Victoire eyed the table groaning with a wealth of chocolate confections. She had already snuck a square of Ginny's fudge.
The lawn at shell cottage was sporting a large marquee, decorated in blue and pink. A sea of mostly red heads was seated inside. Teddy helped Victoire to a seated position. It seemed the babies had doubled their growth in two days. Victoire's skin and muscles felt stretched and tight. She was having a hard time finding a position that allowed her enough breath. But she was determined to not let anything spoil today.
It was good to see her family together for a happy occasion.
Teddy got everyone's attention. "Mum, Dad thank you so much for hosting this shower. Uncle Neville thank you for letting our siblings and cousins to attend. Grandmum, Grandma Molly, Ginny and everyone else, thank you for all the work you put in to the food and decorations. There is just one small problem." Teddy waved his wand and the decorations all turned to blue. "That's right they are both boys. We had it confirmed yesterday!"
After the happy babble had quieted down he continued; "Victoire and I would like to announce the boy's names. This one," Teddy caressed the top of Victoire's belly, "is Fredric William. The one on the bottom is George Arthur. We figured as long as we were having twin boys we should tempt fate and name them for two of the most famous scamps ever! Oh and we thought it would be nice to name them for Fred and George too!"
Teddy found himself suddenly under his father-in-law. Bill had moved quickly to take care of his wisecracking son-in-law.
Victoire took over the announcements with out missing a beat. "Freddy, Rose, James and Molly would you please come here? We'd like to ask you all a couple of questions. Fred and Rose would you be the godparents for George? James and Dominique would you be the godparents for Fred?"
Of course they had said yes. They returned to their seats after a round of hugs, the girls grinning widely and the boys gob-smacked.
Fleur took the floor and quickly had the presents organized around her daughter. Dominique began keeping track of what was from whom and soon there was a large pile of presents unwrapped. At last Victoire could have a plate piled high with treats!
The rest of the afternoon was spent in pleasant conversation. Teddy, Harry, Ron and Bill saw to the delivery of the presents in to the twins nursery at the farm. Then Teddy returned for his wife. Ginny, Fleur, Molly and Andromeda returned to the farm with them to spend the night so that the next day they could have a marathon cooking session. It was their plan to have enough meals stored away for the rest of Victoire's pregnancy.
Teddy woke Sunday morning to wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. Victoire was sleeping soundly so he left their room as quietly as possible. Although he had a good breakfast the temptation of all that food was too much. After only getting away with stealing a few bites, he was shooed from the house. He and Gog headed over to Sandy's.
The cottage was all done. The livestock would arrive at the end of June and Sandy was seeing to the laying in of enough hay and grain to last until the fields were ready for grazing. Teddy pitched in and in no time they had it all to rights.
Sandy and Maria had visited last winter and had fallen in love with the beauty of the farm that time of the year. They planned on holding their wedding at the farm in January. Hagrid was working, in his spare time, on a carved sleigh for the bride and groom's transportation. Teddy headed to the horse barn to work with the matched pair that he had bought to get them used to working in tandem. After an hour or so he decided that they had done well enough and turned them lose to play.
Judging from the sun in the sky and the emptiness in his stomach, he figured it was time for lunch and headed home. He found his wife happily sitting on the porch eating a large plate of vegetables and sipping juice. They were soon joined by the ladies who had made a wonderful meal of bits and bobs from their cooking.
Two weeks later found Victoire more uncomfortable than ever and at the healers for her regular appointment. Teddy was running late. There had been a raid the night before and the paperwork was endless.