AN: Number four! Ted's perspective again, Andy hasn't been feeling well... News of a new addition to the family. ;-)
No Longer A Family of Two – November 1972
In about fifteen months of marriage, and over a year of dating before, I have prided myself on my ability to pick up on Andy's moods.
Recently though, that seems to have gone on holiday.
I want it to come back. Now.
One minute, she's just about ready to hex me, next she's crying. I have no idea where my calm, sensible Andy has gone, and no idea how to handle this new Andy.
I complained to dad about Andy's mood swings, and he just laughed—and laughed even harder at the look of confusion and outrage on my face.
"You'll find out why she's like that soon enough," he managed to choke out between spurts of chuckles.
What happened to a sympathetic ear?
Seriously, though, I'm worried about Andy. Not only has she been... unpredictable, but she hasn't been well: Dizzy spells, nausea, headaches. She never gets sick.
I've been trying to convince her to get it checked, but that Black stubborn streak has been interfering. I mean, she's training to be a healer, for Merlin's sake, how hard can it be for her to get someone to give her a check-up?
Door's just snapped shut. Andy's mood could be anywhere...
"Ted? You here?" Andy's soft voice called. Doesn't sound like she's in a bad mood, good.
"In here, Andy."
Andy's head poked around the corner, dark rattails of hair dripping slightly. "Lucky you," she teased as she dumped her bag near the door and joined me on the couch, "you get to stay inside all day, while I had to walk fifteen minutes in the rain."
I ran my fingers through her hair distractedly. "Why didn't you apparate?" I asked frowning, we'd long since figured out that apparating outside our apartment while disillusioned was the best way to get home, as we had anti-apparating wards on the apartment itself. Or... "Couldn't you have flooed?" I asked again.
"Didn't feel up to floo," she mumbled quietly. "And Chrissy told me that I should cut back on apparating as much as possible."
What?
"Why?" I asked cautiously. The last thing I wanted now was to have her mad...
She twisted around to face me. "I finally swallowed my pride and saw her about... how I've been feeling recently," she admitted, a small grin curling her lips upwards. "We're going to be parents, Ted."
Time seems to freeze. Andy's... pregnant?
"You mean... you're..." I spluttered. Andy's grin widened.
"Yes, I'm pregnant," she leaned toward my ear, "you'll be a father in about seven months time."
What is a guy meant to say? I kissed her fiercely before wrapping my arms around her, letting my fingers brush over her midriff in wonder—a goofy smile plastered over my face, I'm sure. It was hard to believe that their was a child forming in there... our child...
"I love you, Andy," I murmured to her as she laughed from me tickling her stomach. "No wonder dad was laughing at me..." I muttered under my breath. Andy quirked an eyebrow at me.
"I was talking to dad the other day about how you weren't... yourself... and he started laughing at me!" Andy giggled.
"Well, for a Ravenclaw, you can be a bit slow on the uptake..." she teased.
"And I'm meant to know anything about this?" I asked, perplexed.
She shrugged. "Not really."
The rest of the evening was spent in a similar way, and devising various ways of telling our family and friends about our new addition.
I'm both scared and elated. Scared, because the wizarding world seems to be working it's way into war, and Andy's family are far too heavily involved. Elated because, well... I'm going to be a dad! Andy and I'll be responsible for a helpless little child, for their protection. Wait, that qualifies as a reason to be scared... but in a completely different way to the other reason.
All I can do is hope that I am able to be a good a father as my own.
AN: Heh, this one was quite fun to write, nervous men are fun to write... :snickers: Again, not as long as I hoped... thoughts? No, you have to send them by review! I'm not a Legimens!