Songbird ; Fred Weasley

Ninety-three

In July, when Callum was four months old, we were able to bring him home.

Fred and I were over the moon once we stepped through the door to the house, him carrying a bag of gifts from the hospital and me holding our son against my shoulder.

Dad was working from home today, so he was watching Phoebe who turned six at the end of May, and Theodora who was turning a year old in about a month.

Two months had pissed since Daniel's first suicide attempt. Yep... first.

He survived the pills he took and after seeing a psychologist at the hospital, he was allowed to go home. They believed he wouldn't try it again.

But he didn't.

He hung himself a few weeks ago, which resulted in him getting put in St. Mungos until he's well.

"Look at who's home!" Max gushed as he sped into the foyer and took Callum right out of my arms. "Look at how big he's gotten!"

Max had held Callum once in the hospital, but Callum was no longer a tiny premature baby. He had gained the weight he needed and he looked like any other four-month-old baby.

"He's so chubby!" Max exclaimed, tickling Callum who broke into a fit of giggles. "And so beautiful! You're so beautiful buddy."

Callum has wide blue eyes that he got from dads side of the family. Fred and I don't have blue eyes, but my biological dad does.

And he doesn't have a lot of hair, but the little amount he's got is blonde which means he'll most likely have reddish hair when he grows up, seeing as mine is dark brown and Fred's is red.

It's so weird how he's four months old already. We've been seeing him in the NICU since he was born, and now he's months old and is smiling and laughing.

"I'm going to give you a tour of the house." Max told Callum before walking upstairs with him.

"I think we just lost our son to Maxwell." Fred commented, and I turned towards him, smacking his chest.

"Shush! He doesn't know you know. What if he heard you call him that? He'd kill me!"

Laughing, Fred slid an arm around my waist and pulled me close, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Now where are my girls?" He asked as he let go of me, making his way through the house to look for Phoebe and Theodora.

He had just left his shoes in the middle of the floor, so I grabbed them and put them by the rest of the shoes before taking off my own shoes.

Then I grabbed the bag that he had put down.

The bag with gifts from the hospital as a congratulations to Callum because he was one strong baby who fought his way through.

It's all kind of toys and a few onesies and beanies.

"Hi sweetie!" Mum's voice carried through the foyer as she walked out of the library. Mum was in her last trimester, and any day now, she could go into labour. "Where's Fred and Callum?"

I took off my jacket and hung it on the wall before faking my mum. "Max took Callum upstairs, and Fred is saying hi to the girls."

"Oh, Dora is napping." mum told me.

"Yeah, I figured. Fred hasn't realized what time it is." I said, then noticed mum's pained expression as her hand rested against her pregnancy bump, her other hand resting on the small of her back. "You okay, mum?"

"Oh, yeah." she waved my question off. "Just a little contraction, is all."

My eyes widened.

"Contractions? Real ones or Braxton?"

"Definitely real." she laughed. "Your dads on his way home. You know how long labour can last, so it's no use going to the hospital now."

"But— when did the contractions start? Has your water broken? Do you need anything?"

Mum laughed, shaking her head.

"You do not need to do anything, Mavis. Harvey is here. I just came down to grab a book, but I'm heading back up to bed, waiting this out." She let out a sigh. "Baby number twelve and then I'm having my tubes tied."

I chuckled nervously, watching my mum walk upstairs.

I'm getting a new sibling. Holy shit. But then the weirdness washed over me.

My kids would get an aunt that was younger than them. That was weird.

"Mama!" Phoebe's voice boomed through the house as she ran out of the orangery and into the foyer.

She threw herself into my arms, and I laughed as I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up.

I didn't care that she was six years old. I still picked her up and hugged her like she was my three-year-old daughter again.

"Would you like to meet your baby brother?" I asked her. "He's right upstairs."

Phoebe gasped and pulled her head back to look at me.

"He's here?"

I smiled as I put her down.

"He's upsta—" I didn't get to finish my sentence before she sprinted up the stairs as fast as she could. "...Phoebe! Take a breath and relax! Don't scare him!"

I rushed after her and reached her just as she located Max and Callum.

"His eyes are blue." Phoebe observed, tilting her head.

"Weird, huh?" Max grinned down at her. "You and Dora both have brown eyes."

"I can't remember his name." A small frown touched her face and she crunched up her nose.

"It starts with a C. Try and guess." Max urged her.

"Ooh! I remember!" Phoebe jumped once. "Callum! His name is Callum!"

"You know what his middle name is?" I asked, and as Phoebes looked at me, she shook her head. "Maxwell."

Max gasped, and I grinned at him. Fred and I never got around to telling him Callum's middle name,

"You— Maxwell? Bit—" he glanced at Phoebe, realising he was about to curse, and I grinned widely, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Bitch!" Phoebe exclaimed, and my expression dropped. "You were about to say bitch!"

Max's eyes widened as he looked at me.

"I swear, I didn't teach her—"

"Bitch!" Phoebe shouted again, making a run for the stairs.

She kept shouting the word as she ran downstairs and through the house.

"You named him after me?" Max asked, tearing up.

"Yes. Don't cry, please. If you cry, I'll cry and I really don't feel like crying right now."

A laugh escaped his lips, but then Callum started crying and Max immediately handed him over, causing me to laugh.

"Babies cry, Max. What will you do the day you and Flynn have one?"

"Flynn will handle the crying." He joked while I held Callum and rocked him in my arms, trying to get him to calm down.

"Mavis!" Fred's voice came from downstairs. "Why is Phoebe running around throwing the b-word out there?!"

"You take care of that." I told Max. "And I'm going to go change my son's diaper."