Outskirts Of Appleby, North Lincolnshire

"Of course I'd be in it! I'll have to talk to Mrs. Jones again though... I've been going to many weddings it seems like, lately."

"Who's Mrs. Jones?" Serenity asked.

"Oh, she's very nice old lady who's a Muggle. She only lives a couple miles away west from here, and she loves babysitting the kids-she has no grandchildren."

"Children." Serenity said, with a grin. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to be shocked, or-- well, shocked?"

"Err... I'll try my best. Are you pregnant?"

"No! No." Serenity laughed a bit. "I've been really jealous of you. And your kids. And this house, and your husband- well, not jealous of him specifically, the fact that you had an actual husband. I've been jealous since I first saw Sophia. But now, I'm sort of not."

"There's no reason to be jealous-except maybe that Nick isn't your fiance." Rachel giggled at her own joke. "But, you're going to be married in a few short months, and then you'll be having your own kids!"

"Yeah, that's why I'm not jealous. And, no. He's not manly enough for me. Tell the truth-- in bed, are you on top? Nick's not aggressive at all."

Rachel's faced burn. "No, he's... well, you know! You've never seen him in action, that's all!" she snapped.

Serenity laughed. "For some reason I highly doubt that. I bet you're jealous of me. You're stuck with a kitten, and I've got a steamroller!"

"No, I am not jealous at all!" she snapped. "And I'm telling the truth! And I LOVE my little kitten!"

Serenity stopped laughing. "Well, I'm happy for you, then." She mumbled something that sounded like another comparison, but smiled at Rachel anyways. "So, how are your kids anyways?"

"Oh, they're so wonderful!" cooed Rachel. Her spirits seemed to immediately lift up. "James is growing so quickly, it's amazing, and he's always so happy! And Sophia! She's so smart... we were reading the other night ago, and she could recognize the WORDS, Serenity!"

"That's excellent!" Serenity said with a grin. I definitely want kids. ASAP. "So, can I see them, or what?! I didn't come here just to talk!"

"Oh, of course! James is looking at his books, and Sophia is up playing. Let's go see how they're doing."

Serenity looked inside her grocery bags. "I'm sorry, Rachel, the ice cream is melting. I think I'd better get home. But I'll see them another time, promise. Actually, why don't you bring them to my wedding? I don't mind it!"

Rachel grinned. "Okay, that'll be perfect! And Sophia would make a great flower girl. But we'll talk more about it later-I have to begin cooking dinner, anyway."

"Alright, bye, Rach!" Serenity apparated away.

The next day, Rachel was dragging out some Christmas tree decorations for the tree that she had hacked down earlier that morning.

Rachel was sitting on the sofa, with a book in her hands, but she could not pay attention to the words. She had other things on her mind.

After a long, hard day of shopping (AKA, spending Nick's money) in Diagon Alley, Rachel dragged her feet in, looking very tired.

Much to her surprise (Nick hoped), all of the furniture was gone. The only thing in the room was Nick, who was leaning against the wall, smiling.

"Hi, honey!"

Surprised indeed.

Rachel's jaw dropped, along with her shopping bag. "Wha-what did you too all the furniture?!" she exclaimed weakly.

"I got rid of it!" Nicolas beamed. "The interior design was just getting so boring, you know? So I got rid of it all!"

"Got RID of it?!" she yelled. "But Nick, it's not like we can afford to go out and buy more!"