ROCKSTAR ⇒ jegulus

TWENTY NINE

James hits the twenty seven week mark just as the photos from the photo shoot are emailed back to him; edited just a little, to blur out certain 'flaws', such as the faint glimmer of a love bite that had discreetly sat against Remus' collarbone, that they had all collectively decided to ignore, and leave unmentioned, and unaddressed.

The photographs, to James' surprise, came out a lot nicer than he had thought that they would. His bump is obvious beneath his sheer shirt; the shirt looking more see through and transparent with the bright, illuminating, flash of the camera. His bump curves out from his hips, soft and swelled.

James smiles a little, scrolling through them; picking which ones he likes best.

Eventually, he lands on one of all four of their hands on his belly, presumably when Stella had begun to kick in the middle of the shoot, judging by the bright, awestruck, grins on all of their faces.

James selects that photo, along with one of three hands resting over his baby bump, while his own hands rest behind him, propping him up; one of he and Sirius sitting on the floor, while Peter and Remus stand behind them, a blurred one of he and Sirius grinning at one another, their jaws seemingly taking up most of the camera's focus, as they had laughed; Sirius having just tickled him.

The photos are in a soft black and white filter, to centralise their cohesive, coordinating, black and white outfits. A grainy overlay sits over the photographs.

James turns to Regulus; he is laying on Regulus' couch, Regulus sitting next to him, his sock clad feet on the coffee table; which James would have initially assumed that Regulus would be very against; his laptop open and on his lap, the screen dim, yet illuminating his features.

"I got the photos from the shoot back," James hums.

He imagines that he should feel weird, out of place, sprawled on Regulus' couch, the cats roaming about on the floor, with Steinbeck cuddled between he and Regulus, Regulus' hand occasionally coming to stroke down her back. James has one hand resting over his belly, while the other grasps his phone. This does not feel weird at all, somehow.

Regulus raises an eyebrow, humming. "Yeah?"

"Mmh,"

"Are you happy with them?" Regulus questions, still facing the glow of the laptop screen; a word document opened across the screen; a few books scattered on the arm of the couch.

James nods, musing. "We...we had a lot of fun while shooting," He admits. "We used to take them a lot more seriously, Remus never really bothered all that much with adhering to that; but we did, at one point, make sure that we stayed as still as we could, y'know? But these photos," He pauses. "They're...they're very authentic, I think,"

Regulus smiles, turning away from the screen of his laptop. "Can...can I see some of them?" He asks, cautiously.

James nods. He may have denied Regulus' request before. However, now he figures that Regulus is the one who attends his appointments for their daughter, the one who sees his bump uncovered, and coated with a blue gel. He figures that Regulus, more than anyone else, deserves to see him at a vulnerable point.

"Here, just scroll," James hands his phone to Regulus, his other hand coming to rest across his bump now.

Regulus scrolls, slowly, his eyes focused on the screen of James' phone. Funny, how he seems to move from screen to screen. "James," He pauses. "These are great," He compliments.

"You think so?"

Regulus nods, grinning a little. "You all look great," He says. "That's a really nice one of you and Sirius, you know?" He adds. "You...you should get some of these printed, they'd look great in your kitchen," He smiles softly.