A/n: Hello everyone! We are both over the moon that you are enjoying this story and your reviews have been great, really make our day. The story is coming to an end ( a few more chaps to go) and Ang and I decided to write them together so enjoy.
Chapter 25: Breakfast in Bed by Clayre and Ang
Minerva was acutely aware of someone watching her; she had always disliked people watching her sleep apart from one person. She always enjoyed waking up beside her husband to find him looking at her intently, love shinning from his eyes in the darkness. Her eyes flickered open and as they adjusted to the dim candlelight, they fell upon the sitting form of Albus Dumbledore.
She slowly sat up and detangled herself from her daughter's limbs; she looked at him and cocked her head to one side. She told tell he was weary by the slump in his shoulders, they were always the first thing she noticed when he was down and then his eyes would be full of sadness. His shoulders were slumped but his eyes shone in a way that she wasn’t overly familiar with, she couldn’t read his eyes and that alarmed her because she had always been able to. She shook herself mentally and told herself to remember that ten years had passed and that things would have changed.
"Albus," she said softly "your tired, come to bed!"
She would find out what Professor Cline had done in the morning, all she knew right now was that her family was together and they all needed rest. Albus' bed was big enough for all four of them to curl up together. Albus silently rose to his feet and slipped under his purple robe beside Evelyn.
Minerva lay back down and closed her eyes, trying to drift back into her slumber. Unfortunately, her mind kept wandering back to the man who was so close and yet so far away from her. The rhythmic breathing of her children could not even lull her back into rest so she did the only thing she could think of that had always soothed her enough to fall asleep.
Albus had been surprised but happily so to have been invited into the large bed. He would never have been bold enough to assume that Minerva would grant such a favour but once again, she had shown him that maybe it was possible to heal old wounds. And then it happened, just like she had done so many times in their marriage…before it had all gone wrong. Soft, nimble fingers reached out and began to thread themselves through his long, silky hair. Occasionally, the back of her hand would brush against the skin of his forehead or cheek causing him to shiver but only in the most delightful of ways.
Relaxation and a peacefulness washed over Minerva as her fingertips touched the smooth skin of her husband. So many nights she had dreamed of the way things used to be between them and the memories of how he felt to her touch always made her crave to be near him. Despite the warmth of the fire now burning lowly beneath the mantle, Minerva felt Albus shiver slightly. Not sure if it was from the coolness of the air or her touch, she was taking no chances. With a quietly muttered series of words, she transfigured the purple dressing gown into a large purple blanket, big enough to cover the entire bed and all of its’ inhabitants.
Snuggling beneath the warmth offered by the newly created blanket, Minerva kissed each of her children once more, offered up a word of thanks for their safe return, and whispered a ‘good night’ to Albus. Just before she slipped back into her dreams, she felt Albus’ strong hand capture hers and bring it to his lips in a soft kiss. Before she could process the series of emotions that flooded her at that touch, Albus had turned on his side and draped his arm across all three of the Dumbledore women, pausing for a second on Minerva’s body before reaching across to bring Abigail into the fold as well.
Abigail found herself woken up by the feeling of a soft hand resting upon her tummy; she had never been a heavy sleeper and presumed that she had inherited that from her mother. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around the darkened room, the last candle flickered out and plunged the room into darkness. Abigail turned her head to the side and saw the sleeping figure of her mother beside her. Abigail had always thought that her mother looked even more beautiful when she was sleeping and she had often referred to her mother as sleeping beauty from a muggle fairy tale.
The hand on her tummy didn’t belong to her mother and certainly did not belong to her town sister, that only left one person and that was her father. Abigail's heart skipped faster as she carefully moved herself into a sitting position, she had been right and it was her fathers hand on her. She smiled to herself as she saw that he had his arm over all of them, they looked like the perfect, happy family.
"Evie!" she whispered, she hoped she wouldn't wake her parents but Evie had to see this.
The young girl stirred as she heard her sister calling her name somewhere in the haze of sleep. She felt confined between two solid object, one of which was her mother. As she opened her eyes and filled her lungs with a deep breath, she distinctly caught a whiff of an all too familiar scent…lemon. Raising her head just enough to look over at her twin, Abigail’s bright eyes were shining back at her.
“Look!” she whispered. “Mum and Papa…in the same bed and so close.” Abigail was finding it harder and harder to control her excitement. She desperately wished that Evie wasn’t sandwiched between their parents so that her father and mother could find their way into each other’s arms.
“If I’m careful, I think I can scoot to the end of the bed,” Evie mouthed back, not trusting her whisper to be soft enough. With baited breath, Abigail slipped easily from her mother’s arm and placed her father’s hand on Minerva’s hip and watched from the foot of the bed as Evie carefully maneuvered herself from between her parents.
Each girl stood stock still, just taking in the sight of their parents so close and yet still not clasped tightly in an embrace. Breaking into the silence, Albus gave a small snort as if it was a strangled snore. Completely upon instinct and partly out of an old habit, Minerva rolled to her side and draped her arm over the sleeping form of her husband. In return, his grip tightened on her and two young girls broke into smiles.
"Does Papa always make sounds like that?" questioned Abigail
"That's quite quiet for him!" replied Evie with a grin as she pulled her sister away from the bed "Let's go to our rooms and leave them alone together."
Abigail looked at her parents and felt warmth seep through her entire body, her parents just seemed to fit perfectly together. They looked so at peace with one another, like they had spent the last ten years together. She wanted to watch them all night, she wanted to watch what her father did next.
"Abi," whispered Evie "come on!"
"Do you think they will be annoyed with us in the morning?" asked Abigail who still hadnt taken her eyes off their parents.
"No!" replied Evie "Look!"
Both the girls watched with silly grins on their faces as their father snuggled into their mother and even pressed a soft kiss in her temple. The two girls squeezed each other's hands and slipped out of the bedroom.
Once inside the safety of their own room with the door tightly shut, they burst into quiet giggles and excited shouts. They had no idea how long they four of them had been asleep or how long it would their parents to discover that they were once again missing. But the important thing was that both Albus and Minerva had apparently felt the familiar tug of the heartstrings. Otherwise, how could they have so easily slipped into a long forgotten sleeping pattern and embrace?
“I want to sneak back out and watch them, Evie. I want to remember the sight of them in each other’s arms,” Abigail admitted as she crept towards the door.
“No! You can’t. If we make one wrong move or a loud enough sound, we’ll wake them both and then the spell might be broken. If we just let them wake up together, maybe it will be easier for them to accept the possibility that they’re still in love.”
Abigail stared at her sister with understanding. “Fine. I have to admit that maybe it’s for the best. Besides, they can’t really express what they might be feeling if we’re watching them from the foot of the bed,” she giggled.
“Abi, you are so bad! Surely they wouldn’t do anything on the first morning! But a little kiss or two might not be a bad idea. We’ll just have to hope that Papa wakes up first. Now come on and let’s get some sleep. I have a feeling we’re going to have a long day tomorrow, especially after hearing what kind of wild story Professor Cline has told on us.”
The morning sun filtered through the gap in the curtains and caused Albus to wake first since he brought the bunt of the sun light. He had to admit that he had just had the best night's sleep in years, he hadn't slept so well since his wife had been beside him.
He looked to his side, thinking that one of the girls had snuggled up to him and was pleasantly surprised to see that Minerva was curled up against his chest just how she used to be before he had pushed her from him and their bed. He drank in every detail of her sleeping face, storing it away in his memory because he was sure that it would be a long time before they were like this again, if ever.
Her hair had been in a french plait the night before but throughout the night, ringlets of hair had escaped and were know curling around her face, framing it. The blackness of her hair and the creaminess of her face made her look like a porcelain doll, so delicate, so perfect and so fragile.
How he had missed her! His life had felt so incomplete without her and their other daughter in his life! He was so happy that they had returned to his life and he was sure that he wasn't going to give them up without a fight. He had a lot to prove and he was going to do just that. He looked down at her once more and was caught by surprise as two emerald green eyes framed with thick, black lashes looked back at him.
She smiled up at him timidly for she wasn’t sure exactly what had happened during the night. Two young girls had been in the bed with them and upon waking, Minerva found herself back where she had longed to be for ten years. She was snuggled deeply in Albus’ arms and Merlin it felt so good. She had not dared to move for fear that it would wake Albus and the spell would be broken. But as she dared to study his face once more, she found twinkling blue eyes, the crystal pools which had always been so expressive, staring back at her. Instead of harboring confusion or unhappiness, they were filled with something she thought she’d never see again…love.
“Good morning, my dear,” Albus whispered with a voice still rough from sleep. Shivers danced along Minerva spine at the seductive tone of his voice.
“Good morning to you too, Albus.” Minerva started to move from his arms but his hold on her strengthened almost imperceptibly, yet enough for Minerva to smile. “I…Albus…I have no idea how we ended up like this,” she stammered uncharacteristically.
“You will not hear me complaining, Minerva. I can’t remember a night since you left when I’ve felt this wonderful upon waking. It felt so good and so right to find myself holding you in my arms.” Thinking back to the night before and how it had felt to press his lips quickly to hers, Albus shifted slightly so that Minerva was laying in his arms, yet still on her back. His head lowered to hers and two hearts began to beat rapidly in anticipation. Minerva’s eyes fluttered shut as his lips grazed across hers ever so gently.
Just at that moment, Evie and Abigail decided to make their entrance along with two breakfast trays. Minerva pulled away from Albus and sat up quickly as the girls walked forward with smiles on their faces. Evie was acutely aware from the look on her father's face that they had interrupted something and she wished that she had managed to talk her sister out of bringing them breakfast in bed.
"Morning Mum," said Abigail as she sat the tray down on the bed "morning papa, did you sleep okay?"
"We both slept very well, didnt we Minerva!" answered Albus with a contented smile, he had been slightly disheartened when the girls had appeared at that exact moment but they had brought breakfast for them all so he couldn't be too annoyed
"Yes," she answered softly, she hoped that her cheeks weren't too flushed because she knew that Abigail would pick up on that and ask her "where did you two slip off to?"
Evie and Abigail looked at another, they had come up with an excuse and had been practising it since they had woken up an hour before their parents. Evie was meant to start but she seemed to be put on the spot and no words were flowing from her mouth so Abigail took over.
"We felt a little squashed," she answered "so we went to our room!"
“Yes, well you’re certainly not used to sleeping with three other people are you, Abigail? You never were one to stay still in a bed, always turning sideways, kicking off the blankets, never a minutes peace,” Minerva smiled before kissing her daughter on the tip of the nose.
“Nor you, Evie. You liked to stretch out in a bed. And I can’t count the number of times I’ve woken up the next morning with bruises on my legs where you’ve kicked me,” Albus chimed in and winked.
“Well, being in the middle of the two of you, I had to break free. You kept inching closer and closer to each other and I thought that if I didn’t move soon, I’d be trapped until morning,” Evie lied. In reality, she had been quite comfortable between her parents, feeling safe and secure being held between them.
Minerva and Albus both blushed at Evie’s comments. True, in days long ago, no matter where they had started on the bed at night, they always seemed to gravitate towards the other by morning. Even if they had gone to bed upset with one another, by morning all would be forgiven as they woke together.
“We’re sorry for disturbing you so early. It’s my fault. Evie tried to get me to wait to bring in breakfast,” Abigail said softly as she looked first to her mother and then to her father. She could tell by the pink hue on her mother’s cheeks that she had indeed ruined a perfect moment between her parents and her guilt was about to overtake her.
"Anyway," said Minerva who was trying to get the situation away from her current sleeping arrangements "we need to talk about what happened yesterday!"
To be continued
, but I love it! The touch with his dressing gown, and the unicorns was just wonderful. Can't wait for more (esp. if Minerva gets to go at Cline)
