Happy Very First Birthday, Baby Lupin

Happy Very First Birthday, Baby Lupin

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Chapter 5

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"I want an ice-cream!" demanded the black-haired girl clinging on Remus's arm.

"Sure, Sirina," the tawny-haired boy replied, smiling. "Then we have to get you one, eh?"

"Damn right," Sirius muttered, then waddled to the nearest ice-cream parlour, dragging his husband by the hand.

"And what would you want?" asked the woman selling the ice-creams. She seemed to be half bemused, half shocked at the sight of a young "girl" with a huge pregnant belly.

"I'll take a chocolate-peach-strawberry ice-cream," "Sirina" replied happily. "And my husband takes... What do you want, Remus?"

"Just simple vanilla for me," the werewolf replied, smiling slightly at the ice-cream lady's astonishment as she heard Sirius's name for Remus. It seemed that they were far too young by the woman's mind to be married or expecting a child. Well, fortunately, they weren't dependant on her opinion.

After getting their orders and paying the lady, they continued their walk, hand in hand, eating their ice-creams on the way. Remus kept his watchful eye on Sirius all the time. The darkhaired boy was due to give birth on any day. Of course, being Sirius, he didn't let that slow him down, going anywhere and doing anything he wanted.

Their little walk, however, went by without a new Lupin deciding to arrive. (They'd decided to simply settle on the Lupin name, since Sirius wanted absolutely nothing of his old family marking him and especially his child.) As Sirius was, unsurprisingly, rather tired, they just bid a goodnight to Remus's parents and went to their room to sleep.

Remus watched Sirius as the darkhaired teen fell asleep. He looked a bit odd with his masculine looks and pregnant belly - odd, but beautiful.

It was fascinating to think that this beautiful creature was his, his husband, and no one else's. The werewolf was well aware of the power Sirius now had over him, but he was also aware of the fact that Sirius would never use that power unfairly, and was happy about it.

Resting his hand on the round stomach inside which their little baby was growing, Remus fell asleep.

*

Remus awoke with a start as somebody was shaking him furiously. He opened his eyes, staring right into Sirius's distressed grey eyes.

"Go and get Madame Pomfrey, and soon," his husband whispered frantically. "I think - I think that the baby wants out, now."

Jumping out of the bed, Remus hurried towards the fireplace, still in his pyjamas. As Sirius was still a student, Pomfrey, who had monitored his whole pregnancy, had wanted to be the one who helped him through the birth. Also, there were some practical reasons for this arrangement. Not only was it really complicated for Remus to get even inside St. Mungo's, but absolutely impossible for him to get inside the delivery room. Only if a werewolf was the one giving birth - almost impossible, thanks to the Ministry - they were allowed to enter the room. And as Sirius had demanded him to be present in the birth, the hospital was not an option at all. As soon as the mediwitch appeared to the flames, seemingly having been asleep, Remus blurted out, "Sirius - the baby - you have to come!"

As Poppy heard this, her eyes flew wide, all sleepiness disappearing from her face. "I'll arrive as soon as I get past the wards," she said hurriedly. "Tell Sirius to get on his feet and walk around the room, that should help a bit. Wake your parents, too - I know the neighbours won't be disturbed, there are enough wards around your house, but I think that your parents would like to know about the birth before they're startled awake by the baby's wail."

"Remus," came Sirius's pained groan from behind him. "Remus, help me... It fucking hurts..."

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Many painful hours later, well after the dawn - in fact, it was almost noon already - Remus held a little bundle in his arms. Sirius had passed out in pain and exhaustion soon after the baby'd been born, so Remus had been alone left to hold the baby after Madam Pomfrey had cleaned him.

Remus looked down at the tiny baby, a gentle smile on his lips. Little Keith was bigger than an average baby, but he was still small, and Remus was afraid of dropping the fragile creature at any moment.

'My son,' he though, stroking slightly the soft, thin hair. 'Our son, I and Sirius's. Who'd ever thought I'd be a father some day?'

"Hey, Remus?" asked a quiet voice behind him. "Could you check the information in the birth certificate before I sign it?"

"Sure, Poppy," he replied in an instant. Securing the baby's head with his other hand, he turned towards the mediwitch, scanning the certificate quickly. At last, he nodded. "Everything is all right. You only have to change one thing."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly. "What's that?"

"You've signed James as the other father, and me as the legal guardian."

"Yes?" Poppy asked, frowning. "Isn't that correct?"

"No, it isn't," replied Remus with a slight smile. "You see, I am the other father."

At first, the mediwitch looked confused. Then her eyes widened with sudden realization. "So you conceived him before you were sterilized?"

Nodding happily, Remus replied, "It appears so, since Sirius has never slept with James, or with anybody else but me." He gave her a little smile, and added, "I hope you're not angry at us for lying to you."

"Merlin forbid, no," Poppy replied immediately. "You did the absolutely only right choice. If you had told me, my duty would have been to tell the Ministry, and little Keith here wouldn't be." With a small smile, she continued, "I'd in fact suspected something like this. I've never thought of Sirius as a person who'd sleep with somebody else for any reason, at least not without telling you."

Remus nodded in agreement. "But now little Keith is here, and the Ministry has no say in his life," he then said, giving yet another loving glance to his first and only son. "For grace of Merlin, he's not burdened with my Lycanthropy, so no laws or restrictions tying me under other people's will are going to harm him."

Poppy gave him a tender gaze. "Sirius will do everything he only can as your husband so you'll have the same rights as anyone else."

"I know he will try, but I'll never have exactly the same rights as any so-called 'pure' human." With a quiet sigh, he stroked gently Keith's hair. "But now, Sirius has definitely deserved his sleep. It might be the best if I now went to inform my parents about the birth of their grandchild."

"You do that," she smiled. Then, she asked curiously, "May I ask whom you're going to make his godparents?"

"Well, Jamie's already promised to be a godfather," Remus told, his smile halfly returning. "And for the other one, well... We've talked about it a lot, and have come to a decision." As she nodded, encouraging him to continue, he said, "Would you want to be little Keith's godmother, Poppy?"

Immediately, she melted into a warm smile. "Of course, Remus."

"Good." They exchanged smiles, then he left the room, his son on his arm. As he walked in the corridor, he placed a tiny, gentle kiss on the baby's forehead. "Happy very first birthday, baby Lupin," he whispered.

Keith didn't reply, but his tiny lips curled into a smile in his sleep.

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THE END

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