A/N: Sirius's POV

Amy vomiting her guts out had me a little bit suspicious this time. I had yet to mention the possibility of pregnancy. After all, she'd only just started puking, and it was very possible that she was, in fact, ill. Andromeda was coming over to look after the girls while I took care of Amy, who kept insisting that nothing was wrong and she would be well enough in a couple of hours.

If she was, I'd buy the bloody pregnancy patches myself.

"How d'you feel, love?" I asked, poking my head into the bathroom and wishing instantly that I hadn't. Amy was a shaking, pale, weak mess on the floor, and my hands began to tremble at the sight of her. I knelt down to brush a bit of hair out of her face, knowing that she would only be frustrated with the pity that was bound to be all over my face.

"How the fuck d'you think?" she said, her voice raspy. Her throat was no doubt weak from all the heaving of stomach acid she'd been doing since she woke up an hour and a half ago. "How are the girls?"

"Still sleeping for the moment," I said, sitting beside, her holding her hands. "'Dromeda is coming in about ten minutes, once Dora is fed and dressed. Don't worry, love."

"Who's worried," she said weakly.

Before she could say whatever it was she meant to say next, she turned and began dry heaving into the toilet once more. I hated to see her like this, but I simply held her hair back, praying that whatever was wrong, it was over soon. The only thing worse was seeing the girls like this. I was clearly not cut out for living in a house full of such precious females.

Humans were just too fragile.

When the dry heaving was over she collapsed into my arms and I washed her face gently.

"I feel better now," she said, smiling weakly. "I think the worst of it is over."

That made me a bit nervous, but not as nervous as the repeat of the incident the next morning. This time, I was going to take the initiative. When she was well enough to nap the next day, I told Andromeda I had an errand to run and that I would be back. The Apothecary was supposed to stock what I was looking for, but I decided to go to St. Mungo's instead. Less chance of running into someone I knew.

The witch running the shop was eyeing me, and I tried not to smirk as I thought that her eyes were about the only attractive thing about her. She stopped the flirtatious looks as soon as she noticed what I was buying, and she said not a word to me as I bought the patch and left.

I took deep breaths before going back inside, where Andromeda was putting the girls down for naps.

"What was that about, then?" she asked, nodding at the bag I was holding when she came out of Aludra's room.

"Maybe nothing," I said, kissing my cousin's forehead. "Be back in a moment. Go ahead and make yourself some tea or something."

Amy was sleeping so peacefully on our bed when I went into our bedroom. Could I do this while she was asleep, just in case it was negative? Or should I wake her, force her to do it even if she argued?

I decided that her frustration if it was negative and I woke her for nothing would be so much easier to face than if it were positive and I didn't wake her. I gently shook her awake.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Half one, love," I whispered, setting the bag on the bed.

"What's that?"

"Don't freak out," I said quickly. "I…I went to a shop and picked up a pregnancy patch. I know you've only just started being sick, but isn't it better to know now yes or no instead of waiting for weeks before bothering to check like before?"

She blinked up at me, confused, as I pulled the box out of the bag.

"Oh," she muttered, frowning at it slightly. "I'm probably not, Sirius. You didn't have to go through the trouble."

"But if you are," I said, kissing her fingers, "then we'll know. Maybe it's nothing, but I want to be sure. Please, love, it will make me feel better to know, one way or the other."

"Go on, then," she sighed, letting me lift her nightgown to press the patch onto her abdomen, which I did carefully, trying not to let my hands tremble. I licked my lips holding her hand as we waited.

"D'you want another one?" she asked casually.

"Bit late for that question, isn't it?" I said cheekily, tweaking her nose. "Honestly, I don't think I'll ever stop wanting more children with you. It'll be up to you to tell me enough's enough."

Her lips twitched into a weak smile and I kissed them.

"S'it time yet?"

I glanced down at the patch, startled that I hadn't been paying attention to the time. How could I forget something so important?

To my astonishment, the little patch glowed blue.

"Wow," I sighed, and she sat up with a great deal of effort to see what I was staring at.

"A boy," she said, her eyes gone wide. "Sirius, we're going to have a boy."

I tried to wrap my mind around having a little boy, a son. James was so proud to have Harry, and I knew it would be its own sort of challenge, but I was a little bit disappointed not to have another baby girl. Maybe the next one, I told myself. I leaned down to kiss her belly button.

"Get some rest, Mum," I said as she peeled off the patch and looked at the blue glow. "We're going to have to alert everyone soon enough."

She nodded, told me that yes, I could tell Andromeda, and then I left her to continue her nap, returning to the kitchen, unable to stop grinning.

Andromeda poured a cup of tea for me and raised an eyebrow.

"Pregnant again, is she?"

I blinked.

"How did you…?"

"You're grinning like more of an idiot than usual." I laughed, taking the tea and muttering my thanks. "What is it this time?"

"A boy," I said, the idea growing on me rapidly as I got used to it. "We're going to have a son, 'Dromeda. It's going to be different, isn't?"

"I wouldn't know," she said, shrugging. "Remember, I just have the one."

She was smiling with me, but not with the same brilliance I expected of her. After a while I set down my tea and said, "What is it?"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong? You're upset about something."

Her lips twitched and she frowned, looking down at her tea. I waited, but impatiently. If this was about her wanting more kids when Ted had begged and she said no, I wasn't going to be sympathetic. But if it was something else….

She said, "Sirius, don't take this as gospel. I'm well out of the family information chain, as you well know."

That had my attention. I sat forward, hands pressed against the table. I could feel my palms sweating.

"Tell me."

Andromeda pursed her lips for a moment, setting her tea down.

"There's a rumor," she said softly, "that I got through an old friend who still sees Cissy at functions. And word is that your mother is getting involved."

"Getting involved how?"

"She's going to try to take the kids, Sirius."

My mind began racing, trying to wrap around this. Legally, she wouldn't have much grounds. There were some incredibly old laws on the children of purebloods by those of inferior blood, but Amy was pureblood as well. As far as I could remember – not that I paid particularly good attention during family lectures – she had no grounds to take them legally.

Not that my family always did things legally.

I shivered as I thought of my mother raising them. The idea was a bit crazy, except that I had long suspected that she wanted daughters, and my father saying no more once he had two sons turned her especially bitter. Was she motivated to be maternal knowing that she had three granddaughters? Was it complicated, knowing they were mine?

Of course, now that there was a son, a Black Family Heir, so to speak, there would be other complications. Would they want him dead, or would they want to raise him up to be their version of a proper pureblood? They certainly wouldn't leave him in my mother's hands. She'd already raised one blood traitor.

"Fuck," I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"It's not for certain, Sirius. And I'm not sure how she plans to get at them, but—"

"Doesn't matter," I said. "They're all trying to get at them anyway. I have to plan for the worst."

She frowned and said, "What d'you mean?"

I just shook my head. I had to see Dumbledore. I had to sort things out. There was too much at stake, too much going on not to fight. But after nearly losing Amy, after this news…. I had to provide a plan for my children. But first I had to talk to Lily. James wouldn't understand. Lily might.

That evening when Amy was well enough to be on her own with the girls, I said I had to run by headquarters.

I went to Godric's Hollow instead.

Lily was surprised to see me when she answered the door, making certain it was me before she let me in.

"James is on patrol with Frank, Sirius," she said, a bit nervous. "Was there something you needed?"

"I came to see you, actually," I said, shaking my head when she offered me tea. "I need to ask something of you, and you may not want to say yes, but it's absolutely imperative that you do."

She looked a bit concerned, but nodded me on.

"If something happens to me and Amy, you're going to take care of our children. We've already agreed to that, but I need you to promise me that you'll leave."

"What?"

I rubbed my eyes.

"If something happens to us, if you have to take our children, I want you to promise me that you and James and all the kids leave the country. Go into hiding and run. Don't look back."

Her emerald eyes were wide and slightly horrified, but she nodded.

She must have realized what it took my pride to ask this of her. She must have realized the struggle I was already going through, wondering if maybe I shouldn't just pack up everything and run now. I thanked her and left.

Happy as I was to be expecting another child with Amy, the more children we had to protect the higher the pressure.

"Everything alright?" Amy asked when I got home. She was just laying out dinner on the table and I kissed her face, my hand immediately caressing her stomach.

"Yup, everything's fine," I said, wrapping my arms around her. "Just enjoying my girls."

She laughed, hitting my chest playfully. I let go of her so she could finish setting out dinner, and I sat in my spot, watching her get Aludra into her booster chair.

I would have to make some very serious choices, and soon. Before Amy had the baby. Because once we had a son, everything would change. The position and patience of the Death Eaters, of my mother even, would wear thin and they would have to act, one way or another. And I had to know what I was going to do before they did.

As soon as Amy was asleep that night, I asked Albus to meet with me as soon as possible. He surprised me by setting aside time the very next day, and I went to headquarters a little after lunch.

"Sirius," he said gesturing me to sit. "What is on your mind?"

I rubbed my palms on my jeans, not entirely sure what to say first.

"I want to make a document," I said. "Something to clarify what happens to my children if something should happen to Lily and James."

"I suppose you and Amy have discussed this?"

I licked my lips, hesitating. Amy wouldn't understand. She would likely be very upset with me. But it was the only way.

"She wouldn't agree," I said softly. "But this is critical, Albus. And it's my right as the head of my family to secure the safety of the Black Heir."

His bright blue eyes were suddenly full of understanding and he said, "She is pregnant again, isn't she? A son."

My chest tightened with worry again and I looked down at my hands.

"There's a spy in the Order, Albus. The only way I can guarantee safety is that if something happens to Lily and James, I send them out of the Order. Even if the person we gave them to isn't the spy, they'll be vulnerable to information the spy has given."

I worried when Albus did not immediately agree with me, but when I looked up at him again he said, "Yes, I can see that point. A reasonable precaution."

He pulled out fresh parchment, ink, and a quill and said, "No doubt you want Andromeda and Ted to be the choice should something prevent Lily and James?"

Looking down at my hands again, I nodded.

Amy would want Remus. There were many reasons I couldn't let that happen, although I might have supported the decision fully if we weren't in a war. Never mind information. What if Remus was the spy? And even if he wasn't, and even if they were safe from Death Eaters with him, what about his condition? I wasn't being prejudiced, I told myself, but practical. Especially with me and James gone, his ability to control himself during the moon would be much less, and he wouldn't practically be able to protect four children every day of every week.

"And if something happens to them," I said, although I knew this was a much longer shot, "Mad-Eye."

"I believe something is far more likely to happen to him," Albus said, his lips tipping up at the corners with amusement. "Or have you forgotten his line of work?"

"I haven't," I said, surprised at the firmness in my own voice. "But if anybody's going to survive this, you know it's him. That man's got twice the lives of a kneazle. Doesn't matter how many pieces he's in, as long as he's alive and able to protect them."

"Very well," Albus said.

He began to write up the document as I had specified. I could feel my stomach turning with anxiety as I thought about all the danger I was putting Andromeda and Ted and Nymphadora in if the girls went to them. But I hadn't chosen them lightly. There was ancient magic to protect the heirs of certain pureblood families until their magic was at a certain level, and if I was lucky that protection he would have by being Andromeda's responsibility would extend to his sisters.

I thanked Albus for his time and understanding and I went home to my girls, only to find Amy sleeping on the sofa, the girls obviously down for naps.

Sitting beside my wife, I brushed a bit of hair off her face, admiring how peaceful she looked.

"I will do everything to protect you," I whispered, brushing my fingers across her face. "You and the baby and our girls. Whatever it takes."

I lifted her hand to my lips and shifted so that I was lying beside her, resting my head beside her stomach, touching the place where our son was growing. Would he look like his mum, or me? Would he be able to grow up with the kind of life we should have had as kids?

The urge to take my family and run was surprisingly strong, but what was I fighting for but a chance for my children to have a safe and happy life in England? He deserved to be at Hogwarts, with his sisters and Harry and any other children Lily and James had. How could I run away?

Amy stirred beside me, humming and turning a bit. I stayed perfectly still with my face against her stomach, wondering if she would wake. Her fingers found my hair, tracing my scalp, but she didn't seem fully conscious. I pressed my lips to her belly through her shirt.

She sat up slightly and I instantly regretted doing it. Surely I had woken her.

"Sirius?" she said, her free hand rubbing her palm into her left eye as she made a groggy kind of groan. "How was your…thing?"

"Everything was smooth," I said, kissing her stomach again. "Just adjusting some paperwork we've got."

"Your will?"

My hand tensed slightly before I said, "We've got another one on the way. Had to make sure I wrote him in." I made a mental note to adjust my will at first opportunity. Then I pressed my lips to her stomach yet again. "We need to think of a name," I said, tracing my fingers along her abdomen.

"One thing at a time," she sighed, her fingers massaging my scalp gently. "We need to tell people he exists first. I suppose we should have people over again, have a bit of a party. Lily will never forgive me if we don't."

"James will be pleased," I teased. "One step closer to that Quidditch team he wants so badly."

Her hand tensed in my hair, but she knew I was joking, and her hand did relax after a moment. No doubt she was already planning the party, and I decided I would wait to pester her for more children after this one. Just until things were a little bit more stable.

A/N: *cough, cough* Yeah, so this is really late. I started this chapter ages ago, and just got distracted from putting it up with, like, life and stuff.

Good news? IT'S HERE.

Review Prompt: What excites you more, that this chapter was finally put up, or that they're having a son?

-C