapters long. This is because so many people requested pregnancy sex that I had to add some to this chapter and the next!