This fluffy little piece was written as a birthday gift for my friend Stephanie on 22 June 2004.

Narcissa drummed her fingertips impatiently against the desktop. Her legs were crossed, and one foot was bouncing madly. She wanted to get this done and find out- the sooner she knew, the sooner Lucius would know.

She fingered the rings on her left hand. She and Lucius had been married a precious short time before they'd decided to try this, and she was beginning to wonder if it hadn't been a mistake. Was she ready? Would she ever be ready?

She raised her fingers to her mouth and began to chew on her thumbnail. She knew it was undignified and not fitting for someone of her stature to have ragged nails, but at this precise moment, she really didn’t care. Besides, she had enough money that she could stop by somewhere and have the nail repaired before she saw Lucius again that night.

Where was that damnable MediWitch?

She stood and began to pace slowly. She was going to drive herself mad if she didn’t find some way to calm down, and soon. She stared out the window, wondering where her husband was at this very moment; what he was doing. Was he thinking of her?

She smiled softly to herself. He always thought of her, just as she always thought of him. She placed a hand over her flat belly and dared to hope as her hand tingled slightly. Before she could dwell on it any further, however, the door opened and the MediWitch she’d been mentally cursing moments before appeared.

She was smiling, which Narcissa took to be a good sign. She sat down and read something in her chart, then glanced back up at Narcissa.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Malfoy. You’re pregnant.” Relief and happiness washed over Narcissa, and she smiled broadly at the woman. She was given vitamin potions along with a pamphlet entitled “So You’re Going To Be A Mother.” She hummed to herself all the way home, trying to think of creative ways to tell Lucius the news.

When Lucius arrived home, a special dinner was waiting for him. All of his favorite things graced the table – the special herb bread that he liked, pasta with the creamy white wine sauce, and a myriad of other things that he hadn’t expected that evening. He looked up at Narcissa, who was glowing with happiness.

“Have I forgotten an important date?” he asked, frowning. He went through the big events in his mind. It couldn’t be their wedding anniversary; this was February, and they’d gotten married in December. It couldn’t be the anniversary of their first date; that had been in June. What was he missing?

“You haven’t forgotten anything, darling. I just wanted to treat you to a wonderful dinner.” He beamed at his wife. She really was the perfect wife, after all; considerate of his needs, loving, beautiful, trusting.

Light conversation peppered the meal, and when it was time for dessert, Narcissa instructed a particularly small house elf to bring in something special. Lucius eyed her curiously.

“I’ve prepared dessert myself, this evening.” He smiled. This was a rare treat, after all. Narcissa was an excellent cook; he’d discovered that first hand when they’d been dating. Since they’d married, he hadn’t had any of her cooking – really, there’d been no need, with the house elves to wait on them.

He watched as the house elf brought out a silver platter covered with a silver dome and sat it on the table in front of him. Narcissa watched him with sparkling eyes as he removed the lid.

His startled eyes flew up to meet hers, and his bottom lip began to tremble. A beautiful, small white cake rested on the platter- its only decoration a pair of baby booties.

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

“It does! Are you happy, darling?” He stood so quickly he knocked the chair over.

“I’m the happiest man alive!” Her laughter echoed through the Manor as he picked her up and swung her around.