1Chapter 7- The Basics

Aimee woke quite earlier than anticipated the next morning. Harry had loudly knocked on her door around 5 am, and proceeded to enter as she was pulling the covers off. She stared in awe at the clock and tried to remember the last time she'd ever woken up this early, and as it seems couldn't remember a single time.

"Er...sorry Miss...er...was I ever told your last name?" Harry asked in amazement. He'd never asked her full name yesterday...

He scratched his head, messing up his hair. Frankly he didn't want to remember yesterday much at all. It had been horribly awkward for him. He hadn't exited his house in over two weeks, and honestly had lost all sense of manners and the atmosphere of other people.

"You can just call me Aimee." Her voice was groggy.

"Alright. But I still need to know your last name." He answered.

"Why?" Great, what was she supposed to do now? She would tell him she had no last name, and he would get suspicions and before she's know it she will be on her way to Newport.

"I'm simply asking for a last name..." Harry replied curtly.

"It's Kenbrook. Aimee Kenbrook." Oh God that was horrible...Kenbrook? What kind of name was that? Harry sighed and placed his hand that was scratching his head over his eyes.

"I'm sorry to wake you so early Miss Kenbrook,"

"Please, just call me Amy." She interupeted. Harry continued as if she'd said nothing.

"...I'll be leaving soon for work and I forgot to show you were the bottles and formula are..." He said looking away from her gaze. "Kat will be waking soon for her morning feeding and I have to show you how to prepare her bottle."

Aimee screamed in her head, but her appearance didn't show it. She smiled sweetly at Harry, pulled on her robe and followed him to the kitchen.

Katrina's food was nothing like what she expected. The only thing she ate was formula, which as it turns out was powder. She listened carefully as Harry explained that the powder turns into a liquid once you add water. He told her to pour in two table spoons of powder, and fill the rest with warm water.

"Seems easy." She said, shaking the bottle a little to mix it's contents.

"It is. Now she takes one when she wakes up, another at one or so in the afternoon, then one around four. Then of course the only left is diapers, and those are all right on her changing table...I assumed you know how to change a diaper..." Aimee thought fast. And smiling she nodded and said;

"Of course, who doesn't?" Harry raised and eyebrow, and for a second Aimee thought she saw his eyes lighten, but just as the thought entered her head, they were back to a dark emerald.

"Right, well then I'll be home around six..." He said picking up some papers on the table.

"Alright I'll see you then." She said setting the bottle down. Harry didn't seem to want to go.

"Are you going to leave?" Aimee asked after a few seconds of not moving. Harry broke from his coma and looked at her.

"Yes, I was just making sure I hadn't forgotten anything."

"Food and diapers...I think that's all she'll need."

"Right, well and if she doesn't sleep, then there's toys and things in her room, and stroller in the back if you feel like walking." Aimee nodded and smiled. He turned and walked out of the kitchen. Aimee breathed a sigh of relief, but only until he came striding back into the kitchen did she begin to get annoyed.

"Did you forget something?" She asked.

"No, I'm just not ready to leave. I should stay until she wakes up, to make sure you feed her correctly."

"But you showed me how to feed her yesterday..."

"Yes, I know it's just it's my first time leaving her...well not my first but my second and this time it's not with her mother..." He sighed. "You have to understand why I'm feeling a little anxious. I mean, I hardly know you and I'm leaving you with my child. It just feels all to strange."

"Well, I'm not a rampaging lunatic if it makes you feel better." He smiled at her, and knees began to give way from under her. She quickly sat down in one of the chairs and crossed her legs.

"Yes, well that's nice to know..." He said turning away. "Alright, I'm just going to leave...but I'm going to call...sometime during the day...not sure when, I might even ring twice, just to make sure you're OK." He muttered a goodbye and

with that he walked out of the kitchen, and a few minutes later Aimee heard the front door open and close.

She was alone. Alone with a baby, of which she was to care for. Oh boy. She thought. This was going to be hard getting used too. First off, she'd never lived in a house before, although it was proving to be better than sharing a large floor space with thirteen other teenage girls at the Dormitories. She liked how each room was different, in color and design. Unlike her previous abode, this one was bright and colorful, with comfy furniture and a pleasant almost storybook like atmosphere. It's owner however, was a different story.

He was handsome...very handsome, she thought. He had a slender body shape, with large hands. His head seemed to rest very nicely on top of broad shoulders. His hair was very dark, which seemed to interact with his personality. It was untidy, which she could tell he was very unorganized from the look of his office, of which she was told yesterday to stay out of. By the way his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, she could tell he worked hard. But there was something about him. He dragged around a sad presence with him, and in his eyes was all the sadness in the world and Aimee felt it every time he looked at her. But he still affected her in some way she couldn't put her finger on. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small wail from upstairs. She grabbed the bottle and made her way to Katrina's bedroom.

By the time she'd gotten to the door, the crying had stopped. Perhaps she fell back asleep, but just in case Aimee opened the door a little ways and peeked in. She was awake, just not crying. She walked into the sunlit room and over to the crib. Peering down she saw Katrina looking up at her with wide eyes. They were green, like Harry's. Her little hands and feet were waving in the air, and she was making little cooing sounds that made Aimee want to pick her up and kiss her all over.

"Hello there cutie pie." She said letting Kat take a finger in her tiny hand. She cooed loudly and Aimee loved her immediately. She picked her up and cradled her in her arms, like Hermione had shown her. She looked around and spotted a rocking chair in the corner and sat in it. She placed the bottle in the right position and rocked back and forth.

"You are adorable." Aimee said.

Katrina finished the bottle quickly and Aimee placed her back in her crib. But before she could turn around to leave, Katrina began crying. Screaming was more like it.

"What's wrong!" Aimee asked in alarm. Katrina answered in loud sobs that could be heard for five miles. She thought for sure Harry would hear and come bursting in demanding to know what's happened, and she wouldn't be able to give him an answer. She pick Kat up but she continued to scream. Aimee didn't know what to do, what if she was dying! She ran for the phone...wait...where's the phone! She searched everywhere, the kitchen, den, living room, and even Harry's office, but there was no phone. How was she supposed to call for help!

"Aimee!" It was Hermione, thank God.

"She won't stop crying! I don't know what wrong..." Hermione took Kat in her arms and began patting her on the back.

"Did you feed her?" She asked.

"Yes...I feed her the formula and I went to lay her down and she began screaming I..." She stopped when she heard and loud burp come from the tiny baby.

"Ah...that's the problem. She needed to burp..." Aimee leaned against the wall, relieved that she wasn't going to die.

"This is harder than I thought." She moaned, sliding to the floor.

"Oh it's not all that hard, you just need to be informed that's all." Hermione said placing the baby back into Aimee's arms.

"Here, we'll put her in the swing..." She said walking over to the sitting area where a baby swing was located. Aimee carried her over and gave Kat to Hermione who placed her in the swing. She let herself fall onto the large sofa and sighed heavily.

"Well, first off how do you like Harry?" She asked taking a seat in the chair opposite to the sofa.

"He's..." She didn't know what to say. "He's not very talkative." She finally said, remembering yesterday.

"Oh, well he's been through a lot and he's a little...depressed...at the time being. He'll get better. He's a really good man when you get to know him."

"Exactly, what happened to his wife...?" She wasn't sure if she should ask that question, but she was really curious as to his depression.

"Well..." Hermione began. "She just sort of left..."

"You mean she just got up and left?" Aimee asked in amazement. Who would just get up and leave their husband and newborn baby?

"To make it short, yes, she just left." Aimee was in awe.

"But why..."

"I don't know. And neither does Harry, and it's best you not talk about that topic." Aimee nodded and confirmed that she would never want to bring that hurtful subject up in a conversation.

"What's that smell?" Aimee asked as a strong aroma filled the air.

"Ah, good, I was waiting for that." Hermione said getting up.

"For what?"

"Lesson One, diaper changing." Aimee moaned loudly. "Come here and pick her up, we'll get started with teaching." Aimee obeyed and lifted Kat out of the swing, and to her horror was now covered in vomit.

"Ah! She's thrown up!"

"Well that's the least of your worries, turn her around." Aimee did, and realized that Kat had made a mess through her clothes.

"Well your just an all at once type of kid aren't you?" She said talking to Katrina, who just drooled and cooed.

"Wonderful, Step Two will be baths, and Step Three will be laundry." Hermione said smiling and leading Aimee up the stairs.

By the end of the day Aimee was exhausted, but at the same time properly instructed on how to feed, burp, bathe and wash clothes. She couldn't help but feel good about her accomplishments.

"Now that you know the hard stuff, tomorrow can be dedicated to spending time and getting to know Katrina." Hermione had said before leaving.

After putting Kat in her cradle, she fell on the couch and shut her eyes. Only for a few minutes, or until Katrina woke her up.

A/N: This chapter was really hard to write, just the fact of getting into the swing of the story. Let me know if it's a bit shaky, and if it is I might go back and fix it.