Family on the Mend - Chapter 2 -Teaser
“Probably not,” Remus admits and even Dora hums in agreement as Teddy starts squirming a little more urgently, and Remus glances down at him. “What’s wrong now, Enaid, hm?”
Teddy doesn’t reply, merely squirms a bit more intently as he starts tugging at his shirt.
“Off,” he grunts, tugging frustratedly at it as he can’t get it over his head, “off!”
“No, Teddy,” Remus says, forcing his voice to stay even as he holds the shirt in place, “keep it on.”
“Off!” Teddy insists, louder, as he jerks even harder at it and Remus can see the signs of a tantrum approaching, rapidly. “OFF!”
“C’mon, Ted,” Remus pleads, trying to hold him in place even as the toddler’s face grows increasingly red, legs kicking jerkily.
“Let him take it off,” Sirius says, the strain in his voice plain, “what does it matter?”
Remus feels his own frustration mount, even more so when Teddy throws his head back with a wail, arms reaching out for Sirius, but Remus retains his hold of him, doing his best to keep his own tiredness out of his voice, though he’s not sure how well he succeeds. “We can’t give in every single time, Pads.”
“We’re not,” Sirius defends, frowning as Teddy sobs loudly, big tears running down his face. Remus forces himself to take a breath, unwilling to get into this with Dora there, who is starting to look slightly uncomfortable.
“Daaa-addy,” the toddler howls, fists grabbing the air in Sirius’ direction, twisting himself desperately in Remus’ arms as he tries to get to his other dad. Remus heaves a deep sigh as Dora pushes her chair out and stands.
“Look, I’ll just leave you to it,” she offers, waving Sirius’ protest away. “I’ll start looking into that spell immediately and you just let me know when you’ve talked to Mary.”
Remus is still trying to soothe Teddy but the toddler is inconsolable, and in the end Dora gives up on trying to say her goodbye. Instead, she merely gives Sirius a comforting sort of pat on the shoulder. “You’ll figure it out,” she says, giving Remus and the struggling child a sympathetic look. “Sorry I can’t be of more help but I’m useless at this.” She waves a hand in their general direction. “But I’ll see you soon, okay?”
They say their goodbyes quickly over Teddy’s loud cries, before Dora leaves and in the end Remus gives up, handing the crying child over to Sirius with a groan. “Merlin, just take him then.”
Sirius does, grabbing the toddler who is still sobbing loudly, curling his fists into Sirius’ shirt as if he’s afraid someone will try to pry him away. Remus tries not to let it get to him. He knows it’s a whim that doesn’t really mean anything but he can’t help the slight twist of jealousy in his chest as Teddy settles against Sirius. He’s still hiccupping slightly but other than that he’s mostly gone silent, drying his face by rubbing it against Sirius’ shirt.
Sirius coos softly, rubbing Teddy’s back gently as he sends Remus an apologetic look, as if he can read his mind, which Remus doesn’t doubt that he can sometimes. “He’s just tired,” Sirius says, and Remus forces himself to nod before he turns back to the dishes on the counter.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Posting tomorrow (probably early, because @tracingpatternswrites and I are impatient. Imagine that.)
Family on the Mend
