We all made our way over to the tables that had been setup for dinner. Dave and Gabrielle were content to wander over at their own pace, they seemed a little lost in their own world as they were walking along holding hands and very happily chatting about something.
The same couldn't be said for the rest of my family as they were eagerly heading over to the apparition point to greet Percy and Audrey. Percy looked like a sea of nerves, while Audrey appeared to be completely composed. She did however display a great deal of interest in the goings on that were happening around her. She also warmly waved to several members of Dave's team.
I located Arthur on my way over to the apparition point and told him that Percy had arrived with Audrey. Arthur was quickly on his feet and joined us to greet the two of them as they came through the gate.
Audrey appeared to be around Percy's height, she had lovely deep brown eyes and hair that was such a dark brown that it appeared to be almost black. Her skin looked to be well tanned and she had a friendly smile present on her face. She carried herself with a self-assurance and grace of someone who had seen more than her share of battles. Fireball's brief description of her more than explained that aspect. She also had a grace and a purpose about her movements as well.
It took only one look at Percy's face to tell that he was totally smitten with her.
"Mum, Dad, I would like to introduce you to Audrey." Percy began, then after a short pause he added, "my fiancé."
Arthur and I were both stunned and didn't know what to say. Percy took advantage of this and continued with his introductions, "Audrey, I would like to introduce you to my parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley."
We may have been stunned but Audrey certainly wasn't. She flashed a brilliant smile at us and stepped forward with her hand out. I couldn't greet my son's fiancé in such a formal manner so I quickly swept her up into one of my famous hugs. While I was hugging, her she turned to Percy and said with a throaty chuckle, "It looks like you owe me, Fireball and Dave, 2 red jelly beans each Perce."
At that comment, I quickly released her and asked her, "What? They all knew?" before I remembered my manners and said, "It is lovely to finally get to meet you Audrey. We have heard only a little about you and most of that was from my newly discovered nephew and his sister."
"So, I decided to 'encourage' Percy here to finally bring you over to meet all of us." I said with a smile, "With support of my niece Percy finally agreed to do so and I am so very happy that he did."
"Thank you Mrs Weasley." Audrey replied, "It is a real pleasure to finally meet all of you. Percy has told me so much about you all."
"I bet he has" George replied in his slightly too loud 'quiet voice'.
Thankfully this generated laughter from Audrey and Percy both which quickly covered up the moment of awkwardness.
After this Audrey was quickly introduced to Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, George, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry. She was warmly welcomed by them all and seemed very happy to finally get to meet them in person.
"Is what Percy said true?" Arthur asked excitedly, "Are congratulations in order?"
"Yes Mr Weasley, it is true." Audrey replied with a smile, "Percy proposed to me on New Years Eve, when we were in France with Dave and his team."
"Can we see the ring?" I asked, as I couldn't help myself. Audrey beamed a brilliant smile and turned to Percy.
"Now that we have told your parents can we cancel the disillusionment charm on them?" she asked him while flashing her brilliant smile again.
"Of course." Percy replied and pulled his wand out. With a quick flick of his wand we could suddenly see two gorgeous rings, one on Audrey's finger and one of Percy's.
"Oh my." I remarked, "They are gorgeous." I told them both. They only grinned even more.
The rings looked to be brilliant yellow and white gold woven together with a set of diamonds included in the weave. In the ring Audrey now proudly displayed there were 3 diamonds. A largish central one and two smaller ones on either side. While the ring Percy now displayed also had three diamonds in it they were all of the same size.
"Where ever did you get them Percy?" I just had to ask.
"They were a present for the two of us from Dave and his team." Percy answered, "We saw him make them right in front of us. It was the most amazing sight I had seen. Until the more recent demonstrations he did here."
"Yes my nephew certainly has a unique skill in making things." I replied, "As well as keeping secrets" I grumbled with a little irritation.
"Your nephew?" Audrey replied with an air of confusion.
"Yes, we found out only yesterday that Dave's mother is my older sister." I replied with a smile, the thought of having an older sister still bringing a smile to my face.
Audrey turned on Percy, "When where you going to tell me that?" She asked him with an air of irritation.
"Well… I hadn't thought about it, to be honest." He said a little sheepishly, "I was more worried about your reaction to meeting this lot."
"It's a good thing you're cute when your confused Perce. Otherwise I would be VERY annoyed with you right now." She shot back as she grabbed his hand and lead him over to the dinner table.
"I can see that she is going to be good for him." Arthur remarked with a straight face. I was rather proud of him just then being able to hold it for as long as he had.
"Yeah, I mean once she gets her eyes checked she could be REALLY good for him." Ginny replied with no attempt at maintaining a straight face. We all turned to Ginny to try and gage what her thoughts really were.
With an evil smirk, she explained, "I mean anyone who describes Percy as cute obviously needs to have their eyes checked. Right?"
This brought a round of laughter from all of us as we headed over to the tables.
I quickly had a score of willing and able volunteers to get dinner on the table. As apparently, there were a large number of VERY hungry people present. It was so heart-warming to have the whole family around for dinner along with a good proportion of my sisters' family as well.
The news of Percy's engagement while not new news to Dave's team was very happily discussed around the dinner table. Most of the discussion centred around Audrey, as Ginny, Fleur and Hermione were VERY keen for any and all details of Percy's proposal and their plans for the wedding itself.
As for me I found the conversation around the dinner table to be very enjoyable. I was able to have a good chat with both Sandra and Ivan, we covered how they had met and grew up together. The 'interesting' start to their 'official' relationship as well as how they dealt with the usual ups and downs that everyone has.
I told her all about my relationship with Arthur, how we met at school. How I had quickly fallen for him and been rather frustrated at him for being so 'slow on the uptake' as to my feelings towards him. We were each bringing the conversation around to how our husbands had proposed to us when there was a tapping of a knife against a glass to get everyone's attention.
Looking down the table we noticed that both Shelly and Jean-Luc were standing up with slightly apprehensive looks on their faces. I found it hard to contain my own smile as I knew what this announcement was going to be.
Very quickly the crowd around the table fell silent. I noticed that all the girls looked excited, as they obviously knew (like me) what this announcement would be. The boys mainly looked curious as to the interruption.
"Excuse me all, if we could have your attention for a few moments we would be most grateful." Jean-Luc began with a nervous smile. He reached for Shelly's hand and held it tightly and they shared a supportive smile between them, "We would like to announce that this afternoon I asked Shelly if she would do me the honour of marrying me so that we could spend the rest of our lives together."
"To my eternal delight and pleasure she said yes." Jean-Luc said with a brilliant smile that was matched only by the one on Shelly's face.
The whole table erupted in celebration and congratulations for the two of them. Sandra and Ivan were clearly delighted at the news. Fireball, Andrea and Cassy were also very obviously extremely happy as well. Dave was also extremely pleased also. But he seemed to be concentrating very hard on his mirror phone that he was holding up. I was very curious as to what he was doing when he carefully got up from his seat and walked around to where Shelly and Jean-Luc were standing watching him with an expression of curiosity on their faces.
"Someone would like to congratulate you both." He said as he handed the mirror phone over to them both.
Shelly warily took the mirror phone from him and looked at the screen. She immediately had a gorgeous smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Hello Grandma and Great Grandma." She quickly pulled Jean-Luc to her side so she could introduce him to her Grandmother and Great Grandmother as well.
We couldn't hear what they were saying to the newly engaged couple but they clearly loved what they were hearing. As they were both smiling very happily (Shelly was fighting back a rather significant blush also). After a few moments she handed the Mirror Phone back to Dave and he pocketed it and then embraced his sister and brother-in-law to be.
I expected Dave to head back to his seat after this, instead he looked over to his parents and exchanged one of those blank looks between them. After this Ivan and Sandra rose and approached Shelly and Jean-Luc in an almost formal manner.
Shelly noticed their approach and looked both excited and apprehensive about it. Dave quickly positioned himself between his parents and his sister but off to one side. Everyone went quiet as we all sensed something significant was about to take place.
"Jean-Luc, we would both like to take this opportunity to formally welcome you into our family." Ivan began. He was trying to keep a straight face but he couldn't keep the smile from displaying.
"For you to have some completely won the heart of our daughter, it speaks to your qualities as a good and fine man. For you to have put up working with her and her siblings for their time here in Europe speaks to your patients and tolerance." He said grinning ear to ear.
"Now is probably the time to tell you that we have indeed had many a report about you. Both from Shelly's family and your own."
This brought a small amount of worry to jean-Luc's face as well as a stern look from Shelly at her family members.
"Do not look so worried young man. Without exception, all the reports have been glowing recommendations of you. With the exception of one." Ivan chuckled as the now very worried look on Jean-Luc's face. Shelly was now glaring at Dave who was managing to look very calm despite her angry stare.
"Don't be so quick to judge Shelly. It wasn't Dave who gave this particular report. But none other than Jean-Luc's own sister." At this Jean-Luc went white, Shelly looked only slightly ashamed and everyone else had a good laugh.
"She tells us that when she brought home her future husband for the first time you did all that you could to make the poor man as uncomfortable as possible." Ivan was openly grinning now, "So she teamed up with Shelly's little brother to 'return the favour' to you." Ivan, Sandra and Dave were now all grinning opening at Jean-Luc.
"I will indeed be reporting back to her that Dave succeeded in his mission and that you dealt with the ordeal extremely well. I'm sure she will be very pleased." Ivan said laughing. Sandra was wiping a tear from her eyes.
"We would like you to know that despite the earlier awkwardness we whole heartily approve of Shelly's choice of you as her future husband." Jean-Luc and Shelly both appeared to be very relieved at this statement.
"I'm also very sure that you will also happily join in with the plans to make Jasper's 'special quidditch player' first visit as memorable as yours was." Ivan said to a suddenly grinning Jean-Luc and Shelly. Fireball for her part was sending her own murderous glare over to Dave and her parents. She was so focused on them she failed to notice that Shelly, Andrea and Cassy were turning their own predatory gazes onto her also.
It looked like she was going to be as outnumbered as the poor boys in Dave's family reportedly were. I have to admit that I found myself suddenly looking forward to our visit to Australia as I was sure that she would use that opportunity to introduce this mystery man of hers.
"To show you that we do indeed truly welcome you into our family we would like to present you with this." Ivan said with a very formal tone and a serious look on his face. He turned to Dave who extracted a very familiar golden rope style chain. This he held almost reverently in the flats of his hands. Jean-Luc looked at it with awe and surprise, while Shelly stared at it with almost the same reverence as Dave.
"This Talisman belonged to my eldest son James. It was stated in his will that if he fell in the line of duty it was his wish for his Talisman to be passed along to another family member." As Ivan said this he had unshed tears in his eyes. Sandra and indeed the rest of her family also were fighting back their own tears at this statement. I could now also understand the reverence that Dave and Shelly were showing just moments ago.
Jean-Luc for his part was now also showing an almost equal level of reverence to Dave and Shelly. From what we had been told he had known Dave's older brother quite well and as a result would fully understand the meaning behind this offer.
"Knowing what Jimmy wrote about you in his reports I'm very confident that he would whole heartily approve of his Talisman being offered to you." Ivan said to a now beaming Jean-Luc and Shelly.
"With that in mind we would like to offer this Talisman to you if it is your stated desire to form a lifelong bond with our daughter Shelly. In a loving and supportive relationship as equals."
"Is this indeed your desire Jean-Luc Devereaux?" Ivan formally asked him.
"Oui. It is indeed, with all my heart." Jean-Luc answered him. Ivan and Sandra both smiled at this reply.
"Is this also your desire Michelle, to form a lifelong bond with Jean-Luc. In a loving and supportive relationship as equals?" Ivan asked her.
"Yes, it is" She answered her father, turning to Jean-Luc she added, "With all my heart."
Ivan and Sandra also smiled at her answer.
"Then I would ask that each of you pluck a hair from your beloved and place it in Dave's hands with the Talisman that we offer to Jean-Luc." Ivan said formally.
With almost solemn movements they each plucked a hair from one another and placed them on the Talisman in Dave's hands. As they did so the Talisman he held glowed brightly. Dave's hands then caught a flame with friendfyre and he worked the golden chain as though he was mixing the hairs in with it.
When he was done he presented the still brightly glowing golden chain to his father. Ivan inclined his head in acknowledgement and smiled at Dave.
"As it is your stated wish to bring this young man into our family Michelle I present to you his Talisman, for you to place around his neck to both welcome him to our family and to offer him its protection." Ivan said formally.
Shelly came forward and collected the Talisman from her father with a shy smile. She then approached Jean-Luc and with a glorious smile on her face fastened it around his neck. Jean-Luc had a massive smile on his face at this, his smile only got bigger with Shelly's next action. This was to place her hands around his next and draw him into a deep and passionate kiss. The accompanying cat calls and wolf whistles had no impact on the very happy couple. Although they did have a few giggles when they did eventually break off their kiss.
I did notice that as Shelly joined the ends of the Talisman around Jean-Luc's neck her own Talisman glowed brightly. The Talismans on Ivan and Sandra also glowed brightly, along with those of Dave, Fireball, Andrea and Cassy. My own Talisman along with those of my family also glowed briefly. There was also a very pleasant warm and cosy feeling coming from it.
Ivan and Sandra now stepped forward and warmly embraced Jean-Luc. Andrea, Fireball and Cassy followed quickly after. Dave was the last one to welcome Jean-Luc and he had a strange little smile about his face as he approached him.
Seeing his look Jean-Luc told him, "Do not worry for your sister Dave. I intend to do all I can to make her as happy as I can for as long as I can." He said smiling.
Returning his smile Dave answered, "That's a good answer Jean-Luc, but it isn't her I'm worried about." Dave said with a smirk.
"Non?" Jean-Luc asked, "Who are you worried about then?"
"You." Dave replied with that annoying offhand manner that he has. Still smirking at Jean-Luc.
"Moi?" he replied.
"Oui." Dave said to some naughty laughter around the table.
"Why would you be worried for moi?" Jean-Luc asked.
"You do realise that you have just marked yourself out as fair game for 'The Horde' now don't you." He remarked with an evil grin.
"La Horde?" Jean-Luc asked with a confused expression on his face. It wasn't as cute as Dave's but it was rather cute in its own right I had to admit.
"You didn't tell him?" Dave asked a now grinning Shelly.
"I wanted to surprise him." She said with undisguised glee in her voice.
"Surprise me with what?" Jean-Luc asked now rather worried.
"I'm sure you're aware that Shelly has 5 sisters I hope." Dave asked him.
"Oui" he replied.
"Did she tell you that Cassie is only one of 45 female cousins?" Dave asked Jean-Luc.
You could see the colour drain a little from his face at this news.
"45?" He asked.
"Yup. 45 female cousins. 7 Aunties, 1 Grandmother and 1 Great Grandmother. But those 2 are probably worse than all the other combined." Dave said with glee, "Any second thoughts?" Dave asked him.
"Non. Non at all!" Jean-Luc replied confidently.
"Good man." Dave replied before engulfing him in a very genuine hug that looked as though it nearly squeezed the life out of poor Jean-Luc.
"Good to have you in the family mate." Dave said to him in a serious voice but with undisguised genuine warmth.
"Merci." Jean-Luc said and then out of sheer mischief he reached out and kissed Dave on each cheek. This got a standing ovation from Dave's team and the rest of us followed suit.
Ivan turned to Sandra and remarked, "I think he will fit in perfectly." Before they both burst into laughter at the scene in front of them.
Jean-Luc smiled when he heard that statement. He then turned to Dave and said, "A little birdy told me that you will need to have to get used to that." Before he flashed a cheeky grin and glanced over at Gabrielle who was smiling up at Dave with her own glorious smile.
"That maybe, but I will say Gabrielle kisses better than you do." Dave said with an evil smirk before he danced out of reach of both Jean-Luc and Shelly.
After this we all went up to congratulate the happy couple. It was a wonderful way to spend a dinner. It was just after I had congratulated Shelly and Jean-Luc that Sandra came up to me with a twinkle in her eye.
"Are you going to present Audrey with her own Talisman as well?" She asked me barely able to hide her glee.
"Now that is a great idea." I replied with my own grin. I headed off into the house and collected the Talisman that Sandra indicated was for Audrey.
When I came back out into the yard I quickly located Arthur and told him of the plan. He very readily agreed. Together we set out to grab Percy and Audrey. Once we located them we brought them up to where Sandra, Ivan and Dave were standing patiently waiting for us.
Arthur stood up and called the rather rowdy crowd of people to order.
"Now I might not have the polished silver tongue of my brother-in-law here" he said indicating a now grinning Ivan, "But I would also like to extend my own heart felt welcome to young Audrey here." He said as Audrey fought back a blush.
"We haven't known about her for much more than a day. But what we have learnt both through reading Dave's recommendation for both her and Percy." Arthur said to the surprise of both Percy and Audrey. They fixed Dave with twin very direct looks that seemed to contain a lot of questions. But Dave only happily smiled back at them.
"Fireball has also filled us in on some of their exploits as well." Arthur continued, Percy looked a little pale at this news while Audrey flashed a naughty little smile at him and a sly one at Fireball.
"But all we have learned tells us that she is a remarkable young lady who is nearly fearless in defence of friends and family. As well as in defence of those under her care. She has kind and gentle heart always ready to lend comfort and support to those who need it."
"All of this just leads us to ask one question." Arthur said as he turned to direct his smile at Audrey, "Why on earth did you chose Percy?" he said to an outbreak of roaring laughter from Dave's team and Percy's brothers.
Audrey was blushing to the roots of her hair at this introduction. Percy was a little startled by it but he was quickly grinning at the gentle ribbing from Arthur.
"Whatever the reason that made you chose our son Percy we are all thankful for it." Arthur replied with heartfelt warmth.
"To that end we would like to present you with your own Talisman to welcome you into our family. Arthur offered formally.
At this point Dave stepped forward and held his hands out flat as he had before. He nodded to Arthur who returned the gesture and then said, "Please pluck a hair from the head of your beloved and place it on Dave's hands."
They each did this and the Talisman in Dave's hand glowed in response. Dave then repeated his earlier motions with the friendfyre and working the golden chain. He then presented the chain to Arthur and stepped back smiling very happily.
His smile must have been infectious as Arthur was happily smiling as he presented the Talisman to Percy with the words. "Percy if it is your intention to form a lifelong bond with Audrey in a loving and supportive relationship as equals please present this to your beloved."
"Audrey, if it is your intention to form a lifelong bond with Percy in a loving and supportive relationship as equals please accept this Talisman from Percy on behalf of all of his family." Arthur said with a smile.
Percy stepped up to Audrey with a question written plainly on his face. She smiled back at him and indicated her agreement to his question. With her permission Percy placed the Talisman around Audrey neck and connected the ends together. As before all of our Talismans glowed brightly and we again felt that almost physical manifestation of love flow from our own Talismans.
As with Shelly and Jean-Luc they embraced each other and shared a very passionate kiss to cheers and cat calls once again from all of those gathered.
Once more we all gathered around to welcome the newest pair within our family into our family.
Eventually when things quietened down sufficiently Ivan stepped up and asked for everyone's attention.
"Now I'm sure we all agree that it has been a wonderful dinner and evening so far." At this there were a good number of cheers and applause. "However I have an announcement of my own that I would like to make to you all."
"Our two new arrivals may not yet be aware but we have invited all our family here to come and visit with us for 2 weeks (starting next Thursday) in Australia". At this there was some more cheers.
"Dave's team are excused as I'm sure that they would like some time away from him." Ivan said with a grin. This brought on some more cheers also.
"As you may or may not know during this time is my mother's 90th Birthday and she is putting on a special event at her place in Queensland."
"I would like to invite you all to join us for that special celebration if you are available." He said with a smile, "And before you ask Jono, no it isn't compulsory to attend." He added with a laugh for a now very embarrassed Jono. The rest of Dave's team were however relentlessly ribbing the poor boy over some inside joke.
"Madame and Monsieur Delacour you are also invited if you wish to attend." Ivan said happily smiling at them, "I know you may be planning two weeks of leisure without your children underfoot." He said smiling at Fleur and Gabrielle, who were smiling back at him, "But you are very welcome to attend if you wish and we will do our best to keep your children from hassling you." He said now looking at Dave and everyone joined in giving Dave and Gabrielle some advice on what they could do to occupy their time.
For their part both Dave and Gabrielle happily smiled and even seemed to take notes at a few of the suggestions. It was lovely to see them so happy and relaxed around each other this early in their relationship.
Ivan took this opportunity to walk around with Sandra and deliver the invitations to everyone there. I thought that the girls did a masterful job of looking surprised at them. I know that they didn't have to pretend to be pleased as we were all looking forward to the party.
Once Ivan and Sandra had delivered an invitation to myself and Arthur I got up to go and collect the deserts to bring out. I asked my boys if they could clear away the dishes on the table. There was some good natured grumbles about this until I told them it was to make room for the desert dishes.
I asked for some helpers to bring out the deserts and Ginny, Dave, Gabrielle and Hermione all offered to assist me.
We walked into the kitchen and I was just pointing in out to my helpers what dishes were to go out to what table when Dave's mirror phone started making an odd noise. It must have meant something to him as his face lit up light I hadn't seen before and he quickly pulled it out to see what the message was.
As he was reading the message his face was displaying an absolutely adorable goofy looking grin.
"Well, out with it." Ginny ordered.
Still grinning like a mad man Dave replied, "I can't tell you lot just yet. I have to tell mum first, that was part of the deal."
"What deal? What is the message?" Ginny asked with her curiosity on display in full flower.
"Let's just say it is 'family news' and I only have a small window of opportunity here to make use of it." He replied still with this massive grin on his face. "Can I count on your support to pull this off?" He asked us.
"To pull what off?" Gabrielle asked him. She was clearly enjoying seeing Dave this happy, but she was also bursting to know what the news was that made him so happy.
"I need to spring some news on my parents, before my window of opportunity closes." Was all that he would say.
"Is it the sort of news that will embarrass your sisters?" Ginny asked him with a sceptical look.
"You really have spent too much time around my sisters already haven't you?" Dave said with a lopsided grin.
Ginny just continued to give Dave her sceptical look. Dave looked to Hermione for support but she was clearly on Ginny's side of the fence. He looked to me and Gabrielle but neither of us were giving him an indication of our support or lack of it until we had more information about his scheme.
"Oh alright." He exclaimed in defeat (to our delight), "No this news isn't going to embarrass any of my sisters, or cousins for that matter."
"In fact the only person likely to get in trouble from it will be me." He said smiling.
"So why are you smiling like that then?" Ginny asked him still with her sceptical look in place.
"Somethings are worth getting in trouble for." Was the only answer Dave would give us.
"I have 3 minutes left." He said checking his watch, "will you help me and play along?" he asked flashing his big blue eyes at us.
"Oh alright then, if it means so much to you. I will help you get in trouble." Ginny said with an evil grin on her face. After she agreed we all quickly added our support to his idea.
"Excellent!" he said with his own grin returning.
"Which of these deserts are for the table where mum and dad are sitting?" He asked me.
I indicated to him the deserts in question and he quickly picked up two of them and made straight for the door. We all grabbed a plate or two each as well and followed him out.
Back in the yard the tables had been cleared and Dave was making a beeline for his parents with us hurrying along trying to catch him up. As he got to the table he squeezed in between his parents.
"Here you go Grandma." He said in that offhand voice he has, as he put one desert dish down in front of his mother. Sandra for her part had gone stock still and was staring at Dave with wide eyes.
Dave pretended not to notice and turned to his father and said, "Here you go Grandpa." As he placed another desert dish onto the table in front of him. Ivan was now displaying a look very much like the one Sandra wore.
The rest of the table had caught Dave's comments also and everyone had fallen silent and was staring at him. Dave must have been having fun as he was obviously aware of the attention that he was now getting from everyone. But he also wasn't acknowledging it in anyway.
He simply walked over to me and collected the two dishes that I was carrying and then headed back to the table and placed one on the far side of his father with the comment, "In case you want something a little softer for your elder teeth Grandpa." As he put the trifle down near his father.
At this point I was fighting a losing battle with a case of industrial sized giggles as Dave continued to taunt his parents. Heading over to the other side of his mother he remarked, "And we all know how much Grandma loves her pudding so I will just leave this here."
"Would you prefer a spoon or a fork for your pudding Grandma?" he asked him mum with a perfectly straight face. When she didn't immediately reply he assumed an artful expression of worry.
"I have heard that Grandparents are often hard of hearing but I didn't think it happened THAT fast." He remarked as he looked at his mother with a delightful smile playing about his lips.
"Aunty Molly, do you know if it is normal for newly minted Grandparents to lose their hearing quite this fast at all?" he asked me just as his parents launched themselves from their seats and grabbed him firmly around an arm each.
"What did you say?" Sandra asked.
"I was merely asking Aunty Molly if it was normal for new Grandparents to lose their hearing so quickly." Dave replied in an innocent sounding voice.
"But we are not Grandparents." Sandra said in an unconvinced tone just as her own Mirror phone began to ring.
Dave took that opportunity to escape from his mother's grasp. But his father still held him firm while he intently watched his wife answer her mirror phone.
"Hello" Sandra said into her mirror phone as an image of an absolutely gorgeous little boy filled the screen.
Sandra squalled with delight as her daughters came running over to the phone to see what had caused the reaction from her. Ivan let go of Dave and went to his wife and embraced her in his arms with a truly wonderful smile on his face.
The image of the little baby boy was joined by that of a woman with hair so blond it looked almost white and a man with sandy coloured blond hair.
"Hi mum." Said the very tired but also very proud woman who was holding the baby, "We thought we would call you to introduce you to little Jayden Clarke, who only recently just came into the world."
Both the new parents had very tired but very content and loving smiles on their faces. Sandra and Ivan had tears of joy running down their own faces. Fireball, Shelly, Andrea and Cassy were in the same state as well.
I looked over to Dave and he had relieved Gabrielle of the dishes that she had been carrying and he was now cautiously approaching the group around his mother with Gabrielle in tow. All the while he was smiling like a man possessed. As he got close enough to the phone you could see the woman who was holding the baby recognise him and smile at him.
"I see from the smile on little Day's face he was able to pull off his surprise for you successfully." She said laughing.
Sandra turned and regarded Dave with a predatory look of her own that would have had any sane man running for the hills. Dave only smiled back her and shrugged.
"You… You… You knew." She accused him, "How did you know?" she demanded.
"Would you believe that I'm an omnipresent entity that is like a God among the mortals of this world?" he asked. Rather bravely I thought.
"Not in the slightest." Sandra said with her own evil grin coming to the fore.
"Get him girls." She ordered.
Her daughters were very quick on their feet, I will give them that. But they were not as close to Dave as Gabrielle, Ginny and Hermione.
Dave had obviously expected his sisters and cousin to be sent after him. But he hadn't banked on the willing assistance of the three young ladies closest to him.
As he turned to make his escape he ran full into the chocolate cake that Ginny had been holding. Only to recoil from that into the jelly that Hermione had been carrying just moments before. While he was trying to recover from that encounter Gabrielle 'accidently' left her foot in Dave's way and he fell over backwards. Back into the chocolate cake that Ginny had 'carefully' repositioned.
He landed on the ground covered in cake and jelly but laughing his head off as his sisters and cousin caught him and began to mercilessly tickle him into insensibility. This looked like too much fun for Gabrielle, Ginny and Hermione to miss out on. So they eagerly joined in and assisted Dave's sisters and cousin.
No one felt the need to go to Dave's assistance as he had clearly brought this on himself. Even though I heard Ivan remark to Sandra, "Looks like 'The Horde' has gained three new enthusiastic members." As he laughed at his only son's predicament.
"Yes it does. And don't you forget it either." She said with her own wicked little smile.
I could see the new parents on the phone were clearly enjoying seeing Dave being 'dealt with' by The Horde as he put it. Eventually Sandra showed a modicum of mercy towards her only son and ordered the girls to end their attack and let poor Dave up.
I couldn't tell if Dave was blushing or not as he had far too much cake on his face to tell. But Gabrielle clearly was blushing as she had been caught with both her hands under Dave's shirt when an end was called to the tickling. She took this in her stride however and gave Dave a wicked little smile of her own. He happily smiled back at her. I couldn't tell what sort of smile it was as he hadn't done anything about the large amount of cake that was on his face at that point.
He happily wiped most of the cake off his face and banished it then pulled his wand out and cast Scourgify on himself to clean up. He then walked up to his mum and put his arms around her and gave her a squeeze. He then looked at the couple on the mirror phone and smiled.
"Was it worth it?" The woman on the mirror phone asked him still smiling.
"Absolutely." He happily replied.
"Well I am glad you enjoyed it." She told him, "and thank you for the new dinner table and chairs. They are most appreciated." She said smiling at him.
"You're very welcome." Dave answered just as Gabrielle joined him to see the little one that was still on display.
The lady on the phone noticed Gabrielle and her eyes widened in surprise and delight, "And who might you be?" she asked delightedly.
"Gabrielle I would like to introduce you to Helen my eldest sister and her husband Colin Clarke" Dave replied with a brilliant smile upon his face. "Helen, Colin and little Jayden this is Gabrielle Delacour." Dave said with a smile again lighting up his face as he looked at Gabrielle.
I could see from the expression on Helen's face that she had caught the smitten look that Dave gave to Gabrielle as he introduced her.
"I'm very pleased to meet you Gabrielle." Helen said with her own brilliant smile on display, "Thank you also for helping to keep my little brother in line earlier also." She added with a chuckle.
"Et was a pleasure to 'elp 'is sisters." Gabrielle said with a grin, "Et is also a pleasure to meet you too 'elen." Gabrielle replied smiling back at her. "Congratulations to you both on ze arrival of your little bundle of joy as well."
"Thank you Gabrielle." Helen replied with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Yes Thank-you also Gabrielle." Colin replied with his own cheeky smile in place.
As Dave and Gabrielle moved away to allow others in I could see Helen turn excitedly to her mother with a look that spoke volumes. Sandra could only smile by way of reply, she quickly checked over her shoulder but Dave and Gabrielle were still too close for her to say anything. So she simply said, "I will tell you all about it later. Ok?"
"Dam right you will mum." Helen replied with a giggle from both her and Colin.
"I do have someone that I would like to introduce you to though Helen." Sandra said as she waved me over. As I walked over to her I could see when Helen noticed me in her own mirror phone as her eyes went as large as saucers. She quickly glanced to her mum for confirmation.
"Helen, I would like to introduce you to Molly Weasley, my little sister." Sandra said with a brilliant smile of her own as she wrapped her arm around my waist.
"Sister?" Helen said with a mixture of surprise and delight.
"Yes, sisters. Most definitely." Sandra told her. We were both smiling happily together, it was a wonderful feeling.
"Weasley?" Helen said, "That's the family that Grandpa always told stories about, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, it is. Molly is married to Arthur Weasley. He is the son of Mr Septimus Weasley. The man who helped your Grandfather." Sandra said still smiling.
"Now that is interesting isn't it." Helen said clearly delighted, "I can see that you are going to have tell me all the stories when you get home." She exclaimed excitedly.
"We certainly will." Sandra replied, "As Molly and her family are going to be coming to visit for two weeks on Thursday." She said excitedly.
"That sounds very exciting." Helen replied, "I will be out of the Hospital by then, and hopefully settled enough at home to do a few small trips or have some visitors." She replied smiling.
"We will certainly look forward to seeing you and your little addition, whichever way suits you best." Sandra replied.
"Thanks mum." Helen replied.
"It was lovely to meet you dear." I told her, "Congratulations on your little miracle as well. I hope that he doesn't keep you up all night long." I said with a chuckle.
Helen made a face at that thought, "Thanks Aunty Molly." She said with a smile, "I will reserve a cuddle for you when we see you."
"That would be lovely." I replied with a smile at her.
"I should let your father have a word with you as well. As he seems a little excited for some reason." Sandra said with a laugh, "Then your sister can tell you her news."
"I can guess Shelly's news mum. We saw and felt our Talismans respond a little while ago." She said with a knowing smile.
"Well at least pretend to be surprised for her will you." Sandra with a smile as she handed her phone off to Ivan.
"It certainly has been a memorable first family dinner." I told her.
"Yes it has. I haven't had this much fun in a long time." She replied with a brilliant smile.
