r e s t (order members)

[* JAQI]

Cici sat next to her mother-in-law on the couch, currently Mrs. O'Malley was teaching her to crochet things for the baby. She would just assume make things by magic, but she had decided to be respectful and learn to do it manually. Besides, it gave her something to do in order to keep her hands busy. Cici was going crazy, this was supposed to be her opportunity to rest in order to have a safe pregnancy and delivery, but not having her job, headmistress duties, or heading the Order left her with absolutely nothing to do but what she pleased. It felt odd to her.

"Dear, you might want to make your stitches a bit looser," said Mrs. O'Malley. She looked down at her work on a baby blanket, noticing that her last row was a little tight. "Oh, should I re-do that row?" Cici said, examining the stitches a bit more closely. Her mother-in-law examined the half-made blanket, then shook her head. "You'll have a bit of difficulty with the next row but you'll be able to get it through." said she. Cici nodded, then kept going. The blanket rested atop her rounding belly- her due date only three months away, she was showing quite a bit. She could feel the baby a lot. Avice wasn't terribly active, but she got hiccups and kicked occasionally.

Cici had just started on the next row when the front door opened. Though she could not see the hall from the living room, she could tell that it wasn't Mr. O'Malley coming in, the footsteps were too light. She wasn't stuck in her curiosity much longer, as a figure approached the room.

[italia]

Ella slipped in the house, thankful that Liam had showed her the location so she could come to see her elder sister whenever she pleased. She removed her cloak and stepped out of her snow-dampened boots before advancing into the house. Ella quickly found her sister and Mrs. O'Malley in the living room, crocheting what looked like baby blankets. "Hello," Ella said softly, smiling. She gave Mrs. O'Malley a kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the other side of the couch. "How's Avice?" asked Ella, "she's getting so big."

[* JAQI]

"Oh, hello Ella," said Cici with a smile, she was glad that her sister had come to visit her. It was always good to get updates from the Order, though Liam was pretty insistent on her not being told much of anything that would be too upsetting. Her husband, bless him, was very concerned about her wellbeing at the moment. Cici felt they had crossed the major point of danger, if she was going to lose the baby it would have been the first trimester. Now her only concern was for delivery. "My little sparrow is doing very well," said Cici, "have you any news? Liam has not sent anything my way in a long time."

[italia]

Ella bit her lip, she had hoped that Liam would send warning earlier. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but her sister had to know, regardless of whether the fact she was pregnant or not. Mrs. O'Malley seemed to sense the discomfort, so she excused herself and left the room. She paused a moment, then looked at her sister. "Safira has been kidnapped and Ginny was murdered," Ella said softly.

[* JAQI]

Cici dropped her crochet work on top of her belly, thankfully it was just yarn and the needle. She clapped her hands to her mouth, eyes wide. She had not Seen anything like that, usually she was able to get some warning, but those two things had taken her entirely by surprise. Ginny, mother of four, dead? And Safira, kidnapped as well as pregnant? Cici removed her hands after a moment, though her heart felt heavy. But there wasn't a thing she could do about it, not in her current state.

[italia]

"It's a lot to hear at once, I know," said Ella, trying to smooth over the stunned silence. She herself was getting stressed about the ordeal, but the worst thing was that Isabelle had demanded that Isaac and Demetri work together to get Safira back, and threatened to kill the sixteen-year-old if anyone but those two worked on getting her back. They were deal with a different kind of villain this time. "We're doing all that can be done to get Safira back," said Ella, not wanting to stress her sister any further, "but Isabelle is definitely keeping us on our toes."

[* JAQI]

Cici took a moment to get to her senses before saying anything in response. She bit her lip, things were not going well. The latest news only confirmed that they would soon have a full-out war on their hands, something which she was not looking forward to. "What of the Potters?" Cici finally said, "how well is Harry faring? What about the children?" She could scarcely imagine what their situation, how hard it must be.

[italia]

"They're coping with the loss just about as any family would," said Ella, frowning a bit. She felt so badly for the Potters, the eldest daughter was estranged, the previous summer two of their children were attacked by Death Eaters, and only a few months later their mother was killed by Isabelle herself. "Harry seems to be taking it pretty hard, apparently he hasn't been showing up for work recently," Ella added.

[* JAQI]

Cici placed her hand on her heart, momentarily closing her eyes. Words couldn't describe the feelings coursing through her at that particular moment. "Poor man, he's got quite the struggle ahead of him." said Cici after opening her eyes. She reluctantly returned to her crocheting, to give her hands something to do. "What of Angel? She knows, of course, but I fear she won't handle it well."

[italia]

Ella released a heavy sigh, gloom seemed thick in the winter air. Something told her that this season was going to bring even more hardships upon them. "She's handling it as I expect any teenage girl would, but then she's got two sons and a full time job. They were estranged at the time of her death, but she seems to be mourning as if they were close." Ella said.

[* JAQI]

"The poor family, I wish there were something I could do, but it is quite unrealistic for me to even leave the farm currently." said Cici bitterly. She was excited to be pregnant, or course, she had always wanted a baby, but she hadn't thought she would be hidden away for the duration of her pregnancy. Cici could not help but think that now might not be the most opportune moment to have a baby. But she was thirty, she didn't have that much longer to have babies.