bill weasley (primus) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-06-05 16:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !bingo, !challenge, !thread, character: bill weasley, character: fleur delacour |
who: bill, fleur, & victoire weasley (!)
where: shell cottage
when: a june evening, 2002
what: the family may be growing...
status: complete
bingo/challenge: a family member, the kitchen, canon-verse
It would have been easy for Bill to Apparate straight into the cottage from work, but it was a nice day out and he didn't mind a walk. So he apparated nearby enough to give him a nice walk home but not far enough away for him to seem late. Their home was situated beautifully, and it made for good walks no matter the time of day, especially when Victoire had some energy to get rid of in time for a nap, or the end of the night getting ready for bed. And that was exactly who came running out to meet him as he drew closer to the house, an adorable blur of purple dress and blonde hair flying across the grass. He bent down to be able to scoop her up in his arms, and in return got little arms flung around his neck in a hug. "Papa!" "Victoire!" Bill smacked a kiss against her cheek that made her giggle, and she buried her face in against his neck as he walked the rest of the way up to the house. "Have you had a good day?" "Yes! I picked flowers, and saw a butterfly." "Wow, that sounds like a great day, Vic," Bill said with a chuckle. "Is Mama inside?" "Yes." "Does she know you came out?" "....no. But I saw you!" "Okay, okay..." Bill let them into the house and started through it to find his wife, figuring she couldn't be far from the door Victoire had escaped out of. -- It was true, Fleur should have been keeping a closer eye on her only, no, elder child, but her mind was elsewhere. It was good, Fleur often thought, that their daughter had been by the sea her entire life and had been taught from day one that it was not a place to go near without her parents. This was helped, in Fleur’s opinion, by her own fear of the deep, and so perhaps she got a little too stern about the whole thing, but if, in the long run, it kept her baby safe, then where was the harm? Still, she felt a flush of guilt as her husband came in from outside, carrying Victoire. She’d been in the kitchen, the evening’s soup bubbling quietly behind her, staring into space with a hand resting over the stomach she’d worked so hard to get back into shape after Vic. That hand quickly fell away when the door opened and she pushed away from the counter to embrace her family. “Ah, she escaped again,” Fleur said lightly, hoping Bill wasn’t as annoyed with her as she was for her lapse in attention. -- "Yes, she's quite the rebel," Bill replied as he let his spare arm wrap around Fleur, pulling her into him and giving both his girls a hug before pressing a kiss against her cheek. "How was your day, ma cherie?" He would have put Victoire down, but she seemed quite content to snuggle in against him, her little fingers twisting into the back of his shirt collar, so he leaned back against the counter to better be able to see his wife as he spoke with her. "I heard there were flowers." "And a butterfly," Victoire reminded him firmly. "And a butterfly," Bill added with a nod, grinning softly. -- Fleur broke into an easy smile. She had never had any doubt whatsoever that Bill would be excellent with his children - he’d had quite a good role model in that regard - but it always made her heart flutter to see it when it happened. “Unfortunately, the butterfly got away,” she replied, choosing to ignore the question about her day for the moment, “but the flowers did not. They are all ready for dinner,” and she nodded toward where they rested in a very lovely vase at the center of the dining table. She turned back to the stove to check on the soup. “How was work?” -- Bill glanced over to the table to see the flowers they'd gotten before turning his attention back to the rest of his family there in the kitchen with him. "Those are some great flowers. And you picked them all by yourself?" "Mama helped." "Oh, that was nice of her to help you." Bill chuckled softly and offered Fleur a smile. "Work was fine. There was someone new so I spent a lot of the day doing their training. I'm definitely glad to be home." -- Fleur wished she had thought this through more, come up with something clever and memorable, but she’d only had an hour to let it sink in, and she just couldn’t keep quiet about it another minute. “Well, I am glad to have you home,” she said, letting herself relax into an easy, flirtatious manner. “We have, perhaps, a quarter of an hour until dinner?” She reached out to stroke her daughter’s pale hair. “Why don’t you go wash your hands so I can talk to your papa a moment?” Her eyes flicked up to Bill’s as she gave him a shadow of a wink. -- Victoire's arms tightened around his neck a moment before loosening and Bill leaned down until her feet touched the floor, setting her down and watching her scurry off to wash her hands. He straightened back up and reached out for Fleur's hand, pulling her in and giving her a much more real kiss now there wasn't a tiny toddler body between them. "Am I in trouble?" he asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow. -- Fleur loved how quickly Bill’s touch still made her melt. She molded herself to his body and let herself get lost in the kiss, arms wrapping around his shoulders and the fingers of her right hand twining in his hair. When he asked the question, Fleur laughed brightly. She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and covered her mouth with her hand until the giggles stopped. She took a deep breath and hitched on a very serious expression as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. “Yes,” she said with mock sternness, “because this is absolutely your fault. We only have you to blame.” She placed her hands lightly on his shoulders as she considered a moment before deciding to just get it out. She rose on her toes to press her lips to his ear and whisper, “I’m pregnant.” -- Bill smiled as he listened to one of his favorite sounds - his wife giggling. She had such a pleasant laugh, and when she giggled like that he knew it was because she couldn't help herself. He managed to press a kiss against her hair before she lifted her head off his shoulder, and his other eyebrow quirked up so they were both raised as she blamed him. But then her lips were against his ear and saying just two words but they were words that came as a complete shock. Pleasant shock, but still. "What? You are?" He leaned back to be able to look at her face, as though checking to see if she was joking - though why she would joke about something like that, he had no idea. His hands came up to frame her face, and he pressed quick kisses against her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, everywhere. "Oh my god... Fleur." Bill rest his forehead against hers, still trying to get his mind to wrap around it. And then he paused, a wry grin turning up the corners of his mouth. "My fault? It takes two to tango, my dear." -- “Totally your fault,” Fleur said with a laugh, “or at least that is what I will be sticking to throughout.” She knew she wasn’t the most pleasant when she was in the more uncomfortable parts of pregnancy. With Victoire, the middle bit had been marvelous, she’d felt the best she ever had in her life, which was a pleasant contrast to the beginning and end bits, which were among the worst she’d ever felt, and unfortunately for Bill, she’d been quite vocal about her discomforts. She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and hugged him, forehead resting against the joining of his neck and shoulder and she let out a happy sigh. “It’s sooner than I’d thought it would be,” she said, but was unable to finish her thought because she was interrupted by the soft pounding of running toddler feet returning from the bathroom. -- "Partially my fault," Bill murmured before kissing her again, then pulling her in close as she hugged him tighter. He would only accept fifty percent of the blame, that was it. That was fair, right? It was true, if nothing else. He gave a soft hum of agreement to what she'd started to say, because they certainly hadn't been trying per se. They'd discussed before about having more, but never a timeline. He could deal with fate having a hand in that. Bill gave another kiss against her temple before loosening his hold on her to crouch down as Victoire came running back into the kitchen. "Did you wash your hands?" "Yes!" "Both of them?" "Yes!" Victoire held her hands out as if to show him, and Bill took them both in his before leaning down and playfully nomming on one of them. "Papa!" "Tastes clean to me." -- Fleur laughed at the banter and stepped away from the counter, pausing to brush her fingers through Bill’s hair. Her intention was to begin setting the table, but there was something entrancing about watching Bill interact with their daughter. It wasn't any different than all the other silly little talks the pair had had during Victoire's lifetime, yet Fleur found herself completely distracted. She shook her head to clear the image of her husband playing with two small children, and opened the cabinets with a twitch of her wand, sending plates and cups and utensils soaring toward the table. As they settled at their places, she leaned back against the counter, arms folded loosely over her stomach. "Careful, papa," she said with a smile, "eat too many hands and you won't have room for dinner." -- Bill nommed on Victoire's other hand to check it before deeming it clean as well and he straightened up, his hand running over her hair to smooth it down as he watched the table set itself. "Oh don't worry, they're very little hands," he said with a grin, watching Victoire run over to the table to climb into her seat. "No way they could fill me up." Going over to Fleur, he rest his hands over her arms and leaned in to press a soft kiss against her lips. "Dinner smells amazing, by the way." -- “Well thank you,” Fleur replied politely, then lowered her voice, peering past Bill to where Victoire was settling herself nicely in her chair, hands folded. Fleur had been sure that her daughter knew proper table manners. It was less important at home when it was just the three of them, but with a family as big as the Weasleys, dinner gatherings were almost a weekly occurrence. “It was easy,” she admitted quietly, “it’s been a very… strange afternoon.” She gave a little shrug. “I certainly planned to make something more substantial, but I did not plan to make a surprise trip to the apothecary.” -- Bill was sure it was easy by Fleur's standards, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be delicious. She was an amazing cook, and even the simplest food tasted better when she made it rather than him. "I'm sure it was," he murmured, giving her one last kiss before pulling away to get them drinks for the table. He couldn't imagine how all the revelations came to pass that afternoon, but he was sure it had been stressful. "And yet still there are beautiful flowers for the table." -- “Yes, well,” Fleur said with a sly grin as she guided the soup to the table, “I had very little to do with the flowers.” Dinner was, as usual, a fun affair with Victoire telling all about her adventures during the day. The flowers, the butterfly, the trip to Diagon where she got an ice cream and got to see a woman with really big hair, nap time when she dreamed she had a horse. All the time throughout, Fleur kept physical contact with her husband, either through a hand on his arm or a light touch of ankle against ankle. When dinner was over and everything was cleared and cleaned, and the family had retired to the living room, Fleur settled herself comfortably on the sofa. Goodness, she was tired. -- Bill always loved dinner time. Not just because the food was always delicious, but it was always fun to hear his daughter go on and on about her day. No matter how mundane it had been, and that one had been far from it, her perspective was a unique one. He settled on the couch next to his wife after everything was cleaned up and they had time to relax, gently pulling her over to him so her legs were over his lap and his arms could settle easily around her waist. Bill nuzzled against her neck lightly before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Love you." -- Fleur liked the evenings. While it was true that she was perfectly content chasing her child around the property and accompanying her on her adventures, the quiet time together as a family was always a delight. She had a suspicion that, as her body went through this whole thing again, she wasn’t going to be quite up to chasing Victoire all over Cornwall. But that wasn’t tonight. Tonight Victoire was on the rug in front of the fire with her picture book, narrating the story she was making up to go along with the images on the pages. Fleur was only half listening as she curled herself against her husband. “Love you, too.” -- Bill let his hand run lightly along Fleur's back, just taking in the moment they had - Victoire being cute on the rug and then having a chance to themselves. The coming months wouldn't be easy, he knew that, but he also felt more prepared for it than the first time around. They hadn't been trying, but at least it was something they'd been through before and he knew what to expect. Then again, that was assuming it went similarly to the first go round. "What're you thinking about?" Bill asked in a murmur, resting his forehead against her temple. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" -- “Everything,” Fleur admitted in a low voice. It wasn’t as world shaking as the first time had been, when she had no idea what to expect or how their lives would change. Before she had met her firstborn and known that every tiny fear and every large one and every discomfort had been worth it. Though, she was surprised to find that she had just as strong a sense of wonder of what their next kid would be like. “I am… Disbelieving?” She said slowly, unsure if that was the best word. “But glad. You?” -- Bill gave a quiet hum when she said everything, because he knew that feeling. There was so much to think about when it came to having another child on the way, especially when they hadn't exactly been planning on it - not then. He let his hand rest on the small of her back, his thumb rubbing against the fabric of her shirt. "Same, I think," he said after a moment. "It's a bit to process. I'm happy about it, it's just not hit me fully. I think it won't until further along, if that makes sense." -- “It does,” Fleur said quietly, her eyes drifting closed at the feel of Bill’s finger on her back, such a small, soothing gesture. She could very easily fall asleep in his lap. Maybe it was the busy day or the shock or maybe even the hormones were kicking in - she had been exhausted for the entirety of the first portion of the last go - or maybe she was just comfortable. She could not fall asleep, however, because there was soon a sharp jab in her thigh and she looked down to see a very disgruntled little girl clutching her book. “Sorry,” Fleur said, shifting so she could see her daughter properly. “Tell me again?” -- Bill pressed a lingering kiss against her hair and took in the peaceful look on her face as she seemed to start drifting. She could fall asleep if she wanted, he had no problems taking her to bed after and making sure Victoire was settled for the night. Except he was too busy looking at his wife to see their daughter approach, book in hand, and her little voice didn't register until it was too late. "It's not nice to poke people with books," Bill reprimanded gently, but Victoire was more focused on what Fleur had said. "I said can you read me this one, Mama?" she repeated, holding up the book to show. "For bedtime." -- “I would love to,” Fleur said kindly. It took her a moment to untangle from Bill, and there was a brief point where she was kneeling over him, and she took the opportunity to lean in and kiss him, lingering a moment until a loud, exaggerated “YUCK” could be heard behind her. Fleur grinned and rose fully from the couch, reaching down to take her daughter’s hand. “All right, are you ready to go?” -- Bill would have gladly kept Fleur like that for much longer, many more kisses, but that sort of thing took a pass when there was a toddler making her thoughts known. He chuckled and managed a quick kiss to the corner of Fleur's mouth before she was up from the couch. "Oui!" Victoire said with a beaming smile, reaching her hand up to Fleur's and clinging to it as she clutched the book to her chest with her other arm. -- Fleur paused a moment to blow her husband a kiss with a wink, which was certainly a promise of more when she returned, but for now there was a sweet little lady who wanted her story. So, hand-in-hand, Fleur and her daughter climbed the stairs for bedtime. |