Who: Madeleine and Nick Hooke -- and bambini of course!
What: Discussion about a big decision!
Where: Their living room
When: Toooday



"Sì, sì, comunicherò domani con voi! Arrivederci!" Madeleine held the phone to her ear for a few more seconds to listen to the excited yells coming from the other end, and with a wide grin she finally hung up. She could not believe it! After more than two years of being in England, she was going home to Italy. They were all going to Italy, Nick and the bambini, it was---very exciting!

The reasons for going back were not so exciting, benchè. The wizarding world's war was reaching new and terrifying heights, and while they had not been personally attacked, Nicholas had made it quite clear that the disowned son of a predominate pureblood family and his very muggle wife were perfect targets for random acts of violence.

It didn't make much sense to Madeleine, the first time, either.

But she had called her father, and he was more than happy to find living arrangements for them. Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for her great-aunt Teresa, there was a family lot freshly opened. Big house, even bigger backyard, and the best part was that it was hers. Well! Through inheritence and all that, so there was not any---no money issues.

Madeleine nearly skipped into the living room and slid over the arm of the couch, squeezing in tightly next to her husband. "That was my father, he says that---everyone is very excited to meet all of you!"

"You're sure that your parents aren't going to change their minds at the last moment and then kill me in my sleep, hm?" He half-laughed and bounced little Nicky on his knee, glancing over to his wife with a small smirk. The truth was that he wasn't entirely ... excited about leaving for Italy. It wasn't that he didn't want to meet Madeleine's family ... it was just that he didn't want to leave his own family.

"You realize we're going to have to figure out a way to ... delicately tell Adamina, also." Which he was not looking forward to. She was probably not going to be happy and she would just -- ah, he really hoped she wasn't going to cry. He hated making his sister cry.

"Ohhhhh, amore," Madeleine said with a great shake of her head, hand absentmindedly pushing down Nicky's wild locks. The boy's hair did not seem to want to fall handsomely like his father's. Not that her baby boy wasn't handsome, his hair was just---not very easy to agree with. "My family loves family, no matter if they steal their youngest daughter off into another country for years and years."

She grinned cheekily, but it fell at the reminder of having to break the news of their move to Adamina. Thankfully, Nick's sister was not pregnant at the moment, because the hormonal scenes she had shown would have reacted quite poorly. Now, there would be many tears. Many, many tears.

"Maybe we can teach the bambini to say it," she said with a nod, a now frustrated expression on her face as she once again attempted to pat Nicky's hair down.

Nick still wasn't so sure about Madeleine's parents, but maybe the triplets would help ease the pain of having lost Madeleine. He sighed and leaned in to press a kiss to her temple as she mussed with Nicky's hair, arching his brow.

"I think it might be considered grossly unfair to have the children tell Adamina that we're moving to Italy," He decided after a moment despite the fact that it sounded like a fantastic idea. "I think that I'll have to tell her, just .. hopefully not when she's in a bad mood." Which meant he might have to bring things up under false pretenses ... and possibly with cookies involved.

"Do we have any chocolate chip biscuits left?" Those would surely help to ease the pain.

"Ahh, they will never know the difference----Mina, arretso!" Madeleine scolded, sititng forward with a pointed finger toward the little girl, who was in mid-yank of her sister's hair. Natalia was frozen with terror, but slumped away happily when Mina darted off, terribly embarrassed at being caught in the act. Madeleine curled around the couch to watch her daughter duck into the nursery and she sighed, slouching lazily back into the couch. Her feet moved under Nicholas' on the ground as she wondered how to put everything lightly.

Adamina knew the precarious situation they were in, that their whole society was in. Would she not want her family to be as safe as they could be? Of course, Madeleine was seeing this as more of an opportunity to enrich their lives than find a refuge from the war she had not actually experienced, but if Nick was this worried...she trusted him with everything, it was the right thing to do.

"Maybe---she and Timothy and Daphne--they can come for a holiday for the first few days," She wanted to add weeks, but Madeleine did not think it was her place to say that, "and it will make it easier?"

"You know that if the two of them come with us they're not going to want to leave at all," he protested with a slightly amused half-smile. Their children were growing so very quickly and they were the only things on his mind most of the time nowadays (along with his sister, of course).

Nick furrowed his brows. "Not that I wouldn't mind them staying for weeks, but I'm sure that Tim would be the one to eventually insist they head back home." Which, in hindsight, Nick didn't exactly have a problem with -- Tim could be the one that his sister was angry at.

The important thing was that the kids were safe, though. "Mm. I might have to come and visit her here now and again," surely that would help with the anxiety his sister would probably have about not seeing him, right?

Right.

"Yes! Of course," Madeleine said with a determined nod, sitting up and pulling her legs underneath her. The thought of Nick being so far away made her stomach twist, but it would have to be done to keep his relationship with his sister strong. He had already lost one (though---oh, she had no words to describe her feelings toward Cecilia), it would do him no good to strain what he had with Adamina. Especially with the new baby! Oh, it was so very nice being an aunt; she had nieces and nephews in Italy, but they were so far away, and so old already---spoiling babies that were not your own, it was always a good feeling.

Madeleine let out a breath and leaned forward, dropping her chin onto Nick's shoulder to watch their son battle with his crayons. "We need to think about the children, Nicholas."

Because---she did not know the war like he did, but the fear that something could happen to one of their little ones? Madeleine knew that any mother would take the chance to keep them safe and happy. They would be happy in Italy, she was sure.

"I know that, Madeleine," he leaned back a little to glance at his wife and then shook his head. "That's why I -- well, why I brought things up in the first place. I know Adamina will understand, but taking it well is something else completely." Nick just hoped the children would be able to adjust to Italy. Who knew how long they'd be there?

Would they have to learn Italian? Surely his in-laws would expect the children to learn Italian, nevermind him -- of course they would try to teach him, but things like that never seemed to stick unless Madeleine was the one who was trying to teach him anything.

Her bottom lip stuck out in what would be an exaggerated pout, were she actually not as worried as she was. There was really no other way to express what she was feeling at the moment. It was no good. They would be back in her home country, her children would be able to grow up with tons of family surrounding them (for how long, who knew, but some time would still be wonderful), and they would be away from the war. But all of that, all of the goodness was dampened at the thought of being so far away from Adamina and her family.

They were going to have to get used to traveling by plane, it seemed. Did wizards have an easier way to make those long journeys? They certainly couldn't do that...cracking thing, with the bambini.

"I think I should get started on the biscuits."