THIRTY-TWO
Saturday, 12 December 2020; twenty-six weeks
Sunday night, James had done his best to try and cheer her up, but when Hermione woke on Monday, she still couldn't shake the funk Harry's phone call had left her in. And her mood only worsened after she got to work. She had walked into her office with a feeling of gloom washing over her the moment she sat down. That feeling had grown exponentially when her boss called her into his office shortly before lunch.
After weeks of hearing the rumors buzzing around the office, Hermione was having them confirmed. And she wasn't the only one laid off that day. By the time she had her office cleared out and all her personal items piled into the back of her car, half the people on her floor were doing the same. Even though she knew it had been coming, there was a part of her that still felt blind sighted by it.
Had things been different, she might have panicked over it. Realistically, she knew she still would, but it wouldn't be nearly that bad. Had it been some stranger at the bar, had she moved out into a place of her own… She shuddered at the thought. But none of that was the case. She had James. She wasn't expecting him to take care of her, but she knew he took pride in doing that.
It put her at odds on how to feel. She knew she was lucky to have that kind of support, but she never wanted to feel as though she were taking advantage of him or become a burden. Then there was the fact that she hadn't really ever thought of herself as a mother let alone a stay-at-home one. She wasn't sure if that was what she even wanted for herself.
But instead of giving in to the panic that rose, she closed off her thoughts and got in her car. She didn't go home right away. She made a pit stop at the store and grabbed the biggest tub of the chocolatiest ice cream she could find. With her single purchase in tow, she went home and devoured as much of it as she could while trying to figure out just what she was going to do with her life.
She knew she could still apply for jobs and that people would hire her with her work history and her degree. That they couldn't discriminate because she was about to go on maternity leave, but she wasn't sure. For all she knew, the moment she held her son for the first time, she might not want to go back to work. She might want to be a stay-at-home mom after all. Then she would have felt bad about wasting everyone's time by not going back.
That was how James had found her when he came home from work, dinner in hand. His smile had faded as he took a look at her on the couch with her laptop out and notebooks scattered among torn, balled up pieces of paper. She told him what happened as he cleaned up the area around her so he could pull her into his lap. After wiping chocolate from the corner of her lips with a smile, he kissed her until she relaxed. He told her what she knew he would; that he would be happy to take care of her and she was free to take her time. That her sole focus could just be on being happy and healthy while their son continued to grow. He even said he would add her to his insurance and eased her fears about the premiums costing too much with soft kisses and gentle caresses.
It was when he left for work the next morning that Hermione felt strange. It was the first time since she had entered the workforce that she had found herself without a job. Even when she was in college, she worked. It might have been as a volunteer or as a tutor, but there was always something she'd had to occupy her time. Faced with endless amounts of time, Hermione was forced to accept the reality that aside from reading, she didn't actually have any hobbies.
Coupled with the fact that the only person she wanted to talk to about all of this with had asked for space.
It sent her into a downward spiral.
For the rest of the week, she just existed. She'd fallen into a sad routine of falling back to sleep once James had kissed her goodbye and not waking up again until her stomach growled for lunch. After grabbing whatever needed the least amount of preparation, she moved to the living room, ate, and then wrapped herself up in a blanket to watch movies. That was how James had found her each night and as the week progressed, their conversation seemed to dissipate as she felt she had nothing to contribute since her days were the same.
By Saturday, James seemed to have had enough of watching her wallow. He made her breakfast in bed that morning and then dragged her into a shower with him afterwards. Instead of letting her dress in her lounging clothes, he directed her towards the closet and made her pick out something else for the day. Something warm because they were going out.
She tried to argue, but realized very quickly that he was in no mood to let her carry on as she was. For as much as she continued to complain and try to change his mind, the minute they were out of the house, she started feeling better. Just putting on normal clothes had done to trick and made her feel more like herself again. And after a few stores of helping her decide on a hobby or two, she thanked him.
As the sun began its descent towards the horizon, Hermione had expected them to return home, but he surprised her. Instead, of their driveway, he pulled into the parking lot smack dab in the center of downtown. She glanced around nervously as he opened the door for her and helped her to her feet. "The people we cared about finding out already know," he reminded her as he wound a scarf around her neck.
She smiled, took the arm he offered, and walked with him through the side alley and onto the main road.
Much like the art festival they had gone to a few weeks prior, a large portion of Main Street was blocked off for holiday festivities. It happened every year and would be like this until the season was over. The tree lighting had been last weekend, but there was still a decent crowd out and about. Food trucks lined the outskirts and there were plenty of little booths strewn about with activities, though most were geared towards children.
The main activity, aside from Santa for the children, was the ice-skating rink. They reminisced about the few times over the years that he'd seen her attempt it and she teased him about the fact that he had never joined them on the ice. It was then that he declared they would be joining the others next year. It was the first time either of them had said anything in regards to the long term for their future and instead of panic, Hermione's heart soared. She told him she couldn't wait and then the two of them moved along.
But her favorite part, the whole reason why Christmas was her favorite in the first place, was the lights.
The main attraction their city boasted during this time of year was the amount of lights it used to decorate the street. Multicolored strands were wrapped around tree trunks where they were accompanied by fiberoptic ones in the in the branches. A multitude of other lights decorated the buildings as well as the sidewalk, taking the shapes of all things that represented winter.
She could sit on a bench and stare at the lights for hours and be perfectly content.
Mostly they walked around hand-in-hand, indulging in whatever appealed to them at various food trucks, sipping cider, and taking in the sights. He even hummed along to the holiday music playing in the background. It had always amused her how different he and Harry were about this holiday. Where James shared her penchant for listening to Christmas songs any given day of the year, Harry would sooner go deaf than hear any of them at all.
It was when they went to the tree that the snow started to fall; the first of the season. The moment the first tiny white flake drifted down into her line of vision, she tilted her head up to the sky. When she looked back to smile at James, she did a double take to find that he was watching her instead. She said nothing as he pulled her close and kissed her in a way that warmed her better than anything else ever could.
They were broken apart by an elderly couple asking if they wanted their picture taken. Hermione queued up her camera on her phone and handed it to the man. He snapped one of them with James' arm around her back and her head on his shoulder. Then he told them to do what they were doing before; something James was all too eager to oblige. They thanked the couple as they returned the phone. The couple responded that they were happy to do it, that young love deserved to be immortalized.
James and Hermione had stood there, staring after the couple as they walked away. It was James who cleared his throat and moved first, taking her phone from her hand to pull up the photos. "I think these are the first ones we have of us."
Hermione swallowed hard as she stared at the screen while he scrolled from one photo to the next. After viewing them all and returning the phone, Hermione looked up at him, tongue darting out to wet her lips. "Take me home."
She could tell by the look in his eyes that she really hadn't needed to ask. That that was going to be his next course of action regardless. Even so, he took her hand, gave her a nod, and led her back to the car at a rather brisk pace.
They didn't even bother to grab the things they had purchased earlier that day from the trunk. Hermione didn't even wait for him to come around to her side of the car and open the door for her. Instead, he waited for her to round the hood and grasped her hand before leading her up the path. He had barely unlocked the door before he'd pulled her close, lips descending over hers. He kicked the door closed behind them and stooped to pick her up before climbing the stairs with her in his arms.
The moment he set her down beside their bed, they were quick to strip each other bare. He was the one to get on the bed first, situating himself so his back was against the headboard. Hermione was there a moment later, straddling his waist and placing her hands on his shoulders to brace herself. Just the feel of his cock sliding through her nether lips was enough to make her cry out. He hissed in response to discovering how ready she was from raw need alone.
He didn't make her wait long. After a few rolls of her hips and incoherent pleading from her lips, he was reaching between them and lining himself up at her entrance. At the feel of his head notching its way inside of her, Hermione took over, sinking her body down until he was buried to the hilt within her.
His hands slid up from her hips, his fingers ghosting over the ladder of her ribs. She leaned back slightly, dragging her lower lip between her teeth. He took the opportunity to lean in so he could pay attention to her breasts. Her head tipped back, her hair cascading down her back as she kept her hips moving in a rhythm that alternated between circular motions and rocking back and forth.
His groans with his lips firmly sealed around her nipple; tongue flicking at the taut peak was what pushed her over the edge. It wasn't the kind of orgasm that had stars bursting behind her eyelids or her vision going white. It was the kind the felt like fire spreading through her veins, melting her into a pile of lava. The kind that had her mouth hanging open in silent ecstasy, unable to do anything more than breathe as she clung to him, pressing his face tight against her chest as she rode it out.
He wasn't far behind her. The heat that pooled between her legs ignited his fire too. He whispered sweet nothings against her skin, most of which fell on deaf ears as a second release began to build before the first had even run its course. By time he had emptied himself within her, she was finishing her second one.
Slowly, she tipped her head forward, her chin resting atop his head. As the sweat they'd worked up began to cool, he pulled back enough so that he could see her face. His hands trailed up and down her back, making her shiver as hers cupped his face. There were words on the tip of her tongue; words that had been there for awhile now, but were demanding to be said, tired of waiting. Yet there was still something that held her back. Instead, she leaned in, capturing his lips with hers. Where she couldn't say it, she decided to show him in other ways and as the night wore on, wrapped up in one another, she was certain he was trying to deliver the same message to her.
A/N: I'm going to be updating every day for the next nine days until the fic is finished!
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