A Pretty Big Question

[Andrew Belo]

Ever since his lunch with Dietrich and Michael, Andrew Belo had begun thinking about things. Relationship things. It had begun as a glimmer of a thought that would pass through his mind in moments when he was thinking of nothing else, but over the past few months, it had become an all-encompassing obsession. The thoughts had grown so bad that Andrew had finally almost decided to take action, but before he could, one thing needed to be done.

So, Andrew asked LeAnn to accompany him to practice and then to lunch after. Because of his schedule and with LeAnn away at school, Andrew had unfortunately been forced to wait until the break to do this. As they sat waiting for their meal, he'd ordered some grilled chicken and potatoes, Andrew grew nervous. More nervous than he had been the previous week when his agent had helped him to sign a five year multi- million galleon contract with the Thunderers to remain as one of the team's Beaters. That hadn't made him nervous at all. He knew what he was worth to the team and he knew that to some extent they needed him. After several moments of silence, he looked away from the window he'd been staring through. "So, did you enjoy practice? I've missed you being at them kiddo" he said with a faint smile. He fondly recalled back to Evette's pregnancy when he would bring LeAnn to practices so Evette could catch a nap or head to an appointment. That had been his time to bond with LeAnn.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn spent almost longer than usual getting ready this morning. Normally she took a while to get ready as she loved to dress up in her best clothes, and honestly all of her clothes were her best clothes, even if it was just for a normal day around the house. Although today LeAnn made sure to have her nicest outfit on today as she was going out with Andrew and she hadn’t seen him in so long she felt it was only right to make an effort in the outfit she was going to wear. She also knew that the men on the Quidditch team loved talking to her and complimenting her clothes so she wanted to make a bit of an effort for them all. So when she stayed in her walk in closest for the most part of the morning she felt it was for a worthy cause, not for her but for the Quidditch team. LeAnn hadn’t been to see any of the practices since her mother was pregnant and that seemed like so long ago now so she was definitely excited. For someone so young and very fashionable and for hating dirt, one would think that LeAnn would hate the thought of Quidditch but to be honest after watching Andrew play it for so long and with him teaching her a few pointers it was definitely one of her favourite past-times now and she couldn’t wait to try out for the team next year. Spending the day with Andrew was LeAnn’s perfect idea of a little break from seeing her friends, shopping and playing with her siblings – something that still took some getting used to, she had been an only child for so long and now to have 4 brothers and sisters, it was a little much for the young girl to take in but she loved it and was getting the hang of it.

When the practice was over and the two made their way to where they were having lunch LeAnn was still very excited about seeing a live practice again, the game was so thrilling and she loved it. She often wondered about maybe asking Andrew if he could coach her and maybe she could play alongside him in a few years when she left Hogwarts New Zealand but she was too young to make a decision like that so she held off till she had more of an idea. Sitting in the booth with her head in the menu, LeAnn looked up at Andrew when he spoke to her. She giggled as he called her kiddo, something she was used to him calling her by now. In actual fact she liked the name because she knew Andrew wasn’t her father or anything but he was the closest thing she had ever had to one and she really liked him and maybe one day he would be her daddy, who knew? “Oh yes I loved it. I’ve missed going to them, silly school doesn’t even have any proper matches and the practices hardly ever happen so I can’t even watch them.” she said with a slight pout. She hoped that if she got on the team next year, all being well, the game would pick up a bit.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew was always glad to hear that LeAnn actually enjoyed the practices. Their practices were usually only open to family members, press and select fans. And even though some of the team's significant others attended practices and claimed to enjoy them, he knew that they had no idea what was going on. They were simply enjoying being 'trophy' wives and girlfriends, happy to date a quidditch player. It was rather annoying at times, and he was glad that LeAnn, a witch much younger than any of those women, could put them to shame when it came to understanding quidditch. As soon as he'd found out she was interested, Andrew had jumped on the opportunity to bond with the young girl as he explained to her the finer points of the world's best sport. Seeing her at his practices often reminded him of when he would attend his father's practices. He would catch a glimpse of her sometimes and see the same expression on her face that was likely on his own when he was younger.

"No proper matches?" he asked in disbelief. "What kind of school is it that we're sending you to?" Andrew knew that the school was one of the best wizarding schools, but no quidditch? That just didn't seem right. The quidditch player shook his head and chucked her under the chin so she would stop pouting. Like her mother, Evette, LeAnn had that same ability to make Andrew want to right every wrong for her. All she had to do was pout or even show the slightest sign of displeasure and Andrew was up right away to be a Superman. It was the same for Evette and the four other little ones at home. "Chin up kid. When they have try-outs, you will make the team and they'll have to have some proper matches just to show you off." He grinned at the little girl seated across from him as he took a sip of water from the glass the waitress had placed on the table. "We'll have all break to get you ready. You are trying out for the team, right?" he asked as he sat back gingerly, his muscles beginning to ache slightly. It always took a while for the pain to come because the adrenaline needed to wear off. It was beginning in his shoulder blade, and he knew it would spread.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn, with a pout still on her face, went back to looking at the menu. For someone so young she was very stubborn and was only ever used to getting what she liked and didn’t like not getting what she wanted; then again that hardly ever happened so thankfully no one had to feel the wrath of the little 12 year old. For someone of her age and stature she was not someone to be messed with, she had a fierce temper on her and the few people that had wronged her in her life so far knew about it all too well and would never make that mistake again. This meant that if she was lucky enough to get on the Quidditch team next year, and to be honest who wouldn’t want to have her on the team, that captain better make sure that he knew how to run the bloody team and at least have a few practices, even if they couldn’t play a few games. She knew that he was Kristen’s brother, well half brother, and she wondered if that would make a difference on making sure that she got her way – along with Aphrodite as well as she knew her fellow Gryffindor wanted to join the Quidditch team and it was about time that girl learned how to show some power to even those with authority to get what she wanted instead of taking the ‘nice’ approach, which LeAnn knew all too well would get you nowhere in the future. It was hard to believe that LeAnn was raised to be so ladylike when someone saw the temper that she had on her. It was even more of a surprise when she told them that she liked Quidditch, it was not a sport that most young ladies would be seen to be playing but LeAnn felt that it was something that allowed to her show off her power in a noble way in a sport that many thought should be left to men – she could do anything a man could do better; she didn’t even mid getting dirty while playing it.

Having decided on what she wanted she set down her menu, folding her arms on the table in front of her she leaned forward to talk to Andrew. “I know. It’s such a disgrace and the Professor’s are no help at all when I complained to them.” She said, shaking her head, her loose ringlets covering her face momentarily, it was really a disgrace that the school didn’t have that much Quidditch, it was just lucky for them that she found something to keep her occupied seeing as first years weren’t even allowed to try out and only had flying class in the first semester – she often wondered if she should have gone to Beauxbatons, from what her mother told them their Quidditch was great, then again she only watched it from a Cheerleader point of view. When Andrew chucked her under her chin she looked up and couldn’t hide her smile, it was hard to stay angry when Andrew tried to cheer her up, this was one of the reasons she loved this man, he could always cheer her up without fail. “Oh I know they will.” she said, with a not so subtle hint of cocky-ness in her voice. “Of course I’m trying out for the team, don’t be so silly.” she said, a mock shock in her voice as if it was the most ridiculous question to ever ask her. “Just contemplating over Chaser or Beater, I’m still not sure.” she admitted to him. They were her two strongest positions, for someone so young she had a lot of strength in her little arms but her petite frame allowed her to be quite agile on the broom which came in handy in those tight spots.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew nodded his head sympathetically. If he'd been in a school with no quidditch, Andrew wasn't sure he would have actually made it through all seven years of schooling. The sport had kept him sane when the schoolwork had threatened to drive him crazy. His father would never have allowed his son to be in a school with no quidditch the same way he would never have allowed his son to hold any other career. Not that he minded- Andrew was a natural athlete and he loved being a Beater. Any other adult might have listened to the child's words and chided her for her arrogance. Andrew didn't though. In fact, he was pleased in her confidence. She was behaving the same way that Evette and Andrew did- with the confidence that came from being self-assured and rich. They were people who made things happen when they wanted them to. He nodded his head as she spoke about which position to try out for. Those were her two best positions and she likely wouldn't go wrong either way, though it took a lot to be a female Beater. "Well, you know which position I'd tell you to try out for" he replied, a grin on his face.

Taking a sip of his water, Andrew flexed his neck, the smile vanishing from his face. "So, LeAnn..." he said, replacing his glass on the table. "I...well, I wanted to speak privately with you about something." Andrew tried to muster up some of his usual confidence, but was finding it difficult at the moment. He looked over to the little girl sitting across the table with the ringlets encircling her face and had to look back down at the table. She looked too much like her mother, and Andrew momentarily wondered how he was going to get through the proposal if he couldn't even get through this. Rubbing off some of the sweat from the glass, Andrew spoke once more. "You know, I was pretty upset with you at first when you lured me to the house that Christmas and your mother was home." He paused, knowing that the young girl likely didn't know what had happened between her mother and him and he wasn't keen on explaining any of it to her. "Luckily, it worked out ok. But, I um never got the chance to uh say thank you. I'm glad you tricked me into coming to the house to see you and the babies and your mom again." He looked up and gave LeAnn a small smile. The little girl would never have any idea how much she had truly helped him. If it wasn't for her, Andrew would have really fallen back to his old ways of sleeping around, partying hard and playing harder and he probably would have eventually been dropped from the team.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn knew that she really shouldn’t get hung up about Quidditch as much as she was as it wasn’t the most important thing about school. Of course school was all about grades and she had to worry about that if she wanted to be successful in life at all. Of course she was still only 12 and too young to know what she wanted out of life. She loved Quidditch but she couldn’t see herself making a career out of it. She knew that it could be done, all she had to do was look at Andrew and see how well a life a Professional Quidditch Player treated you, but she couldn’t see it being the career for her – then again one never knew where one’s life would take them 5 years down the road. Then there was the career path her mother took, a model. She knew that she could do well in that job as she already had done some modelling in the past and she was seemingly a natural at it. Although she felt that she wanted to do something more ‘worthwhile’ in her life although she would never tell her mother that. She knew from watching her mother that it wasn’t an easy job but she didn’t know if it was for her or not. For now LeAnn was going to keep her options open and do whatever she wanted, she knew things would work out for her when it came time to choose a career. LeAnn giggled softly when Andrew told her that she knew what position he’d tell her to go for because it was really obvious that he’d want her to follow in his footsteps as a Beater. “Chaser it is then.” she said with a small smirk as she took a sip of her strawberry milkshake.


Giggling softly once more at her words to confuse Andrew she looked up at the older man. She didn’t like that his smile disappeared so quickly. Did she saw something wrong to make him upset with her? She sat back in her seat as he began to talk, she didn’t like the tone of voice he had or that he wasn’t smiling anymore. She didn’t mean to upset him, she was only joking. The young girl looked at the man across from her, with wonder in her eyes, she really didn’t know what he wanted to say but he looked kind of funny as he tried to say it – whatever it was. A small frown crossed her lips as he brought up what had happened that Christmas when she tricked him to come to her house under false pretences. She honestly thought they were over that by now because things were working out well and everyone was happy...weren’t they? She nodded her head slowly to show that she understood what he was saying. She really hoped he wasn’t going to get angry with her. She was surprised however that all he really wanted to say was thank you for her doing it. Her small face brightened up at this. She was just being silly thinking something was wrong. “You’re welcome.” she said, beaming. “I’m glad I did too. I love having you at home Andrew and I know mum does too.” she said sweetly. She could tell that her mother was much happier than she had been in a long time with Andrew around and of course the babies. She noticed it even more during the holidays when she got to go home, not seeing her mum on a regular basis allowed her to notice the differences easier.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Any other time, Andrew would have chuckled and then been all over that comment of LeAnn's, making some kind of joke about chasers being nowhere near as good as beaters. He respected all of the players on a quidditch team, but since he was a beater himself, he obviously thought it was the best position. Today, he barely even took note of her comment though. He was too distracted, wondering the best way to get what he needed to say out. He was simply grateful that LeAnn didn't interrupt him as he began speaking. The young girl was smart and he knew that she probably realized that something was up. How could she not? Andrew was usually quite confident and self-assured. It had been years since he'd felt doxies of this nature floating in his stomach, and he was fairly certain that LeAnn could see it on his face. As he spoke and saw the expression on her face turn from worry to a frown, Andrew felt a bit guilty. Making her feel even the slightest bit upset hadn't been his intentions at all, especially since what he wanted to ask her was something that was potentially going to be a great thing for her life. When she smiled and began speaking a moment later, it was as if he'd just drunk a Cheering Potion. He couldn't help but return the girl's grin despite his anxiety. Like with most children, her words were spoken with an honesty that he felt through and through. It was just what Andrew needed and once again he found himself feeling extremely grateful towards the young girl as he sat up a bit straighter in the booth.

Taking another gulp of water, the man stared the young girl in the eye. It was time for him to man up and come out with it. Shifting slightly in his seat, Andrew continued to keep her gaze as he spoke. "I love being with you all as well" he replied easily. He had grown up the only child of a quidditch player, so he'd spent a lot of time on his own with just his nanny for company. There had been no mother, no siblings and usually no father to talk to. And even when he traveled with his father, the man wasn't the most talkative of people and Andrew had more often than not been left to his own devices. At Evette's house, there was always noise and something to do. One of the children always needed help with something or some sort of attention and when he wasn't at home, he was surrounded by rowdy quidditch players. At night, when the children were finally all asleep, he and Evette would laugh if they found themselves in utter silence. It wasn't something that they were very used to anymore. They would use the time to truly catch up on one another's day. "I was thinking that I'd like to do something for your mamen to show her how much I love her, but first I need to ask you a very important question." His gaze was very serious as he looked at the girl, his stormy blue eyes making it clear that he was saying something very important. "Would it be alright with you if I ask your mamen to marry me?"

Andrew hadn't noticed but as he'd been speaking, he had leaned forward slightly. He remained in this position, waiting for LeAnn's answer. The quaffle was in her quadrant now. Her answer meant everything to him. She had been with Evette longer than anyone else in the household, and the decision would affect her more than anyone else. The babies were young and likely wouldn't even realize what was happening. LeAnn would though, and that was the biggest reason that he had for asking her. He also wanted the young girl's blessing because it meant a lot to him to get that from her. She had been the biggest supporter of his and Evette's relationship, pushing them together even after he and Evette had given up on their relationship.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn loved how she had someone like Andrew to talk Quidditch with. Her mother wasn’t exactly someone who had an interest in anything outside of fashion and Quidditch was one of the furthest things; unless it had to do with their uniforms. Then again before Andrew came into her life LeAnn would have seen herself being more like her mother and have no interest in Quidditch whatsoever. For anyone that knew her the fact that she was interested in watching and playing such a rough and dirty sport came as such of a surprise to them. LeAnn was always dressed in such fashionable clothes with everything matching and never a strand of hair out of place. She was also such a clean freak that Quidditch was something that admittedly took her a while to get used too but she just loved it so much now that she was willing to make the exception for the game, but nothing else. She loved that she had an advantage though, she was such a petit frame but she was not someone to mess with because she could make one hell of a beater and no-one would want to mess with her or she was able to be agile on the broom enough to be a chaser, she had the element of surprise on her side which not many other people did which she knew the Quidditch Captain would be stupid to not realise and use to his advantage – it really only was the best thing for the team.

Once LeAnn got over her initial feelings of worry about what Andrew was going to say. She knew she was being silly about it and just over reacted. She continued to sip on her milkshake as she looked up at Andrew. She smiled a pearly white toothy smile when Andrew confirmed how he loved being with them all as well. It was so nice for LeAnn to have a family. Sure it may not be a family of full brothers and sisters or her real dad but Andrew was the closest thing she ever had to a dad and she loved him more than she could probably ever love her real father. She may be young but her mother had told her from a young age that the man that was her father wasn’t worth her worry and he wasn’t a good father as he never wanted to know anything about LeAnn – she knew that it was just his loss and he was missing out on what Andrew now had. When he mentioned that he wanted to do some for her mum to show how much he loved her, the young girl sat up straight and immediately paid extra attention. If he was thinking of buying something or doing something romantic then he had come to the right person because this was her speciality. She nodded her head when he said that he had to ask her an important question first. The young girl was honestly expecting something like Roses or Tulips or what her mother’s favourite colour was but that just left the actual question as more of a surprise to her. LeAnn stared at Andrew with wide eyes for a moment, she was so surprised. “Have you got the ring yet? How are you going to propose? Can I be the flower girl?” she asked in an excited voice. She realised that she hadn’t answered Andrew’s question yet but her own questions were probably an inclination to what her answer was. Calming down slightly she answered in a obviously put on nonchalant voice. “I mean yes, yes I would be alright with that.” her face breaking out in a wide grin before getting up of her seat and throwing her arms around Andrew in a tight embrace, she was so excited, she was finally going to have a real dad.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew had expected to feel even more nervous once he'd asked LeAnn the question. He didn't though. Now, that he'd finally come out with it, Andrew felt lighter than air. It was almost as if he was back at practice, up in the air except without the shoulder pain. He even felt hungry again and he reached for his fork to take a bite of the grilled chicken he'd ordered. When he heard her reply, he couldn't help but put his fork down so that he could have a good chuckle. LeAnn seemed so excited as she shot out questions but not a yes or no reply. He was almost positive it was a yes though. Andrew was fairly certain that LeAnn was as crazy about him as he was about her. She was exactly what wanted in a daughter and he was glad to get the chance to help raise her. The young quidditch player still couldn't understand Evette's contention that her biological father didn't want anything to do with her. He understood the whole not wanting kids things because he'd been the same way until Evette and LeAnn. What he couldn't understand was that the man didn't want to know the angelic-looking little girl. It was insane, and Andrew hoped he never met the man because he had a few choice words to share with the wizard. "Good...I was beginning to think you thought it was a bad idea" he laughed.

Finally bringing the fork to his mouth, Andrew took a bite as he thought of answers to her question. "No, I don't have a ring. I've been looking at some and I hope you can help me choose one that you think she'll like. I'm no good at that stuff" he replied with a sheepish look. When he'd gone to the jewelers, he'd spent a good amount of time looking at the ring, but nothing had wowed him enough to put the money down right away. Steepling his fingers, Andrew shrugged as he responded to the second question. "I'm not sure exactly when I'm going to propose, but I'd like it to be before you go to school again. I don't know though." He hadn't really given it much thought, but knew he had better start thinking about it. He knew that ladies often expected a proposal to be a perfect moment, and he had to admit that he wanted it to be just right as well. The third question she'd asked was the easiest one to answer. "And yes. We'll have to ask your mother of course, but I'd love for you to be our flower girl." He smiled at the girl as he fished out his wallet. It was old and very worn, but it had belonged to his father so he was reluctant to get rid of it or repair it with magic. He put some money on the table, enough to cover their food and a tip and also took out some wizarding photos which he slid over to the young girl. They sparkled and spun slowly to show off each detail. "If you want, we can head to the jewelers where I saw these. These were my favorites." Now that she had ok-ed the proposal, Andrew found himself even more eager to move on with the preparations.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn was still so super excited, she couldn’t believe this was happening and knowing her mother if LeAnn was this excited then her mother would be bouncing off the walls. LeAnn was so happy for her mother, for 11 years she had brought LeAnn up by herself while having a very successful career as a supermodel and now she was going to have someone to share the burden of parenthood, especially with four new little ones in the household. Plus Andrew was the best in LeAnn’s opinion, he was so friendly and loved everyone, even the children that weren’t technically his, he treated them like there were his own and as young as LeAnn was, she knew that that was an important thing, especially for her mother. What was more important was that LeAnn loved Andrew as well. For as long as LeAnn could remember her mother would have men surrounding her, and it was mostly always a different man every time LeAnn saw one in her home. Never once did she think of these men as her ‘father’ as much as she thought of Andrew as one. Most of the time the men would try to avoid LeAnn or would run as soon as they saw her because they didn’t want to be tied down with someone else’s child and the ones that tried to be nice to her, well they were almost as bad because LeAnn saw right through them as men that only cared about one thing and would do anything to make her mother happy and LeAnn didn’t like that. Andrew was different though and now that he was going to be her father, well that made LeAnn so happy, she couldn’t wait to tell her friends, hopefully Andrew and her mother would let her invite them, like LeAnn she was sure the two girls, Aphrodite and Kristen, would enjoy the opportunity to get all dressed up, not that any of the three ever really needed and excuse as they always dressed to impress and for young girls their fashion sense was impeccable.

Sitting back down LeAnn couldn’t stop smiling as she looked over at Andrew. She stuck her tongue out slightly when Andrew joked saying how he was beginning to think that she thought it was a bad idea. It was typical of him to be joking when there was a proposal to be planned and eventually a wedding. Of course LeAnn knew her mother was going to say yes so she already was thinking of colours and flowers and a lot of things that she probably wouldn’t get any say in at the end. LeAnn listened to the answers to her questions. She nodded her head frantically making her blonde locks bounce. She would love to help Andrew pick out the ring for her mother, LeAnn knew every piece of jewellery that her mother had so she knew sizes, colours, cuts all the important things that went into the perfect ring that her mother would just love. “I already have the perfect idea.” she grinned as she started to picture the perfect ring her head. LeAnn would have loved to have been here for when Andrew proposed but she knew that the planning of the perfect proposal took time she wouldn’t mind if she was in school, as long as she got to help Andrew plan it – of course LeAnn counted herself as a little matchmaker so she already had ideas going around in her mind. Happy with Andrews answer to her final question, knowing her mother would be alright with making LeAnn flower girl she was officially as excited as she could be, if she was any more excited she would probably burst. LeAnn looked at the pictures that Andrew took out of his wallet, they were all so pretty and perfect. “Oh yes please!” she exclaimed, today was turning out perfect, Quidditch practice in the morning and shopping in the afternoon.

 

[Andrew Belo]

If LeAnn's excitement was any indication, Andrew felt fairly confident that he would receive a similar response from Evette. He had never really brought up the topic of marriage with his girlfriend, but he had always been fairly open about his love for her and the children. Even if they weren't his biological children, Andrew spent more time with them with Evette's five children than their so-called 'real' fathers did. He was the one who entertained them, helped to purchase their necessities, and for the four youngest, helped to change their dirty diapers (though he did so reluctantly). Those were the things that made a real father, in his mind anyway. Even though his father had been on the road a lot, when he was home, Andrew's father did do fatherly things with him, like practicing quidditch and taking him to the beach. The man had been busy, but when it came down to it, Andrew knew that his father was always there for him. And, he wanted the same for the five children he was helping to raise. A wedding would only solidify all of their bonds even more.

As the young girl before him nodded frantically at the idea of heading to the jewelers, Andrew wasn't at all surprised. "Oh, do you now?" he teased, an amused expression on his face. If he left her to it, he was certain that LeAnn would outline every move he should make in regards to the proposal, from the ring all the way down to the second he ought to drop on one knee and pop the question. She was a natural matchmaker and planner. Sliding out of the booth, the quidditch star stood to his full height and waited for the young girl to join him so that they could head out. "After you Ms. Adams" he said, bowing slightly as he held out his hand towards the door.