Chapter 16
"She wasn't messing," Fred said as he and George opened the shop the next morning, "And now, I am stressing."
George stopped mid-step, "Woah!"
"What?" Fred asked irritably.
"That rhymed! You could be a poet Freddie boy!"
"No thanks."
"Mate, you'd be an amazing poet! Think of all the-" George stopped mid-sentence and looked up at his brother, "Right, sorry. So, who wasn't joking?"
"Kat!"
"Who?"
"Erm, my wife!"
"Oooohhhh," George paused, "What wasn't she joking about?"
"The fact she's pregnant!"
"Oh! Congratulations, mate!"
George moved forward to give Fred a hug but his twin pushed him away, a look of pure confusion on his face.
"Stop messing, George. This is serious."
"Messing? Mate, this is great! You're having a kid!"
"I've already got one, thank you very much. And that's difficult enough. Look, we've had this discussion before, it's bad news, right? George?"
"Sorry. You already have a kid?"
"Yes! You know Molly!"
"Since when do we call mum by her first name? And what does she have to do with this?"
"George!" Fred shouted, gradually becoming worried about his brother, "Are you alright? Did you hit your head or something?"
"What? No, I'm fine. Let's get this shop open, shall we?"
Fred nodded and followed his brother through the shop, flicking on lights and waving his wand at displays to activate them. He wasn't going to ignore George's weird behaviour but his twin was right- they needed to open the shop.
The two had a great morning in the shop. Business had quietened since term had started again so Fred and George didn't need any extra hands in the store to help. Fred spent most of his time in the back room, working on new products and producing stashes of the old ones while George worked in the front, entertaining customers.
At lunch, when the shop was at its quietest, Fred tidied away his ingredients and equipment to join George out front.
"So," Fred began as he took a bite out of his sandwich, care to explain how you completely forgot about the existence of my wife and daughter?"
George stared at his twin blankly. "Are you sure I'm the one who hit his head? Mate, we're too young!"
"What? George, you sent your oldest child off to Hogwarts less than a week ago and the other one will be going next year!"
George began laughing crazily, nearly choking on his lunch a few times, "You're kidding, right?"
Fred wasn't kidding. He ran a hand through his hair, stood up and pulled the blinds down on the shop windows before grabbing his brother's arm and disapparating.
"Mum!" he yelled in irritation upon arriving in the Burrow, "Mum! George has gone mad!"
"What?" George retorted, "You're the one saying you have a kid and a pregnant wife!"
"That's because I do!"
"Who has a pregnant wife?" Mrs Weasley demanded, rubbing her wet hand on her apron as she approached the twins.
"I do!" Fred yelled, "You know I do!"
"I do? Fred dear, are you sure? I don't even remember your wedding!"
"Of course you don't! You weren't there!"
"Oh of course! Silly me! George, stop winding your brother up! He's going through-"
"I'm not winding him up! He's saying that I have two kids and that one of them's at Hogwarts!"
"That's because you do and he is! You have a boy, Fred and a girl, Roxanne! George mate, you've gone crackers!"
"Oh." Mrs Weasley's face fell.
"What's wrong?" Fred asked.
"Roxanne!"
Their mum vanished from view, leaving George staring confusedly at his brother and Fred sighing in frustrated exasperation. Mrs Weasley returned a few moments later, leading Roxanne whose face was stained with dried tears.
"Roxy!" George cried, running towards his daughter.
"Now you remember her!" Fred grumbled.
George tactfully ignored his twin and wrapped Roxanne in a hug, "What happened, sweetie?"
"Grandma left me upstairs by myself and there was a strange noise in the attic!" Roxanne wailed.
Mrs Weasley looked down at her apron sheepishly, "I honestly forgot she was here," she muttered, "The house was so quiet, it felt like the days when you were all at Hogwarts. And I was home alone. I'm sorry, dear." She too wrapped Roxanne in an apologetic hug.
"What was the weird noise?" Roxy sniffled.
"It's only the poltergeist," George explained, "He's been up there since before even your Uncle Bill was born! He's completely harmless… unless you're trying to get to sleep; then he likes to play rock music with the pipes."
When Fred and George left a few moments later, Mrs Weasley's cheeks were still tinted red from embarrassment and Roxanne was looking suspiciously at her grandma.
"Something's weird about this," Fred muttered, "Why does everyone keep forgetting Kat?"
"Who?" George asked.
"You've got to be joking!"
George grinned and burst into laughter, "Of course I am! Now let's get back to that lovely shop of ours!"