Silk Tears & Acid Laughter

Day Three

"Mommy, icey!" Maria smiled down at her toddler bouncing in front of her.

"Not until tomorrow, Princess." Maria picked her daughter up and placed her on her hip as she reached into the cupboard to get an applesauce. After setting Georgia at the table with her snack Maria picked up the photo on the counter looking at her wedding photo, it moved; something that still surprised her after 2 years. Her fingers traced over the tall red haired boy smiling down at her adoringly as she laughed looking at the camera. "How much longer do I wait, Fred? When are you coming home?" She glanced at the compass sitting next to the photo that she wasn't to touch unless he didn't come home. It had been three days since he had left in a rush, telling her that he had to go help his family win the war. Maria never fully grasped how there was a war happening that most of the world didn't know about but she understood that Fred was fighting because there were those who would kill them for their marriage as she was what he called a muggle, meaning she didn't have magic like him and his family. Maria was getting more anxious with each hour that he wasn't coming home. Tomorrow was Georgia's birthday and Maria knew Fred would sooner die then miss it which was what she was scared had happened. It was then Maria decided if he wasn't home by dinner she would use the compass to try to find him or his family, a family she'd never met.

Maria placed the photo back down as a cry came from the other room shortly followed by a second. With a tired sigh she went into the master bedroom where two little bundles shared a crib that sat next to a double bed. Maria stood over her tiny twins, still younger than two months, as they fussed. Scooping up her only son first she changed him quickly before feeding her daughter. Ella and Jay were more than Maria and Fred had been prepared to handle, the pregnancy a result of a drunken night with a forgotten contraception charm, and then to find she was pregnant with twins, Maria had cried for days. They had considered going to a muggle clinic and abandoning the pregnancy but Maria had changed her mind at the last minute thinking about how much Georgia had added to their lives. Looking at the twins now Maria didn't question that she had made the right choice, even if they exhausted her she wouldn't trade them for anything. The twins so far looked so much like her where as Georgia was every bit her fathers daughter with her unruly red hair and her natural knack for finding trouble.

Later that evening Maria had the twins nestled into their carrier, Fred had enchanted it to allow for room for both twins instead of just one baby. Georgia was on her mother's hip and the the carrier looped over her arm allowing Maria one free hand to grab the compass, just before picking it up Maria handed her eldest daughter her wedding photo and asked her to hold it tightly. With that Maria grabbed the compass and squealed as everything began to spin. Soon she was laying on a hardwood floor groaning as she checked over her kids. As Maria took in her surroundings she noticed first the horrible colour scheme in the flat, she couldn't help but chuckle. Purple and orange, how very Fred she smiled to herself. However as she noticed the old dirty dishes that smile faded. Leaving her children sitting on the floor she entered the small kitchen and saw that the coffee was burned solid in the pot on the heater which she quickly turned off. Upon opening the fridge Maria let a tear fall. While some ingredients were fine others had spoiled days earlier. Clearly no one had been here in at least a few days. "Mommy?" Georgia called from the main room. Maria quickly wiped her tears away and walked in to see Georgia was holding two picture frames, one her wedding photo and one of Fred and who she could only assume was George, the man her eldest daughter was named after. "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?" Georgia pointed to Fred in both photos and then to George clearly confused.

"That's daddy and your uncle George, Princess." Maria knelt next to her daughter watching both moving photos trying not to cry. "Come, lets figure out where we are!" Maria stood up smiling widely trying not to upset her daughter. She took both photos and placed them in the diaper bag she'd brought with her. Gathering the twins Maria led the way down into her husbands joke shop, he'd told her about it many times and she'd wanted to see it but now it simply looked gloomy, there was no laughter or happy customers milling around, the windows were boarded up. Maria was extremely relieved to see the lock was a simple muggle lock and that she was able to exit the store. Looking around Maria came to the conclusion that this was the Wizard shopping centre in London, Diagonal Alley or something along those lines. Keeping her children close she hesitantly walked to the next shop over, it appeared to be some kind of peculiar bakery. Maria approached the young lady working the till and asked if they had anything she could get for breakfast for the morning tomorrow. The lady pulled out a package of six muffins and asked for 4 somethings, Maria started at her utterly lost as she pulled out a muggle bill. The two women looked at each other awkwardly until Maria vaguely remembered Fred telling her Wizards had their own currency. Maria chuckled, clearly uncomfortable, "I'm sorry! I forgot to stop and exchange my money. I'll come by in the morning." Sending her best smile Maria quickly herded Georgia back to the flat above Fred's store. Maria tucked Georgia into bed on the sofa and sang her to sleep. She then used on of the two twin bed to lay her babies down, using spare pillows to put a guard around them. Once all three children were asleep Maria walked downstairs and began to cry. Fred wasn't here and neither was his family. She didn't know how long she sat in the shop crying but eventually she returned upstairs and crawled into the second bed which she realized smelled of Fred. She cried herself to sleep that night.

Maria was woken up by a very happy Georgia bouncing on her bed. "Well good morning to you too." She chuckled at her excited daughter forcing herself up and out of the bed that smelt like home to her. "Happy Birthday Princess!" As she said the words it sunk into Maria that not only would Georgia not have her father for her second Birthday but Maria didn't have anything prepared to make it special. Once again Maria wanted to cry, this time because she felt like she was failing as a mother but she didn't. Instead she hurried to the kitchen hoping to find some breakfast food, there was none; there was however, ice cream. Maria scooped a bowl for Georgia and sang happy birthday to her daughter as she put it in front of her. Maria took care of the twins who were beginning to wake up as Georgia ate.