The Half-Blood Diaries

The aftermath

Callum POV

It's been 2 days since the accident,  and papa is still mad at dad. I'm trying to fix it myself because dad is really bad at showing his feelings. Papa stays in his room nearly all day and only comes out to eat but doesn't talk to dad except for a curt thank you when dad puts his plate in the dishwasher. After that, he goes back and reads or something. I don't really know because I want to give him space. I mainly play my video games because everyone else is too distracted to tell me I can't. I'm going to go and lay down with papa so that he at least has some company. 

When I went in, papa was sat up in the bed reading a book about dragons. Being a muggle, magical creatures fascinated him. I climbed up onto the bed and put my head on his shoulder.

"Hey Cal," he said softly, kissing the top of my head.

I smiled but decided that I wanted to get straight to the point. 

"Why aren't you talking to dad? He's sad and doesn't know what to do. Please just makeup and be happy again." I blurted out.

"Aw, baby," he said with a frown. "I'm just a bitter old man if I'm honest." I rolled my eyes, 29 isn't old. "I just want your dad to make it up to me by doing something extravagant. But also he should have been more careful in the first place. Before you say anything, I know it's a horrible thing to do kid, but... I don't know. Truly I don't know what's making me do this. Ugh. I'm so petty."

"I guess I'm just too young to understand, huh?"

"I guess you could say that," he replied, chuckling.

I hugged him and left the room.

I knew that dad would never catch on to what papa wanted so I was trying to come up with something that he would like from dad. Maybe he would like a cake? Or a picnic? OOH! Maybe both! I wanted to talk to dad about this but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it without giving anything away.

I went to the front room and saw dad sitting on the sofa watching telly. I could tell that he wasn't paying attention because his eyes were glazed over and he wasn't looking at the screen. 

"Dad?" he didn't respond so I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh!?" he said, startled. "Oh, hey there kid. What's up?"

"I think we should do something for papa. I can tell you're sad and papa has been avoiding you," I said.

Dad's eyes softened as he realised how affected I was by it. I'm used to the house being full of laughter and happiness, but now, with papa avoiding dad, the house is quiet and it feels cold all around. 

"What do you have in mind Cal?" asked dad, intrigued.

"I was thinking that you could go to the lake house for the weekend and surprise papa with a picnic. I can go over to Uncle Ricky's house so you guys can be alone and talk or...whatever..."

"*gasp* Callum MacMillan! How dare you! But yes, great idea...What would I do without you."

I knew that since my dads had been best mates since they were 5, dad was taking this really hard. You would think that knowing someone for that long would help in this matter but it seemed as if dad had just shut down and couldn't function without papa.

Since it was already Friday, we didn't have much time to organise. I suggested that us two should apparate there tonight to set everything up; the picnic, clean the house, make dinner, bake the cake and put up the lights to set the mood.

So that's what we did. When we arrived at the lake house, the first thing I noticed was how dusty it was. I left the cleaning to dad because he could do magic whilst I prepared the cake and set up the picnic area.

Papa and I bake a lot so I knew how to make his favourite cake; strawberry cream cake. I cut the strawberries for later, made the batter and the cream, and stuck it in the oven. After I'd done that, I took out the checkered blanket and the pillows so that they would have something to sit on other than rocks and dirt. It was a beautifully clear and sunny day and luckily, it would stay that way for the whole weekend. I sat there a while looking out at the horizon and imagining the happiness that would ensue when my parents came back home Monday morning. I knew this was going to be very good for them and papa wouldn't be so mad anymore.

A few minutes later, I heard the sound of a pan hitting the floor from the house. I turned abruptly and decided that I should probably get up and help this mess of a man.

When I got inside, dad was wielding a spatula and a colander at the same time. He had flour all over his face. It's clear that he was not used to being in the kitchen without help.

"Dad, do you need help?" I questioned.

"That would be splendid young one." He said in a very posh accent. It made me laugh and he directed me over to the pasta sauce that he was attempting to make. 

"Stir that for me, will you?" he said as he drained the pasta. "When we're done, we'll put the plates in the fridge and I'll warm them up tomorrow," I questioned how well that would work because putting stuff in the microwave isn't great for a romantic meal with your spouse. 

"Well there's this charm that heats objects and it works magnificently on food. Tastes like it was freshly made! I just want to make it now so that I have more time with Eric tomorrow." he replied. 

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" sounded the oven.

"OH! Merlin! I forgot I had baked a baguette! Papa loves warm bread" he said to me "remember that. It's an easy pick-me-up."

My eyes opened wide as I realised that he must've used the same oven that the cake was in.  If the cake is ruined then the whole weekend will be ruined!

Dad must have seen the shock in my eyes because he quickly explained: "Oh don't worry, I conjured another oven so that your cake wouldn't be messed up." I let out a massive sigh.

"Oh thank Merlin," I said, relieved and a bit confused, to be honest.

While dad was getting all of the food set up and in the fridge, I put up the lights around the house and on the back porch looking onto the lake and the mountains behind it. The view drew me in and I sat on the porch and was lost in its beauty. The sun was setting as dad joined me on the porch. We gazed out onto the lake as the water shimmered with the reflection of the sunset.

After a few minutes, we were broken out of our trance by the sound of MY oven finally going off. We got up and I went to set up the cake. I needed the cake to cool down so I could put on the cream so I called dad to do some magic.

After he cooled off the layers, I mounted them and iced them between. I put cream on top and put the strawberries in a circle on top.

Dad looked at the clock.

"We should probably be heading back, it's getting late."

He took my hand and we apparated back home.

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