The Greatest Gift of All

[Evette Belo]

Evette really did love this time of year, she used to be one to be very big into the holidays but ever since she had had LeAnn she had started to put more effort into it. Then this year she had four new additions to the family. She loved her quads to bits; they were the absolute apple of her eye. She had really put a big effort into this Christmas for them this year seeing as it was their first one – she had even bought them all little cute Christmassy outfits with matching dresses for the girls and matching suits for the boys – they looked even more adorable than usual. She had been taking pictures for most of the day with them at the extravagant Christmas tree in the lounge, it had looked like a Christmas shop had thrown up in her house it was full of so many decorations. While she was telling herself that she was making this big effort for the children she knew that she had been doing it to keep herself occupied. It had been a few months now since the children were born and while it should have been one of the happiest days of her life; giving birth to four beautiful children, but it brought back a pang of sadness every time she thought about it and the look on Andrew’s face when he found out that he wasn’t the baby’s father. She missed him more and more every day, he had been there with her for her whole pregnancy and she had started to grow feelings for him – something Evette didn’t believe in. She had known her whole life that she had veela blood in her and always told herself that she wouldn’t grow attached to anyone because she could never be sure if the feelings anyone had for her were real or just because of her veela charm.

Although today she had remained to keep herself busy, she had woken up early that morning with the babies feedings and just hadn’t gone back to sleep. Evette never really had a family when she was growing up – her parents were barely home and she was raised by nannies and she didn’t want her children to have that – she was just sad that she couldn’t give them a father figure of sorts. Andrew had been great with LeAnn, she absolutely adored him and it tore her apart when he didn’t come home with her and the babies. She was a smart girl but still too young to actually understand what had happened and Evette hadn’t tried to explain it to her. As the day progressed the family had had their dinner and were now sitting in the lounge beside the tree as the babies played with their new toys. Evette was sipping her hot chocolate in silence as she looked down at the scene, it was a real picture perfect moment and all that was missing was a father. Evette shook her head as she tried to stop thinking about it – it was hopeless.

 

[Andrew Belo]

With a crack, Andrew apparated onto the corner of the block where Evette's home stood. He glanced down at the huge duffel bag on his shoulder, making sure it was whole. He had some very important items in there, ones he would be upset if he discovered they'd been damaged in some way. They were Christmas presents for the kids, things he'd picked up in the past two days. The man stood facing the house for several moments second guessing his decision to show up. He'd been terribly surprised when he'd arrived home from an away game to discover a letter had arrived to his home addressed from LeAnn Adams. As he ripped open the letter to read its contents, all sort of thoughts about Evette being hurt or one of the babies falling sick had flown through his head. He'd had to sit down before he could even begin to read the letter, but it turned out there was no need for alarm. LeAnn had merely found something of his and thought he might want it. To Andrew, it was not an item of importance. It was only a book of old quidditch plays, but the letter and the invitation that accompanied it were intriguing, especially since the girl had mentioned that her mother wouldn't be there. Andrew did not want to see Evette, it would hurt too much. He'd left her home even before she'd returned from the hospital, and hadn't reached out to her since. But, he would be lying if he said he did not want to see LeAnn or get a glimpse at the babies.

Back when Evette was still pregnant and he'd been under the illusion that he was going to have a family, Andrew had been a happy man. It hadn't happened right away, but eventually the idea of being the father to five children had grown on him. He'd grown up an only child with a father who was always on the road, with nannies for friends and a big empty house to call home. The idea of a family, a true family had called to him in ways that he never would have expected. But, then that dream had been crushed and thrown away like floo powder when Evette had finally admitted that the quads were not his. With a sigh, he walked swiftly to the house, a jingle coming from his bag, and when he'd arrived at the door, he knocked, waited and then knocked again. A brief feeling of nostalgia and a bigger feeling of regret filled him as he waited on the familiar doorstep for LeAnn or whoever was watching the children to answer the door. In and out, he repeated to himself as he adjusted the Santa cap on his head. That was the plan anyway.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn loved Christmas because it gave her an excuse to wear her prettiest dress, not that she really needed an excuse any other day of the year. Although this year LeAnn was very excited because she knew of a visitor coming today that no one else knew about. She had missed Andrew and she knew that her mummy missed him too even if she wouldn’t admit it. While LeAnn was young, and she didn’t fully understand why Andrew wasn’t living with them anymore, she knew that adult were stupid and just needed to be pointed in the right direction so she was going to aid in that for her mummy and Andrew. Having sent Andrew a letter a few weeks ago saying that she had forgotten a book of his at their house that she had taken from him sometime before he had left when she wanted something to read, she knew that he would be here today. He hadn’t sent back a reply or anything but she just felt that he was going to come, and a part of her hope that he was actually coming to see her and the babies as she was sure that he hadn’t even spent an awful lot of time with them as they were probably just born when he left.

LeAnn was sitting the main room with her family, more specifically, on the couch with her mother. She had gotten so many Christmas presents this year so she was sitting on the couch fiddling with everything she had gotten. She was starting to get nervous that Andrew hadn’t come yet and the day was progressing on a fast pace. When she heard someone at the door she quickly called out, “I’ll get it!” And ran to the door without looking at the strange looks her mother was giving her. Looking out of the side window she saw that was indeed Andrew at the door...and he brought presents! Smiling broadly the young girl opened the big door and ran up to Andrew, throwing out her arms as much as her tiny body would allow before hugging him around the waist as that was only as far as she could reach. “Andrew! You came! I knew you would!” she squealed with happiness, Christmas was complete now.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette had set down her cup of hot coco as she gracefully slid on to the floor from the couch where she was sitting and crawled over to where the babies were playing. It was all well and good observing them but she preferred to be down on the floor playing with them. She loved her children so much that she would crawl around on her hands and knees on the floor and play with them. Picking up Fantine she rolled over on her back, holding the little girl up above her. As she looked up into the young daughters eyes she smiled, and laughed with joy before putting her bag with her brothers and sister and continued to play with them for a big before she heard someone at the door. When LeAnn practically jumped off the sofa to run to the door she immediately knew something was up. One; she was expecting any visitors and two; LeAnn never answered the door because that was normally the house elf’s job. Standing up she heard LeAnn say ‘Andrew’. Immediately Evette became confused. No! It couldn’t be. she thought to herself as she peered around the corner to the front door. She shot back immediately and felt her heart racing, why was Andrew here? Looking at herself in the mirror in the room, she made sure she looked presentable before walking to the front door, trying her hardest to not let her real emotions show. “Andrew.” she said, almost coldly. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” she asked. She didn’t want to keep up with the facade she was putting on, especially when she wanted nothing more than to do what LeAnn was doing right now and hold him again.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew was just about to knock again when the door flew open and he was immediately grabbed around the waist into a hug. Something bothered him about this but he couldn't quite figure out what it was just yet. Andrew was just happy to see LeAnn, who he'd missed a lot. He returned the hug quickly, unable to prevent the chuckle that escaped him as he hugged the younger version of Evette. "Merry Christmas! Look at you LeAnn...you must have grown a whole foot since I saw you last" he kidded, pleased that she was so glad to see him. He and LeAnn had become quite close while her mother was pregnant and he'd often entertained her just so Evette could grab a nap here and there. The girl was quite dressed up and Andrew wondered whether Evette was taking the children somewhere for the holiday. It made him wish that he'd put in a bit more effort into his own clothing choices before he left his home.

Hearing some footsteps, Andrew looked up and it quickly dawned on him what was bothering him about the whole thing. LeAnn wasn't usually allowed to open the doors. She was only 10 after all. That job was usually left to the house elf or...Evette herself. When he heard her familiar voice, Andrew's blue eyes looked sharply first at Evette who was being less than welcoming to him and then at LeAnn for an answer. He could have sworn she'd mentioned that her mother would not be home. It was the only reason why he'd actually considered coming at all. "Evette" he returned just as cooly. He gave the woman a once over, and damn her, she looked absolutely stunning in her red dress. As he gazed at her, he realized that if he hadn't known she'd had quadruplets nearly six months ago he never would have guessed it. She was still liar though and that had to trump everything else, right? He looked again at LeAnn before he continued, giving the girl a frown. "I...I came to pick something up and drop some gifts off" he replied in a curt voice. If she wanted to be that way, he would too. "What are you doing home anyway? I was told" he added, looking to LeAnn as he wondered whether the girl had planned this to happen, "you wouldn't be here."

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette heard the coolness in Andrew’s voice and it felt as if someone had drove a knife through her heart, sure she was putting on the same cool facade but she was only using it as a defence mechanism so it wouldn’t seem too obvious that she was still hung up on Andrew. When she saw that he was still as angry with her she realised that the act was the best move – she never liked to seem weak and Andrew had seen more than people she had known for years and she didn’t want to give him that pleasure anymore. Evette reached out for LeAnn and brought her away from Andrew, he clearly didn’t want to be a part of the family or have anything to do with them after he had left a few months ago and it had hurt LeAnn almost as bad it had hurt Evette so she didn’t want her daughter around him. Listening to what he had to say she had to admit that she was surprised that he had brought gifts, it made her heart swell even though she was still confused about it – he wanted nothing to do with the family, so why was he dropping off gifts? She was also confused about what he would be here to collect, she had been sure to get rid of everything that had belonged to him months ago as it was too hard to have anything of his still here, as if they were taunting her of the time they had spent together.

Looking at him with confused eyes she relaxed her features a bit, she was already showing too much emotion – or so she felt. “You must have been hit in the head with too many bludgers, Andrew. As you can see I’m here, it is my home after all.” It was getting harder and harder to act as if him being here was nothing to her, he couldn’t keep it up much longer. Catching him looking at LeAnn she looked at her oldest daughter. “LeAnn do you have anything to do with Andrew being here?” she asked, her voice telling her daughter that now was a time to not be her usual self and tell the truth, but not exactly angry.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn beamed happily at Andrew’s comment. She hadn’t really grown that much but she didn’t mind. She was just happy that Andrew was here – it was beginning to feel like Christmas for her now. She was about to say something to Andrew when she heard her mothers voice behind her. She knew her mothers voice very well but it wasn’t often she heard it in that tone. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly but she started to feel sort of scared and worried. Didn’t her mother want to see Andrew as much as she did? She moved over beside her mother when she pulled her over and looked up at the two adults as they talked. What was up with adults? These two were acting so weird and very different from how they used to be before the babies were born – LeAnn knew that the babies would be nothing but bad news for her and her family. When Andrew looked at her and her mother questioned her she lowered her head, she knew she was in trouble. “I told Andrew to come and I had an idea that he wouldn’t have if you were here. But it’s Christmas and families are meant to be together at Christmas.” she said with an angry voice as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, they were ruining her Christmas. She was a right little madam.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew shifted nervously as he stood at the door, trying in turn to look both uninterested in the fact that he was standing in front of Evette and calm at how she was treating him. A pained expression crossed the man's face though as she pulled LeAnn away from him as if she didn't want the girl to have any contact with him. It was becoming more and more difficult to act as if seeing her was the last thing he wanted to do especially when she spoke. If there was one thing that he found more attractive than Evette's body, it was her voice, even when what she was saying was less than friendly.

When he heard what LeAnn had to say, Andrew was glad that he wasn't a man who cried. What she was saying was heart-breaking. Of course it was what she wanted. She was only 11 after all and there was no way that she could understand what was going on between the two adults. He also knew that there was no way Evette had told her what had happened nor did he expect her to. There was no need for the girl to know. He wanted LeAnn to remain ignorant of what had gone on between him and Evette. As he looked at her, arms crossed and looking angry at the two adults, Andrew was at a loss for words. "Oh LeAnn" he sighed, running a hand through his short hair and removing his Santa cap in the process. He fiddled with the handle of his bag for a moment not looking at either one of the ladies. Then, he turned to LeAnn and forced a smile as he took the duffel bag off his shoulders. "You know it isn't Christmas without some gifts, right? The stuffed animals are for the babies, but if you dig inside, you may find a box in there" he hinted as he passed her the bag so she could find her gift. It wasn't much, just something he'd picked up when he'd gone to Germany for a game. He'd noticed the pink necklace in the window of a jewelry shop and he somehow knew that it had to be for the young girl. "Do you mind if your mommy and I talk in private for a few minutes? You can show the babies and the house elf what I've brought" he added brightly.

Straightening to his full height, he looked down at Evette and spoke to her in a hushed tone, not wanting LeAnn to overhear. "Go easy on her... I should have figured out this was some kind of plan. I'll just go...I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's holiday" he said, feeling an immense loneliness as he spoke. Once he left here, he would be returning to an empty house where he hadn't even bothered to put a Christmas tree up. He'd probably stop at some muggle dive for some take-out and then head home. "Just tell LeAnn...tell her I had an emergency or something" he said with a shrug, not wanting LeAnn to be too upset when she found out that her plan had failed. He'd been looking forward to getting a glimpse of the babies even though he knew that seeing them was probably going to hurt too. But, with Evette home and standing at the door, he knew that his presence was probably not welcome. He had left her after all alone in the hospital after he'd learned that the quadruplets were not his. "I'll see you around Evette" he mumbled as he backed off the walk, still looking at her, wondering how things would have been today if things had worked out. He knew that he'd be inside, cuddling a child or two, sitting right beside Evette as the kids screamed, yelled and played with their new gifts.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn continued to stare at the two adults, why did they seem to be acting so childish and ruin her Christmas when she was the child. All she wanted was one Christmas where she would have a family and not just her and her mum. When she found out that her mum was pregnant she was initially jealous and not overly keen on the idea but soon began to like the idea of being the older sister and getting to have responsibility when it came to looking after her siblings. Then when Andrew came along everything was perfect and just as it seemed like she was going to get her happy ending, Andrew disappeared. For the longest time she blamed herself for him leaving, maybe he just didn’t like her all that much. She thought that for a while but when her mother seemed to be acting strange she got the feeling it wasn’t her – and how could it? She was young, cute and adorable, she had everything going for her – who wouldn’t love her? She looked up at Andrew when he said her name and sighed. Why did he sigh? Sighing was not what she wanted and especially not in that tone. Although when he mentioned about Christmas not being Christmas with gifts she slowly dropped her arms to her side and walked over, carefully, to where he was and peaked into his bag. When he told her to dig deep and find a box she did just that. Pulling out the small box she looked at the necklace inside it. Beaming brightly she threw her arms around Andrew again. “Thank you, Andrew. I love it!” she said with a happier tone of voice. Putting her box back into the bag she dragged it off to the main room where she was moments ago to give her brothers and sisters their toys too and to try on her beautiful new necklace so she could let her mummy and Andrew talked. She just hoped that they would sort out whatever was going on between them.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette seriously didn’t know what to think when she heard her daughter’s words. A part of her just wanted to cry for what she had put LeAnn through. She should have known that all the girl really wanted was a family because it had only ever been the two of them, no one else. When Andrew came along she must have gotten used to it and Evette had to ruin it all. This is why Evette had brought up LeAnn to be strong and independent, almost cold towards outsides so she could protect her from the outside world and not have her heart broken like Evette had since Andrew left her in the hospital that day. She watched as Andrew opened up the bag he had with him, full of presents for the children. The tears that had been filling up Evettes crystal blue eyes started to double. After everything that had happened and even though the children weren’t Andrew’s he had still bought them all Christmas presents. She could feel her heart swell up with how sweet of a gesture that was. Watching LeAnn hugged Andrew again and run into the living room to give the presents to her siblings she couldn’t help but smile at how happy she seemed, and all because of Andrew. When LeAnn had safely gotten out of ear shot she looked up at Andrew again. As she looked into his eyes she could feel her heart starting to race, she had missed him so much. The feelings that she had started to develop for him nearing the end of her pregnancy had only gotten stronger without him in her life. The term, absence makes the heart grow fonder, often came to mind. She wondered if she had realised them sooner would it have changed anything...probably not. Andrew clearly didn’t feel anything back or he wouldn’t have left..right? Oh she didn’t know, she was just so confused, all she did know was that she missed him more than anything and seeing him again just made her Christmas even if it was to just leave again.

When he told her go easy on her, she nodded her head, there was no way she could be angry at LeAnn for what she had done. Although when he said that he was going she opened her eyes wide with shock. She knew that he would just leave again but so soon? She looked at him as he told her to just make up something to LeAnn, she had to stop him from going. As he started to walk away she knew that she had to put away the cool facade, it wasn’t what she wanted to do and there was no point lying to herself anymore. Andrew had already seen her when she was vulnerable so once more wouldn’t hurt. Taking a big step forward she reached out her arm to grab his hand. “Don’t go.” she said in a soft voice, a hint of plead lacing her soft French accent but plead was even more clear in her eyes as they danced with the glistening tears that were just waiting to fall. Dropping her hand to her side again she quickly added, “Just stay for a while longer, I’m sure LeAnn would really like it and it is Christmas after all...no one should really spend it alone. You wouldn’t be ruining anything either.” she added with a soft smile. “That is unless you have other plans than by all means go, LeAnn got over it before I’m sure she will again...she’s a strong girl.” she finished her sentence. Even though she was making it out that her wanting Andrew to stay was for LeAnn, she wanted it almost as much as LeAnn did, even more possibly.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew was glad that the gift seemed to cheer LeAnn up, and when she threw her arms about him once more, he gave her a tiny squeeze back. "Glad you like it" he said, unable to keep a smile off of his face. It fell off just as quickly, but for a few moments he enjoyed watching her being happy and wished that he hadn't done anything to make her sad. He knew he had though and he knew he was going to once more. At least she had the bit of happiness though, he reasoned as he turned to walk away. It was a bad idea for me to come, he realized. There was still too much hurt between him and Evette and showing up wasn't good for either of them nor was it good for LeAnn. The babies were at least too young to realize what was going on, but LeAnn was old enough to notice something was up.

When he felt Evette's hand on his arm, Andrew paused. The electricity that ran through his arm stayed even when she'd pulled her hand away and allowed it to drop back down. He turned then, hearing the pleading in her voice. As his blue eyes fell back onto Evette, he realized that she was on the verge of tears and it shocked the hell out of him. He wondered if maybe like him she had been putting on an act, trying to act as if seeing each other for the first time in months was nothing special. The reality was the complete opposite, for him anyway. None of his feelings for Evette had disappeared, not in the slightest. And as he listened to her speak, Andrew had already begun to think of an excuse, anything to get himself away. Because even though he wanted to stay and enjoy the day with them, he knew it would not accomplish anything. It would just make it more difficult when at the end of the night he left once more. But, then Evette had to bring LeAnn into it and confirm how badly she'd felt before and darn if he would do that to her again.

"If you're sure I won't be messing anything up, I suppose I can stay for a bit" Andrew said slowly, a smile tugging on his lips, thoughts of picking up take-out easily disappearing from his mind. "I wouldn't want to upset LeAnn and I'd like to see if the babies liked their gifts" he explained, not wanting to admit that it was simply her request that was causing him to stay. Even after all of these months, all Evette had to do was ask and he was willing to do her bidding. Andrew took a step closer to the house and the paused once more, a furrowed expression on his face. "Evette..." he paused on the verge of saying something and then changing his mind quickly. "Thanks for inviting me to stay" he finally said, figuring that there would be plenty of time to get what he needed to off of his chest. Right now, he was curious to see the babies. He'd only had one glimpse of them and he was sure they would look vastly different now.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette couldn’t help but smile, pleasantly for the first time in what seemed like forever at something that made her happy apart from her children, when Andrew said that he could stay for a bit. It may only be for one night but Evette was excited about spending some time with Andrew again after everything that happened because she never really thought that she would get the chance to again so she was definitely going to make the most of tonight. Evette had enjoyed the time that she and Andrew had spent together during her pregnancy with the quads and it was hard to get used to just her and her children in the large house again; Andrew may only have been one person but just his presence just seemed to fill the house up with all the missing piece that were needed for her, growing, family. Evette knew that Andrew was only staying for LeAnn but she didn’t mind so much, the fact that he was staying was enough for her. She felt her heart swell slightly when he mentioned that he’d like to see if the babies liked their presents or not. She was so surprised that he had gotten any of her children presents but more so the babies considering how for most of her pregnancy he had thought they were his and when he found out, in possibly the most horrible way, that they weren’t. Andrew was definitely one of a kind. She nodded her head lightly, her smile still radiating from her face, as she turned and led the way into the living room where LeAnn were looking after the babies. When she heard Andrew call her name she turned round, easily catching his stormy blue eyes. “You’re welcome.” she said softly before leading the way into the living room not that Andrew needed to be shown how to get there. “Look who decided to stay for a while.” she told LeAnn as she looked up at Andrew, admiration in her eyes for the man, he had done so much for her and LeAnn and after everything she had put him through he was still there for her.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Evette seemed to be taking his decision to stay in stride though she looked pleased with it too. Part of Andrew hoped that she was hoping more at the fact that he was staying and not that he was staying for LeAnn, though she definitely was the reason he was staying. If it wasn't that he knew LeAnn was going to be there, Andrew knew that there would be no chance that he would have stayed. In fact, the moment he saw Evette he probably would have turned and left, maybe after sneaking a glimpse or two of her first. Following Evette to the living room was odd because he felt more like a guest than someone who had once lived in the home. A flood of memories washed over him then, mostly of when he would enter the house after games and yell that he was home. It just wasn't the same in his own place where only silence greeted his entry.

Shaking away the gloomy thoughts, Andrew smiled as they entered the living room and he was greeted by a true Christmas scene. There were toys scattered everywhere, a tree bigger than any he'd ever seen and a gaggle of children making noise. "I had to be sure you really liked your gift LeAnn. You didn't seem all that excited" he teased, giving her a wink as he stepped further into the space. He unzipped his jacket, the warmth in the home making it unnecessary. His first glimpse of the twins froze the smile on his face. In that instant, he recalled hearing the words that were worse than a slap on the face, much worse. He glanced at the babies one by one, terribly saddened that he couldn't recognize not even one of them. They had all changed and grown so much in the months that had passed. Not that he hadn't expected them to, it was just a shock to him. Still, like all children their age, they were quite adorable and Andrew found a small smile crossing his face despite what had passed over him a moment before. A few seconds later, he whistled. "Wow. You went all out, didn't you Evette? It looks amazing in here" he said honestly.

 

[LeAnn Adams]

LeAnn sat in the living room with her brothers and sisters after giving them the toys which Andrew had left them. She played with the quads for a bit as she told them about Andrew seeing as they wouldn’t have remembered him considering they wouldn’t have seen him for too long before he left for some reason. Although now he was back she knew that everything would be alright again. She tried to listen to what her mummy and Andrew were saying out in the front hall but he tiny ears couldn’t pick up enough to make sense of it all. A few times she wanted to get up and go eavesdrop in on their conversation but that never really worked out too well for her and she didn’t want to make anyone angry today and ruin her plan. She couldn’t help but feel a little proud about her letter to Andrew and her plan to get him here, sure she had to lie in the process of it but a little white lie here and there never really hurt anyone – which was evident from today.

Lying flat on her tummy she turned round at the sound of the door closing and footfalls coming in the direction of the living room and they weren’t just her mothers. When Andrew entered the room LeAnn jumped up from where she was and ran over to him, throwing his arms over his waist again. “I knew you’d stay.” she said happily. “And I love my present, it’s so pretty.” she said. As soon as she had come into the living room she had taken off the current necklace she was wearing and had replaced it with Andrew’s, it was so pretty and she loved it. LeAnn let Andrew say something to her mother before she released him from her hug and pulled her over to where the babies were. “Come on, I’ve told them about you so it’s time to put a face to the name.” she said with a small giggle as she sat down on the carpet beside the quads and patting a space between her for Andrew to sit beside her.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette laughed softly as she saw LeAnn’s little face light up when Andrew entered the room with her. This time she didn’t mind her oldest child hugging Andrew, even if it was only around the waist as she couldn’t reach any higher. She saw that LeAnn was wearing the necklace that Andrew had gotten her so she must like it. Evette had brought her daughter to be nice to people when they gave her things but when their backs were turned if she didn’t like it she didn’t have to use it or wear it, whatever it was, just so as she made the people think that she liked it. Evette had always been weary making a good impression on people that could influence her life one way or another and wanted to be sure that he children did the same. She smiled at Andrew’s comment. “Thanks, I felt like making an effort this year.” she said with a simple shrug of her shoulders. She didn’t really know why she went all out this year, she supposed it was because it was the quads first Christmas and she wanted it to be special.

She smiled softly as she watched LeAnn pull Andrew over to where the children were. Evette followed and sat down beside them too, picking up Fantine as she sat down side her and placed her in her lap. Taking the toy Andrew had gotten for them she began to play with it as Fantine seemed more interested in it than any of the other things that Evette had gotten for her. Looking over at Andrew she smiled. “I think someone missed you.” she said as Desislav seemed to have crawled over to Andrew and reached him arms out to be picked up. Evette remembered that Desislav was the first of the children that Andrew had held, she wondered if her son remembered him or not.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Even before he got a chance to take off his coat, Andrew found himself in another hug and then quickly being dragged off towards the babies. He barely had a chance to catch a breath before LeAnn was eagerly patting the floor beside her. Shrugging out of his coat, he looked down at the five children and felt a pang of sadness at how much he had missed all of this. If he had been told a year ago that he would miss the idea of having children and a family he would have begun considering the end of his quidditch career because it would have meant he had taken one too many bludgers to the head. As it was now, he was pretty sure he was mental. Showing up and believing that Evette wouldn't be home and then sticking around when he found out she was? If this wasn't one of the craziest holidays he'd spent, he didn't know what was.

Tossing his coat over to the sofa, he settled his six foot tall frame onto the floor beside the young girl and half listened as she spoke. He was slightly distracted by Evette joining them, especially when she began to play with one of the little girls. Merlin, she was hot when she did that. His blue eyes moved down to the little boy that had crawled over to him and as Evette spoke to him, Andrew knew exactly who this was in front of him. "This must be Desislav then" he said as he slowly and awkwardly lifted the little boy up and placed him on his lap. The baby was much heavier than he'd anticipated but he quickly had him settled and gazed down, a smile on his face as he faced the two that remained on the floor wondering if he could distinguish which was which. "That must be Marius" he said, pointing to the other boy as he continued gnawing on the toy he'd been given. The girls were difficult to distinguish between. He remembered all of their names, they were certainly unique enough and he'd fallen in love with the names the moment he heard them. "And that's Bisera" he said, pointing to the baby in Evette's arms, "and Fantine?" He was purely guessing when it came to the girls and he looked to Evette and then LeAnn. "How do you tell them apart?" he asked, a confused expression on his face as he tried to find some way to tell them apart. If it wasn't that Desislav had come over to him, he was fairly sure he wouldn't be able to tell the boys apart either.

 

[Evette Belo]

As Evette sat down on the ground beside her children she couldn’t help but smile at the scene, it was like a perfect Christmas scene and Andrew just made it better. She watched as Andrew picked up Desislav, he seemed to be a bit unsure of himself but it didn’t take too long for him to look like a natural at holding him. She hid the smile that she was giving him as she downcast her eyes at Fantine, playing with her just a bit. LeAnn kept Bisera happy as Marius seemed to be perfectly happy with gnawing at the toy which Andrew had bought him – that boy seemed to be putting a lot of things into his mouth lately but Evette wasn’t worried as she knew he couldn’t choke on this particular thing he found interest in. Although Evette knew it was just part of them growing up, as they started to crawl they got more adventurous and Bisera seemed to have taken too putting new things in his mouth whereas the rest of them either hit knew things or cried at them. It was a surprise, but a happy one to Evette as she realised they weren’t fazed by Andrew’s presence, considering that he was technically new, and there wasn’t a single tear yet.

Evette listened as Andrew tried to name off the children. She couldn’t help but beam as he got all of them right. For having not seen them in months it was rather an accomplishment as even she had to think about it on the odd occasion although it was easier for her to tell the babies apart as she had seen them grow from the day and hour that they were born – even when she was working she made sure that she had an eye on them. “Yep, you got them all!” she told him happily. When he asked her how she told them apart she shrugged her shoulders as she picked up Fantine’s toy as the little baby had dropped on the ground. “I suppose it’s just motherly instincts or something.” she added with a soft laugh. “Although you pick up different things about them after a while, like Marius for example,” she said inclining her head towards one of her sons, “He loves gnawing on things.” she said with a giggle.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew was afraid to move a muscle, not wanting to drop Desislav onto the floor even though it was only a few inches away. Evette didn't say anything to him and neither did LeAnn, so he figure he was doing alright. As he looked down at the boy who was looking back at him, Andrew hoped he wasn't about to start crying. He didn't seem to be fazed by Andrew's appearance. "Are they always this good?" he murmured aloud because somehow he found it hard to believe that quadruplets could be so well behaved, especially infant quads. From what he'd heard from his teammates babies were supposed to be screaming, noisy needy people but these babies seemed to be far from that.

His competitive side soared as Evette confirmed that he had gotten all of the names right. It was pure luck on his part but he figured it had to earn him some brownie points. Andrew listened to her explanation of telling the babies apart and glanced over at Marius who was sure enough gnawing on his toy. "I noticed" he said, stifling his own chuckles. It felt familiar and comfortable to share the laugh with her just like they had when she'd been pregnant. His gaze stayed on her for a moment more until Desislav hit him in the shoulder with his toy breaking the moment. "Hey...do you want to be a beater like me, Desi?" he asked, looking down at the baby as he swung the toy around again and caught Andrew in the knee. "I think he does" he announced to both Evette and LeAnn.

 

[Evette Belo]

To Evette’s delight the day had turned out better than she had expected it too and she it was all to do with having Andrew there. Never had she imagined that today of all days that he would have turned up at her door and even more surprising was that he had stayed and was nothing the perfect gentleman to her and the children. She knew that she didn’t deserve his kindness after everything that she had done to him those months ago, it seemed like forever ago because she missed him that much when she returned home and he wasn’t there. She had become accustomed to having him around the house during her pregnancy that when she came home again and he wasn’t there the place just seemed empty despite having four newborn babies who liked to cry.

Although as most good things had to come to an end Evette was almost saddened when it was time to put the children to bed. She smiled Andrew offered to help put the children to bed. Throughout the whole day Evette had watched him and he seemed to be a natural at the whole thing; of course LeAnn adored him and the babies had taken a liking to him from the off. After she had put the babies down she went to LeAnn’s room to say goodnight. It had been rather difficult to do this tonight as she didn’t want to go to sleep yet and wanted to stay up with her and Andrew – Evette would have believed this if she hadn’t fallen asleep on the big chair in front of the fire hours ago and was still half asleep. “But muuuuuum!” the young girl moaned. “But mum nothing, bed time.” she told the young girl after she finally got her into her pyjama’s. “Night Andrew!” she said as she ran to the man again, giving him another one of her hugs before she finally went to bed. “Night darling.” Evette said as she turned off the light and closed the door to LeAnn’s room.

“Would you like some hot coco?” she asked Andrew as they got down stairs again. Evette loved the moment of silence after getting the children to sleep and tonight she had wanted nothing more but to curl up in front of the dying fire with a cup of hot coco before going to bed. Although her plans had changed slightly when Andrew came and she didn’t want him to leave just yet but she knew she couldn’t force him into anything. With the offer of a drink she hoped she could tempt him for a few more minutes in hopes that the two could catch up, just themselves, with no children there.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Soon enough the children were beginning to doze off in their seats and Andrew realized just exactly how much time had passed. He had only planned on staying for a half hour or an hour tops. But hours had passed by with the kids all showing him everything they'd gotten from their mother and climbing all over him and crawling under his legs. He'd never had so much fun on Christmas. The few times he and his dad had spent the holiday at home had been formal affairs. And the rest of the time, Andrew had either gone with his father to one or another of his teammates holiday parties which had always been dreadfully boring for him. He usually had ended up walking around their homes exploring rooms or falling asleep on a sofa somewhere. Even gift giving had been a very simple affair where Andrew and his dad would exchange gifts over breakfast and then continue on with the day. It was nothing like being in Evette's home. Here it felt like Christmas with the tree, the noise, the children running around. That was what he thought of when he imagined Christmas.

After helping Evette gather the children up, and helping her carry them to bed, giving LeAnn yet another hug and bidding her goodnight, Andrew followed Evette back downstairs. His plan was to head downstairs, grab his coat, exchange some small talk and leave before the silence grew awkward. Her offer for hot coco caused him to pause though. Was that her way of telling him she didn't want him to leave so soon? There was only one way to find out. "That would be great" he said after a moment, a genuine smile crossing his face. He stopped speaking then, allowing the silence to reign for a moment. From the sounds of it, all of the children were either well on their way to dreamland or were already there. "Wow...you must love it at night. It's so quiet" he chuckled, knowing that even though she loved her children dearly, she still had to enjoy the silence every once in a while.

"Thanks again for letting me stay Evette. This is the most exciting Christmas I've ever had" he admitted to her as they headed for the kitchen side by side. Andrew knew that there were many things being left unsaid between them and he hoped that they would be able to air some of those out before he left. Andrew couldn't prevent himself from hoping that this day had been more than just her taking some holiday pity on him. He hoped that there was something more to her inviting him to stay.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette laughed softly when Andrew commented on it being so quiet at night time. “It is nice, it can get a bit lonely at times though.” Truth be told Evette only liked it being quiet for a short time once she got relaxed. Lately she had become so used to the noise and all the activity of the day that when it was quiet and she had nothing to do she sort of felt useless. As a single mother with four young babies and a grown up daughter she always felt like she had to be doing something and when she was doing nothing she was being a failure as a mother or something. When she was growing up she didn’t have much of a mother figure to go off but she always had these ideas of what mothers should be like going from what her friends mothers were like or what she read in children’s stories. Although when she was younger Evette never even dreamed of ever having children; let alone five. While that part of her life may not have played out the way she had expected it too she wouldn’t have gave anything to change it, she loved her children too much to ever want to think of her life without them – she would be lost.

“You’re welcome.” Evette said sincerely as she entered the kitchen. Gathering a few bits and pieces that was needed for the hot coco she added, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Today was amazing. I know the kids loved it too.” she told him before dropping her eyes down again before she started to heat up the milk. There was a small silence but Evette didn’t find it as bad as she knew Andrew was there but they hadn’t been in the same room alone in months and with the way things were left then she didn’t know how to act really. It had been different all day when things were back to normal and the children were there but now it was just the two of them. “So how have you been since...?” she dragged off the end of her sentence, figuring it was best to not mention that day.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew nodded his head in understanding as Evette spoke as he leaned up against the counter to listen to her speak. His crossed his arms across her chest, a small smile on his face as he watched her walk around grabbing things to make the hot chocolate as she spoke. Standing right there in the moment, it was easy for Andrew to forget all that had gone wrong with him and Evette. They had done this many a time when Evette was pregnant, staying up after LeAnn had gone to bed talking, and Andrew was surprised to discover that things hadn't grown awkward yet. His eyes dropped as Evette spoke about how great the day had been, happy that the day had gone so smoothly.

Andrew would have been content to sit in the silence that followed and with what came next he actually would have preferred it. As Evette's question left her lips, Andrew looked up sharply, his dark blue eyes staring at Evette for a moment before looking away. The smile had quickly fled his face and he clenched his jaw as he admired a picture likely drawn by LeAnn. That awkward feeling that he'd been trying to avoid all day now filled him. How in Merlin to answer that question? He surely wasn't about to tell her anything about how lonely his life was. Actually, his life had always been lonely. It was just now that he was able to realize that it was because for a time, when he'd been with Evette, it hadn't been.

Finally, after another moment of consideration, he lifted his shoulders in a large shrug, deciding to stick to a neutral topic that wouldn't reveal anything too personal. "I've been alright. I had a lot of injuries this season, my ribs and shoulder are still a bit messed up actually" he began, the soreness in his shoulder coming back a bit now that he'd mentioned it. "And I almost got suspended from the team because I was committing too many fouls against the other teams and getting penalties. My coach is probably happy he doesn't have to see me for a few days" he rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders again as if he didn't care. "How about you?" he asked, wondering whether she would or had resumed modeling at all. "Have you had any contact with...their father?" he asked, wondering if the man had stayed in the children's lives or not. He knew that LeAnn's father wasn't in the picture, but he hoped that Evette was at least receiving some help from that man he'd met at the hospital.

 

[Evette Belo]

With the help of some magic it didn’t take long for the milk to be heated up and Evette carefully began to pour it into the cups with the cocoa powder already in them. She listened carefully to Andrew as he talked. It was nice to have this again, at night when LeAnn would have gone to bed and the two would just stay up and talk about anything and everything. Although as of late Evette was just glad to have any company – she had even taken to talking to her house elf just for the sake of some company. Before she became pregnant with her children and when LeAnn had been sent to bed that was normally the time she would get ready to go out with her modeling friends. Those days were long gone to Evette now, she could never imagine going back to those days and leaving her children in the house on their own with just the house elf. It was amazing how certain things changed a person so much but Evette was glad for it. If it hadn’t of been for her babies and Andrew as well Evette would probably have been out in some club by now, spent Christmas at some big party – everything that was related to her old self, the her that she felt disgusted in and just wanted to forget about.

With Evette focusing on not spilling some hot milk over her she didn’t notice the change in Andrew’s expression at her question. She honestly did want to bring up bad blood between the two or hurt Andrew in anyway but she figured that it was the best way to start up some general conversation between the two – even more so if they were to talk about everything because Evette felt truly sorry about how everything happened and she felt that Andrew didn’t know the exact extent of just how bad she felt. Evette cringed slightly when Andrew spoke of the injuries that he had obtained during the season. She never did like that he was such a rough game as he had always returned home with numerous injuries and she didn’t like seeing him in pain – or how worried LeAnn got when she saw his bruises. She shook her head lightly when he mentioned his almost suspension – something definitely didn’t change.

When the conversation came on her she passed over Andrew his cup of hot cocoa before taking a sip of her own and walking back into the living room, sitting on the couch in front of the dying fire. When Andrew brought up the topic of Arnost, Evette’s face contorted with anger and disappointment. “He stuck to his promise of helping out with money et cetera, more than I can say about LeAnn’s father, but apart from that there is no contact with him. I’m sure he’s happy with that other hussy he was with that day.” she said, more anger clear in her voice than in her facial expressions. “I know it’s not fair but I just don’t want my children to know their father. I’d rather it be a man they could look up too – even if it wasn’t their real father.” she told Andrew. “The way you are to LeAnn. She really loves you, you know.” she said, taking a sip from her cup again.

 

[Andrew Belo]

Andrew uncrossed his arms so that he could grab the mug of hot chocolate. He followed her into the living room and took a seat on the sofa beside her before taking a sip. It was very good, warming him up quickly. With one arm across the back of the couch, he listened to Evette as she spoke. He realized that he'd brought up a very sensitive topic when he saw the look on her face and especially when he heard her speak. It made him angry to hear that both of the men Evette had chosen to father her children didn't bother with being in their children's lives. He was sure the money was nice, but Evette already had that. He opened his mouth to speak his displeasure but was stopped when Evette mentioned how much LeAnn cared about him. He ducked his head, a soft smile creeping onto his face and settling there. "I love her too. She's a great kid...they all are. It's their fathers loss. They don't know what they're missing out on" he replied honestly. A few years ago when kids had been a distant nightmare, Andrew would have found it easier to understand how men could have children and then flee, never to return. If he had found out he was going to be having a child when he was 18 or 21 or even a year or two ago, he likely would have done the same. Now, he realized that he could never do anything like that. It was a sign of his maturity.

Settling his mug on a table, he turned to face Evette. He glanced at her and then away again, choosing instead to look at the dying embers in the fireplace. "You know I would've been there for all of them" he said in a low voice. He still would be if she asked. Andrew was much too attached to LeAnn to not find a way to remain in her life even if it was simply to come and take her to an occasional quidditch game or out for ice cream or something. And the little bit of time he'd spent with the babies had done all sorts of things to him as well. If his teammates had seen what he'd done, Andrew would never have lived it down. Never. And that wasn't too mention what Evette did to him when he was around her. She was beautiful -veela or no veela- and in the soft light coming from the fireplace, she looked especially gorgeous. He sighed heavily and sat back, the conversation was much heavier than he expected it to be. "Sorry...that wasn't fair" he apologized. It wasn't right for him to throw back what had happened in her face especially not after she'd allowed him to be in her home on such a special ocassion.

 

[Evette Belo]

Evette let out a content sigh as she enjoyed the hot liquid warming up her body as the room was decreasing greatly with the heat that it had during the day. Although it didn’t bother Evette all that much, she wasn’t really thinking about the cold right now, she was much too content to have something small like that ruin the perfect day that she had had. She had forgotten just how good it was to have Andrew’s company during the day and more important at the end of the night before retiring to bed. Even talking about her children’s father was something that could put a huge damper on the day, true it was not the most pleasant of topics to discuss but Evette felt that it was one that the two needed to bring up if there was any hope of things getting fixed. Evette knew that she was going out on a long shot if she wanted Andrew to forgive her for anything that happened but spending time with him today made her realise just how much she liked having him around and she didn’t want this to be the end of it. She was almost getting used to having no-one around but with him showing up like he did today she knew she couldn’t go back to the way things were. She smiled warmly as he returned his affections for LeAnn. She knew that her eldest daughter could be a handful at times but she really did love her, obviously, and knowing that there was a father figure of sorts in her life made Evette very happy because she knew that was one thing that LeAnn was missing in her life and Evette hated herself for not being able to provide that for her all these years.

Evette appreciated Andrew’s words, she often told herself the same thing, but that was just something she told herself to keep her going and not feel so bad about having to make her children grow up without know their father. After a few moments of silence and the cup of hot coco slowly disappearing Evette looked up to Andrew’s voice. She was surprised to hear what he had to say but a part of her wasn’t overly surprised. She could tell that he was attached to LeAnn and even the babies who hadn’t been born for the majority of the time that Andrew knew them. She bit her bottom lip, keeping her gaze from him. She found his words so sweet but it made her feel even more bad for everything that had happened, if she had been honest from the start none of this would have happened but a part of her was glad that it had happened for if it hadn’t she may not have even gotten to know Andrew the way she did and for at least that, she was grateful. When Andrew apologised she looked up at him, shaking his head, “No, it is fair. Everything’s my fault and Andrew I’m truly sorry for everything that happened.” she told him, her eyes full of sincerity as she reached out her hand to grab his so he would look round and see how sincere she was.