Teddy hadn't been doing much outside of work. Mandy had seen and pointed as much out when she unexpectedly dropped by his flat only a day prior to his visit with his darling little niece. He would have been loathe to admit it, but Ernie's words about Megan had really dampened his enthusiasm about his budding relationships with "new" people. Besides, Ernie up and leaving the business to him while Draco was on leave gave him a good excuse to bury himself away. He might have been angry with his mate, but he still wanted to make him proud. He wanted to serve his father's memory well too. Still, seeing Mandy's shocked face over his disheveled appearance had brought him crashing back down to reality. When she left, he had showered, shaved, and gone to get his hair trimmed. Hence, when he finally flooed into Malfoy Manor, he looked much more like his normal self. Good thing, too, since he didn't want to frighten the adorable Pandora.
"I'm here!" He called in a loud whisper that would really do nothing in the massive house. "I'm here!" He called a little louder. He just hoped he didn't wake the baby. Or his uncle if Lucius was napping.
But the tiny baby wasn't sleeping at all. Though Pansy couldn't really complain, she slept very well most of the time. No, Pandora was lying on her blanket in the middle of the parlor, kicking her tiny legs in the air and cooing as Pansy dressed her. There was something that just came naturally to the young woman about being a mother. For one who'd almost never been around kids, she took to it brilliantly. There was an amazing feeling she got just looking down at the baby and knowing she and Draco had created her.
She heard Teddy enter the floo and peered around the corner. "In here, Ted," she called, pulling the ruffled pink bloomers up over Pandora's tiny bum. "Aren't you just the prettiest thing ever," she cooed to the baby, leaning down to nuzzle her little tummy with her nose before reaching for the sundress Narcissa had bought her.
Teddy smiled as he came up behind the pair. Motherly wasn't an adjective he would have used to describe Pansy even a year ago, but seeing how wonderful she was with the baby assuaged Teddy' early worry. His family would be okay. Pansy was happy. Draco was happy. That was what mattered and he never wanted anything to ruin it. It seemed almost impossible, but they had to protect that innocent little sack of adorableness. "Hullo, sweetheart," he greeted the baby even before giving Pansy a proper greeting. Propriety went out the floo when a gorgeous baby was involved.
"Ahem!" Pansy teased, clearing her throat and sitting back on her folded legs. "I'm in the room too, you know." But she completely understood. It was hard not to be taken in by the big blue eyes and the cap of dark hair. If Pansy got her wish, baby Pandora would be a perfect blend of both parents, her hair and Draco's eyes. They just had to wait and see what they darkened to. "Come on, sweetness, let's get you all pretty for Uncle Teddy." Carefully, she slid the little dress over the baby's head, taking greater care with her than she ever had with anything in her whole life. Then she got to her feet and picked up her daughter, offering her over to her best friend. "Your turn. She's even bathed and cleaned, so no nappy duty for you."
"Oh, brilliant. I was having nightmares." Teddy accepted the baby with some difficulty. He definitely wasn't used to holding such fragile things. Kala, even as a kitten, didn't count. Pandora looked way too fragile to her uncle. "Oh, darling, aren't you lovely?" He kissed the baby's cheek and grinned over at Pansy. "Draco home?" He asked. He hated to sound like an ungrateful prat, but he missed his cousin. Draco taking time off and Ernie running off to the minister (to be with Hannah, but Teddy was far too much a gentleman to point that out to Mr. Know It All...) left Teddy with a short social calendar.
Pansy glanced over her shoulder, then nodded but placed her finger to her lips. "I think so, but he may be napping. Bless him, he's doing nearly as much as I am. You know. Except nappies. And feedings." She giggled at that, knowing how many times she'd teased Draco about being unable to provide that specific task for the baby. "How are things at the office? He's trying not to act like he cares, but you know he does."
Teddy chuckled too, but he was pleased to hear good things about his cousin. He hadn't really thought of Draco as the nurturing type, but he supposed when that little miraculous thing belonged to you, all bets were off on normal personality traits. "Everything is..." He hedged and looked away. "It's busy," he admitted. "Ernie's off being some hero and...well." He was trying to be nice. Really, he was.
Eyebrows lifting, Pansy knelt and gathered up the little mess she'd made getting Pandora dressed after her bath. She couldn't explain why, considering she despised cleaning with everything in her, but she loved doing that sort of thing herself. She couldn't understand all of the pureblood mothers who turned basically every last detail of parenting over to their elves. Even those tiny things meant the world to Pansy. "Hero, huh? Thinks he's a Gryffindor now? He did always run with Potter and that lot. Figured he'd be over it by now." That and it still didn't make sense to her that 'that lot' would try and help 'her lot'.
Despite knowing better, Teddy's mouth twitched. Ernie might have been a good mate, but he sure could be a prat. Still, Teddy felt guilty a second later. "Oy, I don't know. He's gotten it into his head that he can save the world and Hannah all at once." His stomach twisted as he mentioned Hannah. He wasn't jealous anymore; that would be silly.
Nodding to one of the Malfoys' many beautiful, oversized couches, she urged Teddy to sit. Not because he thought he needed to while holding the baby, like some people seemed to think, but because she had the feeling he needed to talk. "And what do you think?" she questioned, sitting primly in an armchair. "Do you think the world...and Abbott...need saving?" How he'd fallen in with a mudblood, she'd never know.
She wanted him to walk</b> with that baby? Was she nuttier than he believed? They did say women acted strangely after childbirth! He looked from Pansy, who looked comfortable in her chair, to the baby and then the floor. Alright, he could do it. He took a deep breath, pretending the bundle in his arms was only Kala who could land on the floor in a bounce, no St. Mungo's necessary. He walked slowly and deliberately, holding his breath the entire way. He didn't release it until he (and baby) sat. "There," he said triumphantly, a huge smile exploding on his face. "Did it!" His excitement was short-lived, however, as Pansy spoke. "The world, maybe." He wasn't going to talk to her about Hannah. Nope. No way.
Okay, maybe it was mean. But she couldn't help smiling. Teddy looked so funny, acting as if Pandora were made of glass. "She's not going to break, Teddy. She's a baby. They're resilient little people. Just don't try and play Quidditch with her, will you?" Not that Pansy had even an inkling that he'd do such a thing. He was obviously so proud to be an uncle that it made her genuinely excited for the day she got to be an aunt. It would be nice to know Pandora would have other little children to grow up with. Just as she had with Draco and Teddy and Daphne...and even Ernie. "Then what's the problem?" she questioned, tilting her head to study him after sparing a watchful glance towards her daughter.
Teddy found it easier to look down at the baby than at Pansy. "I don't know," he confessed. "Ernie's gotten it into his head that I fancy Megan and then he warned me against it and now he's up and left his business virtually in my lap." He shrugged, but then smiled as Pandora seemed to sense his discomfort and whined. "I'm fine, sweetheart," he cooed.
Instinct told Pansy to rush towards the baby the moment she made a sound, but she seemed to settle back down as her uncle talked sweetly to her. Swallowing back nerves, Pansy made herself more comfortable in her chair and looked Teddy over. "Well, do you?" Oh, hell, not another one. It'd been hard enough to try and be happy for him the first time over. Why'd they have to have such a softie for a best mate? And when had she started talking about her and Draco as one person, anyway? "Not that it matters. He's just looking out for his friend is all." But a little thought nagged at Pansy. Which friend, exactly, was Ernie looking out for? "I mean, you're over her and everything, right?"
Teddy's eyebrows shot up as Pansy moved around in her chair. "Do you want her?" He offered. He didn't really want to let the baby go, but mothers had the final say. He learned that long ago with his own mother. She was one hell of a fierce woman. When it seemed Pansy didn't, he made himself more comfortable, listening as Pansy rattled off questions at him. His cheeks burned. "No, no..." He stammered. "I mean, yes. I mean no. I mean, yes I'm over her and no, I don't fancy her. Her being Megan."
Pansy couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, Teddy, I love you. I really do. Sometimes you're so cluelessly adorable. Stop blushing. It's...it's okay, you know. If you did. Fancy her, I mean." She'd hate it. But she'd learn to deal with it. The purebloods had come an awfully long way since the end of the war. If her mother-in-law could be friendly with her muggleborn brother-in-law and half-blood niece, Pansy could learn to tolerate Teddy having a thing for that sort. But why did it always have to be bloody Hufflepuffs?
"What? What did I do?" He demanded.
"Up and started attracting the 'nice' girls," she told him, getting up to move to sit by his side. She didn't know if being restless was part of the post-pregnancy thing, but she had been lately. Besides...she felt like he might need it. Or rather, she needed it and would much rather blame him. "It wouldn't be a surprise if Jones had a thing for you, really. You're just lucky you escaped me."
He rolled his eyes and shifted Pandora back to her mummy. "Don't worry," he explained to the baby, "You can come visit me anytime your parents start in on you too."
The baby had settled in quite sleepily with her uncle and wiggled a bit as Pansy accepted her back and rested her against her shoulder. "I'll order a lovely little t-shirt that says "Going to Uncle Teddy's" for those moments. But I also hope my little girl will know she can come to me no matter who she falls in love with." Pansy wanted to be that mother. She wanted to be open-minded enough to be there no matter what. Fortunately, it'd be at least thirteen years or so before she had to worry about those things.
At that, Teddy cocked his head to take in both mother and daughter. "Oh? Well, that's a side of Pansy I can get behind." He smiled mischievously. "So if she brought home a poor, muggle-born Hufflepuff, you'd welcome the poor sap?"
Eventually. But she nodded seriously. "I would. He'd have a bit of explaining to do to her grandparents," she added, resting her cheek against the baby's downy hair, "but I would. Honestly, if she wanted to bring home a muggle, I'd welcome him, too."
"No one will be good enough for her anyway," Teddy insisted. He was just glad they were off the subject of his dating life.
Oh, they were. But not for good. Because frankly, Pansy wasn't feeling the whole staying at home and being a mummy thing. She missed working, a thought she never thought she'd have. Mostly because she just desperately wanted another adult to talk to. Her in-laws couldn't be around all the time, after all, and Draco still had to have a life. She insisted. "You'd have her be a spinster her entire life?" she questioned, lifting her eyebrows.
Teddy smirked at her quizzical expression. "Spinster? Hardly. I prefer to say she'd have a lovely life with friends and family..." He patted Pandora's little bottom and she kicked and gurgled in retaliation. "Oh, fine, I'll just make sure to brush up on my hexes."
"You'll need it," Pansy teased, widening her eyes innocently. "They weren't that good before you'll have had thirteen years out of school."
"Hey!" Teddy protested though he grinned sheepishly. "Alright, alright, good thing I'm working with buildings and land and not defending anyone."
Pansy smirked, but she bent her head to rest on Teddy's shoulder. "You know I love you. But if you want to buy a slightly more muggle device like, say, a cricket bat in order to beat the boys off of my daughter, I can't say I'd complain." In her arms, Pandora gave a tiny grunt that Pansy would have sworn was a sound of frustration.
"Now, see, that I can handle." He cuddled Pansy close and smiled as Pandora squealed. "She's already yelling at us."
Sighing, Pansy nodded mournfully, as if it were the worst news she'd ever heard. "Remember, love, she has me and Draco for parents. Surely you don't think she's going to make life easy on any of us?" she teased, smoothing the baby's hair with the palm of her hand. "Wanting the best of everything. And most of the time getting it, no doubt.