✧THEN THERE WERE FIVE✧

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 Aurora had been awake for quite some time, for the past few days she was experiencing a few stabbing pains in her abdomen, which the matron witch had explained that it was the babe shifting to get ready for the birth.

The previous pregnancy she had skipped this pain, but voicing it out to Rabastan was going to send her straight to the hospital. The man has turned into a complete mother hen, more than either of their mothers have been.

It was around ten-thirty when her water broke, and the witch simply changed out of her lounge dress, took a shower, redressed and counted her contractions as she finished packing her bag.  But she forced herself to spend the last hour with the twins before Ronan would arrive.

"He's coming today, I'm apologizing in advance munchkins. Mummy's going to be exhausted and taking care of him. I love you both so very much." She cooed, the elves aiding their mistress as they knew very well what it meant for a witch's water to break.

As the contractions started to come to the nine-minute mark she sighed. "Poppy, could you get Rabastan?" She called out, and the Elf had instantly run out of the room to fetch the master.

And within the minute had he come rushing to the door.

"Did they say mummy?" He questioned, and she shook her head. He was asking more in the sense that he has time to get them to say papa over mummy.

"Romulus, come on mate...You can't eat a snitch." He caught his son and plucked the small plush toy away from the lad's mouth.

Surely a gift from Regulus if it involved a snitch.

"Rabastan could you call owl our parents?" She requestioned, causing her husband to turn in question as well. "My water broke." She replied, and he stared for some time before his panic set in.

"Y-you're water broke?! What?! When?!" She explained, far too calmly that it happened two hours ago and she's been keeping a steady eye on the time of her contractions.

"Aurora come, let's go to the healers."
"Rabastan I'm not in pain, and I still have my bag to pack." She watched first hand as he gripped the strains of his locks, all causing her to snicker into her hands.

"The twins came quicker, I don't think Ronan wants to leave just yet...Let me finish packing and your mum stay with the twins then—" He darted out of the room to send the parcel. Completely forgetting that he could simply send the elves to his parents.

Why was he the one freaking out?

When he returned, he just gawked at how relaxed his wife was. It ticked him off by the moments as he ordered an elf to finish packing her bag.

Thankfully Clarissa came and laughed at her son and his reaction as she aided her daughter with her grandchild. She was excited to spend the night, she hadn't asked for more as she didn't want to overstep her son and daughter.

Had they asked, she would stay as the babe's nanny.

But Clarissa didn't offer because she favored mothers taking care of their children. Her own husband pushed for the idea of a nanny, but the matter soon died down. Especially since her sons are so far apart from one another, it was easier than what Walburga or Cassiopeia was dealing with.

Rabastan was demanding that they leave, which caused Aurora to rise to her feet. Her hand reaching to take Halsey's crib while her other held her stomach, her husband beckoned closer and begged just behind her ear to get going.

"Rabastan, labor could take hours, it's either we wait here until he's closer or we're at the hospital." The logic was not on her side as she held onto Romulus.

"I just don't want to leave them yet."
"We're not leaving them for long love, we'll be back before they know it." His wife pouted, and so he sighed and bargained for another ten minutes.

Rory made one last check that the cot was prepared in their room, but it was then that he had enough. He grabbed the satchel and wrapped his arm around his wife before he apparent them to the same hospital that she was revived at.

The healers were expecting Mrs.Lestrange and settled her into the room, it had been a very different experience from the last experience. And why Mr. Lestrange was pacing, while his wife was reading a book all curled up into the bed.

This posh pureblood facility was nothing but the best, it sickly reminded Rory on how her life was settled as.

Million-dollar deals, fights for heirs, threatening enemies, siblings fighting against one another...It sounded so painfully like a novel that Rory clutched her book further.

"Love?" Every bit of movement caught her husband's attention, he looked ready to call a healer and she sighed back into the pillow.

"Not a fan of hospitals Raba, and he's not ready to come out." He finally took his seat beside her, bathing her hand into both of, even kissing her knuckles delicately.

"Hear that son? You're being evicted." A playful smile appeared on her face without permission, he knew all too well how bored she was in being pregnant. Especially in the last trimester where there was little to nothing she could do.

"No wonder he wants to stay then, papa isn't that much of a git little one...I promise." His eyes grew wide, had she truly tried to rally a child against him.

"He was the one punching and kicking last week, and if I remember correctly you had some not too child-friendly things to say." She booped her husband's nose, all before leaning back down into the pillow and onto her side.

"We can ask the healer to hurry the process along..."
"Is that something you want to do Rory? I'm all for whatever you wish to do." Her eyes felt droopy as she couldn't deny the comfort the hospital provided.

"After a little nap, you should sleep too Raba...He's going to keep us up for the first few nights." He kindly remembered how the twins were like, but he did nothing more than kiss her cheek.

Rory had most likely slept for another hour before the real contractions came about, she wasn't peacefully woken up either. A cutting pain happened in increments, so she nudged her husband to call the nurse.

Ronan was on his way.

"Rabastan." She hissed, and the wizard popped his head up and rubbed his eyes. "Water?"
"No. Healer...Now." Just like her mention of her watering break in the morning, he jumped to his feet and hurried into the hall to call a healer.

He returned with a single witch who wasted no time at all in checking how dilated Mrs.Lestrange had become, and it was time to start preparing the process.

Rabastan had once again turned into a ball of stress as his wife battled the pain, and when asked for a pain potion Aurora swallowed it hole.

It took far too long to enact, but it made the process a hundred times easier. Time seemed to move quicker as the babe made their way out, it sounded as though she was underwater when the announcement of the gender sounded through the room.

The test had been correct, Ronan was indeed a son.

The surrounding healers cleaned the young Lestrange before bundling him in a soft blanket. "Congratulations." Aurora offered her best smile, though she was terribly exhausted and paired with bullets of sweat covering her forehead.

The babe was soon placed on his mother's chest, and as much as Rory wanted to speak to her third child and introduce him to the world. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"Kitten it's alright, he'll be here when you wake up." As much as she wanted to understand what he said, she honestly couldn't comprehend a single thing. Nor could she feel Rabastan take the newborn from his exhausted wife, there were inaudible words of disagreement. But she soon fell to sleep, her eyes closing at the beautiful sight of her husband and son.

Two hours.

It had barely hit the two-hour mark before she was pulled out of sleep. Aurora popped her eyes open to the sight before her, Rabastan had yet to put his son down after Rory fell asleep, and the first thing she felt was nausea in the pit of her stomach...Literally.

"I think mummy is waking up Roe." Roe. It caused Rory to grin widely, even if her limbs were betraying her in not responding to what she wanted to do. But she felt completely content by seeing how well the two were getting along.

She let out a small cough as she attempted to clear the frog in her throat. But how could she not smile at the sight?

He was in his lesser dress shirt, sleeves rolled up. For once it felt utterly calm, but perhaps that was the potion talking.

"Let me get the healer Rory, they said they wanted to run a diagnostic when you wake." She did her best to nod, but it was partly delayed as was everything else in the room that she was seeing.

Her mind jumped from her children, to her brother...To a whole list of things that she felt almost startled that Ronan's coo had pulled her from the train of thought.

One of the nurses had waved her wand across the length of Mrs.Lestrange's body while the other injected her forearm with a reviver sort of solution.

It started with small prickles, almost reminding Rory of her arm or legs fall asleep. But it was rejuvenating her sensations. Though she wasn't feeling any sort of pain just yet, she still managed to move just a few minutes after being given.

The healers did another set of spells to make sure that everything had correctly mended, in addition to that her stomach was already starting to dwindle.

When they left the room, Rabastan aided his wife in sitting up against the pillows. "Roe?"

"I thought it fit him just fine, I'm capable of making nicknames too, kitten." Her nose cringed upwards as she withheld her grin, especially since she really did like the second name for Ronan.

"How is he?" She whispered, looking up to her husband before looking to the cot beside her to see the little prince completely content with looking around the room. His arms pushing against the blanket, but it was more to secure him in place for the first few hours as he was without his mum's tum as protection.

"Perfect. Though I'm sure he wants to meet his mummy properly." Still battling emotions did she become teary-eyed just watching how careful her husband picked up their son.

It was a slow transfer from one hold to another, and the baby was certainly not up to be buckled as he shared his distaste.

"Oh shush you, no fussing." Her voice was light, soft. And it invited for Roe to look up to his mother in confusion but also in a sense of recognition.

Poking his nose caused him to retreat and she giggled in response, he was indeed his father's son.

Aurora was indeed a happy mother.

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Date Posted: 10-18-19

Time: 4:08

Words: 1950