Autumn Keeps You Home

[Meta Lestrange]

October 27, 1883

Meta hated October. She hated the autumn, really. It was such a gaunt season, full of rains and thunderstorms and she often had to stay at home because it was raining or because it had rained the day before and her governess thought it wiser that she and her sisters entertained themselves indoors. And Meta hated the indoors. She was always fond of being outside, but, today it was impossible.

It had started raining as soon as they were planning to go to the park, so their plans were cancelled and the girls were told that they’d stay at home instead. On top of that, they were supposed to stay quiet as the new baby was due any moment now and their mother needed to rest.

Meta disliked her new sibling already.

After she tried to play some wizard’s chess with Frida, her oldest sister, clearly exasperated by Meta’s lack of skill told her that she had something else to do so Meta was left all alone. As such, the seven-year-old decided to pay her mother a visit. The baby was coming soon, sure, but Meta was bored and it was the baby’s and her mother’s fault that she couldn’t do something more interesting (and noisy), so possibly keeping her awake by keeping her company seemed as a good idea.

“Mother?” Meta said quietly after she knocked on her mother’s bedroom door. “I’ve come to see you.”

  

[Elda Lestrange]

Elda was tired, there was nothing else to say. She could feel the pain in the lower part of her back, it was clear that it was only a matter of short time before she would have to go through the pain of giving birth to her seventh and final child. Orestes had already decided that there would not come another child and according to their agreement she could not carry a child that was not his, so it really was a decided fate. There was only one part she liked about being this close to giving birth. No formal attires, no meassuring if she was still in mourning over the death of her father, no corset. The last was probably the best thing she could think of, but even that was nothing compared to the joy of having another baby in her arms.

As she heard someone knock on the door and Meta voice from the other side, she smiled slightly. "Come in." she said and pushed herself up to sit a bit more than before. She could still feel the pain, but she just clenched her jaw a bit more than usual and placed a hand on her belly. Having a boy or a girl, it did not matter because they already had the boys they needed and Kristoffer did not seem weak and would hopefully outlive both her and Orestes.

  

[Meta Lestrange]

Meta slightly expected her mother to tell her to go away. After all, she was no Gretchen, or even Frida. She was not the favourite. But her mother was usually kind and today was one of those days when surprisingly she didn’t annoy Meta that much. They’d never share the bond she and Gretchen had, but, for today, they could probably survive without an argument. Hopefully.

“I was wondering how are you, Mama.” Meta said softly, trying to appear perfectly sweet and nice though probably failing. She could be perfectly polite, but she was no sweet child. Sweetness just did not came naturally to her and she could not fake it. But that was no issue, was it? Lestranges were not supposed to be sweet.

“Nanny said that the baby will be out soon.”

  

[Elda Lestrange]

Elda smiled happy when she saw Meta enter her room. "I am a bit tired, but otherwise I am well." she said and gently patted her mattress next to her, to allow Meta to sit on the bed next to her. "I guess it is a matter of days now. Do you want to feel?" she asked with a soft smile and placed a hand on her rather large belly. She felt a small pinch but she just clenched her jaw and took a deep breath.

"Your little brother or sister is very lively, I hope you will be a perfect sister and help look after him or her." she said with a smile. "Of course only if you should hear something, you will still have plenty of time to go outside and play, as well as have your lessons." she quickly added though. Her last child would have a wenurse just as the others had. It was not a choice and Meta would have plenty of time to just be herself and concentrate on her lessons.

  

[Meta Lestrange]

Help look after the baby? Uh, no. She would not do that. But for the sake of keeping their conversation civil, she just nodded.

No way she was going to assist into taking care of a baby, though. That was what wet nurses and nannies were for!

“I hope it’s a boy.” Meta confessed. Three sisters were already enough and she hardly liked any of them that much. Frida and Hilda she could tolerate, she supposed, but Gretchen was her arch nemesis and most of the time she felt like the other two sided with Gretchen rather than her. She didn’t need another female sibling to worry about. She always found boys far more tolerating. Kristoffer was a fine sibling, despite what the others thought and Klaus was nice as well. And if she started early, she could easily turn a new brother against Gretchen.

  

[Elda Lestrange]

Elda would not keep anything on Meta about this, because she truly doubted it would ever be needed for Meta to look after the baby. Given that if the wet nurse or nanny did not look after the baby, then they would get fired and she would have to suffer through the pain it would be to find a new one, it would never be Meta's problem.

"You know what, so do I. Seven children, three boys, I cannot imagine it could be any more perfect." she said, her voice slightly weak, because she could feel another strong pinch. She began to wonder if the child was already on its way, but she really hoped that was not the case. "Meta, my dear. I think you need to run and find a maid or something. I fear it is about time." she quickly said, panting slightly.

  

[Meta Lestrange]

Her mother would have been so silly if she wanted another daughter. Nobody wanted daughters, even if people still had them. Giving birth to a daughter was usually considered a failure. Boys got to continue the family name and inherit and girls were just told what to do and they had to obey.

“It is?!” Meta exclaimed as she jumped away from the bed. Did that mean that there would be blood soon? That her mother’s stomach would tear in half so the baby could walk out? “But where can I find the maid? I don’t know where the servants go, they’re supposed to stay hidden!”

  

[Elda Lestrange]

Elda took a few quick breaths to control the pain. "Ring for them, or something. You are a clever girl, I know you will figure out something." she said in a pained voice. "And if you could tell your father as well." she quickly added, hoping that Orestes would at least do something to help it all along the way.

  

[Meta Lestrange]

“Okay!” Meta said calmly as she looked around for the bell. It was there, nearby, so she quickly went and rung it, as many times as she thought that they servants would need to understand that something very important was happening.

Now she only had to inform her father. But Meta wasn’t sure if she wanted to do it. “Are you sure that Father doesn’t want to be disturbed?”

  

[Elda Lestrange]

Elda would have smile and praised Meta, but right now she was in a lot of pain and tried her very best to stay calm so the pain would ease just a bit. She breathed quickly and clenched her pillow as she looked at Meta. "Thank you. Now, your father will be told anyway. Just tell him that I asked you to tell him that it has started. Then you will be probably be told to go find Mirella, or just be told you can go." she quickly explained before she had to stop again to breathe deeply.

"It is you or one of the maids. It will be short to your father. I will - please Meta. He may not react, but he will prefer to know." she quickly added, her voice showing her pain and the urgency in getting the message to Orestes."You choose, now Meta. Either you or a maid."

  

[Meta Lestrange]

“Fine, fine, I will tell him!” Meta replied, with slight annoyance in her voice. She didn’t expect her father to react on it and run next to her mother’s side and she didn’t want to annoy him if he was in the middle of something. But if her mother so insisted, then she’d tell him. She didn’t want him to hear that she had hesitated to come to his side and think her weak, after all.

She heard footsteps at the corridor and soon two maids rushed in. “Good luck!” Meta said before she exited and headed to her father’s study.

  

[Elda Lestrange]

"Thank you, Meta. I am happy it will be you." she quickly said before she saw her daughter walk out of the door, and she had to bite back another scream of pain because of the beginning labor.