✧AFTERMATH PT.1✧

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On account of sleeping beside his now current Fiancé and future wife, their babe kindly tucked in between the two of them—He was able to sleep beyond peacefully. He enjoyed being oblivious if not in that one moment before another family meeting.

Course he also didn't know the war brewing between Aria and his own mother, so his ignorance allowed him a bit of bliss. Especially when he smoothed his hand back on over to Aria's ever-rising bump.

He had found a new obsession and he couldn't get enough—She must be hungry!

Rabastan recalled that yesterday had been widely emotional and she hardly ate the offered plate of dinner. He didn't know if it was a myth or not that pregnant women ate more—Wouldn't it make sense?
She was eating for two after all.

He leaned over and kissed the center of her brow, hoping that whatever tension in her dream would cease and sure enough it earned him a small mew. "Sleep love," Rabastan orders, and her body hadn't dared to bother doing much else.

Her breaths returned to an even pattern and he felt positive that she wouldn't wake up before the elf could manage a feast. And it had been easy enough to convince the elf to provide everything on a cart to push into his room, he hardly ever had this treatment himself.

Only when he'd been sick as a child here and there, his mother would spoon feed him some soup and stay with him until he fell asleep. Aria had been the only witch to combatted that level of kindness, and she did the bare minimum early on when he had tried to show even a little ounce of kindness.

How hilarious was it to now know that the former Aria Roswell, his number one target, had turned into such a big influence in his life?

He worked diligently in uncovering the trays and making a hearty plate for her to enjoy. Unannounced to him, Aria had been awoken by her stomach's sudden revolt of the scent permitting through the air.

It smelled vile, and just as he was about to settle the tray down onto the nightstand, he caught the sight of Aria bolting up and running towards the bathroom.

"Aria?" He called out, but she paid him no mind—She couldn't.

Not when her insides threw up the bile in her stomach and heaving into the toilet before her. Rabastan's panic was not helping at all, though the aid of getting her hair out of the way and rubbing her back soothed her.

What didn't...Was his inability to get a grip.

"Do you need a healer—I'll call a healer!" He'd been mumble and with her free hand she grabbed onto him for him to stay. With a final spit down as she breathed in relief.
"I don't need a healer—This...It's normal." She breathed, closing her eyes and wiping the small tears that were starting to leak from her eyes.

"Normal?!"
"Yes. Morning sickness is very normal at the beginning of a pregnancy, it's how the healers were able to identify it." She informed, and he sighed—Clearly he was uninformed to the point of not even know what she was feeling. In seeing that she was regaining her strength, he moved away to retrieve a cooling glass of water from the sink.

Which she gulped down instantly.

"I promise I'm alright." She said once could control her breath and he let out a breathy laugh as he sunk back down. "I have a few books—It's not like I woke up one day and I knew it all." It left him feeling a bit better, but he still wasn't prepared for this physical difficulty for her to deal with on top of everything else.

"What can I do?"
"Take the food out of the room for starters, it smells ghastly."
"I-it's all your favorites."
"I believe it, but my nose is all whack. I'm hoping that leaves sooner than what the healer said." She informed and Rabastan had left the room, however, Aria hadn't been prepared for her fiancee to simply lift the smell up and away to leave the room smelling like nothing.

"Alright, that was pretty brilliant of you." She said with a slight grin, after gargling out the horrible taste in her mouth—She allowed him to re-tuck her into bed and get pampered.

"So...Every morning?"
"Most mornings, and I wasn't prepared for this feast. But I'm alright now, and I'm starving!" She cheers and he lets a small winning grin. He hadn't been all that hungry and thus he laid on his stomach right beside him, enjoying the small bites she's offered to him.

"Is there anything else I should be prepared for?" He said with a slight smirk, already conjuring ideas to pamper her with or fight alongside the difficult parts of this pregnancy.

"Besides the morning sickness, swollen ankles, a weak bladder, odd cravings at all hours, and the scaling emotions that'll come and go—I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how unexciting pregnancy really is." She said, a smile caving onto her face as she smoothed out his jumper over her tum. Which was now rounder with a proper meal in her system.

"And I'll be there for it all." She nodded her head and then bit her lip reaching out to grab his hand with both of hers.
"I might be against the idea of marriage, but I know I want you to be the father—Publicly whatever the bloody hell else Reg told me goes along with a babe in the pureblood society. Alright?"
"So you don't love me?" He questioned, a smirk rising on his features and she huffed.

"How else do you think I got into this situation in the first place?!" She hissed through his laughter and she just shook her head outright. "The nerve, I swear."
"I won't have you regret marrying me, I promise." He said with a hand over his heart, however with her still gnawing on her lip—He knew she still had a question on her mind.

He nicked his head in an attempt to be persuasive but she just huffed. "Where will we live?" She question and that would indeed be a good thing to know prior to—well...Everything. Come after their wedding and Honeymoon, they won't be staying here his childhood bedroom.

That's for sure.

"I'll ask father—"
"Rabastan, I realize you haven't lived on your own. But this really doesn't have anything to do with your mother and father's choice anymore, right? Where do you want to live?" She questioned once more, almost sick over the phrase 'I'll ask father,' she's heard it enough from Regulus as is.

"Er—The summer Lestrange manor I suppose...O-or your manor."
"I only ask because I want to set up the nursery before I'm too big to move around." Another smile cracked through his exterior and she rolled her eyes. "Nothing much yet, just the basics."
"Of course." He said, though the idea of designing a nursery was much more exciting than he initially thought.

Their child's room.

"I guess it won't be the Crawford manor much longer, will it?" He claimed, and she scoffed.
"I thought I told you that I wasn't taking any wizard's last name." She said, though in a slight tease—She was being deadly serious. Yet now it was Rabastan's time to frown.
"Why not?"

"I've worked hard for my degree Raba, Crawford's a household name now...And besides, my whole name is going to change anyhow."
"You can legally change it from Cassiopeia to Aria, the others will just have to get used it regardless. Though I think my brother is set on calling you Cassi." She bobbed her head and dwelled on the options set before her.

It wasn't all that bad of an idea.

"And it might be a wee bit too early for this, but maybe we should start thinking of a name for the babe..." She dwelled, and while Rabastan knew that she liked to plan ahead, this one had caught him off guard.

"O-or is it the father's decision in that matter?"
"Usually the father names their sons, yes..." He claimed and Aria pouted, she had one in mind and had her heart set on it, and he couldn't stand to see her upset over anything.

"...I might be persuaded if...You take the Lestrange name." He said, thinking that he was driving a hard bargain. Though if she could make the sacrifices then he would do the same.
"Deal. I've already got one lined up and I think you'll adore it." She said, leaning back down into the pillow to relax and thus...His jaw dropped while his eyes narrowed shortly after.

"You baited me."
"Not really no, there's such a thing called a work name...And besides, I'm not opening an apothecary now or very soon ether." It didn't matter that much in his mind, Aria was good at plucking names from the hat. What he was interested in, however, was the name she'd already thought of.

"And do I get to hear the name?"
"Not yet...Perhaps that'd be a nice wedding gift."
"I'd like that." He said with another smile, though their private chat had been soon interrupted by the firm knock at the door.

"Son?...I've knocked on Aria's door and she isn't—Ah, taking care of your wife already I see."
"I still have an aisle to walk down, Lestrange." She laughed from her side of his bed and the father joined on into the laughter.

"You're right, why don't we have a talk, son...I'm sure Aria could use with a bit more sleep." It was evident on her face that she needed more than what she's got and she smiled her appreciation, course Rabastan didn't seem all that eager to leave his Fiancee's side.

"I'll be fine. Merlin sake Raba, go." It was clear that he did not to leave her alone and so he nodded to his father for another moment. Which he was given a roll of her eyes and he glared.

"Go talk with him, I'll stay right here."
"I'll believe that when I see it, your parents will probably be here later."
"Then wake me up near then, I don't think I've slept all that good since..."
"Since you found out, fuck, yeah...And would you want to sleep here tonight? I could go to your manor and grab some of your own clothes." She claimed that an elf could manage that all the same, and yet when he tucked her in a closed to the blinds partially—He was soon met with the light snoring of his fiancee.

Much like he had last night.

Upon Aria falling back asleep with a full stomach, Rabastan had followed his father off to a side room and he could only suck in a breath. "I'd like to preface beforehand, that I had no part in this." He claimed and his father let a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to start picking up the slack! Aria should be swimming in maternity wear!" Clarissa said, putting everything in a color organization on the multiple sets of racks.
"You look nervous." His father dwelled and Rabastan nodded.

"Ari threw up this morning." That was all he claimed and that caused Clarissa to turn back with her shoulders drawing down. She was here trying to get her closet together, she should be offering her tactics in battling morning sickness.

"That will pass sweetheart, nothing to worry about. It's normal." Clearly, his mother's words didn't phase him as much as he was hoping, and yet he caught sight of the given dresses—Most of them in the range of solid colors that Aria favored.

"Just worried is all..."
"Nothing to worry about son, once you've gotten a ring on her finger and down the alter as she said. You'll feel much more confident." Rabastan nodded his head, but his face fell down to look at his shoes.

"Course the babe might be a Ravenclaw now that I think about it."
"That's alright, with a mind like Aria's, that brilliance will last for generations." Clarissa hid her smile as she moved through the dresses and kept her hands busy.

Radolphous had a firm word with her, course he was happy as she was—But Merlin she was in trouble and would need to fix the relationship with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

And the simple purchase of dresses wouldn't be enough.

"Let's go talk in my study, move your name to the summer manor—"
"Actually. Aria and I talked, for now and through her pregnancy I think we're going to be staying at her manor. She's comfortable there." Rabastan hadn't missed his mother's smile in the way he spoke while his father laughed.

"Already caving in?"
"I'd say I struck a deal with her instead...I believe she'll want to change her name from Cassiopeia back to Aria after the wedding."
"Understandable, and did you get anywhere with her taking the Lestrange name?"
"Yes—Part of the reason why we're going to be living at the house she'd built." He wasn't about to tell his father that Aria was going to be naming their son.

Good gods, he didn't have a death wish.

The conversation wasn't at all what Rabastan what had been prepared for, Aria's dowery had almost made him stutter. "I believe you've forgotten why the Black's are still above us, Rabastan."
"That and Aria won't take a loan from anyone but the bank." Radolphous hummed but then placed his quill down as he wanted to jot down a note for the future.

"Course now we can offer help when it's the same bank number, that'll be the next battle I can foresee—Though it's a victory in getting her to change her name, aye?"
"Nothing short of a miracle...I don't think I realized how sought out she'll be the second she comes out as a Black Heir." His father simply shook his head and lit his cigar.

The stress of this situation certainly needed a layoff, and Rabastan usually didn't smoke this early but he reached for his father's box.
"Oh really? You've come to that conclusion, have you? Merlin sakes boy, there is hardly a single pureblood witch with a head on her shoulder and a net worth to prove it. Though it won't move us, though an heir has bumped us from falling under Malfoy." Rabastan blew the inhaled smoke into the air and scoffed.

"I don't think I can live knowing that Lucius is above us, he'd never live it down."
"Well with the possibility of an heir, there's nothing to worry about—And what is the Malfoy name if Aria is about to dishevel his net worth with her own Apothecary?" Rabastan started the trend of sharing that he was prepared to support her in the start of Apothecary and Radolphous didn't hesitate to share his own word of wisdom.

Aria would have the backing of both her birth, her adopted and the family she married into.

"Ari wants to start the babe's room."
"That's a witch thing, I'd let her be—I'll most likely have to hold back your mother on that end." Rabastan nodded along, knowing that it was certainly a task that Aria would want to do on her own.

Within the next ten minutes, the two had received a parcel that the Black family would be coming soon. Thus Rabastan hurried back to his room, a quick stop into his bathroom to retrieve a glass of fresh cold water.

Hoping that'd give her some relief if she were to have any more morning sickness.

"Love, it's time to wake up." His voice had caused her face to sour and huff, clearly she needed another night of rest. But as she let her eyes peek open and get used to the light in room, she let out a proper sigh. "What time is it?"

"Nearly noon, your family is coming at one. I can get mother's bath ready again if—"
"No, that's alright. But I need a shower." She said, and he knew it was more of a tactic to wake up than anything else.

He moved away to get the shower ready and pulled a towel from the closet. "Water's running hun, I'm going to find something for you to wear...Do you need anything from your manor?" She shook her head and bit her lip.

"I haven't slept that good in a while. Don't really want to go home tonight either."
"Can't say I'm not happy about that either, we'll go later and grab a few things, yeah?" She nodded along and hurried along into the bathroom with the door cracked open just a smidge.

Rabastan returned back to the closet his mother was making for Aria, plucking a few natural blue colors. He knew she'd love them, but they weren't the typical style. Not when he caught sight of the stomach.

"Those are for later in the year love, try this rack." Clarissa doted, and Rabastan had left his mother's company with a lighter attitude. However seeing Aria in a mere white towel around her top, sobbing over a piece of parchment—

"Aria?" He breathed out in a rush of panic, was it her father again? He attempted to reach her, but in a moment's notice had she come up towards him with her arms around his neck. Leaving the towel to start to come undone.

"Love, tell me what's the matter. Are you hurt?" She shook her head and continued to cry, but it wasn't out of pain, no. It was of a breaking heart.

He had to tear away the piece of parchment from her fist, but she continued to stay well underneath his chin and neck as she soaked through his shirt.

"Oh...Love, it's alright. I promise." He said with a small kiss to her temple. She'd found the letter he'd draft just before she'd been left to rot at the Orphanage.

"Y-you t-tried to h-help."
"Of course I did Ari, we were the best of friends and I knew you could do magic. I'm sorry I was too late love, if I had been just a little earlier then—" She shook her head into the crook of his arm before looking up to him, and he recognized that look.

She had given it to him countless times in their childhood and youth that it was a wonder how Bellatrix's charm could render him to forget something so pure and raw.

She leaned forward and left a small kiss to his chin, then to his lips—She couldn't believe how heartless this man could be at times and then damned for all eternity the next.

Rabastan took the time to dry her off by hand and aid her into her dress, her stomach stuck out—Just a tad, nothing too overdone. But it was enough for him to let up a smirk that earned him a small smack.

"Soon we won't be able to sleep in the same bed."
"That won't be an issue, I'll just get a bigger one." She rolled her eyes, course his response would be to add more room. "Not that love, usually pregnant women can't sleep without moving around—That or I'll be off to the loo too often in the night and waking you up."

"That won't scare me away as easily." He watched as she wiped her eyes once more with her sleeve and sniffled. "Wyatt is very happy...He's been wanting to owl you for the longest time about it."
"Well, at least the Badger is on my side, aye?" Her lip continued to quiver and he simply took a hold of her and sat on the bed.

"He wants a sibling."
"Well, if I get my way, he'll be getting more than one." Aria's laughter had been a blessing that he squeezed her with a shower of kisses to her cheek. "Let's get through the first before already judging the time of another."

"So you're open to another child?" She pinched the brink of her nose as she allowed herself the moment of pure relief.
"Of course I am, Raba, I was never against having a child. It just scares me to know that we're so young. Don't you want to live life a little more than we have before being called mummy and papa?"

"I think I've lived plenty without being able to call you my wife." She rolled her eyes again, however another habitant in Rabastan's draw had caught her eye. And much like the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

"Where on earth did you get this?"
"Yanked it from that lad in Hufflepuff who took photos, beautiful isn't it?" Aria allowed a smile to form over once more, she'd been singing—A promise for Wyatt to arrive on time and she'd made it.

"Proof that I knew you before you were famous."
"Yeah, and here I am worried you were just in it for the money." Their laughter echoed through the room as she flipped through the photos, gasping to see that he kept the one feating Ghost.

"How is the speed demon these days?"
"In heaven, I've had a beautiful barn built for him. Course he's not the biggest fan of winter, he's getting by." With Aria's tears long gone, he tugged on her to get going and thus she returned the objects in their rightful place and took to the hallway.

Rabastan had taken the opportunity to offer a hooked arm and she wrapped around him rather quickly. "Cute."

"For you? Always." His endearment had fallen short all due to Rodolphous' sudden appearance in a quickened run towards them both.

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Date Posted: 08-15-2021

Time: 5:20

Words: 3648