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Sirius has never been a heavy sleeper. He knows it probably has something to do with his life growing up in the house of hell, but he also believes, genetically, he just was never naturally a deep sleeper. Remus, on the other hand, is. It’s never been too much of a problem, thankfully, because Remus isn’t fussy when he does eventually wake up. That’s why the night feeds are going smoothly.
Well, smoothly for the last 2 weeks. There were always going to be hiccups in their routine, and there were for a while. June was through and through a night owl. Sirius blames her other dad for that. (During university, Remus claimed his greatest pieces of work occurred between the hours of 1-5am).
However, what she lacks in a normal circadian rhythm, she really makes up for how aware she is of her surroundings. She’s at that perfect age of 2 and a half months (10 weeks and 4 days to be exact) where she’s finally recognising her parents and gets excited whenever they’re nearby. She doesn’t look like an alien anymore (yay!) and has plumped up, looking like a proper baby. Her hair is still dark brown and wispy, almost a clone of Remus’ and they’re both positive she’s got a dimple on her left cheek.
She’s kicking her legs and imitating the expressions they make – their favourite is when they play peekaboo, and she tries to recreate it by blinking quickly. When Remus sings to her she flashes a gummy smile and giggles when Sirius swings her around the living room. They often put on little concerts, singing and swaying along to whatever is playing in their living room; Sirius has already deemed her a musical prodigy.
“She was kicking her legs to the beat of Stayin Alive, Remus! She must have perfect pitch or something!” He tried reasoning with his husband one evening whilst they were doing tummy time.
They unabashedly believe she is somewhat of a genius, but they suppose that’s the case with all new parents. She does get scared of her own farts now and then, but it’s a loud sound and her ears are still tiny, so they don’t hold it against her.
June's got a hearty set of lungs on her which Remus blames Sirius for.
And during a morning feed, Sirius swore he saw her roll her eyes, which he blamed Remus for. She’s their daughter alright.
So, the night feeds are going smoothly. Her routine currently consists of two night feeds and so far, she lets them know when she’s hungry – no need for an alarm.
Which is why when Sirius teeters the line of consciousness, he realises that he is slightly too well rested to be getting up only 4 hours after her last feed. When he opens his eyes, Remus sleeping like a log in front of him, lips parted slightly, fanning his nose. Sirius lets out a little stretch and turns over to sit up, turning his lamp on simultaneously.
It’s at this moment when Sirius realises the clock reads 6:48 and that he’s over two and a half hours late for her second feed. It’s also at this moment, when his eyes shift to the Moses basket, that he finds it empty.
Sirius has never claimed to be a calm person; he’s not misinformed in his own perception of himself. Being a father for the last 2 months has made him feel more secure in his actions, especially since she is hitting the milestones she needs to. But this, the fact that she isn’t where they left her, a mere 5 hours ago – no this is out of his depth. The girl can barely roll over, so her falling out was out of the picture. Which meant one thing for Sirius – she’s been taken.
Sirius regrets that he’s never watched Taken; he could’ve used Liam Neeson’s expertise right about now. Instead, his first call of action is to kick and scream at Remus until he’s awake and aware of the gravity of the situation.
“REMUS! June's not in her basket! She’s been taken Remus, taken! I don’t know where she is!” Sirius screams at the top of his lungs and he’s jolting up within the second. Bloodshot eyes and hair standing up, he rips himself from the bed and follows Sirius as they both make it out the door.
Perhaps, he’s a little dramatic. They have a security system – a good one that Regulus installed when he moved in. Sirius tries not to think about the people he works with.
Sirius pops his head into her nursery as Remus makes a run for the stairs and he’s only on the second step when Sirius screams his name again.
“It’s okay, she’s in here!”
Remus runs into the room, and lo and behold, June, safe and sound, with Regulus. He’s holding her with one hand and looking at his phone in the other as he rocks back and forth on the chair. Sirius is clutching his chest, trying to calm it down as Remus rubs his elbow, from where he banged it on the door, face twitching erratically.
“Regulus,” Sirius breathes out, completely exasperated, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Reading an article about the American federal reserve system. China thinks they have a problem with inflation, honestly, it’s all a moot point considering -“
“No, I mean what are you doing with June?” Sirius cuts his brother off and gestures to the baby in his arms. He’s honest to god going to lose his shit. He hasn’t been awake for more than 2 minutes and already he feels as if he’s gone through hell and back.
“Oh, I came downstairs to get a snack and heard her, so I decided to feed her. Let you guys get an extra hour of sleep.” He says simply with a shoulder shrug.
The explanation puts Sirius slightly at ease, especially since he realises that Reg was just trying to do a nice thing for them.
Regulus, surprisingly or unsurprisingly (Sirius isn’t sure at this point) is very good with June. He’s calm and patient and hasn’t once complained about her screaming bloody murder at 4am every night. They’ve even left her alone with him at home for a couple of hours when they went out for date night.
“Regulus, that’s very sweet, but you need to let us know if you take her. We’ll never stop you; we just need you to wake us up and let us know.” Remus explains calmly.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal, I only took her into the next room.” He says, eyebrows furrowed with a frown.
“It wasn’t really; Sirius is just dramatic.” Remus smiles, blatantly ignoring the look of offence on Sirius’ face. “It’s just you’ve never done this before. Obviously, from now on, if we don’t see her in the basket we’ll assume you have her, but try to let us know, okay?”
“Okay.” Regulus nods after he takes a minute to accept the information given to him. Sirius is glad for it, really. He doesn’t want to offend Regulus or make it seem like he doesn’t trust him, because he does, a hundred percent. Just some communication is needed between the three of them. “Alright, you can take her now. I’m going on a run.” Regulus stands up from the rocking chair and passes her back to Remus, not without a quick kiss on her head.
She makes a few noises because of the transition but ultimately settles against Remus’ chest. Sirius caresses her back before catching Regulus on his way out of the room. “Wait, Reg, have you slept at all?”
“Yeah, I got about 4 hours in before I came down.” He replies like it’s plenty. Sirius doesn’t exactly have it in him to ask if that’s truly enough, not when neither Remus nor himself has gotten a full night in 2 months. “Do you guys want me to grab breakfast on the way back?”
“That would be perfect, thank you,” Sirius replies as the two of them watch Remus walk back to their room.
“Sorry about the kidnapping. I just wanted to help.” Regulus whispers when it’s just the two of them in the doorway.
“You don’t have to apologise. It was a really nice thing to do Reggie, thank you. Remus is right, I was being dramatic.” He smiles, and wraps his arm around his brother’s shoulder, ruffling his hair.
“Yes, you were. But it’s alright, you’re a new dad and your hormones are all over the place. It says so in that book.” He smiles back, pushing Sirius off him and making his way back up his stairs.
Sirius watches him, unsure of whether to feel offended or not, ultimately deciding to leave it be. He walks back into his room and finds June situated on top of Remus as he talks animatedly to her.
“…I think he forgets there are 3 people living here, and that Uncle Reggie is actually your favourite,” Remus says quietly, mirroring the bright smile that’s on her face.
“Hey!” Sirius drawls out, flopping onto the bed. “I didn’t even hear him come into the room.”
“You know, I’m not convinced Regulus isn’t some type of ninja.”
“He probably works at MI5 as a spy and can’t tell us, the bastard,” Sirius replies, eyes wide and tone jolly as he looks at his daughter.
She wriggles excitedly, so Remus takes her off his chest and places her between them on the bed. She likes this a lot, as she begins to kick ecstatically and punch the air with a big gummy smile on her face.
She’s babbling quite a bit which is normal for her age. She especially likes it when her dads talk to her directly – they read it helps with eye control. If Sirius is honest, she’s quite the conversationalist.
“Is Reggie actually your favourite, bug?” Sirius asks, peppering kisses all over her face. She babbles happily and Sirius can’t help but feel slightly dejected.
“Oh god, she’s going to end up in whatever mafia/spy/assassin company he works at isn’t she?” Sirius realises, dropping his head lightly to rest on her stomach. He blows against her stomach eliciting a loud laugh from their daughter. “The second she turns 13, we’re putting her in self-defence classes.” He demands, turning his head to look up at Remus.
“I don’t think we’ll have to worry; Reg’s company probably gives them out free as part of their training.” He smiles cunningly before laughing at Sirius’ misery. The ongoing joke about Regulus’ job is beginning to lose its humour.
Sirius groans against June's tummy and the vibrations make her laugh again, and Sirius can’t help but smile. He blows a few more raspberries against her until she’s giggling so much, she’s gasping for breath. Sirius and Remus were brought up on music, it’s one of the things they bond over the most but hearing their daughter laugh – that’s proper music to their ears. Nothing can or will ever beat it.
“You know, she only likes Reg more because we’ve been taking her to get her jabs and she hates them,” Remus says, pressing his head into his daughter's and giving her a few kisses, eyes blissfully closed.
Sirius picks his phone up, without rousing attention and snaps a few pictures of them laying there. “Yeah, well I don’t like them any more than she does. I’m going to send Reg to the next appointment and then we’ll see who she wants cuddles from. What do you say bug? Should we traumatise Uncle Reggie?” Sirius says eagerly, tickling her tummy with his nails, catching her smile within the pictures.
“It’s alright, if June’s claimed Reg then the next one will have no choice but to form an attachment with us,” Remus says.
Sirius hesitates for a second, looking at the two of them through his phone. He coyly asks, “The next one? Eager aren’t we?”
Remus opens his eyes, staring up at Sirius with that intimate but intimidating smile that makes Sirius’ spine shiver. “We’ll wait a few years but obviously. Neither of us is an only child and I don’t want her to turn out weird. Who will she talk to when we’ve lost our minds? We can’t do that to her, she needs a friend.”
Sirius tucks his lips into his mouth, acting as if that would hide the massive grin he’s sporting. He places his phone back on his bedside table and brings his face close to June. Her pudgy hands grab his face excitedly. “What do you say, Junebug? Do you want a brother or sister?”
“No point in asking; they’re going to steal her things either way. Which reminds me,” Remus grumbles and turns to pick his own phone up from his bedside table. “Juno’s had my coat for like 4 months now, she needs to give it back.” He grumbles and clicks on his sister’s contact picture.
They don’t have to wait long until Juno’s face is crowding the screen. Like Remus, she’s tall and slender, with similar brown, lightly curly hair that they inherited from Lyall. They both have Hope’s nose, but where Juno has dark brown, nearly black eyes, Remus has amber. She’s one of the most whimsical and straight-up nutty people Sirius knows, including himself. And when they get together, it’s practically Remus’ nightmare.
She works primarily as a model and a dancer, working for different brands and companies, including Sirius’, so she spends whatever free time she has travelling or staying with them.
She holds the phone up to her face, a wide smile and sunglasses shielding her from the unforgiving sun of…Sirius can’t remember where she’s currently staying. “Oh, you’re still in bed. Jesus Rem get up and see the world!” She greets her brother and then proceeds to completely ignore him as she apparently gets into an argument with a shopkeeper.
“Yeah well don’t sell me cheap shit then!” She makes a face like she’s flipping off whoever is other the side of her phone and continues walking. “Fucking piss me off.” She grumbles, pushing her sunglasses up as she sits down in what looks like a park.
“Can you not swear in front of my daughter, please?” Remus deadpans.
Juno’s face lights up almost instantly. “Oh, I want to see her; I want to see my namesake, please!”
Remus turns the phone to June, laying on the bed playing with Sirius’ fingers. They're currently covered in her slobber, but he couldn’t care one bit. The sensation is one they had to get used to. She’s obviously trying to bite his finger but with only her gums, it feels almost ticklish.
“Hi June, do you miss me? Do you miss Aunt Juno? Aw, poor baby probably gets confused with the names.” Juno speaks animatedly to June, catching her attention. “You know I really appreciate you naming your daughter after me, but this is another level of ass-kissing.”
“Fuck off, we didn’t name her after you.” Remus pans the phone back to him, making it impossible for her to see June. “And I called you for a reason. You need to give me back my green coat.” He says sternly – a voice that tends to come out when he’s talking to Juno.
“Uh…” She purses her lips, looking around and avoiding her brother’s gaze.
“Don’t tell me you lost it.” He waits for an answer and turns out unsuccessful. “Juno, man, come on, I let you borrow it.”
“No, wait! I know where it is. It’s in Sasha’s flat. In New York.” She says with an apologetic smile. Remus isn’t impressed but Sirius can see on his face that he’s at least glad it’s not lost. “I don’t understand why you like it so much, it’s only from Next.”
“It’s a nice coat! It goes with everything.”
“Here’s a suggestion, why don’t you ask your fashion designer husband for a coat? I bet he’ll even give it to you for free if you do something nice for him.” She adds.
“Ew, don’t talk about my sex life,” Remus says in disgust.
“I literally wasn’t! I meant to give him the night off or something, Jesus Rem.” She retorts aggressively.
“She’s right you know,” Sirius says, picking June up and sitting her in his lap, facing Remus. “But I think I’d appreciate the sex stuff over the night off.” He whispers, raising an eyebrow.
“EW! Is that Sirius? Show me!” Juno shouts just as Remus begins to blush. He rolls his eyes and passes the phone back to Sirius. “Hey, babe!”
“Hey, Juno! God, you’re glowing. What are you using?”
“Nothing new. Jesus, I hope I’m not pregnant.” She drifts off somewhere before shaking her head. “I’m still in Paris, waiting for a friend to finish up work. We’re going to head down to Cannes for a few days and then I will grace you with my presence again.”
“Super, tu pratiques ton français? J’essaye de l’apprendre à ton frère mais il est une cause perdue.” Sirius says quickly. [Very nice, have you been practising your French? I’ve been trying to teach your brother but he’s hopeless.]
It’s silent on Juno’s end for a moment, while she attempts to try and translate. She doesn’t in the end. “Uh, yeah, anyway, I’m excited, we’re getting a boat and I want a nice tan before I come back.” She says, ignoring Sirius’ question.
Sirius tries to speak in French to June whenever he can remember. It’s not their first language but he and Regulus are fluent in it. He wants to pass some of it down to his daughter, but he’s not too fussed if she doesn’t get it – it was a Black tradition anyway, and she’s thankfully a Lupin.
“I’m so jealous, it’s been raining here for the last 2 days. Your brother can’t get enough of it.” He says.
“Is he done having a strop over a £40 coat yet?” She asks, unimpressed. Sirius doesn’t show her the middle finger Remus holds up above June's head.
“You know, I think he just used it as an excuse to call you. He misses you.” Sirius murmurs, pulling back as Remus tries to grab the phone off him.
“Well then tell him to call more!” She shouts, furrowing her eyebrows as if it’s Remus’ fault. Remus manages to pry the phone out of Sirius’ hand and directs it at himself.
“I literally just called you! When was the last time you called me?” Remus scolds. Sirius and June are both finding the interaction highly amusing, probably for different reasons.
Sirius loves when Juno is on the phone or staying with them, because she can really get under her brother’s skin, and he is still completely powerless against her. Normally Remus, who is cool and collected, gets absolutely violated by his sister and honestly it’s refreshing for Sirius.
“Uh, I called you like 5 days ago.”
“Yeah and June's already forgotten what you look like.” He bites back. Sirius can’t see Juno on the phone anymore but if Remus’ sudden change in expression is anything to go by, it can’t be great. Sirius can tell he feels bad.
“No she hasn't! Juno yells before pausing uncertainly. "Has she?" She asks softly, an uneasiness in her voice.
Remus falters for a second before putting on his best reassuring voice, “Of course, she hasn’t. She was so happy to see you just now.”
“Can I see her again?”
“Sure.” Remus pans the phone and holds it so that both Sirius and June come into the frame. He’s not wrong; June gets noticeably excited when Juno starts baby-talking to her niece. The two exchange a look over the phone before June starts giggling loudly.
This seems to settle Juno’s nerves as she looks a lot happier than she did when Remus turned the phone around. “Am I your favourite, June? I’m way better than your dads, aren’t I?”
“Well, you’ll have to compete with Regulus then.”
“It’s fine, just as long as she prefers me over you.” Juno sings back confidently.
“When are you coming then?” Remus rolls his eyes with a small smile.
“The 2nd. Hey, can you guys make a-“
“A roast?” Remus finishes for her, predictable as ever. She asks for it at least 3 times whenever she stays with them. Sirius and Remus don’t like to show off, but they get a lot of praise for their roast dinner. It makes them feel like very successful lunch ladies.
“Yeah. Thank you. Okay, I’ve to run. Love you! Love you too June, I’ll you see soon my sweetheart! Big hug and kisses!” And with that, the phone cuts out.
“That was mean,” Sirius says after a moment of silence, June still playing around with his hand.
Remus rolls his eyes and grabs her out of his lap, holding her up in the air. “Well, she deserved it, didn’t she lovebug?” Remus stares up at her with wide eyes as he pushes her up and down in the air. “She was being a bit of bitch, wasn’t she?” He continues, in a high-pitched voice that June apparently loves.
“And we really need to stop swearing in front of her.” Sirius pleads, falling back on the bed next to him. Upon seeing both of them, June starts to kick her legs and arms out happily and Sirius thinks he could stay in this bed forever.
“I reckon we still have a good 6 months before we need to worry about her picking up words.” Remus brings her down over to Sirius’ face and he leaves as many kisses as he can until Remus pushes up back into the air.
They get ready shortly after that. Remus puts her in a little light blue smock dress and cream tights. Then he shoves her little feet into baby Mary-Janes and contemplates why a 2-month year old even needs shoes. The issue is she looks way too adorable for him to actually care. Then he passes her back to Sirius who’s done showering, so he can, and Sirius gives her a morning feed.
Sirius is downstairs in the living room feeding June when Regulus walks back in, sweaty and holding a brown paper bag and 3 cups of coffee. “Lifesaver, thank you.” He says as Reg puts it down on the coffee table.
By the time June sees Regulus, she’s already trying to jump out of Sirius’ lap, and he concedes, considering she only leaves half an ounce of milk. He puts her in the bouncer situated in front of Regulus on the coffee table and goes to check which cup is his.
Remus walks downstairs not too long after and they all eat their breakfast together before deciding what to do for the day. It’s only March so there's a chill in the air but the sun is out, so they decide on a nice walk in the park to feed the ducks is best.
“Don’t you have work? It’s Tuesday.” Sirius asks, finishing the last of his croissant.
“If they call me, I’ll fire them. I’ve given them the same instructions 5 times, they should be able to figure out a simple task by now.” Regulus says offhandedly as he walks up the stairs to get ready. Sirius and Remus exchange the same look they’ve been giving each other for the last 5 years when Regulus talks and mutually decide to leave it.
June falls asleep for her morning nap which is when her dads get their chores done. Most of these include washing her bottles or putting loads of laundry on as well as organising her nappy bag.
An hour and a half later, after everyone is properly ready and June is up from her nap, Sirius helps Remus into the baby carrier and then slots June in, facing outwards. He puts a little hat on her head, conscious of the weather, gives her a few more kisses and then all 4 of them are out the door.
They walk about 20 minutes to their local park, beelining straight towards the ducks because maybe that’s Regulus’ favourite part as well. He’s got a few punnets of grapes in his hand since it’s better for the ducks’ digestive system and begins to throw them in as they walk along the lake. Sirius and Regulus compete in a game of who can throw their grape further and since Remus is judging, it’s a tie.
They find an empty bench where they can take June out and feed her as she watches the duck come near because Regulus continues to feed them. She’s so much more aware than she was only 2 weeks ago; Remus thinks she’s starting to recognise the ducks as something that she likes seeing. He can’t wait to watch her grow up. He’s simultaneously dreading and hoping for it. Not too quickly he reminds her.
They wander around the park for another hour or so until stopping at their local Co-Op for lunch bits– Reg insists that he’ll make it and they lazily stroll back home.
June has a power nap whilst they sort lunch out, then it’s tummy time whilst the adults eat. After they clear up, they all decide they need another nap, especially after the palaver this morning. June goes down after drinking half her bottle and the house is quiet for a couple of hours.
Remus wakes up from his nap first and goes to wake up June, slowly and gently, careful not to wake Sirius. They both go back downstairs all whilst Remus carries on a conversation. They read it’s good for her development. Most of the time it is just stories from when he and Sirius were younger, and sometimes it’s about the latest book he’s reading. Sometimes it’s about work, but even Remus gets bored – he’d much rather talk about Sirius.
Sirius comes down soon after and cuddles straight into Remus, finishing off whatever sleep he has left in his system. It takes a couple of giggles from his daughter to properly wake him up and then it’s back to having full-blown conversations with her.
They read a story or two, before starting dinner. June's taking her evening nap when Regulus comes down. He helps set the table and then becomes impatient so decides to wake her. Sirius waits for the tell-tale sign that she’s woken up too early, but then realises it’s Reggie and hears giggles instead of crying. Remus chuckles in the background.
After dinner, it’s time for June's bath which is absolutely her favourite time of day, which subsequently makes it her dads favourite too. They undress her and lower her into the baby bath seat contraption, making sure the water is at the perfect temperature. Remus hums some song off the album they just listened to as they all go through the motions. It’s a routine for them now, who holds her and who pours the water over her; who keeps her busy when they have to wash her face – she does not love that part.
“Well, look how small she is; she’s essentially getting waterboarded,” Sirius says and Remus turns to look at him, wide-eyed. He bursts into laughter and the other two follow in suit.
Now for the less than favourite part. Getting her out of the bath and getting her ready for bed. She doesn’t like this part all too much and Sirius can’t blame her – it’s cold. They wrap her up in her little teddy bear towel and rush her straight into her room where she screams bloody murder until the last button on the baby grow is buttoned.
Sirius holds her close whilst Remus reads her another story, essentially putting them both to sleep. Sirius powers through and places her back in her basket with a bottle and they wait for her to sleep. Then they proceed to sit there and stare at her, marvelling in the wonder that is their daughter.
So, yeah. They have a routine. And, unless there are any kidnappings, it runs relatively smoothly. They both know it probably won’t last long, but they take it one day at a time; that makes them the happiest.