Chapter 19: A Letter Home

March 21st

Hi Mom!

It was really nice to hear from you. I'm sorry I haven't written much recently, but my life has been rather dull in recent weeks, with a few exceptions, so I haven't had much cause. As I said, there have been a few exceptions recently, so I decided it was past time to catch you up on the lives of the semi rich and oh-so glamorous!

First off, Angie gave birth to her and Fred's first child at the end of February. They are the exceedingly proud parents of a beautiful little girl that they have named Darlene. She is the spitting image of her mother, with her dusky skin and dark hair. Fred's been quite gob smacked by the whole experience and is terribly amusing in his total infatuation with his daughter. He's finally managed to tone it back slightly, or at least make it less apparent, so he's no longer such a huge target of (good natured) teasing from his siblings. I have managed to keep George from participating too much by reminding him that he'll be in a similar situation in the not-so-distant future.

Speaking of impending changes... we still haven't made any announcement to the rest of the family about my pregnancy. I think Katie is a bit confused by my reticence, as, I'll admit, am I, but I just don't feel comfortable yet about making it public. I don't know why I'm keeping this from everyone, but I think part of it is because they're already being so protective due to their fears that I might be in some sort of danger. If they realized I was pregnant as well, I think they'd lock me in the flat for the next several months! Of course, if they did that, they wouldn't have to worry about anyone else hurting me as I'd have already gone insane being cooped up like that.

I'm also still not really showing, but I'm only three to four months along, I think, so I guess that's okay. The morning sickness has all but gone away, which is a nice change. Katie's been keeping an eye on my general health, but I do have an appointment to see my doctor in a couple weeks, after which I guess we'll finally say something to the immediate family.

In other news, George's schedule has finally calmed down, now that they've finalized the details and worked out the bugs in the deal with the muggle toy distributor they've been working with. He has been a bit busier recently, due to Fred's recent addition, but it's nowhere near how things were in January!

As usual, we celebrated Valentine's Day a bit early in the month. We didn't do anything too exciting, simply dinner at a local restaurant we enjoy and relaxing at home, as Molly had taken Jeffrey and Ariel for the evening. I hate feeling that we're taking advantage of her, but, in all honesty, she'd be quite upset with us if we didn't ask her to help out! Far be it from me to hurt her feelings, or turn down an excellent baby- sitter.

The only other bit of recent excitement was the girls' only slumber party I hosted last weekend. This actually provided an excellent opportunity for a "guy's night out" as well, which I've carefully not asked about. I trust George not to do anything I'd be upset about, but, as I don't care to have him asking too many questions about our actions that evening, I've managed to refrain from quizzing him about theirs. Am I a great wife, or what? laugh

While Molly decided not to attend, all the other invitees were able to come. We had quite the crowd- Ginny, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Sara, Pansy, Julia, Fleur and Hermione. We set the four children up in the twins' room and camped out in the living room for the night, eating horribly bad food and gossiping about everything under the sun. It was absolutely wonderful! It's been ages since we've been able to get the females together like that, and it's the first time that either Pansy or Julia were in attendance. I have soooo much more ammunition, oops; I mean information on George now, after hearing all the stories the others remembered over the course of the evening. I haven't laughed that much in months!

Not that it's really considered "exciting", but I have also been devoting time each week to working on some new material for the group. George insists that I spend at least one day a week on me and my work. He was really concerned, for a while (with good reason, unfortunately), that "I" was getting lost in everything else I was trying to do or be. Happily, things have improved since then and I really think some of the new songs are quite good, though I might be considered a bit biased. I'll send along copies of them once they're a bit more complete so you can have a listen.

The twins are doing well, walking and talking already... okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, though they are babbling quite nicely, if only we had any idea what they were talking about! Other than the bit of a cold they had back in January, they've been very healthy and remarkably cheerful babies. It makes me feel that George and I aren't too shabby as parents. I'll enclose some pictures of them for you to have a look at, as you aren't able to see them as often as I know you'd like.

Otherwise, I've been taking it easy, living the life of relaxation I've always wanted... or not. I've actually been doing a bit of reading. During a conversation I had with Severus over the holidays, I was reminded of a book Gerry had found for me years ago, and had the urge to dig it out and re-read it. It's led to some interesting research ideas, which I've been looking into as well. Madam Pince, the Librarian up at Hogwarts, has been most helpful in tracking down some rather obscure reference volumes for me. The whole thing is quite fascinating, though I have no idea what use I'll eventually put it to. It's simply fun to have a new project to focus on for a while.

Well, I hear one of the twins starting to fuss- probably Jeffrey as he always gets restless when he's hungry and it's almost time for their next feeding- so I'd better be closing this off. I'd originally hoped to visit this spring, but now I should probably wait until after the baby's born. At least then, you'll get to meet your new grandson or granddaughter at the same time!

George sends his love, as do the rest of the family and, as always, myself!

Love,
Alinora