Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—
"My love, are you certain that you want to do this now?" Severus asked Harriet one morning, while she bustled around their bedroom brushing her red hair while he sat on their bed.
Severus's belly was not as round but nearly as full and warm as Harriet's since he had just finished glutting himself on her milk moments earlier. The intimate action seemed to provide Harriet with a burst of energy but her alpha was fighting to stay awake, lulled into near listlessness by the rich, creamy breakfast his mate had given him.
Harriet's clothes for the day weren't on yet but her nightgown was off. Severus did little to hide the fact that his hungry, black eyes were drinking in the sight of her nude body. Harriet said nothing about it, but she did silently gloat to herself that her husband still found her so appealing.
"We have to go out for my appointment anyway." Harriet sniffed, placing a hand on her swollen belly as she laid her hairbrush down on her dressing table, "I mean, really, Severus, the nursery is still empty. Did you think I intended to let the baby sleep on the floor?"
"No." Severus replied quietly as his gaze flickered from Harriet's darkened nipples to the apex between her thighs, concealed partially by the curve of her abdomen, "I wasn't expecting you to wait this long though….."
"We have three more weeks." Harriet said with a sigh as she started to struggle into her robes.
Rising from his seat on the bed, Severus deftly helped his darling into her clothes while he stood behind her.
Harriet stilled and let Severus fasten her loose robes.
She looked up at Severus.
Severus glanced down at her.
Gently, alpha and omega shared a loving kiss as Severus pressed his hands lovingly on Harriet's full womb.
—
Harriet was in her final month of pregnancy. Severus considered their outing as the last time they would be leaving the house until the baby arrived.
For the afternoon, the Snapes sent Albus to play with his friend, Scorpius Malfoy.
Doctors visits and shopping trips were dull to children. Besides, Severus couldn't tolerate having to keep a close eye on both his expecting omega and their little son.
Due to her advanced stage of pregnancy, Harriet's flowing robes did little more than frame her bump at that point, which earned the couple congratulatory smiles from other omegas and dark glares from jealous alphas as they walked through Diagon Alley.
Severus was watching everything and everyone, including Harriet. He knew that if anything started to happen, since he was at his mate's side, he would know it as soon as she did.
Somehow, that fact didn't put Severus any more at ease.
As he held one of Harriet's hands, he placed his other on her lower back as he helped his dear omega waddle into the midwife's office once they reached their destination.
"Goodness!" The receptionist at the lobby's desk exclaimed cheerfully when she saw how far along Harriet looked, "Poor dear! Have you two come for a birthing suite?"
"No." Severus replied flatly, "We're here for a check up, that's all."
The receptionist smiled knowingly at Harriet as the omega smiled and blew out an exhausted breath with a nod.
"Have a seat, then." The receptionist smiled at the couple, "She'll be with you in a moment."
As Severus let Harriet use him for support while they walked over to the nearby chairs and sat down, the receptionist beamed.
She watched the concerned look in Severus's eyes as he hovered over his wife.
Not every husband behaved like that, but the receptionist loved it when she got to observe the ones who did.
The midwife's receptionist had always thought that seeing adorably attentive alphas was one of the best parts of her job.
—
"Everything looks perfectly fine." The midwife announced, a half hour later, after she finished examining Harriet.
Harriet lay on the exam bed with Severus beside her, holding her hand and staring intently at the midwife.
"Have you decided where you want to be when the baby is born?" The midwife asked Harriet.
"At home again." Harriet replied without hesitation, "My husband gave me some brilliant new blankets for my nest. I don't want to be bothered to move everything to come here or Go to St. Mungo's. I'd rather stay where I'm most comfortable."
Severus let out a low, proud purr upon hearing his wife's decision.
Harriet was most comfortable in their home with him.
The thought alone made Severus feel accomplished.
Wanted.
Needed.
Adequate.
More than adequate…..
It was a truly good feeling.
"Alright." The midwife said to Harriet with a smile, "As soon as the time comes, floo me straight away."
"And you continue to estimate that to occur three weeks from now, correct?" Severus asked.
"Three weeks or whenever." The midwife chucked, giving Harriet an encouraging pat on her belly, "You've taken excellent care of them, Mr. Snape. That little one may come earlier than you two think."
Harriet smiled, relieved at the idea. Like most heavily pregnant mothers, she was ready to hold her baby in her arms instead of her belly.
But Severus's dark eyes widened at the midwife's declaration.
Whenever?
Whenever was a vague expression, an arbitrary guess as to how much time there was left until he met his new son or daughter.
Severus Snape hated vague expressions.
—
The anxiety that Severus had about taking Harriet shopping doubled after their visit to the midwife.
Harriet tried to choose the furniture and decorations for the baby's nursery in peace, but that was hard to do with Severus standing practically on top of her and scrutinizing every move that she made.
Harriet enjoyed agonizing over every detail of the nursery, down to which drawer liners she liked best for the baby's dresser.
The shopping trip was torture to Severus.
Drawer liners?
What did drawer liners even matter?
Dotted or solid?
What difference did it make?
No one would see them anyway!
Severus just wanted to get his wife safely back home, in her nest, which was where he felt she belonged until after the birth.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked every time he heard Harriet let out a heavy breath.
"Yes, Sev, I'm fine." Harriet replied irritatedly, "It's a bit of a battle for me to breathe now, you know that. Calm down."
Whenever Severus saw Harriet place a hand on her belly, his eyes narrowed in concern and he urgently asked his mate, "Are you having any pain?"
"No, Sev." Harriet would sigh, rolling her green eyes, "If I have any pain at all, I'll let you know immediately. Please don't worry so much. I really want to get this done."
Sensing his wife's growing vexation, Severus eventually fell silent and let his mate finish her shopping. Although his questions had stopped, his calculating stare hadn't. Harriet tried to ignore her alpha, the noise of the bustling shop, and everything else so she could focus on choosing what she wanted for the baby.
Severus didn't have that luxury.
He had to stand guard.
Standing closely next to his mate, ready to step in and assist if Harriet cried out for him, Severus remained vigilant.
Admiring Harriet's vulnerable state, there were one or two passing alphas who dared to look longingly at the beautiful, pregnant omega.
However, when their eyes fell upon Severus, who stood tall and menacing behind her, they were very quick to look away.
Harriet's stamina surprised him, but she was on a mission. She needed to get the right things for the baby, all the right things.
Everything.
Harriet didn't want to tell Severus, but she had headed the midwife's words as well.
Harriet had woken up that very morning with an uncontrollable urge to nest, not on the floor with her blankets and pillows, but in the room that would serve as the baby's nursery.
It had to be finished and it had to be perfect.
Harriet remembered feeling that same way with Albus and she knew very well that the new baby may not wait three more weeks.
—
Severus arranged for all of the items Harriet chose to be delivered later that same day.
After two hours of shopping, his pregnant wife was quite exhausted, but content.
All of the items, the furniture, the supplies, the toys, it was all bought.
When they arrived back home, Severus purred gently while he helped Harriet settle into her nest for a nap. He blinked as she grabbed his hand when he moved to leave, wanting to let her sleep undisturbed. With another deep purr, Severus happily laid down with his wife. The proud alpha spooned her close to him and cuddled her lovingly as she drifted off.
An indeterminable amount of time passed as Severus laid beside Harriet, propping himself up so he could stare reverently at her as he watched her sleep. Very gently, he nuzzled into Harriet's red hair, taking in the soothing, pleasant scent.
Severus couldn't help his arousal that brushed against Harriet's bottom as thoughts of her raced through his mind. It was like a dream come true for the alpha when he realized his wife was awake as she rubbed herself against him.
There were no words that passed between them.
Spoken communication wasn't necessary.
Severus unintentionally asked but Harriet gladly answered.
Severus let his hands slide skillfully over her body.
Their breathing became labored as the anticipation built for them both.
"I don't want to harm you, my love." Severus whispered huskily into Harriet's ear. His low, slow voice sounded like a beguiling warning.
"Then don't deny me, Severus." Harriet whispered in response.
The groan that escaped Severus's throat as Harriet pulled herself up and over her alpha in the voluminous covers sent an eager throb pulsing through Harriet's core.
Harriet positioned herself and Severus guided her as they coupled in one smooth action.
Harriet drew as much pleasure from their mating as her husband did, but it was Severus who left indentions in the soft flesh of her widened hips as they both reached their peaks.
Panting and sweating, Severus and Harriet lay tangled together afterwards, both flinching when an intrusive knock sounded on the door downstairs.
"That'll be the delivery man." Severus said quickly, rising from the bed to pull on his trousers and robes.
"What a shame they came so quickly." Harriet huffed, watching her husband closely, "I wanted another round."
Severus shot Harriet a disapproving look.
As tempting as that idea was, he wasn't certain that would be a wise action considering her current condition.
Regardless, Severus brushed aside a chill of delicious excitement as he walked downstairs to answer the door, pondering Harriet's brazen statement.
Minx~.
—
Everything the couple had purchased earlier was received.
After Harriet reluctantly allowed Severus to help her out of the nest, she began to oversee the nursery's set up, with her husband obediently following her orders.
Severus quickly unpacked the nursery items, assembled and placed the furniture where Harriet requested.
By that evening, it was done.
Not really, no, it wasn't.
The nursery became Harriet's new obsession.
From that day forward, that was where she spent her time.
The nest or the nursery.
Most of the time, Albus was loving enough to stay right beside his mother.
If Harriet wasn't lying down, she was in the baby's room, rearranging this or folding a onesie for the tenth time that hour, chatting with Albus and telling him stories.
It amused Severus to see his mate working so painstakingly to make sure their new baby's living space was flawless while she remained an attentive mother to their son.
Comforted by the fact that he knew where Harriet was, what she was doing, and how she was doing, Severus made his own preparations for the birth.
He gathered supplies.
He made arranagements for Albus's care and kept the midwife's contact information easily accessible.
He also brewed several useful potions and elixirs that would help his mate and child during and after the delivery, although he was careful to work downstairs away from Harriet, with the windows open for ventilation.
That was the hardest part of all.
Gathering supplies and information were simple but it took talent and skill to accurately brew useful healing potions.
The days passed and a happy tranquility descended upon the Snape household as the family looked forward to their new addition.
It was really quite perplexing how tranquility can be so easily shattered.
One sunny afternoon, Severus had just finished another batch of diaper rash salve when Albus came darting into the kitchen.
"Son, slow down." Severus reprimanded Albus with narrowed eyes, "You are not to run in the house. What on earth has gotten into you? You know better than that."
"Daddy! Daddy! Mummy's tummy hurts!" Albus shouted with wide eyes.
"What?!" Severus cried as his pulse quickened.
"Mummy's tummy hurts! Come quickly!" Albus repeated.
Severus dropped his work and chased after his son, who dashed up the stairs.
The alpha clenched his teeth as he noticed an unmistakably sweet scent permeated the air in the stairway.
That scent became thicker and stronger with every step that he took…
As he followed Albus towards the bedroom he shared with Harriet, Severus recognized that sweet scent. He had smelled it for the first time five years and some months ago.
It was the scent of a laboring omega.
His laboring omega.