April 11, 1895 - The Prewett Home, Kensington, London

During the months of Malou's pregnancy she had done everything she could to continue life as normal. She hadn't wanted to make a fuss or change things around in the least. In part it simply wasn't who she was. But there was also the subconscious desire not to let it consume herself or Faustus or their life because Faustus had already seen a wife through three pregnancies and births. There was also the fact that Malou thought of those three children of her own. So, while yes, she was carrying her first child, she wasn't - in a way. This perhaps explained why Malou failed to acknowledge the difference in her body on that fateful Friday morning.

As was wont on her days off from work Malou had set aside the time following breakfast to work on her correspondence. A letter to each of the children, Edelweiss was particularly good at responding to her letters, while Iris often seemed to forget and Mez constantly sent her quick messages about little things. She missed each of them terribly and tried to make sure she wrote them at least once a week. Friday, she felt, was a good day to send a letter as it would reach them right before their weekend and allow for a chance to reply to her. As she finished her latest letter to Edelweiss Malou rubbed the pain from her lower back. She'd woken up to cramps and pain wrapping around her waist, but it seemed mild enough to ignore it as the pain had faded quickly.

She'd met with the housekeeper, taken tea with the neighbor, spoken with Cook about the menu for the upcoming week, disregarding the pain wrapping around her middle and the cramps all the while.

Malou hadn't seen Faustus this morning, so caught up in her morning tasks, that when he entered the dining room she smiled broadly at him, standing up from her seat and crossing the room to allow him to fold her into his embrace. "Hello, Min kære Fauslein." She greeted him, looking up with affection.

  

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As days until Malou’s delivery ticked closer and closer, Faustus found himself even more on edge. He’d already put in the paperwork to be transferred back to teaching the Aurors in Training, something that he’d been secretly apprehensive about. The last time he left the position as Head Auror to be an instructor was when Jane had passed. Grief had gripped at him so tightly he didn’t think he would ever get out of its cold clutches. But then Malou came along and he’d been made whole again. She had captured his heart with her beauty, her kindness, her elegance; and once she’d told him she was expecting? There was nothing Faustus knew he would ask of the world again.

They’d made the decision for him to step back once more, and he decided he still wanted to remain in the department with his colleagues; so back to being the Stealth & Tracking instructor it was. This time around, Faustus knew it was the correct move both for himself and his family.

As Malou’s due date approached, he’d coordinated with Sterling to start stepping back, with Sterling preparing to take his place. With Sterling having been Head Auror in the past before his accident, it only made it that much easier for Faustus to be comfortable enough relinquishing the reins to his colleague. These days, Faustus went into the office later in the afternoons while completing paperwork and reviewing his past lesson plans in his office in the mid-mornings.

Before he did that though, he always joined his wife wherever he could. A quick inquiry of one of the maids led him swiftly to the dining room where she was sitting. One look at her and he beamed, moving swiftly to her so she wouldn’t have to stay standing for long. His arm banded around her waist, bringing her in close for a deep kiss. “Godmorgen min hjerte,” he murmured into her lips before he kissed her again. “How are you feeling?”

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pretties by mj

This, the embrace, the quiet, a kiss on the lips, Malou could lose herself in it forever. There was safety and calm in his arms. A comfort and a love that encompassed everything around her. She allowed her lips to linger on his, allowed him to pull her as closely as he could with the child between them. But as all moments did this one broke to. She glanced up at him and met his eyes with a smile. "Well enough." Malou certainly wouldn't have him fret over her for something as small as back pain and cramps.

"I had Cook make your favorite cookies." Malou told him. She'd learned once she came to the Prewett house that Cook was not exactly fond of Malou's ventures into the kitchen. Occasionally Malou made her way down there, usually with one of the children, to make something. But it was never an impulse, it was always something planned ahead of time so they wouldn't be a nuisance to the staff. And once her belly had become to large to maneuver around the kitchen with ease Malou had focused instead on other tasks. So while they weren't her own cookies she waved Faustus over to them with an indulgent grin.

"I had thought I might show you the nursery before you go to work. After your tea of course." While Faustus had seen the nursery she had made a few additions to it in the past week as a surprise for Faustus.

  

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Well enough.

The words gave him pause, and he pulled away, brow furrowing slightly as he looked down at her. He was about to ask what she meant by that - did she feel alright? Should he stay home today? Was it time to call the midwife? - when she mentioned the treat waiting for him at the table, and he let her comment slide. There would be plenty of time to question how she was in a little bit. Faustus was in no rush to go to work, and certainly wouldn’t have been in any rush to do so if she was feeling poorly.

He followed Malou as she waved him over, sitting down in his chair and helping himself with a grin. “As long as it was cook that made these and not you,” He stipulated, knowing she wouldn’t take offense; it wasn’t a secret in the household that he much preferred when Malou made the cookies in the kitchen, but the closer she drew to her due date, the more Faustus had wanted to wrap her in silk and blankets and prevent her from even moving an inch lest she strain herself.

The mention of the nursery seemed to banish everything else from his mind, and he paused to look at his wife mid-bite, then washed it down with a gulp of piping hot tea. “The nursery?” He echoed, putting his teacup down. Tea and cook’s cookies would wait. He made to stand up instead, glancing up towards the room in question. “What do you have to show me?”

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pretties by mj

"She did." Malou assured him with an indulgent smile as he sat down. She sat down as gracefully as she could on the other end of the table, although she doubted very much there was any grace at all involved in any of her movements these days. Another cramp twisted along her abdomen, her hand came to rest of her belly, as she kept her face calm. She was ready for these cramps to be over.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" She chided, grimacing as she watched him gulp down what had to be very hot tea. "It'll wait." She assured him. As if to prove her point she lifted her teacup to her own lips and took a sip, it was hot. Suddenly the pain was through her back and Malou found herself hissing into the cup at the pain. Her eyes flashed toward Faustus hoping he hadn't noted. She truly didn't want to worry him. This was already difficult enough for him without her adding her own discomfort to it.

  

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Her logic made perfect sense, and yet Faustus had the wild urge to pout. Instead, he took another bite of the cookie; although an arguably bigger bite than the last to maybe speed through them, as his priorities had just experienced a drastic rearranging. Even so, he still kept an eye on Malou, searching for any symptoms of labor he could.

Despite his worrying, Faustus had resolved to keep his fussing and hovering to a minimum. He’d hired the best healers and midwives he could find to make sure Malou had a safe and comfortable pregnancy. Other than wrapping her in feathers and making her stay inside, there was precious little he could do. It still didn’t prevent him from hovering, and this morning he was doing his best to pull back. However, having spent the majority of his life learning how to be the best at observing and detecting deceptiveness, searching for signs that Malou was going into labor hadn’t been the easiest to ignore.

Which is why even at her first grimace, even if it had been in sympathy for his having chugged hot tea, Faustus’ eye had caught it and he was already lowering his cup to the saucer. It was only out of not wanting to disturb Malou if nothing was amiss that he even deigned to consider the fact that it had just been his imagination.

Her second grimace was most certainly not a trick of the mind.

Faustus was out of his seat in a trice.

“Malou?” He moved towards her, already reaching out to her. “What is it? Are you in pain?”

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pretties by mj

Malou hated the look on Faustus's face, the one of agonized worry. Loathed it in fact. "I'm fine. It's normal." At least she was certain this is what the midwife had meant when she said normal. But Malou had never had a child so she wasn't sure what it actually felt like. As a healer though she did know the best plan of action was to consider all the alternatives and keep herself from getting worked up.

"Since you're already out of your seat I might as well show you the nursery." She pushed herself out of her chair feeling her unbalanced form as she did so. Thankfully she'd been doing this for nine months, she could manage it still now. Without waiting for him to respond she led him up the stairs to the nursery.

Above the baby's crib were three water colored paintings of the Prewett children. One of each of them. Malou had enchanted each one to move as a painting did. In addition she had knitted a blanket and draped it over the bassinet. But it was the paintings she most wanted Faustus to see. "I wanted our baby to always be able to see their siblings faces." She explained almost sheepishly as she unconsciously rubbed her hand across the low curve of her tight belly.

  

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He couldn’t stop his heart from pounding in his chest as he observed her, still looking for signs of discomfort or pain. With her being the healer, Faustus knew to follow her lead, believing her to truly be alright - or at least wanting to believe that she was alright. And yet, he still could not shake the feeling that something was off.

But before he could even make more of a fuss, she was out of her chair and walking out of the room. The auror could do nothing except for hurry after his wife and try not to hover too closely as he did so. He hadn’t stepped foot in the nursery for a bit, knowing that Malou had wanted to have a say in the design of the room herself and fully trusting her to oversee the decorations.

Of course, he was right to do so given the fact that he was nearly struck speechless at the sight of the moving paintings of his current children. “Oh darling,” He breathed, moving up behind her and embracing her as he took in the new additions. He let out a soft laugh, his eyes on the paintings now. “It’s absolutely wonderful.” There were few words he could use to describe the swell of emotions in his chest. Faustus wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling into the crook of her neck as he did so. “Dearest, I adore it. I adore you.”

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pretties by mj