Do you remember we were sitting there by the water? You put your arm around me, for the first time. You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter; you are the best thing that's ever been mine….

2006

"What shall we call it?" Parvati asked one night in January. She was six months into her pregnancy now. She sat down next to Dean on the couch and pulled the Daily Prophet out of his hands.

"Hmm, what?" Dean asked, jerking out of a doze.

"I asked what we should call the baby once it's born." Parvati repeated, shaking her head at her husband's antics.

"I dunno, how about Dean Junior for a boy and Parvati Junior for a girl." Dean muttered starting to close his eyes again.

"Oh no, you are not going to sleep on me." Parvati said, hitting Dean awake, "why are you so tired anyway?"

"I'm getting excess sleep so that when the baby comes I won't be tired." Dean mumbled, "Seamus told me that it worked with Tessa."

"Seamus is an idiot." Parvati snorted, "You can't get excess sleep, you can only catch up on it."

"Then I'm catching up on sleep." Dean said.

"You can catch up on sleep later." Parvati snapped, slapping him on the arm to stop him from going to sleep, "We're discussing baby names now."

"I told you, just Dean or Parvati junior."

"We are not naming our child after us!"

"Fine, what do you want to call it?"

Parvati thought for a second, "I was thinking Damon for a boy and Mira for a girl."

"Mira's nice, I like Mira." Dean said, suddenly sitting up straight, "not so sure on Damon though, any other boy's names?"

"Matthew?" Parvati asked and Dean shook his head, "David? Daniel?"

"Daniel!" Dean said, "I like Daniel, Daniel's a good name."

"So Mira for a girl and Daniel for a boy?" Parvati asked.

"Only if you're okay with that," Dean said.

"I'm more than okay with that." Parvati said, kissing him on the cheek. "Just think, In three months' time we'll have little Mira or little Daniel here." Parvati said excitedly.

"We'll really be a family then." Dean smiled, pulling Parvati into a hug and placing a hand on her swollen belly, "I've never looked forward to anything more in my life… with the exception of marrying you."

"Are you sure it's not just kicking again?" Dean said, his voice riddled with panic as Parvati clutched his arm.

"Of course I'm sure!" she moaned, doubling over as another contraction hit, "This baby is coming now!"

"But it's too early! It's not due for a month yet!" Dean exclaimed, breaking out into a sweat as Parvati leaned onto his shoulder.

"Babies can come early, you dimwit now get me to St Mungo's!" Parvati screamed. The contractions were three minutes apart now and Parvati estimated that they had started while she and Dean were eating lunch earlier that day. She had dismissed them as the baby being more active because of the fact that it was due in less than a month. But around eight o'clock, while they were curled up by the fire, they had started to become more painful, and then Parvati had felt hot liquid in between her legs, telling her that her waters had broken. This baby wasn't going to wait for March, it wanted to come out now.

Dean grasped Parvati's upper arm and turned on the spot just as another contraction hit and she cried out as she remembered the rule about not apparating when you were in labour. She immediately started to panic as they appeared in the reception of St Mungos.

Parvati's hands immediately flew to her swollen belly as another contraction hit her and Dean rushed up to the lady behind the desk.

"Hi, Dean Thomas, my wife has just gone into labour."

"Maternity is on the second floor, first door on the left." The witch said in a bored tone, but Dean was already supporting Parvati up the stairs.

"Dean." Parvati moaned, "We're not supposed to apparate while I'm in labour."

"Shit." Dean exclaimed, hurrying her faster up the stairs towards maternity, every possible complication running through his head. What if she lost the baby? What if the baby was born deformed? What if it was brain damaged? What if? What if?

They reached maternity just as another contraction slammed into Parvati.

"Hey can we get a bed?" Dean said, startling the Healers, but to their credit, three of them immediately started rushing around, making up a recently stripped bed and casting silencing charms around the curtains.

Dean helped Parvati onto the bed as the healer measured around her stomach.

"You're dilated eight centimetres, you'll soon be ready to push." She said, doing something with her instruments as another contraction hit and Parvati clutched at her belly. Dean slipped his hand into hers and she squeezed it hard. Damn she was strong.

Dean now knew what Seamus was talking about when he said that his hand hurt for days after childbirth. Dean was sure that Parvati had broken at least three of his fingers.

"Come on sweetheart," Dean encouraged at least four hours later, "Push."

"If you tell me to push one more time I will castrate you!" Parvati screamed, squeezing Dean's hand even tighter. The Healer assigned to them chuckled. Dean looked over at her with a quizzical look on his face.

"I've heard that one at least six times today."

"Yeah?"

"That and, "I will hex your face off" are the most popular. But my all-time favourite is "If you ever flash your man tool in front of me again I will kill you." That was some time last year." The healer laughed, bringing a smile to Dean's face.

"Oi! Can we focus on me for a second? I'm having a baby and you two are discussing the best insults that women rightfully throw at men during childbirth."

"I can see the baby's head." The healer announced, "This will all be over in about five minutes."

"Five minutes!" Parvati exclaimed, "I don't think I can last that long!"

"Sure you can," Dean encouraged, "You can do anything. Repeat after me, I can do anything."

"You're so ridiculous!"

"Come on, I can do anything."

"I can do anything." Parvati moaned as her face turned red as she pushed again.

"That's it." Dean said, "Again."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. Come on Parvati, you can do it."

"I can do anything, I can do anything, I can do anything." Parvati said in quick succession as she pushed.

"Here we go," The healer said, putting on some latex gloves and getting ready to catch the baby as it came out, "Come on, Parvati, one last push."

Parvati screamed bloody murder as she pushed harder than she had ever pushed before. Twenty seconds later, the cries of a newborn baby were heard. The healer beckoned Dean over as the healer wiped the baby off.

"Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?" she asked.

"What's that?" Dean squeaked, half in awe at the sight of his child, he couldn't see the gender at the present moment, and half in confusion as to what the hell the umbilical cord was.

"That thing," she pointed at the long, intestine like thing that was attached to his son's stomach. Dean pulled out his wand and cast a simple severing charm and his child was free.

"Here," the healer said, tying up the cord expertly, "It's a boy."

"A boy?" Parvati asked from the bed as Dean took his son with shaking hands. He was so small, so pink, so completely amazing. Dean walked to the head of the bed and handed their son to his wife. "Oh my gosh." Parvati said, tears immediately springing to her eyes at the sight of her son.

"He's beautiful isn't he?" Dean remarked, "He's got your nose."

"And your mouth." Parvati said, kissing his forehead softly.

"Have you decided on a name?" The healer asked and the two of them nodded.

"Daniel," Parvati said. "Daniel Thomas." The healer nodded and ducked out from behind the curtain, leaving the new family alone. Parvati looked up at Dean.

"That may have been the most painful experience of my life, but it was totally worth it." She said. Dean leaned down and kissed her.

"I love you so much." He said.

"I love you more."

AN: Well, that's the end!

If you've just found this story then I would love you forever if you told me what you liked and didn't like about it. If you've been following, I would love it if you'd keep them coming. They make my day.

Potter on

~The Original Horcrucx~