"Cali, why you be bad to Daddy?"
"Go to sleep, Madelyn."
"But why you be bad to him?"
"Lay down and go to sleep."
"But why you be bad?" Madelyn asks with her tiny face scrunched up in concern. "You made Daddy mad." Calpurnia turns around in her bed and crosses her arms, refusing to answer her sister. "Cali."
"What!" the five year old hisses, looking over her shoulder and glaring at her three year old sister in a move she learned from her Father. "Leave me alone."
"But why you be bad to Daddy?" the little girl asks for the millionth time.
Calpurnia sits up in her bed and pushes her black bangs away from her face. "Daddy was yelling at Mommy again." She admits in a harsh voice. "And I told him to stop. That's why I was being mean… No go to sleep."
"Why he yell at her?" Madelyn asks, sitting up in her bed like her sister.
"He always yells at her." the five year old mumbles before taking her baby doll and cuddling it to her chest as she lies back down. "Just go to sleep, Maddie."
Madelyn lies back down against her pillows and plays with the ear on her bunny rabbit. The night light allows her to flick little glances over at her sister as she stares up at the ceiling with a scowl on her face. Both girls close their eyes but immediately open them when the door to their room opens.
"Hey." Comes their mother's soft voice. Isabel walks further into the room knowing both are awake and she sits down on her oldest daughter's bed. "Sweetheart, we need to talk." She says softly; touching the little girl's hair and tucking a dark strand behind her ear.
"Mommy, you lay down with me?" Madelyn asks hopefully from her bed on the other side of the room.
Isabel smiles at her. "In a little bit."
Maddie smiles and lays back down. Isabel looks back at Calpurnia who has her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. "Cali, when your father tells you to leave the room… you should do as he says."
"But he was yelling at you!" she says angrily, sitting up.
"We were having a disagreement." She says trying to cover up Tom's ridiculous temper like it was merely a discussion and not a one sided yelling match. "and I don't want you around when that happens. So next time Daddy tells you to go to your room. I want you do listen to him, okay?"
"But, Mommy—"
"No, Calpurnia." She says a little more sternly. "I need you to trust me on this, alright?" she says looking into her daughter's blue eyes. "I love that you wanted to stand up for me but when your father starts talking like that you have to just let me handle it, okay?" Calpurnia nods reluctantly. "It's a grown up thing that little girls don't have to worry about."
"Ok." She says softly, staring down at her doll.
Isabel leans in and kisses her on the cheek. "I love you." She says against her skin.
"I love you more then chocolate." Calpurnia says with a smirk.
Isabel smiles down at her and tucks the covers a little tighter around her. "Close your eyes and go to sleep now." She watches with a fond smile as Cali leans back on her pillows and closes her eyes. She gives her one more kiss before heading over to Madelyn's bed.
She lies down beside her youngest daughter who snuggles up against her. "Baby boy." the little girl mumbles quietly while touching Isabel's pregnant stomach. "Baby boy go to sleep too."
"Yes, baby boy is going to sleep too. So should you." She says as she kisses her cheek and touches her black curly hair. Both girls inherited his dark hair as well as their one year old brother. Isabel looks down at her stomach and touches the new baby. He probably will too.
After Madelyn falls asleep, Isabel stands up from the bed with a sigh and reluctantly makes her way back to the main bedroom where she knows her angry husband is waiting for her with another equally upset baby. Then she inhales deeply before she opens the door and steps inside.
"Is he asleep yet?" she asks reluctantly as she eyes Tom with a little boy in his arms. They almost have the same hair styles. Their black hair sticks up all which ways as Castor cries and Tom sneers.
"You've already poisoned them against me." He says sharply as he paces around the room. "Of course he isn't fucking asleep yet."
Isabel sighs before walking into the room, taking the crying baby from his father's arms. It was Tom's idea to have so many children… he should be able to handle it better. She holds the baby against her chest, in the most comfortable position as her pregnant stomach will allow and he calms down against her shoulder when she gives him his pacifier.
"See." He says sharply. "What did I tell you?"
She wants to laugh at him but knows better. She kisses Castor's hair and rubs his back. "You need to be nicer to your Daddy." She tells him so that Tom can hear. "You're going to give him a complex. He's sensitive."
"It's not funny." He says hatefully and she smirks so that he can't see. "And now even Calpurnia is talking back to me like some ungrateful brat."
"Tom, she's only five. You know she loves you… she just doesn't like it when you yell like that."
He sends her a heated glare and she wants to roll her eyes. She's been here with him for over five years and thanks to spells and charms neither have them aged, only their children have.
"Sometimes I need to yell like that." He says hatefully. "It seems to be the only way I'm heard around here."
"Will you calm down?" she says, covering the baby's ears as he dozes off against her shoulder.
"Don't tell me what to do!" he yells again. She looks at him blankly before walking into Castor's room to lay him down in his crib and tries to ignore Tom's hostile glare as she reenters the bed room. She sits down on the bed to sooth her aching feet form carrying another one of his freaking children. "You are the reason I'm this way right now. If you would have just kept your mouth shut then we would be fine."
"Tom, can we just drop this…" she says tiredly.
"No, we can't." he hisses as he stomps in front of her and crosses his arms. "You were the one who brought it up in the first place."
Her anger gets the better of her and she glares at him. "You can't kill people in front of our children, Tom! What kind of sociopaths do you want them to turn out to be?"
"The younger they learn what happens to traitors the better." He says solidly.
She rubs her forehead and shakes her head. "You can't do that to them, it's not fair."
"What does that mean?" he snaps.
"Just let them have a childhood." She says heatedly. "Just because you didn't have a great one doesn't mean we all have to suffer for it." He narrows his eyes as he glares down at her and she sighs. "Let's just not talk about it any more. I want to go to sleep."
"You do not get to question my authority in front of my own children."
"They are my children too." She reminds him. He glares at her again and she sighs, standing up and walking closer to him. She takes his hand and places on top of her pregnant stomach. "Your son wants us to stop fighting."
"Nice try." He says hatefully but he doesn't move his hand from the baby.
She leans up and kisses his cheek. "Let's go to sleep and talk about this in the morning if you still feel like it's important." He doesn't move and she almost wants to hit him. "Please, love, I'm so tired."
"I have a meeting in the morning."
"I know." She says softly, running her fingers through his black hair, trying to calm him down. "Maybe you can take Calpurnia with you..." He snaps her an angry look and she kisses him again, relaxing her body against his. "You two have been fighting a lot lately. I think you need to spend more time with her."
"She's spoiled, that's her problem." He says, stepping away from her and taking off his shirt for bed.
Isabel snorts. "That's your fault." She answers honestly. "Tom," she says seriously as she sits back down on the bed and watches him get into his night clothes. "You're still her favorite person, and she's so much like you that sometimes it's just like… clash of the Titan's you know?"
"No, I don't know." He snaps as he brushes his teeth in the bathroom. The sink turns on and off as Isabel burrows under the covers. "She's stubborn, she doesn't listen to anyone, and she thinks she owns this whole entire place. The only person she's nice to is you and that's only because you do whatever she says. She needs a good beating."
"Oh, don't say that." She says with a smile. Knowing Tom would never lay a hand on her no matter what he said. "And what you just said about her reminds me an awful lot like someone else I know."
"Don't compare me to that little pampered princess." He sneers with disdain. "She has no respect for anyone. Why can't she be more like her sister? Madelyn is always so sweet and agreeable. Even Castor has his nice moments where he just sleeps."
"That's because Madelyn is three and not a five year old girl who was the only child of the Dark Lord for two years." He looks at her like he doesn't understand and he sits on the edge of the bed. She sits up behind him and wraps her arms around his torso. "It's not easy for her." she says against his ear. "You're always so stressed out about everything now, and she has to share all of her stuff with her little sister who doesn't know how to play right because she's too young to understand a lot of things. She's not allowed to touch Castor with out being scolded for it and he drools all over her." She kisses his neck and feels him relax into her chest. "Plus we have another baby on the way and she probably thinks that will take more time away from her. She's just like you, honey. She needs a lot of attention" She says taming down the hair by his neck and ear with her fingers. "and she loves being around you."
He snorts. "Except when you're around it seems." He says almost bitterly
"Little girls love their father's, Tom." Is all she says, before lying back down against the pillows. He turns towards her and watches her with his hand on her stomach. "That's never going to change."
"Maybe I will take her with me." He says, watching his wife with darkened eyes.
"No killing." She warns in a serious voice that he laughs at.
"I promise." He leans down to kiss and she kisses him back.
She scoots over so he can get to his side of the bed and sighs contently when his arms wrap around her.
X
"Do not talk to anyone." He tells her as he holds her hand and walks her down the hallway. "I don't even want you to make a noise. Just sit there and listen. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father." She says with a smile. Excited that she's going to be hanging out with him for the day.
"If someone asks you a question you can politely answer but I don't want you talking to anyone for a long amount of time."
"Yes, Father." She repeats again as she nearly runs to keep up with his long strides. "What will Maddie do today?" she asks with a sly smile. Happy that she gets to be with her father while her sister has to stay home.
"She's going to help your mother and Castor decorate baby boy's room." He stops in front of a pair of double doors and looks down at her seriously. "No talking now." He says and she nods with a dimpled smile on her face.
His followers get up and bow at the waist when he enters the room. Most of them eye the little girl beside him in distaste. She straightens the bow in her hair and follows her father with her head held high as he leads them to his seat. He nods for her to take the seat beside him and the table comes up to her chin. She swings her knee socked legs as she stares around the table with large blue eyes.
"Ignore her." is all Tom says to start with before opening a folder and looking through his papers. "We need to discuss our tax plan today. Our treasury is low and I think we have to blame Malfoy's tax plan for that." He says sending a heated look to Lucius Malfoy who lowers his head and apologizes.
Calpurnia watches her father work with admiring eyes as he scolds and yells at the people in the room. She likes it when he yells at other people, not her mother. He sends her a look to make sure she's still behaving when another man stands up to propose his new plan and she smiles at him, looking very much like Isabel. When the man sits down Tom relaxes into his chair and brings his hands up to his chin in thought.
"Daddy," he looks down to his left at his daughter. "Why can't you just take all of those dirty muggles money?"
Everyone laughs and he smirks. "Don't let your mother hear you talk like that." He says. "But it doesn't work that way."
"I didn't know it was bring your kid to work day." A younger death eater mumbles to the person beside him.
Tom snaps his head up and glares. "Who just said that?" everyone points the young man in the back of the room and Tom stands up. "Do you have a problem with the way things are run here?" he asks dangerously.
The young man shakes his head and loosens his collar. Feeling hot and sick now that he's on the spot. "No, My Lord."
"It sounds like you do." Tom says. Calpurnia falls back into her seat and covers her smirk with her hand. Octavian catches her eye and winks at her. "Do you think you could do better?" the man shakes his head. "Are you sure? It sounds like you think you know better then I do. That's treason… isn't it?" he looks around and everyone shakes there head. Even his daughter.
"I'm sorry, My Lord. I wasn't thinking."
"No, you weren't." he looks him up and down. "Who the hell are you anyways? Get out of this room." He says angrily and the young man picks up his brief case and runs through the door.
When he sits back down he feels a tug on his shirt and he looks down to Calpurnia again. "You can use your wand." She says with a glint in her blue eyes. "I won't tell Mommy."
He smirks at her serious little face. He does like her immensely.
X
"Maddie, don't paint your brother."
"But he bit me." The little girl says with a hand on her small hip while the other grips a paint brush.
Castor looks up at Isabel with a red streak down his face and he smiles at her. "He doesn't know any better." She says softly, bending down and using her shirt to clean off her son. "He didn't mean to."
"He did too." She says, still upset as she shows her Mother the red spot on her arm. "He know!"
"He's teething, honey. He's going to chew on anything insight." She takes the paint brush away from her and Madelyn frowns and stomps her foot. "If you weren't in his face all the time he wouldn't do that to you."
"You always be on his side." Madelyn says, pushing curls out of her eyes.
"He's younger then you." She snaps. Tired and annoyed already. This is Tom's fault. He's the one that kept knocking her up. "He doesn't understand and you do. I want you to say you're sorry and give him a hug."
Madelyn hesitates a moment before biting out a quick sorry and giving her little brother an awkward hug and kiss on the cheek. He coos and grabs one of her curls, pulling it hard in his sticky fingers. Madelyn tries to get away and cries loudly when he won't let go. Isabel rolls her eyes before kneeling down and removing Castor's fingers from his sister's hair. Madelyn walks to the other side of the room and sticks her tongue out at him.
Isabel covers her eyes and sighs loudly before looking around the half decorated nursery. They're painting it red this time. A very dark red that Tom picked out because he said it reminded him of one of his pet snakes eyes when he was little. Isabel thinks it's like blood. A noise brings her out of her thoughts and she looks down and widens her eyes.
"Castor! You can not put that in your mouth." She says, running over to him and taking the crayon away from him. She looks up to see where he got the crayon from and sees Madelyn drawing on the already painted wall. "Madelyn Riddle! Do not do that, this room is for your brother!" she runs over to and takes the writing utensil from her hand. "We are taking a nap." She says and the little girl starts crying.
She grabs her hand and picks up the baby on the floor, ignoring the pain in her back and stomping towards their bed rooms. Madelyn twists her body and falls to the ground crying and saying she doesn't want to take a nap. Castor looks down at his sister and his bottom lip starts to tremble and he too starts to cry. Isabel inhales deeply and nearly screeches for a house-elf.
"My Lady." The little elf bows.
Isabel glares at the little creature. "When is Tom coming back from his meeting?" she yells over the crying children.
"He is back now, Ma'am." The elf says. "He's be in the library with the little Missus."
She nods her head and tries to grab Madelyn's hand again. "We're going to go see Daddy." She says sharply as the little girl tries to pull back again.
She wipes her eyes and suddenly becomes all sweet and innocent. "Daddy is home?"
"Yes, now lets go." She says pulling her up and stomping all the way to the library. Castor sniffles by her ear and she can feel his tears soak into her shirt. She feels guilty for getting so angry with them. "You don't have to cry." She tells him, kissing his ear. "You are going to be with your father while Mommy takes a nap."
When she reaches the library door Maddie throws it open. "Daddy!" she yells happily, running over and jumping on his lap. Calpurnia rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, upset that her alone time is over. "We not know where you were." She says seriously.
Tom kisses her cheek and rubs her back. "You found me."
He looks up as Isabel stomps in front of him and immediately knows he's in some kind of trouble. "What now?" he almost whines at the glare on her face.
"I am tired and I want to take a nap." She says flatly, setting their one year old son beside his father. "My back hurts and if all of this stress makes me have this baby too soon I will kill you." She says, placing a hand over her pregnant stomach. "I am going to go lie down for a while and I don't want to hear any noises from anyone." She says before storming out of the room.
Tom snorts and turns down to his children who are all three watching him with bright blue eyes. "Well… It look likes we're going to go visit Uncle Octavian, doesn't it?" he says and the girls smile at him. He looks down at his son and raises an eye brow. Caster copies his gesture.
"I see you agree too."
X
"Tom, stop touching me." A kiss on her shoulder makes her groan unhappily. "Go away."
"But you feel so nice." He says with a smirk against her skin. He places her hands on her leg and works his way up her skirt.
"Stop it." She hisses angrily, trying to throw his hand off of her. "You are the reason I'm so tired. If you would just stop touching me every once in a while I wouldn't be pregnant all the time. It's getting ridiculous." A thought strikes her and her eyes narrow dangerously. She turns around and glares at him. "Where are the kids?"
"Don't worry they're fine." He says dipping in to kiss her.
She pushes him back and angrily gets off of the bed. She foots into her shoes and sends him an annoyed look. "You can't keep on leaving them with Octavian. He is nearly ninety years old!"
"So are we." he says with a smirk playing on his cool lips.
She scowls at him and stomps out of the room. Almost wanting to cry because she's so tired. "Thanks a lot, Tom." She says sarcastically.
Moments before she reaches the stairs a familiar embrace freezes her from behind. "Don't walk away from me, kitten." He says as he kisses her neck.
"I have to go and save our children from a man who barely remembers who he is half the time."
"Now you're being cruel." He smirks against her shoulder. "You know that's not true."
"Get off!" she yells this time, trying to get out of his embrace only to have him pull her back tighter. "Leave me alone."
"No."
She stomps her foot and makes annoyed sound. " Fine." She says angrily. He loosens his grip with a smirk and she stomps over to one of the couches along the hallway wall. She puts her knees of the cushions and her hands on the back of the chair. She faces the wall in the best position to support her pregnant stomach. She looks over her shoulder and glares. "Hurry up."
He loosens his tie and laughs as he walks over to her. "You are so romantic. When did that happen?" he jokes sarcastically.
"I'm serious, Tom."
He makes it to her and puts the hair over her shoulder so he can kiss the back of her neck. He lifts his wand to block out the hallway from other people as he drops to his knees on the cushions behind her so that his chest is pressed into her back. He brings his hands and pushes up her skirt to her waist as he kisses the side of her face.
"Spread your legs a little more, love." He says and she sighs before doing what he wants.
She tilts her body at a better angle him more access. "Because I'm doing this I reserve the right to talk over you at council tonight." He snorts into her neck. "I don't want you yelling at me for disagreeing with you."
"You always disagree with me." He says as he brings down her knickers to her knees.
"And you always yell at me."
"Good point." He says as he reaches around her to touch her and she rocks back against her fingers. "See," he says with a slight smile as he plays with her. "You complain and you complain but you want me just as much as I want you." He says, bringing up his fingers to show her how wet she is.
She rolls her eyes. "You are so annoying." She says and he laughs as he unbuckles his pants. "Will you get going?"
He slides into her easily and cups her breast. She sighs at the sensation and lets her head fall back against his shoulder. "Whatever you want, my needy little one."
"Stop talking." She says breathlessly as he starts moving faster. She grips the ledge of the couch and lets her head fall down. "Just don't talk for a while."
He laughs into her neck and keeps going until they are both sated. Once finished he sits beside her to catch his breath while she stands up and straightens out her clothes. She lets her knickers fall to the ground and she hands them to him. He smirks and puts them in his pocket.
"It's your fault they're wet." She says before walking away from him. He smiles as he watches her.
"Where are you going?" he calls after her as he sits up straight on the couch.
She ignores him and keeps walking.
X
"Personally I think that is a terrible idea." She says, watching him closely as he grips his chair and the others whisper among themselves. "Muggles out number us. We can't put them in work camps."
"Well, my darling pregnant wife." He says, emphasizing the word pregnant to discredit her some how. "I don't care what you think on this matter."
She crosses her arms and glares at him from across the table. "This is wrong." She says solidly. "They will overpower the guards and overtake the camps. Eventually killing everyone here and their children. Do you want that?" she snaps.
"That won't happen." He says and rolls his eyes. The others laugh. "We have magic."
"And they have numbers."
"That won't matter."
"You said that about the controlled neighborhoods with the muggle borns and look what happened with that. I was right."
"That was a fluke." He says waving a dismissive hand. She narrows her eyes as he turns back to everyone. "As I was saying before, I think we need to start to start our periodic cleansing of the muggle population."
"You mean genocide." Isabel says hatefully.
Tom makes an irritated face. "Call it what you will."
"Genocide." She repeats again more solidly.
He almost yells at her. He almost stands up and yells at her but he remembered what they talked about earlier in the hallway so he takes a deep breath and clenches his jaw. He puts his hand in his pockets and feels her silky knickers against his fingers. "Anyways…" he says slowly. Trying to dismiss her. "What I was saying…"
"What you were saying was something that shouldn't be done." She snaps and sits back in her chair with her hand over her stomach.
"Stop testing me." He says softly, glaring at her again. "As I was saying," he says loudly, addressing the others again. "We need to start--"
"This is a terrible idea." She says again, cutting him off.
He stands up bangs his fist against the table. Everyone jumps but Isabel. A fake smile comes to his face as he looks at her. "I don't think you're feeling well. The baby must be acting up." He says in a false light voice.
"The baby is fine." She says sharply.
"I think you should leave the room. You are obviously having some kind of hormonal attack."
"I think you should stop talking and listen to me."
Again he almost yells at her but someone beats him to it. "My Lord," Tom turns his head towards a younger Death Eater, just introduced to the council two weeks ago. "I agree with you. My wife is pregnant now and says all kinds of stupid things."
"Are you saying my wife is stupid?" he says dangerously. Turning his anger on someone else.
"Well, no, um, I mean, what?" the boy finishes lamely and the others flick nervous glances at each other.
"Are you calling my wife stupid because she is carrying my son?"
There's a pregnant pause and Isabel breaks the silence. She's still glaring at her husband. "I think he's just agreeing with whatever point you were trying to make to me." She says hatefully.
"You don't know what you're talking about." He says not even looking at her as he grips his wand and the young Death Eater gulps. "Apologize." He says to the man.
"I'm sorry." He says softly.
"You don't have to apologize." Isabel snaps. "You are just following example." She refuses to let this go and Tom's eye tint red as he looks back to her. "I'm voting against this." She says and sits back into her chair again.
The council was her idea and so was the voting. Tom takes it into consideration sometimes but no one ever votes against him but her. It's almost pointless unless Isabel can seduce him into agreeing with her.
"Fine." He snaps. Trying to calm down as he sits. "What would you propose to do instead?" he says almost mockingly.
"Well, give money and tax benefits to pure and halfbloods who have more then two children. We have to widen our base before we do anything drastic. We may have wands but the muggles have bombs and manpower."
"We'll vote then." He snaps.
Of course Tom wins. Fourteen to one. Isabel glares at everyone at the table before standing up and walking out of the room. Tom follows her with quick steps.
"I didn't yell at you." He points out when his strides fall into step beside hers.
"But you didn't support me either."
"Because you were wrong."
"I was not."
"Yes."
"No."
They stare at each other for a few moments before Tom relaxes and checks his watch. "I'll get the girls." He says before kissing her cheek. Her anger melts a little.
"Castor should be waking up from his nap now." She says with a sigh. "I'll go get him. We'll see you in the dining room." She tells him, letting him kiss her again before they walk opposite ways to collect their children for dinner.