☼
Life was something that ought to have been be celebrated.
The Dark Lord had vanished, and the world had been safe again. (Well, perhaps, as safe as it could be.) While Tilden was keen on the festivities at first, not long after it grew insincere. The loss of strong Caradoc, quick-witted Dorcas, the warm Longbottoms, and compassionate Lily Potter without a selfish bone in her body (with her most courageous husband James) was still too fresh, too raw. There were children without parents, parents with lost children, and while the world was deemed ‘safe,’ it did not feel real.
Many survivors of the war took their time picking up the pieces of their lives, trying to repair the fragments of their tenacious hearts. It was a quiet, hurting time. Time came for Daisy to slowly work on her book, which hadn’t been wise to work on for a while. Tilden tended his little ‘victory garden,’ which he’d given out as potions ingredients to anyone who asked (the comparison to the American gardens of the Second World War was not altogether accurate, but with similar hope).
Not long after little Harry Potter’s sixth birthday did it feel right to properly move on.
Daisy had been respectful of the length of Tilden’s mourning process, as he was a part of both of the worlds that had waged war. Nightmares plagued him every once in a blue moon. But she did not ask for more. They lived a quiet, peaceful happy life.
In early autumn of 1986, Tilden Toots moved into another chapter of his life. It was wonderful and altogether terrifying.
As cheesy as it sounded, this baby would be their little miracle; to better days and happier times ahead.
Daisy’s pregnancy wasn’t without fraught on Tilden’s part. One late night, his wife found him sitting on a work-stool in the greenhouse. Soiled as usual, his eyes were glazed over as he gazed to the dirt floor.
"Til?" She murmured, putting a light hand on his shoulder. He moved his head a little, acknowledging her presence.
"It isn’t fair." Tilden’s voice cracked.
"I know," she replied, moving to sit beside him. "None of it is."
"Caradoc used to crack jokes about what kind of dad I’d be based on how I treated the greenhouse at school. I used to think that maybe one day he’d been a godfather to my kids, you know? Dorcas was supposed to be affronted that we’d gone down the white-picket-fence route but then coddle our child like no other." He swallowed.
She gave him a light kiss on the forehead. “I’m going to bed. You should get some rest. And Cara was right - you’re going to be a wonderful dad. Auntie Hes will spoil our baby rotten. You’re going to want to do things the old fashioned way and will cave in quickly. Merlin, our baby will never not be covered in her dirt, just like their Da.”
Nodding as he gave her a weak smile, she ruffled his hair and walked back into the house.
After a few moments settling in bed, Daisy felt the mattress shift and she smiled. Tilden reached his long arms around her from behind, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then the lips. “I love you - both of you - so much.”
Only months later, the Tootses became a family.
