Early the next morning, Arthur was awakened to his wife scrambling to get out of bed and the sounds of her retching in the bathroom. He rolled his eyes at the ceiling, making a note to ask for a potion for her before he left.
When she returned, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she sighed, rubbing her stomach. "Sorry to wake you."
"I have to be up in a few minutes anyway," he replied with a sleepy grin.
"Feel," his wife said to him, grabbing his hand and placing it on her stomach. "I already have a bump. At nine weeks: I just noticed."
He smiled at her excitement, though he was sure he never would have noticed. "Beautiful," he said, kissing her cheek. "One of us needs to remember to ask for a potion for you."
"Please," she said wryly.
"I will on the way out," he replied. "Anything else to say or remind me of?"
"Come back soon?" she sighed, half teasingly. "Take care of yourself."
He promised he would, and made her promise the same before he left. Andromeda let herself be sad for a few minutes before she curled back under the blanket and got a couple more hours of rest.
Andromeda was very glad to see her husband that evening, as he brought their son with him. "Hi, Will," she cooed at him, holding him close as he grinned, grabbing a lock of her hair. "Oh—Arthur, the Healers said that I can go home in the morning," she told him.
"That's wonderful news," Arthur said, smiling. "I'll be glad to have you safely home."
She nodded in agreement, drawing her knees up to set Will on her lap. "So how was work?"
"Well, I'm glad it's the weekend," the young man replied. "I can stay with you and help more—I'm sorry you've suffered so much this time."
"It was my idea," she reminded him.
"Yes, but—" Arthur protested, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "I mean it, Dromeda."
Andromeda smiled at her baby, then glanced at the father. "I'm hoping that everything will remain calm when I go home," she said. "I can't wait."
Arthur nodded, settling in to stay the rest of the night with his wife and son.
The next morning when the time had come, Andromeda took her potion and held Will in her arms as they made their way down to the doors and walked to the apparition point. "Ready?" Arthur asked her quietly, holding out his hand to her.
Andromeda took her husband's hand. "Let's go," she said.
The young woman had never been so happy to see the Weasley home before, breathing a sigh of relief as she crossed the ward boundaries. "I'm so glad to be home," she groaned, hurrying down the hall to their room and curling up with her son on the bed.
Arthur smiled at her. "Let me know when you need potions and things," he said. "I want you to be as comfortable as possible."
"Thanks," Andromeda sighed, rubbing her small baby bump before smiling at Will and letting him grab her finger. "I'm so glad to be home, Arthur."
"And I'm glad you're here," he answered, sitting down on his side of the bed. "It seems like only a few days ago that you were perfectly healthy."
"A few weeks," Andromeda agreed wryly. "But honestly, Arthur, I feel so much better, and I think I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?" he asked, and she nodded, rolling over and leaning up to kiss his lips. "I love you," he murmured.
"Thank you," she whispered against his lips, her stomach fluttering nervously.
Their attention was quickly diverted back to Will as he made a sharp sound of want. Andromeda took him into her arms and got to her feet. "I need to get him a bottle, probably," she sighed. "I've been told not to feed him myself anymore."
Arthur nodded, going ahead of her and holding the door for her. She smiled at him, and they walked to the kitchen to take care of their little one.
The next few months proved difficult for Andromeda, for even though she was feeling a lot better, she was sick every single day and often napped for hours during the day. She still felt useless, but Arthur insisted that it was more important that she take care of herself.
She was uncomfortably large, bigger than she'd been when pregnant with Will, and it was difficult for her to move or walk. By twenty five weeks, she couldn't move quickly without becoming extremely dizzy, and by the time Will was a year old, she couldn't go up or down the stairs without assistance.
Then, early one evening as Andromeda was watching Arthur play with Will, who was already walking, she felt a few twinges. She tried to relax, as she was still a couple weeks away from her due date, but she finally had to say something. "Arthur," she sighed, "I think—mmm—I think the baby's coming."
"You want me to get the Healer?" he asked her quickly, seeing her caress her stomach, the witch obviously in some discomfort.
"Please," Andromeda breathed. "But first help me to the room your mum prepared."
Arthur assisted her, then quickly left to retrieve the Healer and Andromeda lay down on the bed where she was to give birth to her second child. She was grateful that the time had come, but she dreaded the hours before her.
Hours later, the next morning, Andromeda was groaning in pain as she shivered, holding on tightly to her husband hand. She was crying openly in pain, not remembering Will's birth to have been very painful at all.
"Just a little longer and you can start pushing," the Healer told her. "You're almost at the end."
Andromeda just continued to cry, not responding to the Healer or her husband as she struggled to concentrate on her task. It was a few minutes later when she threw up violently and gasped, "I—I need to push."
The Healer told Andromeda what to do and the witch obeyed, whimpering, choked with tears and nearly hysterical. Andromeda sobbed softly once in a while as she pushed, hearing the Healer tell her that she could see the baby's head, that there was progress.
Andromeda summoned all her strength, and after some intense contractions and shrieks of pain, she gave birth to her second child. She lay back, panting in exhaustion, hysterical and refusing to hold her own baby.
The one thing that she noticed in the moment was the frown on the Healer's face as she took care of the new baby. "Is it okay?" Andromeda gasped, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
"He's not a Metamorphagus," the Healer said. "I don't understand."
Andromeda could not have cared less about the Healer's confusion as another wave of pain hit her and she cried out in agony and fear. "What's going on?"
It took the Healer less than half a minute to figure it out. "There's another baby, dear," she said gently, beginning to put a ward around the bed. "I'm going to diffuse a potion to help you."
"Twins?!" Andromeda shrieked, and as she began to feel the severe pressure again, she knew the Healer was right. "Ahhh!" she screamed as they moved her back in position to push. "I can't—I'm too tired!" she sobbed, her arms crossed over her stomach. "Arthur—"
He did not know what to do as she screamed and struggled to bring forth the second twin. Andromeda did not look up once she'd pushed it out, but lay there, sobbing weakly as she prayed for there not to be a third.
"Andromeda," Arthur breathed, "oh, it's a girl! And her hair is pink!"
The young mother opened her eyes as the Healer placed the second twin on her chest. "Oh," Andromeda choked, seeing the newborn wriggle and give a shrill cry, her hair changing to red. "Oh," Andromeda said again, lifting her arms to hold her baby girl.
Andromeda glanced over at the other twin, but he was in a ward of some kind and she couldn't see him. Looking back down at her daughter, she whispered, "Dora...Nymphadora."
Arthur smiled slightly, barely watching as the Healer cleaned up and helped Andromeda get more comfortable. She hesitated, then offered the baby girl some milk, which the child took to happily.
"She is beautiful," Andromeda sniffed, touching the baby's soft little cheek. "Did you try to kill Mumma, Dora?"
"How is he?" Arthur asked, seeing the Healer check on the baby boy. Andromeda finally looked up to see the other baby, sighing with a yawn.
The Healer picked up the child and brought him to his father. Arthur took his son into his arms and smiled, then turned to his wife. "Charlie and Dora?"
She nodded, then shook her head. "I can't believe there were two babies," she murmured, glancing between the twins. "Merlin—she's so much bigger than he is. Charlie's so small!"
The Healer nodded. "He's barely five pounds, and she's around seven and a half. She may have been—well, she probably was—getting most of the nutrients from you. Honestly, I'm amazed you made it this far since it was twins. Baby girl probably decided she was done and nudged her brother, telling him it was time to be born."
The woman looked at the smaller twin. "I know you weren't expecting to have twins, so of course it's all a shock. If you aren't sure you'll be able to feed both of them right now, at least breastfeed the little one first because he'll need the most immunity boost and other help from you right now."
"Yeah," Andromeda sighed, laying her head back. "Right now I'm not sure I want either of them."
"Andromeda," Arthur said in horror, but his wife turned away from him and closed her eyes.
"It's been such a difficult birth and an awful pregnancy," the Healer said gently to the younger witch. "You're worn out and need rest, Andromeda."
Andromeda sniffed, trying to keep back her tears. "There will be no rest," she whispered.
"It's not uncommon to feel this way," the Healer told her, "but you will find a routine."
"I don't think I can do this," Andromeda whispered.
"If you're going to take that attitude, you truly are a disgrace to your family," said the Healer, ignoring Arthur's protest. "Your own mother struggled with your birth, Andromeda, but she did not give up. Women have done this for generations. Don't doubt yourself." She began to pack up her things and added, "If you need anything or something seems off about either of the twins, or yourself, do not hesitate to call me."
"Okay," Andromeda murmured, watching the woman leave.
Arthur did not say anything as he switched babies with her. She finally looked up at him, having had trouble with getting her new baby boy latched, his cries finally quieting as his hunger was satisfied. "I didn't mean it," she said quietly. "I do want them, Arthur."
"Then why would you say that?" he asked, hurt in his voice. "What if they one day find out that you said that you didn't want them?"
"I was tired," Andromeda sniffed, beginning to cry as she couldn't control her emotions. "I am tired—and I want people to stop scolding me!"
Charlie sensed that his mother was upset and began to cry shrilly once again, and Andromeda breathed, "No, baby, don't cry; it's okay—" but she began to cry all over again and couldn't quiet him.
"Andromeda," Arthur said softly, setting a sleeping Dora in the one crib and reaching for the other twin.
"No!" Andromeda cried, refusing to give up the tiny baby. I'm not a failure screamed through her mind, even as she tried to calm the child and failed.
Arthur leaned in so that she could not ignore him and said, "Love, you need to rest." He ignored her protests and continued, "Let me give him a bottle and you can feed him after you've had a nap."
"No!" she cried again, still trying to get the child to feed.
"Hey." Arthur gently placed his hand on the side of her face and she stilled, looking up at him wildly with tears in her eyes. "You've done really good today, Andromeda. I'm very proud of you for managing so much. Let me do this one thing. Please."
Her chest was heaving with emotions as she stared into his eyes, and she shrank away from him as he reached for the baby. "Let me help," he murmured, beginning to take Charlie from her before she stopped him. "He's going to be right here beside you," Arthur said softly, not letting go of the child.
Andromeda's eyes were still filled with tears. "I'm a disgrace."
"I don't give a shit about whatever nonsense your family Healer was saying," Arthur said sternly. "You are nothing of the sort and I love you."
"I'm a failure," she wept as she allowed her husband to take the baby from her.
"You're only a failure when you stop trying," he answered intently. "Not because something didn't work, or something went wrong. You have never stopped trying—you're not a quitter, Andromeda."
She wrapped her arms around herself, tears running down her face, and he looked at the two babies. "This is the end of your awful pregnancy," he reminded her, "and you have not one, but two beautiful babies to show for it. You're amazing, Andromeda; you just need a little break, some rest for yourself so you can continue to be the best mother I've ever seen."
The witch managed a tiny smile, lying back and closing her eyes. "Stay," she whispered, and he promised he would.