have ten kids and teach 'em how to dream
James Potter does his own stunts. He has been, for the entirety of his career, which includes the remake of The Hunger Games he did in 2024, and a particularly daring action-packed piece he just wrapped work on. That is to say, he has had to do some incredibly challenging and difficult things in his life, including jumping off a plane, but his toddler's bedtime routine is by far the biggest challenge he's had to tackle.
"I want papa," Lucienne stomps her foot, clad in a baby blue onesie, and she lifts her chin up defiantly. Her silvery blonde hair is tied up in a semblance of pigtails, half of it spilling down her back, which is a testament to just how helpless James is with it. He has half a mind to call Sirius and ask him to get his ass here and put his daughter's hair in order.
James crouches so that he's at eye-level with her and reaches a hand so she can wrap her tiny fingers around his.
"I know, babygirl," he says softly, "I miss him too, which is why we'll FaceTime him but only once you've brushed your teeth."
"I want papa now," she repeats, more stubbornly this time, and she nods her head insistently, sending her messy pigtails into a flurry. Still hanging onto James’s finger, she pouts, lower lip trembling, big blue eyes filling to the brim with tears. That seems to do the trick, because James heaves a heavy sigh, wrapping his arms around her little body and lifting her off the floor. The stuffed wolf toy (courtesy of Remus) she's been gripping in her hand drops to the floor, abandoned at the prospect of seeing Regulus.
"Papa," she squeals excitedly, clapping her hands, tears gone without a trace.
"Did uncle Siri teach you that?" James rolls his eyes as he carries her into her bedroom. He'll have to have a talk with Sirius about training his daughter in the art of emotional manipulation when he gets the chance to.
Lucienne's New York bedroom is her favorite by far, painted various shades of blue culminating in the ceiling which depicts a star-splattered night sky. He plops her in the center of her bed, which is too big for her but which she will ultimately grow into, crowded with pillows and blankets, and her collection of stuffed animals that she largely ignores, choosing instead to devote her attention to the puppy and wolf she's had since the day she was born.
James often tells Regulus that they are definitely spoiling her too much, what with the various exquisitely decorated rooms filled with more toys she could ever realistically play with, and the fact that whatever Luci wants, Luci gets, but he only does so out of obligation to at least attempt to be reasonable. In reality, he probably spoils her at least as much as Reg does, if not more.
She sits in the middle of her bed, surrounded by the cloudlike halo of her comforter, face plastered with a content grin and she claps her hands again, almost vibrating with excitement. He's beginning to think that he should listen to Regulus and not fold every time she asks for candy. James curls up on the bed, pulling her into his lap, and takes his phone out to call his husband.
"Papa," Lucienne squeals when she sees his face fill up the screen. Regulus’s features soften, and despite the fatigue in his eyes and the tightness in his jaw, his face lights up.
"Mon coeur," he says in a singsong voice, pressing kisses into the camera and Luci waves her hands at the screen as if to reach into it and touch her dad. James leans down and presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her baby scent that he loves so much, trying to telepathically convey it to Regulus too, across the country.
"Come home," she coos, pouting her lower lip again and blinking her eyes to summon the tears.
"Don't buy into that," James interjects, "your brother has done his magic and taught her to fake cry so she can get her way."
"Well, he just lost babysitting privileges," Regulus says, but he still laughs, then turns his attention to Lucienne, "I miss you, mon ange, I promise I'll be home before you know it."
"Soon?" she says, eyes widening.
"Sooner if you promise Papa that you'll listen to Daddy and make his life easier by brushing your teeth," James mumbles, which in turn causes Regulus to scowl.
"You give her too much sugar," he says, rubbing his forehead in pretend-annoyance, "which is why she's such a menace when you try to put her to bed."
"It's why I'm her favorite," James teases.
"Are not," Regulus says at the same time as Luci chimes in to disabuse him of the notion, "Are not."
"Listen, mon ange," Regulus turns to her, trying to fight back his grin, but James knows he'll be rubbing it in his face later, "If you go brush your teeth and go to bed now, I'll be there when you wake up. But if you don't, Daddy will let me know and I'll be gone for one more day."
She starts nodding her head enthusiastically, nearly tripping in her efforts to jump out of bed and run to the bathroom. James follows her closely behind, flipping the camera so Regulus can watch her pull her little stool up to the sink and climb up to reach the faucet. It's not like he doesn't get to see her brush her teeth almost every night, but with how much they both have to travel, neither of them wants to miss even the mundane, minute details of their children's lives.
"You having fun?" James asks, his own face softening at the sight of Regulus. He wonders when they'll both tire of orbiting around each other, barely missing each other by a day with their various work-related engagements and when they'll finally retire so they can live the rest of their lives in peace.
Regulus scowls at that, lips forming a thin line.
"God," he says, "Not in the slightest. I mean it, I'll be on the jet home as soon as I'm done here."
He's in LA, recording a Jimmy Fallon interview as part of the rollout for his new album. It's something he kept rescheduling so that James could be done filming and home with the kids before Regulus left. They try to leave them alone with other people as little as they can. Reg never wants his children to feel like either of them doesn't want to be around them. It's made their schedules a lot more difficult to manage, but people are surprisingly pliant and accommodating when you mention that you're doing this for your children.
"See," Lucienne is saying now, feet pattering on the tiled bathroom floor as she runs up to James, "all done."
She opens her mouth wide open, baring all her teeth as if to show how pearly white they are.
"Good job, princess," James says, ruffling her already messy hair as Regulus offers a "Mon dieu, are you trying to blind me?" from the other end of the line.
"Let's tuck you in now, shall we?"
James watches Lucienne run across the room, hurling herself at the bed with a battle cry, and he shakes his head. They're lucky Ardara is a heavy sleeper because Lucienne's limitless supply of energy more often than not manifests itself in loud yelps and squeals as she jumps and runs around the house, inexhaustible.
"All tucked in?" he asks as she crawls under the covers, pulling them all the way up to her chin. She nods excitedly.
James perches on the edge of the bed, flipping the call to the front camera again so Regulus can say good night.
"Remember, Luci," he says, "The sooner you sleep, the sooner papa will be there."
"Night papa," she says, waving her hand at the screen, "I love you."
"Je t'aime, mon coeur," Regulus says, sending kisses through the camera once more. "Bonne nuit."
"Goodnight, princess," James's lips brush her forehead gently.
"I swear," he says to Regulus as soon as he's turned out the big light in Luci's room and slid out into the hallway, "she acts more and more like Sirius with each passing day."
Reg's soft laughter pours out through the speaker, echoing around the empty house.
"We can only hope Ardara turns out more like Remus then," he sighs, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He glances over his shoulder, seemingly at someone who's cracked the door of his dressing room open and is whispering hurriedly. "I have to go soon but I wanna see him too."
Doing his best to keep quiet, he slips into the nursery and tiptoes to the crib, flipping the camera once again so Regulus can take a look at their sleeping son. He looks peaceful, wrapped in his yellow blankie, hands folded into tiny fights and raised up next to his head. Yeah, definitely more like Remus, James thinks.
"Look at you, mon chou," Regulus coos, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, "Papa loves you so much. You're so loved, Ardara."
James’s fingers gently brush over the baby's little fist, but he doesn't dare do more for fear of rousing him. He just fed him and rocked him to sleep a while ago, with the help of Lucienne's soft humming, so he'd rather not disturb his slumber. Once he's made sure that Ardara is still fast asleep, he returns to Luci's room to check on her.
"Out like a light," he whispers to Regulus, shutting the door soundlessly so as to not stir her up.
"Thank you, Jamie," Regulus says, sounding even more tired now as he rubs his eyes with the backs of his palms like an oversized black cat, "You're so good with them."
"Ah," James murmurs softly, heart almost bursting with all the love he feels for him, "somebody's gotta win the Dad of the Year award."
"That'll be me," Reg teases, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he breaks into a smile, "but nice try, love."
"The game is on, Black," he says, mock seriousness coloring his voice, "Try and out-dad me if you can."
"Challenge accepted, Potter," Reg glares at him through the screen but he can't hold his steely gaze for too long when he's looking at James. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah," James hums. "Fly safe, okay? I love you."
"Je vous aime tous," Regulus whispers, pressing one last kiss against the camera before he hangs up.
Spent, James collapses in their bed, burying his head in Regulus’s pillow, inhaling his scent.
They'll be alright.