the beginning of a new life

Today was the day, today was the day that Maura found out what the gender of her baby was going to be.  Although Maura was hoping for a girl, but she honestly didn't care what she had  she just just glad to be pregnant with Ryo's child.  Although she haven't seen him in ages,  she knew he was always with her, in her heart, dreams and in the beautiful baby they created together that was inside her.  She missed him like crazy though,  she missed his hugs and his kisses but she missed nothing more then just being in his arms.  Oh god, how she missed his strong arms around her, it was like her heaven and her Paradise when he had his arms wrapped around her holding her close to him.  But lately she been feeling like she been living in a black and white world with no color, without him her life was dark gray and all alone, although she knew she wasn't that how she felt without him.

Walking down the corridor Maura walked down the long corridor heading towards ObGyn department to meet Sophia for her appointment she had with her.   Pushing the elevator she pushed the 3rd floor button as the doors closed as it started heading up.  First floor.... Second floor... Third floor ObGyn.  Walking out the elevator Maura walked up to the counter and smiled.  "Hi, my name is Maura Goldstein I have appointment with Healer Sophia Granger today."said Maura softly.  "Of course dear, please sign in and Sophia will be with you shorty."said the nurse as Maura nodded and took the quill and signed her name on the parchment.

Taking a seat in a plump chair Maura heard a dang from a elevator and looked up hoping to see Hallie or Ryo walking towards her. Every time she heard the elevator ding she looked to see if it was Hallie or Ryo.  Sighing to herself Maura decided to give up on them coming at all,  she knew they were probably busy at the ministry and didn't have time to come which she understood. Although Maura wrote to them letting them know that today was the day she would find out what she was having.  Sighing to herself she put her hands softly on her small but round stomach before drifting off to sleep.

Sometimes Ryo didn't know how he managed to balance all the things he had to do. He wasn't sure how he could manage to do much either. As a Substitute professor, Ryo lived at the castle in case he was needed. But he left almost every morning very early to get to the Ministry to go through piles of papers and assignments he gets.

He sat in his cubicle, rummaging through papers to find an assignment he had gotten and completed. He just needed the paper to sign it and hand in his report to Rivah. But instead of finding the paper, he found a still sealed envelope that Ryo hadn't seen before. He turned it around and saw the handwriting on the front. It belonged to Maura. He immediately opened the envelope and read the letter inside.

The ex-Hufflepuff couldn't believe he'd lost that letter. But it most likely hadn't been his fault. His mail was normally dropped onto a pile of papers he had and was often lost when he had work to do. As he read it, he checked the calendar on the wall of his cubicle to check the date. Today was the date Maura had written in the letter. She was going to find out the gender of their baby. He couldn't miss that, he wouldn't.

Quickly gathering his things and putting everything in order on the desk, Ryo ran out of the office and apparated to St. Mungo's to be with Maura. He couldn't leave her alone on a day like this. He entered the hospital and went up to the floor she'd described in the letter and when the elevator door opened he looked around and found Maura sitting in the waiting room, asleep.

He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his lips and he walked over to her. "Mars..?" He called softly, tapping her on the shoulder carefully. He didn't want to startle her.

Feeling a tapping on her shoulder and a familiar voice calling her name, Maura opened her eyes and smiled as she seen Ryo before her. "Hey...."said Maura in her sleepy voice before letting out a small yawn. "I missed you so much, I'm so glad your here!"said Maura softly before standing up and hugging him.

Maura didn't know when the last time she saw Ryo, but it felt like forever to her. Over the last few months Maura been going crazy without him around, but she somehow managed to get over it once she found out Ryo was a Substitute professor at Hogwarts. Just when she thought she'll see him at Hogwarts, her stupid schedule would get in the way not allowing her to see him.

Although she wasn't worried about that now, he was here now and that was all that mattered. "So... are you ready for today Ryo love?"Maura asked him softly. "What do you want to have? be honest."said Maura softly. She knew most guys wanted a boy so they could carry on the last time and they would be his pride and joy and etc.

Maura remember her mum telling her that his father was upset when he found how that Maura was a girl, but over the years she became his baby girl he loved. He didn't want that with Ryo, she hoped no matter what they had he'll be happy.

"Ryo... will you be happy with what we have?"Maura asked him curiously. "I don't want you to be disappointed in me..."said Maura softly. "I don't want to disappoint you."said Maura softly looking down at her stomach. "That's the last thing I want to do."said Maura softly but honestly.

He honestly hadn't thought about that at all. It wasn't something that really mattered to him though, he would be happy with whatever gender their baby was. He loked down at Maura and shrugged. "Honestly?" He stopped for a moment. "I don't really mind what gender our child is. I think I'd prefer a girl though." He told her.

He wasn't sure why but he'd always wanted a girl. Maybe it was because he grew up without his mother and with a sister who seemed to abhor him for no reason. He sighed softly and hugged Maura. "Don't worry about that Mars." He couldn't believe she was thinking like that. He honestly couldn't. There was no way she would disappoint him. It wasn't a possibility.

"There's no way you'll ever disappoint me Mars.. I love you and I'll love our baby no matter what gender he or she will bem I promise." He told her, softly stroking her cheek before he leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. He wasn't going to let her believe she was going to disappoint him. Because it was something that wasn't ever going to happen.

"What do you say that after we finish here with Sophia, you and I have lunch together?" He asked her. He wanted to spend some time with Maura and their child since they hadn't been able to since the summer after he graduated.

Maura looked at him and nodded. "I'm sorry I asked you that Ryo, I guess I'm just scared that I'll disappoint you although I should of known that would never happen."said Maura softly. Maura didn't know why she asked him such a silly thing, Ryo loved her no matter.

Maura smiled when he said he wanted a girl. "I want a girl as well love, I don't know why but I just always wanted a girl."said Maura honestly. "But there's something telling me that were going to get our wish."said Maura softly. "I don't know how to describe it, but it's I can feel that it's a girl."said Maura softly.

"Sure love, that would be great!"said Maura softly before kissing him softly on the lips. As the doors opened she seen Sophia walking towards them she looked at Ryo and smiled happily. "I been waiting for this day to come since I found out I was pregnant Ryo, I can't believe it's finally here!"said Maura happily.

"Sophia, Ms. Goldstein is here for her appointment with you."said one of the nurses as she headed Maura's file.  "Thankyou, I'll take care of it from here."said Sophia softly.  Looking at Maura's file she seen Maura was healthy, so that meant the baby had to as well. Althoug Maura was in here a couple of weeks ago due to getting burnt in the Hogwarts fire, she was glad she was doing good.

Walking down the corridor and though the door she smiled as she seen Maura, but smile wider as she seen Ryo with her.  "Hello Maura nice seeing you again, and Ryo hi long time no see!"said Sophia smiling at him.  "Ready to see what you two are having?"Sophia asked them softly as she seen Maura nodding.  "Ok... great, follow me to room two."said Sophia softly as she lead them into room two.

Flipping on the light there was a comfy bed with a montor above them.  "Maura, I'm going to ask you you to lay down for me, Ryo you can sit beside on the bed if you like."said Sophia softly. "Before I start Maura, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do."said Sophia softly.  "I'm going to put this lubricant on you and take this white stick and run it over your belly and that's it."said Sophia honestly.

"I already warmned it up for you, so whenever you two are ready we'll begin."said Sophia softly as seen Maura nodding.  "Ok... Maura I need you to take off you shirt."said Sophia softly as she seen Maura taking off her shirt.  Putting the  lubricant on her stomach, Sophia took the white stick and gently placed it on Maura's stomach.

"Ok... here we go."said Sophia softly as she moved the stick gently on Maura's stomach some. Once she reached the area she smiled. "Ah here we are, your baby!"said Sophia softly.  As she tapped a few keys the screen zoomed some on the baby.  "Seems like she's a perfectly healthy baby due to the heartbeat!"said Sophia looking at them and smiling.  "Yes it's a girl, like you two wanted!"said Sophia.

Ryo smiled as he saw Sophia walking down the corridor toward them. He hadn't seen her in a long time and he was really happy to see her now, he was even more happy that she was the one who was attending Maura in everything that had to do with their baby. He preferred it was Sophia that attended her instead of anyone else, but it wasn't because he didn't trust the other healers. He just knew Sophia better and he knew that she would be in really good hands with her.

He followed her to room two behind Maura and sat down next to the bed like Sophia had told him he could do. He looked at the monitor once Maura had laid down and Sophia had put the lubricant on her stomach. He suddenly got nervous and he knew that if his heart had been beating, it would be beating really fast right now with the excitement he felt.

He saw the baby appear on the screen and there was a tug at his unbeating heart and Ryo smiled. He almost felt like crying too. There, on the screen, was his baby, his and Maura's child. His smile widened when Sophia said the baby was a girl and he looked at Maura. "It's a girl..." he repeated softly and happily. He couldn't believe he was going to be the father of a baby girl.

He was even more glad that she was healthy though. He was so excited about their baby girl, he wished they could somehow skip the rest of the pregnancy and have their baby with them there already but he knew that even they couldn't do that.

After having two weeks at work it was no surprise to Hallie that she was behind in her paperwork. Yesterday, even though it was a Saturday, a mountain of charts and files had collected on her desk. One of the many joys being a trainee Auror was the dreaded weekend shifts. Fortunately she had been the only one in the office meaning Hallie wasn't distracted by other aurors or staff popping in to see how she was healing since her fall.

Today the same mountain of work greeted her and, even though she had spent seven hours working yesterday, the piles didn't seem any smaller. Hallie wouldn't be spending seven hours today on her work the trainee Auror had managed to book the afternoon off, which had been a tricky debate considering she'd just had two weeks paid leave. Usually it wouldn't have been paid buy following the marriage law had it's perks - and the handsome husband wasn't even one of them. 

The clock showed five past two. Gosh. Hallie was late. Last week she'd agreed to visit St Mungo's with Hallie to find the sex of the baby. Although she wasn't the auntie Hallie certainly felt like it considering what the pair had gone through. Everything from homework rants to torture the girls had endured it all together and thanks to that the bond they had was deeper than even blood. 

'Maura! Sorry I'm late, lost track of time at work!' Hallie called as she finally found the room fifteen minutes later. She wasn't surprised to see Ryo in there although judging by the couples expressions and Sophia's presence it appeared they'd had good news. A smile spread on Hallie's face. 'Good news?' She asked, raising on her tiptoes in excitement. 

There were tears in Maura's eyes as she looked at her baby girl who was alive and healthy.  "Oh my gosh Ryo it's our baby, it's our baby girl!"said Maura softly as she looked at Ryo and kissed him softly on the lips.  Maura started to cry as she heard the heartbeat of their baby girl.  "It's her heartbeat Ryo."said Maura softly as tears came down her face.  

"I can't wait until she's in my arms, she's going to be a beautiful baby."said Maura softly.  Maura wished she could skip to the part where she has their baby girl, but she was willing to wait.  Besides she was happy to know that she was having a girl now.

"I know it might sound a bit silly love, but I already have her name picked out."said Maura softly.  "I had names picked out for months, I guess I was just excited."said Maura blushing looking away.  "If it was a girl which it is, I was going to name her Ciara Sakura Hiroku."said Maura softly.  "I know a bit early, but I honestly don't care."said Maura simply.

When Sophia asked if they wanted pictures Maura nodded.  "Of course we do Soph!"said Maura softly.  Seeing Sophia tapping another key she seen a black and white pictures coming out.   As Sophia handed it to her she looked at them and smiled.

Seeing Hallie bursting into the room out of breath she chuckled at her best friend with tears in her eyes. "It's a girl Hal, look!"said Maura softly as she looked back at the screen and smiled. "I'm glad you could make it Hal, I wanted nothing more then my best friend and the love of my life to be here!"said Maura softly. Maura was happy that both of them could make it, she thought she'll have to go through this by herself, but that wasn't the case.

'It's a girl Hal. Look!' The smile in Maura's eyes was contagious. Hallie knew that her best friend had wanted a girl more than anything, sure she would have loved a boy the same but a girl would have be fantastic and that is exactly how it was going to be. 'I'm so happy!' Hallie said, her eyes beginning to fill up as she looked from Maura, to Ryo, to the screen. A heart beat.

It was hard to believe Maura was still here in stable mind. This year had been horrendous for Maura, she'd been tortured, twice. Then after that she had gotten pregnant, had to worry about if she was partnered with someone other than Ryo in the law then on top of all that she had gotten herself burnt by fiendfyre. Her wounds were healing but still visible on her arm.

'I'm so happy for you.' She said once more hurrying closer to stand next to Maura's bed and clutch hold of her hand. 'We've gotten through a lot and now, now you have something positive.' There were some things you couldn't go through and not be close and the experiences they endured had only brought them all closer. Evil couldn't break them down, sure it could cause pain and strike fear but as long as they all had each other they would remain strong.