So Far, So Dysfunctional

Kendall was determinedly pretending to sleep, but he could hear Ophelia screaming her head off in the next room. He rolled over, squeezing his eyes hut, wondering what the house elves were so busy doing that they- He sniffed and smelled bacon. Okay, it was forgivable then. Still, Ophelia screamed on and Kendall sighed, opening his eyes.

Augustus was standing next to the bed, his hands clamped over his ears, a blank expression on his face. Kendall would have jumped, but this was not unusual for his quiet, observant son. "Ophelia lost her teddy," he stated, matter of factly. Kendall sighed and let out a long groan. He turned over, to see Athena was not in bed. Also not surprising. She was probably screaming at the peacocks or sobbing on the horses or pacing like a caged lioness. She preferred to sleep later in the afternoons.. When everyone wanted to be loud, but could not.

He slipped out of bed, realizing he was in his boxers and a tee shirt- rather unbecoming, but no one was around to see. He clapped a hand on his son's sandy hair, before walking over to the closet, yawning. "You'd better go check on the birds, they hate when Lia cries." Augustus nodded. "I already did, papa. I'm going to go down and wait for breakfast."

He turned and walked out while Kendall grabbed his clothing and threw it into the bathroom for when he took a shower. He took out a robe and pulled it on, making his way down the hallway to Ophelia's room. The shrieks became louder and louder until he was buffeted by them. He opened the door..

She was in the middle of her room, banging her fists and spinning in circles. Kendall cleared his throat and she sat up, dry-eyed. "Hi Daddy, guess what I had a dream that-" she suddenly remembered what she wanted and began to wail again, flopping down. He closed his eyes. "Lia, stop. What do you want?"

She sat up, pouting. "A new teddy! All mine are OLD!"

"I just got you a new one last week," he reminded.

"I can't FIND it!" she shrieked back. But Kendall would not be so fooled. He pulled out his wand. "Accio new teddy." Out it flew from it's hiding spot under the bed. Ophelia made a wild snatch for it, but it landed in his hands. He could see why she wanted a new one. The pretty white fur had been colored with marker and glitter.

He looked at her and sighed. "Ophelia.." He waved his wand, restoring the teddy's color. "Use your words. Not your Siren call." She pouted. "But Daddy.. I want a NEW teddy." He sighed. "Go down for breakfast, dear. Then we'll talk."

He left, a loud "BUT-" following him. He would deal with her whims and wants once he was fully awake and dressed. He locked the door to his bathroom and quickly cleaned himself up, shaved, and sprayed cologne- anything to keep Athena calm. He changed into a nice shirt and nice jeans before risking heading out again.

Downstairs, Cookie was setting plates at the table for everyone. Kendall took his spot, realizing only Gus was ready. He heard small stomps and looked over to see Lia jumping up and down as she made her way to the table. She climbed up and made a loud, "HMPH!" Kendall glanced over at Cookie. "Where's Athena?"

The house elf shrugged. "I do not know, Master. Miss Athena does not like Cookie asking her much nowadays."

The right combination needed to be found for some kind of normalcy and sanity in the Rookwood Household. That morning, while the brat screamed about toys, Athena found herself out on the patio with a bowl of strawberries and the new book she’d gone out of her little – or large, as was becoming increasingly apparent – way to get the week before. She hadn’t had a chance to look at it that morning and had lost herself in the text on her fourth strawberry. Athena had been having some bizarre cravings and they definitely appealed to her desire to make everyone’s lives difficult during pregnancy. Strange concoctions had the House Elves cooking all night and some, much to Athena’s delight, had to go out globetrotting to find what she wanted. Today she’d wanted something simple though. She wanted a calm day. That, though, was about as likely as Kendall keeping his balls after she was done with the little wrigglers that did nothing but roll around inside of her.

Athena always felt rather odd when she was pregnant. She’d always been aware of the foetuses, even when they technically weren’t big enough to create any sense of alarm in her. She’d had her theories as to why and with the triplets she seemed to favour the very first opinion she’d had when pregnant with Augustus – that what she was tapping into, what she was aware of, was their magic. Athena was aware of each twin with great clarity, especially now as she was getting later into her pregnancy. She was becoming increasingly irritated with the Healers that were telling her some backwards trop about how Baby One’s foot was to the left of her belly button or something. No, Baby One, Two and Three’s feet were in her ribs, constantly and she hated it.

They were the worst at night and worse still when she needed to wash. Apparently, they loved water. She didn’t know how they knew but they did and every time it was like she was being beaten with rocks, continuously. They might’ve loved it but they’d played havoc with her ribs and bone strengthening potion was not doing the trick – in fact, if Athena didn’t know any better then she would have put money on the fact that it was making things worse. The night was worse than the bath though. They had poor internal clocks and after weeks of tears, Athena had finally given up and decided to get rest whenever they shut up for fives minutes. They gave her more grief than she was actually sure they were worth but she loved them all the same.

Really, Athena should have been in bed. The babies were quiet and they’d shuffled a little, giving her ribs a little bit of a breather. One of Athena’s hands was absent mindedly caressing her stomach and the other hand was wrapped tightly around the book she was engrossed in. The strawberries were unimportant. They paled in comparison to Peruvian artefacts that were just waiting to be rediscovered. Sod breakfast, sod strawberries....Athena wanted her hands on something old, dusty and worth a lot of money.

“M-Mistress?”

Athena lifted her gaze from the book and looked over to the source of the voice to find Brew standing there, wringing her hands together. Athena raised an eyebrow at her House Elf before smiling and patting the chair next to her. Brew shook her head and mumbled a thank-you before switching her weight from one leg to the other. She was nervous. Athena didn’t honestly think she was that scary. She was dishevelled, fat and all together pissed off with both of those current attributes. She was sick of looking like a beached whale all the time. She couldn’t threaten anything but the peacocks and her increasingly skitty husband. Her wand was spluttering, as it always did, clearly as overwhelmed by the whole affair as she was and to top it all off, she was sure she had a cracked rib again. So maybe Brew did have due cause to be afraid. Athena felt as if she was going to burst into tears, personally.

“Yes, Brew?” Athena asked gently, deciding to close her book. She ran her hand through the dark curly hair atop her head and pulled the hair band off of her wrist. She threw her hair up into a bun and rubbed her eyes before sitting forward and peering at the House Elf intently. “Are you alright?” She asked.

“Fine Mistress Thena!” The House Elf chirped immediately. “Master is looking for you! Brew overheard and Brew knew where Mistress was so Brew came and found Mistress! Is Mistress upset?”

Athena blinked. “No, I’m not upset. I’m fine. I’m the same as I was an hour ago, Brew. What does the bloody fool want now anyway?”

Brew shrugged her shoulders. “Master asked Cookie where Mistress was. Master did not say why, Mistress.”

“Oh for Christ sake! Well will someone kindly tell him that if I die on my way there then I hope the guilt kills him. Pregnancy is not best suited for those who are frustrated with life anyway, Brew. Don’t try it. This time, I’m neutering him. I can’t take this ridiculousness anymore!”

And with that, Athena began to embark on the impossible task of getting herself out of the chair, one that she promptly failed after collapsing back into it. Athena didn’t know whether it was the utter shame of not being able to do the simplest of things or just hormones in general but being unable to get up was what set her off and so she dropped her face into her hands and began to cry. She didn’t hear Brew scuttle away but she hoped to Merlin that when the House Elf did leave her, she gave Kendall a walloping. Athena could never have meek House Elves. No, hers had attitude problems. Brew took great joy out of inflicting pain in Kendall for some bizarre reason. Athena would always remain amused by her House Elves near-constant attempts on upsetting Kendall’s wellbeing. Hopefully, Brew would mess up his hair or something equally horrifying from Kendall’s point of view. A bit of groin-abuse wouldn’t go amiss either.

Kendall watched as his children began to eat with bleary eyes, having not woken up quite yet. There seemed to be everything this morning- probably in a desperate attempt to please his fickle wife the first time, something everyone was beginning to doubt was possible. There were omelets, sausages, bacon, french toast, waffles, pancakes, muffins, and more. Then there was orange juice, pumpkin juice, coffee, iced tea, hot chocolate, milk, anything and everything to suit the whims of Athena and Ophelia.

He sat there, drinking his coffee as he waited, never wanting to make Athena think he had forgotten about her or anything of the sort. He glanced up to see Lia giggling, covering her mouth with a chubby hand as she stared past him. He scrunched his eyebrows and glanced over at Augustus. Augustus was focused on his food, but he looked up and his eyes widened. "Papa-"

Ophelia stood on her chair and threw a muffin at him. "Shut up, Gussy!" she squealed. Kendall stood slightly, saying, "Lia! Stop it! Apologize!" She pouted and said, "Sorry, Augustus." She turned back, plopping down and giggling at her father, who sat down. "What, Lia?" he snapped. She giggled and pointed. "Look behind you!"

He turned and immediately received a dishtowel to the face. He spluttered in indignation and stood, pushing his chair out of the way. "BREW!" he boomed. "What is the meaning-" "Master made Mistress cry!" Brew squealed back, already twisting the dishtowel to hit him again. "Now Brew feels bad for Master making Mistress cry."

Kendall grabbed Brew by the back of her ragged shirt, and she kicked like mad as he held her above his head, bleating like mad. "Brew, where is Athena!" he demanded. Brew crossed her knobby arms and said, "Hmph. Master does not even know where Mistress is! Mistress is out on the patio! Not that Master would help, as he never does-"

Kendall dropped Brew, who deftly landed on her feet- as she was used to doing. "Watch Lia and Augustus. Augustus is in charge, you listen to him, Brew." He turned and walked out, still appalled by the rudeness of the house elves. Athena was behind it, of course, but why should a man be disrespected by his own servants. She would have an earful once he found her-

When he did, however, his anger trickled away. She was crying outside and he knew he could not yell at her. "Darling," he said, walking over to her and kneeling next to her, one hand alighting to her beautiful, round stomach, and the other to her hair. "What's wrong?"

The waterworks was like an alarm clock telling the bane of Athena’s existence to wake up. First it was the smallest of the three who promptly kicked the one above. That set off the chain reaction that Athena did not want to experience and she bit down hard on her lip as the pain rippled through her. Thankfully, they were nowhere near her ribs but it was precarious all the same. It hurt all the same; and oh, how she hated it. Athena would never enjoy the kicking. It hurt more than the actual labour she found – or perhaps it was because her children were all like her and couldn’t function without making someone miserable. Sadistic little brats. Athena wasn’t sure who was the worst though – Ophelia, who Athena wanted to strangle even now at times, or the three hell raisers she was stuck with currently. They were evenly matched, she was sure, though she didn’t know what that said about Ophelia.

There was a pain potion with her name on it in the bathroom cupboard though the Healers had warned her that she shouldn’t take so many. Then again, they were the same Healers who told her someone was somewhere they actually weren’t so Athena took everything they said with a pinch of salt. A pain potion and a kip would do her nicely though the question was...how did one get from the patio to bed?

Athena exhaled shakily, her fingers threading through the front of her hair, and tried to quell her tears. Her eyes did run dry at the sound of footsteps though, as if they knew their cue, and Athena lifted her head to see her husband standing there, a look of irritation evaporating from his face. Here he was, though, in all his glory, the reason why she was an over emotional beached whale. It was a good thing Athena loved him otherwise he wouldn’t have lived past Ophelia. The important thing was that she did love him, though. She adored him. Had he been anyone else then she would have drawn the line at Ophelia. She’d been a terror enough and she certainly still was. Only Kendall would be able to impregnate a woman such as Athena with three children and live to tell the tale.

Hence the reason why he was very lucky she loved him.

Athena winced as another foot banged against her stomach and her lip trembled a little as she groped from Kendall’s hand. Athena brought it around the side of her stomach and pressed his fingers against the skin as the little sod kicked his/her mother again. Athena whimpered a little and rested her forehead against her husband’s.

“I hate you so much at times,” She whispered fiercely. “I am sick of this, Kendall. I’m sick of being completely useless. I’ve had enough of this...” Athena closed her eyes and moved Kendall’s hand again, to a place that was a little too close to those poor, abused ribs for comfort. “I feel as if I’m one big bruise and I’m sorry,” Athena’s eyes began to water again, “I’ve been so erratic.” Athena reopened her eyes and she cupped his face in her hands. “I love you, though; even if I might have to murder you horribly for doing this to me.” Athena laughed a little and kissed him gently. “Is there still some breakfast left? I was trying to come and get you but I’m currently pretending to be a beached whale and so, classic to my character, I can’t move my fat arse. Help me? Please, love?”

Kendall blinked, his eyes filling with worry as she reached for his hand, thinking about how much he used his fingers and how useful they were to him. They were precious and for a moment he was terrified he was going to have them ripped from their sockets. She just moved his hand to her stomach though and he felt a kick. He could not help he goofy grin of pleasure that slipped onto his face. She was constantly reminded of the children on the way. He only had these moments, and when she was screaming at him, to remind him. These moments were precious.

She whimpered, however, and the smile slipped away. His hand fumbled for hers and squeezed tightly, knowing this pregnancy in particular was incredibly painful for her. He scooted closer and felt her head rest against his. At her words, he could not help but grin again; it was so Athena, and it reminded him of the years they spent together as just friends, always acting hostile and full of witty banter. Obviously, very little had changed.

"You're not useless," he soothed, though she pressed right on. "You've been erratic, but understandably so. We all understand, dear," he said. She cupped his face and he looked into her watering eyes, tipping his chin into her hands as his expression softened. She said she loved him and he felt a little stab of pride at her words. How many purebloods heard that- sincerely- from their wives.

He laughed with her and kissed her back, expressing his promise to watch over her- the promise he had made ten years ago and swore to uphold forever. At her words, he smiled standing up. "Yes there is, that's why I was looking for you. Come on. Teamwork." He swung a leg over the end of the long chair, reaching down to grasp her hands as he began to back up, trying to help her get to her feet.

There was something truly amazing about the way the life within her moved but Athena’s cynicism could not allow her to enjoy it, not when every other foot ended up in her ribcage. They were strong little buggers and that was what gave Athena the most grief. She’d always been able to put up with the kicks but with the triplets it was near enough six feet at one time and that was a little bit too much for Thea. Today they seemed to be placating their mother. It seemed as if one of them had cottoned onto the fact that if they gave her too much hell then she would ensure their teenage years were the worst six years of their existence. Athena was vaguely proud of whichever one had let the other two know that very fact. At least one of them had half a brain; that was one small consolation.

Athena did feel sorry for Kendall. She didn’t try to be erratic – unfortunately that wasn’t under her control. He’d had to deal with the onslaught of emotions that she’d had welled up within her from the word go. She did feel bad about it because it definitely wasn’t something he deserved. Then again, it was his fault. Still, he didn’t deserve it...not really. Consciously, Athena knew this but her hormones and the three little devils did not. They set each other off and Kendall had to bear the brunt of her frustrations. Bless him.

“You make me sound like a mental case,” she smirked at him. “Then again...probably am.” Athena shrugged her shoulders. “I mean...I married you didn’t I?” She grinned at him. “Mental is probably a good attribute to have, though. What did Ophelia want? I could hear her screaming about something but Peruvian pots seemed more appealing somehow...can’t think why.” Athena laughed.

She grasped Kendall’s hands and bit her lip, wondering how exactly they were going to manage to pull up not one, but four people, between them. Athena had to help herself but she also had to support the three little wrigglers that were still rolling around trying to get comfortable. Thankfully, with Kendall’s help, Athena managed to haul herself onto her feet and she felt infinitely better after managing to do so. She smiled brightly and kissed him again before turning around and taking her book off of the table.

“So...what’s for breakfast then?” She asked with a smile. There was another little nudge against her stomach and Athena pursed her lips before taking Kendall’s hand and pressing it against her stomach again. “I think they might be happy to see you,” She murmured, moving his hand across her stomach so he could feel another little kick. They had tired themselves out already and Athena was grateful for it. “Or, um...they are glad you’re here, let’s put it that way. And, funnily enough, so am I.” Athena smirked at him. “Now come on...I doubt you’ve enjoyed any breakfast yet. Did Brew hurt you?”

"You have to be a little insane to make it in this house, and to willingly walk down the alter towards me of all people. And no sane person would be able to stand being physically and verbally abused by house elves put up by his wife," he quipped back. "Lucky for you, sanity never ran in my family, so neither of us have run off yet. And we never will. Insanity binds us, darling," he said, plopping a kiss on her forehead.

He rolled his eyes at her words and said, "Your daughter wanted a new teddy because she 'lost' hers- which means she colored it and crammed it where she thought I would not find it. She's still fuming about how unfair her life is and how cruel we are for only getting her a new teddy every week, rather than every other day." He paused, "I can't wait for teenage years."

With the careful coordination between the two, Kendall and Athena managed to get the latter onto her feet, without either of them falling down or straining something. By the time this whole business was done, he'd have the arms for a Beater rather than a Keeper. Between having to pick up his fallen wife, he also found himself juggling more things- plates of food, teddies, Lia, birds, books, and all the other things Athena always seemed to have carried with ease when she wanted to.

"Breakfast? Everything you're fickle heart and insane stomach cravings could desire." He glanced down at the strawberries. "Then again, they didn't put out the fruit.. Or the ice cream. I'll remind them who they are cooking for." He smirked at her, knowing she hated when he teased her about her crazy cravings. He hoped she was tired out from standing that she would ignore that.

She puled his hand to her stomach and a smile fluttered across his face again, his other hand reaching down to touch her stomach. From the other side, he felt little feet knocking against his hand. He shivered. He had become use to the sensation when Ophelia was on her way- she threw tantrums even in the womb- but it did not make it any more amazing. He glanced up and met Athena's gaze. "They're beautiful. You're beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed her lips.

"You're right, I'm starved." He reached down and picked up her hand, walking slow with her as they made their way back into the kitchen. "No, that treacherous elf used a dishtowel. I recovered.. My ego, however," he shook his head. "Who knows."

“Not willingly at all!” Athena protested, plastering a scandalised look on her face. “My father had his wand pressed into those pretty little strings you took delight in untying that night. I’d lie to you and tell you that it was the Imperius Curse but somehow I don’t think you’ve even believe me if I tried. Don’t you dare insult my House Elves, Mr. Rookwood! I had them when I was Lia’s age. They still make me tea on demand so don’t knock them! Just because they hate you doesn’t mean I do. Remember that.” She smiled gently at him before laughing. “Heaven forbid either of us manages to grab hold on the brain cells we apparently possess. Bound by insanity; you might just be onto a winner there, Casanova.”

Athena quirked an eyebrow at her husband as he spoke. Athena’s lips came together as she fought back a smirk. “Oh, so she’s my daughter today is she?” Athena teased. “I’ll make a compromise with her, hmm? She’s a hoarder. She won’t be content until she has everything fluffy on this planet. You’re next, my love.” Athena laughed. “You make it sound as if it is going to be awful! She won’t get into any trouble. Hopefully if she’s got sense then she won’t spend all of her time chasing after boys. Perhaps I’ll have to coach her. She is going to have the best damn genes in Slytherin House so she should bloody well know how to use them.” Athena smirked. “Spoiled rotten she may be but I’m afraid she’s our baby girl. You, Mister, need to tritty-trot off and get her a teddy bear sharpish because otherwise Lia will hold it against you forever. Say goodbye to Father’s Day presents! I have a solution though - a better one! One that will please all of us!”

Unfortunately for Kendall’s Gringotts Vault, Athena’s solution consisted of spending money - and lots of it. Thankfully though, it was money they could all afford to blow on stupid things like teddies. Relics from Paraguay had replenished ten years worth of spending. Now she just had to get her hands on those two pots from Peru and she’d be content until she read about something else that needed her keen eye. Athena was sure her job description was antiques dealer - or at least, it had been. It had evolved from that to archaeology to full blown treasure hunting. She had people to do it for her too, when she was in a state like this - a state worldly recognised as pregnancy.

“Ice Cream and fruit is the best combination you will ever taste so don’t mock me!” Athena exclaimed. The body was tired but the mind and the wit were both dry and raring to go. Food had become Athena’s favourite thing this time around and she’d put on the weight needed to stop herself from keeling over. She admittedly wasn’t very happy about it but she enjoyed eating bizarre things a little too much for her own good. The House Elves were overwhelmed - or at least, the normal ones were. According to Brew’s reminiscing, Athena’s choice of food had always been erratic and impulsive. She had commented that what she did now was a more extreme version to her eating habits as teenager. “If you want to carry these then it can be arranged, Kendall James Rookwood. Then I can placate my screaming daughter and laugh at you while you put melon in chocolate - okay let’s go. I’m starved.”

Athena looked down at her stomach and felt her lips twitch upwards. She could b!tch and complain as much as she wanted but that didn’t alter her opinion of them. They were beautiful - they were a blessing to them. Athena did love them and though she did make life difficult when they shuffled around inside of her, that didn’t make her love them any less. But like with all of her pregnancies, she felt strange. It was mostly due to how aware of her babies she actually was. Each little flutter she knew about and as they turned she shivered from both delight and wonder. To be able to carry little people was a wondrous blessing and she was so very grateful for it. They were beautiful - so very beautiful.

“They tap back,” She murmured thoughtfully, running her fingers across the top of her stomach. “They know we’re here...” She bit her lip and smiled lovingly at the bump before lifting her gaze and returning Kendall’s kiss.

Athena laced her fingers with his and looked over in search of her feet. She wiggled her toes inside the canvas shoes she’d put on that morning and smiled brightly before carefully placing one foot in front of the other, thereby bringing the kitchen closer. When they entered, it was relatively peaceful. Ophelia looked up almost immediately and opened her mouth to say something to her parents. She immediately thought better of it though and Athena dropped Kendall’s hand. She smirked at him before sweeping - kind of - over to her children. She put her hands on the table and squatted down - because Merlin knew that was easier than sitting - and looked at the two mischievously.

“Daddy won’t let me have a teddy!” Ophelia burst finally, eliciting a laugh from Athena.

“Yes, I heard about that funnily enough. We’ve actually got a better idea in mind, though. Lia...I need you to wait a week or so-” Ophelia immediately opened her mouth to retort but Athena’s eyebrows shot to her hairline, as if daring her to interrupt. Ophelia brought her lips together once more and Athena continued. “And then we’re all going to go to Hamley’s okay?” Athena looked at Gussy - he too seemed rather excited by the idea. “We’ll buy the shop out for the day and you can have as many teddies as you like - the pair of you. Alright? Does that sound good?” Ophelia nodded enthusiastically and Athena smirked a little. “One week...and then we’ll fill your room with teddies!”

And there it went. Athena could practically hear the money being poured down the proverbial drain. It would be worth it though - in the long run. What was a few grand in teddies? Was that really going to hurt? Probably not. A few Peruvian Pots and Fluffy going to work would help out that dent. Perhaps she’d even look for some Spanish Gold - there was a lot of that rumoured to be around.

Athena rose to her full height again, minding the table, and waddled around so she could take her own seat. She ruffled Gussy’s hair as she passed and immediately reached for the teapot once she was sat down. She poured herself a cup of tea and chucked in a few more sugar cubes than was perhaps sensible before bringing the cup to her lips. She took a sip before looking over at her husband.

“Will you sit down and feed yourself?” She scolded him. “Sit, eat and be happy, love.”

Kendall knew better than to tell Athena that the house elves were out of place to treat him as though he were not their master- regardless of whether or not they had been hers before hand, once they got married, the estates became shared. Besides, he was the man of the house, he wore the pants! ... Okay, Kendall was pretty sure he wore the pants. But he knew better than to argue with a hormonal, pregnant Athena.

"She's your daughter when she's being rotten. I thought we had this all figured out? Academic achievements, cute moments, milestones- that's when the children are mine, sprung from my loins only then. The rest of the time, I put the blame on your shoulders." He smirked widely. " I don't want to know you evil plans. When it all backfires and she has us on leashes, I'm blaming you."

He shivered at the thought of having to carry the triplets- he typically did not voice anything that might sound too sexist, for fear of losing the ability to say he was a man, but that was most definitely the woman's duties. Men were not meant to be even more touchy and insensitive- they were almost as bad as their pregnant counterparts daily. He shook his head and said, "C'mon, dearest, let's go."

It was amazing to think that the triplets already knew who their parents were and Kendall felt another shiver of anticipation run through him. Athena was so lucky to already be acquainted with their next batch of children- he could not wait to meet them. They began walking back and immediately Athena stirred up teddy trouble.

Kendall sighed, collapsing at his chair. He began to pile food onto his plate, groaning as Athena spoke to the children- his bank account was definitely going to feel that. "You have to make a deal, Lia, no excessive whining for two weeks!" She wobbled her head excitedly, though he knew she would be wailing about something within two days of the shipload of toys. Lia flailed her arms, squealing with happiness and her hand hit her juice. He stood but Athena was already scolding him. He slowly sat as Brew stepped forward to clean up the mess.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he responded, smiling.

The morning had to be Athena’s favourite time of day. Being pregnant meant that though there was little time for her morning routine, she could still establish some sense of normality. Despite being up half the night working by candle light, Athena was always sprightly in the morning. There was enough time to have breakfast and find somewhere to curl up and read before falling asleep in the afternoon. Though this wasn’t normality, it seemed to fit with the schedule the triplets were running. Athena couldn’t wait to get back to her normal sleeping pattern. The terrible threesome would no doubt disrupt it but at least she could cuddle up at night instead of mid-afternoon, part way through one of her favourite books. She’d gotten back into that habit of reading biographies again, biographies and Muggle historic novels. She didn’t know why either appealed to her but it was feeding her mind’s desire for constant knowledge without putting herself in danger. When she read about magic, she had to try it out. She’d nearly blown herself up a fair few times in the past and she was sure Kendall would reanimate her and re-kill her if she did anything as stupid as that.

“Brew,” Athena called to her Elf absent-mindedly as she picked up a piece of toast. “Has the post come yet?”

Brew bounced over, a handful of letters in hand, and jumped up onto one of the chairs to hand Athena the envelopes. She smiled, thanked the little Elf and placed the toast in her mouth before beginning to flick through the envelopes. As she looked through them, she began to sort it. She threw Gussy’s subscriptions to some sort of Potions magazine and tossed Lia a letter that, from the handwriting, must have been from Kendall’s mother. Athena then proceeded to sort what she assumed was hers and his. She was pleased to find she had one from Craig, with a beautiful Egyptian stamp on the front. There was also one from Zack and Emma - something else that pleased Athena to no end. She handed the rest of the post to Kendall once she’d found those two, no longer caring about the rest, and picked up her knife.

Athena sliced open Craig’s letter first and pulled everything out. The letter was inside but tucked away was a beautiful little gem strung on to, admittedly, a disgusting bit of rope. The trinket was beautiful though. Athena took her toast from her mouth and dropped onto her plate. As she chewed, her eyes scanned the letter. He was a cocky little sod - a little too cocky. Most of the letter was in a mixture of languages and hieroglyphics - as if he knew it would wind her up. He mentioned bits about wizarding tombs and how she should be kicking herself for being pregnant when she should have been out there with everyone else. Athena agreed wholeheartedly at times but three human lives were worth more than eight grand in pots. Then again, there was nothing Athena loved more than being waist deep in mud or sand looking for relics. However, there was something strangely wonderful about pregnancy; and it was wonderful enough to make her give up her passion - at least for a while.

“Apparently there’s a tomb of a wizard named Beaumont south of the Valley of the Kings.” Athena said absent mindedly after swallowing. “And apparently they’re leaving it for me.” Athena smirked. “Liars. That’ll be opened and raided within the week.”

Athena put down the letter and picked up the second piece of paper. It too was decorated in Craig’s cramped hand writing and she couldn’t help but smile at his words.

A little trinket from Italy, love. Tell me how much it goes for.

Athena made a face and put the trinket down. He knew her a little too well. Her distaste for Italy was her trademark amongst the group now and it had gotten the point where Athena had forgotten why she hated it so much. By the look of it though, it was worth its weight in gold. Athena just wanted to know why it was on such a grimy bit of rope. Athena’s interest was piqued concerning Beaumont and she was sure Zack and Emma’s letter would supply her with all she needed to know. And it did. She certainly wasn’t disappointed. Athena smiled to herself and gathered the letters up. She folded them up and put them underneath her saucer before reaching forward and grabbing some grapes out of the fruit bowl.

“I am missing Egypt for you,” Athena pouted at her husband and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. “There is a chance for me to have something other than pots this month - not that I mind pots, I love pots - and you’ve got me here bearing your children.” Athena tsked and smiled before kissing him once more. “On another completely unrelated note, however...” Athena looked over at Ophelia. “Lia....Oh Lia! The earth is calling, beautiful....” Athena smirked at the dazed girl and shook her head. “Do you want to make some cakes with me today? Brew can take the morning off. I’m sick of her working all of the time. How about we make some dessert for the boys to try at dinner?”