Anniversary
August 20, 2014
Rosemarie Weasley woke up alone, her husband, Kieran Knight, wasn’t by her side. She looked over to their nightstand and saw he had written a note for her. It read:
”Good Morning, my love. I've gone out to console Cass about our latest project, you don't need to worry about the kids, I've made breakfast and everything. Love you - Kieran”
Rosemarie smiled at the note, sat it down, and stretched and yawned. She laid back in bed for a while, taking in the warmth of the mattress, just listening to the birds chirping, the water of a river nearby rushing against the rocks, the soft rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze, and the idle chatter of her children in the dining room.
She loved the peacefulness of the morning, she loved her life, it was almost everything she wanted. Rosemarie finally decided to get out of bed. She sat at her vanity to take the pink hair rollers out of her red hair, softly humming.
The serenity of the morning soon died down by the yelling of her children. “No! You're wrong!” She heard Juliette yell. Juliette was their youngest daughter, she was five and as bossy as Alice, their oldest. So, of course, they butt heads often.
Rosemarie put on Kieran’s robe over her white nightgown and rushed to the dining room.
“I’m telling you, Julia, Puddlemere United is the best Quidditch team, end of story,” Alice, Rosemarie’s oldest, was arguing with Juliette.
Juliette frowned. Rosemarie leaned on the door frame, watching her daughters argue.
Juliette was standing on the chair, her hands on the dining table, “Nuh-uh! No, because Holyhead Harpies are the bestest in the whole wide world!”
“You just like them because they're an all-girl team.” Alice crossed her arms.
“So? You like all girls!”
Alice started to crack and then burst into laughter, and so did everyone around the table, except Juliette who just looked confused, “What? Why are you laughing? It’s true!”
“It’s because Alice likes only girls, not all girls, Juliette,” Rosemarie said in a French accent, patting Juliette’s head.
“Maman!” Juliet reached her arms out to cling to Rosemarie.
Rosemarie picked up Juliette, “Oh, wow, Juliette, you're getting quite big, soon I won't be able to pick you up anymore, but you'll always be my little girl, yes?"
“Yes, maman, always!”
Rosemarie kissed Juliette’s cheek, and then turned to the rest of her children, kissing their cheeks too, “Good morning, everyone. How's the breakfast your papa made for you?”
Alice’s plate was the biggest, and she was the most done with everything on there. She was in the middle of gulping down a cup of water. “It was good.”
Oscar, the second oldest and the only boy, had only meat left on his plate, there was a yellow smear on his plate insinuating that Kieran had cooked them fried eggs.
Maisie barely touched anything on her plate, which had a fried egg, mushrooms, a potato, and bits and pieces of bacon that she clearly ate some of. “What's wrong, Zazie? You barely touched your food.”
“I like your breakfast better,” she pouted.
“Francophile,” Alice coughed.
“Oh, come off it, Alice. We all have our preferences, you, for instance, have a preference for girls,” Oscar grinned and took a bite out of the sausage before deciding he didn't like it.
“Can we please stop joking about me liking girls? I came out a few weeks ago, isn't it tiring?” Alice groaned.
“No,” Maisie shook her head.
“Nope,” Juliette smiled cheerfully.
“It's amusing. We support you, but it's funny,” Oscar ate the bacon and then cleared his plate. He kissed Rosemarie on her cheek and then left for the sitting room, picking up a book about Magical Creatures.
Rosemarie rolled her eyes as she started to make herself and Maisie tartines using homemade strawberry jam. She sat down and ate with Maisie. “Better?”
“Yes! Thank you, maman,” Maise took a big bite from the tartine.
Rosemarie poured herself a glass of orange juice. Then there was a knock on the door, Rosemarie looked over and saw Kieran. He smiled and waved. Rosemarie got up, but Alice rushed to the door. “Sit down, ma, I got this! You just eat.”
“Oh, mais oui.” Rosemarie sat back down, frowning slightly. Kieran and Alice left out of the view of the window and Rosemarie wondered what they were up to.
Once she finished eating, she realised that she was still wearing her nightgown. She chuckled to herself and walked back to her bedroom, where she found Kieran and Alice smuggling a long white bag through a window.
“What is going on here?”
“Um…” Kieran gently placed the bag on their bed, and Alice passed Kieran a bouquet of red roses, “Happy Anniversary, my love. I got you this bouquet of beautiful red roses and I promise I didn't get these from your garden.” Kieran chuckled.
“Oh! Oh, Kieran, mon amour, I…I feel so silly that I forgot.”
“No, don't be! I wanted it to be a surprise, and you being in my life and tolerating my company is the greatest gift you could've given me.”
Rosemarie cupped Kieran’s cheek, “You know I do more than just tolerate your company. I love your company, I didn't settle and honestly, I would be offended with how often you think that if you weren't so cute.” Rosemarie kissed Kieran. Who blushed and kissed back, she loved that after all this time, 4 kids, 15 years of being married and going through a war, he still blushed.
Kieran smiled against Rosemarie's lips, savouring the warmth of her kiss. "I love you too, Rose. You're my everything," he whispered when they finally pulled apart.
Alice, who had been standing there awkwardly, cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm still here. Could you at least wait until I'm not in the same room?”
Kieran and Rosemarie pulled away like teenagers getting caught, “Sorry, Alice..” Kieran awkwardly smiled and gave Alice a galleon. “Could you watch after your siblings for a while?”
“For a galleon? Hell yeah!” Alice smiled at the galleon before walking away and closing the door. “Enjoy your anniversary, lovebirds.”
“We're not going to…oh well,” Rosemarie turned back to Kieran, and she could not express how much she adored him, she felt as though her cheeks were about to melt off her face with how much she was smiling.
She gently took the bouquet and placed them in a vase, she used her wand to fill it with water.
“Listen, Rosemarie…I was thinking about what to do for our anniversary and I thought about going to where we got married, dressed in what we wore for our wedding, but I know you don't fit your wedding dress anymore-”
“Having four kids does that to your body,” Rosemarie chuckled, arranging the flowers in the vase. She remembers her wedding dress, it was a lace ivory gown with a trumpet silhouette, it had a sweetheart neckline corset with off-the-shoulder bubble sleeves made up of tulle, and a long train that dragged along the floor on their wedding night which had caused Kieran to trip during their first dance, multiple times.
“Yes, I know. So…that's why I made this,” Kieran picked up the white bag, “Cassandra helped me make this, which is why I've been over at her house more often. It's a version of your wedding dress, made to fit you now and to be more casual. Well, not casual but you could wear it for more occasions…here, just let me show you.” Kieran revealed the dress.
The gown had the same silhouette, and the same neckline, but instead of multiple fabrics, it was just one. The dress was now a really light blue colour, and the corset was a slightly darker blue with all the flower details that were removed from the rest of the dress. It was shorter, and the train was gone. The dress still reached the floor but was less dramatic overall and made to fit her current figure.
Rosemarie's eyes widened with surprise and overwhelming joy, she reached out, running her hand over the dress. “Oh, Kieran…it's beautiful!” Rosemarie started to tear up, and she hugged Kieran. “Mon amour, you are just so wonderful. Words cannot express how much I love you.”
“Rose, my darling, I know how much you love me, and trust me, I love you the same amount,” Kieran kissed Rosemarie's cheek. A younger him would insist that he loved her more than she did, just a foolish game. She would always try to one-up him.
Besides, if two people could find out the limit of loving one another, Kieran and Rosemarie would know. The couple hugged.