Bejeweled
Remus was happy. As he stood by the fireplace with a cup of tea watching Sirius, Teddy, Ted, Lyall and Andy play Monopoly Junior, his mum appeared at his side.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw that look on your face.” She said softly. “You look so peaceful, Blodyn Tatws.”
“Everything’s pretty great, mam.” He said, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders. “It’s a peaceful feeling.”
“If Sirius keeps doing so well at Monopoly, it won’t be peaceful for long.” She laughed, “I can’t believe you actually took him a drawing.”
“It was your idea.” He said. “It worked, didn’t it? And now it’s hanging in his locker at the station.”
“You’re clearly a good match then.” She said.
Remus had been a little nervous about Sirius meeting his parents. He didn’t know why, as he’d told Sirius multiple times, he knew they were going to love him. Sure enough, within five minutes, Hope had declared him ‘a lovely young man’ and Lyall had warmed to him instantly.
“Teddy, I just saw you take two five-hundreds,” Sirius said. “You’ve got to be sneakier than that, mate.”
“Sirius!” Andy laughed, “Don’t encourage him.”
Sirius winked at Remus over Andy’s head and Remus sighed happily. “If you’d told me months ago, as I was glueing up his arm, trying to make sure his tattoo wasn’t wonky, that he’d be in my house, playing board games with my family, encouraging Teddy to cheat at Monopoly, and making me so bloody happy, I’d have laughed in your face.”
“Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Remus hummed happily. “I don’t think I realised how empty this house felt for a lot of the last few years.”
“Tonks would find this hilarious, you know,” Hope said.
Remus nodded, there was a slight wave of sadness but when it hit him, he was able to acknowledge it and let it pass. “She’d also love that he’s here. Away from his parents, surrounded by people who love him.” Remus looked at Hope and his mouth dropped open.
“Oh, Is that new information to you?” She grinned. “As soon as you started talking to me and Andy about him, it was obvious to me. If it was just a vague attraction, you wouldn’t have been moping around like a miserable little gremlin.”
Remus snorted, “I wish I could deny that.” Teddy appeared at his side. “Alright, love? Who won?”
“Sirius,” he rolled his eyes with a smile. “We’re going to play Cluedo next, you and Gran want to play?”
“We’d love to,” said Hope. “Let’s go solve a murder.”
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“Hey Cara,” Remus said approaching the check-in desk.
Caradoc looked up, surprised. “You come here on your days off now?” He took one look at Remus’ worried face, “Sorry, Remus. What’s wrong?”
“Sirius has abdominal pain. Lower right quadrant, pain is worse on releasing after pressing on it. He’s thrown up four times in the last hour.”
Caradoc looked past him to where Sirius was slouched in one of the hard plastic chairs and at Teddy holding his hand. “Alright, let’s get him looked at right away.”
Dorcas called them through in less than three minutes and grimaced when she saw how pale Sirius was.
“I thought we were done with you bringing yourself here to flirt with Remus.” She said, “Lie down on the bed please.”
“We can wait outside unless you want us here?” Remus looked at Sirius. He hadn’t seen him look scared before, and it was clear that he was battling with whether what he wanted was okay to ask for. “Alright, we’ll stay. It’s alright. You’re in good hands. Not as good as mine but—” Dorcas shot him a look and he smiled, he pulled out his phone and opened the merge game that Teddy liked. “Have a seat here, cyw. I’m on hand-holding duty.”
As Remus suspected, it was appendicitis and he’d need surgery to remove it before it burst. It was strange being on the other side of things, he felt surprisingly helpless. He called James and let him know what was going on, and laughed when he said something similar to Dorcas.
“I love that nobody believes that he’s that accident-prone when I literally saw him trip over a sock yesterday.” He said.
“But you were there to catch him. See, it all makes sense.” James laughed, “Thanks for letting me know. If you need anything, need us to come down there or whatever, just let me know.”
“Thanks, he shouldn’t be in too long after surgery, a day or two at most. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know.”
He took Teddy to the cafe and they shared a piece of chocolate cake while Sirius was taken down to surgery.
“He’s going to be alright, isn't he?” Teddy asked, “He was really gross looking.”
Remus laughed softly, “He’s going to be fine. They’re going to take out his appendix, which is a tiny little squishy thing about... here,” He poked Teddy in the tummy, “That humans don’t need anymore. It was helpful when we used to eat things like tree bark. Mmmm, delicious!” Teddy giggled, “It’s a surgery that those doctors do every day, so they know what they’re doing. They’ll make three little cuts in his tummy and pop in a camera so they can see what's going on in there and then they'll use some tiny surgical tools to take it out and make sure everything’s fine. It’ll take them about an hour, so they can take their time. Then Sirius will need to go into a recovery room for a little while so they can check him over and make sure he’s ok once he wakes up, and then they’ll bring him back to his bed on the ward and we can see him.” Remus smiled at his son, “Also I’m going to tell him that you said he was gross-looking!”
“No!” Teddy laughed, “He was though, all grey and sweaty.”
“You need to work on your bedside manner, Teddy bach.” He said. “Do you want another piece of cake?”
By the time Sirius was settled back in his bed, he was feeling less wonky from the anaesthetic and the painkillers were helping. He smiled as he saw Remus and Teddy approaching.
Remus kissed him on the forehead and smoothed back his hair. He’d braided it into two plaits before Sirius went into surgery, but some of the hair around his face had slipped out.
“How are you feeling, Seren bach?” He asked, pulling the chair closer to Sirius’ bed and setting Teddy on his knee.
“Sleepy.” Sirius rested his hand on top of Remus’ hand that was supporting Teddy. “Thank you for staying.”
Remus was taken aback, “Of course we stayed, cariad.” He looked at Sirius’ dopey smile and chuckled.
“Do you feel better now?” Teddy asked warily.
“Yes, definitely.” Sirius nodded slowly, “It hurts to move around, and I’m a little loopy probably,” Remus nodded to confirm, “Shut up. But my tummy feels much better now. Sorry if I worried you.” He looked up at Remus, “both of you.”
After James, Lily and Harry came during visiting hours, they took Teddy home with them for dinner. Remus watched Sirius eye the hospital food suspiciously.
“This is what you feed people?”
“You say that like I personally cooked this abomination.” Remus laughed, “I promise I’ll cook you whatever you want when you’re out.”
“Even lasagne?” Sirius perked up at the promise.
“If that’s what you want,” Remus said, smiling at him.
“As long as you’re there, I’d eat whatever this is,” He gestured to the plate in front of him, “Every day of my life. But lasagne would be preferable, yes please.”
“I love you,” Remus said fondly.
Sirius’ mouth dropped open, “You do?” Remus nodded, “I love you too.”
“I’m so glad we chose such a romantic setting for this conversation.” Remus linked their fingers, tracing a small arc across the back of Sirius’ hand with his thumb.
“You mean the beep of monitors doesn’t get you going?” Sirius gasped dramatically. “Well, maybe I need to rethink things now.”
“Shut up, London,” Remus said, grinning at the man who loved him. "If the beep of monitors got me going, I'd need to find a new job."
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“I know we joked about it ages ago, but do you fancy going to London at some point?” Sirius asked as they lay on Remus’ lawn, looking up at the night sky.
It had been almost eight months since Sirius’ birthday and Sirius spent most nights at Remus and Teddy’s house now. Remus knew that Sirius’ lease was up in a few months, and hoped that he’d move in with them then. When he thought about dating before Sirius, he’d always said he’d wait at least six months before they ever met Teddy and it would be years before he’d let anyone move in, but life certainly had other plans. He’d talk to Teddy closer to the time, but knowing how much Teddy adored Sirius, and the feeling was mutual, that would be a very easy conversation.
“Yeah, I suppose I should see what all the fuss is about. You’d take me to all your old haunts?” He asked, turning his head to look at Sirius, who nodded, “Tell me.”
“Camden Market, obviously. Go and see a show in the West End, no Andrew Lloyd Webber, though. And I know you love a good morbid stroll, so Highgate Cemetery is a must.”
“You’ll take me on a date to a cemetery?”
“Don’t pretend like you’re not super into it. You love walking around graveyards and trying to find the oldest grave like it’s a creepy old game. I know you, Remus John Lupin, and you’re going to love it, you morbid little shit. So yes, I'm going to take you on a date to a cemetery.”
“You do know me.” He kissed Sirius’ cheek. “That all sounds good. Maybe I judged London too quickly after all.”
“I also fancy going back to my tattoo artist in Shoreditch and getting Harry’s drawing put on my hand.” He turned his face so Remus’ next kiss caught him on the lips. “You could get one too. Pandora is amazing.”
“Of course, your tattoo artist from Shoreditch is called Pandora.” He laughed, “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea actually. I’ve been meaning to for a few years, but I just never got round to it.”
“Something for Tonks?” Sirius asked, with a smile.
“Yeah, she loved daisies, so I’m thinking something with daisies. Maybe I’ll brainstorm with Teddy.”
“That sounds beautiful.” Sirius kissed him. “Like you.”
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Sirius had been living with Remus and Teddy for three months and things were wonderful. Remus thought that it should have been a lot more difficult to bring someone into their home and routine, but Sirius not only slotted in perfectly, but his presence made everything better. Movie nights with Teddy squeezed between them on the sofa, cooking dinner together and waking up to Sirius’ face every morning made the wonky small stuff more than worthwhile.
Managing their work schedules took some getting used to at first, but within a few weeks, and after trying three different calendar formats, they figured out a system that worked.
Sirius had bought the three of them a long weekend in London for Remus’ 30th birthday in March. He’d also put down a deposit with Pandora so Remus could get his daisy tattoo. Remus wasn’t used to being doted upon, but one look at Sirius dispelled any unease he had about it.
As they lay in bed one weekend in January, Remus was restless.
“Talk to me, Moons,” Sirius said.
“It’s nothing major.” Sirius nodded, waiting for him to continue. “When you brought Harry in with his broken wrist, and I assumed he was your son, you said that you weren’t responsible enough to have a kid and that you weren’t dad material.” Remus considered his next words carefully. “I was just wondering, a year and a bit on if you felt any different.”
Sirius smiled up at him, “I can’t believe you remember that. That was only the second time we met, wasn’t it?” Remus nodded, “Moons, I love you, and I love Teddy, and I’ll obviously never be Teddy’s dad, because that’s you. But if there’s something else that signifies to both of you that I’m all in, then that’s what I want to be.”
“Marry me,” Remus said in a low voice.
Sirius took in his soft smile and the way his eyes shone, “For real?”
“For real.” Remus nodded.
“Yes,” Sirius said against Remus’ lips before he kissed him. “Oh, Davey’s going to be so disappointed that I didn’t get to— Nah, one sec.” He looked deep in thought for a few seconds. Long enough for Remus to panic slightly despite his enthusiastic acceptance moments before. “lleuad bach, fy nghariad. Wnei di fy mhriodi?”
Remus audibly gasped and then laughed wetly. “Ie wrth gwrs.” He laughed again at Sirius’ baffled face. “Yes, of course. I can’t believe you learnt that. You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever…Oh fuck, I hadn’t planned on crying.”
Sirius wiped away the tears rolling down Remus’ cheeks. “I also learnt ‘dwi'n dy garu di gymaint’. I’m still working on,” he gestured vaguely, “you know, the rest of the words. But I’m quite pleased with the reception to my studies.”
“I’ve never been so happy that someone got hit by a piece of a fucking building,” Remus said.
“Please include that in your vows.” Sirius smiled against Remus’ lips as he kissed him.
“Oh! Wait!” Remus laughed as he sat up and opened the drawer next to the bed, pulling out a small box. “I’d planned to do something a bit more flashy than just asking you in bed, sorry.”
Sirius grinned as he lifted his side of the mattress slightly, pulling out a similar box. “Same, though. I was going to wait until we were in London in March.”
“Yep, me too.” Remus laughed as he opened the box, showing Sirius the delicate black ring inside.
“Oh, that’s perfect.” He held out his hand and felt himself tearing up as Remus slid the ring onto his finger. “Moons, I love it.” He cupped Remus’ face in his hands and kissed him sweetly.
He handed Remus the box and let him open it. Remus inhaled sharply when he saw the thin silver band set with three tiny blue stones. “Two aquamarines for you and Teddy and a blue Topaz for me.”
“It’s beautiful.” He let Sirius slide it onto his finger and then stared at it, “It fits!”
“Yeah, I tied string round your finger while you were asleep months ago,”
“I just measured the ring that you wear on your right hand when you were in the shower, like a normal person.” Remus kissed the tip of his nose.
“If you’re more comfortable wearing it around your neck than on your hand, I’m totally fine with that.” He said. He hadn’t known how Remus would feel about a ring, as he still wore his wedding band around his neck.
“No, I like how it looks on my hand. Thank you, though. For even thinking about that.” Sirius shrugged, “I just love you so fucking much. There aren’t even words.”
“If only there were other ways to express love.” Sirius grinned at him as Remus rolled his eyes, putting both of the ring boxes on his bedside table before pulling Sirius flush against him. “Wow, I meant a tasteful greeting card and a bunch of flowers, Moony!”
“Shut up.” Remus muttered as he kissed his way down Sirius’ neck.