A/N- And here we are again! Welcome to the fic! This is the sequel to "Brotherly Love", so I suggest reading that first.
Warnings: Rated M for sexual situations and language, but this chapter is pretty tame. Twincest, slash, etc.
Full Summary (If you want to learn everything on your own, I suggest skipping the summary. It mentions what happened between the end of "Brotherly Love" and now. It's all explained for the most part in this chapter, but if you want to find out as you go, just skip the summary):
It's been a year since George got the news, and now he has a long road ahead of him. Being thrust into the world of parenthood is terrifying, but when you're living with two other people who are equally as clueless, it somehow becomes a little easier. Through trial and error, Kate and George, with the help of Fred, figure out how to be parents without letting go of their rapidly evaporating childhood. They've left school, started up the shop, and have their daughter Michele to take care of; if that doesn't scream adulthood, then what does? It may be a difficult process, but who better to lighten the tension than Fred and George?
-oOo-
Chapter 1: Then and Now
"George, there's not enough Fever Fudge to fill the whole shelf," Kate clucks her tongue in my general direction.
"Then only fill it halfway and slip it with the Puking Pastilles," I respond, not looking up from the quill display I've been working on for nearly an hour. Kate doesn't say anything, and I don't hear any rustling boxes, so I glance at her and see her horrified expression. "Did we not tell you about those?"
"It must have slipped your mind," she says, disgusted. "God, that's gross. Why can't Fred do this, he knows more about this stuff than I do."
"I thought you wanted a break from Michele?"
"I wanted a break in general," she sighs, taking some of the boxes off the shelf to make room.
"You're involved in a tricky business now, love. There are no breaks," I say, returning to the display. "Not yet, anyway. We've only just started. There's a lot to be done."
-oOo-
"Harry, we can't take it," I said firmly, crossing my arms.
"I don't want it, seriously. Every time I think about it, I remember Cedric. Besides, it's not like I even need it."
"Still, mate, that's a lot of money. It wouldn't feel right," Fred added.
"Seriously, I am asking you to take it. I know how much you want to set up that joke shop, and the 1000 galleons is plenty to cover it. I'm serious, please take it."
-oOo-
I can hear Michele crying upstairs. None of us knows why; she's clean, she's fed, and she had a nap an hour ago.
"Are they in the back?" Kate asks.
"Yeah, boxed up with the Fancies," I reply. Merlin, this display is killing me. I thought quills would be easy to do a display for; they're quills, and there are only three kinds. But what order should they go in? Self-inking, spell-check, then smart answer? Or should they be mixed together? No, that would be too confusing. Should they go in tiers? Rows? I'm a terrible decorator. I'll finish it later.
"I can't find them!" Kate calls from the back room.
"Here, I'll do it." I say, coming up behind her. "You go upstairs and send Fred down before he loses his mind."
"No, that's alright, I've got it. The least I can do is help you stock, I mean, I am living here. Got to do my part, right?"
-oOo-
"What do you mean you kicked her out?" I gaped, wide-eyed at Kate's father, who was manning the counter of his shop.
"I mean, 'I. Kicked. Her. Out. Tol' her she either had to get rid of it or get out, and the little slag left," he sneered. "Good riddance anyway. Prob'ly freeloadin' at that Carey girl's house."
Fred and I booked it out and began circling the village for anyone who knew who Carey was. We eventually knocked into her ourselves.
"Why do you wanna know where Kate is?" Carey asked suspiciously. "Are you the bloke who knocked her up?"
"Just tell me where she is."
"Who's that?"
"My brother."
"She's at my house. You better not upset her."
"I won't, just take me to her."
-oOo-
"You make it sound like giving birth," I chuckle.
"Ha bloody ha," he says as she pulls the box off the shelf.
"You're not helping out because you live here, you're helping out because without you, we'd still be unpacking boxes," I smirk, playfully shoving her. She almost drops the box as she stumbles into the showroom. I'm rewarded with a rude hand gesture.
"Why are we doing this by hand anyway?" she asks. "You wouldn't need my help if you'd just wave your wand and make everything arrange itself, like in Cinderella."
"First of all, I have no idea what that is," I frown. "Second of all, this is a momentous occasion. Doing it by hand just feels… right," I state.
"Whatever," Kate scoffs. "The sooner you get some actual employees, the better," she raises an eyebrow and opens the box. She kneels down and begins restacking the empty half of the shelf with Puking Pastilles, looking only moderately disgusted.
I grin. "I've got an interview set up for tomorrow with someone."
"Who would that be?"
"A witch named Verity," I reply.
"Ugh, I honestly don't think I'll ever get used to that; referring to people as witches and wizards," Kate grimaces.
"Ah, you'll get used to it."
"Says you, Mr. Magic Pants." I don't question the name. "You've been doing this magic thing for your whole life. I've only just been introduced to a world I previously thought only existed in fairytales and films."
-oOo-
"I'm sorry, that what world?" Kate asked, expression confused and disbelieving.
"I know it sounds mad, but it's real, and it's the only way I can be a part of our child's life."
"You must be joking. Magic is not real; I already told you I don't believe in all that."
"It's real, trust us," Fred chimed in, visibly frustrated. "Everything will be a hell of a lot better with us. It doesn't look like you'll be missing much here anyway."
"Excuse me?" Kate screeched. Damn those pregnancy hormones.
"What he means," I glared at Fred, "is that we just met your father, and he is obviously not supportive. I think I can provide for you when he clearly can't."
"I have Carey," she gestured to the house behind her, where Carey was residing. "You are seventeen, just like me. You can't provide for me any better than I can for myself. I'm lucky Carey's family let me move in with them. And it sounds to me like you're losing it."
"Kate, please, you have to trust me."
"No, I don't. This was all a massive fuck up. Stay away from me."
-oOo-
It's a good thing Fred and I are so good at charms, because we had to erase the memories of Carey's whole family after Fred set their lawn on fire to prove things to Kate. Unfortunately, that route couldn't be taken when he got a letter from the Ministry requiring us to attend a trial for performing magic in front of a Muggle. Luckily, Muggle family members are allowed to know about the Wizarding world, and after explaining the situation, we got permission for Kate to live with us. It took a lot more convincing on her end, but after six days, a lot of paperwork, and something like an Unbreakable Vow, Kate was moving in.
"Obviously you were never taught to keep an open mind," I tease.
"This requires a bit more than an open mind," Kate cocks an eyebrow. True enough.
"I'm gonna send Fred down and I'll take over. Direct all complaints to him!" I say as I disappear upstairs.
I was right in thinking Fred would be at his wit's end with Michele. He's been unbelievably helpful by sharing the responsibility even though he doesn't have to, and he gets stressed with her long before I do. As I clomp up the stairs to the flat, I can hear his audible sighs and Michele's whining. He's sitting on the kitchen counter with her on his lap, looking thoroughly defeated. When he sees me, his eyes light up and he slides off the counter.
"Are you here to free me?" he asks hopefully. "Because I'm just about out of my skull right now."
"Yeah, give her here," I hold out my hands, and he hands over Michele. "Have you fed her?"
"I tried, but she refused to eat! What kind of Weasley is she?" Fred throws his hands in the air.
"She's not a full Weasley," I remind him. "She's got a lot of Baulderston in her too. Mostly Kate, as far as I know," I add, thinking of her father.
It's true, how much of Kate is in Michele. She's only almost four months old, but she's got black hair already. She's got Kate's green eyes and skin (a little tanner than mine), and every time she laughs, it sounds like a baby Kate. My recessive traits obviously could not pull through.
"Can you go down and help Kate with shelving?" I ask, shifting Michele in my arms.
"Gladly."
I want to go back down and continue setting up as well, because Fred and I want to have the shop up and running as soon as possible, but I can't leave Michele alone upstairs, and there's no way I'm letting her near the potentially dangerous stuff we have downstairs. The 1000 galleons Harry gave us was enough for first and last month's rent of the shop and flat, and to get us going with making products, minor fix-ups, and the basics needed for running a business, but we need to get the ball rolling if we have any hope of keeping everything running. Then we have Michele on top of it all. Sometimes I wonder if maybe Fred and I made a mistake leaving school so soon. Maybe we did, but it's all a part of the learning experience, right?
I seat Michele in her highchair (transfiguration came in handy with most of the childcare furniture and toys) and retrieve the pumpkin puree Fred had been trying to feed her.
"Come on, Michele… It'll be a lot easier on the both of us if you just eat for me, okay?" I try to coax her into opening her mouth, but if nothing else, she has that Weasley stubbornness. "I'm begging you, please, just eat. I'm just as new at this as you are."
We're all new at it. Merlin, we almost didn't even get Kate to the hospital when she went into labor.
-oOo-
"What do you mean there isn't a hospital around here?" Kate screamed as I tried to hold her up.
"I'm sorry! I didn't map this place out, don't get mad at me!"
"We have to apperate, George, now."
"No! We have to take her to a Muggle hospital, so if she gets splinched, there's nothing we can do, there'll be too many people, not to mention we could kill the baby!"
"What the fuck are you two talking about? Just get me to the fucking hospital." She was hysterical.
"Okay, close your eyes, hold your breath, and concentrate on the alley behind your dad's shop."
"Fred, we can't-"
"Shut up and focus!"
"One, two, three!"
"Okay, which way is the hospital?"
"Bloody hell, Kate, I told you to hold your breath!"
-oOo-
Oddly enough, we've somehow managed to keep this away from Mum and Dad. We moved out as soon as we left school, much to Mum's displeasure, so she doesn't know about Kate at all, or the trial, or even Michele. I know we have to break it to them soon, but I just want to have the shop up and running first, so I can prove that we can take care of them both. I can see Mum being torn between anger and disappointment at the situation, and being thrilled about her first grandchild. There's no telling with Dad.
Then of course I'll have to explain why I don't plan on getting married to Kate, which will lead to me having to out myself to them, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I haven't come up with a good excuse for why I got a girl pregnant even though I'm gay that they'll actually understand and doesn't out Fred. Oh, what a mess my life is.
"Michele, if you never do me another favor, at least do this one and eat," I beg her, waving the spoon in front of her face. I sigh, defeated, and put it down. Maybe Hermione was right when she said we shouldn't try spoon feeding her yet. Kate didn't seem eager to breastfeed for another month, though. "You stay here," I say to Michele. She makes no attempt to move.
"Okay, she refuses to eat," I say as I clomp down the stairs. Kate and Fred are now stocking invisibility hats. "Kate, you need to feed her."
"But my nipples hurt!" She whines, pouting. I really did not need to hear that.
"Come on, where's that maternal instinct to bear through the pain to ensure your daughter doesn't starve?" Fred prods at her with a hat.
"Why don't you do it then?" she huffs.
"I don't think it works that way."
"You're a wizard, poof yourself a pair of-"
"Again, it doesn't work that way," I cut in. "And even if it did, I don't have a spell for that."
"Shame." She sets down the hat in her hands and heads up to Michele. "Don't come up unless you want to see tits!"
Oh, Kate is something else. She seemed so sweet and nice when I met her, and now she seems to have come out of that shell. I had originally chalked her change in behavior up to pregnancy hormones, but after she gave birth, and didn't change, I figured she'd just been making a good impression when I first met her in the village; she says stuff like that all the time, and she's got a wicked temper. During the six months she's lived with us, she's slowly gotten used to us and let her true colors shine, and I'm not lying when I say I've never met anyone like her. Likely because she's a Muggle, but also because she's pretty blatant about everything. I don't think she's got a filter between her brain and her mouth, and most of the time I find it quite funny, but other times it's a bit too much information. I just know Michele is going to have her wit, and she'll be taking a lot of visits to Dumbledore's office.
Actually, we have no idea if Michele is going to have any magic or not. It's a 50/50 shot, really. Everyone in her family is a Muggle, and everyone in my family is a wizard. We'll just have to keep a close eye on her as she gets older.
"Right, so we just have to finish stocking, get our order forms together, pretty up the displays, and we'll be ready to open up," Fred says, coming to stand next to me. His hands are on his hips and he's looking around the shop satisfactorily. "Can you believe we finally have our own joke shop?" he grins.
"I know, it's incredible," I nod, still a bit awestruck at the reality of it. It's finally happening. A bit different from the original plan, sure, but happening nonetheless. Before the week is over, we will be in business; we'll be pulling pranks for a living. There won't be anyone to give us detention or tell us what we can and can't do. Freedom is sweet, and we intend to take full advantage of it.
Look out, Zonko's; The Weasley's are about to take over.
-oOo-
A/N- There we have it! The sequel to Brotherly Love has officially begun! Leave me a review telling me what you think!
Thank you so much for all the support that led to this sequel!
