AN: This one is set about 8 months after Andy and Ted's Wedding, and they are celebrating Ted's 19th birthday with his family. Andy is reflecting on the difference between her biological family and her new family.
Thankyou to everyone who reviewed! Virtual Hugs all round!
Disclaimer: All I own is the month of Ted's birthday, and the names of his family.
A Different Sort of Family – March 1972 (Andy)
I love Ted's family, they are everything that the family I grew up with was not: Love, laughter, teasing, and even more love.
Despite the fact that they've welcomed me into the fold with open arms and hearts, I still find myself withdrawing back into myself on occasions. They are so different to what I grew up with.
When I think back on my childhood, I remember both the good and the bad; the cold, dark hallways of the Manor; Bella's screaming laugh as she whizzed past Cissy and I on the grounds; the scowling house-elves; Cissy humming as she braided flowers into my hair the summer before I went to Hogwarts; the stiff, polite formality of my parents and family; Sirius' wicked pranks; the veiled barbs and hidden meanings in each phrase uttered.
It's such a contrast to what I am now a part of.
Ted's mother, Carolyn, could not more removed from my own mother if she tried. Druella Black was cold, distant and—above all—arrogant. Carolyn Tonks was caring, compassion and laughter—always sparking from those eyes that were so like Ted's. She 'took me under her wing', so to say, the moment she met me—the Summer holidays between Sixth and Seventh Year. And during the chaos that was wedding planning, I found out from Elspeth, Ted's older sister, that the ring Ted had given to me was Carolyn's mother's.
Elspeth is another gem, so different from my two sisters—the fire and ice duet. Sure, Elspeth has a temper, who hasn't? But we can talk together for ages without tiring; she supplies me with stories of Ted's exploits when he was little, and I tell her stories from Hogwarts, both with and without Ted.
Ted's father and younger brother, Andrew and Michael respectively, live off teasing everyone gently. Like now, teasing Ted about the number of candles on his birthday cake.
Ted's rolling his eyes at them now, and telling them to shove off, but he doesn't mean it. The love in this house is tangible, almost visible.
I force myself to smile at Ted as his eyes seek mine, worry lurking in their dark brown depths; he knows that I struggle with this sometimes. I just join in with the chorus of voices telling him to hurry up and blow the candles out—preferably before the wax forms puddles all over the cake.
He finally does so, and the smoke from the candles blurs the room momentarily; just as my 'emotional overload', as Ted and I sometimes call it, passes.
Free from the latest bout, I join in the celebrations with my in-laws.
I will become a true part of this family, my family.
AN: Please don't hurt me for the length:hides: When I started writing this chapter, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Andy had other ideas. So I ended up with a very short one this time... Please review though!