Chapter Ten
Warning: Birth scene.
It had been six months since he had last seen her. He was very excited to be seeing her again. Fred had planned to go into the village early in the morning, just to show her that he was back. He walked into the village, looking for a glimpse of Cathy. He was just about to walk in the direction of the paper shop, he saw an elderly woman walking towards him.
"Are you Fred Weasley?" The woman asked quietly. Fred nodded silently. "Catherine told me to give you this." She held out the letter. "She's gone. She and her mother moved away."
"Thank goodness." Fred smiled and took the letter. "Thank you. Was she okay?"
Mrs Taylor nodded. "Yes. She was glad to be leaving. The whole village knows what her father is like. We're all glad that Annie and Kate are safe."
Fred smiled. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He held the letter in his hands. "Bye." He smiled and walked away. His heart was torn in two. He was happy that she had gotten away from her father but he was sad that he may not see her again for some time. He had to read the letter now but somewhere a little more private. Fred knew exactly where to go. He went to their spot.
"Dear Fred. If you are reading this letter, you have most certainly come back to the village. Only problem is, I'm not there. I wish I were there to see you again but I had to leave. There are many reasons and my dad is the most obvious one. The next one is that, I am pregnant."
Fred gasped when he read that sentence. She was pregnant. "Oh no." he spoke to himself. "I should not have left her." He carried on reading.
"I love you Fred. This baby is a part of you and I cannot wait for us to meet her or him. I will keep writing letters for you and leaving them with Mrs Taylor. I will wait for that letter from you, telling me your war is over, and that we can be together and be a family. We'll wait for you. I love you Fred. With all my heart. Mum and I are never coming back to the village. Not while Dad is there."
Fred felt the sting of tears in his eyes. She was safe. That's all he could think. Cathy and his baby were safe. He thought for a moment. He would only tell George about his baby. His mother would go mad about him being so irresponsible and getting a girl pregnant. He'd wait for the war to be over before he told the rest of his family about Cathy. He returned to reading the letter.
"Oh Fred! I am so scared. I am scared for you and with the war you are constantly fighting. Please be safe. Mrs Taylor lives next door to us. She'd be very happy to hold onto a letter from you. I'll send her a letter when the baby is born. The letter will be for you. I'll send her a letter every month until the baby is born. I promise. If you have come back after the six months, I am six months pregnant. So I will be very fat right now. I haven't given you my address because you said you wanted to keep me safe. So I've done that for you. I love you Fred. I can never say it enough. I love you Fred. I hope your war ends soon, so I can see you again. I love you. I love you. All my love, your Cathy. Xxxxx."
Fred let the tears fall as he re-read the letter. "Oh Cathy." He sighed softly and ran his fingers over her words. She was pregnant. Having their baby. How could he have been so stupid? He should have been more careful. But now, he had something else to fight for. Fight to see her again and to see their baby for the first time. He folded the letter tidily and placed it into his jacket pocket. He then apparated back to London.
"Did you see her?" George asked, looking up from his newspaper. "Can she come to the wedding?"
Fred was still in shock. He sat in the other chair. "No, I didn't see her."
"You can try again tomorrow." George smiled and looked back at his newspaper.
"I can't. She's not there."
"What do you mean?" George folded the newspaper and placed it on the table next to him. "Has she gone on holiday?"
"No." Fred slowly shook his head. "She's moved. She and her mum finally got away."
"That's good. Did she leave an address?"
Fred shook his head again. "No. She's pregnant."
"What?" His twin said in shock. "Is it yours?"
"Yes." He nodded and smiled broadly. "She left me a letter. George, she knows about the war. So she didn't leave a forwarding address. I told her I wanted her to be safe and that's why I said I'd only visit her every six months." Fred chuckled lightly. "I'm going to go back to the village in three months and find out about our baby."
"She's 6 months pregnant?" George said in surprise. "Oh Fred! Mum's going to kill you."
Fred laughed loudly and George laughed the same laugh. They talked about when Fred was going to go and see when the next letter would come.
- - - - - - - - - – - - - - - - - - - -
The next month, Fred went back to Mrs Taylor to see if he had another letter from Catherine. But there wasn't one. She gave him a comforting smile and promised that she would always hold onto any letter she received from Catherine until he could come and pick it up. He returned a week later and there wasn't another letter. George encouraged him to go every week. It had reached Catherine's due date and there was still no letter.
"Have you spoken to Catherine?" Fred asked Mrs Taylor on his last visit, which was meant to be Catherine's due date, according to his calculations. "Since she left?"
"No." Mrs Taylor shook her head. The two of them were sitting in her sitting room, drinking a cup of tea. "I thought her mother would at least call, to see how young Harry is. But she hasn't."
"Oh right." Fred felt right downtrodden. "I won't be back for a while. My brother is getting married."
"Oh!" Mrs Taylor smiled broadly. "Well, I give my congratulations." She smiled as Fred stood up. "I will keep any letters that come by."
"Thank you, Mrs Taylor." Fred smiled widely. "You are a treasure." He shook her hand and left the house quickly.
Once her door was shut, Mrs Taylor smiled to herself. "Such a sweet boy."
Catherine lay on her bed in her aunt's house. She hated it here more than at home. At least at home, she would be able to see Fred again. Her Aunt and Uncle had refused to allow her to write to Fred or even go out of the house. The only time she was allowed out was to see her Doctor. Her mother did not know that her aunt would react like this. A slight twinge in her side brought her out of her thoughts. She pulled herself up and sat on the edge of her bed. "It's ok baby. Your daddy will come and find us one day."
"Kate?" Her mother spoke quietly and walked into her room. "Your aunt and uncle have gone out."
Catherine sighed heavily. "We should have stayed at home. I could have told Fred by now." She rubbed her hand over her large stomach. "I'm due today, Mum, and he doesn't even know." The twinge came back, she gently rubbed her stomach. "I'm scared."
"It will be fine. I've found us a flat." Her mother smiled widely. "Two rooms, big enough for both of us and for the baby."
Catherine smiled but the smile fell. "Oh damn it! I've wet myself!" Looking down at her maternity trousers.
"Kate. You haven't wet yourself. Your waters have broke. It's time to have your baby." Annie helped her daughter up. "Right, let's change you and then we'll go." Catherine nodded and took slow breaths. Her mother helped her change from her maternity trousers into clean underwear and pyjama bottoms. "Right, let's go." Annie picked up Catherine's hospital bag and then helped her daughter out of the bedroom, house and into the car.
Catherine took deep breaths as another contraction rippled through her. "Oh God!" She gripped the seat and waited for the small pain to stop. "Oh God, they'll get worse." She chuckled nervously.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine. I'll be with you, every step of the way." Her mother smiled as they drove to the hospital. "I'll let Aunt Ruth and Uncle David where we are after we get you settled." Her mother smiled at her, pulling into the hospital car park.
Catherine and her mother were finally in a room. Catherine lay on the bed, breathing slowly. It was obvious that she was absolutely terrified. She had everything bought and had read every book on pregnancy and on how to raise a baby, but she now had to physically give birth to her baby. "Another one." She said quickly. Her mother held her hand tightly as a contraction hit her hard. "Ugh!" She groaned.
"Nearly over. Nearly over." Her mother reassured her. The contraction was over. "There you go."
"I can't do it, Mum!" She sobbed in fear. "I want Fred!"
"It's ok. You can tell him soon. Once we move to the new flat, you can send your letters to Mrs Taylor." Her mother spoke softly and kissed the side of her head.
Catherine's Doctor entered the room with her usual smile. "How is everything?" She lifted Catherine's blanket up slightly. "Let's take a look." She examined Catherine's dilation. "Ahh. Nearly time. About another hour." Catherine groaned in frustration. "I know. It won't be long."
Catherine lay back and gave loud groan as the next contraction hit her. "I can't do it Mum!" Gripping her mother's hand tightly.
Her mother kissed her cheek. "You'll be fine."
An hour later, Catherine was ready to push her child into the world. "I can't, Mum!" She cried out in another dose of pain.
"Nearly there, Catherine! Nearly there!" The Doctor reassured her. "Keep pushing!" What seemed like forever, but it was only 5 more hours later, Catherine had given birth to a loud baby girl. "It's a girl." She smiled at Catherine, holding up the wailing baby. "We'll just get the nurse to clean her up." The cord was cut and the placenta delivered.
"Here's your baby." The nurse handed Catherine, a clean and very quiet baby girl.
Catherine held her close to her. "Oh my baby." She laughed softly, as the tears fell down her cheeks. "Hello." She kissed her baby's forehead.
"Have you got a name?" The nurse asked.
"No." Catherine shook her head. "Just put Weasley. She's definitely a Weasley." She kissed her baby's dark hair, which had a slight tint of redness in it.
Annie smiled broadly as her daughter rocked her newborn baby. "Are you okay?"
Catherine nodded. "Hurting quite a bit, but I don't care." She didn't care. Fred's baby was here and she was happy. Once they were out of her Aunt's house, she would send all her letters to Mrs Taylor.
A/N: I'm pouring these chapters out like crazy. Hope you're all enjoying them. So Fred's baby is here. :D Yes, I've named her but I'll let you know in the next chapter. :D
Responses from Chapter 9:
Alina Maxwell: Thank you. :)
smc1214: I wanted him to know that he was going to be a father. Would be cruel if he did not know. :)
BeatlesFloydZepp: Thank you! :D