Who: Severus and Romana When: A couple of days after the baby is born Where: Their house What: Bringing baby home. Rating/Warning: G for pure fluff Status: Complete
They had brought David home from the hospital not that long ago. Romana was exhausted still, but awake enough to take care of things when they happened. She didn’t need to go right to bed. Not to mention that when they got home, Daisy would be there to meet her little brother. That was worth staying up for. They’d brought him into the house and the adults had cooed and aww’d over the little guy.
Now they were all sitting around and it was Daisy’s turn to come over and say hello.
Romana held little David in her arms, but low enough for Daisy to come over. “Come say hi.”
Daisy wasn’t really sure what to do. She glanced up at her Daddy, who had an arm around the little girl’s shoulders. It was obvious she was torn between curiosity and shyness. Severus gave her a gentle push forward, and Daisy cautiously walked over to her mother and the new baby.
“He’s so little!” Were Daisy’s first words to her newborn baby brother.
Romana beamed at the two of them. “He is quite little. You can touch him and kiss him. Be gentle. He really likes kisses though.”
The little guys eyes were barely open, looking up at his sister for the first time. He wiggled slightly in his mother’s arms.
Daisy gasped. “He smiled at me!” She said, confidently and full of excitement. “Daddy! Look, he smiled at me! I love you, Baby Brother,” she said, then moved forward and tentatively wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
Severus knew that the baby hadn’t smiled at his sister. He knew that the baby probably wouldn’t smile until he was six weeks old. But his heart was melting at the sight of his beloved daughter and his brand new son bonding.
“That’s because he loves you very much.” She held onto the baby as Daisy wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. That was the sweetest thing that she’d ever seen in her life. She wished she had a camera to capture this moment. Looking up at her husband, she smiled brightly. This was great.
“You’re a brilliant big sister, Daisy.”
As if he was reading her mind, Severus pulled out his cell phone and snapped a couple of pictures. He stepped closer and took a seat next to Romana on the sofa. “You’re amazing, love. Absolutely amazing.” He leaned over and kissed Romana’s hair, then let Daisy climb into his lap.
“Can I change his diaper?” Daisy asked.
Scooting over to give them room to sit, she rested the baby in her lap to make sure that he wasn’t going anywhere. “You want to change his diaper? Well.. when he needs it changed, you can help me and watch to see how I do it.” And hopefully he wouldn’t pee in her face or anything like that.
“I’ve been changing Baby’s diaper.” Daisy said, proudly. She meant the doll that she’d been practicing with. Severus and Daisy put Baby’s diaper on, and put Baby to bed in David’s crib, then practiced being quiet so Baby could have a nap.
“Well then you’re going to do a good job, aren’t you?” Romana didn’t want to discourage her. And she would always supervise until David was a little older. It was good that they were practicing though. It was a very smart thing they’d done.
Daisy nodded enthusiastically.
“You’re going to be the best big sister in the whole world.” Severus said, giving Daisy a squeeze and then a tickle. The girl squealed with laughter, and Severus put her down. “Now, go get your tea set, and we’ll have a celebratory tea party in David’s honor.”
David fussed a little, and so she rocked him a bit. Trying to get him to settle down. As Daisy went to get her tea set, she looked over at Severus. “Remember when she was that small? This is going to be good. Getting her involved early.”
“Honestly, I don’t remember when she was this small.” Severus reached over to smooth down the blanket that David was wrapped in. The baby looked like he was going to go back to sleep. “Does he need a change?” It was near time to feed him.
“That long ago hm? Or you’re forgetting in your old age?” she teased lightly. Maybe she had forgotten what it was like to have Daisy this small too. She leaned in and gave the baby a smell. “I think he’s okay for now. I should feed him. And then you and Daisy can change him.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.” Severus responded with a nod. He leaned in and stole a quick kiss from his wife’s lips, then withdrew from the sofa to head into the kitchen. If Daisy was going to have a tea party, she’d need some tea. And he wanted to give Romana and David some privacy to nurse. It was awkward in the first few days, he remembered from her experiences with Daisy.
With a grin, Romana kissed him back and let Severus and Daisy set up the tea party. She nursed David while they were busy playing. It was a bit awkward but eventually they found their rhythm. It was one of those things that she was going to have to get used to again.
When she was done, she told them so and then got up with the baby so she could go see what they were up to.
Severus and Daisy were in the playroom sitting at the tiny table with the tea set in front of them. Daisy was making a bit of a mess pouring the tea into the teacups for each of them, but Severus could clean it up with a wave of his wand. Being a wizard was pretty amazing. He glanced up when Romana came in, and gave a smile. “Would you like a biscuit?”
It was such a good thing that he could clean up all of that stuff. That he could clean up everything. It made their life so much easier. “I would love a biscuit. Are you two having fun?” she asked, bouncing David slightly. He had to burp and then he would be good to go. Maybe he’d fall asleep if they were lucky.
He probably would. Newborns spent a lot of time eating, pooping, and sleeping. Severus remembered walking around with Daisy on his shoulder when she was tiny. Giving Romana a break and bonding with his daughter. Things would be similar with David, he was sure, but he knew that they’d be more at ease now they knew what they were doing.
He held out a plate with plastic biscuits on it for Romana. “Daisy was just telling me how she made these.” He said.
“With chocolate chips!” Daisy chimed in.
They were so lucky that they were getting a second chance and had already gone through this once before. She knew what to do now. And wasn’t too worried about things anymore. Much more relaxed. And she was all too happy to let David be watched by his father while she took a nap sometimes.
Taking a biscuit, she took a bite and smiled. “They’re wonderful. She’s a good little cook like her dad.”
Severus nodded. “Just like her Dad.” God, he was a dad. Twice over. It was the strangest thing. “Is it just about nap time?”
Next thing he was going to be telling Dad jokes. Romana couldn’t wait for that. “I think it just might be. I’ll go put him down. Do you want to help change him before he sleeps, Daisy?”
Daisy jumped up from the table so quickly that she sent some toys and tea party materials scattering to the floor. “I want to change his diaper!” She cried out.
Severus was chuckling, already cleaning up the mess with a flick of his wand. “Go on, I’ll come meet you in a minute.”
With a small shake of her head, Romana followed Daisy up to where the nursery was and put David down on the changing table. “Okay.. first we take the diaper off. Careful.. babies don’t have control so he might pee on you,” she teased. “Hand Mum a new diaper from over there, dear.”
Severus stayed in the playroom while Romana and Daisy moved into the nursery to change, burp, and lay the baby down for his nap. He cleaned and tidied, wondering how they were going to manage Daisy’s naps and David’s naps all together. Surely they’d wake each other? Daisy was due for a nap soon, which was a good thing. Severus would take one, too. Hopefully holding Romana in his arms.
He moved into the hallway when they were finished, and turned to escort Daisy to her bedroom. “Big girls need naps, too, you know.”
Naps all around. She hoped this would work. After they had changed David and she had burped him, she took David over to his crib to lie him down. “Everyone is going to take a nap. Even Mum and Dad.” God knew she needed one. They always said to nap when the kids napped, right?
Exactly. Family nap time. Daisy wasn’t at all interested in one, so Severus put on a cd of lullabies. “You have to stay in your bed until the music stops, understood?” He said, tucking Daisy in.
Of course, every time they struck this kind of a deal, Daisy would crash out in her bed before the end of the cd, and get a really good, solid nap in anyway.
When the time came that Daisy didn’t actually nap anymore, she was going to cry. Once Daisy and David were both down, she went and crawled into her own bed with her husband. The baby monitor by the bed.
“Oh thank god. I was trying not to fall asleep.”
“You don’t have to try anymore.” Severus kissed his wife’s forehead, and settled down against the pillows, his arms wrapped around her. “Let’s just hope we get a good, solid nap.” Though, knowing how often David needed to nurse and have his diaper changed, they’d probably only get forty five minutes rest. But Sev would get up and fetch the baby when he woke and cried, hopefully before the noise woke Daisy.