Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

It's been so long since I updated! Sorry about that. I'm thinking three or four chapters until the babies are born!

Chapter 27 Fun with the In-laws

They waited fifteen minutes before they decided to start without Katherine. Draco knew he should have picked her up after he was done working. She seemed less sulky than she usually was during therapy day.

"She feels like she's not part of this family," Draco muttered awkwardly when it was clear she wasn't going to show. Father snorted. "You could at least pretend to be surprised."

Mother frowned while Father rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "Tell me, Draco, does Black make you feel at home? Was the rash you had at work this morning merely a coincidence? I was his victim a few times before I graduated."

"I think Draco should spend time with Sirius this week while Katherine spends time with the two of you," Crown said cheerfully, unaffected by Father's bitterness. "Individually."

"Alone?" Mother asked quietly while Draco was already dreading a day with Black.

Before the mind healer had a chance to answer, Katherine flung open the door, grinning ear to ear. "Sorry!" She didn't sound sorry at all. "I put my milkshake on my chicken sandwich and spilled it all over me when I bit into it! I had to change my clothes—"

"You ate what?" Draco didn't know why he bothered anymore. Yesterday she put mayonnaise on her apple. He had a hard time not cringing when he ate with her lately.

Katherine kissed his cheek and sat in a chair that was facing Mother. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Wonderful," Father drawled while Mother seemed to still be trying to accept what Katherine ate for lunch.

Healer Crown smiled as he and Mother shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Great! Now that you're here, Kat, I want everyone to go around and say what they wish the current situation was. No one can say anything until everyone's finished! Lucius. How about you start?"

"I wish you were Pansy," Father said instantly. Draco gaped, but Katherine had a look on her face that said, That's it? He and Pansy hadn't been together for over six years!

"I wish…" Mother paused when she saw how red he was turning. After everything that happened, all Father had to say was I wish you were Pansy! It couldn't be enough that he loved his wife and that he was happy! Mother cleared her throat. "I wish we could all live at the Manor together."

There was a tense silence as Katherine thought of what to say. Draco could tell by the tiny smirk on her face that she wasn't taking this seriously. At least she wasn't as offended as he was.

"I wish…" Katherine tapped her chin. "That Narcissa didn't think that I was stealing her son and that Lucius didn't look at me like I'm a brain dead monkey."

"I don't—" Mother started until the healer shushed her. Father only laughed softly to himself.

Draco rubbed at his temples. Wait until Katherine heard she had to spend the day with Father. "I wish that everyone would make an effort to get along without there being an ulterior motive."

Once he was done, everyone else could speak, meaning the floodgates were open. Draco wanted to bang his head against the wall when Father got the first word in. "I don't look at you like your brain dead, Katherine."

"I've always liked monkeys," Katherine said lightly. She could at least try. "I'd like to think of you, Lucius, as a vicious old dog with no teeth that no one puts down because they don't want to feel guilty. It'll be a relief when you finally kick the bucket."

"Oh. My. God!" Draco yelled before Father could reply. "No wonder you both hate each other! You're both assholes!"

And they both had equally dumbstruck looks at his words. Did they really think that what they were saying was okay?

"How are the babies, Katherine?" Mother asked to fill the awkward silence. "You look so cute—"

"I look like a blueberry." Katherine was wearing a dark blue dress that went just past her knees. "But thanks, I guess. Draco won't let me name him Castor."

"Why the bloody hell not?" Father snapped. The new development must have caused him to forget being called an asshole by his own son.

Merlin help me, Draco thought. Katherine was looking rather smug. This must be her revenge. "Because it doesn't seem right to name him Castor without his twin having Pollux somewhere in her name."

"She could be named Gemi," Mother offered. Katherine looked at her like she just spit in her face.

"I think we're getting off task here," Healer Crown interrupted firmly. There was no being gentle when the four of them were together. "Let's talk about how we can make our wishes reality."

"I'm not becoming a monkey for him," Katherine said childishly. What the healer must think of them…

"Let's start with Draco's and Narcissa's because the other two wishes make me want to reconsider my profession," the healer joked or at least, Draco hoped she was joking. He wouldn't be if he was in her position, but she grinned so he supposed she was.

Crown went on as if she didn't see Katherine roll her eyes at her. "Draco wants everyone to get a long for the sake of getting along. And Narcissa, you all can't live together as a family unless you act like one. So I think the four of you should plan a family vacation before the babies come. Sirius and Remus and Teddy can go too!"

"Katherine should be resting, don't you think?" Mother asked the healer condescendingly. Draco sunk in his seat and flushed with embarrassment.

Like Mother had challenged her, Katherine immediately said, "I'm going skiing."

Father snorted. "Good luck. The walk from the door to your chair left you out of breath."

"A nice relaxing weekend at the beach wouldn't hurt!" For some reason, Crown didn't throw down her clipboard and quit. Draco would have to get her nominated for some sort of healing award. "But you have time to plan! It'll be so much fun!"

"Water skiing sounds like fun." Katherine grinned when he glared at her. No wonder she didn't seem as put out about therapy today. She had absolutely no intention of taking it seriously.

"But for the immediate future…" Crown seemed to be enjoying ruining Katherine's week. Draco didn't blame her. "Kat, you are going to spend one day alone with Narcissa and another alone with Lucius. Meanwhile Draco is going to try to patch things up with your godfather."

Katherine's face fell. "Like a whole day?" Her jaw dropped when the healer nodded. "Actually, Narcissa's right. I should be home resting. We're getting ready to move and—"

"And you'll need to make a few trips to the baby store to get ready for the big day!" The healer's words made Katherine's eye twitch. "I'm sure your in-laws would love to go with you."

Because she knew the healer wouldn't fall for her tricks, Katherine stuttered for a few moments before coming up with an excuse. "I want to buy things from a Muggle baby store. Like monitors and stuff…"

"I'll go!" Mother said quickly. Father didn't seem as willing to call Katherine's bluff and became very interested in the tree out the window.

"Excellent! Kat, if you can't find something else to do with Lucius, you're going to have to break down with a trip to Diagon Alley." The healer wisely decided to conclude the session. "Draco, Kat, I'll see you next week!"

The following Monday, Kat was having one of her hormonal days when she was supposed to go shopping with Narcissa. All she wanted to do was lie around all day and cry to sad movies while Kreacher brought her chocolate. Unfortunately, those plans were ruined when Remus didn't fall for her crocodile tears as he told her for the fifth time to get ready.

"If you don't get up, I'll send her upstairs to fetch you," he warned. Stupid wolf with his stupid twinkling eyes.

"Hey." Kat slowly walked down the stairs as Narcissa rose to greet her. Why couldn't Remus reschedule?! "I'm not feeling well—"

"Do you want to go to the healer?" Narcissa asked worriedly. "Your face does look a little swollen."

"Well I put on some weight recently," Kat snapped before she could stop herself. Narcissa blinked surprise, making her feel a teensy bit bad. Okay. Maybe more than a little. Kat wanted to run upstairs and cry. She doubted Remus would feel for that either though. "Sorry. They were kicking all night, and I'm just really tired."

Narcissa patted her shoulder awkwardly, making Kat give her a dirty look. It was one of those hormonal days where even Draco and Teddy stayed away from her. "Draco was a very lazy baby until right before he was born. I used to worry when a day would go by without me feeling anything. I went to the hospital three times before they gave me my own magical heart monitor for him."

"That sounds like you." Kat shuffled her feet. The day already felt like it was going by agonizingly slow. "Do you want to get breakfast? I usually just eat a bunch of fruit but…"

Narcissa looked at her watch. It was nearly noon. She probably already ate. "I'll sit with you in the kitchen. I take it Sirius is hiding from me?"

"Hiding from Remus who's trying to get him to spend the day with Draco." Kat smiled as she headed for the kitchen. She wondered when Remus was going to let Sirius know that Draco went to work hours ago.

Kat ate in silence while Narcissa waited for her. She wanted to eat fast, so they could go and get the day over with, but she didn't want to risk indigestion again. She couldn't wait until December. To Kat's shock, Narcissa actually started biting her nails during the silent meal. That seemed like a very un-Malfoy thing to do.

"When Draco was born…" Narcissa's voice was barely above a whisper, like she was embarrassed to tell her. There was a long pause before she decided to force herself to go on. "My mother stayed at the Manor for three months. I figured you didn't want to be alone with them because I didn't want to be alone with Draco."

Yeah right, Kat thought, but at least she wasn't mean enough to say it. She could see her mother-in-law being one of those mums on the telly who got caught breast feeding her six year old. "You just wanted me to feel like I shouldn't be alone with them."

"Maybe," Narcissa confessed. "But not for the reason you think. I didn't want to be around Draco, and I felt so bad about it… I couldn't sleep or eat. I would just go outside and scream sometimes. Abraxas, for all his flaws, made me see a healer."

"So you think I'll have postpartum depression too?" Kat winced at her own harsh words. Maybe they sounded so accusatory because she was worried about the same thing. "Sorry."

Narcissa shrugged like it was nothing, but she wouldn't meet her eye. Kat wondered how long she had been pretending to be over it. "I cling to him so much because I don't want him to know that I didn't love him. It has nothing to do with you "stealing him." I simply want him to know that I love him."

"You loved him," Kat said after a few moments of silence. "It's just chemicals and stuff. I think. Sorry. I'm a terrible student."

Narcissa smiled sadly. "Draco did say you fell asleep when Hermione put one a Muggle docu-documentary is it called? He said you were lucky you slept through the birth scene."

"Does it hurt that bad?" Kat wondered as she got up to put her bowl in the sink. That was a stupid question, but it was an easy way to change the subject. What Narcissa told her was a lot to process, and Kat didn't feel comfortable enough with her to talk about it more yet. "I mean… Hermione said I might poop myself."

"Well…" Narcissa rose from her seat and looked caught between laughter and repulsion. "You'll be in so much pain that you won't notice if you have an accident."

Kat wrinkled her nose. "Great."

"Are you sure they won't get electrocuted?" Narcissa was looking at the baby monitor box in the store the same way Draco looked at her car. "The house you're purchasing is rather small, Katherine. I don't think you'll need this contraption to hear them."

"Well..." She had to be nice! Narcissa told her a secret that she didn't even tell her own precious son. Kat took a deep breath. This one was going to hurt. "How will we hear them when we're at your house? It might be hard to hear them over your husband calling me a monkey."

"I've asked Lucius to be less harsh." Narcissa handed her the box and picked up a stuffed dog. She ran a thumb over its brown nose. "He didn't even like Pansy when she was dating Draco. Ever since she called him Drakey Poo one summer… Do you really want them at the Manor?"

"That's the only thing I like about Pansy." Kat forced herself to smile and tossed the dog in her cart. "And yeah. You're their grandparents. Who else is going to teach them outdated manners?"

Narcissa pursed her lips, and Kat wondered if she was annoyed or simply wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. "What are you going to do with Lucius? He's cleared his schedule for the week."

"Of course he has," Kat muttered as she walked over to the cribs. She wondered if the babies would be used to sleeping with each other and just want one big one. Or maybe she should get two so they don't eventually roll over on each other. Narcissa cleared her throat when it became clear that Kat was trying to ignore her question. Lucius only wanted to spend time with her because he knew she hated him. One thing was for sure, she was going to make him regret it. "I'm not sure."

"He likes Paris," Narcissa prompted. So that meant Kat just had to find the opposite of Paris. "He'll be more than happy to side-long apparate with you."

"Sirius said that he'll paint a room at Grimmauld for the twins with Draco Thursday. Hopefully they're smart enough to open a window," Kat said cheerfully. "I don't think I've ever seen Draco drunk, let alone high off paint fumes."

Narcissa tensed as if she had just been told Sirius was taking Draco to roll around in radioactive waste. This was too easy. "I'll remind him." And Kat knew that he was going to be reminded at least a hundred times over the next few days. That's what he gets for calling her an asshole, no worse, as much as an asshole as Lucius. "Do you have any more names in mind?"

"I'm thinking I might have to see them," Kat lied. She had a girl name in mind, but she didn't want to say so out loud. Whenever she had her heart set on something, someone disliked it and stomped all over it. And that someone was usually Draco. He laughed in her face when she asked if he liked the name Sage. Jerk.

Narcissa smiled knowingly as Kat pretended to ignore her and focus on the cribs before deciding to settle on buying clothes for the day. At least the day so far was pretty uneventful…

"What happened?" Draco demanded. Weasley was a bloody auror! The least he could do was make sure Katherine stayed out of jail. Sure, he would bet money that she deserved it, but that was beside the point!

"She's sweet, in her own way, I suppose," Mother said quietly. Draco detected a bit of laughter in her eyes but could see she was too embarrassed to go into detail. He didn't see what was funny about his wife locked up with a bunch of criminals. It wasn't like she could exactly run away from them in her current state.

"They're almost done with the paperwork, Mrs. Malfoy," the receptionist called out from the front desk of the waiting room.

Mother blushed as she tried to answer him. "She hexed Rita Skeeter to have, well, her breasts appeared to have been transfigured into horns… I didn't know Katherine was so… creative."

"She's something alright," Draco muttered. They were stuck waiting for another half hour before Katherine emerged. She only yawned and took a lollipop from the receptionist's desk. Was it too much for her to at least pretend to feel guilty?

"Thanks for bailing me out," Katherine told Mother. She looked at him, but although it wasn't two in the bloody morning, she only saw him as a source of food. "Take me to that nasty French restaurant you like. I'm craving—"

"Should I put your mugshot in the baby book?" he asked sarcastically. Katherine narrowed her eyes. "Sorry. I'd prefer you didn't surround yourself with criminals. Unless you can waddle faster than them."

"Oh yes." Katherine sneered at him. "All the vicious drunks and murderers get arrested on early Monday afternoons and get put in a regular holding cell. There was no one in there, you git!"

"Oh." Draco blushed, and Katherine kissed him. He had a feeling she was only being nice about it because she wanted food. Wisely, Draco decided to take her and his mother out for a late lunch at the "nasty" French restaurant. Whatever happened, Mother and Katherine were suddenly a lot friendlier towards each other.

"You never told me what happened." Draco was starting to feel like a cheap piece of meat. He thought that the first time they made love after their separation would be romantic or at least wouldn't involve her bossing him around. He understood that things were getting… difficult to maneuver, but she could've at least asked instead of told him what to do!

Katherine sighed happily while Draco was trying not to roll his eyes. Brute. "Usually when the reporters ask about me having an affair with your dad, I scowl while Ginny makes fun of me for the rest of the day. But when I was out with your mum… She looked so hurt! Like they slapped her in the face."

"Such accusations tend about other people's spouses tend to affect people," Draco drawled. So Katherine hexed Skeeter because she was defending Mother. He supposed that was a good thing, although he would prefer it if she stayed out of jail. There had to be something else that made them so friendly with each other today, but from the looks of things, he wasn't allowed to know. Perhaps it was a good thing that Mother and Katherine had something all to themselves.

Katherine yawned and snuggled against his chest. "I like your mum more now. She seems more… human. And thanks for not complaining about fucking for only ten minutes by the way."

"I hate you." But it was too late. Katherine was already sound asleep. Draco turned the lamp off with his wand and closed his eyes. Hopefully her day with Father would go a little more smoothly.

Kat was feeling particularly evil as she got ready for her day with Lucius. She had a feeling he was going to bail on her, but she had a plan if he decided to force himself through the day. Either way, it was going to be great.

"Teddy's school trip is today!" Kat ruffled his hair as her godson beamed. Lucius, who had just stepped through the floo, furrowed his brow in confusion. "We're going to the aquarium!"

Teddy tightened his grip on his backpack handles, already worried about being late. "You can't use magic!" he warned Lucius. Quickly, he changed his hair to the color of Remus's and his eyes to Sirius's. Kat didn't say anything, but she hated that he used nothing of Tonks's. "Not even a little."

"He goes to a Muggle school," Lucius ground out through clenched teeth.

"We're chaperones." Kat smirked. "Unless you want to go home. I'm sure Narcissa would love to fill in for you."

Leave, and I'll tell your wife. Because he was wearing dark green dress robes and was sporting his cane, Kat almost desperately wished he wouldn't.

"I will participate in the day's events." What the hell? Kat supposed that was better than what he wanted to say, which she figured was, Fuck you, Muggle trash. The translation was still the same though, considering the murderous look in his eyes. Today was going to be great.

Muggle children were stupid. The teacher called roll several times before they were able to board the bus. A dimwitted little girl with brown pigtails gaped at him like an idiot.

"Why are you dressed like that?" she asked dumbly.

"He thinks he's a wizard!" Katherine called out from the door of the bus. She sounded almost giddy with excitement. Lucius wanted to send her to Draco in a box.

The little girl didn't stop gaping. "You don't have a wizard's hat."

"He can't afford one!" Katherine yelled before hopping on to the bus. He was going to kill her. "It took him weeks to save up for the outfit!"

He'd stay for an hour. That would appease Cissa. Then he could go back to hating Katherine in peace.

They were looking at jellyfish when Lucius saw Katherine whisper to the little girl. She giggled, and Katherine seemed to squeeze her hand. Before he knew it, the girl was running away as fast as she could.

"Catch her!" Katherine shouted at him. The volume startled him too much to give him time to think that she was lying. "She's in our group! We'll get arrested if we lose her!"

He knew next to nothing about Muggle law, and his fat daughter-in-law couldn't catch the little brat. Lucius didn't realize just how out of shape he was until he had to chase a giggling five year old about. He was wheezing and swearing like an uneducated halfblood by the time she stopped to buy a Popsicle. With a stupid grin on her face, she grabbed his hand with her filthy, sticky Muggle paws and led him back to the jellyfish.

"Ka-a-t," Edward said once they reappeared. He sounded disappointed, as if he and Katherine had suddenly switched ages. Lucius had to hear that reprimand all day while his daughter-in-law tortured him.

It wasn't until lunch that Lucius realized that Katherine had the Muggle girl on her payroll. He had forgotten that Muggle were stupid enough to make their money out of paper, but she handed the child some once they sat down. Lucius was picking at his sandwich (he didn't want to eat something made by them) when the girl leaned over and spit a mouthful of her lunch on to this plate.

The teacher looked over, seeming to notice them for the first time all day. "Sally? Are you feeling ill?"

The hellish creature beamed. "No!"

"Is this how you're going to raise my grandchildren?" Lucius asked after "Sally" purposely stepped on his foot for the eighth time today. Earlier, Katherine not so discreetly gave her more money to cough on him. Lucius rushed off to scrub himself raw, only to realize that Katherine directed him to a place where Muggles went to the bathroom. He wanted nothing more than to turn the child into a spider so he could smash it.

Katherine shook her head. "No. It's starting to get old."

"Gee, thanks," he drawled. He almost added, No wonder you and Draco are having problems, but knew better. That would only lead to more therapy and more time with her.

Katherine made a fish face at a lionfish, causing Edward and his friends to laugh. "I don't want them to know that I don't like you… Because then I'll have to explain why. So I guess I have to get it all out of my system before December."

Lucius frowned. After years, no decades, of hiding how he felt, of scheming and lying, he was simply tired of not saying what was on his mind. He spoke without thinking because he no longer had the need to. Two little needs seemed to be on their way. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Meanwhile Draco was stuck with Black. He seemed to be challenging him as he painted the walls in an empty room mint green. He and Katherine were still fighting over what color they were going to paint the nursery in their house.

Draco felt his arms start to burn with in the first ten minutes of painting, but Black seemed to be taking all his anger out on the wall and had it half way done before he could get one line in. "I get it. I wouldn't want anyone to talk to my daughter like that, let alone her husband."

"Oh?" Black grunted before starting on a second count. "I don't care how old she is. She's just a kid, Malfoy. You two got pregnant way too young before she got to see you for what you really are."

"I feel like you would still think that even if we weren't having problems," Draco muttered as he went on painting. "If she was happily married to say, Longbottom, you would still think she was just a kid, and maybe sometimes she is but…"

"She'd kill Neville. Give the poor bloke a heart attack." Black had a small smile at the thought. "I guess I'm a bit touched in the head, as Hermione used to think. I still see her as the chubby little baby who used to gnaw on my leather jacket… You made her cry."

"I know." Draco wanted to get defensive, to mention all the times she hurt him, but he knew that would do nothing except make Black angrier with him.

"You also…" Black gritted his teeth and started on a new wall. "You also pulled out of this-this thing she was in. Where she only let herself be truly happy with Teddy. I was supposed to do that. I'm her godfather. But since it was you, you were able to take that happiness away from her. I would've made sure not to do that. Or I should've. But I kicked her out instead. Back when Teddy was a baby."

So that was why Black was so angry with him. What Draco did reminded him of the fight that originally caused Katherine to move out. "You're going to need to move past it."

"Or what?" Black snapped. Draco didn't know what to say. From what Katherine told her about her fifth year, Black had a hard time letting anything go. It was understandable, but the end result was that he would be miserable until he did.

"I'd prefer my children not to ask why their grandfather hates me," was all Draco could think to say, and the only reason he did was because Katherine told him that that was how she felt about his father.

"You would consider me their grandfather?" Black sounded surprised although he didn't know why. If they were a bit more friendly, he would joke that Katherine would punch him in the face if he thought otherwise.

"Yes…" Draco sighed when Black stopped painting so angrily. "Look, Black, I've apologized to Katherine, we've both hurt each other over the past few years, but it's between us. We aren't children, even though both you and my parents seem to think so."

"Whatever," Black mumbled, sounding like a disgruntled teenager. "Lily and James expected me to protect her, and I wasn't able to do it. Not once. I've seen her beaten by the monster before you, half-starved by relatives, and nearly destroyed by her own bloody survivor's guilt. So excuse me for wanting what I thought was right for her, which being was with me and Remus."

At least he was using the past tense… But if there was one thing Draco knew about Katherine, it was that she wanted to do things her way or no way. She wasn't exactly the type who wanted to be protected. She wanted to do the protecting.

Black fumbled with his paint roller and let out a few colorful swears when it fell on the floor, staining the white rug Lupin magically installed this morning. "I know she loves you. I know Teddy loves you. And I know I have to "move past it." But you've hurt my little girl. Don't expect me to be all warm and fuzzy with you over night."

Before Draco could respond, Black took out his wand and magically painted the rest of the room. They didn't really talk for the rest of the day, but for once, Draco didn't get death glares, and there wasn't anything wrong with his food at lunch. They didn't exactly like each other but at least they understood each other. If only the same could be said about Katherine and Father.

"Are you alright?" Lucius forced himself to ask. It was (finally) nearly time to leave. Katherine seated herself on a bench and closed her eyes. Draco would kill him if she passed out again.

Katherine nodded but didn't open her eyes. "Tired."

"Kat! Kat!" Edward and the snot nosed little girl ran up to her. "You gotta look at the turtle! You gotta!"

"It's HUGE!" the girl added excitedly. Lucius cringed at the sound of her voice.

Immediately, Katherine popped open her eyes and planted an almost genuine smile on her face. She couldn't take the exhaustion out of her eyes though. "Really? What's his name?"

Edward shook his head with a smile, like he thought Katherine was being silly. "He doesn't have a name!"

"Everyone has a name!" She wrinkled her nose and added teasingly, "Tedward."

"Ka-a-t!"

"His name is Loo-sus!" the brat said proudly. Lucius didn't bother correcting her. Less than half an hour to go.

"I think you're right," Katherine agreed as she waddled over to see the turtle. Edward rolled his eyes but was too eager to show her the sea turtle to care. At least it was almost time to leave.

The teacher reminded him of Dolores Umbridge. As soon as the children were back inside the building, she rounded on Katherine.

"I know you pity the girl since she lost her father," she lectured, making Lucius start in surprise. So that was why Katherine bought the child a giant stuffed seal at the gift shop. He didn't think she was the type to acknowledge anyone's grief but her own. "But that is no reason to let her run rampant during the trip! I doubt we will be invited back thanks to you."

"You'll get invited back," Katherine said coolly. Lucius doubted it, but what did he care? "I think they'd expect kids to have fun in a place for children."

"Fun," the teacher huffed. She left without another word, not seeing Katherine give her the middle finger behind her back before heading back for her car.

Lucius couldn't believe he was doing this but found himself following Katherine to her shiny red machine. At least this would make Cissa cease her nagging. That was the only reason he was saying it. "Wait!"

Katherine turned and sighed. "Let's just both pretend it went well."

"I don't like you," Lucius admitted. "But… You'll be an excellent mother, Katherine."

He apparated home before he could see her reaction.

"So how'd it go with Father?" Draco asked Katherine for the third time. They were looking for a couch that pulled out into a bed for when they had guests at their new house. The store closed in less than an hour, so they and one or two other couples were the only ones browsing in the furniture store. They were sitting together on a white one that he wanted, but Katherine kept complaining would get covered in baby stains. They were wizards for Merlin's sake!

"Hmmm…" Katherine pretended to be half asleep and snuggled into the crook of his neck. "The babies liked the red one. They were kicking like crazy when we sat on it!"

"Sorry but they can't see yet." Draco kissed the top of her head, but she still refused to acknowledge his question. "Was it that bad?"

"No." Since that wasn't followed by a long list of complaints, he supposed she wasn't lying. Katherine didn't open her eyes, but said, "I like him a little more. Like on a hundred point scale, I'd say he's at negative three hundred when he was at negative four thousand yesterday."

"Good?" Draco put a hand over her stomach and smirked. "They like this one too."

"Not as much as the red one," Katherine mumbled with a yawn. "How's Sirius on the scale?"

"Higher than negative three hundred," Draco admitted. "What do you think of the name Ajax? Jax?"

Katherine shook with laughter and opened her eyes a little. "Don't joke with me like that. Alaric."

"Possibly. But I'll probably think it's stupid after thinking about it for a while." Draco grinned when she sat up and looked at him like he slapped her. "I'll settle with the dark blue one. It'll match those ugly plates you bought the other day."

"You're a piece of shit!" Katherine said so loudly that a nearby couple stopped to stare. Draco felt his face heat up while Katherine remained unfazed. She glared at them, for some reason insulted that they were startled by her outburst. "He wants to name our son Damien. Like the boy in the movie."

"What's wrong with Damien?" Draco stupidly asked while the couple hurried off. "Besides a stupid Muggle movie. I like Damon."

"And I like James," Katherine whined. "Can we skip therapy tomorrow? My back hurts from this shitty couch."

"No." Actually, Draco had no idea when they should stop. Her words from the other week still haunted him, and he didn't think she felt any different. It would be easy to ignore it, but he felt like he would be hurting her if he did because he knew she would never go alone. "If you go every week until the twins are born, we'll buy that hideously cheap red sofa."

"Even if they're born a few weeks early?" Katherine glanced at her precious red couch and frowned. One would think she was going to Azkaban instead of spending an hour a week with a mind healer.

It was like bartering with a child who wouldn't eat her vegetables. Draco gritted his teeth. He could already see Mother wrinkling her nose at the Gryffindor colored couch. "But I pick the furniture for our matchbox of a dining room."

"Fine," Katherine grumbled before heaving herself off the couch, or at least trying to. Draco chuckled before helping her up and ignored her naming calling when he went to buy the hideous piece of furniture. Hopefully she'd sit through the whole session.

Before Kat knew it, it was time to move! They had to wait until Halloween because inspections and paperwork and all that crap. She was so excited that the day was finally here, but her stupid family didn't want her to help unpack even with feather weight charms. She had one contraction last night! One! Even Teddy was allowed to help.

"Kat! Where do you want these?" he asked. Kat pouted when he shoved a fist full of spoons in his face. She could handle spoons. "Kat!"

"Put them in Draco's sock drawer." He gave her a disappointed look and waited as she got off her precious red couch to lead him to the kitchen. When she stuck her tongue out at him, he only shook his head. He was becoming more and more like Remus every day.

"In here." Kat pointed to the drawer closest to the fridge, thinking about where it would be easiest for her to get it with ice cream when her dearest husband refused to make her a bowl in the middle of the night. "What do you think I should name the babies, Ted?"

"Kat and Drake!" Teddy said happily as he stood on his tip toes to put the spoons away.

"Hmmm…" Kat rubbed her belly, thinking of the argument he would have with Draco over that one, especially "Drake." She'd go for it later, just to keep him on his toes. Since everyone else was setting up the furniture in the bedroom, she decided to tell Teddy the name she secretly wanted for her daughter. "What do you think of Aurora?"

"Rora," Teddy tried to pronounce. His hair turned red when he realized he got it wrong. "No. I like Kat and Drake."

"I'll talk it over with Draco," Kat promised. After doing nothing for half a day, she sunk into a chair by the counter, suddenly feeling exhausted. "You know Teddy, they might be here in four weeks! Can you believe it?"

Teddy frowned but didn't say anything as he ran to the living room full of boxes. This time, he grabbed the forks. "Daddy says I can't sleep over when they come."

For some reason, Remus thought it was responsible to prepare for the future. Kat didn't know what to say. They're going to be too exhausted for a while. "I don't think you want to, Teddy Bear. They're going to be crying all night."

"I want to," he mumbled as he put the forks next to the spoons.

She couldn't say no, not with how sad he looked, but she couldn't say yes either because she had no idea if she'd be able to do it. "Wanna sleep over tonight? After they bring back lunch, I'll get the Three Stooges to hook up the telly."

"Yeah!" Teddy immediately brightened up, making Kat feel bad for tricking him into forgetting. She wanted to try breastfeeding and didn't want to keep Teddy up all night. Their house was too small for him to be able to sleep somewhere where he couldn't hear. She would have to spend as much time as she could with him now so he would be sick of sleepovers when the babies finally came.

"That was exhausting," Kat said when the day was over, and they sunk into bed. As promised, Teddy was sound asleep in between them. They still had to unpack most of their clothes, but today made her realize that they didn't have as much baby stuff as she thought. They had to stop looking and actually start shopping.

"You sat on that stupid ball for half the day." Draco frowned when he saw the babies move through her skin as she put on an odd smelling cream Hermione bought for her. He didn't understand how that couldn't hurt, no matter how much she reassured him. "I think we should start going to a birthing class. Like a month ago."

Birthing classes, parenting classes, therapy, shopping. There was so much to do that Kat found herself doing nothing. She didn't even tell Ginny, who was going to take over with Daphne, when she wanted to go on maternity leave from the Quidditch Stadium. All she had to do was pick a date, and she couldn't even do that.

"Can you go without me?" Kat was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Everyone seemed to have a nursery set up for her own babies but her. She only had five outfits and a few toys. No nappies or dummies. Not even socks. Although she was already starting to get uncomfortable, she was secretly starting to hope that the twins would stay put until Christmas.

Draco tried to kiss the frown off her face, but she kept pouting. "I think I would get some looks. It'll be fun."

"If you say so." Kat didn't know what was fun about sitting with a bunch of pregnant women and breathing funny, but what could she say? Her husband was a weirdo.

Before he could say anything, Ron's jack russel terrier Patronus glided into her bedroom as she put the stupid stretch mark cream away. "Kat! I'm at Grimmauld! There's been a breakout in Azkaban!"

Great.

Thank you Ern Estine 13624, Princess101855, saku hyuuga, Morrm8894, gr8rockstarrox, RegdirbArze EzraBridger, and Ggiannoyla for the reviews! :)

I'm putting up a poll for the boy's name because I can't think of any good ones and wind up picking names that I like the nickname for instead of the actual name. :P

For the girl, I'm thinking Aurora but am still considering Nova and Katrina, so I might put a poll up for that later. If you're a guest, feel free to check out the poll and put what you like in a review! :)