Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story line...sadly. JKR owns everything - including the characters, spells, and the entire world of Harry Potter. I wonder if I could buy it from her for a dollar?
Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful beta - dragonsangel68.
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Chapter 9
Ginny woke with Draco wrapped around her. It was slightly disconcerting only because it hadn't ever happened before. He'd always woken before her. She somehow rolled off the mattress and waddled her way into the bathroom to use the loo and take a shower.
When she emerged from the shower the smell of breakfast being cooked wafted through the room. Her stomach growled loudly as she took in the rich aroma of sausage. She dressed quickly and made herself as presentable as she could. Humming under her breath, she was shocked to find Nippy in the kitchen making her a tray.
"Nippy made breakfast for Missus."
Ginny smiled and thanked the house elf.
"Missus, Master left a note."
Ginny took the note from Nippy and read Draco's neat cursive.
Ginny,
Had to go into the office for a bit. Owl if you need anything. I'll be back before dinner.
Draco
Only Draco didn't return before dinner. He hadn't sent so much as an owl to let her know he'd be late. After deciding the dinner she'd made for them was beyond repair, she readied herself for bed.
She hadn't realized she'd drifted off to sleep until she felt Draco sinking into the bed behind her. Ginny felt him wrap up behind her and kiss her neck; she let out a sigh of contentment, falling back to sleep immediately.
Draco was gone in the morning, but this time he didn't leave a note. The tight feeling in Ginny's gut was becoming unbearable. She moped around the house in her nightclothes, unwilling to shower or bring herself to fix up. She snapped at Nippy and that only made her feel worse.
By late afternoon, Ginny was feeling particularly achy. She ran a hot bath scented with lavender and soaked for almost an hour. The aches in her body wouldn't cease. When she stepped out of the bath, she felt a rush of fluid run down her legs.
"What in the bloody- Nippy!"
"Yes, Missus?"
"Owl Draco! The baby's coming!"
Draco appeared in record time clamoring into the bathroom. "Ginny? Ginny! Are you all right?"
He found her huddled with her back against the bathtub with her hands around the underside of her thighs. She was rocking gently back and forth with her head bowed towards her knees. "Draco!"
"Are you in much pain?"
"Discomfort, but not really pain necessarily."
"Come on, Gin, we'll get you to St. Mungo's." He pulled her up and carried her to the front room where he sat her down gingerly and called for Nippy. After instructing the servant to floo Ginny's family and his mother and alert them to the situation Draco Apparated them to St. Mungo's.
Ginny was admitted and placed in a private room. Draco knew the Weasley clan had arrived when the noise level in the hallway escalated. Draco kissed Ginny's forehead and insisted promised her he'd be right back. Walking into the hallway, he was barraged with a plethora of questions. He held up his hand to shut them all up.
"She's fine. Only dilated to something like four centimeters. The medi-wizard has said that we could be here for a while."
Be there for a while turned out to be an understatement. Six hours passed and Ginny only dilated two more centimeters. The thought that his hand might be broken crossed Draco's mind several times and that he might also go nutters from all the commotion in the hallway. The Weasleys never shut up.
Finally the medi-wizard came in at hour seven and said Ginny was ready to start pushing. She swore the anti-pain charms weren't working, but everyone she told informed her she'd had all they could give her.
After what seemed like forever Draco held his son in his arms. Jayden William Malfoy. Draco thought this too frilly of a first name to give his son, but Ginny told him that both his first and last names could be shoved around in such a way that their son would have plenty of choices for a nickname.
Draco leaned down to deposit a kiss on Ginny's forehead. The flash from Colin's camera nearly blinded them both, as had all the previous flashes that had gone off during the day, but they were both too happy to wound Colin.
"Thank you."
"For what? Not rendering you incapable of doing this to another living creature?"
"Absolutely."
Ginny smiled as she realized she actually cared for the father of her child. This was one of the happiest days of her life. Jayden was taken from Draco to meet both of his maternal grandparents, his numerous uncles, aunts, cousins and other mysterious relatives. Narcissa Malfoy was not present, a fact that only bothered Draco.
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Things continued much as they once had, but with the addition of a squalling newborn in the background. Draco stayed home more, the U-shaped pillow was tucked neatly in a closet, and Ginny slept in a king sized bed with her son. For the first few months of her son's life, her son's father would occasionally creep into bed with them late at night.
Ginny knew this wasn't how things were supposed to be, yet still she was happy. She had a wonderful house, a beautiful son, and anything else she wanted. Well, almost everything she wanted. Draco came home less and less as time progressed. He would make appearances to play with Jayden, perhaps take him to the park on Sunday afternoons, but he seemed oddly detached. He spent most of his nights at the office and returned only briefly to change clothes and remind his son that his father did in fact exist.
She would receive owls a few times a week explaining away his absences with Ministry functions, business meetings, and the like. But as his face appeared in The Daily Prophet more often, she felt herself begin to hate all the beautiful witches that adorned his arm. His clothes began disappearing from the house slowly. Evidence that he was sleeping somewhere else and sending his laundry out. She decided that she too would have to make a change.
She took precious few of the things that had grown to mean something to her, but several suitcases stood by the front door. She'd be damned if she didn't take Jayden's things, he owed her at least that. Shrinking all of the bags to the size of thimbles, she gathered her six-month-old son on her hip and Disapparated to the Burrow.
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