Disclaimer: No rights to the series, just the privilege of writing a story that we'll probably never find in the series- Snape with a wife and baby!
Don't Call Me Daddy
Chapter 12- Oh Baby!
He never thought he'd actually look forward to teaching dunderheads again. Sitting in his office, scanning the lesson plans his wife had compiled, an ironic smile curved Severus' mouth. During an exam the afternoon before, the midwitch had cheerfully informed them that Lorelei's blood-tinged discharge was a sign that labor would soon begin. They had been elated, and promptly returned to their quarters to try and aid nature by releasing needed hormones in a pleasurable manner. Contractions were the only things not stimulated. His smile became reminiscent.
A knock on his door caused adrenaline to surge, but Snape calmly directed,
"Enter"
Remus Lupin called,
"Would you mind opening the door? I've got my hands full."
A bizarre mental image of the wizard holding his newborn child caused the Potions Master to quickly move to open the door. He was inwardly relieved to see that the man held only two coffee mugs and a basket of muffins in his hands.
"Here, this one's for you."
Taking the mug offered, Severus returned to his desk. Looking over the basket's contents, he chose a pumpkin muffin and asked,
"It's Sunday morning. Why are you up so early and what brings you to my office?"
"Beware of werewolves bearing breakfast, is that it?"
The man's wolfish smile elicited one of reluctant amusement,
"No, just wondering what my wife's been telling your partner."
Remus took a sip of coffee before replying,
"Lorelei showed up with an urn of coffee a half hour ago. She shared what the midwitch said and asked Tonks to come help make sure everything was in order for the baby." Chuckling, he added, "I was delegated the important task of making sure you had proper nourishment."
"Humph. Afraid I'd faint during labor, was she?"
The good-natured face contorted with the effort not to laugh,
"A lot of men aren't fond of the sight of blood."
"It's not the sight; it's the coppery smell I have trouble with."
When Remus' face turned solemn, the premature lines were more apparent,
"As you can imagine, neither the sight nor aroma of blood discomforts me. In your case, can't you use a potion to dull your sense of smell?"
A piece of muffin dropped from Severus' fingers. Why hadn't he thought of that? Standing, he headed for the door,
"I've just the potion in my laboratory. You might as well come along. My latest Wolfsbane trial is ready for testing."
In the private lab, the Potions Master strode to the hidden stasis chamber and made short work of retrieving an olfactory inhibiting solution. Placing the small vial into his pocket, he turned to Lupin. The wizard was gazing at the simmering cauldron with unconcealed longing. Snape realized that the results of this trial would tremendously affect the other man. He was momentarily tempted to claim that he'd made an error, that the potion wasn't ready, but rejected the craven impulse. Severus moved past Remus to stir the potion. A hand was briefly placed on his shoulder,
"Whatever the result, I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts, and count myself fortunate to be your friend."
Gryffindors- always making bold statements… Half turning, he met the sincere brown gaze and nodded,
"Thank you, my friend."
Ladling the Wolfsbane into a goblet, Snape watched intently for a sign that the solution was effective. One thin tendril of vapor materialized. He held his breath. The steam dissipated. Severus threw the goblet against the wall and pointed his wand at the cauldron.
"Don't do that." Remus commanded.
Whirling to glare, the Potions Master snapped,
"Why not? In case you failed to realize it, Lupin, the potion was yet another miserable failure."
"Have you ever had vapor appear before?"
Staring at the werewolf, he admitted,
"No"
Remus' face shone with hope. Severus mentally catalogued the results for future study, experiencing a rare feeling of optimism. Tonks burst into the room, startling the men by gasping,
"Lorelei's contractions are five minutes apart, but she won't stop walking around this bloody castle!"
The expectant father remembered Lorelei admitting to a back ache earlier. Why had she not confessed that it was accompanied by contractions? The expression on his face caused Tonks to take a step back. He demanded,
"Where is she?"
"Erm…main corridor, heading toward the kitchen…"
Severus hurried out. Without black robes billowing, students seemed to find his appearance less intimidating. The few that walked the corridors gaped rudely instead of scrambling out of his way. Taking off House points for loitering, long strides quickly brought him to the kitchen, where the house elves were trying to talk sense into his wife.
"When the midwitch is saying yes, then Lorelei is having something to eat or drink."
The wizard was surprised to hear Winky, of all elves, deny someone a drink. His wife said in a tone that beguiled,
"Winky, you want to bring me…"
His hand covered her mouth, preventing misuse of the Irresistible Voice to compel the elf. Snape scolded the woman pulled back against his chest,
"You consider that defense? Winky wasn't threatening you with starvation!"
For a heavily pregnant woman, Lorelei was surprisingly hard to keep hold of. She protested in a voice muffled by his hand,
"…et…e…o…ou…ully!"
He stifled a laugh. A bully, was he?
"Promise to behave?"
She nodded. He let go and stepped back. Lorelei spun around,
"I'm not hungry…much…I'm thirsty! Can't I have a goblet of water?" Her lips trembled.
Severus observed the shadow of pain in her eyes. He pointed to an elf and ordered,
"You...conjure a cup of ice chips, now."
He took the ice and offered it to his wife. She said through her teeth,
"In…just a couple minutes…love."
Slender hands were clutching the edge of a worktable. He touched her abdomen. It felt strange, hard. He clipped,
"Contractions…duration and length between…"
"Oh, over a minute, and two or three minutes apart…"
He gazed at her steadily while she sucked on an ice chip. Lorelei asked with feigned confusion,
"What?"
"Don't you think it's time we contacted Penelope?"
Breathing through another contraction, she reluctantly nodded. Tonks and Lupin entered the kitchen. He instructed,
"Escort her to our quarters. I'll go on ahead and contact the midwitch."
The moment Remus nodded, he left. In the corridor, the Potions Master walked faster and faster until he was jogging. Approaching the dungeon stairway, he heard a voice drawl,
"The unflappable Professor Snape running in the corridors, does this mean the baby's coming?"
He spared a moment to inform,
"Yes, Professor Malfoy, it does."
Severus used the fire in his quarters to contact Midwitch Leach. She listened to his description of Lorelei's contractions and smiled,
"She's speaking through them? Excellent, everything seems to be going as nature intended. Lorelei's in active labor." Penelope went on to say with a slight laugh, "I was just about to contact you, as it happens. My eldest grandaughter is having complications with her delivery in the Outer Hebrides, and I'm just about to Apparate."
The wizard protested,
"You can't. I don't care if that damned childbirth class said babies practically deliver themselves. This one bloody well won't!"
Smiling mischievously in a way that showed a glimpse of the girl named 'Penny' inside the capable professional, the midwitch placated,
"Of course not, I'm sending a colleague. He's eminently capable and will be there within minutes. I look forward to seeing the baby once I return. Goodbye, Professor."
Her head disappeared from the fire before he could verbally flame the midwitch for being so cavalier with his wife and child's wellbeing. Snape made an effort to cease grinding his teeth when his wife entered with Tonks and Remus. She took one look at his carefully blank face and cried,
"What's wrong?"
Severus began,
"Midwitch Leach was called away, and is sending…"
"…me to assist in her stead." The man standing in the doorway smiled at their incredulity. Blue eyes gleaming with amusement, he asked, "You don't mind, do you?"
Lorelei held onto a bookshelf while panting,
"Orlando! Of course not, come in!"
The Fae had tied back his long white-blond hair. Murmuring a sterilizing spell, he strode toward his patient, smiling,
"Let's get you into the bedroom and see how labor's progressing."
Lorelei's water broke. Tonks said in a high, thin voice,
"It's progressing."
His wife held onto his arm while they entered the bedchamber. Severus said dryly to the waiting couple,
"Make yourselves at home." Before closing the door, he added, "You might want to inform the Headmaster, and Lorelei's mother." They nodded. His lips curved, "Thank you." When he turned, the wizard was shocked to see the bed already transfigured and prepped for delivery. Everything was happening entirely too fast. He utilized a sterilizing spell of his own while crossing to sit beside the bed and demand,
"Why didn't you tell me the instant you felt the first contraction?"
Beneath the sheet that his wife claimed unnecessary, but he insisted on for modesty, her belly tightened in another prolonged contraction. She tried to smile, and it made him feel lower than a flobberworm.
"You…worry too much. I…knew…you would try and keep me in bed…so…I waited."
After examining the area Severus felt particularly possessive about, the handsome Healer beamed,
"Your cervix is almost fully dilated, so a pain relief spell will not interfere with labor at this time."
Laughing shakily, the expectant mother said,
"Good, because those breathing techniques aren't all that class claimed, old friend, and I'm starting to feel some really serious pain."
Severus scowled,
"Don't just stand there, man, perform it immediately!"
The Fae nodded, lips quirking while he placed his hands on her abdomen, chanting. Lorelei's face lost its tenseness. Her husband squeezed her hand gently,
"How do you feel?" He scrutinized her face for the answer.
She smiled radiantly,
"I can feel the contractions, like a faint, dull ache, but the 'I can't take this any longer and may begin screaming' feeling is gone."
Dark brows contracted. Labor was aptly named. Time passed in a series of ever strengthening contractions. Severus noticed the Healer looking over the supplies gathered on a table nearby. Orlando smiled when the door opened and Madam Pomfrey entered waving her wand in yet another sterilizing spell.
"Hello, Poppy, I was hoping you'd get here before the baby moved entirely through the birth canal."
The mediwitch's usual brisk manner was conspicuously absent,
"I came at the precise time you stated, Orlando." Noticing Snape's incredulous and Lorelei's interested expression, Pomfrey explained, "We've all known each other for ages." Adopting a more professional tone, she asked, "Lorelei, how are you doing, dear. Any desire to push?"
"I feel like I could do anything, even have this child!" The laboring woman declared.
Severus snapped,
"Now?"
Lorelei nodded, reaching for his hand.
"Will you be there for the baby?"
He knew that she meant to 'catch' the baby as he'd practiced during childbirth class, but the words struck him in another way. Severus kissed her hand tenderly,
"Always"
Encouraging his wife to push, telling her about the babe's hair- black and lots of it, and finally, holding the beautiful, slimy, bloody little body of his child transformed fatherhood from a concept to a reality. Hearing the first cry, feeling the incredible warmth of indescribably soft skin, staring down into the tiny face he'd waited to see for so long- it was magical.
"Would you like to cut your son's umbilical cord?"
Unaccustomed moisture caused the new father's eyes to sheen while he shook his head. Meeting Lorelei's euphoric gaze, he repeated wonderingly,
"We have a son."
Her joyous laughter startled the infant, whose little lips trembled piteously. Severus transferred the child to her chest, watching her marvel over the miniscule fingers, the head of black hair, and newborn skin. He kissed her tenderly and reached out to stroke the tiny back with the tip of a finger, thinking, I have a son.
Severus knew, rationally, that if they'd had a girl, he would've been just as entranced by the life he and Lorelei had created together. His heart, unconstrained by logic, insisted that he'd been blessed with the opportunity to be the father he'd always wanted to his own son and heal his soul. Thin, clever lips pressed together to contain the emotions that swelled.
"I love him so much!"
Lorelei's choked voice echoed his thoughts. He caressed her cheek, leaning forward to whisper,
"You and our child are gifts that I do not deserve, but will forever cherish."
She broke down into happy tears. Their son frowned and whimpered. Madam Pomfrey said briskly,
"I'll bring your little one back once Orlando and I have finished the necessary procedures."
Restraining the impulse to urge haste and utmost care with his child, Severus asked his wife,
"Is there anything I can get you?"
She pushed back a long, sweaty spiral of hair and laughed,
"Yes, a goblet of water!"
After the Healer and mediwitch looked after both child and mother, the Fae swiftly transformed the birthing room back into a bedchamber while Poppy escorted the new mother into the bathroom. When the women returned, Lorelei was dressed in a nursing gown and smiling,
"Thank Merlin for cleansing spells!"
He helped her into the bed, propping pillows before transferring their son from Orlando's arms to hers. Newborn blue eyes blinked while the little face turned instinctively toward his mother's breast. Severus knew Lorelei's awed expression was reflected on his face as he watched their son nurse. Long masculine fingers reached out to hold a tiny foot. Minute toes tried to curl around his finger. Proud parents exchanged a smile. Time passed, and mother and child grew sleepy. Lorelei murmured,
"Why don't you go tell everyone the happy news?"
The tired, contented wizard frowned,
"Who's everyone?"
An exhausted giggle escaped,
"Everyone waiting in our lounge, of course… Orlando put a sound-proofing spell on our room, so we haven't heard them, but I'm sure the castle has had to expand our quarters several times over to hold our family and friends." She bent and pressed a soft kiss to downy black hair, "The seventh first son in the Snape family." Straightening, she kissed him lingeringly and placed the babe in his arms, "Go. Let them meet our son."
Wrapped in a blanket, looking quietly alert, the child also looked too young to be subjected to a crowd of well-wishers.
"Don't worry, I've bespelled the lounge as well. No germs will harm your little one."
Orlando's amused statement earned a scowl. Poppy gasped,
"Stop doing that, he's imitating you!"
Sure enough, tiny lips had turned down. Lorelei giggled. Severus' rare smile broke free. The little mouth turned up at the corners. Nodding to the Healer, who crossed the room to open the door, the wizard turned to his beaming wife and said,
"Do I have to say his middle name?"
"Yes!"
Controlling his expression lest the first glimpse of his sneering son cause Tonks or others to faint, Severus strode out into the lounge and came to an abrupt halt. A party was going on. Mixed groups stood or sat talking, eating and drinking. Staff chatted with sirens and in one corner where a professor sat with a redhead by his side, a student. House elves were conversing with a broad, short man with a hearty laugh. Snape lifted an eyebrow at the Healer in imperious query,
"You invited Gimli?" He turned when a woman's hearty voice said,
"No, I did, but Gimli's promised to give Orlando a rematch at darts."
Sprout had invited the man? A master gardener and a Herbology professor…hmm… He turned to the Fae. Orlando shifted uncomfortably under Severus' stare, muttering defensively,
"I beat him at the drinking game."
Nearby, Marina, Jean Luc, Tonks and Remus heard his voice and rushed over. The new grandmother cooed,
"Oh, aren't you the most beautiful, amazing baby ever!"
Crass persons may have credited gas for his son's smile, but Severus knew differently. He really was the most beautiful, amazing baby ever. The siren's exclamation riveted everyone in the room. People moved forward, craning their necks for a glimpse. Stepping back and lifting the infant slightly, his lips curved,
"It is my pleasure to introduce Septimus Aragorn Snape."
In the back, Sybil's eyes behind her magnified glasses bulged. She trilled,
"Oh my gods, I…I actually divined it correctly!" Turning to the purse-lipped woman beside her, she exulted, "I won the bet!"
A rueful smile crossed Minerva's face,
"Congratulations. Enjoy casting my love horoscope." Raising the glass of champagne Dobby offered from one of the trays now passing around the chamber, the venerable witch toasted,
"To the newest member of the Snape, and Hogwarts' family."
Albus lifted his glass and added,
"May Septimus grow strong, surrounded by love."
A/N: Thanks to all wonderful reviewers for the baby input. I'd already determined baby would be a boy (couldn't resist the LOTR middle name!) but I couldn't decide who to make the winner of the bet! I read that babies a few hours old could imitate facial expressions- a test was done with sticking out a tongue, lol- and decided Septimus, of course, is so exceptional he could do it immediately. Special thanks to FNP for mentioning the drinking game in review and inspiring Orlando's return. :D