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He heard the patter of feet long before he saw the owners of them. Setting aside his book, Sirius closed his eyes and waited. It was hard not to smile as little voices came closer as the door swung open, but he kept himself as relaxed as possible, leaning back in the chair.
More footsteps that disappeared as they reached the rug. “Papa?”
Sirius didn’t move and kept his breathing even.
Little hands gripped his knee, pushing it. “Papa!”
He shifted a little, muttering under his breath before settling back into the chair.
“Adhara.” The soft whine nearly made him smile.
Two pairs of hands gripped him this time and they shook him as much as they could. “Papa, wake up!”
He let them shake him, fighting the growing urge to smile with every second that passed. He couldn’t even see them and they were being adorable.
“Papa, please?”
The quiet plea broke him and he opened his eyes to look down at them. They were both staring up at him with huge eyes. Adhara’s face lit up when she realised he was awake but Heze was slower to recover. A pang shot through Sirius’ heart as he saw the tears in the boy’s eyes, lower lip caught fast between teeth. “Hello, little lady, young sir,” he murmured, smiling at them.
Heze sniffed loudly, rubbing one fist against his face before holding out his hands.
Sirius leaned down and scooped them both into his lap. “You’re alright,” he said, running his hand over Heze’s short hair.
The little boy buried his face in Sirius’ chest and he patted his back.
“Heze,” Adhara said, reaching across to ruffle his hair. “Papa is awake now. S’okay.”
“Let him be,” Sirius said as his son tried to burrow further into his shirt. He looked at Adhara to see her frowning in concern at her brother. He reached around to tickle her cheek and smiled when she giggled, batting at his hand. “What are you doing in here, little lady?”
Brilliant blue eyes looked up at him from above a sweet smile. “Story?”
He had thought as much, but they hadn’t brought a book which meant they wanted more of that story. He hummed, settling better in the chair and tucking them both close to him. “Where were we?” he mused.
“He was going to get his lady!” Adhara chirped, cuddling into him.
“Ah, right.” Sirius rubbed along Heze’s back as he made a noise before taking a deep breath. “It was a long journey to get to that point. The gardener had struggled and toiled to make a garden worthy of her, of the love he wanted to share with her. He wanted to be sure that it would be a place she could love and maybe love him back. All the paths were neat and orderly. The flowers were fully in bloom. The roses had been trimmed of thorns to make sure she couldn’t prick herself if she wanted to smell them.”
“Roses her favourite?” Heze’s voice was muffled by Sirius’ shirt but he still heard him clearly.
“No,” Sirius said softly. “But he planted them for her anyways because he wanted her to lack for nothing. He wanted the most spectacular garden he could create to welcome her home with. But he had to go get her. The garden wasn’t anything if the most beautiful flower wasn’t there in it.”
“Was she a long way away, Papa?”
“It felt like she was on the other side of the moon, little lady, but that didn’t matter. He would have gone further if it meant he could see her again. To see her smile, to hear her voice, he would have travelled through all the worlds a hundred times over. But he didn’t have to.
“With the blessings of the king, the gardener left, unsure when he would return but knowing he wouldn’t come back without her. He would find her and he would tell her all the things he had kept in his heart. But her home was large and he was only one man. How was he going to find her?”
“The ribbon!” Adhara gasped, pushing away from him. “He took her pretty ribbon!”
Sirius smiled at her and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “That’s right. The pretty ribbon she had worn every day was his connection to her, the key he would need to find her, and he knew in his heart that it would bring him to her. He had kept it safe for this moment and now he kept it close as he braved her home. It didn’t matter that it was different from his own, he would do it for her, for them, so they could be together again.”
Both of them were staring up at him, worry and excitement blending on their little faces. “Papa, what did he do?” Adhara whispered.
“He planned, little lady. He had a plan to find her as swiftly as he could. He would ask anyone he found if they had seen her, if they knew her. She was far too beautiful for someone to forget her, but that scared him. He was only a mere gardener, had nothing to offer her but his flowers and his love. She was radiant and perfect and shone like the sun. She was a treasure that any man would have loved to have in his life and he knew that if he waited any longer…he might lose her.”
“No!” they both cried, startling him.
“Papa, no!” Adhara said, gripping his shirt with her hands like she wanted to shake him again. “He has to find her!”
“Yeah, Papa! Find her!” Heze said, nodding his little head firmly.
Sirius stared at them both and swallowed the urge to laugh. Normally they were both as sweet as their mother, but it seemed they had gotten her fierce side as well. “He was going to try,” he assured them both, earning him frowns. “He had a plan and he might have only been a gardener, but he was very good at planning. You have to be when you’re building a garden after all.”
They nodded and he finally allowed himself an indulgent smile.
“It didn’t matter how long it took, the gardener was going to profess his love to his lady when he found her. He would drop to his knees and tell her everything he had kept from her, he would say everything that was in his heart, and ask her to return with him. He wouldn’t rest until he had her answer. Nothing would stop him from getting that answer, not even another man.
“But he knew that another man could have fallen in love with her, it wasn’t hard to imagine. No man could resist such a sweet and loving woman. He hadn’t after all. And even if another man was richer than him, stronger than him, more handsome than him, he was still going to go down on one knee and confess to her. He would use all the words he could find to bare his heart to her so that she understood how much she meant to him. With that plan in mind, he left his home and ventured into hers, ribbon clasped firmly in his hand.
“But his lady had had plans of her own. She had waited for some sign, for anything from the gardener, but they were so far apart that there was nothing to give. The days had turned into weeks then to months until nearly a year had passed since she had seen him. Hope and love are fragile things and without encouragement, even they can falter.”
“Papa, no,” Adhara said, grabbing his hand. “Did she love a different man?”
“No!” Heze cried, tears filling his eyes again. “The gardener!”
Damn it. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of Heze’s head, trying to calm him. “No, Adhara, she didn’t love anyone else. You see, the gardener was her first love and she wasn’t so easily swayed from him. While she was scared and worried, she continued to tend the bulb he had given her and when spring came, it finally bloomed.”
“What was it?” they both asked.
Sirius gently rubbed Heze’s chubby cheek, wiping away the tears, and smiled. “An iris, a flower to tell her he loved her when he hadn’t been able to use the words.”
Two pairs of eyes got wide and he wasn’t surprised to see them both turn to look across the room. He looked as well, taking in the flowers growing in the window box. It didn’t matter if she gave him a new flower to plant every year, there was always at least one iris planted every spring and that box was full of them this year.
“We have those!” Adhara said excitedly.
“Yeah!”
“Yes, we do,” he agreed. “But his lady took one look at the flower and knew what she had to do. She was done waiting. She wanted to hear him say the words to her so she packed up everything important to her and set out to meet him. She had the choker and shoes he had given her so long ago. Just like her ribbon was his key to her, they were her key to him.”
They’d fallen silent, hanging on his every word now.
“She went to the place where their homes met, uncaring about anything but finding him again, and she did. Right there at the border, she found him with her ribbon in hand. Under the light of the full moon, they found each other again and swore they would never be separated again. He vowed to love her eternally, to build her a garden worthy of the love they shared. She promised that her love would never end, that she would fill any garden he made with life and happiness. With a single kiss, they sealed their vows and the gardener brought his lady home, never to be separated again.”
Heze squealed happily and threw his short arms as far around Sirius as he could manage.
Sirius smiled and held him closer, his palm large on his son’s small back. He looked at Adhara and saw she was frowning. “What is it, little lady?” he asked, reaching out to tweak her nose gently.
She giggled before her pensive look came back. “Did they live happily ever after, Papa?”
Before he could answer, soft laughter filled the room. “The story doesn’t end with them only being happy, Adhara.”
Her face lit up and she squirmed around to look. “Mama!”
Sirius watched Celeste cross the room, joining them at the chair. His eyes closed for a moment as her fingers wound through his hair and stroked him gently.
“The story is still being written,” she said, making him crack his eyes open. “They found each other again but they have their whole lives ahead of them, for love and laughter and happiness. And children. A handful of stars to brighten their garden.”
“Baby!” Heze said loudly.
“I don’t think we should have told him,” Sirius said ruefully as Heze tried to crawl out of his lap to get to Celeste. He easily caught the boy and gave him a look when he started to whine.
“We couldn’t tell her and not him,” Celeste laughed. “She wouldn’t have kept it a secret.”
That was true but now any mention of babies or children and Heze’s excitement went through the roof. Their worry about how he would take the news had been for naught since he seemed more excited than they were. Sirius hummed low in his throat when Celeste bent over him, pressing her mouth to his. He heard their children giggle at the kiss, but he didn’t pull away. When she finally did, he caught his breath at the expression on her face. “Did you like the story?” he pushed out, his voice thick.
“Yes, Papa!”
“Yes,” Celeste said softly. “I loved it and I love you, my gardener.”
His heart ached for a moment as he thought about how different the story could have been, how many things could have gone wrong at any time. Taking a risk. I love you. So many meanings but those were the only two that had mattered and he knew he would take any risk if it meant having her love. “I love you, too, my lady,” Sirius breathed.