Ginny's Christening

We called him William but we call him Bill. We called him Charles but he's definitely Charlie. We may have said Frederick, but he was born to be Fred. And as for my baby? No one calls a kid Ronald and reckons that's what he'll be known as. It just goes to show that the name you give a child isn't necessarily how they'll be known.

We already had six boys. Nobody had even thought about girls' names. We had a boy's name all picked out: Edward Julian Weasley. We would know him as Eddy of course. They were all very excited about having a seventh member to their pack. Finally a referee for three-on-three games, a partner in crime for Ronnie. When I sat in the hospital room after going through labour I didn't even ask the midwife what I had. I just assumed it was a boy. Arthur came in and asked for his little boy. The midwife looked at him and said

"Boy?"

I stared at Arthur, he stared at me. Did the midwife not speak English? Did she not understand that we could only possibly, conceivably have a new son?

"If you're talking about Molly's baby then all we've got is a baby girl."

A baby girl, a daughter for our family of boys. Before I had time to think it over my six little ones came in, accompanied by my mum.

"They want to see their brother," she said with a smile.

Fred and George peered into the little basket and made funny noises. I asked what they were doing.

"They've put our brother-"began Fred

"In pink!" finished George.

So it was true. We had a girl.

"Fred, George, Charlie, Percy, Bill and Ron- meet your little sister!"

They made funny faces. The word sister was one they were unfamiliar with. Percy gave the infant an experimental poke.

"Stop hurting my sister!" cried Bill. It turns out they were pretty quick at adapting. I took a long look at this female child of mine. My Word, she was beautiful. She blinked her big eyes and I picked her up. I cuddled her and passed her reluctantly on to Arthur and my mum.

Arthur was turning to lead the boys to the hospital cafeteria for lunch when he turned to me

"I'm guessing we aren't going with Eddy." He smiled.

XxXxXx

Finding a name took longer than we had thought. We were used to thinking 'well, we can always call the next one…' but something really hit home when we realised there wasn't going to be a next time. This was it as far as kids were concerned and so the girl's name had to be perfect.

When I was younger and had dreamed of being a mother, as I so often did surrounded by my two brothers, I had thought up many different names-this was not the problem. The problem was finding a name that would suit our baby, though we knew ludicrously little about how she would turn out. The names that had been my favourite when I was pregnant with Bill and equally expected a boy or a girl had been Elizabeth, Janette and Delilah. None seemed right. A great-aunt name of Genevieve apparently expected some sort of honour. We didn't want such a complicated name for our baby so we plumped for a variant of the name: Ginevra. Though within days she was already Ginny.

The boys had got used to the fact that the child that had taken over their house wasn't a boy. They all viewed this unexpected twist in different ways. Bill was still very protective of her. When friends came round he told them not to get too rough because 'there's a girl in the house now'. But he was the first to pick her up and try and teach her to roll over. I think they'll be close. Charlie tries to make a tomboy out of her. After I had bathed her and put her in her sleep-suit Charlie styled her damp hair into little spikes. He calls her Gin which made it not to long before it developed into Gin-and-Tonic which in turn became Tonic. He'll be the one when boys make her sad to tell her to kick them where it hurts and show them what she's made of. My little Ginny won't be a pushover if Charlie gets his way. Percy feels a little threatened by Ginny's arrival. He was always a bit of a mummy's-boy and he feels a bit left out now that mummy has a real baby girl. He's the only one that's tried to harm the baby. He now has a black eye from Bill for 'laying a finger on that little baby'. I hope I can sort this out. I don't want to be torn between Ginny and Percy, with Bill 'mediating'. Fred and George are thrilled with Ginny. In their eyes she has more 'spunk' i.e. more potential for helping with their mischief than Ronnie. To them, three-year-old antics are double the fun when you have a cute, 'spunky' little girl on your side. Thanks to them she'll know the best way to mess up the kitchen and trick daddy into more sweets. But she'll also learn the value of teamwork and sharing and the importance of being close to your brothers and sisters. Heaven's knows someone ought to teach her that what with Percy on her case. And then there's Ronnie. He had his position as baby of the house ousted from him pretty early and he reacted pretty well. He's still deciding about Ginny. But since he idolises Bill and Charlie their enthusiasm should rub off. I think a girl really completes out family. I am turning into a cliché.

Her christening came about a month after her birth. I had all the boys in little suits that made them look truly adorable. I squeezed myself into a pre-maternity purple dress. Little Ginny was adorned in a traditional white flowing dress and her little head- where the little wisps of hair are already going red- popped up on top of these waterfalls of white. She looked like a big, white, creamy cake with a little red cherry on the top.

We brought our family down to the local parish and although we don't really tend to go to services on a Sunday, the priest knows us due to our wedding and the last six of our children. He blessed Ginny first and then baptized her. We chose my brother Gideon to be her godfather and a friend named Doris Crockford as her godmother.

After she was officially christened it was already getting dark and we had invited friends and family to a little party in the garden to celebrate this. There were finger sandwiches and triangles of quiche and a big, juicy ham. I had really gone to town with this one and we finished off with cupcakes and jelly and trifle.

At the end, after all our guests had gone home and our table groaned with gifts Arthur took all the kids into the garden, even though Ronnie, Fred and George were already in pyjamas into the garden. He had cleared away all the cutlery and crockery and balloons and mess that had been left behind and he told us to wait on the patio. Then he dashed down tot h end pf the garden and soon after was right back with us.

"Wait just a second," he told us

"What is it darling?" I asked him. But my question was soon answered. A firework-magically silenced for f4ear of scaring Ronnie and Ginny- shot up into the sky lighting it beautifully. It was soon joined by another and then more and more arrived. I looked at Percy, who scared pretty easily, but he just looked up in awe at this new treat his eyes sparkling with reflection pf the firework.

When the display was over and I had thanked Arthur profusely I turned to Ginny to see what she had thought. I reckoned she was probably asleep. I was wrong. She looked back at me and smiled, not with her mouth, not yet, but with her big Bambi eyes. They shimmered in speculation. She was far more amazing than any firework. She was all colours, all sounds, and she could fill not only the sky but also the Earth, sea and space with her power. She was my little firework. And in the same way that when fireworks shoot up they still leave their base in the ground, so too my baby. No matter where she went- here was where she would truly be.