Mr. and Mrs. Michael Tremaine

It was early morning, and Michael was asleep. It was just getting light, and he intended to sleep in at least until sunup. One of the dogs had a different idea and wanted out. Michael tried to wave the footstool away, but the dog was persistent. He debated on having Snidely let the dogs out, but he had second thoughts. The enchanted hat rack always insisted on letting the dogs out the front door instead of into the back garden, and when that happened, the dogs always ran straight over to Honeydukes and insisted on going through the trash.

Michael opened his eyes and saw the brunette asleep next to him. She'd had some sort of stomach thing the last few days, so they'd taken to him bringing her a magical herb tea to relieve nausea. Yeah, that was a better plan. He got up, showered and shaved and dressed, and went downstairs and let the dogs out into the back garden and put on the tea--her herbal, and his Earl Grey.

"Snidely, get the paper, would you?" he asked. The hat rack saluted him and raced out the front door to get the morning newspaper. Michael tapped the floral tea mug on the counter. "Take Maddie's tea to her when its done, and don't spill. Don't wake her, either," he said. The tea mug seemed to stand at attention. He looked at a blue stoneware mug. "Bring mine outside, then." Michael got out a cigarette and a lighter and went out into the garden. He wasn't smoking in the house these days. It seemed rude. He lit up the cigarette and sat down. How had he gotten to this point? His tea mug floated out to him, and he presumed that Maddie's tea had been delivered to her nightstand.

It wasn't unpleasant but it was different. He thought briefly this morning of Alette--the woman who was frequently a one night stand for him. Sporadic contact for a few days at a time, off the coast of southern France. It had been more off than on, but when they had spent time over the years, it turned out to be more about compulsions--fine wine, fine dining, sex like rabbits, and then, when they seemed to drive each other crazy, Michael just abruptly would say goodbye and go home. It was as close to a commitment as Michael had ever made until now. Alette wouldn't understand Maddie. Alette was superficial. Maddie was solid--a woman of substance, and she was more different than any other woman he'd had in this intimate part of his life. Everything was different now. Totally new rules. He hadn't seen Alette in the last couple years, and it was probably a really good thing.

He and Maddie had been forced together and had had to marry in a hurry. Being practical and realizing there was not romance involved, they hadn't seen the point in what Michael called a "fluffy" wedding. It had been a small practical ceremony just to be compliant with a ridiculous law. There hadn't been a honeymoon--not in any traditional sense. They'd been ordered to marry and to mate. Michael hadn't afraid of the mating part of it. He'd been afraid of the marriage part, but it made her nervous too. Once that was out of the way, all they had to do was to figure out how to live together.

At this point, he wasn't worried about children. They were both old enough that he knew that they'd never be able to make that work. He figured they'd just keep trying endlessly and enjoy it, no pressure, their age making a decent enough defense. Robert did know a fertility potion that was powerful enough to impregnate the night bus, left to its own devices, but Michael had no desire to go an acquire it. He was rather liking things as they were.

He found he had wanted it to be smooth, and while it hadn't been bad, it had been largely awkward to be suddenly married to someone he didn't know. He had followed Robert's lead and had bought flowers to put in the house before he'd gone to the wedding ceremony, and he'd kept it up. There were always fresh flowers in the house now--when the dogs didn't eat them.

He crushed his cigarette butt out and tossed the but in a small tin bucket near the back door stoop and went back inside, refilling his cup. He set to work making a batch of apricot spiced scones. They had ginger and cinnamon to help reduce any traces of nausea that Maddie might have. He made a simple light glaze to put on them and set it aside for when the scones came out of the oven. If this was married life, it wasn't so bad.

Lately she hadn't been feeling that well, though she wasn't sure what it was that was causing her to feel the way she did. She and Michael figured it had just been nausea, probably from something she had eaten. There were actually quite a few things that gave her an upset stomach though she never knew what they did that caused her to get sick. And it didn't stop her from eating them either, mostly because she forgot what they were half the time.

The woman had felt movement next to her in the bed, but she hadn't stirred much, sleep still having a tight grip on her. Being ill meant she had to rest, and her body was taking that very well. And to the next level too, barely letting her get out of bed as early as she was used to. It wasn't until she heard something enter the room again that she finally opened her eyes and sat up in the bed slowly, only to find a cup of tea on the nightstand next to her. She smiled, knowing that Michael had sent it up for her.

They hadn't been together long, the law having forced them to marry a lot quicker than she would have liked. And than he would have too. But the two of them got along enough that it wasn't too bad. She felt a lot more comfortable around him now, that was for sure, but she was still odd when it came to going to bed with him. She wasn't used to the same man, time after time, being in the same bed with her. Mind you, she didn't change guys like most younger girls did now-a-days, but she never had long relationships. She could just never do it.

Maddie stretched her arms out over her head before reaching over to grab the tea that had been set down for her. After drinking about half of it, the woman stepped out of bed. She quickly showered and got dressed. She didn't really feel like she would have to dress up today, so she decided to put on a simple floral sundress that had different colored flowers on it. She fixed her hair so it wasn't standing anywhere since it was wet and she made her way downstairs, her empty tea cup in her hands.

She stopped in the small corridor that connected the stairs to the kitchen and fixed some of the flowers that were in a vase set on a table before she entered the kitchen. "Good morning." she said softly, placing the cup on the table in front of her.

"Good morning," Michael said, fixing the glaze for the scones. He made a light drizzle over them rather quickly.  "These will be ready in a moment.  Shall I warm up your tea for you?"  

Just as he was warming up his own tea, he heard a tapping on the kitchen window. When he didn't answer right away, he heard a familiar screeching sound.  He scowled.

"Bloody bird," he mumbled. "Why can't she just have a normal owl like anyone else?"  He opened the window and let in Khaat's large bald eagle. "You're impatient this morning, you know that?" he said to the bird. The bird dropped a brown paper package into his hands.  He gave the bird a small bite of one of the scones, and the bird swallowed it in one bite and then flew off again.  

"I sent to Robert for more of your tea last night," Michael explained. "We had enough for the morning but no more than that, and he always blends the best teas."  He opened the package and found a note and a small cardboard box, along with the tea. He read the note.

It read: "Michael, these symptoms have gone on too long for it to be just something she ate. Do me a favor. Add a couple of her hairs to the test tube of potion in the box.  If it turns colors, let me know at once.  There are two boxes of tea. If the tube does not turn color, use blue tin. If it does change colors, stop using the blue tin and use the red tin because the red tin will be more effective. R."

"Typical Robert. He never shuts his brain off," Michael said. "I wonder what he's on about now."  He handed Maddie the package and the note. "Here. Read for yourself. You might consider just amusing him so that he doesn't keep on about it. Then I'll send him the tube back so he can see for himself--whatever it is he's looking for."

In the meantime, he decided to set out some of the fresh mixed berries he'd made the night before. They'd had time to macerate in light sugar he'd added so that they would be fresh and sweet. He set out some crème freisch for the berries, and then set out a couple of bowls and plates. He preferred light breakfasts usually, and, at least for now, she seemed to, too.

"Mm.. No no it's fine." Maddie replied softly, placing a hand on her stomach lightly. She was slightly startled when the large eagle screeched when Michael didn't answer it immediately. She watched him go over to the window to let the bird in and she allowed her hand to drop from her stomach.

After he read the note that came with the pack of tea that he had asked Robert for and he had handed it to her, Maddie took it and read what it said. She sighed softly as she laid it down on the table in front of her. "I wonder what he's looking for." she said softly and took the tube that had come with the tea from the box.

"I should probably do this now, shouldn't I?" she half asked Michael, half asked herself but she just held the tube in her hand. After a few moments she decided that she would add the hairs to the tube. "I'll be right back." she said and left the kitchen for a few minutes.

She went back up to the bedroom and grabbed the brush she had just used on her hair and took two strands of her hair that had remained on it and placed them in the tube. She lifted it up so it was at eye level with her and at first it didn't seem like anything had happened so she went back downstairs.

She didn't check the tube again until she was back in the kitchen where she put the tube on the table for Michael to look at.

He didn't think much about it when he handed her the tube. He saw that it was red, not blue. He picked up the note again.

"Um...okay. Stop the tea in the blue tin because he thinks the red tea will be better," Michael said. He tapped the teapot. "Oi. Make tea from the red tin. Look sharp."

He packaged the tube, and scribbled a note. "What the devil are you on about now, Oz? Do stop speaking in riddles and be out with it. M." He attached the note to the tube and summoned a plain barn owl. He handed the package to the bird. "Take this back to Robert, and nip him if he doesn't feed you this time. He deserves what he gets." The owl seemed to make a small screech and flew off.

"The tea should be ready in a moment. Maybe he's got a better tea for nausea. With him, I never quite know. He's more of an end-game thinker. He keeps things to himself and only lets me in on how he thinks things will turn out. Sometimes its better not to know how he gets his brain to go in those directions." Then he gave his own remark a bit of a re-think. "And this from the man who has to make sure his footstools don't wet on the carpet and that the hat rack doesn't swipe everyone's things to go ante them into the poker game in the attic," he sighed. "But--that hat rack plays a mean hand of poker."

Maddie laughed softly.

This wasn't as bad as she had anticipated. Being married wasn't so bad when you had a good companion who could make you smile every now and then like Michael did with her. It was still strange though, having to get used to not sleeping alone and being careful with certain things you did because you didn't live alone anymore. Maddie didn't miss it though, honestly.

If you asked her, she would admit that while it was strange to be living the way she was at her age without much knowledge about the life prior to it happening, she was quite content with what had become of her life and with who her husband was.for other people it was hard to get used too, but for a few it had been easier.

"I hope he does have something he thinks is better . This nausea has my patience wearing thin, honestly. I can't stand not being able to get rid of it." She admitted softly, looking at the teapot that was now changing what tin it made the tea from. She had watched as he sent his owl to Robert with the tube and a note and she hoped that he would reply with the news that he had found a way to get rid of whatever illness, as she thought it was, was bothering her lately.

She honestly couldn't wait for the nausea to stop, but at the rate things were going she wasn't sure if it was going to anytime soon.

He poured her the new tea from the red tin. "Try this instead," he told her. "If he believed that much that the red tin would help, he must have something specific that he's looking for. You know he's going to ask me if it helps. You enjoy your tea. It looks like Otto wants to go out again. I'd better do it, or we'll be going over to Honeydukes to get them out of the trash again."

He opened the back door and took the dogs back out into the garden. They had apparently decided that they were going to romp a bit in the grass. Michael decided it was better to let them run that to have them going through the laundry hamper looking for more socks to eat. He wandered through the garden, looking at the flowerbeds and occasionally picking a weed out of the beds.

He was alerted by Khaat's ruddy big bird coming back. He frowned. That was fast, even for Robert. The bird dropped a package, not landing, and made a wide circle overhead and headed home.

He opened the package and found a bottle of a lavender colored potion, labeled with Maddie's name on it, with daily dosage instructions. He opened the bottle and smelled it. It smelled lightly like vanilla. Hm. So that was what purple smelled like, he thought. He put the cork back in the bottle. At least it wasn't smelling revolting, like 90% of all potions. He opened the letter.

"Michael and Maddie,

I got the test tube. The results are unquestionable. Congratulations! As best I can calculate from the test tube, you both should be blessed this Christmas with a child of your own. Maddie is definitely pregnant and should be due at just about Christmas.

Maddie, the potion I included for you will supply prenatal vitamins, reduce fatigue, and also reduce nausea. With the tea, you may find that you have almost none at all. Some women prefer to take the potion at bedtime to prevent the stronger nausea first thing in the morning. It doesn't quite matter what time you take it, so long as you take it once daily. Do be sure to have Michael bring you over to the house so you can follow with one of us.

"Oh, and Maddie, just one more note? This would be the time when you might want to revive Michael out of his dead faint on the floor. R."

Michael stood frozen for a long moment, trying to absorb all of it. A father? That had never been on his agenda. The law had forced him to marry. And he had chosen it alternatively to Azkaban. They'd stepped up to the proverbial plate with the attempts at babymaking, but neither of them had thought that, even if they'd gone at it like rabbits, that they'd have ever conceived. How the hell had this happened? Well, scratch that. He knew how it had, ultimately, happened.

Oh, damn. He was 62. What was he going to do with a baby? This was just about half a lifetime too late for his comfort.

He turned and went inside. He looked at her and simply put the bottle of lavender potion on the table and handed her the note. He had no words. It wasn't that he wasn't supportive. His mind was blank. He was feeling shellshocked. After spending decades thinking he would be a childless bachelor his entire life, he was married and was about to have either a son or a daughter. He didn't know where to being to wrap his mind around it.