The Parent Trap
A/n: Sorry about the short length of this chapter, my muse well and truly deserted me as I was trying to write this so it was hard work. I hope you all enjoy it though.
Chapter 17: Family Talk. By ClayreAbigail and Evie peered around the door that led into the living room and saw their mother and father sitting on comfortable looking chairs. They were sitting in silence and Abigail noticed that her mother was staring into the empty fireplace. She looked across at her father and saw that he was watching his estranged wife intently. The silence in the room didn't fill the girls with delight and they became worried that things weren't going as they had planned. But then it was bound to be hard at first.
Evie pushed the door open and walked in, taking her sisters' hand as she did so. Both Albus and Minerva turned around at the sound of the door closing and smiled at their daughters.
"Nice of you both to join us!" said Albus, with a twinkle in his eye.
The girls had been longer than half an hour but that had been because they had been discussing their parents and being horrible about Nicholette. Evie hadn't had any reason to dislike the Professor until she had tried to worm herself into their family. She had never assumed that anyone would have a crush on her Papa because he was her Papa and she wanted her Mother back. The girls had laughed themselves silly as they remembered their father's slip of the tongue when he had referred to his bedroom as their mothers' as well. They also noted that their mother didn't correct him when he had said it and that was bound to have been a good sign.
"We got carried away," Evie answered as she walked towards him and hopped on to his lap
"Lots to catch up on!" added Abigail as she sat on the arm of her mother's chair.
Minerva placed her hand over her daughter's hand and squeezed it tenderly and then toyed with a piece of hair that had come loose from Abigail's ponytail.
"So what did you chat about?" she inquired.
"Just this and that," answered Abigail as she looked over at Evie. "What have you two been talking about?"
"This and that!" answered Albus with a chuckle.
He watched with amusement as both his daughters rolled their eyes in the fashion that their mother would do when he gave her those sorts of answers ten or more years ago. In truth, he and Minerva hadn't really spoken to one another while they waited for their daughters to reappear. They had asked each other how the other was and made small talk before slipping into a comfortable silence, which surprised both of them. Albus had tried to think of something to say but alas, his courage and brain failed him once again as they had done all those years ago.
"Are you angry with us?" questioned Evie as she looked at her father and then at her mother.
"No not at all," answered Minerva with a small smile. "We are just sorry that you had to resort to this to get to know us. If anyone is to be angry then it should be you two."
Albus nodded. He completely agreed with what she had said. He had been surprised that the girls had taken the news as well as they had. He had expected screaming matches and doors being slammed one after the other. He had expected Evie to be angry with him for keeping her twin sister a secret and he expected Abigail to angry with him for not being in her life. Looking at the two girls before him, he saw no anger but instead love and hope twinkling in their blue eyes.
"In a strange way," began Abigail "it seems like a big adventure and that's exciting. There is no time to feel anger or regret because we have found each other now."
Abigail still surprised Minerva with her wisdom at such a young age and this was one of those times when Minerva would stare at her daughter with awe.
"I swear I just heard your mother talking then," teased Albus, as he looked across at Minerva. "You have done a wonderful job bringing up our daughter."
Abigail looked at her mother and grinned. She had often been told that she sounded just like her mother and she had always been proud of that fact. She had always known that it had been hard for her mother bringing her up by herself. They had lived comfortably and Abigail had never gone without and she had been the apple of her mother's eye.
"As you have done with bringing up Evie," said Minerva with a smile. "She has grown into an exceptional young lady and reminds me so much of you. When I think back to the days that I thought she was Abigail, it is obvious that she couldn't have been her sister. But then I didn't expect such a situation."
Albus winked at Evie and then at Abigail. He completely agreed with Minerva. He had not expected the swap and even though Evie seemed out of character, he had put it down to her growing up and acting like a young lady.
Albus would freely admit to anyone that asked that he had found it extremely hard to juggle personal life with his professional life. He had tried hard to make Minerva and his daughters his number one responsibility but someone else always wanted him and he would come to their aid.
He understood why Minerva had left him ten years ago. She had had enough of always coming last to Hogwarts, Grindelwald, the Ministry of Magic and Armando Dippet. He had known that if his wife walked out on him, he should go after her but male pride and cowardness prevented him from going after her. Also, he had been called away to deal with something else that the ministry couldn't handle.
Bringing up Evie alone hadn't been easy. He felt guilt deep within him because he hadn't always been present when she needed him most. It ate him up inside that he hadn't been able to go to Diagon Alley with her to get her Hogwarts supplies and when he had missed her first ever lesson on a broomstick. He knew that Evie loved and adored him and he also knew that she understood that if she were ever in any trouble then he would drop everything.
"Were we alike when we were babies before we were separated?" asked Evie with interest.
"From the moment you were both born," began Minerva "your father and I knew that you were different from one another!"
"Abigail was born first and didn't even cry when she came into the world," continued Albus "while you my girl, came into the world screaming as though a herd of wild hippogriffs was after you!"
Minerva smiled at the memory and closed her eyes. She could remember it as if it were yesterday. Albus had only just made it back in time from France to see Abigail coming into the world. He had been gathering information underground for his own underground group, the Order of the Phoenix, when Minerva had gone into labour. She had frantically scribbled down a note and sent it on its' way. Twenty hours later she was beginning to panic when he hadn't arrived and on top of being in labour, Minerva was rather tearful and stressed.
Abigail had been crowning when suddenly Albus appeared by his wife's side and gripped her hand while mumbling apologies to her. His apologies had fallen on deaf ears as Minerva had been preparing herself to push. Ten minutes later, Abigail Celeste Dumbledore had been born and was looking around the room with interest. Twenty minutes later, Evelyn Athena Dumbledore was born and she let the whole school know of her arrival and what a powerful set of lungs she had.
"You both had a little bit of dark hair but your eyes were bright blue," said Minerva with a tear in her eye. "Abigail weighed a little more that you Evie but you soon caught up. You had an appetite just like your father at such a young age while Abigail was a fussy eater when we put you on to solids!"
"Evie would eat anything you gave her," added Albus with a chuckle."Still does as a matter of fact!"
"Papa!" exclaimed Evie before batting him playfully on the arm.
The evening progressed with Albus and Minerva giving their daughters an insight to their first year on life. The girls found out that they had both crawled within days of each other but Evie had taken her first steps long before Abigail had. Evie had been nearly one but Abigail had been fifteen months before she did that and Minerva had put it down to her been poorly at that stage. Albus had expressed regret that he hadn't been there when Abigail had taken her first steps and Minerva had fallen quiet. An uneasy silence had fallen on the room until Evie had asked some other questions and the room filled with chatter and laughter again.
The large grandfather clock struck midnight and Albus looked across at Minerva who had moved across to the couch earlier that evening and he saw that both the girls were fast asleep with their heads resting on her lap.
"Perhaps we should get them to bed!" he whispered.
"I think that would be wise," she answered. "My legs are getting numb."
With a gentle flick of his wrists, both the girls were levitated in the air and moved towards their bedroom. Minerva rose to her feet and stretched, the feeling of blood rushing to her legs made her dizzy for a bit before following Albus and the sleeping girls into their bedroom.
Minerva walked ahead and turned down the covers of the bed while Albus carefully lowered them down between the sheets. He took a step back as Minerva proceeded to tuck the girls into bed. He watched with an amazing amount of love as she kissed the girls on their forehead. She lingered over Evie before placing her hand on Evie's face and whispered 'I missed you my Evie'.
Minerva moved away from her daughters and watched as Albus kissed them both on the cheek. It felt like they had been putting the girls to bed together for eleven years and that made Minerva feel strange. She couldn't quite place her feelings just yet. Albus walked over to her and smiled softly in the dimly lit room before opening the door.
"After you my dear!"
To be continued.