Not Walden Pond

Walden Joseph McNair. Former Slytherin. I kill things for a living.

[toomcnairtocare]

mirekhausted‌:

The baby news had been much harder to process than Walden’s wedding. Probably because a living human was much harder to avoid than an eight hour long social event he didn’t want to be invited to. He’d initially thought of avoiding the McNairs for the rest of his days, but with the birth nearing, there was a chance Walden would be too occupied with parenthood to make Mirek anxiously laugh at comments like ‘still worth it’, so he could probably hold out a little longer. “Nope. Now I’ll have to send another letter to the editor. You’ve just ruined my weekend plans, McNair.”

“You’re gonna spend your whole weekend on one letter?” Walden asked, grinning. This was why he wished there was a way he could keep Mirek without hurting him, this easy back and forth. Hadn’t they been friends as well as lovers? So many years had passed and he knew, he knew he’d done wrong by Mirek, but... Mirek was good company. He really did only have so many friends. “Or are you gonna send a whole expose?”

[toomcnairtocare]

Walden paced up and down the hallway like a caged tiger. He knew that Mirek would take good care of Daisy, he knew this. Mirek was an excellent Healer and Walden trusted him with every life that mattered. His wife and their baby would be perfectly fine. He knew this, he did. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to seem.  

He’d only get in the way, he’d only make a nuisance of himself. No need to go in the room and pry and hover and make everything more stressful. Mirek would take care of them. 

“What?” He snapped at someone staring from down the hall. “What the fuck are you staring at it?”

[msdaisymacnair]

What’s in a name?

[toomcnairtocare]

msdaisymcnair‌:

Daisy closed her eyes to savor this moment with her husband’s arms wrapped tightly around her. At times, like this, it was just them in their own little world. And now, Daisy thought with one hand carefully rested on her stomach, it was the three of them. “I’m glad I’m here with you too,” she said before shifted her face to kiss his jaw, feeling her way with her nose rather than open her eyes quite yet. She was enjoying the quiet of the moment too much. 

“Aurelio or Estrella. Beautiful names. Beautiful names for our beautiful baby.” Daisy finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, not minding the odd angle from how close they were. “If it’s Estrella Elaine, do we want an echo for his name? Austen? Ashton? August? I don’t know if I quite like the ring of any of those actually. What do you think?”

Walden smiled, brimming with the knowledge that he had her, he had this glorious intelligent woman, in his life still. Whatever he needed to do to keep her he would do. Anything with reason. They had a baby on the way. Their own kid, not even born yet and already Walden would give them the world. 

“Auden?” He suggested, thinking back to his poets. Then again if they had to pull the same thing his parents had, calling his sun Auden instead of Aurelio didn’t quite feel the same. Walden hummed, running his hand over Daisy’s pregnant belly as he thought. “Alejo? Alexander?”

[toomcnairtocare]

mirekhausted‌:

“No. You can’t quote The Quibbler’s Science section at me! If all the medical information in the world could be solved by paging though The Quibbler I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of becoming a healer.” He wasn’t genuinely angry, but he was so annoyed he could feel a vein in his forehead tingle. For a second, he considered maybe he was being too much of a snob. This had to be a joke, right? 

“But you get hilariously wound up when I do, and it’s still worth the giggles.” Walden said with a smile. Things between Mirek and himself had been... strained ever since he’d told him about the baby. Some part of him knew that he ought to leave Mirek alone, give him more time and space. Honestly he had tried, he had. Walden just didn’t have many people left that he trusted that weren’t in jail. 

[toomcnairtocare]

☘

“If you find someone who knows you and loves you anyways, hold on to them no matter what.”

[toomcnairtocare]

☘ how to get away with murder

“Get Dmitry for your lawyer. Dismember the evidence and feed it to the Murderbritches.”

“Don’t commit murder, that tends to help.”

[thebaileyshaw]

Success at last!

[toomcnairtocare]

thebaileyshaw‌:

The Highlands. Goodness, that really was a long way away. Had she really flown that far? Her arms ached, now that she thought about it. Not that it stopped her from picking herself up off the ground, brushing around her pants before glancing up and around. It was beautiful out here; and now she had wings to carry her here whenever she wanted!

“I remember,” she grinned. She just wouldn’t have thought he remembered, honestly. The fact that he did endeared her to him even more than she already was. “Oh- you know about birds. Do you know what kind I am? I know about animals and creatures, but- birds specifically have never really been a focus.” Without pausing for his answer she screwed up her eyes and concentrated, and when she opened them again she was a bird, standing on the heath and staring up at the giant that was Mr. McNair. Just in case he needed to be reminded what she looked like.

God that was so bloody weird to see happen right in front of his eyes like that. He’d kind of forgotten how it felt to look at a person one moment and an animal the next. Watching McGonagall turn into a cat had been weird enough, but watching Zahi’s Miriam turn into a bird was somehow loads weirder. Maybe because he actually knew Bailey a little. At the very least he knew stories about her.

“You’re a kestrel, I could’ve told you that without seeing it again.” Walden said, trying and failing not to look a little impressed with the whole process. Maybe it was worth all the work and shit. Probably not now that he had a kid on the way though. He’d rather just focus on his kid.

[toomcnairtocare]

alarickane‌:

If anyone had bothered to ask Alaric if he thought he’d be having a civil conversation with Walden MacNair about babies, well… he would have believed you, but he wouldn’t have expected that situation to be set up the way it was. Alaric was perfectly capable of being civil, after all, and everyone expected a pureblood male to procreate and prolong their bloodline at some point, of course, so that part made sense. But discussing the baby he was having with his muggleborn wife with a man that Alaric would be willing to be was a death eater? Well, that was the unexpected part.

“Ah, I’ve met her, she seems like a lovely woman.” Or she’d certainly been kind when Alaric talked with her one afternoon in Hogsmeade about her classes and Alaric knew that she’d used to work at the Quibbler with Pandora, which meant she had to be quite a unique person since it wasn’t just anyone that chose to be part of that staff. “She’s due right after Pandora.”

Obligingly, Alaric held out the bag and held it open to better let Walden see, not particularly seeing any reason to be shy about baby toys. “I think we have most of the essentials, more clothes will likely come after we find out the gender. I keep buying diapers in a panic, I think I’ve nearly filled a closet with them at this point.” He admitted, usually buying them in different sizes since he wasn’t sure how big the baby would actually be. “I don’t know, either. Soft seems like a good idea, but what if they suffocate in it?”

Pandora, right. That’s who Alaric married. Walden remembered her. All smiles and sunshine and good feelings all around. Yeah, he could imagine why the sad sap left his family and his legacy for that. The Avery’s always had been goddamn downers. He’d leave him them all for a bit of sunshine, too.

“Oh yeah, Daise mentioned that. Must’ve been nice, having someone to talk to during all the weirdass pregnancy things.” Walden knew that he’d probably only heard the half of it from his wife. Granted he’d certainly talked Zahi’s ear off in the past few months. His friend had just stopped responding but Walden hadn’t stopped sending the updates.

“I’ve worried about that, too. And then I thought maybe wood but that splinters, y’know? I think my mum’s making me up a list because pacing around the living room fretting over it.” He admitted. Abuela kept telling him to let Daisy take care of it, but Walden didn’t want to have to give his wife more things to stress over. Besides he liked baby shopping, to his great surprise. It was nice to feel involved in it all. “We were thinking of using cloth nappies, and just getting a good pattern of washing them, but everyone says we’re gonna be so tired. But Malcolm doesn’t seem too tired?”

[msdaisymacnair]

What’s in a name?

[toomcnairtocare]

msdaisymcnair‌:

Daisy practically trembled as she watched Walden’s face. If only so many of the people who spoke against him could see the man she saw. If only they could understand that his anger was as much a front as it was a reaction. She knew Walden was far from blameless in it all, but life would be so much easier. Then again, everything in life would be simpler if everyone could understand other perspectives. It’s what she’d tried to accomplish with her book, but Daisy wasn’t sure she’d done any good at all. Maybe this was all inevitable. 

Her breathing hitched as she forced herself to stay focused on the task at hand. She needed to stay in this moment with Walden. It was too important to let her mind wander, especially to as dangerous territory as she’d let it go to. 

“It might not be easy,” Daisy agreed, squeezing his arm. “But we’ll handle it together. You’re better prepared than they were, and we can learn from that if it becomes an issue. But perhaps it’s worry for nothing.” She kissed his cheek again before resting her head on his shoulder.

“You know I was still thinking about light when I looked at boy names,” she admitted. “The star part is almost ironic actually. We’re saying she will be our little star, but do you know what I like for a boy? Aurelio. He could be our shining sun. Is it too much? I mean it’s not twins, so no one else has to know we were considering such paired names. What do you think, amor?”

Together. They’d handle it together. Everything he had put her through and she still wanted to spend their lives together. He knew from experience how clearly she drew her lines and how carefully he worked to live within them. It was so fucking worth it, every damn second. They were having a kid. She knew every awful piece of him and still wanted his children. He would never stop feeling grateful for her presence in his life.

“Yeah, together.” He agreed, resting his cheek on her head and squeezing her gently. Walden could feel the bump under his hand and it thrilled every atom in his body. Their kid, Dios mio. “I’m glad I have you, I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Walden hummed, his lips quirking up in a smile. Their little sun. Sun and stars. The lights in their lives. Even if he couldn’t comprehend having twins, thank fuck they weren’t having twins yet, but he did like the imagery. “It’s nice.” He admitted. “It’s really nice. If we end up having more kids, we can consider paired names more. But I like Aurelio.”

[msdaisymacnair]

What’s in a name?

[toomcnairtocare]

msdaisymcnair‌:

Daisy blinked rapidly, sniffing a couple of times to pull herself. She didn’t want to cry right now, even if it felt like a happy cry. She looked up through her lashes with a smile as Walden said he wanted a girl too. Gosh, she hoped neither of them ever mentioned as much if they had a boy. She’d been happy with either or a child who grew up to be neither, but the image of raising a little girl together was one Daisy couldn’t shake.

Her smiled faded as Walden’s energy changed, and she reached out to brush a hand against his cheek before letting it rest on his shoulder. “Like you?” she repeated, knowing what he meant but hating that he summed himself up to so little. “Someone incredibly passionate with the strength to never back down and who cares so much and with such loyalty.” She leaned in to kiss him lightly. “I know that’s not what you mean, but you’re all those things. It would make me very happy if our baby is too.”

She took a deep breath. “But. I suppose you’re right that we should consider how to handle anger issues. I guess step one is helping them understand what they can and cannot do and helping them find constructive outlets for that energy. I’d hate to see them take it out on other people or wind themselves up because they don’t realize that’s what they’re doing.” Daisy let out a small, nervous laugh. “I know that’s easier said that done, but one step at a time, yeah? I feel like that’s how we have to take everything. And as they get old enough to start understanding their emotions, I know a certain strong papa who would probably be willing to talk through what it’s like and how he’s learned to handle it.”

He could feel his heart catching in his throat as she spoke. Of course he’d received compliments before, and she’d complimented him before now as well it just... hit differently here. Before he met Daisy he’d never shied away from displaying his violent nature on his sleeve. It had never bothered him. While it didn’t bother him now, he wanted to be more than just violent for her. He wanted to prove to her that he could be closer to the man she’d always thought him. 

“Querida.” He said, feeling blown wide open. Walden dropped his head to her hand for a moment, overwhelmed. If they weren’t already married he would’ve proposed right then and there. Not even Mirek had seen him quite like she did.

“Maybe it’ll be easier, for us. Because at least I-- I know all the signs, I know what to look for. My poor parents, Dios some times I’m surprised they never kicked me out.” He joked because he’d always known they never would. “But it wasn’t easy as a kid, and I don’t think it was ever easy for them either.”

Swallowing hard, Walden endeavored to steer the conversation back to safer ground. “What should we name him, if he’s a boy?”

[thebaileyshaw]

Success at last!

[toomcnairtocare]

thebaileyshaw‌:

Bailey’s legs crashed to the ground and she pulled herself up onto her elbows, glancing up at the figure against the sun and squinting. The back of her head beat with dull pain, and it took her a moment to register the face and words. 

Zahi’s Miriam. “Mr. McNair?” Walden McNair, aka a pureblood who was currently sheltering Miriam for some reason, aka the man who created the owl-butt Charm that publicly ridiculed Minchum what felt like a lifetime ago, aka keeper of dangerous birds. She also remembered from her time as a Ministry intern that he was an executioner, but that information didn’t interest her nearly as much as everything else. 

“I- I’m Bailey Shaw, yeah,” she said. She wasn’t quite sure she felt like standing, so she pulled herself further up into a sitting position and pressed a hand against the back of her head. At the question of “way over here” she glanced around the landscape curiously. Yeah, she was definitely far away from Shafiq Manor. 

“I don’t know, actually.” She glanced up at him sheepishly. “I couldn’t figure out how to turn back, and I think I got distracted by just, you know, flying. So I got lost. Where are we?”

“We’re in the Highlands. At my Estate.” He let go of her legs and took a step back. This was not what he’d expected when he’d gone out to exercise the birds today. Granted he never really went out expecting to find a bird that changed into a girl. Birds ought to stay birds.

Zahi didn’t really live anywhere near here. The closest people were the Lestranges, and then the Shacklebolt’s. She had flown quite the ways. Not surprising, kestrels were more than capable of it. 

“I think we met once. You saw me with one of my eagles.” He said, half remembering the day in the park with Shrike. She’d been incredibly over-eager at the time. At least she seemed to have calmed down by now.

[toomcnairtocare]

delilahxcarrow‌:

Delilah had to smile when he said that he liked her. It was a nice thought, that people did want to check up on her. Of course she had gotten rather used to the life that she was living now, sort of part of the Pureblood world, but also apart from it. She didn’t feel as pressured to go to tea with big groups because she didn’t want to see the sympathetic smiles on their faces, or the way that they whispered when she walked by them, gossiping about her. It was just easier.

“Well, thank you Walden. I like you too,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been checked on by some of my friends, everything is okay,” she promised him. She had to smile when he brought up Emmeline. “Her name is Emmeline, and yes, we’re friends. She’s been a great source of comfort,” she said. Delilah waved his worries away. “Please, i’m not a healer, Walden, the colors of the tablecloths for the gala can wait,” she told him with a smile.

For the first time, she noticed that Walden had a nice smile when he seemed genuinely happy. People didn’t have that many reasons to be genuinely happy these days, and well, it was nice to see it. At his admission, her eyes widened and her smile mirrored him. “Oh my God! Walden! That’s so incredible! Congratulations!” Delilah exclaimed happily. “That’s amazing!” 

Walden nodded seriously, storing Emmeline’s name in his mind. If she was such a boon to Delilah that he ought to make sure to remember her name correctly. He was glad that she had someone like that in her life, the way that he had Z and Malcolm. She’d lost a husband and a sister and she deserved to have someone who she could lean on when needed. 

His smile grew wider and he couldn’t help ducking his head to try and hide how much he loved the very idea of being a parent with Daisy. “I’m really excited to be a father.” He admitted. “I dunno if Daise is having a baby shower, ‘cus she’s still working at Hogwarts, but if she does will you come?”

Walden looked back up. “I want you to come meet my kid, when they arrive. We don’t know gender yet, we wanna be surprised but-- I want you to meet my kid. Would that be okay?”

[toomcnairtocare]

miriamclearwater‌:

Walden absolutely gave off creepy vibes – the first day she had met him with his birds… that was the creepiest he had been in front of her, though.  But she knew he had a reputation.  Edith had yet to stop reminding her of it.   But, despite the fact that she was sure that she hadn’t come close to seeing him at his worst, she fully believed he was capable of some super messed up things.  So if he said it wasn’t pretty to look at she was sure it was downright horrifying.  “I believe you.”

“I mean, whacking your head against something just seems unnecessarily painful – but I guess it’s less breakable than other things.”  She rubbed her forehead just at the thought. 

Her dad had showed her and Edith how to make proper fists when they were young.  Most of the lesson had been lost to her, but she did remember that much.  She held it up for him to see, demonstrating that she did, in fact, know.

Walden couldn’t help smiling. Because she was young and it wasn’t her thing and he didn’t want to creep her out, he wouldn’t mention exactly how breakable every single part of the human skeleton truly was. Skulls held up better than a fist most times though so she wasn’t entirely wrong. Using your head did mean risking concussions. She was a smart girl, Walden figured she knew that much.

“Better breaking your leg or fist than your head.” He looked over her raised fist and gave it a nod of approval.

“Right, stand up. I promise you can’t really hurt me that badly. If you do I’ll just end up impressed. You want to use the main knuckles on your index and middle fingers to lead the punch. Keep your chin down. Try and not bend your wrist too much.”

[toomcnairtocare]

alarickane‌:

“No, I’m not trying to make any guesses on the gender, so I’m buying a lot of neutral things.” Alaric said with a happy smile as he held up the bag, a mint green baby hat sticking partway out of it. While Alaric knew that muggles had invented something called an ultrasound that could determine the gender of the baby you were having, it didn’t sound very common and while Alaric didn’t like to think of himself as one of those purebloods that was terrified of anything to do with muggles, he did worry if something like that was safe for the baby. Of course, he might have been giving into his worry a little more than he should have, which was a fault that Alaric was still combating. “I don’t mind not knowing. I’ll love the baby no matter what it is, after all.”

And he was working very hard on making sure that he was someone the baby could love in return, someone the baby could count on, which was why he’d been in therapy before going shopping. It was therapy followed by retail therapy, in short, but at least the purchases would be useful at some point. “I’m just hoping we have everything we need before the baby gets here. She’s due in May and it’s getting steadily closer.”

Alaric Kane was one of Rabastan’s favorite people, despite the fact he’d gotten disowned and had a Muggleborn wife with a baby on the way. Rabastan was one of Walden’s favorite people. They had a person in common so Walden could behave himself and play nicely. Besides, they were speaking about babies. He could talk about babies with Alaric Kane and not punch anyone.

“Surprisingly, I agree with you.” And he found that he did. He’d love his kid beyond reason no matter what. Even if he longed for a daughter, Walden would be happy to end up with a son. “Daisy and I don’t know yet, either. She’s due in June. But I’ve spent so much time getting the nursery ready and I can’t imagine not loving them.”

He glanced a peek in Alaric’s bags, curious. “What do you have left to get? We’re still working on clothes and toys. I’ve not got a flying fuck of an idea what kind of toys a baby needs.”

[themalfoyswife]

walden & narcissa

[toomcnairtocare]

themalfoyswife‌:

“I’m glad she is fine.” Narcissa started by letting the rest of the conversation turn to business. Not that she needed any introduction, and she knew very well that she wasn’t there to just talk. She found herself led into the house, and a hideous creature began to sneak her and tried to ignore it as she did with her husband’s cats. It was the best way, or she would kill them completely. “I believe that my presence is due to business. They can be fascinating to you, Walden, if you prefer, so to speak.” She adjusted her dress and stared coldly at the creature again and continued. “I’m setting up a fundraising, and maybe I would like to help this year or have a special participation.” If he understood correctly, he would know that she had the purpose of helping himself.

“Mo, bed.” Walden said sternly, giving the puppy a stern look until the puppy slunk off to go wiggle excitedly on her bed. The dog meant well but she still had trouble behaving immediately when guests came around. She’d likely give up soon and go follow the construction crew around the manor grounds. They’d learned to ignore her well enough and she liked to watch them work.

Walden raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Need me to off someone for entertainment?” He asked carefully. If asked he definitely would but it seemed an odd request from Narcissa of all people. “Or are you looking for someone to intimidate people in donating? I’m also quite good for that.”

[msdaisymacnair]

What’s in a name?

[toomcnairtocare]

msdaisymcnair‌:

Daisy reached out, stretching her arm a bit to be able to reach Walden’s hair. She ran her fingers through it once before shifting her hand down around Walden’s jaw and finally pulling it away. She had to remind herself sometimes that he was hers to touch, that they could have this kind of casual comfort with each other despite everything else.

She smiled as he took her light theme and kept going. She’d figured Walden would throw in some Spanish names, but since Daisy didn’t know what would be meaningful for him, she hadn’t wanted to include any of her own yet. “I like Estrella a lot actually.” Her eyes lit up and she took the book back. “Actually on the light theme… I think I have another one.” She flipped pages until she could confirm the meaning. “Yes, Elaine. It also means light. What do you think? Should we have a little Star Light in our life?”

All at once, Daisy felt tears springing to her eyes, and she couldn’t even say why. She liked the name. She really did. But she hadn’t expected things to fall into place so quickly. “Estrella Elaine,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her head against Walden’s shoulder. She heard a slight whine from Mo as she sniffed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… I don’t even know why I’m crying. It’s a good name, and I’ve got you, and we’re having a family, and I… I hope it’s a girl, Walden.”

“Estrella Elaine.” He repeated, giddy. That was... shit, he hadn’t imagined how it might feel to hear it out loud, the name that really fit. This made it all so much more real. Parents, to a little child. An honest real child, who would be entirely theirs. If it was a girl, she had a name already. 

Walden pressed a kiss to her head and had to hold back a little sob of his own. Shit it really did sound so much better than he’d ever anticipated. “I hope it’s a girl, too.” He admitted, running his fingers through her hair. “I’ll be happy as long as you’re both healthy, but shit babe I think I really want a daughter.”

He swallowed, nervous again. “We should... should we talk about, about what we wanna do if the kid’s... more like me than you? I don’t--- I hope they take after you, I really hope they take after you, but I don’t--- maybe we should be ready just in case?”

[toomcnairtocare]

calebgoldstein‌:

The months were approaching and he knew that time was going by fast. He wasn’t looking forward to the repercussions if someone found out about him and Hilda and the act they were playing. The worst part was dreading knowing about Patrick as it was already hard when the baby had yet to be born. He wasn’t the best father, but he was possibly the best pretend father. He even went out to buy a crib at his place when he knew that the baby wouldn’t come over. It was up to Hilda if she wanted to continue this and he was already thinking about packing his bags to leave. 

“Advice? I’m sure being a father isn’t as hard as everyone thinks. I’ve been nervous the past few months but I’m more excited now.” He was nervous for other reasons but thought it was a universal feeling that the other man could relate to as he was an actual expecting father. “Daise? As in Daisy Hookum?” Zephyr had told him about the man Daisy was with and now he was having a conversation with him. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Daisy since school, but I did run into Zephyr and he mentioned her teaching at the school here. He also mentioned a few other things.”

He almost fell over from the urge to fucking laugh. Who was this man, where did they find him? Walden couldn’t imagine parenthood as anything less than terrifying and thrilling at all once. Maybe Caleb had been the world’s easiest baby, maybe he never had to worry about what his child would inherent. Personally he couldn’t imagine anything like that. Must be nice, though. “Ay, I don’t think I’ve stopped being excited since she told me, honestly. No one in the world I’d rather raise a kid with than her.”

Walden blinked, surprised once again. Someone else from America? Maybe this one would actually like him. Someone who could maybe talk Zephyr into something closer to some goddamn sense. “Yeah, that’s her. Daisy Hookum McNair. You knew them both, then, from school? You’re much less of a pain than Zephyr. Kinda thought it was just an American boy thing.”