we are giants. [c]

Camilla's feet ached, but she was only halfway through her shift. This pregnancy had certainly been easier than her first, but her feet still always ached at the end of a long shift. Not that the young woman would have given up working even if she were about to give birth. She loved her job far too much and it kept her from thinking about what types of danger her husband was finding.

Stepping quickly down the hall of the Creature Induced Injuries wing, Camilla moved to the healer's stations, leaning against the wall of Katherine's cubicle. She smile brightly at the bouquet of flowers that was settled on the woman's desk. "Someone's graced you with flowers again?" Camilla purred playfully, leaning over a little further. She reached down to trail a finger along one of the petals of the flowers, watching her best friend with a soft expression. She thought back to the auror that had been on this floor time and time again. All because he was a werewolf and few others had the skills that Katherine had gathered over her years as an intern.

Camilla could tell that the man had taken a liking to Katherine. She could spot the little smiles and the moments they seemed to share when no one was paying attention. Camilla rather liked the man... so long as Katherine came out unscathed.

"Trying hard, is he?" she continued, green eyes flashing with warmth. She wouldn't push too much harder on the subject, knowing that if she pressed too much, Kate might clam up about it. Pressing a lock of hair behind her ear, Camilla glanced at the paperwork spread on Kate's desk, frowning briefly. "Are you ready for lunch, Kate? I'm starving," she said quietly. And she didn't exactly like to go off to lunch on her own. There were other healers who were more than happy to join her, but pregnancy emotions had her craving one on one time with her best friend.

It had been difficult since her teacher had left the hospital, but things were slowly getting better. Slowly but surely. Leaning back a little to shift from foot to foot, Camilla glanced about, giving a winning smile to a group of healer trainees from Katherine's year. When Katherine had first entered the hospital, Camilla had immediately gravitated toward her which hadn't exactly sat well with some of the other healers. Not that Camilla cared. Katherine was her best friend and had been for her entire life.

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Words: 418
Tagged: Katherine Lennox

When she had wandered into work at the beginning of her shift, Katherine’s only thoughts had been about the patient who had entered the hospital at the end of her shift the previous night. The poor little girl had somehow managed to get her arm scratched up by a Grindylow from the marshes behind her house. And her injuries had been bad enough that, though Kate had done everything in her power to make her feel better, she still wanted her kept overnight for observation.

She certainly hadn’t expected to walk to her desk and find a bouquet of beautiful wildflowers sitting on top of her desk.

Some of the other Healers around her had twittered about them for a few minutes, wondering where they had come from. But Kate knew. She knew even though there hadn’t been a card with them, for they were clearly not the kind of flowers that had been bought from a florist. They were fresh from a garden, or perhaps a field somewhere outside of Edmonton. Beautiful, bright and colourful...and from a man.

Every time she wandered back toward the desk, her dark eyes moved over toward the flowers. And she caught herself daydreaming at least twice before she had given her head a shake and tried to go back to her paperwork. Their fragrance was enough to keep her distracted though. As was the thought of a pair of bright blue eyes that seemed to look right through her…

When Camilla’s voice drifted over the wall of her desk, Katherine jumped with a start. Her cheeks began to burn brightly and her eyes immediately dropped away from the delicate petals that her friend now toyed with. Nobody else had seen it yet, but her best friend had been like her animagus form...as sharp as an eagle. ”I...there’s no card,” she murmured quickly as she set her pen down on the desk. ”I don’t know who they are from.”

But they both knew exactly who the flowers were from.

She nodded quickly at the mention of food, though her stomach was certainly not in agreement. Anything to keep Cami from smiling at her like that about the flowers that decorated her desk. ”I hope that husband of yours packed you a proper lunch,” the brunette told her quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. ”You know...since you’re carrying his child and all.”

WORD COUNT: 408
TAGGED: Camilla Monet

They did both know exactly who the flowers were from, but Camilla wasn't the type to throw either of them under the bus. In her few run ins with the auror who had blindsided her best friend, the man was courteous, if not a little gruff and closed off from most. She'd seen him about her floor, checking in on a number of aurors that were often hospitalized for more long term care. He seemed a kind man, which was all Camilla needed to hear.

With Katherine's past, that was exactly what the woman needed. Kindness... and this type of sweet tenderness that lead to him leaving flowers at her desks most weeks. As soon as they were wilting, they seemed to be replaced with a completely different type... as if he were testing her likes and dislikes. Camilla had noticed, but she was almost sure that Katherine had been to beside herself with silent giddiness over the gestures that she hadn't.

Glancing from the flowers to her friend, Camilla's green eyes were bright. Her stomach was rumbling and the little life inside her had picked that very moment to kick her in the bladder. "Woah," she breathed, hands flying up to her belly. "I think someone else is hungry," she laughed a little, shaking her head and shifting from one foot to the other in an effort to ignore the distraction of her flailing baby.

The smile that curved Cami's lips was absolutely playful and she tilted her head at Kate, "I'm sure Kitty helped him," she murmured. Truthfully, Cami had found one of Katherine's tiny stuffed toys in her lunch box the other day. And a crude note written in crayon telling her to have a good day. Camilla silently wondered what surprise her daughter would have given her today. Reaching her arm out, she offered it to Kate, starting to lead the both of them toward the elevator to the cafeteria.

"But I did hear him mention something about fresh coconut cream pie and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day," Camilla teased, nudging Kate gently.

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Words: 353
Tagged: Katherine Lennox

Though Katherine would never allow herself to admit it out loud, she had always been a little jealous of the life that Camilla had found for herself. A man who adored her beyond words. A little girl who never failed to wrap her arms around her when she came home from work. And now a second child who was going to love its mother just as much as little Kitty did…

Yet she knew that Camilla could likely see the butterflies as they attacked her stomach, every time a certain Auror left her flowers. Or appeared in the hospital. Or looked in her direction.

”I think it’s adorable that she wants to help,” Kate smiled, slipping her arm through Camilla’s with a soft smile. ”She seems really excited with the idea of being a big sister. I just hope it lasts after the baby is born.”

Not that she was truly worried, of course. Her goddaughter was the most precious thing that Katherine had ever seen in the world. She was always wanting to help her parents with menial tasks around the house. She asked constant questions about how the day went when her mother was away. And when Kate came over to visit, she never failed to spoil her godmother with all of the hugs and kisses and cuddles that she could possibly ask for. Despite being five years old now, she wasn’t yet too old to tell the people around her that she loved them.

Her dark eyes glanced over toward her heavily pregnant friend. ”Then I guess he better have put it in your lunch. Otherwise I’m going to have words for that husband of yours…”

A small smile appeared on her lips. She was teasing, of course, but part of her was dead serious. As much as she loved Cami’s husband, Kate would always be just a little protective when it came to the welfare of her friend and her children. She couldn’t help it. Not when the two of them had been that close for so long! After all, they had both gone to Hollow Creek together, and their friendship had begun even before then thanks to her father’s travels as a professional Quidditch player.

”We should get you something to eat before you have a rebellion on your hands though,” she added with a small laugh, reaching across with her other hand to gently brush the side of Camilla’s growing belly. ”If this little one is half as stubborn as you are, you’re going to have quite the interesting fight on your hands when they finally show up. Kitty will seem like a calkwalk!”


WORD COUNT: 437
TAGGED: Camilla Monet

Cam laughed a little as they walked, "At least she's graduated from drawing on my walls," she mused. As much as she adored the fact that her little girl loved to be artistic, she was also well aware that the bad habits her daughter had needed to stop eventually. Kitty was adorable, but she liked to cause her fair share of trouble.

Then again, Camilla knew that in only six short years... Kitty would leave her to go to school. The thought was enough to make her tear up, but she swallowed and patted Kate's arm with extreme softness. "She's absolutely elated. Says that she wants a little brother," Cami mused, shaking her head. "We actually find out the gender soon," she hummed then, eyes bright.

Part of her really wanted to know. The other part of her wanted it to be a surprise. She had waited to know with Katherine, and she and her husband were on the fence about whether to wait this time too.

Glancing in the direction of Kate at the slight threat toward her husband's life, Camilla lifted an eyebrow. "While I appreciate that, I think me complaining about not having it in my lunch would be enough," she giggled a little, then paused when Kate brushed her hand against her belly. "I'm honestly so worried about the terrible twos. The first time was hell... but I'm hoping maybe this little one might be a little calmer. Or... maybe the two of them will team up against me and make things doubly as bad."

Camilla honestly had no idea what she was to expect when her second child came into the world.

When the two finally made it to the cafeteria, Camilla produced her bag from a small set of lockers off to the side. She brought her lunch to one of the tables, their usual table, and settled down, giving Kate a happy smile. "Thank you for coming to lunch with me," she hummed sweetly.

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Words: 331
Tagged: Katherine Lennox

”I don’t think you need to worry as much as you do. It’s not like you’re going to be doing any of this alone.”

There was absolutely no way that Camilla’s husband would permit such a thing. And if it came to that, Kate knew that she would be there in a heartbeat to help with things as well. The fact that Kitty was her goddaughter did not mean that Katherine was likely to love this other child any less. If anything, she knew that she was going to be just as smitten as she had been when Camilla had had her daughter. And that would probably cause them some problems when Kitty came to realize that she was going to have to share the affections of those around her.

She let Cami go so that her friend could fetch her lunch from the small set of lockers in the cafeteria, watching for a moment as she seemed to debate her next step. The idea of eating anything right now was….unappealing to say the least. But the instant she didn’t pretend, Cami was going to jump on it just as her brother had earlier in the week. She had to at least pretend that she was going to sit down and join her for lunch.

So Katherine crossed silently to her own locker, fiddling around with the lock for a moment before she could pull the door aside. After a moment of heavy consideration, she finally grabbed the apple that she had put in her lunch and closed the door once more. Then she retreated to the table Cami had chosen. Their usual spot for when they got to enjoy a little bit of time together at work.

Taking her seat, Kate offered her a weak smile. ”How are you feeling otherwise? The morning sickness didn’t seem to kill you, which is good. I was a little worried that it might cause you some problems with the way you were struggling in the beginning.”

Keep the topic of conversation away from herself, she thought. That was honestly the best way to handle it. If she could keep Cami talking about the kids or her husband or something else, then she might spare Kate from the questions that would otherwise make her uncomfortable. Questions about her eating habits. About the Auror who was leaving flowers on her desk at work...


WORD COUNT: 408
TAGGED: Camilla Monet