8
Work (Frank)
They were going to be late to work.
Frank and Alice hated being late.
Frank and Alice were never late.
Frank paused as he finished brushing his teeth. He looked at his wife, who was also brushing her teeth. They did practically everything together; with Alice, it had never been a burning passion, but with her he learnt to enjoy the little pieces of happiness life offered, the simple things that, in the end, mattered the most. The quiet kind of love was the best for him.
"Alice?"
"Yes, honey?"
Alice was now combing her short brown hair in haste, her round face concentrated.
"Is it worrying that I start every sentence in my head with 'me and Alice'?"
Frank didn't know any other bloke as romantic as him. He knew Alice liked it, but other people, all males, teased him about it, particularly the Prewett twins.
Alice smiled playfully. "Yes. You should start with 'Alice and me.' It's more polite."
Frank looked at his reflection in the mirror; he still looked unnerved.
"But you don't think I'm… too much, sometimes?"
Alice exited the bathroom and he followed her, grabbing his wintry robes on the way.
"Do you?"
Frank shrugged. "Not really."
Alice grinned as she put on her favourite yellow scarf. He helped her with her robes and a minute later they were Apparating in their usual empty street near the Ministry.
"Who put that idea in your head?" Alice asked curiously. "That we're too much?"
"Fab and Gid," Frank admitted.
Alice shook her head and Frank looked down sheepishly. Frank looked up to the Prewetts and considered them the coolest fellows he had ever met; Alice thought they didn't have a good influence on him.
"But Marlene said it once, too, that she couldn't understand how we were never tired of each other," Frank added.
He knew that mentioning Marlene could help his case; Marlene had been Alice's best friend since their first year in Hogwarts. They had both been in Hufflepuff.
"Oh!" Alice exclaimed, as if she had suddenly remembered something. "It's Mack's birthday today! I must owl her when I get a break this morning."
They entered the Ministry, walking as fast as they could; it was ten to eight, and Moody had told them to be there at fifteen to eight "at the very latest", which meant they were in for trouble.
"Did you get her that new broomstick you told me about?" Frank asked.
"Yeah. You know, she can't really afford it. Poor Mack. I can't even imagine what it's like to have so many siblings."
They stepped into the elevator, where the Prewetts were already standing. Alice watched Frank carefully as they exchanged hellos.
"Hey, lovebirds! What's up?" Gideon asked, clapping Frank on the back.
Frank smiled. He would never admit it, but his shoulder hurt a bit every time Gideon did this.
"The usual… except we're late."
"Oh, Moody's going to kill you," Gideon said conversationally. "Sometimes I'm really glad I'm on the Hit Patrol and not an Auror."
"Which has got nothing to do with the fact that you didn't make it on the Auror training," Fabian rolled his eyes.
"You didn't make it either," Gideon pointed out.
The Prewetts looked equally flushed. Frank and Alice avoided their eyes, embarrassed.
"That's because we must always do the same thing," Fabian said.
"Yeah, right…"
There was a short silence; with Gideon, silences were never long. After a while, Gideon looked from Frank to Alice, frowning.
"Aren't you sick of being together all the time?"
Frank shrugged and gestured to the twins.
"Aren't you sick of being together all the time?"
Fabian looked surprised. "It's not the same! We're twins."
"Yeah, we're practically the same person," Gideon said.
Frank smiled broadly, looking at Alice. "Same here."
Alice grinned back at him and blushed slightly. Fabian and Gideon made disgusted noises.
"Okay, I've heard enough cheesy lines for today," Gideon rolled his eyes. "Marlene already thanked me for the present I gave her by telling me "You're not funny". Really, she could have said something less romantic, I almost blushed when reading it."
"It's Marlene's birthday," Fabian explained.
Frank knew the twins quite well, and very often Fabian had to explain whatever was on his brother's mind – the working of Gideon's mind was a bit difficult to follow sometimes, especially when he added sarcasm.
"We know," Alice rolled her eyes. "She's my best friend, remember?"
"Ah, yes," Fabian said. "Sorry."
Frank had the distinct impression that the twins underestimated Alice; a lot of people did. They only saw a friendly, harmless, ordinary young woman, and often overlooked her. But she was an Auror, much cleverer than she looked and if there was a competition for Best Wife, Frank was sure she'd win hands down. Frank was often overlooked, too, but it was worse for Alice because she was a woman, and there was only one other female Auror.
"See you tonight," Fabian and Gideon said as one as they stepped out of the elevator and separated.
They got told off by Moody for a good five minutes, and then they were 'allowed' to go to their offices to catch up on paperwork. They also had to make up stories for the press concerning Harold Smith's death. Frank walked into his office with his head bowed and sat down dejectedly. When he looked up, Alice was standing in front of him.
"Are you okay?" Alice asked, concerned.
Frank sighed. "I think it's going to be a long day."
They looked at each other in silence for a while. Alice bit her lip, looking hesitant, and finally spoke up.
"I'm late."
Frank frowned.
"We were late. Five minutes ago."
Frank did not understand.
"No, I mean, I'm… late… you know."
Frank did not understand. Alice sighed.
"Frank, I'm pregnant."
As Frank stared at Alice, astonished, words like war or twenty-one or irresponsible (which sounded like they were being said by his mother's voice) quickly vanished. It took the better of one minute for Alice's words to properly sink in. When they did, Frank jumped up and took Alice in his arms, smiling broadly.
"Alice, I'm so happy."
She pulled back and he saw that her wide brown eyes were filled with tears. He kissed her forehead tenderly.
"So I am, Frank. So I am."
Frank sighed contentedly, sitting down again, unable to remove the smile from his face.
"A father at twenty-one… Fab and Gid are never going to let me live this down," Frank said.
Alice laughed lightly. "I hope you aren't thinking of making one of them godfather."
Frank shook his head. "Nope, I'd have to choose between them. But what I do know is that Mack will be godmother."
Alice nodded. "Thank you."
Alice hugged him tight, and then made her way out, humming cheerfully.
"I think it's going to be a great day," Frank said to his empty office, and started thinking about names.
Running the risk of repeating myself - but please review.
