Hey! I'm really pleased with this chapter, but it isn't exactly what I thought it was going to be when I started it, but I still really like it, and hope you guys do to. So, enjoy Babies and Christmases:
Being married was a weird feeling to explain. I guess you could say it was like being engaged...but different. I mean, sure, I was still going to work at the bank and she was still going to healer training (she was in her third and final year of healer training, after which she'd have one year assisting another healer before she would be a healer on her own), and we were still going to Weasley Sunday dinners, she still saw Scorpius, Rose, Al, and Anabel almost every day and I still saw Steven, Em, Daniel, and Robert all the time, but it was totally different. I guess you could say it was the little things, but we'd always done the little things, like if I picked up flowers or some of her favorite French macarons for her on my way home, or when she made my absolute favorite dish when I'd had a bad day...I really couldn't say what it was that made all this different once we were married, but it definitely was. I could never explain the feeling, but one time when I was talking to Steven about it shortly after we got married he told me that he understood exactly what I had meant...
She was really busy helping Rose plan the wedding, because she was, of course, the Maid of Honor. The wedding was set for September 30, not the one directly following our wedding, but the one a year later, but the year and four months between our wedding and theirs didn't give Rose any reason to relax. She wanted everything to be perfect, so Clarice spent a lot of time at Rose and Scorpius' place making that happen.
As November turned into December we went to Susan's first birthday party, and I had to admit that the idea of kids was now at the forefront of my mind whenever I saw little Susan. I had known for a long while that I wanted children, and Clarice wanted the same, but I wasn't sure if we were quite ready. We'd only been married seven months as early December rolled in, but I knew that if we weren't ready now, we would be, eventually.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!" everyone cheered as we brought out the cake. She giggled and reached directly into it.
"No, sweetie!" Em cried, trying to pull the cake away, but Steven stopped her. He really was a softy when it came to his daughter.
"Aw, let her play," he said, cutting a piece out of the non-crushed side of the cake and giving it to Em, "It's her birthday..."
Steven managed to cut out just enough pieces to get one for everyone there, me, Clarice, Em, himself, Daniel (now girl-friendless once more), Robert, Steven's parents, and Em's parents.
I was tucking into my cake and talking to Daniel as we both watched Susan, who was eating the remaining part of the cake with her hands, smearing frosting all over her face and dress. I smiled fondly at her. She really was a sweet child, and being a godfather was nice practice. It also meant I got to spoil her in ways Steven and Em couldn't. I looked around and saw Clarice was helping Em with Susan, and the tender way in which she dealt with the baby was endearing, and also a side of her that I only saw when we were babysitting Susan. I finally understood what she'd meant when she'd said that maternity suited Em because it certainly suited her...
Christmas was a magical holiday, and I mean that in a completely non-cheesy way. Christmas was a special time for me and Clarice because it had been three years since we became a couple on Christmas day during her seventh year, so it was our holiday. We went over to the Burrow as usual, and everyone was there. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins, plus Grandma and Grandpa and Mum and Dad, plus Scorpius, Anabel, who was now engaged to Al, Aunt Hannah, Uncle Neville, Vic, Teddy, and their son Peter, who was going on seven, as well as Dom's boyfriend, Roxanne's boyfriend, and Louis' girlfriend. It was weird not having Aunt Luna there, but after everything that happened with Lorcan and Lysander I was glad not to see them. The entire holiday went off rather well, or as well as a holiday can go off with thirty-five people in the house. No one walked out, so that made it a good holiday in and of itself, because in a family so large it isn't uncommon for one or more major fights to happen on major holidays.
We were, all of us, miraculously, sitting in the living room, which had again been extended. Because of all the money that the family had gotten after the war, I guess you could say from the war, Grandma and Grandpa had been able to extend the house so many times that the living room was now the size of a small atrium. Amazingly enough, though, Grandma and Grandpa still made it seem cozy, maybe because whenever I saw it it was always so full. I supposed that when it was empty it was probably rather lonely. But, then again, it was never just Grandma and Grandpa in the house, because some child or grandchild was always visiting, or Grandma had Peter, or something like that.
"Who's up for a game of chess?" Uncle Ron was asking, and nearly everyone in the room rolled their eyes. Uncle Ron loved playing chess simply because he never lost. Dad obliged, probably hoping he could win, the fool...
"So, Roxie," I said, sitting down next to my 19 year old cousin and ruffling her hair. I had to admit, I was being annoying deliberately. She was sitting on the couch next to her boyfriend, Tom, who she'd started dating for a little over a year, and they'd been talking in low voices, "How's life? I bet this Christmas is looking a lot better than last year, huh Tom?" I smirked. Last Christmas Roxie had brought Tom home for the first time to meet the family for the first time (they'd only been dating a few months then), and, let's just say he wasn't too popular at first, and leave it at that...
"Yes it is, thank you," he said haughtily.
"Now, is there anything you want James, or are you just here to be a waste of space?" said Roxie, scowling at me.
"Ouch," I said, "Someone's not in a very good mood."
"Well, why don't you go be with your wife?" she asked, "At least she can stand you and your snide comments for longer than ten minutes."
"No can do," I said, totally unabashed. Roxie was the joker of the family, and who could expect anything different as Uncle George and Aunt Angelina's kid? I knew she was kidding and she knew I was kidding, so at the end of the day there were no hard feelings between us. She and Fred always sort of admired me, I thought. I mean, the writing on the walls of the Great Hall were still there after almost four years..."She's in wedding land with Rose and Anabel. Honestly, they're always talking about one wedding or the other if they get within a three mile radius of eachother. It's ridiculous..."
"You didn't seem to think so when it was your wedding," said Roxie.
I rolled my eyes, "Totally different. That was-"
"James, dear!" called Grandma Molly from where she was sitting, knitting next to the wireless, where I was sure some old Celestina Warbeck song coming out. Celestina hadn't been popular ever, and she definitely wasn't alive anymore, yet every year Grandma managed to find a radio station that played her Christmas 'hits'. However, it was impossible to hear the radio over the din of everyone talking when it was on the other side of the room, thank God.
"I gotta go," I said, "Duty calls!"
"Finally," said Tom, turning to Roxie and saying, knowing full well I was in earshot as I got up, "I thought he'd never leave!"
"Ha ha" I said sarcastically before walking over to Grandma.
"Happy Christmas, dear," she said, smiling fondly at me and gesturing me to sit down next to her.
"Happy Christmas," I said, taking the seat, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, I haven't talked to you in a while dear, and I was wondering, any chance of a great-grandchild from you?" Wow Grandma, real subtle.
I blushed. I really couldn't help it and I hated blushing. It was something I hardly ever did, because I hardly ever had anything to feel embarrassed about, but I was embarrassed now, and could anyone blame me?
"Um," I said, "Well, Clarice and I are just talking things as they come, you know..." Awkward, much?
"Oh well..." she sighed, glancing at her knitting, "Than I guess a baby blanket is sort of a waste of my time, now isn't it?"
I stared at her, my mouth open. Baby blanket? Oh God. Then again, my family had always been a strange species...
A few days after the new year I woke up to the sound of retching from the bathroom.
"Clarice?" I called, getting out of bed and walking quickly into the bathroom. She was leaning over the toilet, vomiting into the basin. I rushed to hold back her hair and said, "What's wrong? Does your stomach hurt? Are you feeling sick?"
"No," she said, crossly, turning around, "I'm just vomiting into the toilet for no reason! Really James..." she would've said more, but she had to put her head back over the basin. I had to admit they had been stupid questions, but still, she didn't normally have much of a temper. She must have been really sick...
After a few minutes Clarice felt well enough to make a cup of tea for herself.
"Well," she said, getting up from the table as she finished, "I'm off to get dressed."
"Dressed?" I nearly shouted, "You're not thinking of going to training, are you? No. Absolutely not. I'm owling right now to say your sick and you're going to bed. You should probably make yourself a potion for your stomach too. I would make it for you, but I never took N.E.W.T. potions, and I really don't want to poison you..."
"James," she was rolling her eyes at me, "I'm fine, and I don't wanna miss training because-"
"Missing a day won't kill you," I interrupted, "So please stay home." I gave her a look.
She gave a monumental sigh and said, "Fine. Where's Lynx? I need to owl my instructor..."
"Good," I said with a smile, "Now, unlike you, I don't have a good reason to miss work, so I've gotta go. Love you," I gave her a kiss and then disapperated.
When I got home that evening there was lasagna already on the table, complete with garlic bread and salads, and she had the whole table set.
"Feeling better?" I asked as I walked in. She looked great, more than great really. She was almost glowing. Apparently the potion had done her some good.
"Yes," she said, sitting down across from me.
"You really shouldn't have made dinner if you were sick," I said, "You were supposed to be resting."
"I feel fine...more than fine. I'm excellent," she beamed.
"Well, no one would've guessed that this morning. You sure you're not really sick?"
"No," she said, "I'm perfectly normal. I went to St. Mungo's today-"
"You didn't go to work, did you?" I asked, probably more accusingly than I need to.
"No," she said pointedly, "I went to make sure I was okay."
"Oh," I said, glad she was finally taking care of herself properly, "And?"
"James, I'm pregnant," she said.
My world totally stopped. Within a millisecond my entire life change, the whole world rearranged itself, and suddenly it was as if gravity had shifted, and the most important thing on this planet was nestled inside Clarice, growing. In the space of no more than a second my entire world view changed and everything I'd become accustomed to was irrelevant, because this, this miracle, this child, half me, half Clarice, was now one of the most important things on the planet.
The clang that was my fork hitting my plate after I dropped it awoke me to my surroundings and I was up and around to Clarice's side of the table, faster than I would've thought possible, and hugging her.
"This is brilliant!" I said, surprised at myself for being capable of words at that point. "How long?"
"Three weeks," she said, "The healer said it was a bit early for morning sickness to start, but not extremely uncommon. The baby's due in mid-September. Oh, I hope I deliver on time," she began to fret, "I don't want to be pregnant in all of Rose and Scorpius' wedding photos..."
I laughed, "You would worry about that," I said, placing my hand lightly on her stomach.
"You won't be able to feel anything yet!" she said, "I doubt that there's even a bump. Most women don't feel kicks until their sixteenth week or later, and you won't be able to feel it on the outside until after that even."
"But I wanna feel it now," I said, my impatience getting the better of me. I wasn't sure how I was gonna wait weeks.
"You sound even whinier than he's gonna be," she said with a laugh.
"Who said anything about a 'he'?" I asked, "It could be a baby girl you know."
"Yes," she said, "But I like the idea of a little miniature you..."
"Yeah, you like it almost as much as I like the idea of a little miniature you," I said.
She smiled and glanced down at her stomach, and I glanced down too. It was unbelievably perfect.
I have to admit, this chapter started in one place and ended somewhere totally different than I thought it would, but I'm still happy with it. Let me know what you think!
XOXO
GossipGirlHere
