Disclaimer; I own only the plot and Maureen. The rest belong to JK Rowling. The song at the beginning (Give Me the Simple Life) belongs to Julie London. It's the song I always think of when I imagine Arthur Weasley. Enjoy!
"I don't believe in frettin' and grievin';
Why mess around with strife?
I never was cut out to step and strut out.
Give me the simple life."
The band's music wafted through the tent as couples in brightly colored dress robes swung around the dance floor. It was the biggest party the Burrow had seen since Ron and Hermione's wedding over twenty years before. Of course, they had had Christmases and the annual family get-togethers but nothing this special. It was a veritable who's who in wizarding England. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, was chatting with Ginny by the punch bowl. Famed potion master Arsenius Jigger was flipping through a manuscript Albus had brought him. Only a very special occasion could have warranted the turn out and the expense. Arthur's 80th Birthday along with his and Molly's 60th Anniversary was one such occasion.
Despite the general air of festivity however, Charlie Weasley was not happy. His girlfriend refused to tell him what was wrong and if there was anything he hated, it was worrying. He looked up from his champagne, scanning the tent for Maureen. She emerged from the house, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked pale and drawn as she had for the past couple of week. As she approached, he rose to his feet. "Come on Reeney, something's really wrong. Maybe we should call it a night. I'm sure Bill wouldn't mind if we stayed at Shell Cottage." Maureen shook her head, covering her mouth.
"I don't want to ruin this for your parents Charlie. I'm fine."
"No you're not! You've been sick for two weeks. Why don't you just go to the healer?" Maureen groaned. "Come on Maureen! Why won't you tell what's going on," he burst out, gaining some startled looks.
"Shh!" she hissed, marching toward the house. He followed, his fists balled at his sides. She was hiding something. Bill tried to intercept him but Charlie brushed past. He found Maureen sitting on the couch in the living room, her head resting in her hands. "Just leave me alone for Merlin's sake," she muttered moodily.
"Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" He looked down at his hands, trying to hide the hurt from her voice. She let out an explosive breath and ran a shaking hand through her hair.
"Charlie, I've already been to the healer," she stated carefully, looking at him probingly. His head shot up and the color drained from his cheeks. "No, no, nothing's wrong with me, not in the way you're thinking anyway . . . " her voice trailed off.
"What is it then?" he asked, relieved that she didn't have some terminal illness or something. Whatever it was, he could handle it.
"Charlie, I'm pregnant." Well, except that. What little color had returned to his cheeks quickly drained. His mouth fell open and she stared at him almost defensively. She brought a hand to her stomach and began rubbing rhythmic circles over her still toned abdomen.
"What! I thought, we, well, you know . . . "
"Oh, how could I forget!" she hissed sarcastically. "You're right; since we used protection I must be wrong. We're not pregnant! Thank you for pointing that out to me because that clearly has never come to my mind," she spit back acidly. Charlie ran his hand over his face, trying to regain some feeling. He began pacing, his hands behind his back the way he always did when he was nervous. "I wasn't going to tell you," she allowed in a soft voice.
"Oh, you were just going to hide that from me yeah?"
"No," she said slowly, looking him in the eye. He understood and he felt anger boil up inside of him.
"You were going to do that without even talking to me?" he exploded, causing her to jump.
"Well it's not as if we wanted the child anyway. I just, I didn't know what to do. We discussed this. We liked the way our life had turned out and a baby is just going to complicate everything." Charlie glared at her. How could she? They had been together for twenty odd years. She was right of course that they had never planned on having kids, that the very idea of reproducing sickened both of them. A baby was going to complicate things but to not tell him?
"This is why I didn't want to tell you."
"So are you going to do it then?" Charlie asked brusquely, pivoting around to look at her. She shifted uneasily on the couch.
"I couldn't go through with it. At the last minute I chickened out," she answered in a low voice.
"Well what are you going to do since clearly I have no say in the matter?"
"I don't know what the hell we're going to do Charlie but yelling at me isn't going to help anything."
"I can't talk to you anymore," Charlie retorted, throwing up his hands in frustration. He turned and walked back toward the tent. He was still reeling from the news. A baby, he a father? He shivered. Neither of them had ever been particularly parental. Sure, he liked being cool Uncle Charlie but he got to give his nieces and nephews back at the end of a long weekend and he and Maureen could go back to doing exactly what they wanted to do. They didn't have to worry about babysitters or where they kept their knives in the kitchen. They were free agents, able to hop on a broom at a moments notice. The thing that was really bothering him though, was that feeling in the pit of his stomach when he had thought that Maureen had . . . Was it disappointment, sadness? He didn't quite know but the thought of loosing the baby now, it was, vaguely bad for lack of a better description.
He re-entered the tent and had to roll his eyes as Bill walked over, his hands buried in the pockets of his robes. He loved his brother immensely but the curse-breaker was too much of a busy body for his own good. "Are you okay?" Bill asked in a would-be casual voice. Charlie nodded non-committaly. "You sure? You and Maureen looked like you were going to bite each other's heads off." Charlie sighed. He could never keep anything from Bill for very long.
"Maureen is pregnant," he stated. Bill looked back in shock. "She's been sick for a couple of weeks; I should have put two and two together but I just never thought . . . Merlin's pants," he breathed heavily.
"So, so she just told you?"
"I forced it out of her."
"Did she think you wouldn't notice eventually?" Bill asked. Charlie covered his face with his hand. Bill, as usual, had hit the nail on the head.
"She, she wasn't sure she was going to tell me because, well, she wasn't sure she was going to have it at all." Bill's face darkened.
"She was just going to get rid of the baby and not ever tell you?" he asked incredulously. Charlie nodded dumbly. Truth be told, he wasn't that surprised. There was a reason the two had been dating for over twenty years and had never gotten married. He supposed he loved her but she was more of a companion than anything else and they both led very independent lives. He had not trouble imagining how she might have rationalized it in her head. It was her body and it wasn't a baby anyway, it was a stomach flu, a stomach flu that would end up costing her the last years of her independent life. "Well, is she going to?" Bill asked finally. Charlie shook his head mutely. No, this baby was going to come and they had only a few months to decide what to do.
The party ended in the wee hours of the morning. Charlie went to find Maureen but she had gone home. He decided to spend the night at Shell Cottage, hoping to cool off before what he knew was going to be a very difficult conversation. Bill had sworn not to tell anyone but Charlie knew he only had a matter of time before Bill cracked and told Fleur and the minute she found out, the family would know within a couple of hours. He lay on the guest bed, gazing out at the ocean. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he couldn't give the baby up, not now. He had always been more family oriented than Maureen, which, honestly wasn't saying much. She had grown up with parents who were never there.
He calculated it in his head. When the baby turned eleven, ready for his or her first day at Hogwarts, he would be in his sixties. They would think he was Grandpa. Hell, Bill's grandchildren were going to be older than his child. He had no idea how to raise a kid and he was too set in his ways. Would he and Maureen have to get married now? And that brought him to another problem, Maureen. Would she even agree to raise the child? What would the kid be like? What if they ended up with a kid like Percy? Underneath all of that though, was an indescribable feeling, a mixture of excitement, longing and . . . love. He fell asleep calculating the age he would be when he got his own grandchildren, what a nightmare . . .
The next morning, he flooed back to Romania, to his and Maureen's flat. She was sitting at the kitchen table, her hair mussed and dark circles heavy under her eyes. She was nursing a large mug of coffee. He cleared his throat and she looked up at him. "Reeney, we need to talk."
A/N: I hope you liked it. I know it was a bit rough but it will get better! Please REVIEW!
Hugs and Kisses,
Liz
