The World and Her Stars

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Dear Malfoy Jr. and your mum,

To Malfoy Jr., happy birthday.

I have a feeling you're a boy. Just an intuition. And my intuitions are usually right, just saying. I imagine you look just like your father, as that blonde hair of his seems to have some pretty strong backing in the genetics department. Hopefully you won't inherit his Casper-like qualities as well (kidding).

There isn't any way that you are going to be able to read this, unless you are some baby genius that is too powerful for the world to handle, and with the two parents you have, that would not surprise me. Stranger things have happened, believe me.

Hopefully you didn't cause your mum too much pain on your arrival. I wish I could have seen the look on your mum's face when her water broke. I've always wanted to know if it's like what happens in muggle movies. All dramatic and such. Knowing your mother, that's probably how it went (no offense, Rosie, you know I'm right). While the circumstances in which you would be reading this aren't ideal, I thought it would be better than nothing.

I want to make sure that you get an accurate description of your cool gay uncle. My name is Leo, but you already know that. I've known your mother and father nearly my entire life, and although they've nearly driven me mad more times than I can count, I love them like crazy. They are the most love-struck pair of weirdos I have ever had the pleasure of loving.

My favorite thing about your mother is her laugh. It's almost as beautiful as her singing, which I'm sure you will have the pleasure of hearing your entire life. I hope you get her laugh. My favorite thing about your father is his how much he loves your mother. I've seen that man go through hell and high water for your mother more than once. Seeing him risk it all in the name of loving your mother is something that I could never forget. There's more to him than the angst, I promise. I hope you get his loyalty, because my word, is it fierce.

I have never seen two people fall so deeply into love with each other than I did when I saw it happen to the two of them. And I truly believe that's how you came along. Yeah, vials may only be 97% effective, but I truly believe the universe was proving something when it created you. While times may have not been ideal for your conception, I knew that a love that intense would result in a little one sooner or later.

I wish more than anything that I would get to see you grow up. I wish I got to watch you father struggle to change your nappies, and your mother dress you up on all kinds of ridiculous outfits. I wish I got to teach you the ways to get under your mum and dad's skin, and I wish I got to teach you how to skip rocks like an absolute pro. I wish I got to tell you all about the craziness that your parents and I got into when we were kids. I wish I got to be your cool gay uncle. In spirit, I always will be.

Although I may not be there to be that person in your life, I would like to think that I will still be around in some way, shape, or form.

Take care of your mother and father for me. I already know the love they have for you is going to be insurmountable.

May your entrances always be grand as your cool uncle's. May your laugh be as infectious as your mother's, and your heart be as being as your father's. I hope you grow up to be as amazing as I know the two of them are.

I love you already, mini Malfoy.

Your Uncle Leo

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And now to the woman of the hour (that I'm sure is probably bawling her eyes out right now reading this).

Mission accomplished.

Hope mini Malfoy didn't mess you up too badly. Sorry for what I said about you being dramatic a few paragraphs up, but come on...you know I'm right.

Time for me to get a bit cheesy here, so brace yourself.

I know you probably already know this, but I am insanely proud of you. Who would have thought that the girl that looked at emotions like gum on the sidewalk would one day be married with a child, loving more than she ever imagined, and crying like no tomorrow without a care in the world.

You've grown so much.

I would have loved to have been there to hold your hand through it all (because I'm sure Draco was positively shitting himself the entire time). I would have loved to help you through those weird breathing techniques that people say "helps with the pain", even though I question that HIGHLY.

I guess I should be saying congratulations. You're a mum of your own now. You have a family. Not just you, Draco, and Malfoy Jr., but every single person in this bunker that has grown to love you almost as much as I do.

They will be there for you no matter what. Lean on them. Cherish them. Cry to them. Hug them. Listen to them. Let them in. Love them unconditionally. I may not be there to be your shoulder to cry on anymore, but I feel more than safe knowing that there is a small village of people ready, willing, and able to take my place.

Although no one can replace me as the cool gay uncle.

Those are big shoes to fill, and don't even think about replacing them.

If I can give you one piece of advice, it would be to take everything your father did while raising you as a child, and do the exact fucking opposite. I mean it. Malfoy Jr. needs two good parents (which I know you will be) that love each other and him or her unconditionally, no strings attached.

The life you and Draco have lived has prepared you to take on the challenge of raising your spawn. You know exactly what not to do, which I guess is pretty valuable if you squint a little.

I wish I got to be there to cry alongside you when the little bugger finally made their appearance. I wish I was there to see the look on Draco's face as he held him or her for the first time, because I know the mix of terror, amazement, and love would be a sight to behold. I wish I wasn't writing to a future version of you. I wish I was standing by your side and living this incredible moment out with you, just as we've done with every other incredible moment that has happened to the both of us. I wish that I got to see you dress him or her up in the million outfits I know you are going to have. I wish I got to be the cool gay uncle to your child. I wish I was still there with everyone.

But, like I said before, I'm okay with whatever happens, because I know each person that I love will be taken care of. You all are going to thrive. Do incredible things. Become incredible parents. Raise incredible kids. Be incredible people. I know you can do it.

Things may seem hard to imagine for yourself now, but imaging you with that smile on your and Draco's face is something I don't have a hard time doing.

I love you more than these words could ever convey, Rosie.

Leo