August 29th, 1891 — Kirke Residence, Bartonburg

With whoosh that was surely louder in her ears than it would be to anyone else there, Meri arrived in a puff of smoke.  Floo was a messy mode of transportation but it was effective.  So effective in fact, she wasn’t sure the owl she'd sent to announce her intent to visit early had had time to arrive yet. 

"Elsie?" she called, though it came out with a cough.  She cleared her throat and set about ridding her clothes of soot "I know I'm a few days early but I had the day off."

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Elsie Kirke

  

Though Elsie was expecting Meri this week sometime, but had certainly thought that they had agreed on later. So the floo lighting up green startled her briefly, until she saw it was Meri who came stumbling out. "That's alright, it's just me for the moment." She'd been coming out of the kitchen with a cup of tea in hand and Hallie on her heels. The tiny black fluffball was already quite at home in their cozy little flat. Tyb was out running some kind of errand, she had already forgotten what it was, which was a terrible side effect of this pregnancy.

"Can I get you a cuppa?" There was still plenty of hot water in the kettle. "I can give you a little tour?" She chuckled, because it would be quick as the flat was small, but Elsie was feeling quite at home here. "I'm glad you stopped by." Through this whole situation, she was thankful she was able to count on her closest friends to still be around.

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babystamp ~26 weeks

  

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MJ always makes her so pretty

"If you're pouring." she said, doing a final sweep for soot with her wand.  "But first I want a hug" It had been nearly two years since she'd seen her, afterall.  Meri turned to move toward her friend opening her arms with a wide smile but soon stopped in her tracks, finally registering the baby bump. 

Her smile turned into a grin .  "Oh my... you weren't kidding"

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Elsie just managed to set her tea down before Meri came in for the hug. It was a bit difficult these days, but Els managed to wrap her arms around her friend easily enough. A laugh escaped at Meri's comment. "I most certainly was not." She had to be able to laugh at her own expense at this point.

"Come, I'll get the teapot, have a seat." Elsie took her own back into their little kitchen and set about making more tea. There were biscuits too, of that she was certain. She was still learning how to make them well and fortunately Tyb was more than willing to be her taste tester, but these had come out alright.

"Please tell me everything about your travels." She requested over her shoulder with a smile.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Meri sat where directed, blatantly staring a bit as Elsie returned to the kitchen.  Seeing her friend in such a state was the biggest reminder so far that life really had carried on here without her.  Like really carried on.  She almost felt like she should be the one making tea but she also knew that Elsie wasn't the sort to ushered to a chair while her guest poured tea, pregnancy or not.

She waved a dismissive hand at the talk of travels.  "Oh it was all terribly exciting at first, as you'd imagine.  But it was also hard… and a bit lonely.  I've been ready to come home for a long while."  She paused, savoring the relief she was still feeling to be home again. 

"I can speak Italian now."  she added with a grin "Should you ever have the need"

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Leaving her cup on the table, Elsie transferred the hot water from the kettle to the nice teapot she had and pulled another cup from the cupboard. She hummed along as she got everything read and set it on the table before taking her own seat gratefully. She was by no means all that large yet, but she could definitely feel the extra weight and the baby's position in her hips by this time in the day. Work was getting to be a little more difficult than she anticipated and speaking with Mr. Ainsworth tomorrow was making her nervous. Frankly she was thrilled for the distraction Meri provided.

"I'm sure it was quite the adventure," She admitted wistfully. Els had her own adventure traveling, but it had not ended nearly as nicely as Meri's. "I can imagine, new country without knowing the language. At least you picked that up!" Italian couldn't be that different from French after all, and most ladies of their class had been raised with that. "But I bet the weather was lovely."

Easing back into her seat, Elsie brought her cup with her and surveyed her friend carefully. "I'm glad you're home."

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MJ always makes her so pretty

"Oh, and the food..." she trailed off, shaking her head as if it was simply hard to believe.  "Honestly - some if it puts us to shame.  Though don't tell anyone I said that.  Especially my mother."  she grinned, taking a sip of the tea she'd been served.  "I'm glad I went but I didn't learn nearly as much as I'd hoped.  The Wandmaster... well he was nothing like Mr. Ollivander.  And his son..."  she shook her head again, this time in derision. 

"But enough about me!" she diverted brightly.  "You're the one with all the life milestones, suddenly!"

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Elsie smile softly, so relieved that it seemed like Meri's time in Italy had been mostly worth it. At least one of them had been able to enjoy a trip. The mention of food had Elsie reaching for a biscuit, which happened more lately than she would have ever thought.

"Oh, well yes." Though Elsie was still just slightly ashamed of how things had happened, she figured she couldn't be totally sore about the outcome. "We were doing well, officially courting and all," Elsie sighed softly, taking a sip of her tea. "Got a little careless as a result." Explaining that was perhaps the most embarrassing part, but Elsie, after everything that had happened, didn't regret it totally. "So we got married a couple days after my birthday and baby is due in December." That was the best she could figure anyway, the midwife agreed, late November or very early December. She passed Meri a sheepish smile and took a bite of a biscuit.

"We're hoping to purchase a house this autumn." That would give them a little more room to breathe at least. At that moment, Hallie made her way into the kitchen, the black cat making her presence known by headbutting Meri's leg. "Oh and we took in a cat. This is Hallie." Elsie chuckled.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Meri couldn't help but flush a little.  She held no judgement for her friend - she knew she was a good person after all - but it was still hard to shake the social taboo of it.  Indeed, Meri didnt even really understand what she meant by "careless" but it was easy enough to piece together that it was exactly what she and most of her peers had been guarded against. 

"I wish I could have been here."  She said with a wide smile.  Even with the suspect circumstances, Meri mostly felt happy for her.  "I still can't believe it.  It feels like our Coming Out Ball was not long ago and now it would seem I'm running out of time..." her smile turned to a wry grin as she took a sip of her tea. 

"You're going to be a great mum." She concluded confidently. 

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Elsie tried not to let the guilt creep up; Meri was not the only one to express their desire to be at the ceremony, but she and Tyb had thought it best to be quick, quiet and small. Her own father had barely made it home in time and though he was displeased, he hadn't really said much. "I know, I'm sorry." She said anyway, because she was.

Reaching a hand down to pull Hallie into her lap, Elsie chuckled. "It feels like another lifetime to me." It really wasn't that long ago, seven years or so, but so much had happened between then and now that she felt like she was totally different person from who she had been at graduation. Maybe she wasn't and she was just exaggerating, but she felt like it was true.

"I hope so." Her own mother had been such a shining example of parenthood, though there were some things Elsie intended to do differently, that she hoped she could at least be half as good. She wasn't overly worried about Tyb either. Though they hadn't really talked about it yet, she rather thought he'd learned what not to do from his father. "It's a terrifying prospect, being responsible for an entire human being." She laughed again, but it was tainted with a hint of nerves.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Meri watched her play with the kitten in her lap with a distant look.  It was one thing to think how much had changed.  It was another to hear her friend agree and expand on it.  She'd never even thought about what it meant to have children.  She'd barely thought about what it meant to get married.  It all just felt like some life event she was supposed to get to eventually and she'd just been casually ignoring for the last several years.

The being responsible thing didn't worry her - she'd spent enough time carrying for her mother through her sickness in the last year to feel somewhat capable on that front.  "And then raising them…" she mused to herself over the rim of her cup, looking both perplexed and slightly alarmed.  How did one even go about turning a baby into a good person?

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"I'm not sure which is harder, the birthing them or the raising them." Elsie chuckled, glad that Meri could at least sympathize with her thought process. The falling in love part, the well, making the baby, that had been easy. The relationship, making it work it had been harder than she would have imagined, but it was a cakewalk compared to this next chapter in their lives. Fortunately she had Tyb to help her, time and again they'd proved they could handle anything together, so that was some solace.

"It'll all work out," She sighed softly. The baby, the future, whatever it held for either one of them, it would work out, she had to have faith in that.

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MJ always makes her so pretty