Who: Dani and Gina Miracle, Hamish Roberts What: Hamish drops by for a chat When: Monday, 26 March 2000 Where: Dani/Charlie/Gina's house Warnings: Gina is an adorable force of nature and you should be warned about how adorable she is.
Dani had the house to herself for a few hours that evening while Charlie worked late. She'd managed to be productive enough, getting in a few chores that she'd put off the previous weekend while also keeping Gina entertained. Easier said than done, sometimes, so she was pleased. She was even more pleased to finally be able to settle on the floor with her daughter, carefully levitating blocks into a castle-like configuration only for the little girl to gleefully knock them over.
The sound of the Floo flaring caught the attention of both, and Gina's gleeful squeal and attempt to scramble to her feet far quicker than she was currently capable of doing were the first reaction to the sight of Hamish. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise," she said, getting to her feet and helping Gina to hers. The little girl immediately went running at toddler speed toward Uncle Hamish. "You're just in time to help me feed this little terror some dinner. Up for it?"
"Little terror, huh?" Hamish asked, reaching for Gina and scooping her into his arms. "You're an adorable little terror though," he said to the little girl. "The most adorablest." Nodding at Dani, he said, "Of course. Got anything I can eat as well?" Hamish was shameless about mooching a decent meal every now and then. "Charlie home?"
"Obviously," Dani said with a bit of an eye roll, watching as he picked Gina up, to the little one's delight. The baby immediately started babbling in her unique language, apparently very excited to have someone new to whom she could talk about her day—or whatever it was Gina was describing with those big hand gestures. So much of her dad in that that Dani couldn't help smiling to herself.
"One of these days I'm going to let you starve, you know," she teased on the way into the kitchen. She shook her head as she pulled open the oven to check the casserole she'd thrown together. Almost done, which meant just enough time to get Gina settled and place settings ready for her and Hamish. "Just the two of us for a few more hours. Charlie's working late. Neep episodes to prep, you know."
It would be a lot easier to get Gina settled if Uncle Hamish was willing to give her up. But instead he followed Dani into the kitchen, talking back to Gina the entire time.
"Well yes, that sounds very exciting," he informed her. "And no, don't worry. Your mum isn't gonna let me starve no matter how many times she threatens it…. And really? Well thank you. I happen to think I'm the best uncle ever as well."
This continued on for a couple more minutes before Hamish finally replied to Dani, "Oh. Good. You know how I do that thing where I can't make sense of anything and I need you and/or Maggie to sort it out for me? Well Maggie's a big ol' nope on this one so I'm counting on you. Oh. And I revised my testing schedule for this week because I spent too much time last week letting things get way too complicated," he added brightly.
Dani was perfectly happy to let Hamish keep Gina entertained while she pulled out the dishes and got everything arranged. If Gina didn't take to her chair, then she could just let Hamish hold her while he ate, too. Suitable punishment, really. She motioned him to a spot at the table.
"'Letting things get way too complicated'? Something tells me that doesn't bode well for this discussion." She pulled the casserole—beef and vegetables—from the oven and served up a bit for both of them, since Hamish's hands were otherwise occupied. Then she slid his plate over to him while she tapped Gina's little bowl with her wand to set it to mashing, mincing and cooling. She stayed standing with her own plate for the moment, waiting for Gina's to finish, but she blew on a bite for herself all the same. "So let's have it, then."
If Dani thought that was punishment, she was mistaken. He didn't even try putting Gina in her chair, and instead sat down with her. He managed two quick bites of his own food before Gina started fussing. So once her food was ready he gathered up a spoonful to feed her, but she grabbed at the spoon.
"Oh you got this, do you?" he asked as she promptly flung the food at his eye.
"So close."
He wiped his face off with his sleeve and then tried again, this time maintaining control of the eating utensil turned potential weapon. With Gina eating, Hamish launched into a recap of his recent questionable decisions, starting with Lex talking about having a person to then sleeping with Lex to and then sleeping with Meaghan, wondering if he had missed out on previous opportunities and also lamenting that when Dunbar found out that was probably going to put a damper on their friendship. All the while he used ridiculously coded language to describe his questionable decisions and activities.
Because no one wanted Gina's first real word to be 'shag.'
No one.
Dani was by this time very used to people needing to talk around Gina, but she couldn't say that particular talent of hers made Hamish's tale much easier to follow. Once he'd finish, she leaned back in her seat with her water glass clasped in one hand and shook her head. "Merlin, Hamish. No wonder you need someone else to sort it all out. That's a lot."
She took a moment to reach across and wipe a bit of mashed carrot from Gina's chin before attempting to give the conversation any particular direction. "I guess the real question in all of that is...what do you want? Because that sounds like a quest for something to me, but one where you've ended up stumbling around more than actually questing. Or is this one of those things where the journey is more important than the destination?"
Those were good questions. Really good questions. Questions Hamish didn't really know the answer to, so he deflected by focusing on Gina for the next few minutes. Except then he started reflecting on how cute of a kid she was, and what he'd be like as a Da himself. Which was a terrible train of thought and he needed to end that right there.
He took a bite of his own food before realising he was using Gina's spoon, but shrugged that off as he finally answered Dani honestly. "I've no bloody idea what I want. I thought I did, and maybe I still do. I don't know."
Well, that was certainly no help in clarifying things for her, so he added on an apologetic shrug and a bonus look of utter helplessness.
"Ah," Dani said with a nod, as if his statement had answered everything. Which, it hadn't—not really—but it did shed a bit of light on it, and that was a good start. "You're testing the waters, then. Trying to figure out what you want in the safest way possible." She laughed. "Well, safe for the sort of bloke who has to give me his schedule and check in regularly every time he tests new brooms."
She picked up his fork and held it out to him before taking over Gina feeding duty for a moment, while she kept her place in Hamish's lap. No doubt the little girl was enjoying her time with Uncle Hamish, but at the rate she was going, more of it would be on him than in Gina's belly. "I heard mention of three persons in that convoluted little description you gave over this one's head." She tapped Gina playfully on the nose, eliciting a giggle from the girl as she continued to reach for her spoon. "Out of the country indefinitely. Married. Sort-of-sometimes taken by one of your mates." Dani ticked one off on her hand as she listed them. "They're not viable long-term options, or at least not immediately. The problem is that if you decide that long term is what you're looking for, you're at a rough place."
Dani handed Hamish Gina's spoon, now that she'd made a bit more progress on the meal, then returned to her own. "Any of that sound remotely like what's going on in your head?"
With his own fork in hand, Hamish quickly shoveled food into his mouth, shooting Dani looks of pure gratitude for giving him a chance to eat, and then as she summed up everything he was trying to say.
He waited until his mouth wasn't full to answer, taking the spoon back as well. "Yes, and then add in the fact that long term is completely terrifying and why am I even thinking about it?"
It was far easier to pose the question to Gina, because she was adorable and couldn't ask him thought-provoking questions back. So he did, looking at the little girl and asking, "Why is Uncle Hamish torturing himself by thinking about long-term relationships with completely unavailable people? Is he even thinking about that at all? Or has Uncle Hamish lost his bloody mind?"
Gina just giggled at him. Fitting.
"Maybe because you eventually want one of these?" Dani poked Gina in the belly this time, turning her giggling into giggling and squirming. Eventually she settled again, though, because she realised Uncle Hamish still had her spoon, which still had mashed potatoes—her favourite. "It really shouldn't be so surprising. It's one thing to be around Charlie and me these last couple of years, but now even Pye seems to have paired off with at least the idea of possible long term in sight, and plenty of others, too."
Given the conversations she'd had with Maggie lately—not to mention the non-verbal signals—she'd have been surprised if that one didn't get subtly added to the pile in the near future. She decided not to specifically mention the fact that even Lex was married now, since the other witch's idea of a committed relationship clearly differed from Dani's own.
"The point being that you're surrounded by it. We've been out of Hogwarts a decade. There was a war. A bad one. People are pairing off." Dani leaned forward once again and put a hand on his arm. Gina responded by patting it, too. "And you're a good catch. It's not so mad to start wondering what Hamish the—dare I say it—married man would look like." At that last bit, her expression turned from serious into something more teasing, mostly because she didn't want the weight of the discussion to become too uncomfortable. She didn't mind how he handled that part of his life, so long as it made him happy, so she didn't have a particular broom in the race.
Dani may have been teasing him about potentially wanting kids, but Hamish was completely serious when he answered. "You think I'd make a good Da?" he asked, delivering a spoonful of food to Gina. He was definitely doing alright as an Uncle. Da was completely different though.
This was getting heavy, especially all at once and Dani was correct, people were pairing off left and right. That didn't mean he had to though. "Thanks, Dani, now I feel old," he said finally, trying to shake off the seriousness.
Gina, seeming to sense the shift in his mood somehow, turned and looked at him, smiling.
It was really hard to be weighed down by confusing thoughts when Gina was smiling at him. And then she reached up toward him, knocking the spoon out of his hand and sending it flying toward the floor. "Well if you were done with your dinner, you could have just said so," Hamish said, grinning back at her.
"Of course you'd make a good dad, if and when you want to be one. It's not as if there's some premade packaging you have to have to be good at it. Besides, Gina adores you, and she's the best judge of character there is." Dani rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to throw something at him, because that would only encourage Gina to emulate the behaviour—which was dashed inconvenient at times like this. "Please," she said, drawing the word out. "You're talking to the one who's married with a kid. And you feel old?"
Dani couldn't help but laugh at their interactions. No doubt in her mind that he'd be a great father, but that wasn't exactly on the horizon, so best kept at that for now. She bent to pick up the spoon and sanitised it with a quick swish of her wand before placing it on the table next to Gina's bowl, just in case she decided she wanted more. "I'm not saying you need to be in any rush. Look me and Charlie." It had taken her three years before she'd even said yes to a date, and she still didn't regret the wait. They'd both needed the time to figure out what they wanted. "Only that you're not crazy."
She pursed her lips, though it was mostly to keep from chuckling. "But really, Hamish? You couldn't at least be crazy with someone who's solidly single?"
"Apparently that's not my type," Hamish replied easily, with a smirk.
Still, Dani's advice had gone a long way toward making him feel better, and he was grateful. "And I happen to adore Gina, because she's the cutest. Aren't you, Gina?" he asked, kissing her forehead.
"Seriously, you and Charlie could have gone for a less cute kid. Would make the prospect of having one myself far less tempting."
"But then I couldn't wield her like the oh-so-useful weapon and shield that she is," Dani replied with a smirk of her own. "Just wait until one of these days when there's another one." She reached her hands out for her daughter, who responded with only a slight hesitation. Naturally Uncle Hamish was far more entertaining than what Mummy wanted to do—because Gina was a smart girl and knew that after dinner would come wiping off her face, which she detested. Dani did it anyway, speaking soothingly to the little girl until it was done.
Then she set Gina on her feet to let her toddle wherever she desired.
"You want to stick around and see what sort of advice Charlie has for you?" Dani asked, eyes sparkling with a amusement. She could already hear her husband's speech on romance.
"Tempting, but not tonight. I need to get back out flying tonight. I'm still ahead of schedule but not as ahead of schedule as I'd like to be so I'm going to be playing catch-up all week."
Then he added with a smirk, "I'm sure he'll tell you his advice to me if you tell him why I was here though."
"Merlin. You and those brooms. One thing, at least, I can say for your choice of witches is that at least they seem the sorts who wouldn't mind that part of your life. I still expect an owl tomorrow, though, on your normal schedule, even though you were here tonight." She pointed a finger and leveled a stare at him.
Dani laughed. "He doesn't need to tell me his advice to you. I already know what it would be. But I'll save that for when you've gotten this bit out of your system. I don't think you're quite ready for the serious romance that Charlie advocates, old man."
She looked over to where Gina had grabbed one of the blocks they'd been stacking and was bringing it over to where the adults still stood. "Can you tell Uncle Hamish 'bye,' Gina?"
"Bah!" said the little girl with a bounce.
Dani raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Well, that was close. Best work on "da" a bit more tonight, then."
"Only job I've ever had that I've absolutely loved," Hamish replied. "Not gonna try and find something else anytime soon. And you're right. This old man can't handle that much sappiness all at once."
He grinned ear to ear at Gina's "Bah!" and said "Bah!" right back to her. Then he stepped toward the floo and added a genuine thank you to Dani before heading out.
His mind was going to be much clearer when he took the pitch that night.