"So," Arthur said, as nonchalantly as he could before taking a sip of his tea, "I got a lovely gift from Charlie on my birthday."

"Oh?" Molly continued to move around the kitchen. She had been severely lacking in her chores. Between the muscle stiffness and spasms that had started to happen more often, she was finding that some of even the simplest tasks became impossible. "What was it, dear?"

"A Grandson."

Molly's hands shook violently, dropping the bowl in her hands onto the floor as she spun around to look at Arthur. "What?"

Arthur reached into his pocket and held out the announcement to her. When she snatched it from his hand, he pulled his wand and repaired the bowl and put it on the counter next to the sink.

Focused eyes scanned the announcement several times. "It's Charlie, dear. He may be joking." Her heart, however, was hoping that he wasn't.

"He isn't. I went over there and checked."

"Daphne is pregnant," she asked, looking up at Arthur with hopeful eyes.

"She is." Arthur was watching his wife carefully.

"That's wonderful!" Molly held the piece of card stock to her chest, closing her eyes. Taking a moment to soak the information in, she opened her eyes and smiled at her husband. "Is she taking care of herself? The girl had a problem with eating before. Is Charlie making her eat? Is she taking vitamin potions?"

"She looks fairly healthy -- healthier than I've seen her, anyway. She definitely is eating more, but it's mostly celery sticks and marshmallow cream. She's not on the vitamin potions yet, but she is going to see Snape for some." Arthur continued to watch his wife closely, as if expecting her to grow another head.

Molly nodded. "I assume she went and saw Ginny, and that Gin will be taking care of everything. That'll be good. Ginny knows what she's doing. She'll be able to take care of Daphne. Charlie is probably ecstatic. I think he's wanted to settle down for a while now, but never had the right girl."

She looked up at Arthur, her eyebrows knitting together at the look on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I was expecting you to go off your nut, Love," he answered.

"And why would I do that? I'm going to be a grandmother. Again! This is good news!"

"I agree." He paused. "There may be a question that you're not asking."

Blinking, Molly tried to figure out what he was alluded to. "She's safe. Charlie's happy. She's going to be taking good care of herself. Oh!" Her eyes widened. "When is she due?"

"Somewhere around the end of September."

"A fall baby. How wonderful. I'll have to start knitting soon if I want to get anything done." Molly sat at the table, smoothing her hands over the announcement. "It really is like Charlie, owling you for your birthday to tell you that you're going to be a grandfather again."

Arthur wasn't sure what to make of it. She wasn't acting anything like what he was expecting, and the poor woman couldn't even hold a knitting needle anymore...

He filed away a mental note about needing to owl Nott.

"Well, I'm relieved to see that you're taking this well." He walked over and put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "Charlie and Daphne will be relieved to hear that too. They are frightened enough as it is without adding a disapproving parent to the mix."

"What do you mean 'a disapproving parent'? Why would I be upset?"

"Because there won't be another wedding in our future." Arthur braced himself.

Molly frowned. "Oh." It made little sense to her why they wouldn't get married, but she had had this conversation with her sons before. The days where you were required to marry the woman you had a child with were gone. She would never want her children to marry someone they didn't want to. Besides, Penelope and Percy were not married, yet Jack was doing well.

"Well, that doesn't mean there won't be a wedding sometime in the future."

"Very true. From the sounds of it, he's ready and willing to do it any time, but she's not ready yet... Plus there's that whole business with the Liberi. From the sounds of it, they're going to stay on as they are now, only with the little one along for the ride." He paused, and then added, "Remind me to talk to Mad-Eye about what he's got her doing."

"Oh, dear. Yes. She can't be put in any dangerous situations. Her life needs to become calm and boring for the next seven or eight months. She probably won't like it, but it's not just herself she needs to worry about now. I'm sure she already knows that."

Molly stood. "I should start the knitting now, just to make sure it gets done. Get it done early, just in case." She moved towards the living room.

Arthur made another note to owl Charlie and let him know that his mum was fine -- more or less -- with things. He called after her. "Do you need a pain potion, Love?"

She turned with a smile. "No. I'm fine, dear. Thank you." She turned, grabbing the knitting tote Tonks had given her. I've already had three today.


Summary: Arthur tells Molly the wonderful news, and Arthur worries about her.