She couldn’t help but smile at the normality of this, even when he was asleep he was demanding and had to get his own way. She had just decided that she might as well just go back to sleep as it didn’t look like she had much chance of freeing herself when Severus, who she thought was still asleep, began to deftly unbutton her pajama top.
“I believe it is customary for couples to forgive each other and make up after they have fought,” he purred in her ear. He eased the shirt off of her, his hands moving over her soft skin.
“Hmmm… I think I just want to go back to sleep for awhile.” She found that in the light of the early morning she was no longer angry, but she was also feeling more than a little impertinent. She rolled over onto her stomach and buried herself further under the covers.
She hid her smile when the blankets were roughly ripped off of her, “I’m cold… do you think I could have those back?” she asked as sweetly as she could. There was a none too gentle tug on her flannel pants, and they soon joined her shirt across the room, thrown haphazardly to the floor.
“This would be much less difficult if you would sleep naked.”
“I’m sure you would enjoy that,” she muttered into her pillow. She suddenly didn’t feel at all playful anymore. How was it that they could be arguing bitterly and then only a few hours later her husband was doing his best to seduce her and she was playing right along… it didn’t feel normal. It didn’t feel right. She realized that she was very confused and she had no one to talk about it with. It was times like this that she wished she had a mother. Of course Minerva had offered her time if she ever needed to talk… she was pretty sure she knew what her husband would think of that. Especially if their sex life were discussed…
“What are you thinking of now?” Severus had noticed the change in his wife. The way she had tensed. He ran the backs of his fingers up and down the backs of her thighs. They had come a very long way. When they first married she would blush and try to cover herself when he saw her naked. Now, even though something had upset her, she was laying there and letting him pet her. He rolled her over so that she was lying on her back. It afforded him a very pleasant view.
“Just trying to figure out how the same man who called me a petulant brat, along with some rather choice language, is the same man who is currently…” her eyes fluttered shut as she tried to speak while he did that with his hand, “who is currently… oh gods Severus, you won’t even let me have a conversation with you.”
“Words are not everything.”
Thankfully, or perhaps not… she had rather liked his attentions to that sensitive area, her husband moved his hand away, “I’m just trying to understand you and our relationship, and it’s rather hard to do if we don’t talk.” She sat up and primly covered herself with the sheet. She found it was much easier to concentrate if she was properly covered. Her husband may wish that she spend all of her time in his presence sans clothing but she most certainly did not share that feeling. She had forced herself to become comfortable while wearing very little or nothing to please him when she had to, but she didn’t really enjoy it. She realized she was still rather shy around her husband, but she was doing her best to hide it. She turned her head away when he tried to kiss her. She managed not to outwardly cringe at the flash of annoyance she saw in his eyes in response to that.
“Yesterday was trying for both of us,” Severus said, carefully maintaining an even tone of voice that didn’t quite mask his growing frustration with his wife, “I was merely trying to make it up to you.”
“A simple ‘I’m sorry I acted like a pompous and uncaring arse’ would have been more than sufficient,” Morgan snapped. She had no idea why she had the sudden urge for a good long cry. Stop that! she firmly commanded herself, you have no reason to get all teary over nothing, besides, it’s not your fault he is so impossible to get along with. “Don’t!”
“Don’t what?” Morgan asked in confusion.
“Don’t you dare start crying. You were altogether impossible yesterday and I will not sit here let you attack me while you wallow in self pity.”
Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and turned away while she tried to calm her breathing. What could have been a pleasant morning spent in bed was quickly turning out to be even worse than the day before. She sniffed once as she tried to control the flood of tears threatening to spill over. Somehow being ordered not to cry made the need that much greater.
“You do not feel well,” Severus commented as he rested one hand on Morgan’s shoulder, he could feel the slight way she was trembling.
“And how is it that you know what I’m feeling better than I am?!” Morgan lashed out. Although now that she stopped focusing on the need not to cry she realized that she was feeling a bit nauseous, and she had been tired lately. She sighed, the last thing she needed was to be sick again. She hated being sick.
“Get dressed and I will take you to see Poppy,” Severus commanded, fully expecting to be obeyed.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine after a few more hours of sleep,” Morgan insisted as she leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She could practically feel her husband frowning at her in disapproval. She almost smiled. Once she had ascertained that he would not strike her she found a small level of enjoyment in antagonizing him.
“You will see Poppy, and that decision is not up for debate.”
“Really Severus, I don’t think…”
“Even if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you up there as you are now,” he threatened silkily.
Morgan’s eyes flew open as she tried to gauge the seriousness of her husband’s threat. One look at his eyes and she was reaching for the robes she had discarded by the side of the bed and quickly pulling them on. Being carried to the infirmary, as though she were no more than a sack, while completely starkers was not how she planned on starting her day. No matter how ill she felt she was going to walk there on her own two feet. “You don’t need to go with me, I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own,” she hoped her husband would take the not so thinly veiled hint and leave her be.
“No, I will escort you there,” his tone clearly conveyed that if she argued with him again the consequences would not be to her liking. So he took her arm and saw her to the infirmary, using one of the secret passageways so that they would not be seen.
“Really Severus, you can leave, I’m here now, there’s no point in you staying while Poppy looks me over,” Morgan used her small hands to try and push her husband back towards the door.
Poppy took care of the matter for her, “out! Let my patient be, I will personally see her back to your rooms.” Severus, surprisingly, acquiesced to Poppy’s demand with little fuss.
“I wish he would listen to me like that,” Morgan mumbled under her breath before answering the questions Poppy starting throwing at her. In between she kept up a ranting monologue, not sure if the nurse was actually listening or not. “He has two completely different personalities and I can’t stand either of them. Either he is wallowing in guilt and it takes all of my effort to keep him from harming himself or he’s completely in control. And that means that he’s trying to control me. He’s overbearing and infuriating and…”
“Sounds to me as though you’re starting to fall for your husband,” Poppy put in as she watched test results spilling out of the tip of her wand in a white ribbon of light.
“What?” Morgan was sure the nurse hadn’t been listening, how could one deduce from what she had said that she was… it was absolutely preposterous!
“Child, it may take you awhile to see it for yourself but its there. You’ll recognize it in time. Now then, I do believe I know exactly what the cause of your discomfort has been. Although I can’t believe it has taken you this long to come to me…”
~~~~~~~~~~
Severus had hung around long enough to see that Morgan returned to their quarters safely. However, all she had told him was that she just needed to lay down for awhile. Satisfied that she would be perfectly fine if he left her alone he went to his office to work on some grading. However, even over dinner his wife was far too quiet. Since she had started to lose her shyness around him their meals together had grown to be quite pleasant. She would do most of the talking and as long as her questions didn’t lead into inquires about his youth or time with the Death Eaters he was usually pleased to indulge her. Tonight she was silent and it worried him. He may find her irritating and a bit young for his tastes at time, but he was concerned for her well being. He found that he cared enough to want to take care of her.
Morgan played with the food on her plate, not feeling at all hungry. She had felt her husband’s eyes on her throughout this overly long meal. She could tell he was waiting for her to eat something. It was one of the things he usually criticized her about, how little she ate… she sighed and pushed the food around a little bit more. “Perhaps I’m still not quite feeling my best,” she finally offered with a small smile.
Severus gave her a curt nod and offered her his arm for the few steps to the couch in front of the fireplace. He was about to ask her if there was anything she needed, feeling uncommonly generous, probably due to their arguments of the last couple of days, when she finally found her tongue.
“Severus, do you want to have children?”
He raised his eyebrow at the sudden question but had a ready answer, “perhaps in a few years. I would not be opposed to having one or two children. I would like a son to carry on the family name, but I’m certainly not going to breed a family the size of the Weasleys just trying for a son. I suppose I would not be adverse to a daughter. But I have no wish for a large family, and I am currently too involve in my research and other matters to wish to start a family now.” He supposed the polite thing would be to turn the question back on his wife, “and you? I suppose you wish to have children?”
“Yes,” Morgan answered slowly, “but I’ve always wanted a large family… I guess because I want a chance to fix all the mistakes my own father has made. I want to prove that I am different.”
Severus snorted, “and my own father is precisely the reason I have no strong desire for children. I survived the horror he put me through and it is obvious how it affected me. I have no desire to repeat the process in any way.”
“Severus…” Morgan inched herself away from him a few inches, starting to fear his response, “I’m pregnant.”
It took several seconds for her words to sink in. “How…?”
“If you don’t know that by now I’m not explaining it to you,” Morgan snapped.
“That is not what I meant,” Severus replied in an equally angry tone, “I merely meant that we have only been married a few short months, I did not expect…”
“I’m about three months along.”
“How. Did. It. Take. You. Three. Months. To REALIZE THAT YOU WERE PREGNANT?!” his voice rose uncontrollably as he pinned his wife to her seat with his dark eyes.
“I don’t know,” Morgan said weakly, “I’ve never been pregnant before, and I don’t have anyone to talk to, and I thought I was just tired because of stress, and I…” the next thing she knew she was sobbing uncontrollably and even though she didn’t want to she had thrown herself into her husband’s arms. She didn’t want to be there, but she hadn’t given herself a choice. She ended up crying herself to sleep and he carried her to bed.
When she woke in the morning there were a dozen yellow roses sitting next to the bed. She fingered them questioningly before realizing that her husband was watching her.
“I expressed myself poorly yesterday,” Severus said, mask carefully in place, “I am pleased with your condition although it was not planned. I’m sure you will want to talk to Poppy and Minerva. They will be here for lunch and I am sure they will be able to offer you plenty of advice.” He cleared his throat as though he had something else he wanted to say. But he changed his mind and left the room in a swirl of black cape.
Morgan turned back to the flowers. She realized they were an apology, but she would have rather heard the words. As she fingered the soft petals she found that she was smiling. Her left hand, slightly trembling, rested on her stomach. She was pregnant. She couldn’t wait to tell Minerva. And she wished she had more women in her life to share the news with.