Chapter 30—The One with Really Good News
All too soon, the honeymoon had to end and Maya and Charlie were heading back to Cardiff. On the train, Maya leaned on Charlie to take a nap. She was exhausted from the week of fun and frivolity. When they arrived home, they found messages waiting from their parents and one for Maya from Drew and Jamie. Maya squealed when she read their letter.
"What is it?" Charlie asked, setting down the note from his mother inviting them to the Burrow for dinner.
"I have an audition for an orchestra," Maya said. "Drew and Jamie set it up for Thursday. And, since it's an orchestra spot, it won't interfere with our other project." Charlie smiled and placed his hand on Maya's belly.
"How soon do you think it'll be before we're pregnant?" Charlie asked.
"What do you mean 'we're' pregnant?" Maya teased. Charlie tried to stammer a response, but Maya pressed her finger to his lips. "I'm not sure when, love. Hopefully, it will happen soon."
That evening, they went to the Burrow for dinner. They had brought small presents for Charlie's parents and Maya's mother. Molly was thrilled with the porcelain vase and Arthur very much enjoyed the batteries, which he added to his collection. Over coffee and dessert, Maya and Charlie filled Molly and Arthur in on their trip to Paris, leaving out most of the sordid details. Finally, Molly asked the question she had wanted to ask for the entire meal. "When are you going to give me grandchildren?"
"We'll let you know, Mum," Charlie answered. He and Maya had agreed that they wouldn't tell anyone that they were trying to have children until she was actually pregnant. With that, the visit ended and Maya and Charlie went home.
Maya was signed into the pit orchestra for a West End production. She would be the second violin seat. She raced home to tell Charlie, who was very happy for her.
A few weeks later, Maya started feeling sick. She'd wake up in the morning with bouts of nausea, and if she ate a big meal, she often became ill. Molly noticed one Sunday evening when they were at the Burrow for tea. Maya was very hungry and ate well during the meal. Afterwards, she became violently ill and bolted for the toilet. Charlie followed to hold her hair back. "I thought you were feeling better," he said as she rinsed her mouth out.
"I thought so too," she answered.
"You should see a healer," he suggested.
"I'll be fine," she replied. "It's probably the stomach flu."
"Or it could be a parasite that you picked up in Paris," Molly suggested from the doorframe. "When I was pregnant with Charlie, the smell of most foods made me lose anything that was in my stomach in the first place."
"I'm not pregnant," Maya insisted. "We haven't really started trying to have a baby."
"I'm guessing that you haven't been using any charms, though," Molly stated. Maya and Charlie nodded. "Let me do the revealing charm. If you're not pregnant, you can go to a healer." Maya nodded and Molly performed the charm. Two minutes later, a small pink circle formed on her stomach.
"Congratulations," Molly said, through tears. "It's going to be a girl."
"Thanks Mum," Charlie whispered. He and Maya both had tears in their eyes and were beaming. "Could we have a minute?" Molly left them alone in the bathroom. Charlie pulled Maya into his arms and held her tightly.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"No," Charlie replied. "I'm overjoyed; I'm thrilled, but I'm way beyond happy. We're going to have a baby girl. If we're lucky, she'll look just like you."
"Except, she'll have your eyes," she said. "And your hair. I've always wanted a baby with red hair. Can we wait to tell everyone? I know that Molly and, probably, Arthur know, but outside our parents, I'd prefer to wait a few weeks."
"Of course," Charlie promised. "Let's get back before everyone starts wondering where we are and what we are doing in here."
They were able to keep Maya's pregnancy quiet for a few weeks. However, they had to tell the family when, once again, Maya became ill during a dinner at the Burrow. When she returned to the table, Ron demanded to know what was going on. "You're still sick?" he demanded.
"I'm not sick, Ron," Maya replied.
"Why does everyone assume I'm stupid?" Ron raged. "I know you've been sick. You've thrown up every time you've come to dinner." Maya and Charlie realized that he was right.
"You're right," Charlie answered. "She's thrown up, but she's not sick. She's pregnant and we're due at the end of May." The whole family was thrilled for Maya and Charlie, offering congratulations. George asked if he was going to have a namesake, but Charlie replied, "Only if you want people to say that George is a girl. Sorry, mate, but I've broken the Weasley tradition of boys first."
"I think I'll survive if you don't name this one George," George said.
As the weeks turned to months, Maya's belly kept getting bigger and bigger. She was so happy and Charlie spent every night talking to the baby in her belly. "What are we going to call her?" he asked on Christmas Eve.
"We haven't decided," she answered. "What are you thinking?"
"I like Sophie," he said. The baby kicked his hand.
"I suppose Sophie is her name," Maya replied. "Sophie Elizabeth Weasley sounds really nice to me."
"That's very beautiful," Charlie said. He kissed Maya's neck, up to her mouth, keeping his hand firmly on her belly. She kissed him back, running her hands through his hair. He placed his free hand behind her head to deepen the kiss; she responded with enthusiasm. Charlie paused for a second to ask, "Are you sure?"
"I know I haven't wanted to do this for a while, but I really do at the moment," she answered. Charlie needed no further encouragement and made love to her.
The next morning, they celebrated Christmas together before heading to the Burrow for dinner. Before they left, Maya asked, "Could we keep the name to just us until she's here?"
"Of course," Charlie answered. Then, they stepped into the floo and were whisked away to the Burrow.
By January, Maya had started experiencing the weird food cravings. Charlie was thoroughly disgusted when she asked for pickles and cream. He actually refused to bring her the sauerkraut pizza she had asked for one night. "Love, I have to draw the line somewhere," he explained. "How about I make you a pineapple pizza instead?"
"That does sound good, now you mention it," Maya mused. She gave up on the sauerkraut, at least for the day. Molly brought it for her the next day while Charlie was at work. Of course, the house smelled of it when he came home and Maya was sick with terrible indigestion.
In February, Molly and Grace decided to throw a baby shower for Maya. They planned it for the last weekend of February. The party was lots of fun, but Maya was pestered by everyone present about what she and Charlie intended to name the baby…and everyone had an opinion on it. When she returned home, she was exhausted. "How was the party?" Charlie asked, as he helped his Dad and brothers bring all the presents in.
"Everyone seems to have an opinion on what we should name her," Maya replied, sitting in her favorite chair with a cup of tea. "I was offered name suggestions with some of the presents."
"Is that why this present is labeled for 'Violet?'" Charlie asked. Maya nodded. "Were the others as bad?"
"Not all of them, but I still want Sophie Elizabeth," she answered. The last of the presents was put away and Charlie went to the sitting room to give Maya a foot massage. She sighed with contentment as his hands worked the soreness out of her toes. She fell asleep very quickly. Charlie kissed her head and let her rest while he made himself something to eat.
"Charlie?" she called an hour later when she woke.
"I'm right here, babe," he answered. "I didn't want to wake you. Are you hungry?"
"No, but I could really use a bath," she replied. He went to the bathroom to fill the tub and returned to help her up and to the bath. She soaked while he warmed the sheets in their bed. When she was done, he helped her out of the tub and into bed.
In early April, they decided to take a muggle childbirth class. That was the most interesting and strange experience they had throughout the pregnancy. There were 5 couples in the class, and Charlie and Maya were looked at strangely by the muggles.
"When are you due?" asked a lady, whose name was Eve.
"May 22," Charlie answered. "You?"
"May 13," she answered. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"It's a girl," Maya answered, beaming with pride. Sophie had decided to kick her at that moment.
Over the next few hours, Charlie learned different ways to coach Maya through the birthing process. He was particularly disgusted, however, when the class watched a video of a birth. He hadn't been nervous until that moment and started to harass Maya constantly if he thought she was in any pain.
May arrived with a heat wave and Maya was terribly uncomfortable. Charlie tried to help, but often ended up getting yelled at by Maya, who then burst into tears. He had no idea what to do for her, so he asked his dad. "She's just so weepy, Dad," he explained in the shed one Sunday. "It's just not like her. What do I do?"
"Get her whatever she wants, son," Arthur answered. "And take any abuse she flings at you. How is the nursery coming along?"
"It's ready," Charlie answered. "Bill came last week to paint it with me, and Maya changed her mind at least 4 times about what shade of pink she wanted. They all looked exactly the same to me, and that led to another fight."
"You made the mistake of telling her they looked the same, didn't you?" Arthur asked. Charlie nodded. "What made her forgive you?"
"She couldn't reach a plate and she wanted a foot rub," Charlie said, laughing. Arthur joined in, recalling how Molly had reacted with each of her pregnancies.
In the house, Molly and Maya were commiserating over tea. "And the worst part," Maya cried, "is that I've been so horrible to Charlie that I wouldn't blame him for leaving me. He won't leave me, will he?"
"Of course not, dear," Molly said soothingly. "Charlie loves you and your baby more than anything else in the world and he promised to stay with you forever. He'll keep that promise. And this will be over soon and you'll have a daughter you'll love more than anything else." Maya wiped her tears and thanked Molly. Charlie came up behind her and began massaging her shoulders.
May moved along at a snail's pace. Maya's due date came, and went, with no baby. She was a week late and getting very despondent. "Charlie," she whined. "The midwife did suggest that sex could induce labor."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Charlie stammered. He was terrified of hurting her or the baby.
Maya was furious. She flared her nostrils and Charlie muttered "Uh-oh" as she broke several glasses without raising her wand. "Am I not good enough for you anymore, Charlie?" she snarled. "Is there something wrong?"
"I'm sorry love; I just don't want to hurt you or the baby," Charlie replied in a very small voice.
Maya burst into tears and said, through sobs, "I'm just so tired of being pregnant. You did this to me and now it's time for you to man up and get this baby out of me!" Charlie pulled her onto the sofa with him and rubbed her back gently. Then, he turned her head to him and kissed her. He was starting to push her back onto the sofa when her water broke.
He activated the emergency portkey that the midwife had given him at the last appointment and they arrived at the Delivery Ward of St. Mungo's. While Maya got settled, Charlie sent patronuses to his parents and her mother. They arrived moments later and stayed in the waiting room.
It took several hours before Maya was ready to push the baby out. Charlie held her hand throughout the entire ordeal and when the baby finally arrived, he got to cut the umbilical cord. They laid the baby on Maya's chest and she kissed Charlie. He took the baby to meet her grandparents while the nurses helped Maya get cleaned up and moved into her room.
"Mum, Dad, Grace," Charlie called, waking them all. "Meet the newest member of the family. This is Sophie Elizabeth Weasley." They took turns holding the baby and passing her around to the rest of the family, who had all gathered. They all went to visit Maya once before they left for home. Two days later, Sophie went home to Wales with her parents.