"Everyone, we're very pleased to introduce you to Fleur Amelia Drill."
"She's got a fairy name.", Ava exclaimed.
"Amelia?" Constance sat on the arm of the chair where Fleur was now being held by her besotted Granny.
"Thank you, I never expected you to give her my name but oh, it means the world to me."
"We couldn't think of a better person to name her after.", Imogen whispered.
Tom sat on his wife's other side overcome with excitement himself. Not only had this little girl been born on his birthday but she had a beautiful name that honoured someone who would cherish her always.
"Well Fleur, you'll soon be running us ragged alongside your sisters, not that we'd change a thing about that. You all keep us young and we love you very much.", he told the now awake little girl.
There was someone else who everyone knew despite the late hour would want to know about the news.
"Abs, you alright?" Jamie had been asleep but called as soon as he received his goddaughter's text.
"Yes, I'm going to hang up and FaceTime you, there's something you'll want to see." She quickly disconnected and set up the video call straight away. "Say hi."
At the other side of the screen Jamie nearly dropped the phone. "What? Im are you serious?" He adjusted the phone on his side so Sarah could also see what, or rather who, Imogen was holding.
"Yes. Meet Fleur who arrived after three and a half hours from start to finish which is why we didn't call you. Kitten, this is Jamie and Sarah, they're very special to us all and I'm sure you'll meet them properly tomorrow."
"Try and stop us. Oh she's beautiful.", Sarah told them. "Three and a half hours, that's amazing. How are you doing?"
"Good. I had Constance and Abby with me so I was well looked after. I just can't believe she's here. None of us can. But she is and we couldn't be happier could we Sweetheart?"
Constance smiled as she reached over to fix Fleur's blanket. "Certainly not. We can't wait for you to meet her properly. You and the boys."
"We'll call around lunchtime if that's okay?" Jamie was cursing the fact that he had to work in the morning but would be there as soon as he could. "We're so happy for you all. Abs, you got your wish, you okay?"
"I am, a bit in shock like everyone else but it was amazing seeing her being born."
"You can tell me all about it tomorrow. Love you squirt, love you all."
"Love you." Ava and Zara jumped in front of the camera and waved frantically. "See you tomorrow. Bring Fionn and Cillian so we can show them our sister."
"We will." Jamie and Sarah were laughing as they said goodbye.
"Well then." Constance took a bite of the toast Abby had made. "As for everyone else, they'll be waking up to a bit of a surprise tomorrow."
"A lovely one." Amelia grinned, she couldn't wait to see Davina's face when she heard.
It was just after 2AM. Dr Ravenscroft had left, delighted that yet again, these parents had a perfect little girl to love. Stephen and Gaby were also gone and Tom and Amelia were saying their goodbyes.
"Call if you need anything.", Tom instructed.
"We will." Constance looked towards the bed where Ava and Zara were fast asleep, overcome by the excitement. "We're going to try Fleur with another feed then we'll get some sleep ourselves."
"I suppose I'd better go to bed too.", Abby said once her grandparents were gone.
"Stay honey. Please?" Imogen asked. "I know it might be a bit packed but we'd like you here."
"Okay." Abby had wanted to stay with her family but not if it was going to cause any discomfort to her Mum. She quickly put her pyjamas on and reentered the room to see her sister having her next feed.
"Does it hurt?"
"Mmm hmm.", Imogen grimaced. "But this is just colostrum, it gets easier when it's milk and she seems to be latching on. I don't mind the discomfort though, she's worth it."
Twenty minutes later Fleur seemed to have had enough milk and after kisses and some special words from each of her mothers was being settled in her Moses basket by her sister.
"Love you Fleur. You, me, Ava and Zara, we're going to be best of friends. Sleep tight."
Abby gave the baby a kiss before doing the same to her mothers. "I knew you were both brave beforehand but after seeing Mum give birth I think you're even more amazing. Thank you for my family."
"Thank you." Constance replied softly. "We absolutely adore you and we're so glad you were wth us to welcome Fleur into the world."
"We really are.", Imogen held Abby as tightly as she could. She may have had mixed feelings before but as soon as her labour had started having Abby with them had just felt right.
"Me too." Abby grinned. "By the way, what about school for me and Ava tomorrow? Well, later."
"I'll phone the schools." Constance smiled. "As long as you do your homework I don't think this one day will cause too much trouble do you?"
"Definitely not." Abby was thrilled at the prospect of three whole days with her newest sister.
"Night, love you."
"Love you too honey." Imogen was almost asleep but just had one more thing to say as she settled into her wife's hold. "We did it again Sweetheart."
"You did Darling and now our family is complete. Thank you."
"We did this together like everything else ….love you."
"I love you." Constance knew Imogen had already dropped off but she still whispered the words, meaning them for the five females that had taken up permanent residence in her heart.
Three hours later Abby woke up feeling like her tongue was stuck to her mouth. She often got thirsty at night but with all the excitement she had forgotten her glass of water. She carefully slid out of the bed and, not able to resist, tiptoed towards the Moses basket which to her surprise was empty. It was then she noticed that there was also a mother missing from the bed.
"Hey.", she whispered after closing the door. "Are you alright?"
Constance looked up from where she was lying on the couch, the sleeping baby resting on her chest covered by a blanket that she and Abby had made. "Oh yes, she was stirring and I couldn't resist the chance for us to get to know each other a little better."
"Did you get any sleep?"
"No, I think I was a bit too excited." Constance smiled. "It's silly but I didn't want to miss her first couple of hours. She'll grow so fast as we know from you girls, I just wanted to soak up these precious minutes."
"That's not silly Mama." Abby leaned down and kissed them both. "It all seems so surreal, twelve hours ago we were eating curry and joking around with no idea that things would change so quickly- in the best way ever of course."
"I know, I think we're all in a bit of shock but you're right, the good kind. Now, tell me why you're up, you can't have gotten much sleep?"
"I was thirsty but honestly, now that I'm up I'm not even tired. Would you like a cup of tea?"
Constance was dying for a cup but hadn't been able to bear to put the baby down to make one. Also, as magic had to be restricted around Fleur for a couple of days she hadn't even been able to make one that way. "Please dear. How many cups do you think you've made in the past few hours?"
"About a thousand, well at least it meant I was being helpful."
"No.", Constance shook her head. "You did a lot more than making tea to help. I know I was worried about you being in the room but Abby I was so glad you were and so proud of how calm and practical you were from the minute Mum's waters broke. You thought of everything, keeping her cool and hydrated, giving her lip balm, even having the music we wanted playing and you helped both of us more than I can say. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Abby smiled, settling down the cups before snuggling up to her Mama's side. "You know Ava guessed she'd have red hair. She pointed at a fairy in one of her books months ago and said 'That's what the baby will look like.'"
"Did she? Well she was right and it's absolutely beautiful hair, isn't it little one?" Constance gently stroked the thick strands while Fleur looked sleepily up at her.
"It sure is. Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Imogen stood at the doorway looking tired but by the look in her face, on cloud nine at the same time.
"Darling, you shouldn't be up."
"I'm fine, not about to run any marathons but in comparison to how I felt after giving birth to Zara I feel incredible and there is nowhere else I want to be." She had only taken a low dosage of pain relief potion the night before, if needed she would have taken more but whether it was down to the speed of Fleur's birth or just her own stamina, that need had never occurred. As a result she wasn't suffering any magical after effects, just the normal postpartum ones and the recovery potion Dr Ravenscroft had made from the placenta was already helping those.
As if she knew that this was the mother who could give her exactly what she needed, Fleur started to cry softly.
"Hello kitten. Are you hungry? Let's try this again okay?" Imogen took the baby into her arms and with the help of her wife settled back to feed her. It still hurt but as she had said a few hours previously that was to be expected and she was hopeful it would pass quickly.
"While you're giving Fleur her breakfast how about I make something for us?", Abby offered. "Eggs?"
"Eggs would be perfect honey, with plenty of toast, I need to keep my energy up, we all do."
Abby had just cracked the eggs when the door opened again.
"Ava, they're here." A wide awake Zara ran out followed by her slightly sleepier sister. "Morning."
"Morning Sweetpea." Imogen greeted the three year old who, to everyone's surprise, carefully climbed onto the couch rather than jumping as she usually did.
"Hiya Flur." Zara was struggling slightly with the baby's name but there was no doubt that she was mesmerised by her, as seen by how she was softly stroking her foot.
Ava stood watching them all for a second before bursting into tears.
"Oh, what's this?" Constance immediately lifted her into a hug.
"I thought I'd dreamed that Fleur was here but I didn't, she really is."
"So these are happy tears?" Constance, while relieved, guessed there was also some emotional transference as well as tiredness in the mix.
"Yes, I'm really happy, like you are."
"Come and sit next to us poppet." Imogen patted the cushion next to her. "Fleur is having her breakfast while Abby makes ours. While we're waiting, do you have any questions?"
Ava and Zara had seen Sarah breastfeeding the twins and their mothers had explained that Mummy would be doing the same thing for the baby so it wasn't too much of a surprise to them. They did have questions though.
"Will she eat Weetabix like us?", Zara wanted to know.
"Probably when she's a little older, for now she'll just have milk. What else?"
"Can we show her to more people today?" Ava was dying to show off her baby sister to as many people as possible.
"We can little one. Granny is going to tell Davina, Elizabeth, Fenella and Griselda the news before classes start and if we're ready they'll probably call to see her. In fact you and Zara can help us pick out some clothes for her to wear. Would you like that?"
The two girls nodded frantically.
"There's so many choices." Ava, a little fashionista, was already thinking through options.
"Well Noodle, the good news is babies go through clothes pretty quickly so you'll probably get to pick out a few outfits today.", Abby imparted her knowledge as she dished up the food. "Here we go, eggs, avocado, toast and tea for Mum and Mama. Pancakes, fruit and juice for me and you two crazies."
With Fleur finished feeding and back in her basket the rest of the family set down to eat breakfast, which for a starving Imogen also included Zara's left over pancakes and a banana which she was just finishing when her phone rang.
"I guessed she wouldn't believe you.", she laughed down the phone to her step mother. "We're up, we just need to get showered and dressed. Tell them come around eight, that way they'll get a few minutes with her before classes start. Okay, bye." She hung up and smiled at her family. "Better get ready."
A little over an hour later Constance was opening the door to their visitors.
"If I find out Amelia is pulling our legs, I'll….. I'll….." Davina stopped speaking as she spied the basket containing the brand new baby. "Oh."
"Congratulations." Elizabeth had never doubted Amelia and was immediately hugging them all.
Ava, who was standing guard next to the basket grinned at their visitors. "This is Fleur, she's very small. Can someone please show them her clothes, they're very nice and they can't see them properly."
It was Abby who lifted Fleur up so everyone could get a better look at her in her purple and white striped babygro and hat. "You've got another redhead in your corner.", she told Elizabeth as she passed the baby over.
"So I see. Hello lovely."
Both Elizabeth and a still shocked Davina held the baby for a few minutes before passing her to the other couple.
"Am I holding her properly?" Fenny had never held a baby who was just a few hours old and she was extremely nervous, as was Grissy who was sat next to her.
"Perfectly.", Imogen reassured them, smiling as Fleur gripped hold of Grissy's finger. "Look, she likes you both. I think that means she agrees with our decision to ask you to be her mentors."
"Us?", Grissy's face broke into a massive grin. "Really?"
"Of course. The two of you and Jamie." Constance told them. "Only if you want to of course but we'd love you to take this role in her life."
"We'd be honoured." Both young women were overjoyed to have been thought of for this responsibility.
Thrilled that their offer had been accepted, Constance and Imogen stood back and watched Fleur be the centre of everyone's attention, including Gaby who couldn't resist another cuddle before classes.
"I don't want to go.", Davina sighed as it came time to leave for assembly.
"You're not going to work?" Abby watched as her Mama also got up and grabbed some notes.
"No, I am officially on leave now until September, though I don't expect Granny will be taking over the principal's role today. What I am going to do is tell the pupils the news in assembly and let them know that we'll bring Fleur to see them on Monday. Then I'm going to pass some work over to Miss Blackwood here if she doesn't mind taking the fourth years class from today, somehow I don't think I'll be able to concentrate on transformations."
"Of course I don't mind." Grissy was more than happy to step in.
"Can I come?" Ava wanted to be there when her many friends heard their big news while her sisters decided to stay with Fleur.
"Of course little one. Let's go."
With that the six teachers and excited four year old left the room. Constance and Ava were back within thirty minutes where they found everyone asleep in various locations around the sitting room and bedrooms, something Ava was very keen to join in with and she quickly settled down next to Abby in her own bedroom.
For Imogen it wasn't a long nap as less than an hour later Fleur needed another feed, this one perfectly timed with her grandparent and uncle's visit. With them they brought Morgana who, just as she had with Ava and Zara, settled herself under Fleur's basket and began to purr softly. The other pet introductions would take place over the days ahead but Morgana had to be first, over the years she had been almost human like in how she looked out for Constance's children and her mistress knew she could be trusted around the newborn.
"We have other kitties as well.", Ava informed Fleur. "There's Pixie, she's Abby's, she's very funny. And Minnie, she's mine and Zara's but you can share her with us. And there's Boots and Iris, they live with Granny and Granddad and Shep and Wendy, well, they're doggies but they're all very cuddly."
As predicted it was time for another change of clothes for both Mummy and daughter before Jamie and Sarah arrived.
"Oooooh." Eleven month old Fionn and Cillan were fascinated by the smaller human in front of them.
"Imagine, one of them may have just met his future wife.", Jamie joked.
"Hmmm, I'd be fine with that.", Imogen retorted. "If it wasn't for her future father in law."
"Maybe one of them will marry an older woman, like Zee." Abby giggled at the thought. Zara loved the twins but found them incredibly annoying at the same time, something she was never good at hiding.
"Can we stop marrying our children off please." Constance sniffed although she was smiling. "Especially those who have only been on this earth for less than twenty four hours."
All joking aside Jamie and Sarah were completely in love with Fleur and kept bickering over who got to hold her. Jamie was also delighted to be her mentor as he was to Ava and Zara. Both Constance and Imogen wanted to make sure that there was another link between their four children, Jamie was the perfect choice and along with Tom and Stephen was a strong male influence for the girls.
There was another male who Abby was over the moon would be meeting her sister. "David's outside, he text to make sure it was okay for him to come up."
"Of course it is honey." David and Imogen's friendship was firmly back on track and she was delighted that he was so keen to meet the baby.
Five minutes later Abby was back with her father in tow.
"Thank you for inviting me. I won't stay long, I know you'll want some quiet."
"Things are never quiet around here.", Constance smiled wryly. "Thank you for coming." She looked to David's side where an impatient Zara was waiting.
"Uncle David, come see our baby."
Nobody knew where the "Uncle" had come from, it wasn't something that they really ever called Jamie or even Stephen who was actually their uncle but one day both Ava and Zara had started to refer to "Uncle David" and it thrilled him to bits.
"Your baby is very lovely Zara. And what a pretty outfit she's wearing."
"Thank you." Ava was all smiles as she accepted the compliment on behalf of her sister and herself.
The visitors, including Imogen's P.E replacement Georgia Wade, drifted in and out throughout the rest of the evening, bringing with them gifts for Fleur and her sisters as well as cards and plenty of food. Everyone was dying to hold the baby and hear the story of her quick arrival and Abby was delighted that she could contribute so much to the conversation.
"Mama cut the cord but I held her first.", she told Fenny and Grissy. "It was amazing."
"You must feel very close to her.", Grissy smiled.
"Yes, though I've always felt close to Ava and Zara as well. I suppose this time I'm older and can be part of her life in a different way."
"That's true honey." Imogen gave Abby another hug. "You're an expert big sister now."
"I was that anyway.", Abby teased. "Now I'm even more experienced."
"Experienced enough to change a nappy?", Constance asked from the changing table.
"Definitely." Abby made her way across the room ready to take over. She looked down to find her little helpers standing at either side of her. "Okay crazies, you won't need to do this but this is how you change a nappy."
"Ewwwww." Zara held her nose.
"You had plenty of stinky nappies too Zee.", Abby pointed out as she refastened Fleur's babygro.
Ava wasn't phased by the nappy changing but she did have a request once everyone else had gone and it was just mothers and daughters left. "Can we have a sister snuggle?"
"Of course poppet." Imogen pointed at the couch. "The four of you sit right there."
Abby held Fleur while Ava and Zara settled at her side. "So Fleur, this is your first meeting of the Drill sister club, We should tell you more about it. Number one, sister snuggles are always available. What else?"
"You can tell us your secrets and wishes.", Ava whispered as she reached for the baby's tiny hand.
"We tell stories and sing songs and dance. Oh, and Absy draws with us.", Zara added.
"And when you're older we'll have sleepovers and make forts and if Mama and Mummy let us we'll take you on adventures."
"I think that can be arranged." Constance winked at Abby.
"Cool. The main thing is we love you loads and we'll always be your sisters and your friends. You're a Drill girl Fleur and you know what? I think you're going to fit right in to our crazy life."
Fleur blinked twice before settling down to sleep again. She was clean, warm, full and surrounded by love. What more could a baby want?
And as for her mothers, of course Imogen snapped a few candid pictures of her children but soon put the camera down to savour the moment while curled up to her love. Constance was feeling rather emotional as she watched their youngest being inducted into what was apparently a very exclusive club. She cast her mind back a few months to a conversation shared with someone very special, someone who had told her a secret that was already being confirmed.
Fleur Amelia Drill was absolutely wonderful.
A/N And there we have the new arrival. Lots of fluff in these chapters I know but get ready for some drama in the story arc that's straight ahead.
Thank you for reading and to those of you who reviewed and messaged me about the last chapter, it really meant a lot.