Hello again! I've been working on this story all day and I remembered I needed to post this. Sorry! I should have the next chapter up tomorrow, depending on the number of reviews I get...thanks again to my lovely reviewers! Love you all! I love the ideas you've given me, and I may modify them to fit the story. Thanks again! Oh, and I've decided not to do too many outtakes of Harry's POV. However, we will be hearing from Harry this chapter! Read on to find out!
Disclaimer: It's not mine. OK, Dr. Rigoro is, but that's it.
Chapter 11: The More The Merrier!
I'm right: the week until I visit the doctor does take forever. Luna has her call me on the phone to get us acquainted, and though I'll have a stack of forms to fill out when I get in, we're better off than we were when we first got here. We've set about forging me a birth certificate, for we're certain I'll need one. Most medical places require one for their records.
"How's that?" Luna asks me, holding up a piece of paper to the light. I squint at it.
"There's a smudge right there," I reply, pointing.
"Thanks. This is much harder than I though it would be," she mutters, grabbing her wand. It's Sunday, and we both have off, so I'm lounging about in our new chairs(my feet have been killing me!) while she works on a fake certificate for me. I love our table. It's a deep black, of a modern design, and it compliments our red oak hardwood amazingly well. The table is a simple ebony, so shiny I can see myself in it. The chairs have three black rungs on the back, and a very comfortable leather seat with armrests. I love it. It was a little more expensive than Luna wanted, but I insisted, and she admits now that it was a good purchase. I, of course, agree.
"Alright, I think I've got it," Luna announces, and I look up.
"That does look nice," I say. "Great job."
"Thanks," she says happily, and turns to put it in the folder for our 'official' documents. As she turns, the smell of her perfume hits me full in the face, and I gag, only barely making it to the kitchen sink in time. Luna comes behind me and holds my hair. I finish my retching fit and rinse my mouth.
"Ugh. I hate this nausea," I complain, leaning agains the counter and rubbing my abdomen. The barest hint of a bulge is starting to show, but you can't see it through my clothing. I only notice it when I shower.
"Don't worry," Luna soothes, still washing vomit out of the sink. "It'll be worth it. You'll love this baby to death! Have you thought-"
"About names?" I finish and we both laugh. "Not too much more, no, but I do have a vague idea..." I let my voice trail off.
"Do tell," Luna says, setting about making tea.
"Well," I say, reaching over to help, "I'd like it to have one of Harry's parent's names as it's middle name. I know he'd-he'd want me to do that." I gulp back tears. I've cried enough in the past week. I still cry every night, but I try not to let Luna hear me.
"You mean like Lily for a girl and James for a boy?" she asks, rubbing my back gently. I nod as the tears overflow.
"I miss him, Luna. I wish I could go back," I say, and before I know it I'm sobbing. "He won't be here to hold my hand when I'm giving birth, and he won't be there to hold it and tell it Daddy loves it! And-and-he won't get to cut the umbilical cord," I say, knowing the last reason is silly, but it's the one that bothers me the most.
"Ginny, shh," Luna says, handing me my tea. I sip it as she continues. "We could still go back! You don't have to do this alone. I'm sure he'd welcome you back with open arms. I know you could make it work, somehow." I'm shaking my head before she's even done.
"Luna, I've told you, if the press hear of this baby, I'll never have another quiet moment. Mom would kill me, and George, Ron, Percy and Charlie would all kill Harry. This poor thing would have to grow up in front of the entire Wizarding World! No, no, no. I'm staying here." She sighs but does not argue with me. I'm glad for it. My reasons are harder to explain, even to myself, every time.
At that moment, a snowy owl comes in and lands on the counter. I shriek and spill hot tea all over myself; it's Hedwig. I reach for the letter on her leg.
Dear Ginny,
Your family wanted me to send this with Hedwig, so I did. It's your family's letter. Ron and your mother insisted I write you one, too. So here goes.
They're all desperate to see you again, Ginny. George and Teddy especially. Your mother the most. I think she's coming unglued without you here. We miss you, we really do. I miss you. I don't know why you left me, but at least think of your family. They need you. Please, Ginny, please come back.
I miss you every hour of the day and night. I'm still looking for you, wherever you are. If you're still getting the Daily Prophet, they've mentioned it a few times. But I miss you, and I love you, and I want you to come back. Give me another chance, Ginny, please! I will move mountains for you! I'll stop the reporters, I'll be home more! I know what it's like to lose a family member, and I'll help you with Fred's death. I'll do anything! If you won't come back for me, then I'll leave, but please come see your family just one more time!
I've done the best I can, and I know this is probably sappy. But they wanted me to try. So I did. Just know that I love you, and I miss you, and I'll never stop searching until the day I can hold you in my arms again.
I love you,
Harry.
I'm in tears by the end of this letter. I love him and miss him, too, how can he not know that? I want so badly to go back...but I know I can't. I won't do that to him. But my family...I miss them, too.
"Oh, Ginny," Luna says, and reaches over to give me a hug, but I push away from her and run to my room. I spend the rest of the night crying, and only allow Luna in to bring me food. I don't want company, I want to be alone and cry for those I love back home. Why, oh why, did I have to be so stupid?
The next morning, I feel better some, but still very, very sad. I don't stay that way for long: today's my first appointment. Despite all that's happened because of this baby, I still can't wait to see it. What can I say? I have a maternal instinct like every girl. I get up and dress, then go to the kitchen cautiously. Harry's letter is no longer on the counter; I assume Luna moved it after last night. My family's letter is nowhere in sight, either, and I'm starting to get a little worried about that. I intend to reply to that one.
"Don't worry," Luna says when she comes in and sees me looking everywhere for it. "I put it away, thought you deserved a bit of a break from all that emotion last night." She smiles at me and then proceeds to make breakfast. I want to help, but the smell sends me to the bathroom down the hall again. In the end, the only thing she gets me to eat is a bowl of cereal, a Muggle cereal she bought called Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It's actually not bad.
We leave the house about 15 minutes later, around 8:30. Luna got an early appointment so that I could work half a day, which I am thankful for. I've already decided I'm staying home once this baby is born. I'm not missing any of it's life. It is the only family I'll ever have, besides Luna, after all. I still can't decide whether I want a boy or a girl, though. I suppose I'd be fine with either one.
"I know I've asked you this so many times now, Ginny, but any more thought of names?" Luna says to break the silence as we walk down the street.
"Like I said last night, it'll either have Lily or James as it's middle name," I reply. "And that's all I've thought about. But I sort of want to know the gender before I pick out a name. I don't want to pick out a really good boy's name and have it be a girl." Luna nods in agreement.
"Do you think it'll be a girl or a boy?" she asks me. I frown and rub my hand on my stomach, thinking. I suppose as the mother I ought to know...but I can't tell...
"Girl," I say suddenly, surprising even myself. Where did that come from? Yet somehow, deep within me, I know it's true. I'm having a girl.
"Well then, I'm betting on a boy," Luna counters, and we spend the rest of the way arguing over how reliable my instinct is. We're still breathless with laughter when we reach the doctor's office. I look at the building, made of rough brown stone, and feel my heart sink. I wish Harry was here. I want him to be with me, in this big moment. But he's not here. He's not here because I left him behind.
"Come on, Ginny. You can do this," Luna says softly. I look at her, take a deep breath, and nod. We enter the building.
It's small and modest, warm and homey and I like it right away. I'm already much more relaxed as Luna leads the way to a free receptionist.
"Good morning," I say before Luna can. "I'm Ginny Weasley, here for an appointment with Dr. Rigoro?" The lady nods.
"Here are the files. Be warned, dear, you may not have an ultrasound today. She just wants to check up with you." I nod. I was prepared for this, anyway. I take the forms to a corner and spend a good twenty minutes with them. Who knew there was so much to having a baby? Gr.
As expected, we did need a birth certificate, so I'm glad we went to the trouble of making one. I'm also very happy with the way it turned out. No one would ever know we'd handmade it(with magic of course, but still...).
When I'm done I take the pages up to the nice lady at the desk. She nods and tells me that the doctor will be with me in a few minutes. I retreat to my corner and pick up a magazine on parenting, figuring I'm gonna need all the help I can get. It's very informative and I'm engrossed in it until Dr. Rigoro comes out.
"Ginevra Weasley?" she calls, and I glance at Luna and stand. Dr. Rigoro is a woman with deep brown skin, expressive brown eyes, and beautiful, silky black hair. I don't know why, but I trust her immediately. "Nice to meet you," she says to me, and we go through the door, Luna at my heels, looking around in wonder at all the Muggle medicine equipment. "In here please," the doctor calls, and we go into a room with a long chair in a reclined position. I sit on this, and Luna takes the chair by the door.
"Welcome, Miss Weasley. I am Dr. Rigoro and I will be taking care of you during your pregnancy and childbirth. Now, before we get started, I'd just like to review this paperwork with you. I know," she adds at the look on my face, "There's a lot."
I put up with that, and then the next few questions about my health. I'm really getting sick of paperwork. When she asks us why we're here if I'm only six weeks along, I really tune in then.
"Well, I've been having such extreme symptoms that I really thought that maybe something was wrong with me. Also, I'm a bit larger than the book says I should be-" I'd nicked a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting from my mom before we left) "-so I was just wanting to get a checkup and make sure everything's OK inside." Dr. Rigoro is nodding slightly and frowning by the time I'm done.
"You were quite right to come in, Miss Weasley. I had assumed you were more along the lines of 8-12 weeks when I saw you, but I see that is not the case. I think...yes, if you're bigger than expected and having such strong symptoms...yes, I do think an ultrasound is in order. Just to make sure all is fine down there." I nod, already nervous. Dr. Rigoro nods and smiles at me, reassuring me everything is fine and not to worry. I barely hear her. Oh, please don't let anything be wrong with my baby...Harry's baby...our baby...
Only when Dr. Rigoro leaves to get the proper equipment do I realize I've been rubbing my bump this entire time. I take my hand off it, surprised, and look at Luna, who's trying not to giggle.
"Oh, Ginny, I'm sure everything will be alright," she reassures me.
"But if it's not...if I gave up everything for nothing..." Tears spring to my eyes at the thought of what I've done, what I've given up for this baby that may not even be alright.
"Ginny! There is nothing wrong with the baby! You would know! You're the mother!" Luna's half-exasperated words are true. I would know if something was wrong inside me, wouldn't I? Of course I would. After all, I knew I was having a girl. I'm much more relaxed when Dr. Rigoro comes in. She wheels everything in and asks me to lay down. She spreads a strange green liquid on my stomach and is about to start the ultrasound when I yell, "STOP!" and burst into tears. She's stunned.
"Sorry," I say, "But I just wish-I wish-Harry were here..." my voice trails off as Luna comes over to me.
"Who is Harry?" asks the doctor.
"The-the-father," I say. "He-he left when he found out I was expecting, and so I moved in with Luna here. But he'll never see his child...He's not here..."
It takes them nearly ten minutes to calm me down, and when they do, I'm intensely ashamed of myself, but Dr. Rigoro tells me it's just the pregnancy thing. She tells me she's had much worse in here, including someone who went so crazy they had to knock her out with drugs. Then she tells me there's nothing to worry about, and how she's just going to show me my baby on that screen up there. I stare at it, excitedly, but jump when a strange instrument touches my stomach.
"It's alright," Dr. Rigoro soothes, and I go back to staring at the screen. In a few minutes, just as I'm starting to get worried, an image pops up. It's grainy and hard to see, but focuses after a few seconds to a gray blob in the middle of the screen. There are two black holes in the middle of it. I don't understand it one bit, and look to the doctor for an explanation. She's frowning at the screen, running the tool over my stomach a bit harder. My hands fly to my stomach protectively.
"It's alright," she tells me. "I'm just trying to get a better picture..." A minute later, the screen focuses, this time razor sharp. "Ah-ha!" she exclaims. "Success!"
"What is that?" I ask, not comprehending anything I see.
"That is your baby, Ginny," the doctor replies, beaming at me. I look closely at the image on the screen, and start to see a head, arms, and legs, no bigger than a bean. I gasp, gripping my stomach.
"That's...my...baby?" I ask, wonderstruck. Rigoro nods. I gasp, and a mile-wide smile splits my face. That little blob up there is...mine. Mine and Harry's. Ours. I smile at it for awhile, running my hands over my stomach, watched by Luna and Dr. Rigoro. Then something occurs to me.
"Shouldn't she be a bit bigger?" I ask. Rigoro smiles and nods.
"Yes, it should be. But, Ginny, that's the great news!" she says, smiling. I'm so lost.
"Huh?"
"You're going to have twins!" she announces. My jaw drops.
