A Godfather's Love (aka The Other Side of the Coin)

19 - Bonding and Re-Bonding

Which they did, although Ron looked most reluctant to leave his friend's side, but it didn't look like he had much choice, the way Molly was propelling him along. They told Arthur and Hermione which room Harry was in, and they quickly made their way down the corridor, entering to find Ginny on one side holding Harry's hand, and Sirius on the other, still holding his baby daughter with one arm and the other hand holding Harry's opposite one. He wanted to show Harry his appreciation for the beautiful child in a more physical way, but what he was doing now was about as physical as he dared get in public, and even then, it was pushing his luck. All the same, he made a mental note to do so as soon as they could get enough time alone.

It was close to an hour later that Harry awakened from the anesthetic spell, which induced a deep unconsciousness as well as temporary numbness of the area to be surgically opened in order to offset pain. Harry would need to care for the scar on his belly and take a painkilling potion for a while. His green eyes fluttered open, and he could only see a fuzzy outline of his wife on one side and Sirius on the other, holding a small pink blur that he had surmised must be their child.

His flailing hand suddenly met Ginny's, which held his glasses; she gently pushed them into his hand, and Harry placed them on his face. He smiled at the loved ones gathered around him as they all came into focus. Ginny smiled and raised his hand to her lips. "Welcome back, luv. The baby is beautiful."

Harry was still too drowsy to do anything more than smile and squeeze her hand. Then he turned his head to face Sirius, who smiled and squeezed his other hand. "Thank you for the beautiful child, Harry. She's all I could ever have asked for."

"My pleasure," he managed to whisper. Then to everyone's surprise, he took Sirius's hand and laid it on his nearest cheek, pressing the latter into it for a time. He then looked around at Hermione and Arthur, smiling wearily at them--then he seemed to be looking over their shoulders; Ginny looked to see Ron and Molly standing in the doorway, and once again, Harry smiled and returned his attention to his wife.

"Your turn now, luv," he whispered to her, and this time he had strength enough to raise her hand to his lips, then place it on his cheek.

"Yeah, sure is," Ginny agreed, pressing her cheek into his hand before turning to softly kiss it. "I hope I'll find you in this chair once I have the twins, holding my hand and smiling at me."

"Count on it," Harry assured her. "I love you, Gin. More than ever, now." He turned his head to face Sirius again. "That goes for you, too, Padfoot." Sirius was hard-pressed not to blush, returning a soft smile in his young lover's direction before looking down at their beautiful baby daughter again. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Well, I was thinking ... how about 'Stephanie Leigh Potter-Black'?"

Harry mulled it over for a while, then smiled and nodded.

"Lovely name. She even has your nose and lips, Padfoot."

"I hope she has your eyes, mate," Sirius returned. "She already has your bone structure. But her eyes aren't open yet, so I can't be sure just what colour they are."

"Well, they should be open soon; we'll be able to tell then."

He would have spoken some more, but the mediwitch came up to the bed and said, "The patient needs some more rest, so I respectfully request that you all leave as soon as you can."

Ginny rose reluctantly, with Hermione's help, again raising Harry's hand to her cheek, still holding it even as she leaned down to kiss him goodbye. "See you later, luv."

"Later," came the soft murmur in return.

With that, Hermione put an arm around Ginny's shoulders and led her out. "Come on, Gin. Let's go home. You need your rest too. I'll sit up with you." When she passed Ron, she whispered where she was going to be; he nodded with a mixture of understanding and disappointment.

Neither did Arthur want to leave, but he knew it was best for Harry, so he simply patted his shoulder affectionately and smiled before taking his leave. As he passed Molly, a knowing glance was exchanged, and she went to make her farewells too, leaning down to kiss Harry on the cheek. "I'll see you later, dear. Sleep well. And congratulations on your beautiful little girl. She's the image of you."

"Thanks, Molly." Harry unexpectedly grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Molly blushed before smiling back and returning the squeeze.

Finally, only Sirius was left holding the baby, and even then, the nurse prepared to take the child back to the nursery for the night. He was reluctant, wanting to show the child off to his partner, but the nurse shook her head. So Sirius simply sighed and stood up, but he waited until he was alone with Harry before he leaned down to share a brief but sweet kiss even as he retained hold of the boy's hand.

"See you later, Harry. Love you."

"Love you, Padfoot," Harry replied with a deep yawn. "Sorry."

"No need to apologise. Having a baby does that to people. Tomorrow." With that, Sirius took his leave and closed the door behind him. The nurse smiled understandingly and the pair walked back to the nursery together, Sirius making sure he got pictures of himself with the child, and the tiny girl alone. But he also intended to make sure a family portrait was made at the earliest opportunity, as well as one with Harry holding the child.

Truly, Sirius had never imagined he could ever be this happy, especially not after the hard life he had led for so many years. But now he had a partner whom he loved dearly, as well as an adopted family and a beautiful little daughter, whom he already doted on. His only wish was that James and Lily could have been here to share his joy ... and see their first grandchild. Oh, well, one couldn't have everything--but one thing was for sure, this was one time he sincerely wished that it was possible. Meanwhile, he had too much to be happy about to waste time dwelling on his losses.