I'm back to regularly posting! I can't promise how long it will last, but I'm here for now. This update is a little shorter than usual, but I had to cut it off or it would've been too long. I hope you enjoy it!
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Chapter Twenty-Six
"I'm coming with you," Charlie said, pulling his trainers on as Adair lifted her gym bag to her shoulder.
"Not this again, Charlie," she sighed. "I can't even workout with you in the gym. You hover."
"I hover because you're doing too much," he replied, looking up at her from where he sat on the ottoman in their sitting room tying his laces.
"Not according to Katie," Adair retorted. "She said, and I quote, 'You can do whatever you were doing before you got pregnant.'" She raised an eyebrow to see what Charlie had to say to that.
"Be that as it may, most of the normal expecting patients aren't professional Quidditch players before they get pregnant."
"I don't care about them. I care about staying in shape so I can attempt to play again in a matter of months."
Charlie stood and joined Adair at the door. "You could take another-"
Adair raised a hand and cut him off. "I am not taking another season off. I've already decided. I'll be going back in October."
Charlie sighed. "You'll have plenty of time to get back in shape after the baby is here," he said. "I don't know why you have to train like this now."
"I can't take the time away from the gym. I don't want to be starting completely over. We've gone over this. I haven't hurt myself and my Healer isn't concerned." Adair reached up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. "And it will help prepare me for the delivery."
Charlie cupped her swollen stomach and shook his head. "Your Healer is your sister-in-law who is likely quite afraid to tell you no."
Adair laughed. "Give Katie more credit than that."
"We'll see," he shrugged before opening the door and taking Adair's hand.
Adair had been given a schedule for when the team would be practicing and training and she had made it a habit to workout when the gym was empty, which was typically in the evenings. She didn't want to be around her teammates when they were discussing the season.
After grappling with her relationship to Quidditch in light of the interactions she'd had with her mother and Charlie early in their relationship, she was surprised by how much she missed the sport and her livelihood. However, she found comfort in the realization that she had actually loved what she did. She had just needed to take a step back to see it.
Once at the gym, Adair had loaded a barbell for deadlifts. To Charlie it looked impossibly heavy and he was too worried to pick up a set of dumbbells. He watched as she adjusted her grip; one hand on the bar facing towards her and the other rotated externally.
When she lifted, Charlie audibly sucked his teeth in worry.
Adair dropped the bar, letting it bounce at her feet before turning to her boyfriend. "You'd better turn around," she warned him. "I told you not to come if you were going to be like this."
"I can't help it!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
"Do something with yourself or get out," Adair said menacingly.
When Charlie eventually turned back to the rack of dumbbells, Adair did the same and continued on with her deadlifting. When she was through with a few other weightlifting moves, she got on a treadmill and jogged a few kilometers.
The baby she carried had already started to make her uncomfortable, but her workouts were helping. She, at the very least, felt in control of her body most days. While she struggled more often than not with how she looked, she was pleased that she could still workout and had managed to keep most of her pregnancy-related weight gain to her belly.
Finally, she understood how important food was. Katie had stressed it to her over and over again that she was really eating for the baby's health. Her relationship with food had become easier when she realized that she was taking care of someone else.
"Let's go," she said irritably to Charlie, who had been pretending to stretch on the floor even though she knew he had just been watching her.
"You can't be mean to me for worrying about you," Charlie said as they walked out of the training complex.
"Yes I can. I can be mean to you for whatever I want," Adair replied.
"What if I'm worried about the baby?"
"The baby is fine. And I am doing a fine job at keeping it safe. You're so insulting," she snapped.
They continued to bicker until they reached their door. Adair reached out and the door swung open when it recognized her touch.
When they stepped over the threshold, they both noticed a thick envelope on the welcome mat.
"Bloody hell, I'll get it!" Charlie exclaimed as Adair squatted down to pick it up.
Adair rolled her eyes. "I just did that same thing with sixty kilograms on my back, Charlie." She didn't say anything else as she looked at what she held. The return address was Seamus' flat, but there weren't any names above it.
The envelope was addressed to "Ms. Adair Wood and Mr. Charles Weasley."
Adair opened it and read:
"Parvati Parina Patil
and
Seamus Brien Finnegan
Request the honor of your presence at their marriage
On Saturday, the 14th of June
At four o'clock in the afternoon
Reception to follow"
She knew Charlie was reading over her shoulder so she made herself move into the kitchen where she tossed the invitation onto the counter and filled a glass of water.
Charlie followed slowly, watching her closely. "Odd that he would invite you after everything," he finally said.
"We were friends for a long time," Adair replied evenly.
"Friends," Charlie scoffed. "Friends who've fucked each other since they were teenagers," he muttered.
Adair's eyes went wide. "What?"
"You heard me. I certainly don't have any friends like that," Charlie said.
"That's not present tense," Adair said.
"Excuse me?"
"It's not present tense. We aren't friends who are currently fucking. You said 'friends who have fucked each other since…' It's over. We don't anymore."
"There was some overlap with him and I though, wasn't there?"
Adair rolled her eyes. "This is insane, Charlie."
"I'm going to take a shower," Charlie muttered, storming off down the corridor toward their bedroom and the en suite. The bedroom door slammed behind him and Adair jumped.
She leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed, picking up the wedding invitation once more.
When she heard the shower turn off a quarter of an hour later, she made her way to their bedroom.
Charlie didn't see where she lingered in the bathroom doorway until after he'd wrapped the towel around his waist and wiped the steam from the mirror. He glanced at her before looking away and unscrewing the jar of Adair's moisturizer that he tended to use.
"What's going on, Charlie?" Adair asked quietly.
"What? I can't be pissed?" He returned, still not looking at her.
"I mean, I suppose you can, but what are you pissed about? The last time I even had a one-on-one conversation with Seamus was three years ago at Oliver's wedding."
Charlie sighed but didn't respond. "Why would he invite you? Why is he thinking about you?"
"Outside of the physical, Charlie, Seamus and I were only friends," Adair said, pressing into her stomach where the baby had kicked. "But he was a good friend to me, especially when I was younger."
She studied Charlie for a minute in silence. "You know that I didn't get to have much of a social life while I was in school and that I was a total wreck when I started playing in Europe professionally, but Seamus always tried to get me to have fun."
Charlie scoffed.
"Not like that," Adair said. "Or not only like that."
Charlie remained silent.
"I'm not that girl anymore," Adair said, stepping up behind him and slipping her hand in his. "I live with you. I'm having your baby." She moved his hand so it rested on their child. "I'm building this life with you." She looked up at him, but he still wasn't looking at her. With her other hand she took his chin and turned him to face her. "I couldn't be more yours. I am, quite literally, carrying a part of you within me. We are locked in this for a long time."
Charlie pulled his hand away. "Well isn't that unfortunate for you." He moved past her to get dressed.
Adair stood frozen where she was until Charlie had made his way back to the sitting room. Only then did she take off her own workout clothes and step into the shower.
Jealousy was completely unlike Charlie. Since they had reconciled, he had not once acted in such a way despite Adair constantly still being photographed with her male teammates and even opponents in a few instances. Charlie knew that those were friendly encounters that the reporters liked to speculate upon. It sold tabloids and newspapers.
But this thing with Seamus was different. Charlie wasn't wrong. She had made a huge mistake early in their relationship, but that had been almost five years ago. There had never been anything else between them. Seamus had made sure of that at Oliver's wedding.
Looking back, Adair understood that she had used him badly. He had been a distraction when her life was overwhelming and chaotic. He had wanted more from her, but she had been blind to that.
When she was through showering, Adair pulled on her pajamas. She had refused most maternity clothes as she found them wildly unflattering and so instead of buying some hideous nightgown, she had taken to sleeping in a worn out t-shirt of Charlies and a pair of his boxers.
Instead of going to find Charlie, she went to bed despite the sun still being out. There wasn't anything else she could say to him. She only hoped that he would come around and see that she was genuinely happy with him and their life.
Adair woke after the sun had set; the bedroom was pitch black. She felt Charlie's arm snake around her until his hand was pressed to her stomach. He snuffled into her mess of her clean hair until she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. Adair covered his hand with hers, but she didn't say anything. "I'm a complete bloody idiot."
"Maybe I'm not doing enough to show you that I want to be here with you, living this life. Is it the workouts? Because I'm ready to go back to playing?" Adair asked.
"Of course not. I always knew you'd go back. Trying to stop you would have been like getting in the way of a freight train. I have no interest in holding you back from what you love." Charlie sighed. "I know you love me. I'm not sure what got into me."
The baby delivered a sharp kick right to where Charlie's huge hand was that had Adair inhaling sharply.
"Even our child thinks I'm a prat."
Adair smiled and shook her head.
"I shouldn't have reacted like that. I know where your heart is and I'm grateful it's with me. If you want to support someone that was kind and good to you when you needed it most, I'm not going to stand in your way. I'll be right by your side."
"Thank you," Adair replied quietly.
ooooOoooo
A month later, Charlie and Adair were taking their seats in a lovely botanical garden just outside of London.
"I'm glad you came," Ginny said, reaching over and resting her hand on her friend's hugely distended stomach, all the more pronounced in a black wrap dress that tied just under the bust. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm looking forward to labor," Adair joked. "No, I'm okay. More and more tired, but other than that not too bad."
Music started playing and Seamus, Dean, and Neville made their way to the altar from a side path. The groomsmen were wearing black dress robes, while Seamus wore a beautiful emerald green tux jacket with black pants.
"I have to tell you something later," Ginny whispered as the music changed and Padma walked down the aisle.
When she reached the altar, she laid a bouquet of lavender flowers on a chair where a second bridesmaid would have stood.
Instinctively, Adair took Ginny's hand, remembering back to that awful day more than a decade earlier and the bodies that had been lined up in the Great Hall.
Charlie's hand slipped under the curtain of Adair's long hair and rested on the back of her neck, his thumb rubbing up and down the soft column of her throat. While still holding her best friend's hand, she laid her head on Charlie's shoulder.
They were snapped out of their melancholy when, once more, the music changed. Everyone stood, Adair with some assistance from Charlie, and faced the aisle.
Parvati looked resplendent in an ivory lehenga and she was absolutely beaming down the aisle at Seamus.
"You may be seated," the officiant said.
Charlie braced Adair's lower back and let her grasp his other hand as she lowered herself back into her seat with a puff of breath.
The ceremony was short and sweet and then everyone was moving to a tent in another part of the garden. Illusory charms had been cast so that Muggle passerby wouldn't see floating trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres and men in dress robes.
Harry, Ginny, Charlie, and Adair found their table where Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Dean and Alicia Spinnet were sitting.
Charlie snagged a glass of champagne before once more helping Adair to take a seat.
"Look how nice your brother is, Ronald," Hermione grumbled, rubbing her equally swollen stomach. "Apparently, the novelty dies off after your first child," she said to Adair, rolling her eyes.
"That is fine with me, as I'm done after this one," Adair replied.
"Let's not tell them that I got out of bed and made you a toastie in the middle of the night last night," Ron returned. "And then rocked Rose back to sleep when she woke up."
"It doesn't look like Adair's had a toastie her whole pregnancy," Hermione muttered.
"Well we have news!" Ginny exclaimed before Ron and Hermione could really get into it, dragging others along with them.
Everyone looked at Harry and Ginny expectantly.
"We're having another baby!"
Charlie choked on his champagne. "Do you not know what causes that?"
Everyone around the table laughed and offered their congratulations.
"We're done after this, I swear," Ginny laughed. "We're not going for the Weasley record."
Everyone around their ten top chatted and caught up throughout dinner and then they listened to the speeches and watched the first dances.
"You didn't eat anything," Charlie leaned over and whispered as Adair shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Hermione's earlier comment had rattled him.
"There's no room," Adair replied quietly. "Don't worry, it's nothing insidious. I do need to get up though," she said as the dance floor was opened and many people stood from their seats.
"Does your back hurt from doing that over and over again?" Ginny asked, laughing as Charlie hauled Adair to her feet once more.
"You're worried about his back?" Adair replied. "I can't wait to be able to do that on my own," she said to Charlie as they walked away from the table.
He merely smiled down at her. "Do you want to dance?"
"Absolutely not," Adair said quickly. "I just want to walk around."
They moseyed slowly around the dance floor, Adair leaning heavily on Charlie's arm. Eventually they stopped in a corner of the tent. Adair turned and pressed her face against his solid chest while he kneaded her lower back firmly with both hands. She kept her face hidden, not wanting to see all of the people who would be gaping at her. Throughout her pregnancy, she had tried to remain as invisible as possible, foiling reporters and fans alike.
"I'm really not doing this again," Adair muttered.
Charlie laughed. "I've known that since the second you told me you were pregnant, Adair."
They were silent once more. After a few minutes, Adair felt Charlie stiffen and she looked up to see Seamus coming towards them. She did her best to straighten, but her back was killing her.
"Hey Adair," he said warmly, before looking at Charlie. "Charlie."
"Seamus." Charlie nodded. "I'm going to get a drink. Anyone want anything?"
"Yes obviously, but I've been told it's not allowed."
The men chuckled.
"I wouldn't turn down a Firewhiskey," Seamus replied.
Charlie nodded once more and headed for the bar.
"You look great," Adair said, when her boyfriend had walked away.
"I wish I could say the same about you," Seamus joked.
Adair rolled her eyes.
"I'm kidding. You look as stunning as ever."
"I'll pretend you're not lying through your teeth." Adair and Seamus stood shoulder to shoulder looking at the dance floor. "Your bride is absolutely gorgeous," Adair said, watching Parvati dance with her sister, their bangles jangling around their wrists.
"I'm a lucky man," Seamus agreed.
"I can't believe you're a husband."
"I always hoped that you'd get your head out of your arse and give me a chance. Years ago I thought it might be you on that dance floor."
"Well I'm glad you got over that," Adair said with a small smile. "Truly. I was awful to you, Seamus."
He shook his head. "Nah. You were just young."
"You were always so kind to me. I was selfish and stupid and not in a place to give you what you wanted from me. So I apologize and I am so glad to see you so happy."
"Likewise." He gave her a wink.
Charlie walked back over and handed Seamus a glass of smoking, amber liquid.
"I'm glad you both came," Seamus said before heading onto the dance floor to join Parvati.
ooooOoooo
"What are you doing?" Adair asked, coming into the nursery a week after the Finnegan wedding. She had gone to see Katie at their apartment while Oliver was at practice and afterwards had gone to the gym when she knew the team would be gone.
Charlie was standing, staring at the wall behind the crib. There were open parenting books scattered all over the room.
A month earlier they had put the nursery together. The crib, changing table, dresser, and mounted wall shelves were all in place as well as a rocking chair and a mountain of stuffed animals in the corner of the room.
"I can't decide which color this room should be!" Charlie said, exasperatedly. He had clearly been running his fingers through his hair as the long strands were all over the place.
"What's wrong with this color?" Adair asked, standing next to him and looking at the sage green wall.
"I don't know! Green seems to be the best, but it's also the color of pus and infection. I tried a few blues, but I think those aren't lively enough and could be depressing. Yellow is too much energy and the baby would probably never sleep! It's too big of a decision!"
"Well," Adair said, trying not to laugh. "I think this green is a great color. It's earthy and grounding and reminds me of spring. Besides, you don't really think our baby is going to know what color pus is, do you?"
"This isn't funny," Charlie muttered and Adair could tell that he truly was distraught.
"Hey," Adair said, stepping in front of him and taking his face in her hands. "What's going on? This isn't about the wall color."
"I don't know what the fuck I'm doing!" Charlie exclaimed.
"Charlie, no one does, but I know one thing. You are going to be the absolute best dad and our child will be so lucky to have you."
"What if I fuck this whole thing up?"
"Well you just can't do that because that's my job," Adair said with a small smile.
Charlie begrudgingly smiled as well.
"Do you want to know the good news?"
Charlie nodded.
"Katie said I've made it far enough and this baby can come at any time."
"That's actually terrifying news," Charlie replied.
"But do you know the best way to hurry a baby along?" Adair asked. She bunched her hands in the front of his t-shirt and pulled him down so she could kiss him long and hard.
"This is very conflicting, you know?" Charlie laughed against her lips. "I want to keep that baby safe and inside of you forever, but I have also never been able to resist you."
Adair laughed and pulled him out of the nursery and toward their bedroom.
They hadn't made it a few steps down the corridor when there was a knock at the door.
"Who the bloody hell is that?" Charlie demanded.
Adair shrugged. "I'm not expecting anyone."
Charlie sighed and went to the door.
"Mum!" Adair heard Charlie before she saw Mrs. Weasley.
"Look at you, Adair! Absolutely glowing!"
"I don't know about that," she replied.
They hadn't seen Mrs. Weasley alone or had any sort of intimate conversation since they had announced the pregnancy at Charlie's birthday. There had been the usual Weasley family gatherings, but they had all stayed away from one another.
"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked. "And why didn't you Floo first?"
Mrs. Weasley ignored the second part of his question and headed straight for Adair. Before Adair could say anything, the older woman's hands were all over her belly. "I wanted to check on you of course. I figured any day now we'd be getting the word to visit at St. Mungo's."
Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, we're not going to St. Mungo's."
"Not going to St. Mungo's? What do you mean? What do you plan to do? Have the baby here?"
Charlie and Adair were both quiet.
"You can't be serious," Mrs. Weasley said, taking a step back. "That seems highly dangerous."
"We'll have a Healer here. It's not like I'm going to deliver the baby," Charlie said.
"If you're going to have a Healer, why not just go to the hospital? What if something major goes wrong?"
"It's not a safe space for Adair," Charlie said. "There's no privacy. There's a chance for stories and photos to be sold. We don't want the world looking at our baby until we decide it's time. The whole setup is completely out of our control."
"Both of Harry and Ginny's children were born there."
Charlie shrugged. "That's their business, but it's not how we intend to handle ours."
"So we'll all come here, then? Assuming everything goes well?"
"When we're ready for visitors, yes," Charlie replied. His tone suggested that it might not be as soon as his siblings always invited the rest of the family to see their newborns.
Mrs. Weasley shot a look at Adair. "You two just have to do everything so differently, don't you?" she huffed and headed back toward the door. "Oh I made you this. I knit a receiving blanket for all of the grandchildren. It's green since we don't know the gender. I don't suppose you'll use it, but I'll leave it anyway."
And with that, Mrs. Weasley departed the flat and left Charlie and Adair standing, staring at the closed door.
There you go! I hope you loved it! I can't wait to hear what you think! Also what is the gender of this baby? The next update is going to be pretty exciting!
Happy reading,
Avonmora