Who's the Daddy? Lucius is the Daddy! (ex_ofbadfait221) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-06-05 16:45:00 |
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Pain had never been the kind that hurt physically - the extent in Narcissa's life had been a scraped knee, or ankle twisted from dancing. Druella had brushed away concerns about childbirth; there had always been plenty of time to discuss it later. July was still far enough away to go over how things really worked. Of course, she had been completely wrong. There had not been any time at all. The morning had started normally, she had felt ill in the afternoon, and then the baby had decided to come. Narcissa could hardly remember much even now, except for the feeling of how horribly wrong this was, drifting in and out, surrounded by the nauseating smells of herbs and potions. She had screamed and crushed Bellatrix's hand in her own until she was sure her older sister's pale fingers would be nothing but dust and yet it had not stopped. She wished Lucius could do something, solve the problem as he always did, but that was impossible in this case. Nothing the worried Healers had whispered to each other had reached Narcissa's ears; she had not heard anything but herself until another crying started, a higher pitched, younger noise that made tears of relief stream down her face. She was still sobbing when the Healers let her hold him - for it was a him, after all. Tiny, and fragile, and a whole month early, but here all the same. There was so much blood. Lucius wasn't prepared for the amount of blood -- he had no qualms about watching his opponents bleed in battle, but this time it was Narcissa, and there was nothing he could do about it. He flitted in and out of the room, constantly asking the Healers as they busied about what was happening, was everything going well, was there anything he could do? Their worried expressions had said it all, and for a while he didn't care whether the child was a boy or a girl, as long as it was alive... It was hard to believe that the news being muttered into his ear was true, as he finally saw the baby being handed to his wife. Complications? Right now, he didn't care. Perching by her side with an arm around her shoulders, he looked down at his son and planted a kiss on her temple. "We did it. You did it." A strange emotion swelled in his chest; pride, joy, more than a healthy helping of relief, but with a strong tint of bittersweet sadness that this might never happen again. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about the future. "We did it," Narcissa agreed, smiling shakily as she touched the baby's downy head, his face crumpled with sleep. She was still afraid, she realised, even now when it was clear that they were both going to be quite alright. There was something frightening about being responsible for a whole other life. But the fear was insignificant when compared with how much she loved him; so much it hurt her heart a little bit and Narcissa was certain it would be impossible to think of anyone else ever again. She had loved him before he was born, but this was so much more and so different. "Draco," she whispered, remembering the name they had chosen just a few short weeks ago. As if he could have been anyone else. "He looks just like you," she murmured, letting her head relax onto Lucius' shoulder. "He looks like my father," Lucius responded, unable to take his eyes off the tiny little person. Draco. It suited him. He didn't quite dare to touch his son yet -- he was so small, what if he hurt him? His arm remained around Narcissa for now, content just to look, to take in every inch of pale skin, every sleepy expression and limb movement. He was a father now, and it just brought home to him his reponsibility to his family. Right here, right now, he knew he would choose Narcissa and Draco over anything else. Even - Salazar forbid - the Dark Lord and the Cause, should the two ever contradict each other. "Draco Malfoy," he muttered, still unable to tear his eyes away. "He needs a middle name, what do you think?" Narcissa nodded slowly. "Something from the family would be nice." After all, The Family had always been the most important thing, despite the losses they had suffered over the past year. She could hardly believe it was exactly a year to the day when Cygnus had died - if only Draco could have had grandfathers. And Regulus. "Maybe your father. I think... I think he would have been so proud of you." Narcissa had always felt that Abraxas Malfoy had been quite a bit harder to impress than her own father, but this was the long-awaited scion of the Black and Malfoy bloodlines. She was right, his father would have been proud of him. Abraxas had never failed to bring up his lack of a grandson at every opportune moment, and it saddened Lucius that he had never fulfilled his father's wishes while he was alive. But this, this was worth waiting for, even if Abraxas wasn't able to experience it. "Draco Abraxas," he sounded the name out. Yes, it sounded good. But, his father wasn't the only person who needed commemorating. "Draco Abraxas Cygnus. A little long maybe, but he should be named for both his grandfathers." A smile slowly curved onto Narcissa's face, and she would have laughed a little if it didn't hurt so much. A very grand name for the tiniest baby she had ever seen. But it fit. "Draco Abraxas Cygnus is perfect," she managed sleepily. Everyone would adore it and adore him, though at the moment, the rest of the world seemed impossibly far away. "Look at his fingers," she whispered, lifting up his little hand to inspect and blinking away the tears still stuck to her eyelashes. This was, without a doubt, the best thing that had ever happened to them, and it didn't matter that she was tired and bleeding and a terrible mess. "You should get some sleep," Lucius muttered to her. "I'll watch him for a while." Did that mean touching him? Picking him up? The thought was still vaguely worrying, Draco really was a tiny baby. "Come on, let me help you get to bed." The master bedroom was just down the hallway, he would carry her there if he had to, although if he was being honest he badly needed some sleep too. Yet he didn't want to retire to bed just yet, some inexplicable force telling him to stay with the baby. He still hadn't torn his eyes away. Narcissa bit her lip. "I can't walk, Lucius." Even moving around slightly in this less than satisfactory bed caused enough pain as it was. "But yes, we should both sleep. All three of us, I mean." It was lovely, to finally have three of them. Though childishly, a large part of her wished Lucius wouldn't leave and would stay here with her and watch Draco do marvelous things like breathe and move his little fingers and toes instead. It was hard to believe that he would still be there if she did sleep and wake up. "I'll carry you. Unless you would rather stay here? I shall bring the crib in if you do." Lucius would carry her to the moon if she asked him to, she was the one that had given him this, this... baby. "Would you like a dreamless sleep potion? It should help you feel better tomorrow." Maybe he should take one himself, the adrenaline of the last several hours was likely to leave him lying awake. At least he didn't have to worry about Narcissa's long term health. Or Draco's, as far as he knew. "I would like that very much," she admitted. "There isn't enough space for all of us in here." Besides, it smelled too much like blood in this room to be comfortable. And in a sleeply illogical way, she was certain that Draco would like the master bedroom better, anyway. "There's dreamless sleep over there," Narcissa continued vaguely, attempting to gesture at the several potions that dotted the table. She wasn't sure she would need it, as it was taking a lot of effort to stay awake even now, but it certainly could not hurt. Deciding that carrying both his wife and his son at the same time could result in disaster, Lucius nodded to one of the Healers still around, signalling for her to carry the baby. Although Narcissa was heavier, he was far less worried about hurting her. Slipping one arm under her knees and the other around her back, he hoisted her up and carried her down the corridor to their bedroom, briefly recalling how he had done the same thing after their honeymoon. After ensuring that Draco was settled in his crib, he left briefly once more, returning with the potion. Maybe he shouldn't have any himself, in case Draco woke up and cried. Narcissa winced as he lifted her and attempted to steady herself with an arm around Lucius' shoulders, very grateful that the bedroom was close. The Healers had said it would stop hurting eventually - maybe in a week or a few days or more or... well, she really couldn't remember at all right now. She wanted to hold Draco again, but it was too much trouble to formulate the sentences to say so. There would be tomorrow for that, and the day after, and every other day as well. The Dreamless Sleep potion tasted almost comforting at this point, as exhausted as Narcissa felt. "Thank you," she managed in Lucius' general direction, though it was hard to keep her eyes open. "So much." Lucius merely kissed her once more on the forehead, a faint smile on his face as he watched her slide into sleep. It had been a long day, that was for sure. He couldn't remember ever being so worried, or so relieved, in his life. One more check on Draco... no really just one more... this was really the last one this time, and he slid into bed himself, content in the knowledge that his family was now complete. |