Chapter 26: Sam Mungro's

"Professor Muggle?"

I looked over from my chair in the garden to see Willy Smythe standing with a heaping plate of food. "Yes, Willy?"

"Can your mum come over next year for the Muggle Club party? The food is brilliant!"

"I'll tell her you think so. Better yet, tell her yourself, I think she's over there by the drinks table."

I looked over in the general direction of where I thought Mom was and was surprised to see several of my students surrounding her. Mom was sitting down in one of the garden chairs, Lavinia sitting in the grass next to her, and suddenly all the girls began laughing. Oh shit, what was Mom telling them?

"Hank, these pictures are going to be wonderful." Hannah Longbottom gave me one of her sly grins. "I got one of Ginny and Melody sitting together, rubbing their bellies." She stopped suddenly and tilted her head, giving me an odd look. "What's wrong? Something's up, isn't it?"

I pointed towards my mom. "Over there. I knew this was a bad idea. She's probably telling them embarrassing stories that I'll never live down." I shook my head and then stopped. "Wait, did you say Ginny? Are Ginny and Harry here?"

"Just Ginny." Hannah giggled mischievously. "She told Harry he was in charge of the boys and just showed up. I think she and Melody are talking badly about their husbands, though, so I'd steer clear for a bit."

"Bad? Like what? I'm a great husband." I pushed my glasses to the top of my head. "I mean, who rubs her feet, gets everything for her when I'm home…" Shit. That was it.

"There you go, got it now, eh?" Hannah patted me on the shoulder. "I think you're doing great. She's been a bit of a prickly thing the last few months. It's a wonder you still have hair. Well, come to think of it…"

"Thanks, Hannah." I took a deep breath. "You know, they can't say that I don't throw a good Muggle Club party. After all, I supplied the Muggles." I stood there with Hannah for a while, watching everything. As usual the games were out, Muggle music was on in the background and it assumed the manner of a typical party. I looked over to Hannah. "Hey, Hannah, where's your lesser half?"

"Lesser half? I'm telling him you said that. Well, the last I saw of him he was with Melody's mum. From what Melody said Lane's been bothering her to have Neville speak to her gardening club. Can you imagine that, Nev in front of all those society ladies?"

"Actually, yes I can, believe it or not. He'd probably be nervous until he started talking about plants, and then he'll be fine."

Hannah lifted up her camera. "Oh that's a good one. Ok, must be off. I'm the official photographer today. I swear, the things your wife talks me into."

As Hannah left I went over to where my Dad and Ted were sitting, both of them with ice cold beers in their hands. "Hey, I don't think you're supposed to have beer here. Too many underage kids."

Ted pointed his beer bottle at me and took and obvious "ha ha, screw you" drink.

"Don't worry, Hank. Lavender fixed it." Dad smiled. "Cooler has a age spell or something on it. She said that only people over twenty-one could open the lid."

"Want one?" Ted opened the cooler.

While it was tempting, I knew better. I was still technically in charge of students. "Better not. Afterwards, hell yes." I sat down in the empty chair next to Dad. "So what do you think?"

"I think that couple that's getting married here at the house has a long way to go. Then again, they already seem like an old married couple already." Dad gestured slightly over by the shed. "She's been after him for something."

I looked over to where Dad pointed and chuckled. "Half right, Dad. They do act like an old married couple, but they're not the ones getting married. That's Ruby and Carrick, and they've been like that for years now. It's Peter and Franny who are getting married after school. That's them over there."

"Ah. Don't say anything." Dad shook his head wistfully. "Ah to be young and in love."

Ted leaned over. "Just think, Hank, in a few years that's going to be your son, trying out pickup lines on some cute little witch. Still weird to think you're kid's going to go to Hogwarts instead of a regular school, tuning rocks into cats and stuff like that."

"Yeah." I sat there for a while, watching my first year students. "You know, I had a really hard time with that. Wondering if Hieronymus would actually be able to use magic or not."

"That's what your mom said." Dad took a drink of beer. "Now don't get mad, you know your mom. Plus it didn't go unnoticed. Your wife was worried about you. Had a long talk with your mom. It'll be fine."

"I know, Dad. It still scares me, though, having to tell him why he can't go to Hogwarts. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Really, it doesn't matter, though. No matter what he'll be able to see both sides of things, magic and Muggle."

"Oh yeah." Ted grinned. "Nate and I have plans. Summer vacation back home, we'll make sure he knows about the good stuff."

The first Monday in June was a complete mess for me. Melody had to make me go back to Hogwarts, as I just knew that Hieronymus was going to arrive the minute I set foot back in the castle and I was bound and determined not to miss anything. I didn't agree with her, and we were on the verge of having a fight when Dad pulled me aside, informing me that he'd been through it more than once and at this point to do whatever she said.

As I sat in my classroom I wasn't happy. My family was over here, everything was about to change and Dad was basically telling me that even though I was almost forty I had to listen to my much younger and pregnant wife. I was still in a crappy mood when my fourth years entered the classroom, all buzzing and chatty about the Muggle Club party and Merlin knows what else. At that point I just wanted them to be quiet. I let them all settle down and looked at my planner; one month left of the term. Thankfully, given all of the unusual interruptions, we were on schedule. I took a deep breath and looked out over my class, all looking up expectantly at me to begin the lesson.

"Ok, class, who can tell me where we left off?" Thankfully one hand went up. "Yes, Mr. Volpone?"

Sebastian had a smirk on his face. "Can you tell us a little bit more about what it was like when you were our age? Your mum told us some stories…"

"Shit." I took off my glasses and walked up toward the front of my desk and sat on the edge. "I'll pay in a minute, Abigail. Can't believe I'm already funding next year's party, I should have known this would come up. All right, what exactly did my mom tell y'all?"

They looked around for a minute at each other and then began to talk pretty much at the same time.

I raised my hand. "Come on, one at a time, y'all know better than that. Fine. Miss Pennyman, what is it?"

The Slytherin girl looked nervous but regained her composure almost immediately. "Is it true that when you were sixteen you tried to start a band?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my fingers for a moment. "Yes, it's true. Three of my friends and I tried to start a band. None of us could really play, and I was probably the worst drummer you've ever heard. We all wore a lot of black, had crazy hair and looking back on it we were all annoying little shits. Pretentious, wouldn't talk to anybody if they didn't like the 'right' bands, stuff like that. Played one show where we were horrible. Well, Johnny wasn't, he could actually play guitar. He quit our band and started playing with another one. That was the end of that."

"What was your band called?" Lavinia smiled at me from her seat next to Willy.

Oh hell. "The Dharma Bums. We were really into Jack Kerouac. Ok, now that that's over with, can we get back to the lesson?

Lizzie Little's hand went up. "She told us story about how you bought a necklace for a girl…"

"Oh goddamit." I shook my head. I was going to have to talk to Mom later about telling stories. "Ok, last one. I was in middle school, so it'd be about third year here. I had a girlfriend and I bought her a necklace for her birthday, nothing fancy, but pretty nice. She broke up with me before I could give it to her, so when I started dating another girl I gave her the necklace. We were at a dance and somehow my brother Nate told my girlfriend that I'd bought the necklace for my ex-girlfriend and it all ended badly. Good grief, I can't believe she told y'all that. So you see, I wasn't always the awesome, cool professor you see before you. Yes, you can laugh, I know I'm not awesome or cool, that was a joke. I don't think I've ever been cool. Now, storytime is officially over, let's get to work. You do have final exams coming up, you know, as well as OWLS next year."

When the seventh years arrived in my class I noticed that Peter Sawgrass wasn't there and Franny looked as white as a sheet. After they'd organized themselves into the usual seating arrangement I looked over to Franny.

"Where's Peter?"

"In court."

Her voice was very quiet, and suddenly I saw the outgoing Franny of the last few years disappear into the frightened, shy Franny from my first year at Hogwarts. "Really? When did that happen? And how is he out of class? Doesn't he need parental permission?"

"Oh, he has parental permission." Poesy looked over at me angrily. "His father sent it in."

Holy shit. "Wait, his father gave permission from him to leave Hogwarts? He's in court because of his father."

"Exactly." Poesy shook her head. "Cruel."

"When did this happen?" I looked over to Franny, but her head was down and she didn't raise it to answer my question.

Liv Wapping took pity on Franny and put a hand on her arm. "Right after Transfiguration, Professor. Headmaster Titus came down and got him. Professor Boomstraw an' Peter left right after that."

Boomstraw was helping out? That surprised me, as even though he wasn't my favorite person in the building I didn't think he would be involved. Then again, he was the Slytherin Head of House. "Holy hell. Ok, I'd planned on doing more NEWT prep today, but I'm sure that's the last thing on everybody's mind. Not fair to do it without Peter here. After I make one announcement y'all are free to go."

I put my glasses back on and wondered if it was the best time to broach the topic, but I knew that they needed something to lift their spirits. "Melody and I have talked, and we'd like all of you to come over to Colony House after school is out for dinner. You're welcome to bring a guest, and it has nothing to do with Hogwarts. Well, in a way, it does. It goes without saying that you lot were the most troublesome bunch I ever taught my first year here. Some of you more than others."

Poesy smiled broadly as the others laughed.

"But now you have not only stopped being a pain in the ass, you've turned into damned good Muggle Studies students. I know Muggle Studies is not as important as Potions or DADA, so the fact that you took my class for your seventh year means something to me. You'll be the first class in what I hope will be a long tradition of NEWT students that will stop by and have dinner at my house. Now that'll be after the term ends, so you'll have something to look forward to besides NEWTS being over, losing house points and all that stuff. Ok, now go on, get out of here and do something studious or fun, you pick. Franny, if I could have a word?"

As they left Franny got up slowly from her seat and headed up towards me, head down and clutching her textbook closely to her chest with both arms. Liv also stood next to her, but with a different book.

"Three sickles."

I pulled out all of the money in my pocket and put it on my desk. "Just take it out of there, Liv."

She pulled out the money, placed it in the hollowed out book and left the classroom. After she was more than a few feet away I looked over to Franny. "I know you're worried, but this is part of it, the worry and not knowing how things will turn out. My mom always says that things turn out the way they do for a reason, even if we don't understand it at the time. Franny, look at me."

She lifted her head up slowly.

"Franny, I know it's hard, but things will turn out ok. You just have to have faith. Even if the court thing doesn't go your way life goes on. I know it might suck for a while, but what's more important to you, Peter or the land? I think you know the answer."

She nodded and gave me a weak smile. After she'd walked out I sat down at my desk and scooped up the remaining money that I hadn't spent on curse words. I knew I was really going to miss the seventh years next September.

By Wednesday I was a nervous wreck. Neville had decided that part of his job as godfather was to keep me semi-sane, so we played a lot of cards. He tried to teach me exploding snap but that ended horribly with me spilling a drink all over myself so after a miserable attempt at teaching him poker we finally settled on hearts. Calliope was sent off twice a day for status reports, and by Tuesday Melody sent me a letter back that, quite testily, told me to shut up and wait. Mom also sent a note back telling me that they were all enjoying their visit and not to worry, which had the effect of making me worry. A lot.

Peter's news was that he had no news. The decision would come soon, but they had no idea when. That didn't help my mood, and on Thursday morning I went down to breakfast as usual, my mind preoccupied about Melody and just sort of picked at my breakfast. Nonky even stopped by to ask if my food wasn't prepared properly, but I told him it was fine, I was just nervous about the baby arriving. That led to Nonky telling me all kinds of things that he could do to help out, which made me even more nervous. Just what I needed, my parents, Lane and Nonky all trying to help at once. I was trying to psych myself up to do a good job in class because, to be honest, I hadn't been doing a very good job that week, when Titus came over to my table in a hurry.

"What is it? Is it time?" I stood up. "I need to go…"

He put his hand on my shoulder. "No, Professor, I'm afraid not. But there is an urgent Floo call for you in my office from Ron Weasley."

Ron? Oh holy hell, this couldn't be happening. "Ok, ok, I…thanks." I nodded at Titus and took off out of the Great Hall at a somewhat brisk pace, as I didn't want to let on to the rest of Hogwarts what was going on.

When I arrived at Titus' office I could see Ron's head in the green flames but he was talking to someone else.

"I know, that's why I'm Flooing him. Yes, of course. Five more minutes, and if he doesn't show up…"

"Ron, I'm here, what is it?" I knelt down by the fireplace, sweaty from the running I'd done once I'd made it out of the Great Hall. "This is shitty timing, you know."

"Right, Hank. Yes, it is shitty timing. Rolf's lot found another professor, this time in Wales.

"Holy shit. So now what?"

"We thought you should know since you know some of these professors. That's about it, really. We're heading to Wales now, but you have to stay put. Melody's about to pop and you can't go, if that's what your asking."

"Fuck me. Who is it, can you tell me that?"

"We don't know yet, Hank. We'll keep you informed. If we need you at the Ministry we'll contact you. That's as far as Robards will allow. He knows the baby could come at any time."

"Ok, fine. Wish you hadn't bothered until it was done." I shook my head, angry. I should have been with them! "Dammit, it's not…"

"Hank. You're not an Auror. You know that. Just sit tight, we'll tell you if anything happens. Ok, I have to go now. We'll let you know, ok?"

Before I could say anything Ron's head disappeared from the green flames. I sat there for a moment before I could muster the energy to stand. When I finally did I felt a multitude of things at once; gratitude that even though I wasn't an Auror that Ron felt that I was involved enough to contact me, irritated that I couldn't go help and grateful that I didn't have to go as Melody actually could go into labor at any time. More than anything, though, I wished I had a cigar or a cigarette. Yes, I knew that it was bad for me but at times like that I just needed to unwind. A bad habit, obviously, but with the way my nerves were I would take anything that would help.

When I made it back down to the Great Hall my system was finally starting to come back to normal. The hall had started to clear, as breakfast was almost finished, so I decided to have another cup of tea to calm my nerves. I was almost through that cup when Titus showed up at the table.

"Thanks, Gavin, I appreciate you letting me borrow your Floo."

He looked agitated, excited and about ten other things at the same time. "No Hank, that's not it. I just got an owl from Melody. You're to meet her at St. Mungo's as soon as possible!"

"What? I stood up, knocking my teacup over and spilling what remained on the table. "How soon? When? I…I'm using your Floo!"

"Go, go, my boy!"

Gavin waved me off and once again I headed to the Headmaster's office, this time not caring if anyone saw me running. I half slid into his desk as I made it into the office, jumped in the fireplace and grabbed a rather large pinch of Floo powder. Throwing it down as fast as possible I yelled "Sam Mungro's!"

The moment I arrived I realized that I definitely was not in St. Mungo's, I was someplace different altogether. The building looked dilapidated, as if it was on the verge of falling down. Cobwebs were all over the place and a thick layer of dust covered the furniture that I could see before me. I took a cautious step out of the fireplace and looked around. "Hello? Anybody here?"

Nobody answered. At that moment I realized that in my haste to go to hospital I'd said the wrong thing. The first time I'd ever been introduced to Floo powder, my first year at Hogwarts, Neville had warned me that I had to enunciate clearly. It was obvious from my location that I had not done that. I figured it would be as easy to get to St. Mungo's as it had been to arrive at wherever the hell I was; all I had to do was throw down some Floo powder and say the right name. The problem, though, was that in my current location there was no Floo powder to be found. Fuck.

My mind was racing, as I knew that Melody was at the hospital right this very minute giving birth to our son and I was missing it. One of the most important moments of my life, of our marriage, and I was fucking missing it. I wished I could actually cast a patronus and send it off to someone, anyone, and tell them I was lost and needed help, but there was no way in hell that I could actually cast a patronus. Shit, I'd only done two spells my entire life and both of them were by accident. Neither of them could help me at this point unless I wanted to set something on fire or shield someone, and that wouldn't work in my current situation.

For some reason a conversation I'd had with Harry shot to the forefront of my mind. A long time ago I'd asked him how he'd managed to get out of situations that looked bleak, and he'd responded that he tried to keep a level head and think things through. That sounded like great advice, but I didn't know how the hell he managed to do that as a kid because I was nearing forty and was freaking out about what to do. Then again, Harry actually was a wizard, not to mention Harry freaking Potter, so he had a bit more skills than even I do now.

I took a deep breath and began winding my way through the building, eventually finding a set of stairs that led up to some door that was closed. I lifted up the door and when it moved I was grateful; there was no way that I'd be able to get out of the place if the door was locked. After making my way to what I assumed was the ground floor I once again found myself in a dusty, run-down and obviously abandoned building. The remnants of a bar stood against the far wall, as a couple of stools still stood as if ready to serve customers. A few tables still remained, dusty items lying haphazardly across their surfaces, sometimes with chairs. A dusty haze filtered in through the far wall, so I figured that was the front door with the windows. As I made my way over there my foot almost went through a rotten floorboard, causing me to swear. The noise caused something to skitter away in the shadows, and I figured it was best if I didn't know exactly what it was. Regardless, I pulled out my wand, just in case. Luckily I didn't have to use it as I found the door exactly where I thought it would be, but it was locked.

In all of the Muggle movies I'd seen, especially those with cops, there was always a scene where the officers broke down a door by lowering their shoulder and running into it. Obviously my mind wasn't working at peak capacity, with the stress and unfamiliar location, not to mention the fact that I kept imagining Melody in labor asking for me, so I figured it was the best thing to do. I went back about ten yards away and tried to remember high school football. As fast as I could I ran at the door, shoulder lowered, and hit the door at full speed.

Instead of breaking away as the doors did in the movies the door stood still as if I hadn't even touched it. The only thing that had actually happened was a searing pain in my shoulder, which I knew was messed up somehow. Now I was not only frantic but in pain, so I reverted back to even older movies, the cowboy movies. I went over to the bar, grabbed a stool and threw it through one of the giant windows that flanked the door. The crash was deafening as the glass shattered; light streamed through the open space where the glass used to be. I stepped over the wood casing of the window and soon found myself in a small, cobblestone street.

The witch who stood on the other side of the street, holding her packages, looked at me as if I was a monster from the old Universal movies. At first she stood motionless but eventually she dropped her packages and held her wand out in front of her in a defensive posture.

"Don't take another step!"

I held up my hands. "I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be at St. Mungo's but I screwed up the Floo. My wife's having a baby and I have to get there as soon as possible. Where am I?"

"Oh my." She put her wand away and picked up her packages. "You're a long way from St. Mungo's, lad. You're in Aberdeen."

"Aberdeen? Fuck! Oh, sorry." I ran my hand through my hair, almost pulling some out in the process. "Can you tell me where I can take the Floo or something else? I have to get there now!"

"Of course. Follow me." She motioned with her head down the street and I jogged over to her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I must have said the wrong thing."

She laughed politely. "Yes, well, you wouldn't be the first. Old Sam used to have a running pool in the pub, first time fathers have done that before. That was before Samuel passed, though. Been years since that pub was open. They really need to turn off the Floo. Never mind that, we'll just head down to the library."

I nodded. "Thank you, ma'am. If I miss it I'll never forgive myself. Or hear the end of it."

She patted me on the arm. "You'll be fine. My Alexander was the same way for our first. By the fourth he was an old hand. Best advice I can give you is to remain calm, hard as it is to do, especially the first time. You need to be an island of calm for her, trust me. Here we are, then. Good luck."

We stood outside the library and I held out my hand. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm Hank Boyd, I teach at Hogwarts. Please send me an owl so I can thank you properly. I'm sorry, I'm so rude, I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't throw it. Bernice McNulty. Never mind me, go to your wife. And remember, calm, calm, calm. She'll have enough to do without worrying about you."

When I arrived at St. Mungo's I was frantic; I was sure I'd missed everything. I ran up to the reception witch and asked about Melody in a rather loud voice. Before the witch could even respond I heard my name and turned around to see Lane and my Mom in the reception area.

"Mom! Lane! Where is she, what's going on?" I stopped suddenly because both of them seemed as cool as cucumbers. "What…"

"False alarm, Henry." Lane smiled at me. "She's in there now with Healer Berfic. It's not unusual, nothing to be worried about."

"What happened to you? You look filthy." Mom cocked her head at me.

"Long story, let's just say that I was nervous when I took the Floo and didn't end up where I was supposed to. If it wasn't for Bernice McNulty in Aberdeen I don't know what would have happened. Oh, and I probably owe some money for a broken window, but fuck that right now. Where's Mel?"

One of the Healers was waiting for me to finish and took me by the arm to lead me towards Melody's room. Once I got there Healer Berfic took one look at me and laughed.

"I'm sure this is an interesting story."

I nodded. "Oh yeah, a great one." I went over to Mel and kissed her. "Are you ok, love?"

She smiled. "Yes, Hank, I'm fine. False alarm. But it could be any time now."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Healer Berfic, but instead of her usual smirking demeanor she was very comforting. "It's quite all right, Professor. She's fine and so's the boy. Go home and rest, both of you."

When we walked back into the reception area Mom and Lane met us with reassuring smiles. Luckily I had no problem saying Colony House to head home, and Lane took Mom back by side-along. Everybody was waiting for us when we arrived, and after reassuring my family that it was only a false alarm I finally began to come down off of the frantic mood that I'd been feeling. It was about fifteen minutes after coming back home that I realized that I was supposed to be teaching.

"I'd better send Titus an owl. Mel, do you think I should go back or stay here? I think I should stay."

She bit her lip for a second and then put her hand on her belly. "If you could stay that would be…"

"I'm staying."

The owl from Titus came back almost immediately agreeing with my decision. Gavin informed me that instead of having a substitute he'd decided to teach the class himself that day, but that Arthur Weasley would take up the classes for the rest of the time. The moment I read the name Weasley, though, I remembered Ron's head in the fireplace. I looked around the house but Lavender was nowhere to be found.

"Um, where's Lavender?"

Nate pointed outside. I followed his gesture and looked out the window to see Lavender waving her wand around in intricate motions, what I took to be reinforcing the wards or adding more.

Even though the wonderfully kind Mrs. McNulty said I should be calm I wasn't, not at all. I was on edge, waiting to hear from Ron or Harry or somebody. I didn't want to tell Melody, as I didn't want to worry her, but she knew me well enough to know that something was up. Over Mom's freshly baked apple pie I told her and everybody else about Ron's Floo communication, that they'd found another missing professor. Dad thought it sounded like good news, but when I looked over at Lavender she kept a straight face and betrayed nothing.

Everyone had settled into a normal evening routine except for me, as I was still on pins and needles until I could hear something about the missing professor. Finally, as we were almost ready to head to bed I heard a knock on the door. Nate looked over at me and I shrugged. Lavender, however, had her wand out at the ready. I took a look through the peephole in the door and saw Harry. I could feel the tension leave my shoulders as I went to open the door, but Lavender put her hand on the doorknob.

"Lavender, its Harry."

"Right." She shook her head and me and kept her wand pointed at the door. In a very loud voice she shouted "What did Robards say to me at the party after I joined the Aurors?"

Behind the door I could hear Harry laugh. "He said you were going to be a pain to schedule because of the moon phases, and he cheated his way through that class."

Lavender opened the door and Harry walked in. "Sorry to bother everyone at this hour, but I knew Hank would want to hear the news." He stood just inside the doorway. "Normally I would just tell Hank but obviously everyone knows. She's safe, Hank. We have Stephanie Morgan from Houdini at the Ministry now. She's a little shaken but besides that there aren't any injuries. Our Healers are checking her out now, just to make sure."

"Good. She's a nice lady; she definitely didn't deserve this shit. So what now, Harry? And how did it go down? What happened?"

Harry shook his head. "We'll tell you later, nothing for you to worry about. You've got other things to think of. We're fine. Let the Aurors take care of it."

I was about to complain when Mom interrupted. "Harry, would you like a piece of apple pie? Still warm."

He laughed. "Thank you, perhaps another time, Mrs. Boyd."

"How many times have I told you, Harry, just call me Karen. Now I know you're just being polite, I'll wrap up a couple of pieces for you and Ginny. Won't take but a moment."

Late that night, after Harry had left with his pie and everybody else had retired for the evening, Melody and I were in bed, both of us tired but nowhere close to being sleepy.

"Hank?"

"Mmm? Yeah?"

"Where was it that you ended up again?"

"Aberdeen. Apparently there's an old pub there called Sam Mungro's. Guess I'm not the first first-time father to end up there. Pub's closed now, though. Did I tell you I had to break a window to get out?"

Melody's arm went around my waist. "No, you left that out. Mum was worried about you but your father said not to worry, you'd figure it out."

I smoothed her hair back from her head. "Yeah, that's Dad for you. He also said that when I started at Hogwarts, that I'd figure things out if left alone long enough. I think I did pretty well on that one, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." It was after a long pause when she spoke again. "Are you tired at all? Maybe a bit hungry?"

"Yeah, definitely tired, but I'm not hungry. You're thinking about that piece of apple pie that's left, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. Ok, yes I am. I'll be back in a minute. Don't wait for me; go to sleep if you want to."

I rolled over and fluffed up the pillow to its optimal density and stretched out, pushing one foot off of the end of the bed. Was I tired? Hell yes, I was exhausted. I was just about asleep when I heard the sound of something breaking in the kitchen and bolted straight up in bed. I waited a second, in case it was just an accident, in which case I'd hear Melody doing something, but instead I heard my name. Melody calling my name, loudly, and in pain.

I hit the kitchen almost the same time as my sister and my Mom, and all of us saw Melody standing against the kitchen counter, both hands on the counter and leaning over.

"Mel?" I walked over to her and put my hand on her back. "Another false alarm?"

Jennifer took one look and shook her head. "No dipshit, it's time. Her water just broke."