Return to Europe

Chapter 5

Audrey woke up early the next morning to get ready for her day out with the girls. They were being fitted for bridesmaids dresses and doing other "girly stuff" that afternoon. The guys had all agreed to watch the kids. Surprisingly, Audrey wasn't worried about her girls at all.

She had just finished rummaging through her closet when she heard a familiar Scottish accent downstairs. She unconsciously took extra time fixed her hair and make up like she did when she was in college. She didn't even realize that the thought of Oliver made her want to look like she had just stepped off the cover of a magazine. She grabbed her usual jewelry and headed downstairs.

Oliver was talking to the Bill and Lisa when Audrey came down the steps. He had to catch his breath when he saw her. If anything, the last ten years had only made her more beautiful. She had left her hair down today so it framed her face. Her face, wow! It had not aged at all. She had lost some of the sparkle in her eyes and the roundness of her face, though. Instead of a bubbly, energetic teenager, she now possessed the face of a sophisticated, professional woman. She looked like she just stepped off the cover of Working Women.

She wore a slim cut pair of white ankle pants, black tank-top and black heels. Her jewelry consisted of gold and pearl hoops and a simple pearl necklace and a diamond bracelet that probably would have cost Oliver a years pay when he had first gotten out of Hogwarts. But it was the ring that caught his eye. Oliver couldn't believe she was wearing the promise ring he had given her a decade ago. He had refused to take it back when they broke up. He had still hoped they would work something out or that she would see the ring one day in college and come running back to him. Of course that had never happened, but the fact that she still wore it proved that she had never forgotten him.

"Good morning Mom, Dad, Oliver," said Audrey as she came to the bottom of the stairs. She gave her parents a quick kiss on the cheek and headed to the kitchen. The three in the living room gave each other a strange look as they watched Audrey walk away. "Sorry, but I just can't take a morning without coffee anymore," said Audrey as she returned with a large cup of coffee. Audrey suddenly heard a noise upstairs. "Sounds like the girls are awake."

"Don't worry honey, this is your vacation. Your dad and I'll go up."

"You don't have to do that. I'm fine."

"We know you are, but we don't get to see our granddaughters that much so let us enjoy it while they are actually around."

Audrey ignored the guilt trip her mother was trying to start and let her parents go up to the twins. "So, they conned you into helping with the kids?" she asked as she turned to Oliver.

"Your grandmother made me promise to come. She doesn't seem to trust her sons with all of the kids, especially since Arthur and Percy backed out."

"Oh, where are they going to be today?"

"Working. They are doing some reorganizing and stuff at the ministry."

"Oh, like what?"

"Adding some departments, changing some. Your grandfather has just decided it's about time for a makeover."

"Maybe leaving his mark will convince him to retire soon, especially with it being just he and my grandmother left." Audrey couldn't help but notice Oliver glancing down at her hand occasionally during the conversation. Then she remembered, she was wearing his ring! She and Oliver looked at each other, looked at the ring, and looked back at each other. Neither knew what to say, the just looked at each other in silence.

"Mommy!" The silence was soon broken by the twins running down the stairs. Audrey hugged her daughters and turned them both to Oliver. "Oliver, these are my girls, Mary Grace and Dottie Ann. Mary Grace, Dottie Ann, this is Mr."

"Oliver," interrupted Oliver. "You can call my Oliver. It's very nice to meet both of you." The girls shook Oliver's hand. Oliver had to smile. Audrey raised her girls to be as sophisticated as she had become. He knew she was not this polite and well mannered herself growing up, though.

"Oliver will be watching you today with Granddaddy and your uncles while Mommy goes shopping, okay? I want you to behave for them and don't believe a word your uncle Fred or George say, okay?"

"Okay. We'll be good. And we'll make George and Fred behave too, Mommy," said Mary Grace. Audrey kissed her daughters and rose from her crouched position. "Okay Mom, I'm ready."

Lisa and Bill came to the living room when they heard Audrey call. "All right girls, have fun, don't spend too much of my money," said Bill as Audrey slipped on her designer sunglasses and grabbed her Kate Spade. Oliver was certain that Audrey could spend her own money without having to worry about what too much was. She had definitely done well for herself. Obviously, she had made the right decision when she left Europe.

Soon, Lisa and Audrey had left and the Weasley men and children began arriving. Oliver looked at the two generations of red heads surrounding him, wondering what he had gotten himself into. Then he noticed Harry dragging in his children. He remembered how much trouble Harry had managed to get into growing up. Any child of a Potter and Ginny Weasley was bound to be a handful. Oliver knew that once she grew out of her shyness, she rivaled her brothers in the mischief department in school. "What in the hell have I gotten myself into," thought Oliver.

Oliver decided that Audrey's girls would be the easiest to handle so he automatically volunteered to handle them for the day. The guys all gave him a sly grin. He knew what they were thinking. "I chose them because they seem to be the best behaved. You guys watch after your own children!"

"Oliver, you and Audrey were pretty close at Hogwarts weren't you?" asked Fred,

"Yeah, but that was then. Me watching her children has nothing to do with our past."

"I wasn't implying that! I was simply saying that as close as you and Audrey were, and you expect her children to be well behaved? We had nothing on that girl!" all the adults, including Oliver laughed. Maybe Oliver could make it through the day. He certainly hoped that the girls were more the well behaved children they seemed to be in front of Audrey. Considering their mother, though, he was beginning to have his doubts.