Chapter 36

The next evening, Oliver and I had to attend a quidditch league function for charity. He wanted to bail at the last minute, but I insisted that we go. We arrived and walked the rope line and stayed at the event for a bit before we left.

When we returned home, Oliver made a suggestion that I hadn't expected. "The season's over," he said. "We should go away for a while, take a vacation."

"Sure," I said.

"Baby, would you tell me how to make you happy again?" he begged. "I miss your smile."

"I don't know how," I sobbed. "Maybe getting away from everything for a while will be good. Where are you taking me?"

"I thought we could go to Spain," he offered. "I've heard Barcelona is lovely at this time of the year."

"Spain sounds great," I replied, trying to force a smile. He kissed me and we went to bed.

We left for Spain the next week and spent 10 days touring the country. Barcelona turned out to be one of my favorite cities and Oliver was very sweet the entire time. On our last night, he took me to a romantic dinner. We were enjoying a bottle of wine in what we thought was a private room when we heard a shriek. "OH MERLIN! IT'S OLIVER FREAKING WOOD!" she screamed. Apparently, it was one of Oliver's quidditch fans.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Oliver asked.

"I'm your biggest fan," she shrieked. "I can't believe I'm meeting you. Could you sign an autograph?"

"Certainly," Oliver answered, though he blushed. He signed a napkin for her and tried to send her on her way, but she kept walking by our table. Finally, Oliver asked her to stop. "I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but I'm here with my wife and we're trying to enjoy our dinner. Give me your address and I'll send you a signed poster from the entire team." The girl finally left us alone.

"That was lots of fun," I teased.

"Shut it," he scolded. "If I haven't told you this week, I really love you."

"I really love you, too," I replied. "And thank you for bringing me here. I really needed it."

"I know," he answered. "You've smiled more this week than you have in a year and your smile is one of the things I love best about you."

"And here I thought it was my fantastic legs and very firm arse," I joked.

"I do love those as well," he laughed. "Shall we get going then?" I nodded and took his out-stretched hand. He took me for a walk by the water-front and then back to our hotel. When we got back to our room, he pulled my face to his and kissed me very sweetly, but very deeply. It was the best kiss we'd shared in a year.

We broke for air and I said, "Wow! That was really amazing." The words were barely out of my mouth before Oliver attached his face to mine, yet again. Only this time, we didn't stop with just kissing; we kept going, stumbling over ourselves as Oliver backed me up to our bed, toppling onto it.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want," he panted, peeling off his shirt.

"Shut up and don't stop," I warned. He kissed my neck and nipped at my collar bone, up to my earlobe and back down to my collarbone again. He snaked his hands behind my back and tugged at the zipper of my dress. I pushed him back to let him finish taking it off. For the first time in nearly a year, we made love just to make love; there was no agenda behind it and it was amazing.

"Thank you," I said, snuggling into Oliver and laying my head on his chest. "We really needed that."

"Every once in a while, I'm prone to fantastic ideas," he joked. "I'm just happy I was able to see you smile some more."

We returned home the next day to find an owl from my Mum inviting us for dinner. We deposited our things in our bedroom and flooed to my parents' house. "Mum!" I called, stepping out of the floo. "We're here!"

"Oh, good," she said. "Come into the sitting room." Oliver and I followed her to the sitting room where my Dad was reading the paper. "Amy and Jake should be here soon."

Amy and Jake arrived about 5 minutes after we did, and Aiden came toddling into the sitting room. "Bee!" he shouted and I scooped him up to give him hugs and kisses. "I'm gonna be a big brudder!"

"You are?" I cooed, trying to stifle the tears.

"Aiden, we talked about this," Amy scolded. We all looked at her and she beamed. "It's true, though. We're expecting again."

Amy's announcement turned dinner into a lively affair, and led my mother to turn on me and Oliver. "When are you lot going to get going and have a baby?" she asked.

"When we're ready," Oliver answered; I smiled next to him and nodded, since we hadn't told our parents that we were trying to have a baby. Soon after that, we made our excuses and went home.

"Are you alright?" he asked when we got to our room and sat on our bed.

"No," I whispered, before succumbing to a fit of sobs. "Apparently, they weren't even trying to have a baby."

"Let it out, babe," he said, soothingly. I put my head on his shoulder and sobbed. I don't remember falling asleep, but I woke a few hours later, curled up on my side of our bed. I was alone and got up to find Oliver. I found him in the sitting room, drinking a beer.

"I'm sorry," I said, startling him. I sat next to him on the sofa and took a drink of his beer. "I've forgotten that as much as I've been trying to have a baby, you've been trying too." I pulled Oliver to me and held him as he sobbed.

Once he settled, I led him back to our bedroom. "Let's stay up for a while," I suggested. "We can talk about whatever you want."

"Should we be thinking about adopting a baby?" he said.

"Let's give ourselves a little more time," I offered. "We'll go and see a different healer and if he or she can't help us, we'll look into adopting." He agreed and we spent the rest of the night just talking about anything we could think of.

A few weeks later, I started to feel sick. After 3 days of waking up with extreme nausea, Oliver forced me to go and see a healer while he attended a function for the team. He was waiting when I got home. "How'd it go with the healer?" he asked.

I didn't answer; I just leapt at him and kissed him fiercely. "Alright, what is this about?" he asked when I pulled back.

"I'm not sick," I said, smiling broadly.

"You're not sick?" he repeated. I shook my head and he caught on. "You're not sick in a really good way, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Dad," I replied. "I'm not sick in a really good way. We're due in July, right around your birthday."

"So, I may be getting the best birthday present ever?" he asked; I nodded. "Should we tell our parents?"

"Let's let them stew for a few days before we tell them," I suggested. "Besides, Amy may think that we're doing this to one-up her." He pulled me into his lap and placed his hand protectively over my belly. We both cried a little, until it was time to get up and make dinner.

The next week, there was a Quidditch fundraiser in London. We were barraged with questions from the media about when we would be expecting a baby, but Oliver and I had agreed that we would only give the interview to Marty Edison, since she had been very sweet and supportive to us since Oliver started with Puddlemere.

During the event, many of the wives noticed that I didn't drink anything with alcohol; Laurel commented on it. "When are you lot due?" she whispered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I cheeked. Oliver and I had agreed to wait to tell anyone else until after we had told our parents that we were expecting. She gave me a knowing look, but let it drop.

Christmas arrived the following week and we still hadn't told our parents that we were expecting. So, we decided that we'd make the announcement at Christmas. We arrived at my parents' house on December 23 just before dinner. Amy and Jake were already there with Aiden, who was playing on the floor. Oliver sat down and played with him while I retreated to the kitchen to offer assistance.

"How have you been, dear?" Stella asked.

"I'm really well, thank you," I said, smiling. Subconsciously, I placed my hand on my belly and Stella noticed.

"When are you due?" she asked.

"What?" I replied.

"When is your baby due?" she repeated.

"How could you possibly know?" I demanded.

"You put your hand on your belly and you look at peace," she answered. "When?"

"Summer," I answered. "We're going to tell everyone at dinner tonight, so you lot (my Mum was also in the kitchen) must not say anything until then." They both squealed and hugged me tightly. Oliver walked into the kitchen and noticed.

"They know?" he asked. I nodded. "Then, it's alright that I told our dads, Amy and Jake."

"I didn't tell them," I scolded. "Your mum figured it out, but you're forgiven for spilling."

"So, you lot are happy?" Mum asked. "Because before when we asked, you just said that you'd have a baby when you were ready."

"We tried for a long time to get pregnant, Mum," I replied. "We couldn't be happier and we didn't tell you we were trying because we didn't want to worry anyone. That's why Oliver took me to Spain, and if I'm not mistaken, that's where she was conceived." I had found out the day before that the baby was a girl, but hadn't told Oliver.

"Did you say 'she' was conceived in Barcelona?" Oliver asked, smiling broadly.

"I did," I admitted. "I found out yesterday and was going to tell you tonight." Our Mums squealed again, which brought everyone rushing into the kitchen.

"Alright, what is going on?" Dad asked.

"Bryony's just told us the good news," Mum answered. "And that it's a girl."

Duncan and my Dad both clapped Oliver on the back, while Jake whispered congratulations to him. We were, finally able to sit down to dinner, where the talk quickly turned to babies and baby names. Oliver and I had not discussed names, but had also decided to keep them to ourselves.

"Of course, we'll want to throw you a shower," Mum offered. "Probably sometime in May or early June since you're due in July."

"Cheers, Mum," Oliver said.

We stayed with our parents for the next three days before returning to our house in Puddlemere. When we got back, we started discussing names. "What are you thinking?" I asked Oliver.

"I'm trying to think of a name that I like that doesn't belong to someone I hate," he answered.

"You realize we have over 6 months to figure it out," I suggested. "And we have to let your coaches know soon. And we have to set up that interview with Marty."

"I'll talk to the coaches first thing after they're back from the holidays," he promised. "As for the interview, I'd like to wait a bit and just have the time to ourselves." He stood behind me, placed his hands over my belly and kissed my neck. "I love you both."

"We love you, too," I answered, smiling, and leaning back into his chest.

Oliver's meeting with his coaches went very well. They were genuinely happy for us and commented that we seemed happier than they had seen us in months. Oliver explained that we had tried for a year without success to have a baby. They agreed to make sure that he was available for at least 2 weeks around when the baby was due so that he could be there for the birth. His teammates were equally supportive, as were their wives.

By the time February arrived, we had scheduled an interview with Marty Edison to announce the pregnancy. She was very kind and laughed with us. During the interview, I felt the baby move for the first time, and suddenly grabbed Oliver's hand to place on my belly. It startled him a bit, but his face was priceless when he felt it too.

"Now, that is very sweet indeed," Marty commented. "I'm sure the public would like to know if you have decided on a name yet."

"We haven't, but we aren't telling our parents, so we definitely won't be telling anyone else," I answered. "We want her name to be a surprise when we issue the birth announcement."

"Thank you, Oliver and Bryony Wood," she said, staring into the camera. "This has been Marty Edison, coming from Puddlemere and a stunning and happy announcement from their all-star Keeper. Congratulations to the happy family."