Hope

Mood-swing

Newt had almost gone into a trance-like state as he scrubbed some plates the Muggle way. Usually, he and Tina would simply wave their wands and the plates would wash, dry and put themselves away with minimal intervention. If they were feeling in the mood they might do it by hand, listening to the radio and talking intermittently, but when Newt truly wanted a second and the creatures were all happily going about their day he was content to stare out of the window at their little garden and the menagerie and take his time. The warm water also soothed the still present ache in his arm. It had almost been a week since he received easily the most hideous scar on his body, no matter how much Tina had tried to prove him otherwise, but it still stung intermittently, like the phantom curse was weaving its way around again. He had told Tina who had told him to go see a healer but she hadn't been around a lot to really start nagging due to the chaos of trying to manage the steadily amounting cases caused by Grindelwald without people knowing of the breakout so he was safe, for now.

He didn't know for how long though as tonight Queenie and Jacob were coming over for the evening. It was planned that they would share their news over a dinner just like the first one but he was well aware that when the excitement died down a little Queenie would be able to pick up on his pain like a radar, the same went for Jacob as well because despite having no true magic he was perceptive beyond comprehension and both knew there was more than something up between them. Mostly conveyed by suspicious glances and when they dropped any meals around Jacob asking
"You know you can tell me anything,pal"

He was really quite excited to share the news with Jacob and Queenie, perhaps more so than with his brother (not that he'd ever admit it). They had quite literally been there from the start of his and Tina's relationship (both the angry arrest-filled part and the happy one) he pondered as he wrung out the sponge and reached for the tea towel. He also knew that while Theseus already had his own child, Queenie and Jacob's circumstances had changed yet again meaning that this new baby may be the only one for a little while.

As he began to dry the plates and cups from breakfast while starting to guess any possible reactions there was a shout from upstairs
"NEWT!"
He didn't know that he could run so fast but in the space of three seconds, he had left the washing up on the side, gone skidding into the hallway and up the stairs and all but flung himself through their bedroom door with his wand out. However, when he came to a sliding stop on the wooden boards he didn't see acolytes or murderers or even a meandering creature. The only entity in the room was his wife still only partially dressed and staring down at her trouser fastenings with the same hatred she looked at Grindelwald with. Trying to get his mind in check after seeing his wife in pretty much just her underwear (they may have been married for quite a few months now but he'd never tire of seeing her like that) he exclaimed
"Merlins beard Tina what's wrong?"
He had sounded more annoyed than intended but he wasn't expecting her to reply equally angry
"My pants don't fit!" Before tailing off into a broken babble as she began to cry, accent deepening as she did so"They won't do up any more and I haven't got anythin' else to wear and the button popped on another pair so I can't wear those and Queenies immediately gonna know what's up if I cancel and you hate me now and I'M ALL FAT!"
She then broke down into sobs and Newt blinked in surprise, wand still held aloft. At most he'd noticed she was a bit firmer around the middle but even he knew that if he said that he'd be hexed out the window. So he took a deep breath and then slowly approached his still crying wife similar to how he'd approach a wounded dragon, bloody carefully. Once he was at a comfortable distance he knelt beside her and murmured
"Tina Love, I don't hate you"
Not even looking up she replied
"Yes, you do! You used the same voice you use when Teddy annoys you!"
"And do I hate Teddy?"
She went quiet and then looked up at him with tears in her eyes
"No?"
"Exactly, I could never hate you. I didn't even hate you at the very beginning"
She made an amused sound and murmured
"Yeah right"
"No- I could see why you did it and I couldn't hate you for doing what you thought was right. Now, what's wrong?"
She sniffed and mumbled
"My pants don't fit anymore."
She gestured to the fastenings she had been glaring at with immense hatred earlier and this time he could see that there were a few inches of skin in the middle of the button and buttonhole. He pulled gently on either side and there was absolutely no movement, seemingly stopped by the ever so slight curve he hadn't noticed before. He looked back up at her and let the soft smile spread across his features.
"Tina- It's the baby growing."
"But then how did I fit in 'em yesterday and not today?"
She spoke slowly and deliberately as she looked down at her stomach
"Babies can have spurts of growth love, maybe that was just the first case?"
There was a moment where she gained a face of compilation then prodded her stomach with a small smile
"They're growing"
Not hiding his sigh of relief when he saw her face light up he stood and went to help her to her feet as she waved him off, as usual, and stood by herself. She then looked back moodily at her trousers
"I still can't have dinner dressed like this."
"I wouldn't mind"
Newt replied off-handedly and she suddenly directed her glare at him
"I bet you wouldn't"
Deciding to try and fix the conversation that somehow had put him in the wrong yet again he coughed with a slight grin and then suggested
"You could just wear one of my pairs for today and once Queenie knows you could ask her to alter them?"
Suddenly Tina was grinning again and kissed him square on the lips before moving swiftly to their shared wardrobe leaving Newt quite confused and still sitting on the floor. A flurry of movement later and she was dressed head to toe in his clothing with his shirt knotted to shorten it and his trousers held up with a wide belt. Over the top of it was a navy knitted jumper which he had forgotten he owned which she had rolled up slightly to have access to her hands. Her narrow feet were poking out of the bottom of the wool trousers in her usual woollen socks and somehow she looked even more beautiful than when she was dressed up for a ministry gala. She was brushing through her hair when she suddenly paused and looked at him
"Oh nuh-uh Mr Scamander, you looking at me like that is how we got here in the first place"
"Am I not allowed to find my wife incredibly beautiful?"
Based on the responding blush this was the correct answer and she stammered a little then murmured shyly
"You are..."
Before tying her hair back in a low ponytail.