A/N: one of my favorite chapters-hope you enjoy! There are 45 chapters total (including Epilogue). Thanks for all the reviews! I read them all!
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Small Packages
It was seven in the morning and the first rays of light were showing through the window in Ginny's hospital room. Two healers stood to either side of her, getting her ready for the cesarean section she was about to have.
Hermione had come in around six thirty with the news that the baby's heart rate was dropping more frequently, although it would come back up for a period it would quickly decline again.
In the half hour that followed her visit, Draco met with Healer Stedgeworth who would be doing the surgery and the other two healers who would be assisting. Hermione would be there, but would be receiving the baby when she was born as she wasn't trained in any type of surgery.
Draco's mother and Ginny's parents were now in the waiting room, along with Samantha, Ron, Fred, George and Maggie. Lavender was working and Baby Brian was at Hermione's parent's house since this was normally her day off.
Finally, the healers left saying they would be back in a few minutes to move her down to the operating room which was connected to the Nursery. Draco sat at the end of the bed and laid a hand on Ginny's leg. She actually looked calm and collected, which was more than he was at the moment.
"This isn't how I pictured having my first baby," Ginny said glancing up at him.
"Way beyond what I was thinking too but I guess it doesn't really matter how it happens, but that you're both healthy in the end," Draco responded rubbing her leg lightly.
"Do you think she will have to stay longer than I will? Six weeks is awfully early for a single baby," Ginny asked her voice calm. She knew all the risks and complications that could happen-she had been trained in it but felt the need to voice the thoughts in her head aloud to Draco.
He was silent for a minute, calculating that it was indeed January 14 and just about six weeks away from the original
due date of March first.
"Well, we won't know until she is born," was all Draco could contribute. He saw Ginny put her hands to her face for a minute then run them back through her red hair, smoothing it back from her face.
"When she is born, I want you to go with her. I'll be fine," Ginny said staring at him and he knew better than to contradict her so he nodded then scooted up the bed until he was sitting within arms reach of her. Silently, he reached over and laid a hand against her face, looking into her tired hazel eyes. He saw that she truly was calmer than when they brought her in and that made him feel a bit better.
Suddenly he smiled and Ginny raised her eyebrows at him.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked, turning her head and kissing the heel of his hand gently.
"I was just thinking that if Marissa is causing this much of a problem now, what do we have in store for us when she is three? Or thirteen?"
Ginny laughed and shook her head.
"She'll be a handful I am sure…especially with us as her parents…a Slytherin and Gryffindor girl will be an interesting mix, that," Ginny looked up as Hermione came in followed by two other healers and they all began their duties of moving her down the hall. They took Draco aside and explained he would have a sterile spell cast on him and all his clothes and the he would be sitting at Ginny's head. He told them he was to go with the baby and they nodded, showing him where they would take her if there weren't any major complications.
Draco was impressed that in a matter of minutes they had her in surgery, him sitting by her head holding the one hand that wasn't strapped down. They explained that they usually strapped down the hands because it was instinct to reach for your baby when they started crying, and they didn't want Ginny to move during the surgery.
Hermione stood towards the side, next to the baby warmer and Draco saw Healer Stedgeworth come over and talk in low
tones to the other healers with him, about what they were going to do and how to assist him.
He heard him cast a spell over the lower half of Ginny's body and she told him she couldn't feel anything as he started poking her in various spots.
"Alright then, mum, here we go," Healer Stedgeworth winked at her and Draco kept his eyes averted from the curtain they had between her chest and stomach and he let them rest on Ginny who was staring at the light above them. Whatever they gave her to relax her and the spell to numb her made her seem a bit zoned out and Draco squeezed her hand, feeling reassured when she squeezed back.
"Head down, that's good, lots of hair too," Draco heard someone say and his eyes moved to Hermione who was watching him. She smiled at him then let her eyes move back to the operation at hand.
"Suction," Draco heard and his heart began to beat faster as he saw a suddenly flurry of movement. He heard someone say "seven thirty one A.M." right before a small cry filled the room. Ginny's eyes went wide and she stared at Draco who smiled at her then they both looked as someone held the baby up for them to see.
For a moment Draco's hand went slack and he thought he might fall off his seat with the emotions that ran through
him in the matter of seconds.
Relief that the baby was crying.
Awe that she had a full head of dark hair.
Joy that Ginny had just given him the most precious gift ever.
Ginny squeezed his hand hard and brought him back to his senses.
"Go with her," she whispered.
He stood up shakily and removing his hand from hers slowly made his way towards Hermione who was bent over the baby. Her wand was moving over the Marissa while someone else was recording what Hermione was telling her and a third person was wiping his daughter off carefully as she screamed.
She was tiny but perfect, he saw. Her hair was matted and looked dark though he couldn't really tell under the amount of light that was shining on her.
"Draco, come here," Hermione called him and he went and stood next to her. "You can touch her. She's doing well…her breathing is a bit shallow but that is to be expected."
Tentatively he reached out a finger towards her hands which were flung up near her head as she cried, not liking the fact that someone was holding her legs and taking footprints. He saw Hermione clip the cord and was thankful she didn't ask him to do that. He placed a finger on her hand and she immediately closed her hand around it, slowing down her cries and was now just fussing.
He stared and saw the ten fingers and toes. It was hard to tell who she looked like with her hair still wet and her little mouth moving like she wanted to suck something. He felt a hand on his back and someone asked him to step back so they could wrap her up.
He saw Hermione put a diaper on her and someone swaddle her so she was tightly wrapped in a blanket. A pink hat was
placed on her head and Hermione picked her up, handing her to Draco.
He stood staring at Hermione for a moment feeling this light bundle in his arms and he saw her blink quickly then turn
to go to Ginny. Draco stared down at Marissa, who had calmed down, wondering how in the world he was going to care for
and raise such a tiny thing.
"Let's show her to mum," someone said and they guided him carefully over to Ginny. He sat down next to her, still dazed and with the help of Hermione they tilted Marissa towards Ginny.
Ginny stared at her and raised up a hand and touched her daughter's cheek. Immediately she turned and rooted for the finger and Ginny smiled. Hermione took the hat off briefly for Ginny to see the dark matted hair.
"We need to take her into the Nursery, put her in an oxygen tent and keep an eye on her," Hermione told Ginny who nodded then moved her gaze up to Draco.
She saw him staring at a now peaceful Marissa in his arms. He looked awkward and endearing all at once holding this tiny bundle who was a shade over five pounds and she had to call his name twice to get him to look at her.
"Go with her." He nodded and looked up as Hermione took the baby from him. He leaned down and kissed Ginny feeling a rush of love for her and torn between leaving her and going with the baby.
"I'll be fine. I'm probably going to fall asleep soon anyway. Go with Marissa," Ginny said against his lips and still not saying anything he pulled away, touched her hand and followed two healers out of the room into the Nursery next door.
For the next few minutes he watched them set up under a tent and take off the blanket, turning up the warmer. She was lying there in just a diaper and looked so fragile he just wanted to hold her and keep everyone away. Every once in awhile she would let out a small cry or mewing sound then settle down again. Hermione wasn't with him and he glanced around for her, hoping that maybe she decided to stay with Ginny so she wasn't alone.
"She's doing well, dad, come see," a healer said and he couldn't comprehend in any way that he was a father. Walking over towards the healer, he rested a hand on top of the warmer never more thankful than he was at this moment that his mother decided to build this wing.
"We're going to monitor her for a bit before we try to feed her since Ginny will be in recovery for a bit. Do you want to go talk to family or anything?" someone asked him and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.
"Why don't we see if Mrs. Malfoy would like to come back?" someone else asked and Draco nodded. He wasn't going to leave, especially since he was still in some type of fog about this whole experience. Someone conjured up a chair and he sat down, his face level with Marissa's and he got a good look at her.
She was long already but skinny and he could see her little chest moving rapidly up and down as she slept. Her nose was straight and looked like what he had seen in his own baby pictures. She had Ginny's mouth and her hair was starting to dry and looked a few shades lighter than it was when she came out.
He started when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see his mother standing there her eyes quickly taking in everything.
"She's gorgeous," Narcissa said and looked at the card that was placed outside the bassinette stating the time and weight…and the words BABY GIRL MALFOY.
"She is," Draco said his voice cracking and he cleared his throat just now realizing no one knew her name. He took out his wand with a bit of a shaky hand and tapped the card. He watched the first two words morph into MARISSA GINEVRA and felt his mother's hand squeeze his shoulder.
"I'm really proud of you and Ginny," she said quietly and Draco reached up and squeezed his mother's hand. He didn't trust himself to speak and so he just sat there, with his mother beside him, his hand over hers as they looked at Narcissa's first grandchild.
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An hour later Marissa was removed from the tent and Draco was able to hold her. He hadn't left the Nursery at all and was told that Ginny was on her way back to the room, and they were going to take Marissa in there to be with her. He was able to give her her first bottle which she sucked down greedily and he was shown how to hold her and burp her. As she let out a nice sounding burp for someone so small he was reminded of Ginny's brother and he felt a small smile cross his face as he could see more parts of his family and hers begin to show in his daughter.
Marissa still hadn't opened her eyes and as he walked across the hall to Ginny's room he wondered what they would look like. As he entered the room he immediately went over to Ginny who turned towards him and smiled. Bending down he carefully hugged her.
"How are you?" she asked and Draco took a deep breath, not really sure if he could describe everything in one word.
"I'm ok," he said and she could hear the emotion in his voice. Their eyes met and he was going to say he loved her but was stopped short when a healer said that she was going to leave them alone a bit and would it be alright to tell the family they could come in after an hour or so?
Both Ginny and Draco nodded and he turned to pull the rolling baby bed towards them.
"What did the healers say about her?" Ginny asked, watching Draco scoop her up and place her in Ginny's arms.
Ginny always thought she would cry when she held her first baby, but she didn't have any tears. She was just taking
in every detail she could, looking under the hat at the dark blond hair, rubbing her finger along Marissa's cheek
and peeking at her toes all wrapped up in the blanket.
"She was breathing shallow at birth but after an hour in the tent she did fine; they do want to keep her there over night and watch her in the Nursery," Draco sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Ginny check Marissa over, smiling to herself. "She had a bottle a bit ago and sucked it down…I got to give it to her," Draco added quietly and Ginny looked up at him never expecting to see the soft look that played across his features as he rested his hand on Marissa's head.
"How are you feeling?" Draco asked.
"I hurt, but that is normal. They're going to have me up and walking later today," Ginny brushed her lips against Marissa's cheek causing her to open her eyes. Ginny pulled back a bit and only she could see Marissa's gaze fixated on her and Ginny felt her heart leap in her chest as they stared at each other.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked standing up. He had seen Ginny freeze inches from Marissa's face.
"Nothing. Her eyes are open," Ginny pulled back. "Here, look," she handed Marissa off to Draco and he moved her a bit so he could see her. She was still looking towards Ginny as if she recognized her and Draco said his daughter's name softly.
Immediately Marissa's head turned towards Draco and stared up at him.
And for a minute Draco thought he had all his emotions under control.
Then he saw Marissa looking up at him, her eyes the exact same shade of blue as his and he felt tears come to his own
eyes.
"She has her father's eyes," Ginny said softly, reaching out and holding Draco's arm. He kept his face bowed down, looking at Marissa and nodded taking a deep breath to try and keep his emotions under control.
He watched through slightly blurred vision as Marissa blinked slowly and finally her eyes shut and she fell asleep again. He was instantly reminded of Ginny and how she looked when she was sleepy and he realized that he was insanely happy. He felt Ginny nudge him and he handed her the baby, then wiped the back of his sleeve across his eyes.
"I'm hungry!" Ginny announced suddenly, as if she was surprised to be feeling that.
"Do you want me to see if the healers can bring you something?" Draco linked his fingers through hers.
"Please? It'll just be soup or something but that'd be great…and tell my family to come back," Ginny said quietly watching him get up and lean over her and Marissa for a second. She felt his lips on her forehead then saw him hesitate before he leaned down and kissed Marissa's head that was covered by the pink cap. Ginny felt the baby move her legs a bit then still once more.
"Be right back," he whispered and walked out the door and quietly shut it. He immediately leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. His emotions were so out of control he had no idea how to react to them. So, he willed himself to calm down pushing down the nervousness he felt but there was something else that was lingering around the edges of his consciousness and he wasn't sure what it was. It bugged him and he let it sit there as he went to where Hermione was sitting and passed on Ginny's message, then he went to the family waiting room.
He stopped before he turned the corner, tucked in his shirt a bit and ran a hand through his hair. As he rounded the turn, he was spotted first by Molly who had knitting needles working in the air next to her.
"Draco!" she stood up and with a quick wave the needles zoomed back into her bag.
"How is everyone?" Samantha asked.
"Good," he said and cleared his throat. "She wants you all to come in now."
Fred, Maggie and George were the first ones up and around the corner and Draco waited for everyone to file past him before he brought up the end, walking behind Ron. He paused outside her door and was surprised when Ron turned around letting the door shut.
"What's it like?" Ron asked suddenly and Draco had to take a second to process what he was being asked.
"Brilliant and scary," Draco said honestly and saw Ron nod as he listened. "Every emotion you think you might feel, you do," Draco elaborated and met Ron's eyes.
"Ginny is truly fine?" Ron asked as if there was something that wasn't being spoken aloud.
Draco nodded, that feeling he had inside of him was beginning to make itself known.
"And the baby?"
Ron received a nod again and he placed his hand on the door knob, then stopped and turned again.
Draco regarded him calmly, now knowing that a sense of protectiveness had emerged from the depths of him, from somewhere, and he know knew what it was like to have the knowledge that he would do anything to protect his family.
"I hope I'm as calm as you when this is Samantha in here."
"Ron, I'm not calm…and with a daughter that will most likely have red hair, I probably never will be again," Draco gave him a small smile and they both walked in to see Ginny and Marissa together.