Was Sophie okay? She looked...quite stressed. But still pretty, even Beezus had to admit. And even more when Noah was all snuggled up to her. Ah, the maternal bond. It was so beautiful to watch it almost made her heart hurt but HEY SHOUTING (yes it was her and yes believe it) AND HUGGING (a bit too tight but who cares) and Beezus hugged back, chuckling all the time. "Motherhood suits you, Sophie." She remarked as she pulled back from the woman and gave her a once-over.

Wait, where was Mordred going? He was bringing Catherine with her and Beezus hasn't even hugged the baby girl yet. What a traitor friend. Fine. She'll hog Catherine later. Besides, she had catching up to do with her friend here. She let out a small squeal and squeezed Sophie's arm. "It's late but congratulations on the twins, by the way. They're wonderful."

She could vaguely remember the two of them having conversations over anything way back from classes to boys and now, one of them was married and had twins. Time flew so fast.

When Sophie was done hugging her friend, she let go and beamed at Beezus' words. "Aw, thanks! That's so sweet of you!" Did she want to make Sophie cry or what??? She bounced Noah up and down a little to stop him from eating her hair and smiled brightly when he giggled.

UGH, she loved him so much. "Isn't he beautiful??" Biased mother was biased, but it was the TRUTH. "Oh, and did you see Catherine??" HEY, where was Mordred going? "Nooo, no, no, love, come back here so Beezus can see them both!!" Her BOTH beautiful BABIES. LOOK, EVERYONE, LOOK!

Hehehehehehehehehehehe! <3333

And only now she realised she took him from Beezus, who was probably having a good time holding her beeeautiifffuuuullll son. "Sorry for my rudeness, Beezus, do you want him back??" She asked, turning Noah around again so he could fully face her friend, his arms and legs flailing about energetically. And Beezus congratulated heeerr. Them. "Thank you!! They are!!" They were wondeful indeed!! Sophie beamed. ANYWAY, "How are you??? Where have you been???"

Wait..... so she wasn't another woman and he wasn't cheating?! Oh maaan. What a good story that would of been to tell Jamie when she got home. Instead she rocked Abram on his hip as they both watched the exchange. Maybe she wouldn't get to have those babies in her nursery today. Sad. She loved babies. And Miss Castell, she wasn't dropping off the Lupin baby? Yes, see Athena payed attention to these things. She knew who people were and who they were with and all that. Maybe Mommy!Lupin would drop them today. Who knew with that family.

Tears and snot on his immaculate coat. Not that he minded, but it was one of those days when he decided to look like a proper professional, and there he was clad in baby mess. Mordred took a moment to sit Catherine on the counter, managed to get his wand out and cleaned himself properly. Thank Merlin for magic! Those no-maj don’t know what they are missing really.

As Mordred tucked away his wand in his sleeve, he smiled at his daughter who was obviously fixated with the magic she just saw. “In time, sweetheart.” He said giving her kisses on the head. Now that Catherine was calm and back to her old self, Mordred took the time to check if she was really okay. 10 fingers, 2 eyebrows...one perfect nose, one rosy lips, two ears, two wonderful eyes she got from Sophie, arms and feet in place...the perfect baby girl. “I guess you’re alright. Always hold tight onto mummy next time, okay?” Because Merlin knows when Sophie's next outburst will be.

“Hmm?” Oh. Yes. He’s still part of this little, and very unexpected reunion. Mordred turned around to see both women chatting away, and the father of two collected his daughter from the counter and sat back on the armchair nearby. Catherine got up on her own and stood on Mordred’s lap, wondering what she had missed. The dragonologist held on to his daughter and just...well, sat there quietly eagerly listening to the two crazies.

Yes, alright, carry on...we're listening.

Was Sophie really asking if Beezus thought Noah was beautiful? "Oh my Godric, he's perfect Soph. Though I think he's got too much of Mordred going on there." She added in the last bit through a whisper. It wasn't entirely bad but the father was going to get smug if he heard that. And Catherine! Yes she was nodding because she saw her but Mordred was territorial with his baby girl and didn't want to bring her back just yet. "It's okay, Soph. In a while." She was quite satisfied with Noah for now, especially that his mother was willing to let her hold him. YES PLEAAAAASE. Obliging, Beezus held her arms for Noah and snuggled him up gently. Ahhhhh, her heart, her heart.

And there goes the questions. Beezus grinned and shrugged before responding, "I've been great. I've been out and about but I'm working here at the Ministry now." Which means they will be seeing more of each other from then on. "I actually thought I won't be seeing you and Catherine until tomorrow. Mordred told me we can have tea and chat so this is quite a surprise." Talk about unexpected. "How about you? What have you been up to besides giving birth to beautiful twin babies?"

She then saw in her peripheral vision that Mordred was sitting down on a nearby armchair and had Catherine standing on his lap. WHAT A PRETTY BABY GIRL. That hair...those eyes...but Beezus was going to scold her father first. "Hey, you. Aren't you going to offer your wife a seat or something?" Psssshhhhhhh. What a Slytherin.

Sophie laughed loudly at Beezus' remark. "Of course he does! That's why he's beautiful." A biased Sophie grinned happily at her friend and chuckled, shaking her head slightly when her husband took his time bringing their daughter back for Beezus to see. Such a CALM person, it really impressed anxious and fast-paced Sophie.

Now the Charms Developer was baby free, being Noah in Beezus' arms and Catherine standing on Mordred's lap. She didn't know what to do with her hands anymore. She clasped them in front of her body, then behind her back. She supposed that was better so she stayed like that, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little.

Ooohhhh, she loved the idea of having Beezus over! "That's great! Yeah, do come over tomorrow after work, it'll be perfect! I'll have cakes and biscuits ready by the time you arrive." She said looking from Bee to Mordred. "Can you pick the kids up tomorrow then, love, so I can get home earlier to prepare everything?" See, he should be PROUD of Sophie delegating a chore to do with her BABIES. But then again, they were his babies too.

No hyperventilating this time, okay? Okay. She could trust Mordred with their kids. She could. Of course she could.

Quick, think of something else before you start to hyperventilate already, Sophie, QUICK.

What has she been up to?? "Oh, nothing much!" The brunette chuckled. "Just work, really. Both at the Ministry and the house." Yep, she still did ALL of the house work because Sophie did not agree with slavery. Calen the elf was... a helper. Who shouldn't be allowed to do much. At all. Nope, nope, nope. No.

And then Beezus' comment made Sophie laugh again. "Noo, that's fine." She waved dismissively. "I've been sitting all day, it's good to be able to stand and move around." Sophie gave them both a beamy grin.

...

Could she have one of her babies now, please?

While the two conversed, Mordred kept his attention on Catherine’s small frame and he stroked his daughter’s soft hair. “Quite the observant one, hmm?” the dragonologist grinned as he sat his daughter on his lap and started to whisper sweet nothings to her. Mordred felt that Catherine got overwhelmed by the new environment and the new voice she’s hearing right now. It wasn’t Ella’s and definitely not Alec's too, and Catherine became wary of the new face. The little girl turned around to face her daddy and made grabby hands at him. Mordred obliged of course, and he hugged his little princess protectively.

The father of two then turned his attention back to his wife and nodded along. “I can do that...have Calen help you out too.” Mordred knows how much Sophie hates asking his house elf for help, so it somewhat came out as a good-natured joke. “I don’t think this one is in the mood to be held by another person. Maybe tomorrow, Bee.” He said slightly shrugging his shoulder at her.

And say what? Why would he offer his seat to his wife when he knows Sophie too well? Given her outburst earlier, he was sure she’d been in the laboratory the whole day, and was itching to move around. She is, after all, a Macmillan too.

Ah yes. That lot.

Turning his attention back to Beezus, he sighed softly and tilted his head to the side like a curious school boy. "How's work at DERP? What do you exactly do for that Department?"

Psssh. Of course Beezus agreed that Noah was beautiful, inheriting most of his father's good looks. She just hoped that Noah was not going to inherit Mordred's overly calm demeanor too. That would be terrible.

Shifting Noah carefully to rest on her other hip, she nodded enthusiastically at Sophie, giving her a very wide grin. "Cakes and biscuits and should I bring ice cream?" No one should forget ice cream on any and every occasion, okay?

Looking to and fro the wife and husband as they conversed, she realized how perfect those two were together. Mordred even knew that Sophie didn't necessarily need to sit after her outburst. They knew each other that much and maybe in another life Beezus would have envied that kind of relationship, but right now, all she was jealous about was that they had two babies. TWO. Merlin, she only wanted one. Maybe if she asked veeeeeeeeeeery nicely, she could have one of the twins? He. He. ....Naaaah. Mordred would surely kill her, and Sophie...well...that was a scarier thought.

As she shook off her thoughts, Beezus heard Mordred saying that she wasn't going to be able to hold Catherine today. What? No! She couldn't possibly wait until tomorrow. She was good with babies. She was a hundred percent sure Catherine would love to be held by her. "It's not up for negotiation, Dred. C'mon. Let me at least hold both of your twins for a minute or two. You didn't even make me their godmother." She mumbled.

Right. The three of them were Ministry buddies now. "I don't think I know which department you are in, Soph." But she knew that Mordred was in the same level as her. Beezus nudged her nose towards Noah because he was making grabby!hands as she answered his father's question. "Work's good. Everyone's pretty friendly and helpful around those parts. I'm one of the caretakers at the Greenhouse. Holy snitch, have you guys been there?" She glanced at both of her friends. "That place is huge! We have to maintain everything regulated inside...the plants, the climate, the water source...but mostly the plants." Of course.

It had been a night of arguments, followed by a morning of further arguments and discussions that were going nowhere.

Couldn't have a Cambridge being raised by just anyone. Returning to work so soon was a mistake, she should have kept the remainder of her maternity leave. The baby shouldn't be raised by anyone but her. Merlin, it was all she could do to not lose her damn mind. Staying at the Manor another minute wasn't an option and apparently neither was leaving the baby there for her grandparents to take after so WHY was it such an issue taking her to the daycare. It wasn't like they were volunteering and she certainly had no intention of taking any more time off work.

Bad guys didn't stop being bad just because you were unfortunate enough to have a baby. The world simply didn't work like that. Lex was perfectly aware her grandparents were still holding out for her to leave this behind and take up the family business but for as much as she could help it, that wouldn't be happening--not any time soon at least.

"Hello.....?" The Auror walked into the Daycare, doing her best to ignore the...little ankle biters already present. Who did she talk to about this? For all the times she'd done security checks here on patrol, you'd think she'd know.

After the whole mess that had been the last time her daughters had gone to work with her, Gabby felt that it wasn't a bad idea to check out the daycare. As great as Aoife was with the children, it would be nice for her to have an occasional break from being a nanny.

Even though she still opposed to other people looking after her children, she needed to give in a little and see if the people that ran this place were a bunch of morons, or actually capable of watching over two babies. If it turned out that they were, she would have a conversation with her husband about it later. As it was she wanted to look into things on her own first just in case things turned out to be as bad here as she feared - and Gabby was ALWAYS right.

Entering the daycare, she nodded to the other woman who was present. They had interacted once a while back and had seen each other in passing but didn't know each other well. Gabby DID know that Lynley was friendly with her, however. "You're Lex, right?"

Constant vigilance was much harder in a daycare, for the simple reason that there was literally activity EVERYWHERE. There would always be movement from the corner of your eye and depending on the time of day you got there, noise. Hang on, how was this a good idea? Lex had seen first hand what Emmerson got like when she was 'over-stimulated' and while she wouldn't be the one to deal so long as the baby was here...she wasn't so sure she WANTED her going through it. It could apparently be rather stressful and stressed babies were infinitely harder to put to sleep at the end of an already long day.

Lex spun on her heel, ready to find someone capable of addressing these concerns, when her gaze landed on Gabby; Lynnie's friend. The one who went smitten and did a 360 if Lynley could be trusted to carry a story without bias--which....was debatable but y'know.

"Yep." She confirmed with a nod, even as hazel eyes began moving again. That room led into the infant room if she remembered correctly. Maybe that would have been the better place to start. Come to think of it, Gabby had little demon spawns now, didn't she? "Is this where you leave yours?" Being forced back to London, it only made sense the child was cared for in the same country, for now at least.

"I'm not tremendously fussed about the quality, they know they're stuff from what I've seen. Just wanna know how this all....works out." As in, being in the same building didn't mean she'd suddenly find a squalling baby on her desk if they couldn't fix her, right? They'd pretend she didn't exist until she came to collect the Emm at the end of the day?

Christina had been stand-by at the daycare even thirty minutes before it opened for the ministry workers putting their child here. She was so ready for the cutie babies and adorable toddlers! The 25 year-old daycare assistant was just finished her tea when two ministry workers came in to drop off of their babies. Oh, look at them! (The babies, obviously) Weren't they such the cutest thing on earth? She couldn't wait to spend the time with them.

"Good morning, ma'am." She greeted those two worker mommies with a warm smile and her usual friendly attitude. "May I help you with anything?"

Lex's attention turned from Gabby as another woman approached. This one actually worked here and could prove useful before any plans were made to leave the kid here--though to be perfectly honest, her option pool was pretty shallow and she wasn't nearly as concerned as most people would or should be. So long as there was a roof, someone to feed and change her, a cot for her to sleep in, stimulus and some amount of attention being shown, it was truly all the same to her. If worst came to worst, she'd just fix whatever damage was done during the day when she got home. No big deal. Nothing to continue staying home and going mad over.

"Yeah, I just had a few questions about how this whole thing works." Patrolling the daycare as part of previous YATI duties did not by any means make her an expert on the Department's operational procedures.

"My kid's....like.....2 months now....?" It still felt weird. A kid. A little demon spawn thing. She...had one of those now and it was taking an exceptional amount of time to become accustomed to this fact. "I think, yeah, sounds right. She might be two months and a little or something but you get the general idea. Do you watch them that young? Is there something I gotta sign? A certain time I gotta pick her up by or....?" Alexa Cambridge did not leave the office until she was kicked out by Legend--not unless she had other plans. It was important to know how long she was allowed to palm her kid off for.

It was a bit of a surprise seeing this woman with a child based on the little that Gabby knew her. She hadn't seen the maternal sort, but then anything was possible. It had taken becoming pregnant to get her to love children - well HER children at any rate. Alana's as well.

"I've never been here before," she admitted. "I just want a place I can maybe leave the girls at when I want to give the nanny a break." Wasn't she just the most considerate person ever? "So what's your little one's name?" Honestly she wasn't surprised that Lex just wanted to have somewhere to leave her baby; Gabby would have been the same way if she wasn't such a protective mother. As it was she had questions that needed to have answered before she felt that her children could stay here.

Oh good. There was a daycare worker there. Gabby hadn't wanted to wait here too long before having her questions answered and it looked like she wouldn't be here all day long.

Once Lex was done speaking, she took her chance. "I need to know things too. What certifications do you have? How safe is this facility? What kinds of food do you give to the children? Do you have anything provided for babies who are teething?" She could probably come up with more things to ask besides all this.

"Really? Never?" It seemed perfectly normal that Ministry employees with children would have already dropped by here at least once. Gabby's children were....well, she didn't actually know how old they were but it wasn't until the woman went on to mention the nanny that it began making more sense. "Ah, nanny. Lucky. If I could get a Nanny that would eliminate half my problems I think." If only it'd been that easy for her but of course, life never was.

Only the smallest of glances was spared toward the child who was busily making a meal of her hand. Were it not for the fact that she gave the occasional "coo" and moved around some, Lex would constantly forget she even had her--And of course when she cried. Hard to forget her when she was exercising an impressive pair of lungs. "Emmerson." She'd gotten a few looks for this name before but.....she didn't care? It wasn't their kid...? She could do whatever the hell she wanted...? Sounded about right. "Yours?"

And....what was with all those questions?

Were those questions she should have been asking too? Things she should have been concerned with....? There were still so many things she was hopelessly lost on and this usually became more apparent when she was around other mothers. Sure Vivi told her not to worry about it, and she must have been told a million times there was no right way and therefore no point in comparing but Merlin's beard.

"How old are yours?" As in....how long had she been at this? How much practice did she have under her belt? Not cpmparing was harder than it looked when it came to this sort of thing.

So. Many. Questions.

Judging from all those gazillion questions, Christina knew that both of them were either 1) new moms or 2) have never left their children at the daycare. But they didn't need to be worried about the staffs' quality and EVERYTHING. Of course that the Ministry of Magic wouldn't provide just a random daycare for their employees, right?

She turned into mother #1 (Alexa). "We have trained to watch the babies even from one month old, ma'am." She nodded. "So you don't have to worry about the staffs' quality here because all of us have been trained and certified." Perhaps that it answered the question from mother #2 (Gabby) right there. "All you have to do is filling this form with a copy of your MoM identity card. In this form, you should fill about your baby's needs, allergies, everything that we can use to keep him or her comfortable. Also, you're free to visit them on recess time." Was that enough?

Still managing a smile, Christina turned into mother #2 to answer her questions patiently. "I myself graduated from Pre-Healer studies and specializing in pediatric healthcare. All of the staffs here at least have experience working with infant and children. We also have trained how to handle babies that are currently teething, have certain allergies, colic, and everything else." In short, she was QUALIFIED and so were all of the daycare workers. "You don't have to worry about the food either, because we only provided nutritious food and will adjust them if any of the children here have allergies or something. We also provide a private space if you want to breastfeed your baby."

Head shake. Gabby had never set foot in this place and was hoping that the whole experience wasn't a complete waste of time. At least Lex seemed to be a decent person; not an idiot like a lot of the people who worked at the Ministry. "Well, she raised my husband since he was little so it was more of a family thing. Do you not know anyone who could help?" Would be better than daycare, but yeah. Personally, she was only looking into this to see if it was a good way to give Aoife a break. Then she would talk to Archer about it.

Emmerson was an interesting name. Nice actually. "I like that. Mine are Valeria and Liana." Wonderful names in her opinion, but then if they hadn't been she and Archer never would have picked them in the first place. Italian names were always beautiful but then she was Italian.

The daycare worker seemed to know what she was talking about, and Gabby was rather pleased to see that even if she wasn't completely sold yet. That would come later on after more talking. Gabby had been tempted to ask if any of them had been in Azkaban, but then considered that there was no way the ministry would hire people who had criminal backgrounds. "Okay, and do you keep records even when the children are not taken here every day?" This was important to know, because she wanted to make sure that all considerations were met even if the girls were not taken in every work day.

Her attention turned back to Lex as she asked how old the girls were. "Valeria is 16 months and Liana is 6 months." Her girls were growing up so fast!!

"Nope, no one." A fact she'd never noticed before and one that never really seemed to be a problem 'til she suddenly had someone she needed to drop off somewhere until the end of what could be a very dangerous and high paced work day. "Our family doesn't really believe in that sort of thing. Not the most trusting sort, I'll admit." For the most part, she could see why, honestly, people were idiots and she did NOT want any of them passing said idiocy onto anything she created but Merlin was it inconvenient. "When I was younger, Mum stayed home with me," Something she was certainly unwilling to do, "Spent a decent amount of time around my grandparents after she passed. Never a nanny."

Lex extended her hand for the form, ready to fill it out ASAP. "I'm not too concerned about the quality. Reckon you'd all be out of operation if there was something wrong." There had to be a reason parents kept taking their children here and the fact she hadn't heard a single one make a fuss or complain.....it'd be fine. "D'you got a quill on you?" And did excessive amounts of cuddling and attention count as a 'need'? Kid was demanding, she'd come to learn that.

"Thanks, my Dad picked it out." Lex liked it for the fact it didn't immediately scream girly. "Those Italian?" The names. Lex spent a fair bit of time over there and that's where her brain was placing them.

Also, that was a whole lot of information. Things she should have made note of? If she'd had any worries before--which, again, she didn't--this would have gotten her on board. It was all the same to her. Emmerson wasn't an egg. Ideally, she'd prefer if they didn't drop her, ever, but she wasn't as fragile as she used to think she was--not anymore. What really got her attention was the age gap because....wow. "That's like...popping one after the other." Which quickly led to, "Why?" Needless to say, there were a lot of things Alexa had sworn off of after having Emmerson, all to avoid ANOTHER one.

Smiling, Christina handed a quill to the mother #1. "You don't need to worry, us the daycare workers will give the best needs for your baby." She said. "Also, if something happened, we will notify you as soon as possible." Even in good stuffs or bad stuffs.

The daycare assistant turned into mother #2. "We do, actually. All files about the kids that have been here are kept and organized neatly by us. Oh, and if your babies are having birthday here, we will send him or her gifts if they're not currently here. If they had their birthday here, us the daycare worker will have a little celebration with the cakes and everything." Beams! She loved her job, working with little babies and toddlers are so fun! "I hope you consider to put your children here, ma'am."

Oh. Gabby could relate to what Lex was saying. "We didn't have a nanny either when I grew up. We only have one now because she raised Archer." Sooooo she was nanny AND grandma to the girls - though not biologically. Archer's real parents had died a long time ago, and in fact his dad had been dead before he had even been born. There was no need to tell Lex all that, however, since it would probably bore the other woman. Besides, it was just not necessary for her to know. "At least this place isn't a total mess."

In fact, it was rather impressive, she thought as she looked around the facility. It could very well work for the times when Aoife needed a bit of a break.

So Lex's dad had chosen the name. Interesting. Gabby noted that the father didn't seem to have much involvement, if any at all. That wasn't too surprising, as she knew all to well how things like that could happen unexpectedly. Fortunately for her, it had happened with the person who she was going to be with for the rest of her life. "Yes, they are Italian since that is where I am from." Italy was the best country in the world and anyone who disagreed with that fact was not only wrong, but ignorant as well. No time to get into things further because more questions were being answered.

"Good. Very good." It was reassuring to know that records would be kept even if the girls were not dropped off there frequently. Even if there were no pressing medical concerns at the moment, that didn't mean that any couldn't pop up later on. In case they did, Gabby wanted to be prepared. "I'll need to talk about it with my husband, but I think we will be taking the girls here every once in a while."

Popping one after the other... Many people said more or less the same thing, and by this time she was more than used to hearing it. The age gap WAS very small. "That's basically what happened." Nod. Not much time had come between pregnancies. About a month. "Let's just say that we know better now." MUCH better. No more babies for a few more years because her body could not handle another one at the moment, and neither could her and Archer's sanity.

"I'm not worried." Might have been the second or third time she said this since stepping into the Daycare. Why did this lady think she needed to sell her on the idea of leaving Emmerson here? She needed somewhere to keep her, this was close enough that it didn't resemble total abandonment and it passed Ministry approval which wasn't as easy as you'd think. Honestly, this....wasn't a problem. When it became a problem, she'd address it then. In the mean time, the file was levitated so she could make an easy go of signing it. Emmerson made very shaky attempts at reaching for it but as the kid hadn't yet learned the wonders of LETTING GO, Lex would be keeping this levitated well out of her reach. "What happens when I'm out in the field? If something happens while I'm out of office, what happens then?" That, she would admit, was kinda important to know.

Lex nodded along in line with Gabby's pattern of conversation while hazel eyes scanned the document. Nothing too invasive. Nothing that required infinite knowledge her father was more likely to know than she was. "I don't care who raised Sayid, wouldn't let 'em raise her regardless. For all intents and purposes, he's a horrible human being and while I adore him for it, she's not him and may respond differently when given the same treatment. Might have the opposite effect entirely and I'd rather not have to deal at that point."

Known allergies? Considering the kid lived solidly and solely through her, that was gonna be a tentative no to be revisited when actual food was introduced. "Besides, for all his unwillingness to watch her himself, he's skittish about people outside family doing it. I'd humour him and watch her myself but I don't want to." He still got to go out, enjoy life, continue his freelance photography work and maintain all the perks of technical non-parenthood. She'd be damned if she sat at home going mad when she could be doing the same. Besides, breaks from the child were healthy and encouraged by her Healer while they figured through and tried to fix certain things.

Known health conditions...special needs....person's permitted to pick her up....awfully thorough, weren't they? "Italy's pretty neat. Fox and I have dinner there quite a bit but I prefer Spain." And missed it, a lot. Apparating back and forth from there daily wouldn't be ideal for Emmerson, forcing her back to London for the time being and it absolutely sucked. Favourite toy? Emmerson mouth everything indiscriminately. This one was a no or not applicable or whatever. "I'd like to hope you did. I still have a hard time with just this one and can't imagine dealing with another while the first was still so young, let alone three." Oh Merlin, just thinking about it gave her a headache.

Clearly the father wasn't in the picture - as Gabby had suspected - by the way that Lex was carrying on. It was no real concern to her; this was a grown woman and it was up to her to see how things were sorted. Clearly she had a good head on her shoulders and was looking into things so that she could continue working as opposed to mothers who quit to stay at home with their babies while living off of provided support. That was something nice to see, and something that she herself would do if she was in that position. Fortunately she wasn't and never would be.

All she could do as far as that matter was concerned was nod and move on to other things. Things that weren't personal. Italy was better than Spain, but now was not the time to get into such matters. Instead Gabby was going to hold on to her opinion knowing that without a doubt Italy was the best country in the world. It was certainly better than England, though she had gotten used to living in this hellhole. Maybe she and Archer could look into muggle travel because she was dying to go elsewhere but apparation wasn't safe with two babies. "Being stuck here without being able to travel is driving me mental. I haven't been to Spain yet, but I had wanted to. We traveled a lot before I got pregnant." Now it was on the back burner obviously. "It IS doing our head in, but you plow through and do it because you have to." Not in the sense of drudgery, but in the sense that there is life dependent on being taken care of. "It's all really worth it in the end." Even if it wasn't very easy to see in the beginning.

In some odd way, it was nice to know she wasn't the only one with restricted travel plans as a direct result of reproduction. Being restless was bad enough on its own, add to it the fact that your usual means of fixing this was now somewhat less ideal and you had a very miserable Auror--when she let it stop her. "I know the feeling. I haven't proper lived in London in...two years?" And before that, her residence here was pretty spotty as she often hopped from home to home. "I used to see bits and pieces of the world in a night. I suppose I still do but not as often and certainly not enough." Suffice to say, she couldn't wait for Emmerson to be even remotely apparition size.

"You should definitely see Spain though! It's brilliant. My favourite of all my residences." There was just something about the place and something about the people. "What's stopping you exactly?" She wouldn't take the excuse of children. Apparition took seconds and the way she heard it, the children had a capable hand to watch them. Didn't need to be a long trip. Lex found that even the small ones were better than all London all the time.

And there it was again, the whole 'it's all worth it in the end' bit that absolutely everyone felt they needed to say to her at least once. "So I've heard." She muttered, sparing a glance down at the baby who hadn't given up her futile pursuit of the file. "But I never really see to the end of anything. My vision doesn't stretch that far." Alexa had always been one to see things in the immediate present tense. If it wasn't right before her, it was a very hard concept to grasp. This usually left her unable to consider consequences until they were too late while allowing her to enjoy a moment without worrying about the future. It was a double edged sword in truth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

In some odd way, it was nice to know she wasn't the only one with restricted travel plans as a direct result of reproduction. Being restless was bad enough on its own, add to it the fact that your usual means of fixing this was now somewhat less ideal and you had a very miserable Auror--when she let it stop her. "I know the feeling. I haven't proper lived in London in...two years?" And before that, her residence here was pretty spotty as she often hopped from home to home. "I used to see bits and pieces of the world in a night. I suppose I still do but not as often and certainly not enough." Suffice to say, she couldn't wait for Emmerson to be even remotely apparition size.

"You should definitely see Spain though! It's brilliant. My favourite of all my residences." There was just something about the place and something about the people. "What's stopping you exactly?" She wouldn't take the excuse of children. Apparition took seconds and the way she heard it, the children had a capable hand to watch them. Didn't need to be a long trip. Lex found that even the small ones were better than all London all the time.

And there it was again, the whole 'it's all worth it in the end' bit that absolutely everyone felt they needed to say to her at least once. "So I've heard." She muttered, sparing a glance down at the baby who hadn't given up her futile pursuit of the file. "But I never really see to the end of anything. My vision doesn't stretch that far." Alexa had always been one to see things in the immediate present tense. If it wasn't right before her, it was a very hard concept to grasp. This usually left her unable to consider consequences until they were too late while allowing her to enjoy a moment without worrying about the future. It was a double edged sword in truth.

It was nice to know that there was someone else who could relate to her. Well, minus Archer. Of course HE did, but then he was a traveller like she was and hated staying in one place for too long. People were often shocked when they learned that Gabby and her husband lived in a magical tent. Of course there was also a house, but no one lived there currently besides Aoife and Rory, the tent set up in their backyard. Somehow it worked for them and she absolutely loved it. "I hadn't lived here until I got pregnant with Valeria. I lived in Rome until I met Archer and we travelled to different places together." It was absolutely amazing. "What places have you been to?" Besides Spain obviously. It would be nice if the had been to the same countries.

Spain would be on her list though Gabby honestly had no idea when she and Archer would be able to go there with the family. "What spots there would you recommend?" Obviously there would be a lot of tourist spots, but she didn't want to waste time doing anything that wasn't worth it in the end. Things like going to the beach were her kind of thing. That and shopping. Lots and lots of shopping. "I'm not sure about muggle transportation and so I'm hesitant to try it. I know they have planes, but I'm wary." Air travel with people who couldn't do magic made her nervous when her husband and children were involved and she hardly EVER felt nervous.

Nod. Gabby got that paren in could be like that; it was hard enough doing this for her, and she wasn't doing it alone. "Well, if you ever need advice or help or anything you can ask me." Even if there were other people who could do that too, she was still offering.

Ah, one of those 'met, fell in love and traveled the world together' stories. Lex heard it enough, no matter how they differed, to know when it was being shared with her. She might have said it sounded nice but with the exception of taking Fox around the world with her and having Sayid take her around the world, Lex preferred to go alone. Far better that way. She could discover herself and just get lost in it all. "I've been to a few. Still way more I wanna see. There was the Amazon, Sicily, Hawaii, California, New York, the Solomon Islands and the Ardennes are among my favourites." It wasn't to say she didn't like the others, just that she held her preferences. "Sometimes I just grab my little globe, close my eyes and find a new place to go."

As for recommendations in Spain, Merlin, there were so many. She really was in love with the place. "I'd definitely recommend the beaches in Barcelona and depending on where you do visit, the marketplaces could have you for hours. The nightlife's pretty amazing too." It just depended on what she was into--and what Archer was into since Lex didn't get the feeling they went traveling without each other. How restricting. "You don't need to do that whole muggle transportation thing. Apparition's free and effective. Leave the babies with the nanny if you're skittish about apparating them. Don't have to be gone for days; an afternoon alone could do you wonders."

Know what never ceased to amaze her? How helpful other mother's tended to be when they figured you were absolutely clueless. It was....reassuring to say the least--if not yet another reminder that she wore her failure on her forehead when it came to this raising a little human being thing. "Thanks. 'm slowly building up an arsenal of help. Got a whole section dedicated to 'leave the kid with us and go enjoy yourself'." Those were without a doubt, her favourite.