Baby Shower for the Boss

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Professor Kingsley had spent most of the afternoon decorating the room. She'd gone a bit overboard, if she had to admit it to herself. But, this was her best friend they were talking about here, so she felt that her enthusiasm was well warranted. This wasn't Ava's first foray into parenthood. It wasn't even her second, but it had been long enough that Cyndi felt that a baby shower was necessary. She'd already promised to pass along any of the things that Ellie outgrew, but Ava needed new things as well.

Finally, the woman finished arranging the platters that the house elves had delivered. And she sat to wait, hoping that she wouldn't be alone for long.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

After his embarrassing encounter with Professor Kingsley at the beginning of term, Monty had, quite counter productively, begun feeling even more anxious around his co-worker. He sought harder now to disguise this than ever, though, and mostly appeared confident in her presence. He wasn't sure he would ever truly relax around her, if only for the fact she was Ava's friend, and that he cared a great deal what the Headmistress thought of him. It seemed likely enough that anything he shared with Cyndi would be passed on to Ava, and thus he was inclined to worry even more so around the Head of House than he did usually.

But it was the day of Ava's baby shower, and no amount of anxiety would have prevented Monty from attending to wish his friend the best. She knew, of course, that he already wished her the best, but he was not going to pass up the opportunity to tell her again. At the appointed time he arrived in the Professor's common room, holding a small, rectangular parcel in both hands. It wasn't much - a bar of chilli chocolate - but it was intended to amuse her more than it was to gratify her. As soon as he reached a table he placed it down, knowing that she would discover it later and immediately work out who it was from anyway. Then he gave Cyndi a warm smile, and, exhibiting as much comfortableness as he could, sat down in a nearby armchair to chat to her.

 

[Professor Misha Haden]

Misha wasn't sure why he was going to this, perhaps it was half because people had attended the party he'd thrown for Kalif at the beginning of the year that he sort of felt like he owed it to others to turn up to the things they organised the only issue with that being that he wasn't sure what kind of thing a baby shower was, he had never attended one, and he realised that his usual gift of some form of alcohol would probably be out given that the woman wouldn't be able to drink it. The man had spoken to his mother who had advised him on what to get and had still no clue, but with a stuffed toy, a phoenix which he'd been told was a perfect gift for a young mother and child he entered the baby shower. He was rather hungry, and noticed the food before the other people, he gave them both a warm greeting before making a beeline for the food, tucking the gift under his arm and munching on some of the food. He had been up late, surprisingly so for so early in the term with quizzes from his fifth years and definitely gave off a tired air, and it was as he glanced at the various things he realised this was a dry event, and he inwardly groaned, just picking up a soft drink and more snacks and standing to the side of the table munching happily, "Are we going to jump up and say surprise, or is that the wrong thing to do to our pregnant boss?"
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[Aeon Summers]

Admittedly, Aeon had attended only one baby shower in his life, and while it had been a while ago, he made sure that this time he wouldn't make the mistake of not bringing a gift. The wizard had not been familiar with the concept at all. Now, as a father himself, he had a little more experience in the baby department and the fuss people made. Stepping into the common room with his gift bundled in his arms, Summers heard the end of Haden's comment about surprising their boss, and chuckled. "Not unless we want her to give birth then and there." He beamed at them, guessing that surprises weren't the best when it came to a pregnancy. Not that the man knew a lot - neither he nor his husband exactly had the bits to get pregnant. Thankfully when they'd gone with a surrogate, they got to miss out on a lot of the bad side, like dealing with hormones. The man made his way across the room, joining Misha among the food. "I didn't know if we had to wrap presents or not. This was a little big, so." He held up the hanging mobile he'd gotten for Ava, with dangling cherub-like wizards that would occasionally shapeshift into overly-adorable animals. "Figured it'd be easier for the little bub to get accustomed to animagi early, considering."

 

[Sloane Halliwell]

Sloane was very excited for her boss. Ava was a very kind woman and Sloane had only seen her mad when she had no other options. The whole debacle over a student attempted murder for example was really the only time, but despite teaching for two years she considered herself to be new. Still, she was in love with the idea of having a baby and, knowing she would never have one of her own, Sloane went all out to celebrate Ava King. She bought self adjusting baby suits, liking the idea of not having to buy more until the baby was a year old, which should save her some worries.

She walked into the room and loved what Cyndi had done with the place, it looked wonderful. "This is all so very exciting!" She would refuse to feel any sadness over this occasion, because this was all for Ava, it had nothing to do with Sloane at all. She put the present where the others went and sat on one of the chairs. A couple of these professors were parents themselves and not many of them were younger than here, she was positive she was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, but she didn't mind, though she knew this would never be her future, she could enjoy the celebration for someone else. "I'm not sure if jumping is the best option, Misha." She laughed, looking towards where she'd heard the comment from.
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[Ava King]

The Headmistress had received a note to meet Cyndi in the Professor's Common Room at 8. Ava had a feeling she knew what it was about, and so she stayed away until just after eight, knowing that if she turned up early to 'help' or just to see what was going on, her best friend would yell at her. Ava knew she'd do the same to Cyndi if she were setting up a party. It wasn't long to go before Ava popped, and even less to go before she left the school for awhile. It was going to be weird, it had been a long time since she had done this, but Ava was excited.
Ava waddled down the Corridor and turned into the room, knocking on it and poking her head in. "Am I allowed in yet?" She queried, seeing some of her favorite faces there. Ava walked in with a smile, taking in the room. "Guys - this is so lovely!" Ava exclaimed, before making her rounds to hug everyone.