Don't Look Down

"Artemis!" Draco shouted, as he bounded up the staircase. For the last three days his very pregnant wife had been confined to their bed, due to the midwife's strict orders. Artemis was nearing the end of her forty-second week of pregnancy and both her family and physicians were worried that too much stress would harm the baby. Unfortunately for her husband, Artemis didn't like having to lie around all day with nothing to do. So, keeping her entertained and happy was now his full-time responsibility, one that was a great deal harder than you would have expected it to be.

"Artemis, supper's ready," informed Draco, as he approached their large bed. Seeing that she was curled up on her side, facing away from him, he assumed that she had dozed off. Gently he shook her, hoping to wake her so that they could eat supper. He was absolutely famished!

"Stop," huffed Artemis, jerking her shoulder away from his outstretched hand. "I'm not hungry. Go ahead and eat without me."

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Draco, wondering if she had gone into labor at some point during the time he had been gone. At noon, he had left to deliver the thank you notes that Artemis had written to the people who had sent them presents for the baby. According to his wife, his hand delivering the notes was necessary, as owling them was just plain rude. Upon his return, at four o'clock, he had been informed by Bitsy that supper was ready.

"No, I have a stomach ache. Your son is sitting on my bladder while simultaneously kicking the hell out of my stomach. I don't think eating would be a very good idea, at least not until he take's a breather," groaned the pained woman, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, in hopes of easing the pain that was shooting through her abdomen. "What's worse, is now I have to pee... again. Did you know that I've had to pee no less than thirty-seven times today?"

"No, I hadn't been counting," replied Draco, uneasily, not wanting to upset his already agitated wife. "You sure you don't want something? Bitsy made pasta."

"No, I'm ... ouch," she groaned, as their overactive bundle of 'joy' drop kicked her kidney. "No, I'm not hungry." Still unsure of whether or not he should really go and eat his supper when his wife was obviously in pain, Draco decided to give it a few minutes. Once Artemis had returned from her umpteenth trip to the lavatory, Draco settled down next to her, on his side of the bed. Shortly thereafter, the completely exhausted couple dozed off, giving the young woman a brief reprieve from the torment of her unborn son's squirming.

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"Bleeding hell!" shouted Artemis, suddenly, startling her poor husband so badly that he fell out of the bed. Cursing their bed and how far from it was from the ground, Draco rose from the carpeted floor and rushed over to his wife. Due to his still being half asleep, it took Draco several moments to register just what was happening. Staring down at his wife, who lay curled up on the bed tightly clutching her stomach and panting heavily, trying her best to muddle through the excruciating pain, he began to worry. At this point, Draco was absolutely positive that Artemis' stomach ache had actually been the beginnings of her going into labor. Rushing around the room, Draco searched for his stopwatch and notepad, as one of the many books on childbirth that he had read, said that he should time and record the contractions in order to determine how far she had progressed. After locating the materials he raced back over to his wife and waited for the next batch of labor pains to begin. Just three minutes later, Artemis was once again in the throes of agony, her face buried in the many pillows that decorated their bed, helping to stifle her tormented moans. After approximately seventy seconds the pain that Artemis was experiencing subsided and the young woman was able to relax her tensed muscles.

"Wow," muttered Draco, as he finished recording the start and stop time of the most recent contraction. As he was resetting his stopwatch so that he was prepared for the next contraction, his wife whimpered softly, signaling that her pains were beginning again. Stunned, Draco began rushing around the room, collecting the bags that they had prepared several weeks ago so that they would be ready when the baby decided he was ready to make his big debut. He couldn't believe that her contractions were less than two minutes apart. Technically, they should have left for St. Mungo's hours ago, when her contractors were four to five minutes apart and lasting for forty-five to sixty seconds. If the books were right, which Draco was certain they were, his son's arrival was fast approaching.

"Come on, Love. We've got to get going," whispered Draco, as he leaned down and gently forced his wife to sit upright.

"Oh, shut up! You try going anywhere when you're being ripped apart," spat Artemis, as Draco pulled her up from the bed, forcing her onto her feet. It took them nearly ten minutes to make it from their bedchamber, down the stairs and out to the car, thanks to her seemingly constant contractions. When they finally made it inside of St. Mungo's their midwife and her intern's were ready and waiting. Like a well oiled machine they checked Artemis into the hospital and set the soon-to-be mother up in her private delivery suite. While Artemis was being prepped, the reception staff set to work on owling the friends and family members that the young couple had placed on their important contact's list, several months ago. The birthing ward of St. Mungo's had always made it a point to inform the people on your contact's list that the birth had begun. Within five minutes, Draco and Artemis' parents arrived with excited smiles on their half asleep faces. Obviously, they had all come to the ward straight out of their beds, as his mother was still clad in her dressing robe and his father's long mane was slightly disheveled. Just as Artemis' medi-witch was approaching the excited family, the remaining people on their contact's list arrived. Severus Snape entered the ward first, followed by Blaise, Goyle and a very giddy Cosette. Just as Artemis had predicted on the train ride home from their last year at Hogwarts, she and Cosette had grown apart. Being married and now, being pregnant, had taken priority in the young woman's life. Luckily, Cosette was understanding of this shift in priorities and she had made sure that Artemis knew that even if they spent ten years apart they would still be best friends.

"How is she?" beamed Cosette, glancing around the lobby of the birthing ward looking for her dearest friend.

"I don't know, they've only just taken her back," informed Draco, nervously wringing his hands together. "She's probably terrified back there all by herself."

"Your private waiting room has been readied for you, so if you'll just follow me we'll get you all settled in," replied the medi-witch, ushering the family towards the back of the hospital where they housed the private delivery suites.

"When do I get to go in?" asked Draco, halting the old witches steps.

"After the baby has been born and cleaned, you'll all be able to come and visit," replied the witch, trying to step around the soon-to-be father, who stood in her way.

"Umm, no. I'm going to be there for the birth," declared Draco. Everyone present stared at the young man, in shock. Granted, muggle father's were usually present for the birth of their children, wizards were still rather ancient in their ways. The father's almost always wait in the waiting room while the mother give's birth. The only recent exception being Arthur Weasley, who had been present for the birth of every single one of his seven children.

"I think that's wonderful," agreed Narcissa, patting her son on his forearm and leading him towards the delivery suite. "Let's get cleaned up and then we can go in."

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Within ten minutes, Draco, his mother and Persephone had all thoroughly washed up and were standing by Artemis' side, ready to comfort the ailing young witch in any way they possibly could. Luckily for Artemis, she had managed to sleep through as much of the labor as humanly possible. Thirty minutes after arriving at St. Mungo's, the medi-witch declared that Artemis was nearly ready to enter the second stage of labor, pushing.

"For the love of Merlin!" exclaimed the young woman, as yet another of the cursed contractions wreaked its havoc on her poor body. "I don't think this whole baby thing was such a good idea."

"Oh, love it's alright," cooed Draco, earning himself a deadly glare from his wife. Obviously, she didn't think things were 'alright'.

"Am I supposed to be pushing or something?" asked Artemis, as yet another contraction began, this time bringing the young woman to tears. The downside of having slept through the majority of the labor was that it was far too late for her to ingest any type of pain relieving potions. At no point had she ever even considered having a natural childbirth, but any chance of relief had flown out the window about five hours ago.

"No!" warned the medi-witch, sharply. "Under no circumstance are you to push until I tell you to."

Nearly an hour later Artemis had still not been permitted to push. Instead, the young witch, who, by now, was over the entire notion of giving birth, had to endure contraction after contraction, each one gaining strength from the previous one. Persephone tried desperately to calm her suffering daughter, who had long since been reduced to a sobbing mess, but Artemis refused to be quelled. At least once she had threatened to curse or hex every individual in the room, however most of her threats were directed at the young man who, in her opinion, had caused this mess. It certainly didn't help that Draco, though trying to be helpful, was just getting in the way and saying the worst possible things he could have ever said. After saying to his wife, 'if you think this hurts, you should let me tell you about the time I fell off my broom and twisted my ankle. Now, that hurt!' , Narcissa had finally told him that if he was going to stay in there, he would have to be quiet. Sensing that his mother was not joking, Draco obeyed, and had since then remained silent.

"Damn it, woman!" shouted a hysterical Artemis, tears streaming down her face. "I really think I should be pushing or something... anything. Just get this fucking thing out. Now!"

"Not yet, Artemis!" commanded the witch, as she examined the desperate woman. "Soon, very soon, I promise."

"Just ignore her. The sooner you push, the sooner we can play with him," Draco whispered, smoothing his hand against the nape of his wife's sweat covered neck. Unfortunately, just about everyone heard him. The medi-witch had him escorted out of the delivery room, refusing to allow him to put his wife and unborn child in danger. After listening through the door for twenty minutes, Draco worked up the nerve to go back inside, refusing to miss the birth of his son. Though they tried to force him back out, insisting that the waiting room was the proper place for father's, Artemis stuck up for him, allowing him to stay if he promised to behave himself.

Finally the medi-witch, or as Artemis had been referring to her, the God forsaken old hag, allowed her to begin pushing. Little did the young witch know, pushing would be even more painful than the contractions that led up to it. Luckily, this stage in the birthing process went much faster than the others. Within ten minutes, the medi-witch announced that the baby had begun to crown and that she was able to see the top of his head.

"Draco, come look at your son," said the medi-witch, the young man rushed down to the end of the birthing bed and looked down as his son's head peaking out from between his wife's legs. He instantly paled.

"Oh, my god," groaned Draco, quickly looking away. A few seconds later, he bravely took another look and this time was strangely captivated by what he saw. He didn't want to look, he just couldn't stop himself. "Oh, shit. That look's like it hurts."

"Way to state the obvious, Draco," said his mother, rolling her eyes at her son's current fascination.

"Oh man, Blaise has gotta see this," Draco rushed to the door, halting when he heard his wife shouting at him."What?"

"Blaise does not need to see anything! Oh... fuck," groaned Artemis, as she began pushing again. Quickly, her husband raced across the room, returning to his position at her right side. Reluctantly he gave her his hand, knowing that she needed something to squeeze, though his poor hand was not happy about. Apparently, one of the perks of giving birth is super human strength, and Draco was sure that he wouldn't be doing much with his abused right hand anytime soon.

"Just a little bit more, Artemis," said the medi-witch, encouragingly, as she supported the baby's upper body in her hand. "One more push and your done." Narcissa and Persephone rushed down to the foot of the bed, both unable to hold back their tears as their grandson completed his descent down the birth canal. After a quick slap on the bum, the sound of the newest Malfoy's cries could be heard echoing off the walls of the lavishly decorated suite.

"Is it done? Is he out?" asked a teary eyed Draco, as he wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders and placed light kisses on the top of her head, before whispering, "You did so good." As the medi-witch was preparing to cut the umbilical cord, Draco caught a glimpse of his son's purplish-pink skin and raced down to see him.

"Not yet, Draco," chided the midwife, as she shooed the eager father away just as he was reaching to take the baby from her. After she had successfully cut the cord, Draco tried to take the boy again, but the witch refused to hand him over.

"Let me clean him off," she snapped.

"Give it here, it's mine" argued Draco, reaching out to take his son. The old woman slapped his hand away sharply, before busying herself with the baby. The entire time, Draco stood peeking over her shoulder, while his mother and mother-in-law were busy tending to Artemis, all three laughing at the young man's eagerness. When the witch turned around to take the baby to his mother, she was surprised to find that there was a wall of flesh blocking her way. Taking the baby from her arms, Draco gingerly cradled the infant against his chest while he rushed over to the nearest chair. Resting the babies lower body on his lap while he supported its upper body with his left hand and forearm, Draco frantically began counting the boys fingers and toes. After having to recount the fingers on the babies left hand, because he had forgotten the thumb the first time, Draco was satisfied that all of the digits were in place. Lastly, he peaked beneath the babies blanket, making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. "Late, just like your mummy, huh?" whispered Draco, placing feathery kisses all over the babies tiny face.

"So, do I get to see him?" asked Artemis, shooing her mother's hand away as she tried to smooth her daughter's slightly disheveled hair. Draco looked over at his wife, as she lay in the bed across the room. Slowly he approached her, all the while whispering to his son. When her husband had finally made it across the room, Artemis held out her arms indicating that she wanted to hold the baby. For several seconds, Draco stared at her out stretched arms, inwardly debating whether or not her was going to hand the boy over. All the while, Artemis stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Well, you had him to yourself for nine whole months, don't you think it's my turn?" asked Draco, already knowing that this defense wasn't going to work.

"Are you kidding me?" shouted Artemis, looking absolutely dumfounded. Draco refused to look at her, he simply ignored his angry wife and continued mumbling against the babies soft skin. During the entire exchange, Narcissa and Persephone chuckled amongst themselves. "Ok, you're going to give him to me, right now, or I'm going to have to hurt you."

"Draco, give her the baby," whispered Narcissa, finally realizing that Draco wasn't joking. He really didn't plan on giving Artemis her son. For several tense moments, the young married couple stared at each other, as if they were silently daring the other to make a move. Cautiously, Narcissa watched her son, sure that if he had a clear path to the door, he'd run for it. Apparently, Artemis was thinking the same thing because at some point she had grabbed her wand from atop the bedside table, ready to use it if need be.

"Fine, but I get him back," warned Draco, before placing his infant son in his very angry wife's arms. The moment she glanced at her son, Artemis' eyes began to tear up, her scowl instantly melting away.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" joked Artemis, unable to ignore the fact that her son looked quite girly. Draco stared at his wife, affronted by her words. Narcissa and Persephone peeked over the young mother's shoulder and laughed, both understanding just what she had meant.

"Don't you dare laugh at him," warned Draco, reaching to take his son away from the giggling women. Before her son could get anywhere near his son, Narcissa slapped Draco's hand's away, shooting him a deadly glare. Pouting, Draco stormed out of the delivery room, flopping down onto the waiting room couch. Ignoring the new father's behavior, the men who were waiting to meet the newest addition to the Malfoy family entered the delivery room, leaving Draco to pout.

After five minutes of sulking to himself, Draco began to feel bad for the way he had been acting and he decided to go apologize. He couldn't believe that he had completely ignored the fact that his wife had just given birth. He didn't understand how he always managed to act like a complete jackass at the most inopportune moments. Just as the repentant young man was entering the delivery room he heard his best friend, Blaise, say "I thought you were having a son?"

"He looks exactly like Draco did when he was born," replied Lucius, laughing as he stared at his grandson. "It took months for people to stop asking me what my daughter's name was. Certainly didn't help that his mother dressed him like a girl."

"I didn't dress him like a girl. I just made sure that he was a well dressed young man," argued Narcissa.

"You might as well have put him in a dress," countered her husband, receiving no rebuttal from his suspiciously silent wife.

"Hey, my son is a strapping..."

"Stallion," interrupted Blaise. There wasn't a straight face in the entire room, even Severus Snape was struggling not to laugh too hard. The only person not amused by Blaise's comment was Draco.

"Have you decided on a name?" asked Persephone, sensing how tense her son-in-law was.

"Oh, yes. Artemis and I decided that our first son will be named after my family and our second son will be named after her's. So, we decided that his name would be Lucius Severus Malfoy," informed Draco, smiling at his father and godfather. Severus couldn't help but appear shocked by the news. He hadn't expected Draco to use his name.

"Oh no," groaned Narcissa, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache.

"What?" asked Artemis, unsure of what her mother-in-laws complaint could be.

"Do you realize what your doing, naming that boy after those two?" scoffed Narcissa. "You are in for a world of trouble. By giving him their names your basically telling him to look up to them. Do you really want more than one of them? Better yet, a combination of the two." Draco and Artemis exchanged worried looks, understanding just what Narcissa what talking about. Lucius and Severus, alone, were troublesome, but together they were... well let's just say you'd be better off keeping them as far away from one other as possible, else you suffer the consequences.

"Well, I think he'll be fine," assured Artemis, only half believing it. She had heard stories from Narcissa about how much trouble Lucius and Severus were apt to cause when together, or bored. 'The world is their playground and it's inhabitants, their toys,' her mother-in-law had once told her, in regards to the two men.

"He's beautiful, Artemis," said Cosette, as she hugged her best friend and kissed the baby on the top of his tiny forehead. "I've got to get going, I have an exam tomorrow." After saying her goodbyes Cosette left, but not before telling Artemis that she would be more than happy to babysit whenever she needed her.

As was customary, little Lucius was making his way around the room, each person taking a few minutes to introduce themselves to the baby. The most notable introduction came when Severus took his turn greeting the infant. As soon as baby Lucius heard the Potion Master's deep voice, his eyes, which had remained tightly shut, fluttered opened. This was how they discovered that instead of inheriting the infamous icy gray eyes of his father, he had been born with eyes that matched his mothers bright blue orbs.

"I think he likes you," replied Draco, staring at his son lovingly, as he lie in the arms of his own Godfather. This picture reminding him that he needed to ask Blaise something.

"Blaise, will you be Lucius' Godfather?" asked Draco, knowing that his best friend would accept.

"Abso-fuckin-lutely!" exclaimed the excited young man in typical Blaise fashion.

"Hey, what am I, invisible?" questioned Goyle.

"You get the next one," offered Draco, weakly. Quietly, the thick set young man pondered the offer.

"I'll take it," replied Goyle.

"Next one?" questioned Artemis, as Severus was handing the blue eyed boy back to her.

"Yeah, the next one. Remember, three's a good a number," quoted the young man.

"Three's a good number when you're not the one who has to carry it for nine months and then squeeze it out of you," reminded Artemis. Though she already knew that she wanted more children she wasn't going to let Draco get carried away. They would certainly be waiting a while before they did this again.

"Which reminds me, Blaise, Goyle, when you have children and the medi-witch tells you to look down... don't. It's really kind of disturbing."

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WELL, THAT WAS A HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE. I THINK THE NEXT TIME SHE GIVES BIRTH I'LL JUST SAY 'REFER TO CHAPTER 28' OR MAYBE I'LL JUST BREEZE OVER THE BIRTH AND HIGHLIGHT THE PARTS THEREAFTER. WHO KNOWS?

AS ALWAYS, YOUR INPUT IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED : )

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