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Wanting to be comfortable, Dora had brought her swimsuit in her handbag instead of wearing it under her dress like London had. It had been a smart idea earlier in the day but as trio were now at the pool it seemed like a poor decision on her part to pick comfort over ease. She was large enough that getting dressed was something of a production and Dora couldn’t fathom trying to wiggle her bottoms on under her dress out here by the pool. “I’m going to find – ” Ollie landed in the pool with an enormous splash that sent water spraying all around the edge of the pool. She turned away just in time to feel the splash against her backside, shielding her hair with her handbag, her sentence unfinished. “I’m going to change,” she hollered to her friends with a big smile, waving her handbag at them as she headed back toward the house where she had just come from. She could blame her scattered thought processes on pregnancy brain for another month or so, but after that she supposed she would have to actually think things through logically again. It was going to be so nice to not forget things sporadically anymore. She was lucky she’d remembered her swimsuit at all!

Hearing voices inside, Dora spoke before fully recognizing the scene she was walking in on. “Is there someplace I could change? A toilet or something?” Jasper was being helped onto a sofa by the hottie who owned the place, and there was blood smeared across Jasp’s face. “Merlin’s beard, Jasper! Are you alright?” She held her belly with the same hand she held her handbag with, balancing her drink gingerly so as not to spill any as she dashed the short distance over to where the two handsome men were, one standing taller than herself by a nearly half a foot (thank you, enormous heels), the other looking banged up and sitting on the sofa. “Were you that loud sound we all heard?” she asked, not at all considering that wound to the ego might not be at all healed yet. “Shit, I mean…” She looked between Jasper and the host, Leo – super hottie. She smiled and forgot herself for a moment. “I was swimming. Err… I was looking for a place to change. To go swimming.” She looked back to Jasper, his level of attractiveness not nearly as blinding as Leo’s, but only as a result of having known him as Ally’s big brother for so many years. “You look like you need a drink. Do you want me to…?” She raised her virgin cocktail as she gestured toward another part of the house, possibly to the living room where she and Ollie and Lola had fixed their drinks but being a bit lost in the new setting to really know if she was successful or not.

The stopping of the bus caused her large belly to jostle uncomfortably. Dora shifted in her seat but the bus was quickly zipping off once more before she’d found a more comfortable position. They were far and few to come by these days but she only had just over a month left, then she’d have a gorgeous little baby to show off and bring her all sorts of attention – not to mention her slender figure back. She was looking forward to that bit the most. There had been absolutely no way of knowing just how much of a strain pregnancy was going to put on her body when she’d decided to keep the thing, and now there wasn’t much left to do but wait and plan out her outfits for her post-baby figure. She had a dress in mind for leaving the hospital but it hadn’t yet dawned on her that she might need to also prepare an outfit for the baby. Not to worry, she’d been given loads of adorable little robes and booties, all hanging up in the nursery’s walk-in wardrobe.

Hearing Hogsmeade had been fixed right up was nice, she didn’t like the idea of the rubble just laying there in the street. Though, why wouldn’t it have been sorted? She chastised herself silently for even questioning whether or not the village had been rebuilt, it was the only completely non-muggle village in Scotland. It had to be top priority for the Ministry. Her lapse of good judgement could easily be explained away as pregnancy brain, and she would blame her sudden craving on the baby as well. “Feel free bring me a bit of chocolate on your way home. We’ll count that as my birthday gift from you. You’re such a gentleman, Jas.” She winked at him and gave him a flirty smile, happy to know that he was gentlemanly enough not to be outwardly disgusted by her enormous stomach if she flirted with him a little. She was hardly going to do anything, given her state, and the fact that he was Ally’s big brother – alright, it was mostly her current state that was keeping her knickers on but he was still in mourning after the loss of his wife so it was hardly an appropriate time.

Pacing in her socks across the white tiled floor had felt unnatural at first – she ought to have been in heels and at least four inches taller than this – but short of wearing an actual hole in the floor, she’d been pacing long enough that she’d grown accustomed to it. It was soothing to her mind while she waited for the next contraction which was still several minutes after the last. They were supposed to become even more frequent in the very near future and pacing helped Dora to keep her mind occupied. It was work waddling back and forth, counting the tiles on the floor, the steps from the bed to the window, the tiles on the ceiling, and even the minutes since her mum had disappeared – she’d lost track after 13 or so. She was halfway between the window and the bed when the pain returned, causing Dora to cry out to the empty room and stop in her tracks. Unknowingly, she held her breath again as she bore through the anguish, making it a few steps further toward the bed and finally being able to grab hold of the blankets to keep herself from cutting open her palms with her own painted fingernails. The tears fell again and she called out for her mummy but no one answered except the pain. It seemed to last even longer than the last time, taking nearly all of her energy with it.

Groaning, Dora let her head fall forward onto the bed, her legs spread to support her in the strange position that seemed the most comfortable she could manage at the moment. A few deep breaths later she wiped away her tears yet again, just as a knock came at the door. “I thought you’d left-” Her hopeful tone was cut short as she realized the person entering the room was not her mother, but the healer Rebekah had gone off to retrieve. At least she’d given her daughter this tiny favor before disappearing. “Oh, you’re not my mum,” she said sheepishly, easily recognizing the tall, dark skinned man was in fact not Rebekah Parkinson. Brushing the limp strands of hair from her face, Dora straightened herself up and looked at the man better. Had he not been smiling, Dora might not have recognized him straight away. She’d only just met him last month, but that smile was something a girl couldn’t easily forget.

“Euphadora,” she said with a nod, in case he was unclear why her paperwork might not match the name he’d been given at the barbecue. It was a long name and most people shortened it naturally. Dora was much better than “Euphie” as she’d been called as a young child, but never by her parents. They had always called her Euphadora and though in reality both Heath and Rebekah had probably done so with a distasteful tone more often than a caring one, Dora had always imagined her father used her full name out of love. Any bloke who called her Euphadora had an instant in with the raven-haired beauty. It made her swoon at just the sound of it. She tucked her hair behind her ears, face puffy and eyes still glistening from the recent pain, but she tried to make herself the tiniest bit more presentable. “Lo didn’t tell me you worked maternity.” She ought to have, given Dora’s state. Dora pulled at her flowery robe, covering the dreary blue hospital gown she wore and the relatively giant boobs the pregnancy had afforded her temporarily. She still wasn’t used to having such a heavy front-side, but it had come in handy for boosting her continually falling self-esteem, though it did nothing to actually help her with all the randiness she’d been feeling throughout the ordeal. Her clearly pregnant belly seemed to scare all the handsome ones right off. She was pleased to be at the end of it all.

Having a place to easily set the baby down wherever she was did sound like a nice perk, and if she couldn’t afford the bassinet on her own, surely Fin would help her out just a little bit more. He always spoiled her, and were Dora in the position to do so, she would spoil him right back. She was already making plans for how to properly thank him for the tremendous gift that was her new home, but that would have to wait until she wasn’t carrying around a sodding beach ball in her belly. She could just set the baby down in his or her little bassinet in the corner, invite a few girlfriends over, and thank Fin all night long. What were friends for, if not for hiding dildos around one’s home or organizing a thank you orgy?

“Perhaps a touch of gold, as well, if it’s a girl. And silver and blue would look smashing.” With Clem’s help, she was beginning to see the potential of this barren space for the first time. Decorating the rest of the home had been no hassle at all, she’d been glad for it, but every time she had attempted the nursery she drew a blank. On her better days she reasoned it was because she didn’t know the sex and she most certainly would not be having one of those dull gender-neutral green or yellow nurseries. But that was only on the good days. On the bad days, the days becoming more frequent the rounder her belly grew, she knew the real reason she couldn’t decorate the baby’s room. The baby wouldn’t love Dora the way she would love it, if she could love it at all. She wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love, least of all a child’s. She would be as distant as her own mother was to her even without trying. She couldn’t even get Baby Alec to quiet down. Clem was such a better mummy than Dora would ever be, everyone knew that, but having her friend’s positivity around her was beginning to make Dora feel the inciest bit better. “When did you have Alec’s nursery done?” she asked hopefully. If Clem had put things off too, then perhaps these feelings were natural.

One hand on her stomach, the baby wriggling wildly with confusion as to what was happening in the outside world, and the other hand gripped tightly on the arm of the seat, Dora breathed deeply. “I certainly didn’t plan for it,” she said of her trip on the Knight Bus, under her breath and mostly to herself but Jasper was sitting just beside her and at this very moment she didn’t much care whether he heard her or not. Her remark was easily explained away by the surprise little one she carried in her belly or any other number of excuses. Did anyone ever really plan for a journey on this horrid bus if they could at all avoid it?

“Home, actually. I’ve just had a visit with my mum. She’s very excited to be a gran soon.” A bold faced lie, but Dora sold it well or at least she thought she did. The Parkinson’s had years of practice hiding conflict from the rest of society, even if Dora refused to acknowledge it herself. She was still firmly under the belief that her father had adored her and that she had had a happy childhood. She planned to give her own little one a happy childhood just as she believed she had had, any maybe Rebekah Parkinson would look more favorably on the situation come the time. “Where are you off to, in the gloriously monstrous vehicle? I would think you’d have better means of travel, unless…are you also pregnant? My, what marvels will magic come up with next?” She grinned at her own joke, pearly white teeth flashing at him.

Not ever having been close enough to anyone who’d had any real trouble with the law, other than her daddy who had been assaulted by a madman before the MLE could even get involved, Dora thought nothing of making jokes about Azkaban babies. She laughed and rubbed her belly with her free hand. “I do look good in stripes.” She sipped her drink as Ollie pondered his entrance into the pool. “Yes, yes! Belly flop! Oh,” she said with a sudden look of concern. “But don’t get my hair wet.” Her concern faded into a bright smile, showing she was only teasing. She’d placed all sorts of vanity charms on herself today, making sure she’d look phenomenal at the pool. Her scars were covered as well as their severity would allow and her hair was enchanted to stay silky smooth even when wet. She was the size of a quidditch pitch, but she would be the most attractive witch at the party in spite of it. Lola coming in a very close second. Black hair bouncing as Dora nodded in agreement with venturing outside, she turned on her tall heels, looping her arm in Ollie’s. “So which one of these cougars are we setting Ollie up with, Lo-Lo?” she giggled and smiled at Oliver, knowing he was just like his brother when it came to ladies, all nerves and flushed cheeks.

Green eyes scanned the room, a happy expression on her face. She was feeling a little brighter with all the compliments about her good taste. Clem was always good for that. A warm baby in her arms didn’t hurt much, she supposed, but Alex was really an afterthought. Had he not felt so uncomfortable in her arms, she would have forgotten he was even there, he was so quiet. That was a good sign. Dora didn’t want a noisy baby, she already had Mimi who barked a bit when company came over or when the squirrels were teasing her from the trees. “I think this will be a nice spot for reading,” she said of the windowed corner where one of the two chairs was positioned. “Lots of natural light.” It was a lovely spot, though she rather enjoyed the little set up she had going in the attic, too.

Clementine asked if she was extending herself too far, and Dora shook her head immediately, not even allowing herself to mull over the question. “Oh please. Decorating is hardly a chore. If someone would pay me to do it, I’d quit the Starlight in an instant.” Dora waved off her friend’s concern as she headed back out into the hallway and towards the dining room. “I expect to do plenty of entertaining in here,” she said softly, stepping into the hunter green room and adjusting Alex in her arms again. He was getting heavy and she couldn’t imagine holding him all day as some women she’d seen doing with their babies. “Fin will be doing the cooking, of course, unless you’re in the mood for inedible swill.”

Looking to the large built-in cabinets on the long wall which were empty, Dora explained. “My gran had some lovely china that I think would look absolutely stunning in there, if I could ever get the shrew to part with it.” Her mother, whom she’d not spoken to since before she became pregnant, had been rather difficult about allowing Dora to have anything of value, her family’s ashes included. The urns on the mantle of the sitting room were mostly empty, save for a small amount of ashes just enough to fill up a small vial each. Dora didn’t care, it was her brother and father and whatever bit of them she could keep with her she would cherish. The family heirlooms, however, would likely not pass on to her until Rebekah died. Many times over the years Dora had wished it had been her father that had been mysteriously released by their captor, her mum left to starve to death in a shipping container at the docks. Everything could have been different then, but fate had decided Heath was too good for this world and he was taken from it, Theon too, leaving only the wretched Parkinson women. Dora inhaled and turned, looking at another wall where a bar cart stood, empty save for a bottle of Fin’s favorite liquor.

The tour continued, Dora showing off the kitchen which would see lots of failed attempts at cooking over the upcoming years, and perhaps a few successes whenever someone more capable offered to cook for her. The back patio was a lovely place to hand baby Alec back to his mummy as he started fussy and Dora looked visibly flustered as his face reddened and he wailed. They sat outside for a moment with a pitcher of lemonade, allowing the child to settle and to watch Mimi run around the garden before they continued on roaming around the house, heading upstairs to take a peak at the bedrooms. “I’ve no idea what to do with this one,” she said, coming into an empty white room. It was a completely blank slate. She didn’t have so much as a cot yet, but the bones were good. Two large windows sat catty corner to each other, free of curtains or shades or anything to keep the late winter sun out. There was a little alcove separated by a nice arch with a built-in bookshelf tucked out of the way, and on the opposite wall was a large, empty wardrobe. “The rest of the place was easy as pie but I honestly have no idea what to do with a nursery.” She looked to Clementine hopefully.