Who: Tate, Quin, & the kids (npc) What: Breakfast with siblings When: June 9th (backdated!) Where: A friend's place Warnings: None that I know of.
The morning after his meltdown, Tate had not wanted to meet the kids. His eyes were blurry, red, and puffy from all the crying. His head was pounding out of his skull from the hangover, and he really just felt miserable. He didn’t want to try to be in a good mood around the kids, he wanted to actually be in a good mood. It was for that reason that he had put off meeting the kids a bit. He wanted to see them when he had been a bit more sober as well.
Instead of meeting at his flat, he had asked for Quin and the kids to meet him early Friday morning at a restaurant that his buddy owned. It was closed until after 2pm, they only catered to the night crowd. Tate had talked his friend into letting him have the entire place to himself. He wanted to show his siblings something that he enjoyed, he wanted to be able to share his love of cooking with them. It also would make him significantly less nervous when he met them if he could focus on what he knew, cooking.
At exactly 9am, he had let Quin and the kids inside. He had seen them already once, but it still didn’t prepare him for Felix. He wasn’t sure anything could prepare him for the infant that looked like he could have been Tate’s. The small baby looked just like their father, much the same as Tate did. Those eyes, while they were identical to Quin’s, were perfect to complete the look. Tate was almost certain that when Felix was bigger, he’d look exactly like a younger Ambrose.
“Alright, so I thought we would have fun today. I was going to make everyone some dragon and pigmy puff pancakes, with whatever sides you want. The kitchen is at our full disposal.” He announced, as he brought them into the kitchen. It wasn’t an overly large kitchen, the restaurant itself was small. The kitchen was just big enough to have an extra little table near the back, where waitresses would roll silverware usually. It was just big enough for the four of them to eat breakfast as well, there was even a booster seat already on the table for when they were ready.
Tate hadn’t thought to introduce himself, he had no idea how Quin would do that. He was leaving it all up to her though, they were her kids. They were just his siblings.
Quin hadn't said a bad word to him as she'd fetched him hangover potion and fed him quietly, her own simple cooking, and she'd kissed him on the cheek when he'd left. Not one harsh word, just quiet understanding. And while she told Nancy about it, she didn't tell Tim.
She'd tell Lancelot, later.
She was too used to knowing how to get around getting in trouble with people. If they didn't know, they couldn't criticize. Couldn't punish. So she let Nancy know, to be safe, and then pretty much kept mum until there was a good time to tell Lancelot. Yes, that would work. He probably wouldn't think to forbid her.
And the kitchen was a brilliant idea, really. So she'd put on a simple dress, pretty but that would stand up to children in the kitchen, and fetched the kids along to the appointed place at the appointed time. Auri shyly clung to the back of her skirt again, but Felix regarded his surroundings with wide-eyed intensity.
"Come on, Auri," she urged quietly. The prospect of dragon pancakes was obviously exciting to the girl but she was still in her initial surge of shyness. "You remember your brother Tate."
And it was as simple as that. She wasn't going to start it off with a lie. "And I think you briefly met Mr Felix here," she said to Tate. "He can't do much in the kitchen but he's an excellent supervisor."
Tate tried extremely hard to keep the surprise off his face when Quin introduced him as brother. He smiled though, it was a relieved smile that lit up his face. A smile he probably had not actually had grace his face since his father had passed. “Yeah, that’s me.” As if the child needed some sort of confirmation. He knew it was silly but he wanted to say something. He was just thrilled that she seemed excited about the dragon pancakes, he had clearly chosen right.
When Quin mentioned the little man, he looked over at Felix. It was sill so very odd. He grinned though, “A good kitchen always has an excellent supervisor. I’m sure he’ll fit the bill.” He licked his lips nervously, and then in an oddly bold moment, he held his hands out for Felix. “Can I hold him?” He asked curiously, “Just a moment?” He could cook one handed, or at least show them how to start the pancakes one handed. It was a simple process. He would only need his hands when he would need his wand to make the shape.
Quin might avoid saying a hell of a lot of things, but very, very rarely did she lie. She wasn't about to lie to her children about who Tate was, even if Tim would probably end up hearing about it from Auri, who did tend to chatter. She was prepared to take the consequences of it.
It was the right thing to do, anyway.
Auri's smile was still shy but she did ease her way from behind her mother a bit. "You gave me the little play kitchen for Christmas," she announced as if Tate knew what he'd gotten her for the holiday. Quin hadn't told Tim that little tidbit, that instead of from her that the playset had been put in Tim's name, but she'd told Auri later, when they were alone. It hadn't slipped to her brother yet, probably because it only came to mind in a situation like this.
Quin caught Tate's eye and gave him a smile and a little bit of wide eyes to encourage him to please agree that he had given the girl the present. She'd never stopped giving them from the other relatives, not wanting the little girl to think that she was forgotten. Though the others usually "sent money" or something that they put away for special things later.
"Certainly. Just don't let him get burned." Felix transferred easily, and the almost-toddler immediately grabbed at Tate, hands bunching in shirt and hopefully not any hair. He did tend to like hair a bit too much still. "Fee, this is Tate. Can you say Tate?"
The boy prattled the name a few times proudly, large eyes meeting Tate's as he grinned broadly.
When Auri did speak to him, he caught the look from Quin just in time to nod his head at her and smiled. “I can show you how to use it properly sometime, if you want?” He’d even use magic so that they might be able to make a little cake. He wouldn’t leave with the kitchen set still magicked, he’d turn it back if it was just a normal muggle kit. He wouldn’t burn down Quin’s home, that was just rude.
As he took Felix though, Tate tried very hard to be careful. He put the toddler on his hip, one arm resting under the child’s rear to hold him up. It felt odd, he knew he could let his other hand free but because he was momentarily worried about dropping his brother when he said his damn name, he used the other hand to brace the little guy’s back. “I promise, no setting babies on fire.” He glanced at Auri, “You hear that too, right? You’re helping. You can’t set our little brother on fire.” There, he’d said it. He’d acknowledged that they were in fact his siblings and while it felt so strange? It felt right. He was thrilled to be there with them.
It was then that Tate took his wand from his pocket, summoning a stool big enough for Auri to be able to climb up and be near the stove to help. He then went about summing all of the things they’d need, using magic to bring them to the counter near where they would be making the pancakes. Once everything was there, including the bowl with the batter, he adjusted the almost-toddler on his hip. “Alright, if you give me your hand? I’ll help you up?” Tate hadn’t exactly forgotten about Quin, he was just doing his best to give her a few moments off. While he knew she had a nanny, he also knew that she didn’t let the nanny do nearly as much as most mother’s that had a nanny.
She nodded enthusiastically though she still half clung to the front of her mother's skirts now. It was always a process with Auri, though she was getting better at easing out of her shyness. She giggled at his teasing about setting Felix on fire. Surprisingly the two siblings thus far got on pretty well. Of course, Fee couldn't talk yet, so a lot might change once he did.
Quin stayed in the background, leaning companionably back against the counter for the moment. It was rare for her not to have to cook. She was watching but not hovering, mostly because she trusted Tate in the kitchen. They'd spent enough time in one together, and she could tell he was sober today. So she watched as Auri eagerly crawled up on the stool to help, though she was still a bit on the quiet side.
Tate held his hand out for Auri, helping her up on to the stool when she was climbing up. Once everyone was up at the correct level to help him, and by everyone it really was just Auri since he was keeping the toddler on his hip, he went to work.
Cooking with magic was a luxury that Tate didn’t get to enjoy too often, though pancakes were easy. He knew he would only need his magic in order to make sure that the pancakes stayed in the shape of dragons, he could have Auri help with flipping them and things with a spatula that he would use his magic to make big enough so that it would fit the entire dragon on it.
He started by showing Auri how they could pour the batter into the pan, that was to be one of her jobs. He would then use his wand so that he could shape the pancakes into what he wanted while she poured. That could easily be done with his free hand, not a single mess. As soon as the batter would give those tell-tale signs that it needed flipping, he helped Auri with the large spatula and flipped the dragons so that they were a gorgeous golden color, perfect. The process repeated, each dragon being made into the descriptions Auri was giving him for how that species looked. Well, at least big things. You could see the horns for the horn-tailed and such, so it was working… He hoped.
The entire time though Tate was making jokes, asking Auri more about the dragons, and actually learning a few things. He wasn’t at all surprised that she was so smart, their father had been, and he knew Quin was brilliant, it only made sense. He was sure that if she were to go to school at Ilvermory, she would be a Horned Serpent like he was. He was enjoying getting to know his little sister, even if she was significantly younger.
With the last of the batter, not enough to make one dragon, Tate turned it into a flame. It would just big enough for maybe Felix, but hey he figured they needed flames to go with the dragons. Once all the pancakes were on plates, he levitated them to the table, before he went about helping Auri down.
Auri was very careful and was as precise about pouring ad she could be at her age. Quin only ducked forward for a moment to make the container a little less full. But otherwise she didn't interfere at all.
Aside, of course, to watching her daughter as she warmed up to Tate more and grew more vibrant and completely absorbed in what she was doing, trying to be oh so careful. She even chattered some at Tate. It made Quin smile because she didn't want her daughter to suffer the same painful shyness she herself labored under.
Then she helped set the table, being quiet and unobtrusive as only as she could be.
It was as they were starting to finish up that Tate realized he didn’t have enough hands. Auri wasn’t big enough to hold the large plate filled with dinosaur pancakes, he still had his one hand full with Felix, and he still needed to help Auri down, put things away, and just… He had most definitely run out of hands. He was helping Auri down from the step ladder just as he looked up to find Quin, she had been so quiet but he hadn’t forgotten about her. He always knew when she was around, or at least he liked to believe he did. He always believed that he could sense her.
“You already set the table?” He couldn’t hide the astonishment from his voice then, his smile a bit lopsided as he helped Auri until her feet were firmly on the ground again. “Do you think you could take Felix? I’ll bring the food, drinks, and everything else once I grab my wand?” He tended to do things the muggle way too often, habit from training in mostly muggle ktichens over the years. It’s only recently that he had started working in more magical based places.
“Thank you, for agreeing to do this… Alec thought a good end goal for me might be one of those big family dinners I like.. The ones where we have a large table in the yard, everyone sits and east and hangs out..” He shook his head, “Anyway, he also thought it might be good if I got a dog? I’m still tossing that idea about. I mean, he didn’t say dog, he said animal. I’ve been to the shop on Victory Road a few times to see about getting a pet of my own.. I can’t seem to find anyone that wants to come with.” He was rambling at Quin and the room in general, since he was certain his sister might have input. She was at the perfect age to have input on such a subject.
"Yes. I thought it might help," she said. She had moved around so quietly and found the stuff relatively quickly. "Not a problem. Come to mummy, little man," she said, and the transfer went pretty easily. He was a friendly baby who liked to be with others or with his mum.
"I can grab something else if you need me to," she said as she led Auri over to the table to get her seated. She was able to get the children settled with relative ease, due to long habit, though likely she'd keep Fee on her lap as they ate.
"That sounds really nice and a goal to have. I know you'd love to cook for one of those." She and he had spent enough time over the years, before everything went south, cooking in a kichen for the family.
"I see you as more of a dog person. Or with cats as weird as mine," she said with a bit of a grin. She had to admit that her cats were rather... dog like in a lot of ways. "YOu should definitely talk to Rolf. But I'd be happy to go down there too, if you'd like."
Tate felt his heart swell as he handed off the little one, his smile a bit too over powering and big. She was a fantastic mother and he couldn’t have hoped for a better person to have the kids. He still didn’t understand why his siblings were fighting so hard to try to take those kids from Quin, she was a better mother than either of his siblings could ever be. They didn’t need the kids, they just wanted their father’s money. Tate would make a point to talk to them soon, hopefully get them off Quin’s back a bit.
“I don’t think so, I’ve got this.” He then pulled out his wand again, with another swish and flick, silent spells were done and soon everything was making it’s way to the table without Tate needing to carrying it over. He smiled at Quin as he came over to the table and sat down in his seat across from her and Auri. “I was hoping we might be able to eventually, the family dinner. Maybe before the summer is over?” He was hopeful that he might be able to reach that goal.
“I see myself as more of a dog person. I need to check with Melinda but I thought it might be nice.” He went about putting a pancake on each plate before he settled in. “I should check with Persephone too, she might not like dogs or animals. I would really like the help though, looking. You might have a better eye than I do.. I just want to be sure I choose the right one?”
Quin made a delighted face at her son as she took him, bouncing him up in her arms in a way that made the little boy make a loud, happy sound. She might be more reserved around other people, shy to the point of painfulness at times, but that never happened when her attention was on her children. Her self consciousness almost entirely vanished when she was around them.
"That would be wonderful. I would love for you to meet Lancelot at some point, too. He's become a bit part of our lives." It was said quietly and somewhat shyly, but that also wasn't abnormal for Quin.
"Well, obviously I'm easy with animals." She had a menagerie now, of sorts, after her brother had gotten the puppies. She wasn't sure that they'd be staying with him, given how often he was away, which meant the poofs would have to be under her care. "So how about one day here soon we just go look? No commitment. Rolf always has new animals coming and going."
Which meant she could go in and out at times and see if anything caught her eye for Tate. She liked visiting the shop anyway, and Rolf was ever so kind to her and the children.
“Who’s Lancelot?” Tate was sure that they had covered this at some point, he thought that might be who she had been dating. He wasn’t entirely positive though since he wasn’t sure if she had mentioned names. He shifted uncomfortably, instantly nervous. What if this man didn’t like having her exes son hanging about? He had so many questions already and she hadn’t even said if he was the damn nanny or her boyfriend.
Tate nodded his head, “Rolf has been nice. I’ve been in a few times. I’ve looked at everyone but… They just don’t seem.. I don’t know, I don’t think I’m very good at picking out animals. I’d likely be better at having Auri pick for me.” He said with a bright smile, then shooting a smile to her as well. “What do you think? You want to help me pick out a pet?” He had a feeling she might think he needed a dragon but he had a feeling Melinda wouldn’t like it if he burned down the apartment.
"Lancelot is my beau," she said quietly, hee thumb skimming over the back of her promise ring for reassurance. "He's a very sweet man and he adores the children." And her, bit that just sounded like bragging if she said it. "He's the head librarian at the Ministry library. That's where I met him."
"He knows a lot of things," Auri added cheerfully as she started in on her food.
The child then nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion she would help him. "Careful," Quin murmured with some amusement. "You'll end up with a whole menagerie. I limit her choosing to mg wardrobe for open Mic night with ZJ."
Tate couldn’t fault her. Sure, he really didn’t like the sound of it. He hated the fact that his father wasn’t around but he couldn’t expect the children or Quin to not move on. He knew that it wasn’t a replacement for his father, but the children needed a father figure in their lives. He nodded his head, smiling at both Quin and Auri. “I’d love to meet him. Especially if he knows lots.” He said with a chuckle, “He sounds great.” He meant it, he wanted to be a part of Quin and the children’s lives. If that meant this librarian… Well he’d get to know the boring man.
“What did she choose for that?” He asked curiously as he passed around the syrup and set everyone up with their plates. “What are you doing at an open mic night?” He vaguely remembered Quin’s cousin, enough to know that that was who ZJ was. He hadn’t seen the woman in years, he was sure that now that he was back in Quin’s life that was about to change.
Well, that went better than it could have, and she would be satisfied with it. He hadn't freaked out and he hadn't gotten outwardly mad, she'd been peeking to make sure. And she honestly had a feeling that Lancelot would surprise her stepson in a lot of ways. Definitely not your typical librarian.
"Brightly colored things out of her Aunt ZJ's closet," she said with a rueful little laugh. "Admittedly it all coordinated, so I had that much going for me." Auri it seemed had inherited her sense of taste, mostly, only it was more versatile.
"Oh, ZJ had an original song she wanted to do there, and I was her back up," she admitted, her cheeks going pink. "She talked me into it somehow."
Tate chuckled as he heard just what Auri had chosen. That was amusing, he had met ZJ only a handful of times, enough to know what the woman’s style looked like and know that Quin wouldn’t have willingly wore any of that if it wasn’t for Auri and ZJ. “Are there pictures of you in the outfit? I can’t imagine that there was much in her closet you would have willingly wore.” He was certain Quin had been able to pull the look off anyway.
His eyes grew wider though when Quin blushed, “You were the backup?” He chuckled, “Holy sh-“ His eyes grew wider as he looked at Auri and gave her a cheesy smile. He had not said shit, he had sh, that had to count as stopping himself, right? He hoped that since he had never really had to watch his mouth around kids previously, he was doing pretty good.
“Did you have fun with it? Have you ever done something like that before?” He was curious since she was so quiet normally, it was so out of her realm. “What sort of music is it?” That was another thing he was having problems picturing.
"Oh my God I hope there isn't," she said, mildly aghast at the thought that there might actually be photos of her in that outfit. She might never have worn it except ZJ had given her a nice shot of something very alcoholic that convinced her it wouldn't be that bad, really.
She barely wagged her finger at him at his near slip, though it was obvious from her expression she wasn't upset. It was honestly inevitable at this point that her child learn a bad word at some point. "I was back up and I played the guitar for her. She wrote the lyrics and I helped her write the rest."
"Yes, I had fun, especially when she made me take shots so I wouldn't pass out. No, I haven't before, but yes, I will again if she asks." And actually had plans to do so soon, but she so wasn't going to tell him that. The last thing she wanted was for him to show up and listen to them. "Right now it's rock, basically, but I think we're going to be trying some different things soon."
Tate snickered, that meant there might be pictures out there someplace. “You’re clearly not hip to the times, mum.” He teased her then, a playful smile accompanying his words. “Everyone has a camera on their phone now, there will definitely be pictures. Hell, if not this time, I’ll be sure to get them next time.” He hoped there would be a next time, she said there might be! He was hopeful.
“That’s neat though, are you helping her write any of it? You could try your hand at some lyrics too. I bet you’d be good with that sort of thing.” Tate had all the confidence in the world in Quin, she had this sort of quality about her that he thought meant she could do anything she set her mind to. He realized he saw her a bit differently than the rest of the world but the rest of the world had not lived with the woman and watched her overcome ridiculous odds.
“Does Auri play anything yet?” It had just dawned on him then, he was curious if the pint sized Sewell had picked up a bug from her mother for music.
"Oh no you're so not going to be there," she said, still looking mildly horrified at the thought of him or someone else taking pictures of her like that. She liked doing it with ZJ but she still had her uncomfortable moments.
"Not the words, just the music bits," she said. Unless it was just rearranging stuff to make it fit better with the tune and all. "I don't think I could actually write lyrics." She didn't think she could do it.
She shook her head. "Not really. She can pick out something on the piano but she's much more interested in drawing than in music so far."
Tate just chuckled, "Sure, I won't be there." Though he very clearly sounded amused. He wasn't about to take that for an answer. He knew who ZJ was, enough that he was sure he could find a way to get in touch with her and find out when this next outing might be. He would even see about getting some pictures, they were making memories and it was a shame that no one had started to document it yet.
"She can already pick out things on the piano? Do you think I could see some of her work sometime?" He meant the art, he was a bit impressed with the little one so far. She was interesting, that was for sure. "Did Nancy give you that gift? For her?" He didn't know how to subtly ask, he wanted to ask in a way that if she had not given the toy to the little one she might not be upset about not getting it.
She eyed him with a bit of alarm, her eyes wide as if she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't, though she asn't a person to whom that sensation was regular.
"Just a few short tiny things I've shown her. But like I said, she much prefers art," she said. "And yes, there's plenty of her stuff around the house. I think I might see if I can find an instructor this summer, if it holds her interest."
She nodded. "She did," she said more softly. After, Nancy had assured her, having her auror friend check it out.
Tate gave a chuckle and nodded his head. "I'll ask around and see if I know anyone." He offered, he doubted he had any friends in the art world that would be up for teaching his sister. He didn't know if he really had any art friends that were not somehow related to his ex. He would see if he could find someone not connected to her though.
The little family continued to finish breakfast, Tate teasing his stepmother, getting Auri to laugh, and it felt normal. Tate wasn't worried that his father's ghost would round a corner at any second and he wasn't worried that Quin would take the kids away. It was a good family meal that he'd been craving since his father had passed away.