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Ginny throws down the knitting needles, ready to give up. Her husband looks up from his book with a frown, sensing her distress.
“What’s wrong?” Blaise asks.
“I can’t do this,” she says. “Mum has shown me so many times but I can’t figure it out!”
“Isn’t it just a spell?”
“Mostly, but there are parts you have to do by hand and that’s where I always get it wrong.”
“Hey,” Blaise says, getting up from the armchair across the room. He sits down next to her on the couch. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“But it’s Aiden’s first Christmas and I wanted to make him a sweater just like my mum used to!”
Tears start to form in her eyes, and she wipes at them angrily.
“She made one for all of us, and I can’t even make one!” she bemoans.
Blaise gives her a commiserating look and then wraps her up in a hug. “I’m sorry, love.”
“I know I’m being stupid, but it’s not just this,” she sniffs.
He pulls back and wipes her snot on his sleeve, making her laugh before she goes right back to blubbering.
“I burned the Christmas cookies,” she says. “And look at the tree – it’s like a child decorated it.”
“I think it looks great,” Blaise says generously.
She rolls her eyes at him. “But I wanted it to be perfect!”
Blaise doesn’t understand, because he never had anyone to look up to. His mum didn’t even bat an eye when they told her that Ginny got pregnant from their one night stand. She was late to their wedding, and even forgot to bring a gift.
Molly and Arthur, on the other hand, never seem to make any mistakes. In the end, they were accepting of Aiden but they were clearly disappointed when Ginny and Blaise told them the news. Molly organized and catered the entire wedding, and even made Ginny’s dress.
Ginny doesn’t think she can possibly be as good of a mother as Molly, and it’s made her a nervous wreck this Christmas. Nothing seems to turn out right, and she can’t bear to disappoint her mum even more than she already has. Even worse would be disappointing her son.
“There is no perfect, love,” Blaise says. “We all just do the best we can. So what if you can’t knit a sweater? You’ll do something else. All that matters is that Aiden knows he’s loved.”
She wipes away her last tear and nods. For a one night stand, Blaise turned out to be the best man to stand with her through all of her nights, though they’re usually not as difficult as tonight.
“You’re right,” she whispers. “Maybe I can be a … a Quidditch mum … or something?”
Blaise smiles from ear to ear. “That’d be cool. I bet he’ll love that.”
Ginny frowns. “But what if he doesn’t like Quidditch?”
“Then you’ll find something else,” he says. “That isn’t knitting … or baking.”
Ginny nods, suddenly lost in thought. She chews on her bottom lip, feeling thoroughly inadequate. But her husband is right – there are certainly things she can do that Molly couldn’t. She’ll just have to play to her strengths.
“I know something that will cheer you up,” he says. “I went to get our Goblin Grab gifts for Potter’s party today.”
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Ginny says miserably.
“It’s fine, love, I got you,” Blaise says, kissing her cheek.
He gets up and goes to the closet, where he pulls out a shopping bag. He brings it over and dumps out his purchase on the coffee table. When she sees it, she bursts into laughter.
“That is PERFECT!”
“And I didn’t even have to knit it,” Blaise teases.
Ginny indeed feels her spirits brighten, and she can’t wait for everyone to see Blaise’s gift at their friend group’s Christmas party.