Out of Time

Happy Wife/ Happy Life

Hermione was furious! Of all of the pig headed misogynistic things to say to her, her boss had the nerve to ask her if she was excited to give up her career to become a housewife. She felt her pulse behind her eyes, the audacity of him to assume she would give up her career.

She, of course, would take time off directly after having her baby, but would be returning to work. Not that this was her ideal career choose, but it was practical experience until she decided what to do with herself.

"I will be returning to work after a short maternity leave." She said abruptly, cutting off the rest of his speech on the importance of a mother staying home with their kids.

"Oh, well, Mrs. Riddle, your husband is on board with your decision?"

She grit her teeth together. This pregnancy had been a smooth ride, no long bouts of morning sickness, no aching, no bloating, no strange cravings, but her temper was extremely short. Her anger took ahold of her so quickly sometimes, she wouldn't realize she'd snapped at someone until it was too late.

"I do not need my husbands permission to work, but yes he is on board 100%. Should I send him a memo, I'm sure he would tell you the same, though he does hate when people waste his time."

The man's face paled, "No that will not be necessary."

Hermione grinned, she wasn't sure what Tom had done to frighten these imbeciles in her office, but she was happy for it right now.

She watched the balding man turn and leave her too her small office, once alone she rubbed her temples with her fingers. The soothing motion helped the threat of headache slowly ebb away.

She only had about a month left of work before she was to take off and prepare for her baby. At first she was so worried and a bit scared. She had no idea how to be a mum. She was terrible at keeping houseplants alive. Now she was to have an entire human she would be responsible for.

Tom had reassured her, telling her they would figure it all out together. The guilt she felt when Tom had told her the horror stories of his childhood. She had been bullied in school but up until she started to feel the divide of being a witch with muggle parents, her own had been reassuring and loving.

Tom hadn't had that and he had turned out to be brilliant, she had vowed to stop fretting over nonsense scenarios in her head and to what she did best. She studied, she devoured every book on pregnancy and infancy she could find. While most contradicted each other, she thought she would have an idea of what to expect.

Tom had doted on her, he would either make dinner or order in for them, telling her to stay off of her feet. He told her how beautiful she looked even when she felt like she'd blown up like a balloon.

He had smiled at her when the sonogram said they were having a girl. Draco had her worried, saying most men wanted a boy first. She should have known better. 

She saw a mediwitch and a muggle OBGYN. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to go to both. Though she decided she would tell her  OB that she would need to stop seeing them, giving the excuse of moving too far away. She had decide to deliver at home with the mediwitch.

She still had so much to do. She'd made up the nursery and had that bit all finished. She was as prepared as she could be for the baby. What she needed was to get as caught up as possible before her leave.

Tom refuses to let her work late or bring any work home. At first she'd thought he'd lost his mind, but he had explained it was to keep stress levels down and emphasized the importance of work/life balance. She hated that it made sense. She hated to pack away unfinished work and have to wait until the next morning or Merlin forbid a full weekend to finish it.

She groaned at the stack of work she had to get through, her small talk with her boss had sucked the energy from her. She pulled out a small piece of parchment and wrote to her husband.

"Leaving early. See you at home. H.R."

She spelled it to find him in his offices, and headed for the floo to go home. By the time she'd reached them he was waiting for her.

"Are you well?"  His face full of concern.

"You didn't have to come, I'm just a bit tired."
She smiled secretly pleased he was there.

His eyes were on her, she could feel the intensity of his gaze. "Who?"

She looked at him eyes innocently wide. "What do you mean?"

He smiled, "Who upset you?"

She wrapped her arms around him, having to turn her belly to the side. "It doesn't matter, I took care of it and would just like to go home."

Tom walked them both to the floo and soon they were in their main room.

He turned her before she could walk away. His lips were on hers, his hands cupping her cheeks. She relaxed into the kiss and felt her anger and headache melt away.

He pulled back enough to look into her face. She hadn't realized she was crying until he wiped the tears from her face.

"Don't cry. Hermione I can handle the anger the rage, but this makes me feel homicidal."

She laughed. The words from anyone else would have been ludicrous. Tom, however was so intense, she could not tell if he was serious. Would he kill someone for simply making her cry?  She shuddered, the thought both scary and intriguing.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face, he suddenly smiled at her and her heart melted again. How had no one seen this wonderful side of her husband and snatched him up before? Why had he picked her? How had she gotten so lucky?

A/N: sorry for the delay of this chapter, life is crazy all around but I promise I haven't forgotten about this story. Thanks you all for the votes and messages and comments.

I know this chapter seems a bit fluffy but it's for a reason , the next chapter is half finished and gives a different perspective 😉