Life After Death - An Erica Black Continuation (4)

Thirty Three

The two of them, Erica and Draco Black, laid in bed, enjoying the early morning light breaking through their window..
"Have you put any thought into names?" Draco mused, glancing over to his wife who sighed softly, rubbing her subtly swollen belly "Elizabeth Druella had stuck with me" she whispered into the comfortable silence of their bedroom, laughing lightly when the blond man pulled a face at her "That's cruel Eri"
"How so? It's pretty!"
"That is not pretty, it's awful! And much too long"
"I mean, the girls names are long; Willow Elladora and Charlotte Neoma"
"Yeah but we don't call them that, we call them Willa and Lottie"
"Well yeah.. But we don't have to call her by her full name "
"What would we even shorten Elizabeth Druella to?"
"Eliza Drue?"
"Oh...." He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Okay, that is a pretty name, but I'm still not convinced..."
"Okay then," she chuckled, rolling over to face him, "What were you thinking?"
"Hmm..." he hummed his contemplation as he too rolled over to meet her gaze, "Lyra.. or Lucy?"
"They are pretty but I think I just like having long names that can be shortened... And we already have a Lucy.." Erica smiled softly at her husband,
"We do??" he exclaimed, his confusion evident on his face.
"Yeah" She giggled, "Percy's youngest"
"Merlin.. That's so many names already taken... " He sighed, rubbing his head
"What about Juniper? That way it can honour your mother and your grandmother but it's pretty and not too long but can still be shortened?"
"Oh... I like it...but...How does that relate to my mother or grandmother and how can it be shortened? "
"June, Juno or Ginn- Oh Dray! It's perfect, we can shorten it to Ginny!" She gushed excitedly before continuing, not noticing her husband's fond smile as he watched her speak, "Well the Black family tradition on star names was actually broken by Druella, your grandmother when she named her youngest daughter Narcissa, after a flower... Juniper is a plant" He nodded, whether from understanding or amusement, she couldn't be sure.
"Juniper it is" He grinned, "Juniper Black... What about a middle name?"
"Dorothy maybe? It's quite muggle but do you remember that movie I showed you? And it can be shortened to Dot with is very sweet" She proposed shyly but she received no response and looked up to find Draco had fallen back to sleep.

Pulling herself from beneath the covers, Erica left her husband to sleep and wandered into the bathroom. Stood in front of the larger mirror, she pulled her nightie taut until it stretched tightly over her stomach, pressing her hand to the soft curve of her tiny bump. "Hello, baby" she smiled widely, looking down, her dark curls falling into her face, "I remember when your sisters were this big... but you're tiny compared to them, aren't you? My tiny, baby Juniper..."
"Mummy? Mummy, who are you talking to?" Willow whispered softly, tapping her knuckles against the wood so lightly that Erica almost missed it.
"Mum! Willow needs to pee!" Yelled Charlotte through the door, Erica sighed and let go of her night dress before moving to open the bathroom door. Willow cottage was not big enough for all six of them, it had barely been big enough for the three as the twins had grown.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What about this one?" Draco held up a picture of a small manor house for Erica to look at, she arched her neck to look at it whilst she poured glasses of fruit juice.
"It's very pretty but how big is it?" She asked, her concern clear on her face.
"five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a converted attic so we could easily have extra space for guests or storage..." Draco listed off, he knew she was trying to find problems with each property, she had been the whole time but he knew she didn't mean to and so he humoured her.
"Well, I don't see why we even need to move. This is our home, right Wills?" Said Lottie, glaring at her mother's new husband, her sister shifted uncomfortably in her seat,
"Um.. I mean yeah, this is our home and it always has been, I don't know if I want to leave Professor Mal- Draco..?" She fumbled over her words awkwardly, looking down in her lap as she rubbed her fingertips together under the table.
"I think that if you give this place a chance, you'll grow to love it. We need the space and there's something for everyone. This really seems like a good choice to me." He smiled encouragingly, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"Okay..." Willow agreed hesitantly, she had never taken well to change but she trusted her mum and she trusted Professor Malfoy too so maybe this was going to be okay.
"Well, do I get any say in this?" Asked Regulus from his seat, peering over that morning's copy of 'The Daily Prophet', Erica laughed softly at her uncle's words, "No, not really Reg, I'm sorry" she shrugged as she placed glasses in-front of Draco, Scorpius and the twins.
"Yeah.. That's fair" He laughed, turning back to the paper.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Okay, So we have something to tell you all.." Began Draco Black as her stood with his arm around his wife in front of their three children. Lottie groaned loudly,
"Oh God... Last time this happened you were engaged to our teacher..."
"Charlotte, please..." Erica sighed, rubbing her stomach and leaning her head against Draco's shoulder, "Look, I'm going to just say it. We are pregnant."
...
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Erica excused herself and slowly, the rest of the family followed.