Randomly

Chapter 25

Charlie was able to get up three days later and return to work after two weeks. Bill stayed for four days and on the last day of his stay, he reinforced the protections on Charlie's house with Charlie's help. The Weasley parents stayed for three weeks and the couple were relieved to see them go. They were very engaging and Steve had loved hearing anecdotes about his man younger, but Arthur kept asking about anything the Muggle might have in his suitcases. As for Molly, she was stifling. She spent her time anticipating everything Charlie could possibly need, and pushed Steve as hard as she could about his professional future. Both were longing for some personal space, and were relieved to be alone at last, sitting together on the terrace of their home, looking out over the mountains. Charlie was sitting between the soldier's legs, his back resting on his chest. All was calm, they were both serene like this, but something was worrying Steve.

"Your mother has spoken to me about certain things, on several occasions."

Charlie huffed, not happy with the turn of phrase and suspecting the subject at hand.

"Let me guess, she insisted that after so long together we should be married and she asked you when she'd have grandchildren.¨
¨You know your mother well," he said with a smile.
¨And so, what's bothering you about this?¨
¨Is it your mother who wants us to get married and have kids, or you?"

Charlie sat up and turned to face Steve, who wondered if he'd have been better off keeping his mouth shut, given the annoyed look on his man's face.

"I don't know, I don't need to get married to be happy with you and I'm not planning to do it to please my parents.¨
¨OK.¨
¨And as for the children, for one thing, she's already got twelve grandchildren, she can leave me alone on that and for another, that's a discussion she has no business getting involved in.¨
¨So you don't want to get married, you don't want to have kids."

Steve didn't know where to stand on this. He'd never considered marriage, and he hadn't made up his mind about children, but coming to that conclusion made his heart ache. Charlie grasped his hands before speaking again.

"I've got nothing against marriage, I just want it to come from us, OK?¨
¨Yes.¨
¨And I don't think you understand that my mother is talking about biological children and not adoption.¨
¨What? Excuse me?"

Steve was shocked; he didn't understand how Molly could expect biological children from them.
"In the magical world, there are potions to enable two men to have a child together. The witch population has always been small, so potionists have been working on it for centuries, and today the method is perfected and poses little risk to the carrier. The risks of miscarriage are higher than for a natural pregnancy however, and the carrier most often has to remain bedridden for the nine months."

He gave Steve long minutes to integrate what he'd just told him, but the dark-haired man couldn't quite assimilate the idea that maybe one day, if they decided, they could have a child on their own.

"How does it work?¨
¨I think you know very well how babies are made Steve.¨
¨No I mean, anyone can take these potions and have a child.¨
¨No, only wizards, so I'd have to be the carrier.¨
¨Okay, and you...¨
¨Look Steve, our lives haven't really been laid down since we've known each other, and we've only just moved in together, can we save these questions for a few months, maybe years from now?¨
¨Sure."

Steve pulled Charlie to him for a kiss, still a little lost, confused because of what he'd just learned.

"In the meantime we can always practice." whispered Charlie.

The soldier smiled, stood up, grabbed his lover by the hips and pulled him inside while kissing him.

It was a magical night, as always, but Steve was lonely the next day after Charlie left for work. He jogged, did some weight training, did some martial arts moves, but after two hours of sports and a shower, he had no choice but to focus on his professional project. He'd managed to occupy his time when his in-laws were around, he'd already unpacked all his suitcases with Arthur, now he had to get on with something or he was going to go mad.

Talking with Molly, the idea of becoming a mountain guide had occurred to him. He knew himself, he needed an outdoor activity that would allow him to move around, sitting behind a desk wouldn't suit him at all. He then went to the bookshop in the wizarding village to buy topographical and hiking maps of the region, and then to the reception desk at the reserve where Géraldine, a French colleague of Charlie's whom he liked very much, was surprised when he told her that he hadn't come to see her companion. The witch was blond, slim, small, but very muscular and with a fiery temper, Steve had gotten on very well with her from their first meeting. He explained to her that he wanted to know which hiking trails around or in the reserve were open to the public, and whether it was possible to see dragons safely while using them. The young woman, who was in charge of welcoming the public that day, was delighted to answer his questions and spent several hours with him, her nose bent over the maps. It was like this, the two of them leaning around a table highlighting and annotating a map, that Charlie was surprised to find them.

"What are you doing?¨
¨Maps!"

Charlie came over to embrace him and looked over his shoulder.

"You'll have to explain.¨
¨Mmmh," Steve replied, concentrating on the map.
¨Will you meet me at home?¨
¨Mmmh.¨
¨Geraldine, will you send him back to me?¨
¨Don't worry, Charlie, he'll come home to you, in one piece."

Charlie placed a kiss on the former soldier's temple and left the premises unnoticed. It wasn't until the young woman had answered all his questions that he realized his companion was missing.

Géraldine burst out laughing.

"He left almost two hours ago, he was covered in all kinds of residue, I think he wanted to go and change quickly."

Oops, thought Steve, maybe he'd been too absorbed in what he was doing.

"Come on, I'll walk you out," declared the French woman as she tidied up the place.
¨I can walk home on my own, you know?¨
¨I know, but you're in my way."

Steve didn't reply, he knew it wasn't true, but he enjoyed chatting with her on the way, she continued to give him advice and ideas for his project and told him he could come back and see her at the visitor center if he had any more questions.

He thanked her and went inside his home. A smile came to his lips as he smelled the delicious aroma of Charlie's kitchen and spotted his man in jeans and T-shirt busy at the stove. He sat back in an armchair and watched him until he turned his head towards him.

"You could help," he said with a smile.
¨That's what I do.¨
¨Do you?¨
¨I send you messages of encouragement through my thoughts!"

Charlie laughed frankly and came over to kiss him.

"I've never been good at telepathy, if you'd encourage me by setting the table instead."

Steve complied, declaring that he was being taken advantage of, to which the wizard didn't respond, merely smiling.

Charlie asked the dark-haired man why he had come to the reserve earlier in the day. The American explained his project and the information Geraldine had given him. The wizard immediately picked up on his idea and they discussed it for hours, allowing Steve to build up his project even further. Eventually, they went to bed with a plan to enable the younger man to get his project underway.