Coral

True to their word, they released Amanda at three o'clock the next afternoon. and she was quite merry from the large dose of purple liquid Pernicia had fed to her for lunch.

She let Stella and Winter fuss her through the Floo, and watched with amusement as Eloise and Edward bickered over who was more qualified to safely conduct an infant from the hospital to the house, and which method of transportation would be the most ideal.

" Through the Floo, woman, are you mad? She'll asphyxiate on ashes!"

" I never heard such a thing!"

" Have you ever taken a child through?"

" Well, not a baby. But I think you should do it anyway. You're the father."

" Well, I am not taking her through the Floo. I am Disapparating with her."

" Disapparating! My gods, you'll splinch her!"

" I've never splinched a soul. I can side-along three people, you know that."

" Oh, yes...adults who are concentrating. But that's not a baby. Besides, who knows what that can do to one of them...what if her brain doesn't fit back into place?" Eloise wrung her hands.

" Her brains will be fine! That's why I wanted your help...two concentrating adults should be able to safely escort one baby..."

" Oh no. I won't be part of this. I can't! What if something happens? I'd never forgive you."

" Really!" Winter stepped back through the Floo, and took the baby from Pernicia Thoroughgood who had been standing with her mouth partly open, hoping to contribute her professional opinion at some place in the argument.

Before Edward or Eloise could stop her, Winter ducked under the low mantel, and disappeared up the Floo. She arrived safely in front of Amanda without ever waking Lottie from peaceful slumber.

" I think they might have taken one too many dueling spells to the head in the old days." she said, tucking the baby into the basket at Amanda's feet. " Will her brains be dislodged indeed!"

-------------

Amanda would only rest for a few minutes, before she insisted on carrying Charlotte to see the nursery. The others began to protest, but she pleaded, saying that she felt fine...which would be true for three hours, or until her pain medication wore away. She wanted to enjoy herself while it lasted.

" I'll have to carry her up and down anyhow." she stated in her defense. " It isn't so bad."

This wasn't entirely true, but she was stubborn. She was also weak and sore, in ways even a good pain potion couldn't completely disguise, and the climb seemed much steeper than usual.

When she finally reached her destination she had to rest in the rocking chair for a moment. It gave her a chance, however, to admire the sliver of moon, thickening as it progressed from it's recent pilgrimage to the dark side of the universe. It's newborn feeble light was appropriate; it was no older this month than Charlotte. For a moment mother and daughter reposed peacefully in the mystic glow, but soon Amanda found the weak light was causing her to grow slightly drowsy.

She shifted in the chair, and Charlotte woke. She didn't cry however, just began to kick her tiny feet happily. She wasn't content until she had completely kicked the blanket free from her feet. Amanda admired her tiny pink toes for a moment, before rising somewhat stiffly from her seat.

She carried the baby to the cradle, and placed her gently on the soft green bedding. The child's coming home dress was of ecru eyelet, and resembled a christening gown in length and style. A matching eyelet cap sat askew on her tiny head, protecting her from the rather cool September air. She was a beautiful sight...as beautiful as one of Stella's dolls.

Amanda shivered at the thought of dolls, and rocked the cradle.

Downstairs, Stella was preparing a meal, and Edward had been relegated to the task of carrying half of the many bags and boxes of home-comeing gifts upstairs. He dropped an armload of foil covered boxes, with something less than care, onto the nursery carpet.

Amanda could just catch a comment about Eloise under his breath, but he forgot whatever was annoying him as soon as he saw the baby in the cradle.

Locking his hands behind his back, he crept closer.

" Ah...she fits perfectly!" he said, as though surprised at himself. Amanda wondered just how large he thought babies might be, but kept her thoughts to herself. She was relieved to see that he was enamored with Charlotte, when so many Purebloods were habitually ridding themselves of unwanted wives, and unsavory daughters.

" There, Lottie..." he said reaching out to rock the cradle too. " Do you like that?"

Charlotte responded by closing her eyes.

" I believe she is sleepy." he stated.

" Again." Amanda smiled. " They said she will sleep almost all the time."

After a few more moments of being rocked, Charlotte fell back to sleep and after some coaxing, Amanda convinced Edward that it was perfectly safe to leave her and return downstairs.

" Just leave her here? Alone?" he asked, aghast.

" Well...yes." she responded, feeling suddenly barbaric. " She won't sleep long..."

"What if she were to cry?"

Amanda blinked at the floor a moment. What did Muggles do when babies cried?

" Is there a charm? A charm to amplify noises? Then we could here her cry downstairs?"

He looked relieved. He had just such a charm placed on the wand shops, so that customers entering the store could be heard, even if he were in the back rooms.

" Of course. Yes...now I see." He seemed slightly embarrassed not to have thought of this himself, but she forgave him. It was obvious that he had rested less than herself, and that, combined with excitement and nervousness, was causing him to be slightly absent-minded.

Nevertheless, he hurriedly perfected a set of charms that amplified any noise within the nursery to echo in every room in the house. He made Amanda test it, by repeating a soft line over and over again, as he adjusted the volume. At last, when her quieted voice rattled the dining room crystal, he was satisfied. Returning to the nursery, he escorted her downstairs, and left her in the capable hands of her relatives while he retired to his study, for whatever business men must do alone in their studies before dinner.

After she had rested and been forced to drink several cups of hot sweet tea, Amanda was urged to open some of the gifts. The packages were all wrapped in creamy, pastel paper that crinkled crisply when she handled it. She became so excited over the baby-clothes she found within, that she lay out a set, determined to change Lottie into it when she woke. It was a very pale lavender satin, a gown, with frothy tatted lace at the hem, and slender herons, embroidered in the same exact shade of lavender crossed necks in the center of the bib.

Then a set of sky-blue baby robes dripping with real lace was discovered, and she changed her mind. A pale pink dress followed, and then a red sacque with matching bib, a peach gown. And then there was the plethora of beautiful gowns and robes waiting already in the nursery closet! She was sorely tempted to wake the baby herself, just to begin dressing her.

" I'll never get the chance to use them all!" she lamented, trying to calculate how many dresses Charlotte must wear in a day if they were to all be sampled. " When will she wake? I want to try this one on her! And then...this one! No. This one, with that hat. What do you think?"

" Didn't you have enough dressing-up with your dolls?" Eloise teased. " And I thought you were all grown-up."

" And I suppose you never played with dolls?" Stella teased her aunt.

Eloise reached up in her familiar gesture and patted the back of her hair.

" I never had time, my dear. I preferred real...people."

" She means men." Winter said conspiratorially.

" They're fun to dress up too." Eloise said, primly.

" Aunt Eloise." Stella warned.

" Charlotte won't grow up so fast that you don't have time to enjoy her." Winter promised Amanda, changing the subject. " Your mother wore her pinafore until she was four!"

" Aw...did you wear pinafores? I bet you looked adorable." Amanda turned to Stella, who flushed slightly at the memory of the pinafores.

" No she wasn't." Eloise piped up. " Everyone agreed that she looked just like George IV...except in a pinafore."

" I did not!" Stella replied indignantly. " Who said that about me?"

" Thessalia Mockingbloom."

" My nanny? Tessy said that? Why...that's horrid. Oh! I never did like her."

The subject of nannies carried them through the rest of the visit, up until they departed, bestowing kisses on both Amanda and the newly awakened Lottie, Eloise and Winter were arguing about the name of their seventh nanny.

" Claudine." Winter insisted.

" Claudine? Are you sure? I thought it was Mona."

" Oh...no!" Winter shook her head in disgust. " That was our fourth nanny. You recall she came after Willa--"

" But before Greta. " Eloise agreed. And they shared between them an evil grin, before exclaiming simultaneously:

" And that's the end of MONA!"

They exploded into the closest approximation to giggling that two respectable witches with greying hair and sultry voices could manage.

" Beg your pardon?" Amanda asked, amused, but not quite following the joke.

" Oh, nothing dear." Eloise sobered immediately.

" Don't listen to her. It was everything. She was a horrible person, and we did everything to persuade her to leave."

" She was a teetotaler and a prude. She wanted our happy home to be a...a...a"

" Convent." Winter supplied.

" I would have had it in a moment! Anyhow, she wanted all of us girls to dress in woolen greys and not talk to boys."

" Or men, she wasn't overly particular."

" Naturally, " Eloise said patting her trademark fashion, " We couldn't let that happen. She used to burn father's cigars, and water down the sherry. But she was never brave enough to admit to it--if anyone noticed something missing or diluted, she would blame one of the maids. That was unforgivable."

" What happened?"

" She left in the night for Australia. Forgot to leave a notice. "

" Praise Leda's sticking charm."

" Praise Sarai's transfigurations."

It was one of the few times Amanda had heard them mention their other sisters, and she caught, just under their jovial recollections, a slight sadness. Not a sadness caused by lost childhoods, but by lost loved ones.

Of course Amanda was fantastically curious about these other women, her kinswomen, but she was not sure of the proper time or manner of asking. At times, both Eloise and Winter would be wells of information and gossip, but caught in just the wrong mood, they could become cold and closed. Seeing perhaps, her eagerness, Eloise deigned to share a small tidbit.

" Leda was magic itself when it came to charms. She manipulated Mona's robes to stick to the floor, effectively pinning her on display. In the foyer."

" And Sarai charmed the robes to be transparent. She transfigured her underclothes to be...well, a little more exotic. "

" Father and mother came in...and found her...running about in circles around her stuck hem..." Eloise laughed as she used one long finger to trace circles in the air. " Undergarments for all the world to see, and screaming in hysterics.

" They thought she was drunk. " Winter laughed.

" Actually she was just red from embarrassment." Eloise was beside herself.

You know, we should have been ashamed." Winter sobered suddenly. Eloise followed suit.

" You're absolutely right. Despicable behavior. That's what it was."

For a moment they nodded at each other, perfectly composed. Then a slight twitch began at the left hand corner of Winter's elegant mouth. It spread all the way across her painted lips,and onto Eloise's. Then they quivered, gave a weak attempt at pretending to be serious, before bursting once more into shrieking laughter. Without another word, they slipped through the Floo arm in arm.

----

" Speaking of nannies..."

Edward spoke up after the other women had left for the day. When Amanda had gave him a suspicious look, he admitted that one of the downfalls of the sensitivity charm was that it followed whomever cast it like an invisible strand of cobweb. Anyone who unintentionally intersected this filament could be heard by the person who cast the charm, a side-effect that could be useful, annoying, or in some cases, informative.

" You see, it wasn't eavesdropping, per se." he said over the rim of his glass, a glint of humor in his eye. " But I must say I am shocked by Eloise's failure to notice. You see, the charm will feel like an uncomfortable cool draught, to those capable of discerning it's presence. I shall have to speak to her about her failing powers of perception. "

" I would like to be within the vicinity when you do. " Amanda replied with a quirky smile. Such a meeting could only be entertaining. " At a safe distance, of course."

" All well and good. But...not to be too grossly distracted form present business, I believe that this is the time to discuss hiring someone to help you."

Amanda looked crestfallen, and prodded her shepherd's pie with a fork tine.

" I really don't want to have to have any help. I can manage, if not quite so well, at first."

" I know that you can...but I would feel better knowing you were not alone during the day while recovering. We mustn't impose on your mother any longer than we must. Besides, she agrees with me. "

His rather kind tone toward Stella was still a minor mystery to Amanda. Stella had accepted Amanda's choice in marrying him, but she had not embraced it wholly, but Edward had never been anything less than polite, regardless of the degree of aloofness he received from Stella. He had lived too long, in a world filled with too many people, to take offense at being shunned by one woman.

Amanda had tried to soothe that unspoken tension, but never successfully. What mysterious underground table did this altered behavior spring from?

She did not, and probably would never, know that after Charlotte's birth, after the visitors had been barred from the room for the night, Stella had taken Edward to the side and apologized to him for having been so cold and mistrusting. Apparently, his impulsive action of dashing into the room to see his wife had impressed his mother-in-law greatly, and she was willing to relax her standards somewhat for his sake.

This truce between them was private, there was no need for it to go further than those minutes in which it occurred. Estella had been surprised to discover that Edward was truly a kind person, and he in turn was surprised to discover that beneath her haughty exterior, Stella was genuine and friendly. She also had a unique sense of humor, that once freed of it's damming, bubbled forth in it's teasing way, washing away any residual sorrows.

Though Amanda would never know the words spoken between them; not Stella's apology nor Edward's reply, she had felt the initial rush of sweet relief, as though an irritating, high-pitched hum had abruptly ceased. She wondered however, now that he was on the verge of threatening to call her mother to side against her, whether or not the relief was worth the consequence.

" I am sure that everyone agrees. I might have agreed once as well." she said, rather tightly.

" Yes. Of course. That's understandable." he winced at her implication. " But we needn't rush into a decision--I am sure there are any number of trustworthy girls..."

He did not wish to voice the fact that Polly herself had been trustworthy. She had also been hexed and used, then eventually murdered. That could befall any girl, regardless of her candor.

" Many women throughout the ages have managed households and children without servants." she said softly, taking his hand. Her gesture did not soften his resolve, and she knew by the stubborn set of his mouth and jaw that it was one argument she would not win.

" Many other women lived in households that were not built or run by complex magical spells. I know that you have been having great difficulty with that aspect. " he held up a hand to silence any argument." And that is reasonable. Consider any help we hire to be like an interpreter. This house is a foreign language, written in code. Hieroglyphics even. You need a person capable of interpreting and working those codes."

She pressed her own lips together and returned her gaze to her plate. He was right of course. It took her three times as long to accomplish anything, because she was constantly having to wait for someone to come along and re-charm something, or un-ward something else. Her wand could only manage so much, and then only in small sections. It was going to be exhausting.

" What about house elves? I've heard that many people have them. They are loyal; I read that they cannot harm the family that they are sworn to unless it is under the most dire of circumstances. And don't they have strong magic of their own? Strong enough that no one could manipulate them?"

She was rambling of course, hoping that she was mistaken about the expression that had formed on his features when she said 'house-elf'. He looked absolutely pained.

" Amanda..." she smiled reflexively. She always loved to hear him say her name, even in that tone of voice. " It isn't that house-elves are good or bad, it is just extremely rare to be able to acquire one if it has not come down through your family. Only the wealthiest of families, or in exceptional cases such as Hogwarts, institutions, are they prevalent.

She blushed. She hadn't thought that they might not be able to afford a house elf. She only knew that Purebloods could own them, but her knowledge of the creatures was somewhat scanty. Hastily she cast around for a tactful way to lead the subject away.

" It's just as well, I suppose. I read in the Quibbler that they can carry Quinkles."

" I beg your pardon?"

" Quinkles. I think it some manner of pox, only they are spiral shaped. "

" I've never heard of such a thing."

She smiled coyly.

" What? Do you possibly doubt something that the Quibbler says?" she asked, teasingly.

" Only more often than not. "

" Except for the sand yeti. I simply have to believe in those. " she gave a little nod. " So there. And since I am certain that Amele will be by this week, I will ask her if she knows of any unemployed girls who are good with children and adults, know a little about Muggle lifestyles, and are capable of battling Vermicious Knids."

He relaxed with a smile.

" You are cheeky at times. But I do believe it's one of your charms."

" Thank you."

" No... thank you. I will feel much better, knowing that you will never be unattended. "

" If you ask it of me, you know I will comply." she said, warmly. " Is that good though, asking Amele?"

" I would put my faith in her, yes. I'm sure she has great recourse to several good families." he leaned across to kiss her, tilting up her chin gently.

Suddenly the room was filled with the sounds of Charlotte crying, the noise vibrating across the floors, and echoing in the crystal. Edward, startled, froze halfway across the table, and Amanda smiled.

" Thus parenthood begins. " she said sweetly, and kissed his cheek swiftly before rising.

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Lyrics- Stevie Wonder

Conception Quote-Revolutionary War, by James Street.

Way down yonder in New Orleans-Louis Armstrong

Vermicious Knids-An invention of Roald Dahl. Amanda is teasing Edward by using them.