A full moon always meant the need for the hospital to be fully staffed overnight. The Head Healer never missed the nightshift on a full moon, it was too important. So she arrived at the hospital at around 5PM as the staff on schedule for the day were looking forward to clocking off and heading home. It had been nice to have some time to herself throughout the afternoon until this evening. Ignan had finally returned to work this week which meant he wasn’t a constant shadow leaving an imprint in the worn-out cushion of his armchair. Miranda was, however, convinced that the still nameless cat had spent the day missing the warm legs to curl up on.

Usually, the Head Healer was only ever seen immaculately presented around the hospital, the clicking of a pair of stiletto heels announcing her arrival on various wards. On the evening of the full moon, she was dressed to get her hands dirty and her feet were clad in black trainers. To those that may not have known her by face, the only defining factor differentiating her from the rest of the staff were the emerald and golden robes over her shoulders.

Every day Miranda Storm would visit each floor. She would spend a couple of hours checking in on patients, debriefing with Healers in Charge and stepping in if necessary. When it was the evening of a full moon, she cut that time in half. Today, however, she felt it necessary to visit the third floor for a tête à tête with the Healer in Charge, Jules Deville.

After questioning one of the trainee healers on Deville’s whereabouts, Miranda instructed them to send her to Deville’s office. This is where Miranda now sat as she awaited her staff member. She wasn’t in the office’s inhabitant’s chair, that would be rude. She instead occupied the small armchair nearer the door.

After a couple of minutes, she was no longer alone in the small office. Her current eye level helped confirm the rumours and Miranda’s lips pressed together, unamused.

“When were you planning on informing me that I will need a replacement Healer in Charge?” The witch asked calmly, her usual cold tone giving her words extra bite.

For the past several days Jules had been in a state of sheer panic - but being Jules she refused to admit it. Most of her efforts were delegated to ignoring the rising panic. She was throwing herself into her work, despite the side effects of pregnancy that incessantly worked to remind her that yes, she was pregnant. Her hormones were on the fritz, bringing about emotional mood swings and hot flashes. Jules swallowed away a wave of nausea and stared at a chart, willing herself to refocus.

Her concentration was interrupted by a trainee - and before Jules could begin roaring, informed her that Head Healer Storm was here. Jules closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. She had a feeling that this visit was coming. After taking a moment to collect her thoughts Jules sighed and slammed the clipboard against the trainee’s chest.

“They’ll need another dose,” Jules said through clenched teeth. She headed towards her office, feeling something that felt a lot like panic. By the time Jules made it to her office she was panting; Jules still wore spiky heels despite the extra weight. She took a minute to catch her breath before straightening up and entering her office.

“When were you planning on informing me that I will need a replacement Healer in Charge?”

Jules felt something drop in her chest but she kept a straight face. “I wasn’t aware you needed one,” Jules replied. She wouldn’t say anything about the pregnancy, no matter how obvious it was, until Storm brought it up. She wasn’t about to confess to more than what Healer Storm already knew.

It was with mild irritation that Miranda realised that Healer Deville wasn’t going to make this easy. More fool her. A peeved Miranda Storm was not what staff wanted in the corridors.  Honesty was far better received than secrecy.

Yet, if that was the way that her staff member wished to play it, so be it.

Wasn’t aware she needed one… Storm’s dark gaze danced down from Deville’s face to the evident bump that had previously been a flat and uninteresting stomach. It was now that the stomach held mild interest to the boss that saw pregnancy as an inconvenience when having young female staff in important positions.

Now this wasn’t hypocrisy. Miranda had found her own pregnancy a major inconvenience when she’d been carrying her daughter. Babies got in the way of career progression. Miranda hadn’t let that happen with Maya. Whether Jules Deville would let that happen, it would remain to be seen at present.

“Really?” The younger witch could be given the chance to be honest.

“Really?”

In her head Jules was having a debate about whether or not she should just give in and say she was pregnant. It was really a bit foolish to act like she wasn’t when she so clearly was. She would rather be seen as pregnant rather than fat anyway.

With a sigh she made her way to her desk chair, dropped into it and turned to face her boss. “Really.” She said finally. She leveled her eyes so she was looking into Miranda’s, so she could assure the woman that this pregnancy wouldn’t interfere with her work. It hadn’t so far.

“I’m due in October,” Jules confessed. She placed her hand protectively on her belly, a gesture she’d been catching herself doing a lot lately. “Plenty of time for me to train my staff to operate independently for the short time I’ll be on maternity leave.” Jules didn’t know if she had to take the few weeks that were given to new mothers- but if she could do without it, she absolutely would. She didn’t plan on having this baby intrude on her professional life.

“October?” The Head Healer’s eyes were wide, disbelieving. Her eyebrows were raised as her eyes once more danced down to where the witch’s belly was. The desk was in the way but Miranda had gotten a good enough look before her charge had sat down.

“We don’t do staff operating independently unless it’s a surprise absence,” such as hers earlier in the month. Then staff had no choice but to operate without a definitive superior. “We work in a career where our decisions are life and death. It is imperative that my Healers in Charge are level headed and fully competent. So, unless you can defy all nature by insisting that your hormones or your lack of sleep when you have your baby, a lot sooner than October, by the looks of it, will not affect your ability to think clearly and act quickly, we need to discuss a temporary replacement.”

It should have been a more awkward conversation. Or at least, for Miranda it should have been. Yet she was calm, business-like, matter of fact. Jules Deville getting herself pregnant, with no father that the Head Healer was aware of to take the strain, was a very large inconvenience.

It took effort not to roll her eyes at Miranda’s lecture. To be honest, Jules hadn’t given much thought to what would happen once the baby was born. How long could recovery be, really? Jules understood how the human body worked. It generally bounced back pretty quickly, if you took the right precautions. Jules’ affinity for flaunting her hourglass figure would motivate her to get back in shape. Besides, she’d be doing plenty of weight-lifting with a baby around, wouldn’t she? She didn’t realize how much weight pregnancy added, and how quickly; there were stretch marks on the sides of her stomach and hips already.

Miranda seemed not to believe that Jules was due in October, which confirmed her suspicion that she was gaining too much weight. She would have to cut back on all the exploding bon-bons, which until recently she had found supremely disgusting.

“I’m only three months pregnant,” Jules huffed. She crossed her arms as well as her legs, slightly swiveling the chair as her heel stood firmly on the ground. Keeping her limbs crossed was becoming increasingly difficult as well, so Jules needed to work on a new power stance. This was a tricky situation: her job was in question and it had been her own doing, so she couldn’t have her usual attitude. She flexed the muscles in her jaw and then leaned forward to put her arms on her desk.

“Well what is protocol, then?” She said it tightly, practically through clenched teeth. Jules hated it when people doubted her capabilities. Jules could do anything she set her mind to, and she had proven that time and time again throughout the years.

“I’m only three months pregnant,”
Miranda couldn’t quite believe she was talking to one of her healers (a healer in charge, no less) about just how pregnancy worked. If Deville thought she was only three months pregnant with one child, she was certainly an idiot. But would Miranda be the one to tell her? Was it the boss’s responsibility to discuss a matter so obviously personal as someone’s baby?

“Protocol?” The head healer echoed, frowning. “Protocol would have been to report the pregnancy to me with ample time to allow for staffing issues. You have a responsibility to this hospital,” that was too harsh, but Miranda hardly cared. “I am not willing to be held accountable if you have an accident and a problem with this pregnancy had you not have informed me. Allowances need to be put in place.”

Then her eyes dropped down to the top of the desk where the healer’s stomach could only just be seen.
“You will also need to either admit you’re due far earlier or there are multiple foetuses.”

Jules had not known many pregnant women. She made a habit of avoiding children, so the friends Jules kept usually felt the same way. So there had been no warnings or comments about her size, besides the occasional “slow down on those bon bons…” to which smacks were dealt.

Protocol would have been to report the pregnancy to me with ample time to allow for staffing issues. You have a responsibility to this hospital. I am not willing to be held accountable if you have an accident and a problem with this pregnancy had you not have informed me. Allowances need to be put in place.”

The most socially acceptable thing that Jules could do was squint her eyes, just enough to fall somewhere between ogling and glaring. Jules did not respond well to criticism of her lifestyle. As far as she was concerned, she was in charge of her own life and St Mungo’s was lucky to have her around. They should be thankful that she showed up at all - that she would lend her expertise and knowledge and in return be all but worshipped.

Laying her hand on her stomach, Jules said, “I am barely three months pregnant.” Since she couldn’t pinpoint an exact date of conception, the baby could very well be less than that. Miranda was fixated on this, and Jules was starting to find it a little insulting. This had to be something she could go to HR with.

“You will also need to either admit you’re due far earlier or there are multiple foetuses.”

It took a lot for Jules to keep her face from reacting from the possible explanation that Miranda had for her apparently too-bigness. This was a situation that Jules had not ever considered. It was as if the concept of twins and triplets were completely gone from her head.

“Well Miranda,” Jules started slowly. “I’m not lying to you.”

“Well, Healer Deville, you will need to use some logic then.” Bored now of the conversation and having said her peace, Miranda pushed herself up from the chair. She had far more pressing matters to attend to than an obvious healer in charge who couldn’t face up to the fact that she was either extremely fat or extremely pregnant. She would leave her to figure it out herself.

Pregnancy bothered Storm, herself. She’d felt very much like it was the one real time she’d lost control of her own body. Things had become bigger and slower while her own daughter had grown inside her. Her own daughter that her husband had wanted far more than herself. It had forced her to take time away from her career and unfortunately, she’d not exactly kept those feelings clear of Maya. She knew about her mother begrudgingly bringing her up after Jonathon’s death. Miranda had never been a natural mother. But a doting grandmother? She’d definitely been that until their argument after Ignan’s hospitalisation.

“You’ll be off a lot sooner than you anticipate. I expect you to be checked out to see exactly when, and submit your dates of leave to me formally.” A hand went on the door handle to the small office.

“And it is Head Healer Storm. I’m your boss, not your friend.”

It had been a long time since Jules felt like a child, and ironically, it took her pregnancy to bring her back to that feeling. Getting chastised by her parents (or nannies, or professors) had stopped years ago. Miranda's suggestion that she was too fat really stung - Jules thought of her childhood. Her mother had provided Jules with relentless criticism about her appearance, particularly her weight, and the effects of that had been damaging to Jules' psyche for a long time. However she hadn't spoken with her parents in at least a decade. She had gone on to live life without any criticism besides her own, really.

“You’ll be off a lot sooner than you anticipate. I expect you to be checked out to see exactly when, and submit your dates of leave to me formally... And it is Head Healer Storm. I’m your boss, not your friend.”

Jules felt the sting of tears behind her eyes, a reaction she blamed on hormones. Miranda had apparently forgotten the work Jules had done during the poison tragedy in Miranda's absence. Jules would never admit it, but she still thought of the children who she hadn't been able to save. She said nothing as Miranda exited the office, but once she was out of sight, Jules headed off in the direction of her own Healer (and friend).

End