KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU ⇒ jegulus one shots

CONGRATULATIONS, HONEY

James sighs heavily, sliding down the side of the bathtub in Sirius and Remus' bathroom. He rests his head in his hands, the positive pregnancy tests laying next to him. He looks up through cracked fingers as the doorhandle begins to rattle a little bit.

"Uncle Prongs?"  A small, juvenile voice calls. "Uncle Prongs?" Unka P-wrongs. Little Mila Lupin Black has horrible pronunciation. "Uncle Prongs??" She urges.

James can hear Remus bundle her up. "C'mere, love. Give uncle Prongs a second," He murmurs to her, before knocking. "James? Everything....everything's alright, isn't it?"

James shakes his head, a muffled sob leaving his mouth. "Rems....it's....it's positive," He utters.

Remus is quiet for a moment before, "Can I come in?" He asks.

"Please," James' voice is hoarse and croaky.

Remus cracks open the door and shakes his head sadly at the sight of James leaning his back against the bathtub, a total of four positive pregnancy tests glaring up at him. Mila is hooked around Remus' hip, she gazes down at James with her large brown eyes.

"Uncle Prongs?" Mila offers, quieter this time.

James shakes his head, he can't bring himself to look at his niece.

Remus frowns. He tightens his grip on his three year old daughter before lowering himself to the cool bathroom tiles, sitting next to James. "Oh, mate," Remus says. "S'okay, you're okay," He reaches a hand out to comb his fingers soothingly through James' ruffled hair. Mila's much smaller hand joins her mother's and James almost feels safer.

James rubs at his eyes. "I don't know what to do," He whispers, looking to Remus with glassy eyes. "Moony, tell...tell me what to do," He murmurs tearfully.

Remus sighs softly. "James, hon, you have to tell him, he's...he's going to be okay with this,"

James swallows thickly, loudly. "I...I can't," His face crumples again.

Mila rubs her small hand over James' nose, frowning. "You want some jellybeans, uncle Prongs? Make you feel happy? Better?" She tries. "You are okay?"

James takes her tiny hand in his larger one. "M'okay, sweetheart. Uncle Prongs is okay," He inhales quickly before exhaling. "I just need a minute,"

Sirius' head appears around the doorway, his eyebrows knitted together. "Why...why is everybody in the bathroom?" He asks, his Auror uniform still on. He's just in from work and has located his husband, daughter and best friend huddled together on the cold bathroom tiles.

Sirius, upon further inspection, notices James' tear stained face. His frown deepens. "Prongs, what's wrong?" He utters.

Mila looks up to her father. "Daddy, can we go get uncle Prongs a lot of jellybeans? Lots, daddy, so many,"

Sirius stares, blinking, the ball finally dropping as his grey eyes land on the pregnancy tests. "Why don't you go play with your dolls, baby girl? Mummy and daddy just need to chat with uncle Prongs but then we can force feed him as many jellybeans as you'd like to, mmh?" Sirius says quietly.

Mila stands up, wobbling a little. As she clambers over his legs, Remus presses a soft kiss to her cheek. She smiles, giddily. She looks back to James. "Can uncle Reggie come over for some jellybeans too?" She wonders.

Remus pats her back gently. "Uncle Prongs will bring some home for uncle Reggie. The grown ups need to talk, love, can you just give us a few minutes, Mi?"