Cassie was reclined on the cushioned chaise, a colorful umbrella drink on the table to her right. The sun was bright, but the ocean breeze kept it from feeling too hot. She’d been soaking up the sun for a quarter hour or so, and after taking a sip from her drink, she rolled to her stomach to make sure she didn’t get browned unevenly. This ( Read more... )

All --

I am pleased to announce that after a long and stressful day (I may never regain feeling in my hand again), Sean Jackson Ackerley made his arrival at exactly half past noon today. Ten fingers, ten toes, and his mother's lungs.

Mother and baby are both doing well, and both our mums are ecstatic.

Behold, the future of the Appleby Arrows:


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“Alright, listen up Grem,” Katie’s face was stern as she fixed her the small belly bump protruding from underneath her shirt with a glare. “We’ve got a few more months to tag along together, so let’s get a few things straight. Number one -- I am the Mummy, and in the Ackerley household, my word is law ( Read more... )

Cassie was getting pretty good at the whole domestic thing. The Ministry gave six months maternity leave, so her days since Maddy was born had been filled with nothing but domesticity. She fixed their meals, though she allowed the elves to do the clean up afterward, and she changed her baby’s nappies, cared for her when she got upset, and was ( Read more... )

Indigestion had been plaguing her for hours. Every time Cassie thought it had begun to abate, it came back with a vengeance, and as she paced in the kitchen her back was beginning to hurt too. “Stephen, would you bring me a pain potion and some digestives?” she asked as she sank onto a chair at the breakfast table. Cassie liked to think she’d ( Read more... )

Pretend this went up at the beginning of June, y'all. Thanks!

Cassie was exhausted. Getting through the work day was getting tough, and she still had almost two months to go. Waddling into Sans Souci, she didn’t even manage to waddle all the way to the kitchen before she gave up, collapsing onto the living room sofa with a groan. They could ( Read more... )

All: this should be backdated to sometime in mid-February. Danged RL.

The Delacour workshop -- a multi-story warehouse on St. Anne’s Court -- was abuzz with employees: junior designers, models, shopgirls, and more, already hard at work on the fall collection. Since starting her line years ago, it had exploded. So much that Fleur had had to move ( Read more... )

As captain of Puddlemere United and as a general rule, Katie didn’t believe in ‘off days.’ There was no such thing. Not really. There was always something that needed to be done; game footage to review, plays to run over, reserve training sessions to oversee -- and yes, interviews to give. But on this bright and sunny Monday, Captain Bell (now ( Read more... )

Dear friends,

He's here! Ernie and I are so happy to announce the arrival of Noah David Macmillan. He's six pounds, eleven ounces, and perfectly healthy! We hope you'll all come by and see him soon -- but until then, two quick pictures!


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The owl from Stephen’s wife had been a pleasant surprise. While her old friend had let the news known that he was soon to be a father -- yet another of her former housemates, she noted -- she hadn’t expected to hear from his wife. Cassie seemed to be a nice girl, from the few times they’d interacted, and Stephen was happy ( Read more... )