Songbird ; Fred Weasley

Eighty-seven

The door to the hospital room opened the very next day, and Phoebe came running in, but quickly, my dad grabbed onto her and picked her up.

"You have to be careful." Dad told her. "Your mama's been through a lot and she might be in pain."

"Only a little." I said. "Doctors gave me some meds."

Dad walked to the bed and put Phoebe down gently.

"How're you doing, honey?" He asked, pressing a kiss to my forehead before he took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

I smiled at Phoebe as I pulled her into my arms and hugged the life out of her.

"I'm okay." I told my dad. "Still a little shook up, but I'm safe, and I'm alive."

"I've missed you, mama." Phoebe said, resting her head against my shoulder, and I frowned, trying not to cry, because she didn't deserve to have to live an entire month without her mum there.

"I've missed you too, baby." I whispered, kissing the side of her head. "So much."

"I've seen your boy." Dad said, earning my attention again.

"What's he like?" I asked quietly.

Dad smiled, the thought of his grandson making him smile.

"Quite amazing. He's strong, already gained a pound in the past month. He's still small and he can't breathe or feed on his own, but he's reacting to voices. He hears Fred's voice and he opens his eyes and search for him." He told me. "And he looks just like you with the facial features, but he's got light, almost reddish hair. He doesn't have much, but he's definitely going to take after his dad regarding the hair."

I smiled, feeling myself tear up, but then the door opened again, and Fred walked in, Theodora on his arm and a bag of takeaway food in his free hand.

"Oh my god, how has she grown so much?" I asked while Fred put the bag on the table at the end of my bed.

The moment Dora saw me, her face lit up and she started babbling while holding out her arms, wanting over to me.

Phoebe moved out of my arms and I reached out to take Dora.

"She has a tooth?" I asked, placing a thumb against her bottom lip, tugging at it to see the single tooth at the bottom of her mouth.

"Yeah. She's had it for about two weeks." Fred said and lifted Phoebe off the bed so she could get her food from the bag. "You want food, Chris? There's an extra burrito in here."

My dad shook his head and offered Fred a smile.

"Thank you but I've already eaten." He said. "So has Phoebe but I'm guessing she's still hungry."

We all watched as Phoebe dug into the bag to get the sandwich that was for her.

Dora kept babbling, all excited as she tugged at my hair. I looked at her, taking her in and the changes I noticed. She made small sounds that sounded like words.

"She's been crawling for three weeks." Fred informed me, his face wary as he waited for my reason.

I stared at him, my lips parted, and I felt a tug at my heart when I realised I had missed that milestone.

I had been doing loads of tummy time with her, trying to strengthen her neck muscles and trying to teach her how to crawl, and then she crawls when I'm not there to see.

All because my placenta had to tear away from my uterine wall and I fell into a coma due to diabetic shock.

"Oh..." I muttered. "Right. That's great."

"Hey..." dad said, earning my attention. "In months she'll be walking and you'll be there to film it. And she hasn't even said her first word yet."

Dad pushed himself out of the chair and stepped closer to the bed. He leaned down to press a kiss to my forehead.

"I'll leave you four alone. I have to get back to work, but I'll be back tonight, along with your mother, okay?"

I nodded, thanked him and offered him a soft smile before he said goodbye to his grandchildren and Fred, then left.

"I understand it must feel like—" Fred sighed. "I'm sorry you missed her first time crawling."

"It's fine." I shrugged. "My dads right. She'll have other milestones for me to witness."

Dora squealed, wanting my attention back on her, and I couldn't help but laugh as my eyes fell on her.

She stuck out her tongue at me, and I did it right back, causing her to laugh.

"With everything that's happened... you won't be able to breastfeed her for a while." Fred told me. "The stress to your body messed with some of your hormones, and with all the medications you're on, you probably won't be able to breastfeed our son either."

I stared up at him as he paused, his eyes dropping to Theodore.

"I used the last of the breast milk in the freezer and then I switched to formula but she doesn't seem to know the difference so that's good."

"How many times does she eat solids?" I asked.

"Still just two times a day." He said. "It's the same routine."

"Good. That means I haven't missed that much." I said, settling Dora on the bed between my legs.

"Phoebes, honey... go sit down while you eat that." Fred said, gesturing to the sofa in the hospital room.

Phoebe walked over to the sofa where she sat down before beginning to open up her sandwich, looking for any tomatoes she could throw away.

"What do you want?" Fred asked me. "Bagel or—"

"Bagel." I nodded, and Fred laughed as he pulled it from the bag and handed it to me.

"It's full of everything you like." He told me, and I smiled over the fact that he knew exactly which one I'd choose.

I didn't even get to hear what the other option was, because bagels were my absolute favorite food.

"Thank you." I smiled up at him before scooting over, bringing Dora with me.

Fred joined us on the bed, sitting by my side with his legs stretched out.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, and I watched him as his thumb moved across it.

"They allowed me to take some pictures of him." He said softly, showing me his phone.

He swiped to the first picture, and my heart absolutely melted but also shattered at the same time.

It melted because shit... he's my son and he's real.

It shattered because of all the cords and tubes attached to his tiny little body. Tubes went into his nose. Tubes went into his mouth. He had sensors attached to his chest and stomach.

His pulse was being monitored on one of his very tiny fingers.

"Oh god." I muttered. "He looks so fragile."

"He is. But he's also incredibly strong. Two weeks ago, he was much smaller than this."

"Have you named him?"

"Without you?" Fred looked at me. "No. I haven't."

I raised my eyes to his.

"Then what do you call him?"

"Oh, a whole lot of different things." He said. "Baby boy. Boy. Baby W. Handsome. Buddy... the list is long."

I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder while scrolling through his phone, going through all of the pictures of him.

"We should name him." I said. "But not until I've seen him in person."