I know it's been a while, but this ones longer!
POV: Rose
As we walked in the door I was greeted with the aroma of roast turkey. I could hear faint murmuring from the kitchen. The air was warm as I shrugged my coat off, feeling my face start to heat up. As I entered the living room, I saw a very tired looking Charlotte on the couch. After realizing that introducing a 2-day-old baby to the family would be harder than they thought, James and Charlotte had decided today, Christmas Eve would be a slightly better day, although the Weasleys were always crazily loud. I called out a soft greeting and made my way to the couch. Before I could stop her, Charlotte pushed her self off the couch to hug me.
"Rose, it's so good to see you!" she squeezed me.
"Me? Look at you! How are you doing?"
Charlotte sighed, "It's hard. I always knew it would be, but it's harder than I thought. But, it's worth it," she shrugged, smiling.
"Speaking of, where is my nephew?" I asked looking around.
Charlotte glanced upstairs. "James took him to lie down. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen them in a while, let's go check on them." I followed her upstairs and into what used to be Aunt Ginny's room. James was lying on the bed next to what must have been Brett, a little red-faced bundle. James let out a little snore at the same time as Brett made a little hiccupping sound. Charlotte laughed, "I can already see how alike they are."
From downstairs, I heard the door slam shut and a new chorus of voices start.
"It won't last long, so I'm gonna let them sleep." Charlotte shut the door quietly behind her as we made our way back downstairs.
Lily and Nate had arrived. The five of us chatted, Scorpius having joined us.
I heard the stairs creak, and looking up I saw James caring Brett, heading down the stairs. Charlotte met them at the bottom, kissing her husband, and taking Brett from his arms.
"Someone had a nice little nap, didn't you," She cooed to him, kissing him on the forehead. James yawned and stretched his arms, one around Charlotte's waist, pulling her to him, and kissing her on the head.
"How long did you two sleep for?"
"About an hour and a half."
"I hope you know, this means you're getting up first tonight," she laughed as James let out a groan, just as his mom came in.
"You finally brought my beautiful grandson down, I see. Come on you all, it's time for dinner."
Dinner was served outside, the only place where all the grownups would fit at one table. It was winter so the snow had been cleared under where we were sitting, under a giant heated tent. As the food was passed around I talked to countless family members, mostly Lily who was sitting right next to me. Just as the salad was being passed around, Brett started crying, and James and Charlotte headed inside. Soon, the table was being cleared and most of the family went to join them in the living room. We sat on couches, and chairs, anything that was available, and everyone finally got to meet baby Brett.
He was passed from family member to family member but he soon started fussing and made his way back to James and Charlotte. That was when Aunty Ginny spoke up.
"Charlotte, do you want to tell the rest of the family about the name?" Aunt Ginny asked, the rest of the family falling silent. Charlotte and I were pretty close, so knowing what I did, I knew this would be hard.
Charlotte smiled sadly. "Yeah, of course, I'm sure many of you heard part of this at our wedding, but here's the full story. As some of you know, Brett is my brother's name, Brett was a year older than me and he was always my best friend and we were always playing together. Our parents were never really present in our lives, so I always though of Brett as the only family I had. Him and James met when they were 17, both right out of school, at the Auror training in London. They instantly became best friends, and soon every time I saw Brett, I also saw James. After James and I got together I accused Brett of planning it, but he always denied it. When James and I started dating, I told Brett it was just going to be a fling, ending at the end of the year, and when he insisted we were in for the long haul, I always laughed it off." She paused taking a deep breath. I could flecks of water in her eyes. "My guess was that at the time he introduced us, he knew that he only had about a year left. James and I went through a few rough patches that first year, and looking back on it I know that the only reason we got back together was because of Brett. I was 19 and James was 20 when Brett finally told me he had cancer in his lungs and there was nothing the wizard or muggle doctors could do for him. He told me he had about 6 months to live, but that he didn't want me to worry cause James and I had each other and he knew that we would be there for each other. When he first told me, I laughed and told him to stop joking around, and messing with me. Then, I got mad when I finally realized he wasn't kidding, yelling at him, that he should have told me before, that we could have found some way to help him. I was crying then and all he would talk about was how I would have James, and I would be okay. He kept repeating that we would make it, and that's when I ran into the street. It was winter in London, and I curled up in the park, forgetting the cold. James was the one who eventually found me. He sat down next to me without saying a word, and let me cry on his shoulder. It took me a while to figure out that he was crying to. Eventually he realized I was freezing, and apparated us back to the loft that him and Brett shared. He sat me down on the bed, got me into dry clothes and tucked me into bed, climbing in next to me.
I moved in with James and Brett, who were room mates after that day, selling my loft and staying in the room with James. I spent as much time as I could with my brother and James and I took care of him. He got noticeably sicker once he told me. He started coughing regularly, slept more, and ate less. He got skinnier, the happiness that had always been present in him, was now replaced with tiredness. He stayed in bed most of the day, and James and I took turns feeding him, and talking to him. He always made an effort to talk and laugh with me when I was with him, which I later learned he did to stay strong for me. James would find me almost every day crying. Sometimes on the kitchen floor, sometimes in bed, he always knew that words weren't needed, and that all I needed was to be held." She paused, drawing in a quivering breath.
"One night," she continued "James woke me up. He had been sitting, watching Brett, who had gotten worse the past days, when he started couching without incessantly, he couldn't talk, and he was gasping for breath. We brought him to St.M's, and they told me it was amazing he had made it this long, and that be probably had about a week left to live. That's when I tried to stay strong for him. He had always been there for me, and now it was my turn to be there for him. I talked to him for hours into the night. Sharing my favorite memories of us as kids, us and James. We almost lost him twice, but he was able to pull through. He could tell he was slipping away because just a few hours before he went, he told me that he knew I would be okay, that I was strong and he wanted me to live the rest of my life happy and not weighed down at all by his death. He told me that he had introduced me to James because he knew we would be good to each other, he knew we would take care of each other. He told me to not push him away when he left, but to hold him because he knew what I was going through. When he told me that James was the only boy he'd ever be able to approve of, so I shouldn't take that for granted, I laughed and cried. He told me that he could see the love that James and I shared, and he had seen it the minute he had introduced us. He told me he didn't want to leave me alone, he wanted me to be taken care of, and he didn't want James to be alone. And, he told me he loved me, and he loved James and wouldn't take it lightly if I broke his heart. I cried and I laughed and I crawled into bed with him. It was the last time I got to talk to my brother. The doctors said he had fallen asleep next to me, and had slipped away then. I now know how much he struggled and fought those last few days to stay alive and I can see now how much of James and I is thanks to him. He introduced us, he helped us through every fight, his getting sick made us stronger and he even managed to get us to move in together rather quickly. I remember James and I slept in his bed when we got home, we wore his clothes and we talked about him endlessly. We didn't call it mourning, we called it celebrating. About a month before Brett died, James had asked his permission and the two of them went ring shopping to get the engagement ring he used to propose to me. So once, this baby came, it wasn't really a question what we would name him, what better person to name a baby after then the person who brought us together in so many ways, and who we owe basically our entire relationship to?"
James spoke up then, "When we thought about the middle name, Char brought up the fact that both of our brothers had made a huge impression in our lives and so Brett Albus Potter was born," he finished, kissing the forehead of the baby boy in his wife's arms and then kissing his wife next to him.
As I looked around at the faces of my family, I could see, mine weren't the only cheeks glistening with tears. I had never heard the whole story of Charlotte and her brother. The family had no words, but words weren't needed. Nana needed them though, and she promptly started talking to Charlotte all about how beautiful and sad the story was. Other conversations started, and eventually Charlotte made her way over to where Lily and I were sitting. She grabbed our hands, and pulled us into the kitchen.
"Oh Char," Lily started, but Charlotte interrupted her, "Shh, I know what you're gonna say, and I've already heard it to much tonight, but thank you. But I really need your help. Lily, you know I love your brother with all my heart, but you need to help me get away from him." Charlotte looked at us desperately as Lily and I started laughing. "Guys, I'm serious, ever sense my ninth month, he's been so protective of me, and getting closer and closer to my due date it got worse, every time I wasn't hungry, or I hiccupped, or anything, he thought I was going into labor. When I think about it, I literally don't think he let me out of his sight. Now, with the baby, it's a little bit better, but it's still there, and I love my baby with all my heart but he cries so much." She stared exasperatedly at Lily. "And, you know, your brother is not the most helpful person. We take turns with the baby during the night, but he ends up waking me up almost every time cause he doesn't know what to do, or Brett's hungry. And I really just need to be away with the girls for a while"
I laughed, reassuring her, "Of course, we'll all go out soon, get away from all of the men." I pulled her in for another hug. I knew what she meant, I needed some time with just the girls.
"All the girls..? Like do we have to invite Molly…?" Lily asked.
"Oh shut up," I shoved her in the shoulder.
"Yes, we have to invite Molly." Charlotte giggled.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, READ AND REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Like actually reviews are the only thing that keep me writing, besides of course the love for writing
