It was now a few days before Esme's birthday, Esme and Jessie were waiting for Lance at a restaurant.
"Hey Esme," Lance greeted.
"Hey Lance."
"This is my wife, Sarah," he introduced the black haired woman next to him.
"It's nice to meet you, Sarah."
"You too, Esme."
"This is my daughter Jessie, she's 4 ½ months."
"She's adorable," Sarah cooed.
Esme smiled. "Thanks."
The host called their names and they were escorted to the table.
"So, you've known Lance since you were eleven?"
"Yes."
Sarah nodded.
"So, how did you meet?" Esme asked her best friend's wife.
"We met in uni. I was an English major while Lance was a finance major."
Esme nodded as the waitress walked up to the table and they ordered.
"If I remember correctly, it's your birthday in three days isn't it?" Lance asked.
"It is."
The trio continued talking.
"So, how long have you been married?"
"2 years."
The waitress delivered their meals. They ate and chatted more. After they finished dinner, they went their separate ways.
Esme went back to the Weasleys in the midst of a dramatic scolding of Fred and George.
—
It was now August 3rd, also known as Esme's 22nd birthday.
"Happy Birthday, Esme," Ben said walking down the stairs.
"Thanks, Benny."
Molly overheard the conversation. "It's your birthday today, Esme?"
"It is."
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks."
"Do you want anything special for your birthday breakfast?"
"A normal breakfast is fine, Molly."
"Why wouldn't we have a normal breakfast?" Fred asked.
"It's my birthday today, your mum was going to make me a special breakfast."
Fred smiled. "Happy Birthday."
"Thanks, Fred."
Esme was used to being up at odd hours during the night feeding Jessie. That's what she was in the middle of when she heard some noise her wand by her side.
"Anyone there?"
"It's just me!"
She put her daughter down and peered out of the room to see Arthur.
"Oh, Mr. Weasley," she said.
"The boys and I are just getting ready to leave for the Quidditch World Cup," he explained.
"Oh, okay. Are Bill and Charlie going too?"
"Yes, they'll meet us there."
Esme nodded. "Say hi to Charlie for me, will you?"
"I will."
Esme nodded and walked down to the kitchen Molly was already busy cooking and Ben was helping. Esme was the baker of the family but Ben was a great chef taking after their dad.
Esme sat at the table as the Weasley sons and daughter stumbled down the stairs along with Harry and Hermione.
"So, who's playing in the match?" Esme asked.
"The Irish and the Bulgarians," Arthur replied.
Esme smiled. "Go, Irish."
Arthur said goodbye to his wife and the eight of them left to meet up with the Diggory family.
"It's going to be so quiet today," Esme said.
The rest of the day the two Abrams siblings helped Molly around the house by degnoming the garden.
It was the usual hour that she was up to feed Jessica now. She stepped on the floor and made her way to the nursery. As she was feeding her daughter she heard footsteps on the stairs. She knew everyone was asleep. She finished feeding Jessica and crept out of the room only to run into Bill.
"Hey Esme," he said.
She looked confused at her best friend. "I thought you were at the Quidditch World Cup?"
"We were but there was an attack, what are you doing up?"
"I was feeding Jessie, since this is the usual time that I feed her."
Bill nodded as Charlie walked up the stairs.
"Hey Charlie, did you enjoy the match?"
"I did."
She smiled at the brothers and asked. "That's good. Is everyone okay?"
"Just a bit shaken, I suppose," Bill said.
Esme nodded.
"I came up to see Jessie," Charlie said.
Esme smiled. "She's asleep right now but she'll probably be up again in the next hour or so."
Charlie nodded disappointed.
"I'm going back to bed, night boys."
"You know I'm kind of wiped too," Charlie said.
Bill raised a suspicious eyebrow at his brother but shrugged it off.
Esme laid down on the bed and immediately fell asleep.
About an hour later, she woke up to her daughter crying. She noticed her head was resting on Charlie's chest.
"You can go back to sleep, I'll go take care of Jessie," Charlie said looking down at Esme sweetly.
"She's not your responsibility, Charlie," she whispered as she drifted off to sleep again.
Charlie smiled, watched her sleep for a minute and walked towards the nursery to take care of Jessie.
The raven-haired baby cooed at him as he picked her up. He changed her nappy and held her until she fell back asleep.
"Charlie?"
He turned to see the younger Abrams sibling. "Ben, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Are you staying here too?"
Ben nodded. "Yes, ever since I finished Hogwarts. I came to see Esme because my mum and sister didn't tell me anything about why Esme wasn't at Christmas."
"Oh, okay."
"I'm surprised that Esme is letting someone else take care of Jessie, she hasn't even let your mum help."
"That explains why she's so exhausted."
Ben nodded. "You really care about Esme and Jessie, don't you?"
"I do," Charlie smiled.
Ben nodded but didn't say a thing. Charlie walked back to Esme's room to see she was still fast asleep.
He decided to stay up with the rest of siblings who were too worked up to sleep.
"I thought you were sleeping with Esme?" Bill teased.
Charlie blushed. "It's not like that, we're just friends."
Bill shook his head.
About two hours later, Esme walked down the stairs.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"Thanks for helping with Jessie earlier but I can handle her now," she thanked Charlie.
"You still look exhausted, doesn't she Bill?" Charlie asked.
"I'm not getting in the middle of this, good luck," Bill said.
Charlie turned to Ben. "Don't you think so?"
"I'm agree with Bill, I'm not getting in the middle of this either."
Charlie sighed.
"I haven't even let your mum help with Jessie too much," Esme said.
Before Charlie could respond Jessie started to cry.
"I'm going to grab her. She's probably hungry and you can't help with that," Esme giggled.
"I suppose not."
Esme walked to the nursery and fed her daughter. She's been breast feeding since Jessie was born.
Though, she was thinking of starting to wean her since she would be four months next month. She finished feeding her daughter and walked down the stairs.
The next time that Jessie cried, Charlie convinced Esme to let him take care of her and she relented much to his relief.
Every time Jessie cried the two of them had a small argument and she always relented unless it was time to feed her.
It was later that night, Esme was in her room sitting on her bed talking to Charlie.
"Thanks for helping with Jessie today, Charlie," she smiled at him.
"No problem, I'm happy to help."
"How long are you staying until you go back to Romania?"
"Sadly, I leave in the morning after I get up."
She sighed. "Okay."
"Do I sense disappointment in your voice, Esme?" he teased.
"Maybe a little."
"Are you thinking of getting back to work?" Charlie asked.
"I really want to but I also want Jessie to have a stable home. That doesn't come from a deadbeat biological dad and a busy mother."
"Has Bill ever mentioned the Cursed Vaults to you?"
"He has but not in too much detail," she said.
"There was a group of students including me, Barnaby and Bill we were called 'The Cursed Bunch'. The main one was Gretchen Copper née Boot and her brother Jacob Boot. They started a cursebreaking firm maybe you could try getting a job there."
"Will they be fine with the fact that I'm a mum?"
"I'm pretty sure they will be. I'm pretty sure Gretchen and her husband Ben have a daughter around Jessie's age."
Esme nodded. "I'll think about it."
"Okay, now get some rest," he said.
"You know your chest is a lot more comfortable than in looks," Esme smiled.
"Should I take that as a compliment?" Charlie laughed.
She giggled and just rested her head on his chest her hazel eyes closing immediately. Charlie watched her sleep for a few minutes until he fell asleep himself.