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The handsome brunette approached and if Lucian had at all been inclined toward men, he certainly would have swooned over the greeting Raph gave him. He knew from observation that those baby blues worked wonders on the ladies but the flirty looks only made Lucian chuckle. “So famous now we can’t even pour our own drinks? You pompous sod.” Loosh broke into a wide grin and embraced his friend’s lean build, the pool stick he was holding tapping on his friend’s bum accidentally but with perfect timing. Raph made a joke about Lucian’s post-baby body and Lucian patted his trim stomach. “Never thought I’d be able to lose it all.” Loosh had gained a couple sympathy pounds while Clementine had been pregnant, but nothing compared to the transformation his wife’s body had undergone. She had already lost a tremendous amount of the baby weight but there was still more to go. He only ever complimented her though, knowing from experiences with past girlfriends that total honesty was not always appreciated when it came to a woman, and besides, Clem still made herself presentable and put in the effort. She wasn’t one of those witches who gave up on everything just because they’d had a child. She really was a pretty perfect wife considering their situation, but Lucian needed some time away from her and the baby. He needed to go out with the lads – it was nearing three months since his last big night away – and most importantly he needed to be wooed by a sexy musician who called him Looshy Bear and complimented his physique. Handing Raph the pool stick, he turned toward the table where the pitcher of beer, his own glass, and an empty glass sat. “You break, pretty boy. I’ll pour the beers.” He turned his eyes up to Raph's. "And I expect that good time," he added with a cheesy wink.

It was his soon-to-be brother-in-law’s stag night and Lucian had decided weeks ago when the invitation had come that he wasn’t going to attend. Loosh enjoyed the Lestranges, they were quite the riot, but he was certain that one or both of them would have planned something that he wouldn’t be comfortable knowing about considering the following day Rab would be walking down the aisle to meet his sister. Lucian was loyal beyond most anything else and while he hated to admit to having favorites, Lilith was certainly the sibling he got on best with. Witnessing anything that might create an eventual rift in her marriage was not something Lucian intended on doing, so he was set against the idea of going and his wife’s pregnancy made the perfect excuse.

Until it didn’t.

He’d been hemming and hawing about it for days now, argue with himself but then reasoning that some of his best mates would be there and what sort of brother-in-law was he turning out to be if he wouldn’t even participate in the most basic of celebrations? He’d talked it over with Clem, deciding that yes she was extremely pregnant but there wasn’t much risk of her going into labor tonight, and he really would feel like shite if he missed all the fun. It was very last minute when Lucian kissed his wife farewell and headed out to meet the lads. The first step of that process was, of course, hitching a ride. Raph was already in the states, on tour with The Hook and he knew Rodolphus had plans to escort the groom-to-be himself, he wasn’t about to interrupt those plans. With little time to spare, Lucian turned up at Fin’s door, ringing the bell and asking if it was too late to hitch a portkey to Vegas with him. Of course it wasn’t and shortly they were on their way to Sin City where it seemed the rest of the party had already arrived.

“I don’t remember you buying that from me,” he said in a mock accusatory tone, walking into the posh hotel suite and seeing Roddy passing around a joint. “Can you believe this prick?” he asked Fin, a broad grin spreading across his face. Looking to Rabastan, his sister’s groom, he smiled. “We’re not hanging around here all night, are we lads?” It was a huge room, but Lucian had never been to Las Vegas and he was eager to take it all in. That was definitely a contributing factor in his decision to possibly observe some marriage-wrecking fiasco courtesy of the Lestrange brothers.

Lucian was growing impatient, he couldn’t imagine how Clementine was feeling despite witnessing for himself the excruciating looks on her face and guttural noises she produced as wave after wave of contractions hit. They were coming closer together now, hardly any time for her to recover before the next began. It was all Loosh could do to talk her through them as they hit her and sing her praises in the interim. She was sweaty and naked and growling like a beast but Lucian couldn’t help but be amazed by her all the same. Hours had passed, time had slowed, and the world around them disappeared before finally the healer announced, “it’s a boy”. Wrinkly, strangely colored, and not at all what Lucian had expected the child to look like, more alien than human at first glance, they finally had a son and he was perfection. Lucian smiled down at Clem in amazement as she grinned up at him. Their babe wrapped his mother’s arms looked so comfortable. “You did it,” he whispered to Clementine. They were parents now but the weight of what that would mean was pushed off for the joy that Lucian felt in that moment. He had a child, a son, and heir. He was a daddy.

Married life with a brand new baby was exactly what his parents had told him it would be. His relationship with Clementine was as strong as ever, having learned of her secret life and making himself a part of it to prove his support of her and their way of life, not to mention the ecstasy of seeing a perfect little mix of Burke and Nott asleep in his cot. Alexander was perfect in every sense of the word, right down to his perfectly functioning lungs. Lucian had spent much of the day at home with Clem and Alex but the crying was becoming a bit much for him to manage and he knew that if he didn’t have a reprieve soon he would snap at Clementine who was only doing her best to keep the babe quiet and content. Lucian couldn’t fault her for their child being fussy, it was what infants did best and Lucian had been warned not to expect silence in the home for some time. In fact, his mum had advised him that with a child, silence meant something worrisome was happening. That was not the advice Lucian had wanted to hear but he took it on the chin and reminded himself of it whenever the fussing became too much. Leaving with Clementine and Alexander with a nanny, in case Clem decided to have a witches night out as he had suggested, Lucian headed out to meet friends in an environment full of a completely different sort of raucous noise.

Not the sort of place one would expect a man of Lucian’s status to be found, he and his mates had agreed to meet up at the Rellik Tavern in Whimsic Alley for a few rounds of billiards and pints. The Hook had finished their most recent tour not that long ago, and Lucian had demanded that when Raph was back in town they would get together. Plans had been delayed with the arrival of Alexander Theodoric Lucian Burke but tonight everyone’s schedules had aligned, and Lucian stepped into the seedy dive bar and scanned the tables for signs of his rock star friend. Ordering a pitcher of beer and paying for a set of balls, Lucian set up the pool table and poured himself a glass of cold beer. He picked out a cue and chalked the tip, spotting his friend in the crowd and nodding his head in a silent greeting as he acknowledged the man’s presence.

A little lie down. Lucian smothered a smirk at his wife’s playful cleverness. No one would think anything of a woman as heavily pregnant as Clementine needing to excuse herself from all of the commotion of a party like this in order to rest for a moment. “Yes, let’s find you someplace quiet, sweetheart.” And far enough removed from the rest of the party goers that they wouldn’t be overheard. Clem’s moods were all over the place lately but the one thing Lucian always knew to expect in the last several months was for her to be ready to go at any moment. They had shagged many times before the wedding and plenty afterwards before they knew Clem was pregnant. It was hard for Lucian to really know at this point if the sex would always be this frequent and this willing or if this was all part of the added hormones in her system and the honeymoon phase of a brand new relationship. He tried not to be crass about it but he was becoming rather accustomed to the frequent tumbles and the spontaneous quickies and he certainly hoped they continued at the same rate after their child was born. Only time would tell but a man had needs and thus far Clementine was proving to be a proper wife on all accounts. Lucian escorted his wife away from the party and found them a suitable guestroom with a lock on the door.

Not her personally. Okay, well at least there was that small comfort. His wife wasn’t a murderer. Or she was and he’d just not picked up on the right news stories. It had been so hard to keep track, there was so much going on in the world these last few years and it seemed the chaos was increasing in recent months. The Daily Prophet was putting out an evening edition of their weekday papers just to keep up with all the news, and that was just what the press had caught wind of. If Clementine had been able to keep her part in this war a secret from her own husband for so long now, then surely there were others doing work that the press and authorities hadn’t discovered. Maybe the authorities were in on it. The potential depths to this revelation were seemingly endless and a thousand possibilities crammed their way into the forefront of his thoughts. He was getting a headache.

Clem tried assuring him that her priorities were still with their family and the life they were building together. She stood and moved closer to him, and instinctively Lucian moved towards her as well, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a warm cocoon-like hug, the bottle and empty glass in his hands clinking as they met behind her back. Resting his chin on the top of her dark hair, Lucian’s eyes remained unfixed as he tried to process everything. There was silence between them for a moment though it was quite noisy inside his head and he was finding their lounge not nearly quiet enough to take it all in. He needed fresh air. He definitely did not need the bourbon he was holding, that wasn’t going to allow him any faculties in coming to terms with this massive reveal. Kissing the top of her head, Lucian released the grip he had held on her, then looked down into her eyes. “I need some time with this,” he explained. He turned slightly and set the bourbon bottle and empty glass on the nearest surface he could find, then turned back to Clem. “But I’ll be back. I just need… to think.” Placing his hand gently on the bump where their child grew, Lucian looked at her belly then back to her face. He kissed her forehead, the only thing he could think of to try to put her mind at ease while his continued to race, then grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out the front door.

The night air was warm and despite the late hour there were still plenty of people on the street. He crossed the road under a streetlamp and headed toward a park that was frequently used by joggers. He wasn’t dressed for it but perhaps a short run might clear away the noise and allow him to process the news more rationally because other than the shock of it and the secrecy, it was all very rational news. On more than one occasion Lucian had partook in conversation of the proverbial water cooler regarding the statement this Dark Lord was making, the steps toward progress and the beliefs he espoused. It was all right in line with Loosh’s own beliefs. He’d been raised to understand the importance of the magical lines and he’d learned early on the detriment to society the muggles created. Lucian certainly supported the Dark Lord’s mission and to that end at least he could be certain his child would be raised by parents with an equal understanding of the importance of their kind and the threat the thinning of magical blood caused. Clementine’s affiliation, if nothing else, was a positive one. He could certainly get on board with this news. The fresh air was helping tremendously.

He’d been gone for more than two hours and when he returned he was sweaty from running and likely smelled of smoke and weed and whatever else was being smoked in the couple of groups of teenagers he passed loitering in the park. They were out too late to be up to anything good but it was summer and with no responsibilities, Lucian couldn’t fault them for wanting to find a little safe haven in the darkness of the otherwise abandoned park. Stepping softly on the plush carpet, Lucian entered their bedroom to find Clementine already in bed. He crept passed her and made his way to the en suite where he stripped down and stepped into the shower to rinse the smell of his run off him. Hair damp and skin cool, he slipped into the bed beside his wife and rested his head on the pillow beside hers. She still needed to cut back on her day, regardless of who it was she was working for, and Lucian had made up his mind as to how he could support her in that endeavor. “I want to help,” he said gently, not sure whether she was awake enough to hear him or if his words were falling on deaf ears.