Who: Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy When: Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 1979, shortly after this post What: Discussing the happy announcement Where: The Conservatory, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire Rating: PG
It had been something he'd kept secret, with the rare exception of Ben, and now word was out to the wider wizarding world, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. Part of him wanted to rip the page out, to keep this little miracle, this baby to himself, but Narcissa was certainly looking larger these days and it wouldn't be long before gossip started to spread. Especially if Chloris or Claudette had anything to do with it, and from the way Narcissa referred to them, Lucius wouldn't be surprised if rumours were already circulating. But word was out there now -- well. The heavily warded word, of course. Despite their recent victory, Lucius was not too arrogant to realise that enemies of the cause were still out there. Vigilantes and former aurors may have been beaten into submission for now, but he did not want anyone he didn't trust to know about this. Not if he wanted to keep Narcissa and the baby completely safe.
Was it too soon to start thinking about names? Nursery furniture? Nannies? Lucius didn't know much about pregnancy but his wife was in her second trimester now, and past the most dangerous time. He smiled to think of it; him, a father. No doubt the thought that he had produced an heir and not disappointed his father was what had got him through Azkaban. But, he couldn't be sure of an heir. Better not count his dragons before they hatch. The thought of his father had dulled his happy mood, though. Abraxas had not lived to congratulate his son on the pregnancy, and Lucius's eyes slid to the unfinished eulogy, lying next to his open journal on the desk in front of him. The funeral was tomorrow but he, well. He just couldn't find a way to conclude it. Later, he promised himself.
Rising from the chair, he took his cane as he made his way from the study. His footsteps were muffled by the carpet as he headed for the conservatory, suddenly craving Narcissa's company. "Narcissa?" he called ahead, although not too loudly. His voice still gave away too much of the residual anguish from his prison stay; it was the reason he wasn't feeling up to being terribly social yet.
Narcissa was happy, and the sensation had not become old enough to lose its novelty yet. How wonderful it was to have life back to the way it was intended to be. Of course, the fact that Malfoy Manor was preparing to host a funeral tomorrow spoke clearly enough that all could not be repaired, but Lucius coming home had gone quite a ways toward it. And finally, an announcement. She savoured the words across the journal page, reading them over and over in her mind. "My wife Narcissa and I are proud to announce that we are expecting a child." It was unquestionably worth the wait and the secrecy.
Though she was supposedly going over the details for tomorrow one more time (Were the elves going to destroy the flower arrangements? Was the food ready?), the baby kept coming back to the forefront of her thoughts. Perhaps the baby liked this room, surrounded by plants and dreams of springtime, or perhaps the conservatory was just the wrong place to go over funeral notes and journal entries. "But you do like it, I think," she murmured aloud. "And in July this will all be out of doors and you shall see it." The baby was still simply 'the baby' in her thoughts, though Druella sent lists of names each day.
Hearing Lucius' voice, Narcissa tucked the funeral-related papers away, and moved towards the entrance of the room. "In here," she said, smiling, partly because she had actually spoken out loud to the baby and mostly because seeing him was proof of how wonderful everything was going to be. "I was thinking about the baby," she said by way of greeting. "But then, I suppose that is bound to be more frequent than anything, especially with my expanding waistline."
As he reached the doorway, Lucius wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in. He'd never been an overly affectionate man, not even when they were newlyweds, but his time away had made him appreciate her that much more, and he was determined not to take her for granted. His hand rested briefly on her swelling stomach. "It's been dwelling on my mind too," he answered, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. "But as parents, we need to. Especially now that the good news has been spread."
Moving away every so slightly again, he took a second to look around. Lucius had always enjoyed the conservatory, it was fresh and bright and a pleasant place to pass part of the day. It was easier to concentrate on his business in the study, however, which was why he spent more time in there. "How do you think our friends and acquaintances will take the news?" he asked, turning back to Narcissa. "I'll admit I told Ben a few days ago, but as he's family, I was sure you wouldn't mind." Taking in her figure again, he couldn't keep the proud expression off his face. "Is it too early to start considering which of the rooms to turn into a nursery? I wouldn't want to be too presumptuous."
Narcissa turned her face up to kiss his cheek, sighing contentedly. "Parents. That sounds so lovely, and yet I still almost cannot believe it." Every visit from the Healer was a marvel, every glance in the mirror a satisfaction. "The announcement was very nice," she continued. Especially as it had been one they had been hoping to make for years. "I think the majority of our friends and acquaintances will be highly envious... but then, perhaps not, as nearly everyone has something to celebrate right now. And of course I do not mind you telling Ben- for that matter, I told Evangeline a few days ago as well and she promised to keep it secret. My hopes are very much for her to become family as well." The idea of only having weddings and balls to look forward to, with no more funerals, was a very appealing one.
"Planning now would not be presumptuous," Narcissa laughed a bit. "And if so, no one else needs to know. But July is not terribly far off." She had not wanted to do anything related to planning without Lucius home, and now nothing else sounded nearly as inviting. Particularly when compared to more work for her charity. "I would like it to be close to our suite, though. Colour schemes can always be changed easily, I suppose, or we could pick a neutral tone."
"It does seem like there is much to celebrate," agreed Lucius, settling himself on the sofa. He crossed one knee over the other and spread his arms along the back of the seat. "Our announcement may be overshadowed by the birth of the Burke twins yesterday, but it would seem foolish to wait." What a surprise that Chloris would find a way to one-up Narcissa, no matter how inadvertently. "Besides, the announcement was not for anyone else's benefit. It's our baby." Maybe he should stop calling the baby 'it', but it was just so much easier than referring to it as 'he or she' each time. It didn't matter how much both Druella and Aureole were convinced the child was a boy, he knew that if he pinned all his hopes on a boy, he would end up with a girl. So for now, Lucius was keeping his thoughts gender-neutral.
"But yes, it would be an idea for it to be near the suite, as it's bound to cry in the night." Wow, that was a thought. Getting up in the middle of the night to see to a screaming baby? Which reminded him of something else he wanted to bring up. "We wouldn't need to start interviewing nannies for a while, of course -- I assume you do want to hire one?" Lucius had been brought up by a nanny himself, and he had always assumed that his child would be raised in the same way (he didn't turn out so badly, after all) but now he thought about it, he would like to see his son much more frequently than he had seen Abraxas. Times were different now, after all.
"It is our baby, and our baby is ten thousand times more important than Chloris' passel of them, and always will be," Narcissa said flippantly, adjusting one of the peach-coloured roses from that Bletchley girl's condolence arrangement. "Besides, if she is occupied for a bit, she will not be able to continue to try and undermine everything my charity does. Despite the futility of her attempts, it gets rather trying at times, I must say." If Chloris wanted to grow her own brand of Weasleys, she was absolutely welcome to do so. It was a very lovely feeling to know that her position in society would never again be threatened by a mere Burke - if the baby was a boy, as nagging thoughts constantly reminded Narcissa. But there was nothing to be done in that case except to wait.
She finished adjusting the roses and took a seat on the sofa beside him. "I suppose hiring a nanny is the only practical course of action. But I should like to do some things myself as well - if you do not think it sounds silly, of course. Right now, I highly doubt that anyone in the world exists that is good enough to take care of our baby other than the two of us."
Lucius did not reply to Narcissa's comments on Chloris -- firstly, the squabbles of women were absolutely none of his concern. No matter how much he understood Narcissa's dislike of the other woman. Secondly, he had been trying to concentrate on positives these last few days, now the happy thoughts were no longer getting sucked from him. That didn't stop him having opinions, of course; the Burkes may be a decent pureblooded family, but none of them had taken the dark mark, a fact he had previously commented on. But certainly, if their baby was to the heir of the Malfoy line (and the Black line, although it would not bear their name), then it was more important, although whether ten thousand times more important, he could not be sure.
"I don't think it silly at all," he told her genially, "I was thinking myself only recently that I should like to assist greatly in the upbringing of the child, as I feel there is a lot of information I need to pass on." He paused. "Although I would have no clue when it came to the more hands on approach, of course. No doubt it will be a steep learning curve for both of us." Really, Lucius couldn't imagine himself changing nappies or trying to teach an infant how to say 'mudblood', or even something much more simple, like 'Daddy'. As in, 'my Daddy's better than yours.' Which wouldn't be considered boasting, but factual, naturally, as soon as the child got to school and had to deal with the offspring of the unwashed masses. But that was beside the point. "I believe a nanny would be extremely practical, as for one thing you would have no time to run the Foundation if you were also a full-time mother. And nobody could run it better than you. We would also be able to dictate our exact involvement without becoming too overwhelmed, as I believe new parents often find themselves." There was that P word again.
"We can acquire some books on the matter, and I am sure we shall both be fast studies," Narcissa said, eyes laughing. She was not nervous in the slightest- of course they would be simply wonderful at parenting, books or no books. After all, she had been wanting this for herself ever since Druella and Walburga had explained that no, she could not take three week old Regulus home and keep him forever. It was the way things were supposed to be. "That is true," Narcissa conceded to Lucius' point on the Foundation. "We both had nannies from pureblood families, and I am sure there are still plenty available for hiring. In any case, Dobby is never coming within a foot of the baby, with his penchant for dropping, breaking, and generally ruining everything."
She glanced around at the array of plants surrounding them, making the winter already less believable. Only a bit over six months left. "I did not think it was possible to care about someone so much without ever seeing them, but I absolutely adore the baby." It was wonderful to think that the baby would never have to worry about wars and Mudbloods and the constant sorrows that came with it.
"Perhaps we should restrict Dobby's duties even more. He can take control of gardening and cleaning the lower floor, so he need not even step foot in that corridor." Lucius didn't trust the elf as far as he could kick him. "Nor should he return to his cooking duties. You need only the best quality food while you're eating for two." The fact that he was already thinking like a father was surprising him. Then again, he'd had three years during which they'd be unsuccessfully trying for a baby where he could mull over how he'd react when it finally happened. Not that he'd ever planned on hearing the news for the first time in Azkaban, of course. But things rarely turn out how you plan them. The recent victory being the exception, of course.
Turning in his seat slightly, he skated his fingers lightly over her stomach again -- it was definitely slightly bigger. Lucius didn't blame her for loving the baby so much already, it was part of her after all, and he couldn't expect to feel the connection yet. No doubt he'd love it well enough when it arrived though, as much as it yelled and screamed and demanded his time and attention. "I can't wait to meet it. It's going to be different around here, but in a very good way."
"That would be perfect," Narcissa replied. "His mulching is generally quite satisfactory, as long as he does not disturb any of the birds." The peacocks were far more valuable, and Dobby certainly did not enhance the beauty of the Manor’s gardens in the way that they did. "I feel as though I am eating for two already," she admitted, thinking about the large amount of breakfast she had consumed some hours ago. "But it is infintely better than the nausea." The endless vomiting had started to taper off some weeks ago, and keeping food down felt as satisfying as smashing all the bottles of Gravidaste had felt when she first learned the news.
She touched Lucius' fingers lightly with her own, wondering if the baby could sense this; sense that it was safe and loved and already the center of the world. Of course it could, Narcissa told herself. Some things did not have to be justified by a Healer to be true. "Yes, different in a very good way," she repeated softly.