7.00pm

Thank Merlin the kids weren't there. Eddie's parents had taken them for a couple of nights, allowing their heavily pregnant mother get some rest. A little peace and quiet would do her good, and since Eddie spent most of his time at work, it was peace and quiet she would most certainly get. Saturday night had arrived, and Quincy had decided that maybe their dwindling relationship needed some spicing up. Having a trout in the pond was not about to stop this lady from seeing that her hard-working husband got his rewards at the end of his Saturday day at the office. The work of an auror was long, difficult, tiring and relentless, and Quincy wanted to prove to him that she understood how hard he worked, appreciated his efforts and loved him for supporting his family.

Slaving over a hot wand for half an hour meant that a gourmet meal was on the table for Eddie when he was due to finish work. She'd been for a little retail therapy, stopping at a lingerie shop in Diagon Alley, under the name of 'Saucy Witch', picking out the sexiest undergarment she could find that would fit the back-end of a bus. The slither of cloth she came away with was tasteful, leaving some things to the imagination, but accentuating all of the curves mother nature had bestowed on her as a nine-month gift.

To say she 'slipped' into the nightwear would be misleading. To 'slip' suggests an action that happens easily, flows well. When paired with underwear, the image of a woman 'slipping into' something is one of grace, poise; it is an image that easily entices one in. What Quincy did was far from 'slip' into the underwear. She almost fell into it, ending with a strap around her neck and the whole thing twisted. "Nevermind," she said to herself, trying her hardest not to get flustered. It was difficult, when you had a bump the size of Jupiter attached to your belly. After a moment of calming herself down and mentally berating herself for getting irate, she attempted to rectify the mess that was her underwear.

Once dressed for the occasion, Quincy went about the house lighting candles and setting the mood. Gentle, soothing music was magnified across the house as Quincy waited with an excited anticipation for her bread-winner to return home from work.

11.00pm

Quincy extinguished the last candle, feeling a sense of dread wash over her as she did so. He should have been back hours ago, and yet here she was still standing alone. She had long since changed out of the lingerie, feeling foolish and a little ashamed. Ashamed of herself, that she had honestly thought this was going to work out the second time around. They had been kidding themselves - she and Eddie were the same people, just a little older. Neither of them had changed, and neither of them were willing to. And why should they? Nobody should have to change who they are for anybody else. But Quincy and Eddie's main issue was that neither was willing to compromise. The evidence was written all over this shambolic attempt at a reconciliation.

Quincy sighed and was about to go to bed, just as she heard the front door creak open.

The spark was gone. The excitement at coming home early was gone. In fact, right now the mere possibility of coming home early was gone. The workload had increased twofold. Things were getting tense at work and to be honest, Ed was accommodating of such a work load at the present time. It meant he spent more time at the ministry or out with either of two incredibly annoying partners. And when he wasn’t on duty? He was avoiding the missus in the tiny study in their small cottage doing more work or pretending to.

After all, it wasn’t just at work that things were tense. There was a distance driving itself between the couple who’d been best friends for twenty years. Witches and wizards aged and gained responsibilities and had to work and had to get on. Ed and Quincy no longer got on. They fought like Hippogriff and lion and didn’t make up like they used to either. Eddie had always enjoyed the making up. It made the fighting almost worth it. But now he was sticking his head in the quicksand where his personal life was concerned. He was shying away from it.

It was a weekend night and he’d been at work all day, catching up on paperwork that had passed its deadline. If it didn’t get done, Tamis Raynor would no doubt decapitate him and shove his head on a stick at the entrance to her office, a warning to anyone contemplating ever missing a deadline. But now it was completed and placed in a neat pile on her desk and Pratt could retain his head until the end of the next month.

Trying to remain as quiet as possible so not to awaken his family upon his return, Ed pushed the door open and stepped inside. The house was dark and had a slight chill to it. Or was that the atmosphere? The auror shivered a little as he pushed the door shut behind him and started to remove his plain black robes. He hung those up with a flick of his wand before sitting on the bottom of the steps to untie the laces on his faded black boots.

Quincy stopped dead in her tracks, like a rabbit in headlights. Did she want Eddie to know that she was there? Did she want to slink off to bed and pretend she had been asleep the whole time, that nothing was out of the ordinary? She dithered on the spot a moment, before her brows pinched together in annoyance. She wasn’t the type of woman to take this sort of behaviour – why start now? She was pissed off, and she wanted to be damn sure that Eddie knew about it. Folding her arms in front of her chest over the top of her fluffy bathrobe, she waited at the top of the staircase as Eddie sat on the lowest step and unfastened his shoes.

Looking down at him she felt a pang of guilt. Not for herself or Eddie, but for their kids. For Noah, Natasha and Charlie, who were probably going to come home tomorrow and find that – once again – daddy was gone. This time he probably wouldn’t be coming back. The unborn baby wouldn’t know what it was like to live with both parents. Maybe it was lucky, because it wouldn’t have to listen to the arguing, though Quincy and Eddie were usually careful not to argue too much in front of the kids.

“Nice of you to show up,” she said before Eddie had even took a standing position. The sarcasm in her voice was cutting; sarcasm was the St.James speciality, along with seduction and deceit. Quincy was quite pleased to be able to say that she didn’t often dabble with deceit – sarcasm and seduction was enough for her. “Don’t worry, I didn’t have anything important planned.”

Ed’s hands froze on his boot heel, about to remove the last shoe. The voice had cut harshly through the air and made him instantly aware trouble was brewing. She had that usual tone to her voice that showed anger being subdued with effort. That tone just made it worse. It was easier for Ed if she just shouted and let him know what was wrong, not being sarcastic, difficult and hormonal. But ever since Eddie had met her at the tender age of eleven, she had been sarcastic, difficult and hormonal. But he loved her and presumed she felt the same about him. This was why they’d tried a second time. Why they’d lasted so long when everyone was no doubt thinking that this relationship had more than passed it’s gone off date.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t have anything important planned.”

“Ye never do.” came a mumbled response under Pratt’s breath as he pulled the boot off and tossed both at the pile of shoes beside the front door.  They caused a loud clatter as they hit the wall before Ed pushed himself up from the bottom stair, closing his eyes, preparing for the inevitable onslaught. A pause and a deep breath was taken before the tired man turned to face his wife at the top of the stairs. She looked far from happy and Ed was suddenly experiencing a serious case of déjà vu. He guessed he should be glad she wasn’t throwing suitcases at him right then. Small mercies were always much appreciated.

 “I had more to do than I thought.” The auror muttered, tired green eyes staring up at his wife. “Ye should go to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.” It was most definitely safer to go and have a snack before he joined his pregnant and angry partner in the marital bed. Hopefully by then she’d have fallen asleep and woken up in a better mood. Ed understood she was off work now; she was bored and wanted him around. Ed understood she was tired and permanently stressed because of the kids and the coming baby. He even understood that he wasn’t being the best husband he could. She had to understand that work and stress didn’t permit that.  She had to give him a chance and just hold out until things eased at the ministry. She didn’t look like she wanted to right now.

He turned away from the stairs and headed towards the kitchen.

Quincy heard the mumble, and though Eddie would have foudn comfort in thinking (or hoping) she hadn't heard, Quincy's hearing was keener than that of a bat. "What?!" The hiss that came from a mouth was more snake-like than witchy. "I. Never. DO?!" The punctuated pauses between each word was evidence of the fury that flushed through Quincy's every vein. She took a deep breath, attempting to count to ten in her head. Stress was not good for the baby - she remembered that from the last three times she had found herself with a fish in the pond, but not getting stressed when she had such a mindless flobberworm for a husband was easier said than done.

“Ye should go to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”

A moan akin to that of a frustrated chinese fireball dragon escaped her mouth as Eddie trudged off towards the kitchen. Immediately Quincy set off down the stairs, her large belly thrust out in front of her, hand gripping the bannister to make sure she didn't lose her balance. This was not the time to be falling down the stairs - Eddie needed no excuse to be able to act the hero.

She followed him into the kitchen and stood on the threshold of the door with her arms folded stubbornly across her chest. "Do not tell me what to do, Pratt!" she hurled across the room at him. "You always have more to do than you think! Why don't you ever find the time to come home and take care of your family?" The desperation in her voice was evident - the anger had ebbed slightly, and now she just wanted to hear him make his excuses. "It's not just about providing money, you know! We need attention as well!" She paused as she watched his reaction. "What is it that makes you want to stay at work so long anyhow?" Her voice was a lot calmer now as she questioned his motives for the long work hours he put in. What was that famous muggle saying? Curiosity killed the cat. The wizarding world said something completely different - curiosity cured the kelpie.

She was pissing him off now. Quincy’s voice reminded Edward of a banshee trying to sing while she was being strangled. She just went on and on as he opened the fridge and removed the ingredients for a sandwich. Despite the anger that was now forming within the auror thanks to his hormonally charged missus, Ed was ravenous. That’s what a day at work did to you. His wife, however, didn’t seem to understand that as she continued to verbally batter his delicate ears.

"It's not just about providing money, you know! We need attention as well!"

Oh this ignorant woman had no bloody idea what it was all about. Ed slammed the butter down on the work surface and twisted around in lightening speed to face the pregnant woman who loomed like a demon in the door to the hallway, blocking his only exit route. The man’s expression was no longer calm. Usually bright green eyes had taken on a darker appearance as they narrowed and glared directly at the demon woman. The twisting of his lips showed just how much he was now having to control his anger. It always took an immense amount of effort when this woman started to not lose his sanity and give into the rage.

“You, ye mad cow!” the man responded, fists clenched as he held himself back. “Do you have any idea what’s going on, Quincy? Do you have any idea how many people out there would love to get hold of my family? To kill an auror’s wife and kids?” The man let that hang in the air for a moment before approaching his pregnant other half very slowly. “I stay at work to make sure that doesn’t damn well happen. And to make sure I still have a job to go back to the next day! Would you like living on a pathetic wage because you’ve not had a real job in over ten years?”

He wouldn’t normally have gotten so angry so quickly. But the couple were arguing more and more, Pratt was tired and he was hungry. Mrs Pratt had made the big mistake of catching him on a lack of sleep and food. Silly woman.
“I’ve supported you for over a decade and how do you thank me? Getting hysterical because I’m not back for dinner time? Ye selfish ungrateful bitch.” The auror practically spat the last bit, stood only inches from his wife.

If he had spoken to her about it calmly and rationally, she would have probably understood. He could have made her see it from his point of view - she'd never stopped to think that people might want revenge on the man that had them incarcerated, or worse. If he had only explained that he was trying to protect his family, that he was struggling with working the long hours he did, but he was doing it so that they could have a good life together, she would have agreed that he was doing an amazing job. She would have thanked him for being the caring, supportive dad and husband that he was, she would forget that the dinner was spoiled and offer to make another one for him on a night that suited him most. Then she would have kissed him, made him a sandwich and enjoyed spending time with him in the odd place that was their marital bed.

But he didn't.

He attacked the motives of a heavily pregnant, even more heavily hormonal woman, who at the best of times was hot-headed and snappy. He called her names that no husband should ever call his wife. He said she was ungrateful, spiteful, and he pulled into question her ability to support her own family, through the fact that she had never had a 'real' job since leaving school.

To say she was hurt was the most enormous understatement of the millenium. It was unusual for Quincy to be left speechless, but this was one of those occasions. She swallowed the large lump that formed in her throat, and willed herself not to cry. Her eyes stung but no tears fell. Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked away - ashamed for the first time in her life of who she was and what she had done. He was right. All she had done since leaving school was produce children. True, they had three of the most wonderful kids any parents could ask for, and another on the way, but according to Eddie that wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry I'm such a dissapointment." She turned on the spot morosely and shuffled off towards the stairs.

To Edward Pratt, Quincy Pratt seemed to go through pregnancy like a werewolf during full moon. She started out fine, well as fine as she could be. Then when the moon started to get closer and she started to get slightly rounder, she began to get tetchy, causing Ed to think it safer to keep his distance and save his head from being bitten off shortly after. Then the moon got higher yet and as Quincy started to struggle with her blooming size and her raging womanly viperous hormones, she got angrier and started to change. This change happened at the speed comparable to a lightening flash before she was ready to tear her husband’s head off with her teeth. And afterwards? She instantaneously began to get sad and make him feel guilty for the fact she’d been so furious. For werewolves, this cycle happened monthly. For Eddie’s wife? It seemed to him that it happened hourly.

This new pregnancy had been an opportunity to reconcile with Quincy after the divorce and the mess of the preceding year. But what both parties should have realised the time before when Charlie had occurred, babies didn’t save marriages. They put more stress on them. Ed adored his family with every bone in his body but he wasn’t so sure anymore about his marriage.

After he’d let out his angry words, Quincy Pratt stood in front of him looking as if she’d just been slapped in the face by a one eyed glow in the dark squid. The woman muttered something before turning and practically waddling from the room. Ed gritted his teeth. This wasn’t fair. He put the glass he’d retrieved from the cupboard on the counter before following his partner out of the kitchen.

“Don’t you dare!” The auror said, his voice no longer raised but angry, controlled. “Ye always do that, Quince. Ye always start, picking on things like me bein’ late, me working all hours, must be out at the pub ignorin’ my family and when I turn it on you? Too much to handle is it? Ye’d rather make me feel bad all the time? Is that easier for ye, woman?”

She heard the growl from behind her, and took a gulp of air as she prepared herself for annihilation by angry ex-husband. Turning slowly on the spot, she let him shout at her, let him have his moment of fury as she had done only moments before hand. After he had finished, and he waited for her retaliation, she sighed. “Yes.” She said simply, almost shrugging. “Yes, it is easier, Edward. Is that what you wanted to hear? It is easier for me to blame you for everything, for me to have a scapegoat. It is easier for me to imagine that the first thing my husband wants to do when he is finished work is come home and see his wife, who – by the way – has a seriously large pumpkin pie in the oven!” She pointed at her midriff, as though he hadn’t even noticed that there was an almost-ready-to-be-born-child in between them.

Quincy put her hand on the banister, steadying herself for a moment as she took a deep breath to calm down. She could feel herself getting more and more irate with every word she spoke. “I thought you understood. I thought you knew how hard it was for me to try and be a full-time mother as well as try and start a career. After all, it is me who has never had a real job. I can’t do anything right, can I? You don’t like the fact that I’ve never had a job, but when I finally try and get myself out there to do something I truly care about, you can’t handle that either!” She eyed his face carefully for a moment, before her eyes narrowed. “What is your problem, Eddie?” Her hiss pierced the already cold air of the cottage hallway.