A/N: a quick thank you to evilgoat a.k.a. Flamehail for your RSVP to the
wedding since I posted the story before your e-mail got to me and thank you
for the toaster although Molly won't go near it, Arthur has quite enjoyed
taking it apart to see how it works.
Now, here's another nice long chapter for all you nice folks. Enjoy
* * *
Molly threw herself on to the bed. She buried her tearstained face in a pillow and wailed. The conformation had been there this morning. This month once again she was not pregnant.
She had stopped taking the contraceptive potion only a month after she and Arthur had gotten married. They'd decided if it happened it happened, but nothing happened. After about a year they really started trying. Molly read every book she could find about rhythm and position. For three years she tried every potion and spell that she heard mentioned.
Molly had been so sure that this would be the month, she would finally be a Mummy again. But this time she would be able to raise her child under her own roof, nurse her child on her breast, watch it grow up, rather than just get updates on its progress rarely at best. But again she had been wrong. She was right on schedule as usual.
She knew Arthur would be disappointed, too. But he was just a man, he didn't know how it really felt, to have your own body lie to you, to be sure that you were carrying a life inside you and then realize that it was only your imagination making you think you were nauseous and tired and well, pregnant.
She had so hoped that this would be the month that she could give him good news. They had been so short on good news lately. Just three weeks ago they had gotten the owl from Charlotte. Billius had seen the Grim. They'd written her back and told her not to worry, that it was just a myth and he would be just fine. But not 24 hours later they got the news. Billius Weasley had passed away from some unknown illness.
Molly sat up and wiped her eyes. What good did it do to cry? She'd cried enough lately. It would only give her a headache on top of the pain in her stomach. She got up and went to the kitchen. There she whipped up a pain- relieving potion for herself, drank it and looked around. The house was clean. Dinner wouldn't take more than an hour or so to fix and she didn't expect Arthur home for at least another 5 hours. She would go and visit her Mum.
Cerdwin O'Grady's health had started to go down hill after she lost her husband last year. She just didn't have her spark for life anymore. Her older children were spread out all over the world and rarely came to visit. It was her own fault. She pushed them away. She was never a very pleasant person to be around. And her countenance hadn't improved with the death of her husband.
"Hello Mother," Molly called as she apparated into the kitchen of her childhood home.
"So you've come to visit your dieing mother." Mrs. O'Grady called back to her from the sitting room, "Well come on in and visit with me, then."
Molly took a deep breath and composed herself before what she knew would be another confrontation about something or other. She mustered up a smile, "How are you doing today, Mum?"
"How do you expect? I'm dieing aren't I?"
"Now, Mum, you mustn't talk like that. You look quite well today."
"If you're going to tell me how I am, why did you ask?"
Molly sighed and sat on the sofa next to her mother's rocking chair. They sat like that in uncomfortable silence for sometime, until Cerdwin could stand it no longer.
"Look," the older woman's harsh voice startled Molly. "If you've come to tell me you still haven't gotten pregnant, I'm not surprised."
"How did you. . ."
"It's your time of the month, isn't it? Mothers know these things. And now you're distraught about it. Well, don't be."
Molly fought back tears that were beginning to form behind her eyes, "How can I not be distraught? Arthur and I have wanted a baby for so long."
"You had your chance," Cerdwin sneered at her daughter. "Thought you could get away with having a baby at 13. Well, fate is just paying you back."
"Mother, how could you say such a thing?"
"I'll say what I please. You've made your bed and now you're going to lie in it, like it or not."
"It's not true, Mother," Molly stood and readied herself to get away as quickly as she could. "Arthur and I will have another baby. The right time just hasn't come yet."
"Suit yourself. Get your hopes up time after time only to have them dashed to pieces. Don't say I didn't warn you."
That was the last thing Molly heard her mother say as she apparated back to the Burrow very nearly splinching herself in her hurry and hysterics.
* * *
One month and three days later. . .
"What did it say?!" Molly asked Sophie nervously. Sophie had recently finished her mediwitch training.
"The test takes a few minutes. Have patience." She had converted the small bathroom into a lab to do the test.
Molly paced up and down the hall mumbling, "You'd think the wizarding community would have come up with a faster way to tell if a person was pregnant by now."
"Molly, it's going to be fine," Sophie reassured her.
Molly seemed not to hear her, "I'm only three days late. I'm not going to get my hopes up. I'm just going to tell myself I'm not and then I won't be disappointed." She spun around to face Sophie. "Is that sodding test done yet?"
Just then the egg timer Sophie had set went "Ding."
"Done," Sophie smiled. Molly blanched. "Do you want to look or do you want me to?"
"I can't do it," Molly squeaked.
"Okay," Sophie shrugged. She walked into the bathroom and then back out with a huge smile on her face which Molly didn't see because she had her eyes clamped shut and was repeating "I'm not going to get my hopes up," over and over.
"Molly," said Sophie putting a hand on her shoulder, "you're gonna be a mummy."
Molly screamed. Then Sophie screamed. They jumped around in circles screaming together.
That's exactly how Arthur found them when he Apparated in from work. "What's wrong?" He rushed into the hallway alarmed at what he might find.
Molly ran up to him and kissed him hard on the mouth. He pushed her back rather reluctantly, (because he did quite enjoy the greeting) "What's going on here?"
Molly couldn't get the words out before Sophie rushed over and hugged the both of them, "We're gonna have a baby."
"Molly, is she telling the truth?" As if he had to ask. Tears of joy were pouring down Molly's face as she shook her head in agreement.
"We're gonna have a baby," Arthur repeated trying to make it sound real, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY! WOO HOO!!!" He picked up his pregnant wife and spun her around. Then he quite abruptly thought better of it and put her down, "Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? Put your legs up? Can I get you a glass of milk?"
"Merlin, I've gotta find me a man like that." Sophie shook her head and laughed. "She's just pregnant she's not made of glass. You kiddies have fun, I'm out of here."
"Oh, Sophie, thank you so much for doing the test for me," Molly gave her friend a hug.
"Least I could do. I'll see you soon. I know of a good midwife, I'll give her your name and she'll contact you soon."
"Alright, thanks again, Bye."
"Bye." Sophie popped out of sight.
Molly and Arthur looked at each other lovingly then she squealed and they hugged again.
"So who do you want to tell first?" Arthur asked her.
"My mother," Molly got a mischievous look in her eye, "I wanna rub her nose in it."
"Hello Mother," Molly cried happily as she apparated once again into her mother's kitchen.
"Hello Molly," This was not her mother's voice but instead that of her sister. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her arms folded over her chest, "Did you get my owl?"
"Owl? Why no, I just came to tell Mum. . . Oh, Averill it's just too wonderful. I'm pregnant."
"That's great Molly," Averill smiled for a moment and then an unreadable expression came over her face. "Molly, Mum's dead. She past away in her sleep last night."
"No, but. . ." Molly didn't know what to say, "but I just saw her a few weeks ago. S-she looked just fine then."
"None the less, it's true. It was a kind of brain aneurysm. There wasn't any pain."
Molly collapsed into a kitchen chair as Arthur appeared in the room with a slight pop. "I just got the owl," He said to Averill. "Molly, are you okay?"
"I'll be just fine. It's just so sudden."
The next few days were a blur as Molly watched her childhood home be sold away to pay for the funeral expenses. It just barely covered them. The Will was read. Just as she had promised (or rather threatened), Cerdwin had cut Molly out of the will after the embarrassment she had caused when she was 13. Her older siblings told her they would give her a share anyway but she turned them down. "It's not the way she wanted it."
At the wake Molly got a chance to say her goodbye. "Well Mum, I proved you wrong. I'm married, I'm happy and I'm going to have a baby. We never got along very well but I tried to do my best by you after Daddy died." She chuckled, "You just had to have the last word didn't you. You couldn't wait around another day for me to tell you that you were wrong. Well, you were wrong Mum." A single tear fell down her cheek, "but you're still my Mum and I love you. I'm sorry you won't ever get to meet your grandchildren. I know you would have loved them if you gave yourself half the chance." Her voice broke and she found it hard to go on, "I'm going to go now, Mother. Arthur's waiting. Goodbye, Mum."
* * *
Molly threw herself on to the bed. She buried her tearstained face in a pillow and wailed. The conformation had been there this morning. This month once again she was not pregnant.
She had stopped taking the contraceptive potion only a month after she and Arthur had gotten married. They'd decided if it happened it happened, but nothing happened. After about a year they really started trying. Molly read every book she could find about rhythm and position. For three years she tried every potion and spell that she heard mentioned.
Molly had been so sure that this would be the month, she would finally be a Mummy again. But this time she would be able to raise her child under her own roof, nurse her child on her breast, watch it grow up, rather than just get updates on its progress rarely at best. But again she had been wrong. She was right on schedule as usual.
She knew Arthur would be disappointed, too. But he was just a man, he didn't know how it really felt, to have your own body lie to you, to be sure that you were carrying a life inside you and then realize that it was only your imagination making you think you were nauseous and tired and well, pregnant.
She had so hoped that this would be the month that she could give him good news. They had been so short on good news lately. Just three weeks ago they had gotten the owl from Charlotte. Billius had seen the Grim. They'd written her back and told her not to worry, that it was just a myth and he would be just fine. But not 24 hours later they got the news. Billius Weasley had passed away from some unknown illness.
Molly sat up and wiped her eyes. What good did it do to cry? She'd cried enough lately. It would only give her a headache on top of the pain in her stomach. She got up and went to the kitchen. There she whipped up a pain- relieving potion for herself, drank it and looked around. The house was clean. Dinner wouldn't take more than an hour or so to fix and she didn't expect Arthur home for at least another 5 hours. She would go and visit her Mum.
Cerdwin O'Grady's health had started to go down hill after she lost her husband last year. She just didn't have her spark for life anymore. Her older children were spread out all over the world and rarely came to visit. It was her own fault. She pushed them away. She was never a very pleasant person to be around. And her countenance hadn't improved with the death of her husband.
"Hello Mother," Molly called as she apparated into the kitchen of her childhood home.
"So you've come to visit your dieing mother." Mrs. O'Grady called back to her from the sitting room, "Well come on in and visit with me, then."
Molly took a deep breath and composed herself before what she knew would be another confrontation about something or other. She mustered up a smile, "How are you doing today, Mum?"
"How do you expect? I'm dieing aren't I?"
"Now, Mum, you mustn't talk like that. You look quite well today."
"If you're going to tell me how I am, why did you ask?"
Molly sighed and sat on the sofa next to her mother's rocking chair. They sat like that in uncomfortable silence for sometime, until Cerdwin could stand it no longer.
"Look," the older woman's harsh voice startled Molly. "If you've come to tell me you still haven't gotten pregnant, I'm not surprised."
"How did you. . ."
"It's your time of the month, isn't it? Mothers know these things. And now you're distraught about it. Well, don't be."
Molly fought back tears that were beginning to form behind her eyes, "How can I not be distraught? Arthur and I have wanted a baby for so long."
"You had your chance," Cerdwin sneered at her daughter. "Thought you could get away with having a baby at 13. Well, fate is just paying you back."
"Mother, how could you say such a thing?"
"I'll say what I please. You've made your bed and now you're going to lie in it, like it or not."
"It's not true, Mother," Molly stood and readied herself to get away as quickly as she could. "Arthur and I will have another baby. The right time just hasn't come yet."
"Suit yourself. Get your hopes up time after time only to have them dashed to pieces. Don't say I didn't warn you."
That was the last thing Molly heard her mother say as she apparated back to the Burrow very nearly splinching herself in her hurry and hysterics.
* * *
One month and three days later. . .
"What did it say?!" Molly asked Sophie nervously. Sophie had recently finished her mediwitch training.
"The test takes a few minutes. Have patience." She had converted the small bathroom into a lab to do the test.
Molly paced up and down the hall mumbling, "You'd think the wizarding community would have come up with a faster way to tell if a person was pregnant by now."
"Molly, it's going to be fine," Sophie reassured her.
Molly seemed not to hear her, "I'm only three days late. I'm not going to get my hopes up. I'm just going to tell myself I'm not and then I won't be disappointed." She spun around to face Sophie. "Is that sodding test done yet?"
Just then the egg timer Sophie had set went "Ding."
"Done," Sophie smiled. Molly blanched. "Do you want to look or do you want me to?"
"I can't do it," Molly squeaked.
"Okay," Sophie shrugged. She walked into the bathroom and then back out with a huge smile on her face which Molly didn't see because she had her eyes clamped shut and was repeating "I'm not going to get my hopes up," over and over.
"Molly," said Sophie putting a hand on her shoulder, "you're gonna be a mummy."
Molly screamed. Then Sophie screamed. They jumped around in circles screaming together.
That's exactly how Arthur found them when he Apparated in from work. "What's wrong?" He rushed into the hallway alarmed at what he might find.
Molly ran up to him and kissed him hard on the mouth. He pushed her back rather reluctantly, (because he did quite enjoy the greeting) "What's going on here?"
Molly couldn't get the words out before Sophie rushed over and hugged the both of them, "We're gonna have a baby."
"Molly, is she telling the truth?" As if he had to ask. Tears of joy were pouring down Molly's face as she shook her head in agreement.
"We're gonna have a baby," Arthur repeated trying to make it sound real, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BABY! WOO HOO!!!" He picked up his pregnant wife and spun her around. Then he quite abruptly thought better of it and put her down, "Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? Put your legs up? Can I get you a glass of milk?"
"Merlin, I've gotta find me a man like that." Sophie shook her head and laughed. "She's just pregnant she's not made of glass. You kiddies have fun, I'm out of here."
"Oh, Sophie, thank you so much for doing the test for me," Molly gave her friend a hug.
"Least I could do. I'll see you soon. I know of a good midwife, I'll give her your name and she'll contact you soon."
"Alright, thanks again, Bye."
"Bye." Sophie popped out of sight.
Molly and Arthur looked at each other lovingly then she squealed and they hugged again.
"So who do you want to tell first?" Arthur asked her.
"My mother," Molly got a mischievous look in her eye, "I wanna rub her nose in it."
"Hello Mother," Molly cried happily as she apparated once again into her mother's kitchen.
"Hello Molly," This was not her mother's voice but instead that of her sister. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her arms folded over her chest, "Did you get my owl?"
"Owl? Why no, I just came to tell Mum. . . Oh, Averill it's just too wonderful. I'm pregnant."
"That's great Molly," Averill smiled for a moment and then an unreadable expression came over her face. "Molly, Mum's dead. She past away in her sleep last night."
"No, but. . ." Molly didn't know what to say, "but I just saw her a few weeks ago. S-she looked just fine then."
"None the less, it's true. It was a kind of brain aneurysm. There wasn't any pain."
Molly collapsed into a kitchen chair as Arthur appeared in the room with a slight pop. "I just got the owl," He said to Averill. "Molly, are you okay?"
"I'll be just fine. It's just so sudden."
The next few days were a blur as Molly watched her childhood home be sold away to pay for the funeral expenses. It just barely covered them. The Will was read. Just as she had promised (or rather threatened), Cerdwin had cut Molly out of the will after the embarrassment she had caused when she was 13. Her older siblings told her they would give her a share anyway but she turned them down. "It's not the way she wanted it."
At the wake Molly got a chance to say her goodbye. "Well Mum, I proved you wrong. I'm married, I'm happy and I'm going to have a baby. We never got along very well but I tried to do my best by you after Daddy died." She chuckled, "You just had to have the last word didn't you. You couldn't wait around another day for me to tell you that you were wrong. Well, you were wrong Mum." A single tear fell down her cheek, "but you're still my Mum and I love you. I'm sorry you won't ever get to meet your grandchildren. I know you would have loved them if you gave yourself half the chance." Her voice broke and she found it hard to go on, "I'm going to go now, Mother. Arthur's waiting. Goodbye, Mum."