It is a wise father that knows his own child.

In the grand scheme of things, the holiday had been a thorough and final disaster. It had exposed something that nether Hayes was willing to admit to despite being so determinedly aware of it: that there was something wrong with their relationship. To be honest, they hadn’t really tackled it either. They’d made up in their usual manner but they’d been treading eggshells around one another ever since and though they seemed to be at a better accord, both seemed to realise that the real test of their resolution would come when they were back at home, tucked up in Galway with their children where the close quarters would no longer allow them to hide from the problems and they would have to work through it. They didn’t have a choice, really. It was either work through it or get a divorce and, to be honest, the latter was not an option.

The sunshine in Galway was as strong and as warm as it was in Greece, it seemed, and when they arrived, though there had been a spot of rain the sky was clear and blue and the air smelt sweet and held a promise of an excellent few days ahead. The grass was shorn down, though daisies were threatening to regrow and the porch needed that lick of paint that Millie had promised it before they’d gone away. But regardless of the upkeep of the house, they were home and they were back to their gaudy yet no less endearing curtains and the smell of cooking and the children that were no doubt wreaking havoc inside. At nearly nine months old, they were already beginning to show signs of magic and, further than that, signs of understanding what it meant to have that power and what it meant for the walking and talking scenario which was coming on equally as merrily.

A week had been too long. A few hours was too long for their mother and needless to say, Melissa Hayes was more than a little bit impatient to get the front door open. She could hear the sound of the stereo and the cawing of the children as well as the crash, bang, wallop that usually accompanied them. Once Keiran managed to twist the lock, she shot out ahead and abandoned the bags she held in the small foyer along with her jacket and her shoes. Then she darted through the house, following the sound of the music – the children ever having established quite an eclectic taste – and it was then that she happened upon her babies in the living room which was, frankly, a complete and total bomb site but never had the place looked more exciting with toys and teddies here, there and everywhere.

The first one that she caught sight of was, inevitably, her ever curious son who had managed to get himself upright and on both feet around the back of the two seat sofa which was adjacent to the three seat one Bridget was sat on, holding Kelly’s hands as the little girl bounced, enjoying the elasticity and bounciness of her knees. Millie crept up behind Liam and her tickling fingers attacked his sides as she lifted him up, flying him through the air and laughing as he squealed before bringing him down and wrapping him up tightly in her arms. His hands immediately darted out for her hair and though Millie winced she didn’t find that she cared much and though she brought her hand up to try and tease his away it did not stop her from peppering kisses all over his face.

“Hello boy,” she murmured brightly, matching him grin for ever wide grin. “Oh, have you got some more toothy-pegs? Have you? Did your nanny find any new ones? Did she have to buy you another new suit? Did she?”

Liam’s giggles were insatiable, as ever, and Millie pressed another fierce kiss against his cheek before darting over to pick her way around the tops. She deposited her son with playful roughness onto the couch, laughing as he bounced a little and toppled over. The boy immediately pushed himself up again and threw out his arms, clamouring for more of her attention. But first, Millie scooped up Kelly and raked her light fingers across the little girl’s belly, sending her into fits of giggles. Millie collapsed onto the sofa next to her son and extended and arm out to him, grabbing him and hugging him tightly against her side before dragging Kelly closer to pepper her head with kisses. They were growing up too fast for her tastes and even in a week they’d changed. Liam’s hair seemed longer and was rapidly darkening at the ends whilst Kelly’s remained faintly blonde but was going the same way as her brother’s – the pair were total spit images of their father, the little boy almost scarily so.

“Tell me, Kell-Belle, have you been a good girl for your nanny?” Millie whispered, kissing her daughter again. “Have you been a good girl for your nananana?”

“Nana!” Kelly repeated, shooting her arm out in the direction of Bridget. “Goo’” She said solemnly.

“And your brother?” Millie inquired, casting an eye down at Liam who had cheekily opted to hide behind one of the cushions. Millie reached out, tickling her fingers across his feet and getting a swift kick for her trouble – not that it was much of a deterrent.

“Goo’!” Kelly insisted, though her own smile had risen on her face, splitting her cheeks.

Her eyes darted away then and Millie followed her gaze, watching the expression on her daughter’s face change as she caught sight of her father. At first, she seemed quite blank but then it dawned on her rapidly just who exactly that was walking in through the door. Her smile rose again as though it had never been gone and she grasped hold of Millie’s hands, using her as a scaffold and her thighs as some sort of soft ground to stand up on. A hand grabbed out for Millie’s nose and the woman gave a little whine of dismay but Kelly had a mission. Her hands moved to the back of the sofa and her feet gained purchase on first Millie’s arm and then her shoulder. Practised hands came up around her middle and then, when the girl finally found her feet on the back of the sofa she extended her hands and all ten fingers to her father, determined that she should have the first cuddle.

“Da!” She exclaimed brightly. “Da! Up!” Her fingers flexed as if to prove her point and when Millie felt her baby get released from her grasp she dived in under the pillow after Liam, clawing him back out.

“C’mere you,” she grinned, pulling him by the legs and flipping him over. She picked him up again and sailed him through the air above her head, laughing at the way he flapped his arms and legs before bouncing him down back onto the sofa with her, drawing him to her. “Mummy’s missed you. Uh-huh. Missed you every day.” She smoothed down his hair and pressed another kiss to him as if to prove her point and he looked up, opening his mouth and leaning up to her, returning the kiss to her cheek. “Oh!” She exclaimed gaily. “Thank you ever so much. You’re my charming man, aren’t you? Mamma’s handsome, charming gentleman. That’s what you are, yep. Yep. That’s what you are!”

Millie got up and dragged her baby up into her arms before he could crawl into retreat. She dropped Liam onto her hip and he snuggled into her chest instinctively as she curled her arms around him. He giggled against her, nuzzling the point between her chest and her neck but never quite her shoulder, and reached up grab at her necklace. Immediately, the large circular pendant went straight into his mouth and Millie shook her head, smiling as she stepped around the toys to meet the other two. In true Liam fashion, seeing that his sister had something he didn’t, he threw himself out and grasped hold of Keiran’s shirt in one fell swoop, dragging Millie along with him in order for him not to have to try and hang off of his father. The shirt sleeve went into his mouth now, the necklace forgotten, and Liam’s wide eyes looked up and his brows furrowed a little bit, trying, like Kelly, to work out just who … and there it was, his brows softened and with that his expression too and there clarity found him.

“Da!” He cried around the mouthful of shirt. Then, abandoning the tasting process, he threw his arms around Keiran’s, managing to get himself rather attached and Millie lowered her grasp, her hands coming to hold onto his feet as he clung onto his father. Her snickering burst into full bodied laughter at the sight of the boy and she lifted him up, tucking him onto Keiran’s other arm with his sister so that he didn’t miss out on any of the excitement – heaven forbid!

“Would you like a cup of tea, mum?” Millie called over to Bridget as her hands rubbed absentminded circles in the backs of her babies. “Or do you want to go home and cry in a dark room?”

Her family was back together again, problems be damned. Between the four of them and with Bridget’s council they could fix anything. They had a resolve and, more importantly, a task. They were going to be fine. She knew it. They had to be. There was nothing better than all of them together and no one could disrupt them when they were that unit. Everything was going to be fine.

Reluctant though he was, Keiran was more concerned about maintaining his promise to Millie than anything else. It had hit him, in Greece, that he could live without the dream job, without teaching or getting to entertain himself with Transfiguration every day of the week. He could not, however, live without one Melissa Hayes.

The sheer impatience Millie showed made him all the more anxious. He hadn’t asked, but he half expected his wife to go off and tell his mum what he had done and caused. Instead, the blonde burst through the door in search of two smaller blondes. Picking up the mess as he went, Keiran followed hesitantly behind her as she bounded into the living room and snatched up Liam. Her words flew, just as the laughter burst from their son’s lips.

He could hear his mum offer a bright greeting as she handed over Keiran’s daughter. Kelly babbled about something he couldn’t hear, but as he stepped through the archway, he caught sight of her puzzled expression as she peered over Millie’s shoulder. His face fell briefly, but he offered a smile if only for Bridget’s and Millie’s benefit. As if the smile had pulled the reaction from her, Kelly’s face lit and she started reaching over her mum and instead towards him. Keiran’s eyebrows lifted in faint surprise, but he dropped the bears he had snatched up along the front hall into a nearby chair.

One hand passed over Millie’s hair before he extended the other to Kelly. Wrapping her into his arm, Keiran watched Melissa dive after Liam where he hid. “Da,” Kelly mumbled, her tiny fingers tugging at his chin in an attempt to draw his attention back to her instead.

“Hi, baby girl,” he greeted in return, cradling her head in his hand. Bridget glanced at him over the top of the couch, a quiet smile curling her lips. His eyes, in turn, followed Liam as he was tossed and successfully caught, the momentary anxiety passing. Kelly started off again, hand at Keiran’s mouth. “What’s’a matter, Kelly?” he mumbled, trying to deflect his mum’s attention back to the others. “I’m not talking enough for you?”

His fingers delved through her hair absentmindedly as Millie stood and made her way around the couch with Liam in hand. His shirt was almost immediately attacked by the elder of the twins, his large eyes staring up at Keiran in a sort of pleasure the father hadn’t expected. Once each twin had claimed a hip, Bridget shot her son a knowing smile that he pretended he didn’t catch.

“Honestly, love, I’ve got a manuscript to polish and send in.” Standing, the brunette followed Millie into the kitchen, dropping her voice as she went. “Besides, my son is finally looking like he gets it.” Gesturing to Keiran, Bridget watched as he looked between the twins. “He thought they didn’t know him when he first came in. If that doesn’t wake the poor fool, I don’t know what will.”

Keiran held on tighter as he sat himself on the carpet next to the coffee table, settling a twin on each of his folded legs. “Well, then,” he started, “what did you two get up to this week? Mum and I had a tough time at first, but I think I fixed it. We missed you, though.”

“Honey?” Bridget interrupted, making Keiran glance up with a start. “I’m heading out. I’ll catch up with you two on Saturday. Robin and Avery are bringing Ariadne, and they’ll all want to see you. Lucky you, you’re godparents as well.” Nodding to the twins Bridget smiled. “See you silly kids later. Do be careful with them, Keiran” she added with a sarcastic smile.

“Thanks, Mum. I’ll work on that.” He remarked, frowning for a moment before he offered a chuckle in return for her wave goodbye. Looking over at the kitchen, he took a moment to realize that Millie had yet to return from whatever she was doing. Making tea as she had suggested? He didn’t know. Liam started wiggling, reaching for a stuffed dog a bit away. In an attempt to distract the boy for a minute, Keiran set a kiss to each of the twins’ heads, pulling their gaze back to himself.

“Listen here, nippers. I’m not going to be away as much anymore. Your mum had after me for being so stupid, so I told her I was sorry. I’m sorry to you two, as well. I don’t want you thinking I don’t care or want to see you. See, apparently my family – er, our family – has a long line of bad or complicated fathers. So that definitely didn’t help.” Keiran shook his head, sure he wouldn’t be able to keep their attention very long. Kelly was reaching towards Liam, prodding him at random. “Alright, alright,” Keiran laughed, releasing them so they could crawl off to pick at the toy of their choosing.

The image of her family together, father and babies, was one that Millie had mulled over in the small hours for what felt like a thousand nights. She’d always considered a different scenario each time as she turned in bed, waiting for the cries of hunger or loneliness to ring out and break the house’s silence. As she dredged herself up, out of the cocoon of husband and duvet, she considered what it would be like when they were finally together on adjusted terms, when the daylight hours Keiran got to spend with his children weren’t so few and when he would be there to see everything and experience everything his wife did as their children discovered their world. She wanted so desperately for him to be there and now that he was, with an active an erect carriage, promising that he would not so readily tire as he had done in the past, Millie was left without the ability to form words.

Bridget relieved Millie from the pressure of having to comment and the blonde woman took after the twins’ grandmother, moving to fill up the kettle and set it on the stove to boil. She sourced a fresh, wholemeal loaf from the breadbin and took the breadknife from the stand, cutting off a few healthy slices before turning on the oven. She waited for the fan to lift the temperature before putting the bread on the grate to cook. It was then, after wiping her hands on a tea towel, that she turned to Bridget, a smile rising on her mouth as she stole a glance back into the living room, spying Keiran sat with his children. They were, as ever, little wrigglers but the fact that he was there still lifted Millie’s heart, regardless of whether or not they were interested in talking to him.

“I’ve been a bit hard on him,” Millie admitted reluctantly. “But I think… yeah, I think the way Kelly looked at him hade more of an effect than anything I could ever say.”

But then, just like that, Bridget was off and leaving them to it – whatever it was. Millie closed the door behind her, echoing her excitement of seeing her, and everyone else, again on Saturday and she made doubly sure to thank the lady for everything she did. Then the door was closed and the kettle began to whistle, letting Millie focus on something else. As she filled two cups and went to check on the bread she could faintly hear Keiran talking to the children before the banging began again, toys evidently having been rediscovered. To speed up what she was doing, Millie took out her wand and with that, plates and cups and pots of jam and knives danced into the living room, settling onto the coffee table.

Stowing her wand away on one of the high cabinets, Millie lowered herself back down onto the floor and crawled over to Liam, taking him up into her arms once more before sitting herself down onto her bum. She dropped her son into her lap and curled one hand around him before reaching up with her other hand to dip her fingers in her tea. After blowing on it she brought her fingertips to his lips and Liam grinned brightly around her fingers, licking off the tea before looking up at her for more. Millie laughed a little and went to retrieve some more tea, indulging his whim before lifting him up onto his feet.

“Look, toast for you, babies,” she cooed, resting her head against Liam’s side as she held onto him. “Are you going to show your daddy how to use these?”

Millie lifted up the bright purple plastic knives that had come to be their cutlery. Prior to the holiday, she’d been trying to explain to them exactly what to do with forks, knives and spoons. She’d succeeded with the spoons, but only so far as throwing things was concerned, and with forks she’d also gotten some purchase but knives especially they seemed to take to as it went hand in hand for their love of jam and toast. Millie let Kelly take her spreading knife and handed Liam his before giving them each a plate of toast that she had cut up into fours for them. Then, the jam jars were unscrewed and the two got as far as getting some jam on their knives before they, predictably, went straight to their mouths and not for the first time Millie was intensely grateful for the fact that the knives were blunt and could not hurt anyone even if the twins started sawing at things. All was safe and well.

Kelly, much to Millie’s delight, went one further and returned her knife to the jam. This time, however, she shared and held her knife out for Keiran, one hand remaining on the table to keep herself steady on her legs. Her brows furrowed and her lips came together as she looked at him seriously: take the jam, daddy. Liam, meanwhile, had a different agenda and seemed more intelligent than them all. Millie had studiously began to spread jam over her toast but Liam took up his little square of toast into his fist, folded it and stuck it into the jam. He lifted it out again and shot a satisfied look at his mother as he found that he’d gotten a jam-covered end of his toast and with that he bit off the end before returning what he had left to the jam. Millie could only do but smile.

When the first blob of jam went down the front of Kelly, though, Millie knew exactly how the afternoon and evening would go. They would get progressively more messy in between fruit and a side of cake and whatever dinner Millie and Keiran made. Eventually, they’d just have to be dumped into a bubble bath and dressed again, this time for bed, and hopefully they would go to sleep without too much complaint – but, knowing the way their attention spans deviated and changed, the two would spend the rest of the night seeing how much fun their father was and, more importantly, how much they could get away with under his care. With a bit of luck, they hopefully wouldn’t scare him off.

Life is full of uncertainty. That’s why we love – to go through it with someone.

Keiran let out a pleased laugh at the idea of his children, who weren’t yet a year old, teaching him how to use silverware. “Yes, do show me.” He offered lightly, passing Millie a sarcastic look to match his tone. It probably wasn’t the wisest decision in the world, doing that, but it made him feel more like himself and less like someone trapped by expectations. It did make him a bit wary, admittedly, watching them play around with such obviously messy substances. The tidy man that he was, he half wanted to give Millie an annoyed look and clean up everything before it got impossibly messy.

Instead, he regarded them cautiously, glancing between the two and his wife, wondering momentarily how he had managed to produce two essentially disorderly children. He silently mused that if Millie ever complained, he could pin it on her; after all, wasn’t he usually picking up after her without realizing it was her mess and not his?

The idea of his babies holding knives was slightly terrifying in itself, but neither seemed to be able to hurt themselves, so that was all good and well. He pursed his lips for a moment, but finally accepted the jam at Kelly’s insistent face. He had a feeling that, much like her mother, the blonde could have anything she wanted when it came to Keiran. At least for now. When she started dating, on the other hand, he wasn’t sure he would have the same attitude. Thankfully, that was quite a long way away.

They did grow up fast, though, he had to admit. He kept the thought to himself, though, not wanting to bring it up with Millie and have her be put out with him for talking about it.

Kelly’s face lit up as he accepted her offering of sorts and Keiran ran his thumb over her cheek to brush away a smear of jam left behind. One glance at Liam had Keiran’s mouth opening slightly. “Smart boy,” he chuckled, hardly realized he had said it aloud. When it hit him, he turned to Millie with an intensely serious expression. “I think we might have accidentally gotten a Ravenclaw, here.”

The Slytherin hardly cared where his children were sorted, especially considering the fact that his wife was a Gryffindor, but he let the possibility that he could be disappointed linger for a few breaths. Kelly, the amusing little thing that she was, gave her father a look that included pursed lips and furrowed brow. Apparently, he mused, she wasn’t pleased by his disapproving comments. Keiran grinned and shook his head. “Or perhaps they both are Ravenclaws. Kelly seems to be able to read me already.”

Turning to his daughter, he gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Miss Kelly. I’ll be nice.” He poked her nose lightly, drawing a high-pitched laugh. Liam dropped his toast directly onto his shirt, drawing a good bit of fuss over wiping it off and ensuring that he had dry eyes. The mess just got progressively worse, until Keiran scooped up the remaining crumbs into one hand and snatched up the silverware with the other. After depositing them in the trash can and sink, respectively, he returned to the living room, picking up Liam from behind and popping a kiss on his head. “C’mon, then. Bath time, I think!”

Though she moaned and whined and griped about Keiran not being there for his children, it was quite an odd feeling actually having him there. The concerned look on his face made her giggle though and she decided not to mention what kind of mess she allowed the house to get into normally. There had been problems with paint. There had been issues with crayon. More than a few times, flour had covered every room in the house, a little spurt of magic sending the cloud further than ever intended. She was house proud, though indeed you probably couldn’t tell, yet at the same time she also wanted it to look lived in. Her mother had kept her childhood home as a museum with everything in its proper place. More often than not, Millie would be at the bitter end of a hard scolding from Lavender for taking anything out of place. She wanted it to be like a home and a home was messy and comfortable and full of cooking smells and the patter of little feet on the wood and that was exactly what it was. It wasn’t lost on her that if Keiran saw even half of the mess that Millie and the children lounged around in, playing amongst toys and canvas and paints and crayons, he’d have a conniption and a half. Honestly, she couldn’t wait to see it.

In amongst the frenzied activity, various food stuffs and the toys that littered the house, Millie had also managed to instil politeness in them. That politeness arrived in their desire to share, albeit they were a little forceful on the point. Kelly offered jam to her father and in turn, Liam extended his piece of jam-slathered toast to Millie who nibbled a piece off of the corner, thanking the boy enthusiastically. The said Hayes boy grinned toothily at her before bringing the toast back to his lips. Liam deposited himself in his mother’s lap, as one does, and leaned heavily against her chest. He smiled up at his mother and continued to chew on the toast – that was until a dollop fell onto his pale blue top. Then, the sniffles started and Millie, stricken by the thought that her baby was upset. It seemed, though, that dad had an all-encompassing solution to both the mess problem and the overarching welfare of his children: bath time.

There was a part of Millie that wondered after what houses her children were to be sorted into. The idea of one being separated from the other worried her, regardless of whether or not they’d have the Ivanovs or the many Rookwoods to keep them company. Nothing, not even the houses, was more important than the two of them staying together. Two Ravenclaws was better than a Gryffindor or a Slytherin or a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor or whatever it came out as. She wanted them together. Two Gryffindors? Fine, albeit she doubted Keiran would be amused – no, actually, he probably would be. Two Hufflepuffs? They might both blink a bit at that but, nevertheless, together they’d be fine. Ravenclaws? Perfect. Slytherins? Even better. But, she didn’t want to wish their lives away and at the thought of sending them away to Hogwarts, Millie suddenly felt quite odd about her nest, finding a sudden urge within her to refill it, even though it wasn’t even empty. Perhaps she could convince Keiran more than two was ideal – not bloody likely, but she would see.

Brandishing her wand after The Three Musketeers had departed, Millie sent all of the toys and the blankets, pillows and other play paraphernalia marching back to where it belonged and, soon enough, just like she did every evening before beginning dinner, everything was back in its rightful place as though nothing had been a mess in the first place. Putting her wand back behind her ear, Millie wandered into the kitchen, revelling in the feeling of the tiles against the pads of her feet and opening up a few cupboards as she entered to see what they could cook for dinner. There was pasta, ever a staple, and enough ragu to feed a small army. After reaching into the fridge to smell an odd bit of cheddar that would go on top – and thankfully, it was usable – she deemed it necessary to order some food to be delivered within the coming days. But later. For now, there was a bath time to oversee.

Padding up the soft, carpeted stairs, Millie let her tail up the banister, feeling the way hers and Keiran’s rings had scuffed the paintwork as they’d bounded down the stairs over the months they’d been living there. She smiled to herself, her fingers dancing out to turn the wedding band on her finger. She could hear the water flowing as she made it to the top and she found a rogue Kelly on the landing, grinning wickedly out from underneath a towel. Millie closed the gate at the top of the stairs and lifted her head, pretending to look around whilst knowing full well that Kelly had both heard and seen her.

“Where’s Kelly?” Millie asked airily amidst the giggles coming from the girl. “Where’s Kelly gone? I could have sworn she was here! Kelly… Keeeellllyyyy!”

“Here!” Kelly exclaimed, tearing off her dastardly disguise.

Millie swooped in with a laugh and scooped up her baby, cuddling her close and wrapping the towel closer around her. Kelly’s arms came around her neck and Millie bounced into the bathroom to find Liam splashing in the bath with his rubber ducks and toy boats and that odd pink octopus that emitted bubbles intermittently and Keiran…

“You look nice and clean,” she cooed, reaching to pinch her husband’s cheek before smoothing back his dark hair.

Liam crackled out a bright giggle and hit his hand against the surface of the water, sending spray over Millie and his sister. Kelly’s face changed immediately and with a wriggle, she sploshed into the bath water and made for her brother, decisively throwing one of the ducks at him that just happened to be floating by. Millie blinked, watching as the carnage unfolded before her eyes. Eventually though, they had to give up and be friends again. That didn’t look as though it was going to be an immediate development though so to neutralise at least one of them, Millie put a damp flannel on Liam’s head and threw a sponge at Kelly, claiming her own victory as winner.

“Bath time is for you two not to be menaces,” Millie exclaimed, dropping her arms down onto the side of the bath. She leaned her chin down onto it and smiled a little as Liam pulled the flannel off of his head. He pouted at her, looking for all the world like the man sat opposite him, and Millie smirked, squeezing out the water onto his shoulder. Thankfully, Kelly suddenly seemed to get a heavy eyed look and a yawn soon followed. Millie, despite herself, couldn’t help but smile. Bridget, over the course of the week, must have learnt the merits of having an activity-filled day were off the scale. They were ready for bed.

“I’ll go and get some clothes and some bottles on the go, shall I? They won’t be long for dream land, my love.” Millie pressed a kiss to Keiran’s brow and smiled before moving off and away to just that.

The quiet padding of Kelly’s feet caught Keiran’s ears, stopping him at the top of the stairs. Turning around, he set Liam down and waited for Kelly catch up before herding them into the bathroom. Of course, as soon as he was focused on setting up the bath, Liam started trying to start a mock fight, distracting him from Kelly’s wandering off. Once the water was running, Keiran turned to look at his son and crouched down, hands up in defense against the little fists coming at him. “C’mon, squirt.” He started, catching Liam’s hands gently between his own. “In you go.”

A tiny pout flashed onto the blonde’s face, but after a few tugs he shrugged it off and instead started climbing into Keiran’s knee. Staring at the boy in surprise, Keiran found himself laughing in delight when Liam pulled himself over the rim of the tub and splashed his way to a seated position. “Did Nan teach you that?” He chuckled, nodding in return for Liam’s proud grin.

Suds were being pushed into Liam’s hair, careful of his large eyes as they watched his little hands pushing through the water. Retracting his hands, Keiran tilted his head and smiled as Liam blinked up at him. The moment was broken, though, as Liam reached up and pulled suds from his hair, reaching over and smudging them over his cheek. Of course, it was right as Millie ambled in with Kelly, only amplifying the danger of being entirely soaked as the kids started fighting.

He watched for a few moments, wiping the soap off his cheek before curling an arm around Millie and resting his chin on her head. When the shampoo started down Liam’s head, towards his eye, though, he had to call off the fight. Once both were cleaned efficiently and plucked from the bathtub, he tossed a grin over his shoulder at his wife as she headed off. It took a bit of effort to gather their attention when all they seemed to want to do is curl up on the rug next to the bath. “That rug, you sleepies, is soaking wet after you splashed all over the place. Bed will be much better. Promise.”

Keiran had to admit his surprise that the twins had become the walking, talking machines that they were so quickly. Just over eight months, Keiran had to wonder where and when exactly they had picked it up. Granted, they mostly gave half-words and sounds, but he had still missed out on their discovering the abilities and starting to use them.

It was amazing, seeing other people with their children. It was always so natural, like they had been given the proper parenting genes from their own proper folks. Sometimes he wondered if that imaginary gene had skipped a generation or something. He felt like a tone-deaf person attempting to sing in front of a crowd, sometimes. It all felt seemed very awkward in theory, or from a distance. When Kelly reached towards him to inform him that they should be carried off to bed, though, Keiran was pleasantly surprised to note that he apparently figured out, correctly, what she wanted. Twins in his arms, he wasn’t so sure he couldn’t figure it after a bit of practice.

Across the hall, he wrapped the towels tighter around them before coming his fingers through their hair in an attempt to push out any knots he’d created in their wash. A great yawn broke out of Kelly’s face, drawing a grin from the father who leaned forward and surprised her by pressing kisses on her nose. A quiet laugh left her, but the sleepiness was too ingrained. A content sigh left Keiran as he rested his head against his daughter’s, keeping Liam upright with the other arm. “You know,” he offered pointlessly, “I’m quitting tomorrow. No more work for daddy. At least not for a while.”

In the first few intervening months after having the twins, more than a few nights were spent in floods of tears, a racing mind telling the young woman that she could not be a mother to two miniature people. Bereft of any personal understanding of what it meant to be a parent beyond the disjointed and the unrealistic portrayal her own parents had provided, she had been at a loss and she had watched as Keiran slowly but surely pulled away, unsure and without mind enough to comment on it, to tug him back in. She had allowed it to happen just as he had and if he could forgive her, she had no reason to deny him that same feeling. Nevertheless, she had felt the pressure and though she had not been alone, both Bridget and Elliot had stepped in and Baldric’s presence, this time a more optimistic buoyancy, had lifted her exponentially. In reality, though, the only person she’d ever wanted was Keiran and now, she had him.

As though it was a reflection of the interesting magical source that they sprang form, the development of the two Hayes children had been rapid and comprehensive. If there was one thing that Millie had been good at, it had been talking to them and playing and encouraging them to explore their worlds, even from the earliest moment. From that, they had gained that mischievous inquisitiveness that they showed and it was no wonder, indeed, that getting up onto the soles of their feet was the most logical of movements. It was a slow, difficult process and they were finally beginning to get there, understanding the fortuitousness of furniture and the like. Their speech had come first, despite Baldric and Elliot maintaining that they were doers and would therefore take longer to speak. However, their eagerness to respond to their mother’s narration of the world had seen to that – the boys lost.

The warming of milk had been left to magic. She had endeavoured to feed the twins herself for the first month or so but the whole experience had been trying for all three and so that was abandoned in favour of bottles. With only her two hands towards the end of the afternoons before Keiran came in, she usually sent off a charm to get the bottles sorted while she captured the little monkeys in their onesies for bed. A second pair of hands meant she could do it herself and so when she returned to the upper floor it was with two warm cups and with a flick of her wand she had two onesies to hand, as well. After setting the bottles down on the large chest of drawers in the nursery, Keiran seemed to walk in through the door almost on cue with a chou on each arm.

“Hello,” she cooed at Liam, liberating him from his father’s arms. His hand came to rest in the crease where her neck joined her shoulder and his head fell into the other side, the towel slipping a little bit from his head of sweet smelling curls that were rapidly beginning to dry in amongst the warmth of the house. She set him down on his feet on the brightly coloured, circular rug in the middle of the room and sat down in front of him. Taking the towel out from around him she rubbed it across his skin, making sure that he was dry all over, lest he get a rash of some sort, before dragging the onesie towards her. Legs in. Arms in. Poppers. Sorted.

“There,” she soothed, picking up her rainbow baby and cuddling him into her arms. She rose to her feet and took a brush off of one of the sideboards and sat herself down on Liam’s bed with a plop before beginning to take the brush gently through his hair. “You’re a sleepy boy, aren’t you?” She murmured, throwing the brush onto the floor when she was done. “Gotta rest up tight then, Lee-Lee – you’re going to have a full day of annoying your daddy tomorrow.”

Millie tucked Liam into his bed, bringing up his favourite stuffed elephant for him to cuddle. When the covers were tucked around him, she looked over to Kelly who was also getting tucked in, her hair all dry and curly and the onesie on without error, it appeared. She hopped up from the bed after pressing a kiss to Liam’s forehead, his wide, bright blue eyes searching out for someone else to sit with him. She danced across the room, picking up a book from the floor that they had not finished the night before, and she thrust it into Keiran’s hands with a grin before jumping onto the bed and cuddling up Kelly.

“Story time, dad!” She exclaimed, brightly. “C’mon, c’mon. Liam will show you where we got to.”

Usually, she would have bundled up both in one of the beds or, if Keiran was working late, it would be everybody – cats included – into their bed and they’d all be found asleep later on when Keiran actually came home. However, tonight, his presence meant there was no need for it and there could be one of them for Kelly and one for Liam, as it always should have been.

The said cats, if you were wondering, had slinked in through the door at this point. Lucius had dropped himself at the end of Kelly’s bed whilst Narcissa went up and sat down behind Liam’s pillow. If it wasn’t for the fact that the cats kept themselves highly clean, Millie would’ve had something to say but there was something to be praised about having hypochondriac cats.

Mere moments passed before Keiran was being herded towards Liam’s bed and having a book stuffed into his hands. Although an eyebrow lifted at Millie’s name for Liam, Keiran knew he had no right to give disdainful looks or think anything negative about her choices – he hadn’t been around to provide better ideas when the names were being created. That one was on him. So the father made no comments but settled on the bed as directed. He was momentarily content to sit himself in the middle of the bed, but instead found his shirt being tugged on. Glancing over at Melissa and Kelly, it registered that he was probably supposed to get in on the cuddling idea.

Keiran pushed himself down towards the pillow-covered end of the bed, leaning against them and opening the book to rest it atop his bent knee. It didn’t quite hit him that Liam would tuck against him, taking part of the father’s arm for a pillow. After a short moment of looking down at his son as Liam blinked up at him, Keiran nodded and held the book out for the boy to choose the correct page.

He wasn’t ten minutes into his reading when he felt Liam shift onto his side, clearly long gone into dream land. A look at Kelly told him that his reading for the night was finished; undoubtedly the next day he would re-read whatever bits they missed in their snoozing. He wasn’t sure he would mind, though, really. A part of him was already looking forward to it. After closing the book and letting Liam’s head settle into the pillow rather than his arm, Keiran scooted off the bed and extended an arm towards Millie, wrapping it round her waist as he led her to the doorway.

As Millie got the lights, Keiran found himself just watching the twins as they slept, seemingly content in their imaginings. It wasn’t quite fair, he decided, that his father didn’t get to see them. Or his grandparents. Keiran tore his gaze away and started off down the hall, leaving Millie to do as she wished in regards to a whispered goodnight or whatever it was that she usually did. When he collapsed onto the bed in their room, though, he could hear her footsteps following him down the hallway.

“Sorry,” he offered quietly, upon realizing that she had come into the room and would likely be displeased with his attempt at escape. “I just realized something. I mean, I knew but… it just hadn’t really been in the front of my mind through this.” Shaking his head, he pulled one of the pillows onto his chest and wrapped his arms around it so he wouldn’t fidget. Keiran would’ve rather tugged Millie over, but the knowledge that she may not understand his reasoning was very real.

“See, I was convinced that mum’s parents had just died when I was young and I couldn’t remember them. Except, they weren’t even real. Just names she gave me because I couldn’t know the truth. But dad’s mum, she died early and never knew me. Never knew what sort of life dad found himself living. She never knew about the Rookwoods or anything. Then dad died young, too. Sure, we’ve still got Grampa Rory, but that’s not the point I’m making. I don’t-“ Keiran paused, trying to figure exactly what he wanted to say. “I don’t know if it’s just coincidence, but it seems pretty… well, I don’t want to say likely, but I suppose it is. It seems fairly likely that Kelly and Liam will lose mum, too. That we’ll lose her earlier than we are ready for. Leaving just the Rookwoods to be the extended family sort – aside from Elliot, of course – and that’s hardly grounds for a decent childhood, is it? Then what if I end up like my dad and his mum? Gone early and leaving them – leaving you – with just that awful family who may or may not take kindly to you once I’m not here to keep an eye out. Without Theo giving me the word when we need to be wary.”

Keiran lifted his head to look at Millie, brows tugging together. “I think I’ve just always been worried that you all would rely on me when I couldn’t provide. Or become all attached and then have something happen to pull myself or mum or the both of us away. I don’t want them to have to miss me. I don’t want you to have to miss me.”

The children were given up to Hypnos and Morpheus the way they always were. It seemed to be a gradual ebb when the skin of their soft eyelids grew too heavy, the upper lashes sloping down to mingle and kiss with their lower counterparts. Soon, only a slither of bright blue could be seen and then nothing at all as the rise and fall of their chests evened out and under the warmth of the soft cotton sheets and heavy duvet to ward off the winter chills, they slept. Knowledge that they did so, knowledge that they were truly near, made their mother’s form fall heavier against the pillows. As the first few snore began to emanate from her daughter, the steady combing motions of Millie’s fingers stilled in Kelly’s hair. After carefully disentangling her touch from the spun-gold curls, Millie leaned down and let her lips ghost over her daughter’s forehead. She then slid slowly from the warmth of the bed, her feet finding the fluffy carpeted floor. Once she had straightened herself, she curled the covers around Kelly and leaned over to smooth the hair back from the girl’s face. Another kiss found her daughter’s forehead and the same loving routine was committed across the room, Millie only sliding into the arm that Keiran offered her once Liam too, was sure to sleep warm and contented with kisses on his skin.

Regardless of where they were, in whatever house they found themselves, their bedroom proved to be their safe haven. At Hogwarts, amongst the old, dusty books and homework that was sure to never be marked, they found themselves falling in love and took solace in each other, doing nothing that they intended to but unable to find it within themselves to care. In his parent’s house, they’d found their middle ground. In the flat, they’d found what it meant to be together, truly. In this house, it somehow kept them together. Yet, even in their solace, even in their haven they found that the divisions were growing. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, they had clung to their own sides of the bed, the simmering anger and stubborn prides they both kept close to their chests not allowing them to back down and give in. In knowing that they were on the same side, however, Millie did not dread entering the bedroom like she had done. She felt no need to feign excuse to disappear early in order to mitigate a building confrontation. She wanted to be there. With him. Not without him. Not like she had been.

Freeing herself from the bondage of her tight jeans and clinging top, Millie sourced a pair of pants and one of Keiran’s old, ever so slightly moth-eaten university t-shirts. After banishing her former clothes into the washing hamper, Millie cast an ear in her husband’s direction as she dressed, pulling her socks from her feet and revelling in the feeling of the cool, Irish air floating in around her legs. The socks too disappeared into the wicker basket and she then made her way over to the bed, her eyebrows furrowing as she listened to him. Her hands and knees found the duvet and she crawled across the bed to him, laying down next to Keiran before reaching out, curling an arm around his hips. Her other arm propped her up, her elbow digging into the bed as her hand held her jaw in its palm. With his words, she felt an abject sadness worm up within her and she wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to tell him – if anything at all. Yet, somehow, she found some words, plucking them out of that sacred, sweet air.

“I’ve already had to miss you, Keiran,” Millie murmured, shame spreading through her as her fingers began to draw circles in the warm skin beneath his t-shirt. “You’ve already been gone.” She sighed, dropping her head onto the pillow, curling in closer to him. She knew that her words were inflammatory. She knew that they could so quickly react and fall into the argument of the holiday as though it had never been resolved. She could see the papers she’d dreaded since the law had been lifted behind her eyelids and she wanted so desperately for him to see, to understand, to not want to go, to not hate her.

“I love you,” Millie whispered, her eyes filling with involuntary tears – all she ever seemed to be able to do was cry. She brought her hand up from under his t-shirt and cradled his cheek in her palm, her gaze seeking his, trying to make him see without words. It was futile, she knew. She didn’t know what it was all in aid of, really. She didn’t know how to make it better. “I just don’t know what to say to you anymore,” she admitted, her eyes fluttering shut, as though somehow not seeing his face would somehow protect her from the wrath she knew she had the potential to incite in him.

“I’ve done life on my own without you,” she began slowly, worrying over every syllable she let strike him. “I’ve done life without Bridget when sometimes she just wants a few days for herself to write or to be able to think for two minutes without worrying after someone else. I’ve sat in these four walls with our children wondering whether to just lay down and die because I haven’t got the will to go on anymore or wait it out in the hope that around the next corner there will be something there for me that’s better, that’s worth the long fight. I’ve had more than my fair share of time on my own. I’ve seen my father die. I’ve seen my friends die. I’ve been left. I’ve left others. I’ve been on my own longer than I have been dependent on someone else. But I’ve never been on my own with someone dependent on me. I can’t do it. I won’t do it. I’ll fuck it up. I’ll fail.”

Millie turned, rolling onto her back. The support of the duvet underneath her was not consoling in any way and though her hair swept over the pillow, groping across the starched coverings like yellow vines, she could not find it within herself to take to the sleepiness that was so oppressively weighing on her mind. Another, more destructive weight lingered, however, and Millie, unable to quiet bear it, needed to say aloud what had been ruining her since the twins had been born. The holiday had been a time for it all to come out onto the table, for them to scream at each other like the children they were. Now, they had to be adult. They had to work it out, fix it or part ways. She’d always backed down. She wanted to avoid it. She wanted to desperately to play like happy families, to prove her mother wrong. But they were just like Lavender and Seamus. Without even trying, they were the same.

“I’d rather we were all seperate than it be like this,” she muttered. “Because it feels the same as it did when I was growing up. It’s the tension and the anger and the resentment that I grew up with all over again. But my parents, at least, they both thought the other person couldn’t hack it. They both thought they’d do it better on their own. I don’t think that. You don’t think that. You, you’re so self-deprecating that you have me sat up at night wondering what’s wrong with me. What’s so bad about me and the children that you don’t want to be here? What have I done? What haven’t I done? And, I mean, while your concerns are valid you know it’s bollocks because Bridget will outlive us all. She’s built to last. Your grandmother was ill. Shit happens. She didn’t just up and die because she thought it would be funny to place doubt in your head. Your dad didn’t just die, either. It wasn’t ever as simple as that. Mine orchestrated his own demise. I was going to go the same way quite contentedly, too, until I met…”

Millie smiled a little. “This sarcastic shit of a Professor who I was meant to marry … whose first words to me, ever, were, I do believe: ‘that’s not a skirt, it’s a belt’ right at the start of the school year. I thought, sod it. Why not? Let’s give this a whirl. I never meant to fall in love with you or have your children or any of anything that has happened. It wasn’t meant to happen. You were just a safe bet. A safe option. I never should have allowed it. I should’ve agreed and kept my distance, for the sake of the law. I shouldn’t have let those babies come into this world because all we’ve delivered for them is this animosity and anxiety filled atmosphere that I don’t want to live in, let alone what they think. I don’t regret it but I didn’t want it to be like this. I didn’t.”

Millie ran her hand over her face, dropping her arm back onto the pillow above her head. “And you…” she continued reluctantly, “you make me feel sometimes like you’re just here because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do… that you don’t wanna be, really, but you’re doing it anyway. That all this talk of not being good enough or being scared or being worried that you won’t be here for us is a veil – that really, you don’t want to be here at all and you’re just pushing me to make the decision for us, to go and end it and just be done with it. No one gives up the fight for life, for the people they love unless there’s no other option. I’m sitting here and I’m thinking… yeah, maybe, maybe you’re right… maybe you will go on and leave us because you’re not trying. You’re trying to excuse yourself but it feels like you’ve never ever wanted to try. I know that I’m being unfair but all I feel like I’ve done is backed you into a corner by getting pregnant but … God, Keiran -- I love you so much but is it for nothing? Like, do I need to just leave? Because if this family isn’t worth living for then I’m not sure what is and if it really isn’t then I do need to go… because I can’t live like this anymore. I just can’t.”

ooc: Warning - language o.o

It took Keiran longer than it should have to understand that Millie had misinterpreted his words. He had meant it all in hindsight, as things that added up to what he felt before but what no longer counted because hell, wasn’t he sitting in with the twins and reading not two minutes ago? He was, in fact, and Millie was somehow comforting him and rejecting him all at once. Her hand tugged at him, trying to draw his gaze, but he let it stare up at the ceiling as his brow scrunched even further. Even as Keiran knew she was on the verge of crying – if not doing so already – he also knew if he turned and saw her, if he put an expression with the words, he wouldn’t be able to stay put. He’d start pacing or just up and walk off because he just didn’t know anymore. Because Millie just didn’t know anymore.

He hated to say it, but the instant she disentangled herself from him he felt like he could breathe again. She wouldn’t feel if he tensed at her words, she wouldn’t be touching him and making him question his reaction to what she chose to say. He had to say something, though, in the breaths of silence after she turned. For someone usually so confident, she was being the self-conscious one now.

“Millie, you misunderstood. I was just saying-“ He attempted, hand reaching towards her. Keiran pulled away at the last second, though, never quite touching her because of the next thing she said.

I’d rather we were all separate than it be like this.

And that, dear friend, was when he seriously started to wonder if he should’ve just up and gone to jail when matched with her originally. Because this was shit.

Millie kept on, and Keiran did his best to listen, taking in the fact that she often thought it was her fault; it wasn’t really. Several times, he opened his mouth to interject but she needed to get her piece out so he could have time to think of something less stupid than his usual comments. Something rational. The weird part was that he wasn’t angry. Not until she started on about what she shouldn’t have done, what she didn’t want to do. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been around as much – she was sitting there saying that she should have kept her distance, shouldn’t have tried. Shouldn’t have even considered the twins a possibility.

He sat up on instinct, as if it would distance him from her words. Soon, if Keiran kept staring at the wall like he was, there was going to be a hole there. He had given his fair share of angry looks, but the wall had yet to receive one of his coldest ones. It didn’t help, either, when Millie turned it on him. He knew it was his fault. He did. He had always known that something would go wrong, from the moment he sat down in that office and that harpy of a woman told him that he would be paired up with his student. Well, a student. She almost never showed up to his class, if at all. Was she ever even in his class? Keiran couldn’t even remember, now.

“If you want a divorce, Melissa, just ask.” He snapped, setting his elbows on his knees so he could rest his head in his palms. “I don’t want you to go, but if you’re so unhappy I can’t ask you to stay.”

He was going to end up on the couch again at that rate. Keiran took a huge breath before letting out a shaky sigh and letting his eyes close. “I wasn’t saying that it was bothering me again. I was trying to give a better reasoning for what I’d done. This isn’t me pulling away again. It’s me trying to rationalize things for you so you stop wondering. Apparently it just backfired. I don’t appreciate you having at my family, but I’m sorry I didn’t think of yours before speaking.”

He didn’t dare look at her, but he did turn his head slightly, so he wasn’t facing entirely away from her. “You’re right about part of it, though. You weren’t supposed to stay. That wasn’t the plan originally. We were supposed to wait it out, deal with it until the repeal came along. Because, I mean, clearly I’m not supposed to have this kind of life. The family thing doesn’t compute. It’s like you don’t get that people have these stupid, irrational fears and they just can’t fucking help it. They can’t. You weren’t supposed to care a whit about me, and-“

Sometimes I still wonder if you do.

Idiot. He chided himself. She wouldn’t have stuck it out this long if she didn’t. Letting out a sound that was nearly a growl, but perhaps closer to a grumble of frustration, Keiran just took a moment to re-gather his thoughts. He was getting wildly off point, and he was just making things worse. Finally, he just let his feet dangle off the side of the bed as his gaze fell to the floor.

“You’ve changed, y’know? You never gave a damn about what the world said or what other people would think, and you never would’ve let me get like this. You always had this way of snapping me back into focus like I’d never strayed from the path. What the hell happened to us? This time last year I was taking you out just because, and we were picking out names. Most of the change in me is my fault. But you can’t claim it doesn’t have something to do with us, or the twins, or you. My change isn’t near as stark as yours, anyway. I’m not putting you in the wrong, here, because according to you – probably to my mother, who knows who else? – it’s on me. I’d just like to point out that I would rather have my insane Gryffindor, my Missie, back. I’d gladly take her over this Melissa who doesn’t seem to wonder after if a bit of time will do me good. I mean, I’m doing the one thing I never wanted to for you and the kids. I never wanted to stop working. I had way too many plans for that to happen. Too many goals. You wonder why I’m in Slytherin? Well, that’s why. I have too much I wanted to do with my life. Millie, I was supposed to end up as Headmaster of that damn school, but now I never can. Because I’ve promised. And fuck it all I’m not going to go back on that one.”