Chapter 13

The first night with Draco was very awkward. Azalea scooted to the very edge of her side and curled herself into a ball, hoping vainly that he wouldn't touch her. She was wrong, of course. Draco put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. This once again sent her heart pounding. Azalea thought she was going to get a heart attack from all of this. She responded so strangely to his touch. She didn't want to think about what it meant. Azalea held herself still despite her all consuming urge to jump out his arms, run out the door, and flee down the hallway whilst screaming like a banshee. Soon Draco was asleep and his even breathing lulled Azalea to sleep. She fell asleep in his arm and for once in a long, long time, her dreams weren't filled with sadness but were filled with a light and comfortable happiness.

"Married?!" Dahlia exclaimed, her eyes popping. "You can't be serious."

"Shh!" Azalea commanded and then sighed. "Trust me, I wish I wasn't serious."

It was early morning and Azalea was having breakfast with Dahlia. Of course, Azalea would have made any excuse to leave the Malfoy Manor for a few hours. She slipped from bed at the crack of dawn, way before Draco could wake up. She told Lucius and Narcissa where she would be and that she would be back before lunch. Lucius reminded her that Reginald Carter would be coming at eleven thirty and it would only be respectable if Azalea was there to greet him when he comes. Azalea assured Lucius that she would be there when he comes though she didn't know what a Malfoy business partner had anything to do with her.

Dahlia had come dangerously close to wetting herself when Azalea told her of Draco's "condition". Dahlia was now staring at her unabashedly, her mouth hanging wide open.

"Are you sure he's not just pulling a prank?" Dahlia asked.

"He could not possibly keep it going this long," Azalea snapped. "Plus, Draco dislikes me. Why would he pretend to love me?"

"You don't know that he dislikes you," Dahlia said, giving her a look.

"What are you implying?"

"Zaley, you're stuck in a house with him," Dahlia pointed out the obvious. "When you stick two hormonally enriched people in the same place, wild and raunchy things happen."

"First of all, do not refer to me as hormonally enriched. It makes me feel like I'm a breakfast cereal," Azalea said as Dahlia shook her head. "Second, you cannot be suggesting that I am attracted to that swine!"

"I'm just saying that maybe you're being entirely closed minded," Dahlia pointed out. "You made up your mind about Draco so quickly. Perhaps you were wrong in your first evaluation."

"No, I was not."

"Perhaps you were," Dahlia argued.

"I wasn't."

Dahlia raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. Azalea rolled her eyes and looked away with a sigh.

"Have you told him about your date with Alex tonight?" Dahlia asked.

"No, I have not told him!" Azalea exclaimed. "He thinks I'm his wife! His head will literally explode."

"So you're going to lie?"

"I'm not going to lie," Azalea muttered. "I'm just not going to tell him the truth."

"You're going to commit adultery!" Dahlia chuckled evilly. "How sinful!"

"It's not adultery, Dahlia," Azalea sighed. "Draco and I are not married. I have my own life and I cannot possibly be expected to put it on hiatus just because Draco Malfoy is delusional."

Dahlia was silent for a while, watching her best friend contemplatively. "You're going to hurt him, Zaley," Dahlia told her, making Azalea look over at her surprisingly.

"Which one?" Azalea asked. "Draco or Alex?"

Dahlia gave her a look. "Both."

Azalea shook of her coat and stowed it in the coat closet nearby. Chilly fall winds had begun to blow, breathing signs of the coming winter. The manor seemed quiet and empty. But of course, it always seemed that way due to its largeness.

"There you are."

Azalea turned her head and saw Draco coming toward her, a large grin on his face. Great, she thought to herself.

"You worried me when I woke up and you weren't anywhere to be found," he said, bending to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I thought you had left me for another man."

Draco chuckled and Azalea chuckled along with him. Not a bad idea, Azalea thought to herself.

"How was Dahlia?"

"She's fine," Azalea answered.

"Great, now come with me," Draco told her, taking her hand and leading her away.

"Where are you taking me?" Azalea asked skeptically, slightly resisting his tugging.

"Reginald Carter is here for his business meeting with my father," Draco said, leading her toward the den, "and Mr. Carter has two guests with him that I think you'd like to meet."

"Are they doctors specializing with memory?"

"No," Draco said and giving her a look. "Why would you want to meet one of those?"

"No reason," Azalea said, looking away.

The den was well lit and airy. Men's laughter floated out of it. Lucius was sitting in an armchair, talking animatedly to a very stern and strict looking man. Tiny laugher came from the floor. Azalea raised an eyebrow as she saw two infants on the floor. A little boy and a little girl were playing with charmed blocks that changed colors and sparkled slightly. The two were mesmerized. Azalea watched them warily. Handling children were never her forte. They were little balls of unending energy. Azalea deplored dealing with children. Messy, uncontrollable little munchkins.

"Azalea, meet Mr. Reginald Carter," Lucius said, he and Mr. Carter standing up.

Azalea shook Mr. Carter's hand. "It's very nice to meet you, sir," she said and then looked at the two babies playing on the rug. "Are they your-?"

"Grandchildren," Mr. Carter finished. "Absolute darlings, aren't they? I'm afraid they also make it impossible for Lucius and me to have our little meeting."

"We'll watch them," Draco said quickly, watching the two little children and then looked over at Azalea.

Azalea had turned to him, horrified. She didn't want to watch two mewling infants. What on earth was Draco thinking?

"We will?" she asked and was elbowed sharply by her Draco. "I mean… yes, we'll watch the tiny people."

"Splendid," Lucius said, clearly pleased as he began to lead Mr. Carter away. "This way, Reginald."

Draco and Azalea watched them leave. When they were gone, Azalea looked questioningly at Draco who only winked at her and sat down next to the babies and immediately started playing with them. Azalea crossed her arms over her chest, dying to leave. As Azalea watched, it seemed that the two children accepted Draco and started to play with him. Probably recognizing someone of the same intelligence level, she thought with a silent laugh.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to come over here and meet them?" Draco asked, looking over at Azalea who has not moved from her spot.

"Actually, you're doing fabulously with them, so I'm just going to-ˮ Azalea said, moving toward the door.

"Azalea, come on," Draco said, motioning for her to come forward. "They're not going to kill you. They're infants, look. They're cute and sweet and they have that new baby smell."

"New baby smell?" Azalea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on. Come on," Draco went on beckoning.

Azalea sighed and dragged her feet closer to the three infants. The one in the tiny pink dress looked up at her. Azalea raised an eyebrow at the little girl.

"That's Livia," Draco said, nodding toward the little girl who was watching Azalea with an openly curious face. "This is Luke."

Azalea looked over at the infant in a quaint overall sitting in front of Draco. Little Luke and Draco were rolling a ball between each other. Luke was incredibly entertained by the rolling action of the ball and Draco seemed amused that the little boy was amused. Azalea watched them curiously. He's playing with an infant. It never occurred to her that Draco would be the kind of man to be fatherly. He was just so idiotic that Azalea ruled out the possibility of him being an efficient father figure.

Small noises near her feet made Azalea look down. The little girl, Livia, had gotten up on her small human feet. She had her plump little arms raised above her head and was bouncing quickly, an intense concentration and determination on her face as she stared at Azalea. Azalea watched the little girl. It seemed as if she was about to have a heart attack from all the determination radiating off her round face.

"What's wrong with her?" Azalea asked Draco.

Draco looked over at her and Livia and said, "She wants you to pick her up."

"Pick her up?" Azalea asked, making a face. "You mean, carry her?"

"That's what she wants you to do, yes," Draco nodded. "You better hurry up before she cries."

"Why should she cry?" Azalea asked, bending down. "That's a completely illogical reaction."

"She's 10 months old," Draco pointed out with a chuckle. "She doesn't have to be logical."

Azalea took Livia in her arms. Livia was excessively happy about this as she threw her small arms around Azalea's face and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Azalea supposed this was supposed to be adorable. She watched Livia's face as the baby played with her bead necklace, shoving them into her mouth and chewing on it. She was a beautiful baby. Livia had a sweet round face and cute button like nose. Her cheeks were tinged with a pale pink color, making it seem like she's blushing. Her green eyes seemed to twinkle and her soft black hair was gathered into a ponytail on one side of her head. She was adorable and smelled like honey and baby powder. Azalea smiled at her and gave the baby a kiss.

"Boat…" a tiny voice said.

Azalea looked over at Draco and Luke. Luke was sitting on Draco's lap, utterly mesmerized by a pop up book Draco was holding.

"That's right, mate," Draco laughed. "It's a boat."

Azalea watched Draco tell Luke a story using the pop up book. Draco's face lit up joyfully as Luke laughed at the sound effects Draco created. Azalea stared at Draco's face with a small smile. She had never seen it so pleasant and happy before. He looked far too handsome holding Luke in his arms. She had to admire the way he connected with Luke. She never would have guessed that somewhere inside Draco Malfoy was a man who could be a good provider, father, and husband. All she saw was Draco the wanker and cynic. But this was different.

The Draco that seemed to be in love with Azalea was charming and loving, giving and patient. Azalea had always wanted a family when she got married and seeing Draco with Luke only made her yearn for it more. She was even more drawn to him as he read to Luke. It made no sense to her. A monkey could be taught how to read to an infant but seeing Draco do it gave Azalea a warm feeling on the inside. She didn't know whether to like it or be suspicious of it.

Azalea walked over and sat beside Draco on the floor as Luke climbed off his lap and crawled away with surprising speed. Draco chuckled at Luke as Azalea arrange Livia on her lap. Livia grabbed a doll nearby and proceed to play with it, tossing it around and chewing on it.

"Do you like children, Draco?" Azalea asked.

"Yes, I do," he said and gave her a strange look. "You know that. We've talked about it before."

"Right…" Azalea laughed uncomfortably. "You look really happy reading to Luke."

"He's a sweet kid," Draco grinned at her. Azalea couldn't help but grin back. "Azalea, I was thinking about something."

"What?"

"Well, you remember when you said you wanted to try to have a baby?" Draco asked and watched Azalea's eyes widen to the size of two surprised watermelons.

"I said that?" Azalea asked, giving him a look, leaning away from him.

"I was thinking that maybe we can try tonight."

"No!!" Azalea said loudly. Luke stopped playing with a toy car and turned to look at her. Livia turned her head and gave her an innocent "Why Are You Yelling?" face. Draco was watching her strangely. "I mean, I… you… uh…"

"Azalea, don't worry about it," Draco said, shaking his head with a grin. "If you're not ready, then we won't yet. There's no rush."

"Um… okay?" Azalea said uncertainly.

Draco smiled at her, clearly amused by her reaction. He winked at her, got up, and went to play with Luke. Azalea stared after him, her eyes still open wide, feeling slightly violated. She watched Draco and Luke play as if nothing happened, thinking that she just narrowly escaped being a mother.