I absolutely loved writing this chapter! It's mostly fluff with just enough angst to keep it interesting! I can't wait to hear what you think!
Chapter Eighteen
Adair was frozen to her bones and she thought she might have to crawl down the long corridor to her flat.
Ahead of a long tour over Christmas and New Years, the English team was training harder than ever. Adair had been with her team for nearly six hours that day between a long strength and conditioning session and practicing new plays on the pitch in the sleet.
When she finally managed to trudge down the corridor, she had to double check that she was at the door to her flat.
There was a cacophony of noise coming from the inside when it was supposed to be quiet. It was a Friday night and Charlie was supposed to come over for dinner, but that didn't sound like what was happening behind the door.
She double checked the flat number and then went in, but what she saw made her even more positive that she was in the wrong flat.
"Adair!"
Before she could gather herself, Victoire Weasley had collided with her, but she wasn't the only child there.
Adair groaned at the impact, but wrapped her arms around the girl anyway. "It's good to see you, Victoire. What are you doing here?"
She looked over the little girl's head and caught a glimpse of the living room where she could see Charlie and at least three other kids.
"Mum had the baby so we all got dropped off here until the parents are done and we can visit."
"Oh I see," Adair laughed. "Well let's go see what's going on."
They walked, hand in hand, into the living room and Adair was able to account for all of the children.
There were Percy and Audrey's two girls, Lucy lying on a blanket kicking her feet far away from the melee. James was running around chasing Louis.
"Bloody hell, Adair!" Charlie exclaimed when he saw her standing behind the couch.
"Uncle Charlie!" Victoire exclaimed at the foul language.
"So sorry, Vic," Charlie said, clearly flustered. He shooed the little girl away and looked at Adair once more. "I'm so sorry for all of this," he sighed.
"It's okay. But what's going on?"
"Fleur had the baby today and when we were all talking about visiting, I mentioned I was going to be in London with you and I somehow got landed with all the kids so the adults could visit in peace."
Adair couldn't help but laugh.
"Everyone is leaving tonight except Victoire and Louis. I'm taking them back to Shell Cottage tomorrow and seeing the baby then."
"Oh. Okay," Adair said, a little overwhelmed at the prospect of a sleepover with children.
"Don't worry about it. Just pretend they're not even here. Go back in the bedroom. I can handle it."
"I'm not going to leave you," Adair said with a shake of her head. "Just give me five minutes to rinse off and I'll be right back."
Charlie gave her a grateful look before she disappeared.
When Adair saw her bed, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into it and not come out, but instead, realizing that she was very much needed in the other room, she stripped from her still damp practice clothes, ran a hot shower and stepped in. Her body ached. She already knew she would be so sore the following day, but she washed her body off quickly and stepped back out of the shower.
She hadn't even washed her sweaty hair and instead piled it on top of her head. She pulled on her comfiest sweats and then went back into the chaos.
Immediately, Victoire was glued back to her side chattering a million kilometers a minute. "I love your flat, Adair! It's so fancy! How was practice? When's your next match? Who do you play?"
Adair rested a hand on her platinum head. "Give me just a minute, okay? Uncle Charlie looks like he could use some help."
She crouched by the chair he was sitting in and put a hand on this thigh. "What can I do?"
"I need to fix something for them to eat," he said.
"Okay. You do that and I'll manage everything out here."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," she replied.
Charlie pressed a kiss to her cheek before he rose and headed into the kitchen.
Adair moved into the seat Charlie had vacated and watched the madness for a moment.
"Who wants to play a game?" Adair asked.
"Me!"
"Me!"
"I do!"
"Wonderful!" Adair smiled and quickly explained the rules of Simon Says.
Adair went through a few rounds before letting the kids take turns being Simon.
From the corner of the room, Lucy began to fuss. Adair stood and went over to her. She crouched down to look at the baby.
Adair's breath caught in her chest as she studied the baby. She hadn't been around an infant since before the disastrous World Cup incident.
"It's okay. You're alright," she murmured, resting a cautious hand on the baby's rounded little belly.
"I think she's hungry," Charlie said, coming up behind Adair. "I can take her back into the kitchen with me."
Adair paused before turning to look up at him. He held a bottle in his huge hand. "I can do it." She reached out and took the bottle.
Charlie didn't say anything, just studied her for a long moment and then returned to prepping dinner.
"We can do this," Adair said. "Yes we can." She put the bottle down and then gently scooped the baby into her arms. She grabbed the bottle and stood, going back to the chair.
As they got settled, she didn't pay much attention to the older kids, who were still occupied with their game. She stared down at the baby in her arms, taking a deep breath as she watched her suck hungrily at the bottle.
Hard as she tried, it was impossible to not think about what life might have been like if things had gone differently. Adair knew she hadn't been ready to have a baby a year and a half ago, but holding Lucy made her question it all.
There was something so soothing and comforting to the solid, warm weight of the baby in her arms.
Adair ran her fingers over the downy red hair and plump cheeks. The baby had closed her eyes and drifted off as she finished the bottle, so Adair carefully readjusted her to her shoulder.
Simon Says was losing its novelty so Adair did her best to entertain the older kids.
When Charlie emerged from setting the dining table, he had to pause just outside of the living room.
Adair held Lucy to her shoulder with one hand and with her other she was shooting huge bubbles from the tip of her wand for the older ones to chase and pop. She was smiling and laughing as they did.
He folded his arms across his chest and surveyed the scene with a sad smile. Maybe he should've fought harder instead of just taking all of the kids for those few hours. It was harder on him than he'd expected.
"Dinner's ready!" he finally called.
The older ones cheered and followed him into the dining room. Adair rose from the chair, still holding tight to sleeping Lucy. She pulled out chairs for James and Louis and got them settled with one hand before sitting next to them.
Charlie helped Molly and Victoire.
"How did you know cheese toasties are my favorite, Uncle Charlie?" Victoire asked, biting into the perfectly browned sandwich.
"I know everything," Charlie replied.
"Mmmm, I think Adair is smarter," Victoire replied, to which everyone giggled.
Adair raised an eyebrow in Charlie's direction.
"I think so too," he replied.
The two adults made sure everyone got plenty to eat and then Charlie cleaned faces and hands.
There was a knock at the door and Adair went to answer it.
"Adair! Thank you so much for letting us drop the kids here!" Audrey exclaimed, taking her daughter back into her own arms.
Adair felt suddenly empty, but she smiled at Audrey and Percy. "Of course. No trouble at all."
"You wouldn't imagine how much easier it was for us all to get to St. Mungo's."
Adair led them inside and Charlie gathered Molly and the girls' things.
The brother's shook hands and then they were down to three.
Not long after, Ginny and Harry showed up to fetch James.
"Was he good?" Harry asked, scooping his son up and onto his hip.
"The best," Adair replied with a smile.
Charlie joined them at the door and put a finger to his lips. "Louis and Victoire fell asleep in the living room."
"You two have the magic touch," Harry said.
Ginny looked at Adair and she smiled softly back at her friend, trying to let her know that she was fine.
"We were wondering what you two were doing for New Years," Ginny said. "We're thinking of having a little get together."
Charlie looked down at Adair.
"That sounds so fun, but I'm on a playing stint over the holidays."
"Oh no," Ginny sighed. "Well we'll miss you."
Adair planted a kiss on James' soft cheek before they left.
"Where are you going to be on New Years?" Charlie asked, after he shut the door quietly behind his sister and brother-in-law.
"Paris," she replied.
"Oh so you're going to be in the most romantic city in the world on New Years Eve and you didn't invite me to join you?" Charlie asked, only half joking.
"I figured you would have a lot going on with your family over the holidays," Adair replied.
"Well I'm certainly not going to be kissing any of them at the stroke of midnight." Charlie put his hand against the wall by Adair's head to stop her from walking away. "Can I come? I only have a week left of this term. I could come for the whole tour," he offered.
"Let's just start with Paris. You can't miss Christmas with your family."
"You're going to."
"I'm going to miss Christmas with my family?" Adair raised an eyebrow. "That's one of the perks of the job."
"So I'm assuming you won't come to my family's Christmas then," Charlie said, a little disappointed.
Adair merely shook her head. She still wasn't ready for that. She had seen all of his siblings at George's wedding, but she still wasn't prepared to face Mrs. Weasley.
"Uncle Charlie?" Victoire called from the living room.
Charlie stamped a kiss on Adair's forehead. "Alright," he whispered.
They both turned and went back to the living room where Victoire was peering over the back of the couch at them.
"Should I call you Aunt Adair?" she asked
"I don't think so," Adair replied, a little taken aback. "I'm just Adair."
Victoire nodded. "I think you have to be married to Uncle Charlie for that."
"Probably," Adair agreed with a laugh.
Charlie didn't say anything behind them. He scooped Louis into his arms and headed for the bedroom. "Let's go to bed."
Adair opened the door to one of her guest bedrooms and guided Victoire in. The little girl took her pajamas and her toothbrush into the attached bathroom as Adair pulled back the blankets on the bed so Charlie could tuck his nephew in.
Adair peeked her head in on Victoire to make sure all was well and then she helped her into bed next to her brother.
"Goodnight," Adair and Charlie said. They left the door cracked and headed for Adair's bedroom.
"Are you alright?" Charlie asked, as Adair went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
"Of course I am," she replied, glancing at him in the mirror.
"They wouldn't have asked us if they'd known everything," Charlie said. "Ginny asked me a million times if it was okay."
"It was fine. I had fun," she replied.
Charlie slipped his brawny arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "I'm sorry," he murmured against her soft skin.
Before she could ask him what he was sorry for, Victoire and Louis burst into her bedroom.
"It's too scary in there, Uncle Charlie!" Victoire exclaimed.
"Scary?"
"It's so quiet," she replied. "You can't hear anything."
Louis was already crawling into Adair's bed.
"We can all have a sleepover in here," she suggested.
"Were you scared too, Uncle Charlie? Is that why you're in here?"
"Very scared," Charlie agreed. He moved Louis into the middle of the bed and got in beside him.
Victoire got in by her brother and Adair followed her.
"This is cozy," she whispered as she flicked her wand and the lights went out.
Victoire giggled.
ooooOoooo
In the morning, Charlie woke before the rest of them. Louis was practically sideways with his head butted up against his sister's back and his feet in Charlie's side.
His heart about melted when he looked at Adair. Victoire was asleep soundly on her shoulder and their blond hair was flowing together over the pillows.
Adair had said it hadn't been hard on her the night before and Charlie didn't know if she was lying or not, but he knew that seeing her with his nieces and nephews was bittersweet for him.
He laid and watched the three of them sleep for nearly a half an hour before Victoire blinked awake.
"Good morning," he whispered.
"Good morning," she whispered back.
Charlie gently got out of bed. "Let's make breakfast for these sleepy heads," he whispered. He reached for her and pulled her out of the bed, careful not to disturb Louis or Adair.
He padded to the kitchen in his bare feet with Victoire clinging to his back.
"Do you like pancakes?" he asked, as he plopped her onto the kitchen counter.
"I love pancakes," she corrected him.
"Excellent!" Charlie said with a sleepy grin. With a wave of his wand flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk, and oil dumped into a mixing bowl. "Can you stir this?" He put the big bowl on his niece's tiny lap and dropped a whisk in it. Victoire went to work.
Charlie turned his back and began pulling out bacon and potatoes as well. He set a knife to grating the potatoes and heated the griddle for the bacon and pancakes.
Charlie turned around. "Oh my," he muttered.
Victoire was absolutely covered in pancake batter and giggling.
"I'll take that," Charlie said, taking the bowl. He waved his wand over his niece and she was clean once more.
Charlie got everything frying and then looked back to Victoire. "Go and wake Adair and Louis, please."
The little girl slipped from the counter and left the kitchen. "I like chocolate chips in mine, Uncle Charlie!" she called over her shoulder.
With a chuckle, Charlie turned back and flipped the first batch of pancakes.
A few minutes later, Adair came out trailing Victoire and Louis.
"It's almost ready," Charlie said as Adair got the kids settled in barstools before she joined him at the griddle.
"Good morning," he said quietly, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"I think you have to be married for that too," Victoire said behind them.
"Oh you do? What about this then?" Charlie grabbed Adair around the waist, dipping her low and kissing her hard on the mouth.
"Uncle Charlie!" Victoire exclaimed while her brother giggled next to her.
"It's a bit early for all that," Adair said with wide eyes when he righted her again. She poured herself a mug of coffee and sat down next to Victoire.
Charlie began serving plates and Adair cut pancakes into small bites for both Louis and Victoire.
"Was this the best breakfast option?" Adair asked, nibbling a slice of bacon as she watched Louis absolutely cover himself in maple syrup.
"It'll clean right up," Charlie promised, standing across from them and eating his own breakfast.
Adair caught him looking at her and he gave her a small smile.
"So are you excited to meet your new sister?" Charlie asked, as he was cleaning up dishes and children.
Victoire didn't answer. Instead she turned to Adair. "Are you going to take us home and see the baby too?"
"I wish I could, but I have practice in a little while," she responded.
"Can we go?" Victoire demanded.
"Don't you want to see the new baby and your parents?" Charlie asked.
"Uncle Charlie." Victoire rolled her eyes and Adair tried to stifle her laughter. "I live with them every day. When am I going to get to go to a Quidditch practice?" she asked as though it were the dumbest question she'd ever heard.
"Good point, but I'm not sure practices are open to watch," Charlie replied, looking at Adair uncertainly.
"I can let you into my suite," she replied.
Charlie sighed. "Fine then. I'm going to check with your dad, though."
"Maybe try to rephrase it from how Victoire stated it," Adair said with a quiet laugh as she went to fill her coffee back up. She then disappeared down the corridor to change and get ready.
"It's settled," Charlie said, when she came back out.
"We have strength and conditioning for about an hour and a half," Adair said. "So you'll want to bring them after that when we're on the pitch."
"Can you do my hair like that?" Victoire asked, gesturing to Adair's tight French braid.
"Come here," she said, taking a seat on the sofa and pulling the little girl so she was standing between her spandex clad legs.
Adair made quick work of Victoire's fine hair and then turned her to survey her work. "Perfect." She stood once more and gathered her water bottle, her coat, a ball cap, and sunglasses. "I'll see you all in a little bit?"
Victoire nodded in awe when she saw how cool Adair looked in her practice clothes and the getup she wore to hide from photographers.
ooooOoooo
Charlie had never been to a practice himself and he found it entirely bizarre to be in the stadium when it was empty. There weren't any other spectators on that cold morning. It was almost eerie.
"Oh. My. Gosh," Victoire said when he held the door to the suite open for her, Louis on his hip. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"
"It's pretty cool," Charlie agreed.
Victoire immediately dashed up to the glass window and pressed her hands and face to it. "Where are they?"
The pitch was empty, but before Charlie could answer, the players soared into the air and Victoire gasped.
"Perfect timing," he said, settling himself in a chair and moving Louis around to his lap. The toddler clapped his hands wildly.
Adair flew over to the suite and waved, though it was hard for her to see inside.
When she joined the rest of the team in the middle of the pitch, Oliver floated next to her. "Is Charlie here?"
She nodded. "And Victoire and Louis."
"Did you...babysit?"
Adair had to laugh at the look on her brother's face. "I know. Incredibly domestic of me."
Oliver bellowed a laugh. "I'd say so."
They went through their practice and Adair found herself really focusing on doing her best as she knew she had little eyes watching.
When it was over, she flew back to the suite window and pointed down, indicating that Charlie should bring the kids out onto the pitch.
She landed and met them when they came out. Victoire was staring all around her with her mouth wide open.
"This is so awesome!" she exclaimed.
Adair laughed and wiped the sweat from her face. Even though it was just about freezing, they had worked hard on and off the pitch. "Do you want to go for a ride, Victoire?" she asked.
"Are you serious?" the little girl asked, wide eyed.
"I don't joke about Quidditch," Adair replied.
Victoire nodded. Adair mounted her broom and helped Victoire on in front of her. "Alright, hang on tight and lean the same direction I do."
Victoire nodded again and Adair kicked off gently from the ground. With one hand she guided her broom and with the other she held Victoire tight against her body.
The little girl squealed in delight when they went up and around the goal posts, weaving through them before heading back down the pitch a few times.
Charlie watched as Louis continued to clap for his sister. The same pang struck his heart once more, though he tried to shake away the imaginings and longings he was feeling, watching Adair with his niece. With their braided blonde hair they looked fairly similar and it was all too easy to let his imagination carry him away.
"My parents are never going to believe I did that!" Victoire exploded once Adair helped her back off the broom. "That was way cooler than a baby!"
"I didn't even think of what her parents would think," Adair said quietly to Charlie above her head.
He merely shrugged. "If she's going to ride a broom, she's probably safest with you," he said.
Adair nodded.
"We'd better get going, Victoire," Charlie said. "Tell Adair goodbye."
"I don't want to go," Victoire complained.
"Tell you what," Adair said, crouching down so she was eye level. "When I get back from playing in other places, I'll let the whole Weasley family fill up that suite for a game. How does that sound?"
"Wicked!" Victoire exclaimed.
Adair hugged the little girl and squeezed her for an extra minute. "Be good okay? I'll see you soon," she promised. She stood and pinched Louis' chubby leg, bidding him goodbye as well.
"See you this week?" Charlie asked.
"Just you?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Yeah, just me."
There you go! I hope you loved it! I wasn't really sure where I was going to go with this chapter, but I really like how it turned out. Let me know what you think! I love feedback in all forms and absolutely adore when you guys send your own ideas or headcanons. They've influenced several chapters in this fic!
Happy reading,
Avonmora