SPLITAPARTS: lessons in love ✔️

The Best Christmas Present Ever - Part Five

Sirius opened his eyes to greet the day. Feeling Cassie nestled in his arms was something he never dared to think he'd feel again. Outside, he could hear birds chirping and there was a pale blue light barely making its way through the curtains: the sun was rising.

"Shh—you'll wake her up."

"Hmm," Cassie asked sleepily.

"The birds. They're noisy."

"Mmhmm."

"Happy Christmas Dee," he said sleepily.

"Mmm—Merry Christmas, Sirius."

"Care to have another go?"

"What, three times wasn't enough?"

He shrugged his shoulders and removed his arm from around her and rolled over, pulling the blankets off of her.

"HEY!?"

He craned his neck to look behind him, a lusty grin on his face and she giggled. In the blink of an eye, he whipped his body around to face hers and pulled the blankets over their heads and lavished her with affectionate kisses; then he stopped abruptly.

"Ahh—Ryan's awake. Should we give him a show," he asked shamelessly.

"Tell him to go back to sleep. Remus isn't even here yet."

"He's not tired. In fact, his curiosity is quite piqued."

"Tell him to go back to sleep, or not only will he miss Christmas, but I will transfigure him into a catnip mouse and his sister and Crookshanks can torture him for the day."

"Ooh, you're a brutal one, aren't you—"

"Well, I don't want to have a voyeur for a son."

"Ohhhh, I think he got the message loud and clear," Sirius said grinning. She sat up and reached for her glass of wine. "Oh no you don't. I've heard that alcohol even in moderation is not a good idea during pregnancy." he said as he reached over her, grabbed it and emptied the contents of the glass into his mouth and swallowed.

"But I'm thirsty."

"Then I'll go downstairs and fetch a glass of water and on the way back, scold our boy for ruining our moment."

"And besides, how do you know I'm pregnant?"

He withdrew the blankets and reached for his housecoat and house shoes. "There are some things that being Padfoot helps me with—I have better vision, excellent hearing, and my sense of smell is fairly accurate—But the truth is that I really don't know yet, but better safe than sorry. We don't have the best luck you know, Dee."

She looked confused and she yawned, as she took in his last words and tried to make sense of them.

"Give it a few days, m'kay? I'll be back straight away," he said and he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She sat up and the blankets fell to her waist. He turned to look at her, taking a mental picture: her mussed hair cascading down her shoulders, breasts exposed to the cool air and sleepy eyes...she looked very much like she did the first morning of her first pregnancy with the twins. He smiled and reached down to kiss her. He had a vague recollection of having taken a photo with a muggle Polaroid camera.

"You're going to spoil me again aren't you?"

"That's the idea," he said as he reached for the doorknob, opened the door and stepped through the threshold into the tiny corridor. Ryan opened his door and peered out to find his father walking past his room. "I've a bone to pick with you."

"I'm sorry?"

"Your mother expects a certain level of privacy. So do I."

"I know, Sir—"