860*First and foremost, I want to thank EVERYONE who ever read TBaM, whoever liked, reviewed, favorited, all of that. The popularity of this story and the support in writing it gave me so much confidence and opened my eyes to doing so much more in life. I can't believe it's been 5 years since I thought of the concept for this story, as a 14 year old, riding home from a field trip on a school bus, and I couldn't wait to rush home and write it. It's amazing that 5 years have gone by so quickly and I have changed so much. I owe that to a lot of you, so please enjoy these extra chapters as a treat, I'll be uploading throughout the week of the anniversary!
I sit and wait with Dad outside of one of the rooms in the Manor. We've been here for hours, and I've already read through two books. I'm exhausted, but I'm trying to stay awake long enough to meet my baby sister. A host of mediwitches are on the other side of the door, waiting for Mum to give birth. She insisted on doing it as close to the Muggle way as possible, she said it would be less painful that way.
Hugo, Rose, and Scorpius have been upstairs asleep for hours. It's almost ten o'clock, and Mum's been in labor pretty much the entire day. It was rather difficult to keep them entertained long enough to sit, so Teddy took them for ice cream earlier.
Dad bounces his leg impatiently. I don't know what he's thinking. Probably how he's going to have another child to raise, another daughter. The daughter of someone he despises at that. Mum and Dad have decided not to tell anyone it's Ron's baby, and I'm sure the stress of keeping that secret is going to bother them as well. But still, I've seen how loving Dad can be to all of us, so I don't doubt he'll have any trouble loving my new sister just the same.
Mum and Dad have been married for a few months now. The wedding was wonderful, although it was quite a tense event. I still don't believe people would have ever thought my parents would end up together, being that they're so different. Although they are different, and they argue quite a lot, I see that they do care for each other.
"Are you nervous?" I ask Dad.
He turns to look at me. He shrugs slightly. "I already have four children. Five can't be too different," he reasons.
"But you'll have to wake up to crying and take care of a baby, and change diapers, like with Scorpius," I remind him. Scorpius was such a fussy baby. He cried almost all the time, which drove Astoria absolutely insane. I don't see Mum being that way though. I know she'll be patient with the new baby.
"I've had more practice now. And now that you're older, you can help out, too."
I screw my nose up at the thought of ever changing a diaper. "Absolutely not," I say. "I'd like to dress her up, though."
Dad gives me an annoyed smile. "I'm sure you would. You've already chosen out more robes for her than she'll ever be able to wear before she grows out of them."
Dad's right. I may have gone a bit overboard in choosing out robes, which my parents left up to me. I do have to admit I have incredible taste, and it seems like it would be fun to have a baby sister to dress up in bows and frilly robes, almost like my personal doll.
"She's part of our family, she has to be stylish," I reason.
"That is true," Dad relents.
We sit in silence for what seems like a long while. Dad twiddles his thumbs and I tap my shoes on the carpet.
The door opens and Dad suddenly stands up as a mediwitch exits the room to greet Dad.
"Mr. Malfoy, are you ready to meet your daughter?" she questions.
Dad practically runs into the room, and I follow after him, a chill of excitement falling over my body. We enter the room. Mum is sitting up in the bed, cradling a very small baby bundled in pink blankets. She coos quietly. Mum looks up at us with a tired smile. "You two waited all this time?" she asks.
Dad nods and gingerly takes the baby from Mum's arms, kissing her on the forehead. "Of course, we did."
I stand beside dad, peering at the little baby. She's so tiny. Her eyes are closed. She has a cute button nose, and I can see few straight brown hairs peering out from under her pink hat.
"What name did you choose?" I ask, looking at Mum. She comes back to reality, seeming to have been watching Dad, the baby, and I in a content gaze. Mum and Dad had been struggling to decide which name to choose for months, and I'm still not exactly sure what Mum decided on.
"Whatever you ended up choosing, I'm sure it's beautiful," Dad says, too preoccupied with the baby to be too concerned with her choice.
"I went with Georgina," Mum says. "Georgina Alexandra."
"That's beautiful," I tell Mum.
"Absolutely beautiful," Dad agrees. He gives Georgina a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Hello, Georgina," he says sweetly. It's odd watching Dad turn into such a softie over her, even though I have to admit she's completely adorable. "Do you want to hold her?"
I nod, opening my arms to accept my baby sister. I can't help but smile, instantly feeling love and protective over my youngest sibling.
"I think she looks like you," Dad observes. "She definitely has your nose and lips."
"Do you think so?" I question, honored for some reason to be told we resemble each other.
"Absolutely, she looks exactly like you did when you were a baby," Dad says, looking wistful. I know that he's still remorseful of the fact that he wasn't there for my birth, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't know. At least we're together now, with Mum, able to welcome my sister.
"Sit still, and smile big," Mum says, holding out her camera. "Big smiles, all of you. Say cheese."
Scorpius' face screws up into a big frown. "Why cheese? Do muggle people say that?" He questions.
Mum nods. "You say it before a photograph to make sure you're smiling your widest," she explains. Whenever Mum says something that seems odd to Scorpius, he chalks it up to her being muggleborn. I, personally, have never heard of this profession for cheese either. "Big smiles for Daddy, we want to show him how much we love him, don't we?"
The five of us are sitting on the sofa, all wearing red robes. Mum insisted on taking photographs of us as our Valentine's Day gift far Dad. I love Mum dearly, but I hope this doesn't become an occasion for every holiday. Scorpius and Hugo can barely focus long enough to look at the camera, and Rose keeps being bossy, pinching them and telling them to pay attention like the little mother she loves to act like. Georgina is growing heavy in my arms.
"Please, the sooner you pay attention, the sooner we can all finish. We have to hurry before Daddy gets home because these are a secret surprise for him," Mum explains. "Hugo, look at me, please."
Mum manages to get Hugo to look at the camera long enough to take a few photographs. She puts down one camera and picks up another, her muggle camera. I still think it's odd that muggle pictures don't move, and for that reason, they're even more difficult to take.
"Can we take a silly one?" Scorpius asks. "At my day school, we get to take silly pictures."
"Daddy's not silly, he won't like it," Rose snaps. I still think it's quite odd how quickly her and Hugo have begun to call my Dad 'Daddy', but I suppose it's all in the spirit of moving on now that Ron's decided he wants pretty much nothing to do with them. There's nothing wrong with having two fathers.
"I'm sure I already have quite a few silly ones," Mum tells Scorpius.
"I wanna hold Gina," Hugo protests, reaching for her. I still think it's adorable how he can't pronounce her full name correctly, so he just says the last couple syllables. "Mummy can I hold her?"
"Yes, but you have to sit next to Belle if you want to hold her," Mum tells him.
"Kay, Mummy." Hugo stands up on the sofa and climbs behind Rose and Scorpius, attempting to make his way to me.
"You pulled my hair!" Rose complains and Hugo wobbles past her on the thick sofa cushions.
"Sorry," Hugo says nonchalantly. Scorpius and I look at each other and share a smile. Hugo settles down beside me. I gingerly hand Georgina over to Hugo, putting one of my arms around him just in case.
"Everyone settled?" Mum questions, holding her camera. We nod. "All right, now. Big smiles. I swear to Merlin, I have the most beautiful children in the world." I notice how my younger siblings beam when Mum says this. They're so adorable, and it's funny watching them truly enjoy having their pictures taken.
A couple days later, we're all sitting around the dinner table. Rose and Dad are having a conversation about something she learned in day school. Scorpius interjects at every quiet moment, telling whoever will listen about all the candy he ate at the Valentine's celebration his class had. Hugo can barely eat, he's too distracted watching the funny faces Mum makes at Georgina in order to get her to eat. It is quite amusing, watching Mum be silly for once. She takes a pause from feeding Georgina.
"It sounds like you all had a very wonderful Valentine's Day." In fact, we did. Dad put candies and presents on each of our beds to find when we came home. Rose got a stuffed hippogriff to add to her collection of animals, and she was absolutely overjoyed. Hugo and Scorpius both got play quaffles. Mum and Dad bought me a silver necklace with a ruby stone in the middle.
"Uh-huh, I like my quaffle," Hugo agrees, giving Scorpius an excited look.
"Should we show Daddy his present now that he's done eating?" Mum asks.
The little kids nod excitedly. Mum waves her wand and a large gift appears, wrapped in red paper.
"You all got me a present?" Dad asks with fake surprise, raising his eyebrows as he accepts it from Mum. "Will I like it?"
"Yes!" Scorpius says excitedly. "Open it, Daddy!"
We watch eagerly as Dad gingerly opens the gift and sees the two large framed photographs stacked on top of one another, one a regular portrait, and the other one a muggle photographs.
He looks absolutely touched. "Merlin, I have good-looking children," he says, admiring the photograph.
"That's what Mummy said!" Hugo laughs.
"Because it's the truth. I have very beautiful and very handsome children. I'm surprised Mummy got you all to sit down long enough and pay attention," Dad jokes, eyes still on the photograph. "Where should I put this?" he questions.
"In your room, I think. So you and Mummy can look at it all the time," Rose reasons with a simple shrug.
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Rose," Dad agrees. Suddenly, he gives us all a serious look. I know what exactly he's about so say. He's entrusted me to keep the entire secret, but let Rose, Scorpius in Hugo in on just enough so that they wouldn't be confused, but not so much that they would spoil it.
"So, I've gotten my present. You've all gotten your presents. It seems Mummy hasn't gotten her present yet," Dad says with a frown. "Should we give Mummy her present?"
"Yes!"
Mum looks up from feeding Georgina, genuinely confused. "I thought the roses this morning were from all of you," she says.
"That's not the real present," Scorpius says as if Mum is silly.
"I'm afraid he's right, Hermione," Dad says, pulling two red envelopes out of his robes pocket. "Not only did we buy you roses, we bought you these lovely, priceless cards as well." He hands them over to Mum.
She lets Georgina hold the spoon in her hand for a moment, seeming to not realize that she's flinging bits of food around. She opens the first card and reads it with a frown. "'We'll see you next week, Mummy'?" she questions, "What does that mean?"
"I'm not positive. The kids wrote that one. The second one is from me," Dad answers with a serious look on his face.
Mum narrows her eyes and opens the card. She gasps, then frowns, then her eyes well up with tears.
"Is Mummy okay?" Rose asks, confused.
"I don't know, is Mummy okay with her present?" Dad questions, looking at Mum.
She looks like she doesn't know whether to be excited, upset, or in shock. "Paris, Draco?" she questions with disbelief. "We're going to Paris?"
"We are," Dad says looking proud of himself. "What's wrong?"
"Who's going to watch the kids?" Mum questions, looking uncertain.
"You worry too much. I've already spoken to Potter, and he said he's be more than happy to-"
"You can't ask Harry and Ginny to watch five extra children," Mum argues.
"Well, I didn't ask. He offered. They're well-behaved, and Isobelle and Teddy can help out. Besides, I've already made our reservation and our portkey leaves at ten tomorrow, so everything's set in stone. Just relax, you said you've always wanted to go," Dad reasons.
Mum still looks a bit wary at the thought, but like she's also trying to mask her excitement. Before I'd met Mum, we'd gone to France every year for vacation. But with her coming into my life over the summer and then the wedding a few months later, we never got around to taking a family vacation.
"Isobelle, you do promise you'll be very helpful to Ginny and Harry, don't you? Especially with Georgina?" Mum questions.
I nod. Why can't she ever just enjoy anything? "Of course, I will, I'm practically her second mother. Just to prove my dedication, I'll even change her diapers," I joke.
"Even the poopy ones?" Hugo questions with horror.
"Even the poopy ones." Hugo shrieks with distaste.
"All of you have to be very, very good for Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, do you understand?" Mum questions.
The little kids nod, exasperated with Mum's overly cautious behavior.
"They've already received the fully talk, Hermione, and understand that if they so much as put a toe out of line, there will be severe punishment," Dad assures her.
Mum sighs, looking over at Georgina. She takes the spoon from her and wipes her mouth with her bib. She looks back at Dad with a defeated, yet excited smile. "All right, then… I suppose we're going to Paris."
Hope yall liked the first surprise! Leave a review!