I hope you like this chapter; this chapter just flowed, so I hope you like
it. Please, it would be great if you could review for me, that would be
great.
Please read the authors note at the end of this chapter, it is rather important.
This is a new chapter, unless my eyes have been cheated by some spell (Saw TTT again, obviously)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kayla decided to take her afternoon nap on Draco's chest. He didn't mind at all, he just stretched out under the tree and held Kayla in his arms, running his hands carefully over her soft hair. He watched as she slept peacefully, her tiny little hand rolled up into a fist lay beside her face.
Draco wondered who Kayla had inherited her calmness from. He had not been a calm person when he was younger, to put it lightly, he had been a spoilt brat when he was little, and Jessica, he never would have imagined her to be the type of child to just sit and stare, wide eyed at her surroundings. Jessica as a teenager was always fidgeting, all ways running around being the life of the party, and that was what Draco thought she would have been like when she was younger.
So where did Kayla get it from. Since that morning when he and Ginny had picked her up from the Warners, Kayla had been the most well behaved child in the world. On the car ride over, she had just sat and stared out of the window, taking in the passing neighborhoods. Then, when they had entered the burrow, she had done nothing more then just stare around her, taking in the bright colors.
Kayla was yet to cry, yet to throw a tantrum and yet to do anything that she would have to be reprimanded for. Draco was glad that she was a well mannered little girl, but a part of him wanted to see her cry. He wanted her to cry so he could kiss her tears away and hold her in his arms; he wanted to hug her as she stopped her tears.
He knew he could not have asked for a better child. She was beautiful in an unexplainable way as well as being absolutely gorgeous. As Ron had joked earlier, Kayla had definitely gotten the better Malfoy genes.
And she was trusting, which surprised him. Within minutes of Evelyn Warner placing Kayla in his arms, she was relaxed and hugging him. Within minutes of her meeting Ginny, she was playing with her to. She didn't shy away when Ron picked her up and placed her on his lap. When Hermione had studied her, Kayla did not look away. Draco was amazed.
Kayla shifted comfortably on his chest, tucking her head up under his jaw. Draco just smiled and shifted himself to hold her again. Draco knew the time would come when he could sit like this with Kayla when ever he wanted, he knew that there would come a time, hopefully very soon, when he could hug his daughter when ever he wanted to. When all he would have to do would be to open his arms and she would be in them.
But he also knew that his time to hug his little girl would soon be over, or his hugs from her would become fewer and further between. He knew the years would go on and as Kayla grew up, she would not want to hug her father, just as Draco knew that he had come to a point where he was to old to hug his mother. Kayla would hit an age where hugging him would be considered immature. But he hoped it wouldn't have to be that way.
He hoped that even as Kayla grew, he would have a chance to hug her. He hoped that in years to come, even when Kayla was a full grown woman, even when she was married with children of her own, all he would have to do would be ask.
He wondered how he had lasted this long with out Kayla. Now that Draco had finally seen her, finally met her and held her in his arms, he wondered how he had been able to exist with out her.
Draco knew that he now had no choice but to win his case. Now that he knew his daughter, he was not going to risk never seeing her again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh, Ginny, Dear, I am sorry I was not here this morning when you and Draco got back. I had some urgent errands to run in Diagon Alley and then I ran into one of my friends, and you know I get when I start talking to some one I have not seen in a while" Molly smiled as she came into the kitchen from the living room. Ginny smiled at her mother from where she sat at the table, making sandwiches.
"That's ok mum, Draco, Kayla and I had a good morning" Ginny replied, cutting a piece of cheese. Molly placed all of her packages on the table.
"Oh, they are here, where is the little angel?" Molly asked. Arthur had told her about Draco's situation, but truthfully, she had not been surprised. Of all of the different things that Ginny could have been helping Draco with during the summer, Molly knew it had something to do with his family.
"They are outside. Kayla fell asleep so I offered to make us all some lunch. Draco had not really had any alone time with her." Ginny replied. Molly rushed to the window above the sink, watching them for a few minutes.
"Oh, she looks gorgeous" Molly smiled, and then moved to help Ginny with the sandwiches.
"She is gorgeous mum, she is so beautiful, and she can say my name. Oh, and she was teasing Ron earlier." Ginny smiled. "And I almost cried when she called Draco 'Daddy'"
Molly eyed her daughter knowingly. "You love Kayla, don't you?"
"Yeah, mum, I do, and believe me, as soon as you look at her, you will fall in love with her to. As soon as she smiles at you with her big grey eyes, you will be hooked, just like me."
"And you love Draco?" Molly asked. Ginny put down the knife she had been holding and smiled at her mother.
"One day he just smiled at me with those big grey eyes and I was hooked" Ginny replied. Molly smiled, running her hair over her daughter's hair.
"I am happy for you Ginny, but, are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into. You love Draco and you love his little girl, but you have to remember that he has a past. He was in love with someone else, love that resulted in that beautiful little baby. What ever relationship that you have with Draco, you have to remember that it is not only his feelings, and your feelings to, but the feelings of little Kayla to ...." Molly began.
"You think I have not worked that out yet mum?" Ginny asked, picking up the knife and going back to preparing lunch. "I understand the risks, believe me, I have gone through every possible scenario of being with Draco. He could chose he doesn't want to be with me. I could chose that I don't want to be with him. Kayla could chose she doesn't want her father to be with any one. Draco could decide that he is still really in love with Jessica or he could decide that he was using me to help him get Kayla back...... and that is just the beginning of what my over active imagination has come up with in the last two days. I know the risks."
"That is not really what I meant, dear" Molly began. "But I know that you are responsible enough to make your own decisions about this. Just remember that he is in a different stage of his life right now, and if the two of you do start a real relationship, it may become a little, hectic"
Ginny could tell that her mother was trying to say something else, but she decided to let the conversation go. She just went back to making lunch. The silence in the kitchen was almost deafening as the two women continued to make sandwiches.
A few minutes later, the back door of the burrow opened, and Draco entered. Kayla was still asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. "It was starting to get a little hot out there, thought it would be best to bring her in."
"You can put her down on my bed if you want" Ginny suggested, he nodded and then disappeared up the stairs. When he came back down a few minutes later, he took a seat at the table. Molly offered him a sandwich, which he took with a smile.
"I had no idea that having a child would be so .... So.... Fulfilling" Draco smiled proudly.
"I know the feeling Draco" Molly replied. "I know the feeling seven times over."
"But it must be so different for you. You held your children from the very first moment; I only just got to hold my daughter today." Draco explained "But we bonded, she called me daddy, and she hugged me."
"They say a child will always know who their parent is. Deep down inside, Kayla knew who you where, that was why you bonded with her so well." Molly explained. Draco nodded, understanding.
They ate their lunch, talking occasionally. Draco asked if Molly would be willing to look after Kayla while he was at work, he even offered to pay her for her services, but Molly agreed, turning down the money, saying that spending time with a little girl again would be enough payment for her.
The back door opened, and four of the noisiest people entered. "Mum, were are home, we are messy and we are fighting over the shower" Fred called as they all ran from the back door to the stairs, covered in bright orange goo.
They had all spent the morning at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley, and by the looks of them, they had gotten into a war of untested merchandise. Orange goo spread across the floor as they all fought to climb the stairs to get to the bathroom first.
"Boys, keep it down" Molly called "Not so loud"
They obviously didn't hear their mother as they continued to elbow their way up the stairs to the bathroom. No one in the kitchen could tell who made it to the shower first, but there was a slamming of a door and uproar of enraged voices.
"Well, I guess Kayla's awake" Draco sighed, standing from the table.
He almost collided with the twins, who were making there way down the stairs while Draco was moving up them. They were still covered in goo as they ran past.
"Bill got the bathroom first, we are just going to go hose each other off in the back yard" Fred explained, Draco ran his hands through his hair.
"You may want to rephrase that so it doesn't sound so sick and illegal" Draco told them. They either didn't hear him or they were ignoring him as they ran through to the back yard.
Draco continued up the stairs. Charlie stood in the hallway outside of the bathroom, goo still dripping from him as he waited for the bathroom door to open.
"Hey Charlie" Draco smiled. Charlie waved.
"Exploding gloop bombs" Charlie explained, running his hands through his long hair, trying to collect as much of the stray goo as possible.
"Thought as much" Draco smiled. "Listen, could you maybe keep it down a bit?"
Charlie suddenly realized. "Is she in there?"
"Yeah, sleeping, at least she was before cyclone Weasley made their way up the stairs" Draco replied. Charlie winced slightly and then smiled apologetically.
"Sorry about that" Charlie replied "I look forward to meeting her after I clean off a bit"
"Yeah, I better go check that she isn't ripping your sister's room apart" Draco smiled, indicating to the bedroom door he was standing in front of. Charlie nodded, and watched as he disappeared into Ginny's room.
Draco crossed to Ginny's bed, where Kayla was still laying. "Are you awake princess?"
Kayla didn't move, she was still asleep. Draco smiled, running his hand down her back. Looking down at her, her tiny little thumb sitting in her lip. Smiling, Draco moved her teddy bear closer to her so that it was close when she woke up. He kissed her cheek, and then left the room.
"I guess she is a heavy sleeper" Draco shrugged as he got back into the hall. Charlie was still standing there, wiping goo off of himself. Charlie smiled, as Draco turned and moved back downstairs.
The twins stood in the corner of the room, dripping water, begging their mother, who held their wands, for some sort of towel to wipe themselves off. Draco smiled and sat down at the table.
"Still asleep?" Ginny asked, Draco nodded.
"Please mum, please. Just a towel, please" George pleaded. Molly stood, her hands on her hips, making it look like she was seriously thinking about it. She then turned and picked up a small hand towel that sat beside the sink. She threw it to George, who then got a swift punch to the jaw from his twin.
"Boys, don't get violent" Molly warned. Draco laughed as soon the twins had tackled each other to the floor.
Bill came down the stairs soon after, toweling off his hair. "Ginny, your room is giggling"
"Ok, she is awake then" Draco stood, running up the stairs quickly.
"Who is awake." Fred asked from the floor.
"Is there a girl in your room?" George asked.
"Is she cute?" Fred added. Ginny laughed.
"She is very cute" Ginny smiled, standing up and moving up the stairs.
When she got to the top of the stairs, Ginny stopped. Draco was just standing in the doorway of her bedroom, watching something. Ginny came up beside him and stood, watching also.
Kayla had managed to get down off of the bed and move across the room to where a pile of Ginny's old toys sat. Kayla was picking up a few of the toys, examining them, giving the occasional one a hug.
"She is so cute" Draco smiled, Ginny agreed.
"Just like her dad" Ginny mumbled, hoping that Draco didn't hear her. Draco had, but he just smiled and watched his daughter.
Kayla turned suddenly and looked at them as they stood in the doorway "Gin- ny"
"Hey little one, did you have a good rest?" Ginny asked as she made her way into the bedroom, sitting beside her on the floor.
"Bear!" Kayla smiled.
"Yes, I have a lot of bears don't I, I like teddy bears" Ginny smiled. Kayla went back to examining the bears in front of her. She picked up one of the bears, a cute chocolate colored one with a gold and maroon tartan bow.
"Bear" Kayla smiled, hugging it. Ginny smiled at Kayla.
"You like this bear?" Ginny asked, running his hands through her hair. Kayla nodded and then looked down at the bear again. "I like it to, this has always been my favorite. Do you know who gave me this bear?"
Kayla shook her head as though she understood what Ginny was saying.
"Uncle Red" Ginny smiled.
"Red!" Kayla smiled. From the doorway, Draco laughed. He then moved into the room a little more and sat on Ginny's bed.
"Yes, Red gave me this, just before I went to Hogwarts, because he knew that I would get lonely when I was at school." Ginny told him. "But you know what. I don't need this anymore. So I am going to let you have it."
Kayla smiled brightly. "Bear!"
"Yes, Bear. How about, when you go home today, we let daddy take the bear back his house so that it can be there waiting for you when you go there?" Ginny replied, Kayla smiled and hugged the bear to her.
Draco smiled "You do know that the first thing I am going to do is change that bow to slytherin colors"
"And I will just change it back to Gryffindor every time I see it" Ginny replied.
Draco just ignored her "I bet you are getting hungry, aren't you sweetheart"
Kayla looked up from the teddy bear "Daddy"
"Would you like something to eat?" Draco asked. Kayla nodded and held open her arms. Draco scooped her up into her arms. Kayla kept her arms wrapped tightly around the bear.
"Bear!" She said, pointing to her other bear that was on Ginny's bed. Ginny went and collected it, handing it to her. Kayla smiled and hugged them both as Draco moved towards the stairs.
"Draco, who is that?" Fred asked when they entered the kitchen again.
"That is the cute girl who was sleeping in Ginny's room" George smiled. Kayla, who had her arms wrapped around Draco's neck, buried her face into his shirt.
"Oh, she is shy" Molly smiled.
"I don't know why all of a sudden. She has not shied away from any one yet today." Draco replied. "Hey, what's the matter princess, they wont hurt you."
"Probably thinks we are all ugly and scary looking" Bill replied.
"I doubt that, she has met Ron already" Draco replied.
"Red!" Kayla smiled, looking up from Draco's shirt.
"No sweetheart, he isn't here" Ginny replied. Kayla pouted and then rested her head against his chest again.
"Wait, did she just call Ron 'Red'?" George asked. Ginny nodded and then suddenly, Bill and the Twins were roaring with laughter.
"I don't find it funny, I think it is really cute" Ginny replied. The boys just kept laughing.
When the boys finally got control of their laughter, Draco sat down at the table with Kayla in his lap. A few minutes later, Charlie came down the stairs, and the twins both bolted for the stairs so they could get towels and a new change of clothing.
"You must be Kayla" Charlie smiled, kneeling down beside Draco so that he was eye level with Kayla. He held out his hand and a few seconds later, Kayla hesitantly put his hand in his. "My name is Charlie"
"Char-lie" Kayla replied. Charlie smiled and shook her hand.
"It is very nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you in the last few days" Charlie smiled. Kayla smiled to.
A few minutes later, Molly and Ginny had made another lot of food, and Kayla was eating just as much as the boys were. Every now and then, Kayla looked at the twins suspiciously, which made every one laugh.
After a quick lunch, they all moved into the lounge room, where the boys were taking it in turns to look after Kayla. Kayla seemed to get along with everyone, and no matter how many times Fred and George mixed themselves up, Kayla could always tell them apart.
"When does the case conclude?" Charlie asked. Draco shrugged.
"Soon, I hope. I think we are really close to winning the case. I mean, they had to think I was capable enough to let me look after her for the day. They have a surveillance spell on me so they can see how I am doing." Draco replied.
"But, I have to say, I am amazed that you have a child. I didn't think you were capable of loving anything other than yourself" Fred smiled. Draco chuckled.
"You have no idea how many people have thought that" Draco replied. "I am human you know. I have, urges"
Fred laughed "Urges"
"Umm, well, urges, and love. I love things" Draco shrugged, brushing Kayla's hair off of her face.
"I think that you will make a great father Draco" Bill smiled.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence Bill" He replied. "I cant believe I have to take her back to her grand parents soon"
"They are muggles, aren't they?" George asked. Draco nodded.
"And they are not into the whole magic world thing. They are narrow minded and they were going to try and keep her away from Hogwarts" Draco explained. Everyone looked out raged by the thought of that.
"Hogwarts is the best thing that can happen to a witch or wizard, how could they possibly want to keep her away from that?" Bill asked.
"They are against magic all together, they were going to keep her stranded in the muggle world forever, they were going to ignore the Hogwarts letter and pretend that she had n o magic in her blood" Draco replied "And they were going to make up storied about who her father was so that they never had to explain to her that I am a wizard"
"That is so awful" Molly exclaimed.
"Now you see why I want to have custody of her, so that I can teach her the truth about magic, I don't want her to grow up fearing what she really is. I don't want her growing up being seen as a freak. We all saw what it did to Potter to be treated like that." Draco began "No one should have to grow up like that, especially not my daughter"
Every one agreed. They had all seen what the muggle world had done to Harry. Sure, that was mainly because of his uncle and aunt, but people still stayed away from him because of what he was able to do. Harry had gotten through that because he was strong, but no one really wanted to see that happening to Kayla.
"You will get custody, don't worry" George replied. "Everything will work out just fine. Everything"
Draco smiled. Fred, who was sitting on the floor in front of Kayla, smiled also.
"The only thing you have to worry about, is whether or not this little one will be in Gryffindor"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I hope that she is exactly the same as she was this morning." Jacob said as Draco entered their house with Kayla in his arms. "If you have done some sort of spell on her, then believe me, Mr. Weston will be the first to know about it."
"I did not do a spell on her. I even refrained from using magic all day so that she would not be exposed to it." Draco replied "She is still in your custody, and those were your wishes"
"Thank you..."
"But as soon as she is in my custody, she will be surrounded by magic. And those are my wishes." Draco replied. He went to hand Kayla back to Mr. Warner, but she would not let go of his neck.
"Daddy!" Kayla cried softly. Jacob shot him an evil look.
"It is ok Sweetheart." Draco smiled. "We can see each other again soon, ok"
"Daddy!" Kayla cried again. Draco just hugged her tight.
"I know, this sucks. I want to stay with you to. But I cant, so you have to stay here with your grandma and grandpa" Draco replied. "I can see you again soon"
Kayla nodded and went to Jacob's arms when Draco passed her over. Draco dug around in her bag, and handed her bear.
"Bear!" Kayla smiled. Draco smiled to.
"Think of me when you hold this bear ok" Draco replied. Kayla nodded like she understood.
"Daddy bear" Kayla asked. Draco nodded.
"Daddy bear" He agreed, kissing her cheek. "I have to go now princess. I love you"
"Bye Daddy" Kayla waved. Draco smiled and then reluctantly turned and left the Warners house.
He hurried down the path to the car that was in the drive way. When she saw that he was in the car safely, she backed out of the driveway and drove off down the street.
"Everything ok?" Ginny asked as she stopped the car at a set of lights. Suddenly, Draco leaned across and pressed his lips quickly to hers.
"Everything is ok now" He replied, looking out the window.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ok, for those of you who may not have worked it out, I am Australian. I am also a teenager. And there is one thing that plagues Australian teenagers at the end of every January, and that is the fact that SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN IN LESS THAN 12 HOURS.
It is now nine o'clock my time and I have to be in school at 8.30 am. Now, you are probably wondering what the hell this is suppose to mean, well I will tell you.
With school starting again, and me entering the 12th grade, I have to spend a lot of time working on school work. (I don't want to but I have to)
Because I have been putting a lot of time and effort into all of this while on my holidays (some days it takes all day for me to write and edit and piece together a chapter properly). With grade 12 being important and all, I may not be able to spare all of the time.
I am still going to try and update this story every day, but I have a feeling that it will all get carried away and I won't be able to.
So updates may only happen every second day or something, but I will try for every day.
I hope you all understand my predicament. I promise, at least every second day.
Anyway, thanks for the continued support. Good luck to any Australians who are starting school in 11 and half hours.
Reviewing is always fun.
Please read the authors note at the end of this chapter, it is rather important.
This is a new chapter, unless my eyes have been cheated by some spell (Saw TTT again, obviously)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kayla decided to take her afternoon nap on Draco's chest. He didn't mind at all, he just stretched out under the tree and held Kayla in his arms, running his hands carefully over her soft hair. He watched as she slept peacefully, her tiny little hand rolled up into a fist lay beside her face.
Draco wondered who Kayla had inherited her calmness from. He had not been a calm person when he was younger, to put it lightly, he had been a spoilt brat when he was little, and Jessica, he never would have imagined her to be the type of child to just sit and stare, wide eyed at her surroundings. Jessica as a teenager was always fidgeting, all ways running around being the life of the party, and that was what Draco thought she would have been like when she was younger.
So where did Kayla get it from. Since that morning when he and Ginny had picked her up from the Warners, Kayla had been the most well behaved child in the world. On the car ride over, she had just sat and stared out of the window, taking in the passing neighborhoods. Then, when they had entered the burrow, she had done nothing more then just stare around her, taking in the bright colors.
Kayla was yet to cry, yet to throw a tantrum and yet to do anything that she would have to be reprimanded for. Draco was glad that she was a well mannered little girl, but a part of him wanted to see her cry. He wanted her to cry so he could kiss her tears away and hold her in his arms; he wanted to hug her as she stopped her tears.
He knew he could not have asked for a better child. She was beautiful in an unexplainable way as well as being absolutely gorgeous. As Ron had joked earlier, Kayla had definitely gotten the better Malfoy genes.
And she was trusting, which surprised him. Within minutes of Evelyn Warner placing Kayla in his arms, she was relaxed and hugging him. Within minutes of her meeting Ginny, she was playing with her to. She didn't shy away when Ron picked her up and placed her on his lap. When Hermione had studied her, Kayla did not look away. Draco was amazed.
Kayla shifted comfortably on his chest, tucking her head up under his jaw. Draco just smiled and shifted himself to hold her again. Draco knew the time would come when he could sit like this with Kayla when ever he wanted, he knew that there would come a time, hopefully very soon, when he could hug his daughter when ever he wanted to. When all he would have to do would be to open his arms and she would be in them.
But he also knew that his time to hug his little girl would soon be over, or his hugs from her would become fewer and further between. He knew the years would go on and as Kayla grew up, she would not want to hug her father, just as Draco knew that he had come to a point where he was to old to hug his mother. Kayla would hit an age where hugging him would be considered immature. But he hoped it wouldn't have to be that way.
He hoped that even as Kayla grew, he would have a chance to hug her. He hoped that in years to come, even when Kayla was a full grown woman, even when she was married with children of her own, all he would have to do would be ask.
He wondered how he had lasted this long with out Kayla. Now that Draco had finally seen her, finally met her and held her in his arms, he wondered how he had been able to exist with out her.
Draco knew that he now had no choice but to win his case. Now that he knew his daughter, he was not going to risk never seeing her again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh, Ginny, Dear, I am sorry I was not here this morning when you and Draco got back. I had some urgent errands to run in Diagon Alley and then I ran into one of my friends, and you know I get when I start talking to some one I have not seen in a while" Molly smiled as she came into the kitchen from the living room. Ginny smiled at her mother from where she sat at the table, making sandwiches.
"That's ok mum, Draco, Kayla and I had a good morning" Ginny replied, cutting a piece of cheese. Molly placed all of her packages on the table.
"Oh, they are here, where is the little angel?" Molly asked. Arthur had told her about Draco's situation, but truthfully, she had not been surprised. Of all of the different things that Ginny could have been helping Draco with during the summer, Molly knew it had something to do with his family.
"They are outside. Kayla fell asleep so I offered to make us all some lunch. Draco had not really had any alone time with her." Ginny replied. Molly rushed to the window above the sink, watching them for a few minutes.
"Oh, she looks gorgeous" Molly smiled, and then moved to help Ginny with the sandwiches.
"She is gorgeous mum, she is so beautiful, and she can say my name. Oh, and she was teasing Ron earlier." Ginny smiled. "And I almost cried when she called Draco 'Daddy'"
Molly eyed her daughter knowingly. "You love Kayla, don't you?"
"Yeah, mum, I do, and believe me, as soon as you look at her, you will fall in love with her to. As soon as she smiles at you with her big grey eyes, you will be hooked, just like me."
"And you love Draco?" Molly asked. Ginny put down the knife she had been holding and smiled at her mother.
"One day he just smiled at me with those big grey eyes and I was hooked" Ginny replied. Molly smiled, running her hair over her daughter's hair.
"I am happy for you Ginny, but, are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into. You love Draco and you love his little girl, but you have to remember that he has a past. He was in love with someone else, love that resulted in that beautiful little baby. What ever relationship that you have with Draco, you have to remember that it is not only his feelings, and your feelings to, but the feelings of little Kayla to ...." Molly began.
"You think I have not worked that out yet mum?" Ginny asked, picking up the knife and going back to preparing lunch. "I understand the risks, believe me, I have gone through every possible scenario of being with Draco. He could chose he doesn't want to be with me. I could chose that I don't want to be with him. Kayla could chose she doesn't want her father to be with any one. Draco could decide that he is still really in love with Jessica or he could decide that he was using me to help him get Kayla back...... and that is just the beginning of what my over active imagination has come up with in the last two days. I know the risks."
"That is not really what I meant, dear" Molly began. "But I know that you are responsible enough to make your own decisions about this. Just remember that he is in a different stage of his life right now, and if the two of you do start a real relationship, it may become a little, hectic"
Ginny could tell that her mother was trying to say something else, but she decided to let the conversation go. She just went back to making lunch. The silence in the kitchen was almost deafening as the two women continued to make sandwiches.
A few minutes later, the back door of the burrow opened, and Draco entered. Kayla was still asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. "It was starting to get a little hot out there, thought it would be best to bring her in."
"You can put her down on my bed if you want" Ginny suggested, he nodded and then disappeared up the stairs. When he came back down a few minutes later, he took a seat at the table. Molly offered him a sandwich, which he took with a smile.
"I had no idea that having a child would be so .... So.... Fulfilling" Draco smiled proudly.
"I know the feeling Draco" Molly replied. "I know the feeling seven times over."
"But it must be so different for you. You held your children from the very first moment; I only just got to hold my daughter today." Draco explained "But we bonded, she called me daddy, and she hugged me."
"They say a child will always know who their parent is. Deep down inside, Kayla knew who you where, that was why you bonded with her so well." Molly explained. Draco nodded, understanding.
They ate their lunch, talking occasionally. Draco asked if Molly would be willing to look after Kayla while he was at work, he even offered to pay her for her services, but Molly agreed, turning down the money, saying that spending time with a little girl again would be enough payment for her.
The back door opened, and four of the noisiest people entered. "Mum, were are home, we are messy and we are fighting over the shower" Fred called as they all ran from the back door to the stairs, covered in bright orange goo.
They had all spent the morning at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley, and by the looks of them, they had gotten into a war of untested merchandise. Orange goo spread across the floor as they all fought to climb the stairs to get to the bathroom first.
"Boys, keep it down" Molly called "Not so loud"
They obviously didn't hear their mother as they continued to elbow their way up the stairs to the bathroom. No one in the kitchen could tell who made it to the shower first, but there was a slamming of a door and uproar of enraged voices.
"Well, I guess Kayla's awake" Draco sighed, standing from the table.
He almost collided with the twins, who were making there way down the stairs while Draco was moving up them. They were still covered in goo as they ran past.
"Bill got the bathroom first, we are just going to go hose each other off in the back yard" Fred explained, Draco ran his hands through his hair.
"You may want to rephrase that so it doesn't sound so sick and illegal" Draco told them. They either didn't hear him or they were ignoring him as they ran through to the back yard.
Draco continued up the stairs. Charlie stood in the hallway outside of the bathroom, goo still dripping from him as he waited for the bathroom door to open.
"Hey Charlie" Draco smiled. Charlie waved.
"Exploding gloop bombs" Charlie explained, running his hands through his long hair, trying to collect as much of the stray goo as possible.
"Thought as much" Draco smiled. "Listen, could you maybe keep it down a bit?"
Charlie suddenly realized. "Is she in there?"
"Yeah, sleeping, at least she was before cyclone Weasley made their way up the stairs" Draco replied. Charlie winced slightly and then smiled apologetically.
"Sorry about that" Charlie replied "I look forward to meeting her after I clean off a bit"
"Yeah, I better go check that she isn't ripping your sister's room apart" Draco smiled, indicating to the bedroom door he was standing in front of. Charlie nodded, and watched as he disappeared into Ginny's room.
Draco crossed to Ginny's bed, where Kayla was still laying. "Are you awake princess?"
Kayla didn't move, she was still asleep. Draco smiled, running his hand down her back. Looking down at her, her tiny little thumb sitting in her lip. Smiling, Draco moved her teddy bear closer to her so that it was close when she woke up. He kissed her cheek, and then left the room.
"I guess she is a heavy sleeper" Draco shrugged as he got back into the hall. Charlie was still standing there, wiping goo off of himself. Charlie smiled, as Draco turned and moved back downstairs.
The twins stood in the corner of the room, dripping water, begging their mother, who held their wands, for some sort of towel to wipe themselves off. Draco smiled and sat down at the table.
"Still asleep?" Ginny asked, Draco nodded.
"Please mum, please. Just a towel, please" George pleaded. Molly stood, her hands on her hips, making it look like she was seriously thinking about it. She then turned and picked up a small hand towel that sat beside the sink. She threw it to George, who then got a swift punch to the jaw from his twin.
"Boys, don't get violent" Molly warned. Draco laughed as soon the twins had tackled each other to the floor.
Bill came down the stairs soon after, toweling off his hair. "Ginny, your room is giggling"
"Ok, she is awake then" Draco stood, running up the stairs quickly.
"Who is awake." Fred asked from the floor.
"Is there a girl in your room?" George asked.
"Is she cute?" Fred added. Ginny laughed.
"She is very cute" Ginny smiled, standing up and moving up the stairs.
When she got to the top of the stairs, Ginny stopped. Draco was just standing in the doorway of her bedroom, watching something. Ginny came up beside him and stood, watching also.
Kayla had managed to get down off of the bed and move across the room to where a pile of Ginny's old toys sat. Kayla was picking up a few of the toys, examining them, giving the occasional one a hug.
"She is so cute" Draco smiled, Ginny agreed.
"Just like her dad" Ginny mumbled, hoping that Draco didn't hear her. Draco had, but he just smiled and watched his daughter.
Kayla turned suddenly and looked at them as they stood in the doorway "Gin- ny"
"Hey little one, did you have a good rest?" Ginny asked as she made her way into the bedroom, sitting beside her on the floor.
"Bear!" Kayla smiled.
"Yes, I have a lot of bears don't I, I like teddy bears" Ginny smiled. Kayla went back to examining the bears in front of her. She picked up one of the bears, a cute chocolate colored one with a gold and maroon tartan bow.
"Bear" Kayla smiled, hugging it. Ginny smiled at Kayla.
"You like this bear?" Ginny asked, running his hands through her hair. Kayla nodded and then looked down at the bear again. "I like it to, this has always been my favorite. Do you know who gave me this bear?"
Kayla shook her head as though she understood what Ginny was saying.
"Uncle Red" Ginny smiled.
"Red!" Kayla smiled. From the doorway, Draco laughed. He then moved into the room a little more and sat on Ginny's bed.
"Yes, Red gave me this, just before I went to Hogwarts, because he knew that I would get lonely when I was at school." Ginny told him. "But you know what. I don't need this anymore. So I am going to let you have it."
Kayla smiled brightly. "Bear!"
"Yes, Bear. How about, when you go home today, we let daddy take the bear back his house so that it can be there waiting for you when you go there?" Ginny replied, Kayla smiled and hugged the bear to her.
Draco smiled "You do know that the first thing I am going to do is change that bow to slytherin colors"
"And I will just change it back to Gryffindor every time I see it" Ginny replied.
Draco just ignored her "I bet you are getting hungry, aren't you sweetheart"
Kayla looked up from the teddy bear "Daddy"
"Would you like something to eat?" Draco asked. Kayla nodded and held open her arms. Draco scooped her up into her arms. Kayla kept her arms wrapped tightly around the bear.
"Bear!" She said, pointing to her other bear that was on Ginny's bed. Ginny went and collected it, handing it to her. Kayla smiled and hugged them both as Draco moved towards the stairs.
"Draco, who is that?" Fred asked when they entered the kitchen again.
"That is the cute girl who was sleeping in Ginny's room" George smiled. Kayla, who had her arms wrapped around Draco's neck, buried her face into his shirt.
"Oh, she is shy" Molly smiled.
"I don't know why all of a sudden. She has not shied away from any one yet today." Draco replied. "Hey, what's the matter princess, they wont hurt you."
"Probably thinks we are all ugly and scary looking" Bill replied.
"I doubt that, she has met Ron already" Draco replied.
"Red!" Kayla smiled, looking up from Draco's shirt.
"No sweetheart, he isn't here" Ginny replied. Kayla pouted and then rested her head against his chest again.
"Wait, did she just call Ron 'Red'?" George asked. Ginny nodded and then suddenly, Bill and the Twins were roaring with laughter.
"I don't find it funny, I think it is really cute" Ginny replied. The boys just kept laughing.
When the boys finally got control of their laughter, Draco sat down at the table with Kayla in his lap. A few minutes later, Charlie came down the stairs, and the twins both bolted for the stairs so they could get towels and a new change of clothing.
"You must be Kayla" Charlie smiled, kneeling down beside Draco so that he was eye level with Kayla. He held out his hand and a few seconds later, Kayla hesitantly put his hand in his. "My name is Charlie"
"Char-lie" Kayla replied. Charlie smiled and shook her hand.
"It is very nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you in the last few days" Charlie smiled. Kayla smiled to.
A few minutes later, Molly and Ginny had made another lot of food, and Kayla was eating just as much as the boys were. Every now and then, Kayla looked at the twins suspiciously, which made every one laugh.
After a quick lunch, they all moved into the lounge room, where the boys were taking it in turns to look after Kayla. Kayla seemed to get along with everyone, and no matter how many times Fred and George mixed themselves up, Kayla could always tell them apart.
"When does the case conclude?" Charlie asked. Draco shrugged.
"Soon, I hope. I think we are really close to winning the case. I mean, they had to think I was capable enough to let me look after her for the day. They have a surveillance spell on me so they can see how I am doing." Draco replied.
"But, I have to say, I am amazed that you have a child. I didn't think you were capable of loving anything other than yourself" Fred smiled. Draco chuckled.
"You have no idea how many people have thought that" Draco replied. "I am human you know. I have, urges"
Fred laughed "Urges"
"Umm, well, urges, and love. I love things" Draco shrugged, brushing Kayla's hair off of her face.
"I think that you will make a great father Draco" Bill smiled.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence Bill" He replied. "I cant believe I have to take her back to her grand parents soon"
"They are muggles, aren't they?" George asked. Draco nodded.
"And they are not into the whole magic world thing. They are narrow minded and they were going to try and keep her away from Hogwarts" Draco explained. Everyone looked out raged by the thought of that.
"Hogwarts is the best thing that can happen to a witch or wizard, how could they possibly want to keep her away from that?" Bill asked.
"They are against magic all together, they were going to keep her stranded in the muggle world forever, they were going to ignore the Hogwarts letter and pretend that she had n o magic in her blood" Draco replied "And they were going to make up storied about who her father was so that they never had to explain to her that I am a wizard"
"That is so awful" Molly exclaimed.
"Now you see why I want to have custody of her, so that I can teach her the truth about magic, I don't want her to grow up fearing what she really is. I don't want her growing up being seen as a freak. We all saw what it did to Potter to be treated like that." Draco began "No one should have to grow up like that, especially not my daughter"
Every one agreed. They had all seen what the muggle world had done to Harry. Sure, that was mainly because of his uncle and aunt, but people still stayed away from him because of what he was able to do. Harry had gotten through that because he was strong, but no one really wanted to see that happening to Kayla.
"You will get custody, don't worry" George replied. "Everything will work out just fine. Everything"
Draco smiled. Fred, who was sitting on the floor in front of Kayla, smiled also.
"The only thing you have to worry about, is whether or not this little one will be in Gryffindor"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I hope that she is exactly the same as she was this morning." Jacob said as Draco entered their house with Kayla in his arms. "If you have done some sort of spell on her, then believe me, Mr. Weston will be the first to know about it."
"I did not do a spell on her. I even refrained from using magic all day so that she would not be exposed to it." Draco replied "She is still in your custody, and those were your wishes"
"Thank you..."
"But as soon as she is in my custody, she will be surrounded by magic. And those are my wishes." Draco replied. He went to hand Kayla back to Mr. Warner, but she would not let go of his neck.
"Daddy!" Kayla cried softly. Jacob shot him an evil look.
"It is ok Sweetheart." Draco smiled. "We can see each other again soon, ok"
"Daddy!" Kayla cried again. Draco just hugged her tight.
"I know, this sucks. I want to stay with you to. But I cant, so you have to stay here with your grandma and grandpa" Draco replied. "I can see you again soon"
Kayla nodded and went to Jacob's arms when Draco passed her over. Draco dug around in her bag, and handed her bear.
"Bear!" Kayla smiled. Draco smiled to.
"Think of me when you hold this bear ok" Draco replied. Kayla nodded like she understood.
"Daddy bear" Kayla asked. Draco nodded.
"Daddy bear" He agreed, kissing her cheek. "I have to go now princess. I love you"
"Bye Daddy" Kayla waved. Draco smiled and then reluctantly turned and left the Warners house.
He hurried down the path to the car that was in the drive way. When she saw that he was in the car safely, she backed out of the driveway and drove off down the street.
"Everything ok?" Ginny asked as she stopped the car at a set of lights. Suddenly, Draco leaned across and pressed his lips quickly to hers.
"Everything is ok now" He replied, looking out the window.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ok, for those of you who may not have worked it out, I am Australian. I am also a teenager. And there is one thing that plagues Australian teenagers at the end of every January, and that is the fact that SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN IN LESS THAN 12 HOURS.
It is now nine o'clock my time and I have to be in school at 8.30 am. Now, you are probably wondering what the hell this is suppose to mean, well I will tell you.
With school starting again, and me entering the 12th grade, I have to spend a lot of time working on school work. (I don't want to but I have to)
Because I have been putting a lot of time and effort into all of this while on my holidays (some days it takes all day for me to write and edit and piece together a chapter properly). With grade 12 being important and all, I may not be able to spare all of the time.
I am still going to try and update this story every day, but I have a feeling that it will all get carried away and I won't be able to.
So updates may only happen every second day or something, but I will try for every day.
I hope you all understand my predicament. I promise, at least every second day.
Anyway, thanks for the continued support. Good luck to any Australians who are starting school in 11 and half hours.
Reviewing is always fun.