Yellow - {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 47

- June 12, 2004 -

"I dread this," Fred groaned, letting his head fall against my shoulder. I nodded as I bit my lip, reaching up to pat his head gently. "I know love. I do too." I turned to face him only to find he was already looking at me. "But they deserve to know." He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "I know." He lifted his head and moved to stand behind me, his arms snaking around my waist. His hands met mine on my stomach. I'm obviously not showing yet, but Fred loves to do this.

"I just want to keep you, our baby, and our marriage our little secret. This past month has been super crazy and not what we expected, but in the best way possible." He sighed longingly and rubbed my stomach absently. "I know," I murmured, closing my eyes and leaning into his touch. Fred tightened his hold on me and hummed lowly. "But I know my dad will be over the moon excited for us and he'll have our back against your mother."

Fred tensed at the mention of his mother. She kicked up such a fuss after Percy and Penny announced they'd eloped that she nearly disowned him. I worry about her reaction to finding out we're married with a baby on the way - especially if she does the math.

"You know I won't allow her to disrespect you or our baby, right?" He sounded beyond stressed and tired. I nodded, keeping my eyes closed as I put my hands over his. "Of course I do." Satisfied by my answer, he hummed again and squeezed my stomach. "I'd do anything for the two of you."

I smiled and opened my eyes slowly. "You know that if we can tell anyone about this, it's my dad." Fred sighed in defeat. "I know, I'm just scared." I chuckled lightly, turning in his arms so I could face him. I placed my hands on his cheeks, rubbing my thumbs over his cheekbones. His skin is warm under my touch, deep brown eyes studying me worriedly. 

His hands settled on my hips and he squeezed lovingly. "It's okay to be scared," I began, finally meeting his gaze. "I'm scared too. But we're going to need his support." He nodded and bit his lip nervously. "Plus," I added, looking down between us. "I don't know how long I can hide this from him. I know I'm not showing, but Dad notices things."

Fred followed my eyes, his features softening. "I know." He looked back up to me, a small smile turning up one corner of his mouth. "I'm gonna miss keeping these secrets. My two girls." My eyes snapped up to meet his. "Girls?" He grinned sheepishly, squeezing my hips again. "I have a feeling this one is a girl."

"Oh really?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head slightly. "You don't?" Fred flashed me a taunting smile. I shrugged, letting my hands fall to his shoulders. "I really don't know. But I have had multiple dreams over the years about having a daughter. We'll see though." Fred nodded, his smile dropping as he sighed again.

"And if it's any consolation, we can still wait to tell your family." He relaxed in my arms. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," I warned, backing out of his hold. "We'll have to tell them soon. I can't ask my dad to keep such big secrets for a long amount of time." I sighed and turned to grab my wand as my husband pouted at me. "Besides, if we don't tell them before it's obvious they're gonna be livid. Understandably so."

"I didn't even think of that," Fred mumbled, wrinkling his nose as if he'd smelled something awful. "We've barely even had time to think of how to go about doing this stuff," I said as we started down the hall. "And truthfully I wouldn't be so worried about showing soon if I wasn't still underweight." I turned to him with a wry smile as we stopped in front of the fireplace. "I'm much smaller than I was before the war, it'll be way more noticeable way sooner."

Fred shrugged and grabbed a pinch of the powder. "It's all good, love. We'll be just fine, and we'll have a beautiful little family. Regardless of what my mother winds up saying or doing."