CANNONBALL ⇒ jegulus

TWELVE

Try as they might, neither Regulus nor Sirius can seem to pry themselves away from Andromeda as she squeezes them both into her arms.

"It's a ruddy good thing you two are so fragile, I can hug the two of you at once," Andromeda smiles softly. "God, I'll miss you two! Come back as soon as you can, I don't want to miss a second of your pregnancy, Reg," She adds.

Sirius rolls his eyes fondly. "At this rate, I don't even know if there is a baby in there," He gestures to his brother's skinny frame. "You're twelve weeks, shouldn't there be at least the beginnings of a baby bump by now?"

Regulus scoffs. "You've caught me, I'm trying to trap James Potter," He chuckles. Sirius grins at him as James turns his head, stepping away from his conversation with Ted and his daughter, an excitedly chatting little girl with wild pink hair curtsy of wash out hair chak.

"Oi, did I hear my name?" James approaches the trio of Blacks. He rests a hand to Regulus' shoulder, it's a subconscious move but neither shrug it off.

Andromeda chuckles. "You better take care of him," She warns, nodding towards James' palm on Regulus' shoulder, only half joking, or at least Regulus suspects so, anyways. "Bring them both back in one piece for me!"

James nods firmly. "Course I'll look out for Reg, he's carrying extremely precious cargo," He smiles softly. "Hey, Andromeda, you wanna see the sprog?"

Regulus rolls his eyes as he drifts towards his cousin's husband, leaving James to show off their child. Just as he's about to gently yank a piece of Nymphadora's brightly dyed hair, the woman he had been avoiding all morning approaches him.

"Regulus!" Euphemia Potter greets with her warm, bubbly smile. "I was wondering when our paths would cross again, I though James was hiding you out on me!" She jokes. "How are you doing, love? James has shown me the sonogram, lovely little one already, aren't they just precious!"

Regulus bits his lip before replying. He has never been necessarily good with parents; his own in particular, so the idea of making small talk with the future grandmother of his child makes his blood run cold. His therapist certainly hadn't prepared him for this kind of a scenario. He forces a smile, grinning at James' mother.

"Hi, Mrs. Potter, I'm okay, thanks," Regulus answers. "Baby's good too,"

This woman had practically raised his brother yet Regulus can't find his words, he cringes deeply at his reply, but Euphemia doesn't seem to mind.

Regulus feels a large overwhelming sense of raw guilt as he talks to the grandmother of his child. He still hasn't told James about his accidental drinking and smoking within the weeks leading up to the discovery of his baby. He half wonders if it is even worth bringing up at this point in time, bur the guilt makes him feel heavy with shame.

He surely can not face Euphemia with that weighing on his shoulders.

"Oh, honey, Mrs. Potter makes me feel old, Euphemia is fine!" Euphemia waves him off. "Well, I suppose becoming a grandma makes me feel old too!" She laughs softly. "You two certainly got straight to it, eh? Fleamont and I were almost in our forties when James came about! Congratulations, by the way,"

Regulus laughs at this. Like most things in his life, James himself was strategically planned. James' parents had been to many, many, many fertility clinics and doctors that specialized in the area of pregnancy, in search of their very own baby and had even suffered quite a number of miscarriages before somehow; Euphemia found herself pregnant with James, and the shaggy haired boy had been greatly treasured since.

Somehow, James' parents struggled immensely to fall pregnant with him, but yet their son managed to knock up his best friend's little brother their first night spent together. Ironic, Regulus thinks.