ROCKSTAR ⇒ jegulus

FORTY

James wakes up to the soft sensation of his daughter moving about within him. It takes him a minute to recall the events of the night previous; more so, hours previous.

And then he recalls that Regulus is not heading off to work today.

In fact, he recalls all at once Regulus' presence in his home.

Slowly, James crawls out of his bed. He had opted to sleep in his dressing gown, it appears. He readjusts the belt, tightening it a little, before slipping into his slippers. The time on his bedside clock reads 10.49. He has slept a mere five or so hours.

Stella's tiny foot jabs at his ribs, as if reminding him that she is still there, inside of him. As if he could ever forget. "It's okay, darling, mummy's going to go down and make us some breakfast," James reassures. "I'll make daddy some too if he's up for it,"

As soon as he opens his bedroom door, James smells something. Something he can't quite put his finger on. Venturing down the stairs, James can hear the faint sounds of laughter and dishes clinking together, the tap is running too.

There are two voices coming from his kitchen. Regulus' voice is easily identifiable; a soft laughing sound paired with it. "What do you mean you took the guitar off of him?"

"You should've seen him when he first learned to play guitar, honestly, I'm not sure why the neighbours never served us with a noise complaint!"

"Well, maybe they were just about to, but you confiscated it,"

His mum. Regulus is laughing with Euphemia in James' kitchen.

James softly pushes open the kitchen door, squinting as he does so. "Good morning?" He raises an eyebrow. "What...what's going on?"

"James! Good morning, sweetheart," Euphemia beams at him. She is sitting at his kitchen table, a mug of tea placed in front of her, while Regulus is across the room; fixed at the sink, sleeves rolled up a tad as he washes pans.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" James half laughs. He looks toward Regulus. "Did you let my mum in?"

Regulus nods. "I was up, and she was knocking, of course I wasn't going to leave your poor mum standing outside in the cold, it's December after all," He muses. "I've been up for an hour maybe,"

"Honestly, James, he's been quite the gentleman, we've just made some pancakes if you're feeling up to some," Euphemia announces.

James laughs. "I hardly believe Regulus made pancakes," He jokes.

"Well, not exactly. I was mid burning some and your mum ended up helping me out," Regulus answers bashfully. "I...I'm not great in the kitchen, as you're well aware of,"

"But he was doing his very best," Euphemia chirps. "I remember when we first met your brother, god, he'd have burnt cereal if you'd given him a go at making some," She laughs warmly. "Don't worry, Regulus, we made a home maker out of him, and we'll do the same for you too,"

The warmth in her voice seems to cause Regulus to become even more bashful, and it is times such as this that reminds James of Sirius and Regulus' own mother and her lack of parenting, so to speak.

Sirius once confessed to changing he and Regulus' beds as a brave five year old, and then had received a lecture from their mother on not having fitted the sheet right. "Moody old wagon could've either shown me how to or at least changed our beds for us, we were four and five, for crying out loud!" Sirius had laughed while explaining.

James smiles. "Were you trying to make breakfast?" He turns toward Regulus.

The soft blush upon Regulus cheeks only seems to spread at this. "I thought it'd be nice for you to not have to get up and cook for us, you're already cooking up a baby, y'know," He pauses. "Um, I hope you don't mind but I've mentioned the hospital to your mother," Regulus admits. "Hence why I really didn't want you to have to get up and cook and wash up and whatever else,"