'TIS THE DAMN SEASON

1.

Having witnessed the struggle, James opts to step in, preparing himself for the fight, the horrors of it, whatever is to come as soon as he leaves his perchment on the sofa, discarding his coffee for a moment.

"Regulus, darling, here, gimme those," James can not bare to watch Regulus tussle with the glowing Christmas tree lights any longer. He extends his hand to his boyfriend, who merely shrugs and hands them over.

"Would've gotten it sorted eventually, y'know?" Regulus tuts.

"I'm afraid Christmas would have been over by then, m'lovely," James teases with a smirk. Regulus rolls his large silver eyes, resting a hand to the small of his back, arching slightly. "Everything okay? Your back isn't sore again, is it?" James inquires gently, abandoning the lights to the nearby coffee table for now, just in case his boyfriend may happen to be dying right before his eyes.

"M'fine," Regulus reassures. "We're okay," He promises, stroking a hand down his belly.

James smiles. Regulus' due date falls in the middle of January. They're almost there. They had decided that this will definitely be Regulus' last pregnancy, despite how Sirius smirks smugly every time this is reminded. The couple want to make this one a little bit special by allowing Regulus to relax and take it a lot more easier than he has been before.

"She'll be here soon," James reminds gently.

Regulus grins. "I know, very soon," He replies. "I just hope the boys will adjust well," He frowns slightly. "Especially Bell, he's been the baby for two years, I'm not sure how he's going to take this," By this, Regulus means his swollen belly.

Bellamy, their youngest, James will argue is perhaps not going to adjust all too fondly. He loves having his mother all to himself, he enjoys being babied. All of that is going to alternate slightly once their baby girl arrives.

Their little Bellamy Roman Potter.

Ergo, James and Regulus are doing their very best to make this Christmas a memorable one, hoping their three sons will be much too occupied with their new gifts to even consider becoming hostile towards their new sister.

"I think Theo and Max will be fine, though," Regulus remarks as James pulls him in by his still considerably narrow waist. He gently brushes their lips together. "Theo was amazing with Maxy and Bell when they were born. He's a natural big brother,"

James snorts. "Uncle Pads taught him that, I reckon,"

Regulus smirks wildly. "Oi, not funny," He laughs.

As James slowly pulls Regulus in to connect their lips, a little voice interrupts them. "Mummy! Daddy!" The voice persists, entering the cosy living room. "I wanna help put up the tree,"

Regulus looks down to see Theo, whom of which refuses to be called Theodore anymore, standing nearby, an excited look upon his face. Regulus smiles, bending down to face his son as much as his bump will allow him. "Theo, love, of course you can help. Why don't you go grab your brothers and we can all put up the decorations, hmm?" Regulus hums.

"And then daddy can make us some hot chocolate, right, mum?"

James laughs faintly. "Yes, daddy will make everybody hot chocolate," He agrees, ruffling his sons hair. "Now, go on, make sure Bell is all rested from his nap,"

Theo soons returns, Max's hand clutching at little Bellamy's, most indefinitely to ensure his newly found walking skills don't fail him. "Come on, Belly, you can pick the best decorations!" Max tells his baby brother.