Even though Charley always considered herself free and independent, she was finding that being in the home wasn’t that horrible. She enjoyed cleaning up in the mornings, running errands in the afternoon and then making dinner for her husband when he came home from school in the evenings. It was like she was finally able to fall into the role that she had always been afraid of, because she had someone who she could trust to be with. She didn’t have to worry that James would make demands that she became a house wife, because he knew how much she enjoyed being able to go where she wanted when she wanted. He respected her enough that she could do as she pleased without having to worry about him.

Charley knew that David and Emma were excited to be an uncle and aunt for the baby. She and James had already decided to name the baby David after James’s brother, but she wanted to keep that a surprise from the already born David Richardson until the baby was born.
“And my siblings and my parents.” She stopped for a moment to catch her breath as the baby shifted into a new position, clearly attempting to take some of her internal organs with him.
“He’s going to be a very well cared for and very well loved little boy.” She knew that she would be able to handle the child if he was any gender, but a part of her was thrilled to have a boy. Someone to help out on the ranch, and even help with his younger siblings if the married couple decided on more.
“Thank you, Lindsey. I’m really excited to start it all.”

She sliced off some of the bread that she made the day before and smiled at Lindsey as they started making sandwiches for the hungry men. She still couldn’t believe that her husband had broken several bones only a few minutes before and was now carrying on as if it didn’t happen. The wonder of healing magic. Once they were finished with the sandwiches she grabbed a few glass bottles of Coke from the refrigerator and the plates for her and James, convinced that Lindsey would be able to handle the ones for her and Senior. Using her magic she floated the bottles and plates ahead of her, so she would be able to keep her balance.
“I hope everyone is hungry.” She gently placed the sodas on the coffee table and then James’s plate into his hand and hers in her own.
“I hope you like the bread, I made it myself.” She had been trying more of her grandmother’s recipes and the milk and honey bread was one of them.

Charley set down her plate on the table, taking the silence from everyone eating to fish her cellphone from her pocket and text her mother about the interview. She knew that her parents worried about what kind of future she was going to have with a husband at eighteen and a baby on her hip, but she knew that they would figure it out. She would protect Luka from knowing about his biological father, and he would grow up with his parents who love him, and never have to know that he was the product of his mother's rape. Luka would be happy and healthy, Charley would make sure of it. They would have their ups and downs, but what household didn't?

She put the cellphone away and took a bite of her sandwich, smiling at the milk and honey bread that she managed to make. Her mother would be proud of the recipe collection getting used as much as possible.
"Thanks, Bama." She kissed his cheek and took another bite of her sandwich, unsure what else would be discussed now that the Richardson's knew that their son was safe. She took a sip of her soda, enjoying the sweetness of the drink.

"So, how have classes been going, love?" She asked with a smile, knowing that he was always doing homework, but she was curious how his classes before the game had gone. He had been working so hard to make sure that he graduated with the best grades possible. Charlotte was still unsure what her husband wanted to do after his graduation. The last time that they talked about it, she knew that he wanted to go into his family business to work on the farm, and they would have to move down to Alabama. Probably the best if they wanted to avoid detection from Callum if he ever went to Salem to try to find Clover.

Deep down, she had a feeling that he wanted to follow closer in his father's footsteps and join the army. Charlotte knew that she could never ask him to stay with her if he didn't want to, that James would always support what Charley wanted to do with her life, so how could she do anything less than that? James was the love of her life, the greatest man she had ever met. She would support his choice, even if she would miss him during basic training.
"Still helping out with Professor Satagori?"

Charley looked at her screen and smiled when she heard James insist that she told her mom hi from him. Charlotte knew that her parents were a little difficult to handle at times. They were loud, they were colorful, but she loved them to death. Knowing that a family as wholesome as the Richardsons could accept them so easily made Charley know that this marriage was going to be one that could survive anything. She added a second text reading, 'James says hi<33'. Charlotte put her sandwich back on the plate when their son started to attack her kidneys with his strong legs. It seemed like this entire month of her pregnancy was just non stop kicking. Not that she could get too angry at her little boy. It just showed that he was getting stronger. Preparing to come into the world and into the arms of his loving parents.

She took a sip of her drink, trying to keep from smirking too much at the interactions between Senior and Lindsey. They were an adorable couple together, always bickering back and forth, but in the most loving way. They care about each other, which is why they knew that they didn't have to sugar coat anything. They would always be honest, exactly what she wanted for her own marriage.

Once the little boy calmed down enough in her stomach, Charley took a final bite of her sandwich and put it back down. She looked at her husband and stole his hand so he would be able to touch her stomach and feel the little boy moving around. She kept his hand over her shirt, out of respect for his parents.
"I keep saying it, he's going to be a beater. Seems to think my bladder and kidneys are bludgers." She knew that Senior was a muggle, but he knew enough about the magical world to understand some things about quidditch.

Charlotte smiled when the baby settled down and James started to talk about all of the things going on at the school. About his helping Professor Satagori, and the slowly getting tougher classes.
"You'll get through it. I'm sure that Professor Satagori appreciates the help." She always loved Care of Magical Creatures class. The professor was upbeat and made everyone feel like their opinions mattered and their questions weren't stupid.
"Plus graduation is just around the corner." She smiled, knowing that he would be able to handle anything that the school threw at him. She would support him and they would have a good life after he graduated.

Charley sat, listening to the conversation about the military bases and knew that there would be the day when James finally admitted that this was the life that he wanted. When he would sit her down and tell her the truth. What would he expect to happen? Would he think that she would want a divorce because of it? Charley could never. She wanted to only be married once in her life and she wanted to be married to James David Richardson for the rest of her life. She was having his son, and she would be there with him for as long as he would want to make it work. If that meant deployments, if it mean basic training or more trainings, she would want to make it work. Charley looked up at her husband and squeezed his hand,
"Do you want to join?" Five words that had been sitting at the back of her throat since she they got married. She looked at him, knowing that they would have a long discussion about what was happening. If she would have to find new jobs everytime they moved, if she would be able to just floo back and forth, everything that a husband and wife had to figure out when one wanted to become part of the military. This wasn't a deal breaker for her, she just needed to know her husband's plans.

The baby was kicking up a storm, and she knew that soon he would calm down. Everyone who she talked to told her that during the final month, the baby shifts to get into the proper position for birth. Her mother was still trying to convince her for a home birth, to have Luka at home and then if there were complications to go to the hospital, but she knew that a home birth with a midwife was something strange for a lot of people. Even if it was something that Charley would be interested in learning while at the hospital.

Charley tried to get off the couch when Senior and Lindsey stood up to leave. It took a try with her stomach so round, but she knew that there was a long conversation with her husband coming up.
"Alright, bye Lindsey, bye Senior." She hugged them both carefully and tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear. When they left, she looked at her husband and bit her lower lip, trying to figure out if she would be able to ask him again about this whole matter,
"Do you want to join the military, love?"

They would be able to work through it. They would figure out where they wanted to live and then they would make it all work out. As much as she liked this apartment in Paomet Grove, she knew that she would eventually move to whereever James needed to be. This was the life that he wanted for as long as she knew him. The last thing she wanted to be was the woman who denied him his dreams.

Charley watched her husband say goodbye to his parents and knew that they would have to talk about his future. About if they would be able to survive whatever he had to do for their future together. She knew that basic training could take a while, and while she didn't want to go through any part of this alone, she knew that if it was for the best of their future. She would.
"Be safe." She called after them, hearing the cracking whip sound of apparation. She sat back down on the couch, trying to get comfortable with her huge stomach and uncomfortable back. She knew that she had opened a whole new argument between the two of them and she just wanted to know what was going to happen with them.

She kissed him back when he showered her face with kisses and leaned against him when he sat down with her.
"Eighteen months." She tried to understand how long it would take, and knew that the baby would hve to have his first birthday without his father. Would Luka even know his father when James finally came back?
"Would you be able to handle that? Eighteen months without your son?" She asked, hoping that he would be able to do this out of love for them and hoping that they would be able to have a good life together. The darker part of her soul told her that if James was so okay with being away from the baby, it was probably because he already knew that Luka wasn't his and he wouldn't love him as much as he would if the child was his.

"James, I have my family, your family, our friends. I can handle eighteen months without you if you need that. I just need to know that you would be okay without us." She already loved their son more than anything in the world. If anything happened to him, she would be a wreck, but she also knew that she would need help with an infant.

Eighteen months. Their son would be over a year old when James was able to see him for what might even be the first time.
"I don't want to be the one who gets between you and what you want. I mean, it's a long time but it can happen." She didn't want him to leave. She didn't want to have to go eighteen months without her husband. She loved him too much. She wanted him to bond with his son and to feel that connection with Luka that she ready felt to the core of her soul. Luka might have Callum's genes, but he was Charley and James's son. When she fell asleep at night, she was safe inside of James's arms with their hands on her stomach. Callum hurt her, she was pretty sure that it was all he was capabale of. He could destroy, and she wasn't going to have that influence around her son.

"It will be hard, I just... I don't want you to be away and realize that you don't want to be with us anymore." Her darkest fear was finally voiced and she needed to hear what he would say about that. They got married young, only after about a year of dating. Now she was pregnant with the baby that was forced inside of her and she had a horrible feeling that as soon as he was away, he would realize that he could be a lot happier without her. That she would always be his Salem girlfriend who was holding him back from the life that he wanted for himself.
"I just don't want you to forget how much you love me while you're away, or forget how much you love this baby when you leave us."

She was pulled onto his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. Her stupid hormones were driving her insane. She could cry at the drop of a hat one second, or tear off James's boxers with her teeth the next. Right now it was more of the former. She would always worry about Luka, about if he was alright, if Callum was hanging around, all of it. The only part that made it doable was having James by her side with the same goal.

"I want you to be happy, I just don't want to lose you. I don't want you to go off for so long and realize that marrying me, agreeing to raise Luka with me was all a big mistake. That you could do so much better than me and this life." The tears were already stinging her eyes and while she tried to keep her voice strong, even she could hear the waver in it.

Charley smiled and looked down at her stomach. She had been going back and forth with if she wanted to name the baby David or Luka more. She loved that David was his brother's name, but she wanted the connection to her family as well. There were so many Jamess and Davids in his family that maybe a new name would be good for them. Luka would have the part of her family, and the part from his.
"I think Luka. Every time I call him that, he starts to kick more." He also always seemed to kick whenever James came into the room. Probably because of how happy Charely got whenever she saw her husband. They were a wonderful couple together, they protected each other and no matter how scared she was for the future, she knew that they would always protect their son.

His shocked face made her feel like she had slapped him in the face. She was terrified that she either read his mind, or that she would ever accuse him of such a horrible thing.
"I tell myself that, I do. I think it's just the hormones and." She hated bringing up Callum so much, but he was such a big part of all of this.
"And I think about Callum and how terrified I am that one day you'll look at me and you'll look at Luka and all you'll see is him. That I'll make you so disgusted and that Luka will make you so angry that you'll never want to see either of us again."

The tears were falling freely from her face now. She had bottled up all of these fears since she found out about the baby and she knew that she should have said something about it sooner. She buried her face into his neck, hoping and praying that he would be able to understand that these fears were natural. She was having a baby by a rape. She had already been pregnant when she had willing sex for the first time.

She snuggled against him and just tried to get all of the pain out. She knew that she would love Luka, she had to. He didn't have anything to do with this. He was innocent to it all, just his genetics were half hers and half Callum's. It was James though who went to ever doctor's appointment, who held her while they slept and made sure that they were both safe ever night. She nodded when he insisted that the only time she would ever hear him say that he didn't want to be with her would be when he was out of his mind. She leaned against him, smiling when he ran his hands over her swollen belly.
"Something spicy?" She looked at him and smiled,
"Do we still have that gumbo my mom sent up?" Since she found out about the baby, she was pretty sure that she ate her weight in the stuff. Each batch spicer than the last.

"And then maybe we could relax in the bath or something?" When they got the apaprtment, she made sure that the bath tub was big enough for the both of them. Even with her swollen stomach they were both able to be rather comfortable in the bath.