“light” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 792 words
“family gathering” - 25 Days of Jegumas - Day 23 - @noblehouseofgay
Regulus is pacing in their bedroom when James walks in.
“Reg?” James tries to get his attention, but Regulus is too far in his own head to respond. James walks towards Regulus and stands at the end of where he’s pacing. “Regulus?” He tries again when Regulus is in front of him. James reaches out but doesn’t touch him. But Regulus quickly wraps his hands around James’ forearms and looks him directly in the eyes.
“Dark green or light green?” Regulus asks, desperately.
James looks equally concerned and confused. “What?”
Regulus walks over to their bed where there are two jumpers, a dark green and a light green.
“Which one do I wear, James?” He asks, and he sounds frantic. “The dark green is too nice; it’ll make me look like I’m trying too hard. But I wore the light green one last week when I hung out with Barty. And that’s all it is. A jumper you throw on to hang out with friends when you don’t care what you look like.” Regulus rants and starts pacing again. “And I have nothing in between. Which means I should probably go shopping, but that doesn’t help me—”
“Regulus?” James cuts him off softly. Regulus turns to him with an exasperated sigh. “This isn’t about the jumpers, is it?” James asks gently.
Regulus stares at James for a moment then slumps his shoulders with another defeated sigh. “I’m so nervous, Jamie.” His voice sounds small even to him.
James instantly wraps Regulus in his arms, “Love. You don’t have to go. Not if it makes you this anxious. I don’t want—”
Regulus is shaking his head against James’ chest before he cuts him off “I want to go.” His voice is muffled but firm. “I want to go so badly. It’s just that…” He trails off and shakes his head.
James leads them over to sit on the edge of the bed. He takes Regulus’ hands in his and rubs soothing circles. He doesn’t say anything, he just waits and lets Regulus gather his thoughts. After a long moment Regulus takes a deep breath.
“I’ve never been to a family gathering before.” He starts and James furrows his eyebrows. “We had family events, and it was always a production, a performance.” Regulus explains. “I was expected to be silent and invisible. Tonight, I’m going to have to talk and socialize and I don’t know how to do that. Especially with people I don’t know. And especially with important people. And I want to meet your family so badly but they’re so important to you and I’m not going to know what to say or how to act and I want them to like me, but I don’t want—”
“Baby.” James cuts off Regulus’ spiral and cups his cheeks. “I love you so much.” He tells him with a soft smile. “And I hate that it’s making you anxious and nervous. But it means so much to me that you’re excited to meet my family.”
“James! I’m not excited. I’m terrified!” Regulus cuts in.
“I think you might be terrified because you’re excited.” James says and Regulus narrows his eyes skeptically. James looks at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I promise—”
“I want to go, James!” Regulus cuts him off again. “I want to meet your family. I want to talk to your Abuela about her poetry, because the poems you showed me are beautiful. And you said one of your cousins is going to Cambridge to study Astronomy and I’d love to talk to him. And Effie is so excited to introduce me to her sisters. I want to go, James. I’m just… nervous and terrified and anxious and—”
“Regulus.” James cuts in with a giant smile. “You’re going to be fine, love” He tells him. “And I’m going to be there the whole time. And mom and dad will be there. And we can always step away if you need a minute to yourself… I know you’re nervous, Reg. But I promise, it’ll be okay.” His smile gets impossibly wider. “And they’re going to love you.”
Regulus sighs and turns to lean against James’ side, and he starts nervously fidgeting with his fingers. He thinks about everything he just said and everything James just said and everything he’s feeling. He’s quiet for a few minutes then he takes a deep breath.
“I’m still nervous.” He whispers.
“I know.” James says simply.
“Okay.” Regulus sighs and nods his head. “Jamie?” Regulus says after a moment. James hums in response. “Dark green or light green?” Regulus asks and James huff a tiny laugh then hums again.
“Why don’t you wear the navy one mom got you?” He suggests.
Regulus sits up straight and looks directly at James. “Well, why didn’t you say that before? This whole thing could have been avoided!”
25 days of Jegumas - Day 13: Party - 584 words - @noblehouseofgay
James frantically knocks on the door in front of him. He knows for a fact that Sirius is home at the moment, but after five minutes of insistent knocking, he still hasn’t answered. James groans and digs around in his pocket to pull out his key ring. Sorting through them, he finds the one that belongs to Sirius and Remus’s apartment.
He unlocks the door and pushes in, not even stopping to toe off his shoes. He waves distractedly at Regulus who’s sitting in the living room curled up in the window seat with headphones on and a book in his lap. James is a man on a mission heading towards the older Black brother’s bedroom. With a perfunctory knock, James enters the bedroom and promptly backs out, slamming the door behind him with a rushed squeak, “Fuck, sorry,” followed by Remus’s groan and Sirius’s yelling, “Seriously, James?!”
James backpedals to the living room and collapses onto the bench seat next to Regulus, his face scarlet red.
“You didn’t knock, did you?” Regulus asks, pushing aside one of the earphone muffs.
“I did.”
“Did you wait?”
“...”
Regulus snorts. “Thought so. You’d think you would’ve learned by now, Potter.”
James ignores him. At that moment, Sirius comes storming into the room tying his robe, Remus not far behind in only a pair of sweatpants. “What the hell, James.”
“Sorry,” he says meekly.
Remus sighs and sits on the couch perpendicular to him. “What’s up, man?”
James clears his throat and finally looks at his best friend. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
Sirius raises an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, alright.”
“Okay, so. Dad is making me go to the company Christmas party this year and I need a date.”
“And you want to take me?” Sirius asks. Next to James Regulus replaces his headphones and returns to his book when he nods.
“Yeah.”
“Mate,” Sirius sighs. He sits next to Remus. “When is it?”
James bites his lip and hesitantly says, “Tonight.”
Both Remus and Sirius facepalm and shake their heads. “You’re only coming to me about this now?” Sirius asks.
“I forgot!” James stands and starts to pace. “He told me about it three weeks ago and I got so busy that I forgot.”
“Can’t you just go stag?” Remus suggests.
“I told my parents I’d take someone,” James whines.
“And I’m your last resort?”
James stops in front of Sirius. “No, yes, I don’t know. Just, will you go with me?”
“I would, you know I would, but Remus and I–”
“You have plans,” James concludes.
They nod in unison. James groans and turns his head up to the ceiling. “Fuck.” He runs a hand down his face and sighs. “Okay. That’s fine. I’ll just tell them my date changed their mind.”
“That’s lame,” Regulus says while still reading his book.
James turns to him. “Well what do you suggest I do?”
Regulus places his bookmark between the pages and fully removes his headphones. “What time is it?”
James blinks at him confused and says, “Eight.”
The younger Black nods and stands, “Come back here at seven.” He makes his way to the hallway and his bedroom but pauses when James calls out to him.
“Wait. You’ll go with me?”
Without turning around, Regulus simply says, “See you at seven,” and disappears around the corner. James blinks at the space he occupied and turns to look at his two friends. They both shrug at him and stand, returning to their room.
Jegumas - Day 19: xmas cards - 575 words - @noblehouseofgay
James, Regulus and Harry were sitting around the table making Christmas cards together. They were determined to let their son do as much as he could, which at almost a year and a half wasn’t much more than to spill glitter all over the place, but the three still had smiles plastered on their faces. They’d already gotten the cards done for James’s parents and were currently working on the ones for Remus and Sirius.
“That looks very good Harry, who is that?” James asked, pointing to the glittery black blob on the cover of the card.
“Foot!” Harry exclaimed excitedly, a look of pride on his face.
“It looks just like him, he’ll love it,” Regulus answered with a smirk looking at the amorphous black blob of glitter on the page. He was responsible for writing the cards himself as he inarguably had the best handwriting out of the three of them, he’d learned calligraphy as a child and wouldn’t let James live down his lack of skill in that department. James was tasked with drawing the pictures on the cards and adding the glue where his son instructed so Harry could add glitter and color them in where he wanted.
“Moon!” He exclaimed, pointing to the card James was currently drawing on. He’d drawn a large moon and a forest scene, right in front of the trees stood the four marauders in their animal forms.
“Do you want glitter on the moon, little one?” He asked, showing the finished drawing to Harry.
“Yes!” He exclaimed, clapping excitedly. James nodded before adding glue to the entirety of the moon as well as a few spots in the sky to be stars. He slid the card to his son who wasted no time in dumping silver glitter on the entirety of the page, despite the fact that there was only glue on the top.
“Let me get the extra off for you so we can see your pretty card,” Regulus said with a soft laugh as he ruffled their son's curls. He delicately slid the card across the table before casting a drying spell on the glue and picking up the card to dump the extra glitter onto the table. James smiled fondly as he watched, shocked but thankful to see Regulus relaxed enough to make a mess, even one they could use magic to clean. When Regulus finally saw what was on the card, tears formed in his eyes.
“You deserve to be with us, you’re part of us love,” James whispered softly. In the sky with the moon he’d dotted the constellations for Leo and Canis Major, the constellations that included two of the most important people in his life.
“Pwetty?” Harry asked hopefully, his eyes shining as he bounced excitedly in his seat.
“It’s very pretty my love,” Regulus assured him before turning the card so he could see to which their son excitedly clapped.
The three of them sat together decorating cards for everyone they knew for hours, Harry loved the entire process and spent the entire time laughing and smiling as he bounced in his chair. James smiled with fondness as he looked over all of the finished cards, pieces of all three of them represented there. His favorite though, and he was sure it was Regulus’s favorite too, was the one they’d done for Remus where Regulus glittered in the sky next to his brother where he’d always belonged.
25 Days of Jegumas. - @noblehouseofgay - Traditions - 362 Words
Regulus sighed, smoothing down his skirt in the mirror. He looked ridiculous. He looked like a girl. Of course he did. Stupid Black family and their stupid Christmas parties. He’d gotten by in trousers when it was just him and Sirius there, but nooo, of course he had to wear a dress at the Christmas party.
“Don’t you look wonderful.” Sirius said dryly as he walked in, and Regulus was immediately jealous of the dress robes he got to wear. Well, he was always jealous of how Sirius looked, but especially now.
“Why do you get to wear trousers…” Regulus mumbled, tugging the ugly bejeweled beret out of his hair and let his short curls fall in his face.
“Because our mother is a transphobic bitch.” He said simply. “I could trim up your hair before if you like.”
Regulus shook his head. “I don’t need Mother to have another reason to yell at me.”
“Well, you look lovely anyway. Men look excellent in skirts. I’d swap with you if I could.”
That made Regulus snort softly, because he knew Sirius wasn’t lying. He’d seen him stealing his friend McKinnon’s skirts on multiple occasions.
Regulus turned back to the mirror, pale and green.
“I look like her.” He croaked out.
“You don’t. You look like my very handsome brother. And I’m sure James will agree.”
Regulus spun around on his heel. “You invited James?”
He grinned. “Thought it might help. It took a lot of convincing on Mother’s part, but nonetheless, he’s waiting for you downstairs.”
Regulus didn’t need further invitation, sprinting down the stairs and right into his boyfriend’s arms.
“I missed you.” He mumbled into his shoulder.
“Missed you more.” He smiled against his hair.
“You look great.”
“Sirius told you to say that.”
“He did. But it’s still the truth. You look most beautiful in what you’re comfortable in though.”
“I’m comfortable in y–”
“Oi!” They both turned to see Sirius descending the stairs like the main character of a novel.“Do not. Not in front of me. It’s repulsive.”
Regulus giggled and buried his face back in James’ neck, and James was more than happy to let him.
This was my first attempt at writing for day 20 (Baking) of Jegumas, but the story got away from me so I ended up doing something different. However, I actually really like it so I finished it today and thought I would share.
Regulus forced himself to take a deep breath. “It’s fine,” he insisted to the empty bathroom. “I’m fine. It was a dumb comment. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His reflection blinked back tears, long black lashes and flushed skin. But not crying. Not quite, not over this. It wasn’t worth it. He was better than that.
“I don’t care.” Regulus took another deep breath. “I don’t. It doesn’t matter what they think. I don’t care, I’m fine, it’s fine.”
There was a light knock on the door, and panic spiked through his chest. “It’s occupied.”
“I know, love. Are you okay in there?”
Oh. Right.
Of course, James had found him.
Regulus swallowed, trying to sound as steady as possible. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” James replied. “I was just checking, you’ve been missing for a while.”
The gentle tone threatened to undo all of his hard work - suppress, deny, refuse to feel it. Refuse to react.
James was making it very hard to not feel anything.
“I just said I’m fine,” Regulus snapped, and immediately regretted it. He softened his tone. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
One deep breath. Two.
“That’s okay, love. Take your time, I’m okay to wait.”
Take your time.
Regulus pressed his hands over his eyes. He was not going to cry. Not here, not at some stupid office party. He would not. It was simply not an option, no matter how irritatingly compassionate James sounded right now.
He could get through this. He would smile and talk and be what he needed to be. That was fine. He could do that.
One deep breath. Two. Three.
Four and five, for good measure.
Regulus checked his reflection. He looked - well, he still looked a little upset. But no one would be able to tell unless they knew him and were looking for it, which these people didn’t and wouldn’t.
James was standing against the opposite wall when Regulus opened the door. Dark curls and an emerald green that looked nice on his skin tone. Nothing compared to a deep red, but he’d wanted to match with Regulus tonight.
“Hey,” James greeted him, and Regulus was not going to cry.
“I’m not crying,” he informed his boyfriend.
James nodded, giving Regulus a gentle smile. “I see that.”
And Regulus thought he probably did. James always saw him better than he was supposed to - saw past glares and smiles and posture. Pandora had suggested he was an empath, and Regulus had been slightly inclined to agree.
“I just need to get through the next two hours,” Regulus said, locking everything inside of him into place. “And then we can go home.”
“We don’t need to stay if you don’t want to,” James said softly. Not implying, but not moving from his spot, either.
He was letting Regulus choose.
Regulus hesitated. “Are you sure? Won’t - don’t you have to stay? You own - it’s your company.”
“No one has to stay,” James denied, shaking his head. “It’s a party, Regulus, not a board meeting. Some people only came by for a few minutes. Some won’t come at all. We can leave whenever we want.”
Regulus took another deep breath to avoid feeling things.
James stepped forward, gently taking his hand. “What do you want to do?”
Well, he’d lasted a solid three minutes. Maybe.
“I want to go home,” Regulus admitted, squeezing James’s hand. “Please.”
“Do you want to go through the party to get our jackets or do you want to go the back way and sneak out?”
Regulus could look presentable in front of everyone. He could walk through the crowd and pretend to be okay.
But - well, he didn’t actually have to. Not with James. “I don’t want to go through the party.”
“Sounds great.” James pulled him into a tight hug, kissing the top of his head before letting go.
Regulus couldn’t really help smiling as they separated, following James down the abandoned hallways until they reached the front.
James waved goodbye to the person manning the desk, and then they were outside. Regulus took another deep breath, letting the frigid air clear his head a little more.
James opened his door for him, and Regulus couldn’t help smiling as he got in the car.
Then they started driving, and James was humming along to the music, and it was all so safe.
It was safe, he was safe, and then he was crying, one hand pressed against his mouth and his expression turned to the window so that James wouldn’t see.
“Regulus?”
Regulus bit down hard on his lip.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Will you look at me?”
He shook his head, which was probably dumb. It wasn’t like he’d succeeded - James knew he was upset now.
“Alright, love. Can I pull over? What can I do?”
“Ignore it,” Regulus managed. He closed his eyes. “Ignore me. Don’t act like - just ignore me.”
He knew James would be making that face - the one that meant he hated listening but would do it anyway. He knew it, but didn’t let himself look.
James hated it when Regulus didn’t let him help. Absolutely despised it. But sometimes Regulus couldn’t let him help. He couldn’t talk about it, couldn’t stand letting anyone see him when he was falling apart.
“For how long?”
Forever, Regulus wanted to say. Let me deal with it on my own. Let me drown in it.
But that would be cruel, and he didn’t want to do that to James. So he settled. “Until we get home.”
Then, as an afterthought, “No speeding.”
The quiet grumble that earned him almost made him smile.
It took twenty minutes for them to get home. Twenty minutes for Regulus to be self-destructive - to say to himself all of the things he’d heard before.
It’s your own fault you feel this way.
You know you deserve it.
That’s why you won’t let him help.
If you don’t want to be a girl, you shouldn’t act like one.
You can’t keep crying over something so stupid.
Now he wants to help.
You made him leave the party.
You ruined his night.
You ruin everything, don’t you?
You’re never quite right. Always a little messed up.
Always a bother, a nuisance.
Always upset over something.
“We’re home.”
The words jolted Regulus out of his head for a second, and then James was out of the car. Seconds later, Regulus’s door was open.
James unbuckled his seat belt and leaned forward to pick him up, holding him close to his chest. “I love you, and we’re home, so I’m allowed to tell you that now.”
And it felt so wrong. So wrong and jarring, because he didn’t deserve that. He was wrong, ruined, he was messed up, he messed everything up.
“I love you, you’re perfect.” James managed to close the car door and started walking, pressing a kiss to Regulus’s temple. “You make my life better just by being in it. My incredible boyfriend.”
Regulus flinched, hiding his expression against James’s chest. “I’m not.”
“Not what?” James asked, carrying him inside. “Not incredible? You’re definitely incredible. So smart and talented.”
Regulus shook his head, the words falling between them. “Not a real boy.”
James’s arms tightened around him for a moment, and then he set Regulus on the counter. “You’re wrong.”
Regulus looked down, his breath catching for a second. “I know.”
Wrong, wrong, all wrong.
“Not like that.” James tapped on his chin, gently urging him to look back up. “You’re perfect. The perfect boy, my perfect boyfriend. So handsome and clever and strong.”
Regulus shook his head. “I baked brownies.”
“I know.” James gently wiped at his cheeks, removing tears. “They were amazing, everyone loved them.”
“No, James,” Regulus insisted, stressing the words. “I baked brownies.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Like a girl.”
“Oh, love.” James tugged him forward, wrapping him up. “Baking doesn’t make you less of a boy. Nothing can, it’s impossible. You could bake brownies in a pink dress and heels wearing a full face of makeup, and you would still be a boy. Nothing can change that.”
Regulus sobbed quietly, shaking his head.
“One day,” James told him. “I’m going to marry you, and you’ll be my husband. And I’ll be the second-happiest guy in the world, because you’ll have to be the happiest. I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise.”
Regulus sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”
“You heard me.” James massaged the back of his head. “No one will be surprised, really. I talk about you all the time - my incredible boyfriend. I have like seven pictures of you on my desk - you know that, though, you’ve seen them.”
Regulus’s breath stuttered, and he held James tighter. “You can’t marry me.”
“Well, not if you don’t say yes,” James replied. “Which would be okay. There’s no obligation, you know, and we can talk about it beforehand. But I would love to, one day. If you’re okay with that.”
Regulus’s voice was small. “What if I’m not?”
“Then we won’t get married.” James ran a hand down his back with a quiet hum. “And we can be happy as we are. I love you regardless, Regulus.”
Dark thoughts tumbled around in his head, but he couldn't voice them. It would invalidate James, he couldn’t do that.
“What are you thinking?” James murmured.
“Bad things,” Regulus admitted.
“Share with me?”
“They’re bad,” he repeated. “You won’t like it.”
“Probably not,” James said agreeably. “But I love you, and I want to know.”
It took a few minutes. A few minutes of back-and-forth, debating with himself. Honesty wasn’t easy or kind, and Regulus wasn’t generally a fan of it.
But James was. He really was - Regulus had never met a more honest person in his life.
“I’m thinking that you love me regardless because you love everyone.”
The words were small. They stung, because it was true. James wasn’t gay - he was pansexual. He loved Regulus.
Regardless of whether he was a real boy or not.
He felt James’s breath catch. “Oh.”
Regulus winced. Maybe honesty had been the wrong choice.
“Okay. I - I need to look at you, love, sorry.” James urged him back, separating them so that he could meet Regulus’s eyes. “You’re right about me. I can love anyone, and I’m not denying that.”
Oh, that hurt, too. Regulus held his breath, eyes darting away from James and to the microwave instead.
“Uh-uh, look at me.”
Regulus bit his lip as he followed the instruction. His lungs were starting to burn.
“Do you remember when we met?” James asked. His hands moved to Regulus’s shoulders, massaging.
Regulus nodded, not trusting his voice just now.
“I didn’t know you were trans,” James pointed out, earnest. “I didn’t know when we met. I didn’t know when we started dating. I fell in love with you before I knew, Reg, you know that.” He traced along Regulus’s collarbone. “Breathe, Regulus.”
His whole body relaxed a bit as he listened, taking in a few deep breaths.
“I have always known you as a boy,” James reminded him quietly. “And I’ve never seen you as anything else.”
Regulus swallowed hard. “Promise?”
“I promise.” James traced his cheekbones, gently swiping over the skin. “Believe me?”
He took a deep breath. “I believe you.”
“Perfect.” James kissed his forehead. “Want to tell me what happened?”
“It’s dumb,” Regulus mumbled, cheeks heating. “It was dumb.”
“Dumb or not, I need to know if I need to fire someone,” James replied.
“Don’t.” Regulus shook his head. “He didn’t know.”
James frowned a little. “Who?”
Regulus shrugged. “I don’t know. He had a bright green tie, looked terrible.”
“Oh, Timothy.” James’s frown grew. “What did he say?”
“He was eating a brownie,” Regulus explained. His voice faltered, but James was rubbing his shoulders again, and it helped. “And he said that when food tastes that good, you can tell a woman did the baking.”
It was a dumb comment. It wasn't targeted, or mean, or purposefully triggering.
But it so closely echoed the things Regulus had heard - had been forced to learn, to internalize. It was so close, and it had torn Regulus apart.
“That’s ridiculous,” James denied, adamant. “I’ll speak to him on Monday.”
“No, James -”
“I will, and I won’t bring up your name, but he needs to know he hurt someone with his thoughtless comments and he will know it,” James interrupted. “Okay?”
He could say no. Regulus knew that - he could say no, could ask James to drop it, and James would listen. He might not like it, but he’d listen.
But he kind of liked that James cared so much. He liked knowing James would defend him.
So Regulus nodded, pulling James forward into a brief kiss. It tasted like champagne and chocolate from earlier, and he was sure James could taste salt from all the crying. And then, when they separated, he whispered the word into James’s parted lips. “Okay.”
Three days later, Regulus received a handwritten apology letter and an apology basket from Timothy. It was addressed to ‘the guy who made the fantastic brownies’.
December 1 | wc: 1,008
Cold | @into-the-jeggyverse
Snowflakes | @noblehouseofgay
November 30 - Surface | @stag-microfic
“What are you two doing?” James asks, venturing out of the hallway after having shed their coat and boots, rubbing their hands together in attempts to warm them. Regulus and Harry are sprawled out on the floor, Harry wearing the old paint shirt that Regulus graciously donated to their son when he showed an interest in doing artistic things with him.
“Don’t look, papa!” Harry squeals, whipping his head around, “Do something else.”
James smiles, taken slightly aback, “Oh, I’m not allowed to see?” The kid shakes his head violently, so they hum, “Alright then, I’ll just go about my day.” And they disappear into the kitchen to start on some dinner.
They’re acutely aware of the sounds of their son and husband in the other room, whispering to each other and Harry giggling all the time as they make their dinner. It’s almost upsetting that they have to interrupt the two and their fun by calling them to dinner once it’s all finished and the plates are set out.
It’s a good dinner, the three of them talking happily and James telling them dramatic renditions of their day at work. And when it finishes, the two of them sneak off to the living room while James takes the time to clean up. They’ve just finished wiping down the kitchen island when Harry comes racing in with Regulus just behind him. The man helps the boy climb up onto one of the stools of the island and Harry slams something down onto the cold surface, “Surprise!”
James grins, opening their mouth in dramatic surprise, “Oh my goodness, is this what you two have been working on all evening?” Harry nods rather dramatically, his head moving in a way reminiscent of a bobble head. James grins down at him and leans over the island, towel thrown over their shoulder, to look at it.
It’s a card, with dark blue paint streaks making up the background. On the front of it are several snowflakes coated with sloppy glitter and small dots of white that is possibly snow. James takes a moment to look over the front of the card, gently tracing their fingers over the textured front. After a couple seconds, they open the card and take a moment to read it. There’s a drawing of three people-like figures on the left of the card, holding hands with snow coming down onto them. The right of the card has Harry’s sloppy, kid-like handwriting all over the top three-quarters of it, with Regulus’ gentler, cursive handwriting just under it transcribing for the boy.
Papa,
You are so good and nice and I love you a whole lot. Thank you for being the best papa in the world.
Harry
James smiles softly at the words, once again tracing their fingers over it before they gently put the card down onto the island and make their way around it to pull their son into a hug. It’s a tight hug, one that Harry jokingly complains about and James lets him out of when he starts squirming. When he’s back seated on the stool, James leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead, “Thank you baby, I love it.”
And later that night, when Harry is in bed and the card is put on the fridge with a magnet, and James and Regulus are leaning into each other on the couch, Regulus hums and leans forward. He pulls another card from the coffee table, handing it to James.
This one is done by neater hands, decorated with a beautifully done painting of the tree that they have set up in the living room already. Once again, James takes a moment to stare at it, taking in the details of the incredible painting by their husband. Then they open it, and there’s a drawing that he had done of Harry in that moment on the left of it, another one of James sitting in front of a fireplace with a guitar in their hands underneath it -- both pictures that Regulus had drawn and attached to it. The right has a much longer note.
Jamie
You mean the world to me. You are kind, loving, open, and you’re always looking out for the people around you. I’m grateful everyday that you took a chance on me and were willing to open your home and your child to me when we started dating. I’m bad with my words, you know this, and I couldn’t even begin to express the pure amount of what I feel for you in words. I hope that I can prove to you what I feel through actions and through my love for you.
Your star,
Regulus
James feels tears filling their eyes, blinking rapidly. They stare at the card for a while, until Regulus gently puts his hand on their thigh, “Jamie?”
James tears their eyes from the card, looking at their husband -- stunning in the lighting of the fireplace and the Christmas lights -- staring at him for a while before muttering, “Thank you so much, Reg.”
Regulus is quiet for a moment, “Do you like it?”
“I love it more than anything,” they shake their head, “Can I ask what made you two do this? And why didn't you give it to me earlier.”
Regulus hums, “Harry’s class is focusing on appreciation for the people in their life. They made cards for their teacher and it made him want to make a card for you. I imagine that he’s going to be asking for help with a card for me soon. I figured that since I was helping him make one, I would make one for you as well. I didn’t give it to you earlier because I was waiting for it to dry and I didn’t want to take Harry’s spotlight. He was really excited to give it to you.”
“You’re so fucking sweet,” James says, felling overwhelmed with their affection towards him, “I love you so fucking much.” And they surge forward and pull Regulus into a kiss.
“Papa, look!” Harry comes running through the door. James just picked him from pre school. Still with his full winter gear on, he runs into the kitchen. In his little hand, he is holding a folded white paper.
“Look what we did today.” He holds the folded paper up. Regulus can see that there are cuts in them. He isn't sure what it should be, but as the good parent he his he can't let Harry know this. “Oh, good job Harry.”
“Papa, I haven't even shown it to you yet.” He makes a show of shaking his head and then opening the folded piece of paper. The paper opens into a circle. The cuts Regulus saw earlier turn out to form a pattern on the paper making it look like a snowflake.
“See, now I showed it.” Harry looks proudly up at Regulus. “That's pretty cool, Harry. Do you want me to hang it up?” “Yes!” Regulus takes the paper snowflake and starts to take off Harry's scarf. “Now where did you leave your dad?”
“In the car. Oh, I left my backpack.” Harry is halfway at the door, when James steps trough it. “I got it, Haz. You showed Papa what you did today?” Harry tugs on the Bachpack hanging from James shoulder. “Uh, huh. He is going to hang them all up.” His backpack in hand, he runs to the kitchen table and dumps the contents on it. A dozen more folded papers fall out of it. “Can I have my scissors? I wanna do more please?” Harry asks.
“Let's get you changed first. We eat something and then we will make some together. You show us how to do it.” Harry nods and jumps up from the chair he climbed on. He runs to the wardrobe, taking off the rest of his clothes.
“You're gonna hang all of them up?” James slings his arms around Regulus, laying his head on the shoulder. “I didn't know there were so many. But I like them.” He caresses James' head, turning his own and pressing down a kiss. “I do too.” James replies with a smile.
