Bitter Chocolate - (A 'Veronica Weasley' sequel) || Draco Malfoy

50 - Regrets

As time went on, my stomach started to grow.

"Will the baby have my bed?" Scorp asked, frowning as he watched me stroking my rounded belly from where I lay exhausted on the sofa.

"Of course not, Scorp," Draco answered, placing a mug of herbal tea by my side before planting his lips against my sweaty brow. "That's why we're doing the other room up - a nursery for your little brother or sister."

"Can we have a girl baby?" Scorp asked eagerly. "Can we call her Rosie?"

Draco and I simultaneously froze as our eyes met.

A month had passed since the incident with Rose. And even though I stayed in touch with Hermione, I kept finding excuses as to why Scorp couldn't play with Rose. However, Scorp kept asking when he was going to see his friend again and it broke my heart.

But Draco was adamant that Scorp stay away from her; fearful of seeing his son terrified of him again. We both spent a lot of time reassuring and convincing Scorp that his daddy wasn't a bad man and would never hurt his mummy on purpose.

"He let me read him a story again tonight," Draco beamed happily one night as he crawled into bed beside me and pulled me into his embrace.

He then instantly jumped back, looking down at me in concern. "Merlin, Ronnie; you're burning up! Are you feeling alright?"

"It's just a little temperature," I shrugged. "I probably just picked something up, that's all."

But Draco shook his head, alarm flickering in his grey eyes. "You've not been well for a long time. Tomorrow, we're going to see a Healer. And no arguments; we're not taking any chances."

The Healer was adamant it was just a 'touch' of morning sickness.

"Plenty of rest and lots of fluids." He prescribed. "And stress needs to be avoided at all costs. It's time to start putting mother and baby first."

Draco refused to let me lift a finger after that; insisting I lay on the sofa whilst he looked after me.

"I'm not a fucking invalid," I growled when he stopped me from getting up to go and make a cup of tea.

I was angry, I was frustrated, and above all; I was scared. I had never felt this drained when I was pregnant with Scorp. The dizziness was frightening me. Some days it felt like the life was slowly being sucked out of me. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep.

And I could see the same fear reflected in Draco's eyes. I would sometimes just catch him looking at me; his expression sad and drawn.

I even woke up one morning to the sight of the blond haired Slytherin looking down at me, his grey eyes rife with sadness, as if he'd been crying.

"Draco, what's wrong?" I breathed, my heart constricting in my chest.

"I hate myself for all the years that I hurt you," he said, his voice cracking.

"Draco, stop." I said, sitting up to face him. "You need to quit punishing yourself. We got through it and now we're here, we have our little family, and I couldn't be happier."

"We could have had longer together. I- I regret that. I regret that I wasn't there for you after the war. I regret ever thinking I was better off married to another woman. I regret that you felt you couldn't tell me when you fell pregnant with Scorp."

"Draco, what is this?" I asked, my pulse quickening dangerously. "You're scaring me."

He quickly pulled me to him, his arms wrapping tightly around me as he peppered kisses over my face. "I love you so much, Ronnie. I should have always put you first. And I'm never going to make that mistake again. From now on, you come first with me every time."