Part IV:
The Baby.
The Emperor stared over the sleeping Ginny, and then to the child in the baby basket beside the bed. Once Ginevra, and the child were fully stable, and didn't need to be under the watchful eyes of the Doctors, they would be placed in Ginevra's sleeping chambers, except their would be an adjoining nursery, with a proper crib, and all that a child would need. He wondered if he had made a mistake at all, in choosing the fragile-looking Ginny. It shouldn't matter anymore, it was done, and there wasn't much he could do to change it. She made a slight sound in her slumber as the Emperor moved to the balcony doors.
He remembered how she had looked earlier on, when she had first given birth, she was broken, and sad beyond any sadness he had ever seen before, and no matter how less he knew about childbirth, he did know that women were supposed to look exalted, and proudly down at their newborn child. Especially her, she should have been proud of what she held in her arms; his son, her Master's flesh and blood. He felt himself starting to get angry, but for once realised that this wasn't the time, or the place to go into a rage.
The moonlight shone weakly through the balcony windows, and into the bedroom, casting an eerie sheen over his face as he turned to look at Ginny as she lay in bed; he walked back over to her, and leant closer, his hand on the headboard and the other stroking her cheek gently, yet his face showed no emotion. "You will understand, Ginevra, soon, why I cannot return your affections, why I cannot reward your loyalty the way you wish me to. Soon, you will understand…."
Her face pulled itself into a frown, and she opened her eyes slowly. "Sire…?" she said tiredly as he came into her view. "What are -? Is there something wrong with the baby?" she questioned in a worried tone, pushing herself up into sitting position.
"No, the child is in perfect health," he replied steadily.
She looked to her side at the sleeping baby, and reached her hand out to stroke his head. "What shall become of me, now, sire?" she asked reluctantly, not really wanting to know what the answer was going to be. "Now, that I have had the baby, you shan't have any use for me no longer."
He wondered how she could say such things about herself, didn't she have any dignity at all? "You will nurse the child as long as needs be, Ginevra," he replied, still in a steady and unfeeling voice, "and then, we will see what happens when the time comes." She nodded, simply accepting everything he said, if he told her the grass was purple, he thought, she would probably believe him. "Unless, of course, you can't handle looking after him…."
She turned her gaze to him, and the look she gave him was utterly blank, and devoid of emotion until she frowned, and he saw her hand clutching the sheets so hard that her knuckles had turned white. "I carried him for nine months without any problems, I'm sure I can handle this quite fine," she replied in a low voice. "Unless, of course, I can't, I wonder if you could do any better."
"I have more important things to worry about," he muttered.
"Sire?" she whispered. "Since, I have given you what you want, will you give me something I want?"
"I can't give you what you want," he said quietly. "I told you, Ginevra, in the beginning, that this wasn't going to be some silly fairytale."
"No," she said, making him listen to her for once. "I want to tell you something, and to listen to what I'm going to tell you, and I want you to answer me a question. You're so bad, that you just can't love, you're so bad, that you don't even know what love feels like, that is why you don't want to get close to me. Properly."
"Maybe, Ginevra," he hissed, "I don't find you attractive. Maybe, I think you're a pathetic, weak-minded excuse for a girl."
She continued to stare up at him, not even recoiling at his words like she would have done before. "That is your opinion, yet you chose me, didn't you? You chose me out of all those other girls, who were oh so headstrong, and full of determination to get what they wanted." She sighed, and looked down at her hands, before looking up at him again, he was sneering at her.
"Don't backchat me, girl," he scowled, "otherwise you will be punished."
"You're so full of anger, I just can't understand why," she whispered. "You punish me for being loyal to you, you punish me for enjoying your touches, and you punish me for loving you. I don't understand."
"I only required a son from you, I never required your affections."
"Yes, I know," she said in a steady voice. "But, you punished me for something I never meant to do, I didn't want to love you. I grew up around the resistance, I was raised to hate everything you and your people stood for. I was meant to hate you." Ginny looked at the baby. "Here's my question, anyway. I want to know why you wanted him?"
"Because, I don't want some idiot taking over my place when I'm gone," he answered, and watched her sit on the edge of the bed and reach over to pick up the baby, he turned his back on them and stood by the balcony once more, not understanding why he wasn't just leaving, like he normally would have done.
"You know what's funny?" she said softly, smiling to herself. "Whenever you were near me, the baby used to move so fervently, like he was happy, but I didn't tell you once, because I was too afraid that you wouldn't care, I was too frightened that you'd sneer at me, and tell me to grow up," she scoffed to herself as he remained with his back to her, but he had gone rigid. "All I really ever wanted was for you to touch my stomach, to acknowledge that your son was growing inside me, that never required you to love me."
"Just shut up!" he sneered viciously. "Whatever you say is void, you've had the baby, so stop going on about things that don't matter anymore!"
Ginny stared at him with a blank look again. "Yes, you're right, they don't matter anymore…" she said quietly, and she looked back down at the baby, missing his reaction to what she just said; he was surprised by her, he was so taken aback he couldn't think of anything to say. What had gotten into her? What had happened to the pitiful Ginevra who cared what he thought? "What do you want to name him, sire?"
He frowned. "You name him," he muttered.
"OK," she said, smiling at the baby, who was just beginning to wake. "Oh, baby, did Mummy wake you up?" she said affectionately. "Oh, I'm sorry, little one." Ginny picked him up like an expert, and held him close to her chest, taking his small hand and stroking it softly with her thumb. "He's inherited your hair colour," she stated suddenly, as she smiled adoringly down at the gurgling child. She didn't look up when she felt him sit beside her on the bed, refusing to bow down to him anymore, she had resolved within in her slumber that she couldn't act like a foolish girl no longer, she had to look after the baby, that was all that mattered.
He reached out to move the blanket away from the baby's face, so he could get a better look at him. "He looks blind," he said in a curious manner, making Ginny surprised as she had never heard any other tone of his voice that wasn't vicious, or harsh.
"All babies can't see when they are first born," she replied. "He can only really see a blur at the moment." Ginny loosened the blanket, letting the child move about a bit, and get used to space. "But, he can hear our voices, he'll recognise us as his parents by our voices."
"How do you know this?" he questioned.
"My mother had seven children, you just learn rubbish like that," she muttered.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, people, I had a terrible amount of writers block, and I've been working on other projects, and everything.
Diggory: I ain't quitting.
Alexandria: Well, soon, he'll have the tables turned on him. So, all is good, and it'll make everyone happy who called him an arsehole. Plus, I like seeing men regret things they had a chance at having, but rejected it.
PurpleRainbow: I think she does want to ditch him, but can't really.
Again, I'm sorry for the shortness of it, and I've been working on it since the end of the other chapter, I just got the inspiration again for some reason. And, I know it's not that great, but, hopefully what I have in mind for the next chapter will entice you. Thanks for all your reviews, and for being very very patient with me.