September 8th

Things finally seemed to be going well with Quincy. They’d been seeing each other since the night of the divorce and Eddie was making the most of it. This was why tonight he had something special planned. He’d sent her an owl at lunchtime to tell her to meet him in a certain clearing in the woods by their house. Yes, it was still his house as well. He’d refused to give that up in the divorce.

This wood had always been a place they’d escaped to, to spend some much needed time together. Having three young kids had always left the couple yearning for a little time alone and fortunately because of their parents, they had been able to send the kids off elsewhere.

By seven o’clock the sun was beginning to set, it was getting darker now in September. Eddie was sat on a blanket he’d laid out on the grass. In front of him was a large hamper full of food he’d brought and prepared (hopefully it was edible) and a few bottles (water and wine). Surrounding the picnic blanket was a circle of candles, suspended in the air, floating up and down eerily and casting a romantic light over the scene.

Feeling a little tense now, Eddie spread his legs out on the blanket, glancing to the edge of the clearing where his ex-wife should hopefully appear. His was dressed a little smarter than normal as well. When one was wooing the ex-wife one needed to make an effort. Therefore he wore freshly pressed black trousers, a crisp dark red shirt, unbuttoned at the top and his smart black robes. Of course his hair was still in disarray and he hadn’t left the house without a splash of aftershave.

Finally seeing someone coming through the trees, Eddie pushed himself up onto his feet and picked up a glass of red wine. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Pregnant? Again? Quincy was going to be thirty-one years old, and have four kids! Surely this was wrong on many accounts. No wonder she had been feeling so tired and emotional all of the time. She stood in front of the mirror at work and tried to smooth out the shadows under her eyes. To no avail. They just reappeared when she took her hands away. She felt bloated, tired, hot and bothered and couldn't understand why anyone would want to spend time with her - not with the way she must look! Especially Eddie.

She sighed and looked down at the reflection of her abdomen in the mirror. She placed her right hand over her stomach, as though trying to feel if there was anything there. Roughly thirteen or fourteen weeks, Miranda had said as she congratulated Quincy on being pregnant. She rolled her eyes. Of course she wouldn't be able to feel anything. It was only due to the fact that she had collapsed while on shift, that Miranda even noticed the signs of pregnancy. She thought it had been down to being too hot - which it was, technically, but the rise in body temperature was due to the fact that another person was now growing inside of her.

She needed to get out of the hospital. The letter arrived for her at lunchtime, telling her to meet Eddie in the forest clearing near their home. They had been there many times before, but this was a very pleasant surprise, as for so long they hadn't even spoken a word to each other. Of course, this pleasant surprise turned into a nightmare, as Quincy spent the rest of the afternoon trying to come up with the best way of telling Eddie that - once again -he had done a fine job in knocking her up.

Quincy arrived at their home and quickly ran in the house to drop off her bag and throw on some better clothes. She chose a cream blouse and a pair of black trousers, and pulled on her black cloak as the weather had started to cool down quite a lot since they had hit September. She walked the short distance to the clearing and made her way through the bushes and trees to 'their' spot. She tried to muster a smile as she saw what he had done for her. A picnic, with candles and a lovely bottle of red wine that she couldn't drink. Her smile faltered for a moment as it dawned on her that there would be no more alcohol.

“I hope you’re hungry.”

"Mhmm." she nodded as enthusiastically as she could. She must have seemed so ungrateful, but it was something that couldn't be helped - the way she was feeling right now, the whole world could have crashed down around her and she wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

Unfortunately Quincy didn’t seem too shocked, surprised or happy about the setup in front of her. He’d have thought she would have been pleasantly surprised by his thoughtfulness and eagerness to please. That had always been a complaint hadn’t it? He wasn’t thoughtful enough. Not that he should have been expected to be. He was a man, after all.

But Eddie, who had become very good at reading expressions and emotions thanks to his stressful line of work was very quick to pick up on the fact that his ex-wife in fact did not look happy at all. Sure, she was smiling. But it hadn’t reached her eyes. They looked troubled. Had it been a hard day at work for her? She still wasn’t used to that was she? Or people dying on her. He frowned and put the wine glass back down on the blanket.

"Mhmm."

Deciding not to get put off by this colder than expected welcome, Eddie made a slow movement over to her before wrapping his arms around her body, pulling her close to him. “What’s up, Quince?” He sighed and pulled back, holding her shoulders and looking down into her face. “Ye look like the weight of the world’s on yer shoulders.”

Eddie placed the wine back on the floor and almost crushed her in an embrace that could only be described as a bear hug. He asked her what was wrong, and pulled away from the clasp leaving his hands protectively on her shoulders and looking right into her eyes. She tried to avoid his gaze - he was extremely good at reading people's expressions, and it seemed she hadn't fooled him one bit into thinking that she was happy.

“Ye look like the weight of the world’s on yer shoulders.”

She could have laughed out loud, then cried. He would be assuming that work was getting her down. it wasn't - far from it, in fact. She loved her new job, and the satisfaction it brought with helping people. But it was difficult to know that you were doing the right thing while trying to help other people, when you felt as though you couldn't help yourself.

"No." She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders slightly, as a gentle way of getting him to move his hands. He had heavy hands, and that was one thing that was on her shoulders! "I'm fine." She sighed and looked around again. "Just tired. But this," She pointed at the picnic, "Is lovely." She smiled at him, this time the warmth reaching her eyes. "I don't understand - why?"

Getting the hint, Eddie let his hands drop to his sides before burying them in his robe pockets. His eyes however didn’t move and he still watched Quincy with mild concern. He’d though he was finally getting somewhere with her and if she didn’t even get enthusiastic about this that he’d done for her...?

Tired? The auror guessed that made sense. He was as well. Exhausted a lot of the time at the moment. He’d been taking on more cases than usual and now had a tendency to be the first in in the mornings and last to leave in the evenings. Except this evening. And he’d make the special effort to stay awake and alert. The last thing he needed was to ruin their romantic picnic by falling asleep in the salmon sandwiches!

Then she finally referred to the candlelit picnic and Eddie’s smile started to pick up once more. He shrugged his heavy shoulders and glanced across at the warmly lit area. It wasn’t such a big deal. Just his way of trying to show that he cared and he did in fact think about her. A lot. That was why he was working so hard. Well one of the reasons. He needed to get his mind off of her. Especially when lines of communication between them went dead.

He finally said quietly, “I thought you might be hungry after work.” Eddie was now quite ravenous. “Even healers need to eat.”

“So the kids are with my parents. Which they all seem pretty happy about.” He continued, picking up the wine glass and offering it to her. “I thought it might be nice to spend a bit of time alone.”

“I thought you might be hungry after work.”

Her stomach then growled as though it had heard the mention of food. She automatically rubbed it with her hand, forgetting for a few seconds that she was inadvertantly soothing her unborn child. "You were right, then." she grinned at him in response to her growling stomach. "Well at least you played it safe with a picnic this time - unlike last time you tried to surprise me." she shook her head and chuckled. "Seeing you trying to use those stirrups was the most laughs I'd had in ages!"

“So the kids are with my parents. Which they all seem pretty happy about.”

It was true - the kids loved both sets of grandparents, and relished in the fact that when they stayed with either set, they were always spoiled rotten. But there was no telling the parents - they claimed it was their divine right as grandparents to mollycoddle their grandchildren. And neither Quincy or Eddie had the heart to stop them.

Eddie held out a glass of wine for Quincy, and she was about to reach out for it when she hesitated, hand in mid-air. "Um..." she paused and let her eyes flicker to the water. "I'll just have some water, please." She smiled again, trying to make it seem like nothing was out of the norm.

Eddie couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the mention of the stirrups. That brought back weird memories. He’d given up trying to do something unusual to surprise her since then. Apparently horses didn’t like wands and liked the people holding them even less. But perhaps his horrific riding skills had contributed to the fiasco.

“I hardly knew you had to tie that bottom bit up first…” He mumbled before grinning across at Quincy. She seemed a little happier now, and that made him feel less on edge. He had never liked seeing her unhappy or faking a smile. Much like what had happened over the last year.

"I'll just have some water, please."

A small frown corrupted Eddie’s grin for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. It wasn’t like her to reject a lovely warm glass of red wine but maybe she just didn’t fancy it.

“Yeah, might make ye fall asleep on me.” He smirked and crouched down to the bottles, pouring a couple of glasses of water instead. “I might have to go into work later. So many new cases popping up everywhere. Apparently criminals don’t think about the ungodly hours they get us up.” So he, two, was drinking water. Little did Eddie realise the significance of that. He’d always stopped off the booze when Quincy was pregnant, hopefully to make her feel better.

“I hardly knew you had to tie that bottom bit up first…”

"I tried to tell you." She pointed out as she sat down on the rug and leaned back, holding herself up with her left hand on the floor. "you were just too stubborn, as always. Like I've said before - a real flobberworm." She stuck her tongue out at him. This wasn't too bad. It was so easy to be herself around him, and she'd forgotten just how much she enjoyed his company.

“I might have to go into work later. So many new cases popping up everywhere. Apparently criminals don’t think about the ungodly hours they get us up."

Quincy pouted slightly. "Really? Do you have to?" It was obvious she didn't want him to go to work. Now that she was here, she was enjoying the quality time, and she didn't want it cut short by overbearing bosses and petty criminals. "I thought..." she sighed and looked sheepishly down at the rug, pulling a loose thread out in between her fingers. "...we could spend the whole night together." She let her eyes wander up to him. "At home." It was the first time in a long time she had referred to their marital home as just that: home. For so long she had lived there with just the children, going home to a cold, empty bed every night and waking up on her own every morning. It would be nice to spend the night together properly - in their own bed. Since the night of the conception, she hadn't permitted them sleeping together until they spent some quality time together. If they wanted to get things back on track, she demanded that they did it properly.

“You weren’t much better than me.” Eddie grinned at her, as he finished pouring the glasses of water. He seemed to remember a fair bit of fear coming from his dear wife. She definitely wasn’t a country bumpkin. Especially when they first moved from London.

"Really? Do you have to?"

Eddie crawled over the blanket to sit next to her and handed the water over before sipping out of his. “Only if an owl tries pecking me arm off.” And with the way he was feeling right now, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just stun the owl. "Stunning doesn't give an owl lasting effects, right?" The look on Quincy’s face told him that she didn’t want him to leave. He knew when he got her there he could make her crack and realise that she did in fact miss him very much.

"...we could spend the whole night together."

That was a nice surprise. And then she said ‘at home’, he smiled softly across at her. He wanted to get ‘home’ now to spend the night together but knew full well that he’d prepared this picnic and this was part of the reason she was willing to go back to their house. Because they were going to spend some real time together.

“I’m sure someone else can take the call for once.” Eddie muttered before leaning over and kissing her briefly. “Now, salmon or cheese and tomato? Or ye can start with a chocolate frog. I won’t tell Noah.” He winked before once more crawling over to the hamper.

The image of Eddie stunning an owl caused a grin to spread across her face. "Cute." She said, after taking a sip of her water. "Completely derranged, but cute." It was obvious he was even less happy about possibly being called into work than she was - potentially due to the fact that she had just invited him to spend the night with her for the first time in almost two years.

“I’m sure someone else can take the call for once.”

She laughed as he leaned over and kissed her. "And why does that not surprise me?" He really didn't have much tact, and it was clear that this invitation had completely changed his outlook on things. If she had said he was going back to his parents' house for the night, he may not have been so quick to stun an owl for her.

“Now, salmon or cheese and tomato? Or ye can start with a chocolate frog. I won’t tell Noah.”

Her stomach lurched at the sound of 'salmon'. She felt herself starting to wretch. "Oh Merlin!" She exclaimed before scrambling to her feet and making her way as quickly as possible to the nearest bush. No sooner had she got there, she vomited violently. She coughed and spluttered as the last of the bile was ejected from her system, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sorry..." she said after hovering for a moment to make sure nothing was waiting to make a grande exit. She gingerly made her way back over to the rug and picked up a napkin and her glass of water. She wiped her mouth and hand, and took a long drink from the glass.

"And why does that not surprise me?"

Eddie feigned shock and as if he’d been offended. “I’ve worked too bloody hard recently. Even the boss says so.” He wasn’t going to mention the other things ‘the boss’ had said. He didn’t fancy going back there, it would only make him mad again. Tonight was about Quincy and him and not about work or stress or anything.

Quincy very rarely moved that fast and Eddie stared in surprise as she darted for the nearest bush, her face now paled. He heard the retching and pulled a face. Did he go over and rub her back or let her get on with it? What was right for ex-husband and wife when the ex-wife was emptying the contents of her stomach in a bush.

Thankfully he didn’t have to worry over that for long before she made her way back to the blanket and picked up her water. Concern now written over his features, Eddie looked up at her. “Ye hadn’t even tried the sandwiches.” He said softly, trying to make light of the situation.

Pushing himself up, Eddie moved over to her. “What’s up?” Was she sick or something? She usually loved salmon. Always forced the kids to eat it as well. And Eddie. “Last time you were ill like that it were with Charlie.” He let out a soft laugh and folded his arms.

“Ye hadn’t even tried the sandwiches.”

"I know," came her muffled voice from behind the napkin which was now covering her mouth again. "I'm sorry!" She sighed, removing the napkin from her mouth with a wrinkled nose. She hated vomit. Well, she didn't know anyone who particularly liked it, but she had always had good sensitive gag reflexes. Clearly, the thought of salmon sandwiches was not agreeing with the fact that she was now pregnant.

“Last time you were ill like that it were with Charlie.”

She watched him for a moment and didn't answer. She tried to muster an apologetic half-smile, but it was such a difficult thing to do - she wasn't entirely sure how he would react. Surely this would be enough to alert him to the fact that she was in a similar disposition as she was when she was 'with Charlie'.

The auror had known that something was wrong with her but he’d just believed it was tiredness. Maybe she was coming down with something. Yes that was it. She had probably picked up something from someone at work. After all, Quincy did have to work with people with all sorts of infections and diseases.

This would have been a better idea than what was now flooding into his head. Quincy offered a very pathetic attempt of an apologetic smile after his comment about Charlie and his mind was suddenly spinning faster than a firebolt as he stared at her. The concern still flashed in his eyes but it wasn’t concern for just her now. They widened slowly and his lips began to part, mouth opening slowly to catch the flies.

Eddie took a clumsy step back and looked down at her stomach. A stomach that was having another kid growing inside her. If he was right. Was it so wrong to hope he wasn’t? With no reply from her it kind of told him that she was in fact...no she couldn’t be. They hadn’t slept together in months and that had only been once. Unless it was someone else’s...? That idea hurt him even more.

“Ye’re not...?” He barely managed to get out as he stared at her.  He couldn’t even finish the sentence. “How?”

He looked completely dumbfounded - or maybe it was just dumb - as he tried to find the right words to respond with. Quincy knew that no words would be the right words. The 'right' words would be, "Haha, April Fools! You're not really pregnant!" But it was ridiculously far from April, and she would technically have to fool herself with that one. Unless Miranda...

She shook her head slightly, trying to concentrate on her ex-husband standing in front of her catching flies. He seemed less happy about it than she did, and without thinking of it she put a hand over her tummy to protect her unborn child from its father's negativity, a scowl on her face.

“Ye’re not...?”

"A bit indigested?" She asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that's it." Maybe he needed it saying outloud before it would actually sink in. "Yes, Edward. I am pregnant." His response was textbook, and yet it still bothered her. “How?” She let a sharp laugh escape her lips. "Well, you managed it three times before - surely you've got the hang if it by now! You unzipped your pants, and bam!" she indicated her stomach. "Planted the seed."

Quincy seemed to think she was being funny but Eddie simply glared across at her as he tried to process what was happening. A father of four at 31. That was if it was his... His eyes shot down to the stomach again, the stomach that had grew with his children three times already. He bit his lip. Was this really happening? Or was this some sick joke Quincy had decided to play on him.

"Yes, Edward. I am pregnant."

There it was; a confirmation. Mrs Pratt was once again in the club and Mr Pratt was stood looking as if he’d seen a three headed purple hippogriff. Apparently, even after three previous times, Eddie was still under the illusion that it wouldn’t happen to him. One would think the man would learn.

They were going to stop at three. Their relationship had been so spikier than a Hungarian Horntail before Charlie and having him hadn’t helped anything. They’d only brought him into the world amidst all the arguments and stress.

“We...we can’t afford another.” He was stretched enough as it was. Evidently. Living back with your parents and taking every possible case and hours and hours of extra work wasn’t really something he’d wanted to have to do. And it hadn’t gone unnoticed either. He frowned before moving over to the blanket and sitting himself down beside the basket.

After a few moments, he finally said, looking a little sad and worried. “And it’s mine?” The thought of Quincy sleeping with anyone else quite literally broke his heart. He was hers, always had been and he didn’t want that to change. Ever.